Soave and Alsace

The first wine is a white wine from Soave in the Veneto region of Italy. It is called Farina and is a Soave classico wine. The ABV is 12,5% and the vintage 2016. It has a taste of green apples and a lot of grapefruit. Definitely a food wine and goes very well with fish which balances the grapefruit flavour.

The next wine is a white wine from Alsace in France The producer is Leon Beyer and the wine is called Fruits De Mer. The grapes being used are of the Pinot Blanc variety and the vintage is 016. the taste is fresh and fruity with apples, honey and some citrus. Lacking some acidity to raise to another level. A decent wine.

From Jesi to Alsace

Verdicchio is an Italian grape variety which is grown primarily in the Marche region of Italy. One of the two DOP is the Verdicchio dei Castelli Jesi. In this region the producer Pievalta produces their Verdicchio wine. The farms are situated on either side of the Esino river valley and the production if organic and for those who are vegans this wine is completely vegan.
The Pievalta Verdicchio dei Castelli Jesi is made of 100% Verdicchio grapes and the ABV is 13%. The colour is light hay. The taste is citrus and has a good freshness. A very good wine.

Going to Alsace where many good white wines is produced. Producer Michel Fonne is a new experience to me. The wine Pinot Gris Roemerberg is from 2007. Quite an old age for a white wine. Michel Fonne is situated in  Bennwihr. Michel Fonne uses the sweetness scale on this wine and it shows a 4. So the wine is semi sweet. A 1 means a completely dry wine. This wine is fruity almost some apricot and surprisingly fresh for the age. If I drank this wine blind I would say that the age of the wine would be a 2013 vintage. An excellent wine and I will try more this producer in the future.

White wine from Alsace and Umbria

I like white wine from the Alsace region in France. They are usually very good. A producer that I have tried some wine from is Cave de Turckheim. Now it is time for their Riesling from 2013 which is organically made. The smell is quite nice but for me the taste is lacking a bit. A bit to light for me with citrus notes. Not a Riesling I would buy again.

White wine from Umbria is not that common here in Sweden. I found a bottle Conte della Vipera from 2014 from producer Marchesi Antinori. This vintage contains 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillion. So it is international grape varieties in this bottle. The wineyards for this wine is at 250-350meters of height. The taste is of pears and grapefruit and is very nice. I like this wine.

Some fine wines from Italy and France

Wine from France I usually don't drink so much of except the Alsace region. Alsace produces may good white wines. Domaine Rieflé produces several different white wines and the one I had the chance to try is their Gewurztraminer Bonheur Convivial from 2013 is made from 100% of Gewurztraminer. The taste is of Elderberries and is very aromatic. Very good.

Italy has many different grapes and wine regions. One that produces good white wine is the Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi. Fattoria San Lorenzo has a wine called Di Gini which is made of 100% Verdicchio. It has a taste of apples and some citrus. A sharp taste so not for everyone but I quite like it.

Bacio Della Luna is a prosecco from Italy. It has a good apple and citrus taste and is quite light. Your typical good prosecco.

When in Tucany I drove by Castello Banfi which is situated in a beautiful area of southern Tuscany. For the first time I had the chance to try their wine, namely a Rosso Di Montalcino from 2013. The taste is rich and of black currant and plums and many soft tannins. This wine could probably be stored for several years before drinking. Very good.

Back to normal

Over five weeks since my last blogpost. Visits to Italy and Japan took has taken a lot of my time but now it is back to normal. A longer report from Italy will come one of these upcoming days but until then some wines that I have tasted.

White wine from Spain is something that I almost never drink and the wine Rueda by Marques De Riscal is a new experience. This wine is made from the Verdejo grape which is also new for me. It is grown in the Ruedo region in Spain. This wine is aromatic, but for me a bit single minded and lacking some freshness. Definitely needs food with this wine.

My favourite wine region in France is the Alsace region. They produce very good white wines. Turckheim is a small commune in Alsace that produces very good wine. Their Pinot Gris from 2012 is very good. It has a freshness and acidity that makes it so easy to drink. Highly recommended wine.

I like red wine from the Veneto region in Italy and one wine is the Millefiori by producer Traditional Wine Innovations. It is made by using the appassimento method, which means drying of the grapes like they do for Amarone wines. It has a strong taste of cherries but also feel a bit simpleminded. It lacks something and there are better red wines from Veneto region to buy.

From the capital of Italy to Alsace in France

I have never tried much wine from the Lazio region in Italy where Rome is situated. I did drink some local wine when I visited Rome but that was a few years ago and the wines from Lazio don't have such great reputation. Now I have tried the wine Ville Simone from the Frascati DOC. Fracsati is a wine region about 25 km from Rome. For me it is an easy drinking wine with no special characteristics. Easily forgotten after drinking it. Maybe they have good wines in Lazio but this is not one of them.

One grape that I like is the Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris as it is called in France. In Aslace they make many good white wines and the white wine Pinot Gris from producer Cave de Turckheim is nice to drink after tasting the Villa Simone wine. It has a very fresh taste. Very much fruits such as apples and pears with acidity. Nice wine and would go well with fish and probably asian food.

A trio of white wines

Sine the last time I had the chance to try three different white wine, two from Alsace and one from Alto Adige (Süd Tyrol).

First up is a riesling wine by Jean Biecher. The nose is fresh while the taste is of citrus, white peppar and some grapefruit. The finish is dry. Nice wine. The second wine from Alsace is a Pinot Gris from Bestheim. The nose reminds me of spices while the taste is dry, some apples and a hint of spices. Tastes good.

The last wine is from one of my favourite wine regions namely Alto Adige (Süd Tyrol). It is a Pinot Grigio from 2009 by producer Joseph Hofstätter. I have tasted the Gewürztraminer by Joseph Hofstätter two years ago and it was very good and it will be intresting to see how this will be. The nose if of fruits and the taste stays long on the palate. The taste reminds me of green apples and it has some acids. Delightful.

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht

Some while ago I tested two wines from Alsace from the producer Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. This producer is situated in the village Turckheim in Alsace very close to the German border. The two wines tasted was one very dry Riesling from 2007, the second one was a Vendange Tardive from 2002 made on Pinot Gris grapes. The rieling dry wine is probably the best dry rielsing wine I have ecer tasted. From what I remeber the taste was excellent. Vendange Tardive means late harvest in french and are made from late harvested grapes bot not any grapes afflicted with botrytis. The result is a wine full of great richness. And this Verdange Tradive from 2002 is excellent. Such good taste that I can almost drink it as a normal wine. Unfortunately I could not find any more bottles of this wine aftre I tasted as it had sold out.