Wachau Riesling and Cotes Du Jura Chardonnay

 Time to step outside of Italy for some white wine from Austria and France. First is a the Riesling wine from the Region of Wachau in Austria. It is called Selection Riesling and is made by Domäne Wachau. it is a big producer and the cooperative owns at least 420 hectars of vineyards and that is almost 30% of the vineyards in Wachau. The wine is of the vintage 2019 and the ABV is 13%. In the taste I get pear, melon and some stoney minerality, A nice easy drinking Riesling.

The next wine is  Chardonnay from the Cotes Du Jura region in France. The producer is Fruitiere Vinicole D'Arbois which is a cooperative having 250 hectars of land and consist of 100 members. The vintage is 2019 and the ABV is 13,5. This is  dry style Chardonnay with a taste of pear and apple with some grapefruit. A good wine but some higher acidity would have lifted the wine.

Rabl Grüner Veltiner Eiswein 2006

This bottle of Rabl Eiswien from 2006 is one of several bottles that I had forgotten about that I had. The last time I tasted it was in 2012. It was undergoing a metamorphosis changing from a youthful Eiswein into an older wine. So what has eight more years done to this wine? In the taste I get dried fruits, raisin, honey and some acidity. Such a lovely eiswein. Will probably keep for some more years but my recommendation is to drink it now. It is at the peak of perfection right now.

Trebbiano vs Grüner Veltiner

It is fun to try two different wines and compare them. This time I tried a Trebbiano D'Abruzzo and compared it with a Grüner Veltiner. The Trebbiano wine from Abruzzo if manufactured by producer Orlando Contucci Ponno and is called Adrio and it is from 2015. The Trebbiano grape is one of the most planted white wine grapes in Italy. This wine is very fresh, has a lot of fruit with green apples in the mix. I could also feel a bit minerals. It is very good but should be drank young.

The Grüner Veltiner wine is from producer Leth in Austria and is of the vintage 2016. This wine is very similar to the previous wine. Very fresh, with fruits and apples in the taste. Also some minerality. I would not be able to feel the difference between these wines in a blind tasting.

I recommend both of these bottles. Very good fresh young white wines.

From Austria to Italy

I have tried the riesling wine from weingut Stadt Krems in Steinterrassen earlier, now I have tried the vintage from 2011.  It is still excellent. The colour is straw yellow with some hits of green.  A lot of acid, excellent structure and so good. I wish I had more bottles at home. Despite the alcohol level is only 12,5 % it goes well together with heavier food such as schnitzel.

The region of Trentino/Alto Adige produces some of Italys finest white wines. I have tried the producer Mezzacorona white dry wine PG. The grapes for this wine is Pinot Grigio and are from the wineyards in the dolomites in the Trentino area. It has an alcohollevel of 13% and is from 2013. The taste if of pears, citrus and some grapefruit in the aftertaste. A good wine.

One place in Italy I would like to visit is the island of Elba, until then I have to do with wine from the island. I have tasted an Elba Bianco from producer Aquabona. It is from 2010 and with an alcohol level of 12,5 %. It is flavourful, some acidity and have a taste of peaches. A very good food wine.

Domaene Gobelsburg 2011 Riesling

This time I leave Italy but I don't travel that far. Just across the border to Austria, namely the district Niederösterreich which is situated furthest north in Austria. Gobelsburg has been making wine since 1171 when the Cistertian monks founded their monastery. Schloss Gobelsburg has 35 hectares of wineyards and these wineyards were taken care of by the monks until 1995. And the monks had always used organic fertilisers and abstained from pesticides. In 1996 Michael & Eva Moosbrugger took over the management of the property. The Domaene Gobelsburg from 2011 is made from Riesling grapes.
The smell is pleasent and the taste is of citrus and has a lot of acidity. Leaves a long lingering aftertaste. Very good wine.

Back to Rabl Eiswein after four years

Four years ago I had my first taste of Eiswein. It was a Rabl eiswein from 2006 and it was a delight. Such taste and freshness. It felt like that it could not get any better at that time. I bought several of Rabl Eiswein and drank them over a years time. Unfortunately the taste did not get better with age and even after a year the taste had changed to the worse. Still drinkable but not as good one year earlier. I have one bottle at home that I will taste one day to see how it has changed over several years.
A year ago the Rable eiswein from 2007 could be ordered at Systembolaget but I saw it to late and it was already sold out. That was a big bummer. However, a month ago the Rabl Eiswein 2008 was released and I managed to buy several bottles.
The colour was not as dark amber as I thought i would be, Much lighter and clearer in colour than expected. The eiswein smells of melon and citrus, very nice. The taste is sharp, sweet, some melon and apricot. Almost a peppery taste and a nice aftertaste.Maybe the 2006 was slightly better but I think that the 2008 vintage will age much better and become better with a few years storage.

Elfenhof Trockenbeerenuslese 1995

I have a sweet spot for sweet wines. Unfortunately that is not is shared by many people as nowadays it seem that dry wines is the fashion of the day. Germany and Austria produce many good sweet wines and the best ones and most powerful ones are either Eisweines or Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA). TBA is made fromselected grapes affected by noble rot or as it is known botrytized grapes. And Elfenhof has a Trockenbeerenauslese ruster cuvee from 1995. Elfenhof is run by a family since 1642 and is situated in Austria along the west side of the sea Neusiedlersee. Now the smell of this TBA is divine. Deep and lingers in my nose. The colour is deep amber. So beautiful. And the taste is true to a TBA. Very deep that lingers in the mouth for minutes.Very fine acid which goes well with the high sugar content. And I should have bought more bottles of this wine as it seem to be stored for a long time. I have heard the term liquid gold about Trockenbeernauslese and eiswein and that is so true. Compared to Sauterness wines the Austrian TBA has a much lower alcohol level. Only 11,5% for this TBA.

Eiswein, not a normal Tokaji and grape juice

This weekend brought some very different wines and also some grape juice.

Eiswein has been a fascination of mine since I ever tasted it. They are among the best wines one can drink and unfortunately can be very expensive and also hard to find. Eiswein are made from grapes that picked from the vine while it is freezing temperatures outside. The water freezes and this allows the grapejuice to become much more concentrated when the grapes are pressed while frozen. This eiswein is from the producer Josef Ehmoser in Austria. It is made from the grape Grüner Veltiner from the year 2009. These grapes were harvested on the 15th of december. The smell is very concentrated and it is clearer to the eye than other eisweines I have tried. First time I tried this wine I was dissapointed with the tatse. Nice good taste but I was expecting a huge hit. Two days later I trie dit again and now that my expectations was lower it tasted much more nicer. It is more subtle than your normal eiswein but still has depths of taste layers.Very fresh and yummy.

Hungary is famous for it sweet Tokaji wine but not as much as for its dry wines. So time to test a dry wine from 2010 made from the famous Furmint grape. It is bottled by Royal Tokaji and is from 2010. The wine has a taste of pear and has a sharp taste. The aftertaste is very long and reminds me of grapefruit but this aftertaste is very sharp and I didn't like it. But with food that can cover the aftertaste it works fine. But there are better white wines that I would rather drink.

The last bottle is grapejuice from Cognac in France of the variety Ugni Blanc and Colombard. Since I have never drank grapejuice it would be very interesting. I didnt have high expectations but I was totally wrong. It taste like a sweet applejuice but with much stronger taste and a bit sweeter. good and interesting.

Lenz Moser 2008 Trockenbeerenauslese

Trockenbeerenauslese is a sweet wine also shortened to TBA and is made by individually selected grapes affected by noble rot. It is a wine with a lot of flavour. A good strong taste of apricots and botrytis. Very nice. Think it would taste even better if stored a couple of more years.

Stadt Krems Steinterrassen Riesling 2008

Stadt Krems Steinterrassen Riesling 2008 is from Austria, Niederösterreich, Kremstat. It has a very good structure and the taste is of mineral with some hints of peaches. Suprisingly it works very well together wth roastbeef , deer and pork. Very good and higly recommended. Lovely Riesling, now I must try some of their other wines.