Sicily and Alto Adige

Two of my favourite wine regions in Italy are Sicily and Alto Adige. And this time all three wines are from these regions.

The first bottle is the wine Chardonnay from Planeta. It is from 2012 and the grapes came from Cantina Ulmo which is near Marsala in the southwestern corner of Sicily. On this wine they have tried to make an unmistakably Sicilian Chardonnay. I have to agree with this as it tastes a bit different from other Chardonnays that I have drunk. The taste is of apricots, citrus and some tropical notes. The colour is very straw yellow. It is good with food but also good to drink as it is.

The next wine I have tried before and it is from producer Donnafuga in Sicily. It is the wine Kabir which is a Moscato Di Pantelleria from the island of Pantelleria. It is vintage 2012 which the last time I tried it was very aromatic. With one more year in the bottle it has become more well rounded with the aromatic note still there but now with more smooth style. Very good and I think it will be even better with some more storage, luckily I have several bottles at home.

From Alto Adige comes the wine Winkl  Sauvignon from 2013. It is produced by the one of Alto Adiges leading wine growers’ cooperatives. The colour is straw yellow with and almost green tint. The taste is as usual with Sauvignon full of gooseberrys and some elderberry. Very aromatic and a good wine. Tasted it last year and it still is very good.

Birthday and good wines

When it is time for my birthday it is always nice to celebrate it with good food and wines. This year the food was four cheeses from Italy, a tuscan brasato and a lemon meringue pie.

The first wine of the day were a Rotari Millesimato from 1999. This sparkling wine has character and tasted of citrus and bread. A strong vintage that worked very well with the cheeses. Next wine up was a Taurasi from 2003 from producer Di Prisco in Campania. Has a misfortune with the cork but after some struggle I could decant the wine. It is interesting how the older wines change their character with decanting. Just poured into the container it tasted very closed and not that good. But after an hour it had completely changed character. Now it was very elegant with notes of tobacco and liquorice. Very good. To finish the evening off were the sweet wine Kabir from island Pantelleria from producer Donnafugata. As usual one can through the smell say that this wine is from Pantelleria. Very good and full of flavour. Since this was from 2010 it didn't have the strong perfume tones of the 2012 vintage.

Yet another three Italian wines

It is interesting to see how a wine varies between different vintages. This time I had the chance to try two wines and see what one or two years difference makes.

The Kalis Cardonnay Grillo wine I had tasted the 2012 vintage and now I had the chance to taste the 2013 vintage. My recollection of the 2012 wine was that it was a decent drinking wine. But the 2013 vintage is something different, this is very light, not much flavour. A true table wine for those who like their wines simple and with not much taste. Not to my liking.

Each time I get to taste a Donnafugata wine is a good time. I had sampled their sweet Kabir wine from 2010 (Moscato di Pantelleria) and it was excellent. Now I have tasted the Kabir from 2012. I have to say that the 2012 vintage is very aromatic, much more than the 2010. Not to everyone's liking I would think due to the strong aromatic taste but for me this is paradise. Together with some sweet desserts like almond cake this would be a match in heaven.

The last wine is Manzone Bianco from the Veneto region by producer Cantina la Salute. I read a bad review of this in a magazine, but how they described it sounded like a wine for me. The smell is very good, almost fruity. The taste is almost like a pignoletto wine, some citrus and honey. I like it.