DeMarie Langhe Arneis 2019 and Corto Giacobbe Soave 2019

 Demarie is a producer in the Roero area in Piemonte, Italy. They have been there for three generations running vineyards. They use only grapes from their own vineyards. The wine Langhe Arneis is made from 100% Arneis grapes and is of the vintage 2019 and has an ABV of 13%. For this wine traditional production methods has been used and the vinification has been done in steel tanks.
The taste is of grapefruit and pear. A young and fresh wine and due to the acidity and the grapefruit note it goes very well together with fish. However, some people may find the grapefruit note too strong for them.

The second wine is a white Soave wine called Tenuta Corte Giacobbe Soave made by producer Dal Cero in Veneto, Italy. This producer own several vineyards in Italy and the one in Soave is called Tenuta Corte Giacobbe. The grapes used are 100% Garganega and for the storage a mixture of steel tanks and oak casks ha been used.
The taste is  lot of grey pear with some citrus. A nice wine.

Three red wines from Italy

 First up is the wine Rånäs Slott Barbera 2018. Rånäs Slott is a conference center situated in an old mansion in Sweden. So it is not  brand name as they also name the producer of the wine on the bottles. The producer is Ricossa in Piemonte. 60% of the grapes have been stored in oak barrels so this wine could be quite fruity. The taste is of red cherry and blackberry This is a fruit delight with a lot of fruits. A very good Barbera.

The next wine is the wine Gricos from producer Grifalco in Basilicata. This is a new vintage from 2018 and is made from 100% Aglianico grapes. A fruity red wine with a taste of red cherry and black currant with a hint of plum and earthy notes. Very good.

The last wine is a Montepulciano D'Abruzzo called Tertulia from the producer Guiseppi Savini. In the taste dark fruits such as plum with a hint of violet and acidity. Very nice.

Galaverna brut from Ca' De Lion

Ca' De Lion is a producer of wine from Asti in Piemonte, Italy. This company was founded by Luigi Ghione in 1871. They produce everything from white wines to red wines and even some sparkling wine. One of their sparkling wines is Galvaverna which is a Piemontese word. To produce this wine they use the secondary fermentation with Martinotti method (Charmat). This is a method where the bubbles are created while the wine ferments inside a steel tank.

The wine has a taste of pear, brioche with a quite high acidity which makes the wine work well with food. However, the high acidity may put some people off this wine. I recommend serving this wine with food and not as an aperitif. 

Manzone Rosserto Langhe Rossese Bianco 2016

Rossese Bianco is a rare grape that is grown around the communes of Roddino and Sino in the Langhe area of Piemonte in Italy. The producer Manzone is credited for saving this grape from extinction. From 2012 the grape has the DOC Langhe Rossese bianco denomination. The harvest is done in the first week of October. The wine is aged for 12 months in 500 litre barrels on the leese. I find this wine to be quite full bodied with a taste of pear, grapefruit, minerals and butter. A nice aftertaste of citrus and pear. Very good and interesting. Will handle some ageing very well also. A n excellent foodwine and I am quite lucky that someone decided to save the Rossese Bianco grapes.

Manzone Dolcetto D'Alba and Cantina di Gasorga Barbera D'Asti

Nebbiolo is the famous grape from Piemonte but two other good grapes are Dolcetto and Barbera. Manzone is a producer in Monforte D'Alba. The Manzone Giovanni winery was founded in 1925. The production is limited to about 50000 bottles per year. The bottle I have tried is their Dolcetto D'Alba Le Ciliegie with the vintage 2016 and an ABV of 13,5%. It consists of 100% Dolcetto grapes which are harvested in the beginning of September. The ageing is all done in steeltanks for 11 months after which it is bottled. So this is a Dolcetto which is to be enjoyed young. In the nose I get a lot of red fruit. In the taste I get blackberry, plum, sour cherry and tannins in the back. Quite a punchy straight in your face Dolcetto which I love.

The next wine is a Barbera D'ati from producer Cantina di Gasorga. It is made of 100% Barbera grapes and the vintage is 2017. This is a very much berry driven wine. In the taste I get  a lot of cherry and red currants. Nothing wrong and it is drinkable but a bit one dimensional for me. For those who love a lot of red fruits this will be a winner.

Two red wines from Langhe, Marchesi Di Barolo and Giacosa Fratelli

Langhe area has three main red grapes. The famous Nebbiolo, the less famous Barbera and the little know grape Dolcetto. Marchesi Barolo is a producer in Langhe that produces several kind of wines such as Barolos and Barbarescos. They also make a wine called Langhe Rosso. It is of the vintage 2017 and has an ABV of 13%. It consists of 45% Dolcetto, 40% Barbera, 15% Nebbiolo. The colour is almost purple. The taste is of violet, leather and dark cherry with some black peppar. Quite strong and one can feel the influence of Dolcetto here.

The next wine from Langhe is the red wine Leunin from the Giacosa Fratelli. It is made of 100% Nebbiolo and the vintage is 2018. In the nose I get a lot of fruit. In the taste I get cherry, red currant and some spices with almost a pepper and possible some oak. A bit lighter than I imagined.

Toso, Nebbiolo D'Alba and Montepulciano D'Abruzzo from Cantina Zaccagnini

The wine Marne Forteí is a Nebbiolo D'Alba from the producer Toso. It is of the vintage 2016 and the ABV is 13%. The grapes are 100% Nebbiolo.  In the taste I get black currant with spice and some earthy notes with some tannins and oak. A nice Nebbiolo.

The next wine is Montepulciano D'Abruzzo from Cantina Zaccagnini. It is of the vintage 2017 with an ABV of 12,5%. I get a lot of red fruits on the nose. On the taste I get dark cherry and plum with some vanilla. A lovely wine.

Three white wines from Piemonte

Piemonte is one region of Italy that produces very good white wine but it is not that well known. One bottle that I have tried 2,5 years ago is the Gavi di Gavi from producer Roberto Sarotto of the vintage 2016. Gavi wines are made from the Cortese grapes. So I wonder what 2,5 more of ageing has done to this wine. With age the pear has become more dominant while the citrus has been toned down and is more to the back and the aftertaste. A bit different compared to the last time but a lovely wine.

Next one is the Langhe Arneis from producer Voghera. The vintage is 2018 and the ABV is 13,5%. Arneis is a little known grape from Piemonte. It is a crisp and fresh wine. Taste of citrus, gooseberry, and some pear. A nice young Arneis.

The last wine is the Langhe Favorita from producer Tenuta Langasco. The vintage is 2016 and the ABV is 13,5%. Favorita is a grape that is mostly grown on the the left bank of the Tanaro River in the Roero district near Alba. This grape is closely related to the Vermentino and Pigato grapes. Nowadays this grape is in decline due to popularity of Cardonnay and Arneis. The taste is of pear, citrus with almost some perfume in the back. A nice and interesting wine.

All these wines come from the Langhe region of Italy. A very beautiful area full of rolling hills and beautiful villages.

Fontanafredda and their Alta Langa sparkling wines

Fontnafredda is  big producer of wine in Piemonte and they make very good Barolo wines for example. But this time I have tried of their two sparkling Alta Langa wines. Alta Langa is a DOGC for Piemontese sparkling wine. It is made with Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir grapes. It can be white or rose and has to be aged on the leese for at least 30 months. Also an Alta Langa sparkling is always a vintage wine.
The first sparkling wine from Fontanafredda is Hundred Sixty which is of 2007 vintage and the ABV is 12%. This wine was released to celebrate 160 years of Fontanafredda. It is made of 100% Pinot noir and it was on the leese for seven years. In the taste I get citrus, pear and grapefruit. Very nice older smoother Alta Langa.

The Fontanafredda Alta Langa limited edition is of the vintage 2014 and the ABV 12%. It is made of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This is a high acidity sparkling with apple and citrus and with a nice long aftertaste.

Alta Langa is one sparkling wine region to explore in the future.

Camparo Langhe rosso 2015

Last week I tasted a white wine from the producer Camparo in Langhe, Piemonte, Italy. This week I have tasted one of their red wines. Their Langhe Rosso from 2015 with an ABV of 13,5%. The grapes used are 50% Dolcetto, 25% Barbera and 25% Nebbiolo. I get a lot of red fruits in the nose. In the taste I get red and black currants, some cherry with some slight bitterness and tannins with some oak. Very nice Langhe blend.
I like the butterflies that they use for the bottles.

Two Arneis from Langhe

Arneis is a white wine grape Piemonte in Italy and this time I have tried two differet white wines made from this grape from langhe in Piemonte. The first wine is Il Nespolo Langhe Arneis from the producer Prinsi. The ABV is 13% and the vintage is 2018. Azienda Agricola Prinsi is a family owned company in its third generation run by the family Lequios near Barbaresco. In the taste I get peach, lime, gooseberry and some minerals. A young and fresh wine.

Next Arneis wine is the the Langhe bianco by Camparo. It only contains 95% Arneis grapes while the rest of the grapes are Favorita. The vintage here is 2017. In the taste I get pear, butter and some citrus with a hint of grapefruit. Very good and nice.

Some similarities and some differences but still the characteristics of the  Arneis grape shine through. Arneis is definitely a grape that is overlooked.

Barolo Vigna Rue 2011 by Germano Angelo

When visiting Barolo in 2017 I bought several Barolo wines from the producer Germano Angelo. And I drank this vintage last time 18 months ago and let us see how it had developed since last time.

It is called Barolo Germano Vigna Rue and the vintage is 2011. The ABV is 15,5% and that is quite high. It is made of 100% Nebbiolo grapes. The grapes are grown of 300 metere above sea level. The year 2011 was very hot which elevated the sugar in the grapes and therefore the high ABV of 15,5%.
In the taste I get black currants, tobacco and some earthy notes. The tannins are well rounded and very integrated and brings another dimension to this wine. A lovely Barolo which can be stored for many more years before.

Fontanafredda and their wines Barrbaresco, Pradalupo and Raimonda

Fontanafredda is a big producer in Piemonte who produces many different wines. They have 122 ha of land of which 100 hectares is vineyards. Fontanafredda produces many different wine but here I have only tried three.

Pradalupo is a white wine made from 100% Arneis grapes with an ABV of 13,5% and the vintage 2017. Arneis is the grape and for this bottling all the grapes has come from the Roero hills in Piemonte and therefore the wine is a Roero Arneis DOGC. Unfortunately the grape Arneis production areas continues to decrease but hopefully the world will see what a good wine this grape can give. The Pradalupo wine has a taste of apple, grapefruit, minerals and some citrus. Quite a sharp wine but goes excellent with spicy food.

Next up the the wine Raimonda which is a Barbera D'Alba wine with an ABV of 13,5% and the vintage 2016. This is made from 100% Barbera grapes. Part of the wine is matured in larger oak casks while the remaining wine is matured in smaller barrels (225 l) of medium tosted French and American barrels. Before bottling these two parts are the blended. In the taste I get black currant, plums and then some oak and soft tannins with some bitter almonds at the end. Quite an interesting Barbera and a very good food wine.

The last wine is Barbaresco of vintage 2013 with an ABV of 13,5%. Despite being a famous wine I have drunk very little Barbaresco. As with the more famous Barolo a Barbaresco is made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes. This wine is aged for 12 months in oak barrels and then 12 months in the bottle before being sold. One thing I noticed with this wine was that this Barbaresco gained a lot by having air contact. So I would suggest to open the bottle one or two hours before being served or to decant it. In the taste I get  black currants, leather and some tobacco with tannins at the end. This is a wine that is still developing and is quite strong. Good now and will gain a bit extra with two-three more years of ageing.

Thre red wines from Italy, Lungarotti , Mandrarossa and Vajra

The first red wine is from Producer Lungarotti in Umbria. It is called Rubesco and is of the vintage 2016. This is a wine that I have tried several other vintages before. In the taste I get dark cherries and black currants. The 2016 vintage is slightly better than the 2015 for me. A good buy.

Next up the the producer Mandrarossa from Sicily in Italy. The wine s called Frappato Costadune and it is made of 100% Frappato grapes. Frappato is an Italian red wine grape that is mostly grown in Sicily. The vintage is 2017 and the ABV is 13%. In the taste I get raspberry, strawberries and viols. A good nice easydrinking wine.

The last wine is from producer G.D. Vajra in Piemonte, Italy. It is the red wine Langhe Rosso and is a mix of the grapes from the Lange region such as Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto and small amounts of Albarossa, Freisa, Pinot noir. The vintage is 2017 and the ABV 13,5%. I get dark cherry and black currants with some earthy notes and tannins in the back. A very good Langhe Rosso from producer G.D. Vajra.

Sparkling Elena from Azienda Agricola Stefanio Morra

Elena is a sparkling wine from Azienda Agricola Morra Stefanino in Roero, Piemonte, Italy. It is made 100% Arneis grapes.It is made in the classic sparkling method and the wine is made to rest two years on the leese of the yeast. The ABV is 13% and the vintage is 2014. There is a lot of bubbles and taste of lemon and brioche. It is a very nice complex sparkling wine from Stefanino Morra.

White wines from La Staffa, Fontanafredda and Rocca di Montemassi

This time I have one new wine and two wines with a new vintage.

First up is the new experience and that is the wine Verdicchio from La Staffa. This wine is produced by Ricardo Baldi who is a wine producer near the village of Staffolo in the Marche region and makes about 2500 cases of wine a year. This Verdicchio is of the vintage 2017 and the ABV is 13%. This is a very fresh Verdicchio. I get apples and minerals in the taste. Probably the best Verdicchio that I have ever tasted.

Next up is one favourite producer for me, namely Fontanafredda situated in Piemonte. I have tasted this wine before but it was another vintage. The vintage is 2015 and the ABV is 12,5%. This is a white wine made of the grapes Chardonnay and Nascetta. Being a rare grape is true of Nascetta as at one time it was only grown around the hamlet of Novello in Piemonte. Now it is more spread around in Piemonte.How is the taste? It is a very fresh wine with some tropical fruit, honey, apple and some acidity. As last time it was very good.

Driving from Montalcino towards Pitigliano in southern Tuscany one passes by the town of Montemassi. It is situated on top of a hill and is dominated by old Rocca (castle) looming over the village. Here they produce a wine called Calasole made of Vermentino.I have tasted several vintages of this wine such as 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 and they have all been good. The 2018 vintage gives me green apple, papaua, citrus ad some almonds in the taste. A very fresh and fruity wine. This is the best vintage that I have tasted from this producer.

Dolcetto wines from Alba

Dolcetto is a black wine grape grown in Northern Italy, especially it is grown in Piemonte around Alba and is considered more of a table wine compared to the Barbera and Nebbiolo. The first bottle is  a Dolcetta d'Alba from producer Grimaldi Luigino. The vintage is 2017 and the ABV is 13,5%. In the taste I get Black currant, blackberry and some sourness. A decent Dolcetto but I have had better ones. I think that this Dolcetto would benefit from one or two years of aging.

The next Dolcetto is a Dolcetto d'Alba from Cascina Ballarin and it is called Pilade. The vintage is 2016 and the ABV is 13%. In the taste I get cherry, some viols and some juniper. This one I find to be very good.

Montefalco rosso from Colsanto and Dolcetto d'Ovada from Tachino

One of my favourite wineregions in Italy is Montefalco in Umbria, especially their Montefalco Rosso and the Sagrantino di Montefalco. These wine can be quite strong but balanced by a lot of flavour. This time I am tasting a Montefalco Rosso from a producer that I have never tasted anything from before, the producer is Colsanto. The ABV is 14% and the vintage is 2014. The grapes used are Sagrantino and Sangiovese. This wine has a lot of red and dark berries on the nose. There is deep structured tannins which linger for a long time and combines well with the dark cherries and black currants in the taste. This is a very good wine which I think that will age well for a couple of more years gaining more complexity. But beware, It is a very strong wine.

Next wine is made from one of the lesser known red grape varieties from Piemonte, namely Dolcetto. The wine is Dolcetto D'Ovada from producer Tachino. The vintage is 2015 and the ABV is 14%. In the taste I get black berries, viol, plum and some black currant. A very nice Dolcetto that shows that Dolcetto is under appreciated grape.

Barbera D'Asti from Rovero

Time to go to Piemeonte and taste a Barbera D'Asti. The producer is Rovero and the wine is called Sanpansè. This wine is made with 100% Barbera grapes. The vintage is 2016 and the ABV is 14%. The taste is of cherry, dark currants, tannins and some oak. A nice Barbera.

Gavi and Chardonnay from Fontanafredda

Fontanafredda is a big producer of wines from the Piemonte are and especially Barolo and Barbaresco. However this time I have tried two white wines from Fontanafredda. First up is their Gavi wine from 2016 which contains 100% Cortese grapes. The ABV is 12% and the grapes were harvested in mid September. In the taste I get apples, minerals and some citrus. A very good and well balanced wine.

Next up is Fontanafreddas Chardonnay from 2017 which has an ABV of 12,5%. This wine has a quite varied taste. Some apples, gooseberries, minerals and some citrus. A good Chardonnay.