Two Italians and a return to Dr Loosen.

For my homecooked Taglatelli al ragu I had a bottle of Bepi Deeto, a merlot from 2012. It is a wine from the Colli Trevigiani area in the Veneto region of Italy with an alcohol level of 14,5%. The colour if very deep red, almost black and it need some time to open up. It tasted better the day after. The taste of black currant and some tobacco. Very strong and definately a food wine.

The sparkling wines from Italy that I have tried have been good and Berlucchi Cuvee Imperiale is no different. This sparkling wine if from the Franciacorta DOGC in northern Italy. It has a taste of bread and citrus and works very well with cheese and salami. Very good.

It has been some time I had a sweet wine despite sweet wines being my favourite type of wine. I was not impressed with the Dr Loosen 2006 Riesling beerenauslese when I first had a taste of it but I discovered one bottle at home and opened it up. Time works miracles. Now it is very good with a strong riesling taste and the acid to match it. Excellent wine, it just needed two years of extra storage.

Dr Loosen against Juliusspital

Two sweet German wines. Both made from Riesling grapes but from different regions. The 2009 Riesling Auslese Juliusspital if from Würzburger Stein. It has a very delicate flavour. The sweetness of this wine is very light to the taste and it feels very fresh. Only 7.5% alcohol makes it very easy to drink. Despite the bottle being 500 ml it was consumed very quickly. As usual with the Franken wines the bottle is a Bocksbeutel. Not the normal wine bottle. The Dr. Loosen Riesling Beerenauslese is from Mosel and is 7.0%. This is the first time I have seen such a small winebottle, only 187 ml. This rich dessert wine is made from grapes afflicted with botrytis (noble rot). It has a light colour not as amber as they usually are. The smells is of nectarines. Has a taste of honey and is a bit intense. I think with a couple of more storage this will become even better. So which one is the best? I would prefer the Juliusspital for warm summer evenings while Dr. Loosen for autumn and spring.