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.

Cremant du Jura and Prosecco

Soon it is time for new year so let us try some sparkling wine. First up is is a Cremant du Jura from Jura in France. The name is Tissot-Maire Cuvee Lapiaz. It is an extra brut sparkling wine with and ABV of 12%. It is a non vintage wine. The taste is of citrus and some bready tones with a very little fruit. Not a long aftertaste. Simple but nice.

Next up is a Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore, which is a higher quality Prosecco. The producer i Ca'Val and it is a brut of vintage 2017. It is a light procecco with some bready tones with pears, citrus and some minerals. Very nice.

Isle of Jura distillery

The Isle of Jura distillery is situated on the island of Jura in the inner Hebrides in Scotland. The closest neighbour is the more famous island Islay. The distillery produces 2,2 million liters each year and to visit the island is quite hard. Jura releases several different whiskies but one is a package containing three bottles of 0,2l, consisting of one 10 year old Origin, one 16 year old Diurachs own and the heavily peated Prophecy of no age statement.

Juras standard bottling is the 10 year old Origin. The nose is of alcohol, fruit and oak. The taste is of fruit and oak while the aftertaste leaves a bit salty oily chilli. My impression of this whisky is that the taste is sharp and leaves a bit sour after taste and an almost metallic taste in my mouth. Tastes like a blended whisky. Not to my liking. There are better whiskies for me.

The Jura Prophecy is the heavily peated whisky produced by Isle of Jura. The smell is of smoke and some hints of lemon. The taste if only of smoke and so is the after taste. Very one dimensional, for people who only wants smoke in their whiskies. But I want more complex whiskies.

The sixteen year old bottling is called Diurachs own. For thoese who are interested Diurach is the Gaelic word for people of Jura. ´The nose is lemon and sherry. The taste is of Dark Chocolate, oak and lemon. The aftertaste is some alcohol. Better than the 10 year old but still lacking what I would expect from a 16 year old.

Macvin du Jura

Macvin du Jura is a strange wine. Mybe it cannot even be called wine since there is no fermentation involved but I call it wine anyway. Macvin du Jura is produced in the region of Jura in eastern France. It is produced by boiling down the grape juice to half and then fortfied with marc (wine brandy from France) and then finally stored in oak barrels. The macvin du Jura that I had the pleasure to taste is from the producer Chateau D´Arlay and has an alcohol level of 17%. The smell of the wine if very strong and the colour is lightly amber. I find it hard to describe the taste. If other sweet wines have been smooth and almost like a womans touch, this wine is more like a man shaking you and asking you to wake up. Such distinct flavours. Very nice and interesting. Got the tip for this wine from http://winevirtuosity.com/. Thank you.