Demarie, Langhe Dolcetto and Nebbiolo

 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. For this tasting I have tasted two different grape varieties that is usually grown in the Langhe area of Piemonete, namely Dolcetto and Nebbiolo.

The first wine up is the Langhe Dolcetto 2020. This wine has been fermented in steel tanks and contains 100% Dolcetto. A very fruity wine with a taste of blackberry, red currants, and some plum and violet. Nice and easy drinking with some acidity. An everyday wine as I would call it.

The next wine is the Langhe Nebbiolo 2019 made of 100% Nebbiolo. This is quite a strong wine.  A lot of black currant, plum, sour cherry, leather and some coffe. A very good Nebbiolo.

 

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.

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.

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.

A batch of white wine from Italy

Some of these white wines I have tried before but there are some new vintages and it is interesting to see how wines change of the years and also how ones taste can change.

Mezzacorona in Trentino has a new vintage of the Chardonnay from 2017. It is a quite light Chardonnay with notes of apple and some grapefruit. A decent white wine but the 2015 vintage was better.

Torrebono has a Vernaccia di San Gimignano of the vintage 2018. In the taste I get citrus, almond and some pear. A nice light Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

The third white wine is the wine Monteoro from the producer Sella&Mosca. It consists of 100% Vermentino grapes. The vintage is 2017 and I tried this vintage one year ago. One more age of ageing has brought out honey in addition to the apple and grapefruit. Even white wines can gain complexity by being stored.

Fontanafredda Langhe Chardonnay with the vintage 2017 I have tried before and this one remains the same with apples, gooseberries, minerals and citrus.

The last wine is a Pinot Grigio from Santa Margherita. The vintage is 2018  and I get apples pear, citrus and some honey. A very nice Pinot Grigio.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Two white wines from Langhe

Langhe in Piemonte produces several good white wines, some based on local grape varieties and others on international varieties. This time I will focus on two white wines with international varieties.

First up is a favourite producer of mine called Fontanafredda, they are one of the biggest private producers in Langhe. The grape is Chardonnay and the vintage is 2017. The ABV is 12,5%. This wine a quite varied taste with some apples, gooseberries, minerals and some citrus. A good wine.

The last wine is a Riesling wine from producer Saracco also located in Langhe. The vintage is 2016 and the ABV is 13,5%. I get some apples, minerals and some citrus. A bit different from a German Riesling. Also a good wine.

Two red wines from Piemonte

Just because there are great Nebbiolo wine from Piemonte such as Barolo and Barbaresco doesn't mean that all Nebbiolo wines from Piemonte are great. Because if Nebbiolo are planted in the wrong parts and in the wrong soil then Nebbiolo wines can be quite tasteless. The producer Madonna Dell'Uva has the Nebbiolo wine of vintage 2015. The ABV is 13%. The taste is a bit sour with some black currants. This wine is lacking something.

Next wine is from producer Borgogno which is a big producer in Piemonte and their red wine Langhe Rosso is their first wine I had the chance to try from them. The vintage is 2016 and the ABV is 13%. It consists of the grapes Barbera, Dolcetto, Freisa and Merlot. I get a lot of red fruits on the nose. The taste is of cherries, red fruits and some spices. A very nice wine and goes with food very well as well as a stand alone wine.

Wine made of rare native grapes from northern Italy

Two regions in the north of Italy are Piemonte and the small neighbouring mountainous region of  Vallee D'Aoste. They both have a lot of grapes which are native of that region.

First out is the wine Marin from producer Fontanafredda in the Langhe area of Piemonte. 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. The wine Marin is fresh and clear and taste of honey, some citrus and some oak. A very good wine. Next time I will try to get a wine that only consists of Nascetta.

A regions that has a lot of naive grape is the small small mountainous region of  Vallee D'Aoste. The wine Torette superieur  from producer Grosjean. It consists of the rare grapes Petit Rogue, Furmin, Cornalin and Premetta. All native grapes of Vallee D'Aoste. This wine has a good strong taste with a long after taste, very good.

Finally summer and another batch of wines

Finally the sun arrived this summer and parts of the summer were saved. This time I have tried three Italian wines and a German wine.

The most interesting wine is the red wine Torrette Superior from Valle D'Aosta in Italy. It is the first time that I have been able to buy a wine from this region in Sweden. Valle D'Aosta is a region that has many local varieties of grapes of which many were close to extinction bur fortunately many of these grape veracities have been saved for example Fumin. The Torrette Superior is from producer Maurizio Fiorano Chateau Feuillet. It is made by the grape Petit Rogue which is only grown in Valle D'Aosta in Italy. It is not a heavy wine but a medium bodied wine with a taste of cherries and liquorice. Very good wine.

Next are the wine Coste Di Riavolo by producer San Fereolo whoch is from the Langhe DOC Bianco. This is a wite wine and since it is from 2010 I had high expectations from it. But I were dissapointed, a weak taste and not to my liking.

South Tyrol or Alto Adige as it is called in Italian makes very good white wines. A new producer for me is Peter Zemmer. I tasted the wine Chardonnay from 2010. this were better than the previous wine. Nice wine but I had better Chardonnays from Alto Adige.

I don't drink so much wine from Germany but when I see wine from Franken I usually try to buy a bottle. Producer Brennfleck has made a wine which is by the grape Silvaner and it is a dry one. It is from 2013 and the taste is of Peaches, hoey and spices. Very good wine.

Nebbiolo and Nero D'Avola, great red wine grapes

Nebbiolo is a red wine grape grown mostly in the Piedmont region where it is used to make Barolo and Barbaresco wine. But no such monster wines this time, just a Lange DOC wine from producer Fontanafredda. The wine is called Ebbio and is from 2013. The smell is nice and the taste is very subtle. Strong taste of viols and some cherries. A good drinking wine.

Nero D'Avola is a red wine grape mostly grown in Sicily. This grape makes good wine which I like. The wine Regieterre Nero D'Avola from 2012 by producer Musita is made from 100% nero D'Avola grapes. There is a sharpness in the taste and I can feel liquorice, black currants and cherries. A good wine and the third wine from producer Musita that I like.