Amarone vs Taurausi

Amarone and Taurasui are two heavy hitters of red wine from Italy. Although Amarone is the most famous of them, while the Taurausi is not that well known.

Amarone is a red wine from Valpolicella in Italy that is made from partially dried grapes from grape varieties such as Corvina and Rondinella. It is very famous and popular in Sweden and is known to be very strong. The Amarone that i have tasted is from producer Cadis and has the vintage 2014. The ABV is 14,5%. It is a nice balanced Amarone. In the taste I get black currant, leather and some earthy notes with a nice aftertaste. Not as super strong as I thought it would be but it is a more balanced Amarone.

Taurasi is a red wine made from Aglianico grapes in the Campania region of Italy. It is not so famous. Taurasi wines must be aged for three years before being sold and of this time at least 12 months must be in oak. For the Taurasi from producer Feudi di San Gregori the it has been aged for 18 months in French barriques. I bought this bottle five years ago and the vintage is 2009. I remember that I thought it was a very strong wine suitable for ageing so it will be interesting to see how the wine has developed over the years. Still powerful but age has given it more complex flavours. Red fruits on the nose.  In the taste black currants, tobacco and some sour cherry. Feels like a mix beween a Brunello and a Sagrantino di Montefalco. Excellent. And it has been nice to follow this vintage over several years now.

Tasting A Taurasui from Feudi San Gregorio again

In September 2014 I tasted my last Taurasi from Feudi San Gregorio and at that time I bought several bottles and laid them in storage. Unfortunately the one I tasted were from 2008 while the one I bought some time later were from 2009. So how has the 2009 vintage aged? Lets try it but before some info about the Taurasi.

Taurasi is always made by 100% Aglianico grapes. The wine has matured in 18 months in medium-toasted French barriques and finally minimum nine months in the bottle before being sold.

The colour is very dark. In the nose I can feel vanilla and dark fruits. The taste is of dark cherries and liquorice. The tannins are good structured. When comparing it to the 2008 I think the two extra years of aging has softened the tannins a bit making this wine more elegant. An excellent wine. The last bottle that I will be stored for two more years before drinking.

From Campania to Tuscany

Mastroberardino is a famous producer in Campani. They are known for their red Taurasi wine and also for preserving ancient grapes. Finally I have had the chance to try their Taurasi wine called Radici from 2009. This wine is made of 100% Aglianico grapes and is from the Taurasi DOGC. The colour is very dark ruby. The smell is very strong. The taste is intense and very strong. Definately a food wine. Very good.

Further north in Tuscany the grape Vermentino is popular and it gives very good wines. I have tasted the wine Litorale by producer Val Delle Rose.  It is a very good Vermentino wine. Light but still fresh and excellent when served chilled.

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.

Two dessert wines and one strong Taurasi

I love dessert wines but over the last couple of years dry wines have dominated. The last couple of weeks I have had the chance to enjoy two very different dessert wines both from Italy. The first wine is a Marsala wine from Sicily and it is more than a dessert wine. It is from producer Florio and is called Terre Arse from 2000 with an alcohol level of 19%. It is not your normal fortified Marsala wine as it is quite powerful with a burned character. Interesting taste and the producer recommends it with Parmesan cheese or fish dishes or as a dessert wine. Worked very well as a dessert wine especially with chocolate ice cream. It is not sweet as the cheaper Marsala wine but quite dry taste. I find this wine to be very interesting, unfortunately good Marsala wines are hard to find in Sweden.

Next dessert wine is something I don't drink that much. Namely a sweet red wine from producer Azienda Agricola Villa Medici in the Veneto region. The wine is called La Valle Del Re and is from 2009. It is a passito wine with IGT Rosso Veneto with alcohol level of 14%. The colour is very deep red and the taste is sweet with dark cherries. It went down very well with chocolate. Definitely a wine to relax with. Hard to find information about this wine but I discovered that the grapes are Corvina 60% and Rondinella 40%.

The first Taurasi wine I had were good so now it was time to try another producer. It is from producer Terredora in the district of Campania in Italy from 2008. As it is a Taurasi, the grape is Aglianico. Compared to the earlier Taurasi wine this is very strong. The colour is ruby red and and the taste is of dark cherries, plums and cacao with some strong tannins. Definitely a wine for strong food such as roast meat or game. This wine is also called Taurasi Fatica Contadina Terredora. Yet another nice acquaintance. 

Taurasi and the Aglianico grape

I watched Youtube and saw an episode called Discover the wines of southern Italy. It is made by a television companyfrom Ontario Canada and it is very nice and informative. In this episode they go through the wines of southern Italy starting with Sicily and going up into Campania and Puglia.

The good thing about this series is that when they go through the different regions they take time to go through the grape specialties of each region. When talking about Campania the program talked about the grape aglianico which produce red wines of high quality. That gave me the inspiration to try it out.

Taurasi is a DOGC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) area in Campania where the red wines are made aglianico grape. For a normal Taurasi wine it has to be stored at least three years of which one year is in a wooden barrel. For the Taurasi wines I looked at were all from 2008 so they are stored even longer before being sold. It has a very good storage capability.

I got my hands on a Taurasi by producer Feudi Di San Gregorio from 2008. Here the wine had been stored in wooden barrels for 18 months before being bottled. Everything is written in Italian on the label which means it is not made for the Swedish import market. The smell is very nice, cherries and dark berries. The colour is dark almost ruby red and looks pleasing to the eye The taste of dark berrmies and liquorice and an aftertaste that stays in the mouth. A very rich wine with nice tannins and would taste even better if stored for a couple of more years. Definitely need food with this wine. Why not a lamb roast or a red wine risotto?

I will buy several more bottles of this wine for storage and also will try out some more of the other brands. Unfortunately only four at Systembolaget here in Sweden.