A return to San Gimignano

I had the chance to try a couple of different wines. The white wine Vernaccia Di San Gimignano has became of one my favourites. This time I had the chance to try the producer Montendoli and a bottle from 2011. It has the characteristics of a Vernaccia but the aftertaste is not so much bitter almond as the other ones I have tried. Very good wine.

I usually prefer red wines from Italy than France and this time I have tried a bottle each from each country. First up is a Ripasso from Valpolicella by producer Castelforte. It has a taste of cherries and is not that strong, definatley not as complex as the Castelforte Amarone. Goes well with pasta.

Couvent des Jacobins Bourgogne Rouge is Louis Jadots standard Bourgogne red wine. It has a spice tasty but lacks something for me. Does it need a one or two more years of storage?

New Year is sparkling

Sparkling wines and new year go hand in hand and this year is no different. The first sparkling wine were a champagne, namely a Taittinger Millesime from 2004. I bought it five years ago and it was time to try it now. The bouquet was wonderful, a lot of floral notes. The taste were of strong notes of citrus, bread and apples. It had a very long lingering aftertaste. Excellent champagne.

The second sparkling wine of the evening were a South African sparkling wine. From producer Simonsig comes Kaapse Vonkel Brut from 2011. A first time for me. Very good wine. Complex taste with citrus and some almost smokiness in the aftertaste. Delightful, I hope I can taste it again soon. The grapes used in this were the same as used in Champagnes (Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.)

The evening finished with Cremant D'Alsace and a bottle of Kabir (Moscato di Pantelleria) from producer Donnafugata. The Kabir taste better now after a year of storage so will the last bottle taste better in one years time? Only time will tell.

Birthday celebrations with Rotari and two strong Italian reds

For birthday it is good to have good food and wine and this time the food consisted of three different parmesans, a four year old, a three year old and a Modena bianco 30+ months and two different Pecorino, one stored in a grotta. Extras were parma ham and three different salamis.

The wines served for this food delight were all Italians. The first wine served were a sparkling wine from Trentino made by producer Mezzacorona and it is an old Rotari from 1996 which were sboccatura in 2013. The taste is very good. Strong citrus notes with some apples followed by bread notes. Excellent wine and it is fun to taste an older Italian sparkling wine. I have to admit that this wine were all drank before the food as it was such an easy drinking.

The first wine together with the food were something new for me. A Brunello di Montalcino by producer Castiglion del Bosco from 2008. Very strong wine that goes very well together with the food. Tastes of cherries, dark berries with a hint of tobacco. Very interesting.

The next wine is an amarone, Castelforte Amarone della Valpolicella from 2007. Now this wine is very complex and also has very strong flavous and it also goes very well with the food. Wonderful wine. Both of these red wines need food or they will be to strong.

Eiswein and two Italians

I have a love for icewines but unfortunately they are hard to find and often very expensive due to the way they are produced. This time I had the the chance to try an icewine by weingut Krughof made from Reisling grapes from 2007. The smell as always is very good for a an icewine. The taste if of riesling, deep and mineralic. Unfortunately there is almost no aftertaste and leaves a very sugary feeling in my mouth, leaving me dissapointed.

Recently I have tried several different Italian sparkling wines. This time it is a Prosecco by producer Pizzolato. The taste is dry with just small taste of pear. Not the best one I have had but okay for its price.

The last wine of the day is Macrina. A wine by producer Garofoli and made from Verdicchio grapes from the region Marche in Italy or Verdicchio dei castelli Jesi. It is a very nice wine and it need some food to go with it. Sea food would have been the perfect accompaniment.

Only 12 euros or the second cheapest wine

I tend to avoid buying bag in box wines as I like to try out many different wines than drinking one wine. But sometime you are offered the chance to drink the second cheapest wine or 12 euro and good.

The wine 12 euro und gut is a white wine that cost 12 euro and is a decent drinking wine. Unfortunately no aftertaste but for that maybe I need to find one that cost 15 euro und sehr gut?

Donnafugata Tancredi and two other Italian wines

The wineproducer Donnafugata from Sicily makes an excellent passito wine from Pantelleria and that got me interested in Donnafugata. Unfortunately their wine has been hard to find in Sweden but finally I found their wine Tancredi for sale. Tancredi is a powerful red wine. It is from 2008 and the grapes used is a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero d'Avola and some other grapes. The alcohol content is around 13%. Has a very strong nose and the taste is of cacao and red cherries. This strong wine goes well with meats or flavourful pasta dishes. Will be interesting to taste the other wines from donnafugata if I can find them. Next time I will try to find one of their white dry wines.

When in Bologna I bought a bottle Chardonnay made by producer Cossentino in Sicily. It is from 2010 and the nose is of apples and some hints of herbs. The taste is very sharp and dry at first but the sharpness goes away and leaves almost an oxidised taste. Should it be like that or is it a defect? Will never know as I only have one bottle. But this wine would have worked very well with seafood which would have takes away some of the sharpness.

And finally I have tasted a bottle from Collis, an extra dry Prosecco.Works well as an apeteriff and the taste is dry with notes of apples.

La Galtiere Cuvee Prestige

The Normandy area in France produces some of the best ciders in the world and I saw that Systembolaget had gotten some new ciders from Normandy. At last a chance to try some new ones. The one I tasted is La Galotiere Cuvee Prestige  with an alcohol level of 5%. It is from the area Pays d'Auge which is also famous for the Camenbert cheeses. The smell is vcery clear and distinct. The apple flavours cames straight through. The taste is very sharp and is full of apples as the Normandy ciders are famous for. A bit of honey also I can feel in the taste. Very good and goes very well with pork. Highly recommended.