Glenfarclas 17 year old

A couple I months I tried the Glenfarclas 12 year old but I have heard that older Glenfarclas is better. So this time I have tried the 17 year old. As the 12 year old it is uncoloured and is bottled at 43% ABV. The smell is of sherry, oak and some fruits. Very good smell that one can just smell for many minutes. The taste is of sherry, oak, dark chocolate with some sweetness. much better balance than the 12 year old. The after taste is of sherry and oak. It seem that Glenfarclas gets better with age, and luckily for us the prices are not so steep for their older whiskies. For the future I will have to try the 21 or 25 year old to see if they get better.

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.

Vermentino from Tuscany and a Grechetto from Umbria

Codice V is a wine from producer Mazzei and is made of 100% vermentino grapes. I have tasted the 2014 vintage earlier and now the 2015 vintage is in stores. The smell is very good and the taste is of citrus, tropical fruits and the wine is very aromatic with good acidity. I like this vintage. Good quality over the years.

A grape which I have only tasted once before is the Grechetto grape. I tasted it when I visited Umbria earlier this year (2016). Sitting on the street in beautiful Norcia everything that one drink will taste good. On a sadder note I hope that Norcia will be completely rebuilt after the devastating earthquake a few months ago. But back to wine. Grechetto wine is almost impossible to find in Sweden. However on a rock cruise I found a bottle of San Giovanni Della sala from 2014 from producer Castello Della Sala (Marchesi Antinori). It consists of 50% Grechetto, 25% Procanico and 25% Pinot blanc and Viogner. Grechetto is a grape an Italian grape variety grown mostly in the Umbria region while Procanico is a local Umbrian clone of the Trebbianio grape. So this wine is very much Umbrian. The grapes used in this wine were picked separately and also fermented separately. The first impression of the wine that it is fresh and vibrant. The taste is of apples, light citrus, melon, peach, grapefruit and some mineral. I like this wine a lot. I hope that the next time I go on a cruise that they still have this wine on the shelves.

Beautiful Norcia in the evening.

The hills and mountains of Umbria.

Lagrein wine from Alto Adige

Lagrein is a red wine grape from Alto Adige in Italy which is almost only grown there. This grape produces a very dark and full bodied wines. I have been fortunate to try two different wine from two different producers.

First is the Eisacktaler Kellerei Lagrein from 2011. It is made from 100% Lagrein grapes. The wine is very dark and there are some tannins. The after taste is long and the taste is of red berries, viols and liquorice. Alcohol level is 13%. An amazing wine which I hope I can get more bottles of in the future.

Kellerei Terlan is one of the biggest cooperatives in Alto Adige (South Tyrol). Their Gries Lagrein is produced in lagrein near Bolzano. The colour of this wine is very dark as usual for Lagrein wines. The smell if very nice, The taste is a bit lighter than I expected but with a complex taste of dark sherries, spicy and some sharpness. A very good wine.

Two wines made from the same grape but still different and both worth drinking.

Bruichladdich Islay barley

The distiller Bruichladdich on Islay an quite interesting distillery. They go for much locally made. With two new releases in Sweden Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2009 and Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008 they showcase their locally made whisky. For example the Islay Barley 2009 is made by barley from four different farms on Islay, Claggan, Cruach, Island and Mulindry farms. From what I understand Bruichladdich is looking into malting this barley at the distillery also. That means everything will be done at Islay for these whiskies in the future including the barley grown.
I like that Bruichladdich distillery goes for so much locally made.

White wine from Alsace and Umbria

I like white wine from the Alsace region in France. They are usually very good. A producer that I have tried some wine from is Cave de Turckheim. Now it is time for their Riesling from 2013 which is organically made. The smell is quite nice but for me the taste is lacking a bit. A bit to light for me with citrus notes. Not a Riesling I would buy again.

White wine from Umbria is not that common here in Sweden. I found a bottle Conte della Vipera from 2014 from producer Marchesi Antinori. This vintage contains 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillion. So it is international grape varieties in this bottle. The wineyards for this wine is at 250-350meters of height. The taste is of pears and grapefruit and is very nice. I like this wine.

Montefalco Sagrantino by Le Cimate

Montefalco is a lovely small town in Umbria, Italy, which I visited in April 2016. It is worth a visit for several reason. One is that the town has a great view over the plains in central Umbria.

Another is that the town has a lovely mediaeval feel with the small streets.

The reason that I went there is that Montefalco produces several different wines such as Sagrantino Montefalco and Rosso Montefalco.

All around Montefalco one can see wine producers and in the town there are several stores just selling wine from Montefalco. One producer is called Cantina Le Cimate and they produces several different wines and the one that I have found is a bottle of their Montefalco Sagrantino which is from the DOGC Montefalco Sagrantino. This wine is made of 100% Sagrantiono grapes and the wine must be aged for 30 months and at least 12 months is in oak barrels. For the Le Cimate Sagrantino wine it has been stored 24 months in barrels and 12 months in bottle before going for sale.
Sagrantino is a special grape is an Italian grape variety that almost is only grown in the Montefalco area. It is one of the grapes that has the highest tannic levels in the world. So when I was in Assissi in Umbria a waiter warned me that drinking Sagrantiono Montefalco was like eating a lemon.
The Le Cimate wine has an alcohol level of 15% alcohol and is of the vintage 2010. The colour is very dark, almost reddish blue. The smell is strong The taste is of black currants and some liquorice with some more dark berries. It has tannins but they are quite structured and together with strong food it is very good. But be warned, this is not an easy drinking wine. It need some food with the wine. After the food was finished I continued drinking the wine and one could feel the tannins in the mouth. An excellent and lovely wine but not for those who are looking for a light and easy drinking wine.