Planeta and Candido from southern Italy

Chardonnay is a grape that grown all over the world but producer Planeta in Sicily has been doing a Chardonnay that should be unmistakeably Sicilian. The vintage 2013 has a taste of apricots, citrus and some tropical fruit notes. Planeta continues to produce quality wine year after year.

Fiano is a grape grown in southern Italy, primarily in the Campania region. The wine Tenuta Marini is 100% made of Fiano by producer Candido of vintage 2014. The taste is very aromatic and taste is apple and apricots. A good wine.

Birthday and wine from Montefalco

For my birthday I always try to celebrate with good food and wine. This year I choose wine and food from Italy and especially Umbria. All the wine were from Umbria and from the town of Montefalco. The town Montefalco is famous for their Sagrantino ´grapes that are used in the Montefalco wine. Sagrantino is a grape that is indigenous to Umbria and has a very high tannic level. First up for the evening were the the Montefalco Rosso DOC wine Cocchino from producer Podere Castorani and the vintage 2006. The taste is of spices and richness with huge tannins that are well structured. A very good wine.
Next up were the Sagrantino Di Montefalco DOGC wine from producer Cantina Fratelli Pardi and the vintage 2011. This wine is made with 100% Sagrantino. Like the previous wine one can feel the tannins and in this wine they are even stronger but the tannins are very well structured and the taste goes very well together. One could always store this wine for several years. An excellent wine.
The last wine were the Sagrantino Di Montefalco DOGC passito wine from Cantina Fratelli Pardi from 2010. This passito wine is quite a rarity and is very hard to find outside of Umbria. This wine is spicy, sweet but still a bit tannic and is very interesting. A lovely passito wine that is a must if one can buy it.

And if you happen to be in Umbria. Take the chance to visit Montefalco as it is a lovely small medieval town.

Glendronach 12 year old original

Glendronach is a distillery famous for their whisky which has been stored in sherry casks. Their 12 year old has been stored in oak barrels that has been used to store PX sherry and Oloroso sherry. It is bottled at 43% ABV and is non chill filtered. The smell is of sherry, fruits and vanilla. The taste is of sherry, sweetness, fruits and green apples. The after taste lingers for a long time and the first impressions is of sherry and oak. With oak getting more dominant the more one taste. A good 12 year old whisky.

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.