Sparkling wines

Riesling Sekt with honey and stone fruit

Lämna en kommentar

Delicious yellow stone fruit, honeydew melon, minerals and moist earth combined with lingering bubbels – an organic sparkling Sekt from the Mosel producer Stafetter Hof in Germany, vintage 2019.

Sekt is a German word for Sparkling wine, and this wine is produced in the same way as Champagne through the traditional method. This means that the bubbles are created in a second fermentation in each bottle, creating very integrated mousse and the wine is then left on its lees after the second fermentation (in this case at least 9 months).

On the nose I get elegant hints of honey, yellow stone fruit and melon as well as moist earth and some automatic toasty notes. On the palate I get brisk acidity and on top of the aromas also notes of mirabelle plum and peach rounded off with mineral impressions. It has a long finish and a balanced rounded body with fruit concentration matching the high acidity level. Slightly sweet finish in the Brut style, meaning a maximum of 12 g/l – for this wine the sweetness is 9,2 g/l. The alcohol level is 12,5 % abv.

The Mosel producer Stafetter Hof Winery in Kröv has produced wine since 862, so the tradition goes a long way back! Now they are very involved in sustainability issues and the biodiversity in their soils and vineyards. They can already produce 80% of the energy they need and plan to buy sheep to integrate in their soils management, among other things.

This wine, with its integrated mousse combined with its honey and steely notes is very pleasant both on the nose and the palate – so it gets 92 points! In Sweden it can be bought at Systembolaget at the price of 242 SEK, and the nr is 73484.

This Riesling Sekt, with concentrated fruit notes and its elegant high acidity goes very well with many food dishes. Try it with leak cream soup, fish fillet with creamy sauce or veal ragout – as well as creamy cheeses and salads with cheese and herbs!

Spanish red wines, Uncategorized

Smooth raspberries and earth from Terra Alta

Lämna en kommentar

From the southern part of Catalunya in Spain called Terra Alta I try the Interstellar Organic Garnacha 2022 from the producer Herència Altès. This wine gets 79 points (Good wine). The price at Systembolaget is 101 SEK, and the nr 20065.

De Haan Altés was founded in 2010 by Nuria Alte and Rafael de Haan, and after having bought grapes they bought the vineyard La Serra and started their own winery in 2013.

This wine is made from the black grape variety Garnacha (which is called Grenache in France). The wine has a medium light ruby colour, and on the nose I sense fruity raspberries, strawberries, cherries, bay leaf as well as earthy notes and medium intense notes of oak like cloves and vanilla. On the palate the wine shows smooth raspberry and cherry notes, paired with spice, vanilla and chocolate.

This wine is dry and has a medium (+) acidity level and a high alcohol level of 14,5 % abv, however the tannins are medium and smooth. The flavors are not very pronounced and the body is medium, so all in all the wine feels fruity and fresh with a medium light finish.

The wine has been matured for 4 months in large Austrian oak barrels, and its smooth texture, balanced acidity and fruity red flavors makes it a good wine to match with lighter meat dishes, such as grilled pork chops with creamy herb sauce or roasted lamb with oven-baked potatoes. Also good with salads with cheese or similar vegetarian dishes.

It is best served at 16-18°C, and is best to drink now and will not improve with bottle-ageing. Surprisingly good though at this price-level!

French red wines

Blackcurrants and herbs from the Loire Valley

Lämna en kommentar

From the Domaine des Hauts Baigneux in the Loire Valley in France, we try a fruity red wine made from the grape variety Cabernet Franc in 2022. The wine is called So Franc, it is organic and its number is 93036 at Systembolaget in Sweden (price 179 SEK).

The old friends Nicolas Grosbois (Domaine Grosbois) and Phillipe Mesnier decided in 2013 to buy 12 hectares of vineyards in Azay-le-Rideau together, east of Chinon. They began growing all the vines organically and with an ambitious project to reintroduce the original wines of Azay-le-Rideau. Traditionally, Azay-le-Rideau is known for white wines made from chenin blanc and rosé wines made from grolleau and gamay. Most of the vineyards are located in Azay-le-Rideau in the small area of ”Hauts Baigneux” which has given the domaine its name. The wines are produced without added yeast and the vinification takes place with minimal intervention. Natural and terroir-driven wines!

On the nose we find a fruity and open aroma of blackcurrants, raspberries, blueberries and fresh herbs. On the palate the wine is dry and has a medium-bodied taste with high acidity, smooth tannin structure, concentrated blackcurrants with hints of herbs and a good length with well-defined aromas.

This wine is very price worthy, and is best served at around 16°C with vegetarian or light meat dishes, preferably cold cut and well-aged cheeses. I give it 88 points.

Sparkling wines

Portuguese rosé Pet Nat with herbal notes

Lämna en kommentar

Portugal is a fantastic wine country, producing everything from light white frizzy wines to powerful Port wines. Often the grape varieties used are indigenous grapes, that many people do not recognize so well. We have tried Aphros Phaunus Pet Nat Rosé 2021, with nr 94229 at Swedish Systembolaget and at the price 235 SEK.

This sparkling wine, made in the traditional style called Méthode ancestral or Pétillant Naturel – Pet Nat, comes from the northwestern district in Minho called Vinho Verde. It is made from 50% Alvarelhão and 50% Vinhão. The production method means that partly fermented must is put into bottles and the remaining sugar is converted into alcohol and CO2 , providing the effervescence in the bottle (no extra addition of yeast and sugar). The residual sugar in this wine was 12 g/l when it was bottled, and it was kept on the lees for three months. The final alcohol level is 11 % abv, and the wine has a nice effervescence and is dry.

The producer is Adega Aphros Wine, who was started in 2002 by Vasco Croft and the vineyards are kept according to biodynamic principles.

The wine has a pale pink-orange colour, with a fine mousse. On the nose there are notes of roses, red apples, peach, blood orange and wild strawberries. On the palate we also find herbal and mineral notes, fresh high acidity and with a well-balanced and salty finish.

We find this rosé very pleasant and easy to pair with buffets, salads, fish, light meat dishes as well as Asian food! It is also very nice as an apéritif and well worth its price – we give this interesting Portuguese rosé Pet Nat 89 points!

Italian red wines

Fruity Negroamaro from Puglia

Lämna en kommentar

From Salento at the Southern end of Puglia in Italy we find this fruity organic wine called Niuru Maru L’Archetipo. It is made from the black grape variety Negroamaro, which means dark and bitter and plays the main role in many wines from the region.. It has a fresh acidity combined with smooth but perceptible tannins, and is a well-balanced wine that is best served at around 16°C with lamb or beef dishes for example.

On the nose is is fruity and spicy with hints of dark cherries, wild raspberries, plums, licorice, violets and cinnamon. On the palate we also sense a fruity taste with hints of dark cherries, plums, blueberries, chocolate, wild raspberries and violets. The alcohol level is 13,5 % abv.

L’Archetipo is run by the Dibenedetto family, who began to convert to organic farming already in the 1980s. Since 2000, the vineyards have been managed according to biodynamic principles. Today, the company is run by Francesco and his wife Annamaria and their four children. They work exclusively with local grape varieties such as Negroamaro and Verdeca.

The grapes were hand-picked in mid-October. Only yeast strains naturally present on the grapes were used. After 20-30 days, the skins were separated from the wine. The wine was then stored for six months in steel tanks. The wine was then drawn into large oak barrels and aged in the oak barrels for about three months. After this the wine was bottled and rested for another three months in bottle at the producer’s location before sale. No filtering has been performed.

We find this wine well-balanced and well worth its price (169 SEK at Systembolaget), it is very easy to combine with many different types of food thanks to its fresh acidity and texture. We give it 88 points!

Natural wines

Orange natural Catarratto with spicy fruitiness

Lämna en kommentar

Amber One Catarratto 2022 by Rallo SpA is a fruity orange wine from Sicily, the large island at the toe of Italy. The local white grape variety Catarratto is here made in a natural wine style with an orange slightly unclear colour. Sicily has a warm Mediterranean climate and a very long wine history, going back to the old Greek settlements there. Now Catarratto and the black grape variety Nero d’Avola are the the two most planted grape varieties.

Catarratto is a high yielding variety, giving wines with medium to high acidity and lemon and herbal notes. This wine, being natural in style, has been macerating with its skins – thereby creating the orange colour. This also adds a slight astringency and a light level of tannins, normally found in red wines which also macerate with the skins adding colour and tannins.

On the nose we find spice with hints of blossom, winter apples, straw, apricot and orange. The wine is dry and has medium (+) acidity and medium body. The alcohol level is 13 % abv. On the palate we find similar slightly spicy notes as on the nose, with slight astringency, hints of winter apples, dried herbs, flowers, apricot and orange peel.

This is a pleasant and well-balanced natural orange wine, with medium length and a texture that makes it very nice to pair with both vegetarian dishes, light meat dishes and poultry. We give it 81 points, and the price in Sweden at Systembolaget is 128 kr and the nr is 78514.

Georgian white wine

Georgian qvevri matured natural wine

Lämna en kommentar

This fresh natural wine comes from the Kakheti region in the South Eastern part of Georgia, which is the most important wine region in the country. It is made from the local white grape variety Rkatsiteli, and the producer is Askaneli Brother Ltd which has produced wine since the 19th century.

The last couple of years they have started to ferment and mature some wines in qvevri, which is traditional clay vessels. In Georgia these kind of vessels have been used for 8 000 years, and in order not to break the vessels too easily they eventually started to be buried in the soil. This also had the great advantage of helping to keep a cooler temperature during fermentation and maturation.

This wine is labelled as a natural wine by the producer, and has been fermented and macerated with the skins for six months in the qvevri. The color is golden, and on the nose we get yellow pear, quince, apricot, melon and spice.

On the palate there is orange peel notes, combined with apricot, spice, nuts and honey and it has medium acidity and medium body. It is well-balanced, with some tannins from the skin maceration – adding texture and length.

This is a fresh and savoury style of natural wine, well worth its price! It gets 83 points, and the number at Systembolaget is 2195. Since it is well-balanced with savoury notes and some texture, it is easy to combine with food and dishes made of fish and lighter meat as well as many vegetarian dishes.

Sparkling wines

Organic Champagne Premier Cru with superb chalky freshness

Lämna en kommentar

Since 8 generations the Larmandier family has been cultivating vines in the heart of the region of Côte des Blancs in Champagne, France. The sparkling wine that I tasted is the Larmandier-Bernier Longitude Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs, non-vintage (nr 91313 Systembolaget) which has a both crisp orchard fruitiness, brioche with fabulous mineral finish.

The appellation of Champagne is situated in the north-eastern part of France, just south of the 50th parallel, with a cool continental climate. This makes it more vulnerable to problems like fungal disease, meaning that organic viticulture can be more difficult. However, already in 1992 Pierre Larmandier abandoned herbicides, and since 1999 Biodynamic viticulture is used on the entire estate as well as indigenous yeasts for the fermentations.

“Longitude” is made of 100 % Chardonnay, and gets its name from the fact that the Chardonnay grapes are grown on the Côte des Blancs: Vertus, Oger, Avize, Cramant, which form a line close to the 4th meridian. This non-vintage cuvée also contains 40% of wines coming from the perpetual reserve of reserve wines, begun in 2004. This adds fantastic complexity to the palate, with notes of citrus, pastry cream, crisp plum fruit, nuts and freshly baked bread. It has a long salty mineral finish, and the dosage is only 3 g/l giving a pure freshness and the label of ”extra brut”. It has a vibrant acidity and the mousse is exquisitely long-lasting.

The base wines are matured in wood and on the natural lees, with no filtering – adding texture and complexity. Then the blending and tirage takes place, according to the traditional method of producing sparkling wine. This means that the second fermentation takes place in the bottles, which are resting in the cool cellars for at least two more years. Then each bottle is disgorged by hand.

For me this is a pure and terroir-driven Champagne, ready to really enjoy now but it could also be kept for some years to show more nutty and nougat flavors. I truly enjoy this Champagne, which is perfect to serve as it is or with cheese, salads, seafood, fish and lighter meat dishes! It gets 95 points!

Austrian red wines

Austrian Meinklang with explosive red fruit

Lämna en kommentar

The black grape variety Pinot noir is one of the grape varieties that has been cultivated the longest by man, probably already around 2,000 years ago. Even though it is a sensitive grape it has become more and more popular in recent decades, and here is a very fruity and explosive example from Meinklang, run by the Michlits family and located in Burgenland by the shallow Neusiedlersee . Just over 2,000 hours of sunshine a year allow blue grape varieties such as pinot noir, zweigelt, and blaufränkisch to ripen to perfection. The mineral-rich volcanic soils are also ideal for the vines. The property is certified for organic cultivation, and the family also has livestock, orchards and other crops to create diversity. The family’s holdings extend into Hungary, so Meinklang has both Austrian and Hungarian wines in its repertoire.

This pinot noir is produced with minimal intervention, which means, among other things, careful use of sulphur and storage in used barrels so as not to affect the wine too much. The result is a nose full of fruity, slightly perfumed scents , slightly white peppery hints and nice vegetal notes with lots of wild raspberries, lavender, cherries, strawberries and herbs.

On the palate, there is crisp acidity balanced with fruity flavors with hints of wild raspberries, fresh herbs, cherries, strawberries and violets. The wine is nuanced and has an elegant finish which is very fruity. The wine can be stored well for up to three years, but is already very enjoyable today.

Food? This fruity Pinot goes well with a variety of different styles. Dishes that are extra good matches, however, are tapas such as olives, tapenade, parmesan and ham, herb-baked chicken fillet in the oven, veal mince steaks, pasta carbonara and cheese and ham pie.

I really appreciate this natural Pinot Noir, for a price of 139 SEK at Systembolaget (nr 75093), and I give it 83 points.

Italian red wines

Savory Sangiovese from Marche

Lämna en kommentar

This red organic wine from the region of Marche, in the middle of Italy, is a very nice pairing to especially Italian food like pasta, pizza, cheeses with complex notes as well as most meat dishes… just think of any Italian dish you fancy 🙂

This wine is made from 100 % Sangiovese, which is the most planted grape variety in Italy, with slightly acidic fruity notes as well as herbs and spices. Il Segreto Sangiovese 2019 (nr 73684 at Swedish Systembolaget) is produced by Poggio Fiore in Marche, a region bordering the Adriatic Sea south of Emilia-Romagna.

It has a deep ruby color and on the nose you find black cherries, vanilla from oak, as well as chocolate and coffee. On the palate the balance between acidity and tannins is good, adding also herbal notes and cinnamon.

This wine is, as mentioned already, very easy to combine with food! One suggestion is Oven-roasted pork fillet with mushroom sauce. Try also Roast lamb with potatoes gratin! I give this wine 83 points since it is balanced with typical tasting notes and easy to combine with food dishes and well worth its price!