Spanish red wines

Beronia Rioja 2013 is ok but slightly sour

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In Spain, in the Rioja region (North, on the River Ebro) there are three main areas – Rioja Alta is the larger area and this is where Bodegas Beronia is situated. The winery was built in 1973, and the grape varieties found are Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and Viura. From the beginning the owners have had a big interest for quality and ecology.

The ecological Beronia Rioja 2013 is made of 100% Tempranillo, the typical Rioja grape variety. On the nose it has the typical dill and dark cherries, with some oak as well as spice.

On the palate the wine also expresses some typical Rioja features – like dark cherries, oak and vanilla – however the finish somehow is too sour and there is too much acidity lingering in the mouth when you have tasted it. This is the main reason why for me this is a wine that is OK – but does not get higher rating than 79 points. The alcohol level is 13,5%.

The food to combine this wine with would be especially lamb and red meat.

You can buy Beronia Rioja at Systembolaget in Sweden (nr 12126) at 94 SEK.

Beronia

Spanish red wines

Easy to drink Organic Azabache Rioja

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Spain also has a climate well suited for organic wines, and now I have tried the Azabache Rioja Crianza 2011 DOC (Denominación de Origen Calificada) – which can be bought at Systembolaget in Sweden for the price of 79 SEK (nr 2708). Considering both its price and its quite typical Rioja taste I give it 74 points!

In Rioja in Spain there have been vineyards for several thousand years, and after the phylloxera (vine pest) came to France in the 1870s many French wine growers moved southwards to Spain. Rioja was the first region to gain DOCa status, and lies on the river Ebro. There are 3 sub-regions, Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja. Viñedos de Aldeanueva is situated on the high slopes of the Mount Yerga. To qualify for the Crianza category in Spain, red wines must be aged for at least 24 months, of which 12 must be spent in small oak barrels for Rioja red wines.

This wine is made of 60% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha and 10% Graciano. Tempranillo is Spain’s premier black grape variety, and has thick skin and is natutally low in acidity. Garnacha is the Spanish name for Grenache. Graciano is starting to rise again, and is used especially in the finest wines in Rioja to add powerful black fruit aromas, acidity and tannins.

On the nose of this wine you find the so typical ’Rioja dill character’, as well as quite intense notes of dark cherries, spices and herbs. You can also sense the oak character (12 months in French and American oak barrels).

On the palate you sense dark cherries and plums, dill again, some spices, chocolate and oak. It has quite a long finish with mature fruit. The alcohol level is 14%.

This wine I would say is good with tasty meat dishes of lamb and pork, but also game and matured cheeses.

Well worth its price!! 🙂

azabache

Californian red wines

Organic Californian Cab good with grilled meat

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Wow, today was one of those days when we here in Sweden actually start believing in the Summer for real 🙂 And Summer time in Sweden absolutely means Grill time…

I would say that no matter WHAT you want to grill, meat or vegetarian, the special ’grill taste’ would go very well with this organic Californian Barra of Mendocino 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon! I give it 86 points on my tasting scale!

California has vineyards throughout most of its length, and the Mendocino County is situated north of Sonoma and Napa. The most widely planted black grape variety in California is the Cabernet Sauvignon. As a friend said recently – these wines really reflect some of the Californian sun 🙂 Charlie Barra decided, after having sold his wine to other wineries, to start his own wine production in 1997. Mr Barra truly believes in ecological wine making, without conventional chemicals.

This wine is made from 75 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 % Zinfandel and 7 % Petite Sirah. It can be bought at Systembolaget in Sweden for the price of 121 SEK (nr 22346).

On the nose you find the very typical Cab notes of dark cherries and blackcurrants and some herbaceousness. The wine has been aged in both French and American oak which you can sense (both toast, chocolate and vanilla).

On the palate you sense a wine with a balanced asperity with dark blackcurrants and dark chocolate as well as cedar and herbs. It has quite a long finish with distinct tannins.

This wine is best served with grilled dishes, as well as other tasteful dishes of red meat or lamb and game. Spicy sauces with creamy base will be great as well, and many creamy cheeses 🙂

Barra

Argentinian white wines

Spicy and fruity Viognier from Argentina

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It is so interesting to try different grape varieties, from different parts of the world – and this organic Viognier Zuccardi 2014 from Mendoza, Argentina, is a pleasant surprise for me – especially considering its price (87 SEK at Systembolaget in Sweden, nr 6059)! I give it 81 points!

When we tried this wine at our dinner, our friends found it very pleasant to drink – even as an aperitif without food. The grape variety Viognier is well-known from Northern Rhône in France, together with Marsanne and Rousanne. The Viognier grape has a very exotic note of apricot, spice and floral aromas, and a rich mouthfeel – as well as quite low acidity but high alcohol level.

The Mendoza province dominates winemaking in Argentina, and produces more than 70 % of the wine. It is even one of the largest winemaking regions of the world. The Zuccardi family is today Argentina’s largest family-owned wine growers, and try to experiment with new grape varieties since the 1960’s.

On the nose you find an intense note of white flowers and stone fruits like peach and apricots, and some honey. This wine has not been oaked, in order to retain its fresh fruitiness.

On the palate you can taste ripe stone fruits like apricots and green fruits like pear. You also feel the floral notes as well as spicy tones – in a well-balanced mix. The alcohol level is 13 %.

This wine is good on its own, but you can combine it with dishes of light meat, chicken dishes, pork dishes as well as fish dishes. Also sallads are fine – as well as many Asian dishes thanks to the spicy tones. It is perfect to drink now but not so good for ageing!

So just enjoy it 🙂

Mendoza

French white wines

Fresh white Bordeaux blend

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Yesterday at our dinner we had a small wine tasting, and among other wines we tried the Château Bichon Cassignols Graves 2014, a biological wine. Even though everyone did not agree on all the tasting details, most of us agreed that this is an easy-to-drink fruity and fresh experience! 🙂 I give it 82 points.

Graves is a wine district in Bordeaux, France, characterised by its gravel soils. It is situated south of Bordeaux. It is known both for its red and white wines, and the white wines are often blends of the grape varieties Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. This is the case for the  Château Bichon Cassignols 2014 with 65 % Sémillon and 35 % Sauvignon Blanc. The Sémillon grape has thin skin and is widely used for sweet wines since it has an affinity for noble rot (this is a dry wine however), and gives wines a golden colour and plenty of body. The Sauvignon Blanc grape is aromatic and gives herbacousness, grassy notes and elderflower aromas. It has high acidity.

On the nose you find citrus and green fruit, like apples, as well as herbs and som minerality. On the palate you sense the quite high acidity, and notes of citrus and green fruit, herbacousness and herbs typical for the Sauvignon Blanc – however not too intense given the blend, and there is a slight note of oak and vanilla. It is very crisp, and the alcohol level is 12 %.

Enjoy this wine at 10-12°C either on its own, or with tasty dishes of seafood, fish or light meat. You can buy it in Sweden at Systembolaget, ordinary assortment (nr 4124) for the price of 122 SEK.

And it is best enjoyed in the company of nice fiends 😉

Graves
Italian red wines

Typical Chianti worth its price

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There are quite a few Italian green wines to choose between – and I myself am fond of the typical slightly sour cherry taste from the Chianti wines. The Gratena Chianti Fattoria Di Gratin 2013 is a DOCG wine (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), and I find it well worth its 95 SEK at Systembolaget here in Sweden.

Chianti DOCG, from Tuscany in central Italy, is Italy’s most exported wine. The grape variety used is Sangiovese (but up to 20 % of other varieties are permitted in the blend). The Sangiovese grape is best known for its sour red cherry fruits, not so aromatic in its character, high in acidity and rather astringent tannins – and this Gratena Chianti shows much of this! I give it 81 points – especially considering its price! It also has quite a long finish with lots of fruits. There are also notes of oak, strawberries and a bit of chocolate. Alcohol 13,5 %.

This wine is best when combined with food with quite a lot of taste – like red meat of lamb dishes – since the tannins are rather astringent and need something in the food to digest it with. But pork or game dishes would also be very good, as well as a rich salmon dish.

Time to relax 🙂

Gratena

Italian red wines

Bio Fantini with notes of liquorice

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My aim is to try as many green wines as possible, to write my opinion about them and give them my rating. If you have a taste similar to mine, I hope that this could give you some guidance in your choice of quality green wines at good price. 🙂

I have now tried a bio Fantini Farnese 2013, which is a red IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) from the Abruzzo area in Italy. It is made from the black grape variety Sangiovese (the same used for Chianti).  Typical for this grape is that it is not as aromatic as Cabernet Sauvignon for instance, but high in acidity and with a typical slightly ’sour’ red cherry fruit character. It normally gives wines with rather astringent tannins and earthy aromas reminding of tea leaves.

This wine gets 85 points.  On the nose I sense red cherries, herbs and a bit of liquorice.

On the palate I taste cherries, slightly sour, with some herbs as well as liquorice. The acidity is quite high, and the tannins are there but not so astringent. The alcohol level is 12,5 %.

This wine is quite good, and the liquorice notes add something. I would say that it is worth its price (75 SEK at Systembolaget, nr 2344).

Combine this wine with food like barbecued pork and lamb dishes!

Enjoy 🙂

Fantini

French red wines

Powerful Pomerol provides pure pleasure :)

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…you either love the powerful aromatic black grape variety Cabernet Sauvignon, or you don’t….I myself really like it 🙂 However, since it is so very aromatic in its character I think that a blend with the ’softer’ grape variety Merlot giving the typical Bordeaux blend is often the best option to choose.

It is NOT easy to find green Bordeaux wines, basically since the humid weather makes green production more difficult. But the Château des Annereaux Lalande-de-Pomerol 2010 is the first year that this wine was ecologically certified. Lalande-de-Pomerol is situated on the East side of the Gironde river, north of Pomerol and St-Emilion. This vintage is made of Merlot 78%, Cabernet Franc 17% and Cabernet Sauvignon 5%. The alcohol level is 13,5 %.

On the nose you sense the typical Bordeaux Merlot/Cab with ripe blackcurrants, toast from oak, herbs and spices. Not too strong since the Cab level is not so high.

On the palate this wine has lots of integrated tannins and strong aromas, however well-balanced and velvety. You sense the oak in a well-blended way, as well as blackcurrants, black cherries, cedar, coffee and the typical herbaceous tones. It has good length and is good to drink now but can also be kept for a decade. I give it 90 points!

Concerning food, this wine would be great with most meat dishes, but also with a moussaka for instance. It is wonderful with Brie and also with Camembert cheeses!

The Château des Annereaux 2010 can be bought at Systembolaget (special order nr 74200) for the price of 179 SEK.

Skål!! 🙂

Pomerol

Italian white wines

Fresh Pinot Grigio completes chicken dishes

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From Veneto in Italy I have tried a white organic Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) wine called P. Lex, an IGT wine which expresses many typical Pinot Grigio characteristics.

On the nose you find very fresh fruity notes of stone fruit like peach and nectarine.

On the palate it has the style typical of north Italy, with early harvested grapes with lots of fruitiness, giving a light and fairly neutral character with medium acidity. I do taste peach, ripe pears, nectarine, and some spicy notes.

It is a white wine very easy to combine with dishes like chicken and fish, but it is also pleasant to drink on its own. I give it 81 points.

In Sweden you can find the P. Lex Pinot Grigio at Systembolaget, normal assortment, at the price 89 SEK (nr 74879).

I wish you a great Saturday night! 🙂

Pinot Grigio

Fortified wines

Sweet Saturday evening dessert with Muscat

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Wow, I just had another heavenly chocolate and wine experience 🙂 This time with a tasteful chocolate cake dessert and the marvellous French fortified white wine Domaine du Paparotiel Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. Ant this wine is ALSO ecological! It says on the bottle that it won ’Médaille d’Or in the Concours des Vins Orange 2014’ (the wine is from 2013).

This is a Vin doux naturel from the village of Beaumes-de Venise AC in Southern Rhône in France.  It is made from the Muscat grape, which is not one grape variety but a prolific family – and this specific one is called Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (the oldest member of the Muscat family – and one of the oldest grape varieties of the world!). Sweet wines have been made in the region form the 14th century. This grape gives a very complex spectrum of perfumed and aromatic notes! Unaged wines are full of both floral notes like rose and elderflower, as well as citrus aromas and grape and peach. It is totally adorable, according to me 🙂

On the palate you find the similar floral and perfumed sensation of elderflower and roses, as well as stone fruit like peach and nectarine and citrus fruit like grape. The alcohol level is 15 %.

When this wine is made the fermentation process is interrupted by adding high-strength grape spirit to make a strong sweet wine. Beaumes-de-Venise is situated next to Gigondas och Vacqueyras, and the village has existed since the Roman times and is mostly know for its sweet Muscat wines. The wines generally have a slightly lower level of residual sugar than other Muscat wines, resulting in a lighter style and are easier to combine with food.

Talking about food – apart from my own favourite chocolate dessert, this wine goes well with fois gras, blue cheeses of fruity desserts like strawberries and melon as well as many berries.

This wine gets 90 points from me – it is great to drink now but it also has potential for ageing, which would add flavours like honey, raisins and dried apricots I should believe.

To buy it in Sweden it must be specially ordered at Systembolaget, and one bottle of 375 ml costs 99 SEK.

Have a totally enjoyable Saturday evening! 🙂

muscat