Thursday, February 17, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

Back to Colares

A rare good white made of Arinto and Malvasia
I just experienced a recent low tide in the wine rack, but nothing is so bad that its not good. Low tide is when you discover all the leftover bottles saved for yet another occasion.
I have kept one bottle in particular which I have held high expectations– a white wine bought directly in the small cooperative in Colares. I seem to recall that the wine was made out of a tiny production counting only 3600bottles. Grapes are wonderfully old traditional’s: Arinto and Malvasia, an equal mix of both.
Bq with notes of lemon, butter, pinapple and some nutty background. The taste is almost two-phased, fresh and fruit driven on top and with a more fat and nutty basis. Its surprisingly smooth, I did not expect such international taste in the smoothness. Again, a great surprise. Locally bought, 90P

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Mexicansk Vin...

Bagetikken af L.A. Cetto
Mexikansk vin..men vi er lige akkurat krøbet over på den anden side af den amerikanske grænse, og med lidt fantasi er der sikkert stadig skilte med tilbud og løfter om et forjættet land i begge retninger af vejen.

Nuvel vi er Mexico's sandede jorde, og med L. A. Cetto kan man lægge et helt nyt vinland til sit smags-CV, og et helt nyt land som sjældent  repræsenteres i Danmark. Her laves der rødvin med C. sauvignon, som lægges på nye fade i 14  måneder, og som hviler på flaske i tre år. Når vi i dag skriver 2011, giver det ok mening med en flaskepost fra LA Cetto fra 2005.

L. A. Cetto 2005
Tung bq med mørke røde bær, tobaksblade, læder, mint, tørt hø. Lidt støv/kridt på toppen.
Hænger ok sammen. Overraskende let krop, lidt oxideret, men tung bouquet, og det er jo et charmerende træk. Ikke den tunge (solede) ørkenvin man kunne have frygtet, men dog heller ikke vin man husker, ...lige udover landet. 87P

Monday, February 7, 2011

Hail the Iberian Diversity

Bastardo from Duero

Bastardo is an old and traditional Portuguese grape which has lost is value among wine growers. The grapes was greatly favoured before the phylloxera disaster, yet it is still found in little quantities of the mixed plantations in the Dao and Duero region.  Its best described as an early ripening, low acidity and with high sugar content. Hence the grape is ideal for Tawny Port. It is also grown in small quantities on Madeira. Today it is reinveted in a few experimental vineyards (Mayson 2003).

Niepoort Projectos Bastardo 2008 (bottle, 1256 out of 1335)
Pale color in glass. Bouquet of red cherries, leather, pine wood. Very harmonic and velvet smooth, almost internationally designed smooth! Aftertaste of pebber.  89P

R. Mayson 2003. The wines and vineyards of Portugal. Mitchell Beazley, pp 1-354