Friday 28 June 2013

TN : Finca Sophenia Reserve Malbec 2011, Tupungato, Mendoza, Uco Valley, Argentina





All of the grapes were hand-harvested in April 2011. The must underwent a twelve day cold maceration followed by fermentation and final skin maceration for ten days in stainless steel tanks at a temperature between 26 and 28 degrees. The wine spent one year in a combination of French and American oak. The name Finca Sophenia is a combination of both of the owner's daughters' names Sophia and Eugenia. The winemaker was Rogelio Rabino and consultant winemaker Matías Michelini. This wine received 91 points from The Wine Advocate.


 This wine was imported by Prime Wine Sweden AB.

Colour : Dark blackberry

Aroma : Blackcurrant, blackberry, toast, mint, violets, cedar

Taste : Blackcurrant, blackberry, cedar, herbs, violets, toast

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 99 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Finca Sophenia

TN : Tierra Alta Reserva Especial Pinot Noir 2011, Santa Camila, Casablanca Valley, Chile





This wine was imported by Otto Suenson and Co AB.

Colour : Red

Aroma : Spice, oak, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, rubber, herbs

Taste : Spice, strawberry, herbs, cherries, ginger

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 117 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Terra Noble

TN : Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Wairau Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand



Wither Hills was established in 1994. The winemaker was Ben Glover. The pH is 3.21 and residual sugar is 4.0 grammes per litre. This wine was sealed with a screwcap.


This wine was imported by WineWorld AB.


Colour : Pale straw

Aroma : Passionfruit, lemon, lime, gooseberry, leafy

Taste : Passionfruit, lemon, lime, leafy, gooseberry

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 129 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Wither Hills

Wednesday 26 June 2013

TN : Roodeberg Rosé 2012, KWV, Western Cape, South Africa


 This wine was sealed with a screwcap.


This wine was imported by Arvid Nordquist Vin Producent och Sprithandel.

 Colour : Bright pink/strawberry/copper

Aroma : Strawberry, raspberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant

Taste : Strawberry, raspberry, oranges, redcurrant

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 79 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : KWV

Saturday 22 June 2013

TN : Château Bichon Cassignols 2011, Marie et Jean-François Lespinasse, Graves, Bordeaux, France


This wine is a blend of 65% Semillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc.



This wine was imported by Hemberga Brunn AB.



Colour : Pale yellow

Aroma : Lemon, nuts, lemon pledge polish, herbs, green apples

Taste : Oaky, pear, lemon, creamy texture, herbs

Alcohol : 12%

Price : 119 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 4124

Mark : C

Website : Château Bichon Cassignols

Monday 17 June 2013

TN : Seña 2006, Aconcagua Valley, Chile



This wine is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot, 10% Carmenere and 6% Cabernet Franc. The pH is 3.57, the total acidity is 5.78 grammes per litre (tartaric acid), and the residual sugar is 2.18 grammes per litre.


The Cabernet Sauvignon was picked in the third and fourth weeks of April, the Merlot during the fourth week of March, the Petit Verdot on the fifth and seventeenth of April, the Cabernet Franc on the 31st of April, and the Carmenère on the 17th and 18th April 2006.



Colour : Dark red/blue hues

Aroma : Green peppers, raspberry, blackcurrant, liqourice, cedar, lead pencil, coffee, plums

Taste : Green peppers, raspberry, blackcurrant, coffee, cedar, tobacco, lead pencil, black pepper and liqourice on finish

Alcohol :  14.5%

Price : 519 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 75950

Mark : A

Website : Sena

Sunday 16 June 2013

TN : Loimer Terrassen Pinot Noir 2010, Weingut Loimer, Niederösterreich, Austria


 The grapes for this wine come from two sites. Firstly, the Kittmannsberg (50%) which consists of 11 year old vines on humus-loess soils at 250 metres above sea level facing East. Secondly, Hasel (50%) which consists of young and 20 year old vines planted on loess soils with medium-textured clay that are also facing East.

The grapes were harvested through careful hand-selection in mid-October. Fermentation took place in open tanks and wooden vats. This was followed by pressing approximately 14 days later. Then, after spending six months on yeast lees in small 300 and 500 litre barrels, the wine was transferred into large wooden barrels (1250 litres), where it remained for another 4 months before being bottled in September 2011. The residual sugar in this wine is 1.0 grammes per litre, and acidity is 4.9 grammes per litre. This wine was sealed with a glass stopper.

This wine was imported by Gullberg by Stockwine AB.


Colour : Red/raspberry

Aroma : Strawberry, herbs, spice, white pepper

Taste : Spice, white pepper, strawberry, raspberry, herbs, oak on finish

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 139 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 2875

Mark : C

Website :  Weingut Loimer

TN : Château Belgrave 2005, Vignobles Dourthe, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France



Originally a highly reputed hunting pavilion during the reign of Louis XIV, the expansion of the vineyards was particularly influenced by the Coutanceau family, whose name was first adopted for the estate's wines during the classification of Bordeaux wines carried out by Guillaume Lawton in 1815. The "Bellegrave" designation first appeared in 1845, when Bruno Devès, a negociant in Bordeaux, remodelled the estate, favouring vine growing on the finest gravel terroirs. He built residences, tank rooms and wineries, and had the existing residence constructed on the site of the original hunting pavilion. The wine was classified as a fifth growth in 1855, still bearing the name of Coutanceau, whilst the "Belgrave" name was only to be attributed at the beginning of the 20th century by Marcel Alibert, founder of the Syndicate of Crus Classés, and owner of the estate for almost thirty years. The link between wine and hunting explains the ferret depicted on the packaging of the wine, and also the name "Diane de Belgrave" given to its second wine launched to mark the 1987 vintage.



Château Belgrave is one of the oldest wines in the Médoc, situated in Saint-Laurent, bordering the Saint-Julien appellation, with just a stream separating the two. In 1855 it was classified as a fifth growth because of the exceptional quality of its deep gravel soils. The soils at Château Belgrave show remarkable diversity. The two hillocks, which rise to 23 and 26 metres, are made up of gravel and pebbles washed in thousands of years ago by the Garonne River, and which lie on a bed of clay. This type of soil is favourable to late-ripening grape varieties such as Cabernet and Petit-Verdot, which now cover 3% of the surface area following restructuring of the vineyard. There is less gravel towards the foot of the hillocks. At the base, the soil is a mixture of gravel and sand, which acts as an efficient filter, and clay outcrops, which are particularly adapted to the cultivation of Merlot.



This wine is a blend of 53% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot. The Merlot was harvested between September 26th and October 1st 2005, the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested between October 10th to the 14th 2005, and the Petit Verdot on October 5th 2005. The wine was bottled in June 2007.

This wine received 3 out 5 from Decanter magazine, 89 points from the Wine Advocate, 91 points from Wine Spectator

Colour : Dark red/blue hues

Aroma : Blackcurrant, plums, vanilla, cedar, herbs

Taste : Plums, raspberry, blackcurrant, tar, grainy tannins on finish, try again in one to two years

Alcohol : 13%

Mark : B-

Website : Vignobles Dourthe

TN : Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Dry Riesling 2012, Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia



The grapes for this wine come from the  Lodge Hill vineyard which is one of the highest in the Clare Valley at 480 metres above sea level and was planted in 1979 on ancient slate soils.


 This wine was sealed with a screwcap.


 This wine was imported by Vinunic AB.

Colour : Watery lemon

Aroma : Lime, minerals, pear, peach, lemon

Taste : Lime, minerals, lemon, pineapple, peach, zingy acidity

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 169 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 95383

Mark : C+

Website : Jim Barry Wines

Tuesday 11 June 2013

TN : Domäne Wachau Riesling Selection 2011, Wachau, Austria



This wine was sealed with a screwcap.


This wine was imported by Mondo Wine Sweden AB.


Colour : Pale lemon, green hues

Aroma : Peach, lemon, melon

Taste : Minerals, peach, lemon, bone dry, herbs, zingy acidic palate cleanser

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 79 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 4318

Mark : C+

Website : Domäne Wachau

Monday 10 June 2013

TN : Yalumba FDR1A Eden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2009, Yalumba, Eden Valley, South Australia, Australia


This Cabernet and Shiraz blend was first produced in 1974 and is known as Fine Dry Red 1A or FDR1A. The wine was aged for 13 months in French and Hungarian oak barrels which were hand-made in Yalumba's own cooperage.


This wine was imported by Vinunic AB.

Colour : Dark blackcurrant

Aroma : Blackcurrant, oak, tobacco, mint, herbs, spice

Taste : Tobacco, blackcurrant, oak, mint, black olives, liqourice on finish

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 295 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 99223

Mark : A-

Website : Yalumba

Sunday 9 June 2013

TN : Cono Sur Bicicleta Gewürztraminer 2012, Vina Cono Sur, Bio-Bio Valley, Chile


The vineyard soils consisted of minerals and red clay. The vineyard climate wass cold with temperatures rarely higher than 29 degrees. All of the grapes were hand-picked on March and April 2012. The wine was bottles in July 2012. The residual sugar is 7.2 grammes per litre, pH is 3.22, and the total acidity is 3.61 grammes per litre. This wine was sealed with a screwcap.


This wine was imported by Spendrups Bryggeri AB.


Colour : Pale straw

Aroma : Fruity, white flowers, roses, apricot, pears, spice, honey

Taste : White flowers, roses, spice, apricot, honey, pears, oily texture

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 70 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 6680

Mark : C+

Website : Vina Cono Sur

TN : Pear Tree White 2012, Bellingham Wines, Western Cape, South Africa



This wine is a blend of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Viognier, and 30% Chenin Blanc.



This wine was sealed with a screwcap. This wine was imported by Fondberg.



Colour : Pale lemon

Aroma : Green apples, pears, oranges, vanilla

Taste : Green apples, pears, vanilla, oak

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 79 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Bellingham Wines

TN : Rose et Or 2012, Château Minuty, Côtes de Provence, France



The grapes are grown on vineyards consisting of Mica schist soil with a south-westerly aspect.  The soil is mechanically worked (using plow) without using herbicides. The vines are trellised in double "guyot" with two arms titled to 30 degrees with two inclined eyes on every arm. Trellising is in two dimensions to a height of 1.70 metres. Manual disbudding helps to quantify the harvest by avoiding any green grape harvest. During phytosanitary treatments, no systemic products are used.



This wine was imported by Ward Wines AB.

Colour : Very pale copper, salmon

Aroma : Herbs, redcurrants, oranges

Taste : Bone dry, oranges, redcurrants, herbs, strawberry

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 189 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Château Minuty

TN : Catena Alta Historic Rows Chardonnay 2011, Bodega Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina



80% of the grapes used for this wine came from Adrianna vineyard and 20% from the Domingo vineyard.



This wine was imported by Vinunic AB.



Colour : Yellow, green hues

Aroma : Oak, herbs, pineapple, sweetcorn, butter, green apples

Taste : Pineapple, sweetcorn, oranges, green apples, butter, lemon

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 195 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 99109

Mark : B-

Website : Bodega Catena Zapata

TN : Pérez Cruz Pircas de Liguai Single Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Pérez Cruz, Maipo Valley, Chile



This wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaker was German Lyon.



This wine was imported by Terrific Wines AB.



Colour : Dark red, blue hues

Aroma : Blackcurrant, fruity, mint, oak, herbs, toast

Taste : Blackcurrant, mint, oak, herbs, milk chocolate, grippy tannic finish

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 169 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 99203

Mark : B-

Website :  Pérez Cruz

Sunday 2 June 2013

TN : Fox Creek Red Baron Shiraz 2011, Fox Creek Wines, McLaren Vale, Australia


 Nick Wiltshire was the viticulturist and Scott Zma was the winemaker. This wine was sealed with a screwcap.


 This wine was imported by Stellan Kramer AB.


Colour : Dark red

Aroma : Plums, coffee, burnt toast, cherries, blackberry, milk chocolate

Taste : Mint, liqourice, white pepper, coffee, coffee, and yet more coffee, blackberry, burnt wood

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 109 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 2194

Mark : D+

Website : Fox Creek Wines

TN : Monteagrelo Malbec 2009, Bressia, Mendoza, Argentina


 80% of this wine was matured in American and French oak for one and half years.



This wine was imported by Terrific Wines AB.



Colour : Dark blackcurrant

Aroma : Blueberry, soy sauce, violets, herbs, liqourice

Taste : Blueberry, plums, herbs, violets, liqourice on warm finish

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 149 SEK

Systembolaget Number : 95020

Mark : B+

Website : Bressia