Thursday, 22 January 2015
Friday, 26 July 2013
Domaine Mas de la Dame, Baux de Provence, France, July 2013
I was at Domaine Mas de la Dame near Saint Remy de Provence last week to purchase some wine and took these photos :
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 19:40 0 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Domaine du Bagnol, Cassis, Provence, France, July 2013
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 23:14 1 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Friday, 10 August 2012
Weingut Wieninger, Stammersdorf, Vienna, Austria, July 12th 2012
This July I visited Weingut Wieninger at their, old and new, winery in Stammersdorf.
We were given a tasting of a number of wines by Bettina Koller who is in charge of export, marketing and sales. All of the wines were good to excellent. There wasn't a single wine that I wouldn't want to drink. Now, from the 2011 vintage, all of their wines are biodymanic Bettina stated that they export around 30% of their wines and aim for the quality end of the market with placings in high-end restaurants.
- Wieninger Prickelnd Cuvee Katharina Rose Sekt 2008, 16,00 Euro, Mark : C+
- Wiener Gemischter Satz 2011, 8,00 Euro, Mark : B-
- Nussberg Alte Reben 2011, 17,20 Euro, Mark : B+
- Rosengartl Alte Reben 2011, 21,50 Euro, Mark : A
- Riesling Nussberg 2011, 14,50 Euro, Mark : A
- Chardonnay Grand Select 2009, 34,00 Euro, Mark : A
- Wiener Trilogie 2009, 11,50 Euro, Mark : B-
After the tasting we were met by Fritz Wieninger; the man behind the quality wine revival in Vienna. We had a tour of the current winery and the new winery, just up the road, which wasn't finished at the time of my visit but Fritz said that they are on schedule and should move in on the last week end at the end of August/beginning of September this year. Fritz, himself from Vienna, has been running the winery since 1987 when he took over from his parents.
Here are some pictures of the old winery :
This is the new winery :
Website : Weingut Wieninger
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 08:32 1 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Weingut Cobenzl, Vienna, Austra, July 16th 2012
I visited Weingut Cobenzl, located near Kahlenberg in Vienna, on Monday July 16th 2012. We were shown around by Cellar Master Georg Koenigsbauer. Weingut Cobenzl is owned by the city of Vienna since 1907 and controlled by the majoy though Georg pretty much gets to do what he wants. Georg studied at Klosterneuburg College. He tried to make great value fruity classy wines which he achieves. Currently they are producing bottles which they sell in supermarkets and direct at the winery. Georg was exceptionally nice and gave me a bottle of Weissburgunder Reisenberg 2007 as a gift as I was leaving.
Here are the wines I tried :
- Wiener Gemischter Satz Classic 2011, 12.5%, 5,20 Euro, Mark : B
- Gruener Veltliner Classic 2011, 12%, 4,90 Euro, Mark : B
- Gruener Veltliner Senator 2011, 13%, 7,90 Euro, Mark : B
- Gruener Veltliner Pfeffer 2011, 14%, 9,50 Euro, Mark : B
- Weissburgunder Reisenberg 2007, 14,5%, 21 Euro, Mark : A
- Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, 14%, 15 Euro, I tasted this after the Merlot and my palette was dead by this time
- Merlot 2009, fruity and oaky, 15%, 15 Euro, Mark : C+
Website : Weingut Cobenzl
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 20:50 0 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Domaine des Bossons Visit July 2011, Peissy, Geneva, Switzerland
On July 18th 2011, we took the train from Geneva Cornavin to Satigny. Laure Leyvraz picked up from the station and took us to the Domaine des Bossons winery. The winery has 29 hectares of vineyard and grows 15 different grape varieties. The domaine is owned by Eric Leyvraz who we met briefly. His daughters, Laure and Valerie, are now involved in the business and will eventually take over. Eric inherited the domaine from his grandfather, Albert Desbaillets in 1971.
The domaine has the same winemaker as Cave & Domaine Les Perries, Sebastien Schwarz.
The estate was organic from 1995 to 2006 but the estate gave up from 2007 onwards due to ideological reasons.
In addition to the Sauvignon Gris 2010 and the Le Vieux Clocher Fut 2009 (see separate blogposts) , I particularly liked the Gamaret.
Website : Domaine des Bossons
Blogpost : Sauvignon Gris 2010
Blogpost : Le Vieux Clocher Fut 2009
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 07:59 0 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Cave & Domaine Les Perrieres Visit July 2011, Peissy, Geneva, Switzerland
We visited Cave & Domaine Les Perrieres on July 14th 2011. We took the train from Geneva to Satigny and were picked up from the station and driven to the winery in the company van. The winery and estates have been owned by the Rochaix family for nearly 200 years and present day, eight generation, owner Bernard Rochaix came out to greet us when we arrived. Today, the winery works 82 hectares of which 16 are owned by the domaine. The winemaker is Sebastien Schwarz.
We tried several wines of which we bought three (see separate blog posts). Of the others, my impressions were :
- Chasselas : Fruity glugger, Mark : C
- Aligote : Almonds, very dry yet fruity, Mark : C
- Gamaret : Rustic, fruity, smooth tannins, Mark : B-
- Muscat : Sweet, fruity, cutting acidity on a long finish
On the whole, the wines were very good and exceptional value for what seemed to be low prices.
Website : Cave & Domaine Les Perrieres
Blogpost : Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Blogpost : Viognier 2009
Blogpost : Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 22:22 0 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Friday, 6 February 2009
Weinbau und Heurigenschank Gsoels zum Berger
During January this year (2009), I managed to find the time during a short holiday to Vienna to go to the Grinzing district to spend a couple of evenings at the Gsoels zum Berger Heurigenschank (just think of it as a wine pub).
The Heurigen has been in business since 1713.
Wines I tried included :
- 2007 Grinzinger Gruener Veltliner Biodynamisch (3 Euro for 250 ml glass)
- 2006 Grinzinger Grauer Burgunder Biologisch (4 Euro for 250 ml glass)
- 2006 Grinzinger Roter Traminer Riede Nussberg (4 Euro for 250 ml glass)
Website : Gsoels zum Berger
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 06:45 0 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Chateau Giscours 18th July 2008
We visited Chateau Giscours on Friday 18th July, the first of our two chateaux visits. The 705 from Ravezies drops you right off at the bus stop outside the main gates to Giscours, 45 minutes from Bordeaux.
The inside of the main chateau is actually in need of some serious rennovation. The owner, Eric Albada Jelgersma, a dutchman, lives at Chateau Du Tertre, his other chateau in Bordeaux, when he stays in Bordeaux.
There are two wines produced, a Haut-Medoc, and the grand vin. The Haut Medoc is fermented in concrete tanks and the grand vin in stainless steel otherwise we were told that the same wienmaking procedures were used for both wines e.g malo in steel and then maturation in barrel. Both the wines, Haut-Medoc and Margauz appellations must be kept separate by law. The Haut-Medoc is harvested by machine whereas the grapes for the Margaux grand vin are hand-harvested usign 300-400 pickers.
The barrels are organised into rows of about 60 barrels. To rack each line of barrels takes about two days. This is for emptying all barrels into stainless steel tanks, cleaning the barrels, and then transferring the wine back into the barrels.
Some of the stainless steel tanks are actually located outside the main building which is extremely unusual for Bordeaux though this causes no actual problem due to temperature control. For bottling, a bottling line is hired in.
The grand vin is typically a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot.
We tasted two wines, the 2003 grand vin which was very spicy, fruity, and exotic tasting; it felt low in tannins and could be drunk now or aged. The other wine was a 2007 rose which was dry, fruity, and very enjoyable on a 30-plus degree afternoon; it was bottled in magnums.
Website : Chateau Giscours
Posted by ANDY CHEESE at 06:56 4 comments
Labels: WINERY VISIT