TN : Chateau de Chantegrive 2004, Red, Graves, Grand Vin de Bordeaux, France

This wine comes from a 60 hectare vineyard. The soil is sand and pebbles over limestone and clay subsoil. The wine is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon all of which were hand-harvested. The average age of the vines is 25 years. Fermentation was in stainless steel vats and the wine was agwed for 18 months in barrels of which one third were new. Fining was done using egg whites.

Colour : Dark red, very slight browning at edges

Aroma : Plums, blackcurrant, leather, earthy

Taste : Plums, blackcurrant, leather, mineral, drying tannins on finish

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 130 SEK (375ml bottle)

Mark : C

Website : Chateau de Chantegrive

TN : Craggy Range Single Vineyard Riesling 2008, Glasnevin Gravels Vineyard, Waipara, New Zealand

This wine is very like a German Mosel Riesling minus the mineral content. The wine was sealed with a screwcap.



This wine was imported by Divine AB.



Colour : Pale lemon

Aroma : Floral, slight petrol notes, honey, oranges, lemons

Taste : Oranges, lemons, limes, honey, petrol, semi-dry, very fruity, long finish, slight ginger

Alcohol : 10%

Price : 169 SEK

Mark : A-

Website : Craggy Range Winery
Website : Divine AB

TN : Domaine Gerovassiliou Syrah 2005, Epanomi, Greece

This wine won a gold medal at the 2006 Concours Mondial in Brussels.





Colour : Blackberry

Aroma : Sandalwood, toast, dark fruits

Taste : Developed, toasty oak, blackberry, blueberry, talcum powder tannins on finish

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 229 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Domaine Gerovassiliou

TN : Domaine Gerovassiliou Viognier 2009, Epanomi, Greece

This wine won a gold medal in the 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards.



The grapes for this wine were fermented in new French oak barrels and matured on lees for six months.



Colour : Pale lemon

Aroma : Mandarin oranges, almond, herbs

Taste : Peach, pineapple, mandarin oranges, almonds, herbs

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 179 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Domaine Gerovassiliou

TN : Errazuriz Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2010, Central Valley, Chile

This wine is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec.



This wine was sealed with a screwcap.

Colour : Bright raspberry

Aroma : Strawberry, blackcurrant, melon

Taste : Strawberry, raspberry, melon, blackcurrant, grapefruit

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 69 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Vina Errazuriz

TN : Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Marlborough, New Zealand

Probably New Zealand's most famous wine. Cloudy Bay Vineyards was established in 1985 by Cape Mentelle Vineyards in Western Australia, and is today part of Estates & Wines. The winery takes its name from the bay at the eastern extremity of the Wairau Valley, which was named Cloudy Bay by Captain Cook on his voyage to New Zealand in 1770.



This wine was sealed with a screwcap.

Colour : Very pale straw

Aroma : Asparagus, lemon, passion fruit, gooseberry, peach

Taste : Gooseberry, blackcurrant, leafy, grassy, lemon

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 199 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Cloudy Bay Vineyards Ltd

TN : Robert Craig Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Napa Valley, California, USA

The 26 acre vineyard site is located at 1800 feet on the slopes of the Southwestern Mayacamus range and was planted in 1990. The vineyard soil is sandstone and blue slate.



This wine was imported by Primewine Sweden AB.

Colour : Blackcurrant, slight brown notes

Aroma : Blackcurrant, vanilla, cedar

Taste : Blackcurrant, blackberry, cedar, vanilla, dust tannic finish, good upfront fruit but became tired tasting after about 10 minutes in the glass

Alcohol : 14.9%

Price : 323 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Robert Craig Wine Cellars
Website : Primewine Sweden AB

TN : Catena Alta Malbec 2006, Bodega Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina

The grapes for this wine were sourced from small estate grown vineyards. The Angelica vineyard is at 2,850 feet elevation (10%), the La Piramide vineyard is at 3,100 feet elevation (6%), the Nicasia vineyard is at 3,870 feet elevation (30%), and the Adrianna vineyard is at 4,725 feet elevation (54%). This wine spent one and half years in French oak of which 70% was new. The total acidity is 5.57 grammes per litre and the pH is 3.63. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.



This wine was imported by VinUnic AB.

Colour : Deep purple

Aroma : Coffee, toasty oak, plums, herbs, cherry, blackberry

Taste : Coffee, toasty oak, blackberry, plums, herbs, tannic and taught, not giving much away currently, leave for 2 to 3 years and then try again

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 295 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Bodega Catena Zapata
Website : VinUnic AB

TN : Viu Manent El Olivar Alto Malbec 2007, Single Vineyard, Colchagua Valley, Chile

The grapes for this wine come from Malbec blocks 6 and 7 and Petit Verdot block 20 of the El Olivar Estate vineyard. This is a limited edition wine made from vines with an age of 7 years and planted at a density of 2,899 plants per hectare. All of the grapes were hand-harvested and the wine was fermented in small stainless steel tanks and then aged for 18 months in new French (93%) and American (7%) oak barrels. The wine was bottled on December 4th 2008 and 17,365 bottles were produced.



This wine received 90 points from Robert Parker's 2009 Wine Advocate.



Colour : Dark blackberry

Aroma : Blackberry, herbs, cherry, blueberry

Taste : Mineral, blackberry, violets, spicy on finish

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 229 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Viu Manent Winery

TN : Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2006, Adelaide Hills, Australia

Shaw and Smith was established in 1989 by cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith.



The grapes for this wine were sourced from the warmer, drier parts of the Adelaide Hills around Macclesfield and low yielding Shiraz from Balhannah, near the Shaw and Smith Winery. The soil structures in the region are shallow red/brown loam over schist and clay. The vines are planted to a high density of between 2700 to 5500 vines per hectare. All the vines are hand pruned and trained to have vertical shoot position canopies. The yields were restricted to 1.8 kg per vine and all the grapes were hand-picked. The wine was matured in new (1/3) and older French oak barriques for 14 months. The total acidity is 6.7 grammes per litre and the pH is 3.47.

This wine was sealed with a screwcap.



Colour : Dark blackberry

Aroma : Liqourice, blackberry, spice, black pepper, slightly meaty

Taste : Blackberry, blueberry, spice and black pepper on finish, slightly meaty

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 142 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Shaw and Smith

TN : Clos de l'Echo 2005, Couly-Dutheil, Chinon, Loire, France

Colour : Red, blue hues

Aroma : Blackcurrant, herbs, black pepper

Taste : Drying tannins on finish, herbs, fruity blackcurrant, black pepper on finish (leave 1-2 years for tannins to soften)

Alcohol : 15%

Price : 189 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Couly-Dutheil

Home Viticulture : Petit Verdot

I have invested in my second vine this year. Time to branch out into vinifera and I have purchased Petiti Verdot. I am not sure if it will survive the Swedish winter outside so this will be grown indoors on the window sill.



This is the Frankenthaler from last year.

TN : Sabanis Red Dry Wine, Central Greece

This wine is a blend of Cabernet, Agiorgitiko, and Syrah. Each variety was vinified separately. The Agiorgitiko underwent 8 days of maceration and the Cabernet 10 days. Malolactic fermentation and partial maturation was in French oak barrels for six months.



In 1980 Tasos Sampanis, a Mechanical Engineer, and his wife Elli, created in Ritsona, Avlida, the Sabanis winery. Their state-of-the-art winery, situated in the heart of the winemaking zone of Agios Ioannis, Avlida, is 15 km outside the city of Halkida. The climate is characterized as Mediterranean with cold winters, a warm summer and a long dry fall. The soil is of an average sand-argillaceous type. The vineyards are semi-mountainous, at an altitude of between 350 and 450 metres, and are cooled by the South Euboic Sea. The privately owned vineyards today amount to 28 acres and 15 more acres were added as of the end of 2007.

Colour : Red

Aroma : Pepper, oak, blueberry

Taste : White and black pepper, earthy, blueberry, spice, fruits of the forest, very peppery

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 195 SEK (Restaurant Samos, Tyresö, Sweden)

Mark : B-

Website : Sabanis Estate
Website : Restaurang Samos

TN : Asyrtiko 2008, White Dry Wine, Domaine Sigalas, Santorini, Greece

The grapes for this wine were grown on volcanic soils on the island of Santorini.

Domaine Sigalas was founded in 1991 by Paris Sigalas, Christos Markozane and Yiannis Toundas. Initially, the Sigalas winery was accommodated at the traditional winery of Paris Sigalas family. Later on in 1998, a new wine production, bottling and maturity unit was built and activated in Oia, the northern part of Santorini Island. Today, after constant investments on technology modernization and expansions the current productive structure is formed, which allows the elaboration and bottling of 200.000 bottles a year. The company cultivates 19 hectares of vineyards with local varieties and produces 200,000 bottles a year.

Colour : Yellow

Aroma : Almond, marzipan, lemon

Taste : Hazelnuts, marzipan, earthy, dirty, sharp lemon, minerals

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 149 SEK

Mark : C-

Website : Domaine Sigalas

TN : Viu Manent El Olivar Alto Syrah 2007, SIngle Vineyard, Colchagua Valley, Chile

This wine was "Highly Recommended" by Decanter magazine and received 90 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 2009.



The wine is a blend of 94% Syrah and 6% Petit Verdot. It was produced from Syrah blocks 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Petit Verdot block 20 of the El Olivar vineyard. The vines were seven years of age. All the grapes were hand-harvested and the must was fermented in small stainless steel tanks. The wine was then aged for 18 months in new French (93%) and American (7%) oak barrels. The wine was bottled on December 5th 2008 and 12,060 bottles were produced.



Colour : Dark red, blue hues

Aroma : Burnt toast, blackberry, herbs, coffee, milk chocolate

Taste : Toast, blackberry, herbs, plums, coffee, drying tannic finish; leave for another two to three years to see if the tannins calm down but still drinkable now

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 229 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Viu Manent Winery

TN : Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, California, USA

Colour : Red

Aroma : Blackcurrant, oak, vanilla, strawberry

Taste : Upfront rough lightly toasted oak, blackcurrant, vanilla, red berries, light, fruity

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 219 SEK (3 Litre Bag-in-Box)

Mark : C

Website : Beringer Vineyards

Book : The Wild Vine, Todd Kliman

This tells the story of the Norton grape and a look at the current status in the USA regarding Norton. The modern day story centres around Jenni McCloud of Chrysalis Vineyards who is portrayed as a Norton fanatic and champion. The book tells the story of how a bottle of Norton won a gold medal at a wine competition in Vienna in 1873 and then has almost vanished off the radar only to be promoted by Jenni and few other ecentric vintners.



I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of Norton but was disappointed to hear that the grape is still in obscurity in the USA and simply a curiosity. It is a niche grape variety and will always remain so.

I would recommend this book to anybody interested in the history of viticulture and enology in the USA.




Website : Chrysalis Vineyards

Book : In an Out of Africa ... in search of Gerard Depardieu

Francis Gimblett, The Wine Adventurer, tastes a Moroccan wine made by Gerard Depardieu and then travels to North Africa to try to find similar or better wines. He visits Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

This book is in two parts. The first is a travelogue about his exploits and mixes winery visits with colourful descriptions of the places he visits and episodes that happen whilst on route to these places. The second part of the book is a detailed description of each winery he visits and comes complete with tasting notes.



I found this book very entertaining and my only complaint is that there wasn't more of it.




Website : The Wine Adventurer

TN : Spinifex Esprit 2007, Barossa, Australia

Spinifex was founded in 2001 by Peter Schell and Magali Gely. This wine is a blend of 36% Shiraz, 26% Grenache, 25% Mataro, 7% Carignan, and 6% Cinsault.



This wine was imported by JPC Wines AB.

Colour : Dark red, blue hues

Aroma : Liqourice, spice, pepper, blackberry

Taste : Fruit bomb, liqourice, spice, pepper, blackberry, plums

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 269 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Spinifex Wines
Website : JPC Wines AB

TN : TH Pinot Noir 2008, Vina Undurraga, West Casablanca, Chile

TH stands for "Terroir Hunter". The grapes for this wine come from a 1.59 hectare North-facing hillside in Las Dichas at tha far South-Western end of the Casablanca Valley. Only 685 cases of this wine were produced. The grapes were grown in well-drained red clay loam over alterated granite subsoil, rich in quartz. 100% Davis 1 Pinot Noir clones were used. This wine was sealed with a screwcap.



Colour : Red

Aroma : Strawberry, spice, plums, oak

Taste : Red berries, oak, plums spice

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 149 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Vina Undurraga