TN : Rompicollo 2005, Poggio Al Tuffo, Maremma Tuscany Italy, IGT, Tomassi

Poggio al Tufo estate is located in Pitigliano, a very important Etruscan city in Maremma, a few Kilometres from Savana, Sorano and Saturnia and about 1,5 hour north or Rome. It has been owned by the Tommasi family since 1997.

There are 66 ha of vineyards, the soil has vulcanic origins, very rich of “tufo”, and is about 350 metres above sea level. The Rompicollo vineyard is 35ha.
After a very meticulous analysis of the soil, in 1998, 50 ha of the vineyards were replanted using a modern system with very high density ( 6.500 vines per ha. ) and with selected clones of traditional and international grape varieties.

The wine was bottles unfiltered. It is 60% Sangiovese and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for 10 days and the maturation was doen in 35hl barrels for about a year.

Colour : Plum, cassis

Aroma : Oak, blackcurrant

Taste : Oak, cherry, blackcurrant

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 95 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Tommasi Viticoltori

Vinunic Montly News June 2006

Vinunic have published their June 2006 monthly news Våra Viner.

Website : Vinunic Våra Viner June 2006

TN : Soldimela Vermentino 2006, Tenuta Moraia, Maremma, Tuscany, Italy

100% vermentino. This wine had 18 hours skin contact, which is presumably where it picked up the harsh bitter phenolics, and then was fermented in steel tanks.

Colour : Gold, yellow

Aroma : Apple, grapefruit

Taste : Stone fruits, apple, bitter finish

Alcohol : 12%

Price : 79 SEK

Mark : D

Website : Tenute Piccini

Pinot Noir NZ 2007

The presentations, in MP3 audio format, from the New Zealand Pinot Noir 2007 event are now available for download.

Website : Pinot Noir NZ 2007

TN : Erdener Herrenberg, Riesling Auslese, 1994, Dr Pauly-Bergweiler, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

A classic aged riesling showing good petroleum character. This wine was imported by PrimeWine AB; however there is no information on their (not updated) web site for this wine. There is no information available for this wine (or vineyard site) on the Dr Pauly-Bergweiler site also.

Colour : Lemon

Aroma : Petrol, lime

Taste : Petrol, lemon, sweet, golden syrup finish

Alcohol : 8%

Price : 99 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Primewine
Website : Dr Pauly-Bergweiler

TN : Redfin, Shiraz - Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, South Australia

A "critter" wine. This has what looks like a Perch on the label. It is imported by MondoWine Sweden AB. The grapes were sourced from Mclaren vale and is a blend of 65% Shiraz and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was stored for a short time in oak and then bottled unfiltered in November 2006. The winemaker was Stephen Pannell.

Colour : Dark blackcurrant, plum

Aroma : Oak, blackcurrant, slight oak

Taste : No tanins, hot finish, slight oak and pepper on finish, vanilla, blackcurrant, slight spicey note

Alcohol : 15%

Price : 67 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : MondoWine Sweden AB

TN : Susana Balbo, Malbec, 2005, Dominio del Plata, Mendoza, Argentina

This wine is 100% Malbec, grown at 1000 metres in the high desert district of Angrelo in Mendoza. It has spent 13 months in 80% new French oak and 20% second year American oak. It was bottles unfined and unfiltered. This wine is imported into Sweden by Wicked Wine thought there is no information about this wine on their website !.

Colour : Dark plum

Aroma : Herbs, red berries

Taste : Red and dark berries, herbs, slight oak, slight vinegar notes, thin, astringent and drying tanins

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 139 SEK

Mark : C-

Website : Dominio del Plata
Website : Wicked Wine

TN : Pinot Gris, 2006, Reserve, BestHeim, Alsace, France

This wine was sealed with a synthetic cork and was imported by Giertz Vinimport AB. All the grapes were handpicked.

Colour : Yellow/straw

Aroma : Spicy, mango, pineapple

Taste : Spice, dry, tropical fruits, ginger

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 49 SEK for 375ml bottle

Mark : C

Website : Bestheim
Website : Giertz Vinimport

TN : Le Coq Rouge, 2002, Vin de pays d'oc, Sacha Lichine, France

This wine was bottled by Sacha Lichine Vin Sans Frontieres.

Colour : Brown stewed fruits

Aroma : Earthy raspberry

Taste : Earthy finish, non existant tanins, red fruits

Alcohol : 12.5 %

Mark : C+

Price : 77 SEK

Website : Sacha Lichine

TN : Simi, Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, 2004, USA

This wine is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 1% each of Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Sirah, and Petit Verdot. It spent 13 months is French and American oak. One third of the French oak was new and nine percent of the American oak was new. Total acidity is 6.1 grammes per litre. The Ph is 3.69. The wine was releases in January 2007.

Simi winery was founded in 1876 by the Italian brothers Giuseppe and Pietro Simi.

The winemaker was Steve Reeder.

Colour : Dark Blackcurrant, blueish tones

Aroma : oak, blackcurrants

Taste : smooth, dark berries, slight coffee, oaky finish

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 199 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Simi Winery

VinUnic June 2007

VinUnic have their June 2007 newsletter available for download.

The Vergelegen 2005 Mill Race looks to be a bargain at 99 SEK.

Website : Våra Viner June 2007

Lay & Wheeler Great Burgundy Offer

Recently, I received a catalogue from Lay & Wheeler in the UK outlining their Burgundy offer. Basically they have over 200 wines from 12 vintages for sale, some with large discounts. All the wines are in bond and so can be bought and kept at Lay & Wheeler storage facilities for investment purposes and sold on later without having to pay any duty or VAT. The catalogue contains maps and descriptions of all the major areas of Burgundy and descriptions of the associated wines. The 1994 Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru looked nice and the "on offer" price is 1440 pounds a case. The offer closes on the 30th June. Now how would I get this imported into Sweden ?.

Website : Great Burgundy Offer

Dr Loosen and Vinunic

Christian Havervall of Vinunic told me that they have taken over as the importer, from Modern Wines, of Dr Loosen into Sweden and that they will be distributing the wines from next week. This only reenforces my opinion that Vinuc have the best portfolio of any importer in Sweden. He said that as they work with Chateau St Michelle that Vinunic also hopes to start importing Eroica Riesling into Sweden and that he hopes that Systembolaget will make a small purchase of Eroica to launch near the end of this year. He also hopes that Eroica should be available in restaurants.

Website : Vinunic

VDP Grosser Ring, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Riesling Tasting, 23 May 2007, Stockholm, Sweden

Last evening saw me visiting the Grosser Ring 2007 Riesling tasting held a the Swedish-German Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm. The vintage that was the focus was 2006. This was the second time that the Grosser Ring had exhibited in Sweden.

The Grosser Ring is an association of 29 wine producers dedicated to producing high quality Riesling and storing each parcel in separate fuder (1000 litre) barrels. It was founded in 1908 which is 99 years ago !. 20 members were present in Stockholm yesterday.

I got to talk to Ernst Loosen who was there representing his wines and he told me some interesting snippets of information which I will repeat here. Global warming isn't really affecting him. It is now very difficult to find people to work in the vineyards. Nobody wants to be known as a vineyard manager for instance (it is just not that socially acceptable). It is no problem to get a winemaker; everybody wants to be the star. Dr. Loosen usually get workers from Poland, for instance, to help with the harvets but Germany's employment laws are making this more and more difficult. The Eroica Riesling, from Washington state, will be available in Sweden this year. Ernst's first Oregon Pinot Noir will be bottled this year. Ernst flies over to the USA once a month to vist Oregon and Chateau St Michelle in Washington State. Ernst is now stating to put is "low-end" wines under screwcap; both the 2006 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett and 2006 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spaetlese were under screwcap. Ernst said that Brian Croser had shown him some 30 year-old Australian Rieslings that were bottled with screwcaps and were showing just fine. I found the 2006 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spaetlese to be better, to my taste, than the 2005; it had a more acidic finish, thus wasn't so cloying, and more delicate, not so rich. Ernst said that we just drink his wines young, the first two or three years, or older, after 10, if stored under perfect conditions though he claimed that wine cellars, particularly in the USA were too warm which meant that one could drink his wines after 5 or 6 years. He mentioned that he had a 1959 that was stored at friends under ground, very cold, and at 100% humidity that was as fresh as when it was bottled. Dr Loosen is only bottling Rieslings but at J L Wolf, which is run as completely separate business with a different team, they have all three Pinots and a Gewurztraminer.

The highlights for me were Dr. Loosen, Fritz Haag, and St Urbans-Hof. Wines that I didn't really enjoy were the feinherb style (I find the herbiness clashes with the sweetness) and the very high minerality that was found in some wines (especially those on show from Dr. H. Thanisch).

According the organisers, the Grosser Ring tasting will be back in Stockholm in May next year.

Website : Grosser Ring Tasting Programme
Website : Grosser Ring

TN : Canaletto, Nero d'Avola Merlot 2005, Winemaker's selection, IGT, Casa Girelli, Sicilia, Italy

This is a blend of Nero d'Avola and Merlot. The grapes come from southern Sicily between the towns of Gela and Vittoria. The vineyards are close to the sea and the soil is sandy and rich in minerals. The vines are trained using the Alberello Basso method. Yield is about 60 hl per hectare. All the grapes are handharvested in September. Each grape variety is vinified separately. In both cases grapes are de-stemmed, but not crushed, allowing some to remain intact, and selected yeasts (different yeast strains are used for each grape variety) are added. Maceration lasts approximately 10 days for the Nero d'Avola and 18-20 days for the Merlot. The must is fermented at 28-30°C, with remontage occurring at the beginning and "delestage" from 5% alcohol until fermentation is complete. Malolactic fermentation occurs in both wines immediately after primary fermentation, after which the two wines are blended together.

Colour : Dark plum

Aroma : Spicy, dark fruits

Taste : Spicy, red fruits, plums

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 62 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Casa Girelli

TN : Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spaetlese 2005, Dr Loosen, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

Wehlener Sonnenuhr (VAY-len-er ZON-en-ooer) means "The sundial of Wehlen". Wehlener Sonnenuhr is a precipitously steep and rocky vineyard. There is virtually no topsoil in Wehlen, only broken and weathered shards of the purest blue slate in the Mosel valley.

The wine is made by Dr Loosen and imported by Modern Wines Sweden.

Colour : Lemon

Aroma : Lime marmelade

Taste : Lemon, stone fruits, turkish delight overtones, minerals, long cloying finish, lacking acidity

Alcohol : 7.5%

Price : 184 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Dr Loosen
Website : Modern Wines Sweden

Wine Labelling US-Style

I was reading the March 2007 issue of Wines & Vines and came across an article discussing the contents of wines labeled as "American". Apparently, they can contain 25% of wine from other countries !. Vintage dated wines are also a bit "suspect". They can contain 15% of other vintages for wines with county and state AVAs !.

Source : The Un-American Appellation, page 8, Wines & Vines, March 2007
Website : Wines & Vines

Systembolaget Varunytt June 2006

The June 2006 edition of Varunytt detaling the new wines which will be available is now downloadable. The wines will be available in the Systembolaget monopoly shops from Friday June 1st.

Website : Varunytt June 2006

TN : Palazzo Simoncelli Sangiovese Merlot 2005, IGT, Umbria, Italy

This wine was bottled by Barone Montalto for Oenoforos AB Sweden. It has spent 6 months in French and American oak.

Colour : Dark plum

Aroma : Oak, spice, dark fruits

Taste : Fruity, dark and red fruits, oak and spicy finish

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 69 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Oenoforos AB
Website : Barone Montalto

TN : Brennfleck Iphoefer Kronsberg Silvaner, Kabinett Trocken, 2005, WG Brennfleck, Franken, Germany

This wine is imported by Occasion Wine AB.

Colour : Pale yellow, lemon

Aroma : Grapes, pear, tropical fruits

Taste : Apple, pear, lemon, almond

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 91 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Occasion Wine AB
Website : Weingut Brennfleck