TN : Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Helshoote, Stellenbosch, South Africa

This wine is 100% clone 46 Cabernet Sauvignon. The root stocks used are 101-14, R110, and R99. The soil type was Hutton, decomposed granite. The vines were planted in 1988 and 1989 at a density of 3200 vines per hectare. The trellising is vertical hedge. The pruning strategy was 2-bud spurs every 15 centimetres. The average yield was six tonnes per hectare. Supplementary drip irrigation was used. The grapes were picked between the 28th and 31st March. The grape sugar was 24 balling, acidity was 5.2 grammes per litre, and the pH was 3.4.



Natural occurring wild yeasts were used for fermentation. Alcohol fermentation was at a temperature at 27 degrees. The grapes were de-stalked, followed by hand sorting of berries which were crushed and then pumped into stainless steel tanks. The cap was pumped over for six days and then the wine was left for five days before pressing, and then racked to barrel
for malolactic fermentation. The wine was matured for twenty months in barrel; 45% new French oak and the balance in older barrels.

This wine was imported by Nigab AB.

Colour : Dark blackcurrant

Aroma : Herbs, blackcurrant, mint, cedar

Taste : Toasty oak, bright blackcurrant fruit, mint, green pepper

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 199 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Thelema Mountain Vineyards
Website : Nigab AB

TN : Zevenwacht Chenin Blanc 2009, Berrel Fermented, Stellenbosch, South Africa

A combination of old vines, in excess of 25 years and newly planted vines in the Banhoek valley, was used to produce this wine.

50% of this wine was tank fermented at a cool fermentation temperature, hovering around 13 degrees. The other 50% was barrel fermented and aged for six months on the lees to add to the complexity and rich mouth feel of the wine. After six months, the wine was blended together and did a further extended lees contact on the fine lees. The residual sugar was 3.2 grammes per litre, the TA was 6.6 grammes per litre, and the pH was 3.2. The finishes wine was bottled under screwcap.



This wine was imported by Sharabu AB.

Colour : Pale yellow

Aroma : Pineapple, orange, vanilla, honey

Taste : Honey, pineapple, vanilla, nuts

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 121 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Zevenwacht
Website : Sharabu AB

TN : Grand Classique 2006, Glen Carlou, Wine of Origin Paarl, South Africa

This wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, and 3% Cabernet Franc. The grapes were harvested between February and March 2006. Alcoholic fermentation took 3 to 4 weeks in stainless steel vats. The wine was matured for two years in 40% new and 60% second-fill French oak barriques followed by minimal fining and bottling in July 2008. The total acidity was 6.1 grammes per litre, the pH was 3.47, and the residual sugar was 3.6 grammes per litre.



Colour : Dark blackberry

Aroma : Smoke, tobacco, blackberry, blackcurrant, plums, mint, milk chocolate

Taste : Blackcurrant, milk chocolate, tobacco, mint

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 149 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Glen Carlou Vineyards

TN : Stift Klosterneuburg Sparkling Rose , Austrian Sparkling Wine Brut, Austria

This wine is 100% Zweigelt. The residual sugar is 11 grammes per litre.



Colour : Bright pink, strawberry, small bubbles

Aroma : Strawberry, raspberry, melon

Taste : Dry, red berries, lemon on finish

Alcohol : 11.5%

Price : 89 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Stift Klosterneuburg

TN : Leths Have Pink 2009, Rose, Leth, Niederoesterreich, Austria

This wine is 100% Blauer Zweigelt. This wine was sealed with a screwcap.

Colour : Bright pink

Aroma : Strawberries, herbs, redcurrants, vanilla

Taste : Strawberry, redcurrant, dry, slight spritz, vanilla

Alcohol : 12%

Price : 85 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Weingut Leth

TN : Bolgarello 2009, IGT, Poggio Al Tesoro, Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy

This wine is a blend of Sangiovese and Shiraz. It contains 12 grammes of residual sugar per litre.

Poggio Al Tesoro is a cooperation between Allegrini and Leonardo LoCascio.

This wine was sealed with a screwcap.



Colour : Bright strawberry pink

Aroma : Strawberry, raspberry, herbs, oranges, jellied red fruits

Taste : Herbs, cherries, strawberries, grapefruit

Alcohol : 13%

Price : 89 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Poggio Al Tesoro

TN : Mendel Malbec 2006, Mendoza, Argentina

The vineyard location was Lujan de Cuyo at an elevation of 1000 metres. The vineyar was planted in 1928. 3500 cases were produced and the wine spent 12 months in French barriques.



This wine was imported by Primewine Sweden.

Colour : Blackberry/raspberry

Aroma : Raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, vanilla, toast

Taste : Toasty oak, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, tobacco

Alcohol : 13.9%

Price : 149 SEK (Purchased on 21st November 2008)

Mark : B

Website : Mendel Wines
Website : Primewine Sweden

TN : Bramare Chardonnay 2008, Marchiori Vineyard, Vina Cobos, Argentina

The Marchiori vineyard is situated at 980 metres elevation in Perdriel, Lujan de Cuyo at the foot of the Andes. The vineyard has been farmed by Nico Marchiori for more than fifty years.



Bramare is an Italian word meaning "to yearn for".

This wine was imported by Prime Wine Sweden AB.

Colour : Yellow

Aroma : Nuts, buttered toast, sweetcorn, apple

Taste : Chardonnay on steroids, rich, creamy, nuts, pineapple, lemon, vanilla, buttered toast, oranges

Alcohol : 14.5%

Price : 200 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Vina Cobos
Website : Prime Wine Sweden AB

TN : Seigneurs D'Aiguilhe 2006, Comtes von Neipperg, Cotes De Castillon, Bordeaux, France

Colour : Dark red/blue

Aroma : Blackberry, plums, herbs

Taste : Fruity, blackberry, plums, cedar, drying tannins, cherries

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 139 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Vignobles Comtes von Neipperg

TN : Heru Pinot Noir 2007, Vina Ventisquero, Casablanca Valley, Chile

On the back label is states "A legend tells the story of an elf named Heru who secretly lived among the vines of Casablanca while keeping watch ovet the harvest, his most precious treasure".



The grapes were grown on gentle slopes of granitic red clay. Below a depth of 1 metre, subsoils of fractured granite promote the development of deep root systems, allowing the vines to take up mineral complexity. The vineyard is oriented in a North-South exposure. The yield was 4 to 5 tons per hectare or 1.6 to 2 tons per acre. The grapes were harvested between March 25th and March 30th.

Colour : Bright red

Aroma : Red fruits, spice, vanilla, woody

Taste : Stewed sweet red fruits, strawberry, very spicy, raspberry, oak

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 229 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Vina Ventisquero

TN : Hawk Hill Pinot Noir 2007, Auntsfield Estate, Marlborough, New Zealand

Hawk Hill is named after the Harrier Hawks which glide over Auntsfield's North-facing slopes where the Pinot Noir grapes were grown. Luc Cowley was the winemaker and Ben Cowley was the viticulturist.



Colour : Red

Aroma : Stewed red fruits, spice

Taste : Red fruits, spice, cherries, ginger

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 199 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Auntsfield Estate

TN : Chateau Haut Mayne 2008, Graves, Bordeaux, France

This wine is blend of 77% Semillon, 19% Sauvignon Blanc, and 4% Muscadelle.

The grapes were machine harvested between the 25th September and the 1st October. The wine spent four months in Americanm oak: one third of which was new, one third was one year old, and the other third was two years old. The winemaker was Yorick Lavaud.



Colour : Yellow

Aroma : Oak, lemon, nuts, buttered toast

Taste : Lemon, oak, nuts, minerals

Alcohol : 12%

Price : 120 SEK

Mark : C+

TN : Tandem Syrah du Maroc 2007, Domaine des Ouled Thaleb, Zenatta, Morocco

This wine is a collaborative effort from Alain Graillot, of Crozes Hermitage and Jacques Poulain, a Bordelais winemaker and producer of high-quality wines based at Thalvin, not far from Casablanca. Graillot and Poulain selected parcels of Syrah vines, some 48 years old, from terroirs with a maritime influence at Rommani and Benslimane.



Colour : Dark red, blue hues

Aroma : Blackberry, plums, vanilla, mint

Taste : Oak, blackberry, herbs, vanilla, white pepper

Alcohol : 13.5 %

Price : 118 SEK

Mark : C+

Website : Thalvin

TN : Chateau Gaudin 2006, Pauillac, Grand Vin de Bordeaux, France

This wine is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.



Colour : Dark red, blue hues

Aroma : Earth, blackcurrant, cherry, herbs, redcurrant

Taste : Cherries, redcurrants, herbs, cedar, earth, could use another two/three years in the cellar to unwind

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 195 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Chateau Gardin

TN : Chateau Cadet 2005, Cotes de Castillon, Grand Vin de Bordeaux, France

The chateau is owned by Louis and Caroline Mitjavile.



This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Maturation was in French oak barrels: one third of which were new, one third was one year old, and the other third wastwo years old.

Colour : Plummy red

Aroma : Blacurrant, plums, herbs

Taste : Blackcurrant, plums, chocolate, cedar, tobacco, herbs, mineral, dry tannins on finish

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 169 SEK

Mark : C+

TN : Fonterutoli Chianti Classico 2006, DOCG, Marchesi Mazzei, Tuscany, Italy

This wine is a blend of two clones of Sangiovese. It was aged for twelve months in small oak barrels.



Colour : Dark red

Aroma : Oak, plums, cherries, chocolate

Taste : Cherries, wood, plums, cocoa, sour note

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 95 SEK (375 ml bottle)

Mark : C

Website : Fonterutoli

TN : Wintrage Felsberg Riesling Grand Premier Cru 2007, Schumacher-Knepper, Moselle Luxembourgeoise, Luxembourg

Colour : Pale yellow

Aroma : Honey, green apple, mineral, lemon

Taste : Sharp lemon, green apple, mineral, pear, honey

Alcohol : 12.5%

Price : 83 SEK

Mark : C

Website : Domaine Viticole Schumacher-Knepper

TN : Gnarly Head Viognier 2009, California, USA

This wine was sealed with a screwcap.



Colour : Pale yellow

Aroma : Peach, apricot, oranges, floral

Taste : Peach, oranges, apricot, long finish

Alcohol : 13.5%

Price : 85 SEK

Mark : B-

Website : Gnarly Head Cellars

TN : Craggy Range Te Kahu Single Vineyard 2005, Gimblett Gravels Vineyard, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

This wine is a blend of 78.8% Merlot and 21.2% Cabernet Sauvignon. The brix at harvest was 24.2 average, yield was 69 hectolitres per hectare average. All of the grapes were hand-harvested. There was no whole bunch fermentation. All of the grapes were 100% destemmed. The must was fermented in closed stainless steel fermentation vessels and started using inoculation. French oak barrels were used to mature the finished wine; 55% of the barrels were new and the wine spent 19 months in the barrels. The wine was fined and filtered before bottling in October 2006. The residual sugar was 0, pH was 3.72, and acidity was 6 grammes per litre.



Te Kahu means the cloak in native Maori.

Colour : Dark red/blue hues

Aroma : Plums, blackcurrant, herbs, cedar

Taste : Plums, blackcurrant, cedar, mineral, warm finish, talcum powder tannin finish

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 199 SEK (March 2009)

Mark : A-

Website : Craggy Range

TN : Pascual Toso Alta Reserve Malbec 2007, Lujan De Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Pascual Toso was established in 1890. This wine is 100% Malbec. The grapes underwent a cold maceration for 48 hours before alcoholic fermentation at low temperature with selected yeasts.
Then the wine is placed in French oak barrels where malolactic fermentation takes place and continues maturation for 12 months. The wine was bottled with a soft filtration and rested in bottle for six months before release. The residual sugar is 2.37 grammes per litre, acidity is 5.32 grammes per litre, and the pH is 3.5.



This wine won a silver medal at the 2009 International Wine Challenge.



Colour : Dark blackberry

Aroma : Blackcurrant, violets, plums, toasty oak, mineral

Taste : Intense blackberry and blackcurrant, tobacco, mineral, toasty oak, liquorice

Alcohol : 14%

Price : 219 SEK

Mark : B

Website : Pascual Toso