A lovely Chianti Classico from a small organic wine producer with only 3,5 hectares just outside the village of Greve in Chianti in Tuscany. Azienda Agricola Montecalvi Chianti Classico is made from 90% sangiovese and 10% canaiolo. Canaiolo is a local variety from Tuscany. It is a grape that gives spiciness and a peppery note [...]
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Viera de Sousa 10 year White Port | Britt’s Wine of the Month
Are you sceptical to white port? Some people are and I was one of them. Until I tasted the 10 year old Viera de Sousa White Port from Sociedade Roncão Pequeno. This is an incredibly good port wine that shows that white port can also be of high quality. The wine is made with long [...]
Britt’s Wine of the Month: Terrasses du Larzac 2011, Mollard & Fillon, Languedoc
Packed with dark berries, quite soft and easy-to-drink but with good structure and freshness and a spicy after-taste that reminds me of the syrah grape. And syrah is one of the grapes, the others are grenache, cinsault and carignan. Mollard & Fillon is a new small wine company run by Nicolas Mollard and Sébastien Fillon. [...]
Château La Reyne L’Excellence 2010, Cahors | Britt’s Wine of the Month
Cahors is in the wine region called South-West in France. A region well known for its duck and foie gras among other things. Château La Reyne l’Excellence is a powerful wine with a warm feeling and a good structure, soft tannins and a pleasant freshness. It is a wine you can keep in your cellar [...]
Faugères 2010 Les Premières, JM Alquier & Mas Cal Demoura L’Infidèle 2010 | Britt’s Wine(s) of the month
These are two high quality wines from the Languedoc. Both are elegant, complex and very drinkable. Faugères 2010 Les Premières JM & Vé Alquier (14 euro) Quite light in style, full of aromas, well made with freshness, fine acidity and length. The talented wine maker Jean-Michel Alquier, well known for his cuvées La Maison Jaune [...]
Domaine Pierre Chauvin 2008, Cuvée La Fontaine des Bois, Anjou | Britt’s Wine of the Month
Britt’s Wine of the Month: Domaine Pierre Chauvin 2008, Cuvée La Fontaine des Bois, AOP Anjou, Loire Valley In the heart of sweet wine appellation Coteaux du Layon in the region of Anjou (Loire), we find this estate of 15 hectare. Paul-Eric Chauvin is the fifth generation to continue the family tradition. The winery is [...]
Åsa’s Wine of the Month: Batár 2009, IGT Toscana, Querciabella
Åsa’s wine of the month comes from Querciabella, a winery in Tuscany that has been organic since 1988 and biodynamic since 2000. The vineyards are in a superb location in the Chinati Classico region at a good altitude (300-600 m) with a south facing exposure for most of the vineyards. Batár is made from 50% [...]
Britt’s Wine of the Month: Ares Blanc 2010 from Le Conte des Floris in Languedoc
Le Conte des Floris is a small, high quality estate in Languedoc, in the village of Caux, close to Pezenas. Daniel Le Conte des Floris is a relative newcomer to the business, he started his vineyard in 2000, but he is a quick learner. His wines are superb and here I would like to highlight [...]
Britt’s Olive of the Month: Lucques
I could not help but to nominate an “olive of the month” after having tasted the green olive “Lucques” by the cooperative L’Oulibo in Bize-Minervois. Lucques has a characteristic, elongated shape and should preferably be enjoyed au naturel, with nothing added but water and salt. This way you really feel the flavours of the olive. [...]
Britt’s Wine of the Month #2: Les Violettes 2011, Domaine Montirius, Vin de Pays de Vaucluse
Les Violettes 2011 Domaine Montirius Vin de Pays de Vaucluse Les Violettes is a new wine from this excellent and biodynamic producer in the southern Rhone Valley. The wine is 100% syrah and has the characteristic dark blue colour of a young syrah. But according to Christine at Montirius the name actually comes from the [...]
Britt’s Wine of the Month #1: Petit Chablis 2010, Domaine Sainte Claire, Jean-Marc Brocard
Petit Chablis 2010 Domaine Sainte Claire Jean-Marc Brocard Very pleasant Chablis with crispy freshness and aromas of citrus. Good length and more body than you would expect. Petit Chablis may be the lowest of the four levels in Chablis, but the wines can be, as this one here, really good.
Brolettino from Ca’ de Frati | Åsa’s Wine of the Month
On the wine tour we recently did in Veneto in northern Italy we visited several different wine regions around Verona. We tasted red wines in Valpolicella, with amarone prominently featured, whites in Soave and in the not so famous neighbouring district Gambellara where they also make wine from the garganega grape. We also managed a [...]
Gran Teran 2007, Coronica, Istria, Croatia (in magnum) | Britt’s Wine of the Month
The family Coronica came from Friuli in Italy when Istria was still a part of Austria-Hungary. The 20 hectare plot around the winery is now meticulously looked after by Moreno Coronica. The vineyards are organic and he only needs to add some organic fertilizer to keep the soil porous. He grows only local grapes, the [...]
GD Vajra, Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2009 | Åsa’s Wine of the Month
After a short pause we are back with a new Wine of the Month, this time by Asa. The wine producer G D Vajra was one of the most memorable visits on one of our recent wine tours to Piemonte. Very friendly and charming people, beautiful site, and very good wines. Their wines are well [...]
Domaine de la Meulière, Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu Vieilles Vignes 2008 | Britt’s Wine of the Month
I normally prefer the crispy, fresh style of Chablis but I also like this powerful Mont de Milieu, a delicious wine made by Vincent Laroche at his family vineyard in the small village of Fleys (another Laroche family than the one one thinks of usually in the context of Chablis). A very small part, 5 [...]
Refosco 2008, Gianni Macor | Åsa’s Wine of the Month
We had this wine for lunch after a long walk in beautiful autumn sunshine. The food was a hearty Tuscan meat stew and the Refosco from Gianni Macor was a perfect match. The bottle was empty much too fast. Refosco is a red grape variety that is one of the autochthonous (original) grape varieties in [...]
A rosé made from sangiovese – Aurora from Poggerino i Radda in Chianti | Åsa’s Wine of the Month
It is very seldom you find a rosé wine made from sangiovese grapes, but that’s what they do at Poggerino i Radda in Chianti. 24 hours after the harvest, destemming and the vatting of the sangiovese grapes 15% of the must is removed in what is called bleeding (saignée). These fifteen percent are what in [...]
448. s.l.m | Åsa’s Wine Of The Month
S.l.m. is not some odd grape variety nor a strange name for a wine producer. No, it is simply the Italian expression for altitude, sopra livello mare. It is exactly on 448 meter’s altitude where you would like to be when temperatures reach 35 C at night in Florence at 11 PM. And not a [...]
Asa’s WotM: Paolo Scavino, Barbera d’Alba 2010
We recently did a wine tour to Piedmont and visited Paolo Scavino. He makes many interesting wines: Barolo, Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbera etc. Most (or all) would merit a mention under WotM but I will choose one that is a good food wine. Most Italian wines are made to go with food rather than as “cocktail [...]
Britt’s Wine of the Month Mas Louise 2009, Cotes du Rhône
Britt’s Wine of the Month Mas Louise 2009, Cotes du Rhône This is a new wine from an established producer. For around 9 euro you get a very good wine with spices and herbs and a southernly warm feeling. Quite round but with a good structure which makes it a perfect fit with food cooked [...]
Åsa’s Wine of the Month: Rosso San Leopardo, Colli Maceratesi Rosso, DOC Riserva 2005, Cantine Belisario
Åsa’s Wine of the Month Rosso San Leopardo, Colli Maceratesi Rosso, DOC Riserva 2005. Producer: Cantine Belisario. Rosso San Leopardo is a red wine from Le Marche in Italy. It is made from sangiovese (50%), cilegiolo, merlo and cabernet (Italians often don’t bother to make a distinction between c franc and c sauvignon it seems!). [...]
Åsa’s wine of the month: Taso, Valpolicella Superiore, Villa Bellini
Quiet please! Cecilia at Villa Bellini has gone from making a wide range of wines to now only making two different cuvees. One which is her Valpolicella Superiore and one Recioto di Valpolicella. Taso, which is the Valpolicella Sup (Taso means “I am quiet” in the local dialect) is made partially from dried grapes (appassimento) [...]
Wine of the Month – Åsa’s Pick: Dolcetto d’Alba, Bric Trifula 2009, Cascina Luisin
Dolcetto d’Alba, Bric Trifula 2009, Cascina Luisin This is an elegant food wine at a very reasonable budget: Dolcetto d’Alba from the excellent winery Cascina Luisin in Barbaresco in Piemonte. Roberto, the son and also the current winemaker, talks about his wines as if they were persons. We’ll do as he does. If Bric Trifula [...]
Trebbiano Spolentino, Cantine Novelli | WOTM
Trebbiano? No, Trebbiano Spolentino! Wines made from 100% trebbiano can by thin and nondescript. This wine, Trebbiano Spoletino Bianco 2008, is also made solely from trebbiano. But it is a specific clone of the grape that has been used, coming from the area around Spolento in Umbria in central Italy. It was rediscovered by the [...]
Wine of the Month – turned to vinegar!!
This month’s ….balsamic vinegar by Åsa: ”Extravecchio” from Villa San Donnino, Modena, Emilia Romagna It is hard to believe that so much taste can come from a single small drop. The balsamic vinegar from Villa San Donnino is syrupy and it has been aged for more than 25 years. It would almost be sufficient with [...]
Biancone, Renzo Marinai
My friend was so overwhelmed when she tasted Ronzo Marinai’s chardonnay that she decided to rename her cat Renzo, in homage to the winemaker. After having tasted the wine I think I might do the same thing, that is if I had a nameless cat. Biancone is made exclusively from chardonnay grown in the heart [...]
Riserva Castel Sant’Elena, Cantine Busti | WOTM
A wine for the ”goderecci”: Riserva Castel Sant’Elena. In other words, a wine for those of you who seek pleasure (which is what goderecci means in Italian), and as often when you are looking for some real pleasure it’s not exactly cheap. It comes from old vines of merlot and cabernet sauvignon in Umbria, not [...]
Jack’s wine of the month: Langhe Nebbiolo, Pio Cesare
It’s a new decade and time for new wine experiences. I suggest that you take the time to make a nice and hearty meat stew one of the January weekends and serve it with a well-decanted (3-4 hours in advance) nebbiolo wine. Try the “mini-Barolo” from Pio Cesare, Langhe Nebbiolo 2006 (around 10€). You will [...]
Jack’s wine of the month: Smith Woodhouse Late Bottled Vintage 1995
Forget dry, red, white. In December it should be sweet and strong. Christmas arrives with strong and blue cheeses that require some substantial counter-artillery to create a holiday harmony. The saviour comes in the shape of a bottle of port of course. A brilliant choice is Smith Woodhouse Late Bottled Vintage 1995 (some 15 euro). [...]
Åsa’s … olive oil of the month
Querce2 The olive oil of the month comes from Tuscany and the partly Swedish-owned farm Querce2, just south of Florence. They make an excellent oil that fulfils all requirements to be called “eccellente”, as the Italians would say. It has a low acidity, below 0.4%, is freshly pressed using only their own olives. The olives [...]
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