Donnerstag, 29. Januar 2009

Syrah based wines

Just around the corner of Ullis apartment is the small but charming French Vinotheque "La Cave". Every month interested wine lovers get the chance to sample some interesting wines from the "motherland" of wine. This months tasting was particularly important to us as one of our favorite varieties Syrah was on show. Best made examples can be found in the Rhone valley which are "always" showing a gorgeous bouquet with fruits and spices. But as everywhere doom and glory are very close neighbors.

1. Chateau de Gourgazaud 2006 (SY/Mourvèdre)- ok/good - €6,00 - Minervois
red with purple reflections, fruit, hints of spices, sour cherries, tannins poorly integrated, not very balanced on the palate, bitter finish.

2. Jean Michel Gerin 2006 (SY) - good - €11,50 - Vin de Pays
purple rim, plums, bit overripe flavors, slightly meaty, fruit in rum, good acid structure, easy drinking style.  

3. Domaine Fondreche "Nadal" 2005 (SY/Grenache) - good - €12,50 - Cotes de Ventoux
ripe, quite typical flavor compounds, bit overripe, hints of acetone, smooth, slightly alcoholic finish. 

4. Chateau Le Roc "Don Quichotte" 2004 (SY/Negrette) - yech - €12,50 - Cotes de Frontonnaus
moldy, rubber, microbiological unstable, maybe accidental fermentation in bottle.

5. Domaine de l´Aiguelière 2000 - yech - €12,50 - Montpeyroux
cloudy, oxidative, rubber hose, loads sediment.

6. Domaine des Entrefaux 2001 - still ok - €15,00 - Crozes Hermitage
sediment, pale brick red hue, very fragile aromas, balanced but definitely over the peak. 

7. Domaine de Courbissac "Pandora" 2003 - very good - €15,00 - Minervois la Liviniere
cloudy, fruity, meaty, hints of violets, soft tannin, good acid structure, lingering.

rank "2": Domaine Courbissac "Pandora" 



















8. Chateau de la Négly "La Falaise" 2006 (Sy/Grenache) - ok - €16,50 - La Clape
very young, bit MLF touch, purple reflections, good acid structure, slightly alcoholic, bitter finish.

9. Dom. St. Antonin "Magnoux" 2005 (SY) - ok/good - €16,50 - Faugeres
still purple reflections, plums, bit overripe, simple, smooth tannins, middle length.

10. Chateau Lavabre 2000 (SY) - very good/delicious - €19,00
some tartrate crystals visible, loads of spices and herbs, pine wood, hints of toasted oak but very pleasant, very good acid structure and well integrated tannins.

rank "1": Chateau Lavabre 2000



















11. Alain Graillot 2006 (SY) - good/very good- €19,00 - Crozes Hermitage
young, some MLF notes, hints of essentials oils, acid and tannin very good balanced, just ways too young.

12. Domaine Cazeneuve "Roc des Mates" 2006 (SY/Mourv/Grenache) - good/very good- €21,00 - Pic St. Loup
young, purple, sour cherries, some spices, smooth tannins, lingering.

13. Domaine de l´Aiguelière "Cotes Dorée" 2005 (SY/Grenache) - still ok - €21,00 - Montpeyroux
rubber, plasticine with some spices, hints of Brett, tannin prominent.

14. Jean-Michel Gerin 2006 (SY/Viognier) - yech - €35,00 - Cotes Rotie
Brett, thin, prominent tannins due to Brett infection, Brett flavors on the palate.

Dienstag, 27. Januar 2009

Boku Heim tasting

Boku Heim Midweek tasting. We opened the CH to complement our catfish filets.

1. Chardonnay 2008 from Weingut Lentsch - good
pale golden hue, fruitmix on the nose, hints of bananas and sweet melon, lemon and lime, acid structure but balanced, easy drinking.

2. Malbec "Estiba I" 2007 from Bodegas Esmeralda, Mendoza - ok - about €10 (Merkur) 
very dark red, nearly black color, smokey,  some acetone flavors, hints of cabbage, rather rustic tannin, alcoholic edge on midpalate, short.

Montag, 26. Januar 2009

Pub Klemo

Last friday we had some wines in our favorite wine bar. Beside some wines Roberts magic hands created a wonderful dinner. Tuna steak with fennel mousse and dill potatoes. If you really want to pair food and wine perfectly, don´t dine at a fancy restaurant ... Pub Klemo is the first place of choice.

Here are our tasting notes.

1. Sauvignon Blanc "Steinmühle" 2007 from Weingut Kollwentz - ok/good
ripe yellow apples, hints of fresh green flavors on the nose, very ripe, good acidity, bit phenolic, very pale hue.

2. Sauvignon Blanc "Zieregg am Grassnitzberg" 1989 from Weingut Tement - good/very good
honeysuckle, mature, extreme lychee flavors on the nose and on the palate, soft, bit smokey.

3. Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from Weingut Ploder-Rosenberg - good
fresh, bit bananas and cold fermentation flavors, good acid structure, light in style.

4. Sauvignon Blanc "Platter Rieden" 2007 from Weingut Fidesser - ok/good
hints of lychee flavors good acid structure but a bit undefined.

5. Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from Weingut Triebaumer - good
bit closed, black currant blossoms, rather low in acidity, melon and some other exotic flavors on the palate.

6. Sauvignon Blanc 2007 form Weingut Umathum -  ok/good
bit closed, very ripe flavors, exotic, melons, balanced.

7. Gevery Chambertin 2006 from Domaine Perrot-Minot - very good
Pinot stink on the beginning, spices and herbs, very good acid structure, lingering.

8. Furioso 2006 from Weingut Mad - good
spicy, sour cherries, good acid structure, oak a bit prominent.

9. Synthese 2006 from somewhere in the Roussilion - good
meaty, very ripe, good tannin structure, long, still young, purple reflections.

Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009

indigenous Austrian varieties ..

We opened 2 wines which seemed quite interesting.

1. "Himmelstiege" Riesling Federspiel 2007 from Domäne Wachau - very good - €6,90
minerality driven on the nose, peach and other stonefruits, hints of oranges, very flinty, good acid structure on the palate, good balance (6,7 TA; 2,9 RS)

2. Zweigelt Reserve 2004 from Weingut Dolle - ok - €10,30 (Interspar) 
from the beginning rather open on the nose (quite low sulfur level!!), very soft tannins, just little structure, rating on the border to yech! due to this low sulfur level, disappointing. Maybe this state of maturation was caused by insufficient storage conditions.
Anyway, it was really astonishing to us that this is the current winner of the "Zweigelt Reserve" category of the "SALON Österreichischer Wein 2008". 

3. Heulichin 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - very good/delicious 
cherries and sour cherries prominent on the nose, hints of chocolate and mocha coffee, spices, black pepper, blackberries, a little bit of eucalyptus, some oak structure on the palate but driven by grape tannins, nice length.
Find more information on this winery: http://members.aon.at/weingut-wagentristl/

Montag, 19. Januar 2009

Energy drinks

Just for fun we tasted some Austrian energy drinks. Bernhard and I were pretty sure that we would perfectly recognize "Red Bull" but it turned out to be more difficult. Here are the results ...

1. Red Bull
bit soapy, sugar and acid in good balance, doesn´t taste "just sweet".

2. Burn Extra Strong
red color, overripe blackberries on the nose, same flavor plus red currant on the palate, ways to sweet.

3. S Budget Energy Drink
nearly perfectly similar as 1., just a little bit sweeter, astonishing. 

Energy drinks:


Montag, 12. Januar 2009

Flat lake tasting

Theme of this "Boku Heim" tasting was discount wines. We decided to taste the Flat lake range from Leo Hillinger (discounter: Hofer).

1. Flat Lake Red Sparkling 2007 - ok - €3,99
pale red hue, orange reflections, Lychee and Strawberries on the nose, extremely bitter and phenolic on the palate, short.

2. Flat Lake Silver White Wine Cuvée 2007 - ok - €3,99
CO2, visible, Muscat flavors on the nose, rather low in acid, again bitter and phenolic on the palate, not lingering, steely aftertaste.

3. Flat Lake Sankt Laurent 2007 - ok - €3,99
yoghurt MLF aroma, oak, mocca, maybe chips used, oak is not integrated, bitter on the palate, very phenolic.

4. Flat Lake Premium Selection Red Wine Cuvée 2007 - ok -€9,99
dark red hue, purple reflections, no explosive nose, dried fruit, fruits on the palate, slightly overripe notes, no tannin structure.

5. Nero d´Avola 2007 from Piccini - good - €2,29
dark red color, orange rim, bit plasticine, good tannin structure and length.

6. Bramton OVR 2006 from Rustenberg - ok - €14,90 (Weinplateau)
Cassis, dust, very smooth tannins, high alcohol, burnt rubber, burnt wood, overripe.

7. Flat Lake Top Limitations Gold Red Wine Cuvée 2006 - good - €5,49
fruity on the nose, oak, very smooth, high RS, good.


Samstag, 10. Januar 2009

A New Blog is born ...

I am proud to present another WINE BLOG. 

A friend and fellow enology student of mine is working with winery Christian Fischer in Soss (situated in the Thermal region, South of Vienna) and has just released his brand new blog. 
I am really looking forward to read some interesting (tasting) news from Zierfandler, Rotgipfler and Blauer Portugieser.

Creator: Peter

Peter is not the sleeper! (pic from the famous "Intervitis-Stuttgart" tour 2007)

Freitag, 9. Januar 2009

Wine of the month December 2009

The wine of the month December is rated and posted at the wine list. It was an really difficult decision as we have tasted lots of really nice wines this month.

Dienstag, 6. Januar 2009

Sparkling wine and Red high end wines

The trail of the "Konsument" magazine of discount sparkling wines was the kick off to taste some cheap sparkling wines myself. 

1. Mailberger Gutssekt - ok - €3,49
pears on the nose, rather short, quite low in acid.

2. Törley Muscateller Minösegi pezsgö - ok - N/A
coarse mousseux, big bubbles, fading very quickly, no pungent Muscat flavors, white bread, nutty, rather short.

The birthday of my brother and my mother was the reason for another family party. (Actually my family doesn´t need a reason to party!) We opened some high end red Austrian wines. 

3. Remanenz 03 from Weingut Lentsch - very good - €16
very ripe, dark berries, earthy, dark chocolate, blackberries, smooth tannin structure, bold, spicy, nicely integrated oak, good length. 
 
4. Capello 03 from Weingut - very good - €11
ripe, more fruity than 1, eucalyptus, cloves, spicy, blackberries, slight green edge, little bit bitter, lots of oak toasting, still young, quite hard tannins, balanced.

5. Pannobile 01 from Weingut Hans Nittnaus - yech - about €22
loads of Brett on the nose, plasticine, bit volatile, rather thin and prominent tannins, the Brettanomyces yeast has destroyed the body, very quickly oxidative, low sulfur!

6. Pannobile 00 from Weingut Paul Achs - good/very good - about €22
fruity on the nose, cassis, bit overripe, tannins smooth but high acid, slightly volatile, some Brett too, is on the nose better than on the palate, quite low sulfur!

Tasting crew: Bernhard G., Bernhard K., Ulli S. and I.