Christmas tasting

Weinrunde 14.12.2012

The Christmas tasting of our tasting club was quite interesting. Grenache was the theme and nobody had the right answer. Personally I think it's much more difficult to taste a certain variety than a specifc region our style.
All wines were tasted blind and were accompanied by the delicious food you see on the pics.

1. Domaine de la Mordorée Tavel 2011 - good
Rosé, Tavel, very full-bodied, good companion to food, rather structured, good length, pairs very well with the starter

2. Domaine Roche Audran Cotes du Rhone 2010 -  good/very good
Fruity, cinnamon, Christmas spices, cherry fruit, oak on the palate, lingering, hints of bitterness, straight tannins, bit made style, with food and air more harsher.

3. Coloma Garnacha 2009 - good
Plums upfront, hints of oak, spices, cassis, on the border to over ripeness, super fruity on the palate, juicy black berries, bit bitter in the end, nice but easy drinking, tutti fruity uncomplicated,

4. Palacios Remondo Rioja la Montessa 2009 - very good
Very fruity, more structure than three, lingering, hints of cassis and black berries, quite young but promising, spicy and black better, bit alcoholic,

5. Juan d´Anguera Finca l´Argata 2010 - ok
Fruit-forward and easy drinking style, plums, bit overripe, sour cherries, super strong, to much alcohol, unbalanced, chocolate plums,

6. Alvaro Palacios Camins Priorat 2011 - good
Young, maybe a bit too young, hints of MLF, black berries, quite strong, forest fruit with more air, quite high alcohol, lush, strong, sweet tannins,

7. Domaine de la Mordorée Lirac Rouge 2010 - ok
Oak, tannin on the nose, dense, black pepper, not really fruity, super structured, lingering, to bold, kind of too much of everything, (as I know the wine rather good I think this was not a perfect bottle, but we weren't able to pick up a fault)

8. Chapoutier Chateauneuf du Pape La Bernadine 2010 -  very good / delicous
Red berries, raspberries, fruity, needs time, but promising, tightly structured but smooth tannins, oak and hints of chocolate, lingering, very nicely structured, elegant, very good, fine grained tannins, extract sweetness,

9. Penfold Bin 138 2007 - good / very good
Juicy tannin  upfront with cassis on the nose, kind of sweet but with tannins grip, chocolate, not as tightly meshed as 8., bitter on mid palate, simply made,

10. Niepoort LBV 2007 - good / very good
Dried fruit, forest fruit, nice and fruit forward style, lingering, good food partner

Sylvester deligths

This New Years eve was quite filled with all sorts of very distinctive, regional and pure delights. My sister and brothers in law were our guests and we enjoyed an Irish evening with Whiskey Sours, raw milk cheese, Irish stew, wild smoked salmon and (of course) some Austrian wines.

Check at Facebook/Sylvester delights for some more pics.

Asparagus season ...

Asparagus season has started with full speed due to the high temperatures during the Easter holidays. Friends of my sister are the owners of an Asparagus farm in the Marchfeld region just east of Vienna. They are growing Asparagus on about 14 hectares and what makes them really special is the fact they have no stock. Each stem is picked by hand and sold directly afterwards. Another big advantage is that they are using crushed ice instead of ice water to shock the Asparagus. Means no water is absorbed and the Asparagus keeps it´s unbiased flavors.

If one doesn´t know how to cook Asparagus perfectly ... find some tips and tricks at  Spargel

We had our 3 different kinds of Asparagus (white, green, purple) just seared in olive oil with balsamic vinegar reduction ... easy, but delicious. 

The perfect wine match can be found in the "Spargelhaus" too. Isabella has some limited edition wines at hand.

Limited Edition "Asparagus" Pinot Blanc 2008 from Weingut Unger - good/very good 

nice fruitdriven nose with lemon/lime and underlying pear flavors, refreshing palate, nice acid structure, perfect match with the dish!

signs:

all different, all the same:

... and so healthy ;-)

the perfect match: Pinot Blanc

Stockholm pics

This post features some pics from our trip to Stockholm last weekend. We visited my friends Fredrik and Tove whom I met in Cape Town during their (work)holidays.

Rudolf and friends:

Now I know why the Mercedes A-class fell ... they are really big!

Gamla Stan from a ferry:

old town:

Stockholm castle:

Swedish CH ... thanks my friend for this opportunity!

Fredrik and Johannes are sampling more wine in Rolf´s Kök ... if one plans to go to Stockholm ... this restaurant is a must

 Rolfs Kök

elk in a better shape ...

Swedish traditional delight ... gratinated potatoes:

perfectly with reindeer (no it wasn´t Rudolf ... this pic was from the day before!)

wines tasted:

1. Gigondas Cuvee Tradition 2006 from Domaine Santa Duc - good

went very well with the reindeer and the gratinated potaoes, fruity but a little bit unbalanced (high alc. 15%abv.)

at Gondolen Restaurant Catering dagkonferens festvåning matlagning vinprovning - Eriks restauranger

2. Chablis 2006 from Billaud-Simon - ok/good

fresh,  fragile aroma, buttery notes but not a bold wine, just partly MLF, alc. 12,5.

at Gondolen wine bar.

3. Rhine Riesling Smaragd 2004 from Domäne Wachau - good/very good

perfect with starter, hering in mustard, hering with cumin and onions, hering with caviar sauce

4. The Fergus 2005 from Tim Adams/Clare Valley - still ok

very fruitforward, Australian nose, no structure but very high in alcohol, totally unbalanced, with more air and temp just alc. noting else.

3 and 4 at the Leijonbaren http://www.leijonbaren.se/

5. Chardonnay Barrique 2003 from Blaxsta / Sweden - ox

unfortunately oxidative.

6. Rosé 2008 from Weingut Unger - good

fruity, strawberry, good acid structure. This is a made Rosé! (means: red grapes are pressed and fermented like a white wine, not drained from red wine must)

7. Grüner Veltliner Grub 2006 from Schloss Gobelsburg - cork

8. Nebbiolo Langhe 2005 from Pio Cesare - good

fruity, typically very well structured (it´s made from Nebbiolo!), good with elk.

9. Kaiserberg 2006 from Weingut Unger - good/very good

fruitforward style with load of blackberries and cassis, smooth tannins, perfect match with elk.

We had some more wines but I didn´t take further notes.

no flowers ..

Last weekend I was the proud host of my birthday and graduation party. As a matter of fact ... my birthday was in February .. had to reschedule because it was to close to my departure to South Africa ... the same works for grad party (graduation in September 07) .. but no time.

Anyway ... I have invited family and friends .. overall about 55 people .. and my birthday wish was:

No flowers, bring good! wine. 

Gladly everybody obeyed and now my collection is much more valuable than before. On the other hand some treasures were opened too!

Don´t ask how many..

Didi and I:

Aunt Frieda and aunt Anna:

Contemplation?

Am I that small?

Soccer friends:

The VIP ... (very important pig!!)

My birthday cake:

Casino Dinner

Gestern Abend haben wir unser Weihnachtsgeschenk im Casino Baden eingelöst.

Zum viergängigen Dinner gabs:

1. GV "Fass 4" 2006 von Bernhard Ott: schöner GV, sortentypisch, aber nichts wirklich aufregendes.

2. SB "Steirische Klassik" 2006 von Polz: typisch österreichischer SB, in der Nase leicht grasig und nach Brennessel, eher eindimensional, bei weitem nicht so intensiv und komplex wie ein Neuseeländer, mittlere Länge, gut.

3. CS 2004 von Stadlmann, Thermenregion: ein österreichischer CS eben, grün und holzbetont in der Nase und am Gaumen, nix was wirklich Spass macht.

Jetzt weiss ich halt wieder warum mir kein Cabernet aus Österreich schmeckt!!

Ansonsten war das Essen gut und auch das Spielglück war uns hold ;-)