Vandals in Montalcino

A black day in Montalcino.

The unthinkable has happened in Montalcino.
Vandals broke in at Case Basse da Gianfranco Soldera in Montalcino. They broke in into the cellars of the estate and opened all the taps of the barrels and vasques and let all the wine from 6 years of work, from 2007 till 2012 run into the sewers.

600 Hl of pure sangiovese grosso or Brunello in it purest form are lost.

Bordeaux 2010

I just had the chance to re-taste a great number of wines again from 2010 from members of the Grands Crus De Bordeaux,and I must say, I'm mostly disappointed whit the quality of the wines. Of course there are a number of superb wines, but they don't explain the prices they ask for. As for most of the other wines, they are good but lack personality and content. A few of the big houses ware even disappointing.
If you compare the prices for the 2011, wait for them and you will pay a lot less for good quality and perhaps in a few years you can buy the 2010 at normal prices because the international markets of India and China are bursting.

Timé

Col D'Orcia

Col D’Orcia

For many years I’m following the winery Col D’Orcia and am a great fan of their wines.

Because I organised a wine tasting of  Brunello’s, the time was right to taste again some wines of Col D’Orcia in a separate tasting. Of course, without any doubt,  the tasting was blind.

Col D’Orcia is historically very important in Montalcino. One can find records of they’re existence back to 1890 where the Franceschi family acquired the property, then known as Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle. Already in 1933 they presented their Brunello in one of the early trade fair in Siena.

Veneto - Lombardia

Thursday 6th of September.

Looking forward to this trip, from Thursday the 6^th till Sunday the 9^th of September, to mainly the Veneto region, the start of it was certainly horror.

Beginning by having to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning, a 1 and 1/2 hour trip to the airport, flying, arriving in Milan Malpensa at 10:15 and having to wait an 1 hour for my colleagues coming from the Netherlands. Then travelling by bus for 2 and 1/2 hours to the hotel in ‘San Pietro In Cariano’, where we had lunch before getting to our room at 4 PM… A bit too much to start this trip.

However, from that point forward the trip went from marvellous to ….

Thank you Federdoc, but next time, please try to organise everything better, starting from choosing the  airport to the travelling distance between the winegrowers.

New season

Lucky for me (us) the new tasting-season has began.
Soon you will be able to read about my first trip in this new season to the Veneto and Lombardia.

Some time later we taste some Brunello's

See you soon

APULIA WINE IDENTITY

From the 12th till the 17th of June, Puglia stated there identity promotion by organising several tours to different wine producers, followed by tasting sessions to promote the quality of their wines to the world.

Over 60 journalist from all around the world, Brazil, Japan, Korea etc… could experience the wines of Puglia.

We know the wines from Puglia mostly as very heavy and with a high alcohol content, so you don’t really ask for seconds. For many of us still an unfamiliar territory.

However, we have seen what some producers can realize, by using a sophisticated process of carefully harvesting and vinification, one can produce wines we like in the north part of Europe.

La Selezione Del Sindaco, Lamezia Terme, Calabria

Thursday May 24^th

Because off a fire alarm in the terminus at the airport we could not arrive at the airport and we stood still in the train for about 45 minutes. Then we had to run and ware just in time to go on the plane.

Luckily the flight was pleasant and on time. After a nice lunch at Rome airport with a salad of San Daniele ham and real good and plenty Mozzarella di Buffala we continued our trip to Lamezia Terme and arrived on time where the “navetta” waited for us to bring us to the hotel. After a small refreshment we had to go to the meeting where the rules for the tasting sessions ware explained.

Campo alla Sughera, Bolgheri

In the lush setting of Bolgheri, a corner of Tuscany that is famous for its soul-stirring scenery and high quality wines, Campo alla Sughera, created since 2004  20 hectares of vineyards growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Vermentino, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay grapes. 
We had the opportunity to taste  both white and red wines.

• Arioso 2010, IGT Toscana bianco:  sauvignon blanc and a little bit of viognier: light straw yellow whit green reflexions; very pleasant nose whit exotic fruit expression like peach etc;  very good structure, pleasant and persistent, fresh.
• Achenio 2010, Bolgheri bianco DOC: sauvignon blanc, vermentino and  chardonnay; very nice straw yellow, brilliant; very nice and intense nose of ripe white exotic fruit and a bit yeast, very good; mouth filling taste very well balance whit persistence and very long aftertaste.
• Adeo 2009, Bolgheri Rosso DOC : Cabernet sauvignon and merlot ; nice ruby till cherry red colour; very pleasant nose of very ripe fruit, spices vanilla and liquorice, persistent in taste, need some balance within a few years.
• Arnione 2008, Bolgheri Rosso Superiore DOC : cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot ; Very intense ruby and dark cherry red with nice highlights, Full body, subtle and very sophisticated, ripe fruit like cherry, plum and other dark red ripe fruit, spicy and very long, great perspective, very good balance and persistent in the finish, great future.
• Campo alla Sughera, IGT Toscana Rosso : petit verdot and a little bit of merlot; sadly enough this wine did not arrive for the tasting.

In reflexion to other famous wine houses, this is really a very good one, for more: see

http://www.campoallasughera.com/EN_index.cfm

The language of wine

The process of acquiring a vocabulary with which to describe drinking is fundamental to wine appreciation.
Everyone should read this article by Joel Payne


http://www.indianwineacademy.com/item_8_500.aspx

Calabria

Preparing myself for the tasting for "La Selezione del Sindaco" in Calabria next week. Every morning 45 wines to taste for 3 day's. I love my job.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

08/05. In the beautiful settings of the Palais des Kolonies in Tervuren go's a very well organised tasting of a number of winehouses of  Montepulciano.

Margaux

Recently I took part on a vertical tasting of chateau Palmer.
Even if the wine didn't always reflect the right price for the wine these day's, this tasting was very interesting.