Karl-Heinz Datum

Port wines for beginners

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Einstieg in die Portweinwelt Prowein 2015Port wine is not only available as a Ruby Port or a tan to amber-colored Tawny Port, but also as a white port wine and, for about 7 – 8 years, also in a rose-colored version. Axel Probst, probably the most famous German port wine expert, presented six different port wines at the Welcome to the World of Port Wine tasting at Prowein. Four of them are presented here, each corresponding to one of the port wine types already mentioned and costing less than € 20 (Tasted Wines), such they are really good for entering the world of port wine.

Churchill‘s Dry White Port
Orange-colored amber, apricot … Read more ...

Tawny Port from 4 decades

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Portweinverkostung Tawny Jewels Prowein 2015

The Insituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP) conducted several port wine tastings at Prowein fair 2015. Port wine expert Axel Probst, member of the Brotherhood Confraria do Vinho do Porto, moderated the tasting, labeled Port Wine Treasures from 4 Decades, in which, with the exception of a Fine White Port, he presented matured Tawny or Colheita, i.e. barrel-matured Tawny Ports from one harvest year.

For all longer matured Tawny, as well as for the Colheita, a maturation period of at least seven years in large wooden barrels (pipas) is required, but many of these wines are matured longer. Years of contact with the … Read more ...

Greek sweet temptations

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Achaia_Clauss_ProweinGreece is one of the oldest wine countries and better known for its dry wines and its indigenous grape varieties, but less for its sweet wines, except perhaps for the sweet Samos wines and the Vinsanto of Santorini.

Malvasia 2010 Monemvasia WineryMore than 60 suppliers from Greece attended the fair Prowein 2015, including Achaia Clauss from Patras, a well-known wine producer in Greece. Three sweet wines of this manufacturer I have tasted at the fair Prowein. One of them, rather simple and uncomplicated, scores with its fruitiness and its price (see Tasted Wines). The second one is more complex, showing a good balance at a very attractive price. The third, a long matured … Read more ...

Does good sweet wine have to be expensive?

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Sweet wine can achieve very high prices, such as Trockenbeerenauslese by Egon Müller from the location Scharzhofberg, whose price may be up to the middle four-digit range.
Wines on the other end of the scale can be found in Lidl’s online list. In addition to high-priced Sauternes from Château d`Yquem you can also buy very cheap French sweet wines from the Bordeaux. We have tasted four of them, from different appellations, with prices of about € 4 to € 10 per 0.75l bottle. We tasted the wines blind, along with two other Sauternes from other sources. (Prices)

None of the wines, we bought at Lidl, really … Read more ...

Styria meets Spain

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Kuerbiskernparfait mit Gewuerz-Orangen.. is applicable for the dessert Pumpkin seed parfait with spice-oranges (recipe in sweet wines and food), in which the Styrian pumpkin seed parfait is served with oranges from Spain. The two wines (tasted wines) we tasted are also of Spanish or formerly Spanish origin: a PX (Pedro Ximénez) sherry from Montilla-Moriles and a French Rivesaltes Hors d’Âge from Roussillon, – a state formerly governed by the King of Mallorca.

PX Sherry Alvear

Pedro Ximénez Solera 1927, Bodegas Alvear (16% alcohol by volume)
Dark brown, pronounced scent of raisins, in the mouth with dried dates and figs, rancio and in the background delicate eucalyptus notes. Although very sweet (405 … Read more ...

Aleatico dell‘ Elba with Schiaccia Briaca

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Traditionelle Weinerziehung ElbaAleatico is an indigenous red variety of Central and Southern Italy, mainly of Latium, Umbria, Tuscany and Puglia. The DOC or DOCG wines produced from Aleatico are mainly amabile or dolce, that means semi-sweet or sweet. There is sweet Aleatico mostly in two different forms: as Passito and as alcohol-fortified Liquoroso.
In most regions with Aleatico it is prohibited to use this aromatic muscat-like tasting grapes for dry red wines . There are dry IGT wines, however, produced from the Aleatico grape as varietal red wines and even pressed as white wines, as well as frizzante (www.occhipintiagricola.it).
The most famous DOC for Aleatico sweet wines are Gioia … Read more ...

Sweet wines with spicy desserts

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Gewuerzkaffee-Birnen mit Milchschaum
Which wine goes best with spice coffee pears with milk foam? In addition to espresso, the spiced coffee also contains cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves. The pears are poached in that mixture overnight. At the first attempt, we underestimated the flavor of the coffee and therefore were wrong choicing the sweet wine.

Knowing about the spiciness of the coffee, we chose the Deluxe Cream Sherry Capataz Andrés from Lustau and the 10 Years Old Bual Madeira from Henriques & Henriques for further tasting (Tasted wines).

Deluxe Cream Capataz Andres Lustau

Lustau’s cream had aromas of walnut, dried fruits such as plum, pear and fig, mocha, complemented by smoky and roasted notes. Soft and … Read more ...

Rutherglen Stickies: sweet wines from Australia

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Rutherglen Flight Summer SchoolWine from “down under” was the dominant theme at the “Summer School 2014” of the Wine Academy in Rust. This included a tasting of sweet, alcohol-fortified wines from the Rutherglen wine region in northeast Victoria.

Rutherglen Muscat and Rutherglen Topaque are considered exceptional wines. However, this is less due to the grape varieties, but more to the type of production and the climatic conditions under which they are created. As the name suggests, Rutherglen Muscat is made from grapes of the Muscat variety, in this case from a particularly dark version of Muscat blanc à petit grains called Muscat Brown, Rutherglen Topaque from Muscadelle. Both grape … Read more ...

Sauternes – flavoursome elegance

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Although 2013 is often cited as one of the worst vintages of red Bordeaux wine, in Sauternes and Barsac it is generally considered to be near perfect. A hot July and August and many foggy autumn days resulted in a good harvest of botrytis-infected grapes, despite the late flowering,.

During our club trip to Bordeaux sweet wines were not necessarily in focus. Nevertheless, there were opportunities to enjoy Sauternes of different vintages. The Sauternes 2001 of Chateau de Fargues showed roasted cereal notes, subtle dried fruit, slightly smoky taste and a strong sweetness, well balanced by acidity, in the nice finish. Chateau Rieussec 1983, characterized by apricot, candied orange … Read more ...

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