Botrytis

Muffato della Sala – Italian Sauternes?

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At our Italian evening Hans and I agreed in the judgment of the Muffato della Sala 2011 by Castello della Sala: In the nose like Sauternes, on the palate somehow stronger, the sweetness a bit too noticeable, there are some similarities with Passito, nevertheless no Passito – in short one very good, original Italian sweet wine.

The Castello della Sala, a winery owned by the Antinori family, is located near Orvieto. There, on soils infused with fossils, loamy, … Read more ...

Grand Cru from the Loire – Quarts de Chaume

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Weinyard at the Loire © Pixabay

Château Bellerive cultivates twelve hectares of Chenin Blanc-planted vineyards in the commune of Rochefort-sur-Loire. Part of this community is located in the 54-hectares Quarts de Chaume appellation, which is also part of the nearly 3400 hectares AOC Coteaux du Layon.

Quarts de Chaume wines,- concentrated, expressive and extremely long-lived -, have the status Grand Cru, which can also be labeled on the label – the wines of the Coteaux du Layon appellation may only be labeled Premier Cru.
The Grand Cru status is due not only to the very low yield of 20 hectoliters per hectare, but also to the location. The vineyards in Quarts

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Tokaji – Hungary’s sweet miracles

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Zoltan Sánta, member of the board of the Weinakademiker had brought with him mainly dry Hungarian wines to the tasting beginning of October in the Munich cork wine bar, but at least four sweet wines from Tokaj. There are 134 grape varieties in Hungary, but only six of them are approved for the production of sweet Tokaji: Furmint, Hárslevelû, Sárga Muskotály, Zéta, Kövérszőlõ and Kabar.

The vineyards in the Tokaj are predominantly on mineral soils of volcanic … Read more ...

Dulce de Invierno – sweet wine from Rioja

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The last wine tasted at Dinastía Vivanco, the tenth and last visited bodega in Rioja, was at the same time the first and only sweet wine of the entire Rioja wine journey in mid-May of this year. It was a sweet wine made from four of the five approved red grape varieties of the Rioja: Tempranillo (50%), Graciano (20%), Garnacha (20%) and Mazuelo (10%). A sweet wine made from this combination of grape varieties seems not gto be … Read more ...

K. Wechsler – Elegantly balanced sweet wines

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rieslingtrauben

Katharina Wechsler entered the family winery first 2009 and in a short time she became well-known with the wine lovers. She presented her very elegant, drinking-inspiring wines in the Munich wine shop Furore – including two sweet wines.

The winery Wechsler manages 17 hectares in Westhofen in the famous vine locations Steingrube, Kirchspiel and Morstein. The Riesling Schweisströpfchen 2015, which we have tasted, owes its name to a part of the Kirchspiel, in which the work on … Read more ...

Matured sweet wines from Wachau and Kamptal

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Blick auf Spitz in der Wachau mit Tausendeimerberg
Spitz in the Wachau with view on the Tausendeimerberg

Hans had invited to taste Austrian sweet wines, this time already matured ones, mostly from Riesling. This grape variety does not play the main role in Austrian viticulture, as on the Rhine and its tributaries. However, it is the second most widely cultivated white grape variety in the vineyards located along the Danube, in the Wachau, in Kremstal and Kamptal – but by a long way behind the main vine Grüner Veltliner.

Warm Pannonian eastern air together with a moderate western Antlantic influence, as well as moist cool falling winds from the Waldviertel and Weinviertel

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Flétri from the Valais

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Weinlagen im Wallis
The Valais, with about 5,200 hectares of vineyards largest wine region in Switzerland, located mainly on the southern slopes of the upper Rhône Valley, offers spectacular, often terraced vineyards and a large variety of indigenous grape varieties. The vines thrive on different types of soil, which include granite, morainic gravel, slate and highly calcareous soils.

With its approximately 2,100 hours of sunshine per year, the low annual average rainfall of less than 600 mm and especially the autumnal warm winds, … 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 € … Read more ...

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