Plageoles’ Vin d’Autan 2005

Tarn in Gaillac from Didier Descouens — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Gaillac is located in the center of the southwestern French wine-growing region of the same name, from which the sweet wine tasted this time comes. The wine-growing region north-west of Toulouse, on the Tarn – with 9,000 hectares of vineyards and around a third of which are appellations – is characterized above all by its often regionally autochthonous grape varieties and the range of wine styles.

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PX-Sherry Bertola – herbal sweetness


Courtyard Bodegas Diez-Mérito

Pedro Ximénez Sherry is one of the sweetest wines in the world. Only the Pedro Ximénez grape variety is used for its production. For this purpose, the overripe grapes are dried in the sun after the harvest, which not only increases the sugar content, but also the aromas and at the same time the acidity. Moscatel sherry is made the same way. These two wines are so-called

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Santo(rin)i’s Christmas wine – Vinsanto

© lyager Pixabay

The wines of Santorini differ in one essential point from almost all other Greek wines. The grapes come from real-root vines, means they are not grafted, as the phylloxera cannot survive in the barren, sandy soil of the island, which consists of volcanic ash and pumice. The vine training system is done in a rarely used way: the vine shoots are “braided” into a wreath,

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Liatiko – Crete’s red sweet wine


Liatiko - Crete's red sweet wine

Southwest of Heraklion lies the Psiloritis massif, also known as the Ida Mountains, on the north-eastern slopes of which the vineyards of the Dafnes wine-growing region are located at heights between 300 and 500 m. There, mainly local traditional vines, such as the white varieties Vidiano, Vilana or Thrapsathiri as well as the red varieties Kotsifali, Mandilaria and Liatiko, thrive on lighter, sandy, often gravelly, mostly poorly fertile soils.

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Don PX – Sherry from Montilla-Moriles


Finally, after Corona, for the first time there was a tasting with winemakers and other fellow tasters. The Spanish economic and trade department ICEX invited to the Charles Hotel in Munich, where the Spanish Wine Fair 2021 entitled Wine in Motions took place on October 11th. 22 wineries were represented, one of which caught my attention as it had wines made exclusively from Pedro Ximénez (PX). A grape variety that is grown in southern Spain, mainly in the Andalusian region of Montilla-Moriles, and is mainly used there and in Jerez for the production of sherry.

The Bodega Toro Albalá, founded in Córdoba in 1922, is very well known … Read more ...

Prošek – Sweet wine of Dalmatia


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The sweet wine Prošek, pronounced Proschek, is rare in Germany under this name, because Croatia has forgotten to protect this product name with its joining of the EU. Although not to be confused with Prosecco, the name Prošek can only be used in Croatia because of its similarity to Prosecco.

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Rosenmuskateller – South Tyrol’s sweet red wine


Moscato Rosa del Trentino – called in South Tyrol Rosenmuskateller – a grape variety that is found almost exclusively in northern Italy and especially in South Tyrol, does not come from Sicily, as often claimed in Italy, but most likely from Dalmatia. In this respect, the synonym of the variety Moscato Rosa del Trentino is a bit misleading, as far more than 85% of the approximately 100 hectares of the Italian Rosenmuskateller vineyards are in South Tyrol. Outside Italy you will find some Moscato Rosa del Trentino on Lake Neusiedl, as well as in Rheinhessen and Istria. It should be noted that the variety is a descendant of Moscato BiancoRead more ...

Recioto di Soave from volcanic soil

Viticulture near Verona © Pixabay

Recioto is a typical term in the northern Italian Veneto, used for a wine produced from rosinated grapes – in the remaining areas of Italy, such a wine is called Passito. The name Recioto goes back to the local dialect which names the external grapes of the vine as Recie, which at least in earlier times, exclusively were used to produce this kind of sweet wine.

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South Tyrol – feinherb to sweet


Around 70% of South Tyrolean wines are produced by cooperatives, which belong to the pioneers of quality development. At this year’s wine trip to South Tyrol, the Winery Bolzano was on our visit program. The new construction of the winery has not only caused a stir architecturally. With around 40 million €, this is the most expensive investment in the wine sector in South Tyrol so far. 220 members of the cooperative are growing vines around Bolzano and manage about 350 hectares of vineyards, which are between 200 and 900 meters altitude. The winery is well known for its Lagrein and St. Magdalener wines, but it also offers many … Read more ...