Elysium Black Muscat – Californian Scent of Heaven

Black Muscat: never heard of it – but maybe already eaten? Muscat Hamburg, as the grape is called in Great Britain, is used in many countries mainly as a table grape, because of its ability to survive long transport routes very well.

But there are also dry wines of Muscat Hamburg , such as in Eastern Europe or Württemberg. Dessert wines are also produced in Württemberg as well as in California, where exists more than 100 hectares of Black Muscat vines, almost exclusively owned by the Quady Winery. The winery of the Quady brothers specializes in dessert, aperitif and Muscat wines, as well as vermouth and port-like … Read more ...

Sweet Viognier from down under

There are more than 60 wine growing regions in Australia, I suppose in this country only few fans of Australian wines know more than a handful of these regions: for example Shiraz from McLaren Vale or Barossa Valley or Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra.

In addition to the well-known sweet, alcohol-fortified Rutherglen wines, there are also wines, whose grapes are harvested with Botrytis. We have a sweet Viognier wine from South Australia, whose name FSW8B Botrytis Viognier 2015 already reveals the noble rot.
Founded in 1849, Yalumba is Australia’s oldest family owned wine company and is one of those Australian producers that not only produce Viognier as a varietal … Read more ...

Spanish Mistela – Floralis Moscatel


“We would like to introduce you to the Floralis Moscatel Oro sweet wine from the winery from Torres and at the same time arranged the dispatch of a product sample,” was written in the mail of an agency. In addition there was an attachment with informations about region, wine and winery. At that time I was in the process of working out more informations about Spanish sweet wines and therefore this wine was ok for me.. From the enclosed information I could see that the Floralis is probably a Mistela, a type of sweet wine that I had barely tasted before, so the Floralis came just right.

The Spanish … Read more ...

Vouvray moelleux – pure balance

© Pixabay

The Loire is known for its castles, unspoiled nature and the longest wine route in France. At the Loire you can find such well-known names as Muscadet, Sancerre or even Vouvray. Around the small town Vouvray and seven other neighboring communities, the eponymous wine-growing area extends in the Loire Valley east of Tours.

The vineyards are located on slopes made of tuff limestone, the top layer consists of flint clay or clay sand. The Vouvray is made in different styles from Chenin Blanc, whereby also a share of 5% Orbois Blanc is possible. Chenin Blanc is a grape variety with high-acid that produces very long-lasting wines in Vouvray.

Vouvray is produced both as sparkling wine and still wine. The still wines are dry (sec), semi-dry (demi-sec), sweet (moelleux) or noble sweet, (liquoreux). Only for dry wines, however, it is mandatory to mark this with the indication sec. For the more or less sweet variants, this obligation does not exist, but for many wines, especially sweet wines, this information can be

Read more …

Rivesaltes Ambré – amber coloured complexity

My first experiences with Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) were characterized by fresh dark red, reductively vinified Banyuls (rimage), only later followed the oxidatively vinified bright to brick red Banyuls (traditionnel or Grand Cru) and finally the other types of VDN. This order is not surprising, because Banyuls is the most well-known and frequently represented wine in the German wine trade of the sweet French VDN. During a visit to Roussillon, which accounts for over 80% of the total VDN produced in France, I met the Ambré type Amber (Amber) and very appreciate it since then.
To an Aargauer Rueblitorte (recipe under sweet wine and food), which contained … Read more ...

Foaming sweetness – Moscato from Veneto

Nearly 20 DOC or DOCG sparkling wines of different Moscato varieties are available in Italy. Almost all are sweet. Among the best known are the Moscato d’Asti DOCG and the Asti Spumante DOCG. In addition to the Moscato sparkling wines originating from controlled areas of origin, there are a variety of sparkling wines from Moscato, which are marketed as land wines from Italy.

We tasted three different Moscato sparkling wines from the Veneto, one of which, the Fior d’Arancio Colli Euganei Spumante Dolce of the Cantina Colli Euganei, made from the Moscato Giallo (Gold Muscatel), is a DOCG wine (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita). The other two wines have … Read more ...

Molino Real – fruity sweet Málaga

When speaking of Málaga,usually it is meant a sweet alcoholic wine known since antiquity. This wine is rich in alcohol because pur alcohol has been added and sweet, because the alcohol stopped the fermentation and thus preserved the sugar of the grapes.

The tourists in Malaga who wants to buy a sweet Málaga wine usually is totally confused by the variety offered. Pálido, Cream Añejo, Rojo Dorado, Parajete or one of the more than 20 allowed other names can be found on the bottles, in which the sweet wine made from the grape varieties Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel (Muscat d’Alexandrie) is offered. The used terms may refer … Read more ...

Port Wine – Traditional Late Bottled Vintage

quinta-do-vale-dona-maria_lr
© Quinta do Vale Dona Maria

Chocolate desserts are usually accompanied by red dessert wines, with us being mostly red Vin Doux Naturel from France. Sometimes a change might be fine, so we have chosen as a companion to a chocolate chili mousse a vintage port wine. These show up the name vintage and are vinified from grapes of a vintage. Three are types of it: Vintage, Single Quinta Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage, abbreviated LBV. Vintage is produced only in very good years, must be registered by the producer at the Port Wine Institute (IVDP) and confirmed after organoleptic tasting to be vintage-worthy. Single Quinta Vintage is produced in good years, but does not require registration and acceptance at the IVDP. However, both wines in principle undergo the same vinification and he same aging, 2 years in barrels followed by bottling and maturing. Entirely different the Late Bottled Vintage, which usually matures for 4-6 years in the

Read more …

Verduzzo – typically Friulan

Zitronen-Ricotta-Mandel-KuchenIt is said in Friuli that the Verduzzo was drunk by the farmers at the time of the fiefs, while the landed gentry drank the aristocratic sweet Picolit. Even today, the Picolit coming from the Collio orientale del Friuli, outside Friuli, the better known of the two. The Verduzzo is however the typical sweet wine from Friuli. It is made from the grape Verduzzo Friulano as a sweet (amabile or dolce) DOC wine in the Friulian wine regions Collio Orientale, Friuli Annia, Friuli Aquileia, Grave and Isonzo. In Carso, Collio and Latisana the Verduzzo is not pruduced as DOC wine. There is also a sweet Verduzzo RiservaRead more ...

Sweet pearls from Limoux

Limoux Methode AncestraleAs early as 1531, the first mention of a sparkling wine produced in the region around Limoux can be found. The wine-growing area of Limoux is located in the west of the Languedoc around the town of the same name, south of Carcasonne and along the Aude and its tributaries. The vineyards are at altitudes of about 100 to 500 m. The grapes then thrive under a Mediterranean-influenced climate, often on sandstone or limestone and clay. Most common white grape varieties are Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Mauzac, red grape varieties include Merlot, Cot (Malbec), Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. The white grape … Read more ...