“Like syrup! – Liquid raisins! – Incredibly sweet! ”- this and the like can sometimes be heard when tasting sherry made from Pedro Ximénez (PX) or Moscatel grapes. These Sherries are definitely sweet, as Moscatel sherry must have at least 160 g / l residual sugar – PX sherry even at least 212 g / l. Simple, not very mature specimens can then often be too little complex and such appear “just sweet”.
A visit to the Bodega Tío Pepe of González-Byass in Jerez de la Frontera is practically a “must” if you are exploring sherry in the sherry triangle between the cities of Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. A visit to this bodega was also on the agenda of the trip of the wine academy beginning of October this year.
… and all priced below 10 €. We tasted three different muscat wines, two sweet wines: a gold muscatel from the winery Erste + Neue from South Tyrol and a Moscato from Gallo from California, plus a feinherb muscatel from the winery Kesselring from the Palatinate.
All are muscat wines, but of at least two different varieties: Gold Muskateller and Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, provided that the feinherb wine from Palatinate has been made from yellow muscatel.
For quick readers ahead: None of the wines could be one of our favorites – more in the conclusion. All wines were tasted blindly.
Muskateller feinherb Bio 2014, Winery Kesselring
light pale … Read more ...
The term feinherb is used to my knowledge exclusively in Germany and often in connection with Riesling. Good dry Rieslings can be found for less than 10 euros, even in the wine shop.
So I ordered three feinherb Rieslings (tasted wines), feinherb at least according to the seller – all three under 10 €.
The Rieslings have been produced by VDP wineries, so not exactly unknown manufacturers. From the Rheingau came the Riesling 2014 Finesse of the winery Kuenstler with 12.5% Vol. Alcohol and the Steinberger Riesling 2013 feinherb of the Staatsweingut Kloster Eberbach, from the Mosel the Riesling 2014 of the St. Urbans-Hof – both with … Read more ...
Port 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 ...
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 ...
Greece 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.
More 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 ...
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 ...
.. 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.
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 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 ...