Majorca – Vi Dolç from Pla de Llevant
The wine we have tasted, the Dolç de Sa Vall of the winery Miquel Gelabert, originates from the DO (Denominacion de Origen) Pla de Llevant, located in the east of Majorca.
Compared to the DO Binisalem, which lies in the interior of Majorca, the DO Pla de Lllevant is said to have increased yields and to plant more varieties of international grape varieties. Climatically, there is a Mediterranean climate in both DOs, which means more precipitation from autumn to spring, as well as warm summers and mild winters.
Founded in 1985, the Miquel Gelabert winery is based in Manacor and manages 9 hectares in the eastern part … Read more ...
The fact that first-class dry Sauvignon Blanc is produced at Marlborough on New Zealand’s South Island only became known at the end of the 1980s, when Cloudy Bay‘s Sauvignon Blanc became a cult wine. Sensitivity to botrytis makes this grape variety a suitable candidate for sweet wine, as does the Riesling. If the microclimate is right, there is a body of water like river or lake nearby, so wet fog can develop with its humidity, but quickly dry off from the grapes by wind and sun, these are usually the ideal conditions to harvest 
Puglia, which competes against Sicily for the second largest wine-producing region in Italy, is known for its high yields in viticulture, even in DOC areas. There are nearly a dozen sweet types of wine in Puglia, including the sweet specimen of the otherwise dry Apulian Primitivo di Manduria and, almost inevitably in Italy, a sweet Moscato.
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.
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.
Sauvignon blanc is not necessarily everyone’s favorite, at least for the dry wines. Some people because of its aromas can not drink enough of it , others refrain entirely from it because of the aromas. The flavors can vary greatly depending on the harvest time. With increasing maturity, the spectrum of aromas of grass, herbs, green fruits, boxwood, gooseberries, elderberries and yellow fruits often shifts, especially with ripened specimens supplemented with vegetables, asparagus and cabbage.
The Pineau de Charentes, a liqueur wine, is produced in the Cognac region, more specifically from the departments of Charente, Charente-Maritim and Deux-Sèvres. To produce a Pineau brandy from the AC Cognac is added to the fresh must of grapes, only a few hours after they have been harvested. The must may have started the fermentation and must have in any case more than 170 grams of sugar per liter. The cognac must have an alcohol content of at least 60%, be at least one year old and aged in wooden barrels – even a longer maturation is possible.
