Tastings by Michael

March 15, 2024

2020 Terra Caillou Clairette

The 2020 Terra Caillou Clairette de Bellegarde is a very nice white wine from the South of France, made with the Clairette grape. It is made by the Vignerons Créateurs, a combination of different wineries from the South of France. Clairette de Bellegarde is an AOC (now AOP) since 1949, for wines made entirely with the Clairette grape. The wine is certified organic.

Straw color with silvery reflexes. In the nose, you have lovely aromas of linden tree flowers, pear, honey and peach. On the palate, this wine is dry, with medium + acidity, full body, medium alcohol and a long and pleasant finish.

The 2020 Terra Caillou Clairette de Bellegarde is a special white wine. I really liked it.

TBM 90 points.

March 15, 2024

2022 Costières de Nimes

The 2022 Costières de Nimes rouge is a red wine made from the grapes Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Marselan. The winery is Domaine des Grès Rouge, which is part of the Vignerons Créateurs, which combines different winemakers from the South of France. The Domaine is situated in the Southern part of the Rhône Valley.

The wine shows an intense ruby color. In the first nose, you have blackcurrant, violet and recurrant, on the second note also black cherry, vanilla, blue plum, as well as notes of licorice and herbs like rosmary. On the palate, the wine is dry, with medium acidity, high alcohol, a medium + body and medium tannins.

Overall, 2022 Costières de Nimes is a powerful wine with a nice and rather long finish. For the lovers of bold red wines.

TBM 86 points.

December 17, 2023December 17, 2023

2015 Cruà Basilisco

2015 Cruà Basilisco, Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG, Basilicata, Italy. Aglianico is a typical grape for the South of Italy. You find it in Taurasi DOC from Campania and additionally in Basilicata where it presents itself as Aglianico del Vulture DOCG, and additionally as Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG.

Basilisco is a traditional winery that has around 20 hectares of vineyards at the majestic Vulture volcano. Their vineyards are at an altitude of 450 to 600 meters above sea level. They face South East, therefore providing the warmth that the vines need without being exposed too much to the South or South West where it may be too hot. Their viticulture is in the “capanno” style, thus jointly with fruit and olive trees – a very traditional style of viticulture. Organic certification.

The 2015 Cruà Basilisco wine is made with grapes from old vines from a single vineyard. Harvesting is entirely manual. Basilisco produced only 1.500 bottles of this wine! This is a powerful and very expressive wine, really good. Intense ruby color. In the nose, complex aromas of dark fruit – particularly black cherry, black plum, blackberry, with notes of eucalyptus and herbs. On the palate, the wine is dry, with medium acidity, very nicely integrated but noticeable tannins, medium alcohol. Long and pleasant finish. TBM 91 pontos.

November 20, 2023November 28, 2023

2016 Tronquoy-Lalande

The 2016 Tronquoy-Lalande, St. Estèphe, Bordeaux, France, is the property of the Bouygues brothers. They made a lot of money in telecommunications and internet and invested in several great vineyards and wineries. Even if this wine is not a Grand Cru Classé, it is an excellent and very tasty wine. They call the wine a Cru hors classe, because it is not a classified wine, but it has the main characteristics of a Grand Cru Classé. Since 2018, the winery dropped the part “Lalande” of the name, henceforth, the wine is just called Château Tronquoy.

Intense ruby color. In the nose, intense and complex aromas of black fruit – black cherry, black plum, cassis, with notes of vanilla and leather. On the palate, the 2016 Tronquoy-Lalande is dry, with Medium acidity. The alcohol is high, it has a full body and firm but already nicely integrated tannins. Long finish. With more maturity, the tannins will integrate even more and make this wine even better. I really liked it. TBM 92 points.

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November 18, 2023November 27, 2023

1982 Volnay 1er Cru “Les Caillerets”

1982 Volnay 1er Cru “Les Caillerets”, Henri Boillot, Volnay, Côte d’Or, Burgundy, France. Henri Boillot is a famous winemaker in Burgundy. The Boillot family began to make wine in the early 1900s. Henri Boillot, grandfather to today’s senior winemaker Henri Boillot, created the winery. Henri Boillot (should I call him jr.?) joined the winery then run by his father Jean Boillot, in 1975. In 2000, they built a new winemaking facility in Meursault. So this 1982 Volnay 1er Cru “Les Caillerets” is from the former winery in Volnay.

It seems that Henri Boillot (jr.) has introduced quite a lot of improvements that have been the basis of today’s fame. His son Guillaume joined the winery in 2008, and they have been responsible for winemaking jointly ever since.

Grenade color. On the nose, the 1982 Volnay 1er Cru “Les Caillerets” shows mainly tertiary aromas, like leather, game, smoke and sous-bois and cigars, with some fruity nose of redcurrant and raspberry. On the palate, the wine is dry, with medium acidity, medium alcohol, tannins expressive but well integrated, and a good body. Initially, the finish was a bit short. This improved after the wine had been opened for more than an hour, the finish was rather long and pleasant. A wine that has passed its peak, probably was better about 10 years ago. TBM 89 points.

#vinho #vinhos #vinhotinto #winelover #winelovers #winelover🍷 #winelovers🍷#winestagram #winestagram #winestagram🍷 #tastingsbymichael #degustação #degustacao #degustacao #winetasting #winetastings #winetasting🍷#winetastingfun #sommelier #borgonha #burgundywine #burgundywines #volnay #volnay #volnay1ercru #henriboillot

November 1, 2023November 27, 2023

2000 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

2000 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, Domaine Armand Rousseau, Gevrey-Chambertin, Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France. Until now, I only tasted few wines of Armand Rousseau, a legend whose reputation hasn’t escaped me. Tonight we are tasting a masterwork of his, and yes, we are convinced it is a truly great wine.

Beautiful ruby color. On the nose, complex and lovely aromas – still some primary ones of red fruit (redcurrant, raspberry, red cherry), some notes of secondary ones (ceder, cigar box) and tertiary aromas like leather, game, mushrooms. On the palate, the 2000 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is dry with medium+ acidity, showing off the aromas we found on the nose, medium alcohol, tannins well integrated but still noticeable, medium+ body. The finish is long and very pleasant. TBM 94 points.

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#armandrousseau #charmeschambertin #charmeschambertin2000 #charmeschambertingrandcru

October 29, 2023November 27, 2023

2020 Riesling Zilliken

2020 Riesling Zilliken, Saar (Mosel), Germany. Did you already have a Riesling truly enchant you? Today I had that experience with this wine from Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken. This was a second time with this wine, the first time was at the winery a few months ago.

The Winemaking

It struck me that the wines ferment in old large barrels, not in stainless steel tanks. Few wineries do this. Allowing a little bit of micro oxidation avoids reductive notes in the nose. Furthermore, this ads to the complexity of the wine. It also adds to the complexity (and costs) of the winemaking. The old barrels are stored in two underground stories, below the building of the winery. The barrels do not give any wooden aromas to the wine. The inside is covered with cristals of tartaric acid, so that the wine doesn’t really touch the wood. Even if it did, the barrels are so old that any aromas of the oak will have vanished and washed out.

The Wine

A straw colored wine. You take a sniff and are almost overwhelmed with those complex and delicious aromas that are so typical for a Riesling that shows first signs of maturity. You sense grapefruit, apricot, peach, and this lovely petrol note of Riesling with some maturity. Very nice, and makes you long for the first sip. On the palate, the 2020 Riesling Zilliken is semi-sweet, but its expressive acidity lets you think that you have a wine with a lot less residual sugar in your mouth. Light on alcohol, only 9%, with medium body. The acidity and the residual sugar play with each other in your mouth – and you don’t care who wins. A lovely experience, only Riesling does this in this perfection. This wine is truly delicious, and enchanting. TBM 93 points.
Recommended for @cave.prime.

October 22, 2023November 27, 2023

2021 Riesling “R” Kabinett

2021 Riesling “R” Kabinett, August Kesseler, Rheingau, Germany. Kesseler is a vintner of high renown in the region of the Rhine valley, producing Riesling and Pinot Noir. This Kabinett is a typical “Kabi”, it appears semisweet due to the rather high level of acidity, even though it has 30 gr residual sugar and one would think this is “sweet”.

The 2021 Riesling “R” Kabinett is a very pleasant, easy-drinking wine (the French would call it a “Glou Glou”). Refreshing, light. Great drinking pleasure. Straw color. In the nose, white and yellow fruit – lemon, apple, pear, white peach. Nice mineral notes (firestone). On the palate, the wine comes across as semisweet, with high and refreshing but pleasant acidity that really compensates much of the residual sugar. Reasonably long finish. Great wine that comes at a very reasonable price. TBM 89 points.

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September 27, 2023September 27, 2023

2012 Riesling von der Fels trocken

The 2012 Riesling von der Fels trocken is a dry Riesling from Rheinhessen. Klaus-Peter Keller is a famous winemaker of Riesling in Germany. His G Max is legendary, his GG’s are very hard to find. I was able to find his premium entry level wine “von der Fels”, and it was a bit of a sobering experience. A good Riesling, but I have had better ones at this level from other producers. The myth was demystified.

I tasted the 2012 Riesling von der Fels trocken, Keller, Rheinhessen, Germany. Clear appearance, with a golden straw color. In the nose, complex and full aromas typical for a mature Riesling – stone fruit like peach and apricot, citric notes, and a beautiful note of petrol. On the palate, the wine is almost dry, with a nice freshness and good body. Long and pleasant finish. TBM 89 points.

September 27, 2023

2013 Barbaresco Montestefano Riserva

The 2013 Barbaresco Montestefano Riserva is a lovely wine, produced by the Produttori del Barbaresco, the cooperative of smaller vintners in Barbaresco. A priest in Barbaresco founded the cooperative in 1958, recognising that the smaller producers only had a chance of surviving if they combined their forces, thus creating the critical mass to produce high quality Barbaresco. The Produttori del Barbaresco now joins some 51 vintners, altogether a total of more than 100 hectares. They produce around 500.000 bottles a year, 50% of which are basic Barbarescos, 20% Langhe Nebbiolo and 30% Barbaresco from the nine classical single-vineyard sites.

Terroir and Winemaking

Single-vineyard wines like this 2013 Barbaresco Montestefano Riserva are only produced in great vintages. The Montestefano vineyard has a total surface of 4.5 hectares, with south-south-east exposure. Its soil is calcareous limestone. 32 days of skin contact, fermentation at 30°C. Wines age for 36 months in oak barrels, followed by bottle aging of another 12 months. In other vintages, this may vary – the 2015 had only 9 months of bottle aging. The Produttori mark total number of bottles produced on the bottles (17.104 in this case, plus 1.448 Magnum bottles). Each bottle shows its individual number (this wine is 2.209). The Produttori del Barbaresco claim that the wine has a potential of 20 years, according to the data sheet.

Barbaresco vs Barolo

Like Barolo, Barbaresco is made 100% from the Nebbiolo grape. The Barbaresco region’s microclimate is a bit warmer than the Barolo region, consequently allowing the grapes to ripen a bit earlier. DOCG requirements for Barbaresco differ a bit from Barolo, taking into account that Barbaresco is ready for consumption earlier than a Barolo.

Description of the Wine

The 2013 Barbaresco Montestefano Riserva shows a ruby color of medium intensity, on the nose you discover complex aromas of black fruit, chocolate, leather and game. On the palate, the wine is dry, with medium acidity, good body, well integrated firm tannins. The finish is long and very pleasant. TBM 92 points. A lovely Barbaresco, certainly good to drink now but definitely with potential to develop further.