Árido Malbec 2006

Árido Malbec 2006 - Mendoza, Argentina; c. 8€; 13,5% abv


An attractively savoury scent with much meaty aromas - despite the sweet, almost jammy fruit, this scent was so savoury and lacking in oak aromas that I wouldn't have imagined an Argentine Malbec (though it isn't really like any Cahors I have had either). Sadly despite the interesting scent, the palate is a bit of a let-down: sweet fruit, low in acidity, a bit too soft tannins also. It isn't flabby or unstructured but, based on the scent, I was hoping for a bit more bite. Good value at 8€ despite my reservations.

Austrian Pinot Noir

Wieninger Rosé de Pinot 2007 12,5% abv; c.12€

A very light salmon pink due to a process that they use, reminiscent of that used for pink Champagne, that is very gentle on the grapes. The result is a mineral, light rosé, full of Pinosity and great fun. Though light and more like a white than a red or traditional rosé in body, it is intense and racy and mineral. I liked this very much. I can't wait to try the 2008!


Wieninger Pinot Noir Select 2004 13% abv; c.20€

Smells like hot chocolate and completely manages to hide any Pinosity that might be there. I find it amazing that the same wine maker that makes one of the best rosés that I have had and one that is so full of Pinosity also manages to make this red that seems like a bad caricature of the OTT Californian Pinot except lacking the harsh alcohol!


Fred Loimer Langenlois Dechant Pinot Noir 2006 13,5% abv; c.30€

This has the reputation of being one of the best Austrian Pinot Noirs. Cynic that I am, all to often when I hear the "best" of some area not well known for growing the grape, the picture I get in my mind is that of an over-oaked, spoof-monster. This PN from Kamptal wasn't that bad. It actually did have lovely Pinosity, beetrooty fruit and even some earthy scents to provide some savoury counterpoint to the fruit-forward Pinosity. Medium-full body, a bit on the soft side and thus betraying its origins from a hot year. So with all this goodness, I have to wonder why a layer of oak that smells like hot-chocolate was deemed appropriate to add onto it? I can very well understand that this wine has its fans (lovely, lovely Pinosity). But for those of us who fail to see why obvious oak should be a positive thing: don't bother.

Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz 2005

I recently shared an Ozzie Shiraz that I think I actually like!

Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz 2005 14% abv; 30€ in the special order selection

This is a "baby-Graveyard" but from younger vines than are destined for the flagship. What differentiates this Shiraz from most of what I have tasted above is that it isn't overtly sweet or full of dried fruit character. Rather, it seems like Syrah in a lovely, savoury style - salty even -, with lots of meat and olive scents.

Seemingly unspoofulated structure though Victor de la Serna seemed to think that HVs are generally acidified. But whether it is acidified or whether the deliciously high acidity is natural, it tastes perfect with all the other parameters in the wine. Long finish without any of the jamminess that mars so many Aussies to me, but instead is crisp and dry. If it weren't for the youthful oak, I would say this is elegant! Yet the oak doesn't obfuscate what seems to me to be pure Syrah aromatics, so I guess it will turn out fine with a bit of age.

This is by no means Northern Rhone Syrah, but it is one of the few Aussie Shiraz I have seen here that is obviously made from the same grape!

Lesser known Austrians and Germans

I was invited to taste through a single blind set of Austrians from mostly lesser known producers and grapes. But, as usual, we started with a double blind wine - probably the only "mainstream" wine!

Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Vinothek 1993

A lovely wine, perhaps not as good as the 1991 but still a joyful, extremely youthful drink (guesses ranged from 2005 to 2008!), mineral, perhaps a bit shy but still showing as a very classy drink. Elegant and acidic, though very light on its feet it seems to have more body than a cursory glance might notice. Needs time.

Then we had the main set, single blind:

Weingut Leo Aumann Rotgipfler Flamming 2007 Thermenregion Label

This was spicy and peppery; rich and concentrated and alcoholic - it reminded me rather of 2006 GVs! Nice wine in small sips but lacking the refreshing notes that I would want in a wine that I would drink. This was the first Rotgipfler I have had so I don't know if they are supposed to be so heavy and alcoholic and aromatically like a hot year GV?

Weingut Schellmannn Gumpoldskirchner Cuvée 2008 Rotgipfler + Zierfandler; Thermenregion label

Apparently a dry blend of the two grapes is exceedingly rare. But in this wine, it worked. It smelled of rosewater and steel, mineral and floral. Dry, crisp, mouthwatering despite a floral scent promising sweetness. Quite long. Very nice.

Weingut Steinschaden Frühroter Veltliner 2008 Langenlois, Kamptal label

Aromatically this was rather like the Schellmann except more prominent on the rosewater sweetness, less on the minerality. Fair acidity but still shows too much of the sickly sweet rosewater character (though fully dry) that I would ideally like. Perfectly nice but not as lovable as the others.

Weingut Rabl Gelber Muskateller 2008 Langenlois, Kamptal label

A grapey scent, obvious Muscat - smells just like Moscato d'Asti so it was a slight shock to the system when it was fully dry, crisp even with plenty of minerality. Sadly, the alcohol (I didn't note how much it was) did show through a bit. But a fun wine anyhow!

Weinbau Holzmann Roter Muskateller 2008 Bad Pirawarth, Weinviertel label

This was my favourite of the three Moscato d'Asti -smellalikes. Pure, mineral Muscat goodness, with even a touch of spritz initially, dry and clean and refreshing with none of the noticeable alcohol of the Rabl. Joyful.

Weingut Steininger Gelber + Roter Muskateller 2008 Langenlois, Kamptal label

Also a crisp, pure Muscat, but a bit shy aromatically. Good acidity, crisp, citrussy acidity. Nice!

Weingut Birgit Eichinger Roter Veltliner Stangl 2008 Langenlois, Kamptal label

First a 10€ ex-cellar example which was nice. It had a sweet and spicy scent, again reminding me of hot year GV except this had a coppery aroma to it and also a strange, but likeable, savoury scent that I couldn't quite put my finger on (maybe ketchup?). Full bodied, mineral and well structured so it could cope with the copious fruit. Nice!

Rudi Pichler Roter Veltliner Smaragd 2008 Wösendorf, Wachau label

But the 28€ ex-cellar Roter Veltliner was IMO a far better wine than just nice! (But yes, I do think 28€ ex-cellar is a bit much for it!) This also had the spicy, coppery scents of the Eichinger, but without any strange aromas. It was delightfully earthy and I kept thinking it was almost like a red wine in its aromas. Intense, strongly fruity but equally strongly structured with an earthy finish, savoury yet ripe and rich. Though incredibly rich as one expects of a Smaragd, it is moreish. Exciting wine!


For an un-blind finish we had Musterweingut Josef Loimer Weissgipfler Alte Reben Auslese 2000 Langenlois, Kamptal label

Our host told us that Weissgipfler is the same as Grüner Veltliner! Why two names in the same area for the same grape? Frankly, I thought this wasn't a terribly good effort: some sweet fruit; medium sweet (25g/l RS), low acid, even a bit watery.


If that was the finale, gladly the coda improved things!

Double-blind German reds:
Alois Hofmann Tauberschwarz Propstberg 2007 Franken, Taubertal label

Tauberschwarz is an interesting grape. The first mention of it is from 1559. As far as is known, it originates from Weikerheim, Franken - but since it was almost totally wiped out, its history is mostly uncertain. After a harsh winter in the 1950s a grower found 400 vines that had withstood the frost. He became interested in the grape and planted more of it. In 1986 there was apparently only 1 ha of it; now there are c.12 ha.

The sadly sees Barrique and being rather oak averse, I didn't really enjoy it. I have a hard time smelling past oak so I can't say much about the aromas, but the palate did have very nice, refreshing acidity.

Alois Hofmann Tauberschwarz Röttinger Feuerstein 2008 label

This is the unoaked version and the one I much preferred. I think the closest vinous comparison I can make is to unoaked Sangiovese: bright, crisp red fruit aromas, sandalwood - yet it is juicier than any Sangiovese I have had. It is also wonderfully (some might say painfully) acidic - perhaps a hypothetical cross of Blauer Wildbacher and Sangiovese is what it is like! Anyway: lovely structure, lovely bright berried fruit, unlike anything else I have tried - and a wine I very much enjoyed!

Weingut Becker-Landgraf Im Felsenkeller Spätburgunder J2 Gau-Odernheimer 2007 Rheinhessen label

This is dangerously drinkable! It seems like a "natural" wine, bright, light, vivacious, This is their basic Pinot Noir. I thought it seemed like the Foillard CdP '07 I had recently in London! Awesome stuff. There is only problem with the wine: it evaporates from my glass far too fast.

I recently tasted two dry Rieslings from this producer and was quite impressed by them, too. Anyone heard of them or tasted them? It seems like a producer that I would want to find more of - especially this Spätburgunder if it really costs only c.10€ ex-cellar!

Cape Mentelle Shiraz 2005; Penfolds Kalimna Bin 28 Shiraz 2005

One more Aussie wine to help(?) us with our Old Persian project. My colleague in the project loves blockbusters and we have rather opposite tastes in wines. I was warned away from the Cape Mentelle '06 (which should have been the current vintage in Alko) but I saw some '05 today and so I took that our session.

Cape Mentelle Shiraz 2005 Margaret River; 23,30€; 15% abv (!!!!)

I thought Margaret River was a relatively cool climate for Australia so I wasn't expecting 15% Shiraz. Well, the positive thing is that it certainly didn't taste like it had 15%. A pretty classic scent with dried, dark fruit, some fresh mulberry, some chocolate remnants peeking out from the 18 month barrel regime, but the oak is integrated on most sniffs. Full bodied, but with refreshing structure: unlike almost all other 15% wines I have had, this finishes pleasantly dry and crisp and has no heat or jammy fruit on the finish.

I never thought I would write this, but apparently some very rare examples at such elevated alcohol levels can work! I would still prefer more freshness to the fruit rather than a pruney, dried character, but on the whole this was much more to my taste than the Barossas I have had. I hope we will see more from the cooler regions here! And happily my blockbuster-loving friend also enjoyed it! We found the middle ground!


Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2005 South Australia; 14,5% abv; 22,50€

This Old Persian project has been interesting not only linguistically but vinously, also. It has "forced" me to try the Aussie range at our monopoly. Perhaps now is not a good time to give an overview of my findings since we still have 3-4 sessions of both Dārayavahuš and Aussie Purple Monsters ahead. But though there have been wines that provided some interest to me, sadly they for the most part have not been wines that I would buy nor wines that I particularly enjoy. They have been heavy, with more dried fruit/prune character than anything fresh or refreshing, sweet. Some have had adequate structure, but only the Cape Mentelle Shiraz has been refreshing - and even that is a bit frightening because of its supremely high alcohol (though it was amazingly well hidden). Sadly whoever is in charge of Australia at Alko seems to think Finns only want massive Shiraz full of purplosity. What I have so far tried, I am sure, shows much less variety than there must be in Australia.

Well, the Kalimna is one more of those wines that come partly to where I hope wines would be, yet in other respects fails to provide pleasure to me. The good things are its lack of overt oak aromas (I believe it is aged in old hogsheads?) and its prominent if softish tannins; and in its scent I like the meaty, peppery, savoury yet sweet dark fruit. Sadly what distracts from this goodness is the prune/dried fruit character combined to noticeable alcohol (though 14,5% it smells and tastes much more than the Cape Mentelle with 15%).

Baumard Crémant de Loire Tirage 2004

Domaine des Baumard Crémant de Loire Tirage 2004


19,15€; 12,5% abv; Chardonnay base with some Cabernet Franc. Previous tastes of this had a palate that I liked but were too shy aromatically. I think this is starting to open up. It doesn't have explosive aromas, but neither does it smell neutral. Instead, a lovely mineral aroma (wet rocks or whatever the micro-organism growing on them is called) has appeared. It is also grassy but full of white flowers and ripe fruit: an elegant, Chardonnay-heavy aroma. The palate, however, is full bodied compared to I expected from the scent. Elegant bubbles and crisp acidity, much citrus - but also rich! Very mineral finish. Nice wine and nice that the scent is starting to open up as well!

Cosimo Maria Masini Nicole 2006, Jandrain-Jandrenouille V Cense, Rogue Brutal Bitter

Cosimo Maria Masini Nicole 2006

Lee Greene from the property was recently in Finland visiting the importer and I was kindly invited to taste through their range. I very much enjoyed this wine then, so I was happy to try it again, this time drinking it rather than just quickly tasting it. I had previously tried the 2005 which was a blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cab Sauv and thought it fine despite the Cab, but I do think the 2006 which is 100% Sangiovese is far better for simply being more typical of Tuscany. Both vintages are "natural" wines and see no new oak, but the aromas all seem more precise with the '06 - the '05 (forgive me for muddling up my similies) was as muddled up as if I tried to look at an impressionist painting without my glasses: muddled upon muddled but still with much to like (I did like the '05 to some degree and managed to finish a bottle in two days). The extra clarity unfortunately made me finish this one in one evening, hence the headache earlier today.

Anyway, the '06 was full of bright red fruit; crisp and clean, tannic and palate-cleansing and far too moreish for my head.

Brasserie de Jandrain-Jandrenouille V Cense

A dark saison, crisp and hoppy but with an almost Trappist-beer sweet maltiness - an interesting style I hadn't tried before. At first it seemed just sweet with thin body, but it seemed to develop in a very positive direction with just a few minutes open.



Scents of citrus and spice emerged; the palate firmed up and it became an elegant beer with a touch of sweetness and a grapefruit-refreshing finish. Nice stuff! I hadn't heard of this Brasserie before, but I might have to find more from them. This wasn't a beer that immediately flaunted its virtues but rather was one that made me search for its merits - which I did find.

Rogue Brutal Bitter

We seem to have received a number of interesting US beers and this seems to me the highlight of those I've tasted so far. The St. Rogue Dry Hopped Ale was great in small amounts but seemed too intense, barley wine -like despite its dryness - impressive but not as drinkable as I like. And this is where this Brutal Bitter gets everything right for me. It is generally speaking in a similarly hoppy but fruity style, promising some sweetness from the scent but ending up being pretty dry and crisp. But this lacks the weight of the St. Rogue (though it actually has more alcohol at 6,2% abv!) making it more drinkable. I could have had a second bottle! Nice stuff!

Nice Austrian; Good and Horrible Italian

Tement Gelber Muskateller Steirische Klassik 2002 - Austria, Südsteiermark

Served blind: 11,5% abv; Gelber Muskateller = Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains. But this wasn't like any other Muscat I have had (though I guess, this might not have been intended to age this long!). The scent is delightful with lots of citrus and white flowers, it seemed a touch oxidative (rather than oxidised) and reminded me of the white Riojas of Lopez de Heredia. It was oily in texture but retained wonderful citrussy fruit. Far more refreshing and crisp than any other dry Muscat I have had. Lovely stuff! My guess: it seemed rather like Chenin Blanc in some respects yet had that oxidative touch that made me think of Joly (but one where emphasis was on making wine not practicing lunatic philosophy); second guess was the LdH white; after that I gave up.

Pieropan Soave Classico 2008 - Italy, Veneto

12%; 13,36€. Light gold. The scent is quite charming, typical for the Classico with minerals, white flowers, citrussy - it is even a touch nutty though unoaked. Quite full bodied, but with some crispness to it so the whole is refreshing and moreish. Nice wine!

Cascina Garitina Monferrato Amis 2001 - Italy, Piedmont, Monferrato IGT

14% abv; a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Barbera. It is dark, black despite some years on it. It smells more of oak and spoof than wine. Full body, harshly extracted with harsh tannins, harsh alcohol and I was not able to find real redeeming features. It is expensive, too, at 24,10€.

Château Musar Rouge 1999 + old pictures from my visit

The great cellars at Ch. Musar

Château Musar Rouge 1999

c.20€ at the clearance price at our Monopoly! I had thought the '99 had sold out ages ago so I was pleasantly surprised to find a lone bottle at the clearance. The '99 has always been one of my favourite years of this favourite wine and this might just have been my best bottle of it yet! This was rustic, slightly animal, with lifted/slightly volatile red fruit - it seems a return to the classic Musar style after a couple slightly more polished bottles. Full bodied, sweet red fruit, but light on its feet thanks to high acidity. Very lively and refreshing. Very young, and obviously will only get better, but I still find it irresistible now!


Gaston Hochar

Hewitson Old Garden Mourvèdre 2006

Hewitson Old Garden Mourvèdre 2006 30€; 14,5% abv; 6,7g/l acidity

The scent is full of sweet, dark fruit but has some pleasant, savoury touches, too, that are indicative of the grape though there is plenty of potentially obfuscating oak-spice, too - but for a wine that stays 18 months in new barrique, the oak is more integrated than I expected. Very full bodied and sweet but it also has fair structure: soft tannins but nicely lively acidity. The alcohol does stick out too much, however. Less oak and less alcohol and I think I would have enjoyed this quite a bit. It is very primary now and needs some age.

Sattlerhof Sauvignon Blanc Klassik '07 & M. Lapierre Vin de Pays des Gaules '07

In recent weeks I have mostly had adequate but uninspiring wines. Now I have opened two that I found satisfying.

Sattlerhof Sauvignon Blanc Steirische Klassik STK 2007 - Austria, Südsteiermark,Gamlitz

24,90€; 12,5% abv; 5,8g/l acidity; under a glass stopper. STK is a seal of quality by seven properties in Steiermark (Gross, Lackner-Tinnacher, Neumeister, Erich & Walter Polz, Sattlerhof, Tement and Winkler-Hermaden).

The wine was light as water. The nose is strikingly open and very true to the variety, full of currant aromas, ripe fruit and minerals. But though the aromas are much as I have experienced from the grape elsewhere, this is not Sauvignon in the NZ or Loire paradigm. This is ripe, rich, powerful, heavy and though rather obvious in its charms it remains strangely moreish and drinkable and interesting - though this is a grape I all too often become quickly bored with. It seems to begin in a fruit-forward style, but the acidity kicks in on the mid-palate and it remains mineral and as saliva-inducing as fresh Szechuan peppers! It finishes with a wonderful squirt of lemon that really worked as a component of the arctic char I was eating.

Rich stuff, and this is only the basic Sauvignon they make. The have a range of single vineyards as well (and, I think, some special bottling, too) - and I hope they won't be any more full bodied as that would make them clunky. As a general rule I still dislike the grape, but am happy to find one more rare example that went down well. What I do find a bit annoying is that the price for this basic wine is what one usually pays for the single vineyards elsewhere.

But it is the Gamay that really made my day! I had my second experience with Marcel Lapierre's Vin de Pays des Gaules 2007, mostly from Morgon, but this is a bottling that he makes with also some purchased grapes from outside the
appellation. But it is classic Lapierre in its style: very natural, seemingly light as a feather, racy. The label really says very much about the wine:



Yet the featherweight wine and its irreverent label belies some hidden depths. Though this is a fun, fruity, frolicsome wine it is as classic as I can imagine Morgon: it seems to combine the sensuousness of Burgundy to the game birds' blood of the Rhône but makes a unique personality of the two sides. Fun, and more serious than its surface would suggest.

Gérard Bertrand Réserve Spéciale Carignan VV 2007

I have only come across this grape in blends, so I had to try a varietal example when I saw one! I do wonder if this was representative of the grape and if so, what it brings into a blend? It seemed otherwise so generically sweet as to go for Grenache and so tannic that might not Mourvèdre cover up the structure part in a blend?

Gérard Bertrand Réserve Spéciale Carignan Vieilles Vignes 2007 - Languedoc, Vin de Pays de l'Aude; 11,49€; 13% abv; synthetic cork.

Deep, purplish colour. An almost jammy scent of red berries. It gains a pleasantly savoury edge with a little air. The alcohol, though quite modest for a Southern French wine, does show rather too much (and just for the conspiracy theorists: our monopoly actually checks that the label is within EU standards of +/-0,5% before allowing it to be sold in Finland, so the label's 13% can be presumed accurate to that degree!). Sweet fruit, at first so overwhelmingly so that it seemed like a structureless blob. But it firmed up very well with a little air and ended up pleasantly firm and tannic - I wonder how such a transformation can happen? Perfectly decent and inoffensive if nothing special - a bit obvious, boring and unexciting but still perfectly drinkable, i.e. exactly what I expect from the South at this price in Finland.

Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2007

Today I was handed a fishbowl Riedel with a light coloured liquid in it. It was by no means a great wine, but that isn't what one always needs. This seemed like an honest, little wine and it smelled of beetroot and pure Pinosity and it seemingly sees only neutral wood. Deliciously light body, not terribly high acidity, but perfectly adequate; nice tannins, too. Refreshing and quite moreish - it didn't take long to finish my glass. It looked like Pinot and smelled like Pinot so blurted out that it was a very decent Burgundy from some lighter, less exalted terroir, some good recent vintage perhaps '06 because of the strong fruit presence.

My interlocutor laughed and told me to guess again. I said "ok, from the charming tartness added to the nice fruit, it might be one of the more successful Alsace Pinots?"

I was told it was new world. And then I did guess Oregon. The wine was Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir 2007 and it is only 12,4% abv. It apparently costs somewhere around 10$ over there, but sadly over 18€ here. It's not worth it at the Finnish price because I can get some perfectly decent minor Faiveley and Drouhin for less, but at 10$ I think I would buy this on occasion. It seemed like perfectly honest Pinot. And there is always a use for such on my table.

Is this considered a mediocre producer? CellarTracker only had one note on this wine and it was far from positive. But I have always liked bad wine, lol!

Laughing Jack Shiraz 2004 (Greenock, Barossa)

Laughing Jack Shiraz 2004 - 15% abv; 26,30€; from Greenock, Barossa; S & K Wines of Kallaske and Schroeter. 20 months in American (60%) and French (40%) oak of which 20% was new.



Dark fruit, very concentrated, full of tar and mulberry scents with some savoury/spicy-eucalyptus/earthy aromas that provide a welcome counterpoint to the powerful fruit. The oak and alcohol are amazingly well hidden on the scent: it doesn't seem like an OTT Barossa. Sadly the alcohol is rather more noticeable on the palate. It does have rather nice tannins and a fair amount of acidity, too, so it isn't only a fruit-bomb. I hadn't heard of this producer before, but assuming that one likes Barossa Shiraz (not really the wine of my choice, so I might be very wrong in this recommendation), I think this is a very true and good example of it - at least my guest enjoyed it tremendously.

Texier St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes "La Croix" 2005

Éric Texier St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes "La Croix" 2005



12,5% abv. This continues to get better and better. It has been about half a year since my previous bottle, and though I remember that to have been open and pleasurable, this bottle is even more so. A lovely, elegant, pure scent of Syrah: dark fruit, dark olives, minerality, and some of that slightly gamy/meaty aroma I love in the grape. Ripe fruit, but not the lusciousness verging on over-ripeness that many 2005s seem to have, but rather it is an elegant, racy, palate-cleansing, nervy wine. Extremely enjoyable already, though it is young. Excellent.