2006 Novelito Vino Novello

I tasted this wine without knowing what vino novello actually meant. My first impressions, as you will see in the tasting note, were of Beaujolais Nouveau. Later I did some checking to see what it really meant. I soon found out that just like Beaujolais Nouveau it is a new wine, a celebration of the harvest.

New wines are the first wines of the crop and are permitted for sale in November (6th for Italy and 16th for France). The fermentation process that takes place to produce new wines is that of carbonic maceration. What basically happens with carbonic maceration is that the wines are fermented whole rather than crushing (or breaking up) the grapes in making a normal wine. The result is that the juice ferments inside their skins. After a number of weeks the winemaking process is continued as per normal. The resulting wines are light and fruity with very little tannin and thus no aging ability.

Here is my tasting note:

Colour: light, bright cherry-red in colour.

Nose: fresh, bright cherry nose.

Palate: Beaujolais-like; quite spritzy with the same spicey cherry as the nose. virtually no tannins at all.

Finish: light spicey finish.

Comments: a nice light summer drink, and piece of tradition that will hopefully stay.

2003 Botalcura El Delirio Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

One of my favourite red grape varietals is Cabernet Sauvignon; in my opinion it is the king of red wine grapes. I simply love the powerful wines the Cabernet grape produces.

Over the last ten years the Chilean wine industry has been on the up with Cabernet Sauvignon becoming Chile's trademark wine. The rise of Chilean Cabernet has been based on high quality wines that overdeliver in the 10-15 euro mark. This is the El Delirio Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the Botalcura winery and cost me around 9 euros. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: deep and intense purple-red in colour.
Nose: a big waft of sweet black currant. some oak here too.
Palate: plenty of sweet cassis fruit. nice grippy tannins. well balanced.
Finish: spicey black fruit.
Comments: a nicely balanced wine that i could drink all night. pretty good value for the 9 euro price tag.

2005 Antica Contea Di Castelvero Piemont Barbera

Antica Contea Di Castelvero is a vineyard located in the limestone-clay soils of the Monferrato hills in the south of the province of Asti, Piemonte. This wine has been fermented and matured in stainless steel tanks, and has had not oak handling. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: ruby red-garnet in colour.
Nose: light and fresh. vibrant plummy fruit. some savoury characters here as well.
Palate: medium bodied. light red berry and cherry flavours. little or no tannins.
Finish: light and savoury on the finish.
Comments: a medium bodied wine that would suit food.

2004 Chateau Fourcas Hosten

I purchased six bottles of this wine as one of the weekly specials from the local Aldi store. Chateau Fourcas Hosten is situated in Listrac (Medoc) and produces some of the better wines from this region. It is a 2004 vintage which was a good year in Bordeaux, although not quite so good as the 2005. The wine is made of twenty five year old vines, and is a blend of 45% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc.

Here is my tasting note:

Colour: deep purple-red in colour. good colour depth, but not inpenetrable.
Nose: oak hits the nose first backed up by hints of black fruits.
Palate: elegant, peppery black cassis fruit with fine tannins. a nicely structured wine.
Finish: solid finish; green and peppery.
Comments: nice solid wine that will last a fews years tucked away in the cellar. excellent value for money.

2000 Gilberts LBV Porto

This is the Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) port produced by Gilberts, and comes in a 500 ml bottles instead of 750ml. I purchased this on a whim when I saw it on sale at the local Gall & Gall. This port has been produced by the traditional treading of feet in stone lagaeres (open topped tanks).

Here is my tasting note:

colour: deep, dense red in colour. browning slightly towards the rim of the glass.

nose: lovely big nose of sweet, jammy red fruit.

palate: full bodied and powerful. begins with smooth, spicey red fruit. acid and sweetness are nicely in balance. was a little sharp until the wine opened a little more. some fermented wood in here as well.
finish: long, sweet and smooth. a tad sharp and alcoholic towards the end.
conclusion: this is a nice LBV and good value for money.