Arthur Metz Grand Cru Wines

Alsace is a magical wine spot in Europe where you still can find the genuine and traditional food, wine and not to mention the very odd language that some of the older people still speak, great place to visit.

On my last tour there I was invited to a special tasting in the Arthur Metz  fantastic shop and tasting room with the sommelier in the house.

My knowledge of the wines from here are just some of the bottling that exist on the Swedish market and the is not a lot.

The reason for this visit was to try all of the grand cru wines that they obviously produce without my knowledge,

The grand cru wines was all of very good quality and very reasonably priced and great value for money so try them out on your next visit.

Thanks Frank for a great tasting.

Black Marble Hill Syrah

In 1797, over a hundred years after the first Europeans began to settle in the Paarl area, Petrus van der Merwe built his home on the farm Rhebokskloof. The building has since been restored to its original Cape Dutch splendour and the distinctive gable still bears his initials, as well as those of his wife.

Between the First and Second World Wars, the area known as Rhebokskloof was divided into six separate farms. In 1986 the farm was returned to its original size when new owners took ownership of one of the six farms, and subsequently bought back the other five pieces of land. In 2006 Rhebokskloof was sold once again, but this time to a group of South African businesspeople, who have since been restoring the farm to its former beauty.

Rhebokskloof’s flagship wine, Black Marble Hill Syrah 2008, won gold in the Syrah du Monde competition in France. And are voted among the best syrah wines in South Africa.

The wine have dark plum aromas, aromatic spice and black pepper nuances from the barrel aging, this wine confidently reflects bold and generous Shiraz styling. Smooth-textured and with juicy palate appeal, it can be enjoyed now or aged for a further few years.

This wine can be bought in Sweden by Gastro Import wine selections (me)

How much are you willing to pay for a bottle of wine?

How can you explain the cost of a bottle of wine? What does it takes to produce a bottle for

1000 € to a bottle of 6 €

I always get this kind of questions on every of my many tastings from ordinary wine drinkers who try to understand this issue.

You can always talk about quality, cost of grapes, marketing and many other things but when it comes to what’s inside the bottle then it starts to be difficult due to that is the only thing that matter, right? Does the wine taste good or not is the key.

A very clever friend of mine that knows things way above my head about wine and wine production told me that there is no wine in the world that can cost more than 50 € to produce no matter from where, that fore sure put different perspective when you see wines that cost 400 € and more on realise, those producers laugh all the way to the bank.

 In vino veritas

Riedel glass Yes or No

Do you need different wineglasses for different wines, the answer is ultimately yes you do and you should to get the most out of your wine.

The glass manufacturer Riedel from Austria have made a special packaging of five different glasses that are made for to bring out the special character in the specific wine type, Riesling, syrah, cabernet S, pinot N and chardonnay.

I have been using Riedel for many years now and also when I do glass testing with people who are all amazed when they find out the difference of how the wine turns out in the nose and pallet, you should try it if you can, even a bad wine gets better for all of you who cant resist to drink wine from a BiB.

PS. I can tell you a lots of stories about Riedel glass where

A hallelujah moment.

Hrvatska vina / Wines from Croatia / Viner från Kroatien

English:

I have been fascinating of Croatian wines for some time and If you are a fan of BIG red wines then 2008 Zlatan Otok “Zlatan Plavac Grand Cru”, made from Plavac Mali grapes, is the wine for you.

They say it’s Croatia’s rarest wine, it enjoys a cult status and comes from vineyards on steep southern slopes of Hvar island (Sveta Nedjelja) with yield of only 0.5 kg per vine, Explosion of ripe, almost dried black  (plums, blackberry) earthy leather, cigar smoke in the nose, in the mouth again ripe fruit, chocolate, plenty of extract supported by solid freshness. Finaly this wine will last for ages.

I was very curious to try Zlatan Plenković’s new wine that he made from the most popular grape variety in America, Zinfandel or in Croatian Crljenak.

The nose was fantastic of mature dark red fruit with a beautiful taste of ripe red fruit, apple smoke, cinnamon, and cloves with a lingering long finish with nice tannins, great wine.

The only negative thing must be the price that is high and when you fight with wines from other countries you have to take this in consideration.

Hrvatski:

 Ja sam bio fascinantan hrvatskih vina za neko vrijeme, a ako ste fan Big crnih vina pa 2008 Zlatan Otok "Zlatan Plavac Grand Cru", od grožđa Plavac Mali, vino je za vas.
Oni kažu da je Hrvatska u najrjeđih vino, on uživa kultni status, a dolazi iz vinograda na strmim južnim obroncima otoka Hvara (Sveta Nedjelja) s prinosom od samo 0,5 kg po lozi, eksplozije zrelih, gotovo suhe crne (šljive, kupine) zemljani kože , cigara dim u nosu, u ustima opet zrelo voće, čokolada, puno ekstrakta podržano čvrstim svježine. Na kraju ovo vino će trajati dobi.
Bio sam jako znatiželjan pokušati Zlatan Plenković je novo vino da je od najpopularnijih sorta u Americi, Zinfandel ili na hrvatskom Crljenak.
Nos je bio fantastičan zrele tamno crvenog voća s prekrasnim okusom zrelog crvenog voća, jabuka dim, cimet, klinčić i uz dugotrajan dugim završiti s lijepim tanini, velika vina.
Jedina negativna stvar mora biti cijena koja je visoka i kada se bore s vinima iz drugih zemalja, morate uzeti u obzir.

The Malat family in Austria

In English:

The Austrian winemaker Malat is now in the ninth generation in charge of Michael who took over the winery after his parents Gerald & Wilma in 2008

The winery is situated near Krems in the old monastery of Göttweig with 50 hectares in production of high quality grapes that are manually harvested and slow pressed with the greatest ambitions of making a top class wines in every category.

Wines in this house are all differend but very good from the lighter Gruner Veltliner to the super sweet TBA wines that are among the best in the country, super wines.

Another thing is that the Malat family was the first producer of sparkling wines in Austria when they started to make sekt by the traditional method and hand riddling of the bottles, I have not tasted these.

My favourites are the pinot noir, the Steinbuhel Riesling is superb and all of the sweet wines are just brilliantly amazing. Try to find and get as many as you can.

 In German:

Der österreichische Winzer Malat ist jetzt in der neunten Generation in Höhe von Michael, übernahm das Weingut, nachdem seine Eltern Gerald und Wilma im Jahr 2008
Das Weingut liegt in der Nähe Krems in das alte Kloster Göttweig mit 50 Hektar in der Produktion von qualitativ hochwertigen Trauben von Hand geerntet werden und mit den größten Ambitionen, einen erstklassigen Weinen in jeder Kategorie gedrückt langsam entfernt.
Weine in diesem Haus sind alle Widerstreit, aber sehr gut von den leichteren Gruner Veltliner, die super-süßen TBA Weine, die zu den besten im Land sind, super Weine.
Eine andere Sache ist, dass die Malat-Familie der erste Hersteller von Schaumweinen in Österreich war, als sie zu Sekt nach der traditionellen Methode und Hand Rütteln der Flaschen machen begann, habe ich nicht probiert diese.
Meine Favoriten sind der Pinot Noir ist die Steinbuhel Riesling hervorragend und alle süßen Weine sind nur brillant erstaunlich. Versuchen Sie, und so viele wie Sie können.
(google translate)

Dragan Unic

I do not like red Burgundy, do I miss something?

Pinot noir is something that every wine nerd is talking about at many has their favourites from Burgundy and its many producers, how can that be? Me myself and I don’t get this at all even if I have been trying to for years and in every price level but I just cant get it! I love the nose of pinots from Burgundy but the taste is not appealing to me at all, I must miss something on my taste buds and some cells in my brain that isn’t there when it comes to Burgundy pinots, anyone who have some suggestions for me where to find this missing link?

The Pinots that I do like is the ones in styles from S-A and some from New Zeeland and even from California, Hamilton Russel is one of my favourite points from S-A together with Meerlust, Danie De Wet Nature in Concert and seven barrels from Catherine Marshall all great wines and beautifully made pinots that I can appreciate any day of the week, thanks guys for making my life to pleasurable.

I will get back to this subject because I find it challenging and sometimes very tasty J

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for following my blog and all the inputs from you

Love well and drink well //

Dragan Unic