Mini-Reviews: March 2014

By 13 commentsMini-Reviews

A few months ago, I started a new monthly theme: Mini-Reviews. I taste a bunch of wine each month that doesn’t get its own dedicated post but because I still want to share my tasting notes about them with you I came up with this new theme. These tasting notes are a little shorter than my regular ones. Each of them includes a Wine Searcher link that helps you find the wine (if available).

2013 Tenuta De Angelis Falerio DOC (50% Trebbiano, 25% Pecorino, 25% Passerina; stainless steel) Nose: Apple, citrus fruit and lots of flowers. Palate: Dry and a little salty. Fruity and easy to drink. Very delicious! Medium-long finish. The perfect white wine for a warm spring eve. A bottle costs under 6€ in Germany and around 4€ in Italy – very, very good quality-price ratio. Rating: 3/5 find this wine.


2012 Frank Brohl – Riesling Alte Reben Kabinett – Mosel Prädikatswein (100% Riesling; stainless steel) Nose: Lots of tropical fruit (especially passion fruit) and some green apple Palate: Dry, crisp, sapid, fresh, quite mineralic notes of green apple. Very harmonic. Lingering finish. Rating: 3.5/5 find this wine.

Mini-Reviews March 2014

2012 Weingut Breiling – Weissburgunder – Pfalz Qualitätswein (100% Weißburgunder; stainless steel) Nose: Yellow apple, flowers, a little bit of herbs Palate: Dry, herbal, bitter aftertaste. Rating: 2.5/5 find this wine.

2013 Azienda Agricola Pratello – Catulliano – Lugana DOC (100% Trebbiano di Lugana; stainless steel). Nose: Some herbs, a little bit of flowers and some yellow fruit. Palate: Crisp and fresh with lots of minerals. Lingering finish. Rating: 3/5 find this wine.

2009 Gulfi – Carjcanti – Sicilia IGT (95% Caricante, 5% Albanello; large oak & stainless steel). Nose: Wheat, Melon, some pineapple Palate: dry, mineralic with notes of butter and tropical fruit. Full-bodied, complex and of good structure. Long-lasting finale. Rating: 4/5. find this wine.

2012 Aurora – Fiobbo – Offida DOCG Pecorino (100% Pecorino; 30% barrique & 70% stainless steel). Nose: Ambitious but disappointing. Very, very oaky. A little spicy. Palate: Dry but was lacking the freshness I expect from a Pecorino. Lots of oak and even more oak. Not the style of Pecorino I enjoy. Pecorino really doesn’t need oak.. Rating: 2/5 find this wine.

2012 Gaudry – Le Tournebridge Sancerre AOC (100% Sauvignon Blanc; stainless steel). Nose: Aromas of Lychee, white pepper white currant and lemon. Palate: Dry, crisp, a little fruity, uncomplicated and pretty straightforward. Lacking a bit of minerality,  Medium-short finish. Rating: 3/5. find this wine.

2012 Argiolas Iselis Bianco2012 Argiolas – Iselis Bianco – Isola dei Nuraghi IGT (85% Nasco, 15% Vermentino; stainless steel & barrique) Nose: Tropical fruit, banana, grapefruit,  Palate: Dry, well-balanced, soft oak notes but the finish could have been more persistent. Rating: 3.5/5 find this wine.

2009 Azienda Agricola Marco Sambin – Passito Francisca (100% Cabernet Franc; barrique & stainless steel) Nose: blackcurrant, raspberry jam, humus, vanilla. Palate:  deliciously sweet (not too sweet though), well-structured, full-bodied, complex, smooth. Lovely meditation wine with long-lasting, never ending finish. Rating 4/5. find this wine (no Wine Searcher link available).

2003 Fontodi – Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOCG (Malvasia, Sangiovese; 5 years in small 50liters-110liters chestnut & oak barrels) Nose: nutty with lots of Marzipan and intense aromas of dried fruit. Palate: Sweet, crisp, overall well-balaced. Very tasty and full-bodied. Lingering finish. Rating: 4/5 find this wine.

2009 Gustavshof – jomax – Rheinhessen Qualitätswein (Spätburgunder, St. Laurent, Portugieser ; barrique) Nose: Mostlzy black cherries and some caramel. A little spicy.  Palate: Dry, crisp with soft mellow tannins. A bit one-dimensional Medium bodied. Too short aftertaste. Rating: 2.5/5 find this wine.

Parting Words

Lots of white wines this month and two excellent dessert wines. Hard to pick a favorite so I won’t but the wine with the best quality-price ratio was definitely the De Angelis Falerio DOC. Tenuta De Angelis is one of the big players in the Ascoli-Piceno region. I had a few doubts about this wine because most of the time wine this cheap is not to liking but it turned out to be an enjoyable spring & summer white. Thanks to a fellow wine writer I discovered wine. The Gulfi Carjcanti keeps impressing me every time I try it and the the Vin Santo was wonderful. Words can’t describe the beauty of this Vin Santo – you have to try this.

That’s all for today. Enjoy your Sunday folks! Cheers!

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13 comments on “Mini-Reviews: March 2014”

  1. Sean P. Reply

    I tasted the Iselis and the Falerio before. I remember the Iselis being more oaky than you describe it.
    Your tasting notes for that Falerio are similar to mine 🙂 It’s good to see that you like it, too!

    • Julian Rossello Reply

      Sean,
      Well, in my opinion the Iselis wasn’t too oaky.. When I think of oaky whites then Villa di Chiesa or the Planeta Chardonnay come to my mind.
      Cheers!

  2. Marco van Puff Reply

    Don’t know any of the wines in your list but Sancerre is one of my fav Sauvinon Blanc. Haven’t heard of Gaudry before but I recently tried one from Domaine Vacheron and I’ll probably not forgot for a long time how fantastic this Sancerre tasted.

    • Julian Rossello Reply

      Marco,
      Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll see if I can get a bottle of Domaine Vacheron Sancerre in Munich. I need to try more French wine anyways 🙂

      • Sean P. Reply

        I don’t really like Villa di Chiesa either. I prefer my whites with no oak.

  3. Suzanne Reply

    I love your reviews and don’t mind that they are short at all, really appreciate the wine searcher link also, makes it very easy to find the wines, nice to see the Vin Santo is available in the US, nothing in NY but will continue trying to find.

    • Julian Rossello Reply

      Suzanne,
      Thank you so much 🙂
      I’m glad to hear that the Fontodi Vin Santo is available in the US. It’s definitely worth the money! I personally enjoy it best when it’s paired with some homemade biscotti or “cantuccini” as they say in Italy.

  4. talkavino Reply

    it is interesting to see how we are all wired to be concerned if wine is very cheap – we are afraid that it means that the quality will not be there. And then it is so good to discover that inexpensive wine actually tastes better than we expected! Helps to keep the inner snob in control : )

    • Julian Rossello Reply

      Well most wine that I tried that cost 4€ per bottle was not a pleasure to drink so that’s why I was a bit skeptical but I usually don’t give up on a wine until I’ve tried it. I know that quality doesn’t depend on the price but at least on the German market the very cheap wine is often of poor quality..
      I think Tenuta De Angelis exports its wines to the US so maybe their Falerio DOC is available in Connecticut, too 🙂

    • Julian Rossello Reply

      Foodwine88,
      Fontodi produced an excellent Vin Santo in 2003 and 2004 (haven’t tried any other vintages yet) so if you find a retailer near you then maybe give the wine a try.

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