My Wine

Vina Tarapaca Syrah 2003

2012-02-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

Variety: Syrah
Country of origin: Chille
Wine appellation: Maipo valley
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: deep red
Bouquet: very expressive, forest fruit preserve, black chocolate, touch of coffee, black pepper
Taste: medium body, full mouth feel of cherries in black chocolate with pleasant, round and elegant tannins very good structure and balance between spiciness and black chocolate
Recommended food pairing: chocolate souflee
Overall score: 88
Price: CZK 200 in 2005
Stopper: cork
Stunning Syrah it just amazes me how the wine developed if I compare it to my notes from March 2010 here, where you can find the pics of the bottle and labels. I was actually afraid the wine will be gone and on the contrary itimproved significantly!!! Looks like you never know with the wine you just need to taste it:)

Mussel Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009

2012-02-11T04:05:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Country of origin: New Zealand
Wine appellation: Marlborough
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: pale yellow
Bouquet: grass, white currant, gooseberry
Taste: light to medium body, white grapefruit, lime, white currant, gooseberry, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: see food
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: screw cap
This is not typicall passion fruit styl of New Zealand SB, it has also nice grass character to it.

Beamonte Navarra Crianza 2004 DO

2012-02-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

Variety: Tempranillo x Garnacha x Cabernet Sauvignon

Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Navarra
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: medium red with orange meniscus
Bouquet: cherries marmelade, vanilla, wood
Taste medium body, cherries, vanilla, round structure balancing the tannins and fruit, wood, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fuet
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 120
Stopper: cork
For picture please refer to my tasting of 2 years ago here. It actually is much better then the reserva I tasted 4 days ago here. Quite like the good balance between the fruit and wood and still visible tannins.

Santa Rita 120 Carmenére 2004

2012-02-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

For tasting notes please refer to tasting of the same bottle one month ago here.

Beamonte Navarra Reserva 2003 DO

2012-02-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Variety: Tempranillo x Cabernet Sauvignon

Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Navarra
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: mediumgarnet red with lighter meniscus
Bouquet: plums, canned cherries, vanilla, leather
Taste medium body, canned cherries with vanilla and plums supported by good acidity at the end of the palate, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fuet
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 150
Stopper: cork
Aging 18 months in American and French used oak barrels this Reserva offers good value for the price, but does not stand out and in no way is comparable to Tesco Finest Rioja from the same vintage tasted here. Also it is surprising, but when I compared it to my notes of Crianza 2004 from the same producer tasted in January 2010 here , which I do not remember very well, it seems that I liked the Crianza more.

Robertson Winery Shiraz 2005

2012-02-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

Variety: Shiraz
Country of origin: South Africa
Wine appellation: Breede River
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium garnet red with bricky meniscus
Bouquet: Christmas spices, clove cinnamon, leather, coffee
Taste: medium body, round, spices, canned blackberries and dry cherries, coffee, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: beef jerky

Overall score: 85

Price: CZK 199
Stopper: cork
Excellent leather, spicy style of Shiraz. Very good bottle aging made it round and smooth.

Wombat Hill Cabernet Merlot 2002

2012-02-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Country of origin: Australia
Wine appellation: South Eastern Australia
Vintage: 2002
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: garnet red with bricky meniscus
Bouquet: canned cherries, plum jam (povidla), coffee, vanilla
Taste: medium body, soft, round, plums, cherries, black currant jam, good acidity considering the age with coffee tones in the mid palate and warm (probably alcohol) medium finish
Recommended food pairing: venison
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK 200
Stopper: cork
Interesting if I compare my notes from 2 years ago here, where you can find the labels.

Luis Felipe Edwards Cabernet Sauvignon Pupilla 2005

2012-02-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Colchagua Valley
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: black currant, cherries
Taste: medium body, dominant fruit is the black currant supported with wild cherries and very good acidity, which keeps the wine still fresh and not dull, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: grilled meat
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 150
Stopper: cork
Very good almost book example of CS in very price friendly category. It is nicely round, properly aged and very drinkable.

Jedlička a Novák Rulandské modré 2008 výběr z hroznů

2012-01-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub-appellation, Bořetice village, Terasy vineyard
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: light bricky red with orange meniscus
Bouquet: subtle,canned cherries,strawberry marmalade, cranberries, vanilla
Taste: fuller body, strawberries preserve, dry cranberries, supported by vanilla tones, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: pork loin with plum sauce
Overall score: 86
Price: CZK 190
Stopper: cork
Very good PN with more vanilla and strawberries and less cherries style of Binder PN tasted about 20 min ago.

Pavel Binder Rulandské Modré 2009 výběr z hroznů

2012-01-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub-appellation, Velké Pavlovice village, Trkmanska vineyard
Vintage: 2009

Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: medium red with lighter meniscus

Bouquet: very expressive, cherries, vanilla
Taste: medium body, harmonic round tannins, red cherries, supported with touch of vanilla and toast, soothing after swallowing with medium finish
Recommended food pairing: game food

Overall score: 87

Price: CZK 200

Stopper: cork
Stunning PN. I really like it. It reminds me the style of Stapleton and Springer does, but for better price:)

Víno Mikulov Pálava 2006 výběr z hroznů

2012-01-29T04:56:00.000-08:00

Variety: Pálava

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub appellation
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 12.5%

Color: light golden

Bouquet: dry orange peel in sugar, hint of mango

Taste: medium body, canned tropical fruit, touch of lichi with spiciness in the mid palate and medium sweet tones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: Asian food
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK 180

Stopper: plastic cork

Sweeter style of Palava, however not dull and with good structure balancing the fruit and spiciness with proper bottle maturity.

Chateau Valtice Pálava 2010 pozdní sběr

2012-01-29T04:31:00.000-08:00

Variety: Pálava

Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub appellation, Brod nad Dyjí village, Brodské stráně vineyard
Vintage: 2010

Alcohol content: 12.5%

Residual Sugar: 12.5g/l

Acidity: 7.1g/l
Color: light yellow
Bouquet: rose petals with slight citrus tones

Taste: medium body, spicy, white grapefruit with very good balance of high acidity characteristic for 2010 vintage with slight residual sugar, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: Asian food
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 180

Stopper: cork

Hi Andrew, this is the bottle that you left here. We just opened it for red curry meal and it was very good pairing. The wine due to higher acidity and residual sugar will age well and should improve in 2 to 3 years.

Tesco Finest Viña Mara Rioja Reserva 2003

2012-01-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Fantastic wine, for tasting notes and label please refer here. Overall score: 87

Moulin de Gassac Guilhem White 2005

2012-01-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

This was the last bottle and still amazingly drinkable with slightly more peach tones than in the last tasting notes from January last year, otherwise it was very similar so I will not reproduce them. For label please refer to October 2009 tasting of the same wine. Overall score: 82.

Michel Torino Coleccion 2004 Shiraz

2012-01-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

Tasting notes are almost the same as in November 2011 so plese refer there.

Sacha Lichine Le Coq Rouge 2007

2012-01-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

Variety: Merlot (45%), Cabernet Sauvignon (32%), Syrah (15%), Grenache (8%)
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Languedoc
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: predominantly fruity nose with violet flowers and cherries
Taste: medium body, dominant black cherries underpinned by blackcurrant and touch of spices and very soft tannins, very drinkable, straightforward with black chocolate medium finish
Recommended food pairing: venison pate
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 249
Stopper: screw cap
Very good blend combining typical Bordeax and Cote du Rhone vearieties. It is so drinkable, that after 15 minutes third bottle is drunk:)

Rosemount Road Shiraz 2005

2012-01-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

We tasted the wine almost one year ago in February 2010. If I compare my notes they differ only slightly in color, which is now deep ruby red with garnet meniscus. Otherwise nose, taste and final scoring is almost the same so I will not reproduce it.

Reverdito Barbera D'Alba 2005 Delia DOC

2012-01-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Barbera
Country of origin: Italy
Wine appellation: Piemont, Alba
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: deep black garnet with bricky meniscus
Bouquet: very expressive and complex, coffee, vanilla, black chocolate, toast, canned cherries
Taste: medium to full body, excellent tannins, coffee, canned fruit, cranberries, very rounf and structured mouth feel, long finish
Recommended food pairing: dry salami, sausages
Overall score: 88
Price CZK499
Stopper: cork
Excellent complex, full with amazing tannins. Old world is an old old world:)
Barbera is generally esteemed for its deep color, low tannins and high levels of acidity, which is unusual for a red grape growing in a warm climate. When young it offers fresh flavors of cherries, blueberries and raspberries. Unlike Barbera d'Alba's counterpart, Barbera d’Asti DOCG, which is generally considered more feminine in nature (and produced in the classic, lively style associated with Barbera), this red is characteristically richer, bolder and fuller in flavor. It is usually made more in line with a Barolo or Barbaresco, coming out powerful and rounded. Due to its high acidity, this wine is considered to be better with some age, to allow the fruit, oak, tannins and acidity to integrate.

Víno Tomáš Tetur Zweigeltrebe 2006

2012-01-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Variety: Zweigeltrebe
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velke Pavlovice sub-appellation
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 12%
Color: lighter rube red
Bouquet: dominant fruity character with red cherries playing the main role supported by plums
Taste: light to medium body, very good fruits, raspberries, small red cherries, red currant, very slight tannins in the mouth and at the end surprisingly longer finish with pinkgrapefruit tones
Recommended food pairing: pate
Overall score: 80
Price: CZK 120
Stopper: cork
One of the Zweigeltrebe I got from Grobovka tasting back in 2007. Milder in color and gentle in taste it would be suitable for occasions when you do not feel like power reds.

Cave de Beblenheim Pinot Gris 2007

2012-01-22T02:05:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Gris

Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Alsace
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: tones of orange marmelade, good bottle aging, dry orange peel
Taste: medium body, good balance of acidity and fruit, similar to nose adominant fruit in the taste is orange with good structure and hint of bready tones, at the end grapefruit and very light residual sugar, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: Asian cousine
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 139
Stopper: cork
It is interesting if you compare the notes with the ones from December 2009, where you can find the botlle and labels. The wine developed significantly and went from teenage shape to more mature adult expression. I like it more as it has more structured body and less pure fruit as it had 2 years ago.

Tesco Finest Viña Mara Rioja Reserva 2006

2012-01-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Variety: Tempranillo
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Rioja
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: expressive, raspberries, good balance of fruit and oak
Taste: medium body, very good structure, similar to taste there are raspberries with wild sour cherries dominant in the forefront of the mouth, mid palate brings structured and visible tannins balanced by good and layered acidity with vanilla accompanying the overal experiance and pink grapefruit having the final say, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: pork
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 249
Produced by Baron de Ley this is very different from 2003 vintage tastedin November last year here. It has much more fruit ad less layered structured, but still holding very good complexity with amazing longer finish. I.e. it is not new world borring fruit bomb, but rather wine, which needs its time:)

Catapereiro Vinho Tinto 2004

2012-01-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

Variety: Castelão x Alicante Bouschet x Trincadeira
Country of origin: Portugal
Wine appellation: Ribatejo
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 13,5%
Color: garnet red with brown meniscus
Bouquet: coffee, canned cherries, earthiness
Taste: medium body, canned strawberries and canned cherries in the front of the mouth, still good tannins considering the age, very dry,good structured acidity hold the wine considering the vintage, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: venison
Overall score: 84
Price: EUR 6
Stopper: cork
It is very interesting if you compare the tasting notes of the same wine with the ones from almost exactly one year ago, the wine developed significantly since then. It is more matured with fruits more in preserved or canned form. It is amazing that the wine has still loads of tannins, not unpleasant, but drying your mouth feel with good acidity at the end, it is just something unusual and kind of wine not everyone would love it, but I do. For the label please refer to tasting one year ago here.

Marqués de Cáceres Crianza 2005

2012-01-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

Variety: Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Graciano
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Rioja
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: medium garnet with orange meniscus
Bouquet: lively red fruit with cherries being the most notable accompanied by gentle touch of vanilla and spices, at the centre of the glass there are notes of orange marmelade
Taste: medium body, very smooth, round, dominant wild sour cherries with a bit of pink grapefruit, which adds the proper acidity to the taste, good interated tannis after swallowing and longer finish
Recommended food pairing: pork knuckle
Overall score: 86
Price: CZK 300
Stopper: cork
Typical for MdC wines this crianza has excellent balance of fruit, acidity and vanilla. It is not not overpowering, but rather sofisticated lighter color, good structure and acidity style of Rioja. On blind tastings one could also mistaken it to nice Barolo with slightl more oak.

Vina Jaraba Crianza 2007

2012-01-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Variety: 70% Tempranillo x 20% Cabernet Sauvignon x 10% Merlot
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: La Mancha
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: dark garnet
Bouquet: black cherries with black currant, gentle touch of vanilla and chocolate
Taste: medium bodied, canned black sour cherries my mom used to make with a touch of alcohol supported by black currant with good tannins, touch of chocolate and vanilla, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fuet
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 180
Stopper: cork
Similarily to 2003 vintage tasteed here it is expressive with black sour cherries accompanied by nice fruit. This vintage does not have as much chocolate and vanilla tones as 2003 and is more fruity, but som people may prefer this one. I have one more bottle and I can guarantee this would only gobetter in 1 to 2 years.

Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2001

2012-01-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

Variety: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: Australia
Wine appellation: South Eastern Australia
Vintage: 2001
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: dark garnet color with bricky meniscus
Bouquet: black currant jam, spices, pepper
Taste: medium to full body, round, structured tannins, black currant, blackberries, black pepper, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: steak
Overall score: 87

Price: CZK 199 in 2004

Stopper: cork
We had this wine just after we opened 2000 vintage so we could really compare it. This (2001) vintage is better, it has more structure, roundness, body and tannis. It is similarily delicate andf properly aged, but it has more in it.

Neoklas Šardice Augustiniánský Sklep Svatomartinské Svatovavřinecké rosé 2011

2012-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Saint Laurent
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Slovácko sub appellation,
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Color: very pale salmon pink
Bouquet: gentle, forest strawberries, grapefruit
Taste: lighter body, red currant, higher acidity, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: salad
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 99
Stopper: cork
Pleasant young fruity and flowerly rose.

Spielberg Frankovka & André 2008 pozdní sběr

2012-01-15T03:46:00.000-08:00

Variety: Frankovka, Andre

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Slovacko sub-appellation, Žarošice village, Maliny (FRankovka) and Nové hory (André) vineyard
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: lighter ruby red
Bouquet: vanilla, cherry, red bell pepper
Taste: medium body, cherries with dominant tannins, which are stil young and most likely are stremming from Andre grapes, in the mid palate slight spiciness, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: venison pate

Overall score: 82

Price: CZK 239

Stopper: cork

Some people will relly like it, some would not be huge fans of this wine (Andrew I beleive you would be in this group). It does not taste like typicall Frankovka, it has more tannins from Andre, but the hard feel comes from Frankovka. Although it got seal of aaproval from AWC vienna, i gave it only 82. The problem is in recent months we opened wines from 2000 to 2004 and I cannot rerally accommodate young harsh tannins as my palate got used to soothing aged reds:)

Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2000

2012-01-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

Variety: Shiray, Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: Australia
Wine appellation: South Eastern Australia
Vintage: 2000
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: dark bricky color with light meniscus
Bouquet: red currant jam, pepper, clove, aged tones
Taste: medium body, soft and silky tannins, red currant, raspberries accompanied by spices from black pepper, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: venison
Overall score: 85

Price: CZK 199 in 2004

Stopper: cork

This wine is the finding from my cellar. It was interesting when opened, the cork was absolutely in perfect condition with no saoking at all. The wine is still very drinkable with stil good fruittransformed towards jammy tones supported by spiciness of Shiraz.

Turner Road Cabernet Zinfandel 2004

2012-01-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

Variety:Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel
Country of origin: USA
Wine appellation: California - Nappa
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 13,5%
Color: medium garnet red with bricky menscus
Bouquet: raspberries jam, cassis, touch of coffee
Taste: medium body, very smooth, rounded, strawberries preserve, chocolate, typical sweet tanins, hint of coffee at the end, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: chocolate desert
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK 149
Stopper: plastic cork
Typicall sweet tannis style American style of CS and Zin blend. It is really good even after 7 years in bottle, which I did not expect it, no bottle tonees at all, just strawberries jam and touch of coffee.
P.S. The bottle looks exactly the same with only stopper being cork and no screw cap as on this one from net.

Vinum Moravicum Sauvignon Hibernal 2007

2012-01-11T12:11:00.001-08:00

Tasting notes are almost identical to one in June 2011. This could be due to bottle being in my wine fridge at 7°C from June till now.

Azagador Reserva 2004

2012-01-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

Variety: 70% Tempranillo x 20% Cabernet Sauvignon x 10% Merlot
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: La Mancha
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium red with garnet meniscus
Bouquet: nicely aged, coffee, cherry marmelade
Taste: medium bodied, canned fruit, mainly cherries, cofee, pleasant tannins with good acidity probably from tempranillo, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: jamon serrano
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 200
Stopper: cork
Reasonable value, not as good as Jaraba Crianza tasted here, but overall very pleasant drinking.

Anakena Carmenere Single Vineyard 2003

2012-01-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenere

Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Rapel Valley
Vintage: 2003

Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: dark black garnet at the centre with lighter hues at meniscus
Bouquet: spices, canned black cherries, touch of vanilla and slight smokiness
Taste: medium to full body, very round, good structure in the mounth balancing the fruit, acidity, tannins and wood, in mid palate there are visible spices with canned cherries being dominant fruit, pleasant and still visible tannins stay in the mouth after swallowing, medium to longer finish

Recommended food pairing:

Overall score: 89
Price: CZK 340
Stopper: cork

Excellent example of Carmenere with big fruit, vanilla and tannins in balance due to proper aging in bottle. I remember tasting it about 5 years ago and it was almost perple in color and still too much oaky. Now it is perfectly balanced and it is a joy to drink it. Pitty we did not open it in our Carmenere tasting 5 days ago, if so I guess this would be the winner.

Chateau Pey La Tour AOC Bordeaux 2009

2012-01-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Variety: 77% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8%Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Bordeaux
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet:fruity, sour cherries with the hint of black currant, hint of smoke
Taste: medium body, dominant sour cherries, slight spiciness, in the mid palate accompanied by gentle oak, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pate
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 277
Stopper: cork
Fruitier style of Bordeaux with dominant sour cherries in the nose as well as in the taste. You can get better values for the same money.

Viña Undurraga Carmenère Reserva 2005

2012-01-07T00:38:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenere
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Colchagua valley
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: deep black garnet
Bouquet: expresive, chocolate, vanilla with cherries marmelade
Taste: medium body, nicely round tannins, cheriies marmelade, vanilla, coffe, canella, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: venison
Overall score: 87
Price: CZK 250
Stopper: cork
This was the last bottle on tasting and almost the same as Casa Silva but with more bottle aged, coffe, chocolate and vanilla tones.

Santa Rita 120 Carmenére 2004

2012-01-07T00:26:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenere
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Rapel valley
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: deep ruby red at the meniscus going towards garnet
Bouquet: intense black cherries with spices
Taste: medium body, canned dark black cherries, cranberries, spiciness and pleasant tannins, good acidity, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: easily venison
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 245
Stopper: cork
This was the last bottle of this wine, surprisingly we scored it on blind tasting the same as in December here.

Casa Silva Carmenére Reserva 2009

2012-01-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenére
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellative: Colchagua valley
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: dark ruby red
Bouquet: black oveeripe cherries, touch of vanilla and chocolate
Taste: medium body, nicely round and structured, sweet tannins, vanilla, black cherries mullberiies with vanilla, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: chocolate fondant
Overall score: 88
Price: CZK 280
Stopper: cork
Clearly the best wine tasted. Very good structure and balance of fruit with vanilla.

La Minga Carmenére 2009

2012-01-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenére
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellative: Central valley
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: ruby red with violet hues
Bouquet: cherries, very fruity with green pepper tones
Taste: medium body, dominant is fruit, black sour cheries, slightly rough, a bit of spiciness, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: BBQ
Overall score: 78
Price: CZK 169
Stopper: cork
First wine tasted in our blind tasting and this was the base wine, very fruity with no complexity in it.

Cave Kouroum Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

2012-01-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

Variety: 50% Syrah, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: Lebanon
Wine appellative: Kefraya village
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 13,5%
Color: darker ruby red
Bouquet: canned black berry and black currant, with almost tones of black currant in dark chocolate
Taste: medium to full body,dominant black crrant supported by blackberries and dark black sour cherries, very good tannins and structure, surprisingly good acidity considering the climate in Lebanon, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: venison
Overall score: 87
Price: CZK 250
Stopper: cork
Comparing to Syrah tasted about 30 minutes ago here it has much more structure and finesse. It has a character and very good and pleasant balance of tannins, fruit and acidity, which more and more I tend to lack in some new world wines.

Cave Kouroum Syrah 2003

2012-01-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Variety: Shiraz
Country of origin: Lebanon
Wine appellative: Kefraya village
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 14,5%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: spices, forest fruit, partially wood
Taste: medium to full body, very smooth properly aged, but still persistent tannins, canned forest fruit, mainly blackberries, full mouth feel mainly due to higher alcohol, which is however not unpleasant, wood tones but not vanilla ones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing:steak
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK250
Stopper: cork
Very interesting wine, It received gold medal in Vinalies Internationales 2007. It is more powerful and less sweet tannins when compared to Mondavi tasted 10 minutes ago.

Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Shiraz 2006

2012-01-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

Please refer for the tasting notes from February last year here. It is almost the same in color, slightly less intense and the taste is exactly the same. Interesting how it did not develop a lot in 1 year. Score is the same of 83. To be honest I prefer Zinfandel or Cab Sauv from the same producer, somehow Shiraz is not their strength.

2010 being beaten by 3 bottles!!

2012-01-03T10:33:00.001-08:00

If I just had time to write the review for all bottles I tasted in the year I could have had around 365 for sure. But you know it sometimes you do not write any notes and you regret it later sometimes you write them on paper and store it somewhere and not reproducing on this blog. Anyway, I ve beaten 2010 year and ended with 266 bottlles reviwed on this blog, which is not a bad score. hope it is usefull for all of you coming to this web. Wine Specialist

Torres Sangre de Toro 2003

2012-01-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

Variety: Grenache, Carignan
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Penedes
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: garnet red with bricky meniscus
Bouquet: canned red berry fruit, red current jam, hint of coffee
Taste: medium body, canned cherries, canned red currant with touch of spices, good texture and pleasant acidity, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: venison
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: cork
Good properly aged red with nothing like sharp steel tannins currently present in majority of the young wines on the market. I found this in my cellar and and although not designed for extensive aging it is very drinkable and has still very good acidity in it.

Golden Kaan Chardonnay 2010

2011-12-30T04:38:00.000-08:00

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin:South Africa
Wine appellation: Western Cape
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 13.49%
Residual sugar: 5.65g/l
Acidity: 5.93g/l
Color: light yellow
Bouquet:tropical fruit, pineapple, green melon
Taste: medium body, fresh citruss flavor, upfront the taste fresh lime with pinepple in the middle, good structure, round, nice acidity, almost invisible vanilla, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: turkey
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: plastic cork
Very refreshing and for the new world surpringly fresh Chard with good acidity and structure.

Habánské sklepy Rulandské Modré 2008 pozdní sběr

2011-12-30T04:06:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub-appellation, Velké Pavlovice village, Trkmanska vineyard
Vintage: 2008

Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: medium garnet with bricky meniscus

Bouquet: very expressive, canned fruit, touch of wood and vanilla
Taste: medium body, harmonic round tannins, canned cherries, spices and nice wood tones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: game food

Overall score: 86

Price: CZK200

Stopper: cork
Very good PN from Moravia, I do not understand why other reds are produced in Moravia when you can make this stunning Pinots.

Haras Character Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

2011-12-30T03:57:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: Chille
Wine appellation: Maipo Valley
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 14.5%
Color: deep black garnet with bricks in the meniscus
Bouquet: structured, black currant jam, coffee, spices with nice tones of vanilla
Taste: medium to full body, elegant and fantastic tannins staying in the whole mounth, round, black currant dominant fruit going almost to canned version, slight tones of cinnamon and vanilla with hint of coffee at the end, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing:
Overall score: 88
Price: CZK 360
Stopper: cork
Perfect example of new world Cab Sauv. It is amazing how it nicely developed and how it holds perfect structure and tannins considering new worl wine.

Carstens SC Jahrgang sekt 2006 trocken BIO

2011-12-30T03:44:00.000-08:00

Variety: Riesling
Country of origin:Germany
Wine appellation: Neustadt
Vintage: 2006

Alcohol content: 11.0%

Color: medium yellow, slightly sparkling

Bouquet: canned apples with slight bottle aged tones

Taste: medium body, considering the vintage it still has some nice fruitiness with green apples being dominant fruit here supported by lemon acidity, medium finish

Overall score: 81

Price: CZK 199

Stopper: cork
I bought it about 3 years ago. it is made from organic grapes and although trocken it feels slighty between brut and demi. Fruit is here in dominance with no yeasty or bisquity tones.

Wunderlich Pinot Noir 2005

2011-12-30T03:33:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100 % Pinot Noir
Country of origin: HUngary
Wine appellation: Villany
Vintage: 2005

Alcohol content: 13.5%

Color: darker red bricks

Bouquet: very complex, layered, cherries, smokiness and a bit of eathiness

Taste: medium to full body, forest strawberries,nicely structured and round , good mouth feel, solky tannins, longer finish
Recommended food pairing:game food

Overall score: 89

Price: CZK299

Stopper: cork

Excellent Pinot Noir. Definetely better than the one from Springer tasted here. It is like going up the level.

Secano Estate Pinot Noir Rosé 2009

2011-12-30T03:10:00.000-08:00

Variety: Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Leyda Valley
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: light bricky red
Bouquet: cherries, sour cherries, strawberries, alcohol slightly standing out
Taste: medium bodied, ripe cherries with strawberries, less acidity one would expect, medium finish
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 250
Stopper: cork
Not as good as the red version from the same producer tasted here. It was tasted in June of this year and it was already going down.

Poema Verdejo DO 2010

2011-12-30T02:57:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Verdejo
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Rueda
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: pale yellow
Bouquet: very aromatic tropical fruit, citrus fruit
Taste: medium body, very fruity, lychee, white currant, grapefruit, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fish
Overall score: 83
Price: 5 EUR
Stopper: plastic cork
Nice fresh Verdejo with citrus tones, ideal for hot summer day (tasted in Spain in summer).

Frontera Chardonnay 2006

2011-12-30T02:52:00.000-08:00

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Central Valley
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 13%
Color: golden yellow
Bouquet: grilled pineapple, orange
Taste: medium body, nicely round, dominant pineapple, followed by touch of ripe melon medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pork
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 129
Stopper: cork
Proper aging of this bottle helped it nicely develop and resulted in mellow, ripe and nicely layerd Chardonnay. Excellent value for the price.

Belitza VIneyards Damena Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

2011-12-30T02:41:00.000-08:00

Variety:Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of Origin: Bulgaria
Wine appellation: Thracian Valley
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: light to medium ruby red with violet hues
Bouquet: dominant cherries, black currant
Taste: medium body, similar to nose cherries black currant are the main fruit in the taste with more tannis than the Merlot tasted here, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: steak
Overall score: 80
Price: CZK 80
Stopper: screw top
Excellent value/price ratio for this red it is standard fruity Merlot.

Belitza VIneyards Damena Merlot 2009

2011-12-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

Variety: Merlot
Country of Origin: Bulgaria
Wine appellation: Thracian Valley
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: light to medium ruby red with violet hues
Bouquet: dominant cherries, sour cherries,
Taste: medium body, similar to nose cherries and sour cherries are the main fruit in the taste with more fruitiness than the CS tasted here, but less spicy than the Mavrud tasted here, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: steak
Overall score: 80
Price: CZK 80
Stopper: screw top
Good value/price ratio for this wine

Belitza VIneyards Damena Mavrud 2009

2011-12-30T02:39:00.000-08:00

Variety: Mavrud
Country of Origin: Bulgaria
Wine appellation: Thracian Valley
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: light to medium ruby red with violet hues
Bouquet: dominant cherries, sour cherries,
Taste: medium body, quite dry, similar to nose cherries and sour cherries are the main frutit in the taste with nice pepperness and still young tannins, medium finish
Recommendedfood pairing: dry salami
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 80
Stopper: screw top
Excellent value/price ratio for this red it does have tannins and not just fruits, which is common in this price range.

Golden Kaan Pinotage 2009

2011-12-30T02:24:00.000-08:00

Variety: Pinotage
Country of origin: South Africa
Wine appellation: Western Cape
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medium red
Bouquet: raspberries, cherries, a bit of alcohol standing out
Taste: medium body, dominant sour cherries with touch of raspberries, hint of spices, medium finish
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: plastic cork
Easy drinking pinotage.Good for BBQ

Nederburg Pinotage 2008

2011-12-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

Variety: Pinotage
Country of origin: South Africa
Wine appellation: Western Cape
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: raspberries, cherries, slight smokiness
Taste: medium body, dominant ripe raspberries with subtones of blackberries, spices, medium to longer finish
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 220
Stopper: screw cap
Solid Pinotage with dominant fruity structure when compared to Spier.

Spier Pinotage 2008

2011-12-30T02:12:00.000-08:00

Variety: Pinotage
Country of origin: South Africa
Wine appellation: Western Cape
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: ripe character of cherries, alcohol slightly standing out
Taste: medium body, dominant ripe cherries with subtones of plums, sweet tannins, hint of tabacco, medium to longer finish
Overall score: 86
Price: CZK 345
Stopper:cork
Winner of Pinotage tasting. Nice structture in the mounth, definetely worth to age it for another 1 to 2 years.

Vina Santa Rita 120 Carmenere 2004

2011-12-30T02:03:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenere
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Rapel valley
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: deep ruby red at the meniscus going towards garnet
Bouquet: intense black cherries with spices
Taste: medium body, dark black cherries and blackcurrant combined with spiciness and pleasant structured tannins, good acidity, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: steak
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 245
Stopper: cork
Unbelieavable how the wine hold considering the vintage. No way it is going down, rather it is the same superb quality as tasted in February here, where you can find the pictures.

Znovín Znojmo Dan Ermite Veltlínské zelené 2011

2011-12-18T04:18:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Gruner Veltliner

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Znojmo sub-appellation, Horní Dunajovice village, Stará hora vineyard
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 11.5%
Color: pale yellow
Bouquet: dominant citrus and green pepper tones, quite spice
Taste: light body,very refreshing and light, citrus acidity with touch of herbal tones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: Wiener schnitzel
Overall score: 80
Price: CZK 89 on Special
Stopper: cork
I wated to try this wine, which has higher amount of resveratrol and was specifically interersted in 2010 vintage, which was very difficult in Moravia due to cold season and higher amount of rains. This should be reflected even in higher than alrteady high amount of resveratrol from this vineyard. The wine is very light bodied and spicy, I do like it as it is sonmething different than boring new world wines with the similar style over and over.

Rooiberg Winery Sauvignon Blanc 2011

2011-12-18T04:03:00.000-08:00

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Country of origin: South Africa
Wine appellation: not stated
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol content: 13.0%

Residual sugar: 6.3 g/l
Acidity: 6.3 g/l

Color: pale almost seethrough
Bouquet: white flowers with touch of tropical fruit, garepefruit
Taste: medium body, citrus characteristics are dominant with a hint of goosebarry and tropical fruit, juicy lime acidit, ymedium finish
Recommended food pairing: fish
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 99
Stopper: screw cap
Reasonable SB and very good value for the price.

Lindemans Cawarra 2008

2011-12-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Variety: Colombard x Chardonnay

Country of origin: Australia
Wine appellation: South Eastern Australia
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: light yellow
Bouquet: green melon, touch of pineapple, lemon
Taste: very light bodied, tropical fruit, good acidity, white grapefruit,
Recommended food pairing: salads
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 150
Stopper: screw cap
This is nice example how the wine developed over two years. When tasted in November 2009 here it was visibly young and unsettled. this time it is much better and balanced. All this aginess is gone and it is reasonable chard.

Helena Glosová Pinot noir 2005 barrique výběr z hroznů

2011-11-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Slovácko sub-appellation, Moravská Nová Ves village, Vinohrady vineyard
Vintage: 2005

Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: light bricky red with watery meniscus

Bouquet: very expressive, red fruit preserve, wild strawberries and almost plum jam (povidla) almost overbaked on cake wit a bit of smokiness
Taste: medium to full body, dry wild strawberries and cranberries supported by hint of black chocolate and caramel, nicely balanced sweet and gentle tannins, at the end touch of pomegranate, long lingering finish
Recommended food pairing: delicate elaboration of pork

Overall score: 88

Price: CZK 220 in 2007

Stopper: cork
Delicate and gentle fruity PN with touc of chocolate and caramel, no animal tones in it, which could be a case of some Pinots. Definetely nice sofisticated drink for the evening:)

Hahn SLH Estate Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands 2009

2011-11-25T12:12:00.000-08:00

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: USA
Wine appellation: California, Monterrey
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 14.2%
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: sweet tones of vanilla and pear, pineapple, nuts
Taste: medium to full body, pineapple with honeysuckle and caramel undertones, toast and cream tones, medium finish
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: cork
Typical Californian Chardonnay with creamy and toasty tones. It is bone dry, but due to very low acidity and vanilla from oak it seems slightly sweet with visible caramel tones in it.

Tesco Finest Viña Mara Rioja Reserva 2003

2011-11-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Variety: Tempranillo
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Rioja
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: garnet red with bricky meniscus
Bouquet: expressive, wood, vanilla with canned cherries, spices
Taste: medium to full body, very good structure, fine balance between fruit, tannins, acidity and vanilla, layered taste of sour cherries with proper wood and vanilla tones supported by elegant and still nicely noticeable tannins, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: dry salamis
Overall score: 87
Price: CZK 249
Produced by Baron de Ley this is amazing wine and especially considering the price. I really like the nice wood, but not overpowered, combined with excellent sour cherries with an old world style pleasant acidity:)

OGIO Primitivo 2010 IGT

2011-11-19T09:22:00.000-08:00

Variety: Primitivo
Country of origin: Italy
Wine appellation: Puglia
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: dark ruby red
Bouquet: overripe black cherries and blueberries, touch chocolate
Taste: medium body, good structure, black overripe cherries, sweet tannins, black chocolate, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: chicken with mole sauce
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK100
Stopper: screw cap
I bought this wine with suspicion due to low price, but worries were unfounded, excellent value wine with strong fruit flavor and sweet tannins with background flavor of black chocolate.

Chateau du Chatelard Beaujolais Villages Nouveau NOn Filtré 2011

2011-11-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Gamay
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Beaujolais
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: medium ruby red with strong violet tones
Bouquet: strong fruity nose of red cherries
Taste: light to medium body, no tannins, just fruit, cherries, maybe a bit of plums, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: BBQ
Overall score: 79
Price: CZK 190
Stopper: cork
Cannot really accommodate my taste buds for Beaujolais. Nice quaffer, but for this money you can get damn serious wine, nut just little fifteen:).

Emiliana Carmenère 2010

2011-11-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Variety: Carmenere
Country of origin: Chile
Wine appellation: Central valley
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: deep ruby red with strong violet hues
Bouquet: strong fruits, sour cherries, slight spiciness
Taste: medium body, definitely fruity young wine with dominant taste of black sour cherries underpinned by with blackberries with spiciness and good fruity acidity, almost without tannins, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pate
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 100
Stopper: screw cap
This bottle represents the fruitier style of this variety. But for example if I compare it to Beaujolais that we drank yesterday, this one at least has something in it:)

Michlovský Neuburské 2005 pozdní sběr

2011-11-19T08:35:00.001-08:00

Same tasting notes as two weeks ago here.

MVZ Herbarium Moravicum Chardonnay 2010 pozdní sběr

2011-11-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Chardonnay

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Slovacko sub-appellation
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 11.5%
Color: light yellow
Bouquet: nice tropical fruit, mainly pineapple, clean, fresh very fruity, touch of peach
Taste: light to medium body, excellent balance between the acidity and residual sugar, similar to taste the dominant fruit here is the pineapple with the herby and mineral undertones, it does linger very nicely on the palate, and does represent very good structure and mouth feel, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fruit salads
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 120
Stopper: cork

I was quite looking forward to to taste this wine. 2010 vintage was very difficult as it was rather cold and rainy, but majority of the wines from that year are very good, extremely low yields, long ripening period and what is fantastic that the winemakers could not reflect those low yields in the price. If priced fairly the wine would be prohibitevely expensive. So in this case it is the consumer who exploits the competition on the market. This Chard is superb example of clean and pure Chardonnay made in stainless steel tanks and does have very good concentration and structure when compared to base French or Australian Chardonnays for the same price on the market.

MVZ Herbarium Moravicum Ryzlink vlašský 2010 pozdní sběr

2011-11-12T11:45:00.002-08:00

Variety: 100% Welsh Riesling

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub-apellation
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 11.0%
Color: pale yellow
Bouquet: minerality, intense lime and citrus tones, touch of grassy aroma, green apples
Taste: light body, very refreshing with crispy acidity, good minerality, white grapefruite at the mid palate, medium finish

Recommended food pairing: pork
Overall score: 83
Price: CZK 120
Stopper: cork
It does reflect cool 2010 year with dominant crispy lime acidity prevailing in the taste. Comparing to 2009 vintage I think this one would develop much better in the celler in 3 o 4 years time. The only downside of this wine is lower body.

P.S. the bottle and the label is the same as 2009 vintage just the vintage differs.

Vignobles Paul Mas Merlot 2010

2011-11-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

Variety: Merlot
Country of Origin: France
Wine appellation: Languedoc
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium ruby red with violet hues
Bouquet: green pepper, hint of cherries and plums
Taste: medium body, very fruity, cherries, granade apple, medium finish
Recommended food pairing:
BBQ
Overall score:77
Price: CZK 99
Stopper: plastic cork
Tempted by the gold medal from Paris on the label I decided to purchase it and check it. Very basic Merlot with green tones that I personally do not really like.

Habánské sklepy Svatovavřinecké rosé 2010

2011-11-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Variety: Saint Laurent
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 11.5%
Color: salmon pink with orange hues
Bouquet: apricot, apple
Taste: light to medium body, apricot with forest strawberries, at the end slight bitterness, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: chicken BBQ
Overall score: 77
Price: CZK 89
Stopper: plastic cork
Ordinary rose with no wow effect at all.

Vinselekt Michlovský Frankovka rosé 2010 kabinetní víno

2011-11-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

Variety: Frankovka
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Slovácko sub appellation, Hovorany village, Díly za vinohrady vineyard
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Color: old pink
Bouquet: plums, red currant, red apple
Taste: light to medium body, excellent crispy acidity, red currant, sour cherries, nice fruitiness balanced by nice acidity, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fish
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 129
Stopper: plastic cork
Nice fresh rose with excellent freshness and nice acidity (most likely due to 2010 vintage).

Chateau Valtice Ryzlink rýnský 2005 výběr z hroznů

2011-11-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Rhine Riesling
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulv sub-appellation, Novosedly village, Kamenný vrh vineyard
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Residual sugar: n/a
Acidity: n/a
Color: medium yellow, very shiny, big arches on the glass
Bouquet: very nice, concentrated tones of dry lemon peel, with hint of honey and already starting to show slight petroleum tones
Taste: medium to full body,in the beginning there is strong minerality accompanied later by nice lime citrus flavor going all around the mouth, it is nicely round, with very small hint of residual sugar, but this is excellently balanced by the higher acidity so it is almost unnoticeable, medium to long finish
Recommended food pairing: trout
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 170 (in 2006)
Stopper:
P.S. The wine was tasted in October 2010. I somehow left it in the edit mode ad now I publish it.

MIchlovský Neuburské 2005 pozdní sběr

2011-11-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Neuburger (Red VeltlinerxSylvaner)
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulv sub-appellation, Novosedly village, Kamenný vrch vineyard
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: ripe matured tones, honey
Taste: medium body, canned fruit, honey, herbs, nice aged tones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: turkey
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 150 (in 2008)
Stopper: cork
Nice matured Neuburger with straw type of tones in the nose and honey flavor.

Vinařství Popela Perná Aurelius 2005 výběr z hroznů

2011-11-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Tasting notes and scoring is identical to May tasting here where is also the pic of the bottle.

Vinařství Pavlov Chardonnay 2003 Výběr z hroznů

2011-11-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub-appellation, Pavlov village, Sahara Vineyard
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: quite expressive, ripe citrus tones, pineapple
Taste: medium body, very drinkable, pineapple, round, smooth, excellent minerality and balance with nice acidity ad small residual sugar, which is almost invisible given the aging, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pasta with cream sauce
Overall score: 86
Price: CZK 199
Stopper: cork
I was amayed by the fresh conditions of this Chardonnay. It is from limestone area of Palava hills, for me the best appellation for whites in South Moravia. Cork (single piece) was almost soaked through, but was was brilliant. For the sahpe of the bottle please refer to my previous tasting of Pinot Blanc from the same producer and vintage here.

Michel Torino Coleccion 2004 Shiraz

2011-11-06T11:03:00.002-08:00

Variety: Shiraz

Country of origin: Argentina
Wine appellation: Northeast, sub appellation Salta/Cafayate
Vintage: 2004
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: Deep black garnet red
Bouquet: overipe figs, blackberries, hint of coffee
Taste: Medium to full body, forest fruit marmelade, spices, black chocolate, medium to long finish
Recommended food pairing: steak
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 190
Stopper: cork

Another very good example of properly aged and round Shiraz. The winers from Micehl Torino never dissapointed me and they develop very nicely in the cellar. Before I take the picture of the bottle please refer to Malbec, the bottle looks ecxactly the same.

Bodega Norton Torrontes 2009

2011-11-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Tasting the samewine after 6 months from the last tasting showed almost the same tasting notes as in May, so I will not reproduce them, but rather include a link.

Moravíno Rulandské šedé 2006 pozdní sběr

2011-11-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

Variety: Pinot Grid
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulov sub-appellation, Mikulov village
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: expressive, minerality, orange peel and dry fruit with going towards hey
Taste: medium to full body, very round, canned orange and tangerine, dry pineapple and almost mango, superb minerality and good acidity, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: matured sheep cheese
Overall score: 90
Price: CZK 180 in 2007
Stopper: cork
Fantastic Pinot Gris, very complex and mineral and structured. This way I imagine unoaked PG should be made. I attach the picture of 2008 vintage as I could not find it on the web, the only difference is the vintage and 2006 has gold medal from Narodni Salon Vin 2008.

Stapleton & Springer 2006 Ben's Reserve

2011-10-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Variety: 70 % Pinot Noir, 30% Blauer Portugieser
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub-appellation, Boretice village, Čtvrtě and Trkmanská vineyard
Vintage: 2006

Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medium garnet

Bouquet: violet tones with dominant red cherries supported by nice smokiness

Taste: medium to full body, canned sour cherries, round structure , good mouth feel, touch of vanilla and chocolate, longer finish
Recommended food pairing:game food

Overall score: 86

Price: CZK

Stopper: cork

More European style of PN than the last bottle, there is more oak and chocolate in it as well as fruit and less animal tones. it is still nice structured and designed for proper aging.

Znovín Znojmo Rulandské Modré 2006 výběr z hroznů

2011-10-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Znojmo sub-appellation, Havraníky village, Staré vinice vineyard
Vintage: 2006

Alcohol content: 14.0%
Color: medioum garnet

Bouquet: very expressive, animal stall like horse barn, red fruit preserve
Taste: medium to full body, dry cranberries suppoerted by hint of black chocolate,at the end touch of pomegranate, longer lingering finish
Recommended food pairing:game food

Overall score: 86

Price: CZK 190

Stopper: cork

Very interesting PN. quite animal and dry fruit style of Pinot. I tasted it about 9 months ago, but unfortunately made any notes of that tasting. This is the case when you do not feel like writing it down and then you regret it.

Jedlička a Novák Rulandské modré 2005

2011-10-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub-appellation, Bořetice village,Kraví hora vineyard
Vintage: 2005

Alcohol content: 16.5%
Color: medioum garnet

Bouquet: very expressive, cherries, marmalade, cranberries
Taste: full body, cherries preserve, dry cranberries, suppoerted by hint of almonds, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: mashroom risoto

Overall score: 85

Price: CZK 190

Stopper: cork

Excellent pinot with amazingly high alcohol, which is surprisingly not standing out. tasted in August this year, but left it in EDIT till now.

Château Fuissé - Pouilly-Fuissé Tête de Cru 2006

2011-10-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

Variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Burgundy, Pouilly-Fuissé
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: very retrained, dry pear with a touch of coconut
Taste: medium to full body, good minerality, tropical fruit, good acidity, lime, pineapple and nice but soft and gentle oak which just support that, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: on its own
Overall score: 87
Price: gift
Stopper: cork
Nice Chard. Quite closed in the nose, but gentle in the mouth, good minerality and structure, probably it needed more than one hour of airing.

Vinařství Vajbar Veltlínské zelené 2007 kabinetní

2011-10-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Gruner Veltliner

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub appellation, Rakvice village, Trkmansko vineyard
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 11.5%
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: ripe peach and canned fruit, slight almonf tones, already shows slight bottle aging
Taste: light body, canned citrus fruit, and similar to noses also canned peach, medium acidity, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pork
Overall score: 79
Price: CZK 130
Stopper: plastic cork

Reasonable GV with more fruits than usual, also it is best time to drink it as it was sealed with the plastic cork and these are much worse for storage than usual cork or screw cap. I attach the pic of 2010 bottle from web, the only difference in the look is the vintage.

Vinařství Vajbar Irsai Oliver 2007

2011-10-30T04:57:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Irsai Oliver

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velké Pavlovice sub appellation, Rakvice village, Trkmansko vineyard
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: medium yellow
Bouquet: spicy, muscat flowers and bbit of citrus tones, aready shows slight bottle aging
Taste: light medium body, spices, medium acidity, roasted lemon peel, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: Asian dishes
Overall score: 78
Price: CZK 130
Stopper: plastic cork

OK Irsay to accompany spice food.

Ernest & Julio Gallo Family Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

2011-10-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

We tasted this wine in January this year. I checked the tasting notes there and they are almost identical to this tasting so I will not reproduce them and rather paste the link.

Château Mirausse La Paissiere 2005

2011-10-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

The tasting is very similar to compare to one done in January this year, but the wine is not that animal as it was described in January, it gets more plummy and fruity, but it is still underpinned by nice black chocolate and smokiness. Scoring this time would be 85.

Elderton Shiraz 2007

2011-10-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Shiraz
Country of origin: Australia
Wine appellation: Barossa valley
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 14.5%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: dominant vanilla tones underpinned by plums and spices, alcohol slight;y standing out
Taste: medium to full body, fruit forward peppery plum taste with strong vanilla undertones, lack of tannins to hold the structure together, medium lingering finish
Recommended food pairing: chocolate
Overall score: 84
Price: CZK 359
Stopper: cork
Reasonable fruity shiraz with vanilla tones in it.

Àlvaro Castro Dão Pelada 2003

2011-10-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

Variety: Touriga Nacional
Country of origin: Portugal
Wine appellation: Dao
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 13,0%
Color: dark garnet red
Bouquet: expressive, fantastic, complex, a bit of aged and oxidative style, canned fruit figs
Taste: medium body, aged and excellent complex taste of canned and preserved strawberries with spices. delicate tannins and gentle touch in the palate, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pepper fuet
Overall score: 90
Price: CZK 990
Stopper: cork
This wine is absolute shocker in positive meaning of the word. It is from local varieties and well structured with properly aged and sophisticated mouth feel. It has everything in it, good fruit, oak, aging, complexity, not dull, still gentle tannins.

Chateau Roquefort Saint Martin Corbieres 2007

2011-10-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

Variety: 40% Grenache, 40% Mourvedre, 20% Carignan
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Languedoc, Corbieres
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Color: dark ruby red
Bouquet: black fruits and spices with surprising toast and leather and earthy tones
Taste: medium to full body, dominant big fruits, mostly black cherries underpinned by spices like black pepper and toast, nice lingering mouth feel, medium to longer finish
Recommended food pairing: casserole
Overall score: 86
Price:???
Stopper: cork
Big earthy and animal tones are combined with big fruits. Nice and extravagant red wine. I like this unperfect animal tones with huge fruit in it as well.

Bodegas Viña Güareña - Munia Crianza 2008

2011-10-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Tempranillo
Country of origin: Spain
Wine appellation: Toro
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol content: 14.5%
Color: dark ruby red
Bouquet: expressive, black cherries, black chocolate, toast, smoke
Taste: full body, round, black sour cherries, black forest fruit, nice tannins, round, excellent structure,black chocolate, longer finish
Recommended food pairing: streak
Overall score: 86
Price: CZK 299
Stopper: cork
Fantastic cornoso (meaty) tempranillo. I would easily leave it to age for another 3 years.

Chateau de Bord Laudun Cotes du Rhone Villages 2006

2011-10-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Variety: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Cotes du Rhone
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol content: 14.5%
Color: medium ruby red
Bouquet: full fruity, plums, earthiness, spices, powerful
Taste: full body, proper characteristic of the dark red fruits with the secondary spice tones (predominately cinnamon) and gentle but proper tannins supported by the reasonable minerality, medium to long finish
Recommended food pairing: medium rare flank steak
Overall score: 88
Price CZK 350 on web
Stopper: cork
Fantastic CDR style of wine. it has everything in it u could expect, big fruit with minerality character, earthiness, hm:)

Tesco Finest Gigondas 2005 AOC

2011-10-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

It was quite interesting to check the development of the wine after more than 1.5 year and I would consider this to be the same as in February 2010 tastings. Final score is the same 83 points , but I would not recommend to age it more.

Patria Kobylí Cabernet Moravia 2009 pozdní sběr

2011-10-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Variety: Cabernet Moravia

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velke Pavlovice sub-appellation, Kobylí vilage, Nivky vineyard
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Residual sugar: 7.4g/l
Acidity: 4.7g/l
Color: medium ruby red with violet hues
Bouquet: forest fruits mainly blueberries, black currant preserve, touch of earthiness
Taste: medium body, black forest fruit driven mouth feel with blueberry cake being the main characteristics, gentle tannins, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: duck
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 190
Stoper: cork
Comparing to Modry portugal described in the previous tasting, this is a different league. I really liked the gentle black fruit character of this both in the nose as well as in the taste. Excellent example of how CM should be done.

Patria Kobylí Modrý portugal 2009 pozdní sběr

2011-10-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Variety: Blauer Portugieser

Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Velke Pavlovice sub-appellation, Kobylí vilage, Lumperky vineyard
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Residual sugar: 8.4g/l
Acidity: 4.6g/l
Color: light to medium garnet red
Bouquet: gentle fruity towards white cherries and touch of plums
Taste: light to medium body, cherries, fruit driven mouth feel supported by almost invisible wood undertones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: pork
Overall score: 81
Price: CZK 170
Stoper: cork
I found this one in a shop and remembered that we had some nice red wines from Patria in National Wine Cellar in Valtice one month ago so I bought this bottle as well as Cabernet Moravia. This is lighter ad fruity style of Modry Portugal, definitely appealing for lovers of more approachable reds. I would not really include it in the National Wine Cellar collection for 2011.

Louis de Montgérac Réserve Bordeaux AOC 2003

2011-10-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Country of origin: France
Wine appellation: Bordeaux
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol content: 12.0%
Color: medium red with garnet meniscus
Bouquet: canned cherries sour cherries with the hint of oak
Taste: lighter to medium body, cherries, still nice fruitiness and tannins considering its age, hint of marmalade, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: dry salami
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 179 in 2005
Stopper: plastic cork
Very different from the bottle tasted in April of this year. This one is still fresh and not going down like the one in April. I suspect the previous bottle was flawed by the unsealed plastic cork, which could be confirmed by the fact that one month ago we drank the same bottle and the taste and nose was exactly the same as the tasting notes here.

Chateau Valtice Sauvignon Blanc 2002 pozdní sběr

2011-10-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Country of origin: Czech Republic
Wine appellation: Moravia, Mikulv sub-appellation, Brod nad Dyjí village, Brodské stráně vineyard
Vintage: 2002
Alcohol content: 11.6%
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: already shows matured bottle tones, but still nicely fruity with dominant canned gooseberry
Taste: light to medium body,canned gooseberry and apple, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: fish
Overall score: 82
Price: CZK 249 n 2005
Stopper: cork
Very interesting indeed. It is amazing the conditions of this wine after almost 10 years! it is still very nice fruity and drinkable! For the picture please refer to the tasting from May of this year

Sax Zwillingslauser Gruner Veltliner 2010

2011-10-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Variety: 100% Gruner Veltliner
Country of origin: Austria
Wine appellation: Kamptal
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol content: 12.5%
Color: shiny medium yellow
Bouquet: expressive, green pepper, minerality, lime
Taste: medium body, lime, very refreshing, crunchy acidity, lime, citruss tones, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: on its own summer BBQ
Overall score: 85
Price: CZK 180
Stopper: screw cap
Very nice fruity and crispy style of Gruner Veltliner which has balanced acidity minerality.Very refreshing indeed.

Vinařství Bukovský Sylvánské Zelené 2006

2011-10-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

The description is the same as the on one year ago so I will not reproduce it and rather include the link.

Darting Dürkheimer Michelsberg Riesling 2007

2011-10-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Variety: Riesling
Country of origin: Germany
Wine appellation: Pfalz
Vintage: 2007

Alcohol content: 13.0%
Color: straw yellow
Bouquet: round, nicely aged, mineral, lighter petroleum tones, herbs
Taste: medium body, very mineral, excellent tangy and round on the palate, a bit of ripe mandarine, almost going towards tropical canned fruit tones, bottleness, medium finish
Recommended food pairing: on its own:)

Overall score: 88

Price: CZK 299
Stopper: screw cap
excellent Riesling, superb nose and taste. It is so complex herby and structured that you regret only one thing, which is that you have only this bottle. It is interesting to compare it to 2005 vintage tasted in March this year here.