Tasted & recommended

Articles in this section

• Tasting of some old Carignan wines from the Minervois among friends

  6 November 2012, by Sebastian Nickel

  On the occasion of the first international Carignan Day, Pierre Cros had taken some old vintages of his pure Carignan from the cellar, to organise a “vertical” tasting from 1999 up to 2011. Some of these vintages are quite familiar to me, like those from 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2010, but I was curious to see how the older vintages would look like. After a meticulous preparation of the bottles (they were all opened 4 hours earlier and served at 16°C) I could finally taste them, accompanied by friends of Domaine Cros and two passionate wine journalists. The tasting started with the 1999 vintage.

  

  continue

• Hidden behind Malbec: The white wines of Château du Cèdre in Cahors

  2 October 2012, by Château du Cèdre, Sebastian Nickel

  Château du Cèdre white, 100% Viognier in Malbec country.
  Many people qualify this wine as being “very elegant”, with its subtle nose, flowery and mineral until the fruit increases. Very well integrated oak enriches the bouquet and gently envelopes the crispy acidity. This Viognier looks for tasty fish, spices, curry or even chilly.

  

  Le Cèdre Héritage is a real pleasure to drink. The blending of crispy Sauvignon, smooth Semillon and flowery Muscadelle makes it a tasteful wine, that fits to many occasions and dishes – aperitif, fish, cheese…

  continue

• Young or rather old – the fine art of tasting wines from Cahors

  14 September 2012, by Château du Cèdre, Sebastian Nickel

  Somebody may ask, which is the best moment to drink our wines. Being able to age for long years, one may be tempted to leave them in the cellar, being afraid to open them too early. Recent tasting of the wines we’ve bottled earlier this year offers a good occasion for us to present our point of view.

  

  continue

• I LOVE BIB - Le Lys blanc (the white Lily) from Domaine de l’Arjolle

  4 September 2012, by Domaine de l’Arjolle, Sebastian Nickel
  We are very happy to present our new white wine bag in box (BIB), Le Lys de l’Arjolle, the White Lily of the Arjolle: The perfect summer wine! It’s light, fruity and crispy, already charming you with its fresh citrus nose.
  continue

• Santa Duc Le Fournas Sablet blanc – a wine for day and night

  28 August 2012, by Domaine Santa Duc, Sebastian Nickel
  This wine grown in the neighbouring village of Gigondas, called Sablet, combines Viognier from Condrieu to Mediterranean grape varieties: Bourboulenc and Grenache blanc- both accustomed to the hot climate and the strong Mistral wind – add lemon and sweetness to it, while Clairette blanc comes in with floral aromas that enhance the wine’s complexity.

  A wine suits to all summer recipes you may imagine: green olive paste, grilled fish and vegetables, goat cheese with rosemary, sweet honey melons. Whatever you choose, it will surely give coolness and liveliness to your long summer nights…

  continue
• 

  Surprising Rosé - The cuvee Méridienne from Domaine de l’Arjolle

  14 August 2012, by Domaine de l’Arjolle, Sebastian Nickel
  It’s a real challenge for us to make this rosé. In the vineyards as well as in the cellar, year after year. In the Méridienne, three grape varieties are blended, all of them from great rosé-regions: Grenache from the Mediterranean, Syrah from the Rhone and Cabernet franc from the Loire. But the real challenge of this wine, is to ferment and ripen it in oak barrels. It’s not a simple matter to match high acidity desired for a rosé wine, with the body and structure necessary to make a wine in oak barrels.
  continue

• Tasting of Château du Cèdre Cuvée Le Cèdre 2009

  26 July 2012, by Sebastian Nickel
  You can’t but taste this pure Malbec in silence. Its bouquet opens up little by little, as if the wine fears to overcharge our nose. Scents of smoke on the horizon, slowly covered by sour cherry and increasing flavours of blueberries, cassis and black olives. Oak wood integrates well, adding hints of hazelnut and cocoa, before the vegetable kingdom takes over with mint and violet…
  continue
• 

  Pink is without a doubt the most beautiful colour of summer – Pierre Cros Tradition Minervois

  20 July 2012, by Sebastian Nickel
  Rosé wine is the winner of the past decade. We are drinking more and more of it, waiting almost as much for it as we are waiting for summer. We love it! Becoming popular has also had the impact to improved its quality, as the days of the cheap’n harsh Château Migraine seem to be far away. In fact, rosé is now considered as being a real wine and not anymore as some kind of hybrid looking for its personality somewhere between red and white wine.
  continue

• Habemus Papam at Domaine Santa Duc

  16 July 2012, by Domaine Santa Duc, Sebastian Nickel
  
  Habemus Papam – we have a pope – that’s what we can claim now at Domaine Santa Duc, only few days after the bottling of our first wine grown in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We purchased our 40 year-old vineyard on the sandy soils in the north-eastern part of the appellation in 2009. Picked for the first time in 2010, a remarkable vintage in the Rhone Valley, partly destemmed grapes were fermented by natural yeast, before the wine took a 14 months rest in the wooden tanks of our cellars.
  continue

• Roaix en Provence – The secret wines of Mount Ventabren

  27 June 2012, by Domaine Santa Duc, Sebastian Nickel
  Driving towards Vaison-la-Romaine, just northeast of Rasteau lies the village of Roaix, Côtes du Rhône Villages since 1967. Situated at an altitude between 150 and 350 meters above sea level, the vineyards of this community are spread out on two quite different terroirs. While the lowest part takes its power from alluvial, quaternary terraces (a rather common soil type of the southern Rhone valley), the vines growing at the piedmont and the slopes of the Montagne de Ventabren root in rocky sand soils (locally called Safres) and, higher up in red clay.

  

  continue

0 | ... | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 100 | 110 | 120 | 130 | 140