Monday, December 29, 2014

December 2014 - Supercherry Italian WInes

Supercherry was set up by Rob & Jane Stephany a couple of years ago. Their original intention was to specialise in Cherry based comestibles from the Le Marche region of Italy, which is known for its cherries. Somehow they never got past the alcohol based stuff. Odd that... They have a stall at the monthly Duck Pond market in Ruislip, but also have an on line presence.
They brought along 2  regional wines, a dessert wine blended with sour cherries, 3 liqueurs, and an eau de vie.

The first two wines were straight forward enough, from a small producer, Cantina Broccanera
Asco - a 50/50 Syrah/Cab Sauv blend
Cantaro - a Verdiccio.
Both perfectly fine wines

The 3rd wine, Viciolata del Cardinale from Cantine del Cardinale, was a blend of Visciola sour cherries and Montepulciano/Conaro rosso grapes, in a mix approx 33% cherry and 66% grape

Liqueurs - All produced by Major Liquori
Meloncino - 17% alcohol - a very sweet melon liqueur
Nocciolino - 17% alcohol - hazelnut cream - think Baileys with nuts
Limoncello - 28% alcohol - lemon

Opinions were mixed on these four. We've had a cherry mix wine before, from Turkey, and its an acquired taste. Of the 3 liqueurs I wasn't keen on the Melon or Nut, but the Limoncello is a very good example of its type. Others did like them, so its very much a question of try it and see.

The Aqua Vitae is again cherry based, basically an Eau de Vie from the Visciolata del Cardniale - Acquavite del Caridinale. Again, like all these spirits they are very personal, with some liking it, some not.

All I can say is try for yourselves - these drinks are out there.




T

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Romanian Wines, Presented by Richard Bost.


Richard always brings along something unusual – Turkish, Mexican, etc. This time it was Romanian Wine. Romanian wine is at the budget end of the scale – the question – is it any good?

As always, 8 wines
  1. Rhein Extra Brut Rose 12.5% NV.
  2. La Catina Viognier Tamaioasa Romaneasca 2013. 13% - Laithwaites
  3. La Umbra Chardonnay 2013 12.5% - Waitrose
  4. Theia Chardonnay 2012. 14% - Laithwaite
  5. Paris Street Pinot Noir Rose 2013. 13% - Laithwaites
  6. Waitrose Pinot Noir 2013. 13%
  7. La Catina Single vineyard Pinot Noir 2011 13% - The Wine Society
  8. Burebista Shiraz Feteasca Neagra 2013 13% - Laithwates

Most (all??) of the wines are produced by Halewood Romania,, and Richard was presenting on their behalf. As always highly entertaining and the evening went with a swing.

I'll be honest here, Pinot Noir is not my favourite grape, but these were all drinkable and the pinot freaks were reasonably impressed, and all 3 are excellent value.

The Rhein Rose sparkling is, apparently, the “state” sparkling wine of Romania and gets served at state banquets. Apparently if it were on sale in the UK – which it isn't , it would be only around £12 a bottle – competitive with other good sparkling wines.

I really liked the Viognier blend and at £7.49 its well worth a try. The same goes for the other whites – good stuff, good value, and worth a punt.
 
The best was kept until last - the Shiraz blend - at £8.49 a bottle is something of a bargain. Certainly the 2 we tried were. Looking at online reviews it looks to be somewhat variable.