Wine Fictions

 An evening in Berlin I ended up entering a wine bar just round the corner where I was staying and I could not be better surprised with I came across: Balera is a small and cozy Italian wine bar with a focus on Nature Wines.  The service and consulting was excellent and I was fascinated with the possibility of getting the wines from a tap as well as a deposit system where you could just come and fill the bottle again.  The whole concept of the shop is quite interesting and this was the place where I ended up buying this Frizzante, exclusively made with the Garganega grape.  Being Italy an almost endless source for autochtonous grapes, I have decided to try this one, seduced by the description of the volcanic soil as well as to try a, for me, new grape of which I knew nothing about. In the glass it has revealed itself rather turbid which is not uncommon at all, taking in account that it is a nature wine. In fact, I really have appreciated its seducing golden colour w...

 Following my former post , I have decided to write about another orange wine that I have recently came across and has also interested me. First of all, I have to recognize my true lack of knowledge about Austrian wines and its specificity. As it has happened with many other wine regions, I first came across Austrian wines when I first moved to Germany. I have to confess that I was positively surprised with both the quality and maturity of most of the wines I came across since then.  This Magic Tom is no exception. It is a perfectly well done wine, exhibiting a fragrant persimmon taste revealing the best you can get from an orange wine.  In the palate it reveals itself extremely soft and velvety making it incredibly easy to drink and a perfect match for lighter meals or to drink on its own. Still, I found it having a very marked character making it a wine that makes you feel like coming back to it and see how time helps it develop.  One of the poems that has been acc...

 Many things have been written about the whole boom that it has been seen in natural wines but like so many other cases, I do defend that the best way to form a proper opinion about it is by trying them.  After having tried different ones, I have started to develop a particular interest in orange wines. Starting from the way that they are made which has called my attention from the very beginning to the complex palate that you can experience these are wines that have been positively puzzling me. Sure I have tried some which have deeply disappointed me but, in general, I can't hide my enthusiasm whenever I come across a new one. This wine produced by one of the star enologues of the country has surprised me in most varied ways from the very beginning.  In the nose it reveals intense straw smell which has transported me to some of my childhood smells at my aunt's farm in the Tejo region.  The colour has confirmed its typical orange and in the mouth I found it rather co...