Wine Fictions

Growing up in Portugal in the 90s and early 2000s led me to the establishment of a certain taste profile that way too often ignored the fascinating variety that you have in wines from all over the world. Even though I ended up growing a fan of completely different kinds of aromatic profiles such as Riesling or Sangiovese, there are certain characteristics that directly awake in me a smile of pleasure. One of them is the iron taste, often also described as blood. Whenever I come across a wine which is dominated by such an iron taste, I feel myself surrendering to it and purely enjoying it.  At first I thought this was something exclusively from the Douro region. It did not surprise me that it was also to be found in most Ribera del Duero wines as it is the direct region when you go into Spain and that Tempranillo is Tinta Roriz. Same grape, same soil, all good. But having a wine from Burgenland , Austria, where the soils can be completely different, has opened a new brave world ahea...

Even though I tendentially try to focus in just one wine at the time of tasting, sometimes it is a more than pleasant surprise to see which wines outstand when you try several ones in a short amount of time.  Recently at a friend's birthday there was an exciting selection of different wines as he is quite a wine afficionate, to say the least. From matured whites from magnum bottles to elegant south african Chardonnay, passing through champagne, Rioja or a surprisingly dense german red, among others. But from all the wines which were opened in the evening, this Pinot Blanc from Krispel was, for me, the one that stood out. Even though it was already 8 years old, it still presented itself with tremendous freshness and complexity revealing an interesting balance between primary and tertiary flavours. In the mouth it has very pleasant creaminess, nuts and green quince in what I consider a tremendously fascinating flavour palette.  This is the kind of wine that you can't just s...

I am compulsive. With things that I really like I am tremendously compulsive.  As soon as I finish a book, I always need a new one near by to just keep feeding my thirst for more and newer worlds. Whenever I listen about the announcement of the winner of any of the literary prizes that I do follow, I feel something growing in my chest that can only be calmed down when being in possession of a book by the author.  That is exactly what I feel about certain wines or wine styles, such as this Gemischter Satz that I have just recently tasted.  Being a wine exclusively made in the hills surrounding the Austrian capital, Vienna, it is incredibly charming to say that it is possible to drink a wine coming from such a major city. Idyllic pictures like this can easily be found or experienced. Another aspect that has also called my attention is the Gemischter Satz concept. In English it would be translated as a Field Blend. Backing to the old times where there was not such a big foc...

 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...