February 2012
5 posts
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #061
Hi guys & girls,
today we are tasting the wine that surprised me the most in the selection that the South-African wineshop “Paradisi” made for me. We are going to taste some SA riesling! In the glass we have the SUTHERLAND, Rhine Riesling 2008 from THELEMA vineyards.
If you’ve been following my blog since somewhere in June last year, you know I’m a riesling-head and...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #060
Hi friends,
I finally found the time to taste my second South-African wine. Today we are going to discover Viognier, a grape that seems to be very well known, but a grape that never filled up my glass. Tonight, that’s about to change with this wine from La Petite Ferme in Franschhoek, S-A.
It will not surprise you that the origin of the grape is France! More specifically from the Rhône...
3 tags
WINETWUNCH 3 : Bigger & better!
Hi Everyone!
It’s Saturday morning right now, and last thursday is still a very vivid memory. For the third time I attended a winetwunch, an idea that started on twitter 8 months ago. The concept is genious: You bring a bottle, you have a seat, and you eat & taste all night long. Having 20 people around the table means you’ll taste 20 different wines.
And this is what we’ve...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #059
Hey, it’s me again!
I couldn’t wait to get started and I was already preparing to start this new theme with the viognier ‘La petite ferme’, but by the end of this week, a giant cold wave hit Belgium. It’s been 4 days that temperatures do not go above -3°C, and as I am tasting this wine right now it’s -13°C outside!
So the white wine back in the fridge, and...
7 tags
Theme of the month - SOUTH-AFRICA - January 2012
Yes! It’s time for a new theme! I actually had the idea to taste wines from South-Africa (S-A from now on) in October last year after having a conversation with a friend of mine on twitter who was in Kenia and wanted to enjoy a good glass. She asked me for advice, because S-A wines where the only ones available in Kenia.
And so I gave here the names of cool wineries I knew like Lammershoek,...
January 2012
8 posts
7 tags
January - The final post !
Hi there,
it’s time to unravel the mistery, to unwrap the bottles and to tell you what I’ve been tasting. So far, I have no clue and after the last bottle, more questions came up and less answers were given to me.
So let’s start with the beginning:
WINE N°1 My prediction was a German chardonnay from 2007 for a price of €16. I remember I really liked the acidity on the wine,...
4 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #058
Hi everyone,
after a busy week it’s time to do the final blind tasting and to discover the theme that my girlfriend prepared for me. So far she picked wines for me that scored two gold medals and a silver one, so a very good start. Let’s hope the last one is not the least one, and maybe I can finally tell you guys what I have been tasting.
Let’s begin!
Appearance Again a very...
5 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #057
Hi Tumblrz,
after 2 blind white wines (I guessed Chardonnay and Riesling, both cold climate), it’s time to dive into the red wines and see what my blind tasting skills are worth now. And maybe I will find the first clue for the theme I am trying to unravel here…
Appearance A very interesting colour. It appears completely “normal” ruby red, but 3 aspects are slightly...
6 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #056
Hi tumblrz,
time to get back to business. My senses are focused, I am focused and the next blind bottle is open. Here we go!!
Appearance It’s a high bottle, that’s one, so maybe that influences what I’m about to sniff. The colour of the juice is a deep deep yellow, I would call it even peach yellow, because there are hints of orange/red when I swirl it around. Clear, bright,...
7 tags
IN DE WULF - Dining with nature
This weekend I had an amazing experience.
My girlfriend and I had some reasons to celebrate and we decided to have dinner at a great restaurant. We like what nature has to offer, pure and simple, and we like our food elegant and well balanced. And so we ended up at “In de Wulf”, the restaurant of chef Kobe Desramaults.
A lot of my friends asked me to take pictures of the food...
The "Saturn Wine Glasses".
American art student Christopher Yamane of fragile studios adapts traditional glassblowing techniques towards the creation of an unspillable drinking glass : ‘Saturn Wine Glasses’… by folding a bubble of glass, trapping air within it, he creates the ‘Saturn ring’ that circumferences the bowl.
3 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #055
Hi guys,
I’m so thrilled to start sniffing, sipping and spitting my way into this mistery. I really don’t know what to expect and I hope I’ve learned enough over the past year and 54 wines to make an educated guess on what’s in my glass right now. Let’s kick off and make some predictions when we’re done.
Appearance It’s a white wine! Score :) The colour...
5 tags
Theme of the month - ??? - January 2012
Hi everyone,
it’s 2012 and I’m back with a new theme!
A while back I was thinking how I could spice up my blog a bit and me & my girlfriend came up with the following theme. I gave her €50 to spend on 4 bottles of wine. This month, I will try to unravel the mistery theme she has put together.
This is the selection, and all I know is that n°1 and 2 are white wines, n°3 and 4...
December 2011
7 posts
10 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #054
Hi everyone,
I have been having a blast since I started this wineblog. I’ve learned so much about wine in general : the regions, the grapes, terroir, climate, techniques, natural wines, sparkling wines, fortified wines, … the list is endless. But most of all, I’ve met a lot of people and made some really good friends. And maybe that’s what I like the most about wine,...
10 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #053
What’s up Tumblrz?!
I am so excited that christmas is just around the corner. Hibernating around the christmas tree with the family is just all you need when it’s cold & dark outside.
But before we taste the last bottle of this year during my hibernation, we are going to taste a red wine from the Loire valley, again :
it’s CHINON time! CHARLES JOGUET - AOC Chinon -...
12 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #052
Hi girls & guys,
after a disappointing wine last week, it’s time to change direction and head south for a bit of fun, for some ‘plaisir’. And there is another reason to celebrate! That’s right, it’s blog number 52, I’ve done it! Can’t believe I’ve been doing this every week since december last year.
I am putting all my hopes and celebrations...
10 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #051
Hi Tumblrs,
I’ve had a busy week and am finally able to write a new review and to enjoy (hopefully) a nice bottle of wine over the weekend. For this second red wine from France I’ve picked out the Burgundy. It’s pinot time!
BERNARD LAGARRIGUE - AOC Monthelie - 2007
And again, it’s amazing when you break down the AOC. We are in France (duh), Burgundy (less duh) , Beaune...
9 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #050
Let’s kick off this new “ROUGE” theme!
The first one we have is a wine from the Loire valley :
LES ARPENTS - AOC Saumur-Champigny - 2006
And first of all, let us have a look on the map of the loire valley in France (only the Western part of the valley):
The region, SAUMUR-CHAMPIGNY is number 17 on the map, located right in the middle next to the Loire river, and is...
November 2011
9 posts
8 tags
Theme of the month - ROUGE - December 2011
Hi girls & guys,
I am glad to announce you my next theme. After a year of wineblogging, I am finally going to the place where wine finds its home, where most of the grapes originate from and where I see a big comparison with New York : “If you can make wine there, you can make wine everywhere”.
And that’s exactly the reason why it has taken me so long to choose France...
6 tags
WatchA new fortified episode from the fortified Finn ilkkasiren:
#fortifiedfriday - Torres is without a doubt one of the most recognized wine brands in the world. Many of us have tasted some of their wines before, for example the famous bull wine Sangre de Toro. But today I’m tasting a little less known wine they produce which is a fortified wine made from Moscatel grape variety. The sexy sweetness...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #049
Hi Tumblrs,
it’s crazy how time flies. Every month I buy my four bottles and when I take the “group picture” I always believe I’ll have tons of time to do some good research on the specific theme. However, I have to say that this month just flew by like a fighter jet and we are already tasting the last wine of Hungary. A pity on one hand, but as my appreciation is going...
Watchtheviinitv:
ViiniTV brings the Christmas spirit! What’s the best recipe for mulled wine? Well, it’s not this to be frank but enjoy the entertainment anyway.
9 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #048
Hi there,
I am amazed we are actually approaching the magic number #052, which means this blog will celebrate it’s first year of tasting a wine every week, without interuption!
But, first things first, it’s time to attack the red wines from Hungary, starting with the THUMMERER - EGRI BIKAVER 2006
This wine has a “DHC” or Districtus Hungaricus Contrallatus from the...
6 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #047
Hi tumblrs,
it seems I am only doing double posts lately. I had the idea that this wine and the previous one were from different wineries when I bought them, bet now after checking on the website of the importer, this is a second wine from Kreinbacher-Szent-Ilona:
KREINBACHER-SZENT-ILONA - NAGY-SOMLO 2009
The first wine was a monocepage wine, 100% furmint. But this one has a “DHC”...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #046
Hi there, the first Hungarian wine on my blog is a white wine from the Nagy-Somlo region:
KREINBACHER-SZENT-ILONA - Furmint 2009
The reason I was attracted to this region is the very bizar and special landscape of Somlo. The region, only a bit more than 800 hectare tall is located around and on top of an extinct volcano of only a few kilometres in diameter, meaning the soil consist of lava and...
Watchtheviinitv:
#fortifiedfriday - Today I’m tasting a wine from Setúbal, Portugal. José Maria da Fonseca (a.k.a. JMF) is one of the oldest wine companies in Portugal and very famous for their Moscatel de Setubal fortified wines. Often overshadowed by port it’s not the most well known fortified wine style in the world but more than worthy of mention. These wines usually offer great drinkability when...
8 tags
The of the month - HUNGARY - November 2011
Hi again, I am right on time! 1st of November to announce a new theme : HUNGARY.
Since I’ve been tasting along, I always seem to have a certain affection with wines from Eastern Europe. And when I came across some white wines at a tasting, I knew I was going to make this my new theme.
When you look at a wine map from Hungary, you can see that there are many regions:
1 Sopron, 2...
October 2011
9 posts
Anonymous asked: Dag Jelle, Arnout hier van wijncursus. Is er vanavond les? Groeten.
4 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #045
Hi Tumblrs,
we are again at the end of our little journey to a fantastic region, and the finale is for this bottle :
ANETO - DOC Douro - 2007 tinto
This wine is a typical red blend from the Douro region, made with the following grapes:
Touriga Nacional (30%)
Touriga Franca (30%)
Tinta Roriz (30%)
Tinto Cão (30%)
I already wrote a piece about the ANETO winery in wine #044, but one...
5 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #044
Fridaynight, tastingnight. What a wineweek it has been! On monday I had wineclass and tasted 9 wines, wednesday I organised a great diner with winefriends I got to know on twitter and we had 18 wines, yesterday I emptied the bottles of #042 and #043. I gave them both a gold score and they were still amazing after being opened for more than 4 days. And now it’s time to let the Aneto winery...
4 tags
WINETWUNCH2
Hi there, these are the pictures of an amazing diner we had yesterday amongst Belgian wine-lovers,-makers,-teachers,-critics… The idea is straightforward : You book a restaurant and everyone brings 1 or 2 bottles, and we taste the wines 2 by 2 and mask the labels. No need to search for an interesting topic as we discover the story behind every bottle.
And this...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #043
Hi there,
we are almost back on track with another field blend from Secret Spot Wines: VALE DA POUPA - DOC Douro - Field blend Tinto Reserva 2007
If you want to read more about the story behind the field blends of Secret Spot Wines, I propose you read the review of wine #042.
The grapes from this red blend are: Tinta Roriz (or Tempranillo), Touriga Franca (a big grape when you talk about...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #042
Tumblrs, the first Douro Double wine is here, ready to cause some trouble: (Sorry, but I just had to write down that line! )
VALE DA POUPA - DOC Douro - Field blend 2010
This wine is made by a winery called “Secret Spot Wines” and the story behind the winemakers is exactly why I chose Douro to be my new theme.
Two young guys, Gonçalo Sousa Lopes and Rui Walter Cunha, started their...
8 tags
Theme of the month - DOURO DOUBLE - October 2011
Tumblrs, it’s partytime this weekend. I will just keep on going, keep on blogging because I had some really busy times last month and some cool times in Amsterdam this week, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
First things first is to blog my new theme for the month of october : DOURO DOUBLE And this picture shows you why. As usual I have assembled four wines, but there are 2...
1 tag
6 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #041
Hi Tumblrs,
we end the very interesting theme of September - although it already is the 14th of october , i’m sorry! - with a wine I kept aside on purpose because of the ‘ooh-s’ and ‘aah-s’ you hear when you say the name Marcel Lapierre :
Marcel Lapierre - AOC Morgon 2010
This is Marcel, a legendary winemaker in the Beaujolais region who died...
September 2011
5 posts
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #040
What, n°40! This is going fast…
And today we taste the second wine from Domaine du Calvaire de Roche-Grès by Didier Desvignes - Chiroubles 2009:
No need to copy-paste my text on the winemaker, you can all read that by clicking on #038 in my winelist-tab.
A small word on the AOC from this Beaujolais wine, CHIROUBLES: Chiroubles is known for light bodied wines and is the AOC within...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #039
Hi there, it is time for the second Fleurie
Clos de la Roilette, AOC Fleurie 2009 by the COUDERT familiy.
The Clos de la Roilette, in the village of Fleurie, covers nine hectares of one of the best slopes in the Beaujolais Crus. (WINEMAP) The clos has an eastern exposure, borders the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, and produces wines that are beautiful when young and have the capacity to age...
6 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #038
Hi again Tumblr-friends, I am crazy busy so I am sorry if you were waiting for the first beaujolais review, but here it is, at last. I hope the second one will follow shortly after…
So, we were going to taste Beaujolais, the Gamay based wine from the Southern part of Burgundy. And we start doing that with this wine :
DOMAINE DU CALVAIRE DE ROCHE-GRES , AOC Fleurie, 2009
I have been...
6 tags
Theme of the month -BEAUJOLAIS - September 2011
Well,well, a new theme: Beaujolais!
As the summer is almost over I am really looking forward to dive again into the red wines, because I miss the dry teeth and purple tongue after a summer of white fruity acid grape juice. But, I said almost over … meaning there are still days where you can go outside wearing sunglasses and shorts, or have sweaty nights listening to thunderstorms. What to...
2 tags
August 2011
11 posts
8 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #037
Time flies when you are soil searching: this is the last riesling and the last soil type to get to know a bit better.
We will discover sandstone and chalk guided by A. Christmann, Riesling Trocken 2010 from the Pfalz region in Germany
When you start looking for info on the web on the Pfalz region in Germany, you soon discover that this region is unique. A little south of Rheinhessen and Mosel,...
2 tags
9 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #036
I’m back, with n°3!
Alexander Laible - Riesling Trocken Alte Reben 2010 *** from the Baden region in Germany.
This wine is made by the very ambitious Alexander Laible, a young guy (born in 1979) who started his winery 4 years ago in Durbach, Germany. However, he does not own any vineyards there, as he believes the climate is too hot to create fine and elegant wines. Instead, his wines...
7 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #035
Hi there, time for soil searching pt.2,
with Philipp Wittmann’s Riesling Trocken 2010 from the Rheinhessen region in Germany. (winemap)
As you can see, he is married with Eva Clüsserath from the previous wine.
The vineyards of Weingut Wittmann are located in Westhofen, in the Rheinhessen region in Germany. The region is a very compact area east of the Mosel region, between Frankfurt...
8 tags
WINE OF THE WEEK #034
It is time for Soil Searching, part 1 : blue slate.
And our guide is : Eva Clüsserath - Riesling “steinreich” 2009 from the Mosel area in Germany.
And thanks to the label, I do not need to say more about the type of soil.
This wine is made by Eva Clüsserath, born in 1978. She produces wines, harvested from the “Trittenheimer Apotheke” vineyards in the Mosel...
6 tags
Theme of the month - SOIL - August 2011
Dear Tumblrs,
after a long and well deserved holiday with a mix a very different wines and an overall rather disappointing showing of the rosé wines I tried, it is time to get back in the rhythm with a very interesting theme proposed by the Belgian distributor “Vinikus & Lazarus” (you find Vinikus on twitter as @wijngerd) specialized in German wines.
I will use 4 German wines,...
How wine is made (by Jamie Goode) →