Posts

19 Crimes - Cab Sav

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Last Friday, me and Berit decided to have a video call. As it was Friday and as we had a lot to talk about there had to be wine. Coincidentally there was (still is) an offer in Delhaize supermarket that among the given selection, pick two wines and pay 10 euros. Spring wine festival had just ended and I had made myself a little stock but that offer was (still is) too sweet not to use it. I have wanted to try some wines from 19 Crimes for some time but they look so mass produced and unappealing that I always pick something else. But as crime is my second passion next to wine I am still back at these wines. Cab Sav, Chardonnay and Sav Blanc were included into the discount this time. I felt like red wine and bought only one bottle in case I do not like it. 19 Crimes has 8 wines with pictures of former convicts on them (plus some more with some famous people like Snoop Dog). The convicts were British citizens who were sent to Australia as a punishment in 19th century. 19 is the list of cri...
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Women's Day wine

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 After three months idling in Estonia, I am back in Luxembourg and back on serious wine track. Not that I did not have any wine in Estonia... To celebrate the Women's Day this Tuesday, I got myself a local sparkling wine from Bernard-Massard. To make it feminine, I bought a rosé on purpose. Boyfriend sent me a beautiful plant for that occasion so as soon as I had received it, I opened the bottle. 2018 Bernard Massard, 100% Pinot Noir Bernard-Massard is a Luxembourgish wine producer making both still and sparkling wines. Although I have a feeling that it's more known for sparklings. Maybe because every event where I have been (e.g. business events, exhibition openings) this is what is offered. In 2021, Bernard-Massard celebrated it's 100th anniversary. They came out even with special wine for that occasion that was quite nice. Me and boyfriend visited their cellar and did a wine tasting back in September. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to try everything we would ...
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GG – Kloster Eberbach 2017 Riesling

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 At the end of one stressful workday, I felt that I need to treat myself with a bubble bath and a bottle size glass of Riesling. I love Riesling! It is one of the most versatile grapes in the world. It can make wines from bone dry to lusciously sweet. It can be grown in different regions in the world. It’s very tolerant to cold and buds late (avoids spring frosts), therefore it is suitable for cool climates. It has also a very good ageing potential. Germany is the homeland of Riesling but I personally like very much Rieslings from Alsace. Austria has a good reputation as well. Outside of Europe, Australia is known for Rieslings from Clare and Eden Valley. Washington State in USA makes amazing stuff. Chateau Ste Michelle, is one of my favourites. There are Rieslings being produced also in NY State and New Zealand. In Canada, a delicious ice wine is made. For that gloomy Thursday evening, I had a bottle of 2017 Kloster Eberbach that I got from my former flat mate. He saw me stu...
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Remember-rememeber 18th of November, time for some Beaujolais Nouveau

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 I had planned many excuses why I did not really write anything in my blog once it was set up. The most valid one would be that I spent almost all summer and part of the autumn preparing for WSET Level 3 wine exam that is now done. So from now on, the only excuse (not very valid one) would be that I am awfully lazy. But no more excuses! Today is the official release date of Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is a wine that comes from the Beaujolais region in France. This is the first wine of this year’s harvest and therefore released very shortly after fermentation. It is usually fruity, light with low tannin and has red fruit flavors, made out of Gamay grape. As it has barely finished fermentation, there’s no need to look for great complexity nor has it much ageing potential. I heard about this wine first time when I lived in Angers (France) in 2015. I was also told immediately that it is a low quality wine. Why on earth should I buy it then? Why should anyone buy it...
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Camembert: Gourmet Père et Fils

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Seems appropriate that this post follows the previous one as it's the same producer and similar unimaginative label. Another wine that gives very direct guidelines what to eat if you have no idea yourself. We bought this one together with white Fruit de Mer wine for the same reason, the label looked so bad and price moderate (around 7 euros), so it could not be a good wine. But the score was 3.9 so of course we got curious. I wanted to drink something with eggplant-tomato-minced tofu sauce. Ideally I imagined something lighter with that dish but as we did not have any lighter reds at home, it had to do. I discovered again how tedious task is taking nice pictures. I had taken around 20 pictures of the bottle and glasses under different angles and lights when I noticed that my own reflection had been on the bottle all the time. Finally I knelt on the floor to hide myself, took one picture and decided that was acceptable enough. The wine comes from producer called Gourmet Père e...
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Fruits de mer: Entre-Deux-Mers

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Boyfriend and I decided to cook scallops one April afternoon (that explains the pussy willow in the vase). We wanted to make something fast for dinner and why not go fancy at the same time. We had already one white Spanish wine in the fridge but it seemed too aromatic and flowery for delicate meat so we picked one wine that – as a name already suggested – should be a better fit. First time I saw that wine in a shop I didn’t even bother scanning it. It looked ridiculous and unimaginative. I guessed it would be rather low, like 3.2. Second time I saw it again I got curious. Surprise-surprise it has been rated as 4.1. Think no more! Entre-deux-Mers (between two seas) is a region in South-West France, east from Bordeaux, between the rivers Garonne from the South and Dordogne from the North. I have had some very good cheap wines from there in Luxembourg but I have never even noticed them in Estonia. The producer is Gourmet Père et Fils that seems to have it's estate in Languedoc-R...
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Sparkling summer days

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I have imagined that my very first wine post should be something special. I was planning to kick off this blog with a fancy 20 years old Tawny Port but I am still waiting for the occasion to open it. Then I found something else interesting and also rare so it will be my star, together with some others. In the middle of the May, I had some days off from work so I had a nice long 4-day weekend. We drove to my boyfriend’s parents summerhouse on one Estonian island. I love this place! It’s green, fresh air all around, sea 100 meters from house, only sounds are waves, wind in the trees and birds. The weather was finally sunny, no work either, so perfect time to enjoy some sparkling wines already before lunch. Piccini, Prosecco, Extra Dry Piccini winehouse tradition started at 1882 as a small family enterprise. Now, five generations later, the company has five wine estates in Tuscany. The wine is made 100% out of Glera grape. I learned that this type of bottle is called Venetian ...
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