Valle Reale, San Calisto, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Elegant. Dried cherries, figs, prunes. Long finish with details.

Easter cabin 2015; 4/2/2015-4/4/2015 (Dalskogen) : First cabin wine of the Easter holidays was a funky one. Green, grass like aromas, some chocolate and roasted coffee beans. Can't really detect the fruit on the nose. Medium minus intensity. Low on palate concentration, actually with some fizzy texture. Lean and short finish.

Extrapoäng för snygg etikett möjligen, men det är också vinets mest positivt utmärkande egenskaper. Nä, så kasst är det inte, men det är inget vin för mig, den saken är klar. Fick det blint av min elaka hustru. Första stunden med vinet så resonerade jag enligt följande: "Hm...disktrasa, lite kryddor, är det möjligen basilika? Rödfruktigt...lite lingon, röda vinbär...SVARTA VINBÄRSBLAD! Hm...Vad tusan är det i glaset...slankt, bra syra...BITTERT!" Snurrade glaset några varv som värsta vinskribenten, drack en sipp vatten och filurade …

Stay away from this. Sticky fruit on the nose with some acetone and ethyl acetate. Add to this yeasty fruit, mainly synthetic banana and cherries. Top it of with some oak. Medium acidity, lots of sweetish fruit, medium body, rather thin and no length to speak of. For 100SEK ($12) you can get so much better wines.

Molise e Abruzzi by Juancho Asenjo (Enoteca Barolo - Madrid) : If compared with last Montepulciano of the same winery this is more elegant both, nose and palate but anything else. Little pricey, my choice is the more basic version cause I think that's the real thing. Comparada con la última Montepulciano de la misma bodega está es más elegante en ambas, nariz y boca pero nada más. Un poco cara, my elección de dirige a la versión más bazuca …

On the nose, Stable, pig, dishcloth, earth On the palate, Cherry with a very present acidity Medium finish

Not a very pleasant nose, showing sour dishcloth and the stench of a badly ventilated cowshed… Some of this blow off during the evening, but still no pleasant nose present. On the palate this showed an non complex and forward nice taste of cherries with medium + acidity. Easy drinking, but nothing more. Minus for the unpleasant nose.

Dark plum colour, deep, classic. Nose: sweet, delicately jammy, nice prunes. Taste: medium bodied, fruity with nice acid, tannins visible. Bit bitter finish. Well done and drinks well.

Dark cherries and ripe plums on the nose. I cannot really get a grip of the taste, one sip there's some coffee, the next there is just oak. Not really structured right now but could improve a bit in a couple of years.

Mature more expressive on the palate than the nose. Sour fruit with some leather. Still dark in the glass but maybe not as dense as it used to be.

Tasted at the Gambero Rosso road show in Singapore. Nice strawberries, sweet fruits nose. A little jammy, blue fruits palate with earthy undertone. It has a medium finish with hints of smoke and soft tannins. 2010 is made in a lighter style due to the vintage condition and can be drunk early.

Deep bright red/purple - light, bright floral nose. Fresh and deceptively easy drinking, as this wine is further exposed to air it deepens and softens, and the mouthfeel improves - medium bodied, still tannic - needs more cellar time - I suspect that this is a rather pretty caterpillar - I look forward to the butterfly.

Drinking very nice now. Popped and poured. Smooth after 10 mins in the glass. Well rounded and fruity with slightly dry finish.

Rich. Thick. Delicious and chewy.