4/4/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

So, the last 10cm of yesterday's btl, under cork.

This is either a chamelion or this is a strong case of "me-variation"...

Still a rustic wine that delivers a lot of umpa-umpa. However, now completely without that nasty rubber boot. Fruit has "mended" and it delivers around 92p, especially if you enjoy South Italian rusicity.

A cherry twang surrounded by really enjoyable, coarse tannins. Perfectly balancing acids. Yay!

7/30/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Superbly delicious at early maturity.
Great tannic grip and posture. Dramatic wine.
Will live long and prosper.

3/14/2022 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

This is a rough ride.
If you enjoy coarse wines, this is for us.
If you don't, this isn't for you.

A lovely, rich, long and intense coarse wine.

9/25/2021 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Underwhelming after plop, but grew nicely during the course of the evening.
Elevage not properly integrated in this bottle, but fruit, acidity and tannins are there for the long haul.
Very curious about where this wine will go in the future.

Happily enjoying five more in the cellar and no hurry at all.

4/3/2015 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Everyone's favourite during the first glass. Married food and the evening's ambiance. However, as the evening went by, fruit fell apart and ALOTTA rubber-soles entered the center stage.

Dark red.
Nose: blood oranges extravaganza with jasmine flowers on a dark foundation of tar and smoked meats. Very attractive, big and makes you want to drink it.
Palate: M+++ tannins, M acids in a coarse and rustic expression. Quite loveable and GREAT with anything meat and garlic. M+ body and ok length. Not particularily complex, but has high-level umpa-umpa. Fruit fell apart after some hrs and there emerged a nasty rubber-boot aroma...

The wine to start with: 91p.
After a few hrs: 81p.

7/12/2022 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Has good structure, nice tannic bite but before finishing the 2nd glass, I had to give up and go plop something more worthwhile.

84 for almost being 'very good'. Went down the drain because it's simply a typically poor short-cork-wine. Aglianico at its least appealing.

Possibly a little more appealing some years back, but not much.

Life's too short for the short corks.

3/28/2021 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Rustique, still youthful umpa-umpa wine with more energy than refinement. Perfect for a rainy Spring Sunday.

Tomorrow, I hope to find time to analyze the other half of the bottle a little more, and not just enjoy cheese, olives, prosciutto and wine with a silly smile :-)

Auction bargain.

2/19/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-blind. Drank immediately (but over quite some time).
Very young but over time and with ample amounts of air, this is a show stopper! Dark: Darth Vader's cup-of-coffee. Will make it to stardom. Death-metal-dark fruits and EBM firm tannins with flower-power acid, gothic cathedral structure and the never ending finish of Status Quo songs.
Don't open! There is just so much to be gained from keeping these beauties. This was 1st bottle, the next from the case to be opened in 2020. Yikes! This wine makes us both look forward to AGING :-) Wife 92p.

9/9/2014 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Rustic, rich, dark fruited, splendid oak and just simply: a lot of wine for the money. Early drinking window, but already quite enjoyable.
Last btl of two before or around 2020.

6/19/2022 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Blinded, I would not possibly have been able to guess anywhere near this. Low acidity, phat dark fruit and some tobacco notes.
Far from typical, but quite a big bang for small money.

10/2/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-blind. Decanted 6 hrs.
Impression: Outstanding
Pitch black juice that gave me voodoo teeth. At 5yrs it displays a newly bottled wine nose. On the palate it is a wine of striking purity of fruit. Long, full bodied, jam packed, delicious acids and M++ tannin. End palate also shows off some dark spice as in cloves and caraway.
...but what's with this ECO-unfriendly HEAVY bottle? Not even see through. QPR: out of this World! Very happy to have 2 more. Thinking about what to set the wine cellar time machine for... Maybe 5 yrs for the next one?

4/14/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Two grumpy old men become little less grumpy in Tokyo (Antichi Sapori, Hiroo (Tokyo)): Now showing off itself as a BIG BOY.
Incredibly rich, plump and concentrated. Now walking towards a huge CdP or Barossa in style and dark cherries galore. Rich, dark, tar, asphalt and superbly yummy, balanced integrated. Long with a slight sweetness.
Early plateau. One btl to go, at around 2020.

At Antichi Sapori in Hiroo (Tokyo)

3/29/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-blind. Decanted 3 hrs and slow-oxed for 5 hrs.
Muted on the nose. Showing off some oxidized funk and shaky "I-refuse-to-get-out-of-the-bottle" expressions. With food the pronounced acids made everything SING. Not as much a show-off as last bottle. Really looking forward to the next in 2017 (if self-discipline allows it).

2/21/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-blind. Opened bottle 5 hrs before going to restaurant. (Not decanted.)
To be perfectly honest: This is a great wine with a great deal of sumi ink, but still, it did not awaken the poets in us. Maybe we were simply too tired after an unusually long day? At least, wine not too young to be enjoyed. Should evolve more. Next bottle in ~4 years.

2013-09: After reading TN's from "some" we decided to save our last btl for 2024 and enjoy it then, scars, age and everything :-)

3/5/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

This is a great Italian Aglianico. Opened up quickly with red berries with a touch of leather and oak. M++ acids, M+ body and M+ drying tannins ending with a small bitterness. Great with food.
W/TS in Stockholm. Had immediately.

11/23/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-blind. Had immediately at Yakinikuya Idogaya (Yokohama).
Impression: Outstanding with 1 star.
Twinkling sparkling red color.
Timid small nose.
On the palate it is starting to show some small width and breadth. Still thin constitution, but getting there. Some plummy components gave some breadth on the mid-palate and finish. Entry was acidic and simply good-tasting. Finish was with resolute tannins of good quality and M+ acidic bite. Still too young. Still exceptionally promising.
Will try to keep the remaining btls for at least 5 years.

6/16/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

As they say that some wines are bottled sunshine, this one is a bottled drag racing burnout. Rubber stains and all. Quite captivating. We need to see how this one fares over time. Is is quite a chunky sumo wrestler on Italian acids.
3 days of slow-ox has mellowed it quite dramatically from tannic POV. But the exuberant fruit shines with its absence.
Previous score stands.
I think next bottle in maybe 5 or 6 years from now.

6/13/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Big Boy!
Nose is dark with aromas of dark cherries, coffee, fried apricots, asphalt and menthol.
In the mouth: Woah! Tongue shriveled! A TI-tannic monster of a wine with rubber tires on top. Fabulous! M+ acids, rich wine grown in a warm place. With ample, generous fruit underneath. (Not any particular oaky character in my glass.)
Today, goes well with fatty dishes, but I would let it mature for some more years rather than having it today. I gobbled some cured ham, and the wine opened up well as the tannins attacked the lard instead of my gums. (Serrano - preparing for Rioja dinner tomorrow: http://www.starchefs.com/cook/recipe/turnip-parsley-emulsion-jamon-iberique-brioche) and ... YES :-)
If I manage to procure 2 more, which is my plan, I'll open the first one in ~2018.
I expect this wine to climb maybe even 3 points on the scale as it matures.

8/15/2022 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Beautiful, rustique structure that is so easy to love with Aglianico! Gobs of stern fruit, medium harsh tannins and fine length. Good acidity to marry anything tomato based. Not particularly complex, but rich and intense while remaining old school and non-Parkerisé.
Beautiful!

9/12/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-blind. Had immediately at La Verdura.
Young, yeasty, aggressively fruity nose.
Palate is a young drinking friendly wine with fantastic acids and low tannin. Fruit is playing well and also carries some dark elements of tar-mocha-chocolate-leather that lifts the wine from daily drinker to an interesting wine with a very good QPR.
For early drinking with various plates in warm weather. (Wife 87p.)

7/10/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

A rustic wine.
An old geezer who keeps telling obsenely scabrous stories that children should never hear, that make ladies' ears wither and priests cross themselves.

Early drinking window. We dbldecanted for five hrs.
Wife was not so happy with this btl.

10/7/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Starts out as a thin and no-good bambrulla wine.
After 3 hrs of air-time the DJ inside this bottle came out and hit us with PJaines's latest mix, the love songs found on Nemesis Divina (Satyricon) and some beautiful cement notes... Very attractive.
After 12 hrs of serious airtime, this has moved on from a mere radio station to an F1 race track: burnt rubber and all.
Will be most interesting to see where it goes as a mature wine. Towards the industrial notes (rubber, chemical plant, exhaust) in here today or towards the more "normal" aromas...
Some aspects of the wine today, I really am not friends with, particularly the ashtray-aromas that came out stronger for each hour of airtime.
7 btls to go for the medium and long haul. Next one ~2020.

7/15/2014 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Boys out fine dining and fine drinking (Restaurant Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo)): An absolute bonker!
Super concentrated (no sediment), mega young, not at all integrated with raw wood attacking your senses like a a hairy medieval scotsman with a club...

But the grace within is like a well brought up princess. Amazing and astonishing! Spicy, fruity, multi-layered and grande in a way that Aglianico rarely is. This is soooo refined you'd need a microscope to work your way around its intricate details. Apart from young and unintegrated, this is a fabulous wine of sorts.

Just relax, remain patient and watch it grow through the TN's of all the early drinkers.

This wine really deserves its credits. The cousins behind it are worthy of all the praise. Yay! What a feat! This is a must-visit. And a must buy.

9/8/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

What a joy with select cheese, Hagabröd and sincere discourse with a dear friend, MJ.
Maturing well, now giving out all from my previous TN's and also rich plums on the mid-palate. We agreed that this mix of Aglianico and Piedrosso seems to bring out the best of two Worlds.
Fabulous now, but should continue to deepen over the next 5 or so years.

5/2/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Should have had a longer decant. Very dark red without a violet hue. Delineated superb wine with M++ acids and M tannin. Fabulous fruit, rich, strength of youth. Small glimpses of what is waiting for those more patient than us.
3 btls to go. Next one targeted for 2016.
Swedish wedding anniversery at 1star Restaurant L'Effervescence, Daikanyama, Tokyo.

10/19/2014 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Unusual for us, but we did a POP with this btl.
Quite a mistake as it opened up the littlest bit only near the end of dinner.

Delicious with still very tight fruit. Has a beautiful window of transparency. Tannins are starting to come out through the intense fruit. A fantastic food wine that speaks Italian and will likely come around in some 5-10 years.

Only 5 btls to go *sigh* I find it hard to keep my slimy fingers away from these beautiful btls.

6/16/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Non-Blind. 5-times intense splash decanted for 2 hrs.
Fine, dark fruits with leather, tar and licorice on the nose displaying a youthful character. On the palate it is medium bodied and powerfully elegant with good acid levels and piercing red fruit and red currants. Structured like a Dead Arm 'Light'. Some licorice also in the after math. Still very young. Kept evolving throughout dinner and represents an incredible QPR. Keep.
This is yet another high-scoring wine (just 2 points from a perfect score) that takes away from Luca Maroni's credibility as a professional.

6/19/2022 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Beautiful cherry aromas. As other tasters suggest, this is a bit lean and tannic. I would suggest a good example of an "old fashioned" wine. However quite beautiful with Pecorella's food.

8/27/2022 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Spännande vin. Rejält med rökta komponenter, grillat kött och gylf som inte vill sig. Obalanserat, men rikt, fylligt, spännande! På ren japanska: あちこち。

5/12/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

A beautifully mature Aglianico with still some beautiful years of life ahead.

Eye of the beholder: Dark red with slightly mature brim.
Nose: Started out with a lot of unpleasant odours, but they luckily blew away. Dark fruits and unrefined older signage.
Palate: Beautifully concentrated, intense wine that stands firm like a boulder. Not overly refined, with a coarse structure and rough tannins. But, balance is impeccable and its presence is marvellous. There is a restraint on the composition, and a subtle level of maturity is upon us.

After three days, the final glass, under a cork in room temperature:
Nose unbearably oxidized. But on the palate are now beautiful aromas of milk chocolate, leather, tea-leaves, La Garrigue and soft, red fruits. Tannins are now more to the point, and the whole structure is still coarse.

Glorious maturity with at least five more years on the plateau.

Wife's choice at Italian Rest: Antichi Sappore (Tokyo)

4/14/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Two grumpy old men become little less grumpy in Tokyo (Antichi Sapori, Hiroo (Tokyo)): Long decant = fabulous showing, finally at its early plateau.

Light red with some mature signage.
Nose: very stylish, cherries and many fine things.
Palate: Rock'n'roll! This is a very elegant and stylish medium-bodied wine in its early prime time. All things in place, integrated and in perfect harmony. M++ tannins, M+ acids, long with aromas that would make this wine incredibly difficult in a blind tasting. My guess would probably have been a semi-mature Madiran...

Five btls to go with this brilliant juice. Next one circa 2020. Keepers will be rewarded.
At Antichi Sapori in Hiroo (Tokyo)

8/7/2015 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Exceptionally oxidized...
Our btl showed nothing that can be described as promising, interesting or great. Only nastiness that made wifey question my judgement. As I told her it was a faulty wine, she asked me why I persist in buying faulty cork wines (this year's 9th btl).

What can I answer to that?

12/20/2023 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

A beautiful Albarino!
Melon aromas and perfect acidity.

Much better on day three. More composed and mineral qualities are now coming through.

11/27/2019 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Paris - Stockholm - Umeå - Tokyo in 6 days; 11/26/2019-12/1/2019 (World): To neutral and faceless for me to care. Had more fun enjoying the wonderful people at the tasting.
However, it is balanced and well made so it could, possibly, become interesting with some age.

12/22/2023 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

One glass served blind.

I almost fell backwards as this wine was brilliant and I, sadly, had no references to even make a guess.

Albarino obviously rulez!

1/13/2024 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Color: Light gold.

Nose: A fascinating bouquet of pear, "yellow flowers", and lemon curd. A hint of jasmine and that special scent of warm stones.

Palate: The wine is exceptionally delicate with beautiful acidity and that transparent architecture I adore in my young whites. It's brimming over with flavours of ripe lemon, chalk, white pepper, and juicy pears. The freshness of the citrus (lemon, lime, and kabosu) is balanced by an angular fruitiness. The wine finishes with balanced acidity and is moderately long. It doesn't resemble my image of Albariño. However, since 2011, this is only my fifth meeting with the grape, so I'm definitely not the guy you'd like to have as a lifeline...

The wine is light yet rich, and the acids are delightfully refreshing. Surprisingly similar to a better Muscadet in structure, style, and character.

Bodega Garzón is aqpparently known for innovation combined with traditional winemaking methods. It's said that they create wines that let the grape's character dominate while striving to create a unique personality for each wine. (Ever heard that one before?) Regardless, this is an extremely well-made white wine!

I can really recommend this winemaker after having drunk three Albariños, a Tannat, and a bottle of Viognier. Viognier is a grape I rarely get along with. However, from Garzón, it was an unperfumed caress with good acids...

As a winemaker in one of the 40 countries I'm trying to drink good wines from in 2024, Garzón gets commendably high marks.

10/31/2011 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Light yellow.
Large, aromatic, perfumy nose.
Starts off well but ends short of making a good impression. Overly acidic at start - and 1 hour later, the acids take over completely.
The winery states that this is probably the first Albarino wine grown and made in Japan. The winery also has a pizzeria :-)

3/4/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

London off-line w Pjaines (http://www.tufnellparktavern.com): Rich, elevated sweet red with tobacco galore and long, sweet, still young taste that makes me salivate from memory. This was an unexpected surprise element with dessert. Had immediately from 1/2-btl.

4/11/2014 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Tonight was the fancy evening: one of East Asia's most lauded restaurants: L'Effervescence that surely will go down in gourmet history as one of the most creative and balanced cuisine creationists in the post 1400's. Chef's name is Namae-san, and his kitchen is sublime where all his restaurant staff are sublime as well.

And we had our only btl of this wine, that was poor-cork-damaged (pre-age leakage) because the stupid winemaker probably didn't think other than: corks are only a cost and the quality of them doesn't matter. Or?

Closure REALLY matters. I can't see that this producer needs other than a screw-top.

So, only 96 points from me and no-more-than-92-points from wife.

The dinner was awesome and then some. Ultrasome!

3/3/2014 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

This wine will attract a fanatical following and is my first 100p here on CT. Have thought about this wine for three days now and feel comfortable with the score.

Black color.
Rich, splendid, elegant and multi-disciplinary aromas including various herbs and both dark and red berries. Still very young and for making my point clear: no anise, no coffee and no roasted aromas.
In the mouth this is more rich than an old-fashioned Aussie Shiraz, but not from extraction, no, this tastes like the natural concentration of the grapes. (In my imagination, the grapes used for this wine are so small, they are picked with tweezers) Escombro is long, multifaceted and a chamelion that both charmed and blew our socks off. Good acids and a fabulous tannic structure hiding behind the megafruit. More balanced than Justitia's scales.

Made by what is described as a rather peculiar Swede, Erik Rosdahl. Apparently tall, wild-looking, prefers flip-flops even in the winter and lives in a ruin ("Escombro" in Spanish.)
Is sold in some 3-star restaurants and in Bar Brutal (Barcelona) where it was recommended to me by the owner. Who later was coaxed by my daughter to let me buy the restaurant's last bottle...
I would guess it's the one great wine that RP didn't have before complaining about natural wines...
There is no other text of any kind on the label.
At Bar Brutal they said it's made of Grenache, but on the only web reference I can find, it says old vine Alicante Bouchet. So, I don't know. 16%, so not for everyone.

If I had as many btls as I wanted, I'd drink one every week for maybe 30 years. Now I only have one and will enjoy it on my pre-birthday party in april.

12/26/2023 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

What a beauty!
Some people say that ice cidre can't age or at least don't age well. That's utter bollocks. I've had 20+ year old Canadian versions that are golden brown with magnificent beauty...

I'd say this beauty is still terribly young and should only improve.

Absolutely stunning wine!

Well done Andreas!

9/7/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Aurora viewing wine tasting (Spöland, North Sweden): Amazing balance between acids and restrained sugars.
Superb wine. Absolutely, positively superb.
Has the distinct and refined Calavdos aromas that only the best Calavdos develop.

Happily looking forward to the next btl :-)

4/3/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Another tremendous effort by Andreas! Not as sweet as his previous vintages, but insanely intense and highly promising for patient ppl with good cellars.

Golden yellow.
Nose: Rich, sweet calvados aromas in the first wave and youthful fruit with the "C" Chrismas spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves). Intense, grande and lingering. Very attractive!
On the palate, the acids immediately grab a firm hold of your whole mouth, ceaselessly squeezing your salivary glands. The aroma profile from the nose is also here. Sweet, but doesn't make you worried about diabetes onset.

Personally, the acidic personality of young Eisweins is usually difficult for me to embrace and I oftentimes cannot fathom how the fruit will outlive or come to terms with the pronounced acids. But with this particular wine, I'm quite hopeful. It already marries food: A cheese plate and a cheese cake with non-sweetened red berries.
Will get some btls for the longer haul.

9/5/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Off-line in London w/out London CT:ers (http://www.tufnellparktavern.com): I served this one blind and without the label.
No-one could figure out that this utterly superb ice wine was not made from grapes. It says much more about the greatness of this wine than it says about us tasters.
A nose that is distinctly made up of strawberry bubble gum aromas and a palate with racy lingering acids balancing the sweetness. It has width, structure, length and even if it was was bottled only three days ago and traveled from Sweden to London, it showed off.
Loved by all at the tasting. May reach 95 points.
This is wine-maker Andreas Sundgren's first release. It's a HATS OFF wine! Bravo!
(90p at this showing, but obviously bottle shocked. So points removed)

10/13/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Wine evening in Tobe, Yokohama (Brasserie au Miel): I served it blind. Had immediately.
Impression: Outstanding with distinction.
Majestic golden color. The very rich nose has elements of dried apricot, UMESHU (Japanese plum wine/liqueur), Indian spice and roses. There's also a fabulous note of old style American chewing gum (nostalgic) quality to be found.
The high acids are strikingly zesty and this very sweet wine need also be tempered by very cold serving. Very, very long and distinct finish covering dried apricots, clove, raspberry, strawberry and a general garam masala note that is a knock-out gorgeous exclamation mark.
Infanticide. Tonight showing off much much better than previous bottle: (bottle shocked). Among the very experienced tasters, upon learning that this was not made from grapes, guessed: plums, apricots and several other fruits. Yamada san finally received applause for his first suggestion: apples. So, anyone that says this wine has apply characteristics is definitely tasting the label instead of the wine :-)
A fantastic wine that was highly liked even by those who dis-like sweet wines.
Has the stuffing to reach stardom!

11/20/2012 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Tasted completely blind, even Hasegawa-san had no idea what he was pouring to his guests. 2 btls tasted at 2-star restaurant Jinboucho Den by advanced sommeliers and ppl from the wine trade: one American and six Japanese professionals.

1.
Wonderful marriage with fois gras. Reminds me of Sauternes. Satisfied. (90p)

2.
Splendid wine. Long afterglow of the delicious taste. Sweetness is not too heavy, I like it. (4.5 out of 5.)

3.
Beautiful golden yellow color, scent of grape, apricot, plum ... and Calvados. Not so strong alcohol, good acidity. I like the Balance. (93 p)

4.
At the beginning, tastes like Umeshu (plum sake). Great balance of sweetness and acidity. Fresh, nice marriage with fois gras. (90 p)

5.
Quite sweet but good acidity. Tastes like Chardonnay? Has character of apricots, Calvados and ume (plum).

6.
Scent of apricot and apple. Good balace of sweetness and acidity. Can enjoy fresh taste. Isn't it apple ice wine? Tasty. Excellent as desert wine. (90 p)

7. (American)
Like Umeshu. Spicy taste. Less sugar than typical desert wine. Tastes of apricots and dried fruit. (87~90 p)

6/8/2022 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Right after plop:
==============
Brutally beautiful amber colour with a golden tinge.
BIG on the nose! Caramelized Lemorton and a whole tray of toffees.
Dignified.
In the mouth it is elegant and I'd probably want to call this semi-sweet (like a tüpical Spätlese) with quite a lot of acidity, Think Green Apple drink. Right at the end of its finish, there are some apple peels. First time I feel apple flavour in any bottling from Brännlands Iscider. Just wondering how this will work with the cheese plate later tonight...

As a small side note: far too many German Eisweins strike me as
derailed acid bombs (not at all or most) that simply drop the fruit over the years, without anything good happening. This bottle is in the direction of very high acidity, but still within the limits of what
works. Balancing on the edge...

At the restaurant (4 hrs slow ox):
==========================
More expressive, longer and everything has come together more tightly. It did better than expected with the cheese plate. This is a magical wine, despite the high acids.

Just like really good whiskey, this got better with a few drops of water!
(I served myself in the water glass, and while I was turning the bike around, the sommelier happened to top-up my 'water' glass…) The water took the edge off the acidity while fullness, richness and intensity were not significantly affected…

12/24/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Insanely pure, young, high-acid apple mayhem. Like "Apple Sourz" but 100% natural: without all the chemical esters and the artificial appley character that reigns within that green btl...

Previous vintage was much more mellow, multi-faceted, complex and difficult to pin-point. It had a mature Calvados component, but nothing apple-appley like this one. 2013 is clearly apple and SWEET like the sweetest long keepers of a century or more... Pure, distinct, promising but not performing at its best today. Winemaker Andreas obviously is addressing the future with this wine. Should be awesome some 10-20 years ahead.

Tonight's tasters included several from the industry and all (except me) with Japanese palates:
1: undrinkably sweet.
2: pure, clear, fantastic apple ice wine, best one I ever had (had spent several yrs in Quebec)
3: unbelievably appley and clear with balanced acids. I need to figure out how to utilize this for some dishes.
4: difficult to get my arms around...
5: now THIS is a dessert wine that is acidic and young. Apples? Really? But... .??. Wow!
At magical L'Effervescence (Tokyo).

10/4/2020 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Not my preference as this is both too young and with a terribly low level of acidity. I've tried to score it objectively, and have decided that it's a tad better than "Good", hence: 82 p.

The aromatics are the strong go-to-point for this wine. A quite beautiful and rich "Summer garden" bouquet.
The taste is slightly sweet and oily due to the very low acidity and a highly qualified "easy-drinking" with a small somersault in the finish, that of a tiny bitter excitement.

One glass at La Pecorella, Kamakura (Japan).

5/28/2023 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine:

Crisp citrys and a bit of tabacco aromas make this the best Arneis I've ever enjoyed.