I immediately realises this can be read in several ways. No, they don´t import garage wines. They import wines in a very limited way, almost enough to be kept in a garage if they had any, but htey don´t, they have a car port, and they don´t keep their wines there. In fact, like self and Xina, they keep their wines in a former sauna (the whatsit plug is unscrewed, just in case). I hope noone takes this as a commercial plug - I don´t have any economical gains to make from their selling any wine, you know ...
- Blaufränkisch Exklusiv 2001 Weinbau Schmelzer, Burgenland [c] Light grenadine [n] young, slightly held back, geranium, strawberries, raspbereries, caraway, oaky vanilla [p] soft, spicy, fresh acidity, soft tannines Overall impression: bright-eyed, red-rosy cheeked little quaffer that comes at a slightly too high price (SEK 106). Wines of similar quality in Austria costs about EU 8, but they keep most of them to them selves, canny as they are.
- Les Préaux 2001 1er Cru Breliére (Cote Chalonnaise) [c] pale red [n] vvanilla, pepper, raspberries, white flowers (honeysuckle?), also violets (color blind, you see), juniper, young. [p] clean, violets, medium tannines, touch of cigar box? and a bit of cognac-y oak
Overall impression: nice one from Cote Chalonnaise, perhaps soemthing to lay down for a few years, but definitely drinks very well as it is. At SEK 165, I´ll have a bottle or two.
- Maresque Rouge 1999, Ch Maresque, Gaillac [c] dark purple [n] jammy, oaky, minerals, dark fruit confit (blackberries), pepper, eucalyptus [p] pleasantly oaky, muscular tannines, dark fruit
Overall impression: no surprise that this one is 70 % Syrah. At SEK 110, it´s a fair QPR.
- Piandorino (IGT) 1997, Pian del Orino [c] dark purple, almost black (bad lighting, unfortunately) [n] intense, forceful, a bit of stable (horse), dark fruit, fiery, sweet liquorice, green lentils [p] very forceful and intensive, strong tannines,dark fruit, god length
Overall impression: this is a mix of CabSauv, Sangiovese, and Merlot. The Cab is to me totally imperceptible, while the Merlot and Sangiovese makes a good and heady mix. COmes from a vineyard in the Montalcino area (they make Brunello and Rosso too), and the producer claims to do it biodynamically. They also claim to be so loaded that they don´t really care if the wines sell or not, as long as they are appreciated. Be that as it may, it costs SEK 200, and we bought two bottles. Personal interest: the mother of the lady wine producer was seated next to me at the tasting and impressed me by her total lack of knowledge concerning the wines. She didn´t even know who Mister Barker was. Ah, sweet innocence.
Cheers
Nils Gustaf