Vintage: 2008
Type: Chianti
Country: Italy – Tuscany
This wine was quite pleasant, though it lacked a bit of structure. Too acidic to start, it mellowed out after an hour or so. Afterwards, it was a easy pleasurable drink.
Vintage: Non vintage
Type: Champagne
Country: France
We tried this champagne at a friends house and boy did it not disappoint! A deep yellow colour, atypical for champagne. In fact this was more of a wine that was carbonated rather than champagne. Great citrus flavours and minerality and nice acidity. Bubbles were smooth and creamy. Recommended.
Vintage: 2007
Type: Bordeaux Blend
Country: France – Bordeaux – Côtes de Bourg
This wine starts with a great name: Soif de Vincent, meaning the thirst of Vincent (who happens to be the Château owner at Rousselle). The wine is meant as a summer refreshment – served chilled. With that in mind, it is not your typical Bordeaux, as it is light and refreshing (though it still has some of the Bordeaux heritage of earth and mineral). Overall it is a great refreshing drink, best enjoyed in the heat with some lovely complexity for people that don’t like their wine too frivolous.
90% Merlot, 10% Malbec
Vintage: Non-Vintage
Type: Tawny Port
Country: Portugal – Douro
Overall, a nice Tawny with good flavours of dried fruits and nuts. I found that the complexity was a bit lacking, though I did try it at the same time as a few exceptional 20-year olds and a great Colheita. If you like your Tawny you’ll enjoy this.
Vintage: 1983
Type: Tawny Port – Colheita
Country: Portugal – Douro
Colheitas are a strange beast, namely a vintage tawny. Usually only produced in exceptional years, another odd factor is that many of the top port houses do not produce Colheitas. On important item to note when buying a Colheita is when it was bottled as once it has been filtered and bottled it will no longer age and will only remain at its top quality for a couple of years (and only a few days after it has been opened). This particular bottle was bottled in 2010.
Overall, this Colheita was very good. Full of dried fruit and nutty flavours with great hints of caramel. Overall very smooth flavour and a great long-lasting finish. Great for a special occasion and recommend.