Luigi Righetti Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico Capitel De' Roari 2005

This year's Christmas wine and my first Amarone. Delicious! Too bad we were many people and I only got one glas.

Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin 2008

After trying out some really great California Zinfandel wines, I decided to look for some more. Usually I stay away from reds below the 100 SEK line but I picked this one because the label was kind of cool and the description sounded tasty. It was smooth but so sweet, I could barely drunk up my glass. I will keep on looking.

Christian Audigier Syrah 2008

The Ed Hardy wine! I knew it exsited but it had to be ordered in and I already had way too many orders to keep track of. So yesterday I was looking for some nice California wine for a party, passed by the French section and had to have it immediately. Awesome art on the bottle, I am saving it and will probably put a candle in it.

The wine had very interesting taste, quite spicy and I liked it. I wasn't expecting much because one may think all the efforts went into the bottle design. But it was tasty, according to the description: "Elegant on the nose with truffle, eglantine and spicy aromas, achieved through small yield wine-making. The tannins have depth and a wonderful velvet texture." There are four more wines and two champagnes and I want to try them all.

Santa Helena Gran Vino Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

I tasted that one in Cuba, in the only restaurant in María La Gorda. We wanted to try out something local but the waitress recommended that we didn't do so. It tasted great after a long day of snorkling.

Penfolds Rawson's Retreat Shiraz Cabernet 2009

I finished up a box of this one at my mum's house. It is the typical table wine, nothing out of the ordinary. It tasted better with dark chocolate.

Costières de Nïmes Château Roustan 2007

During our annual Christmas party at A Hereford Beefstouw, somebody kept on ordering the house wine and didn't give us a chance to taste anything else on the wine list. It's amazing how restautants can sell you a bottle of cheep wine for about 35 euros when you can purchase the same in a French supermarket for 4,29 €. This one is made of Grenache and Syrah. I really didn't like it at first taste, it didn't improve later on either. That is pretty much what you can expect if you order the house wine in Sweden.

Fier Comte Rouge 2008 Languedoc Roussillon

A while ago I spent an evening at Swedish Taste, their chefs were teaching us how to prepare an exclusive three course dinner, then we had a pleasant wine tasting. While I was struggling to bone anatomically bambi, we were served a glass of Fier Comte. The kitchen assistant was saying something about the grapes being a secret, but apparently it is a mixture of Garignan, Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault. I don't remember the taste... I was too busy eating jamón serrano and manchego...

Marqués de Arienzo Rioja Reserva 2004

Since July 2010 this brand belongs to Marqués de Riscal. I have never tried their red riojas so I cannot compare but this one did not impress me much. It had the typical Rioja flavor but something was missing. It is in the same price range as the Lan Crianza but the latter is so amazing. Had it with some home made tapas so maybe the combination wasn't the best one. Anyway, I will stick to the more exclusive Riojas.

Fess Parker Zinfandel 2008

This one came up during a wine wasting at Swedish Taste. Liked it very much, almost as much as Peachy Canyon. I wasn't able to find a decent photo of the bottle on Google, so I got the Voignier instead. The lable was pretty much the same.