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Otto Forsberg

Outside of the obvious wine nerd wines like some above or things like Radikon I'd add things like: Duval-Leroy's Petit Meslier One of the very very few champagnes with Petit Meslier and I think the only one that is 100% Chateau Simon - both the white, rose and red. the White is Clairette, Grenache ...

Otto Forsberg

Well, I'm just making an effort to show some appreciation for some of the amazing work some really knowledgeable people put in to share their experiences and opinions. I know [thankyou.gif] Appreciate it! It's great to hear some strong views. Much better if it is done in a friendly manner as you do...

Otto Forsberg

I haven't had a timarasso in a few years, but I've been very taken with the nascettas I've had (e.g., Cogno and Germano). Arneis was another Piemontese white grape that was almost extinct a few decades ago. There are a lot of bland ones, but in the right hands (e.g., Giacosa and Vietti), it can yie...

Otto Forsberg

If you can find a bottle of Domaine Tempier Rose that is a quite upscale wine! [cheers.gif] To me, Tempier Rosé is pretty much a regular rosé (albeit a very well-made one) with an upscale price tag. [stirthepothal.gif] If one wants to bring a true upscale rosé, I'd go with Viña Tondonia GR Rosé or ...

Otto Forsberg

The dry Liatiko from Domaine Economou (Crete) is pretty nerdy. I've only had it once at a local wine bar that direct imports, and haven't found it since. Right now not a single listing on wine-searcher. Definitely worth trying - velvety red reminiscent of good mature village Burgundy on the front e...

Otto Forsberg

One of the leading French producers for nerds is Robert Plageoles - his entire production consists I think of wines made with local grapes which have disappeared (or nearly) elsewhere. I've only tried the Prunelart red, which I liked, and the Ondenc white, which I loved. https://www.vins-plageoles....

Otto Forsberg

James Billy wrote: ↑
October 18th, 2020, 11:43 pm
I thought, wow, this guy writes amazing TNs, should be a pro and then I realised it was Otto!

Great work as always!

I wish I was pro, but I'm pretty happy being Otto, too.

Thanks!

Otto Forsberg

Chris Seiber wrote: ↑
October 18th, 2020, 11:08 pm
Bastardo was made from crossing two varieties which were not married, FYI.

At first I was

but then I was

Otto Forsberg

Pinot blanc is almost genetically identical to pinot noir by DNA? I think the fact that you can find this mutation in an area where pinot noir is predominate is pretty geeky. Also unique. I guess that is the reason that the Gouge family put their name to it. I can't think of another area where you ...

Otto Forsberg

To my understanding, DNA profiling has proven Maturana Tinta to be identical to Trousseau / Bastardo. Rioja consejo regulador and many producers still claim it is a rare indigenous variety, but it is quite hard to fight the science here. I must admit that in Rioja the clonal differences and very old...

Otto Forsberg

White Grauburgunder/pinot gris has a touch of pigment, but how on earth do you get something that red? Are the grapes that red? The grapes can range from pale grayish-white to deep pinkish-red. The former produce coppery skin-contact whites while wines made from the latter produce wines that can be...

Otto Forsberg

Pinot Gouges. A “white” Pinot Noir, as it has lost the color gene. I.e. Pinot Blanc. We've had this discussion before. Pinot Gouges is just a distinct clone of Pinot Blanc, but it still is Pinot Blanc. Edit: although, due to it being a unique clone, IMO it definitely classifies as a geeky wine.

Otto Forsberg

Would Corsican (Corse) wines be a possibility.? I have enjoyed a "regular" Clos Canarelli Corse Figari Blanc and they also make an "Amphora" version which might up the nerd/geek level. I don't think Corsican wines as a whole are any geekier than any other French wines, but they do make some geeky w...

Otto Forsberg

I've had some very conflicting experiences with HaJo's wines. Some vintages can be thrilling, but some can be just heavily extracted, dull, devoid or fruit and playfulness and overtly ponderous with excessive levels of alcohol. I guess quite a lot of it has to do with his fermentations that are ofte...

Otto Forsberg

How about Lagrein and Schiava from Alto Adige. Can't say there's much geeky there. They can be enjoyable little wines, but ultimately they are pretty foursquare local reds that aren't particularly distinctive nor rare. Especially with Schiava it's hard to find a bottle that would be particularly in...

Otto Forsberg

Furmint is great, but also already inching its way to the mainstream slowly. I've found that when it comes to Hungarian wines, Hárslevelű is often more interesting than Furmint - although some of the best single-vineyard Furmints can be quite exceptional as well. However, the title of the best Hung...

Otto Forsberg

There were a couple made by Louis-Antoine Luyt in Chile from 200-300-year-old vines that were poured at LDM/Louis Dresser tasting a few years back. Fascinating, really fine wines. Can't believe I never bought any! Arjan - These would score extra nerd bonus points in Europe! These were really someth...

Otto Forsberg

Which leads to another question: How many dimensions (and how many words?) does it take to reach 100 points, and how many points are assigned to each dimension? Seeing how much more information can be stored by adding a new dimension, I think that it wouldn't take much more than a mediocre 4-dimens...

Otto Forsberg

Any insight on Figeac? We had 2003 Figeac in our Cabs and Bordeaux blends blind tasting earlier this year. Almost everyone unanimously said that it was a classic Bordeaux, right from the first sniff. Quite modest alcohol at 13% and high acidity with even a slightly herbaceous, leafy streak of Cab Fr...

Otto Forsberg

Ok so perhaps not totally nerdy, but definitely stuff some nerdy folks like, include: Marc Plouzeau Chinon Franc de Pied Chateau Musar Levet Cote Rotie Souhaut gamay (from Northern Rhône) Metras Beaujolais l’Ultime Marcel Juge Cornas And since you like BAMA - the drink not the college football (I l...

Otto Forsberg

Maybe I live inside a bubble but I don’t consider any of the things you mention all that nerdy really. Almost everything Otto F has ever blinded me with has been way more nerdy. Moravia Agria from Spain? Skin contact field blend of Timorasso, Verdea, Bosco, Riesling and Chasselas from Piemonte? 40y...

Otto Forsberg

Otto, I don’t think I’ve seen an acid-loving German Riesling lover dis 2012 before as a whole. To the contrary. Personally I back buy the vintage when I see attractive offers. If something I do love in 2012s has been their acidity. However, on the fruit department many of the wines have been relati...

Otto Forsberg

Interesting comments Otto. 2012 shut down hard very quickly post-vintage. I’m confident the wines will re-emerge. I shall have to grab a few more 2011s. I disagree based on what I have tasted, but it’s no burden to taste more. It is definitely possible that I've caught the 2012s at a poor time, sin...

Otto Forsberg

Great stuff as usual, Otto! I am a great fan of Loire chenin, but there are one or two names I hadn't heard of, so all very useful. I enjoyed an excellent bottle of Champalou Le Portail 2014 last weekend, probably the best Portail I've had. Sometimes the oak can be a bit much, but the 2014 has some...

Otto Forsberg

I'll give you that at last David has much more experience with German Rieslings that you can trust basically everything that he says on this matter. However, I was talking about German Riesling vintages as a whole, not just Mosel vintages. I concur that in Mosel the 2014 vintage is definitely very u...

Otto Forsberg

I don't think I have much to add to the older vintages, because a lot has been said already. On the more recent vintages, sweet 2010s can be outstanding due to their exceptional levels of acidity and I've had a good handful of dry 2010s as well. However, not all 2010s have been successful and some v...

Otto Forsberg

Thanks Otto - just excellent notes on what sounds like an awesome tasting! Love me some chenin blanc, but don't think I've ever done a tasting like this with multiple side/side. Also don't think I've tried a Vincent Careme before - I'll have to look for that bottle. Thanks again for the notes! Vinc...

Otto Forsberg

Great notes, thanks! The Nicolas Joly wines are always a treat but they are getting pricey (Les Vieux Clos, Coulée de Serrant). It's too bad because they are now edging away from my buy list. On the other side of the spectrum, the Vincent Carême Vouvray is an insane QPR year-in and year-out. Vignea...

Otto Forsberg

Like you, I have little experience with this wine, yet have had lots of wine over the years from Languedoc. Such a great region for value, though is challenging in the warmer climates. Sounds like a style that I would really like. Thanks for sharing this experience, and as usual, the notes are fant...

Otto Forsberg

One of my friends (wine-oriented, but not wine-geeky type) visited Loire valley a year ago and during his trip found the joys of Loire Chenin Blanc. As the availability of Loire Chenin is close to zero here in Finland, his itch started to become too bad not to scratch it as time passed, so in late s...

Otto Forsberg

Otto, thanks for the great notes as always. I'm a huge Gassac fan, especially the older wines, although I haven't had most of the vintages after 2010. I usually like the wines with 25+ years of age, and find that I also appreciate that somewhat rustic, old world wine quality. They never taste overr...

Otto Forsberg

Paul, makes sense. I recall first time I tasted Tempier, eons ago, in a blind setting to boot, and being very sensitive to brett my first reaction was, "Oh, no!". Let it sit in the glass a bit and it began dissipating, so that was my first lesson on Mourvedre when a few much more experienced palate...

Otto Forsberg

Brett doesn't blow off. Could have been reduction. Mourvèdre is certainly prone to reduction. And while Bandol has been the posterchild region for brett (along with Loire), I've yet to taste a Pibarnon with brett. Furthermore, brett normally doesn't blow off. A wine that is obviously bretty upon op...

Otto Forsberg

Markus S wrote: ↑
October 12th, 2020, 11:00 am
Prepare to get BLOWN away by gamay from the RHONE!

Well, technically most of the Beaujolais region lies within the Rhône department...

Otto Forsberg

(vs 20=100, 19.75=99, 19.5=98, ....) Where do you get the logic for this one? To me the most logical would be a direct conversion: If the other system has a maximum of 100 and a theoretical minimum of 50, while other has max 20 and min 0, it means the other system is 2.5x larger than the other, plu...

Otto Forsberg

So you're surprised by the variety that is the second-most planted red variety in the region? [scratch.gif] To me that sounds similar to somebody being surprised to learn that they grow Merlot in California. I mean, if you buy a random Loire red that isn't a Cab Franc, most likely it's going to be a...

Otto Forsberg

Interesting notes, thanks. I used to buy DG rouge but gave up after a the 2005 vintage. Think I've got some 05s and 00s left. My main issue was that I found the wines rustic. My case of 1998 was borderline unacceptably bretty although it was inconsistent from bottle to bottle. It wasn't just the li...

Otto Forsberg

2017 Mas de Daumas Gassac - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (8.9.2020) A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (78%), Cabernet Franc (5%), Merlot (5%), Petit Verdot (4%), Dolcetto (2%), Malbec (2%), Nebbiolo (2%) and Pinot Noir (2%). 13,5% alcohol, 5,4 g/l acid...

Otto Forsberg

Yet another stunning vertical in a short period of time! This was arranged by a friend of mine who loves Mas de Daumas Gassac, has visited the place and collects the whites. Along the way he had bought one red here and another one there and now he decided he had collected enough bottles to throw a v...

Otto Forsberg

For those who want to taste older wines from this co-op, Chambers Street often has bottles in inventory from the 70s and 80s. I once opened a co-op and a Ferrando from the same vintage (1970, I think) blind, and that bottle from the co-op outperformed the Ferrando. There are no great old wines, jus...

Otto Forsberg

I also have the Riserva and Selezione. If they are a little richer/deeper I will enjoy them over the longer haul. This bottling is lovely to drink now, so what the heck. [cheers.gif] Didn't know about the Selezione, probably they didn't produce it back then when I visited the place. Apparently it i...

Otto Forsberg

2016 Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema Carema - Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Carema (10/7/2020) If Hardy Wallace (Dirty & Rowdy) made Nebbiolo it would be like this. Lightly colored, heavily perfumed, and high on flavor. Raspberry, violet, earthy tones, and a lightweight frame with e...

Otto Forsberg

Praise where praise is due! Well, their loss is our gain - I've enjoyed reading similar reports you have done on other wines, but my taste is not quite so eclectic as yours, hence my reaction this time and not before. Anyway, keep them coming! I will! After all, I go to tastings normally once or tw...

Otto Forsberg

Resurrecting this topic...Any love for Blaufränkisch? I had two very enjoyable examples recently: Moric Reserve 2012 ( https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=173764 ) and Heinrich Leithaberg 2013. Those are some beautiful wines there! I went through a spell of Austrian reds a few ...

Otto Forsberg

By "these" do you mean 2008 Ardanzas or Ardanzas in general? Seeing how they can age gracefully for decades, it sounds really weird if an Ardanza is peaking now at 12 years of age. To me, all the 2000's I've tasted have come across as way too young.

Otto Forsberg

It looks as though the more highly-regarded Bordeaux vintages were the weaker bottles in your lineup. This certainly seemed to be the case! Do you think it's because those are too early on their development curve, or does BAMA maybe have more success in the medium and lesser vintages? It's pretty h...

Otto Forsberg

What a great way to start the week - I had not seen this yesterday! Otto, I had read your excellent notes on CT, but not seen your article before, if it was posted there. I write "article" and not post, because that is what it is: an article which deserves to have been published by a traditional wi...

Otto Forsberg

G. Bienstock wrote: ↑
October 4th, 2020, 2:05 pm
A no-brainer on closeout for $3.99.

Lol, yeah. Although not my favorite, at that price the wine's a bargain!

But SA is known for outstanding Chenin Blancs, so remember keep your eyes open for the better ones! Although I wager you're not gonna find them at $4...

Otto Forsberg

A really good and individualistic Chenin Blanc from old bush vines in South Africa ranging from about 35 to 47 years old. Aromas of clove and French oak spice without smokiness, and jasmine. Barrel fermented, rich with good weight and ample acid. Solid mouth feel and texture. Flavors of honey, whit...

Otto Forsberg

Oh my geeky Finnish friend, you just knew that some of us would get all lathered up reading this post! BAMA is a personal favorite. While not among my short-list of the very best Chateaux in Bordeaux, it does top the charts as the most soulful and traditional Bordeaux made. There are times when it ...

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