Masi, Raka, Bodegas Los Astrales, Dönnhoff and Orin Swift were tasted on this evening.
The Masi 2005 Campofiorin is a fullbodied wine with 15% alcohol, but offers only a little fruit, mainly plums, and is a bit light in the structure. There are other vintages which are far more approachable, so normally you have a very good price-performance ratio. 15.8/20 points.
Raka 2016 Biography Shiraz from Klein River in South Africa is perfect to drink now. The nose with kirsch, yoghurt, bacon and spices, the palate full-bodied, slightly animalic, balanced and ripe, it has a medium to long finish. 16.8/20 points.
Bodegas Los Astrales 2012 Astrales is a modern red wine from Ribera del Duero of 100% Tempranillo. With cinnamon, white pepper, spices elderberry and blackberry, it is a bit sweet, full-bodied and has tannin, acidity and a noticable taste of sweet barrique in the finish. Very modern and easy too drink: 15.5/20 points.
We are very critical when we first saw wines from Orin Swift with their strange label. We feared that presentation and content may perhaps not match. And this came true. But here we have another level of quality: The Orin Swift 2012 Machete, made of 75% Petite Sirah and 25% Shiraz / Grenache, has a opaque purple colour, blackberry, bacon, blueberry and is full-bodied and phenolic, balanced and dense. With blood and liquorice on the palate, it has Rhone style. And a strange label! 18/20 points.
The Orin Swift 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Mercury Head is the far more demanding wine. With opaque purple colour, it has a lot of blueberries and spices in the nose, so it seems to be more a Syrah than a Cabernet. Although full-bodied, balanced, dense, with a lot of glycerine and tannin, it is a light-footed, spicy and elegant wine. 18.8/20 points. Instead of a strange label, you can find here just a mercury head dime on the bottle and a back label.
If you like classic German Spätlese from Riesling then Dönnhoff 2007 Felsentürmchen Riesling Spätlese is the perfect wine for you. It boost of powdered sugar, apricot and peach and is so perfect balanced, mineralic, light-footed, fresh and fruity with black tea and caramel on the palate with only a light sweetness. 18/20 points.
