Sparkling White #Mosel #wine from Germany: NV #organic: http://tinyurl.com/3qjhotd

Wine name: Bremmer Calmont Riesling Spätlese. Producer: Weingut Th. Franzen-Martiny, D-56814 Bremm, Mosel. Vintage: NV. Purchased from vineyard. Appearance pale yellow, lots of small medium-speed bubbles with very little aromatics. The attack is toast, lemon, candy cigarettes, acid. Evolution: More concentrated than champagne with lots of fruit with a finish which is slight candy cigarette  smell in nose, musty citrus on the swallow. Sweetness: 1. Acidity: 3. Tannin: 0 with a texture which is foamy and the length is good but needs finding. As for balance, it's nice, not as subtle as it could be. The wine has a cork closure and is 12% abv. Overall, this wine is: Nice, good substitute for champagne with breakfast! Nice with ham croissants. My score (which is NOT the same as Robert Parker's!) is 82 points.

Red #Rheingau #wine from Germany: 2005 : http://tinyurl.com/3qjhotd

Wine name: Rheingau 2005. Producer: Weingut Robert König, D-65385 Assmannshausen. Vintage: 2005. Purchased from rüdesheim. Appearance slightly watery-looking browny red, medium and smooth on the glass with fresh with red fruits and a touch of wood aromatics. The attack is soft, smooth and juicy. Evolution: Liquorice, black cherries – all the types of flavours you don't associate with a Pinot! with a finish which is fruit in the nose and on the swallow – all very fresh yet quite rich. Sweetness: 1.5. Acidity: 3. Tannin: 1.5 with a texture which is buffered rough water and the length is very good. As for balance, it's beautifully balanced. The wine has a closure and is 12.5% abv. Overall, this wine is: I didn't like this when I first bought it 5 years ago, but as with many Alsace and German Pinots recently, it's REALLY mellowed with age and is very tasty indeed – smooth, quite rich, and accompanied a steak very well. My score (which is NOT the same as Robert Parker's!) is 85 points.

Fortified (Other) #Haute-Savoie #wine from France: NV : http://tinyurl.com/3qjhotd

Wine name: Hypocras. Producer: Abbaye d'Ailps. Vintage: NV. Purchased from abbey shop. Appearance like a pale sherry, medium-thick and smooth on the glass with a little like old-fashioned medicine! aromatics. The attack is sandpapery, spicy, quite full-on. Evolution: Spicy like eating a curry! A little curry-like burning in the mouth and taste of medicine and cardamon with a finish which is mead in the nose, spice on the swallow. Sweetness: 3.5. Acidity: 3. Tannin: 1.5 with a texture which is thick buffered water and the length is average. As for balance, it's nicely balanced. The wine has a cork closure and is 11% abv. Overall, this wine is: Interesting and one to try making ourselves. I was impressed by the real cork and interested that it appears to have been made from white wine. Perhaps a little old-fashioned spicy to be truly enjoyable, yet I enjoyed it!. My score (which is NOT the same as Robert Parker's!) is 81 points.

Red #wine from France: 2011 #organic: http://tinyurl.com/3qjhotd

Wine name: Virgile Joly. Producer: Virgile Joly & Cie, F-34725. Vintage: 2011. Purchased from Naked Wines. Appearance deep purple, thin and receding on the glass with very fruity with notes of strawberries and blackberry juice aromatics. The attack is blackcurrant, quite dense on the tip of the tongue. Evolution: Concentrated black berries, a touch of liquorice, giving way to black cherries with a finish which is blackberries on the swallow, black cherries in the nose. Sweetness: 0.5. Acidity: 2. Tannin: 2.5 with a texture which is slightly rough thick water and the length is excellent. As for balance, it's very nice, went well with austrian gulasch. The wine has a screwcap closure and is 14.5% abv. Overall, this wine is: Delicious! Full-bodied, interesting flavours and nice smooth tannins.. My score (which is NOT the same as Robert Parker's!) is 88 points.

White #Alsace #wine from France: 1997 #organic: http://tinyurl.com/3qjhotd

Wine name: Gresser. Producer: Rémy Gresser, 67140 Andlau. Vintage: 1997. Purchased from andlau. Appearance medium amber, very thin on the glass with bananas, esters, pineappe boiled sweets aromatics. The attack is quite soft with flavour that takes a while to come, eventually being dried pineapple. Evolution: Dried pineapple, hay, pear drops with a finish which is lingering pear drops and a slight grassy bitterness. Sweetness: 2. Acidity: 2.5. Tannin: 0 with a texture which is slightly rough syrup and the length is excellent – long and lingering. As for balance, it's lovely balance – quite sweet but with loads of fruit and respectable acidity. The wine has a closure and is 13% abv. Overall, this wine is: Very nice. We drank this with coley topped with chorizo and a cheese & potato pudding – quite rich and oily which this stood up to beautifully. I am a huge fan of Gresser wines, and this doesn’t disappoint at all – looking forward to seeing how this develops over the coming years. My score (which is NOT the same as Robert Parker's!) is 90 points.