Travaglini Gattinara 2011, Viinibloggaajat/Finnish Wine Bloggers Group Post

Photo by Alko

Well it has been such a long time we haven't done much together, so every now and then a group post is nice to see how we taste the same wine and how different we think about it. So the lucky wine is Travaglini Gattinara 2011 with 23,99€ bottle price (February 2017) and the method is that every wine blogger buys the wine, taste and publish their tasting note at the same day on social media. Here is my tasting note regardless of the producer or importing company (yes I paid that wine myself, no gift, no commercial deal).

FIRST IMPRESSION: The wine gives you what you paid, so for the price-quality ratio, it is a nice wine. But nothing surprising at all. One good thing is that it is from Gattinara, I get excited whenever I taste something from Piedmont that is Barolo or Barbaresco, but I get "double" excited whenever I taste something from Piedmont that is NOT Barolo or Barbaresco!

First bottle I bought was faulty. "Ethyl acetate" is the fault I thought about. I returned the bottle back to Alko and it was replaced with another bottle. Do not hesitate to return any bottle back to Alko if you think there is a clear fault or flaw!!!

Second bottle was fine.Here we go:

Transparent light red color with brown rims that reminds a developed red wine though it is only 6 years old, surprisingly early color change. First nose offers earthy notes with a touch of leather and slowly fruit comes to the scene. Supple and round in the mouth,offering cherry and currant aromas with a high acidity. Light bodied, tannins are slightly strong but integrated. The nose gets more and more fruitier all the time for the following 15-20 minutes. The final has moderate length under the effect of acidity, which is a good thing.

After 2 hours:

After two hours of proper decanting, the nose offers a more complex, almost "cooked fruit" aromas such as fig jam and plump jam. Acidity goes slightly down as no surprise, though still enjoyable. I would recommend the wine to be consumed chilled and with fish and seafood dishes, as well as light grilled meat with a nice light green salad next to it without any heavy dressing which will be needless for and against the beautiful, feminine/elegant structure of Nebbiolo, so just with olive oil dressing, might work well too. Or, a nice vegetarian dish, beetroots roasted and served with lentils and fresh herbs, mushroom risotto with a mix of mushrooms and topped with a reaaaally generous amount of parmesan, or as well as a chickpea patty would work well with this.

All in all, for the price quality, it is a normal good wine. Good for sure in the very very limited retail selection in Finland. Try to taste more producers from Gattinara (Az. Vit. Nervi for example)!

Few of the other bloggers that joined this group post which you can also read are:

https://viinihullu.blogspot.fi/

https://viinikartta.blogspot.fi/

http://copatinto.com/

http://viinikupla.com/

http://loppasuut.blogspot.fi/

http://wineserver.fi/

https://anna.fi/rypaleista-viis/

https://blottootto.wordpress.com

http://pullonhenki.blogspot.fi/


May your glass be filled with awesome undiscovered regions' wines! Greetings.

It is here again: GRAND CHAMPAGNE HELSINKI 2017! (11-12-13.05.2017)

Same place, same style, same and even more excitement here again! This year in the middle of May, 11-12-13th of May, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 3 days of wine events full of bubbles, laughters, good mood and fun, Grand Champagne Helsinki is here again as a serious cultural event bringing some joy and life to Helsinki.

Essi Avellan MW presenting the program

I had the pleasure to be in the press release of 2017 event program on 19th of January in Vanha Ylioppilastalo, the always same premises of the main event. Many thanks to Taru, Essi and Christian for the invitation. We had gone through a nice set of Champagne tasting with snacks and got the information about the program. This year the event welcomes over 40 producers from Champagne region and many of them also giving Master Classes during Grand Champagne Helsinki 2017. Easy to register, reasonably priced and very interesting, please take a look at the Master Classes here:

http://grandchampagnehelsinki.fi/master-classes/

Samuil Angelov, one of the leading sommeliers of Finland, will be also lecturing during the events

One of the most smiley, funniest and energetic personalities in restaurant business, Savoy's and Roster Helsinki's Head Chef, one of my bosses, Kari "Kape" Aihinen is again the name behind the traditional Grand Champagne Dinner which is hold together with Champagne producers every year. You can also book a seat and join this dinner where you can have a first class dinner while having nice chats with Champagne producers tasting their Champagnes together with them. Take a look here at the link:

http://grandchampagnehelsinki.fi/gch-dinner/

Boss Chef Kari "Kape" Aihinen

WHY SHOULD YOU GO TO GRAND CHAMPAGNE HELSINKI 2017?

First of all, this event can be considered as a 3-day Champagne course. You will be tasting hundreds of different Champagnes from different houses and vintages, you will have a chance to talk to winemakers and cellar-masters and you will have a chance to meet all other wine professionals and enthusiasts in Finland. That is the personal part if you think about it as a self-study opportunity.

And hear hear my idea here! --> Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend? Do you often take her/him out for a dinner? So here we go, a ticket to Grand Champagne Helsinki is a perfect way for an interesting and a really different kind of date with your beloved one! :) Who wouldn't love to have a partner who would do this for him/her? :) Or simply just with friends, come to Grand Champagne Helsinki and enjoy a great evening tasting and talking to producers, this is a great event to experience and it is not happening every week in Finland!!!

And after all, it is a great chance for you to spend some good time with bubbles and wine knowledge spreading all around all these three days. We need more of these events in Finland and so far Grand Champagne Helsinki is absolutely one of the most professional and well organized events ever set in Helsinki.

Meanwhile, anytime during the event dates you are welcome to Roster Helsinki where I work as the assistant sommelier, we will be popping up several Champagne bottles as always and even more bottles during these 3 days! Me, Olli and Big Boss Paul Hickman and any of our colleagues in Roster will be more than happy to serve you a glass of Champagne!


May your glasses be filled with good Champagne and ears with sweet laughters! Greetings.

Also Check out the digital tasting tickets!

The tasting set up of the day