Vincent Bottreau- Domaine d’Ardhui Borgogne

In 2016, Vincent succeeded Carel Voorthuis as the winemaker of Domaine d’Ardhui. Before that, he was a telecommunications engineer before switching to enology. And with success.
At this meeting, Vincent tells about his vineyards, the terroir and willingly pours his wines for me to taste.

André Kientzler

Harvest time, but still André Kientzler had some time to pack a box for me. Meanwhile chatting about the vineyards, the wine, and this year’s harvest.
On the beautiful terroirs of Ribeauvillé (Kirchberg, Osterberg and especially the world-famous Geisberg) he makes wines that stand because of their extreme purity and finesse. They also have a very nice and complex aftertaste. As one of the few, he makes a quality Sasselas wine (tip). He only makes dry wines, so you will search in vain for residual sugar.

Corks, screwcaps and sustainability.


-“A cork isn’t useful unless you have a place to put it.” –

Different kinds of closures of wine bottles

Wine bottles have different closures. Corks made of natural cork, imitation corks made out of of plastics, screwcaps, glass / plastic caps. What is the best way to seal a bottle of wine? In fact that’s an easy question. They are all made to seal a winebottle. And if the cap closes properly it is a good cap, isn’t it?

Choice of the winemaker

It depends on the winemaker which one he chooses. Cork is the most expensive choice for the winemaker. This is a natural product of which the price depends on its scarcity.
There is only a limited number of countries where cork oaks grow. In addition, cork can only be harvested once every 9 years. A vintner will therefore only choose cork if he is convinced that this is a good choice for his wines.
One of the characteristics of cork is that it can breathe. Only sealed with a cork wine the bottle can develop. Of course, it has to be a wine that was intended to mature on the bottle. Sometimes cork is chosen for marketing purposes. Customers often think that there always should be a proper natural cork on a wine bottle.

Look at it differently

You can also look at it differently. If there is a screwcap or a plastic cork on the bottle, then this is either a simple (read: cheap, unpretentious) wine or a wine that is intended to drink young (between 1-2 years after purchase). A cork is not necessary at all for these types of wines.
There have been experiments developing a screwcap that also has the ability to breathe. But the real breakthrough is not there yet.

Serving Wine

“Every bird can be caught, provided you know the right bait”.-

J. von Goethe-

wine serving table

I was shopping and came across this tray, or should I say wine-serving table. If you want to serve wine in a nice way, you’ll make a great entry with this. Your wine will even impress more (also according to Goethe ;).
Maybe a nice project for the hobby-craftsman? It is doable in my opinion. Not suitable for storing wine, however. (hum … have I ever written about storing wine? A nice idea for a future blog.) But it looks nice with the wine glasses at the bottom. Let me know when you’ve put this gem.

Vin Santo- Holy Wine

“A barrel full of wine can establish more miracles than a church full of Saints”

Italian saying

Holy wine

Vin Santo can be translated into: “Holy Wine”. This is a delicious dessert wine from Tuscany in Italy. It is an amber-colored dessert wine that originates from central Italy. Normally it is made from the white grape varieties Trebbiano and Malvasia that occur frequently in Toscane. Sometimes the red Sangiovese grape is also used for the Vin Santo.

After harvesting

After harvesting, the grapes are dried on straw mats in a well-ventilated attic of a barn. Between November and May, the grapes are pressed, depending on the sugar content that the vintner wants to have in his wine. The drier the grape, the more residual sugar. The wine is then aged in small oak barrels, where oxidation plays an important role. The kegs are sealed with a kind of cement or wax so that the ripening will go extra slow because there is almost no air. Often the small barrels are made of oak, beech or chestnut. This gives the amber tint. The barrels were traditionally stored in a place under the roof, the “vinsantaia”. Hence the name Vin Santo. Or maybe it got this name because in the past the kegs were only opened during the Easter festivities.

Vin Santo Styles

Vin Santo goes from very sweet to bone-dry in style. The dry version tastes remarkably like a dry fino sherry. You will find delicious aromas of flowers, dried fruit, honey, figs … blissful!!
 The people of Tuscany also use this dessert wine to dip their hard almond biscuits, called Cantucci, to ensure that their teeth do not break off. But secretly I also think as an excuse to be able to drink a glass of this delicious wine during the day. Often you’ll get this Vin Santo offered in Tuscany as a welcoming gesture.