John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for May 11, 2013

Rosé; The Doctor Recommends; Highlights From Top Ten Smart Buys

John Szabo, MS

This week’s report features a handful of rosés that shine above the rest for their quality/value/pleasure. Few producers take rosé production seriously, and finding the good stuff is like panning for gold. My selection includes a shiny range from $13 to $27; all are dry. I’ve nothing against sweet pinks – they’re great for spritzers. I also highlight a naturally low alcohol white made by a medical doctor in New Zealand who believes he’s hit on an innovative method (patent pending) to achieve full flavor at under 10% ABV, saving countless calories, livers and maybe even marriages. And the Top Ten Smart Buys this week include two astonishingly good $50 wines, which, if they hailed from Burgundy, Bordeaux or Napa, would easily cost in the $100s, plus a whole lot more. Read on.

Perilous Rosé

I know that rosé is a perilous category for wine consumers, fraught with the frustrations of trying to find what you’re looking for out of a jumble of radically different styles all lopped under the same loose heading. It’s kind of like tossing all fruits into one bin at the grocery store and letting shoppers muddle through, only they’re blindfolded and each fruit is wrapped in newspaper. Grab and hope. You’re as likely to find a green apple when looking for a juicy peach, or an avocado instead of a mango. So what can you do to navigate these murky waters? Not much I’m afraid, except find somebody you can trust who’s already tasted the wine, or stick to the regions and producers for whom rosé is not an afterthought or by-product of red wine, or worse yet, the dreaded “brand extension”. If you enjoy dry rosé with some authentic regional character, these are for you:

2012 Muga Rosé ($12.95). Garnacha, tempranillo and viura are blended in this well-priced, dry and lively rosé. 2012 was a warm and dry year in Rioja, conditions under which garnacha thrive. Muga’s vineyards in the cooler, higher elevations of the Rioja Alta also contributed to maintaining the impeccable balance here, and while this may be slightly riper than previous vintages, it’s still lean and crisp with low alcohol. Perfect for patios and paellas.

No other region in the world is more closely associated with quality rosé than Provence in the south of France, and it’s still the source of the world’s best in my view. Château La Tour De l’Évêque makes regular appearances in Canadian stores and the 2012 Rosé ($18.95) is an arch-classic, dry, savoury, solidly built and concentrated example without sacrificing refreshment.

Taking it up a notch into a rarefied quality level for rosé is the 2011 Château Léoube “Rosé de Léoube” ($26.95); available through the agent The Case For Wine. Léoube is a 550 hectare property of dramatic beauty, nestled within sight of the Mediterranean with 62 hectares of organically farmed vineyards surrounded by forests and wild scrub. The English owners of Léoube launched Daylesford Organic foods in the UK over 25 years ago, so respect for the land runs deep in the house philosophy. Château Léoube’s winemaker is Romain Ott, originally of the highly respected Domaine Ott in Provence, who came to the property after the family estate was purchased by Champagne Roederer. He brings considerable experience to the Léoube project, with the know how to make rosé of the highest order. This classic blend of 40% Grenache, 40% cinsault and 10% each of syrah and mourvèdre is a rosé of considerable depth and class. Pale in colour but deep in flavour, it delivers a marvelous fragrance of white flowers, sweet herbs and fresh strawberry, while the palate offers a harmonious balance of acids and alcohol (13%), just hitting perfect drinking stride now. It’s a compelling example of how some time in bottle can do wonders for classically structured rosé, especially when built on genuine concentration rather than merely clever winemaking. Bottom line: it’s well worth the asking price.

Next door to Provence on the other side of the Rhône delta is the AOC of Costières de Nîmes, where the Marès family has been making wine for six generations. Mas Des Bressades 2012 Cuvée Tradition Rosé ($14.95) is a reliable blend of Grenache, syrah and cinsault made in a dry style, reminiscent of Tavel with its generous 13.5% alcohol and powerful fruit.

And rounding out these five picks is the Domaine Allimant-Laugner Rosé Crémant d’Alsace ($19.95), from a region admittedly not known for rosé, but very much worth a look nevertheless because the adjectives good, bubbly, pink and under $20 are rarely found in the same sentence. Hubert Laugner is the 10th generation in a succession of winemakers in the Allimant-Laugner family farming twelve hectares spread over three villages. The Crémant rosé is a traditional method bubbly made from pinot noir, designed to be enjoyed young and fruity. It’s bright and fragrant, with red berry, raspberry, cherry and green apple aromatics, balanced palate and very good length, offering lots of pleasure.

The Doctor Recommends

Drs. John and Brigid Forrest operate Forrest winery in Marlborough, New Zealand, and also own prime parcels in the Gimblett Gravels in Hawke’s Bay, Bannockburn in Central Otago and the Waitaki Valley. Considering the Forrests’ medical training – John spent eight years at the Salk Institute studying neurology – there’s an extra measure of scientific rigor applied to the wines, along with a great deal of empiricism: learning through experimentation and observation, which has lead to many innovative techniques and new wines. The range is indeed huge and would seem impossible to stay on top of, that is, until you meet this energetic and indefatigable couple, the kind of people that make you feel as though you should’ve accomplished more today.

Dr John Forrest, Forrest winery

John and Brigid launched the Doctors’ range to represent their growing roster of alternative grapes like arneis, gruner veltliner and St. Laurent, and to label the results of innovative winemaking techniques that have led to wines like the 2011 Forrest Estate The Doctors’ Sauvignon Blanc ($19.95). This dry wine clocks in at a featherweight 9.5% alcohol, naturally achieved, without chemical or mechanical de-alcoholization.

My conversation with Dr. Forrest on his methods quickly surpassed my knowledge of plant biology/physiology, touching on concepts such as the splitting and deviations of carbon rings as the plant grows grows – this is clearly a process that Forrest has studied deeply. He has drawn upon work done at the Geisenheim Research in Germany, where Professor Hans Schultz has been investigating methods to maintain the traditionally low alcohol style of German riesling in the face of global warming. According to Dr. Forrest, the initial step is to carefully select sauvignon blanc clones from specific vineyards and microclimates. Then, methods of vine de-vigoration are applied, such as the targeted removal of young basal leaves from vines at critical times, which are far more efficient at photosynthesis, leaving the less efficient older leaves to do all of the ripening work. The result is lower sugar accumulation but longer hang time, allowing full flavour development with less potential alcohol. This, and other “top secret” viticultural techniques, as well as less secretive winemaking techniques such as using low-efficiency yeast strains that pump out less alcohol per gram of sugar, have enabled Forrest to create this dry 9.5% alcohol sauvignon naturally, a first of its kind to my knowledge.

Forrest first applied his techniques to riesling with tremendous commercial success before turning his sights on Marlborough’s calling card variety. The 2012 is the third and most successful attempt to date, a wine in which he finally achieved the balance he was looking for.  Forrest needed one last little tweak: the addition of a small portion of slightly overripe/late harvested sauvignon to add a tropical fruit nuance that was missing from the previous trials.

While the Doctors’ sauvignon blanc may not make the angels sigh, I find it remarkably flavourful nonetheless, not to mention regionally and varietally accurate, for such a low alcohol wine – I have to marvel at the ingenuity of its production and the commercial potential. For anyone who enjoys Marlborough sauvignon blanc, or any other zesty-herbal white, and wants a low alcohol alternative with fewer calories and lower alcohol-related health (and moving violation) risks, this is worth trying. Forrest plans to share his research with others later this year.

Highlights From Top Ten Smart Buys

In this week’s top ten I’ve included two wines that are well above the price range normally recommended: 2010 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg ($50.00) and 2007 Manzone Gramolere Barolo ($51.95). The reason is simple: these are great value wines, period.

The Schlossberg riesling is made by one of the most respected domaines in Alsace, from the world’s most noble white grape, grown in one of the top vineyard sites for the variety in all of northern Europe, in a classic vintage. $50 is actually a bargain. The 2010 is a pure marvel of the grape with a palpably gritty texture, riveting acids and striking salty minerality – this is all about vineyard expression with a minimum of winemaking interference. Be forewarned that this is not an immediately accessible wine, but rather one for both long ageing in the cellar and for terroir fanatics – a real intellectual challenge in the best sense. But those are precisely the qualities one looks for in premium wines – the fruity fluffy stuff can be made just about anywhere by anyone. (This wine is available in VINTAGES Classics Catalogue from February, so supply may be limited.)

I have a similar pitch for the Barolo: an historic estate making limited quantities of wine from Italy’s most aristocratic red grape grown in the legendary hilltop vineyard Gramolere in Monforte d’Alba, in a top, age-worthy vintage. ‘Nuff said. It’s just starting to open nicely now on the nose, showing its evident class and quality right off the top and textbook floral, red fruit, licorice, tar and violet aromatics. The palate is firm and very well structured, with wave after wave of palate-coating flavour and pleasantly grippy texture. It’s an expansive wine of genuine concentration and authentic complexity that can only derive from a unique combination of suitable conditions, i.e., a terroir wine.

Although $50 is a lofty price to pay for any bottle, I have to say that relative to the equivalent top wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy or the Napa Valley for example, you could argue that these are outright giveaways. I’d say it’s where the smart money goes if you’re into the premium category.

See below for the link to the rest of the top ten. You’ll find more smart white wine values from the Loire and the Mosel, one of my favorites whites from Campania, sturdy reds from Calabria, Spain and the Languedoc, and one of the best values from California I’ve encountered in some time.

That’s all for this week. See you over the next bottle.

John Szabo MS

We invite our Premium Subscription members to use these links to find all of John Szabo’s reviews. Paid membership to WineAlign has its privileges – this is one of them. Enjoy!

From the May 11, 2013 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Rosé Selection
All Reviews

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Filed under: News, Wine, John Szabo, LCBO, Rosé, Top Ten Smart Buys, Vintages Preview

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for March 30, 2013: Southern France and Top Ten Smart Buys

This week’s report takes a look at the south of France and some of its key appellations, linked to recommended releases hitting the shelves of the LCBO on March 30th. If you’re planning to have lamb for Easter, the best of these savoury, sturdy French reds are a perfect fit. In fact, from bubbly to crisp whites and full-bodied reds, you could spend your entire Easter dinner in the south of France. The Top Ten Smart Buys this week include the release of Versado, Ann Sperling and Peter Gamble’s elegant interpretation of Argentine malbec, as well as a pair of volcanic and a pair of limestone-derived wines to taste and compare, among others. See them all below.

John Szabo, MS

Touring in the Languedoc Roussillon

The focus of the LCBO’s March 30th release is southern France, and more specifically, the Languedoc-Roussillon. I’ve written much in the past on this swath of the Mediterranean that runs from the western side of the Rhône Valley all the way to the Pyrenees and the Spanish border, south of the Massif Central. It’s an area I know pretty well, having stayed for a summer just outside of Béziers while working in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant called Chez Léonce in the tiny village of Florensac. It was the year France won the World Cup – 1998 – and I remember watching Zidane’s Cup winning goals against Brazil in the final on a tiny television we had installed in the kitchen. The restaurant, of course, was empty, save for a German couple on holiday who obviously had no reason to watch the game. The rest of France was glued to the TV – even the French took the night off from fine dining.

Throughout the summer, during the staff meals after lunch service, Laurent, the sommelier at Chez Léonce, would bring out a handful of local wines for me to taste, tell me the stories behind the labels, and explain the differences between the various appellations. That’s how I was first introduced to AOCs like Corbières, Saint-Chinian and Picpoul de Pinet, which were little known even in France at the time, let alone in Canada. I thought then that the wines of the region were extraordinary values. Fifteen years later, picpoul has yet to become a household name, and the wines are still great values.

It’s curious that the wines of the neighboring Rhône Valley, which are very similar in style and use largely the same grapes as the Languedoc for whites, reds and rosés, have achieved so much more international recognition. It obviously helps to have a high-profile appellation like Châteauneuf-du-Pape drive the fortunes of an entire region. And Rhône wines also benefit no doubt from the legions of holidaymakers that pass through the region on their way down to the pastel shaded light and lavender perfume of Provence.

The wines of the Languedoc and Roussillon can be every bit as compelling as anything from the Rhône, but without an immediately recognizable appellation, and being generally off the beaten path of tourists, they’ve languished in the shadow of their neighbor in the south. Maybe there’s even some lingering suspicion that the Languedoc is still overrun with heretic Cathares, a Christian sect that was eradicated from Occitania in the Crusades of the 12th century. The name of the region, the Languedoc, after all, is derived from lingua d’Oc, “the country of the Occitan language”.

Heretic or crusader, if you’re seeking good value wines with distinct regional character and strong personality, the Languedoc is a smart place to be. Here are a few appellations to look for on shelves, along with recommended examples from the March 30th LCBO-Vintages release.

AOC/AOP Limoux

The Limoux appellation lies about 25 km south of the walled medieval city of Carcassonne, nestled in the upper valley of the Aude department. The region is sheltered by the Pyrenees from the extremes of maritime influence, and enjoys a benevolent Mediterranean climate. Yet since vineyards sit at higher elevations than most of the rest of the Languedoc, cooler climate varieties thrive here. Chardonnay, pinot noir, riesling and chenin blanc, for example, do better here on the clay-limestone plateaus than virtually anywhere else in the hot south of France.

Limoux’s most famous wine is sparkling, both in the ancestral and traditional methods. Blanquette de Limoux is reputed to be France’s first intentionally effervescent wine, produced a couple hundred years before Dom Pérignon did his pioneering work on how to stop the bubbles from forming in his wine. Sparkling from Limoux comes in three types: Crémant, a traditional method wine from chardonnay and chenin blanc, Blanquette, also a traditional method from at least 90% mauzac, and Blanquette Methode Ancestrale, a 100% mauzac bottled before the primary fermentation has finished, thus the wine retains some bubbles, though it’s less effervescent than the traditional method. It’s also often a little cloudy, slightly sweet and low in alcohol.

One to try: Domaine J. Laurens Le Moulin Brut Blanquette De Limoux ($16.95). An enjoyable bubbly with the typically appley flavours of the mauzac grape used and pleasant toasty-yeasty notes. Good length; nice value.

AOC/AOP Languedoc Picpoul de Pinet

Picpoul de Pinet refers to the picpoul grape, an ancient Mediterranean variety whose name means literally “tongue stinger” thanks to its high natural acid, which grows around the town of Pinet and surrounding communes, a stone’s throw from the sea. It’s considered a cru of the greater AOP Languedoc. Picpoul is the wine we served at Chez Léonce with the raw seafood and shellfish platter, harvested from the nearby Thau basin. It’s a lemony, zesty, crisp and fresh white that many consider the Muscadet of the south.

One to try: 2011 Ormarine Picpoul De Pinet ($12.95)

AOC/AOP Corbières

Corbières is the Languedoc’s largest appellation, with 13,500ha under vine. It stretches from the gates of Carcassonne to the sea, and from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the base of the Montagne Noire. It’s not surprising that no fewer than eleven distinct terroirs have been identified. The area is wild and sparsely populated, and most of the land is covered either by vines or the highly perfumed Mediterranean scrub brush known as garrigue. Often dominated by carignan, the best of the Corbières reds have an attractively savage and savoury profile, full of garrigue aromas and spicy black fruit. Grenache, syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault make of the rest of the blend.

One to try: 2010 Château De Treviac Ap Corbières ($15.95)

This is smoky and savoury with lots of fresh-turned earth and garrigue spice, dense and full on the palate, reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and as such, a nice little value. Drink lightly chilled to tone down the alcohol.

AOC/AOP Minervois

The Minervois is another large region that forms an amphitheatre bordered by the Canal du Midi to the south, the Montagne Noire to the north, and bounded to the east and west by the cities of Narbonne Carcassonne. Four rivers, the Clamoux, Argent Double, Ognon and the Cesse all tumble down from the Montagne Noire to join the Aude and, over time, have carved out a series of terraces. Terroirs vary between stones, clays, schist, limestone and clay marls. One ‘cru’ has been officially identified: Minervois La Livinière, but more could soon follow.

I find the wines of the Minervois to be among the more polished of the Languedoc – there’s a critical mass of modern-leaning producers, relying heavily of the ‘cépages améliorateurs’ the grapes such as syrah and mourvèdre, introduced into the Languedoc in order to improve the quality of local wine relative to the product of some of the lesser varieties left over from the days of mass bulk wine production. Rosé, white and sweet wines are produced, but the highlights are most often red.

One to try: 2009 Château Agnel Cuvée Philippe Minervois ($15.95)

This is a delicious, spiced cherry-flavoured, zesty, firm red, reminiscent of Italian/Piedmontese dolcetto with its chunky tannins and saliva-inducing acidity. Try with rustic grilled merguez sausages.

AOC/AOP Saint Chinian

Saint Chinian is northwest of Béziers in the Hérault department, at the foot of the Massif du Caroux. It is in reality at least two separate terroirs divided by the Rivers Orb and the Varnazobres. Limestone is the story in the south, producing, fine, perfumed reds from Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault. In the north, it’s practically all schist and sandstone with little water retention, stressing the vines and yielding much firmer, more structured and minerally reds. For my money, Saint Chinian from the northern zone, along with neighboring AOP Faugères, are among the south of France’s most terroir-driven and identifiable reds.

One to try: 2010 Cave De Roquebrun La Grange Des Combes ($17.95)

The village of Roquebrun, perched on a small plateau in the foothills of the Massif du Caroux, gives its name to an official sub-appellation in the northern zone of St. Chinian. High elevation vineyards with a big diurnal temperature shift yield balanced, finely etched wines with abundant minerality. This example is a syrah-led blend with mourvèdre and Grenache. It’s highly perfumed and smoky-savoury, with marked floral components, zinc oxide, black pepper and other intriguing mineral notes, while the palate is fullish, balanced, with fresh acidity, integrated (14%) alcohol, and firm, fine, sandy tannins. This has style, class and regional character in spades – a terrific value.

For more information on wines from Southern France, visit http://www.sud-de-france.com. If you’re still up for more exploring see my full list of recommended southern French reds from the March 30th release.

Top Ten Smart Buys

Versado Arrives!

Well worth pointing out is the long-awaited release of Versado, the Argentine project of Canadians Ann Sperling (Southbrook, Sperling Family Vineyards), her highly respected consulting husband Peter Gamble, and local guru Roberto de la Mota. Their 2010 Versado Malbec ($24.95) delivers on the promise of refinement and class from high elevation vineyards in the Luján de Cuyo sub-region of Mendoza. This is finely structured, with light wood spice, fine-grained but grippy tannins, lively acids and moderate alcohol (13.8%) and very good length. But more importantly, infinitely drinkable.

A definite step up in both price and quality is their 2009 Versado Reserva Malbec ($59.95). It’s a rare Argentine ‘reserve’ malbec that doesn’t sacrifice drinkability for raw power and excessive ripeness/wood flavour. This is certainly dense, rich and compact, and still some ways from prime drinking, yet it retains a sense of proportion and balance, with sufficient fruit intensity to match the tannic structure, and fresh, natural and integrated acids. It’ll be best after 2015 I’d suspect.

Volcanic Wines

Elsewhere, there’s a fine range of values arriving on March 30th. In the spirit of terroir, here are two smart buys from volcanic soils:

2008 Donato D’angelo Aglianico Del Vulture ($20.95) and 2010 I Campi Campo Vulcano Soave Classico ($18.95).

Limestone Wines

Compare the volcanic wines with this pair of sauvignons from limestone soils: 2010 Domaine Fouassier Les Grands Groux Sancerre ($24.95) and 2011 Chavet & Fils La Dame De Jacques Coeur Menetou-Salon Blanc ($19.95). What speaks louder: soil, grape, or winemaker?

Also in the top ten smart buys you’ll find an excellent 2009 Bordeaux for the cellar, a pair of Spanish reds that neatly define the old and new schools, a superb value chardonnay from New Zealand, perhaps that country’s most underrated variety, and an old vines local Riesling that consistently over-delivers vintage after vintage. See them all with the links below.

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

From the March 30, 2013 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Southern France Selections
All Reviews

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Filed under: News, Wine, John Szabo, Southern France, Top Ten Smart Buys, Vintages Preview

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for March 2, 2013

New Zealand Industry Strengths & Challenges; California and Southern Italian Discoveries and Top Ten Smart Buys

John Szabo, MS

Aotearoa, The Land of the Long White Cloud: New Zealand.

Three sunny summer weeks and a few thousand kilometers later and I’ve scratched deeply into the surface of a country that occupies a place of growing importance in the world of fine wine. Over a mere three decades, New Zealand has earned an envious international reputation for its high average quality wine production, now widely exported to all of the world’s major markets. Sauvignon blanc, mainly from Marlborough, remains the country’s calling card. But the real story, of course, runs much deeper. Read below for some observations on the industry.

And since I was in New Zealand during the media tasting for the March 2nd release, I was able to taste only about half of the new wines on offer. The features are California and Central-Southern Italy, and there are some fine discoveries from each, which I’ve folded into the top ten smart buys.

California Discoveries

Those familiar with Frog’s Leap won’t consider this a ‘discovery’, but others unaccustomed to Napa cabernet with moderate alcohol, fresh fruit flavours and even a hint of herbal-green flavour might be pleasantly shocked by the 2010 Frog’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon ($56.95). This winery has long espoused a balanced, fresh, lively style (it’s also farmed organically), and this 2010 is indeed fresh and succulent, with genuinely juicy acids and balanced alcohol (13.9%), not to mention terrific length. Most importantly, this wine gives you the desire to come back for another sip.

In a similar fashion, devotees of balanced and crisp, minerally chardonnay will be pleased with the 2010 Chalone Monterey County Chardonnay ($29.95). Chalone is a perennial favorite for its classy, restrained style, and this 2010 is refreshingly crisp with mouth-watering acids and remarkable flavour intensity, lingering on chalky-limestone minerality. It’s enjoyable now, or hold for a half-dozen years or so.

Quality pinot noir from anywhere in the world under $20 is a rarity, making this 2010 Bonterra Pinot Noir from Mendocino County ($19.95) all the more memorable. Don’t expect a life-changing experience, but this organically grown, mid-weight example is pure and inviting and varietally accurate, with lightly dusty tannins and balanced acidity – a perfect mid-week sort of pinot.

Of the discovery wines from the Central Coast area, the 2010 Vina Robles White 4 ($18.95) is worth a look. It’s an original blend of viognier, verdelho, sauvignon blanc and vermentino, surprisingly subtle on the nose, though the palate picks up the flavour intensity. It’s nicely balanced and contained overall, showing generous but balanced alcohol (14.2%), and above average length.

Central and Southern Italy Smart Buys

Choose carefully from the Italian feature. Vintages has unearthed a few authentic, genuine Italian treasures alongside some undistinguished, internationally styled commercial wines aimed, one supposes, at drawing non-Italian wine drinkers into the category. Topping my list for regional character and value is the 2009 Selvanova Vigna Antica Aglianico ($15.95). This is a wine with a real sense of volcanic minerality; you can clearly taste the rusty iron, tar, scorched earth-like soil profile, allied to tart red and black cherry fruit and dried herbs-pot-pourri-faded flowers. Tannins are fierce and grippy, giving this a distinctively rustic, old world structure. It’s categorically not a fruity wine, but a terrific value for fans of unique, terroir-driven wines. Cellar 2-3 years, or serve with hard cheese or grilled lamb.

The 2010 Terrelíade Nirà Nero d’Avola ($18.95) is made in a similar, if less dramatically rustic vein, tailor-made for grilled or braised game meats. It’s intriguingly spicy and herbal, like roasted green pepper, with black licorice, dried leaves and spiced black cherry fruit. The tannins are also tough and rustic, but coated by generous alcohol (14.5%), balancing the palate and adding succulence.

And other March 2 Smart Buys

Other smart buys worth pointing out include a pair of cool chardonnays: the 2010 Te Awa Chardonnay ($18.95) and 2011 Southbrook Vineyards Triomphe Chardonnay ($21.95). It’s not a stretch to say that the wines from Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, and those from the Niagara-on-the-Lake area of the Niagara Peninsula share some commonalities. Both areas are slightly warmer than the relative mean, and tend to produce fairly generous and round styles while still respecting the cool climate idiom.

Southbrook has really nailed it on the head with this 2011, moving away from a more oxidative/wood-inflected style to an example that’s axed on ripe orchard fruit flavours, even honeydew melon and pineapple tropical fruit, while still maintaining a sense of cool climate restraint. The palate is pure, flavourful, effortlessly balanced with very good length and little wood influence. Te Awa’s example is likewise a classy, elegant and refined barrel-aged chardonnay at an attractive price, in which citrus, orchard fruit and judicious oak intermingle on a balanced frame of acids and alcohol.

And finally I might be accused of hoarding were I not to draw your attention to the 2004 Marqués de Cáceres Gran Reserva Rioja ($29.95). The Spanish tradition of releasing wines at maturity is largely under-appreciated in a world where the younger and fresher, the better it is. Gran reservas by law can’t be released until their 6th year from vintage, and this eight-year-old wine is in brilliant drinking form right now, with no need for further cellaring (though you can certainly hold onto this for another decade without pushing the limits). It’s a refined, complex, elegant wine, but what I most appreciate is the fine balance between old and new school styles – this sits comfortably between the two, and it’s just about perfect as such. (See my full list of Top Ten Smart Buys here).

Pinot 2013

My visit to New Zealand was occasioned by the 5th edition of the Kiwi’s celebrated Pinot Noir NZ conference, a triennial affair that attracts a huge delegation of local and international journalists, importers, sommeliers and winemakers. Such has been the success of the conference that it’s enough to mention “I’m going to Pinot” in wine circles, and the meaning is clear. That’s no small feat for a country that had no pinot noir, nor virtually any other vine planted for that matter, prior to the early 1970s.

Opening Ceremony
Pinot Noir NZ 2013

Following are some observations, including some strengths and challenges ahead for the New Zealand wine industry as I see it. I’m in the process of posting over 300 New Zealand wine reviews on WineAlign from the tastings over those three weeks (even though I tasted many more wines than that), some from the pinot conference itself, others from prior and subsequent visits to wineries on both the North and South Island. My April 13th report will sketch out the major regions with a focus on pinot noir, along with profiles of recommended producers and their top wines, so stay tuned, and colleague David Lawrason who was also in New Zealand has many more reviews, observations, and regional reports to share. And finally, if you’ve never been to New Zealand, or even if you have, you may get a kick out of my personal snapshot of what it’s like to travel in New Zealand. Read it on WineAlign at: On The Road; John Szabo’s New Zealand.

New Zealand: Industry strengths

New Zealand has experienced unquestionable growth in the last twenty years. In 1991, just 12% of wine production was exported. By 2011, that figure had jumped to 70%, with major markets in the UK, Australia and the US (Canada purchases 3% of NZ’s production). There are now over 700 wineries across the country, farming a total of just over 34,000ha, almost exactly the same size as Champagne, a considerable area. Success has been swift and abundant, and here are some of the explanations why.

Minor variations on a theme of terroir

Winery owners and marketers are quick to play the uniqueness and diversity card, as well they should – it’s a sine qua non these days to sell wine at premium prices. But the reality is that New Zealand is not France or Italy, which can be considered an advantage. By this I mean that despite slight variations in climate and soils, New Zealand wines on the whole occupy a relatively small stylistic sphere, focusing on a select few varieties, unlike France or Italy. New Zealand is much more uniform.

The climate is cool. Even in the warmest regions like Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, the temperature rarely breaks 30ºC. It get’s much hotter in Southern Ontario. The secret to a reliable grape crop lies not with heat but with the relatively dry climate, thanks to the rain shadow effect produced by the stretch of mountains that form the backbone of the country from the North to the South Island. All of the country’s vineyards lie on the east side of the ranges where rainfall is moderate – the west side can see as much as eight or nine meters of rain per year. Sunlight is also unusually intense, with high UV due to the thin layer of Ozone over this part of the planet. Thus sunny, dry, cool, conditions prevail in the majority of regions, with long growing seasons.

The net result is stylistic similarity across grapes: the cabernet blends are invariably more Bordeaux than Napa, the syrah more Rhône than Barossa, the pinot and chardonnay more Burgundy than California. This in turn allows New Zealand to present their wines as a collection of variations on a similar theme, rather than a hodge-podge of radically varying styles sharing only a country code. All marketers know the power of a simple and consistent message; it’s much easier to get across than a complex one. What united message could France or Italy possibly put forth to the world, other than that of bewildering diversity?

One need only look to the obvious example of Marlborough sauvignon blanc and its wild success to see the benefits of consistency. Indeed, if anything negative could be said about Marlborough sauvignon it would be that’s been too successful at being consistent, with one brand barely distinguishable from another. (Interestingly, the way forward now in Marlborough is introducing more variation – more on this in an upcoming article).

Of course there are nuances between regions and producers, between the Wairau Valley and the Awatere valley of Marlborough, or limestone soils of North Canterbury and the schists of Central Otago. But initial success is based on consistency across a region.

Collaborative spirit

Winemaker’s divebombing into
Wellington Harbor

Another easy lesson of success is that of a collaborative spirit, evident at every turn in New Zealand (or at least internecine strife was well hidden). During Pinot2013, presentations were divided into regional groups. Producers gave the delegates a collective regional overview before the tastings each morning and afternoon, with several winemakers rising to speak for each region. For the most part, there was a real sense of mutual respect and deference between winemakers, and an understanding that the rising tide raises all boats. My hat’s off especially to the crew from Central Otago, who put together an informal, informative presentation delivered by at least a half-dozen (mostly barefoot), winemakers. There was a fun, unpretentious, let’s-get-together-and-show-the-world-what-we-do spirit that is often absent between producers in the same region, who consider themselves in competition with one-another.  The smart ones know that the competition is not with each other, but with the rest of the world. Divided they fall.

Access to market

Another of New Zealand’s strengths appears to be relative freedom from government intervention and open access to market. This is as much a comparative comment on the Ontario wine industry, which has been retarded by antiquated alcohol distribution laws and a quality-incompatible grape growers collective that protects prices, not quality, but the benefits for NZ producers should be outlined.

Like Canada, New Zealand, too, had it’s flirtation with prohibition, in fact a much more serious relationship with it than did Canada. Several NZ counties went fully dry for a period, and some still hold a referendum every three years to gauge the public’s position on the matter. But when the tide changed in the late 1960’s, it was a wholesale turnaround, not a halfway compromise as in Canada. Kiwis have been known for their radical and extreme social experiments on themselves.

Today, NZ wineries are free to distribute in restaurants, private shops, though their cellar door or export. In other words, each producer has equal opportunity access to market, a critical advantage that Canadians especially can appreciate. In order to build a solid export market, it’s critical to have strong following at home. In NZ you can ship a case of wine from the North to the South Island without obscene taxation, or sell in any shop that’s willing to carry your product. That’s something to be thankful for.

Sustainability

Finally, but not lastly, New Zealand as a country also enjoys an enviable international brand image of clean and green, a fact capitalized upon by the New Zealand Winegrowers Association in their key tag line “Pure Discovery”. New Zealand is indeed an environmentally conscious and beautiful country with an understanding of the importance of natural resources, the inescapable consequence of living on a remote Pacific Island. (And this despite early European settlers’ best efforts to chop down as many trees as possible to make way for sheep pasture.)

Stunning Rippon Vineyards
Central Otago

An initiative to encourage sustainable winegrowing was launched in the mid-1990’s, later called Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, or SWNZ.  The key areas of focus were biodiversity; soil, water and air; energy; chemicals; byproducts; people; and business practices. The program has been highly successful: “Participation in SWNZ rose to almost 100% between the launch of the policy and the target date of 2012 — an estimated 94% or more of New Zealand’s producing vineyard area (accounting for approximately 90% of the wine produced) is now SWNZ certified. A further 3-5% of vineyard area operates under other certified organic programs.” (Source: www.nzwine.com/sustainability/) That’s pretty impressive.

Furthermore, wines from vintage 2010 on must have been produced under one of the recognized, independently audited, sustainability programs in order to participate in any of the New Zealand Winegrowers’ national and international marketing, promotional and awards events. Most of the growers I spoke with were very positive about the SWNZ program, and had been motivated to improve their business practices because of it. And once certified by SWNZ, the step to organic certification is considerably easier, so it’s expected that organic production will rise to almost 20% of the total by the end of the decade. New Zealand is certainly not the only country that has launched a sustainable scheme, but it is clearly one of the most successful. This is something that seems to resonate ever-more with consumers around the world.

Industry challenges

All industries have challenges, and New Zealand wine has a few obstacles ahead as I see it.

Profitability

In hand with the concept of sustainability is profitability. A winery that is not profitable is not sustainable. It’s more than a little alarming that several of New Zealand’s most critically acclaimed producers, as I have been informed, are not turning a profit. Growing top quality wine is expensive anywhere, but particularly so in New Zealand. It’s a shockingly expensive country to live in, as I experienced first hand. How will these growers convince the market that their wines are worth enough to make them sustainable? Or will their top wines remain loss leaders, while lower end, volume wines pick up the tab, as seems to be happening in some Marlborough operations in particular? Again, this challenge is hardly unique to New Zealand, but that doesn’t make it any easier to manage. It would be a shame to see the industry consolidate around a safe low to middle-ground range of quality and deprive the rest of the world of some pretty amazing wines.

Relatively high production costs and the need to be sustainable lead to high prices. In regards to pinot noir in particular, prices are aggressive. Good quality, inexpensive pinot noir is hard to come by in any country, but the early promise that NZ pinot would fill in the gaping hole in the market left by Burgundy, namely in the $20-$30 price segment, has never been realized. It seems NZ prices went from zero straight to $35, at least for the good stuff, without stopping in between. Yet to sell for any less would most likely be unsustainable, not too mention that if you can sell in the home market for $50 or more from the cellar door, there’s little motivation to drop prices for export. How this will all work out remains to be seen. In any case, these wines will have to compete with the best from around the world.

In Defense of Deference

In reference to the point regarding the strength of wine style similarity, and the one above regarding profitability, it’s perhaps deference, or a combination of more experience, better understanding of terroir, and a healthy dose of deference that could well become the distinguishing factor that preserves the very top end of New Zealand wine. Matt Kramer’s now infamous thought-provoking (and anger-provoking, too, it seems) opening address for pinot2013, the 2+2=5 speech (actually entitled “Can Atheists Make Great Pinot Noir”), brought the discussion of how to make truly great wine to the forefront of many subsequent talks, speeches and private discussions, so it obviously resonated. (See Alder Yarrows admirably accurate transcription of the speech on his website vinography and don’t miss the amusing, occasionally enraged comments of some readers).

While many seem to have missed the point of Kramer’s talk – it has nothing to do with religion, nor is it an anti-science manifesto, and still less any kind of comparison to Burgundy – Kramer essentially argues that complete and obsessive control over the entire winemaking process, from blocks of identical clones picked at uniform ripeness to a host of other possible manipulations to regularize production, can take you to four, that is, a very good wine. But to get 2+2 to equal five, at least with our current understanding of the unfathomably complicated set of inputs and outputs that result in wine, requires a bit of deference to nature, or terroir, or whatever you wish to call it. The factors that comprise greatness are as yet not fully measurable or quantifiable. Winemakers the world over could well produce more interesting results (along with less interesting results occasionally, too) by slacking off on the reins of control, and allowing for potential “imperfections” to actually make more meaningful wines. Beauty is often in the imperfect. Will New Zealand winemakers have the courage and faith in their terroir to ease off and give it a chance to speak? Authenticity and uniqueness have been proven to command high prices in the wine market.

What was also mostly lost in Kramer’s speech and in the bluster that followed, is the importance of the observer, in this case the drinker. The drinker has to be pre-disposed to believe in greatness in order to find it. There’s no inherent greatness, no ‘5”, in a concoction of molecules in a glass. No doubt most of the scientific community will disagree (see Dr. Jamie Goode’s thoughtful reflection on Kramer’s speech at wineanorak), but for many, I’d argue even most wine lovers, a little perceived mysticism makes for more enjoyment. Deference to a natural process is a better story than rigid adherence to a set of numbers. Clever wine salespeople rarely attempt to wow you with clonal numbers, measurements of brix and pH and titratable acidity. Winemakers in New Zealand and elsewhere can raise the bar on perceived quality with a judicious combination of scientifically sound and deference-imbued wines, and charge sustainably for them.

Cultural cringe

Also, it must be said, that New Zealanders suffer at times from cultural cringe, a common complex in post-colonial nations, an admission I heard frequently during my travels. As a Canadian I can relate; we too suffer at times from a feeling that our own culture is inferior to the cultures of other countries, or in this case, that our wines are not as good as theirs. As a backlash against the cringe, by the end of pinot2013, it became virtually taboo to even mention Burgundy in relation to NZ pinot noir. Panelists during the final tasting moderated by Tim Atkin were forewarned that any mention of Burgundy would result in an immediate red card (Atkin actually had a set of football style yellow and red cards with him). Only “the place that begins with a B”, or “the MS” (for Mother Ship), were permissible mentions.

It’s surely tiresome to always compare yourself to something else, but conscious and intentional avoidance of any comparisons whatsoever also invoke a bit of a cringe. In the specific case of New Zealand pinot, many of the wines are tremendous, and should have to neither seek out nor avoid bench-marking against other examples from anywhere else in the world. A diminishing cultural cringe and a growing sense of self-confidence borne by time should pave the way for a new and original method of communicating NZ wines to the world.

On the other hand, the flip side of cultural cringe is excessive back-slapping. Some winemakers expressed concern about the growing sense of complacency within the industry considering the already considerable success to date. Perhaps in this respect a little cringe is a good thing, since blinding yourself to everything else is a sure-fire way to cease learning and improving. Winemaking psychology, like fine wine itself, is a fine balance.

All in all, New Zealand’s strengths far outweigh the weaknesses, and the future is bright. And I haven’t even really touched upon the actual quality of the wines. Suffice to search for the top scoring examples on WineAlign and let the wines do the talking. And don’t miss my report for this coming April 13 VINTAGES release, with a focus on New Zealand wines.

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

From the March 2, 2013 Vintages release:
Top Ten Smart Buys
All Reviews

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John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for Jan 19, 2013

Enigmatic Spain (and discovery picks); Top Ten Smart Buys; Best Bet from B.C.

John Szabo, MS

The January 19 VINTAGES release puts the spotlight on Spain. But commercially speaking, the light has yet to really shine on the Iberian Peninsula, at least not a Canadian light. Spanish wines continue to be an enigma for most Ontario consumers and have failed thus far to perform here as they have elsewhere, notably in countries like the UK, Germany and the US, where they enjoy significantly more notoriety. Spanish wines were conspicuously absent from the LCBO’s latest available product trend report (2010-2011), which highlights the fastest growing wine categories, though a spokesperson at the LCBO revealed that more recently, Spanish wines sales are up in the last 12 months.

Considered globally, Spanish wine amounted to just 2% of the total volume of wine sold in the province through the LCBO in 2010-2011, and 2.7% of the total value. But for the year ending December 31, 2012, Spanish wines were up 3.5% by value over 2010-2011, thanks mainly to stronger red wine sales. According to Linda Hapak, the LCBO’s manager of corporate communications, “Spanish wines are performing extremely well for the LCBO WINES category. Spanish reds represent approximately 3.5 per cent of our business and are up 13.8 per cent over last year. There are plans to add some more premium-priced Spanish wines ($12-$15) in the coming year. In VINTAGES, Spanish reds are about nine per cent of the VINTAGES European wine portfolio and are trending up 7.5 per cent.”

That’s certainly a positive sign, though despite the recent growth, the figures are still pretty low. Considering that Spain has the world’s largest acreage devoted to grapevines: 970,000 hectares (in 2011), which represents fully 30% of the European Union’s vineyard area, and nearly 14% of the world’s. (In terms of volume of production, Spain sits just behind France and Italy as the world’s third largest producer since yields per hectare are lower on average than in either France or Italy). By comparison, Italy, the largest foreign supplier of wines in Ontario, accounted for over 17% of Ontario wine sales by value and over 16% by volume in 2010-2011. Spain is proportionately under represented in local sales.

And yet, wine is one of Spain’s star export products. Figures from the Spanish government’s Department of Customs and Special Taxes reveal that wine exports were up 13.5% to the end of the first half of 2012, while in 2011, the wine industry posted impressive increases of 26.3% in volume and 16.7% in value. The country has been grinding through the slow and painful modernization of its wine industry, a process that has been ongoing since at least 1986 when Spain joined the EU. And the fruits of this leap into the 21^st century are finally starting to be reaped.

Spain is one of the world’s most dynamic countries, what I’ve referred to in the past as the most ‘new world’ country of the old world, that is, a nation in the process of inventing or in some cases re-inventing itself. The 80s and 90s love affair with international varieties has mostly faded, and today, rediscovering native varieties and reviving ancient vineyards is the latest word. This is music to the modern sommelier’s ears, and Spanish wines are being embraced with enthusiasm in cutting edge wines bars in northern Europe and the US. In short, Spanish wines are hot, just not yet here.

I think several factors account for Canada’s lukewarm embrace of things Spanish compared with other nations’. Consider how many Brits and Germans vacation on the Costa del Sol, just a short, cheap Ryan Air or Easy Jet hop away. Citizens of the UK and Germany have developed a cultural connection through proximity with Spain that most Canadians do not have, and people tend to bring their vacations home with them. There’s nothing like reliving that Spanish sojourn with a bottle of Rioja back home.

And south of the border, nearly half of the population of the United States claim Spanish as their mother tongue. Even many non-Hispanics understand or speak Spanish through sheer exposure. Thus there’s a linguistic familiarity around those ñs and double ls that can otherwise intimidate English speakers. And there’s also more cultural heritage linking US citizens with the Spanish world. In Canada, the percentage of the population of Hispanic origin and familiarity with the language doesn’t compare. The fact that Spanish restaurants are few and far between doesn’t help, either. Spanish cuisine is not so neatly branded and doesn’t export as well as, say, Italian or French cuisine.

Such factors, and many more, have conspired to make Canada a ‘low priority’ country for Spanish export initiatives. When export promotional funds are limited (no need to go into Spain’s economic situation here), they’re usually focused on the markets with the greatest potential for short-term return. Consequently, Canada receives very little promo budget for Spanish wines. No industry-sponsored generic ‘fam’ trips to Spain for wine writers or wine buyers, no trade or consumer tastings of Spanish wines in Ontario. This in turn leads to low consumer awareness of Spanish wines, which leads to fewer listings of Spanish wine in restaurants and on LCBO shelves, which discourages import agents from dealing with Spanish wineries in the first place. And so the vicious circle continues. But if the last year is any indication, perhaps there’s a new era of awareness dawning for Spanish wine. And let’s hope so.

January 19 is your opportunity to discover at least the tip of the iceberg of what Spain has to offer. There are 19 Spanish wines hitting the VINTAGES shelves, several of which I’d consider fine examples of some of the marquee regions and native grapes, at reasonable prices, another one of the country’s strengths. Download a Pedro Almodóvar film (don’t pirate it – the Spanish economy needs support), and conduct your own tour of Spanish wines. Here’s a brief run down on nine Spanish wines to consider:

Jerez-Xerés-Sherry

Two of my top scoring picks and hottest values are from the roughly triangular denominación of Jerez, or Sherry, in the southwest corner of Spain. You can find an excellent primer on Sherry from certified Sherry educator Derek Kranenborg on the WineAlign Cru postings – A Manifesto for Sherry. But before logging in, grab a bottle of the El Maestro Sierra Fino Sherry ($17.95) and the Almirante Marqués Del Real Tesoro Oloroso ($16.95), which will make the reading all the more pleasant.

The first is a somewhat atypical fino, more deeply coloured than the norm, and more oxidative in style – almost into amontillado territory, but in any case, it’s a rich, powerful and complex wine with masses of flavour and terrific finish – really remarkable at the price. I’d serve this with a piece of 12 month aged Manchego cheese for a fine experience.

The second is a more typically nutty and oxidative oloroso, reminiscent of dried hay, toasted walnuts, old coffee grounds, and caramel, with a full, dry palate and amazing umami-laden finish. As is so frequently the case with sherry, this offers astonishing complexity for the money.

Spanish Reds

Get tuned into the rich, substantial reds of the Priorat DOQ with the 2008 Planets De Prior Pons ($22.95). Prior Pons is a small, family operation in the heart of the denominación with vineyards planted in the prized fractured slate soils called locally “licorella”. They make just two wines; Planets is the less expensive, a blend of both young and old vines that’s both generously alcoholic and mouth filling. Fruit is dark and brambly, with slightly raisined/dried/baked character, while spicy wood notes and wild herbs add an extra flavour dimension. It’s a fine introduction to the region at an attractive price.

Fans of the old school style of Rioja will want to pick up the 2004 Don Jacobo Reserva ($17.95). It’s arch-traditional, dripping with American oak-derived flavours of melted butter, cedar, sandalwood and toasted coconut alongside tart red berry/sour cherry fruit, juicy acids, fine-grained tannins and lingering, savoury finish. It’s fully ready to enjoy; Spain is one of the few countries where wines are often cellared at the winery until they’re ready to drink – all the ageing has been done for you.

2005 Legón Reserva do Ribera del Duero ($23.95) offers a more modern interpretation of tempranillo, widely considered Spain’s flagship red grape, even if it’s not the most planted (that distinction belongs to garnacha tinta). This is intensely dark fruited, savoury and earthy at once, well structured, with good to very good length. It’s ready to enjoy or hold short term.

One of my favorite Spanish regions is Bierzo in the cooler, northwest corner of the country often referred to as “Atlantic” or “green” Spain. The 2007 Solar De Sael Crianza Mencía ($15.95) is a decent entry-level, if awkwardly oaky (Spain is still getting over its love affair with oak flavours), example of mencía, the principal grape. Leave this another 6 months to a year in the cellar; there’s sufficient depth and structure to ensure positive evolution, which is rare at this price.

And rounding out the reds, 2009 Albret Crianza ($19.95) is a forward, fruity, nicely structured wine made from a blend of tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and merlot in the modern style. Navarra has long been on the forefront of innovation in Spanish vineyards thanks to the fact that the country’s most important viticultural research station is located in the region, and experimentation with international varieties has been going on for decades.

Spanish Whites

Classy whites are more of a rarity in Spain, but two regions stand out for their unique contributions to the realm: Rias Baixas and Rueda. The former shines with albariño, the latter with verdejo. Try the fine 2011 Señorio De Rubios ($17.95) for an example of the lively and fruity character of albariño, with its lemon-lime, blossom, apricot and pear aromas that reminds one of viognier on the nose, and the taught, tight structure and underlying minerality that brings to mind Riesling on the palate.

Verdejo can often slip into the (unpleasant) Delmonte tropical fruit cocktail spectrum of flavours that’s reminiscent of sauvignon blanc grown in the Sahara, but the 2011 Cuatro Rayas Viñedos Centenarios ($15.95), made from over 100 year-old, pre-phylloxera vines is well worth discovering. Cuatro Rayas is the largest producer in the Rueda DO, accounting for 20% of the total production, proving that big is not necessarily bad. But to be fair this wine is described as a “whim” of winemaker Angel Calleja, made in limited quantities from the company’s most prized parcels. You’ll find intriguing incense and dried spearmint leaf aromas on the nose, with citrus-lemon-grapefruit notes underlying, while the palate delivers considerable flavour impact carried by sharp acids and above average concentration. A fine, pre-phylloxera vines cuvee for under $16? Welcome to Spain.

If you’re enticed to discover more after this tour, visit the Spanish Trade Commission’s website, Winesfromspain. To find more Spanish wines in Ontario contact the following consignment agents who carry a solid range (variable availability):

B&W Wines (Especially the Spain Only One Portfolio)

TWC Imports (including excellent Cava from Agustí Torelló Mata, Bierzo from Finca Losada and Pittacum, Rias Baixas from Terras Gaudas, godello from Bodegas Valdesil, Rioja from Bodegas Tobías)

Recommended Toronto Restaurants with a good selection of Spanish wines:

Cava (Yonge & St. Clair) and Edulis (King St W & Bathurst)

Top Ten Smart Buys

This week’s top ten smart buys include a mesmerizing marsanne from Mendocino, a terrific teroldego blend from Tuscany, a bloody good baga from Portugal, and a pair of impressive local wines. See them all here.

Best Bet from BC

British Columbia is the mini theme of the release, with five wines on offer. Of these, my top pick is the 2008 Mission Hill Quatrain, Okanagan Valley ($41.95). This is a nicely evolved, polished, bold, modern red with better than average class and depth (a blend of merlot, syrah, cab franc and cab sauv).

From the January 19, 2013 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Top Spanish Releases
All Reviews

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Filed under: News, Wine, John Szabo, Top Ten Smart Buys, Vintages Preview, Wines from Spain

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for January 5th 2013

The Importance of Reliable Sources

John Szabo, MS

2012 is drawing to a close as I write this, and it’s been a fruitful year. The WineAlign community has grown significantly over four years with now close to 41,000 registered users. And nearly 175,000 different people have visited the site over the last month. This ranks WineAlign behind only the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s website in terms of traffic on wine related websites in Canada. And with full coverage of the wine markets in British Columbia and Québec scheduled for early in the new year, I have no doubt in predicting that by the end of 2013, WineAlign will be by far the largest, most useful and reliable source of independent information and critical opinion on wine in the country. What this means for you, of course, is more wine reviews and reports from a growing roster of Canada’s most authoritative and dependable wine critics, with the added layer of greater regional perspectives.

This success establishes the viability of the model, but this isn’t just about a ‘rah rah’ for WineAlign. It’s about a much larger issue that has been put in the spotlight in 2012: the importance of source. It has become clear this past year that the Internet landscape is changing and that there’s increasing attention being paid to the trustworthiness of information. Simply put, the Internet is maturing, and so are its users.

You Rarely Get What You Don’t Pay For

The last decade has seen endless debate about the future of the web, and among many, many observations, one that strikes me as particularly important is the changing perception towards the reliability of, and accountability for, information posted. Much of the excitement in the early days surrounding free access to all kinds of information that once commanded a price is starting to wane. It has taken some time, but users have come to grasp the basic truth that you generally get what you pay for, or rather, that you rarely get what you don’t pay for. In other words, free, unqualified, non-professional, unvetted sources of information are for the most part, low down on the trustworthy scale.

The reasons for this are obvious. Largely gone are the former protective measures of editors and fact checkers, transparent ethical standards, and the generally high barrier to entry for authors, critics and journalists of all stripes, which used to shield the public from unscrupulous manipulators with hidden agendas or outright charlatans. Today, of course, anyone with a machine and an Internet connection can publish opinion veiled as fact, or fiction masquerading as observation, with virtual impunity.

Gaming The System

Many incidences have come to light of ‘consumers’ posting glowing (or damning) reviews of products, restaurants, resorts, films, wines, and just about every other consumer good or service, who, as it turns out, are related directly or indirectly to the provider of these goods or services. And there are currently few legal measures in place to prevent people from publishing opinions on the web that have been bought (outside of the notoriously Teflon charge of libel for negative views).

Wine is a particularly problematic Internet minefield where knowing your source is crucial. For one, it attracts a lot of people, mostly because it’s such a great business to be in, so there are many in the game. But it’s also an expensive consumer good to review and report on. Outside of the independently wealthy, how many unpaid (or poorly paid) bloggers can afford to cover their own transportation and expenses to visit wine regions, buy samples to review, pay for their meals when dining out with a winemaker or winery principal? Zero is the answer. Thus the potential for conflicts of interest is large. This means that virtually everyone in the wine reviewing business is complicit to some degree in stretching the ethical boundaries that the journalists of a by-gone era were held to.

Wine of course is not the only field prone to conflicts of interest. Publishers send free books to reviewers, travel writers go all expenses paid to write-up destinations and DVDs are sent to film critics, to point out but a few. But that doesn’t mean that the reviews published on these things are fraudulent or even unreliable, however. It just makes knowing your source of information all the more critical. And there are so many more sources to sift through. If you’re after genuine third-party, original and independent views, get to know the critic behind them. It’s not hard to do research these days – we’ve all had to become our own fact checkers and vetters of information. Credible credentials, track record, longevity, positive peer reviews, number of supporters/followers, the cost to access information and other bits come together to establish the level of reliability of the source.

Re-Raising the bar on Ethical Standards

It has also become clear that the tolerance of dodgy practices is crumbling in the Internet world. The questionable things you could get away with until very recently have suddenly become a call to arms, resulting in at worst a witch hunt, at best a righting of wrongdoing, like toppling a malevolent dictator or calling a public figure to reckon.

Shrugs of ‘oh well, that’s the way the Internet works’ have turned instead to moral outrage that inspires action. 2012 saw the outing of several writers mostly at the hands of, at least initially, their own colleagues. Read for example about the spectacular fall from grace of celebrated pop-neuroscience writer Jonah Lehrer (whose insights I have drawn on in at least a couple of past WineAlign postings), who was caught back in June plagiarizing himself (i.e. recycling his own work) by another writer (http://nymag.com/news/features/jonah-lehrer-2012-11/). This was only the start of an unraveling that led to the discovery that Lehrer had also borrowed liberally from others, manufactured quotes and manipulated or ignored scientific evidence that did not conform to his pre-determined thesis and which would otherwise get in the way of his story. It was a question of shoddy science, questionable journalism, and possibly theft, and Lehrer got caught.

There’s also of course the case of wine writer Natalie MacLean that went viral in the wine world (http://palatepress.com/2012/12/wine/content-theft/). MacLean’s use of colleagues’ wine reviews without proper attribution or permission for profit, and an alleged pay-to-play wine review scheme (http://palatepress.com/2012/12/wine/pay-for-play-wine-writing/) caused a veritable maelstrom that’s still battering her web-shores today. It was the Internet equivalent of a football pile-on, and many reputable wine writers are still seething.

These examples and others prove that you can’t get away for very long with substandard ethics on the World Wide Web, because sooner or later somebody will catch you. That’s the beauty and the curse of the Internet. It has always behooved us to check into our sources, and more and more of us are doing just that on the Internet today. It’s no longer enough to be “published” on the web to be credible. There’s too much temptation in the shrinking writing market for critics to succumb to conflicts of interest or to profit from the work of others. Transparency is also critical.

See You on the Other Side of the Pay Wall

We’ve reached the point at which the perceived value of the information one gets from the internet is based on the source, as it always has been for print publications, and not simply on the fact that it’s free and available for all. Cries of “why would I pay when I can get similar information for free” are ringing more and more hollow, particularly when it comes to highly specialized news or reviews, such as wine reviews.

I think we’ll also see a shift towards more users paying for reliable information, a natural evolution that allows such information to be unearthed or created and disseminated in the first place. Free to users does not mean it’s free to produce, and there’s only so much cost that advertisers can (or should) cover, especially when it comes to reviews. This past year we’ve seen pay walls erected on the websites of the New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and The National Post; The Toronto Star will start charging for certain sections in 2013, as will many more I’m sure. I won’t be surprised when wine writers start charging a fee to the retailers who use their reviews to sell wine; a positive review is effectively an endorsement, which in most other fields cost money (and in the case of wine reviewers, obviates the need for consumers to subscribe to their newsletters or websites, and thus reduces their income). Quality news and information is costly to produce and has value.

We’re glad that so many of you have found WineAlign to be a trustworthy source of information, and we plan in 2013 and beyond to continue to deliver our reviews following the most stringent ethical standards and transparency protocols. And although there are no plans to change our ‘freemium’ model, remember that the premium WineAlign subscription gets you even more of that reliable information – the reviews themselves beyond just the scores – and helps keep your favourite wine writers employed, too.

Top Ten Smart Buys

The first Vintages release of every year is devoted to smart buys, which is what I focus on every report, so it’s back to business as usual. It’ll be Saturday January 5th by the time these wines hit the shelves, an opportune moment to replenish the rack after the holidays with some wines that will get you through to the next special occasion (Sunday afternoon?). All but one of my top ten are under $20.

But that one wine, the 2008 La Pieve Barolo ($28.95) was worth including at the price. There was a time when entry-level Barolo started around $40, so sub-$30 is already skewed to value for the region, and especially so when it gets you a maturing but classically styled example, typically firm and tough, for fans of more reserved, traditional Barolo.

At the other end of the price scale, the 2007 Coppi Peucetico Primitivo ($13.95) is an amazingly mouth-filling and satisfying wine reminiscent of Amarone at less-than-basic Valpolicella pricing. And rounding out the values from Italy I’d highlight La Sala Chianti Classico Riserva 2008 and the 2009 Arnaldo Caprai Rosso Montefalco, (but $19.95). The former delivers clear riserva-level quality, with generous, high-quality oak, ripe, concentrated red and black fruit, and a firm and structured, densely packed palate. This should improve over the mid-term. Caprai’s Montefalco (mainly sangiovese and sagrantino) is a perennial favorite, a wine I used to purchase regularly for restaurant clients because of its structure and complexity above the price category. The 2009 is particularly ripe and fruity, with a fine balancing mix of pot pourri and dried flowers, licorice, black and red fruit, though the palate remains steadfastly Italian, with dry, firm, dusty tannins and puckering acidity. Serve this with salty protein, or leave in the cellar 2-4 years.

Fans of bright and zesty ‘charcuterie’ reds should consider the 2009 Rabl St Laurent, Kamptal ($15.95). St. Laurent, once believed to be a distant relative of pinot noir but since proven to have no relation, produces in this case a fresh, bright red and blue fruit-scented wine, with terrific balance and succulent, mouth-watering acids.

Among whites worth your attention I’d signal the archetypical 2007 Dr. Hermann Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese ($16.95), an astonishing value, as I never tire of pointing out when it comes to top Mosel Riesling. It’s drinking beautifully at the moment, and although it starts off slightly sweet, the underlying acids and terrific minerality dry out the long finish. Also a regular source of fine value, minerally wines, Santorini’s competent cooperative winery gives us the 2011 Santo Assyrtiko ($16.95). It has palpable texture and saline flavours, not to mention solid intensity.

See the full top ten here; also stay tuned Saturday December 29th for a shopping list of a dozen sparkling wines recommended by the WineAlign team, in stock at the LCBO and ready to ring in the new year.

And on that note, Happy New Year and best wishes for all – here’s to more trustworthy information in 2013.

John Szabo, MS

From the January 5, 2013 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
All Reviews

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John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for November 10th 2012

Drinking at 39,000 feet; Classic Piedmont; Top Ten Smart Buys and Premium Wine Gifts

John Szabo, MS

Ever wonder why you suddenly crave tomato juice when you’re flying? Do you also notice that wines don’t quite taste the same at 39k feet as they do on the ground? A rare Air Canada upgrade to business class last week on my way to the Jura afforded the chance to taste a couple of wines that I am more familiar with at sea level, and encouraged some investigation into the effects of altitude and air travel on taste perception. Flying does affect taste, so read on to find out why. I also highlight the Top Ten Smart Buys from the Vintages November 10th release, a half dozen wines from Piedmont, and five gift worthy bottles to consider as we get into the official season of giving and sharing.

Drinkers With An Altitude

I rarely drink tomato juice, even mixed with vodka the morning after. It’s not that I don’t like tomatoes; on the contrary, I eat a disproportionate amount of them. But I always seem to be into drinking something else. Except when I’m flying. When that seatbelt sign is extinguished and the drinks trolley finally rolls past, I suddenly get a craving for tomato juice, which I promptly order, along with a glass of white wine and some sparkling water (to make spritzers, of course, the only way to survive economy wine selections). It’s not just me, either; airline stewards report increased consumption of tomato juice during long flights. I often wondered where this spontaneous need for liquefied tomato comes from.

As it turns out, not only does high-speed air travel slow down time, as per Einstein’s theory, but it also creates different atmospheric conditions that change your perception of smell and taste. In the search for scientific evidence to back my empirical experience, I came across a paper by Master of Wine Bob Campbell, who was invited by Air New Zealand to investigate taste differences of the same wines on and off the ground. Campbell’s article in turn led to a research paper by Leitthema Neuromarketing, which studied odor and taste perception in a simulated aircraft cabin. The study points to reduced atmospheric pressure, low humidity, reduced oxygen absorption, noise, cosmic radiation and magnetic-field exposure as possible explanations for the differences in taste and aroma perception between drinking on the ground and at 39,000 feet.

The abstract states, “At low pressure conditions, higher taste and odor thresholds of flavorants were generally observed with few exceptions. Salt, sugar, glutamate and most odorant thresholds increased clearly.” In other words, at cruising altitude, your taste perception is reduced, so that more “flavorants” are needed to produce the same intensity of taste as what you’d experience under regular atmospheric pressure on the ground. That means that more salt, sugar, spices and herbs are needed in the meals served on board an aircraft in order to satisfy our taste cravings.

So why tomato juice? Because it tastes better at low atmospheric pressure. Under regular conditions, study subjects described the aromas as musty and earthy, while up in the air, the description changed to fruitier and clearly tomato-like. Likewise, the dominant tastes shifted from sour and salty to fruitier and clearly tomato-like, with sweeter tastes and a cooling, more refreshing sensation. No wonder I like it more in the air. I also believe that it has to do with tomato juice’s high glutamate content (the umami taste sensation), which people naturally crave. In lieu of a perfectly grilled T-bone steak, tomato juice is the most potent source of an umami hit at cruising altitude. At least that’s my theory.

Incidentally, one of the possible explanations for the observed changes in the threshold of perception also explains why you get unusually tired on flights: it’s a natural reaction to the condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia is essentially the result of reduced oxygen absorption, the first symptoms of which are fatigue and reduced mental performance. Airline cabin air has only about 70% of the oxygen found at sea level. And here I was thinking that my regular fatigue had to do with the wine-dosed press trips and their long days and short nights that usually precede the flight home.

Also interesting is that most airline chefs have concluded empirically that, contrary to sweet, salt and umami tastes, sour and bitter tastes need to be reduced. That’s because sour and bitter tastes sensations remain intact or can even increase at altitude, presumably partly as a result of the relative decrease in the other taste sensations (i.e. the balancing perception of sweetness decreases, exposing acid and bitter tastes). Which leads me to wine.

While en route to the Jura last week on Air Canada, I tasted two wines that I had previously reviewed for WineAlign: Henry of Pelham Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and Gérard Bertrand Minervois Syrah/Grenache 2009. I observed that at cruising altitude, the sauvignon blanc seemed lighter, more acidic, and lower in flavour intensity, with little evidence of the “lively, simple, fruity and crisp example of sauvignon blanc, with a nice mix of citrus flavours” that I described while tasting in the LCBO lab, just a few feet above Lake Ontario.

The Minervois, on the other hand, faired better at 39,000 feet. It was certainly more satisfying, and came closer to resembling the wine I described when tasted on earth as “A fine, spicy, fragrant, very minerally and schistous, dried mushroom-flavoured example, with exceptional complexity and class for the money”. But what did change was the texture: the wine was dryer and more astringent, with less “resolved tannins” as I had found before.

The observations of the study go a long way to explain the changes in perception of these two wines that I observed, at least the way I interpret it. The low-pressure environment of an airline cabin allows light aromatic molecules to escape quickly, leaving only “heavier” molecules available for olfactory enjoyment (while other factors also affect your ability to smell). And logically, the reduced humidity decreases your ability to salivate, literally drying you out. Since saliva is the natural buffer than balances acidic substances that you put your mouth – you salivate in part to regulate the pH, and since the protein in saliva also acts as a buffer to reduce the astringent sensation caused by tannins, a reduction in available saliva leads to an overall heightened sensation of acidity and astringency.

So, since light and fresh flavours are the first to go at altitude, the sauvignon lost much of what it had to offer, while the Minervois, with its deeper, more intense aromatics was still enjoyable to smell. Similarly when tasting, the diminished perception of the vaguely sweet taste of alcohol coupled with the shortage of saliva conspired to expose the high underlying acidity in the sauvignon, leaving a light, thin, sour wine in its place, while the Minervois with its more abundant alcohol and lower acidity was less affected, though the tannic astringency was slightly enhanced.

As for the effects of cosmic radiation and magnetic fields, I can only speculate (perhaps biodynamic wine producers can weigh in here). But this means that for airline wine programs, bigger, softer, rounder, sweeter and more intensely aromatic wines are preferred to fresh, light, dry and delicate. In the Leitthema study, an Amarone and a chardonnay Icewine performed best in the air. It seems cruising altitude affect wines in the opposite way that a movie camera affects actors: thinning them down rather than adding ten pounds. But don’t forget: if you’re not diggin’ the wine, there’s always the spritzer. Better for hydration, too.

Smart Buys for Drinking at Altitude

Notable highlights from the top ten smart buys that would perform well at cruising altitude include the 2009 Dopff & Irion Vorbourg Pinot Gris, Alsace Grand Cru ($17.95). The wine’s classic and amazingly intense botrytis-inflected character, with honey and ripe stone fruit, plus the medium-dry, full-bodied, rich and succulent palate would make this a great high altitude wine.

Another white that would still have flavour in outer space, I’d wager, is the 2011 Yalumba Organic Viognier ($16.95). WineAlign readers who attended the event with winemaker Louisa Rose last month at Crush Wine Bar know that Yalumba is a viognier specialist with the oldest plantings of the variety in Australia. This has textbook peach/apricot fruit and blossom aromatics, with more than a touch of pears in syrup and exotic jasmine. The palate is fullish, fat and glycerous, with a slightly sweet impression that would taste even nicer up in the air.

Similarly, the 2008 Quinta dos Quatro Ventos Colheita ($24.95) is a powerful, well-balanced and concentrated Douro red, packed with succulent black fruit that has more than enough intensity to handle low atmospheric pressure and increased cosmic radiation.

Smart Buys For Sea Level Sipping

As for wines best enjoyed on the ground, don’t miss the smart buy 2007 Tilenus Envejecido en Roble do Bierzo ($17.95). This is a paradigm for modern Spanish reds, fresh and lively, classy and elegant, with less wood influence than traditional Spanish reds. The palate bursts with black fruit and a touch of cold cream (typical), plus mineral-clay-slate notes, zesty acids and fine-grained tannins. Excellent length for the price category.

Too firm for drinking in the air but perfect for fans of well-structured old world reds on the ground is the 2007 Château Peyros Tannat/Cabernet ($14.95). It’s mature, savoury, earthy and leathery, reminiscent of nebbiolo in fact, with complexity well above the norm for the price category. Best served at sea level, decanted, alongside salty protein.

See the full list of the Top Ten Smart Buys.

Piedmont in the Spotlight

Vintages has assembled a fine collection of wines from Piedmont, the November 10th thematic. The styles and grape varieties on offer cover most of the bases, with emphasis on the classics. More importantly, all are delicious, and well priced. While at the very top end Piedmont is still expensive, it’s remarkable to see how the price of the mid-high end range has come down in the last half-decade or so. Where once $60 was the baseline price for decent Barolo, now you’ll find solid examples at $40 or even $30. Fans of Piedmontese wines, like me, are rejoicing. Pick anything from the list below and you’re sure to get a representative example:

Top Piedmont Selections

2007 Renato Ratti Marcenasco Barolo ($49.95)

2007 Giacosa Basarin Vigna Gianmaté Barbaresco ($38.95)

2004 Abbona Cerviano Barolo ($47.95)

2009 Poderi colla Nebbiolo d’Alba ($24.95)

2010 Giacomo Borgogno Barbera d’Alba Superiore ($19.95)

2010 Abbona Papà Celso Dogliani ($21.95)

Premium Gifts

And since it’s coming around to gift giving season, I’ve put together a list of five wines that tick off all the boxes for gift-worthiness, especially when you’re out to impress. These are namely:

1) From a famous appellation/region known for high quality

2) Expensive enough to be special without killing you (about 2-3x more than the average “good bottle of wine” price, in case the recipient checks)

3) Red (except Champagne and Burgundy, for which it’s ok to be rosé or white, respectively)

4) High-scoring with the critics (with me, at least; including a review with the wine is a nice touch)

5) Delicious

2002 Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rosé Champagne ($87.95)

2010 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($53.95)

2008 Jonata Todos Red Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara ($59.95)

2010 Domaine Latour-Giraud Cuvée Charles Maxime Meursault ($44.95)

2010 Domaine de Vieux Télégraphe Télégramme Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($46.95)

Gourmet Food & Wine Show

Don’t miss the annual Szabo vs Szabo no holds barred jiyu kumite (with wine, not swords) at the Gourmet Food and Wine Show on Friday, November 16th, 7:30-9pm.

Cutting Edge Wines
John Szabo MS & Zoltan Szabo
Renowned Sommeliers

$95 | 7:30 – 9:00 Friday November 16th, 2012

The dynamic duo of master tasters returns for what promises to be another sold-out seminar. John and Zoltan both currently work with the famed Trump Hotel in Toronto while they continue to consult, write, judge and travel. As leading sommeliers for over a decade, they are in tune with the most progressive winemakers, interesting grapes and dynamic new wine regions. Learn from Canada’s foremost wine experts as they present eight cutting-edge wines.  Order Tickets here.

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

From the November 10, 2012 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Top Piedmont Selections
All Reviews

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John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for October 27th 2012

Bordeaux 2009; Top Ten Smart Buys; A Trio for Collectors 

John Szabo, MS

’09 Bordeaux: The Real and True Vintage of the Century

As early as Spring 2010, the 2009 vintage in Bordeaux was being heralded as yet another “vintage of the century”, after the same was said previously of 2000 and 2005 (and later of 2010) – it’s been quite a century so far. Within the wine trade, such Bordelaïc hyperbole (my invented word) has become an old and overused joke. But more alarmingly, it has required wine writers to resort to the thesaurus in search of new words to describe the ever-greater grandeur (splendor, magnificence, majesty…) of the real and true vintage of the century. It’s sort of like the problem one runs into after scoring a wine a perfect 100 points, only to come across an even better wine later on, an inconvenience that can only be resolved by arbitrarily raising the bar to 110 points. Perhaps in another 20 years we will all be scoring on James Halliday’s 200 point scale.

Read on for more industry commentary on the 2009 vintage, and my best bets of the 20-odd Bordeaux in the October 27th Vintages release. You’ll also find some cracking values in the Top Ten Smart Buys, and a trio of highly collectible reds for the cellar.

In Praise of 2009

You, and everyone else, can be forgiven for the largesse of praise heaped on 2009 Bordeaux. With comments such as the following from respected industry leader Paul Pontallier, speaking of his 2009 Château Margaux: “2009 combines qualities that I have never scene: power and concentration. Our ‘09 is the most powerful wine we have ever made, including the legendary 1961 and 1947. These are undoubtedly the best young reds in the Médoc ever tasted”

It would be hard not to get excited. Other towering figures from the Bordeaux wine scene like Christian Moueix, of Pétrus, among other châteaux, joined the rally with “I have never seen anything like it in my career”, while Thomas Dô-Chi-Nam, winemaker at Pichon-Lalande, one of my personal favorite châteaux, said more matter-of-factly: “It is my best harvest ever”. [The last two quotes lifted from the Wine Spectator’s 2009 harvest report; Pontallier’s quotes are from my interview with him in May of 2010].

So is 2009 all that special after all, or just a very good vintage that needed a little marketing hype to help inflate prices after the softening of 2007 and 2008?

This would be tempting to believe, were it not for an equal measure of outsider excitement. 2009 was rather unique in that the main wine critics on both sides of the Atlantic were unanimous in their praise of the vintage and seemed to agree on the top wines. This is in contrast to many previous vintages in which the wines were more polarizing, underscoring “Euro” and “American” palate differences. But Robert Parker, the only man who really matters on the subject, had this to say: “[2009] may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux.”  Not unequivocal words, but not particularly ambiguous, either. He was excited.

Scraping the Barrel for Value

One thing is certain: the 2009s are expensive. The prices of the top wines are well beyond the LCBO-Vintages price range, and mine too (for which I don’t blame the châteaux entirely; Bordeaux pricing is the most convoluted in the world of wine, and in some cases, a wine may pass through four hands or more from château to consumer). Even the futures [pre-release] prices were staggering; the first growths all hovered around $1300 per bottle (see the original Vintages Futures offer here)

So with your financial well being at heart, Vintages has selected a middling range of moderately priced 2nd labels, or second or third tier châteaux from appellations beyond the marquee names, to fill out the October 27th release. About twenty 2009 Bordeaux will be hitting the LCBO Vintages shelves, giving you a chance to decide for yourself whether the vintage really is all that. Though keep in mind that it’s not a full view of 2009; the top kit is most definitely not here. Yet in such great vintages, even the unheralded wines are supposed to shine, aren’t they? Admittedly, I saw little evidence of that in this release.

Closing Down

To give some benefit of the doubt, I’ll say that in general, despite the apparent immediate deliciousness of the 2009s out of barrel when all of the above comments were made, many wines seemed to have closed down, and are currently going through the ‘dumb phase’ that you often read about. But it’s not mere double talk to excuse poor wines; no one can adequately explain why, but certain wines unquestionably go through a period when they are less expressive and less pleasant to drink. In late September 2012, most of the 2009s offered little aromatic intensity or complexity, just an awkward amalgam of fruit and oak. Palates were often hard, tight and unyielding. It was not an enjoyable tasting. The best of even these relatively inexpensive wines need half a dozen years or more to fully knit together; I can only imagine the top wines are even more unruly at the moment. I suspect that tasting this same range in 2018 would yield much more pleasurable results (and probably higher scores, too).

Californian Bordeaux

But on the other hand, looking back at my notes, I’ve written time and again “a-typical Bordeaux” and “outside the box”. In fact, strip away the names of the wines and read only the tasting notes, and I could easily convince myself that I had been tasting a flight of California cabernet blends: “ultra ripe fruit”; “plum jam”; “raisined fruit”; “hot and harsh”; “thick, mouth-coating tannins”, and similar, turns of phrase rarely applied to “classic” Bordeaux. Or maybe I’m just behind the times, and this is what 21st century Bordeaux is all about. Whatever the case, I think it’s a shame. If I wanted California-style flavours and intensity, I’d rather buy California, since they do it better and more consistently. Where once California did everything possible to emulate Bordeaux (and failed, thankfully), now the reverse appears to be happening, and doomed to the same failure. Bring on the 2006 and 2008 Bordeaux, those were fun wines.

The Best Bets of the Lot

There are nonetheless a few ‘09s in this release worth buying, if only to later prove myself wrong. Funnily enough one of my favorite wines of the release was a white, the Château de Cruzeau Blanc, Pessac-Léognan ($27.95). Cruzeau is a familiar label for LCBO customers, a wine from the Lurton stable that has been in the province for years. I loved the marvelously perfumed nose, a textbook example of the region, with its basil and tarragon-inflected lemon/citrus fruit, bees’ wax and soft pear and nectarine notes. A classy wine all around, for fans of classic Bordeaux blanc.

At the upper end of the price scale, my pick goes to the La Dame de Malescot, Margaux ($49.95), the 2nd Wine of Château Malescot St-Exupéry. There’s little to go by on the nose – all wood and black cherry notes for now – but the palate is obviously densely packed with flavour, abundant tannins and balanced acidity and alcohol. It has the stuffing to improve significantly over the next 3-5 years and beyond, though will likely never attain the finesse for which Margaux is known I suspect.

Better value overall is the Château Larose Trintaudon, Haut-Médoc ($24.95), a rare ’09 Bordeaux with a little more freshness and refinement than many, without excessive oak or concentration. Tannins and acid work in harmony on the palate to create a pleasant, grippy but appealing texture; a refined, stylish wine all around, better in 2-4 years.

And very nearly as good value is the Christian Moueix Pomerol ($29.95). This wine has rarely excited in the past; it’s always solid but never remarkable. But in this obviously high-potential vintage it seems the Moueix family was too busy trying to stuff as much as possible into their other more expensive wines, and simply left this moderately priced Pomerol to do its thing. Fruit is ripe to be sure, but stays on the right side of the ripeness continuum, while wood supports rather than dominates – a prime example of how a wine aimed at a modest end of the market can over-deliver in a vintage such as 2009. Drink now or hold for a decade – such is the nature of well-balanced wines. (See the rest of the Best Bets from 2009 Bordeaux here.)

Top Ten Smart Buys: Highlights

Bubbly

Fans of bone-dry, slightly idiosyncratic champagne will want to pick up some of the Tarlant Zéro Brut Nature Champagne ($44.95). It has a terrific nose chalk full of minerality with a well-measured mix of citrus, floral, wet hay, honey, and nutty-almond character. Zéro means no dosage (no sugar added) and the palate is indeed bone dry as advertised, though the wine is anything but lean and shrill. There’s a fine, vinous quality, with sufficient richness and flavour intensity to soften the edges while retaining the riveting tightness of the un-dosed style. A wine lover’s champagne, at a great price for the quality on offer.

Prosecco drinkers will rejoice with the Bisol Crede Brut Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore ($19.95). Bisol is always a step above the mean, and this, their “entry level”, has marvelous perfume, classic for the variety, full of fragrant pear and green apple, lemon blossom and fresh, sweet green herbs. The palate is fullish, creamy yet fresh, with excellent intensity and vinosity. This is certainly priced in the premium range for the category, but well worth it in my view; when I was purchasing this on consignment for restaurant clients it was several dollars more; it appears the LCBO effectively squeezed the producer and agent.

New Zealand Reds

New Zealand delivers are pair of fine values: 2010 Alpha Domus The Barnstormer Syrah, Hawkes Bay, ($22.95) and 2010 Hunter’s Pinot Noir, Wairau Valley ($21.95). The former is classic cool climate syrah with smoky character, and no small measure of black pepper, cassis and fresh black berry fruit flavours, while the latter is a clearly ripe and substantial example, meaty and succulent, though with recognizable kiwi pinot noir character.

Old World Duo

There are two fine, mid-week priced reds to watch out for: the soft, fruity, highly pleasant, easy-drinking modern Rioja from Palacios Remondo 2011 La Vendimia, ($14.95), and the wild, savoury, southern France 2010 Domaine Puig-Parahy Cuvee Georges, Côtes du Roussillon ($15.95), quite a ride for $16. Think fall/winter braised dishes. (See the full Top Ten here.)

For the Cellar

And finally, collectors with some disposable income should consider these three highly cellar-worthy reds (with my estimated prime drinking window):

2008 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($144.95, drink 2018-2030)
2009 Antinori Solaia, Tuscany ($251.95, drink 2018-2034)
2007 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (375ml $39.95, drink 2015-2025)

Gourmet Food & Wine Show

Don’t miss the annual Szabo vs Szabo no holds barred jiyu kumite (with wine, not swords) at the Gourmet Food and Wine Show on Friday, November 16th, 7:30-9pm.

Cutting Edge Wines
John Szabo MS & Zoltan Szabo
Renowned Sommeliers

$95 | 7:30 – 9:00 Friday November 16th, 2012

The dynamic duo of master tasters returns for what promises to be another sold-out seminar. John and Zoltan both currently work with the famed Trump Hotel in Toronto while they continue to consult, write, judge and travel. As leading sommeliers for over a decade, they are in tune with the most progressive winemakers, interesting grapes and dynamic new wine regions. Learn from Canada’s foremost wine experts as they present eight cutting-edge wines.  Order Tickets here.

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

From the October 27, 2012 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Best Bet Bordeaux
All Reviews

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John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for March 31st 2012: Easter; Startling discovery: learning about & drinking wine encourages new brain cells; Top Ten Smart Buys

This week’s report features wines in the March 31st release, for which the main theme is Easter. I considered highlighting wines that really come alive about three days after opening, but having thought better, decided to focus on ten super buys from this rich release. I’ll then go on to provide comforting scientific proof that your passion for wine will make you smarter, sharper and improve overall cognitive function, as discovered in a recent upheaval of long-held but erroneous scientific dogma.

Top Ten Smart Buys

It’s beautifully sunny and 17ºC in mid-march as I write this, with the fever of spring conjuring mirages of fragrant flowers, green grass and the smell of spring rains on warm asphalt. Or, maybe I’m just reliving the experience brought on by the 2010 Muralhas de Monção Vinho Verde ($14.95). While this vibrant, crisp white won’t topple you over with complexity, it has the irresistible smell of spring itself, and my mouth waters and I dream of grilled sardines and fresh oysters as I recall the experience.

There were near-universal gasps of approval at the LCBO lab, a rare occurrence in the subjective world of wine, as writer after writer sniffed and sipped the 2007 Studert-Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling. This is the second time this same wine has been released, the first being in July of 2009. But curiously, the price has dropped from $24.95 to $17.95, and it appears to be a different wine altogether, or at least a different bottling run, as the AP number, the unique code handed out by German wine authorities for all approved quality wines, is different. (This information is thanks to the indefatigable Michael Vaughn, Canada’s most organized wine writer.) Whatever the case, now, and even more than before, this is an astonishing value not to be missed by fans of German riesling or even by detractors, as this could be the wine that changes your life. I’ve long contended that Mosel riesling in kabinett and spätlese-level ripeness offers the world’s greatest expression of terroir, even ontological proof of its existence, for the least amount of dough.

Even more floral and more unctuous is the 2010 Cave Spring Estate Bottled Gewürztraminer ($17.95). It’s an archetype of the grape, with rose petal and lychee perfume, off-dry but balanced palate and great length. And to round out the smart buy whites, try the2008 Amayna Estate Bottled Chardonnay ($25.95). You can just about see the Pacific from Garcés Silva’s vineyards in the cool Leyda Valley, although this chardonnay delivers substantial weight, alongside a fine mix of ripe orchard fruit and measured barrel influence.

Reds worth discovering and serving with your Easter lamb include the wonderfully pure, biodynamically grown 2010 Achaval Ferrer Malbec ($23.95). The balance and freshness are impeccable here, with the added dimension of wild violets to round out the flavour profile.

The parade of values from the south of France continues with Hecht & Bannier’s 2008 Côtes du Roussillon-Villages ($22.95). It is the very essence of the region with its deep, spicy dark fruit and garrigue flavours, easily as good as many châteauneuf-du-papes at twice the price. Very nearly as good but terrific value for money is the 2009 Gérard Bertrand Minervois Syrah/Grenache ($15.95), likewise full of spicy, minerally character and super length and class.

And finally, three more recommended wines to round out your Easter dinner options: the structured 2009 Flagstone Music Room Cabernet Sauvignon ($17.95), the refined 2008 Quita De La Rosa Tinto ($19.95) and the ultra-savoury 2008 Taurino Riserva Salice Salentino ($14.95). Hope fully this short list has you covered.

  

A Startling Discovery: Learning About, and Drinking, Wine Encourages New Brain Cells 

About 20 years ago, around the same time as the French paradox caused a dramatic rise in North American wine consumption, a century-old scientific belief, as self-evident as gravity and as immutable as the speed of light, was unintentionally proved false by the song of a bird.

Over the course of the 20th century, neuroscientists came to believe that humans are born with a complete set of brain cells, and that once infancy was over, the brain stopped changing, evolving, and growing. A neuron lost was never replaced, resulting in a dwindling network of neural pathways that degenerated over the course of our lifetime; the waves of years slowly but inescapably eroding our minds, washing away our capacity to think and remember. How depressing.

That is, until Fernando Nottebohm, working at Rockefeller University in New York City, made his startling discovery. In an elegant study of birdbrains, not remotely aimed at disproving our fated neuro-degeneration but rather at unlocking the secrets of birds’ remarkable capacity to learn new songs, Nottebohm observed neurogenesis. He saw that new neurons were born regularly in parts of a mature bird’s brain, and that these new neurons were essential to the song learning process. His amazing results were at first marginalized by the scientific community, since avian brains were seen as irrelevant to mammalian brains, but the door was opened to an entirely new field of inquiry. Old papers from the ‘60s hinting at the fact were dusted off and re-read, and further studies on mammals were conducted. In time, the crushing weight of evidence would overturn the long-held dogma that the brain doesn’t regenerate, and an unavoidable conclusion was drawn: mammals, including humans, grow new brain cells with comforting regularity.

Others before Nottebohm had searched for evidence of neurogenesis, though most experiments ended in failure. What Nottebohm had unwittingly done differently was to study birds in their natural environment, as opposed to a laboratory, as others has attempted. Earlier studies on mice and monkeys trapped in cages in dreary labs surrounded by white coat-clad scientists showed no signs of birthing new neurons. Neurogenesis, it turns out, is highly dependent on your surroundings. Unnatural, uncomfortable or otherwise unpleasant environments cause stress, which is now understood as an even more insidious and effective killer than previously thought. Stress inhibits neurogenesis. Sleep deprivation, too, has also been shown to curb the number of newborn neurons. Yet more reasons to avoid stress and sleep more, as though you needed a reminder.

The flip side, and here’s where I’ll get around to my tenuous tie-in to wine, is that anti-stress activities increase neurogenesis. Though alcohol is known to unwind the body, resulting at least in neurons transmitting electrical signals in the same alpha waves-pattern as is observed when the body is relaxed, I won’t suggest for a moment that drinking wine increases the birth of neurons (in the same way that it increases other types of birth). In fact, I’m sure that just the opposite is true. No, I’m referring to other anti-stress activities. Enriching your environment, talking a walk in the woods (or the park) does wonders for the mind. Regular exercise is a proven new neuron stimulator. And yet another effective stimulator, as Nottebohm stumbled across, is learning. Acquiring new knowledge not only increases neurogenesis, it also makes newly born neurons live longer (most new brain cells die young) and integrate better into existing brain structures, effectively putting them into use.

So, why not do your neurons a favour while engaging in something you enjoy? The field of wine is vast and full of learning opportunities. And the homework is not at all stressful. There is also a further benefit to delving deeper into an enjoyable field, a type of virtuous circle or positive feedback loop: learning about wine not only stimulates the birth of neurons, it also directly increases your capacity to enjoy it, which in turn will encourage you to learn more about it, and on and on.

A further fact about neurogenesis makes the case for delving into wine even stronger: neurons only grow in the parts of the brain that happen to be most titillated by conscious wine tasting. Studies so far have shown that the greatest regions of neurogenesis are the hippocampus, the memory and learning center, and the olfactory bulb, where all aromas are processed. It appears that new olfactory bulb neurons are critically involved in odor discrimination and improved odor memory. At the same time, differentiating between smells, as wine drinkers are constantly doing as they swirl and sniff, actually increases the survival rate of newborn olfactory neurons.

In other words, repeated smelling and tasting of wine, coupled with ongoing learning about grapes, regions, places, producers and everything else related, plus travel to beautiful wine country under relaxed conditions, could very well increase your brain regeneration capacity. And you’ll inevitably end up enjoying wine a little bit more, too.

Well, that was a whole lot of scientific mumbo jumbo to reach a starkly obvious conclusion. But at least now you have rock solid, scientific evidence that your passion for wine is not only enjoyable, it’s good for your brain, too.

From the March 31, 2012 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
All Reviews

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

References:
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Adult_neurogenesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurogenesis
http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainbriefings_adult_neurogenesis

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Filed under: News, Wine, John Szabo, LCBO, Top Ten Smart Buys, Vintages, Vintages Preview

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for March 17th 2012: Spanish Styles; Fine Value from the Rhône and South Africa; Top Ten Smart Buys

John Szabo, MS

The week’s report focuses on Spain, the main wine theme of the March 17th Vintages release, highlights two pairs of fine value wines from the Rhône and South Africa, and delivers the Top Ten Smart Buys.

España- Buy on the Label

Spain continues to be an enigmatic country for wine lovers, a developing nation with wild variations in style even within the same appellations. The fifteen selections included in the March 17th release offer a view on the good and the bad, the old and the new.

On the one hand there are the traditional styles, at the other extreme, plenty of polished, modern renditions. This is not news, of course, to anyone who has been following Spain – the rumblings of political and stylistic revolution began not long after the death of Generalisimo Franco in the mid-seventies – and are part of a necessary and inevitable evolution. This generational conflict is playing out across the country in all of the traditional appellations, as Spain remains in search of a 21st century identity. So how is one to know which style to expect – traditional or modern – without having tasted the wine (or consulting WineAlign)?

The answer, though it may be heretical for a wine critic to say, is to go on the label. Hey, you have to start somewhere. It’s not a perfect solution, of course, but Spain’s distinctive labels remain surprisingly faithful to the wine style therein.  Consider these two very good reds:2004 Vega Sauco Adoremus Tinta de Toro DO Toro $19.95 and 2001 Baron de Ley Gran Reserva DOCa Rioja $29.95. Both are top notch in my books, though the Adoremus Toro, as evinced by the modernist label, has an appealing international leaning. I describe it as a: “Super value with wide appeal, if not distinctive regional style.” The Baron de Ley Rioja with the classicists’ label (some of their wines still come clad in wire mesh, an old measure to protect against fraud) on the other hand, is described thus: “Old school to say the least… but lots else going on as well…. A fine pick for traditionalists.” The latter is immediately identifiable, recognizable, unmistakable – a welcome sniff on a sommelier’s blind tasting test, while the former, although very good, would be less easy to identify as Spanish. With nothing else to go on, start with the style of the label as a guide to wine style.

Another fine old style white Rioja is the 2009 Señorio de P. Peciña Chobeo de Peciña DOCa Rioja $17.95. It’s still a bit gangly and awkward for the moment, but cocoon it in the cellar for a half-decade or longer and you’ll be shocked by the butterfly that emerges. Such wines, with vivid acid and marked oak character take time to integrate, but develop into wonderfully complex, earthy, mushroom, saltwater taffy and dried fruit flavoured treats, with a lightness and ethereal quality that would be hard to believe if you’ve never experienced it. Naturally, if you prefer fresh, fruity wines, this is not for you, either now or later.

A Spanish Love Affair with Wood

Excellent traditional style wines aside, the reason why Spanish wine has lost territory in today’s international markets is, in my view, because of the country’s torrid, centuries-old love affair with wood. Though the above-mentioned Chobeo de Peciña is oaky to be sure, it’s balanced, with sufficient stuffing to see it through. Other arch-traditionalists Rioja estates like Lopéz de Heredia or La Rioja Alta also make wines that are markedly oaky in youth, yet have an amazing capacity to be transformed into wondrous wines over time. In fact, both of these estates wait years, sometimes decades before releasing their wines, well beyond the minimum cellaring time required by law – one of the advantages of many traditional Spanish wines for those without the space, or patience, to age the wines themselves. And check out those marvelous labels straight out of the 19thC.

But oak alone does not make age worthy wines. It requires depth and concentration born in the vineyard and a deft, minimal-interventionist hand in the cellar. Spain’s enthusiastic use of American oak dates literally to the Conquista and the access to vast virgin tracks of American white oak stands that the new territories afforded. Yet today, so many of these unbalanced and oaky wines seem desperately anachronistic, relics of the past, as though they were clad in a conquistador’s suit of heavy armor:  the heavy metal protection as useful today as the dripping caramel, butterscotch and treacly oak flavours are fashionable (while the fruit suffers the same fate as the Incas and the Aztecs). For an example of this style of Spanish wine, taste the 2001 Señorio del Águila Gran Reserva DO Cariñena $19.95. It’s not mature, just old and dried out, the vestiges of excessive oak remaining like the ghostly burnt out hull of an ancient Spanish Galleon run aground in the storm.

There are a handful of Spanish regions that have never known the ghosts of the past, principally because they weren’t on the map a couple of decades ago. Relatively new DOs like Bierzo and Rías Baixas, stepped from oblivion straight into the current era of modern wine. An excellent example of the former, and in fact my top value choice this week is the 2001 Bodega del Abad Dom Bueno Crianza DO Bierzo $14.95. I could scarcely believe the range of flavours and depth in this wine, what must be the very first release from this bodega whose doors didn’t open until 2003. If you enjoy the umami-driven flavours of perfectly mature wine, do not miss this extraordinary value.

A Pair from The Rhône

Outside of Spain but not too far away, I’d draw your attention to another pair of fine value 2009 southern Rhône reds, delivering on the promise of this excellent vintage: 2009 Jean-Marie Arnoux Vieux Clocher Vacqueyras AC $21.95 and 2009 Foncalieu la Réserve du Crouzau St. Gervais Côtes du Rhône-Villages AC $14.95.  The Vacqueyras is a typical blend dominated by Grenache, from some of the oldest vines on the Arnoux property. It’s marked by minerality and scorched earth, with intriguing cherry blossom and orange peel aromas. The CDR-Villages is dense and ripe and characterful, delivering all that one could hope for at this price.
 

A Pair from South Africa

And finally, worthy of mention are two excellent wines from South Africa: 2009 Spice Route Shiraz WO Swartland $24.95 and NV Graham Beck Brut Sparkling Wine WO Western Cape, South Africa, Méthode Cap Classique $18.95. Spice Route is a label produced by the irrepressible Charles Back, creator of the highly successful Goats do Roam range, who visited Toronto for the first time in January of this year. Made from dry-farmed vines in Swartland, this is a thick, dense, intense shiraz with generous black pepper and ripe black fruit flavours.

Graham Beck is a leader of Method Cap Classique (traditional method) sparkling wines. Fruit is grown in the Breed River Valley in Robertson, quite far inland from the Cape. The climate here is warm and dry, in fact quite the opposite of what one would intuitively seek out for quality sparkling wine, but the secret is the fossil-rich limestone soils that are imminently well suited to chardonnay and pinot noir. Proper farming delivers ripe but mineral and acid-rich grapes to the cellar, where they are transformed into full flavoured, toasty bubbly after 24 months on the lees. The Brut NV is superb value at $18.95.

From the March 17, 2012 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Spain Picks
All Reviews

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

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Filed under: Wine, John Szabo, LCBO, Rhône, South Africa, Spain, Top Ten Smart Buys, Vintages, Vintages Preview

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for February 4th 2012: A Greek Symposium; Hot & Cold California; Top Ten Smart Buys

John Szabo, MS

February 4th brings a ray of sunshine to Ontario, in the form of the sun-drenched wines of California and Greece. Yet despite the perceived similarity in climate, the wines of these two places are worlds apart for reasons explored below in my mini Greek Wine Symposium. Two distinct style streams of California wines are neatly exposed in this thematic, with a thick line drawn in the sand between the just ripe and overripe styles, which I’ll examine briefly here. For those looking for a quick fix, jump straight to the top ten smart buys.

A Greek Symposium

A symposium in ancient Athens was quite unlike the modern version we’re used to. Contrast the image of an auditorium, a panel of speakers with their bottled water and a quiet audience with pen and notebook in hand, with that of the sumptuous interior of a wealthy Athenian’s villa, gentlemen lounging in togas vigorously discussing matters of importance, a lavish banquet feast spread before them, and a large amphora of wine generously ladled into chalices with regularity until the moon set. Symposium derives from the Greek verb “to drink together”; these were drinking parties, during which men of society would discuss important matters of philosophy, politics and war. One wonders if international politics and economics wouldn’t be just a little better off today if our forums, summits and symposiums were conducted in the ancient Greek style (but with far more women involved).

The ancient Greeks were nothing if not wine connoisseurs. The world’s first appellations of origin for wine evolved within its borders, and trade in wine throughout the Aegean and Mediterranean was big business. Yet despite nearly 7000 years of wine history, Greece today is as young and developing as any new world country in the modern business of fine wine. The image of rustic, pine-scented wine served in rough-hewn copper pitchers in a seaside taverna still lingers, and bottled wine is a relative novelty. But for wine lovers seeking to broaden their range of familiar flavours and lengthen their lists of food-friendly, regional specialties, Greece is well worth some investigatory drinking.

February 4th sees Greece in the spotlight at Vintages for the first time, with a well-chosen selection of some of the country’s strongest export-ready grapes and regions. I will be charged with a bias towards Greek wines, having done considerable trade education on the subject on behalf of the Greek government (I’ve even been part of a film on Greek wines), so of course it’s true. I’m always drawn to distinctive wines with unique flavour profiles, and am happy to share these discoveries. I was intrigued by Greek wines from the very first moment I tasted a glass of Santorini less than a decade ago, captivated by the fascinating mix ancient and modern, distinctiveness, and sheer deliciousness. Out of 300 or so indigenous grapes, this release highlights four of the most established. Here’s the order in which I suggest you serve wines at your own symposium:

1. 2010 TSELEPOS MOSCHOFILERO MANTINIA PDO $16.95  Moschofilero is the grape, a pinkish-skinned, fragrant, floral variety vaguely reminiscent of Muscat on the nose. Mantinia is the region, essentially a plateau located in the central Peloponnese at an average of 650m elevation. Believe it or not, grapes struggle to ripen regularly here. Typically Mantinia is a crisp, light-bodied white (or slightly pink-tinged) with crisp acid, low alcohol, 11-12% and bright citrus, sweet herb and floral aromas. It’s just about the stylistic opposite of what one would expect from a Mediterranean country. Fans of pinot grigio, dry riesling, albariño, lighter sauvignon blanc and really any dry crisp whites will feel at home with moschofilero.

2. 2007 PAPAIOANNOU SINGLE VINEYARD AGIORGITIKO AOQS Nemea $19.95  Nemea is Greece’s largest red wine appellation, a hilly zone in the northwestern Peloponnese near the town of ancient Nemea. Agiorgitiko, or “St. George” is the only permitted grape. It’s what the Greeks would call a polydynamic variety, capable of being rendered into any style from crisp rose at higher elevations (up to 900m abs.) to sweet styles from raisined grapes grown on the valley floor. It reminds me a little of merlot or tempranillo, fairly round and plush, with soft tannins and sumptuous mouth feel. But Papaionannou’s version, with its fresh strawberry and raspberry fruit is more like pinot noir or light grenache – ’07 is one of his best vintages to date.

3. 2010 SIGALAS ASSYRTIKO SANTORINI AOQS $21.95  Now that you’re a little more comfortable with Greece and haven’t run screaming to the nearest bottle of chardonnay or merlot, it’s time to go a little further. Santorini is the appellation, a volcanic island in the Cyclades – you know the postcard image of Greece, with the white washed houses, pale blue domes and deep blue sea beyond? That’s Santorini. Assyrtiko is the grape, widely acknowledged to be not just one of Greece’s, but one of the Mediterranean’s most distinctive white varieties. It’s far from easy going, more like a sommelier’s pet grape: powerful, stony, both relatively high in alcohol and acidity, with vaguely fruity-grapefruit aromas. It can smell like a matchstick, after all, it grows in volcanic pumice. If you like top Alsatian or German Riesling, gruner veltliner from the Wachau, premier or grand cru Chablis, and other similar, singular, minerally wines, give this a try.

4. 2008 KIR-YIANNI RAMNISTA XINOMAVRO AOQS Naoussa $19.95  Xinomavro is the red equivalent to assyrtiko: a decidedly tough, non-cuddly grape, with fierce tannins, juicy acids and complex range of generally non-fruity aromas. It grows in several appellations in northern Greece, but Naoussa is easily the best known. There is a striking parallel between xinomavro (which means literally “acid-black”) and northern Italy’s nebbiolo. Both are pale garnet-coloured, with high acid and firm tannins, fruit in the sweet red berry spectrum augmented by a range of savoury, floral, licorice, resinous herb and pot-pourri-like aromas. Kir-Yianni’s is a more concentrated, ripe and modern version, while the 2004 BOUTARI GRANDE RESERVE AOQS Naoussa $16.95 , obviously more mature, is also more old school in style. Both are delicious and well priced, especially if you are used to paying for Barolo and Barbaresco. But before you try either of these, a nice segue into the category is the 2007 TSANTALI RESERVE RAPSANI PDO $15.95 . Rapsani is further south on the western slopes of Mt. Olympus, and xinomavro is blended with equal parts krassato and stavroto (1/3 each). The latter two varieties used essentially soften the texture and deepen the colour of xinomavro. Tsantali’s example is delicate and strawberry-scented, with light, dusty tannins and bright acidity, resulting a juicy, food-friendly wine. Serve with a light chill for maximum enjoyment.

If you’re interested in learning more, visit: www.newwinesofgreece.com .

The Two Faces of California

California is the main theme of the February 4th release, which will certainly build further on their current domination of Vintages sales. But far from complacent, as one might expect given their success, my most recent trip to California last December revealed a region in a fervent state of evolution. I observed a growing experimental, counter-culture side to the California wine industry, driven, I believe, in large measure by the growing divide over the issue of ripeness. To anyone on the outside of the industry, timing the harvest to pick ripe grapes would seem a straightforward decision. But the precise timing of the harvest, and an individual producer’s definition of ‘ripe’ has a dramatic impact on wine style, to the point where regional, or even varietal character, can be overridden.

I spoke with many Californian sommeliers who expressed a similar weariness towards the style that has dominated the market for the last 15 years: super ripe, raisined, big, thick, highly extracted and lavishly oaked reds from the bigger-is-better school. Many winemakers, too, bemoan the late harvest style that has become entrenched at the upper end of the market, which require a significant amount of manipulation in the winery in order to render them stable. It became clear from talking and tasting that the increased alcohol levels of California wines in the last two decades (and of many other regions around the world) is purely a cultural and stylistic decision, removed from any discussion of global warming. In other words, it is a conscious choice to make raisin and fig-flavored wine. One need only point to the many excellent California wines harvested at a less extreme degree of ripeness to make the point. Yet there’s still evidently a place for raisined wines in the market, as the sales keep churning and the prices reach consistently into triple digits. Plenty of consumers, and wine critics, like these wines.

And that’s fine – diversity is what makes wine more interesting than soft drinks – I’m just reporting on that diversity (peppered with my uncontainable personal opinion). And so I was delighted to discover the emergence of a small but growing number of tiny wineries purchasing top quality fruit and transforming it, often in old warehouses, industrial parks and other makeshift facilities, into wonderfully individual, eccentric wines. I tasted a wild range ‘indie’ wines such as long skin contact white (orange) wines, crisp and vibrant reds from old vines and unpopular varieties like carignan and mataro, sulphur-free wines sold only locally in re-useable Kleen Kanteens, even a cabernet franc that was a dead ringer for a cool vintage Chinon from the Loire Valley. Yes, the spirit of innovation is alive and well in the Golden State. And I suspect that these small operations, tuned into the sub-currents of wine culture, will exert increasing influence on the industry as a whole, given their direct and simpatico connection with the gatekeepers of wine sales: sommeliers and wine shop owners. At the very least, they make the California landscape vastly more interesting.

Whether your preference is big or balanced, there are wines to satisfy both style streams in this release. My three favorite California wines are the exceptional 2007 DUNN VINEYARDS CABERNET SAUVIGNON Napa Valley $87.95, an arch-classical estate, the 2007 BEAULIEU VINEYARD GEORGES DE LATOUR PRIVATE RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON Napa Valley $89.95, a wine with a long pedigree of quality and ageability, and the organically/biodynamically farmed 2009 FROG’S LEAP CABERNET SAUVIGNON Napa Valley 90 $58.95 *1/2. All three are naturally well-balanced, delicious wines.

  

If big flavour impact is what you’re after, then you’ll be more drawn to the 2007 ROBERT MONDAVI RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON Napa Valley $139.95, or the 2009 CAYMUS CABERNET SAUVIGNON Napa Valley $69.95. Just don’t ask me to have a glass, even if you’re buying.  But it’s only fair to illuminate both faces of California wine.

 
From the February 4th, 2012 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Great Greek Wines
Top Californians
All Reviews
Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

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Filed under: News, Wine, California, Greek wines, John Szabo, LCBO, Top Ten Smart Buys, Vintages, Vintages Preview