Tuscany Unleashed; Lawrason’s Take on Vintages February 16 Release

Tuscany Unleashed & Gems from the Rhône, Oz, Ontario and Otago

David Lawrason

Tuscany is the backbone of Vintages February 16 release, with most wines hovering around 90 point excellence in a collection that nicely showcases the major regions and styles. But I also found some other nuggets from the Rhône (it just keeps on delivering), Australia, Ontario, and a dandy pinot from New Zealand’s Central Otago. I am just back from my long, eight region sojourn to Middle Earth, with almost 1000 tasting notes and several themes for the weeks and months ahead. There is nothing like travel to keep perspectives changing. But the early days of 2013 are bringing change in other ways too, as we say goodbye to Wine Access magazine which folded last week – 21 years after I founded it as a newsletter in 1991. At the same time we say hello to exciting new initiatives here at WineAlign to be revealed shortly, including Season 3 of “You Think You Know Wine“. I also return to the classroom delivering WSET programs in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal (see below).

Tuscany Unleashed

This is an excellent Tuscan release! But don’t go looking for bargains. Tuscany has joined the elite wine regions of the world (with Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa etc) and in this position it commands a decent buck. I would argue however that if you remove the overpriced collector wines like Tignanello, Solaia, Sassicaia and Masseto (I recently had a head-spinning 1996), Tuscany is easily the best value region among the elites. And if you are a wine drinker who likes reds with tension, complexity and finesse (if you are pinot fan) you will also like Tuscan reds. I really enjoyed tasting through this collection. I took my time, as the wines themselves demanded.

Castello Di Ama 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva ($34.95) defines Tuscany all by itself. Chianti Classico Riserva has always represented, to me, the essence of Tuscany – a sangiovese based blend grown at higher altitude in the Classico zone, selected from the best sites and aged a year longer. And Castello di Ama has worked its reputation up to the pinnacle of the genre. The property is ancient but the winery only opened in 1972, and did not begin to make its mark until the 90s after a young viticulturist named Marco Pallanti had re-planted 23 hectares of vineyard – after exhaustive research – with a strategy to highlight the best parcels for sangiovese. The result here is wine of wonderful precision, elegance and length, in a narrower style that is all about the traditional flavours of Tuscany.

Castello Di Querceto  2008 Chianti Classico Riserva ($27.95) is perhaps more hedonistically engaging, slightly richer but still very authentic.  This estate has  been around much longer, indeed it was a founding member of the Consorzio del Vino Chianti Classico in 1924, a quality focused association with the famous black rooster as its emblem. It also went through a very similar process of vineyard parsing and replanting in the 1980s under the direction of Allesandro Francois, who has also developed Querceto as an ‘agritourismo’ property.

Terre Nere 2006 Brunello Di Montalcino ($34.95) is a terrific, mature Brunello from a great vintage. There are two other very good 2007 Brunellos on the release (the current release of this long-aged wine), but neither have quite the depth and structure of this wine. It is very much a traditional Brunello, lacking the manicure of modern wines but unleashing flavours that flood the senses and warm the heart. And it is absolutely ready to roll out for a February roast or stew, after an hour in a decanter.

Et tu, Rhône 2010?

The wave of delicious, well-structured 2009 Rhône reds that swept through Vintages last year was one of the top wine stories of 2012. Could the wave of 2010s – a great vintage in France – plus some lingering 2009s, continue to dominate this year? This seems to be the case, as four out of five Rhônes on this release are very much worth buying, with three hitting 90 points.

Domaine De Fontavin 2010 Terre d’Ancêtres Châteauneuf-Du-Pape ($37.95) makes its debut in Ontario, as far as I can gather. And it is an auspicious debut – a finely constructed if not yet very showy wine that epitomizes the 2010 vintage. I have been disappointed with about 50% of the Chateauneufs of late, especially in terms of value, but this is a solid purchase, and a wine to cellar for about three years as it uncoils. It’s from a relatively new estate founded in the eighties that is expanding toward 45 hectares within eight villages in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The latest endeavour by Martine et Michel Chouvet is conversion to organic viticulture, a long process given the size and scattering of the holdings.  The 2011 is the first organic vintage.

Delas Frères 2010 Les Launes Crozes-Hermitage ($20.95) is a fine young syrah that sets the tone for the vintage with classic smoked meat flavours, tension and stoniness. Do expect the 2010s to have more nerve than the softer 2009s. Delas is an old name in the Rhône that went through a massive facelift after being purchased by Roederer of Champagne in the nineties. It makes a very wide range, but its portfolio is focused on the northern Rhône. Les Launes is a compilation of the many soil types and aspects found in Crozes-Hermitage, an apron of vineyards that flows out from the side and back of the majestic hill of Hermitage.

Domaine Saint-Pierre 2009 Vacqueyras ($24.95) is remarkable for the youth it still possesses and its sturdy nature which will reward even further ageing.  It is from a well-established domain based near Vacqueyras but owning almost 50 hectares of sustainably farmed vineyards throughout the southern Rhône. This Vacqueyras is very typically comprised of 60% grenache and 40% syrah harvested at fairly low yields.  In recent years, since I began visiting the region annually with a Gold Medal Plates group, I have developed a keen understanding and appreciation of Vacqueyras’ powerful, masculine style.

An Excellent Aussie Pair

Penfolds 2009 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz from South Australia ($44.95) has always been my favourite of the mid-priced “Bin Series” wines.  While moving through a fairly typical and average selection of Australian reds on Vintages tasting bench, this draped across my palate like a royal purple robe. It’s amazing how Penfolds manages to pack such depth, richness, precision and luminosity into its wines. What more can I say, except that I sense the special attributes of Bin 389 are due to the very successful melding of cabernet and shiraz.

Majella 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon ($36.95) hails from one of the oldest family wineries in Coonawarra, with four generations of the Lynn family, that originated as shopkeepers in the local town of Penola. This is a wonderfully rich, evenly sculpted wine, bursting with energetic cassis and eucalypt flavours yet contained, dense and very long.  With such a wine it is not difficult to understand why Coonawarra, with its terra rosa soils and moderated, coolish climate is one of the world’s truly great spots for cabernet – so good that they dare go with 100 cabernet sauvignon in this bottling.

Ontario Notables

Rosewood Estates 2010 Merlot from the Niagara Escarpment  ($22.00) is fine little gem – everything you could want from a cool climate merlot – and very good value from the warm 2010 vintage. It is sourced from two vineyards – Wismer and Renencau – that were fermented and aged in barrel separately before blending.  Having also recently reviewed an excellent Rosewood pinot noir, I would suggest that Rosewood is moving into the top ranks of Niagara wines. It took 16 medals in the Canadian Wine Awards and ranked 14th in the country. But all this comes with an asterisk since winemaker Natalie Spytkowsky’s departure last year. Her protégé Luke Orwinksi has is now involved as is Ross Wise, formerly of Flat Rock Cellars. It’s wait and see.

Palatine Hills 2010 Neufeld Vineyard Chardonnay from the Niagara Lakeshore ($22.95) is also a very good buy. It is a bit soft and warm as a result of the hot growing season, but there is fine complexity and nuance in and around the peachy fruit – a character I find often in Lakeshore wines. Palatine Hills is another label on the move with the arrival in 2011 of winemaker Jeff Innes who had honed his skills at the Grange of Prince Edward in PEC. He is selecting grapes from a very large vineyard acreage of maturing vines owned by winery owners John and Barbara Neufeld.

A Fine Otago Pinot

Loveblock 2011 Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand ($28.95) is first and foremost a quite delicious, fragrant and sturdy biodynamically-grown pinot noir. But the back story is also of interest.  The label is a new endeavour by Erica and Kim Crawford, the NZ power-couple that launched Kim Crawford wines which was taken over by Vincor, then Constellation Brands a few years back. Kim Crawford remains one of the most recognized NZ exports and it sauvignon blanc is a best seller at the LCBO – but the Crawfords have nothing to do with it.  Imagine your surname becoming a brand over which you have no control?

The other back story is how this wine represents the current situation in Central Otago, where I spent five days last month, tasting over 220 wines from virtually every producer.  I will write more about Otago in future – specifically its diversity of terroirs that desperately need to be sorted out via sub-appellation labelling. For the moment however suffice to say Otago is in transition from frontier outpost of people with purple passion for pinot, into a much more commercial region wrestling with price point issues and distribution.

The 2008 recession forced the high-faluting prices to moderate, which meant developing more vineyards and economies of scale.  The barefooted, renegade pioneers were forced to introduce lower tiers, and the rush was on as outsiders – like Erica and Kim Crawford –  came in to establish brands for wider distribution, often making their wines elsewhere.  The result is that I did encounter some ho-um Otago pinots, but in this case, the Crawfords have done a very good job of bringing in a reasonably priced, high quality wine that captures Otago authenticity.

Back to the Classroom – WSET

Throughout my career I have enjoyed teaching about wine as much as I have writing about it. I often run into “students” who remember my private tastings in the 90s and early 2000s in the cellars of Movenpick, Vines and Crush, and others who attended my CAPS New World courses at George Brown College during the mid-2000s. There has been a bit of a chalkboard lull since 2008, when WineAlign started up and life got extremely busy. But now an opportunity has come along that nicely puts me back at the lecturn.

Starting next month I will be conducting Level 1 (Foundation) and Level 2 (Intermediate) WSET courses in Toronto, in conjunction with Fine Vintage Ltd. WSET is the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, the world’s largest and globally recognized four-level program that ultimately leads to a Masters of Wine, for those hardy palates who can go the distance. There are very few MWs in Canada, and one of them is James Cluer, who runs Fine Vintage Ltd. I audited courses he ran in Toronto last fall, and will do so again this weekend, and I was struck by the level of professionalism and organisation, the quality of the materials, the rigour of the examination process and, importantly, the wine quality/budget he brings to this exercise. Even in the Foundation courses we let the wines do the teaching by focusing on very high quality regional wines. Fine Vintage was honoured as the WSET 2011 International Educator of the Year.

On a personal level, I also really like the location at the hotel/residences of One King West, steps from the subway, and the weekends-only schedule that allows students quick progression through the various levels (and works with my busy schedule as well). The one-day Foundation Course on Saturday, March 9 is already full. The three day Intermediate Course March 16, 17, 23 has space remaining. I will also be conducting courses in Montreal and Ottawa this spring, so please visit www.finevintageltd.com to check out all the details and upcoming schedules programs. Other WSET Courses are offered in Toronto through the Independent Wine Education Guild at www.iweg.org.

Cuvee Coming Up

The 25^th edition of Ontario’s Cuvée is coming up on the weekend of Mar 1-3, offering a great opportunity to taste deep and put on the ritz. It opens Friday evening with a Grand Tasting Gala evening at the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, with those who purchased VIP tickets through WineAlign getting early access (5:30pm) to the over 40 producers who are pouring their best. On Saturday morning there is the always excellent invitation-only experts tasting at Brock University, while other guests begin two-days of Cuvée En Route passport tastings at the wineries. For full details and ticket information, read our blog posting or click on the advertisement below.

I’ll be back for the March 2 release, meanwhile see all my reviews below.

Cheers,

David Lawrason VP of Wine

From the February 16, 2013 Vintages release:

David’s Featured Wines
All Reviews

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Filed under: News, Wine, David Lawrason, LCBO, Tuscany, Vintages

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for Feb 16, 2013

Chaos Theory and the Importance of Good Wine Lists; Tuscany; Kosher Picks, Top Ten Smart Buys.

John Szabo, MS

In this report I look at the Chaos Theory and why restaurants with bad wine lists will go out of business. I also cover the February 16 release featuring the wines of Tuscany. About a dozen wines are hitting the LCBO shelves, and overall, the quality is high. What’s also notable is that despite the Tuscan predilection in the last couple of decades for highly polished, internationally styled wines, this release highlights steadfastly traditional producers; no modern IGT blends, no Napa lookalikes. Read below for my top picks from classic appellations like Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello. Following Tuscany, you’ll find the top ten smart buys from the rest of the world and my kosher wine suggestions for Passover.

Chaos Theory: The Butterfly Effect on Wine.
Why Restaurants with bad Wine Lists will go out of Business.
(Modified from my original article published in 2012 on torontostandard.com)

Chaos theory is a fascinating field of mathematics with far-reaching implications for just about everything, including physics, economics, the weather, and whether or not you’ll enjoy your glass of wine tonight, and the meal, and the company. It has to do with the interconnectedness of all things: nothing exists in isolation; the laws of cause and effect govern all. Even chaos is predictable.

Chaos theorists study systems that are constantly changing, dynamical systems as they’re called. A minor change in a dynamical system at one point will lead to a massive change in the future. This was famously termed the “butterfly effect” by Edward Lorenz in a paper delivered 40 years ago entitled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil set off a Tornado in Texas? A seemingly insignificant change in one part of the system, like the gentle flap of a tiny butterfly wing on a distant continent, or the first family to default on a sub-prime mortgage, potentially leads to a dramatic outcome at some point down the road. [1]

But chaos, as I see it, is not limited to physical systems. Psychological chaos also exists. It’s the idea that some minor thought that flashes across the mind almost imperceptibly, insignificant at first, can change your entire perception of something over time. That little thought drops in your mind, and then ripples outward, lapping against other parts of the brain and triggering other, more powerful impressions until suddenly your life view is different.

It’s well documented that outside influences affect sensory perception. Marketers know that branding is powerful; even pre-school children are subject to the powerful influence of brand perception. In a study some years ago, 77% of children offered three bags of identical French fries preferred the taste of the fries in the bag with the MacDonald’s logo over the fries in the two generic, unmarked bags [2]. Adults are no less immune. Time and again, studies have shown how a higher price associated with a bottle of wine correlates with greater enjoyment, compared to the identical bottle believed to be less expensive. And price is just one factor. Region, grape, producer, label, closure, critic’s review and countless other factors also affect perception of quality. (I’ll note that in these studies the wine experts are less easily swayed.) It’s not that consumers are simply being fooled, either. They really are enjoying the product as much or more. FMRI scans in study subjects show the identical images associated intensified pleasure [3]. Sometimes it’s enough to think the wine is good. This leads to the conclusion that for most people, the perception of quality is as powerful, if not more powerful, than the quality of the actual molecules swimming around inside the bottle.

But let’s get back to chaos: does it work both ways? Does your perception of the wine spill back over to other perceptions? If all is truly interconnected, then the influences that change how you perceive the wine must also in turn be affected by the wine itself. I’d say that wine, like everything else, has the ability to change how you perceive your surroundings (aside from the effects of alcohol).

You’ve experienced how human relations can turn on seemingly insignificant details – they’re  complex, dynamical system. Just think of that first date or job interview when you had an intuitive sense that things were going well, or badly, without really being able to put your finger on it. Maybe it’s a minor, mildly annoying habit like fidgeting that sets you off, a barely perceptible nasal whine or a disagreeable eau-de-toilet. Suddenly, and involuntarily, once the butterfly has flapped its wings in your mind, the weather changes. The person may start to seem a little less smart, not quite as beautiful, and finally downright unsuitable. A minor detail has coloured the perception of apparently unrelated things – is fidgeting or perfume related to intelligence or beauty? No one would claim so, but perception is powerful.

Now imagine a restaurant scenario, a very complex system indeed. The success or failure of a restaurant is based on so many factors that no one has been able to nail down exactly the secrets of success. There are the tangible things that don’t change like the location, the décor and the menu, and then the things that are constantly changing, such as the actual food delivered, the service, the mood of the maître d’ and the waiter, the company you’re with, the general vibe and even the weather. All of these elements are interconnected and each affects the perception of the others, fixed or not. A sunny day on the patio with close friends makes everything taste a little better, just as a surly waiter or a tense meeting with an acquaintance produce the opposite effect. Minor things are constantly happening that have a profound effect on your overall enjoyment – it’s chaos theory at its best.

And wine, too, is part of the puzzle. Imagine the cheerful server arrives and suggests a wine from your favorite region, one famous for its fine wine. He reassures you that it’s excellent and will be a fine match for your main course. The bottle arrives, the label is attractive, it’s closed with a high-end natural cork (or screw cap, whichever you prefer) and served at the perfect temperature. You will like the wine. And not only will you like it, but your enthusiastic energy will likely spillover to your tablemates, too, who will also perceive the wine as excellent. And not only will the wine be excellent, but the food will also taste better, the ambiance will be a little more pleasant, the location not so far out-of-the-way and the service will even appear more seamless. In the end, you are more likely to return to the restaurant.

In a study conducted by Cornell University entitled Fine as North Dakota Wine, diners in Illinois were offered a free glass of cabernet sauvignon along with a prix fixe menu. Half of the diners were told that the wine was from Noah’s Winery in California, the other half that it was from Noah’s Winery in North Dakota; both were identical (Two Buck Chuck, as it turns out). And the results? “Those drinking what they thought was California wine, rated the wine and food as tasting better, and ate 11% more of their food. They were also more likely to make return reservations.” Not only does this support the theory that everything is interconnected and that chaos theory rules, but also shows that restaurants with crappy wine lists are bound to go out of business, sooner or later.

Classic Tuscany

The February 16^th release features the wines of Tuscany. About a dozen wines are hitting the LCBO shelves, and overall, the quality is high. What’s also notable is that despite the Tuscan predilection in the last couple of decades for highly polished, internationally styled wines, this release highlights steadfastly traditional producers; no modern IGT blends, no Napa lookalikes. All are from classic appellations: Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Brunello. And for the most part, they are classic, savoury, dusty, gritty wines that highlight the many faces of Sangiovese. Hats off to the Vintages team for focusing on the more unique and distinctive wines of the region.

Coincidentally I’ll be in Tuscany from February 19-24 for the Anteprime Toscane, the annual gathering to taste the latest releases from Chianti, Vino Nobile and Brunello, so I’ll save a more detailed report on the state of the region and vintage details for a later posting, so let’s get on with the highlights from February 16.

Topping my list this week is the 2007 Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva ($44.95), a very strong vintage for the wine. It’s produced from the vineyards surrounding the fortified abbey of Passignano, which have been yielding impressive wine for a thousand years. Antinori acquired the land in 1987 and has also used the Abbey’s cellars for winemaking since. This is a rich, ripe, concentrated and highly savoury example, umami-laden, with superb complexity, suave but taught and firm palate, like raw silk, and excellent length.

I’ve been an admirer of the Poliziano estate in Montepulciano for several vintages now, and the 2009 Poliziano Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano ($25.95) is well worth a look. 85% prugnolo gentile, the local name for sangiovese, is blended with cannaiolo and colorino, plus a splash of merlot to produce this wonderfully, earthy, herbal, dusty red fruit-flavoured Vino Nobile. It incorporates all of the expected savoury character of sangiovese from the region, neither overly rustic nor compromisingly modern – just right.

A pair of Brunelli also worth your attention: 2007 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino ($41.95) and 2007 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino ($57.95). Caparzo is another longtime favorite, regularly bringing together traditional styling, high quality and fair price. The estate belongs to the single-minded businesswoman Elisabetta Gnudi-Angelini, and comprises the vineyards on the hill of Caparzo north of Montalcino as well as selected sites in the southern, eastern and western parts of the appellation. The estate Brunello is made from a blend of all of these, aged for 3 years in large (5000-8000l) neutral casks to retain the natural expression of the variety. It’s a terrific value, favourably axed on finesse and feminine elegance.

Altesino coincidentally also belongs to Gnudi-Angelini, who purchased the well-established estate in 2002 (she also owns Borgo Scopeto in Chianti and Doga delle Clavule in the Maremma). Altesino has always been on the forefront of innovation in the region, including being the first Montalcino estate to introduce the concept of cru wines (especially the excellent Montosoli Brunello) and was among the first to use small French barriques for their IGT wines and to shorten ageing in wood to preserve more fruit in their Brunelli. Consequently, the Altesino style is modern leaning, offering a fruitier, richer, riper style than Caparzo. The 2007 delivers dried red and even blue fruit on the nose, with substantial depth and intensity on the palate; tannins are light and fine-grained, evidently very ripe, while sweet, chocolaty wood notes emerge on the finish and pull this back into the more modern style category. I’d like to see this in 2-4 years when the ensemble has better integrated, and considering the length and depth, I suspect this will improve significantly.

More moderately priced and fully ready to enjoy is the 2006 Castello d’Albola Chianti Classico Riserva ($22.95). Albola’s Riserva is a lean, mid-weight, juicy-tart example with modest wood influence. The fruit is mostly red, texture is firm and dusty with mouth-watering acids, and length is good to very good.

And lastly, Tuscany is not particularly known for its white wines, but 2011 Teruzzi & Puthod Vernaccia Di San Gimignano ($15.95) is a regional stalwart above the mean. Don’t expect a fruity wine; this will appeal to those who enjoy distinctively old world style whites build on chalky, mineral, resinous flavours. The palate is light, bone dry and very crisp, and thus more suited for pairing with food than sipping. Try this with herb-flecked, olive oil drizzled Mediterranean sea bass on the grill.

Top Ten Smart Buys

Beyond Tuscany, the February 16^th release offers a handful of excellent old world wines. Highlights include a pair of Bordeaux whites: the intense and age worthy 2009 Clos Floridène Blanc ($31.85) crafted by white specialist Denis Dubourdieu, and the flavourful and zesty 2011 Château Roquefort Blanc ($14.95).

A pair of Bordeaux reds is also worth considering. Put the 2009 Château De Pez ($58.95) in the cellar for 3-5 years, or pull it out for a special occasion in 2025 – this is a seriously structured and substantial wine. The 2009 Château Teyssier ($23.95) offers more immediate pleasure in a tasty mid-weight red, highlighting the quality of the 2009 vintage.

Greece and the venerable firm of Boutari offers us the 2007 Boutari Grande Reserve ($16.95). It’s an extraordinary value for aficionados of traditional style nebbiolo, which the grape of Naoussa, xinomavro, closely resembles stylistically.

One of my favorite champagnes makes a return to Vintages on the 16^th: Ayala Majeur Brut Champagne ($48.95). I’m a fan of the Ayala house style, a model of delicacy and elegance (certainly relative to Bollinger champagne, which owns Ayala). This bottling, disgorged in July of 2012, highlights the mineral profile strengths of champagne, and with low dosage (7grams), comes across as riveting and fresh. See the rest of the Top Ten Smart Buys

Passover Picks

February 16^th also features a handful of kosher wines, several of which are mevushal (see definition) listed as KPM in the LCBO catalogue and on the website. It’s a challenge to make good pasteurized wine to say the least, but two stood out from the release for both their fresh fruit flavours and overall high quality. If you’re inviting me for Passover dinner this year, I hope you’ll be serving the Banero Extra Dry Prosecco ($13.95) to start, followed by the 2010 Vignobles David Réserve Côtes-Du-Rhône Villages ($23.95).

L’Chaim!

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

From the February 16, 2013 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Top Tuscans
All Reviews

References:

• [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory
• [2] http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/preschool-branding.htm
• [3] http://www.darkcoding.net/research/wine%20economics_Robin%20Goldstein_vol%203_1.pdf
• [4] http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/cfb-fan080607.php

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Filed under: News, Wine, John Szabo, LCBO, Tuscany, Vintages Preview

Lawrason’s Take on Vintages Sept 29th Release

Super Tuscans, Power Pinots, Giants of South America and Bargain Whites

David Lawrason

Vintages September 29 release is in most respects a tour de force – with brilliant if small collections from the hills of Tuscany, the pinot fields of Australia and New Zealand, the energized valleys of Chile and Argentina, and arguably from a laid back California (although hardly a good value selection in this instance except for the 2010 Artezin Zinfandel).

There are also many interesting whites and reds from the various corners of Europe, making this a release to pore over carefully as you research your purchases on WineAlign, then pour generously when the time comes to indulge.

Tuscany Defined

I very much enjoy both tasting and drinking Tuscan reds. And it goes deeper than all that Tuscan romance – you know – those warbling tenors strolling amid the olive groves, non-chalantly leaning against crumbling stone walls and soulfully serenading star-crossed lovers in village trattorias. I like to taste Tuscan reds because they are challenging and complicated, and I like to drink them with food for exactly the same reason. They are almost never boring,  even if they can sometimes go the other way and become too jarring.

Vintages has done a fine job collecting some excellent examples while presenting a cross section of prices, styles, regions, big names and little names. Someone really thought this through; in fact if I were to conduct a one-day course on Tuscany I would grab each and every one. So its rather hard to isolate a very few to highlight here (I have gone for value), and I urge you spend time researching all the selections.

Remember that most are variations on a sangiovese theme, a grape with an often tart and impudent reputation. Some are aged longer, some shorter, some in old Slavonain oak, some in new French barriques, some blended with merlot, cabernet and syrah to in-fill sangiovese’s aggressiveness, some straight-up. The only thing relatively new under the Tuscan sun are the cabernet-merlot sangiovese-free reds from the coast in Bolgheri.

So let’s begin in Bolgheri with the very sensous 2008 Poggio Al Tesoro Sondraia, which beautifully defines ultra-modern sensibilities at a comparatively reasonable price of $44.95. The most famous wines of the region – Sassicaia and Ornellaia – are five times this price, and believe me, they are not five times better. (I recently scored 08 Sassicaia under 90). Sondraia was made by a young Nicola Biasi, working at a new winery founded recently in part by the Allegrini family of Verona in northeast Italy. Knowing this after having tasted put the style very much into perspective. Allegrini wines are always sleek, layered and accessible. This one also has impressive depth that belies its sculpted ease.

By contrast, Livio Sassetti 2005 Brunello Di Montalcino is more rustic, mature and typically Tuscan. And in the world of Brunello, Tuscany’s “biggest” sangiovese, it is very well priced at $39.95. There are two other excellent brunellos on the release as well but this conveys a bit more excitement and sensuality, which is something Tuscan red should always have. Grown on the Pertamali estate owned by the Sassetti family for three generations, this is traditionally made 100% sangiovese grosso aged three years in old Slavonian barrels.

The 2008 Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Riserva at $15.95 is a more basic Chianti, but this repeat listing gets a mention once again due to its great value. It is indeed lighter and shorter than the more expensive wines above, and it does rely on quite generous oak. But in behind the lushness lurks a finesse and again, sensuality, that rarely found in any wine at this price.

Aussie & Kiwi Power Pinots

After buying all the Tuscans, I would love to buy virtually every pinot noir on this release too.  Vintages has focused on a mittful from the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, Australia and Central Otago in New Zealand, and there is an excitement factor across the range that should convince the last die-hard Burghound that there are great pinot sites in the New World. Indeed all of them up the wattage over Burgundy, without sacrificing the nuance and complexity that makes pinot noir so intruiging in the old country.

Kooyong Estate 2010 Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula is one of several bottlings en route to Ontario from this cool climate pinot specialist. The others are single vineyard wines made at the striking Port Philip Estate winery situated in the Red Hill area in the heart of Mornington. It is powerful, riveting, bold fruited yet natural pinot that should be cellared, but it captures amazing character $49.95.

Riorret Merricks Grove Vineyard 2009 Pinot Noir, also from Mornington Peninsula, is the real sensualist. Riorret, which is “terroir” spelled backwards, is a line of single vineyard pinots from giant De Bortoli of the Yarra Valley. Merricks Grove is a cooler, north-facing, red soiled site in central Mornington planted in 1992. This is a very complex, intriguing, and almost haunting, offering plenty of funky character at $34.95

The 2008 Tarras The Canyon Single Vineyard Pinot Noir ($46.95) from Central Otago on New Zealand’s South Island is perhaps the most intense and heady. Tarras, named for a nearby town, only ramped up in 2007, and almost immediately won a slew of international honours. The Canyon vineyard is on terraced high ground on a Bendigo sheep station that was planted to several French clones in 2003.

91+ South American Reds

Still below the equator, Chile and Argentina each put forward intriguing wines in this release. I have visited both countries in recent years and I am keenly aware of the huge resources, talent, energy and ambition that is at work on both sides of the Andes. Anyone who still views South American winemaking as a third world enterprise needs to give their head a shake. The advances are shocking in their scope and velocity.

In Argentina, much of this has been driven by a huge company called Catena, but nowadays dozens of others have picked up the baton. One of the great challenges facing Argentina is to convince the world it can make top tier reds to compete with the best of France, California, Italy and California. It’s easy to slap a big price on the wine but it has to excel in the glass, and usually expensive Argentine reds do not.  So at $89.95 the success of Catena Zapata 2008 Nicasia Vineyard La Consulta Malbec is critical. Many will still balk at $90, but I must tell you that it has rare elegance, layering and precison for malbec that is all the more impressive given its richness and weight. The 2009 Luca Malbec, also from the Catena fold, and from the Uco Valley, is one-third the price at $29.95 but still very impressive and an opportunity to school yourself on the discussion.

Over in Chile two great values piqued my interest. I approached the Terranoble 2009 Gran Reserva Carmenère from the Maule Valley with little expectation, but was greeted with a wonderful nose that effortlessly combined deep seated fruit, luscious oak and carmenere’s distinctive herbaceousness. Quite elegant and a great buy at $17.95.

While yet another lesser known house has delivered the astounding Polkura 2009 Syrah for only $23.95. Polkura is a syrah project, founded by Chilean winemaking friends who had travelled together in the south of France. In 2004 they planted a 14 ha syrah vineyard sculpted within a crater-like hillside in the lee of the coastal ranges of western Colchagua. It doesn’t get full-on Pacific influence but enough that you will recognize the cool climate black pepper side of syrah. More importantly, it has some poise amid that drenching of cassis/cherry fruit.

Bargain Whites Under $20 Picks

And as usual I would like to quickly point you to three terrific white wine values. This is becoming a regular habit, and I hope a useful feature. And I have noticed it tends to highlight more Euro whites than new New world whites. If there is a bias at work it is unintentional, but it probably has to do with the higher level of acidity and lower level of alcohol in the Euro whites. As well, modern winemaking is now giving greater freedom to express the subtle aromas of white grapes and preserve their inherent freshness.

Markus Molitor 2011 Riesling is a cracker, dry Moesl riesling at only $18.95. As much as I technically admire the complex, riveting Molitor single vineyard rieslings, I do find them overbearing at times. While this is one to reach for every day and still be impressed. Likewise with the apparently simple 2011 Rudolf Rabl Löss Grüner Veltliner from Kamptal, Austria at a mere $13.95. It is very well made, subtle and well balanced – the ideal chef’s white when preparing your evening meal. And chardonnay fans shouldn’t miss Champy Signature 2009 Bourgogne at only $18.95, a wine with surprising complexity and depth under $20. I visited this very small negociant property in Beaune in May. Under new owndership since 2007, it is in the midst of restoring its reputation with some brilliant winemaking and by aggressively buying vineyards to build its domain portfolio.

Up Coming Events:

Next week is a big one for wine events.

The annual Chilean Wine Festival runs Tuesday evening, October 2nd at the Royal Ontario Museum and WineAlign readers can still take advantage of a savings through a promotional offer here. Presented by Wines of Chile and the Chilean Trade Commission, over 30 wineries will be pouring over 150 wines – a great chance to explore varieties, regions and meet winemakers themselves. Those attending the afternoon trade-only session will enjoy a seminar moderated by WineAlign’s Janet Dorozynski, who will also write a wrap up piece here next week.

The very next evening, October 3rd, you can attend Sip and Savour Ontario at the Distillery District. This is the annual event that showcases winners of Tony Aspler’s Ontario Wine Awards and raises funds for www.houselink.on.ca. This year there is a new twist as about 30 Ontario wineries are joined by six celebrity chefs. Full details and tickets are available at www.sipandsavourontario.ca

That’s a wrap for this week. From here through December the Vintages releases get bigger and even better, so don’t go away.

Cheers,

David Lawrason
VP of Wine

From the September 29th, 2012 Vintages release:

David’s Featured Wines
All Reviews

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Filed under: News, Wine, David Lawrason, Lawrasons Take, pinot noir, Tuscany, Vintages

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for September 29th 2012

Switching Your Pleasure Meter From Price to Typicity; Top Ten Smart Buys; Top Ten Tuscan Wines

John Szabo, MS

This week’s report comes live from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the country’s top six wine professionals are competing for the title of Canada’s Best Sommelier. So I’m busy marking papers and putting these wine pros through the wringer of mock restaurant service and blind wine tasting (it’s far easier to be on the judges’ side of the table). The winner and runner-up will move on to represent Canada at the Pan-American sommelier championships in Brazil later next month. I have a great deal of admiration and respect for anyone willing to put their reputations on the line and push themselves to the limit; it’s the only way of discovering your strengths and weaknesses. Those who don’t test themselves never truly know where they stand. Regardless of the final results, each of the candidates will be, well, stronger for it.

Sara d’Amato will be doing a full report on the competition in a forthcoming posting. So I’ll focus on a revolutionary way to get pleasure without necessarily spending a fortune on wine, as well as a quick round-up of my Top Ten Smart Buys from the September 29th Vintages release. I also lay out my top ranked wines from the main thematic of the release, Tuscany.

Pleasure Without the Price

Last week I was in the Loire Valley, traveling from Sancerre to Nantes (Muscadet country) getting reacquainted with the region’s wines. A full report will be published next week, but I wanted to share a thought with you this week that came into focus while talking to a particularly thoughtful vigneron, Claude Papin of Château Pierre Bise in Anjou. In the business we’re forever talking about things like quality and value. And I know that anyone who shops for, and drinks wine, considers those notions, at least from time to time, and maybe even all the time. I wrestle with the subject often – as regular readers know, it’s one of my great preoccupations.

Last week I found myself enjoying dozens of wines, I mean, really enjoying. But it was causing some consternation because the vast majority were inexpensive, and some even downright cheap, the sort of wine that you’d see on a shelf and keep right on walking by, thinking to yourself that wine that cheap couldn’t possibly be any good (I’m talking below $15 on an LCBO shelf). But these inexpensive wines were offering a lot of pleasure. Then I began to realize that the more I travel and taste and learn, the less direct the relationship between price and pleasure becomes. In fact, more often than not, I prefer the less expensive wines in a given winery’s range, or some of the less heralded producers in an expensive, name brand appellation, or even the wines of a totally unknown region.

Viticulture lesson with Claude Papin

So my terroir hunting colleague Bill Zacharkiw of the Montreal Gazette and I arrived at Papin’s estate late one afternoon just before sunset. We immediately jumped into his station wagon and headed out to the vineyards, the beginning and the end of the story that relates what’s in the glass. In the midst of a thesis level discussion of terroir and viticulture that was admittedly beyond my grasp at times, we got on to the subject of wine, pleasure and value. Then Papin, rather matter of factly and without any hesitation, issued forth a truth so basic and unassailable that it could only have been arrived at after years of thoughtful deliberation. “Well”, he said, “quality is purely subjective, but typicity is objective. You can measure typicity, and it can also give you pleasure”. It took a moment for the profoundness of the simple statement to sink in, but suddenly all was clear. Once you’ve understood and accepted that anyone’s notion of quality is indeed purely subjective – what I like or you like or she likes – and that wines of typicity, that is, wines that reflect a place and grape, can be identified and quantified (as happens in blind tastings), you can free yourself from the shackles of price and re-orient your entire notion of pleasure.

I realized that I have been drawn ever closer to wines of typicity, that my greatest pleasure comes from identifiable wines. It also made clear why I care less and less for many of the world’s most expensive wines, those that are stuffed full of wood and alcohol and unnatural concentration, the ones that score all of the points in most publications, but that you’d be hard pressed to identify in a blind tasting. I quickly felt comfortable again about enjoying inexpensive wines, knowing that typicity can come at all price points. I know I get more pleasure from a $15 wine with sense of place and made with minimal intervention than I do from a $100 bottle chock-full of winemaking techniques that could have been made in any part of the world.

At the same time, I also realized that Papin’s deep insight is discomforting for the majority of wine consumers. Price is easy to understand. Impact impresses. A personal notion of quality is self-evident and takes no expertise. But typicity, on the other hand, has the disadvantage of requiring significant context. You have to know what typicity is to recognize it. And it’s not easy to know what all of the world’s wines are supposed to taste like, unplugged, without a thousand enological adjustments (not to mention that typicity is still being established in many new growing regions). This also explains why top sommeliers and wine geeks are always switched on to wines that most people frankly don’t like, at least not on first sip, because they have the context that we don’t always have. You need to build some context before you can, enjoy, say, a searingly acidic Gros Plant du Pays Nantais that most people would use to clean windows. That is, until you understand that it’s supposed to be that way.

So if you’re tired of needing to spend $30 or $50 or more to really get your kicks, try switching your pleasure mode from price/quality to typicity. Get to know a region, taste as much as you can, and build your context. Familiarity breeds pleasure, not contempt, in the world of aromas, flavours and tastes. Then the next time you come across a wine whose profile matches what you know the region/grape typically produces, you will derive pleasure, guaranteed. You’ll see how a $13 “classic” Muscadet, to give just one example, can make you happier than a $30 non-distinctive, designer bottle of chardonnay from anywhere. It’s fun. And barring significant effort for context development, you can always count on my top picks to deliver high on the typicity scale, at least the way I see it. I’ve got a decent measure of context, and my only goal is to build it up more and more.

Smart Buys with Typicity

In the spirit of typicity, here are a half dozen highlights from the September 29th release. They’re not all cheap wines; some are even expensive by most standards, but they are distinctive.

LA CRAU DE MA MÈRE CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE 2010 $44.95

Richly aromatic, spicy, immediately recognizable southern Rhône character here with full, concentrated, fleshy savory fruit, massive extract and concentration but likewise so much fruit depth to compensate. This wine should last for at least a couple of decade, but is also delicious now – imagine a savory slow-grilled leg of lamb or lamb barbacoa Mexican style and you’ll be happy.

ELK COVE PINOT NOIR 2009 $37.95

A very pretty, classy, elegant example of Willamette Valley pinot noir, a little riper than many (though still in a cool climate idiom). Fruit covers a nice range of tart red berries, fresh black berries, old wood spice and fresh earth. The palate is firm and well structured, while 14.2% alcohol is perfectly integrated. This has the stuffing to age and improve to be sure. Lovely wine.

JACOPO BIONDI SANTI SASSOALLORO 2008 $35.95

Richly aromatic, complex and spicy on the nose, with a fine blend of red and black berry fruit, earth, resinous herbs, licorice and on and on. The palate is succulent and juicy, firm and fresh, deceptively concentrated despite the medium weight impression – this has genuine depth without recourse to excess ripeness or oak. Very fine, in an elegant style.

DEI VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO 2008 $28.95

Here’s a fine, fragrant, elegant style of Vino Nobile, more floral than fruity, with light vanilla and cinnamon spice notes. The palate is medium-bodied, balanced, with fine-grained tannins and vivid acids; very good length. A feminine wine all around, with lots of appeal.

HOFFMANN-SIMON PIESPORTER GOLDTRÖPFCHEN RIESLING SPÄTLESE 2011 $21.95

A classy, perfumed, inviting spätlese from one of the top vineyards in the Mosel. The warmth of this full south-facing precipitously steep site shines through in this example, delivering succulent, fully ripe peach, pear, nectarine and yellow plum flavours underpinned by acids and minerality. Excellent length and depth. Terrific wine, excellent value.

GILLES BLANCHET POUILLY-FUMÉ 2011 $19.95

This is a lively, stony-mineral, yet also fleshy and succulent (quite ripe and concentrated) version of Pouilly-Fumé. There’s an extra measure of depth and ripe fruit flavour on the palate, with evident density and weight, plus excellent length. Fine wine, nice price.

FINCA NUEVA FERMENTADO EN BARRICA BLANCO 2010 $15.95

Never mind the totally nondescript label; This is an intriguing, ripe, creamy but still fresh example of white Rioja, with marked but reasonably well integrated, and good quality, oak. The depth and length are impressive for the money to be sure. Worth a look for fans of barrel-aged wines, especially when serving white meat or rich seafood.

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

From the September 29, 2012 Vintages release:

Top Ten Smart Buys
Top Ten Tuscan Wines
All Reviews

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Filed under: News, Wine, John Szabo, Top 10 Smart Buys, Tuscany, Vintages, Vintages Preview

The Successful Collector – By Julian Hitner ~ Chianti Classico – The classic wine of Tuscany ~ Saturday, October 15th, 2011

Julian Hitner

Constant improvement:  Outside of Brunello di Montalcino and (perhaps) Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, the Chianti Classico zone is nowadays home to some of the greatest Sangiovese-based wines in the world. Awarded its own DOC between Florence and Siena in 1966 (promoted to DOCG status in 1984), the finest examples of Chianti Classico have undergone nothing short of a colossal leap in quality over the past dozen or so years, becoming an increasingly viable source for even the most discriminating of collectors.

Fontodi Chianti Classico - DOCG Tuscany, Italy

Indeed, the advancements have been incredible. Compared to fifteen years ago, today’s Chianti Classicos are far better suited to the modern palate: fresher, rounder, and oftentimes just as complex, with better clones of Sangiovese being planted to full advantage on the famous galestro soils (schist-based, or shaly clay) and alberese (limestone-based) deposits found throughout much of Tuscany. Together with state-of-the-art winemaking facilities and an impassioned drive to craft the best wines possible, the finest bottlings of Chianti Classico have emerged, quite legitimately, as some of the greatest, most terroir-driven wines of Italy.

Fonterutoli Chianti Classico 2004

The blend for Chianti Classico is fairly simple. Producers are permitted to use 80-100% Sangiovese (80% being the proscribed minimum), along with up to 20% international varietals, with Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Merlot being the most common. Even so, some producers still prefer using permitted local varietals in lieu of French ones: Canaiolo or Colorino. Yields in the vineyard may not exceed 52.5 hl/ha, though the best producers will often harvest far lower than this. The wine must be aged for at least 7 months in oak and may not be released to the public before at least 1 October the year following the vintage.

Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico 2004

Chianti Classico Riserva, on the other hand, requires longer aging: 2 years in oak and at least 3 months in bottle. The type of oak used is decided by the producer, with some preferring Slavonian oak for a more ‘traditional’ style, while others may opt for French oak for a more modern, fuller, and slightly less austere type of wine.

Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva

Still, serious collectors should remember that not all Chianti Classicos are created equal. Despite enormous improvements in quality over the past fifteen or so years, there are still plenty of wines that simply do not measure up to the standards set by the finest estates, such as the labels shown in this column. At their best, a first-rate Chianti Classico ought to revel in beautiful, slightly rustic aromas of dark wild cherries and plums, cedar, undergrowth, light herbs, and spice; with more modern examples boasting additional scents of subtle black cherries, vanillin, and mild (never dominant) toasted oak.

Just as important, the best Chianti Classicos should have little trouble aging for well over ten years; though it is generally advisable to drink up between four and six years, especially when the wine hails from only a moderate vintage—as of late, I have begun drinking ’06 with absolute pleasure. Once again, it goes without saying that collectors should stick with the best producers. And yet, at the rate that overall quality keeps on improving, we can all trust to have many more choices over the next several years.

Click here for a few gems from the 15 October 2011 Vintages Release and other items

Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, Chianti, Julian Hitner, LCBO, The Successful Collector, Tuscany, Vintages

Lawrason’s Take in Vintages October 15 Release: Rich Pickings for Collectors: Brunello, 95 Point Reds, Niagara’s Le Clos Jordanne, Argentina’s Big Guns, Bargains Under $20

David Lawrason

Tuscany’s Brunello and Maremma  - Tuscany shares the spotlight with Piedmont on this release, and Vintages has done a good job assembling a fine cross section of very good to excellent wines from both Italian regions. Tuscany in particular has been front of mind lately, partially because of an article on the region coming up in Toronto Life’s November issue; but also because of two recent portfolio tastings by agents who import a lot of Italian wine.  Also, in the back of mind has been the realization that a number of good Brunellos have come through Vintages in recent months. Conduct a WineAlign Find Wine search on Brunello and you will see 16 currently in stock with 90 point or better ratings.

Brunello di Montalcino is Tuscany’s classic kingpin –  usually a rich, stately red made 100% from a small berried sangiovese clone simply called brunello. It is best drunk after a few years in bottle. Indeed its regulations require that basic Brunello not be released for 50 months after harvest, with “Riserva” and year later.  This accounts for 2006 being the latest vintage on the shelf, with many 2005s also available. This gives us the opportunity to drink properly matured, smooth and rich reds right off the shelf, and I am thoroughly enjoying that change of pace. SAN FELICE CAMPOGIOVANNI 2005 BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO ($44.95) is another very fine example coming on October 15.  And if you want to buy directly from agents I suggest you go to the www.StemWineGroup.com to seek out stunning Brunellos from Siro Pacenti, Collemattoni and Valdicava. At www.ProfileWineGroup.com look for Brunellos and other Tuscan wines from Grevepesa, Poggio San Polo and Terrebianca. (Individual reviews are not on WineAlign as they were tasted in the less controlled and consistent setting of a trade show).

The other Tuscan region to ping my radar in recent weeks is Maremma. The mapping gets a bit confusing here with Maremma being a relatively new and large region of southern Tuscan, including the coast. There are many individual appellations (like Bolgheri and Morellino di Scansano) within Maremma, but on a wine label Maremma denotes the broader regional IGT appellation. More importantly, this is the land of bright, modern, fruit driven reds more likely than not containing cabernet, merlot and perhaps syrah, with our without sangiovese involved. The area’s warmer climate creates quite soft, plush style that tilts toward California. And the kicker is that many are less expensive than more classic Tuscans or Californians. POGGIO VERRANO 2005 CHANCE, Maremma IGT, is fine example at $33.95. And if you are checking out Stem Wine Group for their Brunellos, inquire about Tenuta Monteti 2007 Caburnio at $20, and a terrific Morellino di Scansano called Heba, from La Fattoria Di Magliano – more expensive at about $25.

95 Point Reds
There are three reds on this release that I have pegged at 95 points, which for me is the threshold to “outstanding” – wines that go beyond purity, precision and sense of place into the realm of real sensual excitement. They make me gasp, or curse (in a good way) or evoke some kind of emotional response. (One response is usually frustration because they are very expensive). Anyway, I got very excited three times with this release.

One is again from Tuscany, and an iconic super-Tuscan made from merlot and sangiovese grown in the Montalcino region.  Luce is mostly famous for being one of the first super-Tuscans, and for being a joint venture between Mondavi and Frescobaldi, although now wholly owned by the latter.  LUCE DELLA VITE 2008 LUCE ($99.95) is not as immediately impressive as the two below, but nor is it ready to drink. What I find outstanding is the great sense of tension, finely woven complexity and refinement that is so emblematic of the very best Tuscan reds. I would love to open a few bottles of this toward 2020.

The finest wine, as expressed through complexity, integration and depth is CHÂTEAU TROPLONG MONDOT 2007 Saint-Émilion in Bordeaux, at $115.00. This property is golden at the moment, having being elevated to 1er Grand Cru Classe status in the most recent re-calibration of St. Emilion. I was at the property last year to witness for myself the care and detail that has gone into the vineyards and winery (located in the shadow of St. Emilion’s landmark water tower), and I am not at all surprised to see such a stylish wine emerge. Even better, it’s from an approachable vintage that makes it easy to enjoy now.

The most jaw-droppingly powerful 95-pointer is TWO HANDS SOPHIE’S GARDEN 2008 SHIRAZ, a single vineyard wine from the slightly cooler Padthaway region of South Australia. It is a whopper, with 16% alcohol, but this barely registers amid the avalanche of fruit. And despite 16 months in French barrels, that same amazing fruit all but buries the oak too.  And it’s a bargain actually at $46.00.

Le Clos Jordanne 2009 Pinots
Ontario pinot noir fans have been awaiting the release of the five 2009 vineyard bottlings from Le Clos Jordanne, founded as a Franco-Canuck joint venture to produce great Burgundy inspired pinot and chardonnay from organically tended, dense planted, low yield sites on Niagara’s Twenty Mile Bench near Jordan. The 2009 vintage was long, cool and dry – a very good pinot year. I was able to taste the entire range side by side at a media event, and found the wines to be very refined, nuanced and quite tart due to the acidity of the year.  I also found that tasting rushed and distracting so I was not ready to rate the wines. LE CLOS JORDANNE 2009 LE CLOS JORDANNE VINEYARD PINOT NOIR ($45) arrives on this release however, and I have had a couple of opportunities to sample. It is quite fine indeed with excellent length and some palate weight and richness to cover off the acidity. It needs about three years in the cellar.

Argentina’s Big Guns
Collectors of big reds can also dabble in Argentina with the release of several more expensive malbecs, cabernets and blends.  Argentina is best known for inexpensive, ubiquitous malbec, and most producers are quite anxious to show off their talents and vineyards with higher end reds, whether barrel selections or single vineyard “old vine” bottlings. Vintages has finally agreed to provide them the stage. But I was not knocked out here. There are some wines of impressive girth and length, but most tend to be rather blunt – lacking some elegance. And the one wine that did show real finesse and grace was corked (Familia Marguery 2005 Malbec). Ironically one of the finest Argentine reds isLUIGI BOSCA RESERVA 2008 CABERNET SAUVIGNON, a very well put together if not profound red being released at only $17.95.

Under $20 Bargains
So now that the collectors have had their turn, it’s time to simply point out some very good buys at that magic under $20 price point – Ideal wines for weekend drinking.  There is not a lot to say here about each of them that is not already included their respective WineAlign reviews.  At $16.95 BERNARD-MASSARD BRUT CUVÉE DE L’ÉCUSSON Méthode Traditionnelle is a great value in dry, crisp and elegant sparkling wine, and you will impress folks to no end with the fact that it comes from Luxembourg. Still in Europe MACULAN 2010 PINOT GRIGIO from Veneto clearly outshines and out-values other grigios from Italy’s northeast at only $13.95. I’d grab a mitt full to have on hand as an opener during casual Holiday functions. SPY VALLEY 2010 SAUVIGNON BLANC is a real lip-smacker at $15.95, from a winery that is on a real hot streak. I love the purity of both their sauvignon and pinot. And finally, I welcome the return of California’s Guenoc, a large winery but one hidden away in the hills of the north coast. GUENOC 2009 CABERNET SAUVIGNON is very good for only $17.95.

Wassailing
With the harvest well along or complete in Ontario, some hard-working winery folk are already looking ahead to a post-harvest old country tradition called Wassail. The growers of Prince Edward County have turned this into a festival in recent years, and they invite you along, to find our more click here.

So You Think You Know Wine, Season 2
The first season of our blind tasting video series – So, You Think You Know Wine – was by all measure a great success. I have never received such positive feedback on a wine endeavour. Most of all viewers seemed to enjoy being educated while being comforted by the fact that everyone is fallible when it comes to the sport of blind tasting. Well, we are finishing off the edits for Season Two: The Tournament, which introduces more tasters and an elimination format. This could get ugly, but hopefully you will continue to be educated and entertained. Watch our season two preview here.

That’s it for this edition. See all my reviews for October 15th here.

Cheers and enjoy, David

- David Lawrason, VP of Wine at WineAlign

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, Brunello, David Lawrason, Lawrasons Take, LCBO, Maremma, Tuscany, Vintages

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for October 15th 2011 – Tuscany, Where Modern Meets Traditional; Argentina: the good, the bad and the heavy, and Top Ten Smart Buys

John Szabo, MS

Tuscany & Argentina - 
Tuscany and Argentina are featured in the October 15th VINTAGES release, familiar territory for most wine lovers. The former is a fully developed region with parallel streams of both ultra-traditional and post-modern, while the latter is a newcomer to the scene, still navigating the intricacies of selling wine internationally. Both are popular sources for wine. Of the Tuscans in this release, my most serious enjoyment was caused by the 2007 POLIZIANO VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO DOCG $25.95, also my top smart buy. It’s a model that I’d love to see more Tuscan producers follow: pure class in a classic and recognizably Tuscan style.  Like the region, the traditional and the modern co-exist in harmony at Poliziano. The winery is partly powered by clean, renewable solar energy and is equipped with all the modern winemaking aids. Yet the style remains resolutely classic: a mid-weight, sangiovese-dominated wine, with balance, integrity and complexity, relying more on finesse and refinement rather than heft, raw power or wood. The finish lingers on beautifully. Other recommended Tuscan wines include 2007 TENUTA DI NOZZOLE LA FORRA CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA DOCG $29.95 and 2008 VOLPAIA CHIANTI CLASSICO DOCG $21.95 . See the full list of recommended Tuscan wines here.
 

Bye-bye Big Bottles
Argentina delivers a couple of top wines, but first a rare deviation to the not recommended: basta with the heavy bottles, por favor. Argentina is one of the guiltiest countries when it comes to the outmoded crime of stupidly heavy bottles – it’s like 1997 calling all over again. I’d say that most switched-on wine drinkers are no longer fooled by the facile attempt to add value by adding ounces to bottle weight. The gravitas comes from within, where the money should be spent.

Needless to say, there’s also the consideration of the serious environmental impact of producing, shipping and recycling heavier bottles. In this area the LCBO is a world leader – as of January 1st Ontario will not stock any wines in bottles weighing more than 420g (the most criminal come close to 1kilo, empty). Though this restriction is officially for wines at or below $15 retail, “favourable consideration will be given to product offers that are lower in weight”, says senior LCBO VP of Sales and Marketing Bob Downey. Thus any suppliers offering lighter weight bottles at premium price points will have an advantage over competitors. We can only hope that suppliers won’t just artificially raise the price of their wines above $15 so they can keep their barbarian bottles. Should you find yourself at Vintages and you haven’t gotten in your work out for the day, do a few curls with either 2006 NAVARRO CORREAS STRUCTURA ULTRA IP Mendoza, Limited Release $34.95 or 2007 RIGLOS GRAN CORTE Mendoza $37.95, though you may be stiff in the morning.

On the brighter, lighter side, there are a couple of brilliant Argentine wines in the release, headlined by 2008 CATENA ALTA MALBEC Estate Lots, Mendoza $49.95. Catena has been a leader and a pioneer for over one hundred years in Mendoza, and the experience, and confidence, shows. This ’08 has obvious class and complexity with beguiling violet-floral notes, ripe but fresh black fruit, and well-integrate wood spice, while the palate shows uncommon freshness and liveliness and tremendous length. Also excellent and worth the premium price is the 2009 CATENA ALTA CHARDONNAY Estate Lots, Mendoza $39.95.

Closer to the affordable value end of the scale, try the 2006 DURIGUTTI RESERVE MALBEC Mendoza, Unfiltered $26.95 or the 2008 LUIGI BOSCA RESERVA CABERNET SAUVIGNON Maipü, Mendoza $17.95, both well-balanced, representative examples. See all recommended Argentine wines here with reviews.
  
Top Ten Smart Buys

As for the top ten smart buys, well worth pointing out is the superb 2009 LE CLOS JORDANNE LE CLOS JORDANNE VINEYARD PINOT NOIR VQA Niagara Peninsula, Twenty Mile Bench $45.00. By general consensus, 2009 is the best vintage yet for LCJ, and for Ontario pinot noir in general (see my article). I predict that this will be a turning point for the Ontario industry. The full range from Le Clos is impressive so watch for this and other upcoming releases. You’ll also find an impressive bubbly from New Zealand for $21.95, a textbook Alsatian gewürztraminer, and a sturdy French country red for $16.95 that will be perfect with your autumnal game dishes, roasts and braises. See them all here.

Fom the October 15th Vintages release:
Top Ten Smart Buys
Recommended Tuscany at A Glance
Recommended Argentina at A Glance
All Reviews

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, Argentina, John Szabo, LCBO, Top 10 Smart Buys, Tuscany, Vintages, Vintages Preview

Lawrason’s Take on Vintages July 9th Release – Pointers on 90 Pointers, Holy Smoking Sauvignons, Exciting 09 French Reds, Tuscan Class and an Odd Duck Basque Country.

David Lawrason

Pointers on 90 Pointers:  Vintages July 9 release repeats an easy-sell formula – a grouping of 90 point wines from all over the world, as reviewed and rated by the leading American critics who write for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.  As my colleague John Szabo has pointed out we Canadian critics are rarely quoted by Vintages, yes with some sour grapes attached.  There are at least two reasons for this, and the first is practical.  As John said, we don’t have access to the wines early enough to be quoted in Vintages publications. We are indeed fortunate to taste new releases at the LCBO, but the LCBO controls when the media “samples” (about five weeks ahead of the release) and also the number of “samples” available to the importers, who therefore find it prohibitively costly and difficult to sample local media and sommeliers individually on Vintages products before they are released.  Second, 90 points, as I said, is an easy sell, so retailers around the world have fallen into the lazy ways of simply quoting numbers, and none are more widely quoted than Parker and Spectator. No reason why the LCBO should be any different, but I would love to hear more often from their expert palates as why some wines were chosen, especially those qualifying as first time ‘discoveries’.  And I know that some of those experts at the stores do not enjoy it when customer’s come in fixated on the 90-pointers to the point there is no point discussing anything else.

We have written before that when following scores as a buying tool it is important to get to know the reviewers, and match your palate to theirs. So do we Canadian critics have palates different from the Americans, and perhaps more attuned to Canadian consumer palates?  In that spirit of inquiry, a comment on my scoring in comparison to the big American critics. Of the twenty-four 90-pointers Vintages release Saturday I have only scored seven at 90 points our better. I wonder sometimes how much the American critics pay attention to balance and flavour depth, or for them is it more about flavour generosity and richness? They are not mutually exclusive by the way and 90 point wines should have both.

WineAlign, with a growing stable of critics who review and rate independently, provides an ideal way monitor and get a feel for critics palates, not so much through their scores but by reading their critiques side by side. And in case you weren’t aware, you can also adjust or weight the importance of our critics (to you) so that you end up with personalized overall WineAlign rating. Having said that however, our critics scores are usually quite consistent, within two points – which tells me that experience and professionalism and objectivity are very much at play.

Holy Smokin’ Sauvignons

Two whites not in the 90 point feature are my two favourite wines of the release. I am personally a big fan of barrel aged sauvignon-semillon blends, although I know some are not. I first discovered this affinity years ago when white Bordeaux from Graves and Pessac-Leognan were more common in Ontario than they are now. I have since paid close attention to off-shoots like Fumé Blanc in California (fume obliquely referred to the smokiness from barrel aging), sem-sauv blends from Australia, and in the last five years some fine examples from B.C., Niagara, and even more recently Prince Edward County.  There is just something about the interplay of spice, fruit, citrus and herbaceousness that I like, and that differentiates these wines from oaked chardonnay. Anyway, I am delighted to see a mini-invasion of three examples from Bordeaux this release and I am thrilled with the quality of CHÂTEAU LARRIVET-HAUT-BRION 2007 BLANC one of the most exciting wines of the year to date, and well worth $55. The greater surprise quality-wise is STAR LANE VINEYARD 2008 SAUVIGNON BLANC ($21.95) from a region of California barely known for this variety. The Santa Ynez Valley is much better known for pinot and chardonnay but deeper inland where the micro-climate is warmer the Bordeaux white and red varieties do well.

Exciting 2009 French Reds

As Vintages releases roll along this year and the reds from France’s ripe 2009 vintage roll out, it has become abundantly clear that the reds from across France have extra fruit depth and richness. And I am not talking only about the nation’s crus that usually get all the press and exorbitant prices. I am now tasting the LCBO General List in preparation for the Toronto Life Eating and Drinking Guide this fall, and even the basic $10 to $15 reds are showing this extra fruit dimension and poise.  Euro purists may tsk-tsk that the wines are too New World-like, but this is nonsense. They still taste like French wines, which to me usually have a finer, more compact sense of balance. The difference is that there are fewer which are lean, green and sour, and this is a good thing. They are just a bit more kind and gentle and fruit-focused, with few of them showing overripe, raisiny fruit condition or cooked/stewed character

As a demonstration take a look at two great mid-level French reds from family domaines coming Saturday, both scoring 90 points. DOMINIQUE PIRON 2009 LES PIERRES 2009 MORGON ($22.95) is from a leading producer based in Morgon, one of the ten single village appellations of Beaujolais. It usually produces gamays with more granitic rigour than some of its neighbours, which is very apparent here, while also showing good fruit bloom, richness and a touch of meatiness that is oh-so French.  The other notable 2009 comes from another small domaine, this time in the northern Rhone. DOMAINE VINCENT PARIS 2009 SAINT JOSEPH  ($28.95) is a riveting syrah with all the classic smoked meat, caper, peppery attributes of the genre centred by wonderful pure cherry fruit.  Domaine Vincent Paris is an important producer in Cornas, based on almost 100 year old vines inherited from his father, but Vincent also owns a small plot in St. Joseph, which is located on the right bank of  the Rhone River opposite the famous hill of Hermitage.

(My photo, taken this spring, which looks south from the top of Hermitage and shows Tain l’Hermitage in the Rhône Valley).

Tuscan Class

There are many Italian reds on this release from all over “the boot” and quality is variable. In general I found most of them to be from properties that are less familiar, which is always exciting as taster/follower, but not always guaranteed to deliver top quality. Obviously the best producers get noticed quickly and become a regular part of the supply every year, if allocations are available and Vintages buys expeditiously. Less well known producers, of which there are tens of thousands in Italy, are more likely to be one shot wonders, as in “wonder why they bought that?”  I found two new Tuscan ‘diamonds in the rough” that I really enjoyed for their authenticity, vibrancy and sense of balance. Italian reds are often erratically composed, either too sour, too tannic, too hot.  I want just a bit of all those elements, with the tangy red fruit of most Italian varieties front and centre. TENUTA DI GHIZZANO 2007 VENEROSO 2007 ($29.95) is a fine blend of sangiovese with about 30% cabernet. It hails from organically grown, low yield vines that have gradually been replanted since the estate was refurbished during the late 1970s.VECCHIA CANTINA 2007 VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO ($18.95) is a well priced edition of a traditional sangiovese, with small parts of canaiolo, trebbiano, that catches that extra aromatic lift and tannic edge that to me set Vino Nobile’s apart from Chianti. I suspect this wine will age very well.

  

An Odd Duck 

GURRUTXAGA 2009 TXAKOLI ($18.95) is good wine (my rating is 87) but I don’t understand its 91 point rating from the Wine Advocate’s Jay Miller. I wonder if he was simply seduced by its incredibly difficult name, refreshing style and unique origin. When we taste the same grapes and regions day in and day out it is fun to run across something completely different and envigorating, but that doesn’t mean it is top quality wine.  This a very nervy, austere and slightly frizzante wine, from the Basque country of northwestern Spain. The label uses Basque language, which instantly turns Anglos into tongue tied fools. To help sort this out, Gurrutxaga is the brand name. Bizkaiko Txakonina is an official DO (appellation) near Bilbao in northwestern Spain on the Bay of Biscay (Bizkaiko is Basque for Biscay). White wines dominate in this cold maritime region, based on a native grape called ondarrabi zuri, here blended with two others called hondaribbi zuri and mune mahasta.  (You and I are both likely relieved that this is the last item in this blog as the words have worn me out.)  But one last thought. The style of this wine, including it searing acidity and petillance may seem off the wall, but when you look up and down the cold, damp Atlantic seaboard of Europe it fits right in there with Vinho Verde to the south in Portugal, with the colombards of Gascony just over the French border to the north, and even to Muscadet at the mouth of the Loire River. Shell fish wine grown not far from some of the largest oyster beds in the world. The world is a logical place, and its best wines are always the most logical wines.

That’s it for now. Read all my reviews here, and I look forward to seeing you at Ontario’s International Cool Climate Chardonnay events July 22-24. By the way you get to rub shoulders with Matt Kramer, my favourite American wine writer. Tickets for most events are still available at http://coolchardonnay.org.

And please take a moment to check out Episode #3 in our new series, “So, You Think You Know Wine?“.

Cheers and enjoy, David

- David Lawrason, VP of Wine at WineAlign

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Click here to see ranked lists and reviews of over 100 wines in this release.

Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, David Lawrason, Lawrasons Take, LCBO, Sauvignon, Tuscany, Vintages

Bring Romantic Destinations home this Valentine’s Day – by Sara d’Amato

Sara d'Amato

As the big day for romance approaches, there is, alas, no slowing down for busy moms with busy schedules. For most of us, our carefree, jet setting days are now behind us and although we may not have the fortune of leaving our domestic lives for a weekend of bliss with our partners, we can do our best to bring home that same feeling.

Let’s take a trip to some of the world’s most romantic destinations, which just so happen to be some of the world’s most exciting wine regions, in an effort bring back some of that bottled love into our homes on this most romantic of days.  So, tuck in the kids, pull out your corkscrews and get ready to smell the aromas of Provence, feel the sunshine of Tuscany and envision the spectacular vistas of California.

Click here for a handy list of the wines featured in this column and their availability at your your local LCBO.

Tuscan Hillside

Top Picks from Tuscany

Ahh, the charm of sun-baked Tuscany with its rolling hills, olive groves, rustic but exquisite cuisine and of course, its delicious wine. Reds from this region are generally based on the indigenous grape Sangiovese which is a versatile and elegant varietal that exudes the Tuscan charm that it has absorbed from the soil. Sometimes this grape is blended with more substantial French varietals such as Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. My recommendations include a sensuous and aromatic Chianti Classico from a producer situated in the heart of the region between Florence and Sienna as well as a forward, fleshy and winsome wine from the picturesque hilltop village of Montalcino.

Isole e Olena Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy, 2007,  $26.95

Abbadia Ardenga Rosso Di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy, 2007, $19.95

Morning fog yields to the sunshine over California’s top sites

Top Picks from California

California’s striking coastline and Mediterranean climate make both an ideal vacation destination and a noteworthy residence for some of the world’s most elite vineyards. However, warm weather and spectacular landscapes are not all that California has to offer its vineyards, those vineyards located along the coast, in particular, are shrouded in a cloud of fog for much of the morning which lifts dramatically in the early afternoon to reveal the warm sunshine. This morning cooling effect helps the grapes retain acids which give vibrancy and intrigue to otherwise sun-drenched wines. My top choices for Valentine’s day include a plush, decadent Chardonnay full of tropical fruit and exotic spice that is sure to get you in the mood as well as a California’s signature grape, Zinfandel, rich with black raspberry and cracked pepper.

Kali Hart Chardonnay, Monterey County, California, USA,  $21.95

Stonehedge Diamond Ridge Reserve Zinfandel, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley, California, USA, $17.95

Hot, dry, rocky soils of Southern Rhone

Top Picks from Provence

Wild herbs, lavender and hot stones are some of the enticing aromas that Provence exudes. Another sun-baked region, Provence boasts more sunshine hours than anywhere else in Western Europe. Scorching heat and drought in the summer stress the vines to the point of providing richly concentrated and dynamically complex flavours. The wines of southern France are often blended from several indigenous varietals ooze charm and aromatics. My top passionate picks include a succulent white blend from the Southern Rhone and a generous, lavish and full-bodied red from the dramatic red ochre hills of Roussillon.

Ferraton Pere & Fils Samorens Blanc, Cotes du Rhone, France, 2009, $13.95

Domaine Gardies Mas Las Cabes Rouge, Cotes du Rousillon, France, 2009, $15.95

Filed under: News, California, Provence, Sara d'Amato, Tuscany, Valentine's Day

Lawrason’s Take on Vintages February 5th Release: Defining Modern Tuscany

David Lawrason

Tuscany ain’t what it used to be. Whether that is for better or worse depends on your point of view, but there is no debate that the wines of Italy’s foremost wine kingdom have become more complicated and more international in style in recent years. Tuscany used to be simply defined by Chianti and Brunello with a dash of Vino Nobile.  Now there are DOCs popping up all over the place, especially on the warmer coast.  Tuscany used to be defined by sangiovese, but now French grapes like merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cab franc and syrah – and any number of combinations with or without sangiovese – have become mainstream.  Tuscany also used to be defined by traditional, yes rustic, winemaking with ageing in old casks or cement vats. Nowadays many are modern, polished, super-ripe, extracted and bathed in new French oak. And it is becoming even more  difficult to know what you are getting because the thousands of wineries are each making several labels of different style, varietal, blend and price point.

Vintages Feb 5th release brings bring many new Tuscan wines onto Ontario’s shelves. I like the effort to branch out, and the number of new and unfamiliar labels is exciting. But it also contributes to my sense that Tuscany is careening out of control, and I wish I could say that I was thrilled with the quality of all the wines. They are patchy, and when you overlay prices, Tuscany is clearly not a value seekers paradise, as always happens when a wine region gets famous. Given the region’ global reputation as humankind’s gastronomic Mecca it is definitely famous.

One result of being a global hot spot is the internationalization of Tuscany’s wine style. It seems to have been amplified by the 2007 vintage that has pumped more ripeness and body into the wines. Some border on pruny over-ripeness, which often coincides with over-oaking and notes of volatility.  Tuscany’s appeal, to me, has always been about a certain lightness, tension and vibrancy.  Only one wine on the release ISOLE E OLENA 2007 CHIANTI CLASSICO ($26.95) – a standard bearer of quality and authenticity for as long as I can remember – sings that classic tune really well.  Among the more international style wines  BRANCAIA TRE 2007 ($24.95) is a lovely example based on three different grape varieties sourced from three different regions – a true regional wine.

A Tale of Two Syrahs

I don’t actually drink a lot of syrah day to day, perhaps because it can be a bit heavy for many of my home meals.  But I love to taste it and I love it when it captures the northern Rhone profile. It’s a very Mediterranean taste with ripe dried cherry/black olive fruit, licorice, black pepper and smoked meat.  To experience what I think it a classic of this genre pick up a bottle of DOMAINE BELLE LES PIERRELLES 2007 CROZES-HERMITAGE at $22.95, with bang-on varietal and regional character. Then also pick up a bottle of DUNHAM CELLARS 2005 SYRAH from Washington’s Columbia Valley. It is more expensive at $44.95 but it is also very impressive, more powerful wine, and the similarity to northern Rhone syrah flavour is unmistakeable. The northern Rhone and Washington may seem world’s apart but both are continental climate regions that sit on the boundary between hot climate and cool – with hot dry, summers but cooling influences in the shoulder seasons.

Blue Mountain’s Beauty Brut

I tasted a handful of Feb 5th sparkling wines lined up in Vintages tasting – a mixed lot including bargain-priced French Champagnes, and pretty Valentines Day pinks from, Alsace, Tasmania and Ontario’s 13th Street. But the best of the batch was the finely tuned, quite concentrated BLUE MOUNTAIN BRUT from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia ($32.95).  Blue Mountain is an iconic but reclusive central Okanagan winery that was among the first to create premium priced, high quality, cool climate and somewhat French styled wines in B.C. –  focused on pinot noir, pinot gris, chardonnay and bubbly. Meticulous vineyards on a magnificent bench site near Okanagan Falls hold the key, but there has historically been a certain aloofness by the Mavety family in terms of presenting their wines to the public. An appointment has always been required to visit the winery.  Blue Mountain wines have been very rare in Ontario, but now that they are showing up at Vintages, and being represented by Lifford Agencies, perhaps more will come our way. And that’s a good thing. The wines capture a bit more structure and finesse than many from B.C.

Chile’s Bio Bio

I know that I have mentioned this region before, but a pair of new wines from Cono Sur are further etching Bio Bio in my mind as a new hot spot for aromatic varieties like riesling and gewurztraminer.  The second most southerly region of Chile has fairly long, warm growing days, but cooler nights and more rain fall than more arid regions to the north. CONO SUR VISION 2010 SINGLE VINEYARD RIESLING from Quiltramán in the Bío Bío Valley ($14.95) is a great riesling and  an excellent buy for those who want classic petrol and citrus, along with more floral, tropical melon notes. I personally like this style, and sometimes want more fruit and body in riesling than I get from Germany or Niagara, so I will stock a few bottles. But as with other New World rieslings from places like Australia’s Eden Valley, Bio Bio faces an uphill battle for acceptance in Ontario due to the strength of Ontario’s examples.

Stylish Pinot Gris from Baden

Pinot Gris seems to adapt its style to local conditions more than any other grape I know. In the New World, Argentina is making very ripe tropical peachy examples, while B.C. is making a medium body, dry and leaner style. In Europe, the pinot grigio’s of northern Italy tend to be light and crisp; those of Alsace are fat and sometimes oily. So it’s no surprise that Germany’s examples (where the grape is sometimes called rulander) are lighter and sweeter, and furthermore, that those of Baden in southern, warmer Germany are a hybrid yet again, reflecting both German delicacy and Alsatian power.  KÖNIGSCHAFFHAUSER 2009 PINOT GRIS TROCKEN ($13.95) is a classic and very stylish example. It is also great value.  I love the sleek texture and ripe fruit, but the real surprise is the added complexity and concentration that I believe comes from the Vulkanfelsin vineyards on the slopes of an ancient volcano called the Kaiserstuhl that rises on the edge of the Rhine Valley.

That’s it for now. This report is dispatched from Perth, Australia where I am embarking on a whirlwind tour of seven wine regions over ten days. I haven’t been here since 1995 so I’ll be a sponge on new developments, trends and regions.  And given the lovely, crisp verdelho enjoyed with a seafood dinner last night as we looked across to the impressive Perth skyline, I am going to be paying a lot of attention to Australia’s white wines.

See all my reviews for the February 5th release here.

Cheers,

- David Lawrason, VP of Wine at WineAlign

Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, David Lawrason, Lawrasons Take, Tuscany, Vintages