Mother’s Day: Give the gift of rest, appreciation – and wine, of course!

Sara d’Amato

Recently I became a mother for the third time with the birth of little Jasper a mere eight weeks ago. Despite the haze of newborn-dom I am back to tasting wine. The most valuable asset a mother has is the ability to multitask. In fact, while I write this I am also playing Lego and making blueberry pancakes. With renewed sympathy and appreciation for mothers everywhere, and especially my own, I would like to offer a few suggestions to all of you wracking your brains to come up with the perfect mother’s day solution. And although I realize that writing this piece may be somewhat (hopefully) self-serving (hint hint), I can assure you from ample personal experience that these suggestions will not go unappreciated.

The theme of these wine recommendations is relaxation, something that might come naturally to most people, but that many mothers learn to live without, at least as long as they have children under their roofs. What we mothers want from Mother’s Day is simple: rest and appreciation. No need for expensive gifts or elaborate surprises. And if your mom is anything like me, a nice round glass of aptly-chosen wine is the very symbol of relaxation. Whether you are planning a home-cooked brunch or allowing mom some free time at home alone, a bottle of wine will never be unwelcome.

Brunch Worthy:

Treating mom to a home cooked meal is a tried and true practice on Mother’s Day. But to go the extra mile and pair brunch with a memorable bottle of wine will win yourself a multitude of points. To whet your palate, here are a few praiseworthy suggestions:

Henry Of Pelham Cuvée Catharine Carte Blanche Blanc De Blanc 2007
Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, ON $44.95

Not only will this newly redesigned, gorgeous bottle dress up your table, it will add class to your affair. A mistake would be attempting to make this into a mimosa, however, so stay away from the OJ and let the wine alone impress. Pair with blini, crème fraiche and caviar for a decadent match.

Tilia Torrontes 2010
Salta, Argentina, ON $12.95

Fun, fresh, floral and unique, this affordable selection is also sure to receive thumbs up from moms everywhere. Skip the bouquet and reach for the Torrontes for a fresh alternative to her usual faves. Try with Thai inspired cold spring rolls.

Ca’Dei Mandorli Dei Giari Moscato D’asti 2011
Piedmont, Italy, ON $15.95

Here’s a wine that will have mom asking for a second glass and with half the alcohol as in a standard glass of wine, there is no reason not to indulge (an apt selection for nursing mothers). Pair with a lemon panna cotta or mixed greens with strawberries and almonds.

Château St. Roch Syrah/Grenache Rosé 2011
Languedoc Roussillon, France Vintages, ON $14.95

Both the ladies and the men of the house will appreciate this swoon-worthy rosé from southern France. Dry with notes of lavender and pink grapefruit, this will prove a delightful pairing for smoked salmon eggs benedict.

Contemplative Whites

Taking the kids out for ice cream and allowing mom some peaceful time alone to rest and relax is just the thing to recharge the overworked lady of the house. Leaving her a bottle of wine and a charming note will have her smiling in no time. Here are a few restorative suggestions:

Norman Hardie Chardonnay 2009
Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, ON $35.00

An intuitive, generous and thoughtful family man himself, Norman Hardie also produces world-class chardonnays rich with terroir-inspired complexity, subtlety and elegance. A great wine to help mom contemplate and appreciate her generous and thoughtful family.

Santo Santorini Assyrtiko 2011
Santorini, Greece, ON $16.95

Whisk mom away to one of the most beautiful spots in the world for some restorative daydreaming. The island of Santorini is perhaps the planet’s most picturesque locale with a dramatic coastline dotted by whitewashed dwellings that contrast the deep blue sea. As a result of its volcanic formation, the beaches feature jet-black sand and contribute to the complex terroir of these racy and verve-filled wines such as this scintillating assyrtiko.

Gray Monk Pinot Gris 2011
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, ON $19.95, BC $16.99

An undeniably inviting wine that will both challenge and seduce, this delectable pinot is made in the heavier, more complex ‘gris’ style as opposed to the often lighter, brighter, more simple ‘grigio’ style. The west coast produces some of the most exquisite examples of this varietal and this bottle is a case in point. Utterly enjoyable on its own but also makes a great pairing for soft and semi-soft cheeses.

Melt-Away Reds:

Pampering goes hand and hand with Mother’s Day so spoil her with an indulgent, enveloping, plush, velvety wine that will prove more satisfying than the spa. Sure to keep her off her feet for the afternoon while you finish the clean up (hint, hint).

Château Pech Redon L’épervier 2010
Côteaux Du Languedoc, France, ON $19.95

A strikingly soulful and compelling find at less than the price of a manicure (and much more rewarding). This spicy, wildly flavoured southern blend of syrah and grenache will prove both stimulating and indulgent.

Langa Centenaria Garnacha 2008
Calatayud, Spain, ON $13.95

A massage and a bottle of grenache would do the trick for me on Mother’s Day and here’s a great value that is sure to knock her socks off. A decadent, almost guilty pleasure, this grenache is a perfect pairing for a little dark, spiced chocolate.

Monte Del Frá Lena Di Mezzo Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2007
Veneto, Italy, ON $48.95, BC $79.99

This wine is certainly a splurge, but this is mom we’re talking about. Amarone is often thought of as a ‘masculine’ wine but in reality, women appreciate the lush, velvety texture and opulent fruit just as much as men and with reportedly more sensitive noses, we can certainly derive greater enjoyment from such a generously flavoured wine.

Here’s to all mothers out there who could really use a break! Wishing you a peaceful and indulgent day.

Sara d’Amato

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, BC Liquor Stores, LCBO, Mother's Day, Sara d'Amato, Vintages, Wine

Feisty Spirited Armagnac; Margaret Swaine’s Spirits Review

Feisty Spirited Armagnac

Margaret Swaine

Armagnac from the Gascony region of south-western France doesn’t play second fiddle to its more famous spirituous neighbour to the north, Cognac. Documents prove Armagnac was distilled over 700 years ago around 1411, making it by far the oldest eau de vie in the country and beating Cognac to the puncheon by some 150 years. It’s feisty, distinctive and individualistic like the Gascons portrayed in The Three Musketeers and Cyrano de Bergerac.

Armagnac’s heritage is the marriage of three great cultures: the Romans who introduced the grapevine to Gascony, the Moors who brought alembic distillation (they used the alcohol to make perfume) and the Celts who taught the Gascons about oak barrels. By the late 15th century, Armagnac stills were common in Gascony.

Gascony, about an hour and a half drive southwest of Bordeaux is still a highly agricultural region. The department of Gers in the region is the number one producer of duck in France. You know what that means: duck confit, magret, grattons (crispy duck skin), cassoulet and of course foie gras is on the menu. Duck fat replaces oil and butter in cooking. These artery plugging dishes are miraculously neutered by a glass of Armagnac after a meal. (In 2005 researchers at the University of Bordeaux discovered Armagnac drunk moderately and regularly helps prevent heart attacks and thrombosis. Further studies showed rats on a high fat diet and Armagnac did not gain weight versus rats on the same diet that got only the ethanol.)

Armagnac is produced from the distillation of white wine. Ten grape varieties can be used but in practice most growers cultivate just four: ugni blanc (also called Saint-Émilion), colombard, folle blanche (aka piquepoul) and baco blanc (also known as baco 22-A). Folle blanche was once the favoured grape in the area but it has been mostly replaced by baco blanc, a cross of folle blanche and the hybrid Noah. The highly acidic ugni blanc is the common grape used for cognac.

The Armagnac Appellation Contrôlée was defined in 1936 and comprises of three regions. The most important is Bas Armagnac (57% of vineyards), which has a sandy, silt soil structure that yields grapes of higher acid making generally rounder, supple Armagnac with finesse and a characteristic plum fruitiness. Ténarèze (40% of vineyards) is in the centre of the appellation and produces the most robust, rich brandies with aromas of violets. Haut-Armagnac (3%) produces brandies of lower quality and most growers have switched to corn, wheat, soybean and other crops.

Some producers like Larressingle marry the brandies of Bas Armagnac and Ténarèze to create a blend that captures both the robust warmth of Ténarèze and the mellow, fruity elegance of Bas Armagnac. Larressingle XO is a divine example.

Centuries ago Armagnac was distilled twice in pot stills. Since the first half of the 19th century, most Armagnac is made in a simple continuous alembic column still in a single distillation. Mobile distillers still service small farmers quickly performing the alchemic conversion in a few days. Since 1972, pot stills have been permitted in the appellation as well as double distillation but less than a handful do this.

As soon as the Armagnac is distilled, it’s placed in 400 litre oak casks for aging. The famed local oak (black oak) is in limited supply today and many producers now purchase barrels made from staves from forests further north, such as Limousin and Tronçais. (A Gascony legend states that casks should be made from oaks that have watched the vines grow but alas for many today this is no longer practical.)

Once the barrels are filled, the true transformation begins as the spirits age and first take on vanilla notes, which change to caramel and then toffee. Floral notes dissipate with time and flavours and aromas of dried fruits such as prune develop. With more age come nutty aspects and rancio notes akin to aged sherry. Armagnac in fact needs time to tame its feisty character. While the law says two years minimum, many are blends of multiple vintages. The spirits in bottles marked VSOP or Reserve are a minimum of five years old , the youngest in an XO, Napoleon, Extra or Vieille Reserve blend is six and that of Hors d’Age is ten and older.

In reality, some of the oldest in a blend can be much more aged than the law requires. The delightful Armagnac de Montal VSOP for example has brandies that have aged in French oak up to 20 years. The classy Domblat Napoléon 10 Year Old, is just that, and the label indicates it was bottled on July 5, 2012 from cask #4-5. Bas Armagnac Castarède 20 Year Old XO is still lively, perfumed with violets and lavender yet with power and length. Marie Duffau Bas Armagnac Napoléon boasts a minimum of 10 year old brandy and with its great price and sweet approachable warmth, it’s the fastest selling Armagnac in America.

However my favourite are the vintage dated Armagnac, which must all come from the harvest of the stated year. Cognac producers were only given the right to produce single vintage eau-de-vie in recent years. Armagnac on the other hand has been producing them since the beginning. It’s a special thrill to purchase a birth date vintage for a loved one or for pure self indulgence. Producers such as Chabot have stocks that date back to 1888. When you buy a vintage Chabot, it comes with a parchment paper sealed around the bottle with wax that certifies the exact year of harvest and the exact day and year of bottling. All brandies only age while they are in barrel so the date of bottling is a clear indication of the actual “taste” age of the product. The elegant, complex Chabot 1982 I tried was bottled July 12, 2012 and it showed all the beauty of age. Armagnac de Montal 1993 is elegantly aristocratic with ginger notes in the finish.

Normally I throw out a bottle once it’s empty. Not so for my Vintage Armagnac from my birth year. Those who see the bottle on display in my house pretty much can guess why I’ve kept it around. The allure of Armagnac trumps vanity.

Cheers!

Margaret Swaine

For all of Margaret’s picks click here: Margaret’s Whisky and Spirits

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Spirits, Armagnac, LCBO, Margaret Swaine, SPirits, Vintages

Profiling New Zealand’s Top Producers, by John Szabo

Profiling New Zealand’s Top Producers

John Szabo, MS

In light of the upcoming New Zealand Wine Fair rolling out across Canadian cities starting this week, this report takes you on a tour through New Zealand’s principal wine regions and highlights some of my top producers in each. All those listed below are represented (somewhere) in Canada, and I’ve listed the agents who represent them wherever possible. The fair hits Vancouver on April 29, Québec City on May 6, Montreal on May 7 and Toronto on May 9. There are both trade and consumer portions in each city, so plenty of access for all. Visit nzwine.com to see the list of producers who will be in each city and to register.

Some, but not all of my recommended producers will be represented at the fairs, so contact the agents directly to find out what’s currently in stock. I’ve also provided links to each producer’s website for your convenience, plus some individual links to reviews on WineAlign. For all my New Zealand wine reviews, please visit my Critic page on WineAlign. Make sure to check “Show wine with zero inventory” and “all Sources” as many of these are only available through the Agent listed.

The bottom line: there’s so much more quality NZ wine available in Canada than what’s on liquor board shelves. Indeed, many of the top small producers are rarely found in government shops, and they’re often the ones most worth tracking down.

New Zealand: Regions & Recommended Producers

New Zealand has just over 34,000 hectares under vine, almost exactly the same acreage as in Champagne, France, to put it in perspective. Although official Geographical Indications are still being mapped out, the New Zealand Winegrowers Association recognizes ten regions in its annual report. For background details on each, visit nzwine.com. Heading roughly north to south, here are the main regions and some of the producers to look for.

Browse by Region: Auckland; Hawkes Bay, Gisborne; Wairarapa/Martinborough; Nelson; Marlborough, North Canterbury; Waipara; Central Otago, Waitaki Valley

Auckland/Northland

Auckland was likely developed as a wine region more for its proximity to a major city rather than particular suitability for viticulture. The climate is virtually sub-tropical, hot and humid, yet there are nevertheless a few exceptions that belie the rule. The region also officially encompasses Matakana and Waiheki Island, the latter a volcanic Island just off the coast from Auckland that’s producing some exceptional, if hard to find wines, with its own unique and highly favorable maritime growing conditions.

Kumeu River Wines

Kumeu River Wines, an estate established in 1944 by Croatian immigrants Mick and Katé Brajkovich, leads the pack in the Auckland area. Generally considered too warm to produce really top-notch wines, Mick’s grandson, winemaker Michael Brajkovich MW and his family continue to defy the odds and consistently deliver some of the best chardonnay in New Zealand.

Agent: Connexion Oenophilia

Review on WineAlign: Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2008

Hawke’s Bay

Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s oldest and second largest wine region (14% of NZ vineyards), with a history stretching back to 1851. Today, it’s known principally for its red wines; the region accounts for nearly 85% of the country’s, cabernet, merlot and blends, as well as syrah. Hawke’s Bay is also home to the 800h hectare Gimblett Gravels sub-appellation, the world’s first based exclusively on soil type. It’s centered on the poor, free draining gravels laid down by the Ngaruroro River, which were exposed after a massive flood in the 1860s stripped away the overlying layers of silt and sand from a clearly delineated section of the plain. Yet it wasn’t until the 1980s that it was realized that grapevines could flourish on these barren soils, as they do on similar gravels on the Left bank of Bordeaux. The region has since taken off since, and pretty much the entire appellation is now planted.

Te Mata Wines

Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard

A venerable estate producing one of NZ’s most sought after reds, Coleraine, a cabernet-merlot blend. Also excellent chardonnay Elston and Bullnose syrah, among others.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Reviews on WineAlign:

Te Mata Awatea Cabernet/Merlot 2010

Te Mata Coleraine 2010

Elephant Hill

A relatively new estate in the cooler coastal zone of Hawke’s Bay called Te Awanga. Owned by German couple Reydan and Roger Weiss. In 2006, Günter Thies, ex Managing Director of Schloss Johannisberg, was lured from the Rheingau to join as MD for Elephant Hill. Look for fresh and peppery syrah among other specialties.

Agent: H.H.D Imports

Trinity Hill

Celebrating nearly twenty years as a leading Gimblett Gravels winery, Trinity Hill makes an exciting range of wines from experimental plantings of tempranillo, arneis and montepulciano, as well as one of NZ’s top syrahs under the “Hommage” label. Trinity also makes an excellent “bay blend” of cabernet-merlot.

Agent: Connexion Oenophilia

Craggy Range

Terry Peabody and Steve Smith MW established Craggy Range in 1997, and they quickly moved into the top echelon of NZ producers. Craggy produces a large range of high quality, single vineyard wines from multiple regions in New Zealand. Gimblett Gravels Syrah and Sophia blend are particularly impressive from Hawke’s Bay (see also Martinborough).

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Alpha Domus

Alpha Domus first planted in the Bridge Pa sub-zone of Hawke’s Bay in 1991. Today, the winery makes a solid range of fresh, balanced wines with particularly successful malbec and syrah, along with more traditional Bay Blends.

Agent: Connexion Oenophilia

Sileni Estates

A large but quality-oriented producer in Hawke’s Bay, with vineyards also in Marlborough. The Cellar Selection range offers excellent value in general; the Estate Collection is a step up in quality and price.

Agent: The Kirkwood Group

Other wineries to look for: Sacred Hill, Esk Valley, East Hope Winegrowers.

Gisborne

James Millton & all the necessary equipment of a vigneron

Gisborne is among the warmest viticultural areas in the country. It was also once the largest wine region in NZ, from the early mid seventies until the mid-eighties, based mostly on the short-lived success of Muller-Thurgau sold in bulk. Gisborne has since fallen to 4th largest, accounting accounts for 5% of NZ’s vineyards, but quality has risen dramatically. Loamy alluvial soils with high levels of calcium, boron and magnesium washed down from the upper hills produce voluptuous chardonnay and aromatic whites (viognier and gewürztraminer). Few reds are grown, but at least one-producer, Millton, proves that it can be done at the very highest level. There are only about four estate wineries; the rest under the Gisborne label are made from purchased fruit, or from contract growers, and bottled outside the region.

Millton Vineyards

James and Anne Millton have been growing grapes for 30 years in Gisborne, farming organically from the start. The shift to biodynamics occurred when the Milltons hired a Dutch intern in 1980 to develop an Integrated Pest management program. The intern happened to be trained in biodynamics and left a book behind for the Milltons to read, and they haven’t looked back since. James, by his own admission, is a Virgo, a “control freak”. He’s firmly in the iconoclast category of winemakers, never shy with opinions, yet neither close-minded. There’s a sense of constant searching in Millton, and his wines have shown a philosophical evolution, moving ever-more minimalist over the years. The musical taste of his cellar hands remains in the seventies, however, as evinced by the greatest hits of Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones blasting in the winery as they’re bottle the 2011 Chenin Blanc and I’m tasting with James. Wines from the Clos Ste. Anne vineyard are the top range, and indeed the entire region.

Agent: The Living Vine

Review on WineAlign: Millton Crazy By Nature Dry Flint Chenin Blanc 2009

Other producers to look for: Vinoptima

Wairarapa (Martinborough)

Wairarapa, which means “glistening waters” in Maori, is composed of three distinct growing regions: Masterton, Gladston, and the most important in terms of acreage (2/3), Martinborough. The first vineyards were planted in 1980 on the edge of town by Ata Rangi, Martinborough Vineyards and Dry River. This is the driest region on the North Island, lying in a rain-shadowed valley tucked between two mountain ranges, inland and north from Wellington. And like Wellington, it’s very windy, and crops are naturally low. Sauvignon blanc, for example, regularly crops at half the average tonnage per acre you’d find in Marlborough. It’s also telling that although Wairarapa accounts for 3% of NZ’s vineyard acreage, it contributes only 1.6% of the national volume.

Helen Masters, winemaker at Ata Rangi

Soils are mostly gravel-based alluvials, free draining, though with more water holding capacity than the Gimblett Gravels. Irrigation is not generally needed, especially for older vines. This is a region of mostly small wineries. Pinot noir is the strength of the region, representing about half of plantings. Here the grape yields a concentrated, structured, less fruity and decidedly more savoury style of wine.

Ata Rangi

A pioneering winery in Martinborough established by Clive Paton in 1980, Ata Rangi (“dawn sky”, or “new beginning”) has been farmed using organic sprays from the start, and fully organically since 2010. This is an outstanding range across the board crafted by winemaker Helen Masters, with top NZ Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, among others.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Reviews on WineAlign:

Ata Rangi Petrie Vineyard Chardonnay 2011

Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 2011

Craggy Range

Established by Terry Peabody and Steve Smith in 1997, Craggy Range has grown to become one of New Zealand’s leading premium producers making wines from multiple regions. Both the Martinborough Te Muna Road Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are excellent, though the whole gamut is worth a taste.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Palliser

One of the largest yet still quality-oriented producers in Martinborough, established two decades ago. The Pencarrow range offers good value; the estate range is more serious.

Agent: Pacific Wines and Spirits

Dry River

Ultra-concentrated wines from among the oldest vines in the region, with great depth and purity, built to age.

Agent: Alto Vino

Cambridge Road

Cambridge Road is a small, 5.5-acre estate on the so-called “Martinborough Terrace”, with some of the oldest pinot plantings in Martinborough, up to 30 years. Winegrower Lance Redgwell practices a natural approach to winegrowing, incorporating biodynamic principals, inspired initially by James Millton in Gisborne. These are pure and impressive wines.

Agent: The Living Vine

Other Producers to look for: Escarpment Vineyard, Kusuda Wines, Schubert.

Nelson

Vines first arrived in Nelson in the mid-1800 with German settlers, though the modern era dates to the 1960s, when Viggo du Fresne was granted the 2^nd winemaking license on the South Island. Other pioneers followed: Seifried in 1973, Neudorf in 1978. Today the region is still rather isolated across the hills to the west of Marlborough, and most operations are still family owned. 185 hectares are planted, divided between the unofficial sub-zones of the Moutere Hills, with its heavier, low fertility soils, with enough clay to hold water so that irrigation is not necessary, and the Waimea Plains and its low-lying flatlands, composed of free-draining floodplains and riverbeds, with gravels under alluvial silt loams, where irrigation is essential.

High sunshine hours, coupled with a long, moderate season thanks to warm air flow from Tasman Bay, and cool nights and reasonable rainfall, contribute to making Nelson well-suited to aromatic varieties such as riesling, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc.

Neudorf Vineyards

Neudorf has been considered a regional leader since Tim and Judy Finn established the winery on a shoestring budget in 1978. The estate has recently converted to organic farming, and the benefits of old vines are evident: these wines are dense and concentrated, not to mention age-worthy.  Chardonnay and pinot noir are highlights.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Marlborough

Much has been written about Marlborough, so I’ll skip the historical details. The region is still NZ’s largest by a wide margin, its 24,000 hectares representing 66% of NZ’s vineyards. Despite the international success with sauvignon blanc, which still dominates plantings, I got a real sense of innovative spirit permeating even the thickest corporate walls in the region when I visited in February of this year. By their own admission, Marlborough pinot noir growers are ten years behind Martinborough and Central Otago in terms of clonal and site selection and vineyard management. Most of what was planted in the early days in the flat, gravelly soils is best suited for sparkling wine, or at best light and fruity pinot noir – not what most would consider serious or age-worthy pinot. And growers treated the grape as if it were sauvignon blanc, which is like trying to make soufflé and pound cake from the same recipe. But one gets the sense they will catch up quickly, as indeed some growers already have.

James Healy & Ivan Sutherland – Dog Point Wines

The serious pinot action since the early 2000s has moved into the heavier soils of the (north-facing) Southern Valleys, an unofficial sub-zone of the region that really should be called Southern Hills, since that’s where most of the best vineyards are situated. This drier, sunnier side of Marlborough was unplantable until recently due to a lack of water, a situation that was addressed just a decade or so ago by an irrigation scheme. Suitable Dijon clones are replacing earlier clones, planting densities have increased, and farming techniques have been adapted to the foibles of pinot. Some of the results are excellent. At any rate, the Marlborough style is distinct from other regions in NZ, characterized by fresh, red fruit-driven wines with light tannins and bright acids, versus the darker fruit character of Otago or the savoury Martinborough style, for example.

Marlborough sauvignon blanc is also undergoing a radical make-over by serious producers, in an effort both to distinguish their own brands, and to add diversity to what has been a fairly straightforward and homogenous offer from Marlborough for the past twenty years. The cookie-cutter, pungent, overtly grassy, grapefruit and asparagus flavours are being traded in for riper, richer tropical fruit tones, lees contact, and quite often barrel fermentation in mostly old oak, in an effort to add layers of complexity and make the wines more age-worthy. It’s mostly a question of reducing yields and tweaking the harvest time, in addition to of course being in the right site in the first place, and fermenting with wild (or neutral) yeasts as opposed to the commercial yeast strains selected to pump up volume of thiols (the compounds responsible for the sweaty grapefruit aromas). In the words of Ivan Sutherland and James Healy of Dog Point Vineyards, ““If all you’re doing is chasing the cat’s piss [aromas/flavours], you’re going to find yourself with a wine that unravels pretty quickly. Thiols are a short-lived wine aroma component.”

I suspect we’ll see sub-appellations emerge in the not too distant future, as the differences across the region can be quite dramatic where all other things are equal. Already we’ve started to see unofficial sub-regional designations such as Awatere Valley, Wairau Valley and the Southern Valleys appear on labels, and we haven’t even begun to add on further refinements like “upper” and “lower” to these.

Finally, one of the un-written stories about Marlborough, and of New Zealand in general, is the astonishing quality of the chardonnays. Now that it’s cool to like (cool climate) chardonnay again, don’t miss some of the great examples from Marlborough and elsewhere in the country. This pliable variety has adapted well to various conditions, and more serious attention to sites, clones and winemaking techniques is resulting a remarkable range of quality examples. Get these now while the prices for all but the top end wines remain relatively accessible.

Astrolabe

Established in 1996 with winegrower Simon Waghorn at the helm. Grapes are sourced throughout Marlborough, but emphasis on vineyards in the slightly cooler Awatere Valley gives Astrolabe’s sauvignon a particularly pungent, pleasantly herbaceous character.

Agent: Rogers & Company

Aunstfield

Marlborough’s first commercial winery with a 100-year history, Aunstfield focuses on single vineyard wines from sites in the Southern Valleys. These are solid, savoury wines with plenty of character.

Agent: DB Wine & Spirits Inc.

Churton Wines

Sam Weaver – Churton Wines

A former London wine trader and Master of Wine candidate (he passed the tasting), Sam Weaver and his wife Mandy established Churton Wines in 1997 in the Southern Valleys of Marlborough. Sam has plenty of winemaking experience, too, including a stint as chief winemaker for Stoneleigh. The Weavers farm their Southern Valleys vineyard biodynamically, and all wines are 100% estate. Yields are well below the regional average and the range is excellent, with an extra measure of depth and concentration, and purity, across the board.

Agent: Le Sommelier Inc.

Clos Henri

Clos Henri is the antipodean outpost of Sancerre producer Henri Bourgeois, crafting very fine sauvignon blanc and pinot noir from vineyards in the Wairau Valley. The style of sauvignon is neither Loire Valley nor typically grassy Marlborough, but a fine meeting point of old and new world.

Agent: Charton Hobbs

Cloudy Bay Vineyards

Cloudy Bay Vineyards is of course the winery that put Marlborough on the world map back in the late 1980s. After a slight dip in quality, Cloudy bay is back on form with a strong set of recent releases. The 2012 sauvignon is one to watch for, while the Te Koko Sauvignon, wild fermented in barrel with full malolactic was one of the first wines in the region to launch this new style (as discussed in the intro above).

Dog Point Vineyard

Margaret and Ivan Sutherland purchased land at the convergence of the Brancott and Omaka Valleys in 1979 and planted vines. The fruit was initially sold to Cloudy Bay, where Sutherland and his future partner James Healy worked together, until 2003, when the pair left to launch Dog Point Vineyards. Their 100 hectares are farmed organically and hand picked (a rarity in Marlborough). Some fruit still goes to Cloudy Bay, but Sutherland and Healy keep the top, hillside vineyard fruit for their own label. The style is intense and edgy, with lots of lees contact and wild yeast complexity, some of the finest wines in the region.

Agent: Trialto Wine Group

Framingham Wines

Characterful wines from the Wairau Valley, including one of the region’s top rieslings, and an exceptional chardonnay.

Review on WineAlign: 2009 Framingham Chardonnay

Agent: Charton Hobbs

Greywacke

Owner Kevin Judd worked with Ivan Sutherland and James Healy (now of Dog Point) at Cloudy Bay before breaking off to start Greywacke; his first vintage was 2009. Judd now buys 90% of his fruit from Dog Point Vineyards, and makes the wine at their facility. The large range of wines is consistently well above average in terms of quality.

Nautilus Estate

A consistent range of clean, modern, quality wines sourced from all three sub-regions of Marlborough.

Agent: B&W Wines

Vineyard Workers at Seresin Estate

Seresin Estate

A region-leading, authentically biodynamic property making an exceptional range of characterful wines, not to mention beautiful olive oil and tasty vegetables. Seresin provides biodynamic preps to many of the other BD estates in the region. Minimal intervention in the winery occasionally results in idiosyncratic flavours, but these are wines of real depth and class, among the best in Marlborough.

Agent: Dionysus Wines & Spirits Ltd.

Staete Landt Vineyards

Dutch couple Ruud Maasdam and Dorien Vermass launched Staete Landt Vineyards with the 2000 vintage. They farm 21 hectares in the Wairau valley, producing a compelling range of wines at excellent prices. The Map Maker label is the very good entry range, while the estate range offers premium quality at fair prices.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Other names to look for: Fromm, Hans Herzog, Te Whare Ra (pronounced ‘teh-FAR-eh-rah”).

North Canterbury

The wines of Canterbury, and particularly North Canterbury, were among the most exciting discoveries at Pinot2013. It’s one of the rare places on earth where limestone and clay come together in the right measure to be perfectly suited to pinot noir and chardonnay, along with an appropriate climate, rainfall, and most importantly, the right intrepid souls who are willing to exploit the potential. The region represents less than 1% of total NZ vineyard area, but I suspect that will change as the top wines become better known.

Pyramid Valley Vineyards

Mike Weersing & his limestone – Pyramid Valley Vineyards

After a lengthy quest around the world searching for the right combination of soil and climate to produce meaningful pinot and chardonnay, Californians Mike and Claudia Weersing settled in a small farm on Pyramid Valley Road in 2000. Hundreds of holes dug into the dirt later, they planted 2.2 hectares of pinot noir and chardonnay on south and southwest facing slopes at 12,000 vines per hectare, un-grafted, and farmed biodynamically from day one. Weersing is a deeply thoughtful winegrower, with strong opinions on such things as biodynamics and screwcaps, yet is always willing to question and consider. His aim is to get as far out of the way as possible in winemaking, and nothing other than sulphur dioxide is used, and even that is dosed out as sparingly as possible. He latest searching has led to experiments with clay amphorae imported from Italy. Wines range from sublime to challenging, always intellectually demanding and multi-dimensional. The 800 or so cases produced from the “home” vineyards (Lion’s Tooth, Angel Flower, Earth Smoke and Field of Fire) are supplemented by the “Grower’s Collection”, a range of wines produced from grapes purchased from organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards throughout New Zealand.

Agent: The Living Vine

Bell Hill

Bell Hill is a tiny estate in the Weka Pass of North Canterbury, with just 2ha of super high-density planted vineyards (up to 11,363 vines/ha) on the unique limestone soils of the region. Vines are farmed organically with biodynamic principals employed; wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. I’d put these are the very top of NZ’s wines.

Agent: The Living Vine

Reviews on WineAlign:

2008 Bell Hill Estate Chardonnay North Canterbury

2010 Bell Hill Estate Pinot Noir North Canterbury

2010 Bell Hill Old Weka Pass Road Pinot Noir North Canterbury

Waipara Valley

The Waipara Valley lies south through Weka Pass in a sheltered zone. The lower lying areas of the region are mostly free-draining gravelly moraines well suited to aromatic whites (riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris), while the hillsides sites are clay-limestone dominated, where pinot and chardonnay are at their best.

Mountford Estate Vineyard & Winery

A very good range of pinot noir and chardonnay, the best of which are from 20 year old vines planted on a steep, eastern, limestone-rich hillside of the Waipara Valley. “The Rise” and especially “The Gradient” are the vineyard names to watch for. Also exceptional late harvest riesling and pinot gris from the gravelly flats to rival top-notch examples from Alsace.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Reviews on WineAlign:

2009 Mountford Estate Pinot Noir ‘The Gradient’

2011 Mountford Voluptueux Riesling

2011 Mountford Pinot Gris

Pegasus Bay

Matthew Donaldson – Pegasus Bay

One of the original Waipara wineries established in the early 1980s by Ivan and Christine Donaldson, Pegasus bay continues to produce exception quality across their considerable range. It’s still family owned and operated, with sons Matt and Ed now looking after winemaking and marketing respectively. In addition to top notch riesling, pinot noir and chardonnay, the winery boasts one of the region’s best restaurants; during my lunch there I ran into legendary rock star Geddy Lee of Rush and his wife, having a quick bite and tasting – the man knows good food and wine as well as bass guitar and vocals.

Agent: Woodman Wines & Spirits

Bellbird Spring

An up-and-coming Waipara producer owned and operated by the porter family, making reasonable pinot noir, pinot gris and sauvignon blanc. Guy Porter, born in India, raised in the UK, with vineyard and winery experience in Australia, Italy, Spain, and California, has considerable know-how. Yet considering that his first vintage was just in 2008, the best is yet to come. Look for the River Terrace Pinot Noir and the Home Block White, an aromatic white blend.

Agent: The Case For Wine

Other wineries to look for: Tongue in Groove, The Crater Rim, Black Estate

Central Otago (and The Waitaki Valley)

Central Otago is most closely associated with New Zealand pinot noir, even if the first commercial wine to come out of the region was reportedly a riesling in 1986. And riesling remains the real insider’s secret, with some superb examples grown on the predominantly free draining, arid, brown-grey soils with low fertility but high mineral content (quartz, mica, calcium) over schistous bedrock, unique in New Zealand.  Riesling clearly loves it here.

But pinot is of course the main story, yet one that is far from fully developed. Otago is quite spread out, encompassing some 1900 square kilometers, of which 1790 hectares are planted to vines. Pinot accounts for three-quarters, so the emphasis is clear. Considering the large area, it’s not surprising that no fewer than six distinct sub-regions have already been identified, ranging from relatively hot and dry Alexandra which receives about 340mm of rain a year, to the considerably cooler and wetter sub-zone of Wanaka, or the cool and windy Gibbston Valley where pinot can struggle to ripen in some years. The bulk of the 60 or so commercial wineries are centered on Bannockburn, which lies somewhere in between climatically and geographically.  Bendigo and Lowburn are the other two zones.

Rippon Vineyards, Central Otago

Otago has New Zealand’s only true semi-continental climate, protected from prevailing west to east weather patterns by the Southern Alps, yet lying far enough inland (about a 2.5 hour drive) from the east coast that the maritime influence that affects every other NZ region is not felt here. As a result, humidity, and thus disease pressure is low, making organic viticulture far easier than elsewhere in the country. Add in high UV light and plenty of sunshine (the region lies at 45º South, meaning summer days are very long), and the result is thick-skinned, deeply coloured pinots with riper, darker fruit flavours than other parts of NZ, despite a marginally shorter growing season than, say, Martinborough. I particularly enjoyed the fineness of examples from Wanaka (biodynamically-farmed Rippon Vineyards is outstanding) and the Gibbston Valley (look for Valli).

In addition to climatic suitability, it certainly doesn’t hurt that Central Otago is also an astonishingly beautiful place, a fact that the region plays on to promote their wines. The winegrowers’ association tag line, “It’s like nowhere else on earth”, is appropriate. Though as a Canadian wandering around Queenstown, I was reminded of Banff, Alberta, which is of course, a good thing. Too bad vineyards wouldn’t survive in the Rockies.

Carrick Wines

After searching in several other parts of NZ, Steve Green settled on Bannockburn with the single-minded goal of producing pinot when he established Carrick Wines in the early 1990s. The estate now has 24ha of certified organic vineyards, of which 70% is pinot noir with the balance in riesling, chardonnay, pinot gris and sauvignon.  Winemaker Francis Hutt makes a solid range of ‘classic’ Otago pinots, with plenty of dark fruit flavours, but the surprise here was the excellent rieslings in dry, off-dry and medium-dry styles.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Felton Road

Widely considered one of the leading wineries in New Zealand, Felton Road farms several vineyard sites in the Bannockburn and Cromwell areas using biodynamics. Viticulture is meticulous, and winemaking no less precise, even if winemaker Blair Walter’s approach has grown increasingly hands-off as confidence in vineyard sites has grown. The whole range is outstanding, with special thrills from the Block 2 Chardonnay and the Block 3 pinot noir.

Agent: Lifford Wine Agency

Mt. Difficulty Wines

Adventure sport enthusiast and skilled winemaker Matt Dicey crafts a fine range of wines from some of the oldest plantings in Bannockburn, the sub-region where Mt. Difficulty was established in 1992. “Roaring Meg” is the very good entry range; rieslings were a particular highlight, while three single-vineyard pinot noirs – Long Gully, Pipe Clay Terrace and Target Gully – make for a fascinating Burgundian-style terroir comparison.

Agent: Small Winemaker’s Collection

Quartz Reef

Austrian-born winegrower Rudi Bauer specializes in pinot noir, pinot gris and traditional method sparkling wine from his certified biodynamic vineyards in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The sparkling wine is a particular treat.

Agent: Amethyst Wine Agency

Two Paddocks

Actor Sam Neill showing off his Two Paddocks Pinot

Established in 1993 by renowned actor Sam Neill, Two Paddocks is based in the sub-zone of Alexandra, making balanced, smooth and polished pinots at the riper end of the spectrum for Otago. Neill delivered one of the keynotes on day one of Pinot 2013, a memorable speech that included a hilarious video called Microdoodle #14: Cornucopia Vitis. The wines are a little more serious.

Agent: Glen-Ward Wines Inc.

Other Central Otago wineries to look for: Burn Cottage, Gibbston Valley Wines, Rippon, Terra Sancta, Valli Vineyards, Nanny Goat Vineyard

Waitaki Valley

The Waitaki Valley is New Zealand’s newest region, one that generated a lot of excitement at the Pinot 2013 conference. It really has nothing to do with Central Otago, but is lopped in under this heading since Otago is the closest region. The Waitaki Valley is about a 2-hour drive north from Otago, a valley carved by the Waitaki River itself through marine deposits. About eighty hectares of predominantly pinot noir, along with some aromatic whites, are planted in mainly limestone soils with a high degree of calcium – a soil type that pinot clearly enjoys. It’s cooler and more marine-influenced than Central, which is reflected in the lean, sharp, bright flavours of the pinots I tasted. The oldest vineyards date only to 2001, so there’s still much discovery and fine-tuning to be done, but the results are already exciting. Expect to hear a lot more about the Waitaki Valley in coming years.

Ostler Vineyards

Ostler is the leading producer based in the Waitaki Valley itself (though other fine wines are made by producers like Grant Valli and Dr. John Forrest, who own vineyards in the region but vinify at their home wineries). Jeff Sinnott and Jim Jerram planted their site in 2002 after a search for the confluence of cool climate and limestone soils led to Waitaki. These are decidedly delicate and refined wines, perfumed and tightly wound, vastly different from the pinots of central Otago. The quality already achieved here casts a positive light on the future of both Ostler and the entire region, with so much more yet to come.

Agent: The Living Vine

Other Waitaki Valley producers (wines) to look for: The Pasquale Kurow Winery, Forrest, Valli Vineyards.

For more information about New Zealand wine and The New Zealand Wine Fair visit nzwine.com.

Cheers!

Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, BC Liquor Stores, John Szabo, LCBO, New Zealand Wine Fair, New Zealand Wine Regions, Vintages

Win FREE tickets to Malbec World Day

Win FREE tickets to this popular Argentina Wine Tasting Event

Wines of Argentina is giving away 5 pairs of tickets to this walk around tasting event – a $130.00 value! Read on for more information on how you can win.

On Tuesday April 16, discover wines made from Argentina’s popular signature grape Malbec, as well as wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Bonarda, Chardonnay and Torrontes. This popular VINTAGES event is being held in Toronto at Roy Thomson Hall, 20 Simcoe Street.Enjoy fabulous wines, a tango demonstration, Argentina-inspired finger foods and music at this preview of 46 wines that will be available in stores in the coming months.

For more information and to purchase tickets go to www.vintages.com/events or call 416-365-5767 or toll-free at 1-800-266-4764.

For a chance to win a pair of tickets, click the link below and answer the following question:

Did you know that Argentina has desert-like conditions in most of its wine growing regions, with many vineyards planted at cooler high altitudes. Which mountain range has the most influence on Argentine vines? 

Enter the Contest here

5 winners will be randomly selected from correct answers submitted by noon on Monday, April 8. Each of the 5 winners will receive a pair of tickets to the event. A $130.00 Value.

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Filed under: Events, Wine, Argentina, Malbec World Day, Vintages, Wine

The Successful Collector, by Julian Hitner: Wine education for us all – red wine fermentation explained

The Transformation from Grape Juice to Wine

Julian Hitner

From the Latin word fervere (meaning to boil), fermentation is the biochemical process by which grape juice is transformed into wine, and is the most significant stage in the winemaking process. It is also one of the most complicated. Though humans have known how to make wine for thousands of years, our knowledge of why grape juice can be made into wine is only a relatively recent discovery.

In popular science, much of the credit goes to nineteenth-century scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), who first noted in 1856 the role yeast played in the conversion of sugar in grape juice into alcohol. Later scientists’ analyses would prove that enzymes present in the yeast cells were the active agents. Fast forward to today, and our knowledge of fermentation has never been greater—or more confusing. For wine lovers, what are the most important things about fermentation to know?

Louis Pasteur

Let’s look at top quality red wine. After the grapes have been sorted and crushed (along with an optional percentage of destemming), they are deposited into open vat containers, usually temperature-controlled stainless steel, to be fermented into wine. At this critical stage, the winemaker will have all sorts of important decisions to take, yet one of the most consequential is deciding on what type of yeast to use in order to convert the sugar in the grapes into alcohol.

In places like Bordeaux and Burgundy, ambient yeasts are the norm. These are yeasts that are naturally present in both the vineyard and winery, and are widely believed to result in more interesting, higher quality wine. There are also many winemakers who believe that natural yeasts contribute to their wine’s distinctiveness and regional personality. In much of the New World, on the other hand, cultured yeasts are more commonly used. In parts of the world where winegrowing doesn’t have an extensively long history, these are usually more reliable than their ambient cousins, and give winemakers better control and greater uniformity throughout the fermentation process. Ask any winemaker: they’re likely to name their greatest fear as a ‘stuck’ fermentation, when not all of the sugar has been successfully converted into alcohol. However, the drawback with cultured yeasts is the potential loss of individuality and excessive alcohol levels that come with rejecting the chances of nature. When it comes to yeast, winemakers must weigh their decisions very carefully.

Tobreck – Fun in the Grape Vat

Just as important is the temperature range at which fermentation takes place. For premium reds and many other types of dry table wines, temperatures begin to rise very quickly once fermentation gets going. This is why temperature-controlled stainless steel vats are so useful. Aside from matters of hygiene, there are few better vessels for guaranteeing winemakers as much control over temperature management. As the fermentation accelerates, it is essential that temperatures be kept around 25-30°C, otherwise the winemaker could have a ‘runaway’ fermentation on their hands, resulting in wine of rather dubious quality.

At the same time as fermentation is underway, winemakers must ensure the proper extraction of all necessary constituents bestowed by the grapes (particularly their skins in the case of good red wine), specifically tannin, colour, and flavour. As red wine ferments, all solid matter floats to the top of the vat on account of the high levels of CO² that accumulate during fermentation, resulting in the formation of a ‘cap’ at the top of the tank. During fermentation, it is imperative to keep this cap submerged as much as possible, not for the reasons just mentioned but also to avoid overheating and the formation of unwanted bacteria.

Torbreck – Pumping Over at Sunset

There are several ways to accomplish this. One is the use of pumps to routinely spray the fermenting liquid from the bottom of the tank right over the top of the cap, otherwise known as ‘pumping over.’ Another is to simply insert a metal grill in the middle of the vat to keep the cap permanently submerged. An additional option involves the use of long poles to simply push the cap back down, a method known as pigeage that is still in use (albeit with lessening frequency) in Bordeaux. These days however, an increasing number of winemaking facilities are being built to accommodate the employment of ‘gravity-fed’ apparatuses. Of cap submergence, this involves draining the liquid at the bottom of the vat and transporting the liquid via elevators to the top the tank and reintegrating the wine. This means the wine is subjected to as gentle a manipulation as possible, which is nowadays considered critical to the production of premium red wine.

Once alcoholic fermentation is complete—with or without the addition of sugar, usually added to increase alcoholic content (otherwise known as ‘chaptalization’)—the winemaker must finally decide on whether or not to permit the onset of a secondary, bacterial fermentation. Known as ‘malolactic’ fermentation, this involves the conversion of harsher (‘appley’) malic acids into softer (‘milky’) lactic acids, and is highly desirable in the crafting of top quality red wine. Nowadays, most winemakers opt to coerce the onset of malolactic fermentation immediately following the completion of alcoholic fermentation by raising temperatures to around 20°C; while others still prefer malolactic fermentation to occur in barrel at some point during the maturation process. There are even those who encourage it to commence concurrently while alcoholic fermentation is taking place. In each case, the object is the same: to increase stability, complexity, and achieve a smoother sense of mouthfeel and flavour.

Clearly then, there is much involved in the successful transformation of grape juice into wine. Thanks to individuals like our good doctor Pasteur and many others since, our knowledge of fermentation has never been greater. The hopeful result? Better quality wine. Funny how end goals seem so simple when compared with the means of obtaining them.

A few of Julian’s gems for collectors from VINTAGES March Releases:

Chateau Montelena 2010 Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California: Better than recent vintages, the 2010 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay represents a superb effort by winemaker Cameron Parry. Light lime in colour, the wine offers inviting, delicate scents of green fruits, lemon custard, dried apricots, pears, mineral traces, and a hint of vanilla and nuts. Complex, boasting excellent fruit, balanced acidity (unusual in this neck of the woods), and an elegant, extremely fresh hint of pears and slight mineral- and nut-tinged nuances on the finish. Marvellous style, balance, and appeal; this will keep very well over the medium-to-long term. Now-2019.

TerraVin 2009 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand: For the past several years, an increasing number of Marlborough producers have begun experimenting with oak-treated versions of Sauvignon Blanc. The results have been immensely successful. Very pale lime in colour, the 2009 TerraVin 2009 Single Vineyard version offers very beautiful, almost ‘crystalline’ scents of delicate gooseberry-infused grapefruit, green fruits, minerals, and a hint of white peaches, lemon citrus, and herbs. Complex, with extremely zesty fruit, balanced acidity, and a potent hint of gooseberries, kiwi, and orange zest traces on the finish. Remarkable vibrancy, clarity, and style. Screwcap closure. Now-2015+.

F. Tinel-Bondelet 2010 L’Arrêt Buffatte, Pouilly-Fumé, Loire, France: Representing excellent value for money by local market standards, the 2010 L’Arrêt Buffatte certainly has a lot to offer. Pale lime in colour with a touch of straw, it reveals very beautiful scents of slightly tropical pears, lemon, peaches, gooseberry traces, minerals, and a hint of white flowers. Complex, carrying sensationally zesty fruit, balanced acidity, and a crisp, refined hint of pure minerally green fruits on the finish. Terrific elegance, integration, and balance. Now-2017.

Robert Mondavi 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California: Even better than the monumental ’06, the 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is as close to perfect as this label has ever reached. Extremely dense black-ruby in colour, the wine is beautifully toasted, exuding stellar, surprisingly subdued aromas of currants, plums, moderate mocha extract, black cherries, blackberry liqueur, licorice, grilled herbs, forest floor, asphalt, sushi wrapper, vanilla, and spice. Extremely complex, delivering prodigious, powerful forward fruit, firm tannins, milder acidity, and a polished, full-throttle hint of plummy blackberries and mocha extract on the finish. Fabulous layering, flavour, power, and harmony; I suspect this will keep for at least two decades. Also contains 8% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. Now-2033++.

Inglenook 2009 Rubicon Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford (Napa Valley), California: The best vintage I’ve yet to taste of this impeccable label, the 2009 Rubicon Cabernet Sauvignon is akin to a tall tale of opulence, extract, and underlying harmony. Extremely dense ruby in colour, the wine is beautifully toasted, burgeoning with hedonistic aromas of chocolate, currants, blackberry liqueur, kirsch, dried blueberries, licorice, graham crackers, forest floor, fresh vanilla pods, and spice. Very complex, delivering unbelievably powerful fruit, very firm tannins, milder acidity, and an incredibly lengthy, polished hint of chocolate, plummy currants, and blackberry liqueur on the finish. Massively Parkerized, yet seemingly harmonious for the style; an outstanding outing when taken as a whole. Also contains 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Merlot. Now-2035.

La Gerla 2007, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: Surpassing most expectations, the 2007 La Gerla is one masterful, innately refined Brunello di Montalcino. Dark garnet in colour, it exhibits outstanding traditional aromas of wild savoury red cherries and plums; giving way to leather, underbrush, delicate mesquite and chestnuts, sandalwood, cedarwood, tobacco, floral elements, and spice. Very complex, delivering impeccable fruit, firm tannins, balanced acidity, and an utterly refined, exemplary hint of wild red cherries, cedarwood, and floral undergrowth on the finish. Outstanding refinement, harmony, and breed; this will last well over fifteen years. Now-2028++.

More more reviews visit our Critics profile page: Julian Hitner

Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, Julian Hitner, Vintages, Wine Education

Lawrason’s Take Vintages March 16 Release

The California Blitz, Bargain Euros, ISDs and Ruminations on a 100-Point Tasting

David Lawrason

If you have perhaps given up wine for Lent and stayed away from the LCBO in recent days, you may be excused for not being aware that we are in the midst of a California wine promotion blitz. In fact it’s a nationwide blitz, which makes sense because Canada is the largest export market for California wine. We bought $307 million dollars worth of California wine last year.

The flood gates opened at the Vancouver International Wine Festival on February 26, and the tide will continue to wash right across the country through to the last of six California Wine Fairs in Halifax on May 2. In Ontario, the fair dates are April 5 for Ottawa and April 8 for Toronto. But the fairs are not the only opportunities to be swept up in the current. On March 21, over 30 wineries will be pouring at an LCBO sponsored event at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto called Legends of California. Or you can check out 35 new wines released by VINTAGES on March 16 and March 2; or some new general listings (watch this space next week). California wine, by the way, leads all other regions in sales through VINTAGES ($74 million) and the volume is growing!

What’s most interesting to me is that California wine does so well at the generally high prices it commands. It seems that in almost every other category we love to find bargains, but when it comes to California we open our wallets wide. Why? I think we are simply very comfortable with California wine. We like its smooth, ripe, fruit-rich ambiance. Many of us have travelled to its wine regions. There is no strange-ness around language, grapes and labels. And we trust the overall quality, which, in my view is actually improving of late as California settles into middle-age maturity. There is still a yawning “value gap” between the price and quality of some of the most expensive wines – particularly in Napa – but having tasted a lot of excellent wines in recent days I can say that the gap is closing, and that if you look beyond the most iconic names there are actually some decent values out there.

Here are my California value picks from the March 16 release:

Inglenook 2009 Edizione Pennino Zinfandel ($54.95) is zin the way I like it – lush yet poised with that unmistakable brambleberry, woodsy character I first fell in love with as I tracked down old vine zins during rambling travels to California in the 80’s. The vines on Inglenook’s site date back decades but this is a new label and presentation. Delicious, and you will feel better if you can’t afford the $239 Inglenook Cabernet being released at the same time.

Ravenswood 2009 Dickerson Zinfandel ($39.95) is one of several old-vine single vineyard zins in the Ravenswood portfolio. Normally I find Ravenswood renderings too oaky (including the Ravenswood Big River also being released), but this one sings with fruit and its terroir. Dickerson sits, appropriately, on Zinfandel Lane in Napa. It’s a dry farmed site with most of its vines over or nearing the century mark. Wow!

Calera 2009 Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir ($49.95) is one of two single vineyard pinots being released and both are excellent. Both hail from sites on Mt. Harlan, a unique limestone based outcropping in San Benito County, which some might say is almost the birthplace of top quality California pinot noir, thanks to pioneering efforts by Josh Jensen, chronicled in the book called “The Heartbreak Grape”.

Chateau Montelena 2010 Chardonnay ($57.95) offers all kinds of complexity and energy; easily on par with top chardonnays from Burgundy and yes, Ontario. I think it has everything to do with being bio-dynamically farmed. This is not a glossy market-driven chardonnay; it’s quite crisp, more lean and mineral driven.

Euro Bargains under $20

For true bargains I invite you, once again, to wander paths less well travelled – in this case through Europe.

Monte Del Frá 2011 Bardolino ($13.95) is one of my favourite simple summer reds. Bardolino neighbours more famous Valpolicella on the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy, and like Valpolicella this made from corvina and rondinella with a splash of sangiovese. No oak here, just juicy sour red fruit from a very conscientious producer.

Menguante 2007 Selección Garnacha from the Carinena region of Spain is a great buy at $16.95.  Well priced, old vine grenache from the arid steppes of northern Spain is no longer a rarity, but some can be too jammy and heavy. This is very generous but finishes with a firm, more mineral driven feel. Lo and behold, it turns out to be bio-dynamically farmed as well. The bodega (winery) was founded in the 18th century.

Takler Pince 2009 Kékfrankos ($13.95) from Hungary’s Szekszárd region is a great little buy that pinot and gamay lovers will fancy. The grape is the same as blaufrankisch or lemberger that you may be more familiar with as an important variety in neighbouring Austria. It is actually widely found in central and eastern Europe, where some refer to it as “the pinot of the east”.

Domaine De Papolle 2011 Gros Manseng from the Côtes de Gascogne in southwest France is a most intriguing white wine ($19.95) from a producer of Armangnac that has a growing reputation for still wines. The gros manseng grape offers one of the most unique spicy aromas in winedom. And once you get past that nose you will find yourself in an equally intriguing landscape of sweetness and acidity.

Muga 2011 Barrel Fermented White from Rioja, is a marvelously balanced, genteel white from the viura grape, and a great buy at $15.95. You will rarely get an oaked chardonnay with this kind of poise and depth for $16. I am not going to suggest that you should age this for a long time, but grand traditionally made white Rioja’s are capable of incredible longevity.

Rolling out the ISDs

For several years VINTAGES has been releasing small lots of wines into a few selected stores and calling them “In Store Discoveries”, or affectionately, ISDs. They were never put out for media tastings, and often Product Consultants didn’t get to preview them. The idea was that keen-eyed shoppers would be delighted to “discover” them in-store all by themselves. Well I guess that idea is not translating too well into sales, because ISDs are now appearing in release catalogues and we scribes are being invited to pre-taste them too. And I am happy to do so, as small lots often offer interesting explorations. Now if only they could find a way to get all those Shop On-Line and Classics Catalogue wines out on the shelves too. Anyway, here are a couple of noteworthy ISDs that you will only find at the following “flagship” stores: Toronto – Summerhill, Queens Quay, Bayview Village; Oakville – Trafalger & Cornwall Drive; Ottawa – Rideau & King Edward. And by the way, as ISDs are no longer factually ISDs, they need a new name. Should we run a contest?

San Felice 2008 Arkeos Campogiovanni ($42.95) is a unique blend of a pugnitello and sangiovese from Tuscany. Pugnitello is an ancient variety that has literally been rescued from extinction by San Felice, a winery that has contributed a great deal to modern agriculture research. This is an intriguing wine that attempts to combine the rugged power of pugnitello with the vivacity of sangiovese, and it works well.

First Drop 2010 Pintor Tempranillo ($37.00) from the Barossa Valley of South Australia is more of a curio than a must-buy. But at the same time First Drop’s “ode to the great wines of Rioja” is also a tasty drop, that is very much Australian in the flavour department, but less hefty and dense than most Barossa shiraz or cabernets. Spanish? Not really, but why should it be? By the way, the fun-loving lads at First Drop are really into twitchy You-Tube videos www.firstdropwines.com.

Ruminations on a 100 Point Tasting

Rob Groh of The Vine, a Toronto-based wine importer (www.robgroh.com) recently invited the city’s top sommeliers to a tasting of eleven wines scored 100 points by Robert Parker with the stated goal of generating discussion about scoring wine on the 100 point scale. It’s an age-old and rather tiresome debate, but the anti-scoring forces are gathering as the population becomes more wine savvy and perhaps less in need of professional guidance.

Here are some observations about The Vine tasting, in an effort to share in and widen the debate. First, no one turned down the invitation to attend – which alone illustrated the power of the allure of tasting “perfection”. And none of the very expensive wines are actually available, which also speaks to the power of a 100 point score.

Second, most of the commentary about scoring by numbers was negative. There was appropriate philosophical angst expressed about assigning a number to a work of art like wine. There were cautionary comments that one must always consider the source. And there were protestations that taste is so individual and fleeting that it defies being ascribed a numeric value. Very few of the sommeliers said they would sell a wine by number on their wine list. But when I asked who would like to see scores abolished as a tool of wine criticism, only half a dozen of about 40 sommeliers raised their hands.

Said one who voted in favour of scoring: “It’s almost like scores are the law; chaos would ensue if we got rid of them”. This re-enforced a critical point made by WineAlign’s John Szabo who moderated the discussion. To paraphrase, scores – like’em or not – are in fact a natural and necessary tool to distinguish among so many wines. And as much as we would love to spend the time to analyse and expound on all the detail of each and every wine, that is just not possible. There needs to be a fairly succinct way to sort and communicate our impressions.

The third general observation was that none of the eleven wines poured generated anything like the kind of awe, reverence or passion one might expect at a 100 point tasting.  Audience scores were tabulated and averaged and no wine scored more than 94 by the group. All the wines were American cabernet-based reds that Robert Parker deemed “perfect”. They included six wines from Verite of Sonoma, and two from Loyota of Napa, two from Washington’s Quilceda Creek and one vintage of Napa’s Cardinale.

All were technically excellent, but only three, in my numerical opinion, ranged above 95 points, into that territory that delivered the head spinning, jaw dropping emotional impact that I expect of great wines. They were Loyota 2001 Mount Veeder Cabernet; 2005 Verite La Joie and 2007 Verite La Muse. But I have had dozens upon dozens of other wines in my career that were more wondrous and moving.

So is wine judging emotional? Yes – great wines can move you to tears or put a lump in your throat – like music or art or some spellbinding natural vista. But there are measurable factors like purity, balance, complexity and depth that “add up” to create that emotional effect. So the score becomes a way to try to communicate that emotional opinion or attachment, and valid scores need to address those building blocks.

Experts taste more, and hopefully have a greater frame of reference and understanding of how perfection is created, which should result in more objectivity. I have respect for Robert Parker’s deeper knowledge of American cabernets than I have, and his willingness to call some perfect. For that reason too I was drawn to this tasting. I really wanted to taste these wines. And I learned more about the subject, which may never have happened if Parker had not scored them so highly.

And that is the real reason that scores matter. They put more great wine in front of more people, who might not otherwise consider buying that bottle. What you get out of that is up to you, and there is no right or wrong.

So that’s it for this edition. There were many very interesting wines on this release, so open a bottle, pour a glass and enjoy.

Cheers,

David Lawrason
VP of Wine

From the March 16, 2013 Vintages release:

David’s Featured Wines
All Reviews

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

St. Patrick’s Day Libations; by Margaret Swaine

Margaret Swaine

We’re all Irish at least for a day in March when St. Patrick’s Day rolls along. St Patrick, a missionary who worked in Ireland converting inhabitants to Christianity, died on March 17 in the fifth century. His day has been seized upon as the greatest excuse for a party ever. It’s a public holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador on the nearest Monday to March 17. The rest of us can be content with wearing green and eating and drinking Irish.

Cook up an Irish stew, some colcannon (mashed potatoes with cabbage or kale) and Irish bacon or get creative. On a trip to Northern Ireland, I found lots of delicious twists on tradition Irish dishes. Yes there were often five or more versions of beloved potatoes on the menus but those were sides to the exciting main dishes.

A Selection of Irish Cheeses

There was fresh fish, oysters and mussels plucked from clear Atlantic waters. Tender lamb and 28 day dry aged beef came from animals raised on the green grasses of the countryside’s rolling hills. Scones hot from the oven served with rich thick whipped cream and local jams were far too prevalent a temptation. Irish farmhouse cheeses numbered over 80 selections from blues to cheddars to creamy camembert-types.

The menu in the Oak Restaurant at the Slieve Donard Resort boasted Lissara Farm free range chicken, sirloin steak from John Killen’s Farm and rack of County Antrim pedigree Dorset lamb. Desserts included a light and airy lemon carrageen moss pudding (a type of local seaweed). At Balloo House, voted pub of the year in 2009, the delicious chowder was thick with chunks of smoked haddock. Finnebrogue venison shepherd’s pie with celeriac mash was comfort food knocked up several notches of sophistication.

The thick, triple cooked chips (fries) which showed up on many menus are reason alone to visit Northern Ireland.  You’d ditch your diet for them as you would for the champ (mashed potato with chives), colcannon, buttery mash, sautéed potatoes with leeks and potato bread.

At Mourne’s Seafood restaurant in Belfast I dined on a fresh, gently cooked seabass with bacon and clam velouté. Tiny scallops were translucent and tender while monkfish was punched up in flavour with Sicilian peppers.

Preparing the Pigeon

Ardtara Country House is a member of Ireland’s Blue Book, an association of unique manor houses, historic hotels and restaurants. These independently owned properties often supply a superb meal along with accommodation and Ardtara lived up to that promise well. The dishes were inventive, beautifully presented and featured local farm produce. Carpaccio was a slender slice of dry aged fillet of Comber beef with peppery wild watercress and warm brioche. Lamb was done two ways – the loin and a shank pie presented together. Homemade Irish whiskey ice cream with coffee panacotta capped the meal with panache.

The icing on this cake of good eating was Belle Isle near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh. This country estate on its own island has a top cookery school which offers day, weekend and four week diploma courses. Master Chef Liz Moore started my lesson with a wood pigeon, feathers and all, laid out on a cutting board. “Belle Isle’s a shooting estate,” she announced. “We do a lot of game here.” Whereupon she cut the breast meat out of the pigeon in one deft move without having to pluck it. This is a place where students can learn how to Shoot, Pluck and Cook. Now that’s farm to table.

A Selection of Irish Whiskey

As for libations…what could be better than an Irish whiskey. I wrote at length in WineAlign last year about the state of Irish whiskies in the current market. Here’s a recap of a few pertinent details. The distilleries operating in Ireland are: Midleton Distillery (the Irish Distillers Group main distillery: Jameson, Powers, Paddy, Midleton, Redbreast, and others), Bushmills Distillery (Old Bushmills, Black Bush, 1608, Bushmills 10-, 12- and 16- and 21-year-old single malts) and Cooley Distillery (brands such as Connemara, Tyrconnell, Locke’s, as well as Kilbeggan Distillery which reopened in 2007). There are also a growing number of the independent Irish bottlings such as The Irishman, Teeling Whiskey Company and Feckin Whiskey.

Cooley (now owned by Beam Inc.) is the distillery that shook up the market in 1987.  Founded by John Telling with the goal of reintroducing the North American market to quality Irish whiskey, Cooley departed from the accepted definition of Irish whiskey as being triple distilled and unpeated. He revived historic brands such as Tyrconnell and created a family of Connemara double distilled peated single malts.

Cooley’s Inishowen Peated Blend is blended from peated and unpeated malts and grain whisky. The brand originates from the A.A. Watt distillery in Derry, in the late 1800′s. It’s named after the Inishowen peninsula on the northern tip of Ireland, which was well known as prime for the illicit production of “poteen”. (By 1822 there were as many as 800 illicit stills in operation.) This is gently peated with sweet fruity elements and a vein of malty sweetness throughout. It finishes with a slightly spiced bite. Value priced, it’s a nice balance of malt and grain with whiffs of peat.

Also from Cooley Distillery and an excellent value is Locke’s 8 Year Old Pure Pot Still Single Malt. Double distilled in traditional pot stills, it’s made from whiskies aged between eight and ten years. Smooth, medium-bodied with lots of pot still character, it’s nicely rounded with sweet, malty, fruity notes and spicy oak. Vanilla and a touch of peat (ten per cent of the malt used was peated) make it very tasty indeed.

Bushmills can with fair authority claim to be the oldest distillery in the world. The royal licence to distil in the district of Bushmills was granted in 1608. Situated in the quaint town of Bushmills, Northern Ireland, it takes its name from the River Bush and all the mills that used to be on it. A popular tourist destination it attracts over 100,000 visitors a year. To mark its 400th anniversary in 2008 Bushmills came out with an innovative brand called 1608.  This fine, rich and deep whiskey is made using a special process that toasts barley into crystal malt (so named for its crystal shape). The barley malt takes on a dark chocolate brown colour and imparts a chocolate toffee flavour to the whiskey. (Alas not available at present in our market.)

Bushmills 10 Year Old matured for a minimum of 10 years mainly in bourbon seasoned barrels has aromas of sweet smoky honey, vanilla and milk chocolate that carry through on the creamy palate. Bushmills Black Bush with a high proportion of malt whiskey matured in oloroso sherry casks has nutty, caramel and fruity sherry tastes.

From Midleton Distillery, Jameson Gold Reserve is an opulent and complex whiskey. A blend of selected casks of triple distilled Jameson whiskey, up to 20 years old, it features some whiskey aged in “virgin” (i.e. first use) American oak casks, others in former bourbon barrels and sherry casks. Creamy textured with a rich, sherry, caramel bouquet, it’s full-bodied and layered. Sweet honey, toasted oak, notes of spice and pepper come though in the ultra smooth taste.  It’s quite the stunner.

A new whiskey which appeared in recent years, Writers Tears, comes from The Irishman whiskey line-up. The Irishman whiskeys are the creations of Bernard Walsh who enjoys special access to the warehouses of certain Irish distillers. He selects the casks that are vatted together to produce his whiskeys. He came up with a new type of whiskey: a blend of malt and pure pot still whiskeys. This is a “pot still blend”, since both malt and pure pot still are distilled in the traditional pot still. Other Irish blends contain some proportion of grain whiskey, the output of the less traditional Coffey still.

Raise a glass and toast the Irish on this year of The Gathering Ireland 2013, the country’s invitation to the world to come home and enjoy Ireland’s colourful history, culture and people. To celebrate, about 8,000 people around the world have been invited to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin. It will be some party – the city’s copious pubs just might be drained dry.

Sláinte!

Margaret Swaine

For all of Margaret’s whisky reviews click here: Margaret’s Whisky and Spirits

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Spirits, LCBO, Margaret Swaine, St. Patrick's Day, Vintages, Whisky

The Successful Collector, by Julian Hitner: Wine education for us all – Bordeaux prices explained

As mentioned in our previous posting entitled: Bordeaux 2010: Yet Another Vintage of the Century?, in this subsequent article Julian goes a little further to explore Bordeaux pricing. 

Justifying costs:

Julian Hitner

As the cost of premium claret continues to skyrocket, many collectors are asking why once-affordable estates are nowadays habitually so prohibitive. Is it unprecedented demand? Increasing costs of production? Or is it simply good old-fashioned extortion at work?

Whatever the reason, the need to justify such exorbitant prices has never been greater. On the part of the Classed Growths and even non-classified estates, voracity is but one excuse. For those in the business, few would deny that the cost of crafting a bottle of Fourth Growth Branaire-Ducru would be higher than a bottle of Cru Bourgeois Larose-Trintaudon. From the number of employed workers and the procurement of the finest equipment to harvesting at much lower yields and engaging in far stricter gape/parcel selection, Classed Growths will almost always be more dependent on higher revenues to live up to their reputations than their less eminent counterparts. But how much is enough to cover costs and make a reasonable profit? What is the fine line between Branaire-Ducru owner Patrick Maroteau’s overheads and a respectable return?

On the other hand, there are those who would argue that Maroteau’s prices are merely a reflection of what the market will bear. Take away the romance and the glamour, and estates like Branaire-Ducru (a favourite of mine) are essentially glorified businesses, operated with the sole aim of exacting as much money from the purchasing public as possible. What fault of it is Maroteau’s if wine lovers are willing to pay over one hundred dollars for his stunning ’10? So long as people are willing to pay, owners might as well set their prices as high as they choose.

And why not? There are nowadays more willing customers than ever. For the past several years, new markets, particularly in Asia, have fomented greater demand for top-end Bordeaux than pundits could have ever predicted. With each passing year, buyers in Hong Kong and elsewhere along the Pacific Rim have been increasingly on the lookout for the best estates/finest vintages wherever possible; and estate owners have responded with unheralded prices.

But wine lovers should remember that they have more power than they think—and more astute estate owners should know this. Should prices rise too swiftly, or remain high for particularly mediocre vintages (such as in 2011 and 2012), many claret collectors will simply stop buying. This even includes markets in Asia, where local merchants began experiencing backlash shortly after initial release prices of the 2010s were deemed too excessive. Estates such as Second Growths Châteaux Lascombes and Rauzan-Ségla learned this the hard way, and have since lowered their costs to more palatable levels. At least in principle, serious collectors and casual wine enthusiasts should always have the last word.

Here are a few gems for collectors from the 2010 Bordeaux collection:

Château Figeac 2010, St-Emilion, AOC Premier Grand Cru Classé, $425.00

When the most recent revisions to the St-Emilion Classification (now more controversial than ever) were announced in September 2012, it was something of shock that Angélus and Pavie both got the nod to ‘A’ rank while Eric d’Aramon’s beloved Château Figeac did not. Consider the near-perfect ’10 vintage. Opaque ruby in colour, the wine exhibits exhilarating, masterful aromas of dark mocha, currants, crème de cassis, dark cherries, kirsch liqueur, slightly sinewy black fruits, spring flowers, crushed rocks, vanilla, and spice. Extremely complex, dispensing multilayered, fantastical fruit, very firm tannins, balanced acidity, and a finesse-filled, wondrous hint of concentrated black fruits, dark mocha, and charcoal on the finish. Astonishing pedigree, balance, harmony, and breed; why this estate wasn’t promoted shall forever confound me. 35% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 30% Merlot. Now-2050++. Score 98 (Julian Hitner, The Successful Collector, November 2012)

Château La Conseillante 2010, Pomerol, $379.00

Along with the near-perfect ’09, the 2010 Château La Conseillante is a legend in the making—harmonious, supple, and unbelievably addictive. Extremely dense black-ruby in colour, this magnificent claret delivers dazzling, entirely unencumbered aromas of espresso, crème de cassis, plummy currants, dark mocha, asphalt/charcoal, licorice, cherry and blackberry compote (non-excessive), vanilla, and spice. Incredibly complex, wielding prodigiously elegant, full-bodied chewy fruit, very firm tannins, balanced acidity, and a fabulous, gorgeously interwoven hint of espresso, blackberry treacle/plummy currants, and minerals traces on the finish. With abundant energy, pedigree, and finesse, this is one bottling every serious collector must somehow obtain in profusion. According to one source: 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Now-2050++. Score 97 (Julian Hitner, The Successful Collector, November 2012)

Château Léoville Barton 2010, St-Julien, $169.00

While I have yet to taste the Ducru-Beaucaillou or Léoville-Las Cases, for the moment at least the 2010 Château Léoville Barton ranks as the greatest St-Julien produced from this fabulous vintage—not to mention one of the finest wines the Barton family has ever created. Opaque ruby in colour, it discloses substantially elegant, enticing aromas of currants, blackberries, dried blueberries, licorice, spring flowers, delicate espresso, forest floor, minerals, vanilla wafers, and spice. Extremely complex, featuring robust, seamlessly attuned fruit, very firm tannins, balanced acidity, and a magnificent hint of currants, blackberries, and mineral elements on the finish. Luminous, characterful, and totally harmonious; a wine like this one reminds me of why I got into this business in the first place. 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Now-2046+. Score 96++ (Julian Hitner, The Successful Collector, November 2012)

Château Lynch Bages 2010, Pauillac, $229.00

Though the wines of Lynch Bages have always been stellar (even in average vintages), the 2010 may very well gone down in the estate’s history as the unbeatable outing, surpassing even the colossal ’09, the resplendent ’05, and the already-legendary ’00. Opaque ruby in colour, it demonstrates wondrous aromas of crème de cassis and alternate black fruits; making way for dark cherries, kirsch, Oreo Cookies®, mocha, licorice, spring flowers, graphite, charcoal, vanilla, and spice. Incredibly complex, delivering well-structured, near-perfect fruit, very firm tannins, balanced acidity, and a classic, impactful hint of black cherried currants, spring flowers, and crushed rocks on the finish. Magnificently textured, conveying incredible finesse, dimension, and harmony; easily a thirty-year proposition. 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Now-2045++. Score 96 ++ (Julian Hitner, The Successful Collector, November 2012)

Château Rauzan-Ségla 2010, Margaux, $215.00

A new plain of excellence for this fast-improving estate, the 2010 Rauzan-Ségla is not just the greatest wine this estate has ever produced; it is also one of the finest wines of the vintage for the Margaux appellation. Opaque ruby in colour, this intoxicating claret displays exemplary aromas of fragrant raspberries, currants, and black fruits; making way for blackberries, violets, licorice, forest floor, wild game elements, minerals, vanilla, and spice. Extremely complex, delivering incredibly refined, gorgeously concentrated fruit, very firm tannins, balanced acidity, and a poignant, eternally graceful hint of black currants, raspberries, and mineral deposits on the finish. So delicious, generous, and elegant; this will likely keep much longer than any vintage preceding it. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3.5% Petit Verdot, and 1.5% Cabernet Franc. Now-2045+. Score 96 (Julian Hitner, The Successful Collector, November 2012)

For more reviews: 2010 Bordeaux

Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, Bordeaux, Bordeaux 2010, Julian Hitner, Vintages

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

Taking on Chocolate; Margaret Swaine and Janet Dorozynski

WineAlign’s Margaret Swaine and Janet Dorozynski delve into libations with chocolate. Based on common sense and taste chemistry Margaret arrives at desire-enhancing spirit matches, and Janet explains why she likes her chocolate sans vino, and then delivers a trio of romantic reds.

Spirited Aphrodisiacs
By Margaret Swaine

Margaret Swaine

I’ve read that every Valentine’s Day an estimated one billion dollars is spent by the love struck on chocolate for their heart’s desire. There’s reason behind this cocoa craze. Good chocolate has mood enhancing qualities. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine – a feel good chemical found naturally in the brain. And researchers say chocolate may also boost the brain’s production of serotonin, a natural antidepressant. So chocolate is a given, but what to drink with it?

Ginger has for centuries been called a powerful aphrodisiac with suggestions that it increases sexual prowess. This reputation as a natural aphrodisiac comes from its ability to increase circulation including in the erogenous zones. French comtesse, Madame du Barry who was a sensation in Paris as a courtesan and official mistress to King Louis XV, apparently made a practice of serving ginger to her lovers. It was said to achieve the desired results. On sale now in Vintages is a terrific ginger product The King’s Ginger Liqueur ($45.95).

Bols history of distilling spans over 400 years when the Bols family moved to Amsterdam in 1575. Lucas Bols, born in 1652 really put the family company on the map. He was an influential business man during the Dutch Golden Age, when Amsterdam was the world’s major trading city. Lucas Bols had first choice of the ‘new’ herbs and spices that seafaring merchants brought into Amsterdam from the West Indies. With his knowledge of distilling, he created hundreds of liqueurs, by distilling, macerating and percolating those natural ingredients.

In the 16^th and 17^th century liqueurs were made for healing illnesses, afflictions and as love potions. Names such as “Verboden Liefde” (Forbidden Love) and “Volmaakt Geluk” (Perfect Bliss) conveyed the message of miraculous effects. The only modern-day Bols liqueur still connected to love is Bols “Parfait Amour” (Perfect Love), a purple hued liqueur flavoured with flower petals, principally violets and roses, together with orange peel and almonds. Alas this isn’t available at the LCBO.

Blue Curaçao revived in 1970 from an old recipe called “Creme de Ciel” (Cream of the Skies) is nowadays known as Bols Blue. A worldwide success, it’s best mixed in tropical cocktails. This time of year and to match with chocolate, I’d go for Bols Advocaat ($21.95), with its sweet egg custard flavour. A popular advocaat-based drink enjoyed in Italian ski resorts is the Bombardino, made by mixing one part advocaat with one part brandy, served hot with whipped cream on top. Other variations add espresso, rum or whisky into the mix.

Bourbons, cognacs and armagnacs are wonderful matches with chocolate.  Just take a sip then a nibble. A deep and complex cognac like Bowen XO ($184.95) would marry well with dark, high cocoa content chocolate for a perfect finish to a romantic evening. The history of Bowen starts with romance. At some point at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, the great-grandfather of Rene-Luc Chabasse inherited a number of properties and vineyards in the Cognac region. He had a passion for travel and his voyages took him around the globe. On one of these trips that he met and fell in love with Elizabeth Bowen – a young lady whose family had a farm near Pondicherry in south-east India. Smitten, the young man poured all his efforts into creating a particularly aromatic and elegant cognac just for her. The result was a success and the beginning of a journey of a cognac brand that still bears her name today.

Wine and Chocolate: Too Much of a Good Thing
By Janet Dorozynski

Janet Dorozynski

While chocolate may be a given on Valentine’s Day, and I love great chocolate just as much as the next gal, I prefer to nibble on my morsels of dark chocolate separately from my wine. Even though we hear repeatedly that chocolate and red wine is a match made in heaven, I beg to differ.

Without getting too deep into the science of taste or food and wine matching, suffice it to say that many of the flavour compounds found in chocolate are also found in wine, such as tannins (yes tannins, with chocolate containing more than black tea), flavonoids (a type of polyphenol which gives red wines its colour) and acid. Even though some red wines have hints of cocoa or mocha, because the components of chocolate and red wine are more similar than different, when tasted together, they often clash rather than cohabit.

If you are a subscriber to the classic tenants of food and wine matching, rule number one for pairing wine with desserts or sweet foods is that the wine should be sweeter than what you are eating. Since most of the red wines that we drink today are dry, the sweetness in chocolate, even bittersweet chocolate, will emphasize both the tannin and acidity in red wines and make them taste more acidic and bitter than they actually are.

Many esteemed scholars of wine and wine and food matching concur that chocolate is a difficult match for wine. Emile Peynaud, author of the classic book, The Taste of Wine, explains that although there are many, many styles of wine which will match with countless foods, chocolate, as well as chocolate desserts such as chocolate mousse, are no-no’s and one of the exceptions to this rule.

Food and wine matching goddess Fiona Beckett also views chocolate as a difficult match for wine and if you must have wine with your chocolate, steers you toward sweet reds such as fortified wines (cream sherry, Oloroso or PX; Ruby Port), vins doux naturals from the south of France (Rivesaltes, Banyuls or Maury) or raspberry liqueur. She also recommends cognac with chocolate truffles or “other hand-made chocolates”, as well as black coffee with chocolate cake, which I see as imminently sensible advice.

In my mind, pairing chocolate and red wine falls under the category of difficult, or perhaps unnecessary, food matches, as is the case for artichokes, asparagus, eggs or mackerel. Anyone is of course free to drink and eat whatever they like, or that which appeals to your senses, since the bottom line with any wine and food pairing really comes down to you and what you like. I personally would prefer to savor that box of heart-shaped chocolates on their own and rather sip any of these romantic reds over a meal with my Valentine.

Rosewood Estates Merlot 2010 ($22.00)

Although I’m not always convinced that Merlot has a place in Ontario, in ripe years, and when done right, it can be very, very good. This wine ticks all the boxes with dense black fruit, hints of cocoa-mocha, grippy tannins and fresh, balanced acidity. Substantial yet gracious, with a lingering dark fruit finish. Pure pleasure and a great match for braised shorts and grilled vegetables. Drink now to 2015. Tasted February 2013.

Domaine Marcel Lapierre Morgan 2011 ($34.95) 

As a self-confessed lover of all things Gamay, I was thrilled to taste this Beaujolais Cru during a recent visit to Vancouver. With its supple, silky texture, intense red and black fruit flavours and gamey aromas, this is not your typical Beaujolais. Spritely and juicy, with soft tannins and a long earthy finish.  Pure Bliss! Drink now or over the next 2 years. #GoGamayGo. Tasted January 2013. Available in Ontario through Trialto.com.

Loveblock Pinot Noir 2011 ($28.95) 

Loveblock Vintners is the new winery of Kim and Erica Crawford, best known as founders of Kim Crawford.  This is an organic and biodynamic wine with complex red fruit intensity on the nose and palate. Well balanced acidity and structure with firm tannins and well–integrated oak. Red berries and a touch of smoke on the long finish. Sure to please lovers of New Zealand Pinot Noir. Tasted November 2012.

Happy Valentine’s Day from WineAlign!

Filed under: Featured Articles, Spirits, Wine, Chocolate, Janet Dorozynski, LCBO, Margaret Swaine, SPirits, Vintages