Monday, March 19, 2012    

Quince Bistro, 2110 Yonge Street, Toronto 

I play the hunger game all day in anticipation of the big night. Eating little, saving myself for what the chef will throw at me. “Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death.” Five courses and 10 wines later the thrill of victory is sweet. Chef Peter Tompkins takes the group on a Mediterranean wanderlust road trip with stops in no less than five European nations. Our leader generously gifts eight of the ten wines from his cellar. All in all, five continents and 10 countries are represented. A theme runs through the lot and the game is on. We speculate on the grapes, the country of origin and the producer.

Canapés

• salt and cod fritters, lemon aioli
• herb and gruyère cheese profiteroles
• mushroom and goat cheese arangini

Tarlant Brut Zero NV Champagne races out of the gate, unabashedly revealing all. Brioche, apple skin, lemon meringue and Pomello. She’s easy to like, maybe too easy. “My, my my. Once bitten…twice shy.”   87

Grilled Portuguese Cornbread, chicken liver pâté, pickled apples

Henry of Pelham Cabernet-Merlot 1998 brings the house down. I think it droit de la Gironde. Who would believe a 14-year old Niagara Bordeaux blend and its milk chocolate, oak domination would not only survive but thrive? From Ontario’s long-growing, patio summer.  Best tomatoes too.  89

Viña Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Casa Real 1997 may wander off over the Chilean hill yet shows continence in a continent away, IGT way. Soft, curvy, lovely. Where tobacco, spices and rich vanilla once fused fusible fruit, there now exists a quiet calm. Good show though.  88

Crispy Braised Lamb Shoulder, du puy lentils, lamb jus, mint salsa verde

Odem Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 from the folks who bring us Alfasi out of the Golan revelates in its own way. Oz-like in constitution (Margaret River comes to mind), the vernal persistence is admirable. There is a feeling of disjointedness for some. A summons to Israeli wine guy Rogov (86) to taste again and show some new love.  88

Cathedral Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (328567, $14.95) the non-ringer, South African VINTAGES essential electrifies blind. I reckon oak/fruit bomb Argentine Cab, a la Michel Rolland but wrong again. Alcohol is very present, green mint and eucalyptus dominate and dark chocolate lingers on. Like Lindsay Lohan.  86

Grilled New York Strip Loin, celeriac purée, potato rösti, haricots vert, assorted mushroom sauce

Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1996, the last of Robert’s great wines. Everything changed in 1997  and “…history, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness.” Wex waxes on about “a Tel Aviv Cab” but that roadster was seen flying down Dizengoff in the last flight.  This Napicon has reached high tide and is now a pig in shit, cool, uncoiling  in the mud. AZ announces he is “hanging up his wine shingles.” We have come to the crossroads of the evening and all is good.  93

Château Léoville Barton 1999 is unequivocably the best value, never mind the vintage, in classified growth Bordeaux that some extra cash can buy. Now I’ve done it! MG notes “lead on the right”, as in the right (wrong) hand side of an Aussie road. Common to the Mondavi, a bretty, farmyardy character no longer dominates as a red hot mama. Now smokey berries and if there was thought of fruit not waiting for tannins to evolve, think again. Will rank with the best of ’99. WOTN for most.  94

Assorted Cheese Plate, toasts and chutney, piave, delice de bourgogne, 5-year aged perron cheddar

Antinori Guado al Tasso 1999 is closed down and phasing dumb. Pencil shavings fill the glass but no fruit, herbs or spices. Sink smell too, metallurgic and iodine. I’ve had the 2000 twice recently and both examples were expressive, blood thirsty Tuscan specimens. Could this ’99 be years behind its window with fruit lurking in mountain shadows? I find myself walking away in high dudgeon.  NR

Clarendon Hills Hickinbotham Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 noses funky pork and seafood, gamboge and gammon. Phantom palate of d’Agen plum, prune, fig and raisin. Pitchy black ink, an operatic meteor shower on a moonless sky. MS says “a sipping wine, with cheese, a fireplace and a boar stew.” To me, crazy Mclaren Vale Cabernet, perverse to look at, deadly to consume.  91

Alois Kracher Scheurebe TBA #4 Zwischen den Seen 2004 is dessert all on its own. Fanta orange, quince (of course), marmalade and honey. Lazer acidity by way of AM, sweet and syrupy. Could imagine pouring it on Austrian Palatschinken.  92

Good to go!