Godello

Godello’s guide to holiday effervescence

Dec3

Barque Holiday Basket
http://barque.ca/baskets#&panel1-1

Over the past few years I’ve published some pieces on Sparkling wine, from technical to fluff and from focused horizontal tastings to scattered, random accumulations. The one aspect about bubbles I’ve not concentrated on, whether it be Champagne or from Ontario, is vintage.

Vintage dated fizz is all the rage and I for one can’t really understand why. The most consistent Sparkling wine made anywhere and everywhere is the non-vintage produced stuff. Drawing the majority of juice from a single vintage and topping it up with a smaller amount from one or more previous (or even book-ending years) allows the winemaker to strike a seamless accord in continuity. It proliferates a house style. I had this to say in 2012: “The production of vintage-dated fizz in Ontario is certainly fashionable, as witnessed by more than 60% of the wines present, but for the purposes of consistency, local weather conditions should see the future trending a non-vintage path.”

Related – Lock, stock and sparkling wines

Vintage issued Sparkling wine has lost its luster. If the vintage is anything less than ideal, whether it be too cold or too warm, under ripe or over ripe grapes are hard to hide. Keep in mind that the grapes for bubbles are the first to be picked, no matter where you are, to preserve acidity. In funny climatic years modifications must be made. The blender will have to resort to either chapital or acid tricks of the trade. Another argument for non-dated fizz.

Related – New fizz on the Brock

Does the average, or even effervescence geek care about vintage bubbles? British wine journalist Jamie Goode doesn’t seem to think so. On vintage dated bubbles, Goode spoke (at the 2014 Brock University Technical Wine Symposium) from an unequivocal marketing perspective. “People don’t really care about vintage.” On the emerging Canadian and British sparkling wine industries. “Do English or Canadian wines need a special name?” No.

On the puffery side of the tracks I gave this: “Sparkling wine, fizz, bubbles, bubbly. Champagne. Mousseux, Crémant, Asti Spumante, Espumante, Cap Classique, Cava, Prosecco, Franciacorta, Oltrepò Pavese Metodo, Brachetto, Sekt. Méthode champenoise, charmat, méthode ancestrale. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chenin Blanc, Arbois, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Macabeu, Parellada, Xarel-Lo, Glera. It’s all just an amazing confluence of pressed juice, yeast, sugar and carbon dioxide. Nothing in the world screams “party!” like an effervescent bottle of fermented grapes. Who isn’t looking for a Sparkling wine to pop open this month? Should we put up our hands so we know who we are?”

A year later, back into the throes of the holiday season, a new batch of bubbles are on the scene. Here are 12 new picks, from $17 to $95, from Crémant d’Alsace to Champagne, to tolerate winter and ring in the new year.

From left to right: Pierre Sparr Brut Rosé Crémant d’Alsace, Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut Cava, Jackson Triggs Entourage Grand Reserve Brut 2011, Hinterland Ancestral 2014, Flat Rock Cellars Riddled Sparkling 2009, Josef Chromy Sparkling 2008

Pierre Sparr Brut Rosé Crémant d’Alsace, Méthode Traditionnelle, Ac Alsace, France (39016, $17.95, WineAlign)

Graceful and pink lithe, like cold smoked salmon, delightful Pinot Noir Rosé fizz. Nothing earth shattering, breath-taking or barrier breaking, just well made blush bubbles. The structure and balance are really spot on. Finishes strong and with confidence. Helps to define this genre of Crémant’s creamy texture, matched in contrast by its stony, flinty and mineral style. Tasted November 2014 @ProfileWineGrp

Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut Cava, Do Penedès, Spain (392548, $19.95, WineAlign)

A stonking Cava this one, or the Spanish (enervante) equivalent. Relishing in quite high acidity, which is necessary and useful, considering the residual sugar left behind. Good tang, verve and a with a push to succeed in elevating everything it seeks to uphold; aroma, flavour and tannic texture. As good an example of Cava as I’ve tasted in recent times. Tasted November 2014 @freixenet @DionysusWines

Jackson Triggs Entourage Grand Reserve Brut 2011, Méthode Classique, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (234161, $22.95, WineAlign)

This is a very effective bottle of bubbles, consistently produced, vintage after vintage. Some reserve on the nose, notable in its pear and yeasty aromas. Crunchy feel for fizz with a replay in flavour much like prickly pear and the tropical esters of yeast. Really good length. Simply well made. Tasted November 2014 @Jackson_Triggs

Hinterland Ancestral 2014, Prince Edward County, Ontario (Winery, $25,00, WineAlign)

Just released today, the anterior sniff and first sip procure a sense of immediacy in declaration: This is Jonas Newman’s finest Ancestral to date. Amethyst methustos bled from Prince Edward County Gamay. If a continuing study on such sparkling wine were to be conducted in the méthode ancestrale diaspora, the anthropologist would lose time in the County. Say what you must about the method and the New World place, this elevates an old game, in fact it creates a new one. Strawberry is again at the helm with the sugar number high and balanced by three necessary portents of chemistry; low alcohol, savor and acidity. The finish is conspicuously dry, conditioning the palate to activate the phenotypic sensors. Hits all the right bells, traits, whistles and behaviour. Careful, it will make you want to go out and make babies. Tasted November 2014 @hinterlandwine on the card at @barquebbq

Flat Rock Cellars Riddled Sparkling 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (187377, $29.95, WineAlign)

Skips the cork, avoids the taint and caps with a crown. A king’s bubble in here, a king of pop perhaps, with “a mind like a diamond.” Like a fine, flat rock that cuts through crap and “red tape fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack.” I want a fizz that gets me up early. I want a Sparkling wine that knows what’s right. I want bubbles with “uninterrupted prosperity and smooth liquidation.” I want a sparkler “with a short skirt and a long, long jacket.” I want bubbles with tang, tang, tang, apples, pears, ginger and cardamom. One that I can drink with cake. Yes, perhaps the Riddled ’09 is just a bit abrupt, at times monotone, awkward in chord changes, tempo switches and suffers from a twittering finish. But it’s twitchy and characterful along the way. Tasted November 2014 @Winemakersboots @UnfilteredEd

Josef Chromy Sparkling 2008, Méthode Traditionnelle, Tasmania, Australia (393629, $29.95, WineAlign)

Love the balance and graceful point this has come to six years post much fine lees staging. So very elegant and demurred, like an actress on a silver screen imagined in a near-falsetto progressive rock singer’s croon. A strange but beautiful mismatch, given ambiance and vindication by a classical musician’s playing. Silent stardom take on cool climate bubbles to sip along with “early thirties gangster movies, set to spellbind population.” A friend to Mr. Cairo with a palate adding weight and a texture lustful in a creamy affair. Just a hair across the oxidized threshold, holding steady, acting very much like Champagne. Flies like a Mediterranean bird of prey, a Maltese falcon everyone is searching for. Always “shoots between the eyes.” Tasted November 2014 @JosefChromy

From left to right: Benjamin Bridge Brut Methode Classique 2009, Delouvin Bagnost Brut NV, André Clouet Silver Brut Nature Champagne, Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champagne, Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rosé Champagne 2004, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut Vintage Champagne 2004

Benjamin Bridge Brut Methode Classique 2009, Gaspereau Valley, Nova Scotia (381533, LCBO $47.95, 1018464, NSLC $44.99, 313106, B.C. $49.97, WineAlign)

L’Acadie used for a parochial teaching moment effect. Winemaker Jean Benoit Deslauriers embracing its Gaspereau ability, coaxing acidity within a context of optimum fruit attention. Brings a level of texture and structure rarely, if ever seen from the region, this contrived blend and the imagined attempt. The parts roll into and through one another seamlessly. This impresses from a point of expression, that being the BB vineyard. From my earlier, July 2014 note: “Essentially, or at least philosophically a Blanc de Blancs, the blend is 57 per cent L’Acadie Blanc, 25 Chardonnay and 18 Seyval Blanc. The acidity is key and certainly elevated (12.8 g/L), keeping line tabs on the stone ground, clean fruit in gingered mousse. A defined elegance and accumulated synergy of site comes from a lower-slope perceived sweetness, down by the river. By no means piercing, there is a length here that lays down the foundation for the high-end, Vinifera-driven Sparkling wine program. The Brut ’09 conveys the growing environment, in freshness and in ripeness. A wine with such a refreshing upside. ” Last tasted November 2014 @Benjamin_Bridge @jbdeslauriers

Delouvin Bagnost Brut NV, Récoltant Manipulant, Ac Champagne, France (385369, $47.95, WineAlign)

The level of baking apples and yeasty aromas are overwhelming, at first, then settle down. Yeasty boy, screaming its oxidative angst. Big acidity, wild ginger tang, whipping and gesturing wildly as it raps in your mouth. Speaks its mind this one, breaks down stereotypes, wins the crowd. Fans go wild. From my earlier, August 2014, WWAC 2014 (tasted blind) note: “Tends to a trend in sweet aromatic beginnings which is nothing but endearing. A leesy pear and ris de veau nose split by a bowie and filled with pearls of sugary syrup. To taste there is the metallic gaminess of uncooked other white meat. Sweet meat, sweet thing. The gathering sensation is an elemental display of ethereal, aerified climatic conditions. Though made in an oxidized style, the complexity of character is not to be denied. “Runs to the center of things where the knowing one says, boys, boys, it’s a sweet thing.” In the end the burst of energy is invigorating and heart piercing.” Last Tasted November 2014

André Clouet Silver Brut Nature Champagne, France (Agent, $57.95, WineAlign)

Zero dosage, 100 per cent Pinot Noir, grower produced and affordable. These are the attributes of Jean Francois Clouet’s Champagne. If any three are what you look for in righteous fizz, you have found what you need, for any occasion. The Clouet Silver (Blanc de Noir, Grand Cru from Bouzy) has that stark reality of aridity so necessary for Sparkling wine to knock you upside of the cerebral cortex. Sweetness is superfluous because the fruit is so exceptional. There are dried spices and ginger in many incantations; exotic, wild, dried and slowly dripping into every sip. The vacuous voids are filled with combustion, the lingering strands of texture elegance defined. This is exceptionally made Champagne, to the point and with confident, boyish presence. Tasted November 2014 @GroupeSoleilTO

Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champagne, France (268771, $64.95, WineAlign)

A most expressive house style, crowd pleasing and one step further into complex territory than many of a similar ilk. Creeping aromas, big flavours, enveloping texture, noble bitter finish. Citrus pith and darkening honey. So well made. Score an extra point. From my previous, August 2014 note: “The house style in this Pinot Blanc (55 per cent), Chardonnay (30) and Pinot Meunier (15) is amped on yeast and baked brioche. The elevation is of a modern and ambitious producer with a wild, expansive and yeast-moussy feel in the mouth. Spiced and spicy accents really help to open up the wine. An exemplary rendition of Sparkling wine if not quite willing to last as long as others.” Last tasted November 2014 @LouisRoederer_

Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rosé Champagne 2004, Ac Champagne, France (69831, $91.95, WineAlign)

Sometimes Champagne is blessed with a dirty presence that is just beautiful. This Moët could go either way. Struts with a copper hue and metal cruelty in its every move. Like cheese melting on a pipe. Like bonito flaking off a rusty anchor. Earthy and really into the oxidative souse but on a tasting line-up day when everything seems oxidized. Bitter pith and grapefruit flavours with a hint of coriander and a texture so damn divine. Is that corpulence enough to rescue it from the depths of bitter disdain? If at first you are not so sure, Rosé up and try again. This ’04 will take advantage of your every insecurity and grow on your unconscious. Tasted November 2014 @MoetUSA

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut Vintage Champagne 2004, Ac Champagne, France (508614, $93.95, WineAlign)

This Veuve 2004 just keeps coming, does it not? Fashioned in an evolved style, typical for the house, not so atomic and not so wild. Ginger beer and tropical fruit aromas give simple pleasure, followed by more ginger and green mango on the palate, drying and turning to a fine, pungent powder re-hydrated on a whippy, elastic finish. Better vintage than would have been expected. Tasted November 2014 @VeuveClicquot @ChartonHobbs

Good to go!

The rare and specific wines of Jura

Jun2

Passion Jura at The Burroughes, Toronto

The génial wines of Jura are a peculiar bunch. Nothing else in France, or the world for that matter, resembles them. They are specific, unique, idiosyncratic, and rare. Specific because virtually every producer makes the same set of wines. Unique for their varietal distinction and the élevage methods that lead them to market. Idiosyncratic due to their oxidized versus non-oxidized styles. Rare because at any given moment in time only four are available in the LCBO. There are currently 58 available at the SAQ.

For a comprehensive look at the wines of Jura, read Wink Lorch at Jura wine, food and travel

Jura is what Wink Lorch describes as a “bijou” wine region located in eastern France, east of Burgundy and within a stone’s throw over the Alps to Geneva in Switzerland. Mountains are everywhere, soils give vineyards a variegation of clay, marl, fossils and plenty of limestone. Napoleonic cold and harsh winters, serious frost issues and complex methodologies challenge vines and winemakers in ways empathetic vintners in Ontario have no problem understanding. Could Ontario be the kismet New World wine region to foster Jura, the strange and beautiful? Savagnin produced by Ontario South Coast Burning Kiln Winery is a remarkable rendition and the most interesting wine recently tasted in Norfolk County.

But I digress. Back to Jura. Bresse chickens are a most delicious and famous commodity. Saucisses morteau the pork sausage is a most righteous banger. Comté (serious) and La vache qui rit (not so much) are its most famous cheeses.

Evan Saviolidis Speaks at Passion Jura

The Wines of Jura committee consisting of flying Sommelier Evan Saviolidis, Good Food Revolution, and The Tuxedo Wine Experience team brought three Tissot’s along with 14 other Jura producers in April to hit the hardwood at Toronto’s lofty Burroughes event space.

The seminar was presented by Jura expert Saviolidis with an overview of the region’s history, pertinent facts and winemaking styles. A select tasting of its wines followed, running the gamut from dry whites through to its most unusual and singular oxidized rarities.

Whites are made from Chardonnay, Savagnin and (most-planted) Poulsard, reds from Trousseau and Pinot Noir. Easy-drinking wines come from clay, Pinot Noir from limestone, the top examples from marl. The anti-tannic and low-pigmented Trousseau (Bastardo) prefers clay or marl. Savagnin (also called Melon D’arbois, Gamay Blanc and the rare variation Melon a Quere Rouge) demands rugged, steep slopes and grey marl soil.

The styles of ouille (topped up, “filled to the eye”) vs non-ouille, oxidative or not conundrum can confuse, even distort sensibilities and previous frames of reference. Some typical Jura whites (vins types) like Savagnin can make both near-oxidative, Fino Sherry-like wine and a highly oxidative vin jaune (yellow wine), most famously from Château-Chalon. The latter is aged in barrel for six years and three month with its air protective layer of yeast. It is only made in great vintages. No specific appellation is tied to its magic pixie yeast and volatile acidity.

The region is divided into four AOC, Arbois, Cote de Jura, L’Etoile, Chateau-Chalon. Jura is the only (AOP) wine region to make Macvin de Jura, a traditional blend of non-ouille Savagnin and Chardonnay. The wine is fortified with a neutral (pomace, or marc) spirit added. The vin de paille, (straw wine) is made from dried grapes then turned into wine. These are examples of the joys of Jurassic idiosyncrasy.

Crémant de Jura is produced all over the region and can use all five varieties. Arbois is the oldest and most prolific production. Cotes de Jura comes in red, white, and rosé. L’etoile whites are famed after fossils that look like stars, the wines made from Chardonnay, a blend of Chardonnay and Savagnin and Poulsard.

Hue is not necessarily a key to wine colour. The reds can look like Rosé, some oxidized whites like oranges or very light reds. Red and white grapes mix to make dessert wines. What’s on the label is the map to use as a guide to what’s inside. Saviolidis offered his insight and moderated the discussion on the following six wines poured at the seminar.

Passion Jura Seminar Wines

Domaine Désiré Petit Crémant du Jura NV (winery, 8,70 EUR)

A blend of Chardonnay (dominant) with Chambourcin and Pinot Noir from the Revermont in Jura, the sweetness is perceivable (8 g/L residual) and the texture palpable (15 months on lees). Acts like autolytic champagne, with noticeable terpenic pith in a low dosage, near-Brut style.

Domaine Rolet Père et Fils Arbois Poulsard Vieilles Vignes 2011, (SAQ 11537090, $22.45)

From vines that grow in native, red, rich and heavy marl soils. Here the minimum is 35 years for those vines, the fruit in requiem of big barrels, (foudres) for 15 months. Smells like a cave and its hanging cure, but also red currants, white berries and a sweaty red onion straight from the fridge. To taste it attacks in tart, dusty pepper tones. Akin to some Loire Cabernet Franc albeit much more interesting.

Domaine Jean-Louis Tissot Arbois Trousseau 2010, (winery, 10.50 EUR)

From red marl and gravel soils, the yield was 4L per hectare for this vintage only. Vinified in cement vats with 15 days of maceration and 18 months of aging in old foudres. A death-cab cute Trousseau that avoids intensity though it is marked by cracked pepper, blue fruit, cacao and reducing, wet, oxidized earth. Cherry and ash palate, long and very pure. A wonderful wine of soul meets body, “like a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.” Trousseau is certainly indie, emo even but this example shows the talent of the winemaker.

Domaine André Et Mireille Tissot Chardonnay ‘En Barberon’ 2011 (Agent, $45)

From old vines 20 km south of Arbois, this is one of seven Chardonnays produced by Stéphane and Bénédicte Tissot. Organic and biodynamic since 2004, this argillaceous mineral-laced and calcareous-driven wholly unique Chardonnay has that atomic, soda-driven petrol usually reserved for Mosel Riesling. Climb the rock and cover it with tropically coated apple caramel and toasted nuts. An old school, baby of the barrel that will age slowly and surely for 20 years.

Berthet-Bondet Château-Chalon 2007,(365171, $86.95)

Of a very small appellation (4.5 hectares from an area totalling 40-45) this Vin Jaune is produced from the best parcels of land at Gaillardon (in the parish of Domblans), Beaumont (in the parish of Ménétru le Vignoble) and Sous-Roche (in the parish of Chateau-Chalon). Savagnin aged the necessary six years and three months in oak barrels with native yeasts. A non-fortified, non-ouille Jura, natural with oxidation and evaporation over time. Explicit in dried fruit and nuts and an underlying pink salinity, likening it to Sherry. Rich and both sweet/sour to taste. Like Fino, at five times the price. An eccentric wine to be sure, intended for rubber-necking and curiosity thrill seekers. Oxidized but not eclipsed by bruised fruit and dry as the desert. Is there any life in this strange and not so beautiful elixir? “There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact its all dark.”

Domaine Baud Cote de Jura Vin de Paille 2009, (winery, Approx. $40-50)

Made from a third of each variety, Poulsard, Chardonnay and Savagnin. A dessert wine pressed in January from 100 kilos, resulting in 20 litres final product. Best served with chocolate, cake, foie gras and aged cheeses, this rendition holds of balanced (30 g/L residual ) sweetness. The aromatic balance comes from salinity, raisins and candied fruit, along with brown sugar and dried apricots to taste. There is nothing overly sweet about it save for a lingering hazelnut purée. Certainly drying but without an attack on the salivary glands.

After the seminar the 17 Jura producers poured their wines to a larger audience. Here are notes on five.

Domaine Jacques Tissot

Arbois Chardonnay 2010 – Unoaked, lemon-lime fresh and tangy.

Arbois Nature 2013 – Savagnin with a bounce in its step. Waxy with a citrus squeeze over just crushed grapes and approachably fruity.

Arbois Savagnin 2009 – From vines out of marnes grises du lias. At this stage it’s just developing a butterscotch and nut brown colour meets flavour sequence. The citrus here is in pith.

Arbois Trousseau 2010 – The soil for this is argiles à chailles (clay-with-flints). Earthy, lithe, ripe, dusted with dried cherry and white pepper.

Crémant Du Jura Blanc Brut NV – From 100 per cent Chardonnay this is like lime cream soda without the sugar. Perfectly dry expression.

Arbois Poulsard 2010 – Grown out of marnesirisees du trias the stone imparts a seafood character. So natural, uncultivated, sea salinity and fish funky.

Arbois Vin de Paille 2008 – The juice is kept four months and then aged four years. On the sweet side of the style, with less nuts and more marmalade, particularly apricot.

Arbois Vin Jaune 2006 – Down by law aged for six years and three months. As Sherry-like as it gest with added lemon, wax, piquancy and blanched nuts.

Macvin Du Jura Blanc NV – A sweety that finishes concrete dry. Like nut-crusted white flowers. Would last in the fridge for six months.

Arbois Chardonnay Les Corvees Sous Caron – Smooth, linear, calm, safe and easy-going.

Domaine Berthet-Bondet

Côtes du Jura Rubis 2012 – From vines 20-30 years of age, this is a pragmatic and necessary blend of Trousseau (45 per cent), Poulsard (45) and Pinot Noir (10). Currants, red bell pepper, charcuterie and potpourri aromas. Tart and delicious.

Côtes du Jura Chardonnay 2012 – Ouille from a wine aged in five to 10 per cent, one-year old oak. Fresh with lemon and grapefruit. Polished, zest and more zest.

Côtes du Jura Naturé 2012 – A year in stainless, this is modernized but not unnatural. Scents of lime and its pith and a cemented sense of concrete.

Côtes du Jura Tradition 2010 – A combination of Chardonnay (70 per cent) and Savagnin (30), each oxidized separately. Has a minty, cool piquancy and a thin to win attitude.

Château-Chalon 2007 – See above.

Vin de Paille Cotes du Jura 2009 – Such fine balance in this example. Parity for the nuts, dried fruit and never cloying marmalade. Top dessert example.

Domaine Rolet Père et Fils

Arbois Blanc Harmonie 2011 – Spent 12 months in small barrels. Well-judged blend that is waxy, high on lemonade and a piercing acidity. Reminds of young Sémillon.

Côtes Du Jura Expression Du Terroir 2008 – Though this spent three years in oak it’s impossibly fresh. A wine topped up by Savagnin, the minerality is of a largesse and the wax-tang quotient crazy in length like no other white in the room.

Arbois Rouge Trousseau 2009 – The palest red, still fresh for its age.

Arbois Rouge Tradition 2010 – Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot Noir. Spent 15 months in Foudres. Flinty and sulphurous. Of the earth. Long finish.

Arbois Vin Jaune 2006 – Meditative, mediated, resolved.

Crémant Du Jura Blanc Brut 2008 – Vintage dated, striking, pulsating, lemon soda. Chardonnay (70 per cent) with Pinot Noir and Poulsard.

Arbois Rouge Poulsard 2011 – Red onion skin, concrete, earth, tar and ash.

Vin de Paille 2006 – From Chardonnay (40 per cent), Savagnin (40) and Poulsard (20). Dry, cheesey, leesy, yeasty nose. A sweet marmalade palate ensues, with a pith bite into orange peel.

Domaine André Et Mireille Tissot

Crémant Du Jura Blanc NV – Chardonnay (55 percent), Pinot Noir (35), Poulsard (5) and Trousseau (5). Quite elegant, very fresh, high-toned fruit.

Arbois Chardonnay Les Bruyères 2011 – From terroir argileux du Trias clay soils, there is density, less abstruse character than others and high citrus.

Arbois Trousseau Singulier 2012 – The smell of fresh concrete and a coat of varnish. Very peppery and distinctive.

Arbois Chardonnay Les Graviers 2011 – A more serious and brooding rendition from limestone this has an oxidative quality.

Arbois Vin Jaune Les Bruyères 2007 – From terroir argileux du Trias clay soils, there is density, less abstruse character than others and high citrus.

Château-Chalon 2007 – Unique to this genre, here there is less brawn, more citrus pith and oyster shell, Most of all there are crazy acids. This version shows the greatest potential for longevity.

Chardonnay ‘En Barberon’ 2011 – see above.

Domaine Jean-Louis Tissott

Arbois Savagnin 2009 – A three-year aged white that results in a dovetailing of dry, nutty and tart.

Arbois Poulsard 2010 – Spent 10 days in cement and six months in large foudres. Good freshness, some earth and straightforward painted flavours.

Arbois Trousseau 2010 – see above.

Chardonnay 2011 – Out of calcareous soil there is a soft, dreamy, mouth filling creamy character. Delicate until the angle of citrus, in pith and zest takes over. A viscous, or gras Chardonnay.

Arbois Vin Jaune 2006 – Slightly lower alcohol (14.5 per cent) makes for a brighter nose. Fresher than the other ’06’s, with lifted floral aromatics, less heavy in liqueur and more clarity.

Crémant Du Jura NV – From 100 per cent Chardonnay this is bright. fresh and lively.

Macvin Du Jura NV – From two thirds Savagnin and 1/3 Eau de Vivre de Marl this is all about sweet smeling white flowers.

Good to go!

They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile

When Sangiovese comes to town

Apr7

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2008

From left to right: Argiano Rosso Di Montalcino 2011, Banfi Poggio All’oro Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2007, Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Capanne Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2008, Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino 1997, La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino 2007, Paradisone Brunello Di Montalcino 2007

Love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train
When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that plane

The Consortium of the Brunello of Montalcino is an “association between winemakers bent on safeguarding their wine and on accentuating its qualities.” The group organizes events in Italy and abroad, including trade fairs such as the Benvenuto Brunello. After 47 years of honing their description about one of Italy’s most famous wines, this is Brunello in the Consortium’s nutshell. “A visibly limpid, brilliant wine, with a bright garnet colour. It has an intense perfume, persistent, ample and ethereal. One can recognize scents of undergrowth, aromatic wood, berries, light vanilla and jam. To the taste the wine has an elegant harmonious body, vigorous and racy, it is dry with a lengthy aromatic persistence.”

Imagine a room full of people nodding knowingly.

— Mark C (@mrkcstr) March 10, 2014

On March 10, 2014, VINTAGES and the Conzorzio Del Vino Brunello Di Montalcino brought an impressive range of Rosso and Brunello to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Infatuation renewed. VINTAGES Shop Online added nearly 100 wines for sale on their website, many of which have no Ontario importer. For fans of Brunello, this offer is the Tuscan equivalent of the kid being given the keys to the candy store.

It was twenty years ago that B.B. King brought love to town and taught a band to play. It has also been twenty years since I last visited Montalcino. The next visit is high on the bucket list. Imagine the room full of happy tasters when Sangiovese came to town by way of Benvenuto Brunello 2014. The Grosso from Montalcino is loved by many.

Many cellars brim with Brunelli from 1997, 1999 and 2001. More than a handful from 2000, 2003 and 2004. The houses most represented chez Godello are Fuligni, Poggio Salvi, Poggio Antico, Agostini Pieri, Ciacci Piccolomini, Poggio Sotto, Siro Pacenti and Lisini. Like salting your food before knowing what it tastes like, there was a time when purchasing was done as much by habit as by probability. From the 2005 vintage forward there has been an apprehension to spend frivolously and without consent by way of tasting, assessing and determining value.

The 2006 vintage is both distressing and exciting. Simply speaking, it’s just not showing well right now and yet it may turn out to be great. Taking a flyer on the 06’s is a leap of faith. Power to those who do and win. The 2007’s are exquisite and in my mind, a short term gain. Some 2008’s are brilliant, others not so much. Picking was crucial, cliché to say, but crucial. The jury is still out on the difficult 2009’s.

So may I introduce to you 25 notes on Rosso and Brunello tasted @ConsBrunello Benvenuto Brunello.

Argiano Rosso Di Montalcino 2011, Tuscany, Italy (SAQ 10252869 $24.10, WineAlign)

When a Montalcino vintage such as 2011 offers up prolonged heat and hang time, typicity can be challenged. Enter Argiano, Sangiovese specialist in adherence to what is base and necessary. Even in such a vintage, Rosso can never be confused with Brunello, the oak just doesn’t have the time to stake its claim. So here there is sour cherry, leather, currants, licorice, anise and especially spice. In 2011 the spice is royal and ancient. The alcohol is hot but the flavours are resplendent. The cherry is tempered by chalky tannin so as a Rosso, this ’11 will give a little bit. A masculine Rosso, “take his hand, you’ll be surprised.”

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (Agent $60.00, WineAlign)

A purposed, perennial powerhouse of consistency, the 2008 incarnation of Argiano keeps the streak alive in a not so perfectly certain vintage. A mess of mineral in polarizing magnetism connects red tree fruit to tilled crop soil. Tannins are not noticeably biting so long-term potential appears to be somewhat stifled. Though only one year into its young history, this Sangiovese Grosso already begs to be enjoyed, if admittedly just a few years young to be the life of the party.

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0154609 $53.00, WineAlign)

If Argiano’s treatment of the 2009 vintage is any harbinger for the community as a whole, sparks will surely fly. Like 2007 there is a sense of flamboyance but unlike ’07 the flirting and cajoling is less about desire and more about sodden, succulent Sangiovese. A rampart of medieval, marching tannin and a keen acidity mark the territory and the terroir. A beautiful vintage, in rejection of rusticity and sure to live for a decade and a half.

Banfi Rosso Di Montalcino 2012, Tuscany, Italy (BCLDB 557967 $26.97, SAQ 864900 $25.00) Such a sneak preview at a precocious young wine can rarely do any true justice in the written assessment but Banfi’s ’12 offers more invitation than most. A wide-reaching, consumer-friendly cherry bomb this Rosso, ergo sumptuous, from a sweet fruit core to the uncritical fringes. Rosso vernacular, for the Hic et nunc.

Banfi Rosso Di Montalcino 2011, Tuscany, Italy (BCLDB 557967 $26.97, SAQ 864900 $25.00, WineAlign)

From estate vineyards in the southern part of Montalcino, clonal selection of the local Sangiovese always plays a focused and pivotal role in Banfi’s Rosso. In 2011 no single-vineyard Brunello wines were made (Poggio alle Mura and Poggio all’Oro) so this Rosso reeks of all the hallmarks of those iconic Brunelli; black fruit, violets, tobacco and the aridty of earth and spice. Most obvious is the sanguine scorched, iron fist that calls for time and as much patience as a Rosso can be afforded. Five years would be nice.

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Docg, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 378257 $59.95, BCLDB 127183 $69.95, SAQ 701920 $70.00, WineAlign)

Every bit of obdurate soil and the vintage’s inflexible impart have made their way into Banfi’s extreme games ’08. The pitch is black as night, the aroma dank, expressed espresso and the texture thick as tar. Perhaps it’s the southern Montalcino hills that work severe fruit towards this kind of complex end or maybe it’s just a Banfi thing. Regardless, I can’t think of a recent Banfi normale with such verve, length and attitude. Will settle eventually, to drift off into middle age as a classic Brunello.

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Poggio Alle Mura 2007, Tuscany, Italy (Agent, BCLDB 127183 $69.95, SAQ 701920 $70.00, WineAlign)

Beginning with this 2007, Banfi beamed the 15 year-old single-vineyard Poggio alle Mura fruit into state of the art, Horizon hybrid stainless steel and wood tanks. The double whammy effect of a most extraordinary gregarious and flamboyant vintage coupled with the new production style fast trekked this Sangiovese to yet seen, nosed or tasted heights. An elixir of satin sheen and glycerin texture, the Mura walks with a firm iron gait and bleeds a mineral rich, hematic ooze. Fierce and delicious at the same time, it’s almost too hot to handle now. Give it five years to settle and enjoy it for five more.

Banfi Poggio All’oro Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2007, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0354571 $95.00, BCLDB 439810 $144.00, WineAlign)

The single “Poggio all’Oro” (golden knoll) vineyard released in the 6th year after harvest needed every minute of its slumber before giving away any idea of itself. An absolute brut of a Brunello at this stage and this in a very forward vintage. Risible to think you understand him, this growling animale, this swelling bruise of pure, raging Sangiovese. Earthy red, rich, reactive, forceful and 20 years from ready.

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0372938 $49.95, WineAlign)

As expected, this is a gritty effort from Barbi, in part the impart of a testosterone-laden vintage, along with the drier and cooler climate from Barbi’s southeastern Montalcino vineyards. A low and slow ripening will surely translate to extended longevity, but the rusticity and leather/cherry continuum will never disappear. No doubt a classic example and very well-priced for such authenticity, still it can’t be helped to see Barbi’s ’08 as entrenched in an earlier period of time. The wine will need 10 years to soften its edges and reveal the refinement and elegance of a well-documented Brunello.

Capanne Ricci Rosso Di Montalcino 2012, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0375170, $27.00)

Sangiovese in such a primary state, A steaming, ferric soup of oxhide flavoured with wood spice. The kiss of chalk and grain confirms an aged intent that succeeds here, even if the practice is not normally recommended for the fresh and juicy Rosso and less so for the vintage. No matter, just wait a year and indulge.

Capanne Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0375162 $57.00)

An ultra modern Brunello from a vintage seeing more grit than gift. The fresh fruit fragrances and flavours, notably plum and black cherry, are hallmarks of innovation. This under 20 year-old producer dishes out gettable Brunello and this ’08 makes a clean accouch of the practice. Short term gains are on the plate so do no wait.

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (SAQ 11334065 $45.00, WineAlign)

Any Brunello pushing the 15 percent alcohol by volume threshold could never be accused of resisting forward thinking. The Caprili ’08 revs its engine at the start line while the exhaust performs in a state of cathartic extravasation. Sangiovese Grosso aromas of old spew forth, like leather, tobacco smoke, salty cherry and the mineral grit of mean tannins. The car screeches forth in extravagation, leaves the old character behind and races towards a prodigal future. The zoom forward means a profile more akin to representing a superior clone’s expert ripening ability. Thankfully this Caprili resists homogeneity and sets a fine example for the new Brunello.

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (LCBOQ 0305888 $55.00, WineAlign)

From estate grapes grown on the hillside which slopes down towards the Orcia and Ombrone rivers. The Bartolommei family needed a summons of their winemaker’s acumen to reign in advanced fruit from a vintage that saw soaring summer temperatures. This ’09 runs on full throttle, high-octane Grosso and yet is a remarkably, obiter dicta fresh flood of sanguine, berry chalky juice. All that and more actually and while it’s flat out fun to taste at such a young age, its ability to go long is not a sure thing. Plan to enjoy now and for three to five big years.

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2008, Tuscany, Italy (LCBOQ 0372755 $65.00, WineAlign)

Caprili’s 2008 Riserva will stand as one of the success stories from a vintage that thrives as a result of where the grapes are planted, a Montalcino truth that is undeniable for all involved. While others sing the blues because of the weather (rain) the Caprili whistles in pentose-underscored Anthocyanin reds, like rooibos and cherry. A leathery Riserva in confident control, marked by great acidity and formidable tannins.

Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino 1997, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0961714 $145.00, WineAlign)

From a golden vintage, this ’97 is crazy good. A fixed, double-edged blade fighting knife dipped into a warm pool of developed liqueur-like sweetness. Seventeen years of languorous modulation and wood-fruit integration had resulted in a gracious Brunello, intrinsically delicious and living large in senescence. Life for the Col D’orcia ’97 is a bowl of cherries. Open one now and for the next three to five years and you’ll know exactly what you’re going to get. Me, “I’ll stick with you baby for a thousand years. Nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years.”

Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino 2006, Tuscany, Italy (SAQ 403642 $46.50, WineAlign)

The Montalcino Sangiovese from 2006 will be long-lived and Col D’orcia’s normale bottling is a poster child for the notion. This wine exhibits everything you would expect from an adolescent Brunello of that vintage. Serious and contemplative, the typicity is patent; leather, cherry, smoke and hemic in texture, this is tightly wound and very real. Like so many renditions of 2006, the Col D’orcia showed well in its first year, stepped back to a gritty state and will show its best beginning in 2016. It will age gracefully for 10 more after that.

Col D’orcia Poggio Al Vento Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2004, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0965525 $129.00, WineAlign)

The juxtaposition of vintages (2004 and 2006) is both evident and stupefying. The latter is certainly one to look at in terms of 15-20 years, while the former is one of post-immediate gratification. Two extra years of age has done wonders for this Riserva’s evolution and desire to please. Lush, irresistibly delicious fruit strutting down the catwalk in smooth, leggy, creamy and linear fashion. Brunello rarely pleases in taste and refinement with modern clarity like this ’04. Enjoy now and for 10 more enchanting years.

Col D’orcia Poggio Al Vento Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2006, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0316158 $121.00, WineAlign)

Everything the ’06 Col D’orcia Brunello is, the Riserva is that and more. Densely concentrated, all is amplified; the leather, the cherry and the grit in savoury tannins. The weathered hand of rusticity and blue-collar Sangiovese ethic has a vice-tight grip on the suppressed fruit. It will take a minimum five years to see any type of true release from the natural fortifying acidity of the iron gate prison. Put this Brunello aside and forget about it. Revisit in 2020 and again five to 15 years after that.

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino 2007, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0998195 $75.00, WineAlign)

If La Fiorita’s 2008 Brunello is thatched of pure silk then this 2007 is a metaphorical pillow quilted and dripping of the finest velvet. Pure strung Sangiovese on the softest rope from a duo of Montalcino vineyards and carried ethereally on a Tuscan wind through Slavonian casks and into bottle five plus years later. All this and still remarkably tannic for a Brunello from 2007. A reversal of vintages in aperture, aroma and taste, the ’08 acting out the convivial philandering of its mates, this ’07 metagrobolizing the notion of a repeat performance but asking for more time.

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0998195 $75.00, WineAlign)

A stunning example of modern Brunello and the closest to pure silk as any at the Benvenuto. From two estate vineyards, Poggio al Sole and Pian Bossolino, one conveying strength, the other delicata. A “white” Brunello this Fiora, so fine, so fair, so beautiful. The fabric is so stylishly woven, it will never be easy to keep down in the cellar. So enjoy it if you can swing it, now and for five pleasurable years.

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2007, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0372557 $129.00, WineAlign)

La Fiorita’s Riserva is full of wildflower fragrance, deeply concentrated and very much a child of a best fruit forward vintage. Precociously evolved tannins and wizened tree fruit play the a modernity card in a rustic suit. A Brunello with sweet talent, all in for pleasure. A familiar and representative ’07.

Paradisone Rosso Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0374223 $40.00, WineAlign)

Colle degli Angeli’s 2008 Rosso is a pillar of Sangiovese strength with more structure than most, in girth, density and anxiety. The debate may rage on the merits, yay or nay of such seriousness but knowing what you’re getting is half the battle. Not that this is anti-fresh (there is plenty of cherry extract and rosehip), but the layers of fruit, acidity and tannin go deeper, if a bit towards the earth’s crust. Now six years on, a full settling is not entirely likely, but kudos for the effort. Will drink best in 2015 and for two to three years after that.

Paradisone Rosso Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0374223 $40.00, WineAlign) The success of Colle degli Angeli’s Rosso 2009 lies in its attention to the details of territory. Like the 2008, it sweats the larger things, namely the tensions between soil, vine vigor and the carbolic acid activity by way of the grape’s extract. Breaking down cherry is the obvious aroma and by natural extension, the flavour. In ’09, a splintered and sinewy rusticity dominates the proportion so match it to a sauce, be it dressing up pasta or smothering a stew. The wine will benefit from the companionship.

Paradisone Brunello Di Montalcino 2007, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0374215 $69.00, WineAlign) Colle degli Angeli’s 2007 Brunello goes against the vintage’s grain by exerting a testosterone attitude in a chapter of predominantly feminine inclination. Butch‘s horse kicks up 15 per cent abv dust, in well-performed aggregate of high alcohol and a sugar quotient of only 1.8 g/L of rose perfumed fruit. Grips the tannic gun tight and outrides Brunello’s sacred laws of palturition. In other words, despite the grit, this ’07 gives birth to a young wine that is quite approachable. The kid performs a sun dance as per the warm vintage. New to Ontario’s market, it might be asked, “who are those guys?”

Paradisone Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (LCBO 0374215 $69.00, WineAlign)

Colle degli Angeli’s 2009 Brunello forges a dramatic relationship between grapes, climate and territory. When considered in relative terms to the ’07, the sugar is up a touch (2.3 g/L) and the alcohol down (14.5 per cent). Negligible numbers really but the phenolic make up results in a Sangiovese whose sink is full of funk, alcohol, suede and creamy glycerin. Like the ’07, the grapes come from young, self-willed and boisterous vines ready and willing to tackle both a modern age in Montalcino and the rigors of climate variation. While the azienda agricola may not yet be a household name, the wines are indicative of the goût du terroir as expressed in this rendition.

Good to go!

On a wine and a prayer

Mar24

An assembly of really good white wine seems as good a plan as any to beg for spring weather
Photo: pagnacco/Fotolia.com

I’ve been too long without summer,
In this winter home.

We’re going to begin the last week of March with a quartet of white wines as a prayer for the hopes of warmer weather. A bottle full of fresh and sprite grapes to be brought into the temple as a gift to lay down at the altar, sacrificial ferments meant to appease the harbinger gods of Spring. A prayer on the back of a wine angel to usher us out of the cold, to drink in long time missing, rarefied air.

Is this plea just a bit too Exodus 40:6 for you? “And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.” Maybe too much like an American World War Two patriotic song? “And our trust in the Lord, we’re comin’ in on a wing and a prayer.” Do you read this and think, “See the rich man lost and lonely, watch him as he dines, sitting there just testing all the wines…” Does this make you roll your eyes due to a kitsch allergy? “Our wine, which art in heaven, hallowed by thy legs…For thine is the Chardonnay, the Merlot and the Cabernet. Forever and ever. Amen.”

An assembly of really good white wine seems as good a plan as any to beg for Spring weather, prosaic waxing or not. Let’s just make a plan. Open a bottle of white wine a day for four days, or open one and wait four days. Then look out the window. If I were a betting man I’d say Spring will have sprung.

From left: Casal Di Serra Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Classico Superiore 2011, Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Dillons Point Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Estate Argyros Assyrtiko 2011, and Tawse Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2010

Casal Di Serra Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Classico Superiore 2011, Doc Marche, Italy (268169, $17.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release

What once was, though no longer is a single (Montecarotto) vineyard designated Verdicchio, the exceptional quality of the grapes remains obvious, front and centre. A five months lees meets yeast cold soak and a distant, though influencing stone’s throw from a (somewhat) far away coast combine for complex effect. A brilliant platinum hue and loaded stony, mineral relish is piqued by a pinch of salinity. The overall elaboration is urged along by lime citrus in zest, aromatic bitters and evolving fruit entering a nut stage. Very, very Verdicchio. 89 Tasted March 2014 @UmaniRonchiVino @Noble_Estates

Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Dillons Point Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Marlborough, New Zealand (66092, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release

There is just something about Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards on or near the shore of Cloudy Bay. Alan and Petrina Shutkowski’s plot in Morgans Road joins ranks the likes of the original and iconic Cloudy Bay and te Pā as purveyors of distinct and inadmissible fruit. Rises to a next level concentration and exceptional length. Larger scale producer does upscale SB at a large-scale price with distinction. A thing that sings long and in the right green grass key. Avoids the sickly, herbal sweetness of overbearing aspara-gooseberry and bell pepper. Incredible acids and just the right kind of salivating, mouth-watering verve and tang. Just a pinch of grapefruit pith joins in to magnify the bitters in all the right ways. Tasted March 2014. 91 @CoopersCreekNZ

Estate Argyros Assyrtiko 2011, Santorini, Greece (366450, $22.95, SAQ 11901091, $24.50, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release

A 100 per cent Assyrtiko from a 150 year-old, Cycladic Phylloxera sanctuary vineyard. Separates itself from other Santorini adelphoi by ageing 20 per cent of the inoxydable, ancient-minded grapes in French barrels. An Assyrtiko that can’t help be anything but stony, atomic driven goodness. Volcano flow and spew, with more texture than most, its elevated price a necessary reflection of a tertiary expertise. Elevated aromatics, locked in tight by the barrel and matched by extreme flavours, so primary, raw, powerful, relentless and grippy. A remarkable white wine that impresses with a sensation of mouth rope burn full of complex, seafaring knots, this Assytiko will age for 15 years in the cellar and develop into something ethereal. Will melt away in dreamy waves when it settles together. Myth will beget legend, legend will beget truth. 93 Tasted March 2014 @KolonakiGroup

Tawse Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2010, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula,Ontario (662841, $45.95, SAQ 11031443, $48.00, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 Release

This current visit to the ever-ambrosial Robyn’s Block 2010 is unlike any that have come before. Seemingly lignified at present, a stranger in town, in an unexpected, dumb phase stalled as if by agostamento. Twenty Miles of limestone lurk and a green gem’s goddess figure hides behind the looking-glass. This regnant Robyn pleads “take away my inhibitions, take away my solitude.” While not the most flattering of her evolutionary positions, a retinue of resurgent fruit will lead to Robyn’s exodus. A few years patience and this cool climate Chardonnay will regain her warm, tropical smile, to shine again. 92 Tasted March 2014 @Tawse_Winery

Good to go!

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Winter white out wine, beer and food conditions

Mar13

The weather will step aside in April. Until then, satiate yourself.
Photo: Sergio Di Giovanni/Fotolia.com

The winter that never ends. White out conditions, snow squalls, wind advisory and chill warnings. Everything just feels heavy. The OPP’s request? Just stay home, Ontario. Prepare for the worst, hunker down and warm the belly with full-bodied wines, strong mocker, beer and hearty winter meals. The weather will step aside in April. Until then, satiate yourself.

Here are six strength fortifying libations to ride the final wave of winter’s brutal conditions.

Clockwise from left: Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Finish, 13th Street White Palette 2011, Ara Single Estate Pinot Noir 2011, Planeta Chardonnay 2010, Bachelder La Petite Charmotte Nuits Saint Georges 2011, and Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino 2008

Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Finish, Scotland, United Kingdom (279349, $3.25)

Stout matured over American Oak Heartwood and infused with Irish Whiskey. A Cimmerian entry in hue and hunger peels back to a curious lightness of being. The wood tends to an Arabian mocha aroma, the whiskey to molasses and gingerbread baking spice. The 7.4 per cent alcohol is integrated though an incendiary smoky magic weighs in to toast biscuits and braise a beefy pot au feu. “The Smoky Life is practiced everywhere,” in the I & G. A beer of good charm, smooth, silky, singing in melodic grace and with confidence. 90 Tasted March 2014 @InnisandGun

The grapes: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay Musqué

The history: Niagara winery founded in 1998. Chablis native Jean-Pierre Colas joined 13th Street as winemaker in 2009. Co-owners of the winery, the Whitty family has been farming fruit in Niagara for well over 100 years

The lowdown: Much of the fruit comes from the estate’s Creek Shores appellation vineyards, sedimentary, well-drained lighter soils on a landscape highly dissected by its many streams.

The food match: Fish Tacos

13th Street White Palette 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula (207340, $15.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 15, 2014 release

JP’s who’s who bottle of white grapes, a mad scientist’s blend, the flask filled with Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay Musque. A re-release and much improved with a year’s extra weight, its “got your body right now.” Fortified by a carapace of grape spirits and purposeful in a white meritage sense of community, plus citrus, pith and a far-reaching, right correct absinthian length. You better you bet. 88 Tasted October 2013 @13thStreetWines

Fish Tacos
Photo: Michael Godel

The grape: Pinot Noir

The history: From Marlborough on the western side of the Waihopai Valley. The name is both the indigenous Maori word for “pathway” and Latin for “altar”

The lowdown: “With rugged mountains on either side and two icy rivers cutting through, it’s a pretty extreme place. The very definition of raw, cool climate conditions.”

The food match: Potato Frittata with Feta and Green Onions

Ara Single Estate Pinot Noir 2011, Marlborough, New Zealand (361279, $23.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 15, 2014 release

Immediate impressions are of a user-friendly Pinot Noir in conceit of black cherry, chocolate and blueberry spice. These are surface notes quickly displaced by an adventurous senses of living on the edge. The wine dips into a brine and lithic earth saturated by glacial melt. This is a different sort of Marlborough Pinot that speaks a modern english, if too young to be understood. “I’ve seen some changes but it’s getting better all the time.” Will try the Ara again in a year or two and likely say I melt with you. 89 Tasted February 2014 @AraWine_UK

The grape: Chardonnay

The history: Planeta first made this wine 20 years ago in 1994. It has become “the image illustrating the changes taking place in Sicilian wines.”

The lowdown: From Ulmo (calcareous with sections of deep vegetable matter) and Maroccoli (medium clay soil rich in limestone) vineyards in the area of Sambuca di Sicilia. Powerful Chardonnay.

The food match: Taco Night

Planeta Chardonnay 2010, Sicily, Italy (109652, $38.95, SAQ 00855114, $39.15, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 29, 2014 release

Wantonly lavish, heavy and tropically delicious. If ever there were a red wine substitute this is the one for the wishful thinker. Tasting this Sicilian is like liquid breathing sweet and salty, drawn butter. It’s a glass of dessert Chardonnay, dichotomous and oxymoronic in congealed warmth like cold-stabilized, oxygen-rich, perfluorocarbon. The tropical warmth is a combination of honey and lemon-glade, like Savennières with an unexpected aged Jura, oxidized, herbal angle. There can be no arguing the complexity of this Sicilian dream. Extreme humidity, with a bitter middle streak and ground nut flavours. 90 Tasted March 2014 @Noble_Estates @PlanetaWinery

Taco Night
Photo: Michael Godel

The grape: Pinot Noir

The history: Thomas Bachelder, flying winemaker, architect of the Bachelder Project, of trois terroirs, in Niagara, Oregon and Burgundy

The lowdown: “Burgundy is my favourite place to make wine,” admits Thomas Bachelder. “The large négociant control all (44) 1er cru vineyards so there are not a lot of small growers working with Beaune fruit.” Enter terroirman.

The food match: Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Swiss Chard

Bachelder La Petite Charmotte Nuits Saint Georges 2011, Burgundy, France (357228, $49.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 15, 2014 release

Is so floral, mineral, intense and hypnotic it might be dubbed the Serpent Charmer. Iron and wine indeed, the iron of Nuits, the perfume of Beaune. This provocative bottling represents the third year of production, is conspicuous in Anis de Flavigny and an underlying gate. If montagnes is the harming one, this is the charming one. These are all from the same barrels, so what really affects the wines the most? Land and hand. 93 Tasted November 2013 @Bachelder_wines

Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Swiss Chard
Photo: Michael Godel

The grape: Sangiovese Grosso

The history: The family has been in the wine business since Giovanni di Piero Antinori joined the Florentine Guild of Vintners in 1385. The Antinori estate is responsible for some of Tuscany’s most famous wines; Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso.

The lowdown: As stalwart a Brunello as any, Pian Delle Vigne is not immune to critical conjecture. Applying kudos to any big house in this polarizing vintage will raise an eyebrow or two. Why not Antinori?

The food match: Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Docg, Tuscany, Italy (651141, $59.95, Nova Scotia 1006431, $64.80, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 15, 2014 release

Goes at it older, bolder, tried and truer than had recently been the case, especially in 2007. Leather, cherries, seeping tea and peppery, earthy, funky dates. Purity of fruit, obviousness in Sangiovese Grosso aromatics and it is only when you taste that you are dealt with the full effect of its power and girth. Quite viscous on the palate, tough, gritty chain of tannin and qualified, felicitous bitters on a very long finish. Best Pian delle Vigne in some time, at least back to 2001. 93 Tasted November 2013 @AntinoriFamily

Good to go!

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Synchronicity in three terroirs

Feb18

On Bachelder’s choice of grapes: “The great thing about making Pinot and Chardonnay is they take 16 months so you have to leave them alone, go away and let them be.”
Photo: PAO joke/Fotolia.com

Thomas Bachelder is a quote sprinkler. Like this: “It’s not because you can’t tell something blind that it doesn’t exist.” On Monday, February 10th, the Quebec native courted and mesmerized a room of 50 Ontario Wine Society members, guests and wine writers at the University of Toronto’s Faculty Club. If there is another winemaker’s brain that can dish out dissertations with gifted, hypnotic babble like Bachelder, I’ve yet to hear it. All so unbelievable and believable at the same time. Whatever the former Le Clos Jordanne and Lemelson winemaker is selling, I’m buying.

I would crawl up any staircase, rearrange busy schedules and mobilize the troops to taste the wines of Thomas Bachelder. So, when the call came from OWS President Ken Burford to join Bachelder and partner Mary Delaney for another tasting of the Bachelder Project, mobilize I did.

For a brief history on the Burgundy, Oregon and Niagara terroirist, check out my November 2013 tasting report, with thanks again to Tony Aspler.

The nine-deep tasting focused on the 2011 vintage, with one (2010) exception. While it was not a perfect storm of the entire (15 wine) Bachelder portfolio, it was a pretty damn good attempt. It’s hard to believe that a Canadian citizen who happens to make wine in three countries is forbidden to hoard enough of his own wines to conduct tastings at his leisure. Canadian cross-border restrictions meant Bachelder had to deliver his Oregons to a New York post office box and then carry them across at Fort Erie. Imagine the scenario. Customs officer: “What are the wines for?” Bachelder: “I am the winemaker and they are for a tasting in Toronto and for my cellar.” Beyond absurd. The rest were sourced from SAQ and LCBO stores scattered about the two provinces.

Tasting these '11 @Bachelder_wines for the 2nd, 3rd and in some cases 4th time, I am struck by the feeling I am becoming friends with them

— Michael Godel (@mgodello) February 11, 2014

The serendipity and synchronicity of the three winemaking regions has meant the stars have aligned in Bachelder’s favour. These tastings simply write themselves. The year 2010 was warm in Burgundy, Oregon and Niagara, classic in 2011 and in 2012 warm again. The 2013 vintage looks to be another trifecta classic. “If the wines are all of a similar weight, you can really see each country’s terroir for what it is.”

Ontario Wine Society Bachelder Tasting

“Burgundy is my favourite place to make wine,” admits the flying vintner. ”I’m not ashamed to say that (in a room full of Ontario Wine Society members) it’s exciting to be tasting wines from other places.”

On Pinot Noir: “If you push too hard and try to make that darker Pinot, you lose elegance. You can’t try to make a hot vintage an elegant one. You have to live with it.”

On Niagara: “Are we still prejudiced against Ontario wines? If you are standing in a store with Oregon, Niagara and Burgundy in front of you and $50 in your pocket, what are you going to choose? No one ever passes a $50 Burgundy my way because I look like a nice guy.”

On barrel aging: “It’s not about the oak flavour, it’s about the texture. That’s aging Chardonnay in oak. What’s happening in the barrel is a reduction sauce, a demi-glace, sucking the moisture out of the wine. Humidity leaves the wine and the alcohol stays. It’s a permeability stage, in the fight against residual sugar and low acids, which are poison to balance.”

On his choice of grapes: “The great thing about making Pinot and Chardonnay is they take 16 months so you have to leave them alone, go away and let them be.”

On Stelvin (screwcap) vs cork, he avoids the question and says it’s the bottle with the thick neck he wants, the one that pours with ceremony.

1,500 cases is just about the maximum Bachelder intends to make in each of the three regions. On expansion: “There’s only so much you can do in a person’s cellar without them saying what the hell are you doing here.” These refreshed tasting notes are transcribed in the prescribed order poured by Bachelder and though I’m still not sure of the method behind the line-up’s madness, call me crazy if I wasn’t transfixed.

From left: Chardonnay Classique Niagara 2011, Pinot Noir Oregon 2011, and Chardonnay Oregon 2011

Chardonnay Classique Niagara 2011, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (302083, $29.95, SAQ 11873721, $29.95, WineAlign)

From three blocks, Wismer, Saunders and Wismer-Foxcroft. Has gained fleshy weight and waxy polish in three short months, despite the tightness of the vintage. Juicier now, with zest akin to Clementine. Should this upward trend continue, cool down often and always with this exemplary Niagara Chardonnay. From my earlier November 2013 note: “Lean and mean Niagaran, in a hue and a style that brings Burgundy to mind. Comblanchien layers of limestone salinity, like a villages from Côte de Beaune. Tang, pine forest, Warheads sour candy and just a hint of the barrel but you know it’s there. A simple, Chuck Berry three chord arrangement. “I was anxious to tell her the way I feel,” even if I had no particular place to go.” 90

Pinot Noir Oregon 2011, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA (333278, $34.95, WineAlign)

On a night like this Bachelder’s recently gravelly Oregon Pinot ’11 seems to have shed its tough outer layer. Signals the evolutionary advance with a Parliament Cordell Boogie Mosson space bass note, which then blows quickly away. The wine exudes spirited cherries, Barbarescish tar and duly scented rose. Thomas notes that Burgundy should be the reference point though it does not specifically emulate Chambolle-Musigny. Built of a specific Oregon mindset but with a broad inter-connectivity to Bachelder’s other terroirs, especially considering the 2011 vintage kismet between the mothership convention of Niagara, Oregon and Burgundy. Thomas describes this Pinot as, “just shy of perfect ripeness, but not green, which is a perfect indicator of terroir.” She is perhaps advancing quickly. Is she too beautiful.? From my earlier September 2013 note: “Bleeds Willamette terroir. Punctiliously phenolic from marine sediment and seemingly obvious early-ripening. Provocative in ruby, sugar-sour cranberry meets redolent raspberry. Chalky, tannic and serious. It’s tough on me right now. Come on Thomas, would ya please lighten up? I don’t want to have to wait to drink the first case.” 90

Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru ‘La Creux De La Net’ 2011, Burgundy, France (SAQ 12089524, $38.50, WineAlign)

A metallurgical slant this time around and iodine, though sweet, like a geologist’s preferred cocktail. The palette is Rothko maroon and in cohorts with what is ascertained by the palate, scheme fruits and hearts both red and black. From my earlier November 2013 note: “Has the sense to be subtle, effortless and akin to Chambolle. Not so much openly ripe fruit but more the flowers that come before. Cherries dabbed by a citrus fragrance, or the spritz of squeezed zest and an unusually smoky musk. Insinuates new world (think Oregon) though it tells a rubble tale of its limestone slope climat.” 90

Pinot Noir Lowrey Vineyard 2011, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (361816, $44.95, WineAlign)

Legerdemain from what must be posited as a parcel capable of proliferating the richest and most structured Niagara Pinot Noir. Remarkable purity out of this magic vineyard, lissome tannins and an unmistakeable blooming rose note here now, fragrant like never before. Yet unknown but very known vineyard, especially if you have also made the acquaintance of Five Rows and Leaning Post. Peerless local Valentine’s Pinot. From my earlier October 2013 note: ”Springs eternal from an ocean of cranberry and an island of spice. The somewhereness of this St. David’s vineyard can’t be denied, and in the hands of Thomas Bachelder the extraordinary happens. I am simply blinded by the light, by the weight and the weightless gravity. By a sweetness that just isn’t sweet, like exotic red fruit that knocks you sideways upside the cerebral cortex. Not to mention an iron madness that “plays that song with the funky break.” 94

Pinot Noir Johnson Vineyard 2011, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA (SAQ, 12065338, $44.25, WineAlign)

Devastating underestimation on my part when first sampled back in November. How could I have been so blind to the depth, density and irresistible pastry chef layering. The Bachelder Chardonnay may be the stuff of demi-glace but the Pinot is so much more a thing of chemistry. A wall of sound, of no moving parts, with no separation and if an astringency was ever there, it has since departed. Since November, this has improved more than any other wine in the room. From my earlier November 2013 note: “Here there wafts an increased “blister in the sun,” more terroir from a tight vintage full of pumped over tannins. An accented aromatic membrane envelops this Johnson, of orange zest and studded rind, in violet tendency, with more flesh. Even if she speaks in Frainc-Comtou dialect when she walks through the door, she walks out distinctly Oregonian singing as a Violent Femme. Pure and clean up front, she builds, then leaves a trail of tangy fruit behind. Tangled web of Pinot. 93

Chardonnay Oregon 2011, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA (273334, $29.95, SAQ, 11845359, $29.95, WineAlign)

Yet another three months later re-taste to show Bachelder’s Oregon terroir may be the most difficult to assess in its infancy. This short slumber has changed everything. Oregon distinction, smell it, commit it to memory and you’ll never forget it. “Picture yourself staring at a loved one in a restaurant,” says Thomas. “Would you be able to pick this out as Chardonnay?” Some ciderish activity, from sedimentary and volcanic soils that used to mingle with ocean waters, give this a sea salt and fossilized lava stillness. More buttery (dare I say, popcorn) goodness than the rest. And restrained tang. And length. Wow. From my earlier November 2013 note: While Burgundian in hopes and dreams, this is very much a $29 Oregon white. No mask, no hidden altruism, simply the right Chardonnay for the right price. Bone dry, orchard driven, high acid, void of harmful terpenes. There is a salinity and piquancy not influenced by PH, perhaps by the ocean, by sandstone, but regardless it’s unique to place, unlike Niagara, Prince Edward County, or for that matter Burgundy.” 91

From left: Chardonnay Saunders Vineyard 2011, Chardonnay Wismer Vineyard 2011, and Bourgogne Chardonnay 2010

Chardonnay Saunders Vineyard 2011, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (324103, $44.95, WineAlign)

Saunders is quiet right now, in cool waiting and in display of the most elegance I’ve encountered from any Bachelder Chard, at anytime, anywhere. Background spice, backing vocals are in the isolated spotlight. This I am keying on as much as any note, in any wine here tonight. Not giving it up as easy as before. Extra swirl time required. Will re-visit in the summer. Right, Thomas? From my earlier July and November 2013 notes: “From Beamsville, right beside 30 bench, has a texture, a depth and a mouth feel in ’11 that bounds and leaps towards the ethereal. A dancing stag, displaying, performing a mating ritual dance. Melons, ripe and fleshy are in this Saunders. “What’s carrying this wine is site, site and site.” A great clay slice of the Beamsville Bench. From my earlier note: ”Takes the baton from Wismer ’10 in a transfer of power, tension and excitement. Clarity of textural fruit is driven by Beamsville Bench clay-silt soil. Highly dependent on yeast chains, sticking, spreading and expanding. Savoury, buttered stones show negligible encumbrance due to vines that will not carry an excess of new oak.” 93

Chardonnay Wismer Vineyard 2011, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (345819, $44.95, SAQ 12089591, $44.95, WineAlign)

Increased richesse and oomph and though I continue to hesitate to admit it, Saunders is the (Jackson Browne) elegant bottling in ’11. Wismer the (Warren Zevon) gregarious, mineral character werewolf of Niagara, what with its a touch of anxiety, fuller texture and “bite down…draw blood!” From my earlier November 2013 note: “From the Wingfield Block within the 20 Mile Bench grand cru vineyard, ’11 Wismer is greener, in apple and sapid behaviour. The tension is palpable, quarryful, querulous, more calciferous. Fruit here is picked at an altitude as high as the lowest part of Flat Rock’s vineyard. Can a spot be pinpointed, anywhere on the peninsula that produces more piercing Chardonnay in 2011 as this Wismer micro-block?” 91

Bourgogne Chardonnay 2010, Burgundy, France (272005, $29.95, WineAlign)

Bathed in medicinal permeate, a white rose mingling with marigold floral tone. Waves the hot flag of the vintage draped like a humid blanket over the wholly palatable, imbued netherweave, mineral tang. Still the omnipresent Bachelder acidity tempers the heat. It’s not oxygen on the nose, it’s more carbonic, oleaginous too, with a solar aromatic, malolactic presentation that gives this Chardonnay soft, stable, holistic age. Qualities unique to Puligny and Mâconnais. 90

Good to go!

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Top ten wines $30 and under for 2013

Dec17

Finding the needles in the proverbial haystack is no simple assignment so tasting through thousands of wines each year is the necessity to the mother of invention.
Photo: Africa Studio/Fotolia.com

Folks like best of lists and I for one am happy to offer them up. Historical farsightedness can be one of life’s great pleasures so cue the retrospective view.

The $20-30 category brims to overflowing with soft wines, so often heavy, overworked, reeking of new oak and unforgiving in contrivance. That niche can also be occupied by some of the greatest wine values on the planet. Wines that are neither entry-level nor flagship. Wines that define the attitude and intention of their producers.

Finding the needles in the proverbial haystack is no simple assignment so tasting through thousands of wines each year is the necessity to the mother of invention. Looking back, I am pleased to note that Ontario wines proved their worth in this reasonable if not cheap category. That four of the ten represented here were chosen locally is a testament to the quality and the marketability of $25 Niagara whites and reds.

Here are my top ten wines, on the number or below, released and tasted in 2013.

Ten wine releases $30 and under

From left: SOUTHBROOK TRIOMPHE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010, GREENLANE RIESLING OLD VINES 2011, DOMAINE DU PETIT MÉTRIS LES FOUGERAIES SAVENNIÈRES 2009, DOMAINES SCHLUMBERGER KESSLER PINOT GRIS 2008, and SAN FELICE IL GRIGIO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009

SIGALAS SANTORINI ASSYRTIKO 2011, Santorini, Greece (74781, $21.95, WineAlign)

Must be a fairy tale, a Boucles d’or narrative of structure and complexity from the first swirl and sniff. Airy, saline, built of rich, gold guts. Perfectly ripened orchard fruit and fresh-squeezed grapefruit. Taste it and there’s a joyous dance, a kefi bursting inside, like great Champagne but minus the bubbles. 92 Tasted April 2013 @KolonakiGroup From: See the humanity in real value wine

SOUTHBROOK TRIOMPHE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (ON, VINTAGES Essential, 193573, $22.95, WineAlign)

Drifts effortlessly along in an extreme brightness and lightness of being. A perfumed exotic beauty that displays definitive Cabernet Sauvignon character. Tea, tobacco, Cassis, vanilla, dark berries, proper acidity, good grip and length. Dictionary entry for the vintage, the Niagara-on-the-Lake appellation and the genre. No other sub-$25 Ontario Cab does the warm vintages (’02. ’05, ’07 and ’10) with this kind of grace and power. From and kudos to winemaker Ann Sperling. 91 Tasted September 2013 @SouthbrookWine From: Good Look Ahead at Canadian Wines For Thanksgiving

GREENLANE RIESLING OLD VINES 2011 ,VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (351486, $22.95, WineAlign)

Cracks the mineral whip, froths lime into foam and atomizes stone fruit into sweet and sour heaven. Wants to be semi-dry but never quite goes there. Walks a fine line, a tightrope actually. Up there with Charles Baker and Thirty Bench for sheer madness. 91 Tasted July 2013 @GreenLaneWinery From: Alternative wines for the August long weekend

DOMAINE DU PETIT MÉTRIS LES FOUGERAIES SAVENNIÈRES 2009, Ac Loire, France (319855, $23.95, WineAlign)

Screams “I am Chenin Blanc,” in honey on the pedal and maximum mineral metal. Aggressive, pursuing machine ”stealing honey from a swarm of bees.” Petrol stinky, tangy thick, sticky with honey oozing everywhere, in comb and sweet-smelling suckle. Seriously huge and flashy. Will be stunning when it settles down. 92 Tasted April 2013 @Savennieresaoc From: Top ten wines for May Day

DOMAINES SCHLUMBERGER KESSLER PINOT GRIS 2008, Ac Alsace, France (249623, $25.95, WineAlign)

Wants to tell you she’s late harvest but you know better. “You might say you can only fool yourself.” Golden gorgeous, silken pear custard and southern hemisphere, capsicum spiked fruit. Walks on little feat but ultra-marathon runs a sweet to dry crescendoing gamut. 92 Tasted June 2013 @drinkAlsace From: Working wines for the Canada Day long weekend

From left: SAN FELICE IL GRIGIO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009, LAN GRAN RESERVA 2005, ROEDERER ESTATE BRUT SPARKLING, MALIVOIRE WINE COMPANY GAMAY ‘COURTNEY’ 2011, and THIRTY BENCH VINEYARDS ‘STEEL POST’ VINEYARD RIESLING 2011

SAN FELICE IL GRIGIO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009, Tuscany, Italy (716266, $26.95, SAQ, 703363, $27, WineAlign)

Clocks in at 12.8 per cent abv. Are you following the theme here? This CCR is just so flippin’ foxy and gorgeous to nose. It’s also demanding in iron, dried sanguine char and tough like the label’s Titian-painted medieval knight. CCR stretched out on the rack, Italianate through and through and likely in need of 10 years lay down time. Funkless which, considering the lack of coat and obfuscation, is very, very interesting. 92 Tasted August 2013 From: Fall is the wine time to be with the Tuscan you love

LAN GRAN RESERVA 2005, Rioja, Spain (928622, $27.95, WineAlign)

Its makers may now just be a cog in the Sogrape empire but it continues to do its own thing. Has that evolution I look for in Rioja. The slightest oxidative note, heaps of herbs and the umami of salty clashes with smokey Jamon. Rioja expressive of one love and one heart. Caught bobbing, dancing and wailing right in its wheelhouse, giving everything it’s made of, no holds barred and no questions asked. “Is there a place for the hopeless sinner?” Yes, in a glass of a weathered, leathery and just flat out real as it gets red Rioja. 92 Tasted September 2013 @BodegasLan From: Ancient state of the art Spanish wine

ROEDERER ESTATE BRUT SPARKLING, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California, (294181, $29.95, WineAlign)

Composed of approximately 60 per cent Chardonnay and 40 Pinot Noir. As close to greatness a house style from California can achieve. Discovers some secrets shared by cool-climate Sparkling wine, first with a delicate floral waft from out of a salmon copper tone. Complex, savoury bubbles, in rhubarb, tarragon and poached pear. Round, really fine, earthly, grounded stuff that spent a minimum two years on the lees. Marked by citrus too, namely pink grapefruit and creamy vanilla from the addition of some oak-aged wine. 91 Tasted November 2013 From: Ten sparkling wine to life

MALIVOIRE WINE COMPANY GAMAY ‘COURTNEY’ 2011, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario ($29.95, winery only,)

Spent 14 edifying months in French oak and will live adroitly for another five years as a result. So much plum inherent in all its faculties, berries and currants too. The winemaker star of Shiraz Mottiar is rising higher into the cool climate stratosphere with each passing vintage. His wines walk a haute couture runway of class and style. 91 Tasted April 2013 @MalivoireWine @ShirazMottiar From: Come together over wine

THIRTY BENCH VINEYARDS ‘STEEL POST’ VINEYARD RIESLING 2011, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario ($30, winery only, WineAlign)

From the Andrew Peller stable leans late-harvest or Spätlese, with 18.5 grams per litre of residual sugar. Clean, crisp, precise and near perfect Beamsville Bench expression. Flinty minerality and fantastic whorl by way of winemaker Emma Garner. Equal to if not more of a bomb than the stellar ’09. 93 Tasted March 2013 @ThirtyBench 100 kilometre wine for Spring

Good to go!

Twelve days of wine for Christmas

Dec5

Now is the time to begin shopping, that is unless you are a glutton for line-up punishment in the last 12 days leading up to Christmas.
Photo: jillchen/Fotolia.com

Christmas is but three weeks away and so the countdown begins. Wine shops from coast to coast are officially at maximum inventory, knowing full well that if you stock it, they will come.

In Ontario, VINTAGES sections at the LCBO have more to offer than at any other time of the year. The same can be said for the SAQ in Quebec. Alberta’s private wine shops are loaded up with selections, as are the VQA stores in British Columbia and every other provincial liquor board store.

Now is the time to begin shopping, that is unless you are a glutton for line-up punishment in the last 12 days leading up to Christmas. Starting tomorrow you have exactly one week left to search and acquire any of these twelve terrific wines. Come on people, get out there!

From left: QUINTA DOS CARVALHAIS DUQUE DE VISEU RED 2009, CHÂTEAU BERTINERIE MERLOT/CABERNET 2009, DE WETSHOF LESCA ESTATE CHARDONNAY 2012, LORNANO LE BANDITE CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009, DOMAINE DU PETIT MÉTRIS CLOS DE LA MARCHE SAVENNIÈRES 2009, and RIOJA BORDÓN GRAN RESERVA 2004

QUINTA DOS CARVALHAIS DUQUE DE VISEU RED 2009, Doc Dão, Portugal (546309, $13.95, WineAlign)

Simple, straight cut, hedonistic Dão pleasure from winemaker Manuel Vieira and the Sogrape Vinhos’ empire. Nothing wrong with that except that at $14 it feels like stealing. An evincive blend of 50 per cent Touriga Nacional, 20 Tinta Roriz and 30 Jaen. Red and black fruit, mineral tension, somewhat gritty but lush in plum, licorice feel and flavour. Really good stuff. 89 Tasted November 2013 @winePortugalCA

CHÂTEAU BERTINERIE MERLOT/CABERNET 2009, Ac Côtes De Bordeaux, Blaye (244640, $18.95, WineAlign)

Intrigue and nary a sign of Brett or funk. Warm, java fruit ninja subsidized by the tension that possesses it. A bit overripe perhaps, also rocky and hematic, unstaunched and with good length. Satisfyingly good, deep, dark wine. At $19 this has December stews written all over its Blays face. 90 Tasted November 2013 @Bertinerie

DE WETSHOF LESCA ESTATE CHARDONNAY 2012, Wo Robertson, South Africa (355438, $18.95, WineAlign)

This is exactly what I come to expect and hope for in calcareous, gravel and clay Cape Chardonnay. Robertson study in balance, fortitude and anxiety. Palpable proof of De Westhof’s self-professed attitude towards “site-specific vineyard management and wine-making.” Really pretty white flowers, citrus in C minor and piercing acidity. Proficiently ripe, toasted without tempting caramel and really well-judged. All in for $19. No ifs and or buts. 91 Tasted November 2013

LORNANO LE BANDITE CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2009, Docg Tuscany, Italy (230672, $19.95, WineAlign)

Goes out Brett funky straight away and without trepidation. Le Bandite indeed, rough, rural, musky, manly, stealing fruit from the well dressed, the hygienic and the entitled. Robin Hood CCR, prince of fresh fruit thief, or perhaps the man in tights, as in iron, Italianate, searing, sanguine attitude. Throwing rocks, stones, rioting, looting and shooting arrows through my Chianti heart. Could you tell I liked it? 90 Tasted November 2013 @FrontierWine

DOMAINE DU PETIT MÉTRIS CLOS DE LA MARCHE SAVENNIÈRES 2009, Ac Loire, France (250571, $23.95, WineAlign)

A bottle full of apple, lemon and flinty rock. At first, a Chenin Blanc study for The Dance. The aromatics seem just a bit closed today and the texture a touch more downy than from memory, but it is far from oxidized. Arid, tight and then a slow emergence. The stones begin to traipse on the tongue in a Matissean La Danse clarity of light, form and simplicity, tingle to the core, circle round and round. Textbook Savennières. 91 Tasted November 2013 @LoireValleyWine

RIOJA BORDÓN GRAN RESERVA 2004, Doca Rioja, Spain (114454, $24.95, SAQ 11383561, $22.45, Alta. $34.99, WineAlign)

A Rioja that wears its alcohol and emotions on its sleeve. Robust attack, cranky acidity and lashing tannin. A cup of sweet and sour cherries in jubilation and rigmarole. Quite the boisterous, reactive Rioja animal. Hard to figure on but quite something. Classic actually. 90 Tasted November 2013 @RiojaBordon

From left: DE MARTINO LIMÁVIDA OLD BUSH VINES 2010, THE FOREIGN AFFAIR THE TEMPTRESS ‘ABBRACCIO’ 2009, BONNY DOON LE CIGARE VOLANT 2008, DOMAINE LONG-DEPAQUIT MOUTONNE GRAND CRU CHABLIS 2011, PAHLMEYER CHARDONNAY 2010, and CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET VIDE BOURSE 1ER CRU 2010

DE MARTINO LIMÁVIDA OLD BUSH VINES 2010, Maule Valley, Chile (360131, $35.95, WineAlign)

If a seriously heaving berry, dark as night Chilean red can add a bit of euphoria into your life, this SV might just be the one. Wet earth drenched in a sudoric blanket of wood soaked in fine liqueur. Limited production blend of Malbec, Carmenère, Carignan and Tannat from “terroir más excepcionales de Chile.” Noticeable porcine note from a wine seemingly old and wise but beneath the hard shell it’s actually berry-chocolate fruity and tangy. Has tension and nerve but the parts don’t always equate to the whole. Terrific attempt at a serious Maule Valley red of singular expression. 90 Tasted November 2013 @DeMartinoWines @Halpernwine

THE FOREIGN AFFAIR THE TEMPTRESS ‘ABBRACCIO’ 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (127340, $44.95, WineAlign)

From the estate’s Crispino Vineyard, the blend of 65 per cent Merlot, 30 Cabernet Sauvignon and five Petit Verdot is chosen from the best barrels. Activates Ilya Senchuk’s take on the appassimento style, in structure and in spades. This is the vintage where 14 became 15, but that alcohol has to be forgiven, considering the outright bravado embrace of the rehydrated fruit. Plum deep, syrup drippy, espresso and dark chocolate bitterness. Works against the grain, but again, must be forgiven considering the overall achievement. Gotta check this one out between 2019-2022. 91 Tasted November 2013 @wineaffair

BONNY DOON LE CIGARE VOLANT 2008, Central Coast, California (975847, $48.95, SAQ 10253386, $49.00, WineAlign)

“Well I’ve always had a deep respect,” for the boisterous wines of Randall Grahm “and I mean that most sincere.” Less rope and more felicity etch this ’08 into a Rhône book of yesteryear. This Volant has its cigar and smokes it too, having entered peak toasted spice form, with sweet Grenache, peppery Syrah and the strengthening, fortifying assistance from Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignane. Raspberry youthful, mineral tough, juicy and gorgeous, full-bodied, ripe, essential ranger. Bites down hard on the blistered finish. This is really, really nice Central Coast California juice. Right up there with CDP’s in a similar tax bracket. 91 Tasted November 2013 @BonnyDoonVineyd @RandallGrahm

DOMAINE LONG-DEPAQUIT MOUTONNE GRAND CRU CHABLIS 2011, Monopole, Ac, Burgundy, France (46706, $89.95, WineAlign)

From Mathieu Mangenot’s ”Grand Cru” plots, the Monopole holdings in the steep amphitheatre slope of Vaudésir and the gentle rise of Les Preuses. The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine. He spoons piles of flint and chunks of rock. He explains the tin pan elevation of Chablis and Chardonnay squeezed from the bedrock, capturing every last drop of geology, refuse of stars and fossils of the ancient animals. Stoic, metazoic, super Chablis, with tremendous length. How can this Chablis have so much fruit but no apple, no lemon, no pith. “You think things are straight but they’re not what they seem.” Candy for the soul. Novacaine in liquid form. Amazing. 94 Tasted November 2013.

PAHLMEYER CHARDONNAY 2010, Sonoma Coast, California (222117, $99.95, SAQ 11936111, $97.00, Alta. 737672, $104.76, WineAlign)

The offspring of two famous vineyards, Wayfarer and Ritchie. Two plots that bring strength and style, Captain and Tenille. The sumptuous cajoling of this dense Sonoman could never be accused of lying low or lacking confidence. When “some sweet talking guy comes along singing his song,” like this Pahlmeyer, the trickery is palpable and that burst into song, “love will keep us together,” is unavoidable. It’s the unabashed, high density fruit, the layers of enveloping wood and the crustaceans dripping butter. It’s the thick and chewy texture, unlike almost any other, but it’s also the woody, resinous, strikingly ripe, brix combative turned alcohol heavy feeling and the creamed cornucopia of whipped polenta, lemon and burnt sugary crème brûlée. Huge style. 91 Tasted November 2013 @Pahlmeyer

CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET VIDE BOURSE 1ER CRU 2010, Ac Burgundy, France (344887, $101.95, Quebec $85.00, WineAlign)

A mild sylvan reductive stink is neither abstruse nor in fruit obstruction. What we have here is a brass tax in Chardonnay histrionics. Yellow and green tree fruit, wicked wild yeast game and just about as much ruminating, mineral tang as one might desire. Something wicked this way woos my wistful longing for quality white Burgundy. I could imagine drinking this well into my pension days. 95 Tasted November 2013

Good to Go!

Beaujolais Nouveau Presser 2013

Nov20

In and around the six-week mark post harvest, Gamay grapes are “pressed,” quickly fermented, met with carbonic maceration (also known as whole-berry fermentation), filtered and bottled.
PHOTO: ALEXANDCO/FOTOLIA.COM