Beef shank, romano bean and lentil soup, tomato, basil, nasturtium
Just over two weeks separates us from another federal election, a national concern in address of criminal activity. Criminal because the choice, at least in the hazy, politically discharged context of my age of voting lifetime, has never been more difficult to make. This I can say. If any of the three leaders pulls out an October surprise from their proverbial political hat, I’m calling their bluff.
Political theory and editorial aside, the one organization that clearly invokes the OS trump card repeatedly and with outright conceit is the LCBO. The operating system is predicated on spin tactics to influence booze czars and to turn business reports inside out. Every month of the year can be aligned with surprise, to make certain the Province of Ontario and whichever elected (or keys to the castle given) Premier stays on the lee side.
Ontario beer, wine and spirit commentary aside, the VINTAGES release calendar continues to cycle on through with expert efficiency and en ever-increasing delightful, thoughtfully purchased and seemingly never-ending supply of quality wine. In 2015, the October surprise is one I can get behind, support and outright cheer for. Finding 10 wines I’d feel honoured to sip, pour and relegate to the mid-life crisis racks of the cellar is nothing short of shooting fish in a barrel. For October 3rd, here they are.
From left to right: Cave Spring Cabernet Franc 2013, Stephane Aviron Vieilles Vignes Morgon Côte Du Py 2012, Altos Las Hormigas Terroir Malbec 2012, Rosewood Origin Cabernet Franc 2013 and 2027 Cellars Wismer Vineyard Fox Croft Block Chardonnay 2012
Cave Spring Cabernet Franc 2013, VQA Niagara Escarpment, Ontario (391995, $19.95, WineAlign)
Another notch on the Escarpment knows Cabernet Franc totem, with similar if deeper, earthy red fruit character in 2013 for the Cave Spring. The tonalities are further elevated in a vintage that should offer more balance. That it does in terms of handling ripeness in opposition to acidity but at a young age it is further from its intended truth than was the ’12. This may be a better, bigger and deeper CF of potentiality but it’s awkward right now. Give it a year plus to answer the bell. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2015 @CaveSpring@TheVine_RobGroh
Stephane Aviron Vieilles Vignes Morgon Côte Du Py 2012, Ac Beaujolais, France (424804, $19.95, WineAlign)
Like dark cherry for freshness, maceration for thickness. Entirely, satisfyingly and flat-out rung up in juicy Côte de Puy. Meaty and leaning to roasted, this consistent Morgon makes an honest bedfellow with the Cru. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted September 2015 @Nicholaspearce_
Altos Las Hormigas Terroir Malbec 2012, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina (366005, $22.95, WineAlign)
Tremendously different Malbec, within the context of largesse. Deep, natural funk, like Syrah of meaty, smoky, porcine intent, from the northern Rhone or Franschhoek. But as Malbec, to Cahors, or not, it is simply cimmerian, intense, of iodine and blood, of minerals not often sensed. Well scripted by a big box outfit with much on its plate. High commendation to be sure. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2015 @ALHmalbec@winesofarg
Cabernet Franc moving with all the correct intentions. Plods a disciplined direction of self-harnessing variegated power out of the ripening challenges abetted by The Bench’s rolling hillside vineyards. Esteemed of low alcohol, on a knife’s edge verge of ripe, ripe fruit and with tannin to add necessary stuffing. Depth of Cab Franc terroir clay, simulating the beautiful rascal flats of the lakeshore, here up higher, crusted by the Escarpment, combining for depth and matter. This matter. This bottle matters, this varietal necessity, this excerpt. It has meaty, smoky, binging bent. It will age for a minimum five and likely, efficiently, for an excavating seven or eight. Drink 2015-2023. Tasted September 2015 @Rosewoodwine
In the hands of winemaker Kevin Panagapka, Craig Wismer’s fruit retains un underlay of power not recognized in other Foxcroft Chardonnays. Neither Thomas Bachelder nor Ross Wise (Keint-He) make anything near spirited as this 2027 take. Chardonnay loves the sun in the Foxcroft Block and Panagapka loves to see that sun hook up with the inside of a barrel. This ’12 makes a nice date for a wood wedding. A product of the Dijon 96 clone, the reduction in this Chardonnay drives its fresh, spritely if mettlesome nature, with a bark and a barrel bellow, but longevity will not suffer as a result. This could take 30 years to oxidize, it’s that audacious and also courageous. Let it and its buttered popcorn rest a while. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted May 2015 @2027cellars
From left to right: Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz 2013, Vina Real Gran Reserva 2008, Kenwood Jack London Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Burrowing Owl Cabernet Franc 2013 and Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf Du Pape 2013
Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz 2013, Coonawarra, South Australia (509919, $34.95, WineAlign)
One thing is certain, never judge a Penfolds by its cover, in its youth. Here Shiraz is meaty and pepper laces the brawny fruit. A purely bovine expression with enough ganache to ice a birthday cake for 50. But the level of structure, brick laying foundation and utter momentous occasion means this must be assessed with a waiting for the compression to emerge, from out beneath the cumbrous suppression. In time, that it will. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted September 2015 @penfolds@alyons_wine
Vina Real Gran Reserva 2008, Rioja, Spain (280545, $36.95, WineAlign)
Highly volatile at this stage and perhaps will be at further stages, but the fruit slinging to acidity bringing it to and from tannin is immense and beautiful. Big structure, stuffing and stage one temper. Has every right to fly its name up high because this represents firm 2008 Rioja with distinction and is as real as it gets. Needs three years to settle down and play a proper, righteous Rioja tune. Wow. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted September 2015 @Cvne@vonterrabev
Kenwood Jack London Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma County, California (944843, $39.95, WineAlign)
Always fruitful, full and necessary. No holes, plentiful in high quality chocolate and bountiful by way of stuffing. Deep and intense. Big tannins. Tells it from Sonoma Mountain in the way the author would have prescribed. In the proper function of Cabernet, “to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” Persists as a top under $40 California Cabernet, as it always has. A London for the 10-15 year haul. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted September 2015 @KenwoodVineyard@sonomavintners
Burrowing Owl Cabernet Franc 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley (349019, $44.95, WineAlign)
No combination of ripeness and desert derived concentration can be found in any Cabernet Franc, not just in this country but really anywhere. That the Owl can achieve such massive structure and red fruit containment is remarkable, unparalleled and in singular ownership of style. Extraction clearly matters, layering is key and quality must ride with ripeness. “You know what I’m saying baby,” this is a sky rocket of a Cabernet Franc. Full on, flat-out expression, without compromise. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted September 2015 @BurrowingOwlBC@LeSommelierWine
Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf Du Pape 2013, Rhône, France (700922, $58.95, WineAlign)
A thankful. restful and wistful return to form, away from heat and into perfume. Cherry melting into garrigue, beautiful musty wood, the way things were, not so long ago, when the evening meal and the garden mattered. As things do and will again. This Donjon will be a part of future’s past. Drink 2017-2024. Tasted September 2015 @VINSRHONE@RhoneWine
From left to right: Pella The Vanilla Chenin Blanc 2013, Dominio De Punctum Viento Aliseo Viognier 2014, Laurenz Und Sophie Singing Grüner Veltliner 2013, Barton Merlot 2012 and Scacciadiavoli Montefalco Rosso 2011
Back from South Africa and while I was gone some pretty good wines were released this past weekend. The VINTAGES September 19th release must have been methodized with this late September summer climatic empressement in mind. I tasted these 10 back in August and at the time said to myself, “self, these will make for superb late September sipping.” Here are the notes.
Pella The Vanilla Chenin Blanc 2013, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa (389619, $14.95, WineAlign)
The vanilla is an odd moniker for any wine, let alone Chenin Blanc and the usage ends here. The bush vine savagery, atlantic wind and poor gravel soil have more influence than the barrel though there is a distinct aroma that reminds of wood fires on an old oak forest campsite. Creamiest of creamy Chenin Blanc, with the flavour of roasted marshmallow with almost no sweetness or cloy. An acquired taste to be certain but I will pull up a rock or a log to its comforts any day. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted September 2015 @SSVineyards@WOSACanada
Dominio De Punctum Viento Aliseo Viognier 2014, Do La Mancha, Spain (424713, $15.95, WineAlign)
O and B Viognier of profound aromatics and lithe enough to call itself a gentleman. White flowers lit by beeswax candle, white pepper and prettier than most herbs. Punctuates with a palate built on mineral and perpetuates good feelings with acidity and structure. More La Mancha than Viognier and rightfully so. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted September 2015 @DePunctum@TheLivingVine@vinodelamancha
Laurenz Und Sophie Singing Grüner Veltliner 2013, Niederösterreich, Austria (87627, $16.95, WineAlign)
Stonking mineral Gruner, herbal and gravel inflected, its voice scratchy and smoky like a good Veltliner can be. Actually reminds me of Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, with the herbs and the minor spritz but as Gruner, that’s a bit of a stretch. Eminently drinkable nonetheless. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted September 2015 @KylixWines@AustrianWine
Barton Merlot 2012, Wo Walker Bay, South Africa (424143, $14.95, WineAlign)
So much soil funk, gritty, chalky, like liquid concrete and crumbling clay, mixed into a high-acting cocktail. This Merlot is alive, full of tingles and tricks, rich and chocolate fixated. If the acidity were a bit north of the 34/19 line, it would be a formidable red to drink for 10 more years. As it is five will do just fine. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted September 2015 @WOSA_ZA
Natural to a degree, ripe to a larger one and angled with juicy tang and ripe tannins. Nothing overdone, but there is deep intent, rigid lines and membranes, daunting like facing a large stance of game animals and their dangerous racks. Step aside, let them pass and come back when they are older and more docile. The tannins I mean. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted September 2015 @Scacciadiavoli1@ConsSagrantino
From left to right: Tandem Macula 2006, Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay 2013, Schiopetto Pinot Grigio 2013, Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino 2009 and Paschal Marchand Meursault 2012
Tandem Macula 2006, Navarra, Spain (424705, $24.95, WineAlign)
Like dried red fruit sprinkled with a fine aggregate of sweet concrete, if such a combination of inanimate flora existed, plated upon a pool of sanguine fauna below. Funky omeboshi and a torch of garrigue, like spruce tips and a struck match, Dripping, unctuous liquor of varietal amalgamation, having soaked up sunshine and now slowly, naturally leaning towards Nirvana. Where have you been Macula? Drink 2015-2021. Tasted September 2015 @jmfraile@hobbsandco@navarrawine
Talbott Kali Hart Chardonnay 2013, Monterey County, California (46417, $27.95, WineAlign)
Always upscale and like a sheep in wolf’s clothing, matchstick jumpy and full of barrel bounty. Rich and thick like fresh churned butter on rye toast, spice and effectuality. Really ramps up in the vintage and makes a bold Monterey statement. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted September 2015 @TalbottVineyard@MontereyWines@Smallwinemakers
Holy great mineral Batman. A coolio, Collio trove of fruit goodness and stony tang. Some musty notes and plenty of fruit offset the rocky, badass bent. Full and distinctive, with northern character and ready, steady climb. Build and builds. Many steps up from 99 per cent of Pinot Grigio realities. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted September 2015 @schiopetto@LeSommelierWine
Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (378513, $44.95, WineAlign)
Liqueur distilled into Sangiovese, with Grosso layering and from a vintage that meant business from go. Cherries never dried so well, fennel never whiffed so sweet and wood resin never reduced to flavour with such elegance. A very pretty Brunello with massive tannins to send it down the 20 year road in all directions departing Montalcino. Beautiful stuff for a song. Drink 2018-2030. Tasted September 2015 @ConsBrunello
Marchand Tawse Meursault 2012, Burgundy, France (285866, $52.95, WineAlign)
Rich Meursault if two-dimensionally direct, out of a very good vintage. Unctuous along the line to mineral. Brings both butter and beauty. Layered and complex. Fine bass line, with percussion fills between the beats. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted September 2015 @MARCHANDTAWSE
A week of immersion on the ground running in Achaia drafts a new set of varietal tasting parameters. What is new to me are anent varieties of old. Roditis, Sideritis, Mavrodaphne and Mavro Kalavryta may be the grapes of ancients but obscurity be sprinkled, their resurrection blows forth in full paroxysmal scatter. The appeal is symptomatic of the new search for greatness in far away places.
8ο kil. Pounta-Kalavrita, Ano Diakopto, 25003, Greece, 2691097500 The most modern facility in all of Achaia, re-built after a fire destroyed the property more than 10 years ago. Owned and operated by the brothers Aristos and Stathis Spanos.
Panyiotis Panagianopoulos, Tetramythos Winery
Oenologist since 1999 is Panayiotis Papagiannopoulos, a winemaker who may just have been separated from twin Frank Zappa at birth. Located at Ano Diakopto of Egialia, on the slopes of Mount Chelmos, the 14 hectares of vineyards (450-1,000m) are farmed organically (and have been since 1997). Bush vines make up 80 per cent and endemic varieties (85 per cent) cultivated (plus some expatriates) are Roditis, Malagousia, Sauvignon Blanc, Mavro Kalavryta, Agiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The total production is 13,000 cases with export to foreign markets (80 per cent) that exceeds peers by a wide margin.
Pulled from four vineyards at 650-850m of altitude and from vines 19-42 years old. No skin contact though it shows a light, slight tinge of colour. Nearly platinum in its yellow hue, perhaps attributed to organics says Papagiannopoulos, Eighty per cent was achieved through natural ferment (with zero malolactic) plus “one tank for security.” Roditis can go clean or develop anti-austerity, texture, viscosity in the direction of a dirty projector. The Tetramythos glides “forward through the clover and the bergamot.” I can see what she’s seeing. Tasting like a leesy ripe peach, this is the best “basic” Roditis tasted in Achaia. Serious match of Aleria Restaurant‘s Sea Bass Tartare. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Here speaks the truth in endemic Roditis, raised in unconscious, wild ferment, unfiltered, forsaken to fining and treated to minimal sulphur. From 47 year-old vines, this most natural Peloponnese is made for the French market (that includes Quebec) with elevated acidity, deeper mineral, higher tang, pomp, circumstance and attitude. Latin, really, striking actually. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Roditis is here designated as the traditional Retsina, subjugated to wild yeasts in clay amphora and no sulphur during alcoholic fermentation. From 25 year-old vines out of a single vineyard and pine resin collected from trees on the edge of the vineyard. Post low and slow fermentation the wine rests on its lees for two months. Such a wild and sauvage display of terroir; pine resin, beeswax, sealants and amphora. Like pure pine distillate without excessive herbaceousness and in subtlety of its own complacency. The palate follows the other roditis renditions and the pine again returns on the finish. 14,000 bottles made. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted July 2015
A single vineyard at an altitude of 750m guided by 30 hours of skin contact, for mouthfeel, to saddle the cool climate herbiage, needed for structure and for distance. Exudes poise, presence, precision, not oily but somehow creamy, glistening, this glow of malagousia. Expresses the longest hang time in the mouth, lingering like no roditis can or is willing to. Thanks to early picking to preserve acidity, the alcohol is low (12.4 per cent) and that acidity (7.2 g/L) above and beyond. Only here does malagousia keep this kind of flinty bite, in kind to a mid-September pick, keeping on the right side of soft and hot. I think this will live longer than you think. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
A wine to fulfill the promise of my own personal vindication. I had asked Angelos Rouvalis about laying Roditis down for three to five years or more, to see where it may go and he said, “why?” Here is why. Has fan vaulted to the skies, urged by petrol and a symphony of mythology. Akin and within aromatic mineral reach of sémillon or riesling, with just a basal drip of ambrosial, gaseous honey. The green notes (of pea and nettle) are exaggerated but that is attributed to 2008 fruit that may have never been fully ripe. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Tetramythos Roditis 2014 and Muscat Sec Blanc Nature 2014
Tetramythos Muscat Sec 2014, PGI Peloponnese, Greece (WineAlign)
A slightly carbonic, reductive character – its natural protection, to keep the oxygen at bay, as if nouveau white Beaujolais. Combines bay laurel and beatific citrus, namely grapefruit after the banana blows off through the shutters of the cabana. Quite silky for muscat, of keys and zests citrus (major) and resin (minor). It may be sorry to leave you high and dry though there is no reason to feel a need to be weened off its charms. Far-out, groovy and compelling vin nature. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Tetramythos Muscat Sec Blanc Nature 2014, PGI Peloponnese, Greece (WineAlign)
Nothing short of lucent, this friable, direct and crunchy raw muscat. Effusive of individual vowels and consonants, typically Achaian, extrapolated to Greek in its lambent and inventive simplicity. More glade than wax, it coats with orange and the spirit of lime. So different and yet so familiar, inevitably dry and straight as an arrow. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Tetramythos Sauvignon Blanc Milia White 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece (WineAlign)
Not so many places are out there where sauvignon blanc grows at 1000m of altitude, so its got that going for it, which is nice. Add to that four months in new oak. What results is such a melon, citrus and high acidity tropical fruit mess. Wow is this piercing, almost over the top. Like sémillon this struts, in nod to the Hunter Valley. With time there is a varietal emergence. Eventually. Will age a spell. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted July 2015
A terrific example for a grape saved from extinction, Tetramythos owns 1.9 of a total four hectares of MK. Kudos for the effort especially considering the variety is thin skinned, slow to mature and difficult to cultivate. Saw nearly 20 days of skin contact because “the variety dictates the practice,” notes Konstantinos Lazarakis M.W. The fruit and bitters express a push-pull of terroir. One of two wineries making dry wines from the endemic variety, here the fresh red grape, the food friendly marker. Here confidently struts modern Achaian winemaking, from the ashes of naturalism and antiquity, the way Gamay or Loire Cabernet Franc are wont to do. Vibrant, with verve and a necessary natural funk. Herbal and with a rub of tomato skin, creamy, cool yet resinous, followed through from aroma to texture. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Kotrotsos Moschofilero Erasmios 2014 and Tetramythos Mavro Kalavryta 2014
Raised in old oak barrels, it carries the wooden ship scent on the sea. Possessive of a world up in the wind, roofless, like an August cathedral and yet a grounding sense to burrow into earth. In all that sense it drafts like Nebbiolo indenture. Ferric and tannic, with end spice. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Tetramythos Milia Red 2012, PGI Peloponnese, Greece (WineAlign)
A kaleidoscopic, cosmopolitan blend of merlot (66 per cent), cabernet sauvignon (20) and mavro (black) kalavrita (14) aged in 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill barrels. Here, again the use of Bordeaux varietals that cloud the vision of what the land wants to say. Sure it will speak in a language that resembles Terra Alta or some IGT but it has a nowhere man feel, a lack of somewheress and surely no word from the mouth of Papagiannopoulos. Very Mediterranean in feel, with a tapenade of black olive and caper. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
A new Bordeaux language is created, in natural wild ferment, unfiltered and housed for 30 months in 2nd and 3rd fill barrels. A highly savoury cabernet sauvignon, with a lean and mean green streak. Tannic and very tight. Coated by a veneer and seething in teeth chattering acidity. Not for the faint of cabernet sauvignon heart and in need of double bottle time, in minimum two to one ratio of what it saw in wood. Much appreciation for the vision and the effort. Drink 2018-2021. Tasted July 2015
As with so many of the Tetramythos line-up, this regional blend is the same but different. First it’s non vintage and second it is out of zone so not considered for PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras status. At 16 per cent alcohol and 58 g/L the sweet elixir spent nearly three years spent spinning in the excruciatingly slow centrifuge of natural fermentation. Traditional method adherence with the addition of organic, sun-dried raisins, “to increase the sugar levels.” The house quotient is three kilos of dried Black Corinth Raisin for every 100 L of must, in purport to increase the alcohol by one per cent. Here sweeps clean, sweet Mavro, its port sensibility an aged, natural, dried fruit, nut and caramel melange. Pure beauty. Drink 2015-2025. Tasted July 2015
The domain is set within a dramatically oriented steppe of an amphitheatre, in a bowl beneath the shadow of a 940m rock that houses the great Greek Orthodox monastery of Mega Spileo (Grand Cave). Nowhere else in the Chelmos mountains does monk viticulture resonate as it does here. The great vineyard (Megali Ambelos) perches above the Vouraikos Canyon at 800m of height. The winemaker for the wines of Cavino and Mega Spileo is Stelios Tsiris. Varieties grown since re-planting in 1999 include Mavrodafne, Mavro Kalavritino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Lagorthi, Assyrtiko, Malagousia and Riesling.
Mega Spileo Monastery
Roditis 2014, PDO Patras, Greece
A textured Roditis, its constant refrain one of herbiage, mineral, savoury bite and a direct pinch of austerity. Radiates fashioned with poise and meaning. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Malagousia 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
From a blend of three vineyards at 800m in altitude, this is a creamier, riper, more tropical take on the categorical grape. It’s tropical even, leaving peach to ascertain mango. Like a comfortable broth of warm emotions, this Malagousia belongs to the generality of varietal Greek persistence. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Moschato 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
Nearly bone dry (4 g/L RS) and well-nigh nicked by acidity (6.2 g/L TA) this is really a true expression of the Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, an elegant cold pour into a glass on a breezy, sunny day. Until now Muscat in Achaia “could never look me in the eye” but the flurry of aromatics sing like a songstress in white lace. Its gaze is like lemon and olive oil and its tongue like the sweet wax on the rind. Here the Moschato path has been properly and soulfully taken. Rich in gold, like the kingdom of Agamemnon at Mycenae. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Deus NV, Peloponnese, Greece
A blend of Moschato (80-90 per cent) and Sideritis, with a prodigious dosage to leave this sparkling wine larboard in the realm of 55 g/L of residual sugar. Translates to a tropical, custardy, sticky and waxy bubble that will repeatedly get you back in Achaia life again. Take a few sips “and I’ll drink and dance with one hand free.” You could really get stoned on this fizz. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Deus Rosato NV, Peloponnese, Greece
Made from 100 per cent Syrah and slightly sweeter than the Muscat, here at 60 g/L RS. The lees, cheese and funk from Syrah turned to sparkling distracts from the sweetness, sending this to parts of southern France in meditative, Mediterranean, savoire savour faire. Raspberry and cranberry vie for sweet and sour supremacy and the wine actually, seemingly turns dry on the peppery, fizzy, tanky and spirited back side. Never backs down and the last conceit is one of tannin. So much more successful than the Moschato. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted July 2015
Mega Spileo Moschato 2014 Deus and Deus Rose
Domaine Mega Spileo Grand Cave 2009, PGI Achaia
A dry vinified blend of Mavrodaphne (60 per cent) and Mavro (black of) Kalavritino that slumbers for 18-24 months (depending on who is offering the dissertation) in “squeaky clean” French oak. A pioneering bottle leading the charging trend to make dry wines from Mavrodaphne. Here so very layered, rich, ferric and in that vein, so very IGT. The oak is judged with a direct gaze into the eyes and density is furthered by demanding Daphne tannin, while flesh and elasticity is the work of the Kalavritino. Like a missile of tannic Syrah with Tuscan like cure in its veins and clotted plasma hanging on its dangling hook. Formidable to be sure. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted July 2015
Domaine Mega Spileo Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Peloponnese, Greece
An internationally stylized red that invokes the highest thoughts of all in, all out hedonism, more so than just about any varietal Bordeaux outside of Napa, Sonoma or the original mother land.
Thirty-two “boom shaka-laka-laka boom shaka-laka-laka” months in new French and american oak will do that, shouting “I want to take you Achaia” and in retort you should plead don’t leave me Achaia dry.
Looking back, in making decisions to make a wine like this, the thought would be “it’s the best thing that you ever had, the best thing you ever, ever had.” Fruit showtime is now fruit showing its age while oak is determined to suspend structure in purgatory. “Ain’t no valley low enough” so this style must have been tempting to have a go at the time, but times are changing. Ain’t no mountain Achaia enough? Not these days. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted July 2015
“We are about to experience one of the best underdogs of Greece,” says Konstantinos Lazarakis M.W. by way of introduction. The world had to wait 18 months plus seven years years for this to appear. A Port-style fortified red, fashioned from the 27 best judged oak barrels and finished in October of 2000. The mix is Mavrodaphne (70 per cent) and Black Corinth (30), expertly amassed and positioned at a time when using the 49 percent maximum allowance of dried raisin was the norm. Ahead of its time in that regards but also because of its rangy acidity, incredible acidity actually, something that gives this dessert wine the essence and spirit of raisin radio. That and a beautiful oxidation and it succeeds in wooing palates, not to mention fulfilling the promise laid bare by Mr. Lazarakis. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Athanassios Parparoussis and Moschato Vines, Domaine Parparoussis
Founded in 1974 by oenologist Athanassios Parparoussis who works as winemaker while daughters Erifili and Dimitra support on the business and marketing side. The winery is located in Patras and the property includes 10 hectares at Movri Achaias. Grapes are farmed organically and Parparoussis is one of only two vintners ion the region making wines from the rare and indigenous Sideritis. Parparoussis farms organically in principal but is not certified, nor is Athanassios concerned with the designation. It’s a matter of being devoutly pragmatic. “The soil is alive, so why kill it.”
The 2014 “gift of Dionysus” is herbal, arid, directly unassuming and fixed with a very savoury, nearly resinous pastel palate. The wind blows rosemary and lavender and truthfully it’s like a naturally cured red feeling in a white package. All lemon citrus at the tail. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Just under 300 cases are made of this pale, lithe and prodigiously lithe blush wine, like the Dionysus, made from 100 per cent Sideritis. Skin maceration was performed overnight, “a one night stand,” while indigenous yeast was employed for a natural, dry vinification. The light and rust-directed antiquity of caste excess has caused an exaggerated herbal, namely oregano aroma. The overall feel is suppositious and may just be one of the greatRosé stories ever told. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Parparoussis Sideritis Gift of Dionysus 2014 and Agiorgitiko Reserve 2010
Parparoussis Les Dons de Dionysus 2010, PGI Achaia, Greece
Barrel Fermented blend of Assyrtiko (75 per cent) and Althorn (25). The first bottle is “not exactly as it should be,” oxidized and unpropitious, while the second pour much less so. In fact it tethers and teeters beautifully near that edge, on that razor the small creature walks, in a Dylan “what’s a sweetheart like you” way. So much more gumptive, anti-preemptive of depth, perception and possibility. Striking in its layering, stinging pierce of Assyrtiko with a suction of Althiri authority. Climbs upon itself and lingers in the air. “It’s done with a flick of the wrist.” Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Further afield south in the Peloponnese comes this 100 per cent Agiorgitiko. The first bottle has a lactic-cheesy flaw, as if acetate of a mercaptan. One man’s flaw is another man’s history so the question does beg, was this meant to be? A winemaker’s intention? Apparently not. The second bottle, while still blessed of of a definite funk but one that is cleaner, unturned, a washed rind. So very dry. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Parparoussis Rose Petite Fleur 2014 and Taos 2010
Parparoussis Taos 2010, PGI Achaia, Greece
A barrel fermented, dry vinified, 100 per cent Mavrodaphne. Naturally pitchy, high in acidity and purposed in tannin. A rare zero dilution at the hands of Black Corinthian Raisin and therefore not so high in alcohol, despite the richness of hue. Actually has a modern next tier level of complexity, complexion and aromatic intensity. Purple flowers and plum swirl in its circuitous, cycloid multiplicity. The savoury, resinous black bay laurel and chalky, cooked lentil, the grill and its smouldering charcoal are all in. Further resinous of bay oil on the back bitters and a very Tentura finish. Wild, sauvage, beautiful and built for the ling haul. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted July 2015
Paparoussis Mavrodaphne of Patras Reserve 2003, PDO Patras, Greece
Vin Doux Nature poured from a 500 mL bottle, at 19 per cent, this is intensely nutty, of crème caramel and Cassis together as one. A marriage of godly sanctified vin santo cordial, with quite the balance from a brilliant vintage. There is heat that never burns, and a piquancy that offers no needed warning, Mavrodaphne of an aged, expertly developed expression. Such bitters at the finish end with wow. Drink 2015-2023. Tasted July 2015
Paparoussis Muscat of Rio 2010, PDO Rio Patra
The sugar here is a strapping 160 g/L and the cost 15 euros for a 500 mL bottle. A vin de paille with so much more delicacy, structure and elegance and at only 13.5 per cent, a remarkable wine. Spice and relish is so smothered, coddled and pampered. The length is incredible. This is remarkable dessert wine with all tempos in balanace. Drink 2015-2030. Tasted July 2015
Eonologist is Angelos Rouvalis, a winemaker with an encyclopedic knowledge of every hill and slope in the mountains above Patras and where each variety grows best. Established in 1990 by Rouvalis, a Bordeaux-trained winemaker, recognized internationally as a pioneer in the renaissance that has taken place in the Greek wine industry in recent years. In 1994 Yannis Karabatsos, an agricultural engineer and expert in Greek viticulture joined the winery. “The Oenoforos winery consists of five levels on the slopes of Aigialeia in the village of Selinous. It combines monastic simplicity with state-of-the-art technology.”
The “white stone” could be considered the Pinot Grigio of Greece though the pink-skinned variety grown here between 800-1000m is such a bleed of high altitude calcaire. An amalgamated, aromatic accumulation is all about citrus without the airs of pierce and secondary sandarac meets kedros that reminds of clementine. At 11.5 per cent alcohol and low pH it might confuse for Trocken Riesling if not for its classic herbiage and austerity. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
So buttered and creamy, in condition of its two years in oak. Age has delivered corn to popcorn. It’s both unambiguous and atypically Peloponnese, if certainly symptomatic of Chardonnay in a diaspora that veers from its regional path. Like the oak of all clothed Chardonnays, expect the excepted and drink up. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
A current release, all in Cabernet Sauvignon 10 plus years down its road after two years in French oak. A bold and state-of-the art for its time cool-climate take, with a clear and ad hoc Sonoma-like intention, with attitude out of altitude despite ’04’s nothing but average growing season. Herbaceous and currant direct Cabernet with plenty of fruit that has remained true and in the bottle. Sweet scents, floral and red citrus and expressly, naturally Greek. Red fruit from red soil. Has a natural, slightly oxidative cure that has emerged out of that oak shell. Strikes as a wine that needed this extended held-back time to get to this place. The palate’s fruit is dried and saline now, with tannin insistent in persistence. Rich but not nearly so, a gently rolling and evolving Cabernet with life in it yet, though the raisin character suggests now is better than tomorrow. Not so much mythologically invented, as it is internationally purposed, so it’s more a matter of higher and lower. The wine’s universe is a flat disc with hills, touched at its rims by the vast dome of the heavens. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Syrah with Viognier and Roditis. A layer upon layer blush combing of dry extract over full extract. Another example of the region’s ability to achieve Rosé excellence and the practice should both be encouraged and expanded upon. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
The white blend representation for the house line of fresh and direct wines translates to “small northern wind,” and here the SB sticks out like an Achaian thumb, dominating the nose with grass and capsicum. It’s toasty and almost Pouilly-Fumé smokey mixed with a pinch of Fuissé. The identity quandary brings Galician Albariño to mind, seen in the spirited almost effervescent tinniness. Very lime palate and fast forwards to stage right, running all the way. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Rusty and cured, just not quite ripe red plum, from a 60-40 combo, with a healthy level of veneer. Has gumption, pierce and a citrus red bleed. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Oenoforos Asprolithi ‘White Stones’ 2014 and Syrah Ianos 2007
Oenoforos Syrah Ianos 2007, Peloponnese, Greece
Ferric, volatile, bretty but believe me when I say, all in a good way. The lingering meaty chew and porcine Mulligatwany is the expatriate Syrah equivalent of high gastronomy. A wild and wooly match to the Beef Stifado at To Katafygio. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
The winery was founded by the late visionary winemaker, Constantinos Antonopoulos near the city of Patras in the northwestern of Peloponnese. Constantinos saw the vast, untapped potential of this diverse landscape, especially the mountainous region of Achaia and the unique winemaking opportunities it presented. A new up to-date winery has been built recently at Vasiliko, Achaia, where the majority of the winery’s vineyards are. Indigenous Greek varieties are the focus. All three Antonopoulos wines tasted at the winery Achaia Clauss were clearly achieved through very serious work. Though clean beyond the pale, they all exhibit slightly to more than leesy and all finish with so much salinity and limestone inflection. The only thing missing is the crustaceous accent.
A rich, striking, citrus Moschofilero with a beautifully severe tannic tang and many layers, scraped from a stone’s bleed and a gaze into the rock’s mirror. A wine akin to a creation of a true alphabet, made complex like the dactylic hexameter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Antonopoulos Adholi This White 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
Essential and pedigreed blend of Lohorthi 65 per cent), Chardonnay (20) and Roditis (15) that expresses increased aromatics much like Viognier. Nearly profoundly tropical but so very dry, like Assyrtiko in its cracking open but with the feel of wild yeast and the feign of barrel. Chalk it up to 800-900m clay-limestone speak and no more than that, creasing to a crisp effervescence without bubble, yet it does tingle of the tongue. Like it’s working all the while, then on to citrus on the end, in lemon and lime torque as if by Riesling. The Moschofilero might be Mycenaean Linear B and this the other, later Greek alphabet. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Antonopoulos Malagousia 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
From sand and clay vineyards in the region of Aghios-Athanasios at a height of 600-900m. Picked late near the end of September to early october and cocrete and thought the ferment is a stainless one, this Malgousia exhibits a natural yeasty funk commingling with moving texture and savour that incorporates grasses. The sting of nettle wins over the softness and spumes a hay fever of grass. A warming, adult of a wine, with some power to age. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted July 2015
Sosanna Katsikosta is Oenologist and General Manager while Katerina heads up business and marketing operations. The sisters are carrying on a winemaking tradition passed on to them from their late father. Konstantinos Katsikostas carried the torch from his father Luke who founded the winery in 1946 in the area of Palaiokamares of Aegio. Annual production of 2,000 cases. Katsikosta is desperately, passionately practicing, experimenting, trying to stir up vinous ghosts and find their way back to ancestry, to ways of elders, to bring to light what used to be and to establish an identity for the world to see.
Acheon Roditis 2014, PDO Patras, Greece
A quintessential “Fox” Roditis, from low yields (40 hL/L), 900 m above sea level, in organic balance at 12 per cent alcohol. A distinct stone tang, push, pierce and a slight tingle or fizz on the tip of the tongue. Highly concentrated out of an elevated dry extract, with mineral and lemon. One of the more expressive push-pull of fruit and mineral. For everyday consumption with a bit of honey in its two to three year future. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Acheon Sideritis 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
The nearly extant one, a rare variety, being revived, planted at low altitudes, with yields 70-75 hL/L. Aromatic and misunderstood, with a Savagnin character, a funky, musky skin, like leather but not as deep, yet something oddly tropical, like jackfruit, or gummy bear, dusty ginger, and resin, like thyme. Another variety being worked with to see what it can be and to link back to what once was. Really good acidity. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Acheon Sideritis 2014 and Rose Fairytale 2014
Acheon Moschato 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
A banana and metal White Muscat, with plenty of herbal qualities, terrific saline and stony acidity dominating the palate. A medicinal grapefruit chew, not of pith, but of skin. Arid as a grove in wind and finishing with good length. Very interesting. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Acheon Laura Nera 2012, PGI Eigialia Slopes
Mavrodaphe and nothing but, vinified dry, subjected to no aging. The smell of bay laurel (thus the varietal name) and fashioned for freshness. Still in command of a musty emmision this one, a strange cure, like some cool-climate, winter hardy hybrids, like Maréchal Foch and Frontenac. Perhaps a touch warmer, like opening the doors to Pinotage without the toast and the oak to fill and sweeten the green, reductive gaps. Has the roadhouse blues so “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.” Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Acheon Rosé Fairytale, Peloponnese, Greece
A semi-sweet Rosé composed from 90 per cent Muscat co-fermented with 10 per cent Mavrodaphne. Dessert of blush hue and sappy, leesy, medicinal bitters. Very orange rind and chlorite, somewhat port-esque but so much more a tisane of pekoe and cough elixir. Totally off the charts different. Really like nothing tasted before. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Wines of Parparoussis, Loukatos and Kontrotsos, Parparoussis Winery, Patras
An unctuous, ambrosial Moschofilero, highly aromatic, of citrus and orange grove. A 12.5 appealing alcohol per cent and surround sound of acidity, good length and a bitter ending that follows a twinge of steely crick. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Kotrotsos Muscat NV, PDO Muscat of Rio Patras
Also based on the 2013 vintage and c charging in at 15 per cent alcohol, here there is more rust, funk and metal, certainly not as fruit forward as expected. Sweetness is elongated, stretched and elastic, then snaps back to linear and upright. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted July 2015
KotrotsosMavrodaphne NV, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece The standard 15 per cent alcohol and in this plugged in, short fuse sweet wine is highly intense and lit caper green, dried fruit and a serious pasticcio of botanicals, distilled into a major excitative and concentrated sweetness. The second bottle tasted has so much more life and character. Much more sweet floral attractiveness and the sweetness is less pronounced as a result. Goes from spice and piquancy to sweetness with the right transitory methodology, culminating in a great LBV Port finish. Nutty and spicy. Tremendous fruit forward expression. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted July 2015
Combinbes barrel and resin for a full on savoury effect and so much noticeable, piercing grape tannin. Fierce, uncompromising, non-integrating invaluable invalid of tannin. So very cool climate savoury Chardonnay. Striking actually and a very acquired taste. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Kotrotsos Agiorgitiko Erasmios 2012, Nemea, Greece An intoxicating perfume, of violets and charcuterie, floral and cure, vegetative and saline. Lactic, talcy, opaque and dusty, like Cabernet Franc from the coolest locale. Finishes saline again, chewy even. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Karelas Winery was founded in 1936 by Georgios Karelas. Using the native ‘Mavrodaphne’ grape, the company is renowned for it’s sweet, dessert style Mavrodaphne wine.
Karelas Pelagos 2013, PGI Achaia, Greece
Merlot and Mavrodaphne share the cure and the veneer of a strange bedfellow blend, the old and the new, the rust and the dust, the red and the black, the visitor and the been there done that. Tough acidity and tannin over red citrus fruit. Not shy. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted July 2015
Karelas Achais 2013, PGI Achaia, Greece
Cabernet Sauvignon and Mavrodaphne smothered in more obvious oak, though less tension and demand. A softer wine in using Cabernet over Merlot, ripened easier, better, with a second gear and then into acidity mode. Again the cool climate veneer with a warm, savoury, minty middle. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted July 2015
Mega Spileo Mavrodaphne and Karelas Mavrodaphe Reserve 2009
Karelas Mavrodaphne Reserve 2009, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece
The only Mavrodaphne aged in highly seasoned toasted new French barrels. The standard weight bearing 15 per cent alcohol and a similar feeling as with previous kicks at the sweet Mavrodaphne can, but more red fruit and brighter raisins in the sun. The spice and liqueur here seem less spirited and combine for a more mature, seasoned, reasoned, direct and ultimately cleaner expression. Captain Jack (or George) will get you Achaia tonight “and take you to your special island.” Drink 2015-2022. Tasted July 2015
Perhaps most famous for their local production of spirits, namely Tentura and Mastic, Loukatos does a bang up job with dessert wines, especially in their handling of Muscat from Patras.
Loukatos Mavrodaphne NV, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece
Vin de liqueur clocking in at 15 per cent alcohol. The dried roses and red flowers in liqueur link it to the likes of a Late Bottle Vintage Port. Wakes with a start, in sting and presence. Really lingers, tasting of blanched nuts and Halls mentholyptus. This batch was blended with 47 percent corinithian grape. The finish is so Manischevitz. Drink 2015-2023. Tasted July 2015
Loukatos Muscat of Patras and Mavrodaphne of Patras
Loukatos Muscat NV, PDO Muscat of Patras (WineAlign)
A 15 per cent abv Vin de Liqueur largely based on the 2013 vintage. Very clementine and apricot nosed, impeccably balanced from viscous to intensity in grape, with nothing musty or musky about it, though there is a musk melon sense, a botrytis that is very clean. Another excellent, natural sweet Patras example of what Muscat can do, again at super low cost, with high flavour and here, more fruit forward than the Kotrotos. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted July 2015
Hahalis (Chahalis) Mavrodaphne 2011, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece
Spent one year in barrel, the Tentura Castro “The Castle” is raisined and resinous with so much heavy artillery and coats of armour. The macro intent so black and porous, oxidative but alive, heavy and warm in alcohol but spirited and shooting cupid’s arrows. Sweet and Amarone trophy in a sense, with licorice and spice unlike anything else. Idiosyncratic to the nth degree. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted July 2015
Achaia Clauss Mavrodaphne NV, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece
From a lot penned Bin 601 at the standard 15 per cent alcohol and acting like it came from a 100 year-old barrel, of sitting bull wisdom and Bavarian history. Much like port, like brandy spirits and liquorice melting into cinnamon and clove. Not so idiosyncratic but resinous, sappy and piquant. Once you come to know these wines they speak this very direct language. Drink 2015-2025. Tasted July 2015
Patraiki Mavrodpahe NV, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece
A direct, rich, full-bodied leathery red of fruit the same that soaks in simple, sweet liqueur. The most accessible, commercial macro-intention of the black laurel lot. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Crisis? No one’s gonna bring Greece down, nor me neither, ’till I again reach Achaia ground.
From left to right: Thirty Bench Riesling 2013, Stratus Vineyards Wildass Red 2012, Rockway Estate Small Lot Meritage 2012, Huff Estate Gamay 2012, 13th Street Gamay Noir 2013, Westcott Vineyards Estate Chardonnay 2013 and Norman Hardie County Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2013
Currently off in South Africa on the Stellenbosch Wine Route with CapeWine2015 on the immediate horizon but I left some local reviews behind in anticipation of the VINTAGES September 19th release. A few are out for another go ’round and do hear this. Their timely and welcome recurrence is not something to take lightly. If you missed them the first time, get them now. It’s another one of those essential times of the year when we all fall into the cask of go local, #LCBOTasteLocal and reap the benefits of Wine Country Ontario. See you in a few weeks back in the old country for the first October release.
The classification for Thirty Bench here as a ‘basic’ Riesling is such a stretch in consideration that the fruit is meant for this bottle and that fruit is of the highest Beamsville distinction. What a treat in 2013, ready to please with immediacy, great balance between sugar, acids and mineral-lactic travels to and fro, back and forth. Torque at its finest and most pure in Ontario. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted September 2015 @ThirtyBench
Kew Riesling, Young Family Organic Vineyard 2013, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (426460, $18.95, WineAlign)
The idea that Beamsville Riesling can attack such hallowed territory is one of exigency and wonder. Kew does so with organic, Germanic and elemental attitude to the apogee of Escarpment degree. Everything in the Phillip Dowell mastery mix exists in the rare air of Beamsville essentia. When it hits optimum minutia and does temporarily descend to the ground, the ’13 Riesling sticks in beeswax and lanolin, not to mention lemons dipped into more rosin. Quite singular, even within the context of a Beamsville style. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted repeated times, July, August and September 2015 @kewvineyards
Stratus Vineyards Wildass Red 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (86363, $19.95, WineAlign)
It would be hard to figure any sub-$20 red Ontario blend showing a deeper sense of ripeness, wood intent, sinew, cure, triturate resin and dry barbecue rub – than this Stratus ’12. It’s a bit of a head scratching, game-changing meritage, altering the course for $20 red blends forever. At the risk of forming comparisons, it puts me in mind of other places, like Roussillon, Campania and Navarra. It has coal running through its arteries and tonic spewing out of its fountains. Wild my ass? Yes. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted September 2015 @StratusWines
Rockway Estate Small Lot Meritage 2012, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (388264, $19.95, WineAlign)
Twenty Mile red charcuterie and ripe blackberries baked into a Peninsula pie. Highly consumable red blend, with natural feeling acidity and grainy, slightly bitter tannins. Will settle nicely in two years and drink for three more. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted September 2015 @RockwayVineyard
Four months has upped the funk in for ’13, with tar and bitters still and thick as summer air. Rich and ripe, notable for its black cherry aroma and that J.P. Colas natural truncation. Unique, as always and very Gamay. Drink 2015-2019.
From my earlier note of December 2014:
Fruit was sourced from both the Sandstone and Whitty Vineyards for 13th Street’s Gamay Noir, a focused and gritty adjunct in ode to the Cru Beaujolais approach. This ’13 raises the aromatic and texture bar and just may be the most striking from a 13th Street estate mix. All the important berries are there, as are the mineral quandaries. In a Gamay moment this will lead you to gulp and giggle with #GoGamayGo delight.
If $25 seems a premium to pay for Ontario Gamay, consider all that is on offer in winemaker Frédéric Picard’s take on the friendly French grape. Picard caddies for 13th Street (Niagara) fruit, vinifies it bone-dry with the minimalist edge of 14 months in 15 per cent new French oak. The fruit is so very ripe, in raspberry and gritless, creamy blueberry. Like savoury adult ice cream, silky smooth and with nary a hint of chalky grain. Well-designed and consumer-friendly as any Gamay has ever graced the Ontario consciousness. So you’ve “got that going for you, which is nice.” Shack up with Huff’s Gamay treat. Tasted at County in the City, April 2014 and again, September 2015 @HuffEstatesWine@PECWines
The barrel fermented and aged Estate Chardonnay spent 12 months in two-thirds new and one-third second fill wood. Lees stirring is slightly increased as compared to the unplugged. Again, it’s about aromatic intensity leading the way to palate density. By the sounds of Westcott’s comments “we’re pleased with its remarkable irony — dry and sturdy, yet creamy and rather curvy,” you might think the team was stirring with impunity. Not so. The Estate Chard does the dance of mild spice and butter on toast to reach a texture that would appease savages. Unavoidable and typical low yields from the Vinemount Ridge picked at the right moment and handled with caring tabula rasa are the spirit in this wine. Delightful and charming. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted June, July and September 2015 @WestcottWines
Norman Hardie County Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2013, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (125310, $39.00, WineAlign)
Procuring depth in County Pinot Noir is a tough task within the constraints of resisting a temptation to reach for sugars, alcohol and dark berry fruit. Norm Hardie’s 2013 unfiltered (at 10.9 per cent) and lambent exegesis succeeds because it offers the best of all available worlds. Roots for vines that burrow to limestone develop a structure that while may have at one time been inconsistent, have crossed the threshold in ’13 to establish a guarantee. A Hardie PEC Pinot Noir can be bright and accessible. It can also be tough, tart and tannic, as it is here, again, but not without its foil. The work is now innate, the transitions seamless, the crossroads left in the dust. This wine will please two camps; those who can afford and demand immediate gratification and those who are willing to wait for secondary (two to three years) and tertiary (four to seven) character development. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted April and September 2015 @normhardie
What is the only way to tell the difference between a wine geek and a wine snob? A geek will not drink just anything but will taste everything. In the name of science, of course.
Silly high society rules, like not drinking whites after Labour Day are the wine equivalent of late 19th century fashion precepts and as ridiculous as they may seem, you just can’t make this shit up. Just ask Google.
The first VINTAGES release of the new year (on the Hebrew calendar) or depending on your angle, the last of the summer (preceding Labour Day), is rich with excellent whites. There are 15 choices from September 5th that I highly recommend. Get them while they and it, are hot.
From left to right: Old Vines In Young Hands White 201, Dr. L Dry Riesling 2014, Domaine La Haute Févrie Sur Lie Muscadet Sèvre & Maine 2014, Thelema Sutherland Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Cave Spring Estate Bottled Chardonnay Musqué 2013, Flat Rock Riesling 2014, Boutari Santorini Assyrtiko 2014 and Bailly Lapierre Saint Bris Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Old Vines In Young Hands White 2013, Doc Douro, Portugal (424374, $12.95, WineAlign)
Young winemakers, a country’s support, a new vernacular, simplicity and imaging in ode to old ways. The packaging and the intent is spot on. The wine follows suit. Arid, saline, savoury and elemental, like QBA Riesling or Peloponnese Kidonitsa. I’m digging and buying the style, both in clean winemaking and in appeal to a whole new world. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted August 2015 @MichaelAndBrand@winesportugalCA
Dr. L Dry Riesling 2014, Qualitätswein, Mosel, Germany (409680, $13.95, WineAlign)
Another sock it to me Dr. L, straight up, spot on, exactly what it purports to be. General index of Riesling expression. Read it, use it as a reference, calibrate your palate to where you want to go. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted August 2015 @drloosenwines@Select_Wines@GermanWineCa
Domaine La Haute Févrie Sur Lie Muscadet Sèvre & Maine 2014, Ac Loire, France (390625, $13.95, WineAlign)
Perfectly, typically, ostensibly and decidedly Melon for what it’s worth. The sea, its salt, a briny shell and crisp acidity for what ails. Simple, slightly spritzy, a touch balmy and ultimately refined, when cooled, with a mess of sea creatures. Odelay, “of elevator bones and your whip-flash tones.” Where it’s at. At your beck and call Muscadet. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted August 2015 @LoireValleyWine@oenophilia1
Thelema Sutherland Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Wo Elgin, South Africa (203877, $14.95, WineAlign)
Striking Sauvignon Blanc, minted by a flinty beginning, with perhaps the highest discernible level of sweet gooseberry on the nose that has ever been measured by the olfactometer. Hard to imagine such an inexpensive Elgin white to be so dramatically forthright in smile and open arms. Grapefruit of the pinkest, ripest most juicy crunch burst into flame flavours well-defined, not overbearing, properly bitter and in reprise, like a bite into juicy citrus with just perfectly ripe acidity. A new benchmark for value Sauvignon Blanc in South Africa. Raises the bar folks. Look to Elgin. Ask the producers to plant more. Impossibly long SB finish. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted August 2015 @ThelemaWines@WOSACanada@WOSA_ZA@EpicW_S
As good as 2013 is a vintage for Niagara Chardonnay, relatively speaking it may be an even bigger quality boon for the aromatic Musqué. The level of depth, breadth and weight in this Cave Spring is new and improved. The florals are heightened, as if bottled in eau de. The parfum is an intoxicant and the flavours compressed, like roll up, like a Musqué napolean, of peach, plum and pear. Who knew? A fall necessity. Better than before. Drink 2015-2017. @CaveSpring@TheVine_RobGroh
From my earlier note of May 2o15:
Produced from the 77 clone, the vintage has heightened the high herbal and feigned sweetness aromatic pastis. The palate is extraordinarily viscous, with Yellow Muscat and Gewürztraminer attributes, not so out of the ordinary considering Cave Spring’s older world execution. Drives from lemon to mandarin, through almond pit and into peach. Always solid Musqué.
Talk about bottled up compression. Twist the screwcap and thwop! The cap nearly popped like a Champagne cork. This baby has energy and drive. The vintage is compressed and pile-driven as nosed by the density opposed by reticulated 9.5 per cent alcohol. This has Mosel tattooed on its being, from neck to bottom. A dead ringer for fine Kabinett, the tropical fruit in apricot and dragon reaching back to join Ontario, in apple and pear. A good flinty stone and raging acidity combine forces to exaggerate a Riesling reticulum in what is not the missive’s greatest ever vintage. Will live five to seven easy and just go for soda. Go ahead and quaff the hell out of this one, from 2015-2020, from bottles one through twelve. Tasted March 2015 @Winemakersboots@UnfilteredEd@brightlighter1
A weighty Assyrtiko of breadth and gumption. The varietal salinity found virtually nowhere else is omnipresent and yet different of fruit in the hands of Boutari. Opulence beyond the Santorini norm and yet held back as if to say, “not yet, not yet.” There is a cool, wet patina as if by ruins slowly grown over at the bottom of the sea. A white swath of scraped rock paints the middle palate and is not removable. Can’t go wrong with a chilled bottle and a gaggle of calamari on the grill. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted August 2015 @boutari@KolonakiGroup@Santoriniwines
Bailly Lapierre Saint Bris Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Burgundy, France (424655, $19.95, WineAlign)
Flint meets reduction in a Saint Bris plugged in both ways, AC/DC. Sauvignon Blanc of dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Quite savoury, spicy and cool up the nose like mint and eucalyptus ointment. Serious and strong, like Aligoté but with more verve and natural musculature. No shrinker here and very long, juicy and crazy for acidity. Such expression is rare for the hallowed if needfully paid further attention appellation. Show up anytime at my place with a bottle of Saint Bris, “We’ll have ourselves a ball.” Drink 2015-2018. Tasted August 2015 @BourgogneWines@VinexxCanada
From left to right: Henry Of Pelham Estate Chardonnay 2013, Studert Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese Riesling 2009, Redstone Limestone Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Pierre Sparr Mambourg Pinot Gris 2011, Hidden Bench Chardonnay 2013, Domaine Laroche Les Vaudevey Chablis 1er Cru 2012 and Dom Pérignon Brut Vintage Champagne 2005
Henry Of Pelham Estate Chardonnay 2013, VQA Short Hills Bench, Ontario (268342, $19.95, WineAlign)
Sunlight is the key to this ripe Chardonnay, snatched from vines that grow on the most easterly of the Niagara Escarpment’s sub-appellation. Here Henry of Pelham calmly puts its hegemony over Short Hills Bench Chardonnay on display. The fruit layering is very impressive, compressed even, with just a spiced spirit injection from the barrel. The Estate Chardonnay is in a mid-range class of its own, this gatherer of heat days, hoarder in spring water retention, cleanser in sand and gravel drainage. The vintage just seems perfect for this niche bottling, balanced, primed to finespun texture, stretched for length and good to age at least five years. Last tasted March 2015 @HenryofPelham@SpeckBros
Blue slate in deep soil and steep, southwest-facing slopes elucidate the Graacher Himmelreich enterprise, quite possibly the most personal vineyard in the Mosel. Autonomy, astronomy, autocratic assuage and elemental tyranny are not for the Riesling faint of benevolence. The Studert Prüm Spätlese from the GH vineyard in 2009 is so very stubborn, stark and austere like matches struck on rocks, rocketing flares as if in a sci-fi action scene. It is possessive of a full, sweet and medicinal palate and enough energy if not the most balancing of acidities ever paired with the flint and the petrol. Good bitters and exceptional length will lead to many years of marbling evolution. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted August 2015 @StudertPruem@VinexxWine@GermanWineCa
If a Niagara Sauvignon Blanc could be endeared with the term ‘calcaire,’ Rene Van Ede’s Limestone Vineyard would lead the shortlist, not only because of the eponymous vineyard but because it oozes of the rock’s chalky chafe. Plenty of orchard fruit belies the lime, in an unoaked Chardonnay way and the wine makes full use of limestone’s hematic shed. This is one of the most stylish Sauvignon Blancs made in Canada, even if the average consumer were not able to recognize it as such. A winemaker from Sancerre would know it immediately and intuitively. Here a crushed reef of limestone memory permeates the wine from beginning to end. One of the more outstanding Sauvignon Blancs made in Ontario to date. Tasted January 2015 @RedstoneWines
Pierre Sparr Mambourg Pinot Gris 2011, Ac Alsace Grand Cru, France (686451, $24.95, WineAlign)
Arid and direct, quite an ascending Pinot Gris, with almost unfindable residual and yet not the most distinct Grand Cru you are ever going to ponder. Has more weight and sweetness on the palate which tends to lychee, pineapple, apricot and lemon pith. Proper old school Mambourg. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted August 2015 @AlsaceWines@VinsAlsace@ProfileWineGrp
A best of both worlds Chardonnay; indicative of the giving vintage (in quality, not quantity, prestige, not prosper) and an Estate, house style with some cosmetics to enhance the consequence. Really typifies and explains what a Marlize Beyers Chardonnay is. Elegant, stylish, with perfect skin, tones, understated beauty and the soft vernacular of few yet precise words. The texture and feel of this Chardonnay is downy, lacey and so very understated. You simply can’t take your eyes off its charms and your palate away from its soft feel. A wine of character and poise. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted August 2015 @HiddenBench@BenchVigneron@LeSommelierWine
Domaine Laroche Les Vaudevey Chablis 1er Cru 2012, Ac Burgundy, France (416057, $38.95, WineAlign)
Prudently flinty Vau de Vey, full of rocks, stones, cragges, broken pieces and slices of pure limestone. Such struck sensation could go too far but here it rises and lingers, tickles, fancies and plays, never bothering or acting with distraction. Quite remarkable and gentle of handling. Softer on the palate but still the limestone beats, with bitters. Just not enough circulating acidity in the end. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted August 2015 @DomaineLaroche@BIVBChablis@Select_Wines
Dom Pérignon Brut Vintage Champagne 2005, With Gift Box, Ac Champagne, France (280461, $219.95, WineAlign)
Surprisingly waxing en route to the oxidative side yet suspended in crystal animation. Apperceive the level of concentration, finesse and poise, a trinity of DPVBC not to be tested. These are serious, brooding, executively organized and effected bubbles. They are the real deal and they are not for everyman, either by price or for pleasure. They do not effect change or progress but they do speak of what has been, has worked and will not soon see any arresting waver. Another what it is moment in iconic Champagne. Drink 2015-2025. Tasted August 2015 @MoetUSA@ChartonHobbs@Champagne@ChampagneBureau
Man I wish I was there right now. Have you recently pondered or are you considering a visit to Greece? Have the sensational media reports of the last month cast a shadow of doubt on your travel plans? Are you worried about economic crises, ATM line-ups, looting and civil unrest? Don’t be. Do not fall victim as prey to dictum on what you or those who are telling you really do not know. You should go. Greece is just fine thank you very much. She welcomes visitors with open arms. This is what she wants and what she needs.
I am no John Maynard Keynes, have never rooted with Milton Friedman and can’t confidently say that my economic stars align with Paul Krugman, but on my recent trip to Athens and Achaia I saw nary a sign of unparalleled and utter economic disaster, of panic, anarchy or civil disobedience. I had many a conversation about government, taxes and the Euro. I learned that no is the new yes, “but whatever…” and that Greek wine aligns with the functions of the European union.
I am inclined to say, with indubitable and unequivocal doubt that Greece is the safest, most affordable and stupidly beautiful place on the planet. There is adventure, breathtaking vistas and scarcely, if commensurately discovered antiquity at every turn. And there is wine. Exceptional wine. Singular wine. Mythological wine. I can tell you five things I learned about the 21st century state of things Greece.
Athens is a busy, hot, labyrinthian metropolis that somehow feels like an ancient village. It may just be the most unassailable and secure Gotham I have ever encountered. It did not leave me tired, on the contrary, it fuelled invigoration.
Encounters with beautiful, nurtured and erudite folks along the course of a given day affords an equipotentiality to reaffirm faith in humans. Doors are always open.
Bad governance may lead to civil jeremiad and global media strategies built upon the inevitable crumbling foundations of sensationalism and hyperbole, but Greece’s main concern is just that. Bad governance. Business carries on as usual, albeit with a noticeable reduction in smoking and petrol usage, but restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and shopping are not on hold. Centuries have seen such woe and yet Greece persists, remains and progresses. “Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear.” America may have long ago entered its Last Great American Whale period but Greece? Not even close. “They say things are done for the majority” and in the case of Greece, that just may be true. In a time of crisis, there are many business opportunists. Hard times? Grow better grapes. Can’t sell them at home? Export more than before and make better money.
The combination of mountains, ocean, beaches and the symbiotic proximity of the appositeness is nothing short of mind-altering, awe-inspiring and soul-asservating.
Forget the idea that Greek wine offers up some of the best values, anywhere. Consider that sort of posturing a given and or inconsequential in consideration of the adage that good wine is good wine, period, regardless of price. The wine producing regions of Santorini (Aegean), Thessaloniki/Naoussa (Macedonia) and Nemea (Peloponnese) have made wide inroads on the global scene. Yet how many of you have ever heard of Achaia and Patras in the northern Peloponnese? It is on the verge of breaking out. Obscurity no longer. Uncertainty be gone.
At the pass
Greece has been mired in waiting, or depending on your level of positivity and how to spin, poised to break out. The Greek wine industry is securely fastened in a place somewhere between the relic glow of early period brilliance and the cusp of legacy defining, career opus penning compositions. It is a work in process and the best is yet to come. The wines of Achaia are entirely indicative of this intellection. Antiquity is an amazing tourist attraction and in Achaia, as in the entirety of Greece, you can’t blink without stumbling upon a metaphorical doric this or an allegorical ionic that. Cradles of civilization just have a certain den xéro̱ ti and Greece is the world super-power. The question begs. How does this apply to wine?
Like so many wine producing nations not called France, Germany or Italy, Greece is poised for modern greatness but it has one distinct advantage. It lays ownership to some absolute conditions that easily separate it from emerging and developing, New World regions, but also from European peers. The first is obvious and that of course is a centuries old tradition of making wine. The second may come as a surprise, especially as it relates to wine. Mythology covets a paradigmatic relationship with Greek culture, however intangible it can be quantified. A visit to Achaia offers tantamount proof of such a notion. This from New Wines of Greece: “The fascinating archaeological sites with the notable museums and the grape-growing and wine-making history directly tied to the myth of Hercules are just some of the attributes that will appeal to those who indulge in wine tourism in the Peloponnese.”
Then there is the confluence from the slopes of Egialia, said to form the centre of the triangle of Ancient Delfi, Olympia and Epidavros. It was not long ago that I connected the divine and the allegorical with Greek wine. I quote myself. “Me, I’ll concentrate on the divine mythology of Greek wine, of its place in the fractal world, how it can beautify and simplify, through recursion in dynamic systems, the bleak chaos of wine landscapes. Like the Morai, Greek wines are thread with motherly nurturing. For mere mortals, they direct fate from the birth of their drinking days to death. They are a highly independent bunch, unobstructed and driven by necessity.” It would be obtuse to ignore the hyper-reality of all these extraordinary things, to discount the divined revelation through profound symbols of religious myth. To see the analogy and pertinency with the mathematics of wine; pH, sugar, acidity and alcohol. Not exactly Pythagorean, certainly not Orphic, but mysterious somehow.
The Achaia advantage: From PGI to PDO and endemic varietals
The Peloponnese is located in the southernmost section of continental (western) Greece, its western and northern borders lining the Ionian Sea and the Corinthian Gulf. Homer called it Ampeloessa, meaning “full of vines.” The Achaian advantage is more than just a matter of slope and soil. The Nazi attrocities committed at Kalavryta will always be remembered as the darkest of Peloponnese days but neither war nor Phylloxera has truly interrupted centuries of growth and tradition.
Achaia is one of Greece’s largest wine regions and its 31 wineries accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the national wine output. The mesoclimate of Achaia is determined by a combination of mountain and sea. Erymanthos, Panachaikos and Chelmos range for vines at up to 850m though in Egialia grapes grow as high as 1050m. There are slopes here with a northern aspect, a factor which is not lost on the winemaker in search of cool-climate viticulture. The mountain man of Eigalia Angelos Rouvalis points to the hills and talks of “a rare terroir, where facing north can achieve a significant drop in temperatures, creating specific vine balances, which is difficult to achieve in other places.” It is also here that the waters of the gulfs (Patras and Corinth) cool and temper the climate. Stronger winds ward off the warmer streams blowing up from Africa, creating a much cooler viticultural area than Patras.
The northern Peloponnese vineyards are divided into four distinct viticultural locales. In the east, in the areas of Egialia (Aegialia) and Kalavryta, the PGI Egialia wines are produced. Egialia’s temperate climate and northerly orientation on (250 to 850m) slopes are protected by the cool summer sea breezes of the Gulf of Korinthos (Corinth). Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He referred to the villages of Egialia as ideal for cultivating vines. Egialia soils vary from white calcareous to fertile sandy loam with good drainage.
It is in Egialia that the endemic white (blush) and highly aromatic variety Roditis ripens ever so gently. The varietal take in the lower (450 to 500m), yet similar climate for the vineyards of Patras makes for wines of fuller body. Lower Patras slopes are positioned for another indigenous grape, the red varietal Mavrodaphne. Traditionally purposed for desert wine, modern usage of the “black” Daphne is happening for dry table wine, as is the black of Kalavryta (Mavro Kalavryta), from grapes grown on slopes close to the tourist town of Kalavryta. The coastal flatlands between Patras and Rio to the east are dominated by the white Muscat. The varietal watch is on for Mavro Kalavryta, a grape that performs like Gamay or perhaps Cabernet Franc. In the hands of a winemaker like Panayiotis Papagiannopoulos it will be a wine to help mark the act of Achaia’s second renaissance. Konstantinos Lazarakis M.W. sees it as “the best Gamay that is not Gamay.” This is a man who knows his audience. 😉 This is a grape that will define fresh and further down the Peloponnese road for red wines and begin to separate from itself from other red attempts. It’s future will see the establishment of plots into crus, to make simple fruity reds to drink and also more serious wines, to experiment and to use some older barrels and to envision the future when it has been given some age.
Konstantinos Lazarakis M.W. and Sofia Perpera, New Wines of Greece at the Sailing Club Restaurant, Patras
The four officially recognized PDO‘s are Muscat of Patras, Muscat of Rio Patras, Mavrodaphne of Patras and Patras. The first three are produced in the central and western section of Achaia. The local Muscat is known to the world as Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and in Achaia as Moschidi. Under the regulations of both Muscat PDOs the wines may be vin naturellement doux, vin doux or vin doux naturel. PDO Patras is made from 100 per cent Roditis, though there are several clones of this variety. Specific clones are generally chosen based on altitude, as each variant has been proven to work on particular slopes. The top wines are produced from a red Roditis, also known as Alepou. The PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras (Fortified, Vin De Liqueur) can be fashioned with up to 49 per cent dried and rehydrated Corinthian Raisin (Black Currant) in the mix.
Black Corinth Grapes
Despite the fact that the predominant amount (almost 99 per cent) of Black Corinth ends up in a pouch full of currants, its agricultural significance continues to play a role in the sweet red Mavrodaphne of Patras. Top quality vineyards have historically been cultivated with the Black Corinth because they fetch as much as 300 per cent more money than wine grapes. The bizarre terroir-varietal-trade flow chart is changing for the better but the raisins remain a long way from extinction. Slopes that face the sun perpetuate the propagation. Then there is the unusual scenario of the earthquake factor. “In Patras we are either raisining or shaking,” quips Lazarakis.
Kalavryta Mountain Tea
Other white varieties grown in the region include the extremely rare Sideritis (only two producers for the variety that shares a name in common with a flowering plant known as Greek Mountain Tea), Malagousia, Lagorthi, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Other red grapes cultivated include Agiorgitiko, Xinomavro, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The wines of Achaia are built upon an alcohol premise that keeps them stable, in balance and immune from oxidation. Their attitude fights the life work of Louis Pasteur and Jean-Antoine Claude Chaptal. If the wines lost some footing due to the trending towards bacteria and sugar mien, now, with the world peeling back from manipulated wines, the Achaian style is poised to grab their market share.
Accidental tourists at the Archaeological Museum of Patras
8ο kil. Pounta-Kalavrita, Ano Diakopto, 25003, Greece, 2691097500 The most modern facility in all of Achaia, re-built after a fire destroyed the property more than 10 years ago. Owned and operated by the brothers Aristos and Stathis Spanos.
Panayiotis Papagiannopoulos, Tetramythos Winery
Oenologist since 1999 is Panayiotis Papagiannopoulos, a winemaker who may just have been separated from twin Frank Zappa at birth. Located at Ano Diakopto of Egialia, on the slopes of Mount Chelmos, the 14 hectares of vineyards (450-1,000m) are farmed organically (and have been since 1997). Bush vines make up 80 per cent and endemic varieties (85 per cent) cultivated (plus some expatriates) are Roditis, Malagousia, Sauvignon Blanc, Mavro Kalavryta, Agiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The total production is 13,000 cases with export to foreign markets (80 per cent) that exceeds peers by a wide margin.
Pulled from four vineyards at 650-850m of altitude and from vines 19-42 years old. No skin contact though it shows a light, slight tinge of colour. Nearly platinum in its yellow hue, perhaps attributed to organics says Papagiannopoulos, Eighty per cent was achieved through natural ferment (with zero malolactic) plus “one tank for security.” Roditis can go clean or develop anti-austerity, texture, viscosity in the direction of a dirty projector. The Tetramythos glides “forward through the clover and the bergamot.” I can see what she’s seeing. Tasting like a leesy ripe peach, this is the best “basic” Roditis tasted in Achaia. Serious match of Aleria Restaurant‘s Sea Bass Tartare. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Tetramythos Roditis 2008, PDO Patras, Greece
A wine to fulfill the promise of my own personal vindication. I had asked Angelos Rouvalis about laying Roditis down for three to five years or more, to see where it may go and he said, “why?” Here is why. Has fan vaulted to the skies, urged by petrol and a symphony of mythology. Akin and within aromatic mineral reach of Sémillon or Riesling, with just a basal drip of ambrosial, gaseous honey. The green notes (of pea and nettle) are exaggerated but that is attributed to 2008 fruit that may have never been fully ripe. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Tetramythos Roditis 2014 and Muscat Sec Blanc Nature 2014
Tetramythos Muscat Sec Blanc Nature 2014, PGI Peloponnese, Greece
Nothing short of lucent, this friable, direct and crunchy raw Muscat. Effusive of individual vowels and consonants, typically Achaian, extrapolated to Greek in its lambent and inventive simplicity. More glade than wax, it coats with orange and the spirit of lime. So different and yet so familiar, inevitably dry and straight as an arrow. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
A terrific example for a grape saved from extinction, Tetramythos owns 1.9 of a total four hectares of MK. Kudos for the effort especially considering the variety is thin skinned, slow to mature and difficult to cultivate. Saw nearly 20 days of skin contact because “the variety dictates the practice,” notes Konstantinos Lazarakis M.W. The fruit and bitters express a push-pull of terroir. One of two wineries making dry wines from the endemic variety, here the fresh red grape, the food friendly marker. Here confidently struts modern Achaian winemaking, from the ashes of naturalism and antiquity, the way Gamay or Loire Cabernet Franc are wont to do. Vibrant, with verve and a necessary natural funk. Herbal and with a rub of tomato skin, creamy, cool yet resinous, followed through from aroma to texture. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Kotrotsos Moschofilero Erasmios 2014 and Tetramythos Mavro Kalavryta 2014
The domain is set within a dramatically oriented steppe of an amphitheatre, in a bowl beneath the shadow of a 940m rock that houses the great Greek Orthodox monastery of Mega Spileo (Grand Cave). Nowhere else in the Chelmos mountains does monk viticulture resonate as it does here. The great vineyard (Megali Ambelos) perches above the Vouraikos Canyon at 800m of height. The winemaker for the wines of Cavino and Mega Spileo is Stelios Tsiris. Varieties grown since re-planting in 1999 include Mavrodafne, Mavro Kalavritino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Lagorthi, Assyrtiko, Malagousia and Riesling.
Mega Spileo Monastery
Moschato 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
Nearly bone dry (4 g/L RS) and well-nigh nicked by acidity (6.2 g/L TA) this is really a true expression of the Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, an elegant cold pour into a glass on a breezy, sunny day. Until now Muscat in Achaia “could never look me in the eye” but the flurry of aromatics sing like a songstress in white lace. Its gaze is like lemon and olive oil and its tongue like the sweet wax on the rind. Here the Moschato path has been properly and soulfully taken. Rich in gold, like the kingdom of Agamemnon at Mycenae. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted July 2015
Deus Rosato NV, Peloponnese, Greece
Made from 100 per cent Syrah and slightly sweeter than the Muscat, here at 60 g/L RS. The lees, cheese and funk from Syrah turned to sparkling distracts from the sweetness, sending this to parts of southern France in meditative, Mediterranean, savoire savour faire. Raspberry and cranberry vie for sweet and sour supremacy and the wine actually, seemingly turns dry on the peppery, fizzy, tanky and spirited back side. Never backs down and the last conceit is one of tannin. So much more successful than the Moschato. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted July 2015
“We are about to experience one of the best underdogs of Greece,” says Konstantinos Lazarakis M.W. by way of introduction. The world had to wait 18 months plus seven years years for this to appear. A Port-style fortified red, fashioned from the 27 best judged oak barrels and finished in October of 2000. The mix is Mavrodaphne (70 per cent) and Black Corinth (30), expertly amassed and positioned at a time when using the 49 percent maximum allowance of dried raisin was the norm. Ahead of its time in that regards but also because of its rangy acidity, incredible acidity actually, something that gives this dessert wine the essence and spirit of raisin radio. That and a beautiful oxidation and it succeeds in wooing palates, not to mention fulfilling the promise laid bare by Mr. Lazarakis. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Athanassios Parparoussis and Moschato Vines, Domaine Parparoussis
Founded in 1974 by oenologist Athanassios Parparoussis who works as winemaker while daughters Erifili and Dimitra support on the business and marketing side. The winery is located in Patras and the property includes 10 hectares at Movri Achaias. Grapes are farmed organically and Parparoussis is one of only two vintners ion the region making wines from the rare and indigenous Sideritis. Parparoussis farms organically in principal but is not certified, nor is Athanassios concerned with the designation. It’s a matter of being devoutly pragmatic. “The soil is alive, so why kill it.”
The 2014 “gift of Dionysus” is herbal, arid, directly unassuming and fixed with a very savoury, nearly resinous pastel palate. The wind blows rosemary and lavender and truthfully it’s like a naturally cured red feeling in a white package. All lemon citrus at the tail. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Just under 300 cases are made of this pale, lithe and prodigiously lithe blush wine, like the Dionysus, made from 100 per cent Sideritis. Skin maceration was performed overnight, “a one night stand,” while indigenous yeast was employed for a natural, dry vinification. The light and rust-directed antiquity of caste excess has caused an exaggerated herbal, namely oregano aroma. The overall feel is suppositious and may just be one of the greatRosé stories ever told. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
Parparoussis Sideritis Gift of Dionysus 2014 and Agiorgitiko Reserve 2010
Parparoussis Taos 2010, PGI Achaia, Greece
A barrel fermented, dry vinified, 100 per cent Mavrodaphne. Naturally pitchy, high in acidity and purposed in tannin. A rare zero dilution at the hands of Black Corinthian Raisin and therefore not so high in alcohol, despite the richness of hue. Actually has a modern next tier level of complexity, complexion and aromatic intensity. Purple flowers and plum swirl in its circuitous, cycloid multiplicity. The savoury, resinous black bay laurel and chalky, cooked lentil, the grill and its smouldering charcoal are all in. Further resinous of bay oil on the back bitters and a very Tentura finish. Wild, sauvage, beautiful and built for the ling haul. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted July 2015
Eonologist is Angelos Rouvalis, a winemaker with an encyclopedic knowledge of every hill and slope in the mountains above Patras and where each variety grows best. Established in 1990 by Rouvalis, a Bordeaux-trained winemaker, recognized internationally as a pioneer in the renaissance that has taken place in the Greek wine industry in recent years. In 1994 Yannis Karabatsos, an agricultural engineer and expert in Greek viticulture joined the winery. “The Oenoforos winery consists of five levels on the slopes of Aigialeia in the village of Selinous. It combines monastic simplicity with state-of-the-art technology.”
The “white stone” could be considered the Pinot Grigio of Greece though the pink-skinned variety grown here between 800-1000m is such a bleed of high altitude calcaire. An amalgamated, aromatic accumulation is all about citrus without the airs of pierce and secondary sandarac meets kedros that reminds of clementine. At 11.5 per cent alcohol and low pH it might confuse for Trocken Riesling if not for its classic herbiage and austerity. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
The winery was founded by the late visionary winemaker, Constantinos Antonopoulos near the city of Patras in the northwestern of Peloponnese. Constantinos saw the vast, untapped potential of this diverse landscape, especially the mountainous region of Achaia and the unique winemaking opportunities it presented. A new up to-date winery has been built recently at Vasiliko, Achaia, where the majority of the winery’s vineyards are. Indigenous Greek varieties are the focus. All three Antonopoulos wines tasted at the winery Achaia Clauss were clearly achieved through very serious work. Though clean beyond the pale, they all exhibit slightly to more than leesy and all finish with so much salinity and limestone inflection. The only thing missing is the crustaceous accent.
Antonopoulos Vineyards
Antonopoulos Adholi This White 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
Essential and pedigreed blend of Lohorthi 65 per cent), Chardonnay (20) and Roditis (15) that expresses increased aromatics much like Viognier. Nearly profoundly tropical but so very dry, like Assyrtiko in its cracking open but with the feel of wild yeast and the feign of barrel. Chalk it up to 800-900m clay-limestone speak and no more than that, creasing to a crisp effervescence without bubble, yet it does tingle of the tongue. Like it’s working all the while, then on to citrus on the end, in lemon and lime torque as if by Riesling. The Moschofilero might be Mycenaean Linear B and this the other, later Greek alphabet. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted July 2015
Sosanna Katsikosta is Oenologist and General Manager while Katerina heads up business and marketing operations. The sisters are carrying on a winemaking tradition passed on to them from their late father. Konstantinos Katsikostas carried the torch from his father Luke who founded the winery in 1946 in the area of Palaiokamares of Aegio. Annual production of 2,000 cases. Katsikosta is desperately, passionately practicing, experimenting, trying to stir up vinous ghosts and find their way back to ancestry, to ways of elders, to bring to light what used to be and to establish an identity for the world to see.
Acheon Sideritis 2014, PGI Achaia, Greece
The nearly extant one, a rare variety, being revived, planted at low altitudes, with yields 70-75 hL/L. Aromatic and misunderstood, with a Savagnin character, a funky, musky skin, like leather but not as deep, yet something oddly tropical, like jackfruit, or gummy bear, dusty ginger, and resin, like thyme. Another variety being worked with to see what it can be and to link back to what once was. Really good acidity. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted July 2015
KotrotsosMavrodaphne NV, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece The standard 15 per cent alcohol and in this plugged in, short fuse sweet wine is highly intense and lit caper green, dried fruit and a serious pasticcio of botanicals, distilled into a major excitative and concentrated sweetness. The second bottle tasted has so much more life and character. Much more sweet floral attractiveness and the sweetness is less pronounced as a result. Goes from spice and piquancy to sweetness with the right transitory methodology, culminating in a great LBV Port finish. Nutty and spicy. Tremendous fruit forward expression. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted July 2015
Karelas Winery was founded in 1936 by Georgios Karelas. Using the native ‘Mavrodaphne’ grape, the company is renowned for it’s sweet, dessert style Mavrodaphne wine.
Mega Spileo Mavrodaphne and Karelas Mavrodaphe Reserve 2009
Karelas Mavrodaphne Reserve 2009, PDO Mavrodaphne of Patras, Greece
The only Mavrodaphne aged in highly seasoned toasted new French barrels. The standard weight bearing 15 per cent alcohol and a similar feeling as with previous kicks at the sweet Mavrodaphne can, but more red fruit and brighter raisins in the sun. The spice and liqueur here seem less spirited and combine for a more mature, seasoned, reasoned, direct and ultimately cleaner expression. Captain Jack (or George) will get you Achaia tonight “and take you to your special island.” Drink 2015-2022. Tasted July 2015
Perhaps most famous for their local production of spirits, namely Tentura and Mastic, Loukatos does a bang up job with dessert wines, especially in their handling of Muscat from Patras.
Loukatos Muscat of Patras and Mavrodaphne of Patras
Loukatos Muscat NV, PDO Muscat of Patras (WineAlign)
A 15 per cent abv Vin de Liqueur largely based on the 2013 vintage. Very clementine and apricot nosed, impeccably balanced from viscous to intensity in grape, with nothing musty or musky about it, though there is a musk melon sense, a botrytis that is very clean. Another excellent, natural sweet Patras example of what Muscat can do, again at super low cost, with high flavour and here, more fruit forward than the Kotrotos. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted July 2015
Old cask and young DJ Kearney at Achaia Clauss, Egialia, Achaia
Crisis? No one’s gonna bring Greece down, nor me neither, ’till I again reach Achaia ground.
First, an apology. Dear France and Italy. I have been ignoring you. Not all of you and your scopious wine regions mind you, just your most famous and popular ones. Grand Cru and idiosyncratic lieu-dit Alsace? Championed. Off the beaten track Puglia, Campania, Lazio and Emilia Romagna? Celebrated. Rhône Valley and Tuscany? I have been remiss.
September 5th marks the last VINTAGES release of the summer. No less than a half dozen exceptional warm weather whites are essayed on pitch but the big reds are neither dross nor toss aways of recrementitious behaviour. They are my picks for serious drinking and short term cellar defending.
From left to right: Vignamaggio Gherardino Chianti Classico 2012, J.L. Chave Crozes Hermitage Rouge Silène 2013, Les Vins De Vienne L’arzelle Saint Joseph 2011, Gundlach Bundschu Merlot 2011, Verbena Brunello Di Montalcino 2009 and Domaine Mathieu Vin Di Felibre Châteauneuf Du Pape 2010
Here Chianti Classico remembers where it came from and knows a thing or more about where it will be going. There is just a hint of curative carve, enough to confuse the oxidative meter and a real reason to imagine wine made eons ago. But dont be fooled. This is clean, pure red Sangiovese fruit, umasked by oak and circumstances well within a winemaker’s control. This is judged with skill and soft hands. It will please in the present and find lingers beyond and across years, as many as 10 or more. Drink 2016-2025. Tasted August 2015 @vignamaggio@HHDImports_Wine@chianticlassico
J.L. Chave Crozes Hermitage Rouge Silène 2013, Ac Rhône, France (387332, $27.95, WineAlign)
A very fruitful, consumer fortuitous and elastically stretching, wholly dichotomous clarity from fresh to cure, from piquant to naturally stoked. You really can’t go wrong with the Chave, CH, makin’ it happen Rhône selection. Red fruits, flowers in bloom and meats slowly drying to dehydrated goodness combine for really fine results. Yes please every time to a glass of this. Smells like the soundness of doctrine with a conscience. This company does not mess around. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted August 2015 @HalpernWine@VINSRHONE
Les Vins De Vienne L’arzelle Saint Joseph 2011, Ac Rhône, France (115030, $37.95, WineAlign)
Rich, unctuous, full on red berry and modernity incarnate Syrah. Really, really fresh. Beneath the fresh surface is nature in naked form, grape exposed to elements and left to fend for itself. Has cure, baked earth, crusty crackling red fruit skin and nearly fierce tannin. Very meaty Syrah. The real deal. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted August 2015 @VINSRHONE@ProfileWineGrp
Gundlach Bundschu Merlot 2011, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California (397497, $39.95, WineAlign)
When west coast Merlot reaches for a marker such as found in this Sonoma County taste for sore tongues, it’s on the beam. The fruit is lush but not overripe and while the vintage was not exactly a scorcher, picking too late would have been a mistake. This wine is not a product of such adversity or abject waver. It’s also anything but dilute or green, two things Merlot often fizzles and falls alongside, which is then followed up with a seat in the make up chair. This hits all the correct notes; lithe vanilla, mild cedar, not so tough leather, newish and nearly 70’s suede. Love the mouthfeel and the eloquence. It’s as fine grained as you are likely to find with naturally occurring acidity to take it deep. A proper wine to be sure. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted August 2015 @gunbunwine@LeSommelierWine@sonomavintners
Verbena Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (165126, $39.95, WineAlign)
Talk about the passion for modernity and architecture that towers over the neighbourhood. Highest esteem of flowers, reductions and wood lots. Liqueur in every way, form and fair. My fair volatility. Big, big Brunello with massive tannins and multiple personality of acidities. So essentially big and brawny in consideration of the Grosso finesse. More Brunello for the money than many. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted August 2015 @buonvini@ConsBrunello
Domaine Mathieu Vin Di Felibre Châteauneuf Du Pape 2010, Ac Rhône, France (28209, $75.00, WineAlign)
The initial aromatic offering on this Châteauneuf Du Pape is just beautiful. It’s floral but understated, expressive but in total control. Gives of itself without begging. There is Kirsch mixed into a cordial of sweet smelling tonics. Such a balanced CdP, with parts in unison, nothing overtaking anything else and a floral-medicinal finish that indicates so much life ahead. You can enjoy its undeniable beauty now or walk with it through gardens, down meandering hillside paths and into pastoral villages for two decades. Such a deft, soft handed approach to an increasing regional modernity more often bruising than massaging. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted August 2015 @VINSRHONE
The Chase Restaurant’s Pom-Pom Mushrooms, braised bacon and peppery greens
Master of assemblage and varietal maîtreJ-L Groux sits at the head of the underground table while a busy lunch crowd fills in overhead at The Chase Restaurant in Toronto. Highly apropos not just because the Stratus winemaker is over-qualified to preside over the Niagara winery’s 10th anniversary tasting and dissertation on his wines. No, it’s because the posit perfectly illustrates the writer’s yet unspoken epiphany. Groux’s work under the Stratus Vineyards and its offshoot labels have made for some of Ontario’s great food matching wines.
It may not be obvious to most but Godello is not much of a food and wine pairing guy. Chef is a fan of great wine and food compatibility but not when generalities need define the directive and the prose. When it comes to the wines of Stratus, a pattern is emerging with incredible clarity. Momofuku, Select Bistro, The Chase. Three Toronto food destinations with high quotients of quality and progressive gastronomy. Three connections with Stratus. Three hits.
Stratus winemaker J-L Groux and WineAlign’s David Lawrason
The wines are repeatedly discussed and assessed with assemblage and varietal tendency in mind. I have worked through the portfolio or a representative cross-section no fewer than six times in the past three years and yet for the first time the sound was one of a culinary vernacular, a voice heard out of ingredient and mise en place, a dawning of purpose.
The Chase Octopus, harissa, spiced merguez sausage, sautéed red onions
Stratus White 2012, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (660704, $44.20, WineAlign)
In magnified aromatic persistence, on and over top of even two months earlier, in such a hyper-grapey way with terrific dry extract chained to tannin and humid minerality. The many months of leave in gentle oak is stating its technically procured, quote unquote de-classified case.
From my earlier note of April 2015:
In 2012 the blend is Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Viognier was left out because according to winemaker J-L Groux “it did not work in blending trials.” The vintage has laid the foundation for the most density, and unctuous fruit for the Stratus White in what must be, ever. At the high aromatic end there is peppery beeswax, reverberating and echoing in scales and arpeggios. Like an open string singing warmly, the vintage, extraction and residuum combine for texture in mottled unction. Sapid lemon, more beeswax and lanolin mark the palate and then the White drifts into spaces occupied by smoky, back beats and bites. This has great pitch with a knowledge of the path to pleasure. Drink 2017-2025
Last tasted June 2015
Stratus White 2005, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (660704, $44.20, WineAlign)
The blend of Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, and Sémillon with a not necessarily before announced whisper of Viognier was culled from vines “getting older, staying true to our technique,” recalls J-L Groux. The grapes were growing at the bottom of the vines which “made for a challenging wine.” The Gewurz acts in upwards accent to the others, its far-easter flavours speaking with scrunch. Concentration is in compression without density to soft spoken. The most unusual bunch location certainly had something to do with my aforementioned “whiff of terroir that blew away” and according to Groux “the year was very nice.” The Stratus White 2005, tasted again, as well.
From my earlier note of September 2013:
‘Twas a deadly vintage (worst frost in Niagara on the Lake) and the only one with smacking aromas from the vineyard floor. “A zoo growing season,” notes Groux, “with grapes hanging high and low.” Chardonnay leads the troops in ’05, in elevated acidity and earthiness from grapes picked “in a different type of environment, near to the earth.” Highly textured and mature, leggy fruit. Though its best years are behind (because the fruit will no longer support the oak), the Groux seven-year ageing goal has easily been reached. The whiff of terroir does blow away and the honey liniment and rose emerges. So much consistency, so rapidly developed. Amazing. Witness here the winemaking acumen out of an atypical vintage and confounding result.
As per the house promulgation, in Chardonnay, “still an assemblage process,” insists Groux, “no matter what we do.” Some grapes grown for Sparkling were added back in, for acidity, complexity and ultimately balance. That and though notably barrel burdened (a good, hard burden to bare) leading to a bargain, “the best I ever had.” Major key of whose who of Niagara fruit, power acoustic chords and 12-string harmonics. Drink 2015-2022.
From my earlier note of May 2014:
A change in direction is duly noted with J-L Groux’s 2012 Chardonnay, from fruit picked six weeks earlier than in 2010. The program is scaled back and the wine is more “typical” of the region, in weight, in barrel effect and in alcohol. Still quite defined by natural yeasts that “sometimes go a bit wild, but I’m getting better at it,” concedes the clinician of vinous letters. Those feisty microbes are difficult to work with, like dealing with a wine that lacks natural clarity. “You have to shut down the bacteria, teach the yeast to stop stealing the lees. In 2013 I really got it.” The ’12’s altered course is welcome and encouraged and the world should wait with bated breath for what ’13 will bring. Here the complexity of aromatics is matched only by the intensity of tropical fruit. Has balance and a soft, round feel. Again, more texture and aromatics than natural acidity. Classic J-L style. “It’s not about trying to imitate anyone. It’s about making the most interesting and most complex Chardonnay in Niagara.”
Even now its wick seems lit, a febrile wicker thatch of reed, bamboo and rattan, a little wicked even. Versatile like vin jaune, of oxidative rushwork, a product of a time when the regimen was all new oak. Preserved lemon and wax, late bitters within reason and with thanks, surprising freshness. Though the oak was overdone at the time, the slow food preservation has rendered the fat and left behind sharpness, even at 13 years of age. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted June 2015
The most tropical unction of seemingly all Viognier known to human kind, Stratus issue or not, at the hands of J-L Groux or any other aromatic junkie in the winemaking world. Hung like an ancient painting on a modernist gallery’s bright white walls. A pepper-laced, creamy white paste cuts through the similarly positioned texture. A quench of peach, apricot and nectarine sits on the palate, like an August fruit cup from Ontario trees, with a cut of nut pith. And lemon too. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted June 2015
Stratus Red 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (131037, $44.20, WineAlign)
The Stratus Red 2012 resides both in a virtuoso’s hollow and in a pantheon inhabited by some of Niagara’s great reds. The fact that such ripe phenology can anticipate and foretell to balance and freedom in the byplace of the blending process is nothing short of amazing. Sinuous and exact, of berries so indefatigable, layering raspberry over blackberry atop strawberry. Cedar and red citrus compound, without jamming the fluidity, but certainly accentuating the Fragaria vesca. Confident and fluid in movement, the ’12 neither shakes nor stirs and its acidity is flat out terrific. At this early point in its evolution it is showing as well as could be expected, or hoped for. Its core of fraises du bois will always be there. Time will be kind, gentle and patient. Drink 2015-2024. Tasted April and June 2015
Stratus Red 2002, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (131037, $44.20, WineAlign)
Tasted from two bottles. The blend was Cabernet Franc (40 per cent), Merlot (37), Cabernet Sauvignon (16) and Gamay (5)…roughly. Gremlins from a closet in a funky way, in causation by time though for every thought of flaw there are 10 in depth and layering. The second pour is brighter and popping but if a master of time, partially, arguably so is considered, then the years have had their say. Both palates are alive, tense, terse and resonant in deep horns, where fog meets contrabass. The specs are interesting to note; 7.2 total acidity, pH at 3.19 and sugar (brix), 22.3. Says J-L Groux “we would never pick at that number today.” High acidity keeps it alive, this mix of fruit that is oxidized, nearing the suggestion of maderized and whiffing like 55-day, dry-aged beef. Only the second bottle offers up true savour and cooler instincts. Fascinating. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted June 2015
A Cabernet Franc of settled, harmonious tones, of oak that sets sights and heights to heah, now integrated at such an early age. The grape succeeds and bleeds an exemplary, stalwart varietal suspension within the Stratus pantheon, a sanctuary where fiddles are yet played by other outfits across the region. Cabernet Franc will increase in the Stratus Red, for good measure and reason. This ’12 is simply smothered in an embarrasment of red fruit, smoky from raspy reds to plugged in currants. It is of a favour in flavour that reminds of Swedish berries, in modulated hög, though not in sweetness. Drink 2015-2021. Tasted June 2015
Of a bygone era, an older style. Thicket or copse, but of a green, verdant, newby character. Like a shell, membrane or rim of shellac on an expressly full-bodied corpse. Smells like a grandfather’s old pipe, comforting and parched. Flavours have left piquant behind, settling with senectitude into orange and clove. Alive if well-aged and evolved. A push-pull of warmth and cool elasticity, humidity and savour. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted June 2015
Stratus Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario, (Winery, $55.00, WineAlign)
Few varietal Cabernet Sauvignon in Niagara stand out, firm and yet back from the pack. The Stratus is anything but “six and one, half dozen the other.” This prochaine exit strategy to the NSOR 2010 is an admirable follow, of dusty fill and grind of pepper, a touch of brine and “a cup of rhyme.” Structurally it is like a swan, elongated, muscular and elastic. It is elegant within a markedly rigid frame. It also flies freely, like a hummingbird. “You can crop it higher and it’s going to make good quality,” notes J-L. Hurrah. Another varietal success for Life’s Rich Paegent. Let it catch some R.E.M. to settle its tannins. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted June 2015
Picked at nearly the same time as the ’12 Gamay and with prudent acidity preserving fashion – early. A variety that travels with happy expedience into sugar (26 brix) and maintains that aforesaid acidity without intrusion. A tightly spun PV, in need of five years easy to unwind and hopefully recoil. The wall of rigidity is woven in chalk and grain, the lift round, all-in, immediate and lingering. Then it comes back around again, ever-increasing the high tones of the wine. So very metagrobilizing genera, this ’12 Petit Verdot. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted June 2015
Stratus Gamay 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $29.00, WineAlign)
“We try to treat Gamay as a noble variety,” says J-L Groux. This is the child of a short (three weeks) Stratus maceration. Today the nose indicates concentrated strawberry compote. Gamay of the most hue, tone and texture. “We don’t want to go back to the light years of Gamay.” This futuristic vintage (of two years in oak and high, high brix) sees to that concern. Subsequent vintages will scale back but won’t be “light, easy and breezy,” though they will shed the weight of raisin and fig.
From my earlier note of May 2015:
Esteem elevated by structure, matched in poise and presence mottled in smears of darker, richer black cherry. If a slight absence of brightness is sensed due to the syrupy compression, like New World, west coast Pinot Noir, the gleaning from acidity and tannin times perfectly the effluent escape.
From my earlier note of April 2015:
It may not be the most idiosyncratic Gamay in Niagara but the Stratus 2012 is without a doubt the most advanced and complex. Gamay fusion is on display, at once a bottle of Niagara’s finest pulchritudinous veneer and then a charcuterie board laid ample with cured bovine parts and sun-dried grapes. Maximum ripeness and then even later picking, to no one’s surprise, have led to this. Two years of ageing in neutral oak barrels has brought about a humid roundness and yet the centre is controlled by Oz-like mint and eucalyptus notes. The jam is gelid, as opposed to temperate. Rarely does Gamay go to such depths, of blackberry, chalk and grain, with an overlord of tannin. Quite serious stuff. Drink 2017-2020.
Last tasted April 2015
Stratus Sangiovese 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $42.00, WineAlign)
With no true recognition of, for or in cohort conscious decision to align with a clone, of Montalcino, Montepulciano or Chianti, this Stratus take on Sangiovese must go it alone. That said, so much modernity links it to some Tuscan brethren. “We have Italian winters that tell us our Sangiovese is not a crazy one,” explains J-L Groux. Nothing in this ’12 speaks of lightness, beets or simple, red fruit. Two years in French oak, blah, blah, blah leads to a Riserva style. This is not about making CC, simulating CCR, mimicking Gentile or copying Grosso. It’s about leaving a wine for two years to develop aromatic complexity and structure. “It’s a curiosity,” adds Suzanne Janke. Nail’s head, hit. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted June 2015
Stratus Tempranillo 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $42.00, WineAlign)
In 2012 the J-L Groux take on the expatriate Spaniard is warm, rich, cake-driven and yet balanced in ways the 2010 was unable to exhort. This vintage appeases Groux’s ends of the earth search for aromatics, picking on them, executing vinification to encourage them and barrel-aging for the purpose of cementing them. The 2012 is an aromatic success. It exudes red fruit, flowers, baker’s kitchens and wet Niagara on the Lake earth. This is a clean and jerk Tempranillo, a bouquet to success. The palate, mouthfeel and mellow finish return the favour of 2010 when it was noted that the variety in this place is a stretch, overweening perhaps, certainly self-effacing if admittedly short of contumelious behaviour. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted June 2015
Stratus Tannat 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $42.00, WineAlign)
“To me this is one of the most successful new varieties we are planting,” exclaims J-L Groux. In similar ways with Stratus varietal cousin Petit Verdot, acidity rules the roost. Smells like a just sliced open bag of organic earth, freshly neutral, funkless and emptying into a (first use) terra cotta pot. A rich, looking straight ahead expression. What it hides in fruit is lost to the brilliance of balance though plum is the operative hidden flesh and it will make a clearer impression when it steps clear of the tar and the tannin. This is pitchy sagacity, with poise and length. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2015
Stratus Syrah 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $48.00, WineAlign)
Once again, the tone climbs and hangs in the upper reaches, where structure lurks, preceded with intent by four plus weeks of maceration, followed by (sic) two years in oak. Some new, some old, to be technical and precise. Will be some time before this is able to shed the bathetic, syrupy aromatics and meaty, eat that soup with a fork texture. The concentration it treated and tempered with a pantomime shred of elegance. Not as Rhoneish as some other vintages (contemporarily not a bad thing) but this combines worlds in copacetic ways. Tomato and herbs crisped in good olive oil make for good gastronomy in this consumer-friendly, balanced Syrah. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted June 2015.
Stratus Malbec 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (Winery, $42.00, WineAlign)
Unexpectedly floral, perhaps more than any other Stratus varietal red. That aroma bite strikes me as cool. Just a hint of fennel and coriander seed offer up an herbal hand of complexity. The texture advances to integrated, coming about with a softer red in tow, with less severe acidity than the others. More bitters on the finish as well. Less attitude, more fat, though decidedly rich. Drink 2015-2017. Tasted June 2015
A blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot with some Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling added for lift and what J-L Groux admits is rendered “for the consumer.” This essentially marks the twain between sweet and dry, if not quite halfway then pretty darn close. Plenty of herbs and citrus nail the aromas on the proverbial head with more than a grapefruit or two on the half circle. A highly approachable, end-user friendly blush. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted April and June 2015
Stratus Botrytis Affected Semillon 2012 at The Chase
Godello 