Tag Archives: Merlot

Lobster rolls and a Long Island dream

Paddle Boarding in Sag Pond, Accabonac Harbor

From Riverhead to Montauk, Jamesport to Southampton, the eastern edge of Long Island is a land of reverie. Imagine the fertile plateau of the Niagara Peninsula, the rugged beauty of Muskoka and the serenity of Prince Edward Island rolled into one magnificent package. A burgeoning wine route complimented by rolling farmland full of summer crops. Abounding tide pools, ponds, lakes, bays and rivers dominating the landscape, swarming with life. Secluded coves, inlets, marshes of scraggly grass and rushes around every turn at the end of long and winding country roads. “Don’t it feel like something from a dream.” I really like this place.

Georgica Pond Blue Crab

As a foil to the frenetic pace of Manhattan, the eastern island presents as a modal, perfect, progressive and passive area of unlimited exploration. An effortless paddle by long board or kayak through Sag Pond. Baiting, netting and steaming the fresh catch of Blue Crabs out of Georgica Pond. Filling oneself with the ocean’s bounty and tasting through North Fork’s future stars wines.

Clam Bar

Lobster maintains its status at the gastronomic epicentre of the east coast. Clams are everywhere, crabs too. The quintessential lunch snack is the Lobster Roll. Made from the simplest preparation, the fresh pulled meat is crammed to overflowing in its whitest of soft bread, hot dog like roll. A deliquescent treat without parallel.

Lobster Roll and Fried Clams

Long Island Lobster Roll

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 lb lobster
2 soft, white “lobster” rolls (hot dog rolls will work)

Homemade Mayonnaise:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 ribs of celery, finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Method:

Add 6 cups of water to a large stock pot, fit with a colander. Bring to a boil, than lower to simmer.

Put in lobster and steam for eight minutes. Remove and cool.

Make the mayo. Mix Dijon with lemon juice. Slowly drizzle oil while whisking until fully emulsified. Chop celery into fine dice and mix in to mayo. Add parsley. Season with salt & pepper.

Crack and remove all lobster meat. Roughly chop the large pieces and stir into mayo.

Scoop lobster mixture into two buttery, soft, white rolls.

Raphael North Fork Riesling 2010 ($18) makes yeoman’s work is its second vintage, more dry than off-dry, less grapefruit than one would expect and certainly high on the citrus zest scale. Works lobster, crab and shrimp   in blue-collar fashion and speaks in a gravelly, Peconic voice.  87

Galliuccio Family Wineries Meritage 2001 when bottled may have simply been working on a dream but this “library” wine was a near revelatory, posthumous Surprise, Surprise. Now owned by Macari Vineyards, the ’01 Galluccio Merlot with supporting cast let it’s unguarded love shine down with elegant, blueberry fruit and resolved red peppercorn spice. A historical look at what ’04, ’07, ’10 would become and what will surely be in North Fork’s future.  90

Peconic Bay Merlot 2005 ($21) pencils liquorice in a shade of candied, Sonoma Pinot-like matte against a salty Atlantic backdrop. Light, airy, breezy and pleasing Merlot. Void of resin, currant and bell pepper. Strawberries in cream actually. Nothing earth shattering here, just good and plenty.  87

Good to go!

Great wines are sometimes found online

Laurent Fievet, AFP/Getty Images

Reporting from Eastern Long Island, a strikingly beautiful stretch of land divided by its two forks. Over the next few days I will be tasting North Fork Merlot and Riesling, South Fork Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc. This fledgling wine industry is not unlike our own back in Niagara and Prince Edward County, full of promise and local affordability. Together we share a passion for wine that is free to those who can afford it, in opposition to what is very expensive to those who can’t.

I rarely get excited by the online shopping experience but sometimes you just have to call a gem a gem. The frivolity of spending bravely on wine repays in the memories the future holds. Besides, “we just ran out of wine. What are we gonna do about it?”

VINTAGES Shop Online

The grapes: Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon

The history: The synergy of these white varietals in Bordeaux is the cat’s pee and meow. The west finesse of Pessac Léognan is best.

The lowdown: Others intimate a zeitgeist of dry, white hedonism but few succeed. Haut-Brion, Smith Haut-Lafite and Chevalier are three of the best.

The food match: The best Porchetta sandwich money can buy

Château Carbonnieux Blanc 2008 (581033, $59.00) is possessive of febrile gooseberry imagination. Blows sweet peach and apricot in and out of the glass in alberge de tours waves. “Hungry like the wolf” and his lycopersicon esculentum. A white PL for the ages.  92

The grape: Merlot

The history: Few Napa Valley vineyards take Right Bank Bordeaux to the Greek like this iconic outfit

The lowdown: First appearance in Ontario by one of California’s legends

The food match: Grilled Beef Ribs with a Tomato and Agave Glaze

Plumpjack Merlot 2009 (296491, $72.95) is an eponymous ace of base and is all that Napa Merlot should be. “Beware of that is flashing in her eyes. She’s going to get you.” Takes me to the pilot, beauteous of chocolate “like a coin in your mint,” gob-stopping red fruit and an acumen of alchemic spicing. Steely and replays the deep, oaky fruit on the palate. ” You go back, Jack, do it again. ”  93

The grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc

The histoty: Perhaps the most affordable classified Bordeaux on the market today

The lowdown: This Chateau over delivers and never gouges its customers. Kudos to the LCBO for this perrenial bone toss our way. Treat yourself

The food match: Fresh Brisket and Flat Iron Hamburgers with Thick-Cut Bacon

Château Ferrière 2008 (229567, $44.00) may be a wine whose lot is to be grouped in serried ranks but I find a unique presence in its mineral expressive, espressoness. The Margaux perfume is there, along with a hint of blueberry blossom and pine straw.  Can’t help but reach a modest degree of approximation to the full complexity of it’s Gallic, articulated language.  90

Good to go!

The Wine Diaries: new world reds

Photo: REX

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/06/27/the-wine-diaries-new-world-reds/

The term “new world wine” refers to wine produced in countries that have transplanted European vinifera to establish an industry where one did not originally exist. The United States, led by California comes to mind as the leader in this category. Australia sits alone within a second tier while New Zealand, South Africa, Washington and Oregon are the major players close behind. Ever-improving Canada is on the move.

Many wines that are currently unavailable in Canada will one day knock at the door. Voices of discontent are out there and I hear them. Change is inevitable, and optimistically speaking, will come sooner rather than later. In the meantime, like the dutiful children and newcomers we are, we submit to and embrace what is on offer. An imperturbable level of varietal diversity and quality will unearth something out there for everyone.

U.S.A. – California

J. Lohr South Ridge Syrah 2010 (948240, $19.95) from Paso Robles along California’s Central Coast is shiny, happy Syrah. Attenuated body accented by citrus and trace pepper.  “Gold and silver shine.”  87

Laird Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (50096, $57.95) out of Napa Valley pours like syrup of supersized black and boysenberry concentrate. Massive fruit here, making for a big wine in search of red flesh on closing night.  89

Mahle Wind Gap Syrah 2007 (242776, $59.00) defines the grape for Russian River Valley. The tar, roses and smoked meat from this coulée in Sonoma County tutor California in Northern Rhône speak. Darker than a power outage with a gamey and sanguine finish.  90

Outpost Howell Mountain Zinfandel 2009 (253377, $69.00) is top-tier Napa Valley Zinfandel. The dark flesh of fowl comes to mind, especially Duck with a chocolate mint Nahuatl mōlli. A foxy, violet voice is to be expected out of  the likes of Barolo or Barbaresco, but here Zinfandel tramples me flat.  92

Redemption Zin Zinfandel 2007 (224147, $22.95) might seem magnetic but a plum, raisin, sweet and sour profile is not what Dry Creek Valley normally produces. Fruit too long on the vines?  85

Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (73817, $19.95) offers grateful Napa Valley pleasures so power to its large scale fruit gathering and consumer friendly production. “Walking in the tall trees, going where the wind goes, blooming like a red rose.” Grandiflora not dead. A sunshine daydream.  87

Simi Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (25221, $24.95) does Alexander Valley like it should. A spiced, caramel coffee cake with a soft, oozing core. Nothing offensive here, just solid Sonoma juice.  87

Sonoma-Cutrer Grower-Vintner Pinot Noir 2008 (140723, $29.95) crawls Russian River Valley Pinot to a varietal P but smoke masks the fruit “like a forest fighting for sunlight.” Can’t blame it on the carpet fires of 2007.  86

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (708982, $46.95) has Napa Valley pedigree but high steps the oak steeplechase brimming with nearly burnt coffee and 76% orange, dark chocolate. Over the top and unrelenting but history will offer some assistance for future enjoyment.  88

U.S.A. – Oregon

Maysara Estate Cuvée Pinot Noir 2008 (65680, $39.95) from McMinnville (who, what, where?) claims biodynamic status and “s’got such a supple wrist.” A quiet wizard, void of scents and smell, save for a pinball of earth bouncing off leather.  May speak up in time.  87

Argentina

Alta Vista Premium Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (129957, $14.95) ordinarily regards Mendoza by a male-dominated genome. Sausage fest as South American Cabernet, hidebound and specific to grilled meat.  85

Santa Julia Magna 2009 (93799, $14.95) is more ambitious Mendoza in its blend of half Cab and Malbec with a smattering of Syrah. A bit wild and uncorked, like a dog driving a car.  86

Chile

Concha Y Toro Marques De Casa Concha Carmenère 2010 (169862, $17.00) drinks chalky like green tea ice cream, not so unusual for Carmenère out of the Rapel Valley. A bit confused, murky as Lake Rapel, “light like a feather, heavy as lead.” Fruit of the marl.  87

Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (322586, $19.95) does Bordeaux and the world’s most popular red grape proud on a consistent basis. This one is the funky by-product of a chocolate chunk cookie baked by the sun. The argilaceous Colchagua Valley earth scorches the grapes and the wine is forever warm.  87

Santa Ema Reserve Merlot 2009 (642538, $16.95) is a bold effort out of Maipo. A Plug tobacco block effected by the humidity of a smoke shack, spicy clove heat and abrasive atmospheric pressure.  Massive Merlot but out of whack.  85

Australia

Chapel Hill Shiraz 2009 (743989, $25.95) takes South Australia’s McLaren Vale to an extreme wedding. Irrigous, cave aromas where melting minerals co-mingle with very ripe berries in your Dixie Cup. A tannic beast too. Walking through that cave while the eerie sound of “going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married” plays somewhere in the distance.   86

Hope The Ripper Shiraz 2008 (686865, $21.95) springs eternal with dreamboat berry and flower scents despite the ambiguous ‘Western Australia’ designation. Perhaps not the “best thing that I’ve ever found” but hope floats so I foresee the sweet smell of success for the Ripper.  87

Kaesler Stonehorse Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvèdre 2008 (6551, $20.95) out of Barossa comes down in price by $2 from the ’07. This SGM is always a Rhône on ‘roids but the minty kick and analgesic mouth clout win points.  88

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet/Shiraz 2008 (309625, $39.95) bears the omnipresent Penfolds perfume. Soupy syrup from South Australia, Refined but so concentrated. You will have to wait 10+ years for this to settle and be nice.  89

Tattiarra Culled Barrel Shiraz 2009 (271379, $39.95) shows off Heathcote within Victoria’s scant cooler take on the unchained, grievous grape down under. An otherwise repeat performance. “Change, ain’t nothin’ stays the same.”  87

Zonte’s Footsteps Baron Von Nemesis 2008 (212936, $17.95) is the Barossa vineyard’s inaugural vintage. Its nemesis is an instant bitter note from these vines, olive heavy footed, steps heard coming from a mile away. Will walk along with fatty meats.   86

New Zealand

Greystone Pinot Noir 2009 (271312, $37.95) owns the title of the South Island’s strongest smelling Pinot. Huge Waipara nose followed by a residual, Sherry sweetness, acidity and tannin to boot. “Oi, oi, oi!”  90

Trinity Hill The Gimblett 2009 (280263, $35.95) exudes the North Island’s youthful exuberance. Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Snug and chunky with a juniper stringency melded into lime, sugar syrup. A red wine Gimlet out of Hawkes Bay.  87

South Africa

Ernie Els Big Easy 2010 (220038, $19.95) from the generic tagged Western Cape is round, charming and swings with an effortless grace. The kitchen sink of grapes seem to cancel each other out and the wine finishes flat, hooking one into the drink. I love Ernie but really?  85

More notes from the VINTAGES June 23, 2012 release:

Five red wines to buy now for the coming long weekend

The Wine Diaries: Around the world in 20 whites

The Wine Diaries: Chardonnay close to the edge

Euro wine Rihanna need remember by name

The Wine Diaries: MMVA’s sparkling wine showers

IVR* – Vintage Direct Intrigue-to-Value Ratio

CVR** – Vintage Direct Curiosity-to-Value Ratio

Good to go!

Five red wine values to buy now for the coming long weekend

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/06/25/five-red-wines-to-buy-now-for-the-coming-long-weekend/

In my world there are so many wines and so little time. Perhaps in yours the wall of choices seems daunting but a bit of deconstruction is really all you need. A good Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Shiraz or Malbec work just fine on most days. I look to champion varietals outside the box. Portugal and lesser known Italian appellations are a very good place to start.

Trending wine values

The grapes: A blend of Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Nacional and Jaen

The history: Made by Agricola Castro de Pena Alba from indigenous varietals

The lowdown: Not all $12 Portuguese wines are this good, but I’d take my chances

The food match: Breaded Veal Sandwich with roasted, pickled red peppers

Serrado Colheita 2008 (283192, $11.95) from the emerging Dão is a big wine for $12! Tar, Hyacinth and Cravo with a mini citrus accent. Simple machine with juicy acidity and bite. A cake cut by a knife that’s “got a serrated edge that she moves back and forth.” Terrific IVR*.  87

The grape: Montepulciano

The history: Native to Abruzzo in east-central Italy

The lowdown: Modern Abruzzi winemakers are producing exceptional wines at affordable prices

The food match: Pasta with Braised Beef Short Ribs and Tomato

Niro Montepulciano D’abruzzo 2009 (278150, $15.95) dictates a directive towards low and slow fricasseed meats in their demi-glace with fresh summer tomatoes. De Niro is positively and cognitively possessed of a Machiavellian intelligence. A modern emperor and actor speaking perfect English, a vernacular host with the most. Projects a prejudiced discourse of atramentous espresso and haw.  88

The grape: Malbec

The history: Native to Bordeaux and Cahors in the southwest of France

The lowdown: Found its varietal fame in Argentina. This is a bold pick at a premium level.

The food match: Grilled Flank Steak in chile, parsley and olive oil marinade

The Seeker Malbec 2009 (271213, $18.95) is one of five global wines made by a marketing juggernaut, each featuring a specific grape growing region. Inspired by the musings of fictitious metalsmith/flying machine inventor Esteban Colombo from Mendoza, Argentina. Colombo is part Frank Lloyd Wright, part Leonardo Da Vinci. Like the man, the Seeker is an international wine of mystery. I rarely drink $19 Malbec, but when I do, I drink The Seeker. “I’ve been searching low and high” but here is a Malbec of an acceptable oaky smell like it’s just been out walking in the countryside. An herbal remedy, Malbec from and for the world, not really Mendozan at all, and that’s OK. I just might really like this.  89

The grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

The history: Native to Bordeaux in France

The lowdown: Benchmark IVR* achievement from the Barossa Valley of South Australia

The food match: BBQ Chicken with a honey-based glaze

Mountadam Vineyards Cabernet/Merlot 2008 (641860, $16.95) at 15% abv carries it with structure, elegance and balance. Currant jam, beetroot and garrigue are all there but the fruit, savoury, char, heat and acidity factors are all in check. What’s not to like?  90

Throwing caution to the wind

The grape: Nebbiolo

The history: Native to Piedmont in Northern Italy

The lowdown: Traditional interpretation already aged and into its drinking window

The food match: Double-cut, French Veal Chop with Thyme, garlic and olive oil

Gemma Giblin Riserva Barolo 2005 (185025, $36.95) has begun to brick at the edges. Mouth rosewatering acidity binged by sour cherry and shellac. Wisp of Monte Cristo and withered rose only Barolo can smell of.  This Gemma is beautiful like a turning season, like something you know won’t last. For now and no more than two to three more years.  92

More notes from the VINTAGES June 23, 2012 release:

The Wine Diaries: Around the world in 20 whites

The Wine Diaries: Chardonnay close to the edge

Euro wine Rihanna need remember by name

The Wine Diaries: MMVA’s sparkling wine showers

IVR* – Vintage Direct Intrigue-to-Value Ratio

CVR** – Vintage Direct Curiosity-to-Value Ratio

Good to go!

The Wine Diaries. VINTAGES June 9, 2012: Reds

Tuscany

Most of the reds from these 23 tasting notes are hearty enough to help with the summer BBQ season.

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/06/11/the-wine-diaries-vintages-june-9-2012-reds/

Dominus Napanook 2008 (212357, $59.95) usually displays more finesse than many Napa Cabernet blends but at $60 the flaws in nuts, bolts and chunks stand out. This was a great $40 “2nd wine.” It was solid at $50. No longer has light in its eyes and yet will sell through by week’s end.  88

Easton Estate Bottled Zinfandel 2004 (281501, $39.95) has seen its glory days but persists as a terrific, lively Zin full of ripe berries, bramble and brush. Shows good depth of fruit but no zinsanity. What an amazing wine the original $23, ’98 was. Looking forward to the dregs of this one setting sale south of $30 later in the summer.  90

Macrostie Pinot Noir 2007 (674911, $24.95) is easy drinking with a nice smile that won’t pick the locks. Sweat lodge of woodsmoke and smouldering evergreen spice notes but certainly won’t make you “weak in the knees,” or land you 30 days in the hole.  A slice of humble pie and a seamless transition from Goat’s Halibut en papilotte to a trio of Strawberry and Rhubarb desserts.  87

Shafer Merlot 2009 (346262, $59.95) will always show its long legs best at 10 years old. A fashionista this Shafer, Napa Merlot incarnate. Olive skin, perfume scent, sculpt make-up and total body tone. Sashays down the runway like a supermodel. Lush and possessed of a masculine-feminine dichotomy.  89

Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (111880, $59.95) the paradigmatic Napa trailrunner is positively derivitive, more Marillion than Genesis. Kicks up progressive breccia and calcite aromas, creating energy and power. Chunky liquid viscocity. This one throws many bits at you; berries, currants, crushed fault rock. Less is more. Builds to a crescendo but “whatever rises eventually falls.”  88

Altos Los Hormigos Reserva Malbec 2008 (678987, $27.95) to taste is like sucking on a fig-flavoured Starburst chew dipped in milk chocolate. Heavy juice and cloying welded purple-red dacite.  85  

Anakena Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010 (208439, $15.95) nimbly bricks iridian and follows well more serious wines. New and improved new world Pinot order. Eastern spice meets Southern Hemisphere lacquer.  86

Concha Y Toro Marques De Casa Concha Merlot 2009 (939827, $19.95) flaunts Syrah like pitch, baked earth and a bounty of spicy seasoning. A world party of Merlot on a ship of fools.  Get too close and the alcohol burns up the nasal passage.  “Save me from tomorrow.”  86

Mayu Carmenère 2009 (90035, $17.95) certainly elevates the bell pepper status of this grape with a smoulder of imported coffee beans roasting over a cedar fire. A welcome Carmenère more toothsome and bursting with vim than one would expect. Also an elegance akin to Elqui Valley Syrah.  88

Oveja Negra The Lost Barrel 2008 (273979, $24.95) symphonizes Aussie nomenclature, avant-garde Spanish (Terra Alta) blending and Chilean vitality. Malodorous maw meets sugarplum pudding on a lissome frame.  87

Mitchell McNicol Shiraz 2003 (278572, $45.95) persists with furvor nine years on. Classic Clare Valley blueberry fruit, anise, licorice and pencil shavings. No holds barred, Mitch funky bass drum leads, fills and jazz fusion. Successful if perhaps not conventional Shiraz.  91

Château D’angludet 2008 (133082, $39.00) plays a game of concentration, coupling coup de couer colour and smokey, berry concentrate. Weaves a balance of fruit and acidity, is a bit closed but should be great. Wait a few years.  89

Château Fourcas-Dumont 2001 (280016, $19.95) is stuck on brett overdrive. “Filtered through a cow’s skivies” notes the E-man.  NR

Domaine Louis Jadot Beaune Les Avaux 1er Cru 2009 (932855, $52.95) seems agitated in early life. Nose out of joint and not liking the body language. Maybe five years will allow the flesh to eat away at the anger.  87

Henri De Villamont Prestige Pinot Noir Bourgogne 2009 (84616, $17.95) represents good value, actually. But again, what’s with the dumbing down, double designation? The Villamont is equilibrious, slight of body but well made and will work for food.  87

Ramosceto Lacrima Di Morra D’alba 2010 (277889, $14.95) is not unlike the garage band sparkling red Lambrusco. Tony is so right. If you close your eyes you could be sniffing Gewurztraminer. The lychee, the white roses, the salve. Not so much my cup this Lacrima.  86

Marziano Abbona Pressenda Barolo 2007 (276584, $43.95) strips down and readies for the pop and pour. Ad hoc muscles rolling, flexed and waning, Pressenda enters into an enlightened stage where “hours are like diamonds, don’t let them waste.” Drink alongside a muscle shoal, country-soul-tinged Stones record.  90

Pio Cesare Barbera D’alba 2010 (938886, $19.95) of pungent Caciotta al Tartufo slathered on Melba Toast. Of black cherry cordial, Cointreau, orange zest and fennel biscotti. Grainy tannins. Excellent example. 88

Barone Ricasoli Castelli Di Brolio Chianti Classico 2008 (942607, $59.95) grandstands commodious, extracted chroma for Sangiovese. Gargantuan beak of Rosmarinus officinalis, Frantoio olive and ripe blackberries. Polish, discretion and savvy. Everything under the Tuscan sun and more.  For a current splurge.  91

Poggiotondo Bunello Di Montalcino 2006 (276576, $34.95) gifts yet another sub $35 sub-escarpment Sangiovese Grosso out of the vineyard mouth by Tenuta Pietranera. Stands on nani gigantum humeris insidentes, bespoken of an urban diction. Precocious, fruit forward, gold on the ceiling. Onyx gem in the key of black, “a roar at the door.” An oasis of pleasure for present day consumption.  89

Remo Farina Le Pezze Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2008 (171587, $33.95) underwhelms as a no kicker. Needs no Euro hype nor boozy heft to make itself understood. Modish mocha java speaks fluent huttish, communicating by lingua franca vernacular to the initiated. “Goopta mo bossa!”  92

Fernández De Piérola Reserva 2004 (270579, $25.95) is an oxidized bottle.  NR

Rioja Bordón Tempranillo Reserva 2006 (194753, $18.95) has zest, zing and bling. A freshmaker for ’06, full of mint and Ibex exudation. Needs three to five years to achieve excellency.  89

Good to go!

June the month for Euro 2012 and wine law reform

Thomas Mulcair and Bill C-311

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/05/31/june-the-month-for-euro-2012-and-wine-law-reform/

June is shaping up to be a great month for Football fans and wine lovers across the nation. With one week to go before the opening matches for the Euro 2012 comes news of a new Canadian wine law. By the time Poland and Greece kick off the Euro next Friday, the tabled bill brought forth by Conservative MP Dan Albas may soon be back in the Senate. This after NDP MP’s wasted precious time by debating the bill ad nauseum on Tuesday night, filibustering its fast track to the Senate. One has to wonder what role Mr. Mulcair played in his party’s stall tactics.

Albus is the British Columbia MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla.  His tweets and website are relentless in the pursuit of this proposed legislation. The purpose of Bill C-311 is to allow Canadian wineries to ship their wines across provinces in opposition to the archaic 1928 Prohibition-era law. After some scrambling, Albus was rescued by Liberal MP Scott Brison, who offered some of his own parliamentary time to slot in Bill C-311 next week. The Bill has another chance to pass on June 6. Mark Hicken, who runs the website freethewine.ca, notes that Provincial monopolies need not fear a loss or revenue “as over 90% of wine is consumed within hours of purchase and direct-to-consumer shipments from wineries only make up a small segment of the marketplace.”

While the possibilities of Bill C-311 are exciting, this is just the first step. The law would only apply to shipping from wineries within the country. The law will not effect transfers between monopolies or imports from the United States. Inter-provincial shipping limits will also need to be decided upon.

The question here is Ontario is how will this affect our wine purchasing? David Lawrason wrote back in February that “in Ontario, the limit of this “personal exemption” is still in the hands of the LCBO, and we all wait with bated breath to hear how much wine Father McGuinty and his flock think should be allowed to import before we might be considered ‘traffickers’.  But hey, even a single case minimum would be a help.”

The following BC beauty is being released today in VINTAGES. Here’s to hoping more big reds and aromatic whites out of BC (and Nova Scotia for that matter) will soon be available to Winetarians.

Black Widow Single Vineyard Hourglass 2008 (0258822, $54.00), velveteen in texture, owns an Oyosoos Larose-like liqueur. Gemmish cut and clarity, if not a touch syrupy, but five years should stretch out the thick lines. This is big for Merlot, possessive of a Joan Holloway hourglass figure, disingenuous and exploitive of its sultry French oak flavours. Watch out it don’t black widow you after the first glass.  90

 

Good to go!

Tawse For Thought, A Niagara Summer in March

March 22, 2012

 

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/03/27/tawse-for-thought-a-niagara-summer-in-march/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A freakish heat wave smothers Ontario with record temperatures and that does not sit well with Paul Pender. Budding vines followed by frost could spell disaster. “I’ll be looking for a new job” says Pender. Let’s hope not. His first four vintages at Tawse Winery are the stuff of local hero. The wines yet to be bottled from 2010 and 2011 will introduce Mr. Pender to the world.

Paul Pender is a pragmatist. He’s also the most passionate winemaker this side of the 49th. This deadly combination is the proviso towards ensconcing Tawse as the preeminent winery in Ontario. That and the meticulous farming of optimum ripened grapes coddled from top vineyard sites. The land, the fruit and the barrels. Mr. Pender’s Burgundy, Northern Rhône and Bordeaux Right Bank rolled into one dramatic package. He considers himself a farmer above all else and Tawse is on the road to achieving full organic and biodynamic status. Others may fill out forms that declare their outfits “sustainable” but very few practice what they preach.

I spend 90 minutes in the Tawse caves with Moray’s man, tasting through the 2010 and 2011 casks. I emerge energized, head buzzing,  like walking out of a Yorkdale movie theatre as a child in 1980 having just watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. To a batch, the reds show concentration, deep colour, balance and structure. Not a weak or merely acceptable one in the lot. No “iffs” here. Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah for the long haul. White grapes are mined with Burgundy in mind. When I look into the eyes of the Chardonnays, the cut, clarity and brilliance shine of Dresden green. Single Vineyard wines, each its own unique organism, testaments to power and finesse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chardonnay David’s 2011 coruscates like the glare of a Koon sculpture, lambient and luminous. Searing tang of citrus and green apple. A crime to show so well, Zen in its persistence and long finish. This vintage and this vineyard may unseat Robyn.  93-95

Chardonnay Quarry Road 2011 resides on the mineral, slate and lime side of the tracks. The calcareous quality imparted by its eponymous SV terrior makes it the antithesis of David. Creamy, 24-karat fruit.  91-93

Chardonnay Robyn’s Block 2011 will put another gold record on the wall. Combines the best of both David’s and Quarry’s world.  Smacking sapor of melons and pears. Seriously folks, life’s been good to Robyn.  92-94

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabernet Franc Van Bers 2010 will show that 2010 is the new 1998 for Ontario reds. “Our climate is always workable for early ripening Cab Franc” says Pender, “and when the vintage is right, it’s ideal.” Layers of rich fruit here packed like sardines within a protective bubble of tannin. Should go to 2020 and beyond.  91-93

Merlot David’s 2011 fresh to barrel noses reductive and requires ferocious swirling to aerate and be counted. The wine rebounds so Bob’s your peduncle for this round mound of Merlot. For regular days when you’ve “got some money and a case of wine.” Will drink well in the boat’s cuddy and with grilled ground chuck up on deck.  87-89

Merlot David’s 2010 suffers no stenosis and instead flows as a sanguine and savoury riverine expression. Olives and the smokey whiff of yeasty bread on the grill. Not surprising considering the quality of Pender’s lees so often collected and added back to the next generation’s barrels.  89-91

Syrah Redstone 2011 airs reductive fallacy ad absurdum and so beats it out as a funky drummer.  It takes a major swirl to disambiguate the fetor from the fruit but patience is virtuous. A walled Syrah for sure, and mysterious. Opaque, pepper studded trove of treasure peeks out.  88-90

Syrah Redstone 2010 lays bare visually that rarely, if ever, have I seen this kind of colour intensity from Ontario Syrah.  Pulp and skin impart an easily identifiable dark sheen of complexion. A mess of lush fruit, meed of the maker.  Drink this and “the flutes of the chi will sound again, my friend.” Dangerous. May someday have to be weaned off this one.  91-93

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good to go!

Vin-terra Incognita, The Wines of Celler Piñol

21st Century Wines from Inveterate Vines in Terra Alta

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/02/28/vin-terra-incognita-the-wines-of-celler-pinol/

February 23, 2012

 

If Bordeaux, Napa and even Malbec have your nose wedged in the close-minded glass of life then Terra Alta is certainly not on your radar. Just a stone’s throw away, as the crow flies, a singular and estimable cradle of wine civilization promulgates in the commingling regions of Montsant and Priorat. Stretching its legs from out of the shadow of proximate antediluvian cellars, Celler Piñol aims to broaden horizons, roll over stones, reset the compass. Organically motivated, Piñol is a vintner for the New World. Here nine wines tasted at Barque Smokehouse with partner in wine Jascha Baraness, the indubitable Juanjo Galcerá Piñol and markedly too legit to quit, Spirit Tasting Challenge Winner Mark Coster of Profile Wine Group.

Juanjo Galcera Pinol

L’AVI ARRUFI 2009 ($32) the Garnacha Blanco immortalizes Piñol’s patriarch abuelo. A bold (14.5% alcohol) statement and in tune with the old vine style (Beaucastel) of the Southern Rhône. Composed in peachy, tree-fruit floral tones, the Arrufi tastes like almonds soaked in cider and mel de romani. Essence of white Mediterranean wine. Ancient. Sephardic. Biblical.  91

LUDOVICUS TERRA ALTA 2010 ($14.95) molds Cariñena, Merlot and Syrah around a 50% frame of Garnacha. Grizzled vines for this entry level beauty claw, scratch and rope-a-dope their way through arid and unforgiving limestone soils. A fighter this Ludovicus. Dusty, rocky, bearded and sharp-dressed for the neoteric world. Climbs to the top of the hill and rips off a riff.  87

RAIG DE RAÏM 2010 ($14.95) with increased Cariñena in the mix is a deeper, darker, hemic descendant and displays more bullish animal. Cabernet Sauvignon here too joins Merlot for a cigar note. Begs to be paired with fatty meat, drippings and seared on spice.  88

PORTAL 2009 ($20.95) while not defined, is essentially a Reserva, composed of 50% Garnacha, 20% Cariñena and the remainder Tempranillo, Merlot and Syrah. Jascha says “feral” so I think of the King of Limbs, “…abstract, loopy, throbbing.” Foggy, hat wearing portal to the brain of a braised landscape, demanding short rib, rich broth, slow wine. “Take it easy.”  91

Portal 2009

 

SA NATURA 2009 ($21.95) is a blend of 50% Cariñena with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Tempranillo. The qualities imparted by geomorphic wacke, anticline crag and orogenic Keuper translate to a natural wine, down to earth. Another Piñol made in the vineyard despite the varietal bag.  90

L’AVI ARRUFI VI DE GUARDA 2007 ($39.95) spends 16 months in French oak so the power of 60% Cariñena is unleashed. Combined with 30% Garnacha and 10% Syrah, the Guarda is an architecturally driven, linear and precise specimen. Menthol, eucalyptus and chewy, resinous berries swim out from the arid, desert soils where little rain falls, the days are hot and the nights cold.  92

MATHER TERESINA 2006/2007 ($49.95) is indeed a blended vintage bottling, now a lost art and set to disappear. 40% Cariñena and 30% Garnacha are joined by indigenous Morenillo and the combined effect is an early Cubist smoke, ash and tar affair. Cocoa and cream too.  90

FINCA MORENILLO 2009 ($64.95) is the diamond in the rough. No other wine in the line up buzzes as much with the warmth from humidity that is maintained in Terra Alta’s Mesozoic soils. Made from 100% Morenillo, this Pinot Noir like, thick-skinned, late-maturing grape here shows as a wine of distinct clarity. Very cherry, reminiscent of Bierzo but precisely concentrated and elegant. Here the Canaletas flowing gracefully to the Fontcalda Spa.  93

Finca Morenillo 2009

JOSEFINA VI DOLC 2009 (500 mL, $29.95) is black cherry pie, orange peel scented, late harvest dessert anti-syrup. While the pecan pie match is certainly viable, 76% chocolate would do just fine. That and a Persian Princess.  91
 
 
 
 
Good to go!