Tag Archives: Riesling Spätlese

The best wine releases of 2012

PHOTO: STEFANO TIRABOSCHI/FOTOLIA.COM

Wine is best celebrated with family and friends and the holidays present so many opportunities to share a glass. Pulling corks (or twisting caps) substantiates purchasing choices made in previous years. Last year I noted on, “a quick reflect back on a year of plasmic vials once voluminous, now in condign as a commitment to memory. ”

The current season’s pours have the palaver or promise and the eviglio of accumulation to thank for the opportunity. The VINTAGES releases of 2012 perpetuate this promulgated philosophy. The year’s buys have migrated to the cellar, to wait there in abstemious behaviour of maturation. They too will one day climb the steps to a welcoming table, set with family and friends.

Here are my favourite under and over $30 wines of 2012.

Under $30 VINTAGES released wines

Under $30 VINTAGES Releases

1. The grapes: Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah

Where: Côtes du Rhône, France

Domaine Les Grands Bois Cuveé Maximilien Cairanne 2010 (286336, $21.95) is extraordinary for the appellation. Pitch purple, world-class milk and dark chocolate swirl, creamy silk. The stuff of recent phenomenon, where rocks, dreams and raspberries are crushed and scattered like cake bits over the loam.   91

2. The grapes: Garnacha, Carinena and Syrah

Where: Montsant, Spain

Celler Besllum Besllum 2008 (283515, $15.95) of Cubist Picassan, “cut up, Maria,” heavenly body struts its stuff as an enchantress with an alluring Spanish, violaceous visage. A black cherry, carboniferous quartzite Popsicle for Mr. Jones.  “We all want something beautiful.”  90

3. The grape: Petite Sirah

Where: Alexander Valley, California

Trentadue La Storia Petite Sirah 2010 (291047, $23.95) is massively concentrated out of the Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, as if it were packed with five centuries of the Italian American experience. Manages 14.9% alcohol with George Bailey-esque, heady grace. Tasted blind I commented, “if this is under $30 it’s an outrageous deal.” “Well whaddya know about that!!!. “ 92

4. The grape: Riesling

Where: Clare Valley, Australia

Pewsey Vale Riesling 2011 (686600, $19.95) shimmers an iridescent emerald-green on gold patina. Cracks like a whip straight in your face with lemon, lime and slate than lowers a sledgehammer of petrified wood. Snake-like Sasak fruit tang and acidity “goes dancin’ in,”  “builds that power” and lingers long after its skin has been shed.  91

5. The Grape: Sangiovese

Where: Tuscany, Italy

Dei Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano 2008 (285510, $28.95) is a wow wine. Viscous, sweet nectar, full on concentrated berries and polished rocks au jus. An opus dei call to vinous holiness and sanctity. Rapturous feeling of punch drunk love falls over me after sipping this noble Sangiovese (Prugnolo Gentile).  92

6. The grape: Chenin Blanc

Where: Loire Valley, France

Marc Brédif Vouvray 2010 (685362, $19.95) perches high atop a parched, molecular hilltop. Bread starter nip promises stuffed pastry filled with friable, early harvest apples. Wonderful, classic and dehumidified Vouvray.  91

7. The grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot

Where: Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Lulu Island Meritage (277566, $23.95) just sounds like an Aussie moniker when in fact it hails from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Maybe the most lustrous B.C. red I have ever laid eyes on. Hard not to forbear a crush on its purple profile, hued like a $100, Single-Vineyard Argentinean Malbec. A bit reductive due to its infantile youth but this is appurtenant to the samphire, currants and peppery Merlot scents. Less weight buoys the palate. Bites back in the end. Follows varietal rules of proportion vis-a-vis the dry martini. Massive CVR** complexity from this massif assemblage.  91

8. The Grape: Cabernet Franc

Where: Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Hinterbrook Rosé 2011 (275818, $16.00) is simply brilliant. Top Ontario Rosé to date. Goes well beyond descriptors like “playful” and “quaffable.” A four-day Cabernet Franc cold soak was the ticket to serious pink success, the choice of grape an engineering master stroke. Hinterbrook’s dark side of the moon. Moody, ambient, rich in tone, lyric and extended play. Rosé needs some mystery and here it is.  ”There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.”  91

9. The Grape: Riesling

Where: Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2009 (0197186, $21.95) races out of the nuss pit with peerless Bergweiler CVR** Spätlese speed. The late harvest drupe is so focused you would never know how sweet the middle ground really is. Never struggling against circumstance, it slides effortlessly into Spätlese orbit. Searching and finding the German Riesling dream. Sonnenuhr vineyard is here and “the time is right, for racing in the street.”  91

10. The Grape: Chardonnay

Where: Casablanca Valley, Chile

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2010 (738393, $17.95) will be your best IVR* bet for Chardonnay day on May 26. Wild yeasts make cause for a weird resemblance, reminiscent of February’s Furmint. Delicate, expressive and unusual, the mint flint, brioche and smoked pineapple effect leads to thoughts of Blancs de Blancs. A little malo just might turn this into good bubbly!  89

Over $30 VINTAGES released wines

Over $30 VINTAGES Releases

1. The grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault

Where: Southern Rhône, France

Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2010 (700922, $53.95, SAQ 10817461, $50.50) will dare you to claim any better value from the storied appellation. “Da price boss, da price!” Like I’ve landed on Fantasy Island where Châteauneuf is flowing and it’s always affordable! Kirsch galore, a Rhône cat, sensuous and gorgeous. Goldfinger garrigue, with herbs and acidity so alive and purring. Approachable now, the heavenly structure will see the Donjon through 2025.  94

2. The grape: Cabernet Sauvignon

Where: Napa Valley, California

Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (193763, $99.95) is a flat out brilliant composition by the voice of one who once “traded love for glory.” This Cab reverts back to its singer-songwriter, Napa Valley pioneering form. The ’08 is a crooning balladeer intent to hold out its best in a graceful lucubration of layered, dark fruit, restrained restlessness and a vision of long life. Put the Dunn away and look to be rewarded 15+ years on with as good a California Cabernet as you will ever taste.  96

3. The Grape: Syrah

Where: Northern Rhône, France

Delas Frères Francois De Tournon Saint-Joseph 2009 (17525, $33.00) is both militaristic and the stuff of gushing Renaissance literature. Serious Syrah and foxy, Faerie Queene.  Cardinal colour, striking and dreamy. Augustinian diplomat meets allegorical fantasy. Crushed berries, truffles caked by earth, sol de la foret. Built of elegance and power, “such endlesse richesse, and so sumptuous shew.”  92

4. The Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot

Where: Napa Valley, California

Dominus 2008 (212381, $145.95) solicits riposte for parry, to buy or not to buy. The omnipotently voluptuous one resides in a tramontane locale, beyond reach and also the pale. A shocking parade of profound, hyper-purple personality. Even if it suffers “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune“, a lucky man this Dominus, “all dressed in satin,” “nor woman neither.” Colour field shockingly crimson and amarinthine, textured with rich and layered brush stroke, as if Red on Maroon. A Lama, “the flowing robes, the grace, bald…striking.” To me this ’08 leans more Ornellaia than Pétrus.  97

5. The grapes: Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignan

Ridge Lytton Springs 2009 (982413, $46.95) will live in infamy like the ’92 and ’99. Immediate waft of freshly shucked vanilla bean. Ambrosial, earthy, briary fruit. Precise distillation inclusive of 23% Petite Sirah results in an impossibly lambent cordial. Not to mention you gotta love that Draper perfume. Open the magazine in 10-15 years time for the best read.  93

6. The grape: Nebbiolo

Where: Piedmont, Italy

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

7. The grapes: Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and Counoise

Where: Southern Rhône, France

Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2010 (711317, $89.95) enters no confected, over-extracted or OTT danger zones. The most floral Beaucastel, a doffing of Stoechas Avignon and the omnipresent Rhône garrigue. Persimmon and lavender share time imparting the wine with fumes from les galets roulés of the argilo-calcaireous vineyard beds. Basic hedonism here from such an extraordinary, complex and balanced blend.  95

8. The grapes: Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon

Where: Bordeaux, France

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

9. The grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot

Where: Tuscany, Italy

Ornellaia 2009 (722470, $189.95) is more approachable than the unparalleled 1998. A silky smooth and velvety texture puts super-ripe fruit at the forefront. While that ’98 rocked my world, this vintage offers immediate gratification, less dominating hard lines and edges. The balance is impeccable but the acidity is tempered, like the finest chocolate. The window is open now, though it may soon close, to drink beautifully for the next five years.  94

10. The Grapes: Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara e Altri Vitigni

Where: Veneto, Italy

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

Good to go!

Great whites, fall colours

The Road. Photo courtesy Kiowaman

as seen on canada.com

We are distinctly Canadian. In summer we paddle, navigating canoes through marshes, bogs and streams, traversing lakes and meandering down rivers. In the fall we are more likely to pack up the car and drive the road to northern climes, marveling at the changing season, elucidated by fall’s bright oranges, yellows and reds.

Our taste and choice in wine follows suit. When the heat is on we look to sharp, vigorous and thirst quenching white wines. Sauvignon Blanc, Vermentino, Garganega, Riesling and Chenin Blanc. Jumping forward a month or two there will be the need for full-bodied whites; Chardonnay, Semillon, Viognier, Marsanne and Rousanne. In the autumn interim we bridge the gap with Unoaked Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Grenache Blanc.

Here are six great whites for fall and for the early stages of the coming winter cold.

The grape: Chardonnay

The history: Take away the oak influence and Chardonnay goes crisp and clean

The lowdown: Winemaker Richie Roberts is without peer for this method, at this price

The food match: Perfumed Chicken Broth , chinese dumplings

Fielding Unoaked Chardonnay 2011 (164491, $13.95) continues to will clear water talent for value. A revivalist po’ boy made of ascetic industrialism; efficient, reasonable and utilitarian. Drinks well down on the corner, with enhanced juicy fruit. All orchard fruit, all the time. Very satisfying for the coin. “Bring a nickel, tap your feet.”  87

The grape: Pinot Gris

The history: A widely planted and signature grape for B.C. due to its ability to ripen in all three of the major regions: Island, Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys.

The lowdown: This Okanagan version may be sweeter and softer than others but winemaker George Heiss Jr. has struck gold with his 2011

The food match: Warm Pulled Soft Chicken Tacos, romaine, candied bacon, caesar dressing

Gray Monk Pinot Gris 2011 (118638, $19.95, B.C. 118638, $16.99) is a purling wind of crisp, sprite Mutsu apple, honey, molasses and castile. Certainly not the pepper and spice of its Alsatian brethren but manages to lift Okanagan prurience into B.C. repartee.  88

The grape: Sauvignon Blanc

The history: The ode to Bordeaux and the Loire is fading. Kiwi SB rocketed to stardom, went through a recession and has emerged a major player

The lowdown: Marlborough at its finest

The food match: Caprese Corn Meal Galette Tart, tomato, fior di latte and basil

Wither Hills Single Vineyard Rarangi Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (288134, $21.95) coagulates sea air above Cloudy Bay, arsenopyrite and carapace to imbue the Rarangi SV with density and intensity. A white grapefruit, lime and sugar syrup sangria void of gooseberry and asparagus. A breath of Marlborough fresh air.  90

The grape: Riesling

The history: Germany’s trademark grape

The lowdown: Spätlese means “late harvest” and as a Prädikatswein it carries with it Germany’s highest quality designation

The food match: Lemon Curd Short-breads

Prinz Von Hessen Johannisberger Klaus Riesling Spätlese 2002 (295659, $21.95) of graceful, gold regal colour is a dessert wine now, for all intents and purposes. The citrus tang of acidity persists and melds into what is now a scintillating, cider apple stage. A big thanks for aging this one for us, it’s now ready to go.  90

Fall Colours. Photo courtesy Kiowaman

The Splurges

The grape: Sauvignon Blanc

The history: From its true home in the Loire where the ancient refuse of the varietal is traced in the soil

The lowdown: Jolivet is king and this bottling is one of his finest made to date

The food match: Smoked shrimp, chive crème fraîche, garlic chips

Pascal Jolivet Les Caillotes Sancerre 2010 (287086, $31.95) starts out with subtle herbs and spice. Drifts to flint, pericarp and chalk then builds and lifts to edgy crystalline and jeweled gem. Accomplishes all its aromas and tastes with refinement. Flies away with the barrel on the longest flight imaginable for a Sauvignon Blanc.  91

The grapes: Marsanne, Viognier, Bourboulenc and Clairette

The history: Southern Rhône white blend from a house that makes some of the greatest white wine on the planet

The lowdown: Beaucastel’s “second” wine is at it’s very best in 2011.

The food match: Fresh Ravioli, sage butter, extra-virgin olive oil, reggiano parmesan

Château Beaucastel Coudoulet De Beaucastel Blanc 2011 (48892, $33.95, SAQ 449983, $30.25) may just be the lowly, new ‘second’ home of the pope (papal coach house if you will) but ahhhh…white Rhône blossoms, so many varietals, so little opportunity to taste them. This is faintly nutty like Oloroso, fragrant, and annotated for interpolations. “Smells divine,” “gorgeous colour” and “tastes great.”  90

Good to go!

Dude’s wine night

as seen on canada.com

Wine writers are rarely accused of being overworked. Tasting through 100 wines at a sitting requires effort and focus but it’s still got nothing on Mike Rowe. There is work and then there is play, like accepting an invitation to dinner prepared by a passionate and skilled cook, with a bottle of wine the price of admission. Talk about a no-brainer.

On Friday night I dug deep into the cellar for a ’97 Tuscan and joined five fellow geeks, “The Wine Dudes,” for an adventure ride through 10 wines from 4 countries. A line up to leave oneself in bewilderment and utter presence. Wines of yeast, lees, late harvest and élevage en cuve. Wines made by celebrities, of iconic status, from historic locales, in times of peace and in times of war. What a trip.

Jacquesson Cuvée No. 734 Champagne is a blend of all Premier or Grand Cru fruit; Chardonnay (54%), Pinot Meunier (26%) and Pinot Noir (20%), based upon the 2006 vintage (73%). Essentially vintage authentic, it’s a balanced affair of toast, honey and grapefruit.  90

LOBSTER BISQUE, fresh tarragon

Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon 2005 by way of a note from JM is “really impressive with the bisque. Balanced richness and spiciness echoed the lobster, refreshing orchard fruit and dry honeyed finish, with lots of minerality to match the crushed shells.” Also from BE, “a honey pear start,  nice acid on the finish. Beeswaxy Sav nose.  Surprisingly harmonious match with the bisque. Rich enough to go toe to toe, but sharp enough on back end to cleanse palate.” Seems to me it “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.”

Podere Castorani Jarno Bianco Colline Pescaresi IGT 2006 (111690, $59.95) released back in June 0f 2009 is now a bronzed, verging on patina Madeira cocktail. The oxidation is philosophical, post-secondary and welcome, like finding a ’75 Chablis from the depths of dad’s cellar, opening, tasting and reveling in its ability to survive. One of a kind formula blend of Trebbiano D’Abruzzo 70%, Malvasia 20% and Cococciola 10% from Italian race car driver Jarno Trulli. Piques intrigue and opens a new dossier to white wine investigation.  89

BEEF CHUCK AND HEART HAMBURGERS, american cheese, fresh romano beans, panzanella salad, fennel

Georges Duboeuf Morgon 2010 (946186, $18.95) is Gamay defined, chipper and jocund. The simpleton whose heart is revealed after stripping away its body. A cold pull of pressed plum, gateway and seamless segway to bigger reds.  87

I Giusti & Zanza Belcore Toscana IGT 2009 (652990, $23.95) uses (20%) Merlot as travel partner for (80%) Sangiovese to learn another language abroad. Studies the fruity fresh undergrad Gamay, moves quickly forward to post-graduate, earthy Right Bank, satellite Saint-Emilion and returns home to write a doctorate on sonorous and thermal IGT.  88

Château Fonroque St. Emilion Grand Cru 2000 unseats Talbot as the non pareil Bordeaux coalescence of value and longevity from that vintage. Resolute to immaculate balance, black fruit steadfast against crumbling tannins and yet I can see this pushing on for 10 or more. “You like drinking ghosts,” says JM. Yes I do, yes I do.  93

Bosquets Des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1998 is deep into tertiary life, displaying prune and dried, Amarone-like fruit. Hangs on with nary a sign of further development or decline for hours so good on the Papes for its frisson of retribution.  90

Castello Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Poggio Alle Mura 1997 is bloody in so many ways; good, hell, yeah. “Like killing a stag and eating it” or ” like peeling a scab and eating it” is over heard. The elixir is pure silk, the fruit dark and divine. To be honest, this ’97 (nice coincidence) Brunello has entered a La Vita è bella window. All I can say to the now bite-less and bella Banfi is “Buono giorno Principessa!”  93

Château Musar 2002 (109413, $54.95) from the Bekaa Valley, a place more famous for air strikes than grapevines. The Bordeaux blend is here exceptional, prodigiously candied like Sonoma Pinot a la Merry Edwards, but with an added depth of ash and earth. A sponge of lush red fruit, “gargle material,” notes chef. Spends seven years in their cellars. In a peaceful world it would be called a shmita. Lebanon’s vinous muse.  91

FIRE POACHED FIGS, roasted chestnuts, ice cream

Dr. Pauly Bergweiler Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese 2007 shows remarkable poise and lack of cloy. A cooperative of residual sweetness and acidity, still freshly ensconced in its primary stage of Riesling maturation. More perennial than petrol, more pear than paraffin.  92

Good to go!