Foggy morning walk through November Chardonnay @bellavistavino #franciacorta #lalbereta
In wine, assessment is a slow business because one stops so often to take note and to take notes. Wine demands the activity of putting down into the well a number of tangent travelled thoughts. If ever the creative well should run dry, simply venture across the pond to spend some time in a place like Franciacorta. Witness the water table rise.
L’Albereta Relais & Châteaux
November is a sublime time to visit the province of Brescia and the cellars of Franciacorta. The villages of Erbusco and Iseo decelerate with approaching dormancy and only the distant mountains are blanketed by the snows of winter. The recently completed vintage is safely tucked away, slumbering peacefully in ancient caves. Early morning fog begs to be habituated and when the sun shines Erbusco beckons with its hidden monuments, stashed away secrets and treasures buried around every corner. The Friday market at Iseo bustles and passively hustles. The Oglio River lies to the west, while Lago Iseo winds in the undertow of the snow-capped Dolomite Mountains on the jagged tablature horizon.
L’Albereta
On the grounds of L’Albereta a sculpture garden blends into the landscape and it can be imagined camouflaged, though always available for discovery hundreds of years from now, even if the architecture has been completely altered.
Prosciutto, burrata and @BellaVistaVino @franciacorta the most perfect welcome in @albereta #erbusco
Created to celebrate the third millennium, the Parco delle Sculture is a genuine open-air museum where thirteen contemporary art sculptures wind their way across 61,000 hectares of parkland, from L’Albereta to the nearby “Bellavista” and “Contadi Castaldi” wineries, in an intriguing dialogue with nature.
A section of the L’Albereta sculpture garden
VistaLago Bistrò, L’Albereta
Such a salad speaks volumes. So much more to come from the @chef_lucatelli arsenal #benessere
Notes on Bellavista and Contadi Castaldi
With help from @BellaVistaVino and @contadicastaldi notes with dinner @LAlbereta #bistrovistalago #erbusco #franciacorta
Market day in Iseo
Friday market at #iseo #carciofi #franciacorta
The island of Monteisola on Lago Iseo
View from Cure post sublime hike up #monteisola #lakeisland #brescia #lombardia #monasteriasansalvatore
Looking for lunch in all the right places
Finding lunch in hiding places. Menu fisso 10€- pasta:carne:insalata:vino:acqua:cafe #iseo #lagodiseo #lombardia #ilombardiaristorante
Prix Fixe
I Lombardi Ristorante, Iseo
We need this in Ontario
Every bookstore should have a bar in the back #iseo
Bellavista wines at L’Albereta
Bellavista Franciacorta, L’Albereta
Gambero Rosso Welcome Dinner at Leon Felice, L’Albereta Relais & Châteaux
by Executive Chef Fabio Abbattista
With Luigi Salermo, Marco Sabellico, Lorenzo Ruggeri and Tiina Eriksson, our hosts from Gambero Rosso.
From a 5.45 hectare vineyard, in homage to the friars of Mount Orphane dating back to 1449, Chardonnay meant to age with ancient tradition always tucked safely into the slow release, micro-oxyganted back pocket. Scents of lemony green and rose. Wood relations are important, fig and lactic notes apparent and this is stretched but weighty, very elastic Chardonnay. If the verve seems to be waning it must be understood that this wine begins, travels and ends this way. Bellavista is the chosen one to make wine from “a unique and unrepeatable section of vineyard, the expression of an ancient tradition.” Drink 2015-2022. Tasted November 2015
Cappelletti with burnt wheat, rabbit and anchovy butter
Cappelletti al grano arso, coniglio e burro di acciughe
A demi-sec produced using exclusively Chardonnay grapes from at least 30 different vineyards located on high hillside plots with ideal south exposures. Over 30 per cent of the fermentation takes place in small white oak casks. A balanced, pure, creamy, mellifluous honey dessert wine of a sweetness that hides in shadows. The question begs. How can this be demi-sec? Drink 2015-2018. Tasted November 2015
Green apple sorbet, celery and passion fruit nectar
Sorbetto mela verde, sedano e Nectar
In the evening
Persimmon and Dolomites. Must be #franciacorta #lalbereta #relaischateaux
In the morning
Yesterday is wiped away by a day that begins this way #breakfast #lalbereta
Bellavista Gala
The purpose of the event was a journey of oenological discovery (Meraviglioso), music and gastronomy at the hands of Chef Vittorio Fusari.
Lost in a @BellaVistaVino dream that has just begun
In anticipation of Meraviglioso
Grazie mille @bellavistavino @gambero_rosso for welcoming us to your special #franciacorta celebration ~ @mgodello @winealign
Riserva Vittorio Moretti Magnum 2008, Franciacorta (Winery)
Puff pastry potatoes with caviar, red onion cream, sardines, julien and parsley
It was a simple wine back then. Good luck and providence in this part of the world have made this wine so special. In 1995, it rained for 40 days. I know. I was in Italy for 17 days in August that summer. In September botrytis developed but low temperatures ending up concentrating the grapes flesh and thickened the berries over a course of five to six days. Harvest saw brown grapes and 12,000 bottles made were made. That it has survived for so many years is not surprising. It is impossible. The link goes to Mattia having seen an Yquem harvest in the 1970’s. How long to keep? Until 2075. “So I’m very hopeful for this wine.” When my father moved from his house in 2005 he asked me to take his “cellar.” Of the 17 bottles, there was a 1970 labeled Chablis. Burgundy. No producer. I brought it home and thought waiting even one more day would be one more day to long. It was perfect, alive, on the straddled line of oxidative, had been there and might stay there for 20 more years. Like this 1995. Ethereal. Rich, elegantly, gently sweet, so fine. Why not see what 20 more years can do. Drink 2015-2035. Tasted November 2015
Bella Vista Chardonnay, Lago Iseo and the Dolomite Mountains
As seen on WineAlign – Franciacorta and the Meraviglioso of Bellavista
Where can you find snow-capped Rhaetian Alps, double morainic amphitheatres, glacial lakes, ancient vineyards and one of the best kept Sparkling wine secrets on the planet? At the end of a day not in Franciacorta I could do well with a glass. Bubbles from north eastern Italy, where traditional method Sparkling wine of Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco come together masterfully to create Franciacorta. Satèn, Brut and Rosé, for Millesimato, Riserva and now the new elaboration, finalmente, some kind of wonderful, Meraviglioso.
Large formats and the furnace @contadicastaldi @franciacorta #gamberorosso #moretti
The month of November bids up translation to such an Italian vernacular as it is a wonderful time to visit Lombardy and the cellars of Franciacorta. A time before the snows of winter fall, long after the stems have turned to brown, the grapes picked, crushed and fermented, at a time when the vintage’s base wines rest comfortably in the caves of the region’s 110 wineries. You can take an early morning walk through a Chardonnay block and note the gentle south-east exposure slope engulfed by fog thick as porridge in the greater provincial Brescia world demurred a whiter shade of pale. On sunny days summon up a cool, crisp stroll through courageous Pinot Noir up on a hill above the village of Erbusco, with the Oglio River to the west, Lago Iseo and the snow-capped Dolomite Mountains rising in the deep distance. The vines stand stark, stripped and undraped, like petrified wood monuments, now only possessive of memories.
Standing with giants @BellaVistaVino Winemaker Mattia Vezzola and Vittorio Moretti.
It is here where Lombardic legacies are cemented in this northerly Italian region, after 450 years of recorded Sparkling wine history. Newly appointed President of the Consorzio Franciacorta and Bellavista Winery proprietor Vittorio Moretti has recently bottled something no self-respecting vigneron on this fizz fermenting planet has ever had the enterprise or perspicaciousness with which to follow through. Not in Franciacorta and certainly not in Champagne. Moretti and his enologist/chef du cave partner of 30 years Mattia Vezzola gathered the wines of six great vintages (1984, 1988, 1991, 1995, 2001 and 2002) spread across three decades together in one singular, bold, ultra-elegant and exacting impossible cuvée. Meraviglioso.
Pouring Meraviglioso
Bellavista Studio Meraviglioso Vendemmia 2004, 6000 mL, Docg Franciacorta (WineAlign)
Poured from a Methuselah and can only be produced every 30 years. This is the first vintage. Studio equals a test product. This is something wholly other. The holy coming together of acidity (energy) and texture (elegance) From the best harvests of the last 30 years. Sparkling as the interaction between studying and working. One or the other alone will not achieve the culture of this wine. Middle rope lined by fine sea salt flecked by dried thyme. So refined. Gentlest mousse and forming the most amazing rim. As the winemaker notes, “it’s very exciting that technology must reside in the traditional. Idea must reside in craftsmanship. Manual work enables the soul.” Drink 2015-2045. Tasted November 2015
The best way to make a sensory profile last is to model it after someone. Choosing great vintages, as here with ’84, ’88, ’91 ’94, ’01 and ’04 is to offer a shared sensory profile and characteristics, along with the value of patience, something that lasts over time. This blend of vintages, which includes 1984 speaks to a winemaker’s emotion. “Nothing makes more sense than passion.” Will this leave a different mark on Spumante wines? “We wish that every of the 30,000,000 bubbles is a moment of happiness for each of you. Long term Franciacorta will have to take direction from this wine.” Words of proprietor Vittorio Moretti. The Studio (test) 2004 here transmogrifies into another turn of phrase, twirl of body, as told from marble. Watch the bubbles rise from the centre and widen to the edges, slowly, purposefully, without distraction. You can hear a pin drop with this wine sitting in glass. A wine to connect a string of great vintages, spanning decades, interlacing hands, sweat and passion, from contributors who are all represented in this bottle. They are all remembered, their lives, their wishes, their shared culture. Finesse, energy, mousse, elegance and length. For whom the Sparkling wine tolls. Drink 2015-2050. Tasted November 2015
The playful and calculated wine pays respectful homage to a wine region immortalized, like warriors in stone, by classic authors; Pliny, Columella and Virgil. In the 16th century Lombardian physician Gerolamo Conforti encouraged a healthy lifestyle and widespread consumption, defining Franciacorta bubbles as “mordaci” or, lively and bubbly.
Temperatures at ripening are much higher as compared to Champagne. The mountains are a major part, as a barrier to the southern winds to preserve acidity. Franciacorta producers have the historic sparkling traditions of Champagne to compete against a crowded global market. That said, they have little interest in comparing their ancient method Sparkling wine to those from other regions, nor does it matter whether their roots were laid down prior to or subsequent from more famous peers. What matters is progression, innovation and resolution. Meraviglioso adheres and abides to Franciacorta’s deferential past. It also revises the scripture and reinvents the future.
Vigna Leone, Bellavista
The historic concept directs the winemaker to make wine that is fresh with acidity on the palate, but not felt in the stomach. Wines that are easy to digest. Wines to drink for all of eternity. Between 6.7 and 7.5 TA is the number on the base wines. This differs from Champagne in alcohol because the Champenoise reach a maximum level which is the minimum for Franciacorta and acidity is exactly the obvious. Everyone these days talks about terroir, which is important, but they seemed to have forgotten about genes.
Mattia Vezzola and Francesca Moretti
The area’s modern era dates back to 1961, with 11 producers, 29 hectares of vineyards and a production of 2000 hectolitres of Pinot di Franciacorta. DOC status was granted in 1967, with nine pioneering agriculturalists in the mix. In 1990 the creation of the consortium for the protection of Franciacorta wines was accomplished with 29 producers as members. Now, after nearly 50 years of officially recognized production Franciacorta is poised to become the next big thing. Fizz is in demand worldwide and compared to other high quality traditional method sparkling wines, Franciacorta is well positioned. Pinot Noir has a role to play and perhaps everything to do with that. Chardonnay and its essential Blanc de Blancs sparkling oeuvre has managed bubble expectation and dominated output since time immemorial but the sweeping cloud of global warming is changing everything.
Erbusco, Brescia, Lombardy
A portal into the Franciacorta compass dial only 15 years ago sees Chardonnay picked on average around August 15th. Cyclical weather patterns notwithstanding, temperature increases of nearly five degrees Celsius mean that in order to maintain freshness and protect necessary acidity these days the grapes are picked two weeks earlier. Short of washing this planet clean as the bible says or continuing to hot wire reality, something has to give.
Even while Chardonnay’s phenolic journey is finding its way to completion, some things can’t help but get lost in accelerated heat unit translation. Any winemaker worth their weight in viniculture excellence knows that the real future lies in the embrace of complex behaviour inherent within the later ripening condition of thin-skinned Pinot Noir. Chardonnay will not be abandoned any time soon but ripping up some of the dominant vineyard holdings and switching to Pinot Noir is in the cards.
Bellavista
On my late November trip the epiphanies came fast and furious when Franciacorta opened its arms to receive journalists from around the globe. My WineAlign colleague Treve Ring and I were introduced to Bellavista Vino and Contadi Castaldi pours at L’Albereta Relais & Chateaux and it was for me an initiation into a personal paradigm shift, in a dream that had just recently begun. Tasting the range on premises at Contadi Castaldi from Blanc de Blancs through Blanc de Noirs and into Pinot Nero aided in clarifying the varietal shift. The entire visit was qualified by Gambero Rosso’s principals Luigi Salermo, Marco Sabellico, Lorenzo Ruggeri and Tiina Eriksson, with their ushering of seminal tastings, including a Bellavista horizontal of 1987’s in 750 mL, Magnum, Jeroboam (3L) and Methuselah (6L), along with a Salmanzar 9L bottle from 1989. This line-up made for a rarest of opportunities, tasting chance of a lifetime.
Bellavista horizontal
Treve and I tasted a number of Franciacorta examples during our visit and we have also been able to sample imports in British Columbia and Ontario.
The Bellavista Horizontal
The purpose of this extraordinary tasting is to assess how this wine changes its sensory impression depending on the size of the vessel it was bottled in. Though it once contained 30,000,000 bubbles, now 28 years later, perhaps the number is just 13. Well, from now on I’m clearly only buying my sparkling wine in minimum 3L formats.
The wines were tasted in 1991 and 1998. This is the third and last chance to taste these large formats. From 1987, in 750 mL, Magnum, Double Magnum and Methuselah. The 9L bottle is a 1989 (because there are no more ’87’s in that format).
Five little ducks all in a row @BellaVistaVino #anothersongaboutthefizz #franciacorta #largeformats #1987 #1989
1987 (750 mL)
Composed of 80 per cent Chardonnay and 20 Pinot Nero, the harvest it refers to is 1987 though it is not a vintage wine. Runs straight to a marzipan and honey with lanolin dressing, marked by orange rind and spice that needles into the olfactory nerve. Has aged well and would call it oxidative (at least this bottle). The hue has obviously changed. Was disgorged yesterday (November 27th) so there was no need for added liquor. Truth be told it has not developed into a tertiary, overly mature, oxidative step, but it has sublimated in micro-oxygenation.
1987 (Magnum – 1.5 L)
Sensory activation. Zero oxidation, prominent acidity and underlying nutty comprehension. No honeyed and waxy filming, a seeker yet to find any true tertiary life. In elegance now and with imaginations of 10 more years this way. Any yet only the Magnum. Come back to it after ten minutes and the citrus is palpable. Finding a layer of preserved lemon 15 minutes later. Its next stage becomes more apparent with time, by size and in relation to what comes after.
1987 (Double Magnum – 3 L)
Completely different once again, now reductive, stinky, full of a preserved rage and with just two minutes in glass begins to soften and ready itself. A heap of aggression plus 28 years of time have blessed it with all the tools it needs. So alive, without the nutty accent but certainly in possession of the inside shaving of the barrel. Barrel peels, not fruit. More mineral here. Much more. Also tropical, like ginger and cardamom. The most interesting of the three by kilometres. The real access is toast and flint. This is the real deal. Rich and mature, not piercing and now accessible. Incredible length. Close to the edge in a mythical land, of impressions neither flora nor fauna, but of atmosphere.
1987 (Methuselah – 6 L)
The first wine to show similarly to another, this rocks out flinty and reductive like the 3L. The energy is consistent, but here the spice is magnified and the nutty sense that showed in the Magnum has come forth. This seems to combine the pique aspects of both the 1.5 and the 3. A best of all worlds bottle plus what it brings that neither had. Absolute freshness. Does not evolve in the glass in its first few minutes as the others that came before. It evens glistens unlike the others, as if it knows how complex, special, live and alive it is. This is the bomb for sure. Dart straight through the heart. Crazy exceptional Sparkling wine.
The big pour
1989 (Salmanzar – 9L)
Absolutely, unequivocally, indisputably no evolution. If this dos not drive the point that if you want to age Sparkling wine you must bottle it in the largest format possible, then nothing will. At least do away with 750 mL bottles. Large format is not about pageantry. It is about age. The taste is very different than all the 1987’s. So much more acidity and vitality and it is wondered aloud that more Pinot Noir must be in the mix. The citrus is at the forefront and all over the hairs of this wine. Twenty six years in a 9L bottle is like five, certainly not 10.
It should be interesting to try and assess, which is a major act of liberty in assumption, to assume with accuracy how format affects age. To close one’s eyes tight and place a number on each wine, to where it has evolved and why. 750 mL left its post five years ago. Magnum is in the window as we speak and will not be perceived with evolutionary certainty to its tertiary development for two of three more. Double Magnum is still three to five years away from even that beginning. Methusaleh sits in a window of seven to 10 years and the 9L 1989 certainly 10-15. Perhaps as far away as 20. Truly.
Apropos alms giving Cuveé, in regards to balance, offering a broad swath and sweep of creamy, soft spoken bubbles. Produced from one half of the estate’s harvest selections, out of 107 plots ranged over 10 different Franciacorta municipalities. A child of both horizontal and (reserve wines) vertical blending. Composed of (80 per cent) Chardonnay, (19) Pinot Nero and (1) Pinot Bianco. Known to its makers by an “affectionate” term for the land that produces wonders, this may be the most calming of the Bellavista portfolio. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted November 2015
This Sparkling blend of Chardonnay dominant with support from Pinot Nero is the welcome mat, regional conduit and arms open wide portal into the impressing preoccupation of Franciacorta. From vines of healthy altitude on south/south-easterly exposures and an average age of over 25 years. A sussurrare measure of and not much more than 30 per cent of the juice ferments and matures in small white oak casks for no less than seven months. When we talk of the natural balance in nature, we may as well be referring to an arid, saline, citrus and ontological yeast-filled Franciacorta such as this Brut. Compressed from a vintage with legs, creamy texture and dreamy ideas. Sparkling wine of soft bubbles, lace curtains and plentiful energy. The dictionary opens with this, a wine personified as a “villa delle delizie.” Drink 2015-2022. Tasted November 2015
Red chicory hue in a blend where Chardonnay (62 per cent) dominates Pinot Nero. Rosé of truth, unable to fib, a bit risqué and anything but rustic. Magnetic, full of multi-variegated citrus, magnified, petrified, magnetized, its Chardonnay and Pinot Nero polarized. The latter so important, like recherché of the occult and suggesting that its part should be increased. Like a tidal wave of blanc de noirs aromatics boarding at once. Rosé as the last train home. Drink 2015-2022. Tasted November 2015
Like the Betella Blanc de Blanc, this is quite direct, but in a much different way. It’s funky reductive and yet super, hyper transparent and understood. Wound tight with racy acidity and spumes of an aridity that steals saliva and is nearly heart-stopping. These blush bubbles are savoury in a way the Chardonnay just can’t seem to herbalize and bracing in a way that does not fully compute. Exciting and tart if noticeably out of balance. Tasted December 2014
This 100 per cent Chardonnay is so direct, so grounded, so black and white. Just a hint of funky earth and a swath of painted lees but otherwise fruit entrenched in traction and fermentation in beautiful suspended animation. Defines modernity in Franciacorta, a still frame of concentrated, dry bubbles, life affirming and void of any extraneous conditioning. No add-ons, just straight up sock it to me Sparkling wine. Tight, bracing and built for serious fun, without ceremony or pageantry. So effective and so well constructed. Tasted December 2014
First introduced in 2007 after thirty years of Franciacorta’s salt pillar house’s trials, errors and magic. Chardonnay (75 per cent), Pinot Nero (15) and Pinot Bianco (10) are sourced from 134 vineyards, vinified separately and blended with the conceptualization towards “idem,” of being the same. Reserve juice from great vintages (at least 20 per cent) reinforces and elevates the cuvée, followed by 28 months on the lees. A stoic and somewhat tensely defined traditional method Sparkling wine with plenty of autolytic yeasty feel despite the modest time. Terrific, expansive and circulating mousse buoyed by unparalleled Franciacorta acidity. More Pinot Nero would really give it depth and breadth. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016
Disgorged February 2015. The opposite of the thoroughbred that is the Pinot Noir. Satisfying, saturated, stretched and churned though Brut in style. The soul of Contadi Castaldi even in a world in which the winemaker is want to make more masculine, Pinot driven wines. A caressing wine, gentle and creamy. Full mouth. Round putty smooth in spite of and in line with such stretched acidity. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted November 2015 @contadicastaldi@Cavinona
The Contadi Brut is a much more direct, linear, in your cerebral cortex cement of a Franciacorta. Still in assumption of a lightly bruised and oxidative bent though the fruit is anything but mealy and the appetite yet whets. The apple in the eye is green, the grass greener still. In here “green grow the rushes go.” This sparkler seems to still be working, pushing itself and evolving. It begins in earnest and never ceases to cycle. It’s a bit exhausting and leaves a trail of exhaust. In demand of much attention it may never leave you to find and achieve that state of REM. But it is that vapour trail that will see it go deep into the night. Drink 2015-2022. Tasted July 2015
Statuesque, rustic, ancient ruin of Franciacorta, on a clear day, of tall grasses, oxidative apples and slices of hard Lombardian cheese. A total, classical, storied package of gastronomy in a bottle. Not so much Rosé as much as bubbles with a fostered history of age. Arid as the desert and piercing from acidity. This will be misunderstood by some, reveled in by others. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted July 2015
Fashioned with essentially an equal proportion of Pinot Noir. A specificity to Franciacorta where Chardonnay is clearly pegged as feminine and Pinot Noir masculine. The winemaker demands this move, to power, vitality and how a cuvée’s direction is acclimatized from picking on acidity and through to firm, direct expression. Very balanced wine. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted November 2015
Only 9,000 bottles are produced of this ultra niche product. Part of the move in concept and passion to masculine, powerful and vital Pinot Noir. A bull of bubbles and extremely long, trailing a tail of star fire. Brut to the most natural degree. Lime and direct energy. Tight as a fist. This is Thibault to the Contadi Castaldi Blanc de Noirs Romeo. Drink 2015-2022. Tasted November 2015
A Franciacorta blanc de blancs with a settled elegance in its stride and the persistence of far eastern aromatics. Though Satèn can contain up to 50 per cent Pinot Bianco, Ricci Curbastro’s is exclusively made from Chardonnay and at this stage even less atmospheric than the freshest examples. A pinch of ginger and a dash of lemongrass mark the aromatic territory. Preserved lemon fills the palate with residual fruit. This 2011 is in its drinking window right at present, its 40 month (48 from harvest) autolytic yeast lees having done the yeomans texture work in completion for the overall expression. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted January 2016 @Ricci_Curbastro
At the end of a day not in #franciacorta I could do well with one of these @contadicastaldi
Barque Butcher Bar Fried Chicken, ‘Bama Baby Back Ribs and 12-Hour Beef Brisket
The VINTAGES release program certainly lends structure and a targeted faculty of morphology to the selling and buying of courtly wine in Ontario. It’s a part of the LCBO juggernaut that deserves to be celebrated, particularly when it offers glimpses of hope and excitement. Optimism does exist and persist within the confines of an otherwise habitually oppressive system. A system that tends to function with coordinate construction, of paratactic verse that heavily promotes wines of narrative brunt.
On the other hand, VINTAGES is a mimetic project, which is a few projects too many. We wine trackers and writers are akin to Cricetinae, perpetually running in a wheel or like Sisyphus, forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down. We read the bi-weekly catalogue, pre-taste the newest offerings, make our lists and check them twice. In every batch there are 10-15 wines that stand out, as much about bell curve positioning as absence of singularity.
We don’t want to waste time drinking shite. There can be no good reason to swill sugar, contrived acidity or fast drink laboratory concoctions. Bring us wine of humility and humanity. Pour us truth and honesty. Separate the wheat from the chaff and don’t waste our time or insult our character. Give us wine from people, with roots and a sense of place. VINTAGES abides with a class of red shirt freshmen each and every release. That much I can concede.
From what I have tasted in advance of the VINTAGES March 5th release, what has excited me most is perhaps more a reaction to the unseasonably warm weather or maybe it’s just that I am presently satiated by tannic and acidity-molifiying white wines during winter. Last week I reported on the California stars as a follow-up to my recent Napa/Sonoma trip and in advance of April’s California wine fair. Brunello di Montalcino is in the spotlight what with Benvenuto Brunello coming next week. The Sangiovese Grosso line-up for March 5th is solid if underwhelming. My consensus pick of one is potentially polarizing. It will seem tired to some palates and precociously wise and cultured to others. The difference of critical opinion keeps the VINTAGES wheel turning and I am of sound mind to believe that’s a good thing.
Wine Country Ontario comes to the Royal Ontario Museum today for Taste Ontario in Toronto, the annual gathering of winemakers from The Niagara Peninsula, Prince Edward County and Lake Erie North Shore. On Saturday four peninsula whites will be released, three of which are typicity poster children for VQA good sportsmanship awards. Felicitous and regionally befitting Chardonnay, Riesling and Gewürztraminer that succeed as they should even while they bypass the idea that creative voices should be heard. Are we witnessing the dearth crumbling of stylistic freedom or is change coming, necessary and inevitable? The fourth white on offer is a shining example of the Ontario appellative blend, a category ever elusive, uncapitalized upon and necessary to the industry’s future success.
Superior South Africa, Vinho Verde Portugal not allowed to be labeled as such and Spanish Garnacha, white and red, grace this list. I also recommend an Ann Sperling Okanagan from the B.C. homestead and one freaking, awesome Sancerre. Here are 11 picks on March 5th in the year 2016. Enjoy.
Excelsior Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Wo Robertson, South Africa (382085, $13.95, WineAlign)
Warm climate conditions, a thunderstorm-inflicted harvest and prudent, hasty picking are what winemaker Johan Stemmet had to contend with in 2014. Kudos as a little something for the effort. Quiet and subdued aromatics are levied and bolstered by extreme fruit sensations exhibited on the palate. Crunchy green apple and green mango spritzed by lime forge a tight, angular and nearly tense relationship with linear and direct acidity. Sauvignon Blanc of meaning, unencumbered by the tenets of global style. A certain kind to be sure. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @Excelsior_Wines@WOSACanada@WOSA_ZA
Casa Do Arrabalde Avesso/Alvarinho/Arinto 2014, Vinho Regional Minho, Portugal (429324, $14.95, WineAlign)
Here $15 of pure Minho beauty, ripe and rich, regionally representative, if generalized in name because Alvarinho alights in the varietal mix. Smells and tastes just like a tart Mutsu apple picked post fully completed phenolics. The minor spritz on the tongue screams Vinho Verde, as does the stony eligibility. Well-chilled, warm day, grilled fish. Yes, please. Drink 2016-20218. Tasted February 2016
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 and February 2016 @Winemakersboots@brightlighter1@UnfilteredEd
Henry Of Pelham Family Tree White 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (251116, $17.95, WineAlign)
Very accessible and balanced white rabbet with tree fruit aromas and flavours, from yellow plum to white peach and back again. Straight up juicy circulation with a limestone tang amidst the weight of clay. Good value from the Peninsula to drink in the short term. An appellative blend to feed the category concept and perfect for sipping high in the skies. Pour this on your airplanes Air Canada. “Feed your head, feed your head.” Drink 2016-2018. Tasted February 2016 @HenryofPelham@SpeckBros
Residing on the correct side of off-dry with a waxy, lemon-honey drop secession from smell to taste. Brings proverbial lychee and rosewater into play, stirring the lees and pressing upon the palate in a faint, yeasty way. Ostensibly Fielding in conception to work with Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai. Food that is. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted February 2016 @FieldingWinery@RichieWine
Time has befriended Philip Dowell’s organic and creamery fresh-churned Chardonnay. The Kew is Bench defined and not shy in embrace of its wood. Abiding Chardonnay denuded in a healthy symbiotic relationship with ripe and recessive fruit. More mineral than before from Beamsville soil lands this somewhere along the pantheistic line featuring such stalwarts as Fielding and Hidden Bench. Will follow a casual down-to-earth grounding over the next five years. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted February 2016 @kewvineyards
Jaspi Blanc 2014, Do Terra Alta, Spain (439570, $23.95, WineAlign)
Such a culturally gregarious, aromatically generous and varietally gracious white blend from Terra Alta should be received with the most open of arms. This rare sighting in Ontario is mostly Garnatxa Blanca, with a minor (kept alive) amount of Macabeo, a grape of sweet realization and rainbow veraison. This is a classic indication of the subtlety that is derived from the soft, cuddly and rock-free panal soils in Terra Alta. A terraced white wine, cascading like lemon and bubbles, as if it were an ethereal, tart, savoury sabayon. Will be a pleasure to drink for the the next two to three years. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @cocaifito@doterraalta
Jardín De Lúculo 2012, Do Navarra, Spain (438655, $23.95, WineAlign)
Lovely, tidy Navarra with perfectly ripe cherries and an underlay of tension to give it real vitality. Oak (if any) bothers with nary an intrusive beat. Though there is a dried herb and drying savoury-minty ending it lingers, long after the paint has dried. Really necessary Navarra, a region portrayed in such a wine on the qui vive for exotic adventure. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted February 2016 @louisgeirnaerdt@vinosnavarra@navarrawines@navarrawine@hobbsandco@AMH_hobbsandco
Sperling Vineyards Pinot Noir 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (382283, $27.95, WineAlign)
Here a vintage cementing a Sperling Pinot Noir into altruistic west coast territory occupied by the ripe and famous. Were I able to recall so much warmth, elevated tones and ripping aromatics while the wheels are spinning, still the memories remain in neutral. The gravelly grit and fine lined elucidation is in, but here things turn tropical, with far eastern spice and melted, oozing liquorice. Flavour coaxing is at an all time high but the question begs. Can you handle this hyperbole of efficiently convenient Okanagan truth? Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @SperlingVyds@AnnSperling@CRUOntario@StratusWines
Jean Max Roger Cuvée Les Caillottes Sancerre 2014, Ac Loire, France (65573, $27.95, WineAlign)
Were all Sancerre this floral we might be forced to re-learn the typicity and the vernacular. Les Caillottes stands alone, if only for a few whiffs, before retreating back to the Sauvignon Blanc norm of mineral and white berry. Here Sancerre seems to take chances, steps out of the box and ventures into wild sage and thyme territory. Ends with lemon and lime, echoing the florally of tiny flowers on the tips of that thyme. I can imagine honey flowing in five years time, still gaining on the oxidative effects of time. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted February 2016 @oenophilia1@LoireValleyWine
More than a classic vintage for this seminal bottle of Sangiovese. The liqueur is so comfortably and rigorously distilled, the floral aspects fresh in their potpourri disguise. The aromatics, like eclipses, arrive early, but tend to exact themselves profoundly. Balance is everything with wine and transparently so for Brunello because if the tannins are overdone than pleasure can’t ever be truly discerned. Here they are like rhythmic, venting spasms at the end of a sentence. This offers early accessibility in spite of its ferocity. Drink 2019-2030. Tasted February 2016 @TrialtoON@ConsBrunello
Having recently returned from a week spent sizing up Napa Valley and Sonoma County it is personally apropos for VINTAGES to roll out this California release next weekend. Like any high quality engrossing preoccupation, the trip changed everything. Whatever I thought I knew or felt about the California wine industry now needs to be rewritten. The most pertinent question now in my mind is this. Can European wine keep up with the fictionality of North American reality?
When you travel to wine regions in Europe you can’t help but be struck by history, tradition and a general sense that things are the way they are because, well, just because. California reinvents the wheel. It shakes the foundations of thought. Forget Socratic maieutics. Questions that probe assumptions, implications or consequences are so European. You don’t ask a California winemaker “are you picking earlier to preserve acidity or because of global warming.” Ripeness is everything and a given.
Prices are not cheap when it comes to great wines made anywhere but in the case of California the outrageousness carries many meanings. The cost of land, labour and water sends grape purchasing through the roof. You are not being hosed by California wine. It costs what it costs for many good reasons. I will expand on all this in 10,000 words or more coming soon. For now, here are eight beauties in VINTAGES March 5th.
VINTAGES March 5th
Frei Brothers Reserve Pinot Noir 2012, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California (91025, $26.95, WineAlign)
Very ripe Pinot Noir from winemaker Scott Kozel, to no one’s surprise. What is surprising is the level of tension and soil tang, exposed in tone that is elevated above and beyond the rich, bing cherry fruit. This is true aggregate, composite, regionally amalgamated Pinot Noir made in large batches for commercial amassment and appeal. It works dutifully within the framework and the intent. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @gallocareers@GalloFamily@sonomavintners
The barrel cellar at Frei Brothers Ranch
Treana White 2013, Central Coast, California (11247, $29.95, WineAlign)
In which Marsanne and Viognier co-exist for pure, unadulterated pleasure. While the former does not dominate the latter, it does win the aromatic tug in floral inertia and gaseous minutia. A very golden California sun worshipping Rhone-ish blend with a candied flavour and texture tang. Certainly warm and blustery in style. A char on Char or shellfish would hold up well to its unctuous demand. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted February 2016 @hopefamilywines@TrialtoON
Macrostie Chardonnay 2013, Sonoma Coast, California (244467, $35.95, WineAlign)
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay in definition and carefully realized misty commotion, raised with classic barrel toast and celebrating expertly gaged ripe fruit out of a foggy, cool-climate California shell. The fruit is viscous and elastic, gaining texture because of that wood, along with spice and exoticism. Finishes with beneficial bitters. Nothing shocking and everything excellent pulled from expectation. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted February 2016 @MacRostie@sonomavintners
Cuvaison and Brandlin winemaker Steve Rogstad
Brandlin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, California (340513, $54.95, WineAlign)
This walks a lovely mid-point between two styles of Napa Cabernet. It is neither stark nor blowsy, currant-focused or mocha chocolate obsessed. At $55 it marks the exact twain, exhibiting aspects of both camps and is regionally exacted for the Mt. Veeder appellation. Cabernet Sauvignon can sing like this sometimes. “Got my indignation but I’m pure in all my thoughts. I’m alive.” Brandlin’s sings like a Vedder ballad, with solemnity and hope. It may lack the Pearl Jam swagger but it’s stripped down beauty maintains an exceptional level of integrity. Guaranteed. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted February 2016 @BRANDLIN_wine@LiffordON@NapaVintners
Storybook Mountain Mayacamas Range Napa Estate Zinfandel 2012, Napa Valley, California (682989, $69.95, WineAlign)
Warm berry, bramble and Red Twizzler Zinfandel secured with full and necessary extraction. The pool is wide and deep for Mayacamas run-off, coruscation and welcome alterity. Appreciation must be afforded the red ochre aspects, from soil through crusted fruit as this Zinfandel stops well short of over-exposure and over-wrought tonality. It’s well judged mired within the accountable coffers of its bigness. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @StorybookWines @TheVine_RobGroh@NapaVintners
Jonata Todos Red 2011, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, California (218941, $79.95, WineAlign)
The 2011 Todos by winemaker Matt Dees at $80 dares a superfluity of surfeited California peers to hold water, weight, candles or dovetail to match up against its prodigious abilities. Blending never tasted so worthy. Syrah (75 per cent), Merlot (7), Cabernet Sauvignon (7), Sangiovese (4), Petit Verdot (4), Viognier, (2) and Cabernet Franc (1) add up to something fine. Better than Morocco, “the dreams are rolling down across the places in my mind.” Anise and charcoal mark the entry, ripe berries fill in early, expert acidity gains control and sweet, charred, fine-grained tannins take hold. This is warm but within reason and the length is exceptional. Love the bitter finish. Like early Jackson Browne. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted February 2016 @WoodmanWS
Frog’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Rutherford, Napa Valley, California (932400, $83.95, WineAlign)
This is a welcome respite from heat, alcohol and maximum extraction. The fruit is ripe and just because there is an underlying green note it should not be perceived as unripe. The current rings a bell and draws red currants through. The spice is wood-derived and complimentary. This wine is lauded for its antidisestablishmentariansim. Give it some love. It has fine tannins and plenty of life ahead. And it will drink with different and alternating strokes for five to ten explicitly characterful years. Drink 2016-2023. Tasted February 2016 @frogsleap@rogcowines@NapaVintners
To my mind the McCrea Vineyard is the coolest climatic Kistler, a Sonoma Mountain parcel that exudes a gemstone and tart orchard fruit personality. The ripe, ropey phenolics and slick barrel impart run from strength to strength, with a piercing sensation zip-lining in ascension through and carrying along the generosity of aromatics. Here we find Kistler at its juicy, mineral best. This is a striking Chardonnay with impressive, 25,000 bottle quantity produced length. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted February 2016 @TheVine_RobGroh@sonomavintners
Exceptional-Outstanding-Excellent Langton’s Class. VI @Wine_Australia @VinConservatory #AussieWine
Twenty-four days ago, on February 1st, 2015 I attended the Langton’s Classification VI at the Vintage Conservatory in Toronto. For those of you who are new to Australian rules wine classifications, Langton’s is the continent’s premier wine auction house and the LC is their prestigious list of iconic wines classified as excellent, outstanding and exceptional.
The criteria of determination are based on demand of attraction and a ten-year realized price index. The class is commonly referred to as the ‘hour role’ for Aussie wine. The intimate Toronto seminar was moderated by Mark Davidson, one of the hardest working Australian wine advocates on the planet. Winemaker Sue Hodder of Wynns Coonawarra Wine Estate sat in. That same week David Lawrason, Sara d’Amato and I filmed a segment with Sue at Barque Smokehouse in Toronto over a glass of her Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon. You can watch that segment here.
Sue Hodder’s Black Label Cabernet was the outlier in the Langton’s line-up but only in price. Few varietal examples worldwide can match it for quality, authenticity and age-ability. The wine sat in as understudy (again, only in price) for the absent Coldstream Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2012.
The seminar offered a welcoming respite from my monthly treadle of reviewing. The Langton’s wines collectively commit to the idea that wine is a blueprint with entrepreneurial elements, an elixir akin to the maker’s inventive secret machines. It is always refreshing to taste wines that are not exaggerated or sentimental. These Aussies are representative of all this and more.
Such a gathering of Australian wine delivers the preponderance of form, with the incantatory capacity of narrative to bring truth to light and fulness out of pleasure. Here are twelve wines to drive that point.
Such a showing of 12 from Langton’s does @Wine_Australia proud. Formidable, exemplary #AussieWine #vintagewineconservatory
Pewsey Vale The Contours Old Vine Riesling 2012, Eden Valley, South Australia, Australia (Agent, $42.95, WineAlign)
From vines originally planted in 1847, here is Riesling worthy of the longest run on sentence. Riesling of conventional wisdom from a cold, windy, chilly place, pricked with holes, atomized infiltrations, queued with basic intent, wise, driven, young, gaseous, of concentrated rage, bone dry and no, it does not feign sweetness, even if the texture makes nefarious attempts at confusing the palate. A decade on this will blow your mind, if you let it. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted February 2016 @PewseyVale@bwwines
McWilliams Mount Pleasant Lovedale Sémillon 2007, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia (Agent, $59.00, WineAlign)
From vines originally planted in 1946 by Morris O’Shea on sandy grey loam. I tasted this five months ago and just this short interval in bottle has propagated a textural leesy funk exhibiting like ebullient streaks in the steely, cool disposition and out of the combing citrus. In effect this eight and half year old ripper has just recently acquired more flesh to rock up with its ever adding layers of pierce. The jam remains in check so the citrus flows with the lees lingering in bottle. Textbook is the operative word under the broiler. The challenge has begun to relent and still, weary, uninformed buyers and collectors are not buying in. They do not know what they are missing. So demonstrative, so inescapably Hunter Valley Sémillon. Drink 2017-2032. Tasted February 2016 @McWilliamsWines@MtPleasantWines@gallocareers
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2013, Margaret River, Western Australia (Agent, $99.95, WineAlign)
Young is the operative understatement, whilst toast and butter in peak pomade are equally opposed yet lifted by the blossoms of white flowers. What erudite reduction brings and how it stops time. The best barrel selections from powerful Block 20 fruit cause the commotion in a zero shame Chardonnay, philosophically captured though perhaps one step back from unabashed. Ripeness was clearly not an issue. Freshness balances all else. At present the youth is seemingly everlasting. The effects of a moderate climate and corresponding alcohol, in at 13.5 per cent, are edifying to the western tongue. The length is exceptional. In this opinion, classification easily and unquestionably upheld. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted February 2016 @Leeuwin_Estate@TFBrands
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Coonawarra, South Australia (84996, $27.95, WineAlign)
Wynns holdings of more than 10 per cent of all Cabernet Sauvignon planted in Coonawarra is expressly manifested in the Black Label bottling. It is the spokesperson for the Terra Rossa soil and the cool climate style. The natural freedom and cure is special in this vintage, initially notified by a ferric repute which is neither heavy nor laden. The 2013 is a Cabernet seemingly fast forwarded to what it will become, already there in the now, yet not advanced or evolved in any way. Black cherry sure but also a savoury beat from continental climate trees, their fruit and the dry wind that blows through. The age ability is undeniable. Twelve plus years will change next to nothing, visual, audible, olfactory or gustatory. It already has wise character. There aren’t many places in the world for your mind to travel and find such ethereal Cabernet. Coonawarra is definitely near the top of the list. Drink 2016-2028. Tasted February 2016 @sueatwynns
Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier 2013, Canberra District, New South Wales, Australia (Agent, $106.95, WineAlign)
From the Canberra District in New South Wales, this Shiraz exemplifies a good Shiraz soldier’s illustration of progression d’effet. Every note carries the wine forward and it holds the taster’s interest. Simultaneously meaty and floral, the “meadow of the church” is a restrained, co-fermented blissful drop. Granite grips, loam expands and brittle clay deepens the expression. Saline, savoury, salivating Shiraz. Whole bunch balm and Viognier spur. There is youth, rebellion, revolution and caution thrown to the wind. Nothing old school in here really. This is the future. Don’t imagine this to go into a deep distance but will show with remarkable conceptualization for a minimum four to seven years. Drink 2016-2023. Tasted February 2016 @Clonakilla@Alto_Vino
Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz 2013, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia (Agent, $169.95, WineAlign)
Somehow you just get the feeling the Graveyard Vineyard compresses and elucidates vast amounts of soil information into this formidable account of Shiraz. It does not get much dustier or arid in lovingly excoriated varietal Australia. The inflammation is followed up by a ferric punch. This may very well be the new bent and intent in New South Wales from the depths of iron soil Syrah. The profile freewheels with a punchy aesthetic and a fervent behavioural nature. Very plum pudding and mince meat pie. The soil in here is pushy, weighted, distilled, wreaking textural havoc. Enough fruit will wait out the mineral though the latter will always be the defining signature. A highly demanding drop in need of two years (at the very least) to open the cemetery gates. Drink 2018-2028. Tasted February 2016 @Brokenwood@LiffordON
Perfectly multiloquent masterclass by @VintageMD for Langton’s @Wine_Australia #AussieWine
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2008, Barossa Valley, South Australia (Agent, $110.00, WineAlign)
A whole other animal ingratiates itself amongst a field of diverse Australian red wine champions and even with seven years age is still so very primary. Smoked meat sweats while the sentiment is challenging and if it were ever overripe it was simply not. There is almost no sweetness or confiture, though there is plenty of red citrus and essential flower oil perfume. This is exceptional Barossa Shiraz, old school and pertinent. A wine remembered by its own, singular accord and one that is refreshing to taste because it is not puerile or straining to be noticed. Drink 2016-2023. Tasted February 2016 @bwwines
Torbreck Runrig Shiraz 2010, Barossa Valley, South Australia (Agent, $220.00, WineAlign)
It’s hard to be sure which came first, the drawn Northern Rhône comparisons or the self-proclaimed Côte Rôtie look in the mirror but regardless, the reflection is there. This is consistently flirtatious, sultry Shiraz, warm and full of fruit jacked upon its own fruit. Do not dismiss the intent. With tongue lashing, high alcohol and mind-numbing anaesthesia cooperated in support by a tag-team workout of acidity and tannin you might think this is just a massive wine that can only be considered today. No such basic cop out luck. The amount of fruit will carry this through a decade and a half of virtually unchanged animation. Spend big and wait. That has to be the plan with the Run Rig. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2016 @TorbreckBarossa@Noble_Estates
Majella The Malleea Cabernet Shiraz 2010, Coonawarra, South Australia (Agent, $70.00, WineAlign)
The flagship red from winemaker Bruce Gregory makes use of the ripest parcels from the estate’s oldest vines. The significance for cool-climate Coonawarra lies in that phenolically-realized fruit. When you taste this amongst a class of varietal wines, such a procreated Australian blend can’t help but seem to play the part of outlier. A very pretty all in red, The Malleea (green paddock) is full of same hued fruit, plenty of florality and copious spice cutting a course across the coarse palate. Texture is less a drift than a tattoo. Raging acidity elevates the tones. This shines with the most volatility on the table but without shame, nor does it dishonour the righteous, ripping fruit. Cooler stables means more currants and savour. It comes with the territory. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted February 2016 @HalpernWine@CoonawarraWine
Moss Wood Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Margaret River, Western Australia (Agent, $120.00, WineAlign)
The coastal Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon with support from Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot is a minced savoury, mulberry dusty and naturally mined fossil fuel kind of red, with less up front fruit and more deep cure. Aroma to texture imagines purple flowers floating in a slick of oil. In this wine we can forgive alot of stasis because the textural rewards are so very high. Quite a load of dark cherry, red citrus and black olive on the middle palate. Very tannic. Their is some disproportion though five plus years will bring the pole into the middle. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted February 2016 @Moss_Wood@TFBrands
Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Release 2010, Coonawarra, South Australia (466748, $99.95, WineAlign)
A flagship wine from a simple plan and a beautiful mind. Only the best fruit from across the Coonawarra and made only in vintages of quality and esteem. The John Riddoch is like an exaggeration of the Black label, of attributes all repeated but concentrated, layered and natural to supplementary, afterburner degrees. Terra Rossa to the tenth, tannins multiplied, fruit in reduction and excavations carving down to the oft envisaged ancient coastline. A deeper, increased blending result, of variegation from soil and integration of pickings. Those tannins are so established and in control. Sue Hodder’s John Riddoch 2010 carries meaning dispersed parthegonetically throughout the wine. If the idea is to imagine the Riddoch as a pasturalist and a parliamentarian then both homage and altruism are attained. The temperament and ambassadorship fit the bill so yes, honour is upheld. Fifteen years before much change (in my opinion) lay ahead. Drink 2018-2034. Tasted February 2016 @sueatwynns
Henschke Cyril Henschke 2010, Eden Valley, South Australia (Agent, $188.00, WineAlign)
Completely different here. Intensity not exhibited by others in the Langton’s Classification or perhaps even immediately capable of. Gives more for more right upfront. Candied flowers, sour savour, some soil funk. An example of Eden Valley warmth and purposed direction. A Cabernet Sauvignon zealot, member of the brigade, willing to act on rich, ripe fruit and go the pleasure fight distance. This strikes me as an example of South Australian Cabernet that would not show best in its first five years post vintage but will steal spotlights everywhere for the next five. Its type of mid-grain, poa Bermuda-like tannins have softened and won’t hold up for decades. This is a beautiful wine for the rest of these teens but in my opinion not necessarily to be carried and kept into the 20’s. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted February 2016 @henschkewine@bwwines
I walked into a Fry’s in Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday this week. The wine section was very impressive for a store that also sells 25 varieties of processed cheese and double that in tortillas and cream-filled nuclear cake snacks. Adjacent the shelves was a walk-in fridge advisedly stocked with California imports along with a smattering of Brunello, Chianti, Barolo, Bordeaux and Burgundy. I found three exceptional oldish vintages of Cali Pinot and Cabernet, all at very reasonable prices.
The “amorous devil” indeed, bohemian, queen, crooner and axe smith. Fun to fervent, slow to start, picking up tempo, acting, feigning sweet and then boom, frantic until the heavy breathing denouement. “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide,” between fruity and properly bitter. Capable of causing gord and millennial alike to bob their heads in near-convulsive behaviour. Dries out on the lingering finish. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted February 2016 @VylyanPinceszet@WineofHungary@HalpernWine
Layers Shiraz/Tempranillo/Mourvèdre/Grenache 2012, Barossa, South Australia, Australia (138883, $17.95, WineAlign)
Here the red trilogy melds together for a naturally curated blend, with the firmness of Moruvedre lending strength to Tempranillo clearly grown in the right place, plus Grenache of pure red fruit flavour. Silky, working together, just about as balanced as it can be and with $18 on the table, the world is good. Mille-feuille layers with a touch of Barossa grace. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted February 2016 @plwines@Dandurandwines@Wine_Australia
If 2013 was procured in a lay, lady lay style, the follow-up 2014 is more of a girl from north country. Not so much more serious as hard working and in need of a coat. Here Pinot Noir nearly void of bob, varnish, tension, anxiety and plumped up with baby fat. “If you go when the snowflakes falls. When the rivers freeze and summer ends,” take this QRV along. Pinot Noir ready to dance and offer up her hand as a companion for the winter. Pinot Noir to walk with arm in arm. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @CreeksideWine@hobbsandco@AMH_hobbsandco
Roche De Bellene Cuvée Réserve Pinot Noir Bourgogne 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (299859, $19.95, WineAlign)
From Nicolas Potel who makes Bourgogne Pinot Noir more accessible with every passing vintage, redundancy notwithstanding. Bright and bing in simultaneous retort, from the sky to red cherry. There are some dried herbs and underbrush on the palate, through the basic but solid structure and into the surprisingly tannic finish. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @RochedeBellene@Gr8TanninWines@Nicholaspearce_@BourgogneWines
Pasolasmonjas 2011, San Martín De Unx, Navarra, Spain (438739, $24.95, WineAlign)
Oh ye musty, dusty and delicate Garnacha, especially one of moderate to strapping alcohol and tempered fruit. Unencumbered and unadulterated Garnacha, the way it needs to be, even from such a varietal outpost as Navarra. This is handled with Spanish care and shows how the grape needs no support when left to shine like this. Pure berry fruit and lashing acidity. Tapas and Pintxos come forth. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @SpainFoodWineCA@DSGvineyards@loyalimportsltd@navarrawine
Katnook Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Coonawarra, South Australia, Australia (590471, $29.95, WineAlign)
Leave it to Katnook to do things the very right way. Yes to dark, rich, ripe and swaddled fruit, no to heat and pomp. This pumps up not, nor dopes it jack or jam. It sings and dances, trips across the tongue, slings corporeal fruit and brings cool rain in the form of acidity and tannin. Just right. And it’s pretty much ready to go. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted February 2016 @Katnook@imbibersreport@Wine_Australia
Cambria Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012, Certified Sustainable, Santa Maria Valley, California (980482, $29.95, WineAlign)
Pinot Noir with a tenor tone and a floral lilt. It’s quite arid and even more racy at such a young age. Cherry and plum are subdued by acidity and a persistent activation by the working forces in its being. A very important Santa Maria Valley Vineyard has gifted more verve in 2012 than even it usually has. No fruit bomb here but with time, could very well become the bomb. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted February 2016 @CambriaWines@CalifWines_CA
Raymond Usseglio Cuvée Impériale Châteauneuf Du Pape 2012, Ac Rhône, France (22319, $57.95, WineAlign)
Taking the parameters into consideration, of alcohol, appellation, producer and style, it is surprising to note the muted aromatics. Hiding in waiting this CdP plays hard to get and in my opinion, is at first difficult to understand. The palate is slightly more gregarious but not exactly pushy. The late acidity and lashing tannin is a cruel reminder of the largesse mired in the here and now. This is a beast of modern Rhône proportions with a wink and a twinkle in its Grenache eye. I would suggest waiting five years for sure. I hope is turns into something exceptional. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2016 @TheCaseForWine@VINSRHONE@RhoneWine
A confession. Herein these pages there might seem to be the appearance of astonishing disorder. With music as a muse and a foil to wine, I prefer to look at it as an enjambment, or, as James Woods might explain it, as “the desire to get more in, to challenge metrical closure.” No form, structure or cohesion you think, you mutter, you say? Oh, well.
Over at WineAlign I share my February 20th VINTAGES release picks in the Buyer’s Guide, along with colleagues John Szabo, Sara d’Amato and a travelling David Lawrason. Here at Godello the list expands. First here, with seven whites for snow days and well, just snow. Look for the reds on Saturday.
The white wines of VINTAGES February 20th, 2016
Hugel Gentil 2014, Ac Alsace, France (367284, $16.95, WineAlign)
A bottle blend soft and inviting, teasing tropical fruit but grounded in the continental orchard. Warmth on the nose and cool effervescence on the tongue add up to a waxy, airy finish. This opens up, rises and elevates on the back end. Terrific aperitif out of 2014 with some legs to last through the night. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @FamilleHugel@HalpernWine@AlsaceWines@drinkAlsace@VinsAlsace
Like a gypsy boy, the idea of Riesling, winemaker Rob Power and Creekside Estates do not occupy overtly obvious territory so here, “come over to the window, my little darling. I’d like to try to read your palm.” In it the perfected Cohen lines of classic Bench Riesling, of stalwarts Thirty and Hidden Bench. Same stoic, non-gentrified possibilities unfollowed and new concepts surreptitiously proposed. Terrifically tart, dangerously darting and tasked for mouth watering righteousness. Such succinct lemon-lime continuous balance. Winemaker Rob Power may not have a storied history with Riesling but now that he has gone Marianne Hill he can’t go back. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted February 2016 @CreeksideWine@hobbsandco
Such potential from Croatia found, packaged and articulated in this bottle. Classic Furmint in Grasevina clothing, right along the wire where Pinot Gris looks over towards Chenin Blanc and says “let’s spend the night together.” Honeyed, unctuous, spicy and floral to the stones and back. For days when “I’m going red and my tongue’s gettin’ tied,” turning to white never tasted so good. You gotta try this. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted February 2016 @WinesofCroatia@RolandRussell
From the town of bedrock, Kevin Judd’s Greywacke is a modern, stone-age Sauvignon Blanc. Grown out of vineyards in the Central Wairau and Southern Valleys in Marlborough, Judd’s exploratory to trailblazing SB announces its aromatic arrival like a pick struck on granite. Tannic from the get go and forged with precise angles and friezes, always tied by an indenture with texture. The vintage is a fruit first forward, neighbourly one and it takes a winemaker to keep things etched in stone. This one strikes me as one that could have got away but the reigning was accomplished in lope, guiding the fruit through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. The success lies in the canter of acidity to extend the effect towards a turning and returning, again and again. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted February 2016 @greywacker@Greywacke@oenophilia1
Trimbach Réserve Pinot Gris 2012, Ac Alsace, France (971762, $29.95, WineAlign)
Immediately reminds of 2008 and will go down a similar, slowly turning and evolving path. So purposed and direct though there is a slight elevation in residual sugar as compared to the four four beat four years ago. Pinot Gris of pears and operas, with some spice on the finish. This will aria into something lovely at the age of seven and beyond. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted February 2016 @trimbach@WoodmanWS@AlsaceWines@drinkAlsace@VinsAlsace
Béjot Les Bouchots Montagny 1er Cru 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (438002, $27.95, WineAlign)
Tidy, tide and vine Chardonnay the way with oak it needs to be. Unobtrusive and just a sheet between fruit and acidity, enough for warmth and not too much to bring on the sweats. Snug, spruced, agitated, resplendent even. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted February 2016 @HannaNealWines@BeauneTourisme@BourgogneWines
Josef Chromy Sparkling 2010, Tasmania, Australia (393629, $29.95, WineAlign)
If 2008 has just recently settled into its low heat unit skin then the consideration here can’t yet touch the thought. So much lees and so much time, so little evolution and so little mind. Jeremy Dineen must be grinning from ear to ear with the thought of where this fizz will go, carrying so much wisdom in its autolysis and Tazzy vernacular in its mousse. Great citrus benchmark OZ outpost where the bubbles work hard for their money and offer up nothing but charm. Drink 2016-2023. Tasted February 2016 @JosefChromy@bwwines@Wine_Australia
On Saturday, February 6th, VINTAGES is running a feature on South African wines. Laid out in varietal by varietal terms, South Africa is deconstructed to articulate and accentuate what’s happening in today’s Western Cape and how it translates to markets around the world. I spent some time back in September with VINTAGES product manager Ann Patel in the Cape. Her picks have much to do with what she found, in excitement from “breaking boundaries and forging new ground with winemaking.” As consumers we should look forward to more chances taken in LCBO purchasing decisions, in varietals and from a more eclectic mix of wineries.
The landscape of South African wine is demarcated by ancient geology and by the geographical diversity of its regions, sub-regions and micro-plots. Varietal placement is the key to success. As I mentioned in previous articles, South African winemakers can grow anything they want, to both their discretion and their whimsy. The choice of what grows best and where will determine the successes of the future.
As the understanding of cool-climate locales dotting the landscape continues to develop, so too does the Sparkling wine oeuvre. The association that determines the authenticity of Méthode Cap Classique is more than just a marketing strategy and a copy of Méthode Champenoise. It is a distinctly South African program, established in 1992. Rules dictate a minimum of 12 months on the lees and post disgorgement, further maturation under cork. Winemakers are free to play with beyond those simple parameters. That is the South African way. Stand together and act alone.
In addition to these February 6th South African releases I have reviewed many added highlights. Next week I will publish 50 more tasting notes on important wines tasting in the Cape last September. Some are available through their Ontario wine agents while others are not. At least not yet. There are many undiscovered South African wines that will soon be finding their way into our market. Here are the eight wines coming to VINTAGES on February 6th.
Avondale Wines Jonty’s Ducks Pekin White 2014, Wo Paarl, South Africa (439554, $14,95, WineAlign)
The house white with the Avondale ducks always in mind. “How does mother nature do it? For each problem there is a natural predator available to do the job.” The holistic approach applies to the winemaking of Johnathan Grieve as well. In 2014 there is an easier and more naturalistic feel. With less oak and lees, some rest and the result is increased freshness, especially for the dominant Chenin Blanc. Ready to go as we speak. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted September 2015 and January 2016 @Avondalewine@RareEarth_Wines
Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc Old Vine Reserve 2015, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa (231282, $17,95, WineAlign)
The signature purpose with respect to Chenin Blanc by Ken Forrester skips zero beats and misses no opportunity to varietal boldly go for what Stellenbosch just needs. Draw fruit from old vines, let it work its grape tannic magic then spin away, a rising child of centrifuge into constellatory divination. Ken Forrester says he’s always afraid of stretching too far. “If the eastern and western fronts are too far apart, you lose the war.” From 1965 plantings in Piekenierskloof, two weeks of skin contact was followed by time in 300L, 8-10 year old barrels, “neutral as hell.” When tasted in September 2015, the wine was reductive, with a bit of aromatic grit and VA. It was a raw and unfiltered wallower. Now? Chenin Blanc of heft, poise and tenderness. It’s all in the preparations. Such juice at such an absence of cost should be illegal. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016 @KFwines@Noble_Estates
Graham Beck Brut Rosé Méthode Cap Classique, Wo Western Cape, South Africa (175588, $19.95, WineAlign)
An ode and an adherence to the magic of Cap Classique style, always with that sage feeling of evolution in age. Made pretty with its skin pink depth though I must admit to nosing and tasting the inimitable South African soil. Still, it is clearly and decisively Pinot Noir that floats the boat and rights the ship. This has noirs in its psyche and the Western Cape in its soul. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016 @GrahamBeckWines@Vinexxperts
Nederburg Manor House Shiraz 2013, Wo Coastal Region, South Africa (68775, $16.95, WineAlign)
Meaty, dark fruit and soil pure Shiraz. At this point in South Africa’s red wine production I would go to lengths to call this old school. It’s a blast from the recent and forward thinking past. Stew recommended, marbled protein required. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016 @Nederburg@MarkAnthonyWine@ImportWineMAFWM
Cathedral Cellar Pinotage 2013, Wo Coastal Region, South Africa (99267, $16.95, WineAlign)
A twain marker, bridge gapper, two worlds colliding Pinotage. Full of spice and soil chalky spirit. There may well yet be one foot half-depressed into the clay of the last two decades of Pinotage but the other is pointed north, into the bright future. Some weighty density keeps the Western Cape fruit brutally honest and yet the cathedral is bright, filled with light and carefully slight. This will please camps on either end of the field. I would suspect that future vintages will pull the other foot from the muck and see this Pinotage walk off into the proverbial Pinotage sunset. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted January 2016 @KWVwines@Dandurandwines
Graham Beck The Game Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (2519, $18.95, WineAlign)
Beck’s GM is spot on Cabernet Sauvignon of place; rich, ferric, tightly spun and wait for it…gamy. Not funky mind you but meaty in a fresh kill, flesh charred, grilled and juices settled way. If red protein and something South African are on the mind, this cracker of a Graham Beck signature varietal dutifully fulfills the dream. And it will age to change. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016 @GrahamBeckWines@Vinexxperts
Rustenberg R.M. Nicholson 2013, Wo Stellenbosch, South Africa (278390, $19.95, WineAlign)
A Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend of chaste class and haute style, if decidedly warm and ripe. The aromatics are berry directed, with a floral lilt and a volatile note well within an acceptable and supporting role. Carries its alcohol with confidence in ease, to develop the flavours and lengthen the pleasure. Wait a year for it to show best. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted January 2016 @RustenbergWines@WoodmanWS
Rupert & Rothschild Classique 2012, Wo Western Cape, South Africa (434787, $22.95, WineAlign)
This stellar value stalwart Cabernet Sauvignon (60 per cent) and Merlot (40) of Left Bank leanings brings together the brains and braun of Anthonij Rupert Wyne Estate and Benjamin de Rothschild. The vintage picks up where 2011 left off, built on a pillar of protein, soluble fruit and salt. A Franschhoek Valley gibbous and velutinous red with sweet plasma running through adolescent testosterone veins. The barrel treatment (18 months in 225L French) is the fabric softener. The balance encompassing ripe fruit, savoury salinity and spindled acidity makes for a formidable if quiescent package. Will take its sweet time developing secondary and tertiary characteristics. Great value. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016 @RupertRoths@Dandurandwines
First I thatched the nest and then I fed the birds
Why did I choose this image to introduce a Valentine’s Day post on wine? What pairs perfectly with Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, long weekends and Valentine’s day? When restaurants are either swelling with humanity or closed on major holidays and I want to eat out, where do I turn? Chinese. Happy Chinese New Year this coming Monday, February 8th. Welcome to the Year of the Monkey.
This coming Saturday the VINTAGES February 6th release does not coincide with the pink as floyd February 14th holiday so while you wait for next Sunday to arrive, enjoy a mild bite of Chile Peppers. “See what’s in store. Stay all day.” This song merges beautifully into the Love of Your Life. How does YouTube know?
Quite a mixed bag defines the February grouping. The south of France makes hay but I’ve also got Greece, Spain, Barossa, Piedmont and Burgundy in the regional to country mix. Enjoy.
First the pink stuff.
The Rosés of February
Gérard Bertrand Côte Des Roses Rosé 2014, Ap Languedoc, France (373985, $16.95, WineAlign)
The occasions may be rare, but sometimes Rosé needs a half a year to simmer and to show its true colour. What once seemed to be red meets Rosé is now classic, typical, essential blush from Provence. Terrific amalgamation of the holy varietal trinity, with Cinsault the anchor, rock and catalyst to prop up Grenache and Syrah just as they need to be. From soft fruit to a grind of pepper, with aridity and salinity always on stage. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted January 2016 @GBvins@FwmWine@AOCLanguedoc@LanguedocWines
From my earlier note:
Dry, floral, medicinal, quite tight and angled, not angular Rosé. The sea salinity and briny strawberry confluence is quite striking. Doesn’t really linger so in the end it’s a bit of a simple quaffing Rosé but what of it? That’s right. Drink 2015-2016. Tasted August 2015
Pierre Sparr Brut Rosé Crémant D’alsace, Méthode Traditionnelle, Ac Alsace, France (39016, $18.95, WineAlign)
Graceful and pink lithe, like cold smoked salmon, delightful Pinot Noir Rosé fizz. Nothing earth shattering, breath taking or barrier breaking, just well made blush bubbles. The structure and balance are really spot on. Finishes strong and with confidence. Helps to define this genre of Crémant’s creamy texture, matched in contrast by its stony, flinty and mineral style. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted November 2014 and January 2016 @AlsaceWines@VinsAlsace@drinkAlsace@ProfileWineGrp
Lallier Grand Cru Rosé Champagne, Ac Champagne, France (385179, $56.95, WineAlign)
Stoic, startling and nearly, dare I say, revelatory Rosé. Righteously rustic and demandingly devilish. A craftily concocted cool-custard cupid. The talc and the drift are exceptional, wafting aromatics and waving me in, to curl up and be embraced by its charms. This has Valentine’s Champagne scripted with pitch perfect elegance. A Grand Cru effort to be sure. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted January 2016 @LallierAy@azureau
A most consistent Xinomavro untouchable at the price, with the hallmark Syrah-like pepper notes pricking and popping from base and necessary red fruit. This sample is a bit muted aromatically but the palate is alive, kicking and very sound. Think of pomegranates, fresh figs and kalamata olives, a mountain view and the warming afternoon sun. All for $14. Though many Xinos can age for seven to 10 years, this Naoussa is meant for the here, now and tomorrow afternoon. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted January 2016 @boutari@KolonakiGroup@DrinkGreekWine
Clean, direct, massaging Spanish expression of the here and now. A winemaker’s message from an outpost with an endemic grape variety known as Bobal, 100 per cent employed to speak of that place. It does so ripely with cagey dramatics and an acidity seemingly so specific to varietal. This will pave roads for a geek’s obsession and should lay tracks for a consumer’s diversion. It’s worth the detour. Like Aragonese or Catalan Garnacha. Drink 2017-2019. Tasted January 2016 @BSierraNorte@DOUtielRequena@ProfileWineGrp
Sister’s Run Calvary Hill Shiraz 2013, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia (222018, $16.95, WineAlign)
On this hill ripe, pure, Barossa fruit fills the glass, “handing out bread and jam just like any picnic.” Don’t be looking for a battle of acidity and tannin on the edge of a savoury, mythical Epping forest. Seek fruit, find fruit. A genesis of material for straightforward Shiraz. If you’ve $16 in your pocket and a deep, rich, red fruit Shiraz is what you’re looking to find, this is the place to stop. “Here come the Cavalry.” Drink 2016-2020. Tasted January 2016 @Gr8TanninWines
Cave De Roquebrun La Grange Des Combes Saint Chinian Roquebrun 2013, Ac Languedoc-Roussillon, France (155804, $18.95, WineAlign)
From Schistous hillsides of Roquebrun, this firm and friendly SGM is the bomb of Beziers. Meaty and wise, its heart beats out of sheer size and from beauty. The opposite of a ferric beast, the valley of the barns wields a weapon but one of glistening, polished stone. The accomplished battle ready fruit knows no limits. Tannins though fierce do nothing to hurt the cause. Syrah (50 per cent), Grenache (30) and Mourvedre (20) adds up to really good Schist. Do you trust a gorgeous wine? Drink 2016-2022. Tasted January 2016 @AOCLanguedoc@LanguedocWines@Eurovintage
Finca Del Marquesado Gran Reserva 2008, Doca Rioja, Spain (384248, $21.95, WineAlign)
A 2008 Rioja that looks, smells and acts like 2008, a plus and a positive rolled into one determinate, fruit roll-up, old-school package. Dried red berries once fervently ripe, now concentrated and dehydrated performing as classic regional flavours would. The acidity persists and the tannins have a leg or two to stand on. This will not improve or go any long distance but for now and two or three years more it’s about as delicious a Rioja red as you are want to taste. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted January 2016 @RiojaWine_ES
Pierre Sparr Schoenenbourg Riesling 2011, Ac Alsace Grand Cru, France (664995, $22.95, WineAlign)
Sparr’s little piece of the Schoenenbourg is a fine one, exemplified in this tidy, gritty and shiny happy Riesling. The tones are not tiny, perhaps tinny and certainly tropical. Mango and pineapple make heady way but the acidity and the tannin are up to the task. This is quite Germanic in my opinion, not new world Alsace. And it’s tasty as need be, with longevity on its side. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted January 2016 @AlsaceWines@VinsAlsace@drinkAlsace@ProfileWineGrp
Joel Gott 815 Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, California (444059, $35.95, WineAlign)
Molten comes to mind from this California Cabernet, as in lava and chocolate. A load of pepper marks its territory and fruit wades through the spicy mocha. Under the sheath there can be no mistaking the grape (with help from Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) or the place and yet something ionic speaks, leaving me to wonder where this will go. The chemistry is procured by a hint of carbonic, whole bunch pressing and lees stirring for texture. At present they are not in synchronized rhythm. I would say that instant gratification and crowd pleasing was the intent but the opposite happened and that may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. A year from now this could be a true pleasure in value to drink. I think I wanted to hate it but I can’t. It is possessive of terrific, classic character. I will love it instead. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted January 2016
Domaine De Bellene Les Charmes Dessus Santenay 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (435032, $35.95, WineAlign)
From the flats between hills of the lieu-dit Charmes Dessus, a calcaire pebble’s throw away from the 1er Cru Clos Rousseaux. Adolescent acting fruit comes off of young, 10 year-old vines in Santenay, the most southerly wine-producing commune of the Cote de Beaune. Tight, flinty, developing beneficial bitters of a Burgundy that needs a bit of time to accrue a touch of honey to help the medicine go down. Quite rich and reductive. Very good value. Really good value. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted January 2016 @RochedeBellene@Nicholaspearce_
Domaine Laroche Vieilles Vignes Les Vaillons Chablis 1er Cru 2012, Ac Burgundy, France (991893, $36.95, WineAlign)
Gorgeous and wealthy Chablis of all that makes this unparalleled style of Chardonnay tick. Flinty, struck stone entry, vineyard hyperbole of mineral and the geology of ancients. Lithe, lifted, lightness of being but always brought back down by the minerality. Some flavour density by way of old vines wisdom and persistence that just won’t stop going. Superb quality. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted January 2016 @DomaineLaroche@Select_Wines@BIVBChablis
Secret De Schistes 2011, Igp Côtes Catalanes, Languedoc-Roussillon, France (440669, $41.95, WineAlign)
IGP in which schist happens. Such a bruiser this Château de l’Ou Côtes Catalans, an example the likes this market rarely sees. These Schistes bleed hematic into fruit warmed excessively by the sun. Languedoc-Roussillon that runs with the Rhône terribilta to purpose largesse and rocking good times. This is a very demanding wine, loaded with peppery spice and rabid energy. It needs years to settle. Hopefully its secrets will then be revealed. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted January 2016 @ChateaudeLou@AOCLanguedoc@LanguedocWines
Poderi Colla Dardi Le Rose Bussia Barolo 2010, Docg Piedmont, Italy (596890, $51.95, WineAlign)
The Dardi Le Rose ranks as one of the most consistent performers, mired in tradition and crafted without compromise. The 2010 is a spot on example of balance in Nebbiolo, gritty, floral, tannic and ethereal. The weight is an ambient one, the aromatics resourceful and respectful to varietal and to nature. Dried roses and fresh tar, drier cherries and strolls through verdant gardens. Not the beast of Bussia but certainly bussing its weight in age. This will go quite long. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted January 2016 @glencairnwines@regionepiemonte
Plus one, just because it’s Valentine’s Day.
Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Meursault Les Clous 2013, Burgundy, France (Agent, $64.00, WineAlign)
Essentially 1er Cru pearl of a vineyard in origin, on marly ground, “walking tightrope high over moral ground.” Such a pretty Chardonnay of faith and of love, subtle, slightly smoky, linear and purposed towards the divine. A lemon drop jam without sweetness and a tart edge that is miles from sour. There are no holes, stops or delays, with acidity that drives forward and length stretching to further length. Grace in gossamer layers. A marker in the Meursault sand. Drink 2017-2024. Tasted January 2016 @WoodmanWS@BourgogneWines@bourgognespress
I call it the Godello. Caesar @barquebbq with smoked chicken, brisket and pulled pork.
Next Saturday the VINTAGES widget scrolls out the February 6th release with yet another consistently same as two weeks before element of interaction. The familiarity breeds calm and contentedness with the comforting thought of “you know what to expect and you know what you’re going to get.”
What you will be gifted are six right proper Canadian releases, two from British Columbia and four from here in Ontario. Here they be.
A good vintage for the unwooded, floral Musqué with a bit more lit wax than previous incantations. Lots of lemon here and good texture. Always trust Cave Spring to make hay from the singular and singled out Musqué. Good, spicy finish. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted January 2016 @CaveSpring@TheVine_RobGroh
Sue Ann Staff Loved By Lu Riesling 2014, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (322636, $16.95, WineAlign)
Classic, genre verbalizing and focused Niagara Peninsula Riesling that, despite and with purposefully fun kitsch in nomenclature, will love you. Know this. You will love it too. Just the slightest spritz and moscato-like florality is nothing but fun and light, in tenuity of being and in temperament. It stands to say if this lover does not make you sing “hit me with your (Riesling) stick, hit me, hit me,” I’m not sure what would. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted January 2016 @SueAnnStaff
Past attempts out of Edra’s Vineyard have not struck a found balance between arid, tropical and bitter behaviour. In 2014 something changed. First, waves of delicacy and pierce. Second, aridity and copious, blessed, halcyon bitters. Third, a grant of grape tannin and gifts recalling the fruit of trees, their seeds and pits in full on ripe drupe. Would like to say “where did this come from,” what happened in 2014, but we know. Edra (Thompson’s) Vineyard and the finishing skills of new winemaker Sébastien Jacquey in his first blending work at Megalomaniac. The 2014 shows that this vineyard block at the back of the property is a haven, a bastion, a plot of regard to make such a complex Riesling specimen. Future releases may see it dropped from the label. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted January 2016 @MegalomaniacJHC
Tinhorn Creek Gewürztraminer 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (904185, $18.95, WineAlign)
Repeat ripe Okanagan Gewürztraminer from the Tinhorn Creek gang but in 2014 with a dirigible spotlight of consciousness elevated to heights where the air grows thin. Blessed by its own unparalleled funk 49 reflexology, with a twang like a bend on a good old fashioned 59 Esquire. Turns weighty and beautifully pungent when reflected upon by taste. The solo plays in semibreve, as does the long, slow, fading peace out. Gewürztraminer “out all night, sleep all day…what you try’n to hand me?” Drink 2016-2021. Tasted January 2016 @TinhornCreek@SandraOldfield
Quite seamless for the amalgamation. A bid red machine if you will, not the shortstop alone but the whole squad. The varietal grand schematic is well integrated in ’12 and will be appreciated by those with wishes for equality between fruit, acidity and tannin. It’s that simple, isn’t it? Drink 2016-2018. Tasted January 2016 @FieldingWinery@RichieWine
Burrowing Owl Merlot 2012, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (585737, $39.95, WineAlign)
Though I can’t say for certain that this ’12 Merlot smells and exudes the Sonoran, northern, sage-brushed desert more than just about any B.C. wine to date, I’ll say it anyway and again, even if I have said it before. A dry heat and a whip-crack of pepper that just kills it for Merlot brings game and creates an air of excitement. There is fruit, copious fruit, glorious fruit. Some kind of dense sweetness permeates the palate and the finish goes all herbal on the backside. Full on west coast affair. A top B.C. Merlot. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted January 2016 @BurrowingOwlBC@LeSommelierWine
Godello 