Not my first experience with this wine and certainly not to be my last. On an evening where 9 wines were poured between 12 people (two bottles were not counted as they were absolutely horrible - no names mentioned here) this wine was the only one I am choosing to mention as the others will either or have either been written about on my main website (ontariowinereview.com). The nose has changed on this once juicy and fruit forward wine, aromas are now woodsier with black cherry and cassis notes. The flavours are more of the dried variety with lots of spicy wood backing - it's getting a little long in the tooth but does show a nice blackberry and cedar finish that still very pleasant.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Double Shot of Delicious (Germany / California)
A lazy Sunday afternoon filled with friends, sun and leftovers. And yes I was bellying up again to the pulled pork trough from last night, but before that we'd poured something very interesting for our guests. The afternoon began with a Furst Lowenstein 2005 Hallgartner Schonhell Riesling Kabinett, a beautifully made Riesling that is currently 7 years old. Honeyed apricot, poached pear, hint of orange peel and some lovely lemon zest on the back palate with great balancing sweetness ... a perfect opener for the afternoon. But the fun did not stop there. When pulled pork is on the menu Zinfandel has to play a part, that's why I opened a bottle of Ravenswood 2009 Sonoma County Old Vines Zinfandel. Ravenswood is a master of the Zinfandel and this one was not different ... it had complexity and paired beautifully with the pork - most prevalent of the flavours: plum and chocolate, but there was black cherry, hints of cola and the right amount of spice.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Riesling, Two Chardonnay and a Pedroncelli Zin (Ontario / California)
Tonight we had someone coming over to the house, which means bottles of wines will be consumed ... tonight four in total (tomorrow a big headache). Starting with a new winery's 2011 Riesling, Di Profio Wines just opened here in Ontario (June 15) and we took some wines home with us from the open house. The wife loved this green apple and lemon laced dry Riesling and it made for a great little wine to sit on the deck in the early part of the evening. This was followed by two Chardonnays - both from Ontario. Starting with the incredibly mouth filling Southbrook 2010 Whimsy! Chardonnay (previously reviewed in full) and then followed up by the leaner, but just as equally impressive, Chateau des Charmes 2010 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay (soon to be reviewed). But for dinner tonight was a mess of pulled-pork and there is but one wine I can think of that goes with that, and unfortunately Ontario does not make it, Zinfandel. Pedroncelli 2007 Bushnell Vineyard Zinfandel was a perfect pairing for the sweet meat with nicely spiced plums, hints of soft leather, dark cherries, cassis and just a touch of earthiness to ground it (ha ha). A lovely end to the evening. No wait, we did open one more, a bottle of Quinta do Infantado Ruby Port ... now the evening was complete ... let the headache, and the midnight nap on the couch, begin.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Oyster Bay NV Rosé Sparkling Cuvee (New Zealand)
It's been awhile since I have posted here ... that's because I've been on the road in Portugal and everything I drank was posted in another blog (feel free to take a look as I have linked it up here). Upon my arrival a bottle of New Zealand bubbly awaited me and this is really something special. A blend of 80% low-yield Chardonnay and 20% hand-picked Pinot Noir which has one of the prettiest colours in a sparkling I have seen in some time - a real elegant salmon hue. The nose is lime, apple blossom and strawberry pith and the palate has a hint of raspberry, lemon pulp and a delicate sweetness wrapped in a lovely coat of acidity which ends clean a fresh. If you can find this bottle I suggest buying a few for those special occasions ahead - or just because, cause there is no better reason to drink bubbly than just because. For those in Ontario this wine will be in Vintages June 23.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Winzer Sommerach 2009 Experiment W (Germany)
Hoodwinked again ... this is a classic case of what I drank in one country doesn't taste as good in another. This is a bottle of barrel aged Kerner I got while I was away in Germany, it's called "Experiment W" because it's the workers wine - which means the workers of this co-op had a hand in the making of it. When we sipped it in Germany, were given the story behind it and were able to spit and just taste, this was a very interesting and enjoyable wine. But put it into a big glass, get the air running through it and taste those tropical pineapple and vanilla notes which appear on sips 1 thru 5, but by sip 6 or 7 the alcohol, which is a whooping 15% really starts to kick in and the wine seems unbalanced and began to taste more like gin rather than having that pleasant "something other than Chardonnay that's been oaked" quality. Oh well, I dragged this bottle back just to find out it wasn't for sipping on the deck on a hot Canadian late-spring afternoon, hopefully I'll have better luck with the other bottle I carried back, a barrel-aged Silvaner ... but it awaits to be seen because that bottle is for another time ... as it was we moved quickly from this bottle to an old Ontario wine from Inniskillin, which proved to be excellent ... if you are interested to find out which click here.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Fresita Sparkling (Chile)
My wife got it totally right last night ... I returned from a week in Germany where I tasted countless serious Rieslings and Silvaners with the occasional Pinot Noir thrown in, (you can follow my journey from Day 1 to Day 5 here) ... after such an immersive adventure I came home to find she had dinner in the oven and a bottle of wine on ice. And what bottle did she choose to serve for my homecoming? Something serious? No, and thank goodness for that - she went for one of the most frivolous bottles I have in the cellar. This mix of white wines and strawberries that comes straight from Chile was exactly what the doctor would have ordered. - and it's exactly as advertised) Thanks honey, dinner was great and so was your choice of bottle, don't think my tired brain and exhausted palate could have done better, nor my palate handled much more then what was in this bottle. If you don't have this wine, I suggest getting one or two for fun occasions - or nights when simple is golden. And to my nieces who love this stuff - we're out in the cellar, but if you come to visit we'll get more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)