Delaine Syrah - Coyote Franc - 7 Deadly (Ontario / California)

So I won't bore you with too many of the details ... tonight we had some folks over for dinner and I think it tied in with March break some-way some-how.  Anyway, it's a Thursday night and I pulled out three bottles of wine for the masses.  Two were from Ontario: an one new and an old one, plus a little something from California.

We kicked things off with something I was really interested in trying, a Coyote's Run 2005 Cabernet Franc ... and thankfully it did not disappoint.  I reviewed it in full as part of my Taste it Again blog and it can be found here.  The other bottle from Ontario was a beauty of a Syrah from the Delaine Vineyard, part of Jackson-Triggs, it's too young to have a Taste it Again written about it so you can read my original review from November 2013 here.

So the focus of this What I'm Drinking is a 7 Deadly Zins from Michael David out of California ... this one is probably one of the most recognized names in Zin, no matter where I have gone and say I love Zinfandel inevitably someone will say to me, "Have you tried that Seven Deadly one?"  The answer is, many times.  The last one I had was showing some Syrah like qualities of smoked meat, this particular night it was an older 2009 version and while it was very tasty it was also quite typical of Zin:  smoked raspberry and cherry with a seam of vanilla running through it.  Delicious and just what I expected, but nothing earth shattering, I would have to say that the 7 Deadly is getting better than this standard version they put out in 2009.

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Rolf Binder 2009 Ma I? Have this Evening (Australia)

An interesting name for a wine with some random punctuation thrown into the middle for no apparent reason ... on the other hand with 14% alcohol this wine has the potential to take your evening away if you are not careful and have more than one bottle ... thankfully that is not what happened to us.  Ma I? is a Shiraz (80%) Mataro (Mourvedre) blend from Oz and a wine I thought I'd pull out after an absolutely hilarious Bill Burr concert in Hamilton with my "niece" and her boyfriend.  They were in town to see this comedian who they have been a fan of for years and they took the opportunity of his Canadian concert tour to kill two birds with one stone ... see Bill and drink wine with us.  This wine proved to be just what the doctor ordered for a night cap ... lovely, smooth and plummy with chocolate, black cherry and vanilla - super easy drinking and as I said, a perfect capper to the evening. 

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Three Thieves 2009 The Show Malbec (Argentina)

It's been a nice lazy New Year's Day around our place.  I wish I could tell you we got a lot accomplished but we did not ... we watched the Winter Classic between the Leafs and the Wings ... we watched the Rose Bowl, where Michigan State won for the first time in 26 years ... and we ate a plate of nachos together.  As for the wine, the wife went for her usual standby, a Riesling, while I dug into the cellar for something a little bit more interesting, a Three Thieves 2009 The Show Malbec.  I really like The Show Cabernet Sauvignon from California, I find it rich a juicy and not too taxing on the palate - I had heard of the Malbec (which comes from Argentina) but until today I had not tasted it, I've had it in the cellar for no more than a year, maybe two.  The nose is blackberry and cassis with black tea and cloves backing it up - the palate keeps the cassis, adds black pepper, a little juiciness and some woody character to the finish.  After trying this wine I can definitely say I prefer the Cab in this line but the Malbec is more than serviceable.

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Wines of New Year's Eve 2013 (Germany / California / Ontario)

New Year's Eve to me has always been a time for pulling out an older bottle of wine, and then after that it's a free-for-all.  We started with ordering Chinese food from our favourite place, it took almost two hours for us to finally sit down and eat it, and we picked it up (they were just that busy), and to pair with it I chose a bottle of St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Riesling Kabinett, which was a real beauty: nose of apricot, hints of petrol, and a lovely bit of lime cordial; on the palate we found peach, pear, and apricot, flavours along with sweet lime notes which all lead to a nice long, lingering finish. The wine, although 8 years old still tasted fresh with that signature Mosel sweetness, but always backed by great balancing acidity.  My wife stuck with Riesling after the Urbans-Hof bottle was finished, opting for an Ontario beauty in the form of a Featherstone 2012  Black Sheep Riesling.  I went in another direction and picked out another Dave selection: an Elusiv Cellars 2010 Pinot Noir (Monterey County) from the wine fridge.  Now, for those who have been following along this holiday season, you'll be glad to know the Elusiv is more Pinot-esque than my last bottle of "Pinot Noir" (Belle Glos Meiomi) ... nose is very raspberry, with black cherry and plum backing it up; as it warmed beets and white pepper also showed up.  On the palate were sour cherries, black cherries and clove backed by good acidity, and some typical Pinot earthiness.  As midnight rolled up on us I pulled a bottle of Hinterland 2009 Rose (from Prince Edward County) out of the fridge, which had been chilling most of the day - I managed to pop the cork at the exact moment the countdown reached zero - perfect sparkling to ring in 2014 ... Happy New Year - we left the old year with a magnificent Riesling and brought in the new with a marvelous bit of bubbly.

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Rock Wall Winery 2011 Rock Hound (California)

The holidays are a time for the three 'F's': family, feasts and forgetting ... yup, we forgot one of my niece's gifts on Christmas Day which gave us the perfect excuse to have them over to our place to share in some beef stew and a few bottles of wine.  Now I know the title of this post only refers to one wine, that's because it is the only wine I have not written about recently; the others, like the Rosewood 2011 Pinot Noir, the Malivoire 2011 Small Lot Gamay Noir and the Cattail Creek 2009 Riesling, have all appeared on my website in the past few years and it's too soon to write a "Taste it Again" piece, though the Cattail Riesling is getting close.  I can say that all those wines are drinking very well, and of the 3 the Cattail received the most compliments.  And so, without further ado we'll move on and take a look at the Rock Wall 2011 Rock Hound ... I did a little digging to find out what exactly the Rock Hound was made of, but my research could only bring up the 2010, which was a blend of Syrah (70%) and Petite Sirah (30%), though some further digging might have shown the 2011 is the same blend (depends what they were serving at the 2012 Rock Hound Event) ... I got this wine from my friend Dave, in Michigan, who works at Champane Wine Cellars, who told me this was a big wine that needed early opening and a decanter, so I did both.  Aromas of cassis and black raspberry along with a mix of black and red licorice; palate showed quite a bit of milk chocolate, spiced-blackberry, some sweet dark fruit, nice pepper notes, licorice root and a long finish.  I probably could have aged the wine a bit more or left it in the decanter longer to get more of the fruit out of it, but I liked the way it was drinking with those multitude of flavours, and it paired well with the stew.

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The Wines of Christmas Eve, 3 Cabernet Sauvignons (California / Australia)

It was an unconventional Christmas Eve at my in-laws this year ... usually it's family get together about an hour outside of town, but this year we stayed put with my in-laws, ordered Chinese food, played games and drank wine (cider and beer for some) - there was no worry about driving home so I could sample a few more wines than usual.  I started with a wine I picked up at Meijer a few days before called Carnivore, a  2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, simple yet a great sipper to just sit around the table and sip on: plum, blackberry, cocoa, black currant, smooth and silky ... of course it did not pair with the food what-so-ever, but I don't think that is what I was going for.  The next bottle to be opened was a Shinas Estate 2009 The Verdict, I picked this one up from my buddy Dave at Champane Wine Cellars; it's not as big and robust as I thought it might be, but then again isn't it nice get an Aussie wine that shows more finesse than being all alcohol and sweet fruit.  The Verdict is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Victoria the still showed plenty of fruit black cherry and plum, with a middling of chocolate, some blackberry, and a touch of alcohol on the nose (not surprising with it coming in a 15.5%), there's also an element of cherry-kirsch, all seems to follow on palate ... it too was basically smooth with silky tannins.  Turns out it was a really pleasant drink that would match well with a meat dish because of the acidity that appeared on the finish.  The final wine was something my niece and her boyfriend call their house wine: Trader Moon Wine 2012 Velvet Moon Cabernet Sauvignon, to me this one smelled more like a Zin than a Cab, I had to re-check the label and the back of the bottle to see if any existed within ... No mention.  Red and black plum ruled the roost with blue fruit and vanilla; it too was a rather tasty wine.  I think I still enjoyed the first wine best of all, just because of it smooth, sippable nature.  The night wasn't about complex wines it was about all things easy drinking.

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One from France, One from Ontario and One from Washington (France / Ontario / Washington)

My brother and his wife came over for dinner, we made roast pork and a whole bunch of appetizers ... maybe next time we'll just have an appetizer party because there was lots of pork left over and very little of the appetizers ... the wines we poured were interesting and enjoyed (enjoyable).  My brother kicks his evening off with a little Dead Elephant, an India Pale Ale from Railway City Brewing Company located in St. Thomas, Ontario - I'm a fan of the Dead Elephant, but it sounds disgusting to tell people you're sucking on a Dead Elephant on a hot summer day.  Bro has never done such a thing and his response to having his first was to have a second (he must have liked it), at one point he turned to me and said, "quite hoppy, more so than you'd expect in an India Pale".  The ladies (my wife and his) decided to go with white in their glass, so I opened a bottle of Keint-he 2009 Chardonnay out of Prince Edward County, they polished off the bottle in record time.  Myself, I kicked off my evening on the red side with a chilled bottle of Laurent Gauthier 2011 Grand Cras Morgon, a "vieilles vignes" (old vines) Gamay from the Beaujolais' Morgon region: black cherry and cranberry, both tart, with white pepper notes to compliment ... I must say this wine was quite young and still has plenty of time to go, proving that Beaujolais can age, this could easily go 5+ years.  The dinner wine was from one of my favourite regions in Washington, Horse Heaven Hills, this is the one from Columbia Crest, 2009 Les Cheveux, a Bordeaux blend:  lovely blackberry and black raspberry with a great chocolate seam that runs right down the middle, proved to be very smooth and silky.  All-in-all a great night of food and wine.

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Banfi 2009 Cuvee Aurora Rosé (Italy)

It is 10:30 in the morning ... I know it is not really the traditional time to be opening up a bottle of wine for consumption, but it's a special occasion.  We have spent the last 3 weeks looking at a half-completed bathroom.  We started this project quite simply as a painting gig, it turned into a new vanity gig, which in-turn turned into a new flooring gig ... needless to say the entire bathroom looks different and much better.  The whole project was suppose to take 3 days - so 3 weeks ago I put a bottle of this Banfi Aurora Rosé sparkling into the fridge hoping to pop it on the completion of the bathroom ... and I waited, and I waited, and I waited.  Between contractors not showing up, flooring stores giving me the cold shoulder and one contractor with a heart of gold we finally got it done.  Which means finally I was able to open the sparkling and drink it - and I did not care what the time of day: the water flows, the toilet flushes, the flooring is down and the lighting lights - hazzah.  As for the wine, this Italian bubble is a beauty and perfect to toast the new fixtures, flooring and faucets (now if only I could figure out how to get it to flow through the taps) - it's a traditional method bubble made from 100% Pinot Noir which has a lovely rosé colour to it ... the acidity is wonderfully tart while the raspberry and strawberry peak through to give you a lovely sparkling wine experience - I could not ask for anything more.  It's crazy good and fits with the crazy time we had getting this bathroom completed.

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Hartley-Ostini 2009 Hitching Post Pinot Noir Hometown (California)

My inner chef came out tonight as I made a pea pasta and bay scallop dinner ... sounds odd but it tasted delicious.  The wine I chose to pair with it was a Hitching Post Hometown Pinot Noir - as a big fan of the movie Sideways it only seemed  fitting that I have a few bottles of this wine in my cellar ... I had planned to sip on it while watching the movie but the urge to drink it tonight came over me and I thought it might go well with the pea sauce and the scallops.  It did.  The nose is full of ripe black cherry - it really smells sweet fruited and lures you into the glass along with some cinnamon and vanilla backing ... the palate isn't sweet but it really is juicy with cherry and good acidity on the finish.  I also find a little spice here that really helps bring the whole wine together.  Acidity, spice and lots of fruit, what a pretty glass ... and now empty bottle ... of wine.

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Lazy Sunday - One White / One Red both Pinot Family Members (Ontario / Oregon)

The sun is shining for the first time in awhile this Sunday ... so we decided to watch it from the comfort of our den (after all it was still just 5 degrees out), put on the new Louis CK special ("Oh My God" - very funny) and watch a bunch of other things, while trying to decide what we should have for dinner on our new wheat-free diet (sorry, lifestyle change).  We came up with some kind of pizza concoction made with cauliflower - my wife asked, "what happens if it doesn't taste good?" - I responded, "well, we've always got wine."  And with that we each opened a bottle.  She, a bottle of Huff Estates 2011 Pinot Gris and me, a bottle of Maysara Winery 3o Pinot Noir from Oregon (read: Three Degrees).  I have recently reviewed the Huff so it's all linked up, but this is my first experience with Maysara wine.  Turns out it is an organic/biodynamic winery out of Oregon and for the most part when I see a US winery playing with the biodynamic I get a little queasy ... I just don't think they have it quite down pat yet ... it's just too new to them.  Anyway, I did not know this about the wine before I sipped at it, I found the wine incredibly earthy with hints of vegetation that were not all together pleasant.  That's when I inspected the bottle and thought I would try to give it the benefit of the doubt.  Next up on the nose and palate was a mushroom-iness ... after about 45 minutes to an hour I began to find some fruit.  First came cranberry then a little later some sour cherry came by for a stay ... and thankfully the earthy, mushroom and vegetation took a back seat.   Was this my favvourite Pinot ever ... not really ... but it did come across better in an hour than it did from the start.  As for the pizza, not bad at all.

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Sobon Estate 2009 Zinfandel - Rocky Top (California)

I erroneously identified this as a 2010 wine yesterday when I posted it along with my drinking vessel on Facebook and Twitter ... yes I am sitting in Raleigh, North Carolina drinking wine from a paper coffee cup - but if you had seen the plastic wine glass they offered me instead you would have gone with the paper as well.  But a good Zin is a good Zin and when it's big enough all it needs is air.  This 14.9% monster is from Amador County, and my buddy Dave always says "you can't go wrong with an Amador Zinfandel" - and I believe that once again he is very right (even paper-cupped).  Nose screams of raspberry, vanilla and red licorice, along with a nice plum backing.  Palate seems to follow along but drops the red licorice for a mix of anise, chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla bean all with a sweet plummy finish ... which is a great trade off.  In some bastardized French "So Bon" would be 'So Good' and I would totally agree here.

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Three Wines on a Saturday Night (California / Chile)

My brother and his family came over for dinner tonight and we decided on some simple fare, namely sausages (from Garden City Meats) of 6 different flavours- that kind of flavour combination needs a variety of wines, and so I picked out a couple.  We started with the Belle Glos 2009 Meiomi Pinot Noir, one of my favourite California Pinots, I can't afford the single vineyard offerings but this 3-region blend is a real beauty, black cherry throughout with good acidity and a touch of an earthy quality that gives this wine some real character.  Next wine was suppose to be a Cali-Merlot but appetizer time went a little longer than expected, and so I grabbed a bottle of Montgras 2005 Reserva Quatro, this is a 4-berry blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenere and Malbec.  It started out pretty muted but then started to offer up black licorice-mint, dark berries and a nice long finish.  While the Montgras was a last minute addition to the menu the RH Phillips 2005 Toasted Head Merlot was always set to make an appearance which is why right after I opened and refilled some glasses with the Chilean blend I opened and decanted the American Merlot.  Inspired by the 2001 I opened earlier in the week I thought it might be nice to open this wine to see how it was making out.   Hate to say it but I might have killed it with the decanting.  While the 2001 had some real character, granted all of the aged variety, the 2005 just seemed to sit there - yes it was smooth and silky but other than saying it was an easy drinking red there is not much else I can say about it; maybe if I hadn't decanted I'd have more to say. 

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Three Wines on a Saturday Night (Australia / France)

Truth be told there were more than three wines consumed on this evening - there were 2 bubblies, a Riesling, a Chardonnay, and a number of reds ... but for the time being, while my head stops throbbing, I'll focus on the following three wines:

Jip Jip Rock Sparkling Shiraz ... I have had quite a few Sparkling Shirazes in my day and each time I do I tell myself I'm to never have another - that was until I tried this one.  As one of the members of our group stated: "This is what Shiraz has been missing for me ... bubbles."  It's light and fruity - not what you would expect from a heavy-weight grape like Shiraz - it manages to keep the fruit intact without getting syrupy or too heavy handed with tannins, this is a delicious sparkling red.

Abbotts & Delaunay 2010 Reserve Corbieres ... I've written about this wine extensively for Ottawa Life, but this is my first tasting of the wine since I bought a few in early January (and tasted the wine in November).  It was even better than I remembered and it was a good compliment to the pork tenderloin served as the main: cherries, blackberries, violets, plum, anise, so well-balanced and just a delicious wine.

Le Ferme du Mont 2009 Premier Cote, Cotes du Rhone ... this was a big red fruit with cherry, raspberry and strawberry notes - not much more to say about it, it was a simple pleasure to sip on at the end of the evening.

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Columbia Crest 2009 Les Chevaux (Washington)

I find myself drawn to the Horse Heaven Hills line of wines from Columbia Crest, known as H3, especially the reds - I have a number of these wines in my cellar.  One of the more unique is the "Les Chevaux" blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet Franc ... doesn't particular sound unique - I bet there's a hundred wineries making a blend very similar in the US alone - but it's the region that's unique, which was established as an American Viticulture Area in 2005.  According to the H3 Wine Growers Website: "Cowboy James Kinney named this area in 1857 after discovering his herd of horses eating the native grasses on the hillside.  Proclaiming this is "Horse Heaven"".  The regions also has the distinction of being "proud home of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th "100" point wine,  2002-2003-2005-2007 of Washington State".  The wine spends 18 months in a mix of French and American oak of which 1/3 is new, but it is not overwhelmed with oak - in fact the oak acts as seasoning and rarely shows its hand.  The nose is blackberry, cinnamon and with hints of blueberry - the palate is much more expressive with its dark berries, cinnamon, vanilla, black cherry and dark raspberries, pipe tobacco, anise, cocoa and yes, just the merest hint of oak.

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Colaneri 2009 "Visione" Syrah (Ontario)

In a Twitter discussion with Colaneri I mentioned that I would be drinking a bottle of their wine tonight ... it's too early to call this a Taste it Again review - seeing as I only reviewed this wine a little over a year ago - but I can give you my impressions of the wine a year later ... heck, it's still very good (I gave it 4.5 stars back in November 2011).  The nose still has a strong aromas of smoked meat, adds dried and smoked cherries to the mix with hints of blackberry.  The palate comes off as sour black cherry and pomegranate to start, then comes the Montreal smoked meat with extra white pepper rub, then there's also a nice spiced-smoked-cherry on the finish.  The wine is holding up nicely and has managed to smooth out a bit, but still enticingly delicious.

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Valdiviesvo 2009 Single Vineyard Malbec and Two Others (Chile / Ontario)

It was the day of Christmas and we stirred ourselves from where we had been stationed in Michigan for the last few days and came back home to the comfort of the surroundings of St. Catharines (where we call home).  Invited out for a Christmas get-together I thought it only right to bring some of the amazing Ontario juice I had tried in the past couple of months but also something that would blow the socks of guests from somewhere else.  The two Ontario wines I chose were favourites of both my wife and myself - her newest fav Riesling: Cave Spring 2011 Riesling, and my Gamay of choice from 2011: Malivoire 2011 Small Lot M2 Gamay - both will soon appear as reviews at www.ontariowinereview.com. The other was a Malbec form Chile - yes I know Malbec is making a name for itself on the other side of the Andes in Argentina but it seems there are some old vines in Chile and they seem to be doing a bang up job with the grape as well.  The Valdivieso 2009 Single Vineyard Old Vines Malbec is a wine I tried a few months back and really enjoyed it - and tonight I thought it would be fun to give it a try.  Rich in blackberry, smoke, vanilla and mocha notes were what made this wine a delicious addition to the night's poured wines.

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Two Aussies and a Californian (Australia / California)

The title of this post sounds like the beginning of a very bad joke ... but the only joking was during the evening as we had friends over for plenty of wine, lots of laughs and a trip down memory lane.  My wife opted for beer and the other spouse decided she was driving so it was just the men who polished off the following three bottles - much to my head's chagrin the next morning:

We started with a bottle of Thorn-Clarke 2009 Merlot from Australia, which we paired with the simple dinner of meatloaf and potatoes we consumed.  My wife was appalled by her new potato recipe, which she made in the crock-pot.  The taste was alright but the red skinned potatoes leached a funny colour into the concoction.  Everybody still ate them with gusto.  As for the wine: smooth blackberry and nice spice.  I continue to like this Merlot as it ages.  The next wine was also an Aussie: Thorn-Clarke 2008 Terra Barossa Shiraz ... why so much Oz tonight?  Because that's what my guest was thirsty for.  The Terra-Barossa Shiraz was a plummy, vanilla and chocolate affair that is a quintessential Aussie Shiraz ... not too jammy, and very delicious.  Finally it was time to introduce our guests to a bottle of Californian Cab, Rebel Wine 2006 The Show Cabernet Sauvignon.  The bottle is a lot of fun with its old time circus style logo - this was the one with the cowboy on the front - and the wine inside was a showstopper: mocha, dried blackberry, cassis and plum; it showed itself to have a little elegance after the jamminess of the Shiraz.  Once we all come down off our hang-overs (a problem one of us did not participate in) it'd be nice to see them again, or as the hanging ornament in our living room states; "I like the nights I can't remember with the friends I can't forget" - or something like that.

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Chakana 2009 Bonarda - Yaguarete Collection (Argentina)

If you haven't heard about the Bonarda grape I do feel a bit sorry for you - only a bit because it is not always the best wine coming out of Argentina ... but hopefully in years to come we might start seeing some really exceptional Bonarda hitting our shores.  A good place to have started, had you been able to pick some up when it passed through the LCBO (or wherever else you purchase your booze) was this great bottle of Chakana Bonarda, and it's drinking better now than it did when I first laid lips to glass for a swig.  The fruit is black and rich, there's chocolate notes, plum and a lovely smooth finish with just a titch of white pepper that keeps it was being too silky - you could say that Bonarda has bite, but just a little.  If you've got some sitting around it's a great bottle to drink now ... my only problem is the plastic cork that closes the bottle, which means my last bottle (buried deep in the bowels of my cellar for ageing, might not make the journey of a few more years, sigh.  Thankfully it wasn't an expensive bottle, which is another good thing about Bonarda wines these days.

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Smoking Loon 2009 Old Vines Zinfandel (California)

With no mention as to how "old" the Old Vines are I can't verify that statement, but I can tell you that this $15 wine (just coming into Ontario on the general list) is a full-flavoured and red fruited gem that will have you sipping and savoring the night away.  I pulled this one out for burger night when my in-laws were in town and heard nary a complaint from my usually vocal father-in-law; truth is this was the only wine I pulled out that I had no idea about before I poured it ... dangerous when trying to impress those around you ... but being that I was using the BBQ and burgers, salads and slaws were on the table, Zinfandel seemed to be a perfect match.  Recommended and Father-in-Law Approved.

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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.

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