When I tried this wine many moons ago I was enthralled with it, a delicious blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot from South Africa ... it was during the Sante event in Toronto and South Africa was the "host country". Winemaker David Powell was in and he was incredibly engaging, and without modesty, as he told us why he named the wine Tantra (something to do with making love to his wife). The wine was quoted to us as being worth $60, many thought he said "sixteen" - which was a steal - but that myth was quashed when they handed us the notes from the day and saw that it was indeed a 60 dollar bottle of wine (the LCBO decided to sell it for $23 - don't ask, as I didn't, I just bought a few quickly). Of course this is all preamble to me opening this wine on this particular Saturday with MY wife ... my modesty will prevail here. On the menu was some pretty simple chicken with a couple of side dishes, one of which were French Fries. I looked forward to popping the cork on this wine so I did so right as dinner was served. The nose was fantastic, black fruit with a little pepper and a really nice herb component; I couldn't wait to take a sip. Peppery notes were at the fore of the tongue, but then something strange occurred, that usual tarry-earthy sensation that you get in young South African wines was here in spades, there was no hint of it on the nose but the palate was loaded with it ... it tasted dirty. Still very tannic but also very dirty ... I could not mask my disappointment, I gave it an hour, sampling it every 10 minutes and it never got better, it fact it continued in its dirty ways ... I do not remember this wine having this characteristic those many moons ago, and checking my notes from the past I see it did not; what happened? Anyway, we moved onto something else,instead of a wine we quaffed some Old Credit Amber Ale ... now that was good.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Juan Gil 2006 Monastrell - White Label (Spain)
I am a fan of Juan Gil, I make no bones about it, and I can tell you a story to prove it. I always thought of myself as a Juan Gill fan because each time I saw the name on a bottle of wine I knew I was going to enjoy what was in it. But sometimes you second guess yourself ... is it all subliminal, I see the name therefore I like the wine even before you try it. But here is my story that showed me otherwise: One day while shopping in the USA I came across a Spanish wine for 7.99 called Wrongo Dongo (silly name to be sure), but I tried it anyway and I ended up liking it enough to buy two bottles. When I got it back to the hotel I looked at the back to see who the producer was, wouldn't you know it, it was made by Juan Gil ... So I guess I like their wines with or without pre-determined label knowledge. Tonight I opened a Juan, a 2006 Monastrell from the Jumilla region, peppered raspberries on the nose led to spiced red fruit on the palate, still with nice tannin bite and good acidity ... it also paired well with chicken and pasta ... I guess I am just Juan Gil-ty guy when it comes to liking Juan Gil wines..
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Julian Chivite 2004 Gran Feudo Reserva (Spain)
For those of you who are part of the Facebook generation you know it is my birthday today - I find myself in Toronto because I have some work and a couple of tastings to attend. So while in Toronto I find myself at mom and dad's place for a couple of evenings. Mom "found" a bottle of Gran Feudo Reserva in the basement amongst her wines, and she was amazed to still have a 2004 in her collection thus she decided that this is the wine we should celebrate my birthday with: a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the Navarra region of Spain. Upon opening the wine was very black earth aromaed with hints of spice. As it opened fruit began to waft up into the nose, smells of black raspberry, cassis and lots of pepper (achoo!). The palate was smooth with very little in the way of tannins but there was plenty of pepper, a bit of earth and ... the wine was gone long better the fruit showed up on the palate. Very pleasant and really enjoyable, super smooth and easy drinking, but you have to like pepper.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
JanKris 2004 Tres Ranchos Paso Robles Zinfandel (California)
Imagine putting salmon on the plate and serving a Zinfandel ... well that is precisely what I did tonight - Italian salmon with an aged Zin ... and truth is it was lovely. Now I am not going to blow smoke up your rear end (no matter how much you like it) and tell you it was the greatest pairing on earth, but it sure wasn't as bad as one might assume. As for the wine, this was one of those Zins I specially ordered from the winery direct and had shipped to another state where I picked it up and brought it home - it is a shame we can't just order direct from the winery here in Canada, heck we can't even do it cross-country, forget ordering from south of the border to our door. Anyway, the nose is ripe with plums, raspberry and vanilla, the palate duplicated the aromas with a spicy medium length finish and as the wine opened the spice finish disappeared and turned more raspberry and vanilla ... delicious.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
South Africa Wine Up the Ying Yang (South Africa)
Tonight, I attended the South Africa Wine Society's (SAWS) annual holiday dinner, food was decent, the people I met were fun and entertaining, but not as entertaining as their keynote speaker (who happened to be me) ... As a wine writer I was very interested in the wines being poured. As I admitted in my address, on the whole I am not a huge fan of South African wine, I have liked quite a few, but many others have left me very cold with a bitter taste in my mouth. So tonight I wanted to see what the SAWS drinks: do they bring in and sample only the best? Turns out it was a very Graham Beck-centric evening, but their cellar was raided for some real gems.
We opened with a selection of Graham Beck LCBO general list wines that will soon be de-listed ... what a crime because the 2009 Chardonay/Viognier blend is absolutely delightful - now granted, not for a cold fall evening, but a real pleasure for hot days in summer, I hope this one comes back. Next we toasted the evening with a Graham Beck Non-Vintage Brut, the nose was loaded with toasted almond biscotti while the palate had the lightly sweet flavour of almond biscotti, all it was missing was the crunch. Next up, the dinner wines both from 2002: Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir and Graham Beck The Joshua. The Pinot was downright nasty: too old, no fruit, lousy smell - I took a sip just to see if nose and palate did not match-up, but they did ... "waiter, more water". The Joshua was a totally different story. A Shiraz/Viognier blend that was sublime: white pepper and cassis on the nose was followed by pepper, cassis, a hint of tar and some burnt toffee notes that replayed in the mouth as it lingered there ... yum (best wine of the evening - if I wasn't speaking I could see myself getting loopy on this one).
Finally, a Graham Beck 1999 Blanc de Blancs; first bottle was corked and even after I pointed it out to the table many continued to drink it and love it, forewarned is forearmed, but some people just don't understand - of course glassware would have made a difference but I hold out little hope that a banquet hall with invest in good glasses. A fresh glass was poured for me and it really was a beautiful wine, smells of Dulce de Leche on toast with a palate that proved to be quite nutty with hazelnuts and some baked apple. Lovely.
Thanks to the South Africa Wine Society for having me tonight, I had a great time, I hope they did too. To see pictures of the evening might I suggest heading over to my friend Andy McCraw's website, he's the official photographer of the SAWS, though I think he has doctered the pictures of me to make me look bigger.
Friday, December 3, 2010
StoneHedge 2008 Reserve Amador County Zinfandel (California)
I know that my wife likes white wine, but every so often I try to entice her with a red. I think I had her with this one, a Zinfandel from Amador County in California. The nose was smoked plum and spiced-vanilla-cola - she did say that it smelled nice (point for me). The tannins had some bite but they were not mouth drying or overpowering, they seemed to be just right as the palate proved to be juicy with flavour, there was spiced cherry, some plum, cinnamon and vanilla with a delicious spiced plum linger on the finish - she said she liked the taste (another point, that makes two). But to win my wife over I need 3 points: the smell, the taste, and the finished glass (if she asks for more that's where I get into bonus points). As it turns out she left about half the glass of wine unfinished, she drank some but she was not so wowed as to drink it all, "I prefer to chew my calories not drink them" she often says; it's a difference in fundamental philosophy I guess. But tonight I Meatloafed the evening, because as Mr. loaf once sang, "Two out of three ain't bad" and I'll gladly chalk it up to a victory. As for the wine, I had two glasses and enjoyed each and every sip.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Marquis Philips 2008 Shiraz (Australia)
Talk about a wine that just oozes sweetness, this Marquis Philips hits all the right notes. This is a really fruity piece of work that works well on its own. The nose is full of black and blue berries, pepper and dark cocoa while the palate is blackberry juicy with a slight hint of pepper ... what makes it sweet is the 16% alcohol - so it is easy to say that after 2 glasses all was right in the world.
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