A Four (?) Bottle Night (British Columbia / California / and more)

Am I getting too old to have a four-bottle night?  Or was it five bottles?  That's tough to say at this point, as I write this 3 days later, but I can tell you they are fun.  Had some friends over for dinner, "and that's where your drinking problem starts," said my sponsor from AA - alright I'm kidding about that - but we did have some friends over for dinner, and I knew I had to step up my A-game for wine for this group.  So what did I grab out of the cellar?  Well we started with a glass of cheer, sparkling of course, a Road 13 2008 Home Vineyard Sparkling Chenin Blanc from the Golden Mile, British Columbia (Southern part of the Okanagan Valley).  The grapes for this wine come from the 44-year-old vines of Chenin that grow on the property.  The wine was lovely, fruity and exotic with just a hint of sweetness that comes along with a nice bubbly - but always with a dry finish.  Went down so light and easy, great starter wine.  

We then had two bottles of Chateau des Charmes wines from right here in Ontario, a 2006 Riesling (whose review will appear in my Taste it Again column next week) and a 2011 Rose (which will appear in my Newsletter in the next couple of weeks).  

Dinner was pulled pork, baked beans, cole slaw ... BBQ fare ... so the only thing I could think of was Zinfandel:  Cedarville 2005 El Dorado Zinfandel.  This was a very elegant Zin, complex and delicious with plum and white pepper, spiced and dried berries along with an element of fresh cherry - it was not only great with dinner but a wonderful sipping wine for after too.  The final straw of the evening was the bottle of Frazitta  Zibibbo, a Marsala style wine sweet with apricot and honey character that has a slight oxidative quality - but is really a wonderful sipper.  Well, that'll do it - five bottles down (well we did not finish the sweetie) ... and I'm still standing ... and that is always a good thing.

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Double Shot of Road 13 Wines (British Columbia)

As a freak occurrence I ended up with a number of bottles of Road 13 wine (formerly Golden Mile Cellars) and tonight, with friends in attendance on this holiday Monday I opened a couple of those bottles.  The first to be opened was on the deck and turned out to be the beauty of the batch: 2010 Old Vines Chenin Blanc.  This was just the cat's ass (if you'll excuse the language) with aromas that filled the air the moment I poured it (even outside you could smell the tropical fruit plain as day coming from the glass), this wine had what I like to call "sniff-all-day-edness" to it.  The palate was just as inviting loading on those sweet tropical fruit flavours of pineapple and hint of mango, yet also with some restarined mineral notes and citrus flair, especially on the finish where grapefruit and lemon pith intermingled to keep that sweet fruit at bay and bring out all the lovely enjoyment of the wine.  It was on this high that we then opened the 2010 Rosé, a primarily Gamay Noir based pink wine to go with the pork dish for dinner ... alas, it could not stand the scrutiny of the crowd won over by the Chenin's charms, nice but nothing spectacular; maybe we should have started with the rosé.

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6 Bottles, Mixed Results (Germany / New York / Spain / France)

Friends came over for a dinner of Pulled Pork with all the fixins (coleslaw, buns, potatoes, etc.) ... minus Zinfandel, which would have made an awesome pairing.  Instead I picked out a big Spanish red called Cellar Acustic 2008 Acustic, a blend of Grenache and Samso (Carignan) that was full of fruit and spice ... which made for a perfect pairing.  But before we got onto that we started with a bottle of German Sekt (be careful how you ask for this kind of wine, you could get slapped) ... a Riesling Sekt by Fitz was a great starter because it was fresh and fruity with great Riesling qualities to it, and bubbles; what could be wrong with that?  Next up, a bottle of Freedom Run 2007 Pinot Noir from New York ... this was a hit and miss bottle for me, the nose was inviting while the palate left something to be desired.  This was the bottle brought over by friends and they said they thought it good but better from barrel, which is where they tasted it for the very first time.  Light on fruit but passable.  The Acustic was a hit and then we moved onto a former favourite of mine: Sauvion 2008 Les Bosquets Vouvray ... this one has a plastic cork, which shows a total lack of respect for the consumer from the winery, if you make a fantastic wine like this and then seal it in plastic you might as well be serving it in a paper Dixie cup.  This wine could have aged and been great but now I have to drink my bottles quickly and hear comments like, "this has a funny after-taste of cheese and a lack of acidity."  Amazing what 6 months can do to a wine sealed under plastic, this used to be a fresh, fruity wine with balanced acidity and a hint of sweetness, now look at it, a shadow of its former self.  For dessert a bottle of PX Sherry from Alvear (1927 solera) - to die for is all I can say about this one.  Finally, sitting in the living room the masses cried out for one more, and I obliged them with the always popular 2005 Bodegas Castano Hecula, good fruit, pepper, spice and still going strong 5 years from vintage date.  Perfect end to a delightful evening.

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6 Wines this evening: Ontario, Argentina, France and Portugal

Had a few friends over for dinner to see if we make good hosts in the new place ... the new house is two-thirds ready, just the upstairs needs some work - we also wanted to test out the new BBQ.  We started with a bottle of Applewood Mac Meade, a perennial double gold winner at the All Canadian Wine Championships ... the bad news is that I think I have held this bottle a little too long, the usual fizzy nature of the wine had gone flat, but it is still a very tasty beverage.  Next, a bottle of 2009 Nyarai Cellars Sauvignon Blanc - this is the flagship wine of a virtual winery in the Niagara region of Ontario.  The nose is wonderful - I have had this wine a few times in the past few months and with each passing month the smell gets better.  The palate is a little short when first opened, but I know from experience this wine needs time to really explode on the palate - funny to say about a white, but you should open this wine a day before you need it, stick it in the fridge and let it breathe the chilly air.  Next up a Malivoire 2007 Moira Vineyard Chardonnay, a delicious drink now Chard with plenty of wood - I can't see this one getting much better than it is drinking right now - and right now it drinks beautifully.  For dinner I poured a Trivento 2007 Golden Reserve Malbec: lots of juicy fruit and some great tannins, plummy, cherry and chocolate all meld together in this one.  Finally, a bottle of Sauvion 2008 Les Bousquets, a medium dry Chenin Blanc from the Loire that has great balance and acidity - hard to tell this one was sweet in any way.  As a nightcap before sending people into the rainy night I opened a Vinzelo Ruby Port, you can't go wrong with Port ...

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