Jackson-Triggs 2005 Meritage, Sun Rock Vineyard (British Columbia)

Far too many years have past since my last trip to British Columbia to check out the Okanagan Valley and drink their wines ... as I sit here reminiscing with a glass in my hand of this award winner (Best Red, All Canadian Wine Championships) ... I am remembering the day spent with the folks of Vincor and the tour of their properties, the lunch and dinner, the driving up and down (and back up) the Valley ... what a day.  They say you can never bring back those memories by opening the bottle, you have to create new ones, but with this wine in my hand it's hard not to thing back of those 10 days of summer - especially on this miserable April day.  Here we have a blend of 50% Merlot,  30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc ... and it is drinking absolutely fabulously ... in fact the longer it sits in glass the better it becomes.  Aromas of pepper, smoke, dried cassis, coffee and anise seem to lull the olfactories ... Palate starts off slow with plenty of wood on both the front, mid and back, but once air has done its magic (after an hour) it reveals itself to be a super pleasing combination full of mocha, blackberry, spiced-strawberry, anise, and cassis.  Everything has mellowed and has becomes silky smooth all the way to the finish.  This wine still has great life left in the bottle and after an hour smoothed our for the next 2, by then we had drank the whole thing.  So glad I held on to it, but now I have a typical wine buyer's lament:  wish I had gotten more.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Nepenthe 2004 Tryst (Australia)

Tryst is a blend of three grapes, and an odd triple blend at that, especially if you consider the country of origin (Australia):  Cabernet, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel ... As a Zinfandel fan I was positive I would like this even though zin was low man on the totem pole to Cab and Tempranillo ... I also decided a little time would do it some good and I wasn't wrong on either count.  The nose if full of plum, blackberry, vanilla and baking spice.  The palate also had much to give and the tannins still put up a fight with the tongue, but it also allowed the spiced-plum, cinnamon, dark chocolate and coffee to come through unimpeded.  A real taste treat after all these years - so glad I held onto this one.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

A Night of Old Vines Wines (Ontario / Australia)

What a fabulous night of wine.  Three Ontario and one Australian.  A dinner at a friend's house that proved to be just as tasty with food as it did with the wine.  But it's the wine that always impresses me and so that is where our focus will be.

We started the night with a Lailey 2010 Brickyard Chardonnay, it was one of the Brickyard vintages that was not already in my cellar, and a trip to the winery the weekend before revealed that they had only one case left, they had also decided to taste a bottle while we were there ... needless to say we bought a few as it was delicious:  rich and buttery, with lovely grilled peach notes.  A hot vintage Chardonnay that seems to blend the big buttery flavours of California and the acid balance of Ontario.

Next on the list was an Angels Gate 2005 Old Vines Chardonnay ... this one was a real surprise to all of us, though I am sure I tasted it back in its younger days.  The age of the wine and the age of the vines work in harmony to give a lovely balance of complexity:  Toffee, caramel, hint of toasted marshmallow, rich and mouth-feeling with creamy vanilla and spiced pineapple puree, plus there was a real beauty of a long finish.  This was one that was the pleasant surprise of the night and one I wish I had more of because the creamy smoothness and complexity of this wine was amazing; best of all it still retained an element of acidity that kept it in balance.  This was a sipping Chardonnay that we polished off before dinner ... so two bottles down and two more to go.  The first two were a perfect match to the crab dip (see I do remember some of the food).

Our host was thrilled to provide and open the next bottle, because she has been waiting to open it for a very long time, a Reif 2007 First Growth Pinot Noir ... made with the oldest vines on the Reif property; and I would have to say it has held up extremely well.  The nose is full of earthy, cranberry, and black cherry notes; this all follows onto the palate while adding white pepper, currants and toasted oak ... there's also some beautiful acidity that acts as a backbone and keeps this wine upright and refreshing, not overbearing.  Another hot vintage wine that is standing the test of time.

The final bottle was a Torbreck 2005 GSM out of Australia, but not just any GSM, an old vines Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre ... and from what I have read this wine is suppose to be a nasty piece of business (according to the folks on CellarTracker) ... but in truth I think the wine just needed more time to finally come into its own.  The nose has nice tobacco notes with a cassis syrup aroma or sorts mixed with black-peppered-raspberries.  The palate was loaded with sweet plum, black cherry, and more of that raspberry-pepper combination.  A delicious end to the evening.

As you can see, if you were a fan of old vines wine this was the night for you ... and since I am this was a great night.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

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. 

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Les Vignerons de Tautavel Vingrau Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Le Cirque (France)

Been back from Florida for a few days now, drank plenty of cider while away and bought a few wines at a place called Total Wines, which seems to be a large chain down there (and the selection, wow) ... but that did not stop me from digging into my own cellar this Monday evening and finding a Languedoc wine from France to pair with the burgers we were having for dinner.  This Le Cirque is a four grape blend of Grenache, Carignan, Mourvedre and Syrah and it's a lovely sip and smell:  Nose is full of raspberry, vanilla, white pepper, cinnamon and cassis with elements of smoked cedar in the background.  Taste is also inviting but not as complex (yet) with cassis and white pepper being carried on a bed of smoke and cedar.  My hope is that as this wine ages the fruit will lift and that cedar element will dissipate a little more, rounding out those edges.  Right now is very good with the potential of being great.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Domino del Plata 2033 Crios by Susana Balbo (Argentina)

This is a tragic wine ... Lately I have been touting my love for the Bonarda grape; mark my words it will become popular one day and it'll been for it's fresh, juicy nature.  So I went looking in my cellar to see what I had in the Bonarda department, putting my money where my mouth was ... and I found this 2003 wine, a 10 year old Syrah / Bonarda blend (equal parts of each).  So needless to say I just had to try it.  The nose should have been the tip off to how this wine was going to be: old leather, white pepper, burnt cherry, with an under-current of green bin (for those of you not in Ontario, the 'green bin' is basically a compost container that gets picked up weekly from your home ... it's organic matter).  The palate gave me some hope: starting off fairly juicy but it ended funky and odd ... this wine is in the throes of a personality dilemma, it's not sure where it wants to be and if it should be there.  So with all this happening I wrote a note to myself that I will share with you now:  "These are the days I wonder if I'm an alcoholic ... I keep sipping on this wine although I know its bad - I keep hoping it will come around, but deep inside I know it won't.  I am sitting at the dining room table with the glass of wine on the other side of the table and I can smell it - and it is pungent and not very appealing ... and it's not getting any better."  With time in glass it still stinks and the palate has actually turned into nothing organically recognizable mixed with booze.  Sad part is you could tell it was a well made wine and it was fighting to be heard from, but a mix of the closure and time let it down.  I still believe in Bonarda, but aging it might be another issue.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Zilzie Wines 2002 Cabernet / Merlot / Petit Verdot (Australia)

This is one of those bottles that sat in my cellar for far too long, not because I was waiting for it to age, but because I was waiting for the perfect moment to open a wine called Zilzie.  It just seemed to be a wine you wanted to open with friends at the right time ... the name was interesting, the label cool, and the blend fascinating, it needed friends to share.  But each time the occasion arose to open it with friends it didn't feel like the right time and then it just got too late to open it with people, it was too old, and ... well ... I have no excuse for opening this wine 11 years from vintage date.  Not saying this wine is bad, far from it, but something tells me its hey-day had long passed.  With all that preamble I was still impressed with what was in the bottle:  Black raspberry, black sambuca, and melted dark chocolate, all on the nose.  When poured straight from the bottle the wine just wouldn't open up on the palate, so I had to run it through my Vino-Air and that helped to smooth things out and makes things more palatable.  The best thing I can say is that it had interesting flavours that weren't fresh but not quite dried and a super long finish.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

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.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...

catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario

sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Wines of Christmas 2013 (California / Spain)

When I picked these wines I had no idea I had gone with a complete California theme for Christmas, thankfully I added a little Spain in for a little outside sourcing for dessert.  These days Christmas Eve is spent with my in-laws while Christmas Day is spent with my brother and his family - sure we do a fair amount of driving, but it's worth it to see everybody.  My in-laws are more beer oriented, but I'm glad to see some of them coming over to the dark side of wine; my brother is also a beer guy but when it comes to dinner wine is his drink of choice, and he seems to like 'em big and bold.  Hopefully you've read what Eve brought to the palate (3 Cabs) - now it's time to see what Day brings.  

We started with a bottle of Mumm Napa Brut Prestige, cause everything goes better with bubbles:  mac apple sweetness with hints of lemonade and fresh bread, very tasty and so easy drinking - truly a wonderful start to the evening.  I know many are going to give me flack when I call this a Pinot Noir, because it is hard to distinguish this wine as Pinot from say Zinfandel or Shiraz, but I like the Belle Glos 2011 Meiomi, it just has its place and with all that black cherry, plum, and chocolate it's hard not to like it ... some will say "it aint Pinot", but it sure is tasty.  I dug a little deeper into the cellar for this next one, Bonny Doon Vineyard 2005 Le Cigar Volant, this is a Rhone Valley style blend made in the US of A (50% Grenache, 24% Mourvedre, 22% Syrah, 3% Carignane, 1% cinsault) and with 7 years on it the Rhone pedigree really come through in the form of smoky notes and touches of pepper on the nose; the palate has pencil shavings, cassis, wood smoke, and peppered-raspberry.  I really liked the complexity without the over indulgence of too much fruit.  For dessert I pulled out a bottle of Miguel Torres Moscatel Oro Floralis, this is a decadent wine that one should sip on slowly for full enjoyment, but one feels like they should sip quickly because the next glass could be your last, as everyone else does the same - it's just so decadent and delicious: caramel-spiced-orange on the palate while floral and citrus hit the olfactories, the finish is long, lingering and sensuous with its orange blossom note.  Quite an array of wines, and all delicious in their own right. 

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

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.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Ten Birthday Wines - Starring a 1970 Bordeaux (France, Germany, Ontario, California)

'Twas the night of my birthday and friends were in the house - bottles of wine were opened and here's what we had:

Starting with a Dr. Burklin Wolf 2004 Riesling, which was quite an interesting older German Riesling full of honey and waxy notes with some apricot pit ... this was the first dead soldier of the night (some wines did not get finished).  Other whites of the night were a Thirty Bench 2012 Riesling, Chateau des Charmes 2010 St. David's Bench Chardonnay, Cave Spring 2012 Dolomite Chardonnay, Vineland 2011 Elevation Riesling, and a Vineland 2005 Dry Riesling (this one did not show well).  Speaking of not showing well, we also opened a bottle of Ruhlmann 2004 Sylvaner Bouquet Printanier - Cuvee Prestige, sealed with a cheese-o plastic cork, this wine should never have spend this long in my cellar, nor should it have been opened tonight - this wine should have stayed lost.

Surprisingly, only two reds were opened, a Tom Eddy 2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which proved to be a delightful wine, well aged, well balanced but certainly not the star of the night ... on any other night maybe, but tonight it was a 43 year old Bordeaux that stole the show.  The Chateau Gruaud Larose 1970 Grand Vin was absolutely stunning, considering its age.  To the average everyday wine drinker this is going to sound unappealing, but to wine geeks (like a couple around the table tonight) this wine kept changing and opening and giving different aspects of its character that were admirable: starting with Band-aid and forest floor on the nose and a bit on the palate, there were also welcome (and surprising) hints of raspberry that appeared, not strong, but subtle and appealing.  No doubt the wine is very mature, but still very drinkable. The most surprising part is the acidity, which still stood up and kept the wine "fresh" or at least the palate from getting tired.  The biggest and best compliment I can give this wine is that it is savoury and sexy - in its own kinda way.  This is only the second wine I have ever had from my birth-year, this time it was extra special cause it was my actual birthday.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Montes 2006 and 2011 Limited Selection Red Blend (Chile)

Over the years I have written about and purchased quite a few Montes wines - this Chilean producer has proven they make quality wine at reasonable prices (sometimes too reasonable - but you didn't

The label has changed but the blend has not.

hear that from me).

Recently, the agent for Montes sent me a bottle of their newest vintage of the Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) Carmenere (30%) blend 2011 ... I decided to bring it to my wine class to taste, but I also wanted to show them what aging a quality wine could do for enjoyment of a wine, and also that you don't have to spend an arm and a leg for good, cellarable wine.  So I found, in my cellar, a bottle of the 2006 Montes with the same blend to compare with the newer vintage - the results were quite delicious:

2011 ...

The nose had blackberry, black currant, mint, licorice and smoke - the palate had quite a bit of tannin but it was pleasantly in the background allowing the mint, smoke and black currant to shine.

2006 ...

Showed more interesting notes both on the nose and palate with good complexity:  the nose was a little musty with earthy and peaty notes, there were also elements of prune, spearmint and coffee.  The palate also held lots of interesting flavours - first it came off as soft and smooth with a woodsy short finish; tannins were present but they were rounder and more supple and as the wine sat in the glass the mustiness wore off bringing forth coffee, dried cherry and mocha notes.

The conclusion was that the 2006 was a real winner - once it got over the initial funk - it proved to be a fascinating and ultimately enjoyable wine; while the 2011 was something everyone could get at any time --- the key is to give it some time to mature and you'll end up with something much more interesting to sip on, or take to dinner.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Folie a Deux 2005 Menage a Trois - Red (California)

I brought this wine into my wine class to prove a point and ended up proving quite a different one.  I had opened a bottle of this California blend a few months ago and found a synthetic cork under the capsule and a nasty tasting wine under the "cork" (so bad in fact that I never wrote it up, but did make a private note of the incident).  Now I know this isn't suppose to be a long-lasting wine, it was a fluke that I found it in the first place, buried in my cellar - sad part is ... there was a companion bottle with it.  And so I took it to class to show what an oxidized wine tastes like ... but that is not what actually happened.  Imagine my surprise when I found a natural cork under the capsule - and a mighty fine wine under that:  At first this wine made no friends at all, descriptions from the class ranged from earthy to dirty diaper, but once over the initial shock of finally being opened this wine started to reveal its real smells: dried cherry fruit, tobacco, dried blackberry and dried raspberry ... fresh fruit was not to be found here, but then it really wasn't expected either.  Palate proved to be more interesting: vanilla and dried cherry  with port-like nuances.  Plenty of dried red fruit with touches of the occasional spice ... but most of all it was sweet with candied fruit and a quick finish.  A very interesting curiosity of a wine and it served to prove a different point to those who liked it: wine is finite and once it's gone you can't buy any more - much to the chagrin of those who wanted to know where they could get a bottle or two.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...

catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario

sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Meiomi 2010 Pinot Noir - Duorum 2010 Red Blend (California / Portugal)

Thanksgiving is a perfect time to pull out some of those wines you've been dying to try, or try those wines that are new to you.  This past Thanksgiving I popped the cork on 4 wines, 2 older wines from Ontario and two more recent vintages from "away".  The two Ontario wines will be written up elsewhere (Lailey 2008 Zweigelt & Stoney Ridge 2005 Cranberry), but the wines from other places I'll tell you about now.  We started the night with a bottle of Belle Glos 2010 Meiomi (which is a Pinot Noir).  Now there are those who find the Meiomi wine to be a little on the jammy and full side, especially for a Pinot Noir - "it's wine, but it isn't Pinot" ... and while I see their point it is one of my guilty pleasure wines, it's just one of those reds that puts a smile on your face with it (too?) fresh fruitedness and the 2010 delivered exactly what I was expecting: rich black cherry, hints of white pepper and light touches of other spices.  Is it classic Pinot Noir? Not by a long shot, but it is tasty, and has the ability to turn non-Pinot drinkers around, in that they don't hate all Pinots.  The dinner wine was not classic Thanksgiving fare either, and definitely not an apparent match for turkey, but it was another delicious wine: Duorum 2010 from the Douro Valley in Portugal.  I visited this winery a couple of years ago and was impressed with the terrain and what they were trying to accomplish at this new winery in a very old region.  But I found the alcohol a little high and the wines slightly out of balance, they were good but just needed tweaking so they did not taste so ... Australian (for lack of a better comparison).  Well it seems in the interim Duorum has found that precious balance.  This is a beauty and at only 13.5% if has struck the right balance of fruit and finesse: raspberry, black cherry, great acidity (for balance) and a long finish.  Twas a good Thanksgiving for wine - and I look forward to the American version where I can do it all again, with different wines of course.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Le Ragose 2000 Valpolicella (Italy)

Yes it was quite a weekend when my wife left town ... I opened a variety of bottles that I found while cleaning up the cellar without being told I was an alcoholic ... I also have to admit I dumped quite a few as well, they were just too old, or I had previously written about them as being bad (and as luck would have it I found another bottle).  It seems to always be the way.  You wait for that perfect occasion to open that "special bottle" and the "perfect" occasion never comes and the bottle languishes and (sooner or later) goes off.  But that was not the case for this 2000 Le Ragose, a ripasso method Valpolicella.  I was pleasantly surprised by what I found under the cork:  aromas of anise, dried blackberries and hints of plum (there was still an element of freshness to this wine that I was not expecting, especially on the nose).  The palate followed the nose's lead kicking in nice acidity and a dried raspberry finish. But what really stood out was the smoothness that started mid-palate and lasted to the end.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Richard Hamilton 2002 Colton's SGM & Pike 2002 Shiraz - Clare Valley (Australia)

Tomorrow I start the long process of re-organizing my wine cellar ... well, it shouldn't be that long, but it'll take me most of the day.  Tonight I have Syrah on the brain, but suddenly these two wines strike me as something interesting to try - they are in line with my original hankering, but the year and the comparison factor make them interesting to me on this night.  I first open the Richard Hamilton, a Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvedre combination (SGM) ...  it smells of pepper and alcohol (it clocks in at 14%) - in fact alcohol seems to be a dominating smell here.  Gave it a little bit of time and found some black fruit and spice coming to the surface, but always with that whiff and (as it turns out) overly alcoholic taste, it smells hot and tastes the same way (and by that I mean alcoholically so) - bad balance, or it did not age well, which ever it is not a favourite.  But if you get past that alcohol there is some pleasant white pepper and dark fruit, but you really have to find it.  From the same year I tried a straight Shiraz from Pike (Clare Valley), this proved to be a more elegant and smooth wine, and although it had .5% alcohol higher than the Hamilton, you hardly noticed the booze at all - and that's what I call a dangerous wine.  Red licorice, blackberry, and a touch of cocoa kick it off, but as it aerates it develops dried character and that adds some depth and additional flavours to this wine; it's smooth character made it a much more enjoyable wine than the Hamilton.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Quinta do Encontro 2004 Preto Branco (Spain)

After the relative freshness of the first bottle I opened this evening (2009 Between the Line Cabernet Franc) this was almost a shocker, until I looked at the year - somewhere along the line I did not look at the year of this wine and I thought 'man it is prematurely oxidized and really tired' ... but then when I realized it was some 9 years old it all made sense.  The nose was leathery and full of dried dark fruit along with a slightly smoky note to it.  On the palate there were dried cranberries, dried blackberries and some cassis, all mixing with that leatheryness found on the nose.  Plus there was a seam of earthiness running right down the center from first sip to last swallow.  The wine is a little tired and it's not going to get any better - but once you got passed it's short-comings (and realize its age) you'll come to the realization that it's not a bad wine at all ... plus it has its place at the table.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Celler Acustic 2008 Acustic (Spain)

A real lazy Sunday ... I wrote up a couple of wine tastings and the wife caught up on some of her paperwork - then we watched Black Rain (with Michael Douglas) - I was shocked to learn my wife had never seen it (where has she been?).  Then we made an special early Sunday dinner of nachos ... I had already picked out my wine for tonight on Friday (it was my back up bottle in case a certain synthetic closed wine turned out to be faulty) ... a bottle of Acustic: a Spanish blend made with Garnacha and Samso (aka Carignan) from the Montsant region and "Vinyes Velles Nobles" - now my Spanish is very rudimentary but I read that is 'old noble vines'.  The last bottle I had of this was back in 2010, and I enjoyed it then but I probably enjoyed it more tonight.  Back in 2010 it was one bottle out of 6 poured on an evening with friends and some real hit and miss wines ... tonight it was all by its lonesome and paired with a delightful plate of corn chips, cheese, ground chicken, onions, peppers, salsa and sour cream.  Rich and plummy with an elegant hint of spice on the nose; the palate delivered black cherry, hints of vanilla, blackberry and a dusting of pepper and clove.  It finished with some mocha and licorice on the last sip, about an hour and a half later.  10 years ago it was all fruit, but now it had developed into something much more enjoyable.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.

Nieto Senetiner 2001 Don Nicanor Fine Red Wine (Argentina)

After my experience with my last Don Nicanor wine and my discovery that I had an even older red blend from the same buried in my cellar, I decided that tonight I would give it a try ... it's Sunday evening and there's no rush, so if the bottle turns out to be less than adequate I'll move on.  This is a 12 year old wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot aged 12 months in French oak barrels - all this information was listed on the back label, but no cellaring recommendations beyond 16 Celsius or lower, and that the wine was made unfiltered (which really means there could be sediment).  Not sure what I was expecting but here's what I got ... nose started out with cocoa powder, spice, clove and oak; palate was also spiced and dried fruit, mainly of the dark berry varieties.  The label did recommend opening 30 minutes before drinking, had I done that I would have missed out on all of the above, and instead had the following:  (~30 minutes) opened to reveal the definite smells of spiced raspberry on the nose and a palate that showed off surprising complexity of raspberry, cassis and blackberry (more dried than fresh, but there was an element of freshness there) though everything was still a tad on the oaky side.  After an hour the wine smoothed out dramatically (seemingly between sips) but the profile of dried dark fruit and oak still remained.  I would have to say I was very impressed with this wine, sometimes it's good to come to a wine with no expectations.

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more. 

Lyeth 2011 Fleur de Lyeth (California)

I went to visit my friend Dave in Michigan today and we shared a wonderful bottle of Zinfandel earlier in the day ... but when I got to my brother-in-law's place it was child's birthday party time (my nephew was turning nine), so the idea of pulling out a bottle of something nice with plenty of kids running around shooting off Nerf guns seemed a bit to much.  Party wrapped up around 6 and by 7:00 we were in front of the TV watching some pre-season football.  I know that football screams for beer but instead I asked one of my niece's boyfriend (the one who is into wine) if he wanted to share a little something ... and here we have it.  This was recommend to me by Dave who said it was great value in an under ten dollar bottle and punched well above it price tag ... and I am now in total agreement.  This Fleur de Lyeth is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec and gives the best of these three worlds.  Plenty of dark fruit right off the hop and it dominated throughout with plum and blackberry leading the charge, there was also a hint of white pepper that came along at the end, but it was the smooth and silky dark fruit that made this one a real winner.  

Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.