Friends bring with them good time, good cheer and an escape from the busyness of getting a new house ready. This was the first time we had friends over in the evening at the new place, some have come over during the daytime, but tonight it was an evening visit … we even bought some extra outdoor chairs for the occasion. I kicked the evening off with my last bottle of the old standby Cono Sur 2009 Viognier. I bought three bottles less than a month ago and now they are all gone. You’ve heard me tell you about it enough so I will move on, but dang it is an easy sipper for the hot days ahead. Next up a bottle of 2009 Pinot Noir from The Winery of Good Hope in South Africa. Smooth and yummy – wish I could tell you more but I went down so easy. Then there was a bottle of 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Slent Farms called Ayama. This is an unoaked version yet shows lots of complexity and drinkability – fruit, spice and tannins make up the biggest portion of what you be feeling in the mouth. This wine still has plenty of presence on the palate for a 4-year-old unoaked wine. Finally, friends bought over a little toasting wine: Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut, a California sparkling from the French house of Roederer. All I can say here is ‘cheers to tasty wines’.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Two WInes from Quinta de la Quietud (Spain)
Tonight I was at a meeting at which a winemaker showed up with some wines from his winery in Spain - now in truth Jean Francois Hebrard does not own Quinta de la Quietud, but he works there and has since 2001. These wines are just coming into the Ontario market and they wanted us to try them. The first was the 2008 Corral de Campanas, which the label calls a "Sexy" Toro wine - Toro is just another name for Tempranillo in that part of the world. The Corral is made from 12 year old vines (and younger) is a very fruity wine that deals up spice and pepper with a touch of oak for flavouring. It is aged 6 months in lots of new American oak, JF says that's because he wants to extract maximum flavour in the shortest period of time (at least that's what I got out of the conversation in his thick French accent). The mid-palate is juicy with chalky tannins on the finish - this one could easily age 3-5 years.
The second wine was the 2005 Quinta Quietud, using the same Toro grape, but this time the vines are between 20-80 years old and the wine spends 20 months in 70% French oak, of which a third is new. This wine has more power (15% alcohol) and yet more finesse and delicacy than the Corral. The nose is sweet with red fruit and vanilla, and it is very appealing. Delicious black current, blackberry, vanilla, spice and a good finish. Sweet mid-palate with good tannins and mineral complexity. Turns out it wasn't just the nose that was appealing, so was the taste.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Nugan Estate 2001 The Edge King Valley Cabernet Merlot (Australia)
As many wines do, when I am not sure what to drink on any given night, the capsule of this wine caught my eye, the words "the edge" printed around it - I pulled the bottle out and looked it over ... 'that one looks okay to me' I thought and immediately started to read the back label. The last line caught my eye: "Enjoy now or cellar for up to 5 years" - oops, I think the 5 years has long passed, but what the hell. So I popped the cork on this 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot blend and wondered what I was going to open next, once this wine proved to be over the hill. As luck would have it this wine was far from over the hill, it fact I think it is languishing somewhere on the top of the hill still basking in some of its glory. The nose is somewhere between ripe and over ripe fruit with hints of sweet dried blackberries and blueberries. What really makes this a lovely thing to sniff on is the dark chocolate that plays in and amongst all that fruit. On the palate the fruit is there, the chocolate not so much, but the dried black fruits are delicious and the finish is long and supple, coating every nook and cranny of the mouth, you can lick some out from the creases in your mouth. Just goes to show that wineries and winemakers are just guessing at longevity (then again, aren't we all?)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Angove's 2004 Vineyard Select McLaren Vale Shiraz (Australia)
Over the weekend I had plenty of wine, which I have talked about in the past, like the Cono Sur Viognier (2009), Nyarai Cellars 2007 Cabernet Merlot, Applewood's Mac Meade and Coyote's Run Black Paw Chardonnay (2008). But tonight's wine was brand new to my palate, the Angove's 2004 Vineyard Select McLaren Vale Shiraz ... an impressive wine with an equally impressive name. Angove's was established in 1886 and when this wine was released, in 2006, the bottle marked their 120th Anniversary (proudly proclaimed on the label). After 120 years of winemaking you'd hope they do it right, and I can report firsthand that they do. A wine like this just takes time. At first the wine smelled of heat, although the wine was cool in the mouth, hot with pepper and alcohol (14.5%). A decanter and 20 minutes took care of that problem revealing a 6 year old wine with some really intense flavour. Lots of pepper and spice at first, but soon dark fruit emerged along with some semi-sweet dark chocolate. A real treat for a Sunday night dinner with the fam.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Familia Zuccardi 2007 Fuzion (Argentina)
Alot has been written about Familia Zuccardi's FuZion wine and they have sold a lot of bottles to show for it. I have to admit I jumped on the FuZion bandwagon too, I bought my case along with everybody else, though I bought mine in the first release here in Ontario. And why not, it was a pleasant Shiraz (70%) / Malbec (30%) blend for under $7.50 a bottle - even if it were a horrible wine it would have been okay to marinade with, especially at that price. Thing is the '07 was not a horrible wine, in fact it was quite tasty and rather delicious - and it flew off LCBO (Ontario's liquor retailer) shelves by the case load. Now some 3 years later I have opened another bottle on the coat tails of a rather horrible wine experience. The wine is smooth, fruity and delicious with a mix of red and black fruit, some pepper and cocoa mixed in on the finish - very uncomplicated and very good, especially for that price.
Thierry and Guy 2004 Le Freak Shiraz Viognier (France)
Talk about disappointing. I was walking in the wine cellar this evening, trying to figure out what to drink, when suddenly a capsule talked to me, almost literally - it caught my eye actually, but it had a face on the end so it could have done some talking had I stared at it long enough (and had enough wine). It was this Shiraz Viognier from France and I pulled it off the rack interested to try it. I cursed quietly to myself once I pulled off the capsule and found a plastic cork underneath - when will wineries learn that plastic is the worst form of closer. Now I know this wine is from 2004, but still what made them think this was a good idea - the plastic cork salesmen I am sure. Nose is a little on the funky side with stewed prune notes; palate showed the remnants of what was once some delicious spicy notes and dark fruit - but it had dried up and partially oxidized, leaving behind a nasty bitter finish. Too bad, this Le Freak had the potential to be a real nice wine, especially aged.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Ravenswood 2004 / Chilcas 2003 (California / Chile)
Two wines were opened tonight, only one I enjoyed. The first was the Ravenswood 2004 Sonoma County Old Vines Zinfandel ... this was a funny little wine because it was all spicy and peppery at first, but there was no fruit. I was talking to a buddy on the phone and I said, "I think this wine might be corked", but I wasn't 100% sure. So throughout the next 30 minutes I sipped on this wine every time I passed the glass. Cork taint does not get better with time, it gets worse - and more apparent, and by the 30 minute mark I was sure this was corked. Too bad, I was really looking forward to a Zin and Ravenswood makes some of the best.
I then yanked out this Chilcas 2003 blend of 80% Cabernet and 20% Syrah, part of the "Ranch Vineyards" series. I would have to say the first sip was extremely disappointing, might have been some residual effect from the Zin, tight and unappealing. Then I used my Vinturi on it (single glass decanter) and this wine opened up beautifully. The nose had interesting smells that combined dried black fruits, cocoa and mocha, along with some anise and spice. The palate was also pretty interesting black fruit, herbaceous notes with a black licorice liqueur-type finish that was in no way thick like those liqueur can be. Very tasty and enjoyable. Not what I was originally looking for but certainly what the doctor ordered, so to speak.
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