I'm not going to bore you with the details of Valentine's Day, I am sure you have a story of your own that you would be just as excited to share, but what would be interesting is to find our what your special bottle was on the big day devoted to love. I opened a bottle of Non-Vintage Trius Brut, a multi-award winning bubbly from Ontario, and deservedly so. With no date on the bottle I have no idea when I acquired it but I know that it had to be about 2 or 3 years ago. The wine is still fresh and lively with apple, fresh bread crust, lemon and almond biscotti notes on the nose; palate was crisp, almondy, green apple, lemon and had a nice fresh bread middle flavour that complimented the crust on the nose - oh yum ... it was just lovely as it played across the palate. Glad that I have a few more of these in the cellar to open on other special occasions. Feel free to share what special bottle you shared with your someone special.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Two Ontario Whites: Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc (Ontario)
Had a rough day on Saturday. The car gave me trouble and had to go into the shop. Groceries were sitting in the back seat when this happened, it was cold enough outside but inside the service garage it was toasty warm, so I had to sweat the fish, meat and chicken sitting in my backseat - luckily I found a ride home in time to get the stuff into the freezer - but not before losing a few pounds in worry. But enough about my rough day. Finally got home at 4 and decided it was time for a glass of something ... opened a bottle of Coyote's Run 2008 Black Paw Chardonnay, one of my favourites from that year, too early to do a Taste it Again review on it, but I can tell you it is still drinking beautifully and I enjoyed every sip. Then a buddy came over for dinner, he whipped up some kind of shrimp and linguine dish (in a cream sauce) and requested a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to go with it, sadly I could not find any, or maybe I did not look hard enough, but I did come up with an Ontario alternative: Hillebrand 2009 Trius Sauvignon Blanc, if you have not tried this wine you are really missing out, tastes even better now, a year after release, then it did when I first reviewed it in June of 2010 - truly stellar and stunning. Overall a good end to a miserable day.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Francis Ford Coppola's 2005 Director's Cut Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (California)
If I could say one thing about this wine and leave it at that, it would be that the wine was "aged to perfection". But I will not just leave it at that, it would seem like a cop out. I pulled this wine out for a dinner with some friends. We had trouble figuring out what to serve and settled on a new recipe (why we always try something new on guest I am not sure - but we do), meatloaf, the Katie Lee Joel way (yes Billy Joel's ex). I yanked the first thing I could find in the cellar, this wine came out of one of my aging boxes, I wanted to bring summer to the table and Zinfandel always makes me think of bbq ribs on the back deck. This one was delicious, both with dinner and on its own. Spiced plum, chocolate, dried black fruit, fig, pepper ... each sip seemed to bring something new to the palate, it's unfortunate that the bottle had to end ... the good news is that I have one more I can drag out this summer - hurray.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Columbia Crest 2007 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot (Washington)
I find myself in Ottawa for a tasting event of close to 40 Ontario wineries (more on that next week on the On The Road with the Grape Guy blog) ... I am now back in my hotel room and, with no offense to the wineries and winemakers of fine Ontario wine, the last think I want is an Ontario wine. So I dig into my bag of tricks, pull out some travel glasses (real crystal, stemless - it's all in the packing my friends) and a bottle of Columbia Crest Horse Heaven Hills Merlot, with its whopping 14.5% alcohol; you might think that a little heavy handed in the alcohol department, but you take what mother nature gives you. The beauty is that the alcohol is barely noticeable on either the nose or palate. The smells are blueberry, dried leaf, black cherry and lots of mocha. The taste is loaded with mocha-blueberry with just a hint of heat ... but ultimately it made a great pre-dinner sipper.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Deen De Bortoli 2004 Vat 8 Shiraz (Australia)
Super Bowl 45 ... Packer-Steelers ... which wine to have? I know, there are people out there scratching their heads saying "Wine? It's beer time my man." Sorry. The wife's a former Bud-girl (and also Milwaukee's Best) but has opted for water, so wine it is. So I walked into the wine room, spied a bottle, walked to it and pulled it off the shelf - there is no other reason than that for this wine. Not a bad aged Shiraz, hint of eucalyptus and dried fruit on the nose (more dried fruit than euc as the wine aerates). The palate was slightly minty, dried dark fruit and smooth with a mere titch of tannins (which also mellowed as it sat open). Starts to deteriorate at the game went on ... Go Steelers (said just as the second Packers interception happens) ... as I was about to say, starts to deteriorate as the Steelers chances, sigh.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Ayler Kupp 2005 Riesling Kabinett (Germany)
A beautiful 6 year old German Riesling with lots of complexity on both the nose and palate, and something tells me it will continue to develop nicely over the next 5 years or more. Currently, the nose is apricot and peach with some honeyed notes and the merest hint of petrol. The palate showed great balance between the sweetness and the acidity: mac and green apple with peach pit and mineral notes, a nice bit of pear on the long finish. As for the petrol, it does not seem to be there on the palate but I think it will show in the next few years. Right now this one is still complex and tasty.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Chateau Canada 2005 (France)
To steal a phrase from Fozzie, tonight "Patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear" ... well Canadian bear anyway. I found a 6 year old Chateau Canada from Bordeaux, a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon from a 6 hectare property 15km north of Bordeaux. The story goes that the Frenchman who once owned it visited the colony of Lower Canada and was so impressed that he named his property `Chateau Canada`. All well and good but you have hope it`s a least drinkable ... and I would have to say it most certainly was. I was actually looking for a bottle of Italian, to go with my Chicken Parmesan, but I was in a rush and pulled out an Aussie and a French instead ... Aussie was too far off the mark, so I opted for the Bordeaux. While not the best Bordeaux wine I have ever had this was quite a tasty little beast. The nose was spiced-cherry, blackberry with a hint of raspberry, there was also a woody character, but nothing to be alarmed about. The taste was all over the map: woody, spicy, toasty and smoky, and with a little aeration there was a tinge of raspberry mixed in with peppery-cocoa powder, dry and still quite tannic with a long smoky finish. Good choice to drink and with the food.
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