This wine has a very distinctive capsule, which I have been eyeing for a number of weeks (oh, who's kidding anyone, it has been months now). It seems that everyday I can look across my office into the wine room and see the Avalon-star staring back at me. Finally, I walked right-up to it and yanked it off the shelf, grabbed the corkscrew and before I could talk myself out of it, plunged the helix into the cork and yanked ... now open I had to stop admiring the capsule and instead focus on the wine inside the bottle. Beautifully smooth with plumy, blackberry and vanilla notes. Plush in the mouth, and as the air got to it it just got lusher and plusher - very yummy. Talk about opening a wine at its peak.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Bodega Catena Alamos 2007 Malbec (Argentina)
Saturday evening, and it was time for a family BBQ at my brother's house ... I brought a few wines along for the occasion (with a moniker like the Grape Guy it's kind of expected) and my GoVino glassware (plastic glassware that I reviewed in Newsletter #114). This turned out to be one of the nicer of the few I brought, it was released into Vintages (Ontario) this past Saturday. The nose is black and blue berries with a bit of bramble and some cinnamon and herbs ... the flavours are black raspberry, hints of spice, cinnamon with a touch of vanilla - and the piece-de-resistence ... very smooth - all for the low low Ontario price of $13.95.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Domaine Paul Mas 2004 Que Sera Sirah (France)
I'm into reading label these days (as you can tell from my last posting) - and from what I read this wine has no idea what it wants to be: Sirah, Syrah or Shiraz - all three terms appear on the label, two on the front, all three on the back. I will say it is a pretty front label, very stylized and eye catching, which, along with the cute name, is the reason I bought a bottle. Tonight it was its time to show what was in the bottle was as cute and impressive as what was on the label. I can report quite honestly that I was neither impressed not unimpressed (I was somewhere in the middle on this one), probably because I was confused on the style it was going for, so I wasn't sure what I was looking for in the glass. It was not jammy and fruit-bomby like Shiraz, nor did I get a peppery, bacon fat, smoked meat quality that you would pick up from Syrah - and don't get me started on what Sirah invoked. All in all I thought it a good wine, passable and easy to drink, I finished my glass and went back for another half, so it must have been good enough to drink ... just very confused.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Water Wheel Vineyards 2004 Memsie (Australia)
Back of the bottle say, "for immediate consumption" - I didn't read that till it was too late. But for a wine that was suppose to be consumed immediately this still had quite a bit of flavour. The nose was dried fruit, blackberries and a hint of chocolate liqueur (picked that up after an hour of being open) ... the taste was of dried blueberries with a nice spicy characteristic - though the alcohol heat was quite powerful, and noticeable, upon further examination of the bottle I saw it was indeed 14.8%. I also read that this wine was a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec - intereting combination indeed. Turned out it was not bad for a wine that was meant to consume quickly but still sat around for 4 years, till I got around to it.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Michael & David Phillips 2006 "7 Deadly Zins" (California)
Every time I go down to the U.S. invariably someone will ask me to buy them a bottle of "7 Deadly". It is one of those wines that stands out in the mind of Zinfandel lovers, not just for it's unique name but for it's unique concept, and of course the poetry on the back label that encompasses all the sins within. But saying you're buying a bottle of wine for the poetry on the back label is like saying "I buy Penthouse for the articles" - that just doesn't fly, what you're buying this wine for is what's inside the bottle, not the packaging. And it is something of beauty. A nose of plum, chocolate-covered-cherries, vanilla and a hint of spice; it bites a little upon opening but once it settles and aerates that spiciness softens and smooths with lots of juicy red and black fruits with just a hint of vanilla for flavour ... so decadent it should be a sin, or a Zin as the case my be. The finish is all plum and spiced-vanilla. As for the number 7, it not only refers to the sins but for the 7 growers, of Old Vines Zinfandel grapes, that is used in the making of this wine.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thornhaven Estates 2007 Gewurztraminer (British Columbia)
It was the day after the Wine Writers trip to the County, I found myself in David Lawrason's backyard waiting for my train back to Toronto ... must have been 28 degrees out with just the slightest of breeze, I sat under the trellis listening to the leaves above rustling; it was a beautiful summer afternoon. Anyone who knows me knows that when I travel I take two things with me: wine and glassware (which is why I find it hard to pack light) - this wine was one of those packed wine, and because I had a good 5 hours to kill before my departure I popped this into David's fridge and waited for it to chill. When all had assembled, we had been waiting for others to join us for dinner, I pulled this wine out of the fridge and served it; what a treat. The fruit on the nose was pineapple, lychee and rosewater scented, the palate seemed to follow the nose while adding its own certain charm like spiced pineapple and extra juicy lychee fruit - it was just what you would have wanted to sip on a hot summer afternoon, good thing we finally had one. The capper to this wine was the long, spicy, rose petal finish - soft and easy. Thanks to David for allowing me to sip this in his backyard and helping me lighten my wine load for the ride home.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Gemtree 2007 Uncit Shiraz - Mitolo 2007 Jester Shiraz (Australia)
Tonight it's a battle of Shiraz in my living room. These half-empty-bottles were offered to me as I was leaving the Australia tasting on August 18. Knowing that I wasn't going to get a chance to drink them for a few days, and because they were already open, I decided my best course of action was to put them in my very cold beer fridge to arrest their development. Finally that day came and here we are. I pulled them out of the fridge, allowed them to come to room temperature and began tasting. The Mitolo had generous blackberries and chocolate - much better then what I remember tasting at the Australia show; much more approachable, very rich and jammy - almost decadent. The Gemtree had also changed. The Uncut Shiraz is made from 40 year old vines spo you can taste the minerality right from the first glass. A few days later the minerality really comes thruough on the palate once again, but this time the wine is soft and supple - I also found pepper, spice and blackfruit galore, but it's the mineral quality that really shows on this wine. Both wines ended up to be very yummy, though I think I lean towards the Gemtree Uncut - I just love that minerality mixed with spice ... on the other hand I know my mom would dig the Mitolo's smooth chocolate across on the tongue ... and as they say, to each their own.
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