It's the last night of the All Canadian Wine Championship and as usual we meet at a restaurant with a BYOW license and many of the judges have something they want to showcase. The first that shows off something interesting is a bottle of Dr. Hermann 2007 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese an absoultely gorgeous Riesling that a real balanced beauty that is just a fabulous pairing with the butternut squash soup (and not bad with the mussels). The Banfi 2010 Centine is a good bridge wine that seems to be fruity enough to pair with the beet salad; juicy red berries that prove to be supple and succulent. The main is beef tenderloin and the choice is between the Domaine du Pegau 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape or the Enkidu 2010 Diener Ranch Red Hills, Lake County Zinfandel, both an excellent pairing with the beef. The Pegau was earthy with plenty of dark fruit, this bottle had plenty of life left in it as it was a 1500ml bottle, so we popped the cork way to early, but all are thankful it made its way to the table (thanks AG). The Zinfandel was a beauty of a plummy, spicy wine with 15.6% alcohol that was smooth and sexy. Another great year at the ACWC where I believe Ontario should have done much better than in previous years. Next year we'll do it all again, with more great Canadian wines and great international bottles for dinner.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Marietta Cellars Old Vines Red Lot Number 44 (California)
I have to admit I'm a fan of Marietta Cellars Old Vines Lot Blends ... they're non-vintage, so you're never sure of the year you're drinking but looking on-line I think I can safely say this one was released sometime in 2008, making this blend 5 years old. It's primarily made from Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Carignane and I'm telling you I don't think I've tasted one that's better then this one ... not sure if I've had one as old either: plum, vanilla, chocolate, sweet cherry with other rich red fruit along with a mix of sweet red and black licorice this truly was a beauty to sit, sip and enjoy dinner around the bbq with.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Cline 2006 Big Break Zinfandel (California)
I have quite a few Zinfandels in my wine collections, but none is more precious to me than my Cline 2006 Big Break Zinfandel ... it's a silly reason really, they just happen to be the most expensive bottles of Zinfandel I own, and like many people who hold onto wine they feel is precious I don't want to open it until precisely the right time. We had a friend coming over tonight for an impromptu visit and I needed something to serve. I pulled out a starter bottle of Chardonnay (reviewed here) but I needed a red to go with dinner. Granted we weren't going gourmet tonight (remember it was an impromptu visit) we were grilling up some burgers ... but our friend has just recently found (or re-found) Zinfandel, and so I can't just pour them any old bottle - so I brought out one of my prized possessions. I have to say I am critical about expensive bottles - I paid quite a bit of money for these and want them to be just right ... and happily this one is. Plum and baked cherry along with baking spice, vanilla, reduced cola and spiced plum, all made an appearance either on the nose, palate, or both . My wife is more of a white drinker so she stuck with something light - but I just know I impressed our friend, she drank the whole glass and asked for seconds. And I know I impressed myself, it was so good.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Can Blau 2006 Can Blau (Spain)
It's Sunday, and the Kawartha Flavour Festival is now behind us. My seminar went well and now I am sitting in a bed and breakfast (Golden Pathways) eating the topping off some anchovy and hot pepper pizza - I thing there are hot peppers on it too - trust me it was not my choice ... anyway I do have this bottle of the Spanish Can Blau with me, a blend of Mazuelo, Shiraz and Grenache. I am a huge Blau fan so I am exicted abot opening this wine. Upon capsule removal I am staring at a plastic cork (with some trepidation I might add); and I'm also thinking, 'how often do you get a Spanish wine with plastic cork, after all they make cork in Spain - weird. The folks who are staying with me have quite a bit of wine knowledge themselves and also looked chagrinned that plastic is on the docket as wine closer. But as it goes into the glass and up to the nose one of them says, "it comes off as a full aged red" - at only 6 years old I'm not sure that's a great thing to say, but the wine ends up being a very pleasant mix of dried red fruit and spice, quite enjoyable to drink. I know I have more bottles sitting at home in the cellar which means it is time to drink them this summer. If you have some bottles too I would recommend the same.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Pedroncelli 2002 Petite Sirah (California)
Here's one of those wines that you pull out of the wine cellar and scratch your head: One, I know Pedroncelli for Zinfandel, as I have one or two in my cellar; and two, I had no idea I had a 10 year old Pedroncelli in my cellar, and a Petitie Sirah at that. Another thing that made me wonder about this wine before opening is that Petite Sirah is not a wine you really put much stock into ageing - it's a wine you use for blending but you don't see lots of wines where the grape stands alone. Interesting to note that Petite Sirah is also known as Durif in other parts of the world and grows mainly in Australia - that's something for your next backyard bbq when the conversation lulls or a Petite Sirah wine appears. I was pretty impressed with this wine right from the get go - the aromas were peppery and spicy with tons of black pepper on the nose. Palate didn't show a tone of fruit, in fact it was mostly things like cinnamon, cedar-spice, and hints of cocoa that all made appearances before the dried cassis made it's way onto the palate. For wine buffs this is an interesting wine to serve with dinner and watch it come into its own in the glass ... otherwise I don't think it would cut the muster in today's "lots of fruit" style wines.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Carmen 2002 Reserve Merlot (Chile)
It was a long day. Started out at the Ontario Wine Awards judging Chardonnay, Gamay, Rose and a variety of red blends ... then I popped in on my parents to see how they were doing (not home). Then went to visit one of my oldest friends (time wise - years wise) and his family - then I pushed off for home with a grocery store stop along the way. There I bought a pound of ground beef and pork and the plan was to make homemade burgers. But with my wife out of town there was no way I was eating 2lbs of meat, no matter how good that sounds ... so I made two burgers and turned the rest into a meatloaf (and I have to admit, now that it's out of the oven it looks pretty good). But I also opened a bottle of wine this evening and a Chilean Merlot at that ... with some age on it: a 2002 to be exact. I seem to be breaking a lot of corks these days and this bottle of wine was no different - I snapped this one in the middle, was able to remove another quarter and pushed the rest into the bottle; then I poured a quite a bit down the sink trying the rid the wine of cork sediment. As for the wine itself; it was definitely far from fresh fruit, but it had some really good structure and backbone that made it an interesting beverage at its current age. Smoky dried blackberry kicked it off, adding in leathery notes and chalky tannins. There were hints of all kinds of tertiary things such as cedar y-vanilla, cinnamon smoke and hints of cocoa (that showed up with time). There was also an exciting anise cinnamon aroma that began to show an hour from opening. Pretty interesting wine at 11 years of age ... a good, tasty wine, if you like 'em aged.
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.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Cameron Hughes 2010 Zin Your Face (California)
The ribs are finished, the bones are piled on the plate ... and I have to tell you I wasn't about to give up on having a Zinfandel with them (even if my last attempt proved underwhelming) - so just before serving I grabbed a bottle of "Zin Your Face" a $10 Zin I picked up on my last trip into the US - and one I was told, despite it's gimmicky name, is actually very good. And I would have to agree - and why not, it was recommended by my good buddy Dave at Champane Wine Cellars in Michigan (even he was bashful about recommending it because of the name). The nose is filled with black fruits: plum and cherry, along with hints of vanilla and spice. Palate pretty much follows right along but with more spice than fruit ... which was a welcome respite from the sweeter rib sauce and acted as a foil so that both ribs and wine were tasty - alone and together. I am going to have to steal a line from the Irish Spring marketing campaign and twist it a bit for my benefit: Gimmicky yes, but I like it too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)