The Caveman's Wine Blog

2009-05-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Birthday Meal

Marsannay 2002, Saint-Jacques, Pinot Blanc, Fougeray de Beauclair
Aged, expensive wood and caramel. Apple cider with unsweetened brown sugar. All the signs of oxidization were on the nose, thankfully, and not in the mouth. Rich, buttery, ripe with a definite move towards old pear compote,with just a note of caramel to sweeten it up. Long and still pretty fresh. Probably should have been drunk a year or two ago but much better than I expected for a 7 year old Burgundian Pinot Blanc.

Vosne-Romanee 2002, Au Dessus de la Riviere, Christophe Perrot-Minot
Tender and powerful. Some sort of creamy red fruit with it’s green top, sweet earth and a liquified rose. Enticing to no end. You stick your nose in the glass, you want to get closer but there is a thin veil of tannin and acid that keeps you away. It is why we drink Burgundy, to on one hand be given a glimpse of perfection, only to be denied by the other.

Riesling 2001, Spatlese, Rauenthaler Baiken, Rheingau, Kloster Eberbach
Good. But just good as opposed to exceptional, as other bottles have been. The minerality has morphed into an almost wooden veneer, with pineapple and guava slopped onto it. That is all fine, it’s just the acidity has decided to curl up in a ball somewhere, leaving you with a touch of unrequited sugar. The cork was fine. Hmmm.

2009-05-02T03:30:00.001-07:00

The '76 Wynns!

Cabernet Sauvignon 1957, Coonawarra Estate, Wynns
Tried two bottles with both showing definite signs of getting tired with life. Tannins have almost disappeared, but there is still just enough pretty red berry fruit to make it am interesting drink. It’s lightweight, yes, and it’s dying, but it’s looking good on it’s decline.

Cabernet Sauvignon 1962, Coonawarra Estate, Wynns
Wonderfully fresh and with remarkable complexity. First sniff is a mix of sweet red berries, a touch of dried spice and earthier notes mixed with a hint of bitter chocolate. But after 15 minutes, it turns to white tobacco, dried spice, and a bit more chocolate. Great depth, and a pleasure to drink.

Cabernet Sauvignon 1976, Coonawarra Estate, Wynns
By far the winner of the tasting. Blackberry, dark plum but moving towards earthier, mintier notes. You can taste the terra rossa, that red soil that is all over the Coonoawarra region. It’s in the wine, giving a sanguine, iron-laden, iodine feel. The texture is regal, with the accent on length as opposed to largesse. It just keeps on getting fresher. Remarkable.

Cabernet Sauvignon 1988, Coonawarra Estate, Wynns
Still some solid tannin, and fruit that seems not sure whether it wants to be red or black. The acidity seems a touch out of balance with the rest of the wine, giving it a delicate, sour fruit character while the tannins would lend themselves better to a bigger wine. It’s just not sure what it wants to be. Will it ever? Good wine, but I doubt that it will achieve the greatness of the ’76 and ’62.

Cabernet Sauvignon 1994, Coonawarra Estate, Wynns
Stewed blackberry and plums, vanilla and herbed spice. Lacks a touch of finesse as the fruit is a bit chunky, it comes at you as a block. Is this in a weird phase or simply a case of the modern Australia sacrificing longevity for immediacy.

2009-03-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

Dinner with Lou, Early Spring

Apero
Fleurie 2006, Yvon Métras
Bizarre nose of beet juice and cabbage leaf, infused with geraniums. The fruit is there, it is a Beaujolais after all. The fruit is red, a bit tart on the finish and totally refreshing. After 7 or so vintages of faithfully drinking Metras at happy occasions, I am not any closer to understanding the wine, able to foretell what it will taste like, or even explain why I love it so much. I just wish that I could share a glass of it with every person out there who truly loves wine. Just received my 07’s.

Cabbage stuffed with Braised Cabbage, Bacon, Shrimp. Salmon too.
Arbois 2004, Traminer, Ouillé, Tissot
Savagnin, non oxydized, because Stephan Tissot chose to top up the barrels. That is “ouillage.” Such a complete bouquet: grilled almonds, covered with honey and rubbed with ginger and lemon rind. It smells as if bees made this wine, after feeding on lemon flowers. Fresh, rich, quite extraordinary.

Osso Bucco
Barolo 2001, Dardi Le Rose, Bussia, Poderi Colla
I still feel bad about opening this up, just as it is about to enter adulthood and all. It’s just starting to get that beautiful Barolo “thin-ness,” when ripe Nebbiolo is not overly extracted, gobbed with wood, and allowed to develop some bottle age. It has finesse, bright cherries, red plums, cloves and essence of cola on the finish. Long, and not large, would be the best way to describe it. Best days are still ahead of it.

2009-03-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

Bloody Wine

Gaillac 2004, Renaissance, Domaine Rotier
An interesting wine to watch as it morphed from a pretty and delicate fruitiness to this raw piece of meat. Huh? Act 1 - It starts with ripe red cherries and cassis. Act 2 - Tannins soften, flavours get redder as the cassis fades into something red, iron-laden. Act 3 - Fine, polished tannins, and the curtain falls with an image of a wild boar, or some other beast, dead and bleeding in a field of grass. Very good. A bit strange, but very good.

Tannat 2005, Reserva Familiar, Leonardo Falcone
Watch out, Bullwinkle! There is a wine here that wants you served up on a plate with mushrooms. Tannat, the grape of France's Madiran, often produces dark and dense wines that need years in the cellar to tenderize. While this Uruguayan version is much more forgiving, it is still not for everyone. Its bouquet made me think of meat, raw meat, laced with the juice of black olives and mint. If purple were a flavour, it might be this. But it grows on you, despite its sanguinary references, like falling for a pretty vampire.

Grenache 2005, The Custodian, McLaren Vale, d’Arenberg
A bit shocking at first sip, as it is incredibly fleshy. There is a rawness to this wine, almost like a freshly killed animal: sanguine, fresh, pure. But once it opens up, there are cherries and other red fruits, earth, coffee grounds, and some oaked spice on the end palate. Very original, and if you like something off the beaten track, this is spectacular.

2009-03-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

Growing Pains
Chablis 1er Cru 2005, Vaillons, Domaine Bernard Defaix
Sweet almonds with a dusting of "piment d'Espelette” and a squeeze of lemon juice. The intense minerality that I tasted last year is morphing, slowly moving towards nuttiness, but caught at an awkward moment of adolescence. Its rich, mouth filling, but with a nervous acidity. This is a very good wine with some pimples. Still very likable, but far from beautiful.

2009-03-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

Duck, duck, moose

I attended a tasting maybe five years ago of wines from the southwest of France. After an hour or so of tasting the reds, my gums started to ache, my teeth were purple and my mouth was as dry as the Gobi dessert. I hesitantly offered up my tasting glass at the next table and asked the winemaker- what do you guys drink when it’s hot out? He laughed and filled my glass with yet another beasty, purple wine and he stared at me intently as I swirled the wine around my glass. I stuck my nose in, gulped down a sip and did my best to find something more to say than, “wow, nice and dry.”

I think I might have been scarred from that experience because I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually drank a whole bottle of one of these wines. Granted, these are not the easiest wines to drink without food. These are big wines, often with lots of drying tannin. Rather than showing lots of bright fruit, they tend to be meaty, earthy and with hints of black olives and liquorice - not the the type of wines my fragile, white loving palate tends to gravitate towards. But in contrast, I love the white wines of the southwest - Jurancon, Pacherenc du Vic Bilh from the Madiran area, Gaillac, Irouleguy. Bring em on.

But what about these reds, and specifically two of the best known appellations - Cahors and Madiran. When I ran my own restaurant, I couldn't keep them on the wine list as they sold out so fast. When I help people navigate a wine list, they are often cited as examples of wines that they like. And a simple scan of the SAQ inventory here in Quebec reveals 50 different Cahors and 35 Madirans. I must say that I feel out of step.

So as I was organizing the samples that are sent to me to taste, I found that I had over 25 Cahors and Madiran sitting down there. I wasn’t surprised, there is not a lot of Chianti or pinot noir gathering dust down there. These are gibier wines, wines that are made to accompany rich and flavourful dishes, so with some duck cassoulet on the stove and a piece of venison on my plate, it was time to face the beast and see how these wines work at the table. But first, a little background on these two historic regions of France.

Cahors

It’s a sign of how international wine has become that many wine lovers associate malbec, the grape of Cahors, more with Argentina than they do with France. But malbec, known also by the name cot or auxerrois in the south of France, is indeed very much French. And while the majority of the vines today are planted in the southwest, it has historic importance which touches the Loire Valley, and more importantly Bordeaux.

It only received the status of its own appellation in 1971, but Cahors is one of the oldest wine making regions in France, dating back to 50BC. It garnered it’s reputation as “the black wine of France” as early as the 13th Century where it was served at the tables of many of the kings of Europe.

Because of its dark colour and tannin, as well as its relative proximity to Bordeaux, during the 19th century it was sometimes blended into the wines of Bordeaux during poor vintages to add colour and structure to weaker wines. Malbec can still be found in very small quantities in certain regions of Bordeaux, though it is very much on the decline as the grape seems to appreciate the hotter summers of the southwest. As it is sensitive to rot and other humidity born diseases, the higher rainfall and humidity of Bordeaux also made it a difficult grape to grow.

Appellation rules state that malbec must make up over 70% of the final wine- with the other 30% allowing for either merlot or the grape of Madiran, tannat. In general, the less expensive Cahors that I tasted were those that had higher percentages of merlot in the blend, which added fruit and seemed to soften up the wine. But the biggest change that I noticed from the last time I did an extensive tasting of Cahor’s wines, was in the aromatics and texture in the more expensive wines that were either entirely, or close to 100% malbec. They were softer, even pretty. Go figure.

Malbec, despite its blackness and earthy nature, can show very pretty, floral aromatics. Mostly violets, I also found many of the wines much easier to drink than I remember. But the pure joy of Cahors is at the table where it matched up perfectly with both my duck cassoulet and deer steak. The liquorice notes seemed to blend in perfectly with the stronger flavour of these two flavourful meats. And like any self-respecting cassoulet, it’s loaded with fat which helped smooth out the tannins.

Madiran

Located further south than Cahors, right next to Armagnac, is Madiran. If Cahor’s wines can be at times astringent and strong flavoured, Madiran’s wines can be downright burly and incredibly tannic. The grape here is tannat, and that wine that I was swirling at that tasting when I had my oral breakdown was in fact a Madiran.

Madiran’s wine making history rivals that of Cahors, though it is a much smaller appellation. But if Cahor’s initial fame and importance was tied to it’s relationship with Bordeaux, Madiran’s addition to the world of wine making goes beyond it’s wines, rather it is a wine making technique that is rather controversial - micro oxygenation.

Developed in the early 1990’s by Patrick Ducourneau of Domaine Mouréou, the technique involves injecting small amounts of oxygen into the wine as it ferments or while it ages. By doing so early in a wine’s development, micro-ox can speed up the polymerization of tannins - which means that those little tannin molecules bind together into longer chains and makes the wine feel less astringent. It effectively gives the wine a tannic structure of a wine that has bottle age.

Not everyone has jumped on board, as many wine makers feel that the technique alters the texture of the wine and trade off wine of long term ageability for short term ease of drinking. While this debate is worthy of an entire article, there is no doubt that it has made certain wines of Madiran easier drinking at an earlier age.

However, it s not the only way to make Madiran. The undisputed leader of the appellation is Alain Brumont, whose Chateau Montus and Bouscassé are the best wines I have tasted from the region (see tasting note for the 2002 Bouscassé below). Brumont believes that a long maturation in new oak barrels is the best way to treat the tannat grape, followed by a certain amount of patience. While his wines do require some cellar time, they have an elegance and depth that can rival some of the world’s best wines.

My tasting showed exactly that. While the Cahors tended to be juicier, richer and have a wider range of flavours, Madiran’s wines were much more elegant and finessed. They all required at least an hour in carafe, but especially with the deer steak, covered in a blueberry sauce, they really were an exceptional match.

So I have a new found respect for these historic wines, they just need the right food. While I tested the wines with wild meats and duck, any very flavourful meat or recipe will do the job. I guess the next time I go to one of these tastings, I will have to set up a picnic somewhere in the corner of the room. Cassoulet anyone?

2009-03-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

Madiran 2002, Vieilles Vignes, Château Bouscassé
Seven years of age, and the oak and tannin are still slowly integrating into the whole, but this is already a pleasure to drink. It's heading towards silkiness, and once full balance is achieved - watch out. But even right now, there is leather, there is coffee, at least a hint of red fruit, and an unaggressive and long smoked spice finish. Got a cellar?

2009-03-05T03:25:00.000-08:00

Cahors 2005, Le Combal, Cosse Maisonneuve
Big Cahors, authentic and made for the hunter-gatherer in you, with black licorice and meat. There is some animal that is "pheasanting" in the bottle, covered in rose petals and mint. Big, burly tannins. This a wine for the true Cahors lover. Bring on the cassoulet! Biodynamic.

2009-03-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

Two Greek

Vin de Pays de Tégéa 2005, Cabernet/Merlot, Domaine Tselepos
A bouquet of the sweetest, floral and prettiest part of the plum, cherry and cassis, with a touch of spinach-type greens in the background. The rest of the fruit is waiting for you in the glass, gathering intensity and flesh as you work your way through the bottle, and all held together by finely grained, spicy tannins. Nothing overtly complex here, just an exemplary, unique and honest interpretation of two well-known grapes, and made by a man who seems to want to show what his land can offer. Sure, it’s yet another cab-merlot blend, however that’s the only mundane thing about it.

Vin de Pays D'Epanomi 2007, Domaine Gerovassiliou
Creamy lemon lime on the nose, focussed mineral notes, with a muscat type floral kick. The acidity keeps it fresh on the attack but this has a remarkable richness and length to it. The grape is assyrtiko with a small percentage of malagousia. I drank this over two days and on the second day it got more exotic, and even a spicey note. Buy 6 and try and keep a few until summer.

2009-03-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

Mencia

Bierzo 2005, Pittacum
This is either a powerful wine that drinks delicate, or the other way around. Whatever it is, it is mineral, there are olives, a hearty earthy component, and lots of delicious fruit. There is definitely some good tannin, but I don’t think quite enough for a big steak. I guess pleasant is the best way to describe the wine, maybe even fun to drink, but you could serve it at an important business meeting. I really like the mencia grape, but it confuses me.

Bierzo 2004, Crianza , Mencia, Tilenus
Light but not at all wimpy. Underneath that fruity exterior, it has a bit of a mean streak, if something so easy drinking can possibly be mean. Dark, mineral laden plums and black cherries, dipped in rose water is about as close as I can describe this. Sure, there are some decent tannins, but they have evolved, giving the wine just enough structure to keep the fruit going for a little bit longer. It’s different, very good, and really fun to drink.

2009-03-01T04:11:00.000-08:00

Hey dude, that wine stinks!

I vividly remember the first Château Pradeaux I tasted. This mourvèdre-based red from the region of Bandol in France's Provence had the distinct odour of a horse-filled barn. When I served the wine to a friend, he looked up, smiling, and pronounced his judgement: "This smells like s--t."

But he drank his glass, as did I, and once the initial shock wore off, we both kept going back for more. We even planned a Bandol party, replete with steaks, shiitake mushrooms and lots of smelly blue cheese. Call it "sado-aroma-masochism." While for some people wines such as my bottle of Pradeaux may be considered "aromatically challenged," these aromas have become a quality in a wine that I appreciate more and more. But what makes a wine, made with grapes, smell like a saddle, or a mushroom, or a horse-filled barn?

People, meet Brett

This is not an easy question to answer; even experts are not clear as to how these odours find their way into a wine. Some say it's the way the wine was vinified, others say it's because of vineyard sites, others will talk about temperature and ripeness. But we will focus this discussion on the most controversial suspect - a wild yeast nicknamed Brett.

Its real name is Brettanomyces. The single-celled fungus is found in old barrels, in the chais where they make the wine, and, in some regions, on the grapes themselves. While it is not clearly understood how it enters the wine, or whether the odours found in a wine are even a result of high levels of Brett, the smell is very particular. It's perhaps best described as a sweaty saddle, or even a horse; if you get a whiff of this in your wine, there is a good chance that you have some Brett in there.

While this may sound a bit gross, there is a debate as to whether or not this yeast in fact spoils a wine. Many people actually appreciate small levels of this aroma in their wines, and some of the most sought-after and reputable wines in the world are known for their "Brettiness." These include many expensive Bordeaux, Burgundies, Côtes du Rhône, Bandols and Riojas.

I recently toured an Internet tasting board where an older vintage of a famous Châteauneuf du Pape, made by Beaucastel, was reviewed. I was amazed by the difference of opinions on the wine. For some, it was the model of complexity and elegance, while for others, the more animalistic nature of the bouquet was a turnoff. The people on this board seemed to be serious wine collectors, so this is not simply a case of more educated palettes vs. the uninitiated.

Another case in point: Last week I was at a tasting of the latest wines to hit the shelves of your local SAQ, and at my table were a number of local wine critics. One of the wines, a Spanish blend of tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon from Vallformosa, became the subject of some discussion (you can read my review in this week's suggestions). The first bottle was decidedly stinky, and we asked for a second bottle to be opened, which was pretty much like the first. While a couple of the tasters had that "yuck" look on their faces, I wrote "nice and stinky" in my notes. "Must be old barrels," remarked Jean Aubry from Le Devoir (and he was right). Jean and I just shrugged our shoulders at one another. I assume he liked the wine as well, but I'll let him cast his own judgment.

Brett likes the heat

There are a number of theories as to why Brett decides to show itself in certain wines, and sometimes just in certain vintages. What is known is that it's found more often in red wines than whites, and often in wines that have relatively low acidity. This usually means riper grapes, so it is not surprising that it is usually associated with hotter grape-growing regions.

It is also possible that certain grapes are more prone to Brett infection than others. Mourvèdre, which is the most planted grape in Bandol and is also a primary component in Beaucastel, is often associated with these aromas. Tempranillo, the main grape of Rioja, also can show saddle-type aromas. I have also tasted a number of merlot-based wines that have made me wonder whether there was Brett present.

One of the comments I have heard of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage, a year that was extremely warm, is that the merlot-based wines have shown a certain amount of Brettiness. In her appraisal of the vintage, wine writer Jancis Robinson wrote, "With acidity levels notably low, especially in many of the riper merlots, the Brettanomyces yeast was another threat. On quite a number of wines I smelled a telltale trace of sweaty animal hide."

This theory was backed up by Bordeaux winemaker Jean-Pierre Amoreau of Château le Puy. I have tasted a number of his wines, and the '03 was decidedly gamey. Amoreau told me that when his merlot grapes became over-ripe, a different yeast strain came into play. While he wouldn't use the word Brett, I am assuming that is what he meant.

Kill Brett?

Marc Perrin refused to acknowledge that his Beaucastel owes its aromatics to Brett infection, saying that it is the "terroir." There is an association of Brett infection with poor sanitary practices in winemaking facilities. While this may be true in certain cases, especially in older cellars with lots of old barrels, there is another possible reason for why many more wines don't have these odours.

One thing that Château le Puy and Beaucastel have in common is organic farming practices in the fields and a commitment to using fewer sulphites in their winemaking. Because the Brett yeast thrives only when there are sugars and other "nutrients" left over in the wine after it is vinified, winemakers who choose to add less sulphur, which is used to kill any remaining organisms in the wine, risk creating a Brett-friendly environment.

Aside from sulphur additions, many winemakers practice a technique called sterile filtration, which also eliminates any micro-organisms still alive in the wine. One of those organisms is Brett. The problem with this is that many winemakers believe it strips a wine of its nuance.

The end result is that if a winemaker strives for a more "natural" wine, he or she must be willing to live with the possibility of Brett. This leads to the question: Is Brett a natural part of wine or is its presence a defect, like too much oxygen (oxidized) or high levels of TCA (cork taint)?

The answer is, well, it depends. For those winemakers and consumers who want their wine to taste of fruit and oak, and only that, Brett is an uninvited guest. However, there are probably as many who believe it adds complexity and in small doses can make a wine better.

A Californian winemaker once told me that if he could harness and control Brett, he would love to have small amounts in some of his wines. But in the end, the risk of having it run uncontrolled was too much, and therefore he chooses to eliminate it totally.

2009-02-18T05:51:00.000-08:00

Veal Chop

Bandol 2000, Château Pradeux

Shitake-infused purple fruit with a distant bouquet of dried garden herbs. Dark, gaining intensity and power as it opens up. Tender tannins, enough to give structure but not getting in the way. Getting to that last glass now, the mystery fruit gains complexity- it's growing on some sort of rock, in a well kept barn, filled with fresh mushrooms. Bordeaux of the south? Perhaps the comparison works, but this is maybe a touch more generous.

2009-02-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

Scallop Entrée

Jasnières 2004, Calligramme, Domaine de Bellivière
Red apples and green grapes, just starting to brown, giving the fruit an aromatic sweetness, but it is very dry the mouth. Around halfway through the bottle, soft, white and yellow flowers, perhaps chamomile, seem to come out of nowhere, giving depth, pretty perfume. Much like a crescendo, each sip gains amplitude in the mouth , only to finish on a fine, focussed point of minerality. last bottle, damn.

2009-02-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Can't hold the sulphites?

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding organics and wine, and especially about the role of sulphites in organic wine. But why are they there? Are they dangerous? If so, for whom? And if they are necessary, then what are acceptable levels?

Sulphites refer to the family of sulphur-based compounds - those most commonly used in winemaking being the gas, sulphur dioxide (SO2), and the powder, potassium metabisulphite. Sulphites are naturally produced by many organisms and found in such food items as grapes, oranges and chicken eggs. They are even produced by our own bodies, close to a gram per day.

Because of their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, they are used as preservatives for a number of foods, including dried fruit, shrimp, fruit juice, potato chips and a variety of fresh vegetables. Ultimately, they keep our foods fresh-looking and give them a longer shelf life. And wine is no different.

How sulphites get in your wine

All wines contain sulphites. They are a naturally occurring by-product of the fermentation of grape sugars by yeasts. The amount is minimal, generally under 10 mg/L, but that means a sulphite-free wine does not exist. But adding extra sulphite has become an accepted and, for most, a necessary part of modern winemaking's battle against the two enemies of wine: bacteria and excessive oxygen.

They are used to clean winemaking equipment, like barrels, which assures that spoilage bacteria like brettanomyces do not become a problem in the winery. They are added directly to the uncrushed grapes as they come in from the field, which helps prevent unwanted wild yeast strains and other bacteria from taking control.

During fermentation, some winemakers will add sulphur to protect the future wine from contact with oxygen. Because it is a yeast killer, it is sometimes added to stop a fermentation if the winemaker wants to leave some residual sugar in the wine, as with German Rieslings. Perhaps the most significant addition happens at bottling, where a final dose of SO2 is added to protect the wines while they are being shipped around the world. Even more importantly for wines that are to be cellared, sulphite additions are used to prevent oxidation, assuring that the wines will reward those who stash their bottles away.

Free and combined

One of the peculiarities of sulphites is that they are constantly being ingested by the wine, reacting with oxygen and other chemical elements. These are referred to as "combined" sulphites. Once ingested, they have little or no preservative effect on the wine.

Free sulphites are the uncombined sulphur compounds that remain in the wine and protect it from oxidation and other potential problems, such as an unwanted fermentation that can result from the combination of having live yeasts and residual sugars in the wine, and storing the wine at too high a temperature (above 14C).

I remember a case of vouvray I bought a couple of years back that had no added SO2. When I bought it, it was demi-sec, meaning that it had some residual sugar in it. During the winter, when my cellar temperature hovers around 10C, the bottles were fantastic. But as summer arrived and the temperature rose in my cellar, because the wines still contained live yeasts, my wine started fermenting. The result? My slightly sweet white transformed itself into a dry bubbly. It was still okay, but not what I paid for.

Sulphites and your health

I spent the better part of a week looking at whom, in fact, the "contains sulphites" warning is for. Not very many of us, apparently. Studies seem to point to two groups: people who suffer from sulphite oxidase deficiency (under one per cent of the population) and asthmatics. In the case of asthmatics, reactions only seem to occur when sulphites are near the maximum allowable levels (over 300 mg/L). There is little evidence that they are bad for the rest of us.

What about the classic "red wine headache" after an evening of revelry? Sulphites are usually blamed, but red wines usually have the least amount of sulphites, because they already contain natural antioxidants that come from the skins and the branches of the grapes. White wines and rosés, which aren't macerated with the grape skins, require more. Sweet wines have the most, because the SO2 combines so readily with the sugar. It seems that headache comes from other elements of a red wine - perhaps histamines.

In the European Union, the maximum sulphite level for red wine is 160 mg/L. The limit for whites and rosés is 210 mg/L, and for sweet wines it's 400 mg/L. In the U.S. and Canada, the maximum level is set at 350 mg/L. While organic certification agencies are specific to grape growing, certain agencies (like the biodynamic certification agency Demeter) do impose limits on the maximum amount of sulphites allowed in wines made with biodynamic grapes, which is usually half of "conventional wines."

When I asked the SAQ laboratory about its policy on sulphite levels, the response was that while they check to assure a wine is under the maximum allowable levels, they don't have a specific amount that they want to see in a wine. If they judge it necessary, however, they will ask winemakers to increase sulphite levels. Their primary concern, like most retailers, is shelf life. This means that many of our wines probably contain more sulphites than necessary. I have talked with a couple of organic winemakers who add extra SO2 to satisfy their export markets, even though they feel their wine doesn't need it.

So why hold the sulphites?

If the health issue is not very important, why even be concerned about sulphite levels? My concern is a qualitative issue. Sulphur dioxide smells like a freshly struck match. Studies show that most people can detect the odour at over 40 mg/L, though some sensitive noses can detect it at lesser levels.

Marcel Lapierre, Beaujolais winemaker and one of the gurus of "natural winemaking" (wines without added sulphur), told me that sulphur alters the aromatics of his wine. I would concur. I drink lots of these wines, and they have a purity of fruit in their bouquet that one does not find in more conventionally made wines. I know many wine makers who only add at bottling as they believe that earlier sulphite additions have a negative effect on the fermentation process, again , especially for the aromatics.

On the other hand, I have had a number of these wines that went the route of my vouvray. While certain winemakers have theories as to how to almost completely reduce the need for sulphites, I am happy with those who try to use the minimum.

Back to being bitter about modern wines next article.

2009-02-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

My Sweet Clemence-wine

Devoté of Michel Rolland, Dauriac's Clemence has garnered a reputation as one of the better 'new' properties in Pomerol. I love to hate what Rolland does, and usually I find good reason to do so. Not so for the 2003 and 2006.

Pomerol 2003, Château La Clemence
Dark, ripe plums, slightly sweet, hint of licorice, with fresh vanilla bean. For such a hot vintage, where so many wines were excessively tannic, Michel Rolland's strategy of micro-ox seems to have worked- the tannins are firm, but round and mouth coating. Wonderfully complex, though very much on the fruit rather than the earthier notes, you really don't want it to stop. Sure, lots of oak, but there is enough substance to handle it.

Pomerol 2004, Château La Clemence
Goopy, sticky, sweet fruit. Lacking acidity. Not lacking oak. Very forced. Many people did a great job in 2004, not here.

Pomerol 2005, Château La Clemence
Very chocolaty, which at first sip reminded me of Nestle's Quick. But with a few swirls of the glass, it opens up, with expresso, licorice and some sweet fruit, and stifling oak. Not the most comfortable wine to have in your mouth except for the cool menthol finish. Interesting, though not particularly fun to drink, at least for the moment.

Pomerol 2006, Château La Clemence
Good, though very young, modern Bordeaux. A refreshing acidity, just a hint of chocolate, and very intense red fruit. The sweetness here is infers a perfect ripeness rather than excessive hangtime. While it is still oak-laden, it seems to have a better balance than the 2005. I have more hope for this in the long run than the 2005, despite the reputation of the 2005 vintage.

2009-02-11T03:21:00.000-08:00

The Science of Smell

Dear Caveman:
When I read your wine descriptions, I find intriguing expressions such as: “Smells like a Mediterranean-style vegetarian pizza. Sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and herbs, with a touch of cherry vanilla." Where do these aromas come from? If they are actually the by-product of fermentation of crushed grapes in an oak barrel, then aren’t these conclusions about “sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and herbs, with a touch of cherry vanilla” socially constructed and ultimately subjective?
Ricardo

The short answer is that while the naming of these aromas may be subjective – in that each of us has our own “aroma and taste memory” and thus associates certain aromas with different things – there is a scientific explanation as to how a wine made only with grapes can evoke such un-grapey smells.

The sources of many of these aromas are volatile aromatic compounds. Some come from the grapes themselves or are by-products of the fermentation of the grape’s juice. But the ones that Ricardo was referring to are results of the aging of the wine, both in an oak barrel and in a bottle. This is still an area of wine that is not completely understood, but research is happening on a number of different fronts, so here is the science.

Aroma vs. bouquet

Émile Peynaud, a French oenologist considered by many to be the father of modern winemaking, drew a distinction between aroma and bouquet. For Peynaud, “aroma” is used to describe what we smell in a young wine – those grapey and fruitier aromas that result from the pressing of the grapes and the fermentation of the grapes’ sugars. If you have ever been in a room where a wine is fermenting, you will never forget the smell – ripe, juicy fruit mixed with a blend of alcohol and yeast. Open any bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau and you will have a good idea of what I am talking about.

Peynaud said “bouquet” is the result of aging a wine, which is where many of these non-grapey aromas can result. While the subtle chemical interactions are not completely understood, these new odours result from the interaction between those primary aromatic compounds and outside influences like oak barrels and oxygen.

It starts with the grape

So everything starts with those primary aromas, and thus the grapes you bring in from the field. The Chinon referred to by Ricardo evoked sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and herbs. I took a look at some other reviews I had done of wines made with the same cabernet franc grape, and I found one that described the wine (Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgeuil 2005, Les Mauguerets-La Contrie) as smelling of “green peppers and violets … (and) a mix of raspberry and charcoal.” Why the difference?

Two University of British Columbia researchers, Steven Lund and Joerg Bohlmann, recently published a study that examined how a number of different factors affect primary aromas. They refer to the assortment of chemical compounds that cause aromas as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). How and where a grape is grown will ultimately affect the degree to which these grapes will show such things as varietal character as well as “the dozens to hundreds of chemical compounds that have yet to be discovered and characterized.”

So the same grape grown in different soils, in different years, will smell different. And the amount and proportion of these compounds to one another will ultimately affect the bouquet as a wine ages.

The molecules of scent

Lund and Bohlmann have broken down a wine’s aromatics into component compounds. So if your Gewürztraminer smells of flowers, it is in part due to “monoterpene compounds, chiefly geraniol and citronellol.” And if your Sauvignon Blanc tastes slightly grassy, the compound is part of the “methoxypyrazine family, specifically 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine,” which develops during the green stages of the grape but gets metabolized as the grape ripens. If your Sancerre tastes like freshly cut grass and your white Bordeaux doesn’t, although they are both made with Sauvignon Blanc, that is because the Bordeaux is often riper, so it will have less 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine.

How about black pepper in Shiraz? Rotundone is the chemical compound responsible for that one. A study done by the Australian Wine Research Institute of different vineyards in Australia showed that shiraz grapes showed different levels of this compound depending on the clones used, soil types and climate.

And what about the sun-dried tomatoes in my Chinon? According to Jamie Goode, “cis-3-hexenol is the prime culprit,” although cabernet franc also has the same leafy 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine as the Sauvignon Blanc I mentioned.

Bouquet

So as a wine matures and its bouquet develops, much like great cuisine, its odour becomes the sum of its component parts. Many of these VOCs are in a sense dormant when the wine is young. As VOCs react with one another, as well as with oxygen and alcohol, they will begin to show themselves.

A good example of this is oak. In a young, freshly bottled wine, the oak is often very pronounced, and in fact the wine has a distinct smell of wood. But as the wine ages, the vanillin – which is an oak-derived VOC and part of the family of aldehydes – will react with oxygen to give an odour of vanilla. Oak barrels are also a source of many of the cooking spices we find in wines, like cinnamon, coriander and nutmeg. Every barrel, depending on the wood source, will offer a different aromatic cocktail to the wine.

So this is why a grape can ultimately smell like “sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and herbs, with a touch of cherry vanilla.” But why doesn’t everyone smell that? Well, there is the cultural factor. If you have never smelled a sun-dried tomato, the name you give to such an aroma might differ. But there is also sensitivity: All noses are not created equal. Many VOCs are in such small concentrations that people with highly sensitive noses might pick up on elements that others miss.

But for the majority of us, it is simply a question of working our aromatic memories. Because wines can be complex, they often do not make us think of one particular aroma. This is why I sometimes will mention situations, like walking through a cool forest in the fall after a rain. How do you develop this memory? The first step is to load your memory with as many smells as possible.

So, as the proverb goes, stop and smell the roses – or the pizza, in my case.

2009-02-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

Newer Franc

Chinon 2006, l'Huisserie, Domaine Philippe Alliet
Next to Joguet's Chene Vert is Alliet's new baby vineyard, filled with young vines. For you fans of Alliet, this is just plain weird- very ripe, sweet fruit, soft tannins, very little complexity, just fruit, fruit, fruit. But it works. This was not meant to be cellared, this is supposed to be guzzled. I would like to send a bottle of this to every fruit bombing winemaker. Don't over extract young vines. New oak does not a great wine make. Stop putting lipstick on 12 year olds.

Anjou Villages 2005, Clos Médecin, Domaine de Brizé
Strawberry sorbet, cherries, with a pinch of green pepper, cilantro, maybe even some cabbage. Strange mix when you think about it. The ensemble finishes on a spicy, juicy, peppery note. Easy drinking wine. Serve slightly chilled. Goes well with Tatziki.

Chinon 2004, Vieilles Vignes, Clos de la Dioterie, Charles Joguet
It's a summer meal in a glass, dessert and all. It's a piece of meat, cooked blue, covered in red berries and tarragon. The fruit then gets redder and sweeter, with a lime-like freshness. Your espresso is there as well. I am sure one day this will all come together.

2009-02-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Old Franc

Chinon 1996, Clos de l'Olive, Couly-Dutheil
Remarkably youthful. On opening it tries to say too much at once, having been bottled up for over a decade. But the aromatics were staggering from the first pour. Subtle bell pepper as a base, layers of spring flowers, comfrey, camomile, and on top of the pyramid, a sweet and perfectly ripe red cherry-plum. The mouth kicked in after an hour, when the wine attained something reasonably close to perfection. Drunk with ossobuco, with olives.

Chinon 2003, Theleme, Pascal et Alain Lorieux
After two hours in a carafe, this still has a remarkable vibrancy and youthful vigour. Those who believe cabernet franc cannot produce great wine (aside from Cheval Blanc) should decant a bottle of this, and revel in the sheer intensity and richness of the fruit - dark, serious, sanguine. The tannin is solid, and the acidity is just enough to maintain an exceptional freshness. Bordeaux lovers, take note: This is really good.

2009-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

An Unfashionable Grape
I Love Cabernet Franc

I had just finished writing my tasting note. Giving the remaining wine in my glass a good swirl, I took a deep, pensive whiff, and reread what I had written. Strawberry sorbet, cherries, cilantro, green pepper and cabbage - yes, they were all there. But then I thought, "Who is going to buy a wine that combines strawberry sorbet and cabbage?" While it made total sense in my glass, I can't see Dairy Queen making this its flavour of the month.

The wine in question was a red from France's Loire Valley, made entirely with cabernet franc. While this is one of the wine world's most important grapes - in that it is the sixth-most grown grape in France and plays a part in some of the world's greatest wines - more so than any other, people tend to love it or hate it.

This goes beyond the traditional New World vs. Old World schism. Yes, Robert Parker rarely reviews wines that are made entirely with cabernet franc, and its herbaceous quality is off-putting to many of you "fruit-forward" types. But I also know a number of sommeliers and wine freaks with very classic, European tastes who simply don't like cabernet franc.

I think it gets a raw deal. Many of the best examples are relatively inexpensive, complex and flavourful wines.

While it can make some fantastic wines, cabernet franc's most important contribution may be the grape that it helped parent: cabernet sauvignon. Recent DNA profiling has shown that one of the world's most illustrious varietals is in fact a cross of cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc.

Cabernet franc is vinified on its own, most notably in France's Loire Valley and other cooler climates, such as right here in Canada. Its major role, however, is in blending, especially alongside cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Depending on where you are in Bordeaux, for example, it can make up to 75 per cent of the final wine. On the left bank, in such hallowed communes as Pauillac and St. Estèphe, it is used by winemakers in small doses to "soften" cabernet sauvignon, as it adds both red fruits as well as signature aromatics - tobacco, flowers and its herbaceous quality.

On Bordeaux's cooler right bank, cabernet franc plays an even more important role. Many of the most celebrated wines of Pomerol and St. Emilion have significant proportions of cabernet franc in the blend. The most famous of these is the legendary Cheval Blanc, the St. Emilion Grand Cru whose recipe is generally two-thirds cabernet franc, one-third merlot.

Even you Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon fanatics may have been unwittingly drinking some cabernet franc. Many of California's top cabs have small amounts of cabernet franc in the blend, and more and more acreage is being devoted to growing the grape. These plantings are generally limited to cooler growing areas like Napa and Sonoma, where it can be positively juicy - showing sweet red fruits like raspberry and strawberry, and floral notes like violets.

But the controversial wines I am talking about here are those from the Loire. They come from such appellations as Chinon, Saumur-Champigny, Bourgueil and Anjou Villages. The styles can vary, from light and delicate summery wines to bigger wines that can age with grace and elegance, particularly those of Chinon and Saumur-Champigny.

Now back to strawberry and cabbage sorbet in my glass, which I have refilled since starting to write this. There is no doubt that herbaceousness is a quality in wine that is derided by a number of popular mags and their writers. It is definitely not fashionable. While I would agree that a wine with excessive herbaceous notes can be disagreeable, I really appreciate the subtle notes of peppers and other greenery found in this style of wine when it is done right. Aside from the flavour, I love its uniqueness.

This Anjou Villages in my glass is great. It was served slightly chilled, as an apéritif. Dinner was classic Greek: chicken brochettes, lots of oregano, basil and garlic, feta cheese. The wine never took control; its vegetal notes just supported the oregano and basil that perfumed our plate, the fruit and acidity refreshing the palate, cutting through the garlic and feta. It drank with ease.

The world of wine is incredibly diverse, and we are fortunate to live in a place where we have so much choice, where it is so easily accessible. Yves Saint Laurent said that "fashions fade, style is eternal"; let's hope the future of wine remains more style than fashion.

2009-02-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

Two-faced Venice

Soave 2007, Classico, Inama, Italy white. There is such beauty in restraint. Subtle notes of peach, browning apples, maybe a touch of a bay-leaf type herb. But this is about drinkability- creamy, expansive, fresh and mineral. One of those wines that can be drunk with almost anything, at any time, and you never realize how much you liked it until after you reach for the bottle to refill your glass, only to find it empty. Drink now-2011.

Veneto Igt 2004, Cabernet Sauvignon, Marion, Italy red. Marion is the junior member of the Freaks of Veneto club led by Dal Forno and Quintarelli. This is Amarone meets Napa Valley cab, and most probably unlike any wine that you will have tasted. Massive, and lacking anything close to nuance for the moment, but you can sense that it is coming. Wait a while for this to come around. Drink 2011- 2017.

2009-02-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

The white wine apologist

Perhaps it’s because winter has decided to get nasty that I am feeling rambunctious. I will not take this lying down, Old Winter Man! Throw your ten feet of snow at me, let the thermometer outside my window drop 2 feet below the freezing line. I don’t care. I will still play outside, I will turn your snowy evenings into romantic couch and fireplace parties, and I will, despite you, continue to drink white wine.

I am a fanatical white wine drinker and I while I’ll admit that I do tend to drink more red in the winter, for me that means it is an even split- half red, half white. But I am rare, and I feel marginalized.

Many wine drinkers seem to look upon drinking white wine as a chore. When I work as a sommelier, I can’t tell you the number of times that I have pleaded with clients to at least give white wine a try. “It’s a scallop, sir, they taste of nothing,” I would say as I tried to explain why his adoration of Australian shiraz does not necessarily make it the right wine for this occasion. I could understand if it were chicken, or veal. There you have options, you could go either way. But scallops and other seafood require a different approach, something a red wine simply wasn’t made to do. I mean, both hammers and screwdrivers are useful tools, but hardly interchangeable. It’s the same thing for wine.

And I guess that’s my point. I look at wines as if they were tools, accessories to what’s sitting on your plate. While I have a penchant for white wine, I have no problem drinking red. I don’t really care. I am non-partisan, every wine has it’s time. The only thing I can say in favour of whites over reds is that most of my most memorable bottles have been white wines. And when I have served people in a restaurant, it’s often the pairings with white wines that have turned people on the most. Am I better working with white wines? Maybe, but a white wine’s subtler flavours combined with it’s higher acidity tends to integrate better with foods, and allows for more of the nuances of a well constructed recipe to show themselves.

But why am I talking about white wine now? I can hear some of you murmuring out there, “take a look outside Bill, aren’t things already white enough for you!” Exactly my point. If having to coerce people into drinking white wine by guilting them into some sort of obligation to the wine and food pairing gods- if that bums me out- then listening to people relegate them to cocktail parties and pool-sides on hot summer days pushes me over the edge. White wines can be more, so much more.

You can’t hate what you don’t know

A couple of summer’s ago, I put together two tasting menus at the restaurant where I was working as a sommelier. The clients had a choice- 5 different glasses of white or 5 reds. There was no substitution, no mix and matching. Well, despite that the split in wine consumption in Quebec is roughly 70-30 in favour of red wines, more than 60% of the clients chose the white menu.

While a few mentioned that they chose white because it was summer, the number one reason was that most people said that they simply don’t know white wines, and it had been years since they had drunk them. My theory is that most people started drinking wine with whites, and usually cheap bottles. We all remember those head-ache inducing, sweet, depanneur-purchased Liefraumilch. But as they started to buy more expensive bottles, for some reason they went red and all that most people remember about white wines are the headaches. Even the most experienced wine drinkers, who can speak volumes about their favourite reds, often have a tough time talking about white.

Versatility

I can tell you that putting together that white menu was far easier than the red. Why? The range in styles in white wines is far greater than reds. While red wines move between less tannic to more tannic, less fruity to more fruity, white wines can be so many different things. From high acid to rich and buttery, delicate and floral to nutty and spicey, completely dry to very sweet, still to bubbly.

This translates into more options at the dinner table. Aside from certain meats, either strongly flavoured game or very fatty cuts, there is always a white wine for the job. Seafood and most fish are obviously the domain of whites. Even the most subtle red tends to overpower these delicately flavoured dishes. And in terms of the type of flavours to harmonize with seafood, think of what almost always accompanies these plates - a wedge of lemon. Red wines are built along darker fruits or earthy notes, while white wines often have citrus flavours.

Buy beyond the seafood stuff, which even the most hardened red wine drinker will agree to drink a white wine, there are many other dishes which work as well, or better with white. Last week I talked about cheese, and how the salt in cheese can turn red wines bitter will amplifying the fruit in white. I know many people who are cooking more and more with Asian spices. Coriander, mint, cumin - all these spices work better with the more aromatic whites. And with mouth burning chile peppers? A slightly sweet wine will appease the nastiest habanero that you can find.

Then there are the white meats. When I choose a wine, I look at the sauce. Darker sauces will mean that I will choose a red, but if I am cooking with herbs, cheeses or cream sauces, I like white. A classic pork roast, served with apple compote is a natural with a rich chardonnay that often has the same apple flavours. Guinea Hen, and other slightly stronger tasting fowl is a natural mix with the nutty whites of the Jura.

And it doesn’t stop there. One of my favourite pairing tricks is white wine and steak tartar - nothing matches up like a honey-textured white. Great tartar is rich, spicy but subdued. White wines made with grapes like roussanne, grenache blanc or an aged chenin blanc combine richness with freshness, and display certain fruit overtures like browning apples and figs that seems to add more to the dish than a red, and make a better harmony in terms of texture.

Breaking down the prejudice

Now I am not suggesting that you should stop drinking red in favour of whites. All I am asking is that you give white a chance. When they are obviously the appropriate choice, drink white rather than red. Get to know and understand them, much like many of you gleefully explore the world of red wines. So as a start, let’s break down certain misguided myths about white wines.

myth: White wine should be served cold.
reality: Most whites should be served between 8C-12C to maximize its flavour and texture.
myth: White wines are wimpy, tasteless wines that are only good as a pre-dinner drink.
reality: White wines can be as complex, and at times more powerful than reds.
myth: White wines are acid and give you heartburn.
reality: While whites do have a touch more acidity, if you are sensitive to acidity there are a whole host of whites that have less total acidity than red wines.
myth: White wines don’t age
reality: My cellar is packed with white wines. While they tend to age faster than red wines, to fully appreciate most whites requires that they, like reds, spend a little time in a cool dark place.
myth: White wines give you headaches.
reality: While white wines usually have more sulphites than red wines, unless you are part of the under 1% of the population that is sensitive to sulphites, you have more of a chance to get a headache from the histamines in red wines.

2007-03-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

And I would like to Thank Mr. Fender, Mr Gibson… and the guy from GrapeCrafter

It’s nice to be missed, and thanks to all of you who have sent emails inquiring as to wether I was A) Dead or B) Finished Blogging. Well, I hope this post proves unequivocally that neither are true.

While I join people like Tom who champion the exponential growth of blogs as a sign of the democratization of wine journalism, the cold, hard reality is that many are simply not worth reading and simply add to the white noise of excessive information. When there is nothing to say, well, there is nothing to say. I hit that wall and have stopped for a bit, giving me an opportunity to stop and think about many of the important issues facing the wine industry, what this blog should be.... and to learn note for note the lead from the Allman Brothers’ Blue Sky. JJ Cale leads are also proving pretty cool.

But I am not just passing my days in a pot induced haze with the Marshall amped to 10. Yes, it is a lot of fun. I have been reading lots and would like to clap my hands, shake my fists and offer a glass of Metras’ Fleurie to the guy from Grape Crafter.

I have written a number of posts on the subject of manipulations, additives and the role of technology in winemaking and Mr. Smith offers up one of the more interesting and lucid perspectives on modern winemaking that I have read in a awhile. While I don’t agree with everything that he says, he is dead on when he says that the real enemy is not the technology itself, but those many winemakers who are simply not good grape growers, not skilled enough in the chais and thus are forced to rely on “draconian measures’ to finish their wines.

The question still remains however, in the hand of the skilled winemaker, are these manipulations really necessary and how much is too much? The Enologix approach still makes me cringe. Part of the problem is the silence, and the somewhat paternalistic attitude that many in the wine industry have about talking about this issue. Many seem to share an image of the consumer as a half step above a complete moron, and that by divulging information about what manipulations and additives were used in making a wine will somehow scare them off. This is a load of crap. The sky is not falling (I check all the time). Most of the people actually interested in knowing about this are people who want to understand them better and see how they drink. Pure and simple. It does not have to be on the label, but this is the information age, put it on a website. If there is an image problem with their usage, let the people who care about it know more. Let us taste the wines with the full knowledge about what went into making them. Hell, I had breakfast with Peter Gogo (head winemaker from Penfolds) and he was more than happy to talk about how his wines were made. Did it make me like Penfolds any less? No.

Knowledge is always better than ignorance.

More to come … soon.

2007-02-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Confessions of a Stemware Snob…

I come clean in this Saturday’s Montreal Gazette about my affection (affliction) for expensive wine glasses. Check it out in tommorows Weekend Life section…

Have a happy weekend everyone, the cold can't last forever.

2007-02-07T05:07:00.000-08:00

Luxurious Mid-Week Meal
Organic Veal and Gaja

The Meal

Veal chop in an Enoki mushroom sauce with roasted Fennel and Balsamically glazed Red peppers and baby Bok-choy

The Weingolber was asking about favourite organic produce and these veal chops are mine; creamy white flesh, delicate flavour and when properly cooked, tender and juicy. The operative word here is delicate, for both the sauce and wine which is why I went with Enoki mushrooms for the sauce. Mushrooms? Veal? Ah, Piedmont!

Langhe Docg, 1996, Sito Morecsco, Gaja (saq.2004....$48)

Few winemakers have attained rock-star status as much as the flamboyant Angelo Gaja. His wines are rich, concentrated, made to cellar and are so expensive that very few wine drinkers have ever even tasted one of his wines. Enter Sito Moresco, stage left. At under $50, it offers us non-millionaires the opportunity to partake, at least in part, of the world according to Gaja.

The Sito is a blend of Nebbiolo, Cabernet and Merlot in roughly equal parts that has been aged for 18 months in French oak. Like all Nebbiolo based wines, it tends to show itself after 5 years and reaches its apogee around 10. For an eleven year old wine, the 1996 was in fine form, with a seductive bouquet of black-red cherries laced with hints of clove and leather. This is old-style wine, with a soft and graceful texture that owes its delicate nature to its perfect acidity combined with patience, the right amount of cellaring to soften up the tannins. The result is pure luxury, a wine that supported without dominating; a character trait that I always appreciate. It reminds me why I seek out these these beautiful gastronomic moments. Ephemeral yes, but if we can string enough of them together….

2007-01-29T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Boredom-Breaking Mid–Week Meal

Chicken breasts and chardonnay; few ingestibles strike indifference to my palate as much as these two. Chicken breast is a tasteless source of protein and the mere mention of chardonnay always inspires a trip to the basement, and a search for a viable alternative.

The Meal

Chicken Breasts stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil and a mushroom wine sauce

I found this recipe on Epicurious and it was quick, easy and yes... tasty! I added some roasted garlic and sun dried tomatoes to the goat cheese stuffing and a good mixed selection of wild mushrooms to the sauce. This type of meal requires a white that on one hand is rich enough for the meat and the cream in the sauce, yet has enough acidity to handle what the naturally acidic goat cheese and sundried tomato bring to the table.

The Wine

Cote du Roussillon 2004, Le Ciste, Domaine LaGuerre ($24...importation)

Yet another Grenache Blanc blend (with marsanne, roussane, rolle and macabeu) and yet another superb, organically grown white from the south-west of France. The Grenache and marsanne bring the necessary richness to the blend while the roussane and rolle come with enough acidity to keep the ensemble fresh. The key here, as so often is the case with white wines, was service temperature. As the wine approached 10C (50F), the balance between acidity and richness was perfect, highlighting a nice mineral character, well integrated notes of oak, and an almost haunting bouquet of a field of white flowers.
Unfortunately this bottle, as are many of the best examples from the southwest, is only available on private import. Here a couple of good selections from the region at the SAQ…

Château Les Pins côtes-du- roussillon 2003 , 21,50 $
Bergerie de l'Hortus Classique vin pays val-de-montferrand 2004, 18,05 $

2007-01-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

Mid-Week Meal and
The Benefits of Not Robbing the Cradle

The Meal
Roasted young Guinea Fowl (pintadeau), served with mixed roasted veggies and a roasted garlic, thyme and rosemary cream sauce. The meat of the Pintadeau is dark, lean and a touch gamier than chicken. While I am a card carrying member of WWWeP (White Wine WhEn Possible), because of the Guinea meats color and it’s slightly gamey flavour, I chose to go with a red wine. “Gamier” meats tends to pair well with wines that bring an abundance of fruit to the table (wether it be duck, deer, boar), but since there is so little fat on this bird, I had to look at those wines that have very little tannin and with subtle flavours such as Pinot Noir, Barbera or Gamay.

Gamay?

The Wine

Moulin a Vent 2001, Joseph Burrier, Château de Beauregard ($29...saq)

Few regions of the viticultural world are as misunderstood as Beaujolais. The poor image that they have so deftly cultivated amongst wine connoisseurs has been the result of years of banal “vin de negoce,” and the insipid fruit beverage sold under the banner of Beaujolais Nouveau. But real, properly aged Beaujolais can be a thing of beauty.

Of the ten ‘crus’ of Beaujolais, Moulin a Vent arguably ages best, gaining Pinot Noir like richness and elegance after only a couple of years in the basement. Last nights 2001 confirmed all that is great about Beaujolais. Gone were the slightly one-dimensional candied red-fruits one often associates with young Beaujo and instead, the focus was on kirsch, black cherries, prunes, violets and a seductive aroma of grape jelly (though I couldn’t tell you what kind of grape). The pairing was one of the best I have had in awhile.

We all know the recipe and the stats. People don’t age their wine so winemakers make wine to be consumed almost out of the barrel…Pick late, if it shows any toughness blow bubbles up its ass (micr-ox).. it’s very Rolland-esque. But wine, made in a traditional manner, requires time, and if you allow it to mature, your patience will be rewarded. So, Obama in ‘08? Like any great bottle it’s tempting to go for it now, but he too might need a few more years.

2007-01-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

The Myth of Port and Cheese

I once suggested to a client that the only reason to serve a port with cheese is if you completely detest the taste of cheese. Port and a very strong blue like stilton perhaps, but even that pairing is not the best that I have ever tasted. Wether this is a marketing coup by the Portugese, or simply a case of people believing that if it works with Stilton, then it must be great with all cheese, the reality is that of the thousands of cheeses available, very few are powerful enough to hold their own against such a powerful and sweet wine like port. This is also true of most ‘blockbuster’ red wines. In fact, and this might come as a surprise, but the majority of cheeses tend to work better with white wines. Here’s why.

Cheese is made with milk and usually not of the skim variety. The cream in cheese coats our tongues with fat which impedes our ability to perceive flavours. As well, the proteins found in milk tend to harden a red wine’s tannin and increases our perception of acidity. The end result is a muted, slightly acidic taste that will in fact ruin many a red wine, including port. White wine on the other hand, with its inherent fruitiness will benefit from the saltiness of cheese and bring refreshing fruit and a welcomed acidity to the palette.

This is not to say that you red wine fanatics are completely out of luck. As a general rule the harder and drier the cheese, the better chance it will work in combination with a red wine, as there is less creaminess to interfere with the wine’s fruit. Which one to choose depends on the strength of the cheese but generally look for red wines that put the emphasis on fruit instead of tannin such as Beaujolais, Dolcetto, pinot noir, or a juicy, sun drenched grenache. If you want to put your taste buds through a work-out and have a glass of Aussie shiraz or Amarone left over after dinner, try them with a Parmigiano-Reggiano, a well-aged cheddar or Gouda, or a Gré des Champs from Québec.

For the rest, break out the white and laugh knowingly as your guests ask wether they will get headaches if they drink white wine after red (and no, they really won’t). Now which one to choose depends on the cheese in question.

In general, fresh cheese like goat with it’s naturally high acidity work best with equally high acid whites like Sauvignon Blanc. I have also had some success serving an off-dry white port. Creamier cheeses like Brie, Camembert and Riopelle do well with a richer wine like a subtly oaked Chardonnay, Pinot gris, or even a good mousseux or champagne. As we move into soft and semi-soft cheese like Oka, Victor et berthold, Kenogami or Pied de Vent (why not go for just Quebec made cheese?), try a Riesling, Viogner or for a fortified wine like a Muscat de Rivesaltes or medium bodied sherry.

And finally for Blues, try a rich dessert wine like a Sauterne, late harvest gewürztraminer or riesling, or perhaps a sweet sherry. I freaked some people out at a previous tasting with a Pacherenc de Vic Bihl (a sweetie from the Madiran area). They will fare much better than a red based wine, especially with creamier blues like gorgonzola and Roquefort. The rich sweetness of dessert wines makes them compatible with a wide variety of pungent creamy cheeses and earthy, extra-strong hard cheeses.

The more that I delve into the subject, the more I am convinced that each cheese has it’s viticultural soul-mate, so when putting together a combination of different cheeses, try and choose similar types of cheese (ie. Brie and Riopelle). This will not only make it easier to choose the right wine, but it is interesting to also compare the subtle differences between the cheeses. But if you are going to serve the ‘surf and turf’ of cheese plates or are invited over to a ‘wine and cheese’ party, the safest bets are mildly sweet wines like those from the Jurançon, Alsace or my personal favorite, a slightly sweet sherry.

Then what about you beloved port? The number one mix with port, and in particular, Tawny port, is chocolate. Combine a couple of chocolate truffles with a sofa and a fireplace and you have the perfect end to any soirée.

2007-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Why Biodynamics is important

Yes, it’s no longer Wednesday, so please forgive my tardiness. As a long standing supporter of bio-dynamics, at times I have had to dig in my heels against a tornado of criticism from the more erudite contingent of the blogosphere. But they have reason, and perhaps even an obligation to doubt, and to question. I agree that the idea of using bladder fermented herbs in homeopathic doses as way of ‘energizing’ your compost is weird. You should also know that there is often a ceremony attached to the burying of the cow horn, the vessel of the fermented herb concoction.

What the doubters are looking for is scientific evidence that these bio-d interventions have some sort of effect, wether it be positive or negative. But that basin of knowledge is still relatively small. From what I have read, there seems to be a consensus that the use of bio-dynamics tends to result in slightly reduced yields, but a healthier and better root development which is probably a result from a greater microbial bio-mass, ie healthier soil. After that, not much. From my perspective, until the long term impact of bio-dynamics versus conventional and organic interventions has been studied, we should take an innocent until proven guilty approach. But that is not really the point.

The real importance of bio-dynamics lies in an important paradigm shift, from humans being the masters of the natural world to that of participants. Biodynamic agriculture is not simply about consuming the resources of the earth, but about healing and protecting the very life forces that sustain the Earth. In light of much of the scientific evidence that points to us as being the culprits in climactic shifts, dead or sick water systems, putrid air which sickens us as we breathe, this shift is essential if we are to make the necessary changes to confront these problems. The question is who here are the real fools?

But what of the wines? Many of the very best and unique wines that I have tasted are in fact a product of bio-dynamic farming. The sceptic will say that it is the extra attention paid to the vine that makes makes for better quality fruit, or perhaps it is the reduced yields. Or, that the wines were great even before the switch to bio-d. That might be the case, but they are great wines nonetheless. So, if the result of switching to bio-dynamics means great wines and a healthier environment, I am more than willing to support these winemakers efforts by buying their wines, and telling others to do so as well. Take a look at Jack's roundup for some other bio-d faves from the blogging world.

A Couple of Bio-d faves from 2006

Clos de la Coulee de Serrant 1998, Joly
An eight year old Chenin that required another 3 days in caraffe to show itself, but very much worth the wait. Such incredible length, almost defines minerality with notes of honey and apples

Bordeaux Côtes de Francs 1970, Château le Puy
To buy a the most recent vinatge costs $25! The is how Bordeaux should be drunk. A generous bouquet that combined herbs, tobacco with a hint of leather was followed by a profound fruitiness that evoked the same bright plum and tart cherry of younger vintages but in a richer and more elegant framework.

Vin de Pays de L’Hérault 2000, Mas Jullien
Composed of a veritable salad of indigenous grapes including Grenache Blanc, Viogner, Chenin, Terret Bourret and possibly even some Gros Manseng, this is big wine with a lot of stuff going on. Apparently his buddy Didier Dagneau of Pur Sang Pouilly fame helps Jullien with the vinification. It had a beautiful floral nose with browning apples, peach and vanilla accents. It reminded me of spring. What followed was one of the creamiest and most complex whites that I have tasted in a while. Terret brings the apples, Grenache a hint of oxidized nuttiness, Viogner that allusion to sweet honeysuckle on the finish. The whole package was framed by a wonderful freshness that apparently comes from the Manseng.

Muscat 2004, Franholz, Ostertag
A very dry, and very unique twist on Alsace Muscat. For a grape whose greatest weakness if often its excessive, sweet perfume, this interpretation combines a restrained bouquet with a complex and rich mouthfeel. Ostertag says that Franholz is his ‘enfant terrible,’ … If all women smelled like this I would be in trouble.

2006-11-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

New Languedoc, Old Carignan and Deep Purple

It is home to over one third of all vines planted in France. Yet, how the Languedoc adjusts to world glut in grapes will have a profound effect on its future. Once responsible for massive amounts of low quality grapes, growers in the France’s south have had to make a choice as competition from other countries have made this a less viable business.

Faced with the option of simply pulling out vines, a new generation of winemakers have chosen to make higher quality wines. While lower yields have improved the wines, putting more emphasis on more marketable grapes like Syrah and Grenache have no doubt made them more attractive to today’s varietal conscious consumer. However, this second decision has come at a price.

The Carignan grape, indigenous to the south, has suffered as many growers have switched to Syrah and Grenache. Carignan can do wonderful things if given the opportunity, adding color, structure, depth, as well as dark cooked fruits, licorice and earthy aromas. However, since it is often relegated to the more fertile plateaus where it over produces, it can become rather innocuous.

At a recent tasting of Languedoc wines, the bottles that had appreciable levels of well-grown carignan were the ones that stood out. If you place a value on the importance of regional ‘distinctiveness,’ look for those Languedoc wines with higher percentages of this grape.

Coteaux du Languedoc 2001, Mas Jullien
One of my favourite producers is Olivier Jullien. His estate, Mas Jullien, is spread out over 15 acres around the village of Jonquiers, just north of the Mediterrean coast and the city of Montpellier. I have already reviewed his Mas Jullien Blanc, a six grapes blend that includes Grenache Blanc, Viogner and Chenin Blanc, and to my taste is one of the most distinctive and interesting whites in France that requires years of cellaring to reach it’s apogee.

His red, a blend of Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre, is no less interesting. Like many carignan based wines, it requires a couple of years of cellaring to iron out some of the rougher edges, but it rewards patience like few wines from the region. This was my fourth bottle (I still have two left).

Drunk to the tune of a big juicy steak.

Deep purple in both color and style. Like Richie Blackmore’s guitar playing, Jullien combines virtuosity with power, beauty without being very pretty. It smells and tastes of dark plums, marinated in licorice and sweet spices. Rich and concentrated, the tannins melted away to a dense, powerful and harmonious finish. This is not the new dulcimer Blackmore, but the Richie of Old.

2006-11-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

WBW27… Frozen Wine

Vin de Glace 2004, Marechal Foch-Ste. Croix, La Roche des Brises ($42...at the vineyard)

The one thing that Quebec has it’s fair share is cold. And lots of it. Bone chilling frostiness. Wow, I can’t wait. While this has made producing ripe, good quality dry table wines a challenge, it has been no impediment to making great icewines. Led by Marathonien’s victory at the recent Okanagen Icewine Competition (where it’s Vidal bested perennial champions from Ontario), the Quebec wine industries future might be tied to the production of this style of wine.

To vinifera or not to vinifera is the question facing many of Quebec’s wine producer’s these days? While small scale wineries can afford to bury the vines each winter, larger operations have seemed to pin their future on working with hybrids. Well, if you doubt that hybrids can make a great wine, then you haven’t tasted the latest offering from La Roche des Brises. Unique in that it is Quebec’s first “red” icewine, this Foch and Ste-Croix assemblage combines the aromatics of a black Muscat with the delicate flavours of a Niagara Cabernet Franc. With only 147 grams of residual sugar, it isn’t too sweet so it can work with a host of desserts. We, a table stocked with sommeliers, drank it last night with a chocolate fondue, and it worked superbly. It’s caramelized , nutmeg infused plum and fig flavours, when overlayed with the chocolate was as you can imagine, deliriously good.

And again, made in Quebec.

Thanks to the kitchen chick for well, doin it.

2006-11-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

What do you want to know about the wine you drink?

As a full-on info glutton, I am often frustrated about the lack of information available about many of the wines that I drink. Labels, which the rest of the food and beverage world use to list ingredients at their very best will list percentages of each varietal used in making the wine. More often than not, they are dedicated to drawings of small animals or are poorly written tomes describing how ‘x’ wine is a perfect accompaniment to anything from dry turkey to grandma’s overdone roast. They should at a minimum be forced to write this stuff in ‘haiku.’

But what should be written on these labels and what info should be readily available to the interested consumer? The demystification of wine begins with knowing what grapes we are drinking and where they are grown. If the Napa Cabernet I’m drinking in reality contains“x” percentage of another grape, is in part sourced from a different area, or blended with wines from previous vintages, then why is this reality not reflected on the label.

And what about the processes, ingredients and other details about how a wine is made? Aside from a warning that the wine contains sulfites, which is relevant to but a small percentage of the drinking population who have such intolerances, little is divulged. When I have questioned people in the wine industry, the response has been that nobody really wants to know about this stuff, or that “chemical sounding names” will just scare people off, or my favourite, that they are ‘trade secrets.’ Coke and twinkies don’t reveal everything, do they?

Bullshit. I have read enough tech sheets and talked with enough winemakers to know that wineries are happy to divulge lots of info about their wine. Maceration time, the duration, temperature, and type of fermentation, wether they use whole bunches, the type of press used, yields, the list goes on and on. But ask them about the use of colorants, or the addition of tannin, tartaric acid, sugar, water, or wether it’s been de-alcoholized, and they are much more retiscent. If you are one on one with the winemaker, perhaps you will get a hushed response.

These manipulations are as important in making a wine as much of the above mentioned processes that they are willing to talk about. I am not out to embarrass people, I just want to know what went in to making the wine I am drinking.

And to those winemakers who embrace this technology, let me taste the wines with the full knowledge that they are products of these manipulations. If they are as good as the rest, I’ll buy them and tell others to do so as well. Their silence just perpetuates the sceptic in me.

This type of disclosure, wether it be on the label or on the wineries website will just serve to educate the drinking population. The best winemakers use intuition and instinct to make their wines. It is an art form and even if Picasso told you all about the exact color mixes he used, few people would be able to copy him. And those who could, wouldn't. Where the problem lies are are the Enologix type of winemakers who follow recipes, to create wines which match flavour profiles using whatever technology that is available to them. I see this as a threat but that is a topic for another day..

2006-10-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

A Really Great Wine

One of the reasons that I do what I do are the wine tastings. I used to revel in these moments, looking forward to each with the anticipation of a kid running home Halloween night with a bag full of candy… oh, which one will I gobble down first?

But more and more my bag is overflowing with the same candy. Recent tastings have left me wondering wether those harbingers of doom (me included) were right; we are moving with giant steps towards a uniformity of taste, adorned in Chairman Mao grey sporting both little hats and stars.

But then there was Tissot. The Jura has been able to resist for the moment the group goose step. No one talks of Parker’s influence here and Michel Roland doesn’t have a consulting gig. Perhaps the wines are just too weird to begin with, or perhaps it’s a confidence that’s rooted in tradition and heritage. Jura wines are always distinctive, and often very good.

One of these is Stephan Tissot’s 2004 Traminer. First tasted with Beau at last year’s Salon des Vins, I finally got an opportunity to drink a bottle.

Arbois 2004, Traminer, Domaine André et Mireille Tissot (vins alain belanger ....$25)

Made with gewürztraminer related savignan, this is an Arbois for all. Responsible for the somewhat eccentric Vin Jaune, a sherry like white which often scares the uninitiated away from the region for good, the savignan here is treated differently. Where the vin jaune is matured for 6 years and 3 months under an oxidizing film forming yeast called a ‘voile,’ this savignan is vinified with ‘ouillage.’ Ouillage means that the casks are continually topped up, replacing the evaporated wine which prevents the development of the voile, thus preserving the fruity character of the wine.

I don’t often go for tasting notes but the aromatics of this wine blew me away. I spent a good 15 minutes swirling and sniffing, as did a number of us at the table. Blue-haired Joe said it reminded him of October in an apple orchard on a cool, dewy morning. I found at the core ripe Santa Clara plums, along with sweet honey-suckle. The acidity balanced a formidable richness to perfection that makes this a wine with a host of possible pairings (I kept thinking oysters Rockefeller).

In this age of so much sauvignon, and shit loads of Chardonnay, it is always refreshing to have an alternative. As Beau put it, find it and snatch it up right away.

2006-10-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

What Was Said....

'...intelligent...'
-Wall Street Journal Oct 23, 2006

'... holistic...'
-Wall Street Journal Oct 23, 2006

'.... practical...'
-Wall Street Journal Oct 23, 2006

'... better than CATS!'
-somebody else

So how cool is that? Monday's Wall Street Journal mentioned my little blog alongside Pinotblogger, Avenuevine, Wine Sediments , Everyday Wine Pairings, and Mag's little irreverent ode to boisson, Wine Offensive. With this benediction brought thousands of new visitors and hundreds of new subscribers. So to all of you who are new readers, welcome!

Of course this means that I now have full licence, and perhaps even an obligation, to rework some favorite posts of the past year (yes, I am slack but what do you expect for free!). So , in honor of the WSJ, here is one of my faves...enjoy and welcome aboard.

Stop Drinking (bad) Corporate Wine!

Tom pointed to an ‘interesting’ article written by Jennifer Rosen defending ‘corporate’ wine. Defending it against whom I am not sure but the crux of her argument posits that this inexpensive ‘corporate’ wine, which is as familiar and as regular in quality as toothpaste, brings more drinkers into the marketplace. In the same breath, she seems to characterize those drinkers who expect more from their wines as neophytes and epiphany seekers, while the ‘clueless masses’ seem to want some sort of ‘bland’ drink that is as ‘reliable and cheap’ as Coke (quality notwithstanding). To paraphrase a paraphrasing blog buddy, her logic seems to suggest that to make wine accessible we must have more shit wine available.

Oh those poor, stupid, taste-deficient masses.

Well, wine is not coke. Unfortunately, there seems to be some underlying sentiment amongst certain in the industry to treat it as such; just another spoke in the wheel of the beverage industry. Perhaps I am being nostalgic and sentimental, but I still want my wine to be made by someone who grew and pressed his own grapes, and whose wine ultimately carries his signature and some sense of place. It might be quaint but there is more often than not a measure of authenticity about the final product that differentiates it from the yellow tails, little penguins, and other mass-produced, ‘brand’-oriented wines that fill supermarket shelves. Rosen makes the point that many of these more ‘artisanal wines’ are ‘perfectly dreadful,’ I agree, some of them are. But on the whole I find most of these wines more interesting, and at least not disgusting.

I have tried these price-point wines on a number of occasions. I am usually unimpressed, sometimes horrified and rarely surprised. My most recent foray into what Ms. Rosen refers to as ‘corporate wines’ was a tasting of Southcorp (Foster’s) ‘Little Penguin.’ The Chardonnay reminded me more of coconut tanning lotion than white wine, and the Shiraz was closer to Robitussin (without that excellent muted buzz). But this is a question of personal taste. I neither buy nor drink these penguin wines, as I won’t most of the cheap wines presently on the market. This is not because they are made by some massive, unfeeling corporate monolith, it is simply because they taste bad.

But, as children who were raised to believe that garlic-flavored popsicles are good, Rosen claims her ‘blandies’ expect nothing more than the ‘Tzatziki pop’ of wine and are thus happy and comfortable in their ignorance. This is bullshit. It is rare that I have not been able to take a person who has drunk only cheap wine and showed them that, for a few dollars more, there is a better option. And the majority of the time, they can taste the difference. Ultimately it is a question of priorities. It isn't that different from spending that extra 20% on organic produce, for it too is often better than the cheaper industrial produce which fills the aisles of your local supermarket.

It just so happens that these super-cheap wines, which are made affordable because of the economy of scale, are often below the threshold of what smaller wineries can afford to produce. I will not even get into how they are made. But for a few dollars more (at least here in Quebec), there exist a plethora of interesting wines from the world over, many made by co-operatives and good, independent winemakers. By supporting these smaller producers, we are supporting diversity, independence, and frankly they need the cash more than the big corps.

The reality of the modern wine industry is that there are fewer and fewer independent winemakers. Cheval Blanc, Etude, Ornellaia, Yquem, Penfolds, Coldstream and a vast majority of the better wine producers worldwide are now part of corporate portfolios. Like in any industry, there are good corps and bad ones. Those which recognize and continue to support the ‘artistry’ of winemaking and have not become complacent with quality deserve our continued support. Ms. Rosen’s characterization of corporate wine as cheap wine is an insult to many of the better corporations which continue to produce great wines. Her article should have been entitled ‘in defense of cheap, mass-produced wine,’ but even then, I don’t agree.The real danger of the big corps with large alchohol and wine portfolios lies more in the distribution end of the industry. It is here where smaller producers and distributors face increasingly difficult challenges and it is here that they need our support. So get off the kangaroo, seek out the independents and ultimately tell your friends to spend a bit more for their bottles, you will be doing both the industry, and your friends, a lot of good.

2006-10-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

The Sommelier Experience

Ordering a bottle of wine in a restaurant can be an intimidating task. The food is ordered, and all eyes shift to you as you leaf from page to page in what you see as an unnecessarily long wine list, quietly hoping to come across a bottle that you recognize. Where’s that Brouilly or Yellow Label when you need it? As befuddlement becomes desperation, the sommelier arrives.

As a sommelier, my job is to demystify wine. In the few minutes that I spend at your table, I have to assess what style of wines you like, what you are willing to pay, and walk that fine line between what you want and what I feel you need. With a point of my finger and a nod, I can make you a hero with the right choice, or I can be your scapegoat if everyone hates it.

But who are these people, why should they be trusted?

The Dinner Table Maestros

I admit to having forgotten the year that my daughter was born, though I remember wines that I drank 10 years ago, with whom, at what temperature, and with what. I am the Rain Man of the food and beverage world. While the majority of sommeliers have arrived at their present occupations via some sort of wine schooling, I have never taken a course on wine. My education was in the kitchen, the tasting room and at the table. It is this equal reverence for both food and wine that separates the wine connoisseur from the best sommeliers. We don’t make either, but we have to understand both. In this sense we are like maestros, trying to create harmonies between what the chefs create and the wines we have at our disposal.

Spit or Swallow?

But we are first and foremost experts on wine. To that end, when I am not working the floor, placing orders, hucking cases, taking inventory and updating my wine list, I am tasting wines. This is the most romanticized aspect of the job, but as much as I try (often in vain) to get some sympathy, the reality is that it is still work. If I taste thousands of wines every year, there are only a few hundred that I actually order. The number of times I have had to smile with red tainted teeth, my mouth as dry as the Sahara, and find something nice to say about yet another wine that I know I will never order.

And to answer that most asked question, most of the wine I am served ends up in the spittoon, except for the really good ones where I sometimes go back for seconds.

The Language of Wine

While we sommeliers know a lot about wine, we do tend to speak our own particular dialect. The language of wine aims to find a way to compare one wine with another. It uses flavours, smells, textures and colors that we find in our glass to references found in our day to day lives. But these associations often don’t resonate with the majority of people who can’t find the ‘dark cherries, summer truffle nor the leather’ that we so cleverly found with a snort and quick swirl of our tasting glass.

Most people have a hard time communicating what they like in wines. The best way of letting me know is by remembering the names of some of your favorite bottles that you drink at home, but most people don’t and end up citing ‘Château … something.’ That must be the best selling bottle worldwide.

In an effort to bridge the communication gap and reach out beyond these staid and conservative descriptions, I have been known to compare certain Californian wines, for example, with the stereotypical beach bimbo (or the male ‘mimbo’ version); easy to like, the first glass is great but lacks the depth to be interesting in the long run. It is remarkable how many clients know exactly what I am talking about.

The ABW and the Curse of the Blue Nun

So now that we know where each other is coming from, it’s time to make our choice. The first thing I must establish is if you are part of the ABW (Anything But White). As a devoted white wine drinker, I am constantly amazed by people’s reticence to quaff a bottle of white.

It’s not your fault. I blame it on Blue Nun and other cheap white wines. If cheap red can be a heady proposition, inexpensive white can be near fatal. We have all had misadventures resulting from drinking one glass too many of some dubious white. It can be a Sisyphean task to battle against such distasteful memories, especially when one considers that the majority of foods work better with white.

Aside from finding the perfect Australian red for your lobster, there is one other thing that I can’t do. I don’t set the policy on pricing and while I understand your frustration that the bottle you want is two and a half times the SAQ price, as much as I would like to, I am not here to negotiate.

Getting the Most out of Your Sommelier

Here’s a hint, when a sommelier says that you should drink what you like, what he or she is really saying is that the wine that you want doesn’t go at all with your choice of menu. I am always amazed how people will give ‘carte blanche’ to the chef to create their dishes as they see fit yet can be relatively narrow minded in their choice of wines. So if you are lucky enough to have a sommelier at your restaurant, come with a sense of discovery, get out of your comfort zone and try something new.

I fear no client more than the wine collector who loves to list every wine he has drunk or the entire contents of his cellar. Nobody likes a snob and we sommeliers are a difficult lot to impress. Wine and the way it works with food can be fascinating, but it must be put into context. I see wine as a spice, a luxurious accessory to complement our meal. But in the grand scheme of things, that we can spend a couple of hours worrying over such ephemeral pleasures should remind us about what is really important.

That we are indeed very fortunate people.

2006-10-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

Look What’s Growing in Our Own Backyard

Modern winemaking in Europe dates back hundreds of years. California and Ontario’s first vines were planted in the late 19th Century. Here in Québec, our viticultural history takes us back only to the early 1980’s. With age comes experience, each generation passing down to the next not only more mature vines, but of even greater importance, the know how which only comes from the trial and error of experimentation.

As a wine buyer, my job is to be a ruthless critic. With so many wines on the market it is easy to be swayed by prejudice, damning an entire group of wines due to a couple of bad experiences and never returning. I admit to having relegated Québec’s wine industry to that scrapheap of mediocrity. I was wrong and am here to make amends.

At the root of this bias are the grapes themselves. Grapes like chardonnay, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are of European decent, varietals of the Vitis Vinifera family. Our harsh winters and relatively short growing season once limited our options to the hardier, though often less interesting hybrids. But things are changing. Global warming has proven to be a blessing for Quebec winemakers as the extended growing season and milder winters have allowed for not only riper hybrid grapes, but an opportunity to grow chardonnay and other classic Vinifera species.

I recently toured a number of wineries in the Eastern Townships and was shocked by not only the quality and diversity of the wines being made, but by the passion and dedication of a number of our winemakers. Here are the stories of four of the best.

The Pioneer- Charles-Henri de Coussergues and Orpailleur
1086 Route 202, Dunham www.orpailleur.ca/

Québec’s first and best known winery, Orpailleur represents the old guard of Quebecois winemaking. When one talks with other winemakers, there is nothing but respect for what de Coussergues has accomplished. While he sees an opportunity in planting vinifera grapes like chardonnay, he continues to concentrate on the tried and true, with large plantings of hybrid white grapes seyval and vidal, seyval noir and marechal forch in red. The wines are also classic interpretations of the varietals; crisp whites and red berry laden reds and rosés. Of exception is his La Part des Anges, a fortified wine which was inspired by the wines of Maury in France’s southwest (see tasting notes at end of article).

Aside from running his vineyard, he is working to create a regulatory body similar to VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) which presently overseees the wines of Ontario and British Columbia. The VQA works as a regulatory body whose aim is to create standards of quality, auditing winemakers to assure that what is written on the label matches what is in the bottle. An auditing system such as this would assure, for example, that the grapes did indeed come from Quebec and were not brought in from outside the province.

The Ice Master – Jean Joly at Le Marathonien
318 Route 202, Havelock www.marathonien.qc.ca/

Gold medals and awards are nothing new for Le marathonien. Most recently, Le Marathonien was the highest scoring ice wine at the prestigious 2006 Okanagen icewine festival in British Columbia, besting even the fabled icewines from the Niagara.

To make icewine, a winemaker needs an extended period of minus12C temperatures. While the milder winters of the last couple of years are causing headaches for many of Ontario’s icewine producers, the combination of riper grapes and our province’s frigid winters are ideal for the production of icewine. At least in the short term, this just might be the style of wine which might win worldwide recognition for our wine industry.

Le Marathonien is a converted apple orchard. Joly’s vines are planted in the gravel and rock that 12000 years ago was a part of lake Champlain. His approach to winemaking is rigorous, scientific and patient. While many of his colleagues are experimenting with different grape varietals and vinification techniques, Joly, like de Coussergues, is sticking with what has proven to work

Joly produces classic dry whites and reds, including a superb off-dry white made with a riesling hybrid called geisenheim. But Marathonien is all about sweet wines. And if Icewine is a bit rich for your palette, Joly is one of the few Quebecers to produce a Late-Harvest wine, which is in fact a second press on his icewine grapes.

The Cradle of Invention– Mike and Veronique at Les Pervenches
150 Boulais Road, Farnham www.lespervenches.com/

‘Who says Vinifera doesn’t grow in Québec,’ beams Mike Marler with as he rips away some leaves, revealing a beautiful cluster of chardonnay. Talk with Mike about his grapes, or how the various soil substructures found in his vineyard can produce subtle differences in aromas and flavours, and one gets a deeper understanding of the relationship a winemaker has with his vines.

The biggest impediment to growing many Vinifera grapes in Quebec is not the length of the growing season but the damage caused by our cold winters. Many point to Mike’s work with testing different materials and methods of winter protection as advancing the possibility of chardonnay in Quebec, and as proven by his medals and other accolades, this possibility has become reality. He is also presently in pre-certification with Ecocert, an international organic accreditation body, which will make Les Pervenches one of the few certified organic vineyards in Québec.

His wines mirror his experimental approach, and as we tasted barrel samples from last years harvest, one gets the sense each blending season is all about possibility and experimentation, not following a recipe. He is presently testing which grapes work best with American and French oak barrels, how the seyval grape reacts to different yields, and trying unique blends like in his award winning chardonnay-seyval, and one of my favorites, a light red blend of hybrid grapes frontenac and de chaunac with chardonnay.

A True Modern Winery - Léon Courville and Domaine Les Brome
285 Brome Rd, Lac Brome http://www.lespervenches.com/

Ex-President of the Banque Nationale, Léon Courville began planting his vineyard in 1999. Domaine Les Brôme is a well financed, modern winery and is on the cutting edge of Québecois viticulture. With over 40 000 vines planted which include proven hybrid grapes as well as chardonnay, pinot noir and reisling, Courville seems to be well en route to proving that Québec can produce high quality wine which can compete on an international level.

As one of the big winner’s at the recent Coupe de Nations de Quebec, which recognizes excellence in both local and international winemaking, I came to Les Brome intrigued and left astounded. Courville is so confident about his wines that he was not simply content to just have me taste his wines, he wanted me to compare them with classic French bottlings which were at times more than twice the price.

First up was an off-dry vidal, a grape which is almost always reserved for making sweet wines. I tasted it next to a pinot gris from Alsace and the similarities were remarkable. His cuvee Charlotte, a blend of seyval, geisenheim and chardonnay held it’s own against, and I am not kidding, a Meursault.

For those who doubt that Quebec can produce high quality, elegant red wine has not tasted the de chaunac reserve. With help from Madiran winemaker Alain Brumont, Courville has perhaps found a home for this French hybrid, a grape that was developed in the 19th Century. Still in barrel, I tasted both the 2004 and 2005 cuvées which were overflowing with sweet field berries, a touch of licorice and mineral notes, all supported by a delicate tannic structure.

The Problem

Never heard of these wineries? Don’t feel bad because neither have most Quebeckers. Small-scale winemaking is a costly proposition anywhere, and because of the extra work required to ‘winterize’ our vines, even more costly here in Québec. Unfortunately, the SAQ has done little to help our industry by employing the same purchase policy they use on wines imported from outside of Québec, nor offering preferential displays in the stores. This means that Quebec wineries must sell their wines at uncompetitive prices at the SAQ or lose thousands of dollars of much needed revenues. With no shop window except for at the winery, the majority of consumers don’t have access to these wines, thus hindering sales and ultimately the evolution of the industry here in Québec. It’s a case where everyone loses.

Tasting Some of Quebec’s Best

Seyval 2005, Orpailleur ($12) Reminiscent of a Muscadet, this is a classic interpretation of the varietal, combining mineral notes with a bright acidity and citrus flavors. It would work wonders with oysters, mussels, a light fish or a fresh goat cheese.

Rosé 2005, Orpailleur ($13) combines classic red berries with a hint of spiciness alongside a well-balanced acidity. Soft and delicate, it is a perfect apertitif wine or to accompany a light lunch.

La Part des Anges, Orpailleur ($13..200ml). My favorite from Orpailleur, this blend of unfermented seyval juice with Brandy is left in open casks for 6 years endures a cycle of baking in the sun and then sub zero winter temperatures. The result is a reminiscent of a sweet sherry with a sensual mix of hazelnut, fig, and caramel. Try it with a crème caramel or with a selection of stronger cheeses.

Cuvée Speciale, Marathonien ($11), an excellent white, off-dry blend of Geisenheim, Seyval and Cayuga. Aromatic like a Muscat, the touch of residual sweetness balances the acidity to make an excellent ‘vin de soif,’ perfect for a hot afternoon or any meal with exotic spices.

Vidal Icewine 2003, Marathonien ($50 for 375ml) His icewine undergoes a long, slow fermentation and is only bottled when Joly feels it is ready. Each sip of is a decadent explosion of apricot, peach, and apple smothered in honey. With a fois gras, it makes a wonderful home grown alternative to Sauterne.

Seyval-Vidal 2004, Les Pervenches ($14) A touch richer and with less acidity than the Seyval of Orpailleur, this oak aged Seyval would be perfect for a light fish or a cheese fondue. It should have even more body in the 2005 version as it will be blended with Chardonnay rather than Vidal.

Chardonnay-Seyval 2004, Les Pervenches ($20) A Macon style Chardonnay that combines nice mineral notes with apples and peaches, all backed with soft, unobtrusive oak. It would work well with any seafood, especially when served in a cream sauce.

Solinou 2005, Les Pervenches ($14), a bright and refreshing red that exudes fresh summer berries. Composed of frontenac, de chaunac, with a touch of chardonnay, serve it chilled as an aperitif, with cheese and pâtés or with a spicy vegetarian dish.

Vidal 2003, Domaine les Brome ($15) Floral and mineral notes, a hint of residual sugar and a rich, and delicate texture make it a perfect match for a nice spicy seafood dish, I kept thinking shrimps with a green curry sauce.

St-Pépin Reserve ($19) is an extremely elegant white that combines delicate floral and exotic fruit aromas with an almost Burgundy type richness that comes from being ermented and aged in new French oak barrels. It would be great with a seafood risotto.

2006-09-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

Aged Rosé and the Winner Was......

Greek….....huh? In fact, my favorite rosé of the summer was curiously my preferred pink from last summer; same wine, same millisème, except one year later (the saq did not order the wine for this summer).

I am a firm believer in the short term cellaring of wines… all wines. I have found that even the most banal of bottlings benefits from as little as 6 months in a cool, stable environment. The rule is never drink from the store, aim to stock the basement and use that as your inspiration for the evenings dinner. Aside from the pleasure of slowly watching your collection grow and seeing what styles of wines you need, your wines will simply taste better.

Agioritikos Rosé 2003, Tsantalis ($16…saq)
From the slopes of Mount Athos, this mix of Limnio, Roditis and Xinomavro is packed full of wild strawberries and raspberry. While last summer it’s bright acidity made it a perfect aperitif, a year later it drinks more like a soft red. It is still the same wine, though the ensemble seems more integrated, with less acidity giving way to a richer, more opulent texture. We drank what was left in the province (13 bottles) mostly with salmon, mostly in the sunshine, and always around half way through the bottle we would take a moment to give the wine a good swirl, take a sniff and a sip and remark, ‘c’est pas mal bon cette petit rosé.’

What more needs to be said about a wine.

2006-08-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

10 out of 10 Worms Agree!

I went into this summer with the best intentions but between battling groundhogs in the garden, 4 jobs and a new gig wine writing for the Montreal Gazette, little time was left for this little labour of love.

So I will start slow and in fact allow someone else to fill the content. The following is one of 24 comments I have recieved on a post about bio-dynamics. I strongly urge you to go back to the original post and follow the thread as it shows how controversial and emotionally charged this issue has become (especially when one considers how many new converts there are to bio-dynamics).

So take it away 'Dave.'

Woooo, I'm a bit late to the table here, but can't resist the temptation to comment. I'm a new user, call me Dave. I have several areas to comment on, let's start with the 6 year study that showed no differences between BD (bio-D) and organic. There were indeed no statistically significant differences in nutrient content, physical characteristics or biological life/processes in the soil between the organic and BD. What doesn't show up in that quote, a single year composting trial did result in statistically different, 30% better nutrient retention in the compost which was made using BD preparations over the compost made from the exact same starting material that did not have the preparations added. I echo some of the other posters skepticism regarding the preparations, yet I do farm biodynamically, and this result astonished me.

Continuing, an unpublished experiment by Reganold's research team was rather unconventional. A rectangular box was constructed. One side of the box contained soil removed from the BD section of the vineyard in the 6 year study, the other half contained soil from the organic section of the vineyard. Worms were collected from the entire vineyard, both organic and BD areas, and then the worms were placed in the box in between the two different soils. The next day the researchers came back and noted that all of the worms had moved into the BD soil. There were no worms in the organic soil. The point? Though modern scientific techniques could find no significant differences in the soils, a bunch of "lower" life forms were unanimous in their selection; we cannot, with current technologies, always find the answers.

Further, to the point of what is the difference between organic and biodynamic. If you are a VERY good organic farmer, there is very little difference, just the preparations, the calendar (these two being the rituals?), and an emphasis on limited inputs. However, you can be organic these days and still farm with the mindset of a conventional grower, i.e. instead of creating a diverse farming agroecosystem that mimics nature (good organic), what organic pesticide can I spray that will kill my pest organism (bad organic)? Organic pesticides are getting better and better my friends, to the point that the farming style can be very similar to a conventional grower. Thus, being BD automatically puts you on the extreme "good organic" side of the spectrum. People generally associate BD with the preparations and all of the wackyness that entails; however, it is based on very good farming technique. We like to say that the preparations are the icing on the cake; should you not have good farming practices in place, your cake will still be worthless even though you've got great frosting.

So, Mithrandir et al., don't get all bent over the preparations, yes they are weird, but they are a small part of the final product. I was offended by Mithrandir's supposition that science is the end all beat all authority. I have worked as a researcher in universities; never forget that most of your science is paid for with grants from large companies to either get a profitable product, or test a potential profitable product. Mysticism? Try looking at it from another viewpoint, try looking at it as farming techniques that work, passed from generation to generation. Why plant on a particular lunar phase? Has it been proven to work at a university? Perhaps it has been studied, I did not check. But usually, if there is no profitable product at stake, thus no scientific inquiry. Reganold was questioned by many of his peers regarding that 6 year study in the vineyard, they basically thought he had committed professional suicide. Believe me, I'm not saying that this true for every, or even the majority of the BD practices (or reasons for scientific studies for that matter), but some BD practices that may be thought of as mysticism certainly fit here.

I am a BD Skeptic that practices BD viticulture. Very little of my farming is centered on the preparations. It is more about how I can grow a balanced vine with very limited inputs (which is a basic part of BD by the way, but not organic). Thus, the resultant fruit is of high quality and representative of the soil in which it is grown rather than the organic inputs (fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides) that I can use. THAT is what is most important about being BD to me.

Caveman, I'd love to hear what came of your investigations on that post about Randall Grahm...
(And I am still waiting too........................!..caveman)

2006-06-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

Garden Rosé Tasting #6

Chino 2005, Cuvée Réné Couly, Couly-Dutheil (saq...$16.60)

Against the backdrop of creeping thyme in full flower, this lip gloss colored “rosé de saignée’ was a bit of a surprise. Composed of 100% Cabernet Franc, the first whiff announced a full-on fruit assault with the accent on fresh strawberries still with their green tops. The first sip confirmed an almost precocious adolescence, with a hint of sweetness on top of slight ‘perlance,’ fine little bubbles dancing playfully over your tongue. But with some time, this little Lolita shed some of her coyness, showing a more floral side, an elegant mix of poppy and lilac alongside an admirable depth. While I, like many, admire the fragile and enticing beauty that comes with youth, here is a case to wait and see what a little maturity will bring.

I am stocking a couple of bottles for next summer.

Next post...Vin Gris is dethroned!

2006 rosé ranking
1. Vin Gris de Cigare 2005, Bonny Doon
2. Toscana Igt 2005, Rosato, Carpineto
3. Chino 2005, Cuvée Réné Couly, Couly-Dutheil
4. Coteaux du Languedoc 2005, Château de Lancyre
5. Costières de Nîmes 2005, Domaine Saint-André
6. Saint Chinian 2005, Clos de L'Orb

2006-06-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Wine Blog Wednesday #22
Light Alcohol Reds

Alcohol is up. Turely, Rolland, Parker and many other influence peddlers have without doubt left their mark, promulgating a super (over?) ripe style of wine. But don't shoot the messenger, rising alcohol levels are not their fault. When Tim at Winecast proposed the low alcohol reds theme, and setting the cut off at 12.5%, I was confident that I could rummage through my collection of organic Beaujolais and be faced with that beautiful dilemma of which one to choose.

Wrong. Metras, Thevenet, Foillard, Lapierre, names synonymous with the ‘vin nature’ organic movement in France all had abv levels ranging from 12.5% to 13.5%. Metras’ Fleurie 2002 had an alcohol level of 12%, coinciding with the one of the weakest years France has witnessed over the last decade. If any group of winemakers can be counted on to refute the ‘modern style’ it is these guys. However, as these winemakers strive for optimal ripeness, eschewing without any additives (even sulfur) or manipulations, the unprecedented higher than average summer temperatures that Europe has seen over the last 7 or 8 years has played an even bigger part in taking French wine towards high abv than a conscious decision to make a more ‘new world style.’ So what to drink below 12.5%

How about 5%?

Brigantino 2003, Casorzo Doc, Accornero ($23…ip)
Hailing from Piedmont, the Brigantino is made almost entirely from one of the innumerable Malvasia varieties scattered throughout Europe, Malvasia di Casorzo. Slightly frizzante, this is a very pretty wine that combines rose petals, wild strawberries with a hint of plum. It sweetness is balanced by a nice acidity and of course, the bubbles. While it drinks almost too easily as an aperitif, it is the perfect accompaniment for one of our favorite desserts, rhubarb and strawberry pudding.

2006-06-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Garden Rosé Tasting #5

Vin Gris de Cigare 2005, Bonny Doon (saq...$17)

With a label inspired by a local French law which forbade spaceships from landing in their vineyards (I’m serious), this is yet another Randall Graham homage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Cunoise, Syrah and Viogner, the 2005 version strikes me as his best effort yet.

The color is a delicate pink with orange highlights. The bouquet is both pretty and complex with a nice balance struck between typical Provençal herbs like rosemary and thyme, and a nicely understated fruit of guava, strawberry and pomegranate.

The mouth is bone dry with a nice crisp acidity and follows through on the herbal notes that we found in the nose, though with the addition of some red peppercorn. It had decent length and I found a hint of iodine along with a touch of strawberry on the finish.

Oh but what to eat? It works okay as an aperitif with all those herbal notes, but it's a shame not to give it some food. It would be a great lunch wine with a salad nicoise or even better, with a cold lobster salad served with some roquette and other bitter greens, or as we did, salmon.

This year, the SAQ tripled its order to 3000 cases to satisy what seems to be an insatiable local demand for this Randall Graham creation. And with reason, as it is consistently one of the better rosés on the market, and probably the most complete rosé I have tasted this summer….. so far!

Garden Update
Everything is in the ground or seeded, but as the azaleas bloom, one must pay homage ourselves. Next up…a rosé from Chinon.

2006 rosé ranking
1. Vin Gris de Cigare 2005, Bonny Doon
2. Toscana Igt 2005, Rosato, Carpineto
3. Coteaux du Languedoc 2005, Château de Lancyre
4. Costières de Nîmes 2005, Domaine Saint-André
5. Saint Chinian 2005, Clos de L'Orb

2006-06-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Biodynamic in Bordeaux
The Seemingly Ageless Château le Puy

While the debate over the merits of biodynamic agriculture continues, one cannot argue about the quality and uniqueness of many of the wines produced by those winemakers who follow this discipline. The wines of Leroy, Joly, Weinbach, Ostertag, Gauby, Lapierre, to name but a few, are some of the finest examples of their respective regions. The real question is whether the quality of these wines are a product of bio-d, or simply due to that unique combination of winemaker skill, attentiveness, soil and climate.

While biodynamics is gaining adherents the world over, staid and conservative Bordeaux has so far resisted the temptation to hang and bury plant-stuffed deer bladders. However, there is one winemaker who has taken that leap of faith, embracing not only bio-dynamics but also a more organic approach to vinification via the use of indigenous yeasts, little or no sulphur dioxides, no fining or filtration.

The witch in question is Jean-Pierre Amoreau of Château le Puy, a 25 hectare vineyard in the Côtes de Francs region of Bordeaux. It shares the same rocky plateau as Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, with his site sitting atop the ‘Côteau des Merveilles,’ a name which pays homage to the quality of the wines produced at a Château which has been in operation since 1610. His wines are dominated by very ripe merlot with small percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon and a touch of Carménère, and are marked by a bright acidity which offers an exemplary freshness and length.

Amoreau scoffs at his fellow countrymen who have succumbed to what he refers to as the whims of the export market and their critics. While he uses Michel Rolland’s laboratory for analysis, he refers to Rolland as a brilliant chemist, someone who understands marketing more than wine. He in unabashedly Bordelais, believing that while his wines should be approachable in the first few years in bottle, their destiny is to be passed on to later generations, a snapshot of the year they were made and of the person who made them.

Before I launch into a tasting that went as far back as 1955, it should be noted that these are $23 bottles, not the ‘mortgage your house and let the kids eat lentils’ first-classed growths. I was shocked at not only how the bottles showed the same exemplary lineage, but also at how they aged with such grace and elegance. Thanks to Erwan and the gang at AOC for arranging a great tasting and dinner.

Château le Puy 2001 (saq…$23)
Soft and delicate red fruits with a hint of truffle and held up by very ripe tannins. A great bottle from an underrated vintage.

Château le Puy 2000
I found the balance slightly off, with a tart black cherry aftertaste that cut into the expansiveness and creamy-mouth feel that was so sexy in the 2001.

Château le Puy 1989
A beautiful bouquet that combined dark plums with herbs. It had a similar touch of tart cherry as the 2000 but in this context, it added freshness that was a beautiful counterbalance to the darker, slightly jammy fruit.

Château le Puy 1970
Remember, this wine costs $25! This is how Bordeaux should be drunk. A generous bouquet that combined herbs, tobacco with a hint of leather was followed by a profound fruitiness that evoked the same bright plum and tart cherry of younger vintages but in a richer and more elegant framework.

Château le Puy 1967
The first to have signs of age, it still had that signature acidity but the fruit was a touch cooked (think of port). If you like the style, and lots do, then it was great. I dumped my glass and took a big boy gulp of the 1970.

Château le Puy 1955
It smelled and tasted younger than the ’67, except for hints of strawberry and red cherries that gave the wine a certain softness unfound in the other vintages. Very pretty and again, that brilliant acidity kept the ensemble fresh.

Château le Puy 2003, Cuvée Barthélemy (saq…$60)
With no added sulfur, the Barthélemy is one of the finer examples of wines made in this model. Not reductive in the least, it had a ton of fruit held up by soft, round tannins. It made me kinda think of a young Brigitte Bardot for some reason. Ready to drink and will be available at the SAQ in the coming months.

Château le Puy 2001, Cuvée Barthélemy
One of the problems with no sulfur wines is the risk of oxidation. While the ’03 was perfect, I found the 2001 slipped a bit into that porto fruit area. Very drinkable with notes of cassis and almost a Languedoc type garrigue bouquet.

2006-06-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

A Monster in the Minervois

France's Languedoc-Roussillon is a vast and fertile region home to over 400,000 acres of vines. To put this into perspective, this is more acreage under vine than in all of Australia. As the majority of the annual production of 18 million hectolitres of wine is destined to be simple ‘vin de table,’ one could point an accusatory finger at this region for its continued role in adding to what is becoming a worldwide crisis of oversupply of low-quality grapes and wine. As the price of grapes continues to fall, those growers who don’t produce either high-quality grapes or their own wines are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

In what I see as a more productive reaction to the crisis than brandishing pitchforks and blockading highways, efforts are being undertaken on a number of fronts to deal with the oversupply. The cheap stuff is undergoing a cosmetic makeover with hipper packaging and marketing to counter the increasing dominance of Australia and California in the low-end price point. Vines are also being literally ripped out of the ground, making way for more viable cash crops.

Winemakers in the region have also made a conscious decision to produce better-quality wines. Didier Baral in Faugères, Ollivier Jullien in the Languedoc, Marjorie Gallet in the Roussillon are but a few of hundreds of excellent winemakers making reasonably-priced, high-quality and distinctive wines. While many of these winemakers are taking advantage of the region's penchant for experimentation by planting international varietals and using modern vinification techniques, the winemakers that I appreciate most are those who work with indigeneous red varietals like Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre, and white varietals like Roussane, Macabeo and Grenache Blanc and Gris. Here is one such wine.

Minervois La Liviniere 2001, Clos de L’Escandil, Giles Chabbert ($27..importation Privée)
This winemaker and his wine encapsulate perfectly what is happening in today’s Languedoc. Taking over from his father who sold his grapes to the local co-op, Mr. Chabbert now makes his own wine with one foot firmly planted in tradition and the other ‘toeing’ the sand of modern viticulture. A blend of Syrah, Vieilles Vignes Grenache and Carignan, the Clos was rich, ripe and juicy like an over-ripened dark plum. At 14.5% alchohol, hints of black pepper, cloves, black licorice and cooked fig harkened memories of zinfandel. Well-structured with decent tannins, it was a dream with our bbq baby back ribs.

Interesting Languedoc red wines available at the SAQ
Ch. Lancyre Pic St-Loup Grande Cuvée coteaux-du-languedoc 2001 ($24)
Château Puech-Haut Saint- Drézéry coteaux-du-languedoc 2001 ($36)
Domaine Clavel Les Garrigues coteaux-du-languedoc 2004 ($18)
Domaine Borie de Maurel Esprit d'Automne minervois 2005 ($16)
Château Coupes Roses Granaxa minervois 2003 ($22)
Château de Combebelle Comte Cathare st-chinian 2001 ($21)
Donnadieu Cuvée Mathieu et Marie st-chinian 2004 ($16)

2006-05-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

Garden Rosé Tasting #4

Our first taste of 30C (86F) temperature of 2006 was as welcome and satisfying as a lazy Sunday morning coffee. While in typical northerner fashion I will soon bemoan the heat as oppressive, and rue every drop of sweat that rolls off my nose that is not a result of physical exertion, yesterday I welcomed the first real summer day with relief and open arms. Equally welcome was a chilled glass of pink as I took a stroll amongst the flowering lilacs, ‘rhodos,’ apple and pear trees.

Costières de Nîmes 2005, Domaine Saint-André (saq..$13.75)
Against a backdrop of apple blossoms, the Saint-André Rosé hails from the easternmost Languedoc appellation of Costières de Nîmes (due to its soil and climate, however, it is more Rhône than Languedoc).This blend of 45% Syrah and 55% Grenache is surprisingly delicate for a rosé de saignée. Its pretty and floral nose with hints of raspberry seemed a bit incongruent with its color, and even more surprising was its crisp acidity with slightly darker fruit and baie rose in the mouth. While it would work with a light fish, this is a classic dry rosé de terrasse, refreshing and clean.

2006 rosé ranking
1. Toscana Igt 2005, Rosato, Carpineto
2. Coteaux du Languedoc, Château de Lancyre 2005
3. Costières de Nîmes 2005, Domaine Saint-André
4. Saint Chinian 2005, Clos de L'Orb

2006-05-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

Lobster and Wine
With lobster season upon us, it’s time to break out the white wine and enjoy this most delectable of our ocean’s bounty. But what to drink? The enigma that is matching wine with food, which seems to mystify so many people, is once again on the table. But fear not, in honour of one of my favourite seasonal foods, here is the caveman’s guide to all things seabug. And remember, kids love (to play with) lobster!

The Principle of the Pairing
It might seem obvious but we are matching the wine to the food. Think of your wine as if it were a spice or accompaniment, as another element to augment the flavours and textures of your cooking. While other elements such as the time of day (lunch or dinner), outside temperature and the colour of your dinner mate's eyes can also affect your choice of wine, let’s start simple. So as we look at the lobster, the first question is how is it cooked, and then, what is it served with?

Can’t I drink red…. please?
Let’s get over this one right away. Nope. Tannin in red wine and the iodine in the lobster will react to make the ensemble taste metallic, it’s basic chemistry...sorry. On another level, the natural saltiness of the lobster (as with most seafood) will amplify the flavours of whites while turning tannic reds slightly bitter. So what about Beaujolais and other low-tannin reds? The answer is still no as the lobster’s delicate flavour will be overpowered by even the most subtle Gamay.

So how do you like your lobster?
Are you grilling, boiling or poaching the lobster in beurre blanc? Are you serving it with cream sauce? Is it part of a salad? Our rule of thumb is the richer the preparation, the bigger the wine. And in terms of wine style, the iodine in the lobster tends to match better with more ‘mineral’ and less fruit-orientated wines.

Chilled lobster in a salad
Because of the vinaigrette, you will need a wine with a higher acidity or a hint of sweetness. Remember that your wine should always have more acidity than what is on the plate or else it will taste flat. Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and a german style Riesling are spectacular choices with the nod going to the Sauvignon if it is served with asparagus or the Riesling in a more conventional salad.

Château des Matards 2004, Premières-côtes-de-blaye (saq..$15)
Deidesheimer Leinhöhle riesling kabinett Rheinpfalz 2002 (saq..$23)
Pouilly-fumé 2004, Pascal Jolivet (saq...$26)

Boiled, with and without the garlic butter
This is the classic. I tend to have the garlic butter on the table though I don’t dunk each juicy morsel. If you don’t go for the garlic butter, try a good quality Albarino, Viogner, Chablis or Pinot Blanc, wines which tend to be unoaked and have a natural richness without being too big. If you go garlic butter, try a Roussanne or white Grenache based wine (like a Côte du Rhone), Gruner Veltliner or Alsatian Pinot Gris. These grapes tend towards more vegetative notes which work well with garlic and that have enough body to stand up to the richness of the butter.

Without the garlic
Vinde pays d'oc 2005, Viognier, Domaine Cazal Viel (saq..$16)
Coteaux du Languedoc 2004, Château Saint-Martin de la Garrigue (saq...$18)
Albarino 2004, Pazo de Senorans (saq...$24)
Chardonnay 2004, Diamond Collection, Francis Coppola (saq...$28) * this chardonnay is mostly un-oaked
With garlic
Cote du Rhone 2005, Guigal (saq...$19)
Marsanne/viognier 2003, Enigma, Terre Rouge (saq...$30)
Grüner Veltliner Kellergard Smaragd 2003, FX Pichler (saq...$76)

Are you sure I can’t drink a red?
Good wine is good wine, and good food will always be good food. When the two are in harmony then the experience is that much better. Your choice.

Lobster in cream sauce
This is where texture comes into play and our choices become a touch more limited. This degree of opulence requires a substantial wine with white Burgundy being the quintessential match. Think Meursault, Monrachet or a more budget-oriented Pouilly-Fuissé as opposed to a California-style Chardonnay. The less fruit-oriented Burgundy’s greater acidity and less oak makes for a more delicate match.

Mâcon-igé 2004, Château London (saq...$22)
Pouilly-fuissé 2004, La Maréchaude vieilles vignes, Manciat-Poncet (saq..$27)
Chassagne-montrachet Château de la Maltroye (saq...$58)

Grilled lobster
If there is a place for oak and fruit, then it is here. The ‘charred’ and smokey flavors which result from grilling are ideal forums for the more ‘new world style’ whites which bring with them toast and smoke flavours as well as an abundance of ripe fruit. Australian, South American or Californian Chardonnays would be excellent choices.

Chardonnay 2004, Alamos Ridge Argentine (saq..$15)
Mercurey2002, Les , Château Génot-Boulanger (saq..$31)
Sicilia i.g.t. 2004, Chardonnay, Planeta (saq..$35)

2006-05-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Garden Rosé Tasting #3

The sacrifices I make for this blog know no end. With weeks of straight rain and sub-par temperatures, there have been few opportunities to drink pink. So as the thermometer slowly crawled up to my magic ambient tasting temperature of 18 Celcius, and under the first blue sky that we have seen in weeks, I could not but take advantage of this perfect tasting moment (even though it is only 10:30am).

Coteaux du Languedoc 2005, Pic Saint-Loup, Château de Lancyre (saq...$14.35)
Nestled amongst bottle high garlic, this classic Languedoc blend of Grenache and Syrah is more red than rose, and thus needs a bit of food to show all that it can do. Deep pink with orange overtones, the first sip refreshes the palette with summer berries and a decent acidity, but it’s slightly creamy finish of red peppercorns, ‘eau de vie de framboise’ and a touch of tannic astringency cry out for some paté, terrine, or other more 'substantial' canapé. Last year I used a couple glasses to poach some salmon and then drank the rest with the meal. So not the ideal pre-lunch beverage but the Lancyre would be a good start to evening meal with some interesting hors d’ouevres.

2006 rosé ranking
1. Toscana Igt 2005, Rosato, Carpineto
2. Château de Lancyre 2005
3. Saint Chinian 2005, Clos de L'Orb

3 inch high peas and the waiting trellis

2006-05-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Hooking Up With the Foodies
WBW-IMBB and ROSÉ

For one beautiful day (today), we have all gone Martha. This month’s combined effort of ‘Wineblog Wednesday’ and ‘Is My Blog Burning’ forces us to look at the complete package: the food and the wine. So welcome to wineland, dear foodies. In deference to all your great work, I could only seek inspiration for the culinary part of this exercise from one your sites. As I often lurk on a number of food blogs, I decided to jam on a recipe from one of my regular reads, Anne’s Chicken in Every Granny Cart.

As it has been cold, dreary and rainy for what seems like two months straight, I was in the mood for something spicy, something that tasted of sunshine. And for me, any vechicule for eating lots of fresh coriander makes me feel as though summer is around the corner. So here is my kid- and time-friendly take on Anne’s:

Pollo con Mole Verde & Frijoles con Puerco (detailed recipe here)

The Mole Verde
It’s May and I live in the country, so there was no way I was going to find fresh tomatillos. Couple this with the fact that I had an hour and a half to get this on the table, corners had to be cut. One of the remnants of my summer 2005 preserves was a half-litre bottle of salsa verde, so I decided that I would use this as the base for my mole. I sweated off the onion and garlic, added lime juice, my salsa (made from last summer's garden-grown tomatillos, coriander and scorching hot chiles), and let it reduce for 45 minutes till it was nice and thick… super fresh mole! Long live canning!

The Frijoles
This is killer. As the Mole was way too spicy for even my gastronomically adventurous children, I had to tone down the heat on this course. I followed Anne’s recipe except for using red wine instead of verjus , and replacing the jalapenos with a green bell pepper (as the chorizo already had some heat). I threw in a handful of fresh coriander at the end and topped it off with yoghurt instead of crème fraîche. I just finished the last of it with my morning eggs. Long live leftovers.

The Pollo
Again I followed Anne’s inspiration by pan-searing some chicken thighs, placing them on a dollop of mole and finishing them off in the oven. On the side, I made a basic white rice and a tomato-cucumber-coriander salad. As Anne so succinctly put it, holy frijole!

The Wine
Toscana Igt 2005, Rosato, Carpineto ($14…saq)
Corona exists for a reason. This type of mouth-blistering heat, while oh-so-satisfying, does little to accentuate the finer points of any wine. I just wanted cool and fresh and for me, that spells Rosé. As far as pinks go, Carpineto’s Rosato always makes my top three every summer. With grapes sourced from Greve in Chianti, this fuschia-tinted rosé is all fruit, with super ripe raspberry and cherry in the forefront. Great acidity and a surprising richness make this an excellent meal rosé…and it worked wonders with our little Mexican heatwave.

2006 ranking: #1 of 2

2006-05-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

Bruno Clair’s Burgundy

Few wines combine depth and elegance like Pinot Noir. And when done right, it can be the apogee of red wine drinking. Unfortunately, there is a fine line that separates the great Pinots from the simply good, and the good from the banal. It is indeed a precarious balancing act. The best Pinot strikes that perfect balance between acidity and tannin, between fruit, earth and spice. It is soft, delicate, yet powerful.

While more and more good pinot is being made around the world, much of the great is still to be found in Burgundy. Nowhere is the argument in favour of the existence of ‘terroir’ more evident than here; for as one travels the Côte de Nuits down through the Beaune, one encounters many seductive shades of Pinot, where subtlety and nuance is the barometer of difference.

As I sat down for lunch last week with Marsannay-based Bruno Clair at Club de Chasse et Pêche, I had my taste bud sensitivity on high (and my stomach ready and waiting). Bruno has an excellent website which details his vision, approach to winemaking and his full catalogue of wines, so I will not rehash that here. However, Bruno is a winemaker that produces some of Burgundy’s purest examples of Pinot, adopting an approach that involves back-breaking vineyard work and minimal intervention winemaking. Pierre’s invitation promised classic great Burgundy from one of the nicest winemakers I would ever meet… he was right on both counts. Here’s the rundown.

Morey-St. Denis Blanc 2002, En la Rue de Vergy, Bruno Clair (saq...$75)
A rich yet delicate chardonnay that maintained its freshness despite its obvious concentration. It reminded me of a Puligny-styled white Burgundy, lots of finesse with hints of citrus flowers combined with an almost sweet, almond-hazelnut nuttiness. Excellent.

Marsannay 2002, Longeroies, Bruno Clair (saq...$42)
Typical of this northern outpost of the Nuits, heavier tannins and darker fruits combined with a hint of minerality show a wine with more power than finesse. I would like to see this bottle in a couple of years.

Savigny-les-Beaunes 2000, 1er Cru, La Dominode, Bruno Clair (saq...$76)
Savigny-les-Beaunes 2002, 1er Cru, La Dominode, Bruno Clair
100-year-old vines and a relatively rich soil combine to give a wine with deep colour, earthy pinot notes, dark cherry flavours and a hint of sweet spice. Most striking was the lineage and the remarkable constistency between the two vintages. While the 2000 had added hints of raspberry and chocolate overtones, the 2002 was incredible with big, rich yet approachable tannins, super racey fruit and more licorice-type spice.

Gevrey Chambertin 2000, 1er Cru, Clos du Fonteny, Bruno Clair (saq...$97)
Bruno described it quite appropriately as the ‘Chambolle of Gevrey.’ A wonderfully soft and fragrant Pinot, and while it paled slightly when tasted next to the more robust Cazetiers and Dominode, its ethereal bouquet of strawberries and delicate mouth feel were the best of the bunch with my salmon tartare, and a close second to the 1990 Cazetiers with my dorade; never underestimate the value of finesse.

Gevrey Chambertin 2002, 1er Cru, Cazetiers, Bruno Clair
Gevrey Chambertin 2000, 1er Cru, Cazatiers, Bruno Clair (saq...$97)
Gevrey Chambertin 1990, 1er Cru, Cazatiers, Bruno Clair
I'll put these three together, as the lineage was exceptional. As this bottle gets older, it simply amplifies the more enticing elements in the younger vintages. This is a satin-textured Gevrey with floral notes and exceptionally ripe, red fruit flavours. The 2000 had an incomparable lushness and the 1990, with its lilacs and even softer, more delicate fruits, is testament to how well Burgundy can age. The best of the best.

2006-05-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

Garden Rosé Tasting #1

Aside from the pure, unadulterated, 100% joy and bliss that comes from lazing about on the grass on a warm, summer day (I’m still coming out of wintershock), the change of seasons in favour of warmth also means rosé season is upon us.

I make it a personal mission to taste as much pink as possible, unfortunately, my other summertime passion keeps me away from the keyboard. Ah, time, that most fleeting of riches! So, in an effort to pass the word on to all of you pink passionates, here is the first in a weekly tasting of the 2006 SAQ rosé selection against the backdrop of the evolution of an organic vegetable garden.

Editors note: In an effort to maintain a level playing field, all rosés will be drunk under similar conditions:
1. When the ambient temperature is above 18 Celsius (65F)
2. While sitting in the sun
3. Drunk from the same, weed-picking, garden-friendly glassware (in-flight cocktail style).

Garden Update (Tuesday May9)
First signs of life, radish sprouts (see photo above)
Tarragon made it through another winter (photo at left)

Saint Chinian 2005, Clos de L'Orb ($14...saq)

With all the hooplah surrounding the 2005 vintage, our first taste of what many winemakers are calling the 'perfect' year will be via the rosés. This cherry-come-candy-apple hued Saint-Chinian from the excellent Roquebrun co-op is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Grenache. The nose is packed with ripe cassis and raspberries, turning towards baies roses and other spicier notes. While I found it a bit too heavy as an aperitif, it was well-balanced, stayed fresh and worked well with the curry-tamari-honey marinated chicken brochettes.

2006 Ranking: #1 0f 1

2006-05-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

Caveman Austrian Wine Adventure (CAWA*)

I might come as a surprise to many of you, but there is more to Austria than DJ Hamster and leiderhosen. On a wine level, I have always been impressed with the few examples that I have been able to get my hands on. So as the Austrian Wine Marketing Board roared into the luxurious ‘Lion D’Or’ with over 30 wineries represented and hundreds of wines to taste, I was the Spongebill, mouth open and ready to learn.

As a white wine lover, I am naturally drawn to a country where two thirds of planted acreage is dedicated to white varietals. And representing 36% of all vines planted, the ‘König vom Hügel’ is by far Grüner Veltliner. Grüner is a remarkable grape that can be many things depending on where it is grown and its concentration. Inexpensive Grüner reminds me of muscadet; brisk, fresh, but with spice and herbal notes replacing more typical Muscadet minerality. At its more monumental, it is rich and powerful, with a spice and herb component that harkens memories of great Rhône Roussane.

I was most impressed with the Riesling. For those put off by the ‘petrol’ quality of Alsace Riesling, or the sweetness of German offerings, Austrian Riesling has an ‘aerian’ (not Aryan) quality that endows it with an irreproachable finesse and elegance, no matter what the eventual concentration. The wines are dry, very ripe and tended towards the stone fruits though some of the best examples showed ginger and other spice highlights.

By far the most impressive bottles came from Weingut Bründlmayer, whose wines combined finesse and complexity like few Rieslings I have ever tasted. Though a touch pricey, the Zöbinger Heiligenstein Riesling Alte Reben Kamptal 2002 ($64…saq 10369266) is an outstanding mix of minerality and exotic fruit and one of the best Reislings at the tasting.

Rounding out the whites were interesting interpretations of Pinot Blanc and Traminer, with the majority of the bottlings leaning towards freshness as opposed to richness. Unfortunately, the sweet wines were not adequately represented, though Weingut Nittnaus’ super exotic Welschriesling TBA was extraordinary, and one of the best sweets that I have tasted in a long time (loaded with confit of ginger, nutmeg and apricots).

While the whites impressed, the reds in general left me a bit cold. Varietals like Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and the Pinot Noiresque St. Laurent, while interesting, do not make very elegant wines. In general, I found them slightly chewy, too thick on the palette, which is often a sign of lacking acidity. There were a couple of bright spots however, in particular the Pannobile 2003 from Gernot & Heike Heinrich (80% Zweigelt mixed with 20% Blaufrankisch).

For the moment, the choice is pretty slim at the SAQ. However, if I had a wish list, it would include the following wineries (weinguts)…
Bründlmayer, Huber, Schloss Gobelsburg, , Heinrich, Loimer, Pichler, Kracher and Nittnaus.

* For the real thing, keep an eye on Basic Juice to keep abreast of Beau's promenade through Austrian wine country. Is he the missing 4th hamster? Will he wear leiderhosen? Does he like schnitzel? Stay tuned.

2006-05-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Spring Garden Update and a Rosé Testing Ground
Global Warming or Ma' Nature's Pity?

For my regular readers (300 or so of you per day...thanks!), I must warn you that I tend to post a little less during the summer months. We northern types get 4 months or so of warm weather, so the idea of wasting precious rays on hyperbole and pontification, even on something SO DAMNED IMPORTANT as wine, is well, just that.

But I am not just drunk and laying about on the beach. My aspirations of gentleman farmership and wannabee great chefiness are both tied to the success of my 3000 sq. foot organically enriched vegetable garden. A bit of sweat is required to keep the gnomes happy. So in an effort to keep the blog current as the temperature rises, I hereby declare the start of a brand new feature on the Caveman... Garden Rosé Tasting. Starting next week, and hopefully at least once a week throughout the summer, a pinky will be sampled while seeding, inspecting for evil bugs, watering and weeding. Let's call it Bill's Buco-holic summer adventure! And like always, all you locals are more than welcome to join me in the tasting (and in yanking a weed or two).

So to lay the groundwork for this new feature, here are the three plateaus as they are today, tilled and half-seeded. It must be noted that that this is by two weeks the earliest that I have been able to work the earth (zone 4B), even more shocking considering that this was the snowiest winter of the last 20 years. Is it global warming or has Mother Nature answered my prayers by liberating me from my dependance on the supermarket?

2006-04-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ode to Nilay *

01, Vougeot Premier Cru, Les Cras, Vougeraie

Like a child who got out of bed an hour too early, one senses that this bottle was still half asleep; not tired, just cranky. I know this bottle intimately; violet tinged, seductively fragrant like all great Vougeot, black strawberries mixed with dampened earth and stones. But the first glass disappointed, its beautiful qualities subverted by a brooding acidity. I swirled my glass a dozen or so times, trying to cajole away the glumness. It was my birthday and all should be perfect, and my impatience was aggravating the situation. So I walked away, reminding myself that even the best of characters sometimes require their own time to show themselves. They are what they are and not what you want them to be. That is what makes ‘uniqueness’ a desired quality even with its inherent imperfections. And ever so slowly, I got the hint of a smile, and Tuesday’s version of Les Cras opened up, with all the depth and elegance I have come to appreciate from this great Burgundy.

*Craig quoted Randall about ‘the points,’ about ‘somewhereness,’ and about literary descriptions, and nobody does that better than Nilay. Let’s hope that imitation is still a sincere form of flattery.

2006-04-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Art of the Assemblage
Blending in the Fields of Bergerac

If there exists a single practice that unites the often disparate perspectives on winemaking, it is the blend. While most wine drinkers associate blending with the mixing of different grape varietals, blending also includes the mixing of wines made from different vineyards, wines that have received different types of vinification, wines from different casks or barrels, and even wines from different vintages.

If there exists a number of different types of blends, the reasons for blending are far fewer. Vintage blending is a useful tool if the winemaker wants to maintain a somewhat consistent flavor and have as little variation as possible from year to year. Varietal blending can act as a safeguard against weaknesses in one of the chosen grapes caused by problems during the growing season. But the most obvious reason to blend is to add complexity. The most skillful winemakers can mix once disparate elements so intimately and harmoniously that the components lose their original definition. It is the art of the mix.

All the above mentioned techniques involve mixing one ‘finished’ or fermented wine with another. However, there are a few mix masters who have taken the concept to the vineyard and use a technique of co-plantation, actually pre-mixing the grapes in the fields. Future partners grow side by each, and are harvested and vinified together. My first contact with a winemaker who uses this technique was Jean Michel Deiss, whose Alsace blends are so extraordinary that his grand cru Schoenenbourg was the first to receive ‘grand cru’ designation, an honor formerly bestowed only on single varietal wines. His Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Sylvaner share the same parcel of land and after years of growing together, he claims that they have begun to ripen at the same time. Now that's synergy!

I admit that as much as I love the principle of this more ‘organic’ approach to blending, I was skeptical…. until I met Luc de Conti from Owner Château Tour des Gendres who made the same claim. Located in southwestern France’s Bergerac appellation, Conti has co-planted Muscadelle, Semillon and Sauvignon which over time have begun to ripen at the same to,e. Hmmmm. Now the wines are fabulous but I must admit to being a bit confused as to what this system can bring to the final product. Will the grapes ultimately have a different flavour if cross-polinated by other varietals? Conti espouses, and rightly so, the need for vintage variation but does this system just lend itself to a blend of ripe and super-ripe grapes, whereby each varietal's ripeness is dependant upon the climate variations of that vintage?

It must be noted that this technique is used only for his whites, as his Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot apparently have natural ripening times which are too far apart to benefit from co-plantation.

I have spent the morning trying to find a scientific reason for this phenomenon but to no avail, though I have found other winemakers who use the same principle. All I can fall back on is anecdotal evidence, like my grandma's belief that green tomatoes when placed in a bowl with ripe tomatoes ripen faster than if left separate. I would welcome any scientific evidence that is out there to explain this phenomenon.

So back to the point of this post which is the amazing discovery that is Château Tour des Gendres. The whites were crisp, rich and aromatic while the reds make many a Bordeaux pale in comparison. Here’s the rundown.

Bergerac Sec 2004, Cuvée des Conti, Château Tour des Gendres (saq....$15.70)
An enticing and delicate perfume of musky citrus flowers, followed by a rich and honeyed texture. The lolita of wines, this is so fresh and pretty one feels almost guilty about it enjoying this much. The balance between richness and acidity is perfect, especially for such a young Semillon. A field mix of 80% Semillon and 20% Muscadelle. Calling all spicy plates, you have met a wonderful under $20 match.

Bergerac Sec 2005, Cuvée des Conti, Château Tour des Gendres
Fresh from the barrel, the muscadelle was a bit overpowering and brought a bit too much sweetness to the nose. Luc said it would calm down.

Bergerac Sec 2001, Moulin des Dames, Château Tour des Gendres (saq....$33.75)
A blend of 40% Semillon with Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, this is a big white wine that could still benefit from a year or so to allow the wood to integrate even more. But it is close. The 2003 are on the market but like so many 03’s lack a certain acidity. Hold out and buy the 2004.

Côte de Bergerac 2002, Gloire de mon Père, Château Tour des Gendres (saq....$22.50)
A 50-50 blend of Cabernet and Merlot and a proof that great wine need not break the bank. For those who want the combination of finesse and power that good Bordeaux does so well, and at a fraction of the price, then this is your bottle. Concentrated and explosive from the first sip, layers of slightly jammy dark fruit are intertwined with hints of coffee grounds and nutty, sweet spice. And I thought I was starting to get bored with reds.

2006-04-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Crabfest ‘06

Not much rivals the pure, unadulterated joy that is the first week of real spring weather; when the sun actually warms, the snow starts to melt, the crocus flowers. Bliss me Ma Nature! But close on the heels, and yet another hopeful sign that summer is nigh is the start of snowcrab (Chionoecetes opilio) season. There are few seabugs whose meat can match the snow crab’s delicate sweetness and silky texture. When prepared (steamed) with water that has the right salinity, the sweetness is balanced by almost a ‘briny’ flavour reminiscent of walking the beach in Matane, with that cool, salt laden air breeze coming off the St. Laurent.

The key is to get them live as freshness counts (even 2 days later after being cooked, they started to get a touch rank). However, unlike lobster, snow crab needs to be ‘de-leggified’ while they are alive (if they are cooked whole, the meat is sullied by the release of a dark, inky substance). Last year, I found our technique a bit barbarian so welcomed Karl’s new precision killing system which involved a chef’s knife penetrating straight between the eyes.

In previous years I have drunk a single wine, concentrating on the white Pinot family which has been a proven success. So in the spirit of innovation, this one was left to chance, I guess one could call it a ‘pot drunk.’

Alsace 2004, Domaine Marcel Deiss ($24…importation)
This was so good we drank two. A classic assemblage of Rielsing, Pinot Blanc with a touch of Pinot Gris and Sylvaner are put together by the mix master Jean-Michel Deiss. Nobody does it better in Alsace. The ’04 is a little greener than the ’03 but both the finesse and freshness are there; one had the sense of biting into a juicy green grape. And like always, organically grown with the bare minimum of sulfite.

Sicilia Igt 2004, Anthilia, Donnafugata ($18…importation)
A mix of the indigenous Ansonica and Catarratto grapes, this is yet another great wine from Sicilian producer Donnafugata. It reminded me of an unoaked Rousanne, rich and spicey but with a hint of melon. Nice wine but would have been better with a smoked salmon.

Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Kim Crawford ($16…saq)
They make 70 000 cases of this stuff but it remains a great buy. Crisp acidity and thankfully not overly aromatic, what it may lack in distinctiveness it more than makes up for in easy drinkability. If only all the corporate wines were produced with the same skill and care. The super ripe fruitiness was a nice compliment for the crab’s natural sweetness.

Gewürztraminer 2004, Dopff & Irion ($18…saq)
We drank this with a cheese plate before the dinner. The cuvee ‘Sorcières’ has always been one of the better inexpensive Gewurztraminers on the SAQ shelves and this entry level follows in a similar vein; bright litchi, grapefruit and rosehip aromas with a slightly ‘honeyed’ finish. A very easy, user-friendly gewürztraminer and perfect for introducing this noble Alsace grape to the uninitiated.

2006-04-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Recipe for Great Winemaking
The Sycophant and the Donkey

My weekend reading included an interesting article in the NY Times entitled ‘The Chemistry of a 90+ Wine.’ Yes I know. I made a promise to a number of you that I would get back to the wine reviews and quirky dinners and I will, er, um, soon. But this is important.

The article’s subject is a Mr. McCloskey who has apparently conceived of a new way of measuring wine quality. He uses spectrometers and chromatographs to separate and measure particular chemical compounds in a vintner’s juice. The resulting ‘quality index,’ the ratio of phenols, terpenes and other secondary’ chemicals to one another, are then compared to a ‘benchmark’ wine, a mythical 100 point wine which comes from a similar analysis of previously high scoring wines (from the usual culprits).

The premise is simple. ‘The Score’ is everything, and by modeling one’s wine after those which have previously received 90 points, it follows that one should receive a similar benediction, and thus sales. In fact, McCloskey’s company Enologix promises it’s clients that it’s ‘metrics’ will assist winemakers in . . . boosting average national critics' scores.''

Uggh.

Now there is nothing wrong with using whatever system one wants to use to analyze wine, and in fact I am intrigued by any tool which aims to explain why we like what we do. Knowledge is good. The problem here is that McCloskey is purporting some sort of ‘holy grail’ of quality which is based on what a small group of individuals have deemed to be quality. Follow? If you so fervently believe that you know what the ultimate good is, you're moving into dangerous territory.

McCloskey himself has claimed, "If you ask what is wine quality?..."people say it's relative, it's a matter of taste. But the fact is, it's not." It would seem that McCloskey believes it is a matter of a few tastes, that being those of Parker, Laube, His and all those critics who tend towards the jammy, oak-infused New World style. Suffice to say that Enologics has quite a roster of clients.

Okay. Fuck that. So what?

I have written a number of times about the potential pitfalls that arise from winemakers who rely too heavily on additives and manipulations to make their wines as opposed to technique and terroir. I won’t rehash it here. McCloskey’s concept in of itself is interesting, its the possible applications that make me squirm ...ie. guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Already many wine buyers seem unable to make a purchase that does not have the benediction of one of the big critics. It is lamentable for any number of good reasons, but this type of ‘sycophantry’ is even worse because it relates to the winemaker’s integrity. I have my problems with the ‘ego-centric’ new world winemaker attitude, whereby nature seems to be tolerated just as long as it doesn’t get in the way of what he or she’s preconceived notion of what their wine ought to be. But I can understand it, and even if I believe that the use of all these interventions removes a wine from the subtle influences of it’s terroir, if they are used to create a unique wine which reflects the personality of the winemaker then I can at least respect it. It comes from them.

Using The Enologic system for the purpose of pleasing critics completely eliminates the winemaker’s personality from the process, and instead panders to a small group of tastes and the ‘metrics’ of a man who claims to have written the recipe book on how to make a bestseller. This type of winemaker is as soft as the Pillsbury doughboy, as real as Hasselhoff.

Wine should be the product of the interaction between the winemaker and nature, not the interaction between the two to make a wine the Parker-Laube tandem will like. This is soul-less pandering, insulting to us wine consumers and most importantly, it 'splooges' a couple more drops of oil on that slippery slope towards the uniformity of taste. We are being powned like some cheap whore. You the consumer are looked upon as a second class drinking citizen, you ass.

If there was ever a reason to trumpet the democratization of wine criticism then this is it.

2006-04-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

WineBlogWednesday
Basquing!

Imagine my excitement when I found out that this months installment of Wineblog Wednesday featured white wines, and in particular, wines made by none of the big three (Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Riesling). No shortage of that stuff lying around. Thanks to the folks at wine for newbies for going white.

So I went down to one of my favorite areas for white wine these days, France’s southwest. From just south of Bordeaux thru to the Spanish border, this is the domaine of grapes such as Grenache Blanc and Gris, Macabeao, Pacherenc, Courbu and my personal favorites, the Manseng duo.

The Basque homeland straddles the Pyrenees on both sides of the French and Spanish borders. It is a credit to their fierce nationality that they still speak their bizarre native language, and aside from a certain penchant for bombing things, they seem as a whole to have been able to walk that fine line of holding true to tradition, while embracing modernity.

This is perhaps best exemplified by their food and wine. As a region, they have the most Michelin stars per capita in the world. Led by El Bulli (where they receive 250 000 reservations for a mere 3000 dining spots), it is considered the new frontier of cooking, and a reference of modern cuisine. In terms of wine, the tannat based reds are too big for my taste, but boy do I love the whites. As the region is influenced by the cooling influence of the Atlantic, and as the grapes are grown at a certain altitude, the wines always seem to maintain the perfect acidity, independent of the richness that it’s grapes bring to the mix. So here is one my favorites, the Hegoxuri from the Domaine Arretxea.

Irouléguy 2002, Hegoxuri, Domaine Arretxea ($30…importation)

Organically grown with minimal sulfites (which explains a bit of a reductive cheesiness on opening the bottle), the Hegoxuri is a blend of 65% Gros Manseng with 25% Petit Manseng and 10% Petit Courbou. This one kind of stumped the table. It had a strange minerality reminiscent of Ostertag’s exceptional Franholz Muscat; that being an impression of vanilla infused, damp stones (like the Ostertag, one would easily be fooled and confuse this aroma with a wine that spent some time in oak). For a four year old white, it still had a remarkable acidity that acted as a wonderful counterpoint to it’s creaminess. I served it at 8 Celcius (45F) and as we worked our way down the bottle, it moved into Chardonnay territory with a buttery richness, but with always with that ever present citrus spine.

The last time I drank this bottle was the 2000 cuvée, and ate a steak tartare (which was phenomenal and according to Ryan , a natural accompaniment to raw meat tapas). While the ’02 still had enough acidity and freshness to work with our salmon roulades, if I drank this bottle next year, I will probably have to work with a heavier sauce, or an even richer fish.

2006-04-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Only in California
California Wine Tasting, Take 3

My dislike for much of New World wine is due in a large part to years of careful tasting and analysis, but admittedly there is also a measure of prejudice and ignorance involved. As I live in a place where California wines represent a mere fraction of total sales (though this last year, it gained market share), I simply don’t have access to the many unique and less ‘main-stream’ wines that are being produced. As is so often the case, much of these wines either never make it out of the country, or aren’t big enough to join these traveling tasting carnivals.

So what defines great California? Who produces those wines which work that curious mix of terroir and winemaking style, pushing the envelope of what grapes can achieve within the parameters of the State; this is what interests me. Who are the models? I was confronted as expected by a multitude of wines that I would characterize as over-ripe and lacking acidity but, in general, I found the oak much less obtrusive and a movement amongst some towards a touch more austerity. Here are a couple of exemplary wines that, for different reasons, reveal the depth and complexity of what Cali can do.

Zinfandel 2000, Jackass Hill Vineyard, Russian River Valley, Martinelli
Guiseppe Martinelli’s wife named the vineyard saying that only a jackass would attempt to work this particular area of the family's property. The vineyard is on an almost 60-degree slope and typically yields one and a half tons per acre (250 cases). Its southeastern exposure catches the early morning sun long before it reaches the vineyards on the valley floor and the afternoon’s sun is shaded by forested hills to the West. Helen Turly acts as winemaker and consultant.

At 17.6% alchohol, it is aromatically closer to banyuls than a dry red, packed with layers of extremely ripe black plums and cassis. However, the shock is in that first taste. Slightly austere, waves of sweet spices (nutmeg, clove, pepper) were interwoven with luxurious fruit. As with most great wines, it inspired and while it worked wonders with the contre-filet, I could see it with a pan-seared fois gras in a spicy red wine sauce. Seghesio does Zinfandel really well (especially with its Vieilles Vignes and Carignan blend), but this is the reference.

Old Telegram 2003, Bonny Doon
While the jackass takes a classic Cali grape to another level, I liked this wine for its choice of grape. The relative monotony of Cab and Merlot is broken here with a 100% Mourvèdre offering from Randall Graham, inspired and named after my favorite Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Vieux Telegraph.

A notoriously late-ripener, Mourvèdre (curiously called Mataro on the label) works well in warm climates, and when done well can produce wines of depth and elegance that can rival some of the best Cabernet and Syrah. And this one does just that.

Again, this a wonderfully restrained wine which upon sticking my nose in the glass reminded me of cooking bacon on a balcony next to the ocean. Less gamey than meaty, it had an amazing balance between the hints of fruit and more characteristic notes of mushroom and pepper. Now this is a steak wine.

Estate Cuvée 2003, Paso Robles, L’Aventure
For the second year in a row I was lucky enough to find myself sitting next to Stephan Asseo at lunch. Check out Jathan’s article on Stephan for a full review of his wines.

Stephan has the honour of being the first California winemaker I have met who eschews the use of acidification in his wines. He works on a 2 ton/acre harvest with his vines planted at 2100 pied-acre. He recognizes the challenges posed by the heat of California summers which is why he is so big on the terroir of Paso Robles (soil and climate) which he claims allows his grapes to ripen with enough natural acidity to not need tweaking. While his whole line of wines combined Euro elegance while maintaining typical California ‘juiciness,’ the Estate Cuvée is this theme's apogee. A mix of 66% Cab, 28% Syrah and 6% Petit Verdot, the Estate combined ripe, chocolatized dark fruits with layers of spice, all held together with soft and impressive tannins.

But as we sat outside the hotel, puffing on a cigar (my first and possibly last), I got an insiders perspective on the some of the problems facing smaller, independent producers — most notably distribution. It is difficult to compete when larger companies can offer retailers and restaurants discounts and promotions that, if he matched, would undercut his already precarious margins. He is counting on more and more wine drinkers tiring of the ‘just good enough’ wines, and seeking out those winemakers who put the emphasis on expressing the individuality that comes from working the terroir, not the laboratory. Here’s to Stephan.

2006-04-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Tweaked!
Wine, Additives and Other Over-Manipulated Things

Didn't Pammy do a great job at the Junos?

Once again the nerdier contigent of blogland has wrapped its collective eggo around the question of manipulations and additives. The latest affront to the purists is the use of wood chips, a subject which follows closely on the heels of similar debates over the use of colorants, enzymes, sugars, artificial tannins, etc... I can’t wait for the arm wrestle over irradiated wine. The list is long and debating each intervention separately has proven to be a non-starter, it seems one either embraces what innovation offers or tends to denounce it. While I tend to the latter, I must agree with its proponents that there is a certain amount of ‘reactionarianism’ from the anti-additives school. So here is hopefully a more sober and less emotional treatment of the question than my previous effort.

Why use additives in the first place?

Whether due to vineyard failure or choice of wine style, the majority of these manipulations are used to compensate for inadequacies in our pre-fermented juice; chapitalization for the under-ripe, acidification and tannin adjustments for the conversely over-ripe. Aromatic yeast strains and other taste and aroma enhancers are used to give character to otherwise characterless grapes. Colour adjustments are more of a marketing question (red wine should be really, really, really red, no?) and tossing a bag of wood shavings into a barrel provides the winemaker with oak flavouring at considerable savings compared to actually paying for an oak barrel.

The reality of chapitalization is that the majority of French winemakers do it (some with more reticence than others). Now, not to point fingers, but in weaker years in France there are winemakers who are capable of producing great, perfectly ripe wine. These winemakers tend to work smaller plots of land and seem to be principled to the point that they are willing to make less wine in weaker vintages in the hope of making up for lost income in better vintages.

Conversely, we can almost take it as a given that the ‘very ripe’ new world style more often than not necessitates the addition of tartaric acid. This is true to the point that I have yet to meet a new world winemaker who does not use acidification. In fact, the ‘new world style’ seems to be dependent upon this intervention, or else the ripeness would have to be sacrificed for a better-balanced natural acidity. There is an awareness amongst many I have talked with that the wine still has to make sense; i.e., that toe-curling acidity in a 14.5% sauvignon blanc is an over-made-up caricature of whatever the Platonic Sauvignon Form should be.

Both chapitalization and acidification seem, on the surface, to be rather innocuous interventions — simply there to help bridge an imperfect reality with a desired potential. And, of course, one of these potentialities is a better bottom line as less-than-ideal grapes are integrated with the good in the fermenting barrel. It is within this context that one must examine the benefits and risks associated with these more debatable manipulations.

So what’s the problem?

There is only a problem if we believe that wine is generally better when it is manipulated as little as possible. Is what differentiates a good wine from a mediocre one dependent upon the subtle touches of nature (terroir) nursed by the light hand of the winemaker. And conversely, are these subtle influences suppressed by the excessive use of additives and manipulations? Th emost obvious example is that of climate and wether the natural balance between fruit and acidity can be as effectively copied via either chapitalization or acidification. And, while wood chips definitely add oak flavouring to wine, can the other desirable effects of barrel-aging also be simulated, or put differently, is barrel-aging substantively better than wood flavouring?

With respect to this entry-level wine, it is not unreasonable to assume that as the technology advances, so will the quality of the wine. That should normally be considered a good thing. However, as we move out of the supermarket category of wine, does employing this technology offer winemakers a competitive advantage over winemakers who are doing it without manipulations. If these additions and manipulations are cost-effective and substandard grapes can be worked into reasonable wine, this will put price pressure on the winemakers that live and work with what they harvest. If one is optimistic about the value of science, one can only assume that technology will make it easier and cheaper to produce decent wine for less.

Are the days numbered for winemakers who want to make inexpensive wines without the benefit of additives?
And as the technology gets even more precise, wine can, and will, be made with a particular flavour and aroma and colour and texture profile, one that is pre-determined before a grape is even harvested (or is this already happening?).

The question is what do we want and expect from our wine?

Harlan Estate, Grange, DRC, Petrus and other classic wines are what they are because of low yields, vineyard location and technique. Their magnificence is due to that curious bit of teamwork between man and nature. And while they do cost a fortune, at what price point do we expect our wines to stop emulating these grand wines; both in terms of selectivity in the vineyard, and skill in the chais? It strikes me that using these bottom feeders as models is not really the way to go.

Or do we simply want the best possible drink, no matter how it is produced, and for the cheapest price?

2006-03-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

Eurovision
A Reality Check on The French Wine Crisis

What is the state of the current crisis in the French wine industry? A combination of declining domestic consumption in many European countries, and 5-10% annual slide in exports have helped create surpluses which run into the billions of litres. Couple this with reports of crazed Languedoc winemakers brandishing pitchforks and rioting in the streets, and that a number of wineries are on the brink of bankruptcy, and one can’t help but sense a hint of desperation on the other side of the Atlantic. But is this actually the case or another example of sensationalized journalism?

The recent Salon des Vins gave me an opportunity to talk with a number of European, mostly French, winemakers. I had expected to encounter a sullen and desperate crew, battered and bruised after years of difficult vintages, falling sales and internal strife. What I did find however was an interesting dialogue that is beginning to develop within the industry. And while the particular visions may at times be quite divergent, there was a sense of optimism on the surface, and hints of change if one read between the lines. The full interviews will be coming at you later this summer (wink!).

If there was one common vision in all those I talked to it was the desire to maintain the existing appellation system. While most mentioned the need for more informative labeling (grapes used and percentage of the blend), the focus tended to rely more on effective marketing than moving towards single varietal wines, or eliminating many of the restrictions that are inherent in the AOC system. They still see their AOC as a brand, under-developed, but a brand nonetheless that needs to be commercialized better in the new world (I would suggest hiring more North American ad agencies and yes, many of those I talked to think Jerry Lewis is very funny).

That being said, the one recurring theme from all was the idea of ripeness. Whether or not this means changing the traditional French notion of ripeness towards one which approaches a new world model, that was not universal. However, the Rolland wines of Clinet and Clemence in Pomerol were remarkably juicy from 2001 big Bordeaux and one was hard-pressed to find a winemaker that didn’t emphasize the ripeness qualifier to describe their wines. Aside from ripeness, I noticed a subtle tendency towards more wood, especially in Chablis. Perhaps this is that oh so French way of adapting without adapting, you gotta love ‘em ( sort of).

Most noticeable was the emphasis placed on North American markets. If Bordeaux seems to be back on track with respect to its exports, it is largely due to us. However, how one should approach the emerging American wine drinker was far from universal. Tomas Perrin from Beaucastel in Chateauneuf was convinced that the recent downturn in French exports is cyclical, and that French wine will soon regain its dominance and thus few changes need to be made (however a new sanitary regime in the chais to remove all traces of Brett is perhaps a concession to New World Fruit-sters).

Others such as Ramos Pintos in the Duoro (Adriana) and the Languedoc’s Paul Mas (Arrogant Frog) have created bottlings solely for these export markets. These wines were described as fruity, modern, easy to drink and less expensive than their regular bottlings, however, neither was willing to talk much about how these wines were made. While I didn't get to see or taste the Ramos bottle, Mas' Frog was a beautiful satirical take on this animal label laden 'adventure' wine category).

(The Arrogant Frog was his response to the ‘Freedom Fryers’ call for a ban on French Wine. First put together as a bit of a joke, it has become the cornerstone of his exports to the New World markets).

So the word was ‘make allowances but don’t stray too far from tradition.’ There is the feeling that at least a portion of this emerging North American market will tire of the New World ‘verrry ripe’ style of wine. Whether or not this is the right approach, time will tell, but I did taste a number of really good Aussie and Californian un-oaked Chardonnays and many a cabernet and zinfandel much more restrained and far less oaked than I am accustomed to. Is it because they ran out of barrels or is the market already moving in that (I would say right) direction?

2006-03-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

The Post-Salon Hangover

Well at least the shakes are starting to go away. Three days and nights of living wine have taken their toll but I am at least a bit wiser than I was this time last week. This year’s salon was an incredible success as I met a great (and incredibly polite) new friend, dozens of passionate winemakers, and a plethora of interesting and unique wines from the world over. And all it required was for you to offer up your glass, open your mind and mouth, and imagine the possibilities.

As I still have a bit of that ‘deer in the headlights’ feeling, here is a list of some of my most immediate impressions, interesting revelations and the only photo that I managed to take.

As exhibited by Jura winemaker Stephan Tissot (photo at right), the spirit of innovation and one’s fidelity to tradition need not be mutually exclusive. Coming soon, a red vin de paille made with Poulsard (inspired by many a great Italian reccioto). For more detail on Steph, check out Beau's take.

My favorite Chardonnay (at any price) was made by a Canadian Winery…Chardonnay 2003, Vintner’s Private Reserve, Peninsula Ridge ($50…importation). Go Canada!

Zinfandel can also be made with elegance and restraint …Zinfandel 2004, Joel Gott

According to Tomas Perrin, Chateauneuf’s famous Beaucastel is now 100% Brett free and due to their technique of ‘flash heating’ their grapes prior to fermentation, have almost eliminated the need to sulfur their wines.

Ferreira’s dry Douro reds have completely redefined the way that I look at Portuguese red wines. Barca-Velha 1995 ($102..saq) is comparable to many of the best reds that I have ever tasted and the Colheita 1996 ($39..importation) had a combination of spice and fruit that offered up the elegance of aged Bordeaux with the feistiness of many a great Rhone.

An expensive 2001 Michel Rolland Bordeaux does drink easier than a non-Rolland Bordeaux from the same vintage (Clinet and Clemence versus Cheval Blanc).

I have never met so many woman winemakers. From Yalumba in Australia to Taupenot-Merme in Burgundy, it seems that the gender gap is finally narrowing, and about time.

When nothing else will go down, drink Champagne.

We are all really lucky to work in an industry filled with such passionate and entertaining individuals.

2006-03-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Salon des Vins de Montréal
2006 Version

This week is a special week for local winos as the salon des vins opens on Thursday March 23.

The salon offers the wine afficionado not only an opportunity to taste bottlings from the world over but more importantly a chance to meet the face behind the bottle. This is the rare opportunity.

So take care of your liver for the week, and be Zorba the dégustateur for a day. Get down to the salon... it really is a rare chance to gain a little more insight into the wonderful world of wine.

2006-03-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

Matching Food and Wine

To my knowledge, we are the only animal that drinks while eating; once again, lucky humanoids! I am not sure when this transition happened, but one amongst my ancestral namesakes decided that perhaps a goblet of water diluted ‘bronto blood’ might be a refreshing accompaniment with his giant turtle brochette. Quelle idée.

Now, fast forward to pre-jesus times and our first wines. Even then I am sure that there were all types of drinkers. This list includes the casual drinker who isn’t too picky about what’s in his or her glass, to those who seeked out the best and most interesting cuvees, to the ‘Caligulites’ who simply wanted to get blasted prior to the evenings orgy. Well, times haven’t changed all that much.

I started as a type 1 drinker, but have evolved into a real type 2 (probably with deep-seeded fantasies of being a type 3). But more importantly, I have come to look upon wine as an accessory to my meal. Good wine and food will always be that, but the experience is doubly fun when the two work together in harmony. This is the area of wine appreciation that freaks most people out and interestingly enough, what drives most new readers to this site (and the occasional 5:00 emergency phone call). But relax, there is a logic here. I have baptized next week as food and wine week here in caveman land, and to begin it in grand Friday style….

The RossoRosso Chicken with a Sweet Spice Grape Salsa (the acidity tune-up)

So with a ‘grapey’ Fruili merlot opened and drinking well, I had to figure out something to do with the chicken breasts. I had the idea of a warm red grape salsa, but needed a bit of help with the spicing. So a quick call to l'eau and chef Phil helped refine the concept.

The key was the sauce as chicken breasts, well, can be the most innocuous of meats. Our Merlot had a very bright fruit profile, bordering on slightly candied dark plums, with a hint of sweet spice on the finish. I wanted the sauce to add some depth to the fruit, but mostly I wanted flavor and depth from the spices. The result was exceptional and took a wine that at first I found a bit thin, with just a bit too much acidity for it’s body (another case of the weak 2002 vintage), and turned it into a wonderful compliment.

The key was that the natural acidity of the grapes were a touch more than what I had in the wine. This had the effect of ‘flattening’ out the wine, in effect, negating it's acidity. Try drinking some acidy juice like apple juice and then drink it after you bite into a lemon, you'll see what I mean. Next post, when you want more acidity in your glass than on your plate.

Sauce
Grapes (cut in half)
Ground roasted fennel, coriander and cardamom seeds
Spring onions
Salt and pepper

I warmed the grapes with a bit of grapeseed oil until they became soft. Deglazed with a bit of the merlot and some chicken stock, Added a tablespoon of my spice mix, the spring onions and let it reduce (making sure the grapes stayed intact). Finish with salt and pepper.

Serve with broiled chicken breasts, cloved rice and roasted asparagus.

Colli Orientali del Friuli 2002, Rossorosso, Banear ($20…saq)

2006-03-15T06:30:00.001-08:00

Stop Drinking Cheap Corporate Wine!

Tom pointed to an ‘interesting’ article written by Jennifer Rosen defending ‘corporate’ wine. Defending it against whom I am not sure but the crux of her argument posits that this inexpensive ‘corporate’ wine, which is as familiar and as regular in quality as toothpaste, brings more drinkers into the marketplace. In the same breath, she seems to characterize those drinkers who expect more from their wines as neophytes and epiphany seekers, while the ‘clueless masses’ seem to want some sort of ‘bland’ drink that is as ‘reliable and cheap’ as Coke (quality notwithstanding). To paraphrase a paraphrasing blog buddy, her logic seems to suggest that to make wine accessible we must have more shit wine available. Oh those poor, stupid, taste-deficient masses.

Well, wine is not coke. Unfortunately, there seems to be some underlying sentiment amongst certain in the industry to treat it as such; just another spoke in the wheel of the beverage industry. Perhaps I am being nostalgic and sentimental, but I still want my wine to be made by someone who grew and pressed his own grapes, and whose wine ultimately carries his signature and some sense of place. It might be quaint but there is more often than not a measure of authenticity about the final product that differentiates it from the yellow tails, little penguins, and other mass-produced, ‘brand’-oriented wines that fill supermarket shelves. Rosen makes the point that many of these more ‘artisanal wines’ are ‘perfectly dreadful,’ but on the whole I would disagree and find most of these wines more interesting, and at least not disgusting.

I have tried these price-point wines on a number of occasions. I am usually unimpressed, sometimes horrified and rarely surprised. My most recent foray into what Ms. Rosen refers to as ‘corporate wines’ was a tasting of Southcorp (Foster’s) ‘Little Penguin.’ The Chardonnay reminded me more of coconut tanning lotion than white wine, and the Shiraz was closer to Robitussin (without that excellent muted buzz). But this is a question of personal taste. I neither buy nor drink these penguin wines, as I won’t most of the cheap wines presently on the market. This is not because they are made by some massive, unfeeling corporate monolith. It is simply because they taste bad.

But, as children who were raised to believe that garlic-flavored popsicles are good, Rosen claims her ‘blandies’ expect nothing more than the ‘Tzatziki pop’ of wine and are thus happy and comfortable in their ignorance.

This is bullshit. It is rare that I have not been able to take a person who has drunk only cheap wine and showed them that, for a few dollars more, there is a better option. And the majority of the time, they can taste the difference. Ultimately it is a question of priorities. It isn't that different from spending that extra 20% on organic produce, for it too is often better than the cheaper industrial produce which fills the aisles of your local supermarket. It just so happens that these super-cheap wines, which are made affordable because of the economy of scale, are often below the threshold of what smaller wineries can afford to produce. I will not even get into how they are made. But for a few dollars more (at least here in Quebec), there exist a plethora of interesting wines from the world over, many made by co-operatives and good, independent winemakers. By supporting these smaller producers, we are supporting diversity, independence, and frankly they need the cash more than the big corps.

The reality of the modern wine industry is that there are fewer and fewer independent winemakers. Cheval Blanc, Etude, Ornellaia, Yquem, Penfolds, Coldstream and a vast majority of the better wine producers worldwide are now part of corporate portfolios. Like in any industry, there are good corps and bad ones. Those which recognize and continue to support the ‘artistry’ of winemaking and have not become complacent with quality deserve our continued support. Ms. Rosen’s characterization of corporate wine as cheap wine is an insult to many of the better corporations which continue to produce great wines. Her article should have been entitled ‘in defense of cheap, mass-produced wine,’ but even then, I don’t agree.

The real danger of the big corps with large alchohol and wine portfolios lies more in the distribution end of the industry. It is here where smaller producers and distributors face increasingly difficult challenges and it is here that they need our support. So get off the kangaroo, seek out the independents and ultimately tell your friends to spend a bit more for their bottles, you will be doing both the industry, and your friends, a lot of good.

2006-03-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

The Importance of Blog

A recent post by Tom at Fermentations compared his disillusionment with baseball as a result of the Barry Bonds steroid scandal with that of jaded wine lovers, who having been routinely disappointed by the plethora of banal ‘industrial’ wines out there, have become ‘authenticity’ snobs. This begets an exposé about how we define authenticity, the notion of ‘naturalness’ and ultimately the relationship between these principles and how a wine can most genuinely represents a time, a place, and the soul of the person who makes it. This post has been in the works for a couple of weeks now and is turning my brain to jello, but it is coming.

So I decided to look at the situation from another perspective. I am in a privileged position in that I talk regularly to winemakers, importers and agents, and thus have access to both information and wines that the majority of the public do not. In a weird way, this knowledge is at the root of both my snobbism and somewhat ‘cynical’ perspective of the present day wine world.

I see the ‘yellow tails’ and ‘little penguins’ eating up market share like boozy pacmen. I see wines being ‘constructed’ to please the tastes of a small clique at the expense of the expression of a time, place and soul. I see a consolidation of distribution and retail forcing many of the wines that I love to the back of the shelves or they are simply not on the shelf at all. I see an increased interest from my demographic in wine, but all too often their sources of information and education are poorly informed or completely out to lunch retailers. And most importantly, I see a mainstream wine media that does little to trumpet authenticity and diversity.

So I spent a day reading through a number of wine blogs yesterday and was awed by the breadth of information and passion that was out there. For those of you who feel sometimes that all the time and effort that you put into your writing is for not, remember that the revolution will take time. Many of our voices are beginning to be heard, and as more and more ‘regular’ folk seek out alternative sources of information, the foundation of archived information that we are building will be read.

What we are doing is important. Have a great weekend and drink well.

2006-03-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

WBW – Rhone Varietals
And The Search for the Perfect Pasta

I must admit to being completely surprised last night when I realized that today was the due date for the latest installment of Lenn’s Wineblog Wednesday. Being completely unprepared, and with super chef Nancy coming over for a fresh pasta lesson, I rummaged through the cellar looking for a bottle of Rhone. Aside from some pretty racy 1999 Vieux Telegraph which I was sure would have been way too powerful with our unplanned meal (the equivalent of shooting my cat with an elephant gun), the cellar was Rhone-less.

But I did come across two Australian bottles which were Rhône varietals, both from the house of D’Arenberg so I hope that it counts. So here are the reviews against the backdrop of a pretty successful pasta meal. Thanks for doing the hostin’ Jathan.

The Kneading Wine
Rousannee 2004, The Money Spider, McLaren Vale, D’Arenberg ($23…ip...buy it)
This was my first taste of Rousanne outside of the Rhône and was quite surprised. It is named after an infestation of the Money Spider (Erigoninae for you Arachnologists out there) which ruined their first supposed vintage in 2000. Local folklore claims that kindness to these bugs brings both happiness and good fortune so the good folks at D’Arenberg decided to let the spiders have their run at the Rousanne and waited an extra year before making their first vintage. 3 years later I don’t know whether or not they are rolling in cash but the wine is quite good. Typical of the cépage, it had wonderful heady aromas of honeysuckle, chamomile with almost caramel overtures. It drank much richer than I had expected, lacking the acidity one normally associates with Roussane and had a hint of sweetness on the finish. All in all, pretty good.

The Pasta Wine
Morellino-di-Scansano 1999, Doc, Riserva, Moris Farms ($41…saq)
I had planned to follow with the D’Aremberg red but it didn’t have the earthiness needed for the mushroom filling of our Agnolotti. So I brought out the Italian to accompany our dumbo sized orecchiette with red pepper and rapini and the mushroom stuffed agnolotti. This lesser-known Tuscan winemaking region denotes itself with its use of Syrah alongside Sangiovese and Cabernet. With 90% Sangiovese, it reminded me more of a ripe Vino Nobile than Chianti, with ripe cherries and plums dominating the more typical leathery, tobacco notes and exceptional length. A neat little twist were the rosemary, red peppercorn and mushroom notes on the finish.

Fireplace Wine
Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre 2004, Stump Jump, South Australia, D’Arenberg ($17…ip..buy it)
I was surprised at its unoakiness. While a little too ripe for my tastes, and lacking the earthy, brett-infused flavours that I oh so love from my fave Rhônes, it drank well on its own. Layers of blackberry, cassis and other dark fruits were intertwined with a hint of pepper and cocoa on the finish. Super pleasant.

2006-03-07T05:01:00.000-08:00

The Pain and Pleasure of Drinking Jura

There are certain wines which require a certain reflection before casting judgement. Many of these wines have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, and have remained true to their roots, oblivious to the whims and scruples of changing tastes. I am speaking of the resin-infused Retsinas, the aromatically-challenged Bandols, the oxidized Grenache Blanc and Terret Blanc whites of the southwest, the Coulée de Serrant of Savennières and perhaps at the head of the pack, the Savignan based wines of the Jura. At first, these wines are not easy to drink, often needing an appropriate food accompaniment and an open mind. However, despite its Christmas tree sap overtones, to this day I have yet to find a wine that so well compliments that scrumptious Grecian mix of garlic, yoghurt and oregano as a good Retsina.

So in deference to those who have remained unique in the face of the homogenization that is much of the world of modern wine, here are a couple of wines to discover, understand and appreciate.

Arbois 2000, Béthanie, Fruitière Vinicole d’Arbois (saq..$23)
It is hard to think of the Jura without a mention of Vin Jaune, or ‘yellow wine.’ Made in its entirety with the local Savignan grape (a distant relative of the Traminer family), it is aged in old 60 gallon open casks in similar fashion to that of fino sherries, allowing a film forming yeast to develop on the surface. And there it rests for 6 years and 3 months until bottling. The result is a wine with a phenomenal richness, nuttiness and spiciness that accompanies a variety of strong cheeses and the classic vin jaune chicken.

A good way to enter the world of the Savignan is with this Arbois. Composed of 60% Savignan (aged for 3 years under the film) and 40% Chardonnay, it has the distinctive nuttiness of the vin jaune but with a touch of browning apples, lemon and vanilla. Serve it at 15 degrees Celsius (around 60F) so as to bring out as much of the richness, spice and nuts that it has to offer. Any cooler, and the oxidized flavors are too strong and the wines becomes way too acidic. It will work with wonders with terrines, chicken and in particular with a strong, ripe cheese like Raclette. We serve it at L’eau with a fondue of Victor and Berthold Reserve, laced with cumin and nut bread as the dipper, a phenomenal mix and one which very few wines could handle. My first bottle took me a week to drink but I am now a fanatic, so take your time, open your mind and mouth, and discover an extraordinary style of winemaking.

Chardonnay 2000, Les Bruyeres, Tissot ($28…saq)
Aged in barrels that once held vin jaune, this 100% Chardonnay is a touch more user friendly than a classic Arbois but New World butter fiend beware, this wine has torque! At 6 years of age, the majority of its fruit has dissipated into a rich, buttery nuttiness. Neither bitter nor smokey, it reminded me of hazelnut with floral overtones. Incredible with Guinea Hen or other stronger bird.

Macvin de Jura , Tissot
I don’t know if it qualifies as "wine" but it is made of grapes. The juice and must of Savignan grapes are reduced by half by boiling, and the resulting liquid is then fortified with brandy. Once this magic elixir reaches 16% alcohol by volume it is placed in oak casks to age for six years. There is no fermentation process. The result is an incredibly rich and unctuous fortified wine with a heavy amber color and aromas and flavors of nuts, citrus zest, prunes and other dried fruits.

2006-03-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

4for4
+1 To Knock You Off Your Feet

Aside from the pure fun of getting blasted, last night’s wines followed a wonderful progression.

Before dinner
(music by Victoria Williams-Loose and John Hammond's Ode to Waits...Wicked Grin)

Riesling Spätlese 2001, Bernkasteler Badstube, MSR, Thanisch ($30…saq)
Hailing from the central portion of the Mosel region, I was shocked at how subtle the Thanisch was compared to Prum’s spatlese. It was as if the delicate pink grapefruit and apricot flavours had yet to be fully ingested by the typical Mosel minerality. But the balance between the sugar and acidity was perfect.

Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne 2002, Cuvée Bois, Dom. Du Tariquet
From the heart of France's Armagnac region, this mix of Gros Manseng, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Semillon was the surprise of the evening. Typical of the region's whites, there were peach, apricot and other exotic aromas supported by a nice balanced acidity. Atypical were the six months of new wood which added vanilla overtones which helped create a nice contrast with the minerality of the Riesling.

Lasagna Time
(music by Lee Morgan's Search for a New Land and Grant Green's Latin Bit)

Toscana Igt 2000, Le Volte, Ornellaia (2003...$29...saq)
Classic Toscan Igt mix of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot aged to perfection like a 45 day old carcass. Over the last 3 years, it has lost just enough acidity to the benefit of a touch chewier texture which works so well with the leathery flavors of the Sangiovese. An elegant plumminess reminiscent of Venetia Merlot added a little seductiveness.

Connawarra 2001, Cabernet-Merlot, Petaluma
A very classy unfiltered Aussie Bordeaux assemblage aged for 20 months in French oak. Plenty of cassis and cocoa were supported by a hint of peppermint which kept it fresh. As this was the bridge wine between the main and the dessert, it was drunk on its own without any food.

Le Pudding Chômeur ..Martin Picard’s recipe in March Gourmet
(music Ben Kweller's On my Way and Jeff Buckley's Grace)

Spirale 1999, André and Mireille Tissot (2001...$60...saq)
Wow, if this is not one of the world’s great sweets than I don’t know what is. The Poulsard (red) and Savignan (white) grapes are picked at optimal maturity, dried on straw mats for 5 months, and then fermented with indigenous yeasts for over a year. The yeasts puttered out at 9% leaving a phenomenal 365 grams of residual sugar. The result is a dense and unctuous wine with an aromatic complexity that blew us away. A mix of straw, wild rose, apple, cherry and strawberry with a touch of honeyed maple gave way to apricot and spice. The mix with the pudding was sublime.

2006-03-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

An Aged Greco With That?

I know that we live in a cash and carry world. We have come to expect all that we want and when we want it. In an attempt to satiate our communal yearning for immediate gratification, the wine industry has shifted to more ‘from the barrel approach,’ using over-ripe grapes and other vinification techniques to speed up maturation. Fine. Maybe they will think of something to speed up the ‘diaper’ time of babies (perhaps hypnosis).

But to the patient goes the prize. I have often trumpeted the fun and payoff of cellaring a few bottles. As they age, youthful vigour is often replaced with aromatic depth and a mellowed complexity. It is the best way to get to know a wine. I have been sitting on this bottle for a couple of years now, waiting for the right moment when upon picking it up from beneath a clutter of half dusty bottles, it felt like its time.

Greco di Tufo 2001, Mastroberardino ($24…saq..2003 now available)
One of the more ancient grapes of the Avellino region of Campania, the Greco was originally planted by the Greeks on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius. Greco is by nature a grape which produces a relatively full bodied white, slightly floral with hints of grilled almonds. The last time I drank this bottle (2003), I had found the acidity took away from the finish. But two years later the story is much different.

What was a light straw color was replaced by a brilliant sunshine, tinged with gold. Slightly oxidative notes had replaced some of the acidity which worked much nicer with the long, slightly bitter almond and apricot stone finish. Its richness was on the level of a good Macon, but much more complex aromatically and with a good deal more happening in the mouth. It would be perfect with any grilled fish or perhaps a seafood fettucine dosed with some stronger Italian cheese.

2006-02-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

Touch me Cinderella

Like father, like son, always there for a good story.

Touraine 2004, Cendrillon, Domaine de la Garrelière ($24...saq)

Like its namesake, this ‘cendrillon’ is as easy to drink as the fairy tale is to read. A unique mix of 85% Sauvignon with equal parts Chardonnay and Chenin, of which a part touches wood, this is a Bio-dynamically grown wine that is both pure and uncontrived. Floral notes of sweet lime and a hint of ripe apple and white pepper fill the glass, giving way to a magnificent mix of creamy citron zest and a touch of more typical Loire grass. It has a warm summer evening approachability to it, with just the right mix of acidity and mellowed richness.

It went down all too imperceptibly with a classic caveman family dinner item; broiled roulades of Atlantic salmon, served atop cucumber spaghettini, and a slightly curried tamari, lime ginger dipping sauce. Roasted asparagus and red peppers were on the side, seasoned with a touch of olive oil, lime and black pepper. And yes nancy, lots of rice too.

2006-02-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Bio-D for You and Me
(But maybe not for St-Vini)

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, and a meaningful unity between the two.’

It is difficult to speak of biodynamics without waxing philosophic. While it parallels organic farming in it's use of organic materials for enriching the microbiology of the soil, it embraces a much more holistic vision that sees any farm as a single organism whose success or failure is dependant upon the health of the greater organism in it’s entirety. Unlike both chemical and organic agriculture, it is not solely based on the ‘soluable,’ the simple reduction of a plants needs to elemental additions of nutrients, but ties the plants health into a more unified ecological vision. It is concerned with the subtle manipulation of life forces (energies) and aims to work alongside these rhythms of nature.

In this metaphysical sense it shares much with Chinese medicinal practices, both homeopathy and acupuncture, which recognize these subtle energies (chi) within each of us. On a practical level it espouses many of the principles of perma-culture, reflecting the design and interactivity of self reliant and self contained communities.

It obviously an easy target to lampoon. It’s use of homeopathic doses of compost energizers made from plants fermented in animal bladders and bones is but one of the practices that test the left side of our brain. But acupuncture and other alternative medicines are gaining acceptance by the mainstream, even though there is little scientific evidence that it actually works, and this to the disdain of much of the medical and pharmaceutical community. On the other hand, the damage that pillars of modern agriculture such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides have done to the environment are well documented. The lesson here is that as a race we still have much to learn about the subtle interactions the exist in the natural world. Perhaps this is at the root of an emerging anti-science movement, embracinga new more holistic perspective. Perhaps it is just filling a void.

But while the jury is still out on wether or not it actually works, the list of winemakers espousing this approach is both impressive and growing (Bonny Doon in California, Huet in Vouvray, Romanée Conti in Burgundy and a 'who's who' list of the best winemakers in Alsace to name but a few). For the list to keep growing, there must be something to it aside from marketing potential.

Yesterday I sat down the André Ostertag, an Alsatian winemaker who has been practicing biodynamics for close to 15 years and I asked him what were the ‘observable’ benefits he could attribute to his practice of biodynamics. While he has a penchant for the poetic, he spoke of grapes achieving an earlier (8-10 days) maturity compared to his non bio-d neighbours. He spoke of the verticality that other bio-d winemakers like Pinguet from Huet have mentioned to me. This translated to thinner trunks, and leaves which mysteriously grew in a way which they would not shade one another. But in then end, he spoke of equilibrium and balance and his plants capacity to synthesize the micro elements necessary to healthy, productive growth. He was convinced.

I drink a lot of wine and many of the above bio-d producers are behind the wines that I love the most. Is it because of the mechanics of bio-d or simply because they are simply more attentive to their vines? For me what separates the great wine from the good is it’s ability to transport me, to make me feel awe. The need to spiritualize human life is part of what makes it interesting; a little vacation from the rational. So within this framework, I am willing to at least stay open to the idea that a vine could benefit from these subtle interventions, and that it will be it’s best when it’s health is considered in a cosmological perspective. As the continued refinement of this approach is based upon careful observation of the environment and communication between practicioners, this too might lead us to a more profound understanding of our environment (sometimes it is fun to go outside the box). And perhaps this is what Einstein was alluding to when he talked of the “unity between the natural and the spiritual.‘

2006-02-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

Reviewing the Reviewer
My Problem with New World Pinot

Pinot Noir is a cépage which has a great affection for the coolest of micro climates. But of even greater importance, it loves a slow, righteous ride towards maturity. It is the key to maintaining its fragile acidity and ethereal aromas.

I like Pinot Noir and have a penchant for Burgundy. For me, a great Pinot shows a perfect balance between acidity and texture, fruit, earth and spice. It is a precarious balancing act, but when done right it can be the apogee of red wine drinking. It is soft, delicate, yet powerful. I imagine it is a question of a perfect maturity, as over-ripe Pinot for me harkens memories of Welch's more than wine.

The Pinot grape is now vinified throughout the world. And although great care has been taken to find the appropriate cooler climate zones, I find most of these ‘New World’ Pinots weighted too far towards the fruit end of the teeter-totter, and thus lose that burgundian boom, that so soft explosion of amplitude; too much power and concentration at the expense of elegance.

I recently drank a Wedgetail 2003, Single Estate, Yarra Valley Pinot Noir ($37…importation) and upon visiting his site couldn’t help but notice the care Guy Lamothe takes in putting together his wines. His wines are finely crafted, relying on hand-picked fruit (which I assume is to prevent over-ripeness), indigenous yeasts, french oak….all things which I look for in a wine and respect in a winemaker. The wine itself was loaded with black cherries, mocha and currents. It was ripe and round and had a certain length, however I found the fruit a bit stifling, impeding any sensation of true depth. This is a critique I could throw at any number of New World Pinots that I have tasted.

So, why didn’t I like it more? Why have I struggled all day over what was supposed to be a simple review of a dinner amongst friends. I guess I read the review of the wine and felt like I was not doing justice to Mr. Lamothe's effort. As one drinks more and more wines, one can sense when care and effort have been made in putting them together, as is the case with the Wedgetail and many of the Pinots that I don't drink. They are simply not for me, but I could see how people could love these wines.

As we are all reviewers and our opinions carry a certain weight with those who follow our blogs, we should be open to the prejudices that are behind our opinions. These are not always evident, but they can be fair if we are honest with our readership. Sometimes it just requires a little introspection, and perhaps a little delay before pressing the ‘publish’ button.

Photo par karl boulanger.. merci encore pour le cours

2006-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Wine and Music
Waxing Poetic for a Change of Pace

Savigny-Les-Beaunes 1er Cru 1997, Les Serpentières, Maurice Ecard et fils ($57...importation)

Taking a gulp of Basic Juice has brought back a bit of perspective. Great wines achieve greatness for reasons which go beyond simply what is in the bottle. It is all about the pairing; with the food, with her skin, her eyes, with the mood or with the tunes. There is something inexplicably beautiful about this transcendance that reminds us that life is more than the routines we acquire, more than simply the explicable mechanics of it all.

Tonight it is cold, real cold. And with the wood stove cranked, and the house quiet, I am lucky enough to have chosen the right bottle for the circumstance. This is Burgundy, a wine that revels in it’s complexity, a wine that as the hours pass discards previous impressions, only to reveal new variations of the theme, gaining complexity with that ever elusive amplitude that only Pinot Noir can capture. If I put on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, the harmonies would be outrageous. It has been 6 hours since I opened the bottle and those low level tannins are still present, not at all inhibiting, acting more like a Bass, keeping beat, adding depth, maintaining the structure. Ecard works with fruit, and what started as notes of kirsch, red-berries, nutmeg and some sort of flower whose scent is just a bit beyond the grasp of my memory, has become cherries and raspberry jam mixed with a velvety earthiness. It is so soft, so delicate, so powerful. I smell my empty glass and it is still alive with flavour, almost a smoky strawberry jam. Burgundy rocks.

2006-02-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Superdrunk XL
Seven Guys, Lots of Meat, Sartre and the Cultural Divide

There are few places in North America where one can put 7 grown men together in front of the Super Bowl and of those 7, 2 need the rules explained to them. In fact, I was the only person in the room that had even played the game. There was little talk of strategy around this tv, these boys wanted to know more how the ‘mauradeur’ position translated into English (safety), and why in hockey the puck has to go completely over the line while in football it merely has to break the plane.

So as the game itself is often overshadowed by the ads (how about that Fed EX caveman ad), our drunken comraderie and lack of real interest in the game was soon overshadowed by some inspired conversation. Of note was a tirade by one of my more revolution-oriented friends about our new Prime Minister Harper’s acceptance speech whereby he ‘thanked God.’ “Just like Bush,’ he sneered. This might strike my American readership as a tempest in a teapot, seeing that for most American politicians and sports heros God seems clearly to have surpassed Mom as the ultimate guiding force behind any real success. But for us Canadians, at least for those of us in front of the tv last night, this brazen mixing of Church and State by our Prime Minister was both new and undesirable.

So as we tried to list what were the truly ‘secular’ states of the world, I was reminded of the roots of this secularism, and the harsh reality that is the void without divinity. Kafka often compared humanity to bugs. 'So what happens when you die,' was the question before the floor? Well I guess you are a dead bug. Hmmmm. Having just turned 40, I decided to put off dealing with this question for another ten years and returned to a spirited conversation as to wether the Cowboy cheerleaders were actually any better than the Raiderettes.

I guess the divide is at times not that wide after all.

Pregame….beer (DAB, Boréale and Grolsch)
1st quarter….. more beer
2nd quarter….. um, more beer
Half-time… wines served alongside choice bits of 5 different animals, tasting notes are approximatations and why do the Stones still insist on playing Start Me Up?

Faugères 2001, Cuvée Jades, Leon Baral ($30.. importation)
… Optimally ripe Syrah and Carignan, soft, well integrated tannins, loads of blackberry with some wonderful spice notes)… superb length

Mendoza, Malbec 2003, Reserve, Lurton ($18..saq)
… less concentrated than the Faugeres so took a sip or two to adjust, but very worthy for the price. Typical Malbec notes of black licorice with overtones of dark, ripe fruit.

Cahors 2001, Montplaisir ($13…saq)
…good if you like French style Malbec but not my cup of tea

Margaux 1986, 3ieme Cru Classé, Château Kirwan
...probably shouldn’t have been drinking this at this point of the evening but my host insisited on opening it. Still remarkably tannic, and was pretty undrinkable after leaving it alone for half an hour. It slowly opened up to show cooked fruit but little of those delicate floral aromas one so often gets with great margaux. Okay, but my sense was that it was a touch passé date.

2006-02-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Food Quandary #3
My Favorite Wine and a Quebecois Ham

Sometimes the answer is right in front of us, but for some reason we refuse to open our eyes. This is often due to the comfort of resorting to the tried and true, which is often a barrier to going outside of the box.

The Ham in question is a smoked shoulder, pricked with cloves and cooked in a mix of beer, onion and molasses. The meat is red and smoky, rich and fleshy with an obvious touch of sweetness. This would theoretically lend itself to a ripe new world red, however, the salt factor has always proved to be the bug in the system, turning the softest tannin into iodine. And the powerful flavors have always seemed a bit overbearing.

So for round 16 with my favorite Ham preparation I went white and German. The pairing was phenomenal. This classic, rich Mosel Spatlese had enough flesh for the richness of the ham, a plush creamy texture that was in no way out of step. The molasses was in perfect harmony with the residual sweetness of the wine and the undercurrent of spice was perfect accompaniment for the clove. The saltiness of ham brought out explosions of sweet grapefruit and apricot, and the phenomenal minerality and acidity kept the ensemble fresh. Simply put, the harmony was even better than the sum of the fantastic individual parts. When will the German’s ever let me down?

Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Riesling 2001, Spätlese, S.A. Prum ($30…saq)
Yeah Baby.

2006-02-01T05:25:00.000-08:00

Whine, and Food (Blogs)

I did a little web cruising yesterday and came across Waiter Rant, a Gestalt type therapy site dedicated to those of us who peddle food and wine for a living. Everyone seems to have their bitch. While I pride myself in my ‘aggressively passive’ non- judgemental character, I too have a beef.

Dear Client,
You are not special because you drink wine. Nobody cares what you have drunk, how many vintages of crappy super-tuscans you have in your cellar, or the last time that you drank a bottle under $25 retail. Dissapointed because we don’t carry your ‘favorite’ champagne? Fuck you. You are 35 and if your exceptionally refined palette cannot be satisfied with either a 1995 Dom Perignon or a 96 Belle Epoque, then, well, fuck off. People are starving around the corner from your house. Wine is not a lifestyle beverage. You are not what you drink. Wine was made to be drunk and enjoyed with food, not to allow you to compensate for your complete lack of personality. And if after all those fabulous bottles you still insist on ordering that Gigondas with your scallops, then please let me go so I can help another client who understands what this is really all about. That we are lucky as shit.

So my intention was to talk about the wealth of incredible food blogs that are out there in the blogosphere. If you want an excellent short list, click on over to Basic Juice and do the sommelier challenge, ‘cuz that too is what it is all about.

2006-01-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

White On Meat Can be Neat
What to drink with Steak Tartare

I love raw things. From seafood to carrots to beef, if I can get it raw I’ll order it. And perhaps my favorite of favorites is the classic French bistro fare steak tartare. I like it spicy, fries and mayo, with a side of cornichons and Dijon mustard. As I usually eat it for lunch, perhaps that is the factor that has led me to look outside of the box for an appropriate wine accompaniment. Afternoon drinking is best with light fruity reds and even more so, white wine. But to drink a white wine with steak tartare? My googling produced a long list of choices of reds, from Cahors to Australian Cabs to my preferred Beaujolais Cru. But not a single white.

I have tried bigger reds with tartare but I found the French (Cahors, Bordeaux) too tannic for the leanness of the beef while the New World’s tended to be too powerful in the flavor department. If I do go red, a slightly chilled Fleurie from Yvon Metras works well, though I found the fruitiness a touch out of place, almost gratuitous.

Great tartare is rich, spicy but subdued. Big, well aged southern whites combine richness with freshness, and display certain fruit overtures (mostly browning apples, figs and the such), that tend towards a spiciness that seems to add more to the plate than the fruitiness of the red. This is not duck, or wild meat, whose powerful flavors invite sharp fruit contrasts. Tartare is soft and rich, a wonderful forum for the oxidative notes and spice of Grenache Blanc, Rousanne and the rest of their southern brethren. So for a walk outside the box, here are a couple of tried and true whites (especially the next time at L’Express).

And don’t drink them too cold!

Vin de Pays de L’Hearault 1998, Les Vignes Oubliées, Olivier Julien
Irouléguy 2001, Hegoxuri, Domaine Arretxea
Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Gauby
Côtes du Rhone 2003, Cuvée Guy Louis, Tardieu Laurent

2006-01-25T03:56:00.000-08:00

The New Cuvée Marie

Just a quick note for all you white wine sharpies, I tried, um…drank, the 2004 version of the Cuvée Marie yesterday. After last years debacle where the SAQ (assholes) decided to pull the bottle off the shelves due to a slight tartaric acid deposit (ooooh my bottle is dirty), it is a welcomed return.

Very few whites at this price have the aging capacity of this Jurançon Sec, indeed I am still drinking my 1999 and 2000 vintages. The Marie is made with 90% Gros Manseng and 10% Corbu and aged in mostly old wood for 11 months. Manseng brings the structure, a bracing acidity, while the Corbu imparts the finesse. I have always found the acidity in new vintages a touch excessive, so if you insist on drinking from the shelves, give it at least 3-4 hours in carafe. But buyer beware, drinking this stuff will be detrimental to your Chardonnay habit!

Jurançon Sec, Cuvée Marie 2004, Charles Hours ($24.85....saq)
The 2004 has heady aromas of white clover, honeysuckle and juniper berries, but is lacking the nutty oxidative notes of aged Jurançon (maybe I should give it some electrolysis). It is also a touch fruitier than the 02 with notes of fig and lychee, and a touch of sweet spice. Length and elegance as well as an exceptional balance between acidity and richness, this is the perfect wine for all that is spicey…Indian buffets, steak tartare, and even Maggie’s tacos puercos.

2006-01-20T08:41:00.001-08:00

Friday Befuddlement
3 Mysteries to Begin my Working Week

#1. Vin de Table, Nature, Marc Pesnot ($20…importation)
Calling all Natural Wine-meisters, I need some more info. What Rezin refers to as the Chapeau Melon comes from Muscadet, is made with Muscadet, but drinks like some far-removed cousin. It is rich, with a hint of sweetness on the finish. The slight 'perlance' is gone after the second sip, it tastes of appeloup, and the red kind at that, with a hint of lemon cream. There is a touch of minerality as well as a hint of scotch, which is expected with a no sulfite wine. No millisème, and except for some heresay about an evening of maceration carbonic, I know nothing. I have already drunk 4 bottles so let me know before they are all gone.

#2. Mark Kramer and the Wine Spec (page 100)
I picked up the Wine of Year issue to research a future post and noticed an article about WS columnist Mr. Kramer espousing Natural Wines and Biodynamics. Comparing the manipulated wines of modernity with a babe who has had too much plastic surgery, and thus becomes painful to look at, Mr. Kramer makes an argument for ‘ ‘real’ ‘wines (extra parenthesis courtesy of WS). Aside from giving exposure to possibly my favorite wine, Deiss’ Schoennenbourg, Mr. Kramer understands the underpinnings of the argument against the overmanipulation of the juice. Maybe there is a ray of hope, but I am still in shock.

#3. Wine of the Year
The only 100 point wine on the list was the Yquem… why did it finish 10th? Am I missing something?

2006-01-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Beauty and the Beast at the Pied
What Exactly does one Eat with Alsace Wines?

For those of you who are not local, Au Pied de Cochon and its chef Martin Picard are the purveyors of what may be loosely termed ‘contemporary cuisine québécois.’ The food, like its chef, is rich and unrefined, sometimes bordering on the grotesque. But at its best, Picard’s food is a salute to both the culinary history of Quebec, the phenomenal quality and variety of its regional ingredients, and of course the extraordinary and sometimes twisted imagination of the chef himself.

Weinbach’s wines are made in the image of co-owner Catherine Faller; Elegant and complex at their best and, if I have a critique to make, a bit manicured at times. 100% organic with half of the vineyard bio-d, they believe in maximum ripeness and reduced yields, indigenous yeasts and low sulfitage in the chais. Just how we like them. In general the Gewurztraminers and Pinot Gris’ are some of the best that Alsace has to offer while I must admit I tend to buy my Riesling from others.

Our lunch at the Pied, in the company of Ms. Faller had as an underlying theme ‘what exactly goes with Alsace wine.’ Special thanks to Pierre and Edith for putting on one of the most orgiastic wine and food events that I have ever experienced.

Lunch began on the raw, a variety of oysters, scallops and live shrimp pulled straight from the aquarium. In the glasses were the Muscat Reserve 2002 ($51…saq) and the line of Rieslings. I found all the Rieslings way too powerful for the delicate flavors and salinity of the raw stuff. The Muscat was very Weinbach, no aromatic explosion here, just beautiful and profound fruit, as if one was biting straight into the grape. It worked best with the scallops, but I think I’ll stick with my trusty Muscadet as my oyster chaser.

Then came the onslaught. Boiled lobster; pan fried bass; deep-fried oysters, scallops and lobster; blood sausage and oysters gratinéed with foie gras. It seemed endless. But here comes the Tokays and Gewurztraminers, and Alsace shone! The best Alsace wines combine richness and spice with an exceptional freshness that can lighten up the most artery-clogging plate. In that vein, the Tokay Pinot Gris 2002, Altenbourg, Cuvée Laurence ($90…saq) is perhaps the finest foie gras wine that exists. A mix of 70% dry and 30% Botrytised grapes, this is refined opulence which can stand up to the richness of the foie gras, while its crisp acidity keeps the palette fresh.

While Weinbach doesn’t come cheap, they are perhaps the best all around vignoble in Alsace. And what to drink them with? At the Pied, at least, all that is either rich or spicy.

The best of the best…
Muscat Réserve 2002 ($51…saq)
Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg Ste-Catherine 2002 ($88…saq)
A bit of minerality, a touch of exotic fruit, a hint of herbs (tisane)... great all around Riesling without all that retro-diesel stuff going down
Tokay Pinot Gris 2002, Altenbourg, Cuvée Laurence ($90…saq)
You want floral lushness, or lush floralness...hmmm..power, elegance.. it is all here.
Gewurztraminer Cuvée Theo 2002 ($54…saq)
My favorite all around gewurzt. A touch of sugar makes what is normally a difficult grape quite inviting.
Gewurztraminer Altenbourg Cuvée Laurence 2001 ($92...saq)
Beautiful mouth feel with tangerine zest and loads of spice...a huge gewurz that is actually fun to drink
Tokay Altenbourg Vendanges Tardives 2001 ($132...saq)
Loads of honey but fresh and delicate. All the sweet wines were fantastic but my mouth was in shock at this point.

2006-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Planet of the Grapes
Part 1: The Domination

It happened slowly, methodically, and then with machine like precision.

The domination started with corporate consolidation. Vineyards were snapped up and eventually whole regions were divided amongst 4 or 5 companies. Philip Morris had long bought out Constellation, Fosters by Monsanto. Coke, too, had important holdings. Corporate efficiency combined with technological innovation, fastidious marketing and a monopoly on distribution slowly squeezed out the independents.

And the technology had changed. Two hybrid vines, nicknamed the white and red camel were capable of growing in sand, and vast tracts of previously drought-ridden lands were subsequently irrigated and fertilized. The goal was quantity and did they ever produce. China, and a number of African nations had become leading grape juice producers. As arable land was becoming scarce in much of Europe and North America, conglomerates uprooted their local vines in deference to these more cost-efficient camel vines.

While certain aromas, and a variety of fruit and wood flavors had been synthesized in the first decade of the 21st Century, new developments had allowed the wine giants to synthesize varietal characteristics, making the need for thousands of grape types redundant (although in reality 95% of consumers already seemed satisfied by a choice between a dozen varietals).

Thus one red and one white in the field had become the industry standard; the rest of the work was done during ‘conversion,’ where technicians watched over the vinitoriums, home to massive steel fermenting resevoirs. Interspersed amongst these refineries were laboratories whose task was to produce the acids, yeasts, tannins, sweeteners and enzymes necessary to turn the camel juice into wine.

One exciting, recent innovation was the ability to synthesize terroir. Unlocking this mystery had allowed for the marketers to offer the consumer, thirsty for even an implied distinction, variations on the varietal theme that had become the industry standard. Hot selling red brands included both Pauillac and Napa-styled Cabernet, North Pacific Pinot, and of course, the Shiraz ‘Rotie-style.’ Fumé Sauvignon Blanc was quickly surpassed by the fashionable Fumé SB Pouilly (which used 25% less wood essence and 30% more tartaric acid), and the more refined Meursault style Chardonnay quickly outsold the ‘gold label’ yellow penguin and the classic Oaky-Calokey.

Elders gobbled down these new wines, jogging memories of a time when understanding wine meant knowing thousands of grape varietals, when hundreds of thousands of producers and a multitude of producing countries were the norm. To the youth, it seemed so complicated.

Everyone drank the stuff. All the papers hyped it. So much for so cheap. Grape juice was rebaptized ‘kids wine’ in the hope of gaining early brand fidelity. New ’light’ bottlings were all the rage amongst the sports crowd. All was well, except for the rumours that out on the fields people were still producing wines made from bizarre grapes, with labels that spoke of nothing but the place that it was made. The wine tasted different, and remarkably different at that. They had no voice, little access to markets, but they kept on making their wine; waiting for the day when ….

Coming Soon: Part 2, Beneath the Planet of the Grapes

2006-01-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

WBW
Kiwi Reds

Being on vacation and about to head off into the un-internettted backcountry, I have to be slack and repost an old review.... happy days to all.

Pinot Noir 2001, Marlborough, Foxes Island ($48… importation)
I have this bottle on L’eau’s winelist, and while I have tasted it on a number of occasions, this was my first opportunity to drink the bottle and see how well it worked with food. Like their Sauvignon Blancs, the Pinot Noir’s of New Zealand have their own unique character, and a style which any European wine lover can appreciate. This bottle is full of dark, almost cooked fruit with just a hint of oak. Much richer than a classic Burgundy but with more acidity than your average American, it had a sweet and spicey bouquet that I have never encountered with a Pinot Noir. It worked nicely with my Sea Bass ‘en papillote,’ which was cooked with beets, sweet potato and carrots.

2006-01-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

Top Wine and Food Matches

As wine freaks we tend to overlook that wine is the accessory, not the raison d’être. If there ever was a damning reason for ending the age of the Übertasters, sending them over the cliff with their pockets filled with 88’s, 91’s and the occasional 96, it is the principle that the best wines show their true colors when in harmony with the right plate. Yes, there are those who believe that it is a lifestyle beverage, and some wines are. But the majority of wine was made for the table, and should be judged in that context. This is niether snobbish nor elitist, simply the next step and the ultimate appreciation of a drink that we love. Here are some of my faves from recent memory and happy 2006 to all.

Raw Oysters and Muscadet
God made muscadet for this simple, yet perfect harmony. The Domaine de L'Ecu has the intense minerality necessary to follow the natural iodine character of the oyster, and dry enough not to get in the way of the subtle, salty flavor. Yes, sometimes less is more.

Deer Tournedos and a Loire Red
Surprise, Cabernet Franc can be great. On the table were Deer tournedos, resting on a purée of roasted onion and ratte potato, and accompanied by caramelized cauliflower. The Anjou 2002 from Réné Mosse was an inspired choice, bringing home just enough maturity to bring an impression of sweetness to accompany the roasted and caramelized vegetables, power for the deer, but with the necessary subtlety and hint of green pepper for the cauliflower.

Braised Lamb Ravioli and Wild Mushroom with a Napa Merlot
Fresh made ravioli filled with braised lamb, sitting atop king erige and shitake mushrooms and swimming in it’s jus. Neyer’s Merlot 2000, Napa Valley is for me the summit of California winemaking. The mix of ripe plums and earth notes harken well- aged St. Emilion, but it remains true to it’s roots. Nothing feels fake here, just a perfect harmony between the mushrooms, the earth, the sun, the textures; all with a dash of ripe fruit.

Pan Seared Sable fish with a Pinot Blanc from Burgundy
What? Burgundy? Not Chardonnay? Marsannay is the sole AOC in Burgundy which allows for blending it’s beloved Chardonnay. The 100% Pinot Blanc 2002 from Fougeraie de Beauclair is an extraordinary blend of fruit and richness, anchored by a soft, well integrated oakiness. Sable fish combines the texture of halibut with the finesse of sea bass. Served on a bed of fork mashed ratte potatoes with a salted herb and olive oil sauce, the fish took the heady pear aromas of the Fougeraie like, well, it was Queen Charlotte water.

Boiled Lobster and a Dry Bonnezeaux
It was the end of a long quest to find the perfect match. Corsican winemaker Marc Angeli has installed himself in this central Loire AOC and has set new standards for great winemaking. The review tells all. The harmonies were as complex and beautiful as a grand symphony, the extravagant amplitude and minerality of this great Chenin matched perfectly with the salty, slightly iodined meat of the sea bug. So rich was the wine that I couldn’t remember wether or not I had dipped in the melted butter. But alas, I have only 1 bottle left. Anjou Blanc 2001, La Lune, Ferme de la Sansonnière.... get it, try it, revel in it.

Braised Pork Shoulder with Fennel and a Morey St. Denis
The greatness in Burgundy lies in it’s capacity to morph with respect to what is on the plate. Never the star, but usually an Oscar winning supporting actor, this Morey 1er Cru 1999, La Riotte from Taupenot-Merme handled the cinnamon, star-anise and fennel with fluidity and ease. Earthy, delicate and profound, Burgundy once again proved to me why it is still the paradigm of Pinot Noir.

2005-12-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

Rock On
Two Hard Rockin’ Wines

The notion of ‘minerality’ is the most important non-climactic effect on terroir. At the core of the argument is wether or not the vine has the capacity to translate sub soil minerals into flavours and aromas. There is, however, no argument that the taste and smell of ‘minerality’ does exist in a vast majority of wines, and that there are subtle differences in it’s expression depending on grape and region. German Riesling, Chablis, Loire Chenin and a couple of Morgon’s I have tasted are in fact defined by this expression. Does it exist or is it simply due to a ‘lack of fruitiness?’ While I firmly believe that the climactic component of terroir is real and undeniable, the way a soil expresses itself via the vine is much less evident. However, I am way too tired to care these days so I will choose to follow my heart and believe. T’ is the season.

So if you want to taste the rock, here are two fantastic examples. Happy holidays everyone.

Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine 2003, Expression de Granite, Domaine de l’Ecu ($20...saq)
It was damp and dark, full of black stones with hints of pear and grapefruit on opening the bottle. But it was far from tough, it was almost soothing. The seeming incongruence between length and dryness threw me for a bit, but as the wine opened up, I was reminded of a pear tree in full flower in a field of clover on a cool spring day. Pure and delicious, it is the perfect accompaniment for a couple dozen raw oysters or a plate of mussels.

Chablis Grand Cru 1999, La Moutonne, Domaine Long Depaquit ($83...saq)
There was total confusion on the first sip, so much so that I opened a second bottle to be sure. A deep, soft, deafening and profound chalkiness harkened notions of white slate pounded into dust. There existed a bizarre tension between a honeyed richness and a dessert like dustiness, both which went on and on. But as the bottle warmed, white flowers and hints of apple showed themselves, a welcomed bit of brightness. There is no oak to smooth out the corners, just stone, richness and a steely acidity. It reminded me why mythic wines have so justly gained their reputation.

2005-12-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

Holiday Mixed Bag
I put together an interesting tasting last week that revolved around the theme of holiday selections. The response was super positive so here it is for blogsterity (all wines are available at the saq).

Aperitif
Vin Mousseux, Chandon Blanc de Noirs, Carneros ($25...saq)
The classic mix of Pinot Noir and Meunier and Chardonnay, I was surprised by this fizzy Cali wine done by the folks at Chandon. Very toasty but with remarkable finesse and very fine ‘bullage.’ One of the better under $25 vin mousseux that I have tried.

Vin de Pays de Côtes-de-Gascogne 2004, Premières Grives, Dom. Tariquet ($18...saq)
I have reviewed this wine a number of time on this blog. Great on it’s own, fantastic with hors d’oeuvres and can handle the mixed cheese plate, the blend of sweetness and acidity make this a great holiday ‘go to’ wine. You should have a bottle in the fridge at all times.

Salmon Entrée
Tokay-pinot gris 2001, Steinert, Alsace grand cru, Pfaffenheim ($28…saq)
A very good Tokay with a hint of residual sugar, it worked wonders with a salmon-scallop tootsie roll mousse that used strips of seaweed to separate the layers. Too strong to be drunk as an aperitif, it would also work with sushi or strong, hard cheese.

Boeuf Wellington
Friuli 1999, Carantan, Marco Felluga ($53....saq)
Check the previous review.

The cheese
I did a little wine and cheese tasting in between the main course and dessert that attempted to debunk the port-cheese myth that ruins so many wine and cheese parties. Here’s three quebec cheeses with some classic, and not so classic, wine matches.

Fromage- Riopelle
Chardonnay 2002, Sonoma County, St-Francis ($22.30…saq)
A big buttery cheese requires a big buttery wine. The St. Francis still had enough of that oaky bitterness to handle the hazelnut notes of the cheese. Brie and Camembert could replace the Riopelle.

Fromage- Baluchon
Moulin-à-vent 2001, Château des Jacques, Louis Jadot ($27...saq)
While I tend towards white wine with cheese because of the salt factor, this match was interesting. The Baluchon was perhaps a touch too creamy for the Beaujolais, but it worked. Any semi-firm, not overly salty cheese could work here.

Fromage- Bleu Benedictin
Pacherenc-du-vic-bilh 1999, Novembre, Brumaire ($27.05...saq)
Once you’ve gone Pacherenc, it is hard to go back to port with blue. Save your port for the sofa in front of the fireplace, and go white on blue. Hailing from France’s Madiran region, the corbu, ruffiac and petit manseng are assembled into a wonderful sweet wine that has both the texture and taste to outlast the most nasty of blues.

Dessert- Chocolat
Banyuls 2002, Mise Tardive, Mas Cornet ($22.75...saq)
Another alternative to the overdone tawney port with chocolate match, Banyuls bring the torrefied chocolate to the table in a much more elegant fashion. 100% Grenache Noir, I find Banyuls less sweet and with a better acidity than the majority of tawneys. This one is muted directly through the lees and has thus and even richer flavor.

2005-12-13T06:27:00.000-08:00

Holiday Italians

There is much more to Italy than super-tuscans. Last week, I had the opportunity to try a number of excellent wines from lesser known regions of the grand boot which were all (shockingly) ready to drink. Here are four of my favorites that are available at the SAQ.

Barbaresco 2000, Ceretto ($46..saq)
I have been looking for a classic Barbaresco for awhile now and this is it. The antithesis of ‘Rollandesque’ modernity, the texture is fluid, almost watery but what length, what persistence. Typical of a traditional treatment of Nebbiolo, it has a soft, almost orange tint, a spicy and mineral nose with hints of truffle and leather. Nebbiolo with a couple of years under it’s belt is by far the best food wine outside of Burgundy. Will do wonders with an Osso Bucco and everything a la fungi.

Venezia-Giullia 1999, Igt, Carantan, Marco Felluga ($53…saq)
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot harkened memories of great Pomerol but perhaps a touch riper. Soft and round with silky tannins, the Merlot seemed to dominate the mix with characteristic plum, hints of wet earth and a licorice, anise finish. Very ready to drink, it will shock the Bordeaux crowd by it’s finesse and elegance. Outstanding wine.

Colli-di-Salerno 2001, Igt, Montevetrano, Sylvia Imparato ($97…saq)
Considered one of the rising stars of the Campania, Ms. Imparato uses Cabernet, merlot and local grape Aglianico to unique perfection. More modern in style with dark fruits and oak as it’s centerpiece, the Montevetrano is a study in power and finesse. Underlying notes of moka and torrefaction add depth to the ripe fruit and vanilla notes. Got something wild planned, this would be deadly with lamb or deer.

Morellino-di-Scansano 1999, Igt, Riserva, Moris Farms ($41…saq)
This little known Tuscan winemaking region denotes itself with it’s use of Syrah alongside Sangiovese and Cabernet. With 90% Sangiovese, it reminded me more of a ripe Vino Nobile than Chianti, with ripe cherries and plums dominating the more typical leathery, tobacco notes. Exceptional length, a neat little twist were the rosemary and red peppercorn notes on the finish Completely integrated tannins and with a slight orange tint, this is a mature wine that is ready to compliment the Christmas turkey. Drink now and enjoy the rare opportunity to drink a wine at it’s apogee.

2005-12-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

Wineblog Wednesday #16
‘You look fabulous baby’

We buy wine for any number of reasons and usually it is NOT because we have tasted it before. Price, region, critical acclaim, etc, are all worthy motivators so why not beauty (it is often the first reason we choose our companions so why not our wine). My entry is from a little known region and from an unknown producer (it was their first bottling), but there was ‘something about the way ….’

Côtes de Duras 2000, Les Apprentis, Domaine Mouthes le Bihan ($30...importation)
Sandwiched between the Marmandais and Bergerac in France’s south west region, the Duras is very much an extension of Bordeaux in both grapes and style. A blend of Merlot, two Cabs and Malbec, it combined the elegant restraint of Bordeaux with the ripeness and rusticity characteristic of the south. At almost 6 years, the first taste was still massively tannic, however an hour in carafe was enough to smooth it right out. Rich, long and exploding with dark fruit and black licorice, it is still not for the faint of palette, but with duck or a piece of deer, it is heaven.

And of course, Bihan is organic in the vineyard and restrained in the chais (indigenous yeasts, little new wood, no filtration or collage). Just how we like it...baby.

Thanks to derrick and his most sexy food blog obsession with food for hosting this edition of wbw.

2005-12-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Goin’ Vertical in Vouvray
Domaine Huet at the Pullman

I asked Monsieur Pinguet (director and chief winemaker at Huet) what was Vouvray? This central Loire appellation, mecca for the Chenin Blanc grape, produces a vast and varied selection of wines which range from banal, over fizzy ‘vin mousseux’ to some of the richest and longest lived white wines in the world. I have always loved Huet, if not for their dedication to both organics and biodynamics well before it could be even construed as a marketing ploy, but even more for the shear purity and elegance of their wines.

Pinguet replied that great Vouvray was all about ‘equilibre’ and ‘verticality.’ I would translate ‘equilibre’ as the tension between acidity and sugar, minerality and fruit, each dancing in perfect harmony with one another, supporting but never overshadowing their partner. The verticality lies in the soil and the sky, from the depths of the roots to the tip of the vines, each working towards building this tension. It’s a man waxing poetic about something that he loves. That’s cool. Again, purity is the word here: no chapitalization, no malo, indigenous yeasts, old wood if wood is used at all, and nominal additions of sulfer. Vinification is the afterthought, it all happens in the vineyard (which seems to run contrary to much of modern winemaking).

Here’s the rundown.

Vouvray Sec, Le Haut-Lieu 2002 ($39...saq)
Bracing acidity that showed itself through a lemon-lime continuum. As it warmed the fruit softened and ripened. Very mineral and extremely fresh. I would put it in a carafe for an hour or so before drinking it with lightly sauced white fish.

Vouvray Demi-Sec, Le Haut-Lieu 2003 ($39...saq)
Softer fruits at the get go with hints of ripe apricot and kafir lime. The touch of residual sugar softened the acidity allowing the richness of the fruit and the ever present minerality to show themselves. Will do wonders with everything from the sea or as a very classy aperitif.

Vouvray Moelleux, Clos de Bourg 2003 ($47...saq)
A bit big and fat, could be the curse of 2003. I found it lacked a certain complexity and the sweet fruitiness brought me back to super lemon jellies that I ate as kid.

Vouvray Moelleux, Le Haut Lieu-1er Trie 2003 ($68....saq)
No botrytis, just wonderfully zesty over-ripe grapes that became mandarine, clementine and apricot. If water could taste of liquid honey then this is it. Fantastic, exceptional.

Vouvray Moelleux, Le Mont-1er Trie 1996 ($72...saq)
For a 1996 still tastes like it was put in the bottle yesterday. As 1996 was an almost perfect year, the first pass (trie) had both over-ripe and Botrytis grapes. The tension is alive and well here, with mineral notes, a fantastic freshness and a wonderful honeyed grapiness.

Vouvray Sec, Le Haut-Lieu 1982
I found it a bit austere which could have been the shock of going back to dry after the moelleux but even the third and fourth sips didn’t offer up much more. It is done.

Vouvray Sec, Le Clos du Bourg 1961
Brilliant deep golden color. While it was getting a bit scotchy, it still had a fantastic amount of acidity for a 44 year old wine. Bring on the sole marinière.

2005-12-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

Patience Pays
An Update from the Cave

Cellar your wine! Like children, they love stability. So even if you don’t have kids, dig deep for that mama and papa in each of us and take care of a few bottles. My rule is never drink from the store as even the most banal wine will profit from 6 months in a stable environment. As proof positive, here’s a review from a year and a half ago (has it been that long?), and the same wine drunk last night.

Thursday April 29, 2004

Riesling Grand Cru 2000, Furstentum, Blanck ($36…saq)
According to Fred Blanck it was a challenging year with respect to weather, ie. reduced crop size, and for me, the complexity of the wines. Compared to the 1999, this Grand cru while still in it’s youth is a very acceptable drink. None of that over the top petrol nose, just a delicious and balanced Reisling (though softer than the 99, less mineral and perhaps lacking a bit of cut). For the intellectual Reisling crowd, it’s definitely not the 99.

Tuesday December 6, 2005

I remember it being completely dry but there now seems to be a touch of sugar showing itself. Richer and with less acidity, the minerality of the Furstentum terroir shows itself more. It had the same petrol nose though it shows much more fruit than it did the last time we drank it, green apples mixed with apricots. Still a great balance between acidity, minerality and richness, my last bottle will sit for at least another year.

(Drunk with pan seared Dorade, served on ratte potatoes with caramelized cauliflower and ratatoulli)

2005-12-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

Sweet Tooth
How Do You Want It?

The world of ‘vin liqoureux’ is a vast and under-appreciated part of wine world. This is due in part to the wallet factor, but I find many people are at a loss at to how to serve them. The classic match is with fois gras. However, this is hardly a staple in most kitchens and many consider it’s production inhumane, resulting in an ever deceasing supply.

This leaves cheese and dessert. A simple rule of thumb for desserts is that your wine must be sweeter than what’s on the plate. Chocolate is perfect for tawney ports and grenache-based muted wines from the Roussilon (banyuls, maury etc..). ‘Caramelly’ desserts tend to go well with more unctuous sweet wines like icewines, sauternes and perhaps even better with muted sweets like oloroso sherries whose oxidative notes bring a much welcomed freshness to the palette.

I have always believed that cheese is made for white wines. As whites will benefit most from being matched with salty foods, many will show their true colors when drunk with the right cheese. For the richer sweet wines, choose stronger, creamier cheeses while late harvest wines are a great choice for the mixed cheese platters which is more often the case after a dinner.

So here are a couple of faves recently tasted. Enjoy.

Late Harvest

Vin de Constance 1999, Klein Constantia ($64...500ml…saq)
The preferred wine of napoleon and other well to do 19th century folk, this South African wine is the king of a naturally sweet late harvest. A rich unctuous texture is testament to the long hang time which results in an exceptional concentration of flavors and aromas. Perfect for the fois gras.

Vin de pays Côtes-de-Gascogne 2004, Premières Grives, Domaine du Tariquet ($18..saq)
I have reviewed this wine before and it is a staple in the Cave. Made with Gros and Petit Manseng and picked as the first thrushes arrive, it strikes the prefect balance between sugar and acidity; a great go to wine for aperitif, the mixed cheese platter, and a semi-sweet dessert.

Québec, Cabernet Franc Late Harvest, Château Taillefer Lafon ($32...375ml...at the winery)
When will the benfits of global warming ever stop? Just north of montréal, this winery is making a name with actual vitis vinifera grapes. While the dry whites and red show promise, I found this Cab Franc late harvest unique and tasty. With a better acidity than most vidal ‘lates,’ this is a suitable replacement for port when chocolate is on the way.

Botrysized, Dried, and Frozen

Niagara, Vidal 2001, Special Select Late Harvest, Konzellman ($20...375ml…saq)
While we are waiting for the 2002 vintage to arrive, this is one of the best deals on the shelves. Partially botrysized, this is a late harvest which combines exotic fruit, caramel and a touch of that earthy mushroom quality which is a result of grapes infected by Botrytis. It has a remarkable acidity for the Vidal grape which has a tendancy to ‘fatten out’ when used in sweet wines.

Passito-di-Pantelleria 2002 ,Ben Ryé, Donnafugata ($70...saq)
Sultry and sweet, and hailing from the volcanic island of Pantelleria, this Italian classic is made by drying late harvested Muscat grapes in the scorching sun and blistering wind that characterizes the island. A wine which combines a honeyed richeness, with hints of mandarine zest and apricots, I have served this with both fois gras and crème brulé.

Muted Sweets

Montilla Morilles, Oloroso, Alvéar ($20…saq)
From a region northwest of Xeres, this differs from sherry in that it is made with 100% Pedro Ximénez grapes. Wonderfully sweet and rich with notes of caramel, nutmeg and hazelnut, I love the freshness that the oxidative notes bring to the palette. Probably the most practical wine of the bunch and very easy on the wallet.

2005-12-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

Piedmont for Paupers
A Dolcetto Duo

Ain’t alliteration great? As my quest for the perfect pasta sauce continues (slow roasting tomatoes is proving to be a revelation), drinking habits too have taken a swerve towards Italy. As Italian wine is plentiful and reasonably priced , I have always found it easily approachable, and generally you get what you pay for. Piedmont, however, has remained a mystery.

Barolo and Barbaresco, both products of the nebbiolo grape, requires extended cellar time. Even ‘modern styled’ versions are tough pieces of meat in their youth and besides, there is little available under $60 a bottle. Barbera is a bit more approachable but it’s high natural acidity makes it a much better drink after 2 to 3 years in the basement. That leaves us with Dolcetto.

Dolcetto is a strange grape, often planted in altitudes and on expositions where Nebbiolo and Barbera won’t consistently ripen. Apparently it is difficult to vinify, requiring shorter fermentations as to not extract too much tannin from it’s rich skin. But when done properly, it is a fragrant and alluring wine. If I had to compare it to Beaujolais, it has a touch more structure, a richer color, less acidity and slightly brighter fruit. Here’s two beautes that went down over the last week.

Dolcetto D’Alba 2003, Sandrone ($24..importation)
The DOC takes it’s name from the the region that it is grown and along with Diano and Dogliani, Alba is said to produce the best Dolcetto. A rich, almost creamy texture and packed with dark , almost black cherries and plums. An interesting mineral quality adds freshness which the frightful heat of ’03 might have taken away. A true pleasure and I can’t wait to try a more classic 2004.

Dolcetto di Dogliani 2002, Poderi di Luigi Einaudi ($24..saq)
One of the few grapes of 2002 that escaped the fall rains, this Dolcetto was less vibrant than the Sandrone but had a touch more complexity. It showed the same signature dark cherry fruit, but with earthy notes of truffle and tobacco, and almost an almond bitterness on the finish. Worked wonders with the spag, smothered in the secret sauce and a sautée of king erigé mushrooms.

2005-11-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Gift of Wine

The king of meme over at basic juice has launched yet another challenge to blogdom...pick a wine from your cellar and give it to someone. If you are as lucky as myself, the potential recipients far outnumber the bottles gathering dust in the basement.
Most of my friends know where I live, and my penchant for opening things. So in the spirit of the season I re-invite one and all for some Christmas joy.

So I will limit this gift to blogdom as the ‘why’ is almost more interesting than the ‘what.’ There are many worthy recipients out there so I have chosen two bottles. Beau, cuz he’s so damn cute, gets the magnum of 1996 Chablis, La Moutonne. As an almost full throttle, brett digging Europhile, Beau warrants a bottle of french, and a classic. Encompassing two grand crus (Vaudésir and Preuses), this epitomizes classic cool climate Burgundy. Raised in 100% stainless (after 2001 they began using a bit of oak), and at 10 years old, it should be perfect for the fisherman’s feast. What does it taste like now? No clue but I can’t wait to find out.

My second bottle goes to Huge. Now, while I tend to disagree with most of what he espouses, I find his perspective at least grounded in reason, and always with enough humour to make even his most obscene denunciation palatable. So I offer up one of my favorite of favorites, one of my last Fleurie 2003 from Métras. Widely considered one of the best plots of land in Beaujolais, this wine is a product of one of the masters of the ‘vin de nature’ movement. Indigenous yeasts, no enzymes, no tartaric acid (it’s natural acidity is staggering considering the vintage) and of course, super low sulfite. This means it is a bit reductive and is a bit aromatically challenged, but with a passage in carafe, it should satisfy the most fruit oriented wine lover.

For me, it is the best example of purity in winemaking and I would like nothing more than to crank back a bottle with his Hugeness… and find something new to argue about (like Hockey Huge?).

2005-11-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

The Unity of a Grape and a Terroir
The Mosel, Riesling, and St. Urbans-Hof

I make no bones about it, I love German Riesling. If I win the lotto my first ridiculous expenditure will be to add the Mosel tap right next to the Hot and Cold.

I asked one of my confreres cavistes if he had tasted anything great from Germany recently. He smiled and said all of it. There exists an incredible consistency amongst the better winemakers in the region. In the best examples there is a naturally razor-sharp tension between acidity and richness, minerality and fruit. After a difficult 2003 vintage where the razor was definitely dulled and the Rieslings were too rich, it was a pleasure to taste a couple of classic 2004’s where words like aerian, fresh, steely and opulent could be tossed between smiles. Damn do they drink well.

With owner and winemaker Nik Weis present, it was time to learn about why German reisling is so consistently fantastic. He passionately believes in all aspects of the terroir,: temperature, soil, rainfall patterns. How else could aromatic and taste characteristics be so consistent when Mosel winemakers work in such diverse ways? At St. Urbans-Hof, great care is taken in the vineyard to ensure that the wine reflects the character of the land on which it is grown. The wines quality lies in the authenticity of its origin. Organic fertilizers are utilized in order to maintain the natural balance of the soil. Most importantly, yields are kept at low levels in order to achieve intense and well-structured wines. For optimal flavor development, leaves are thinned and grapes are harvested as late as possible to allow for maximum ripening.

Weis works two main vineyards; Ockfener Bocksteinm whose blue slate lends itself to lively, mineral Reislings and Piesporter Goldtröpfchen whose heavy slate and horse-shoed southern exposure lends itself to smokier, richer and more herbaceous wines. Here’s the rundown.

Riesling QbA 2004, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer ($17.50..importation)
A wonderful aperitif wine, this QBa showed notes of kafir lime and other citrus notes, with the expected smoky minerality on the finish.

Riesling Kabinett Ockfener Bockstein 2004, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer ($22…importation)
Slightly richer than the Qba, which is more to my taste, and with more complex and softer fruit flavours. Lemons, limes, peaches and lychee and again grounded with gun-flint slate.

Riesling Spätlese Piesporter Goldtröpfchen 2004, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer ($31..importation)
The winner of the tasting and where that Mosel tension was the most obvious. The Piesporter terroir offers up slightly duller though more complex and smokier aromas. An almost ethereal mouth feel. Outstanding.

Riesling Auslese Ockfener Bockstein 2002, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer ($50…importation)
Dense and creamy in texture, this has concentration and lushness accenting the apricot, lemon, ginger and mineral flavors. Still, it never gets heavy or cloying. Fine length

2005-11-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

Confluence (#3...the net)

Follow the link to Lenn's site for a complete list of the junk you might be drinking.. let's get labelling!

2005-11-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

The Confluence (a 2nd thought)
Terroir, the Role of the Winemaker, and the Label

I am still intrigued as to how the idea of terroir is rejected by many (most?) New World winemakers. Mr. Stehbens of Katnook was no different (see previous post). So what replaces the terroir model in terms of a unifying force amongst this school of vignerons? In his analysis of the direction of Australian winemaking, he repeatedly emphasized the need for his winemaking brethren to be true to the character of the grape, or ‘varietal integrity.’ The danger as he sees it is that if the trend continues, Australian wines will no longer need to be identified by cépage, rather they will be simply labeled ‘Big Aussie Red.’ His fidelity to the cépage is so strong that he excludes even the idea of blending (even if grapes like Petit Verdot can be used to supplant some of the usage of tartaric acid).

So if varietal distinction is important, and terroir is not, then that leaves human intervention as the defining influence on the eventual character of any bottling. There is no denying that wine is a human construct, however, here is where the most important distinction lies between the ’terroirists,’ and those who deny its importance. For winemakers like Stehbens, it is he who ultimately defines the character of his wine while the terroirists believe that it is the temperature, soil, indigenous yeasts and other classic terroir influences. They are simply there to coax the whole process along, limiting in fact as much as possible the influences of human intervention.

Stehbens and his compatriots are part technicians, part artists, part scientists and 100% god. Any and all interventions are ok as long they approach their personal model of what they want their wine to be, even if it means the negation of the influences of growing conditions inherent in the use of acids, commercial tannins and yeasts. He even maintained that he often describes the final product to his winemakers even before the grapes are picked.

Both of these approaches can make good, distinctive, personalized wines. But as a consumer, I would like to know more about what goes in to making the wine that I am drinking. If I want to know what was used to make my Doritos and Coke, I just have to look at the package. Is it not time for the wine industry to do the same? I would love to know not just about the chemical interventions and exact sulfite content, but also the exact blend, both by the grape of by millisème. I would make a nice change from the three paragraph blurb on the back label that tells me what I should smell and taste, and whether or not some Gomer believes that this bottle is really a great ‘chicken wine.’

I can figure that one out for myself.

2005-11-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

The Confluence
Damning Overmanipulation of the Juice

For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, you know that I have a bias for certain types of wines. It is the articulation of why I like or dislike certain styles of winemaking that has eluded me, or at least in a comprehensive ‘Weltanschauung’ sort of way. But this has changed.

At a recent tasting of Australian, Coonawarra-based Katnook, and in the presence of senior winemaker Wayne Stehbens, all these discussions about organics, natural wines, style versus terroir, and so forth reached a focal point, in my glass. It started with the whites.

The three Sauvignon Blancs were all theoretically perfect (gooseberry, vegetative notes, crispness). But I found both the acidity and the mouth feel somewhat off, especially when offset by the richness of the wine. When asked about the challenges of growing Sauvignon Blanc in extremely warm climates, Stehbens waxed the virtues of adding tartaric acid, and of aromatic yeast strains which can handle the high alchohol content of the wines. All this is to preserve what he calls 'essential varietal integrity!?!# ' But the question is then, if Loire and other cool climate regions set the standard for what Sauvignon Blanc should be, and the only way to achieve this model is through what I see as pretty rock and roll interventions, either the standard must be changed to a warm climate model or simply don’t grow Sauvignon in such unfriendly climatic conditions.

The reds are easier to dissect. Typical of warm climate Cabs and Shiraz, they are fruit driven (no Brett here, my friends), but I again find the ensemble heavy, over-oaked, lacking cut and too sweet. That is not a surprise as I don’t particularly like that style but many do and I can respect that. What did surprise me was that the reds were also boosted by both tartaric acid and commercial tannin. If as a result of this manipulation the acidity is too high, then Potassium Sorbate is added. Are these standard interventions for most warm weather winemakers? I always believed my dislike for this style was simply the sugar, texture and wood, but could it again be the artificial acids and tannins? Are there new world winemakers who do not have to manipulate their wines in this way?

While this is damning to a certain extent of modern viticultural techniques, it is by no means limited to New World wineries (the French and other Euro wines regions often use chapitalization to boost sugar levels rather than pruning to get maximum ripeness in weaker years, and I am sure more than a few grams of tartaric acid were used in the 2003 vintage). But because the varietal model seems to remain European, the climatic challenges of California, Australia and South America make these types of interventions necessary to follow that model. Can we taste these interventions? Should the new world winemakers seek out new models so that the wines need not be manipulated and adjusted in a way that attempts to negate one of the primary influences on its character (the weather)?

For me, winemaking is an art.
And over the years I have been fortunate enough to taste thousands upon thousands of wines.
And in the end the most fantastic superlative that I can throw at a wine that I love is ‘purity.’
That’s enough.

2005-11-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

What to drink with Condrieu

My favorite blogger and wine drinking Utahonian, Beau at basic juice inquired as to how I would match Villard's Condrieu, Desponcins. This got the motor churning. With it’s heady, soft aromas, relatively low acidity and super creamy texture, Condrieu lends itself to plates on the richer side of the spectrum. Lobster cooked in beurre montée with ginger highlights, firmer fish like tuna and halibut in cream sauces, sweetbreads with a hint of sweetness in the sauce, smoked duck in a salad with truffle oil (particularily the Cuilleron wines), and in terms of cheese, those semi firm which accent creaminess, moderate salinity and nuttiness. Québec cheeses like Riopelle or Migneron come to mind. Some people say it can tough cold fois gras but I tried it this summer and found it got buried by the richness of the plate.
So what would I pair with the Desponcins? To borrow one of Anne"s creations, I would love to try it with pan seared scallops (unilateral), and served on thin slices of roasted beets, sautéed wild mushrooms with a ginger, mushroom foam. Any ideas?

2005-11-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

A Couple of Condrieus
Head to Head with Villard and Cuilleron

As Sauvignon is to Sancerre so Viogner is to Condrieu, often copied but rarely accomplished. The combination of being a tiny appellation which uses a grape which requires relatively severe restrictions on yields make Condrieu expensive, and limited. In fact, I bet most people have encountered more Northern Rhone Viogner when assembled with Syrah in Cote Rotie than in it’s pure Condrieu form. It also has the sole particularity of being the most expensive white in France that is best appreciated in youth, when it’s almost inexistent acidity is still perceptible.

Francois Villard and Yves Cuilleron are best buddies and partners with Gaillard in ‘Les Vins de Vienne.’ Both in their early 40’s, they are considered among the rising stars in the Northern Rhone. On Tuesday, I had an opportunity to drink their 04’s with them…and get a mini clinic on the finer details of making great Condrieu.

Condrieu 2004, Deponcins, Francois Villard ($85...importation)
The winner of the tasting, this is Condrieu at it’s finest. It had a delicate yet remarkably complex nose of honey, peach, pear, flint and with just the right dose of fresh oak (45% new barrels). The mouth was rich and creamy, and I was surprised how it’s minerality added to it’s freshness. I won’t even talk about length. Purity was the word that kept coming to mind. I guess the kids will have to eat lentils for another week.

Condrieu 2004, Les Chaillets, Vieilles Vignes, Yves Cuilleron ($85..importation)
Cuilleron’s vineyard is just south of Villard but the soil composition has a touch more clay. They both work in similar fashions in the chai and use almost the same barrels (though Cuilleron uses a touch more new oak), yet the style of Les Chaillets is markedly different. With less schist in his granite soil, his wines do not have the same minerality and thus feel a little heavier in the mouth. I found this bottle didn’t support the new wood as well. Nonetheless , this is still a magnificent beverage. It has much more smoke with riper fruit, moving into dried apricots and with an impression of residual sugar. I had an opportunity this summer to drink a bottle of the 03 with everything from cold fois gras to a truffle-laced veal chop (it was best with the beurre montée lobster).

Condrieu 2004, Petit Côte, Yves Cuilleron ($60..importation)
No new oak and while at first I found the Cuilleron smokiness distracting, it all comes together in the mouth. Like les Chaillets, it had a sweet wine feel without the sugar and while it lacked the fruit of his grand cuvee, it had a creamy almond taste that went on and on. Great length and depth and very, very ripe.

Condrieu 2004, Grand Vallon, Francois Villard ($60..importation)
At first I found the aromas of pears, honey suckle and peaches a step above that of Cuilleron, but without the grounding minerality of the Desponcins, it lacked a touch of depth and thus comes in a close second to La Petit Côte. Still a beautifully crafted wine, I fear it might lack the substance to do the job with a plate of food in front of you.

2005-11-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

Why Not More Petit Verdot?
Sette Ponti Makes the Point

Once again I was confronted with the jesus grape of warm climates. Tired of jube jube fruit bombs, those heavy and chewy new world cabs that scream for just a touch more acidity? Well open your arms and embrace the Petit Verdot. While only a minor player in Bordeaux (where it only fully ripens in the best of years), I have come across it in California, Spain and now Italy, and more than a few warm weather vintners have remarked to me how difficult it is to over-ripen. Call it the acidifier, the structurizer, the fresherizer, call it what you will, but yesterday, it was the vintage savior (saver). To read more on this check the review for the Poggio Al Lupo

Lunch was with Francesco Cirelli, estate manager of Tuscany based Tenuta Sette Ponti. Alongside the Arezzo based Sette Ponti, they also own vineyards in Sicile (Feudo Maccari) and straddling the Toscane coast( Poggio al Lupo). I was impressed with the whole catalogue, especially with the judicious choice of grapes for the blending. Many of these wines will be available to us Quebecers in the coming months, so watch out for them.

Thanks Pierre for yet another class tasting.

Morellino di Scansano D.o.c., 2004, Poggio Al Lupo ($29..importation)
A blend of 75% Sangiovese and 25% Alicante and aged in stainless, this wine set the tone. Perfect ripeness, hints of violets, tobacco leaf and a ton of dark fruits, all wrapped around a remarkably soft tannic structure, this is a well crafted wine. I loved it’s ‘un-oakiness.’

Toscana I.g.t., Crognolo 2002, Sette Ponti ($40...saq)
A 90-10 Sangiovese-Merlot mix, this is the first decent Toscane 2002 that I have tasted. As they did not make their top wine Oreno in 02, all the best grapes went into the Crognolo. While it still falls slightly into the void, it has a superb texture. With notes of licorice, bitter chocolate and red fruits, this soft and silky wine is ready for a Sunday roast beef.

Toscana I.g.t., Crognolo 2003, Sette Ponti ($40...saq)
This time 90-10 Sangiovese-Cabernet, this is an explosive beast of a wine. I found it remarkably well balanced for an ’03, not too over ripe and with just an impression of residual sugar. I fear it might descend into the cooked fruit thing if kept too long so I would suggest a short stint in the cellar and then bring on the pepper steak.

Sicilia I.g.t., Saia 2003, Feudo Maccari ($40..importation)
100% Nero D’avola, this is another big, juicy wine. Slightly monolithic as is often the case with unblended Nero, it showed above all sweet red peppercorns with firm, and slightly rustic tannins. I would love to see it in a couple of years or perhaps blended with a little Merlot.

Toscana I.g.t., Poggio Al Lupo 2003 ($78.. importation)
73% Cab, 20% Alicante with 7% Petit Verdot. The best European 2003 that I have tasted to date. It made me thing of a Roc de Cambes (Bordeaux) with it’s combination of elegance and rusticity. Think of biting into a perfectly ripe bunch of grapes and you get an idea as to how fresh this wine tasted. Soft and juicy tannins, it went on and on. And why was this 03 so damned good…? Mr. Cirelli acknowledged the Petit Verdot.

Toscane I.g.t, Oreno 2003, Sette Ponti ($75…saq)
50-50 Sangiovese cabernet, I found it over ripe and a bit too ‘meaty.’ Here is another victim of the heat of 2003. One got the sense of the care that was taken in putting the wine together but for me, but it lacked the acidity and freshness of the Lupo. I would love to try a 2001 to get a sense of what it is like coming from a more typical vintage.

2005-11-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

A New Adventure in Wonderland
(Through the Wine Glass)

It started much like the last one, following a tardy but well dressed rabbit down a hole and falling into a pool of tears. As she splashed about, an oyster floated leisurely by, his shell replete with fennel and muscadet. ‘Which way to shore, kind sir?‘, she inquired. ‘It is a ways away but hop on board,‘ he replied. And as she made herself comfortable, 3 radish colored horses surfaced to pull the new found friends towards the Aussie shore. ‘Their names are Verdelho, Chenin and Sémillon, and in their Element they can be a bit fresh.’ he snickered.

‘So have we arrived?’ she asked, but she found herself alone once again. Another queer place she thought to herself, eyeing a gathering of fattened, muscovy ducks next to a forest of celery and butternut squash. ‘Just in time for the race,’ they called to her. ‘And did you bring the prize?’ Alice in despair put her hand in her pocket and pulled out all she had, a sweetly spiced sapote. ‘Queen Constance will love it!’ they rejoiced, as a spicy, muscat scented mist began to fall against a rich and opulent sky.

As if in a trance, Alice spun about only to come face to face with the Rabbit, dressed as if it were time for the hunt. Seeing Alice, he sped away, down one hole and up through another. She followed, through a patch of tomatoes and wild mushrooms until she reached the edge of a cliff. ‘Welcome to the Main Divide,’ read the sign and as Alice peered precariously over the edge, she saw the rabbit floating on a proscuitto chip, happily awash in a sea of Pinot.

Licking her lips she decided to retrace her steps. As she pulled herself from the hole she came upon an old friend, the Cheshire cat. He recounted a fantastic tale of a wild, chipoline crowned deer who lived in a field of caramelized cauliflower and roasted onion. Each night it would sing it’s sweet song as the sky turned cabernet red. ‘Le Bonheur,’ she sighed, as she imagined this powerful yet subtle juxtaposition.

Falling into a wonderful dream, she imagined another life, on an island home to white foxes. Against the backdrop of the translucent sea of Sauvignon, she tended to pannacotta goats who grazed in fields of pears, celery and liveche. The refreshing scent of mint, walnuts and flowers sent Alice into a deep sleep, content in having found such simple pleasures in such a strange and wonderful land.

authors note: in response to the overwhelmingly consistent email theme that I recieved, no, while I do not have any problem with hallucinogenics and other recreational drugs, I was relatively straight when writing this. This is simply an introduction to one our tasting menus.. try and figure out the menu by the clues...maybe we should do some sort of contest... hmmmmm.

2005-10-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

More Biodynamics in Burgundy
A Tasting of the Maison Champy

Believe what you will with respect to the whole biodyamics movement but it seems that more and more winemakers are jumping on board. Again, the buzzwords of being ‘faithful to the terroir,’ ‘respectful of the millisème,’’ typicité,’ are at the roots of the adoption of what seems on the surface such a wacky belief system. Maybe it is rooted in French arrogance, but perhaps that is what is needed to stand up and defend their winemaking style against that innocuous army of little penguins (which by the way is revolting).

Pierre Meurgey bought Champy in 1990 and has since worked to rebuild the reputation of Burgundys oldest winemaker (founded in 1720). With winemaker Dimitri Bazas, they exploit a number of sexy and lesser know appellations in Burgundy, accentuating maximum ripeness and terroir typicité. I found the Chardonnays remarkably, and sometimes excessively fresh, while the Pinot were highly extracted. Here’s the rundown.

The Whites

Saint-Romain Blanc 2003 ($32…importation)
Remarkable acidity considering the vintage. Because of the extraordinary ripeness of the 03’s, they added what he called a homeopathic dose of tartaric acid for the sole purpose of creating an environment more conducive to the indigenous yeast strains that ferment his wine. Like many of the chardonnays of this region, I found it a bit thin and lacking a bit of aromatique exuberance.

Pernand Vergelesses 2003 Blanc ($38…importation)
My first Pernand Blanc and one of my favorites of the tasting. A beautiful floral nose and much better équilibre between freshness and richness. Anchored by an interesting minerality, it has potential to be greater with a short stint in the cellar.

Puligny-Monrachet 2003, Les Ensignères ($73..importation)
In their efforts to maximize the freshness of the wine, they sometimes seem to forget that this is Chardonnay and people want that richness. Thin.

Corton-Charlemagne 2003, Grand Cru ($144..importation)
Nice length with a bit of nutty bitterness on the finish. The best Corton’s that I have tasted have been aromatically intense and I found this one a bit muted, more along the lines of a Meursault. Pretty wine but a bit too expensive.

The Reds

Chorey les Beaune 2003 ($30..saq)
It doesn’t get much better than this for $30. It tasted of spicey blackberry jam and was held up by soft, ripe tannins. Not the most elegant Pinot Noir I have ever tasted but for those people who find Pinot a bit soft, this is for you. Great Buy.

Beaune 1er Cru 2003, Champs Pimont ($57…importation)
This was the winner of the tasting. Ripe and rich with a wonderful complexity, it had a ton of fruit and with all those sweet spices (nutmeg, cinnamon) that make a great Beaune. Slightly reductive, it needs some time in carafe to get rid of that barnyard funk, but for those of you (like me) who appreciate that aromatic quality, you will have a noseful.

Gevrey-Chambertin 2003, Vieilles Vignes ($56..importation)
Nice density with a slightly licorice nose. I found it a bit rough, and even if this is Gevrey, it lacked a certain femininity. Nope.

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru 2003, Les Beaux Monts ($109..importation)
Great. Soft, spherique and profound, it had an almost chocolate quality to it. This is Pinot at it’s best with explosive fruit, great length and a texture that made me want a plate of wild mushroom laced Guinea Hen. One of the better $100 burgundies that I have tasted.

2005-10-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

Terroir Treat
The White Wine of Olivier Jullien

His reds are the most elegant of the Languedoc. They age with grace, gathering complexity like a fall wind. But his white wine had remained a mystery up until last week. I had tried a number of different millisèmes, liked them, but they were simply just good, not the majestic elixir as was advertised. Again, that was until last week.

Vin de Pays de L’Hérault 2000, Mas Jullien ($30..importation)
Composed of a veritable salad of indigenous (and bio-dynamically grown) grapes including Grenache Blanc, Viogner, Chenin, Terret Bourret and possibly even some Gros Manseng, this is big wine with a lot of stuff going on. Apparently his buddy Didier Dagneau of Pur Sang Pouilly fame helps Jullien with the vinification. My first two attempts were foiled simply by a lack of patience on my part. One could sense the grandeur but the combination of too much oak and bracing acidity put it out of balance.

One year later, the mystery is no longer. It had a beautiful floral nose with browning apples, peach and vanilla accents. It reminded me of spring. What followed was one of the creamiest and most complex whites that I have tasted in a while. Terret brings the apples, Grenache a hint of oxidized nuttiness, Viogner that allusion to sweet honeysuckle on the finish. The whole package was framed by a wonderful freshness that apparently comes from the Manseng. Drunk alongside Will and Sara’s inch high pork chops and served with an apple-tomatillo salsa, we shook are heads a number of times at how good the whole thing worked.

Who needs Chardonnay when this stuff exists?