Wine Spectator Trumps All
I love the Wine Spectator. There are a ton of places online and off to source great wine recommendations and tips and industry content, but this mag trumps them all. I have been an online news reader for years and can’t get enough of the iPhone app store, but I am a romantic for the tangible item. I still get my Saturday morning National paper, Bon Apetit magazine, I “borrow” Dwell and The Economist from my husband’s office and more recently, ahhhhhhhh, Wine Spectator.
The size of the mag makes you feel special just holding it. Not your standard at about 9″x13″, the weight is just right and the texture is not too stiff and glossy nor paper thin. I love a magazine that can capture the essence of an issue with simple graphics on the cover. The photography is passable and sometimes lacks imagination (The Economist is supreme on this) but the simple headline entices you to jump right in.
From editor’s picks to the latest news in the biz to the Buyer’s Guide it’s packed with at least an hour or 2 of fabulous info.
And when you’ve gone cover to cover, it’s an excellent resource to hang on to.
Check out the Wine Spectator online and for viewing on your mobile as well.
Fancy Cars and “Select” Wines
Warning: When tasting delectable wines in a Mercedes-Benz showroom, spit as much as humanly possible. At the end of the night, you’re walking out with at least a case of wine… oh, and look: it comes in the truck of a shiny new S65 AMG Sedan. How did that happen? (Oddly, I now know what a S65 AMG Sedan is.)
Select Wines has it going on. As a pre-holiday tasting event, the Canada-wide agency held a customer appreciation night this week in Vancouver at the Mercedes Benz dealership in Kits. Oo-la-la. Smart move. What else gets you in the mood to pick up a case or 2 other than flashy hot-rods, a shiny black grand piano crankin’ out not-sick-of-them-yet Christmas tunes and several stations of big reds, crisp whites and happy bubbly to keep the room buzzing for hours? This was a great event. Small, casual and nicely orchestrated by the fine people of Select who kept those glasses full…
They had a selection of about 15 wines in total. We were greeted at the door with a little bubbly to kick it off – their Piper-Heidieck Brut Reserve ($55.98 | #462432) – excellent start to the evening. After we wandered through the dangerously available for spontaneous radical purchasing autos, we hit the whites and enjoyed a classic Riesling, 07 from Hugel, Alsace ($24.99 | #365486), the Wither Hills straight-down-the-middle classic Kiwi Sauvy B. ($18.99 | #493619 ), and the seemingly more trendy wine of 2009: a 07 Grüner Veltliner from Austria’s Salomon Undhof ($26.99 | #843045) – nuts and honey, fantastic mouth-feel.
Moving into the reds, there were 10 on hand and we of course tasted a healthy portion of each one. Here were a few of my big-body fav’s:
- 06 Sicilian Merlot Collezione di Famiglia. Full body, chocolatey, balanced, smooth, smooth, smooth. Nice to discover from the south of Italy. Great for any heavy sauce or meaty Christmas dish ($19.99 | #760223)
- 05 Barbaresco Ricossa – Great value for this big-bodied, complex guy ($21.99 | #929406)
- 07 Firesteed Pinot Noir – One of the better valued new world Pinots under $25, thanks to those Oregon winemakers who know a thing or two on old world Pinot style ($22.99 | #361782)
- 06 Shiraz Viognier from Yering Station in Oz – this was my favourite of the night. A great find. It’s got a pleasantly unsuspecting mouth feel and an intensity from different directions, giving way for varying flavours. A must try. ($26.99 | #699785)
Thankfully, plenty of wine and hours later, we didn’t end up with a car. We did however end up with a Christmas mixed case of great wines. Thanks to everyone at Select, especially Risha, and to the Mercedes crew for a very memorable night.
My Brief Interlude at Cornucopia
My pal Tracey and I headed up to the Friday afternoon industry tasting at Cornucopia in Whistler a few weeks back. (Thank Judas there is a mountain getaway wine event in the dreary November rainy season.) We decided to make a quick day trip of it, just to wet our lips at this year’s event… that was, until the snow came and the mountain announced its opening two weeks ahead of schedule; my plans quickly changed. Fresh snow equals staying in the mountains, which was the perfect excuse to also take full advantage of the food and wine festival. My intention was to attend as much as I could, meet more people and soak up the scene (and the wine). It’s the intention that counts, right?
The hill was far too heavenly. I chose bombing down a mountain on a board in new, perfect, buttery snow rather than the former intention. Ah well. Instead of spending a small fortune on all of the festival’s wine and food events, I spent a small fortune après, fireside at the Chateau’s Mallard lobby bar.
Rasoul Salehi, Executive Director of Le Vieux Pin and La Stella (Okanagan), was kind enough to offer me a bottle of his 2007 LaStella Fortissimo for us to enjoy and I am happy to toss in my notes, crafted from two agreeable palates: This is a bold but soft Italian-inspired blend, a deep, rich ruby (52% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc) with a whole lot of black fruits on the nose and even more on the palate, balanced nicely with hints of chocolate and cedar. Soft and velvety throughout, it’s got some tight tannins and I was hoping for a tad more on the finish, but this is one that’ll do well with a few years, or why not right now with a juicy hunk o’ meat? I quite enjoyed it, white robe and mountain room aside slightly persuading the mood. ($35 ish)
I did manage to snap off a few pics of the festival and my new mountain “wine fridge”. Sorry Rasoul – a portion of your Fortissimo ended up on the roof of the Chateau. But not before I enjoyed most of it. Not a bad branding tactic perhaps?
This is the part where I link to all the fabulous posts on the event’s site so you can dig for more great info, but it doesn’t seem they have an official blog space, or photos on Flickr?… and doing a quick search I found Degan’s piece on Foodist.ca and Jennifer was covering things for Miss 604 in this post. Let me know if I’ve missed others worth linking to. Here’s a few more pics from “Culinary Fool” on Flickr.
IVSA So Many Wines… You Know The Rest
So *this* is where all the cool kids hang out. IVSA (Import Vintners & Spirits Association of BC) in Vancouver was a good time had by all at the Four Seasons downtown (this hotel really supports the wine world, hey?). If you are in the wine industry, you should consider joining the mobs of wine agents and buyers. If you’re not, you should find a way to get there next time around.
Roaming the room, taking it all in and chatting with familiar and new faces, you couldn’t help notice the serious on-a-mission tasters for wine columns, blogs, party recommendations, surrounded by the not-so-serious having a grand ol’ time with old friends industry veterans. Everyone was in great spirits and it felt a bit like Christmas in early November.
I met some lovely people, tasted some doozy wines, but there was no hope you could even dream of tasting half of the room in the 3 short hours, so I tried to stick to some bubbly on the note-taking, seeing as it is almost the season, and list a few sparklings, the real deal Champers plus a few bonus tracks for the holi’s:
- Bastianich Flor Prosecco – $19.99 – easy to drink and your fills the mouth with florals and light, lovely bubbles
- Codorniu Pinot Noir Sparkling Brut, Cava, $19.99 – full of zest but smooth as butter, and with a pinky-orangey hue for all you pink fans out there
- Nicolas Feuillatte Particuliere Brut, Champagne, $59.99 – Gismondi 90 pts.
- Champagne Moutardier Carte d’Or, $58.99 – unique 85% Pinot Meunier must try – 90 pts Burghound
- Penfolds Grandfather Port, $84.99 – nutty and rich, melts in your mouth and hangs around for a long time but not long enough!
- Chateau d’Orignac Pineau des Charentes, $39.99 – Wow. Two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, one-third Cognac and ten years to produce – think thick, rich honey in a beautiful wine. Excellent value.
- Blue Raspberry Vodka, $23.75 – And why not add a little fun bubble-gum-esque blue vodka into the Christmas stocking? Goes with every typical mix I’d imagine or on its own on the rocks.
Bonus Tracks:
Thanks to Catherine at Rare Finds and Risha at Select Wines for making certain I made it out.
My Week In France
… in Vancouver.
What to do when you can’t jet off to France every other month? Seek France out in a hotel or community centre near you.
Last week I stopped into two local tasting events. The first, an industry tasting of Bordeaux reds and whites at the Roundhouse called Bordeaux Under One Roof. The second, the Rhône Valley at the Four Seasons Hotel at an event called Warm Winter Rhône – a benefit for the Children’s Hospital.
Great thing about my “afternoon in Bordeaux”: all wines presented were under $30. Beat that. Pretty decent value. It was a quiet room of just nine local agencies which made it easy to meet and greet and move around.
Before the tasting got started, it was optional to slip into the theatre adjacent to the tasting room and listen to an hour on Bordeaux from Montrealer and Bordeaux expert Nick Hamilton. It was a basic 101 on the region, terroir, grapes and wines, but served as very informative if you knew zero to very little.
Bordeaux wines are the true art of blending.
– Nick Hamilton
A Few Bordeaux Picks:
- Red: Chateau Mayne-Vieil 2005, $27.99 – rich, full body, lovely tannins, balanced and drinkable now / Merlot, Cab Franc
- White: Dourthe No 1 Sauvignon Blanc, $16.99 – Holy New Zealand! Very typical flare of a Sauvy B from NZ – citrus, grapefruit, fresh, zesty, yum – from France.
- Best deal of the day: Chateau Loupiac Gaudiet 2003, $17.99 (375ml) – sweet gem you could sip on all afternoon!
Across town and two days later, my “evening in the Rhône Valley” was splendid. This night was a benefit for the Children’s Hospital, so wonderful to see a packed room with eager note-takers and the “occasional” no-spitters… always entertaining. It was an easy room to try most wines, and that I did, along with my very-happy-to-taste-at-anytime-fellow-wine-enthusiast Tracey. Definitely found it easier to taste with one other person along for the ride, rather than a solo trek or a +1 +1 +1 etc. You can block out some crowds and get down to the task at hand with a second nose and set of taste buds.
Treats From The Rhône:
- Le Compagnie Rhodanienne 206 Les Combelles, $13.49 – easy drinking, light tannins and body with a nice balance – perfect entry into Rhône wine.
- Chapoutier 2005 Muscat Beaumes de Venise – other than the small twang of *slight* high alcohol at 15.5%, really, really lovely.
- Perrin Les Christins 2007 Vacqueyras, $26.99 – their marketing says it better than I: “rock-solid”.
Bringing Napa Home To You
Vancouver played host to Napa Valley at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel this month as part of “Wine Arts”, an event hosted by Arts Umbrella. Lucky me got to join and transport myself from bad lighting and industrial carpeting to some of the Greats from Calistoga, St. Helena and Rutherford.
In speaking with some of the winemakers, winery owners and reps and local agents, the wines fell under categories of a. available in Vancouver, b. never going to be available in Vancouver and c. “We’ve been trying for years to get into Vancouver!”. So good luck finding them. Locally, try the private wine shops first. If nothing else, head down to Napa and try them all in person.
My Highlight Reel:
- Trefethen 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – deep purple, dark fruits, beautifully balanced, long smokey finish – Available (Canada) through Lanigan & Edwards
- 2006 Diamond Creek “Gravelly Meadow” Cabernet Sauvignon – most expensive wine of the night and one of the best – funny how that happens.
- 2007 Laird Family Estate Cold Creek Ranch Chardonnay – just the way you’d expect a full, toasty Cali Chardonnay. This one was a treat.
- 2006 Quintessa (85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, & 1% Carmenere) – A lot going on with this rich and beautiful wine with black fruits and plenty of spice. This one needs some meat or put it away for another day down the road. Yum!
- Heitz Cellars Ink Grade Port – Holy Purple! This is one smoooooth porto. And check out the ancient Portuguese varietals: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Sausao, Tinta Cao, Tinta Bairada, Tinta Madeira, Tinta Amarela, Bastardo – These read something like Russian for the Rookie, but wow. Heitz Cellars says it perfectly: “The perfect reason to linger over dinner.”.
My WSET Fine Vintage Favourites
What better time to start writing about wine then when you’ve just finished tasting roughly 18 wines a day over 6 glorious days?
Having recently completed Level 3 of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) with James Cluer at Fine Vintage, I have to give my props to some of the wine in this ‘Random Top 20(ish) Wines’ we were fortunate enough to taste while “studying”… listed in no particular order, according to my personal preference, with price point estimates (BC, Canada) and a few scribbles between the drooling, Ooo-ing and Ahhh-ing. Most of these, let it be known, I simply could not merely ‘taste’; a few slipped right down. A lot of these are wines you may want to break the bank on when the occasion presents itself, like, for instance, a quiet Tuesday evening at home. Why not?
WHITES:
1. Domaine Weinbach, Riesling Schlossberg, Alsace Grand Cru 2005 $70 – crisp and beautiful – spend the dough on this one, it will not disappoint.
2. Vinvent Girardin, Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts Burgundy 2006 $99 – oh-so-much-goodness. Melts in your mouth. Drink now.
3. Charles Heidsieck Cuvée 1995 $200 – Heavenly way to start the morning.
4. Zilliken Riesling Auslese Mosel (‘Auslese’ = German Late Harvest = sweet = FAB) 1995 $58
5. Muenchberg Grand Cru Alsace Riesling 2004 $104
6. Nicolas Joly Savennières Les Clos Sacrés (Les Vieux Clos) 2006 $47 – Bio-Dynamic
7. Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 2003 $65 for the HALF L.
8. Château Dereszla Tokaji 2003 $30
9. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Alsace 2004 $58
10. Kinheimer Rosenberg Riesling Kabinett 1999 $26 – What value!
(Bonus Number 11: blanc de blancs Champagne 1999 $85)
REDS:
1. Alentejo Incognito 2003 $67
2.Torres Salmos Priorat 2005 $35
3. Pio Cesare Barbaresco 2004 $114
4. Smith Woodhouse Tawny Port 1986 $65
5. Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 2002 $110
6. Château Beauséjour 1er Cru Saint Emilion 1998 $70
7. Château Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2001 $125 (All 13 grapes!)
8. Guigal Saint Joseph 2004 $110 (If I had to pick just one, god forbid, I can still taste this one…)
9. Felton Road Pinot Noir $110
10. Luce, IGT Super Tuscan, Montalcino 2005 $100
I’d be happy to expand on the what’s?/huh’s?/who’s-a? on any of the above if you’s like to know more. And if you are thinking of taking a wine course or two, and happen to live in Western Canada or Northwest US, you have to seek out James’ classes – you will not be disappointed.
It’s Time
I have been toying with this idea for several years, but, like most bloggers, I stuck with the one megan cole hub with the thinking that when the time is right I’ll start blogging about my love for wine. Putting my own blog to good use from time to time for various wine posts would have been a smart idea, but that never felt quite right, or enough. That, added to the explosion of micro-blogging over the last few years, has kept me pre-occupied elsewhere.
My foray into the blogosphere began while working at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, (at the time) ’secretly’ documenting my behind-the-scenes of Broadcast Centre working with the CBC. I have spent the last 4 years creating content around technology, community, music and general life musings. Having yet another place online to update and upkeep with fresh content was definitely something I did not want to embark on until I could devote some serious time to it. And so goes the battle with peeling yourself away from a computer.
Alas, it is time. Coming from a technology and online community landscape, what I know best is to start with the blog and build it out from there. I’ve spent the last year brushing up on some wine education and just completed my WSET Advanced Level 3 certification. I am inspired and ready as ever. Et Voila.
