2006 Château Beauchêne Côtes du Rhône Premier Terroir

Delicious, rich, deep French Cotes du Rhone that we enjoyed with our Beef Wellington, asparagus and butter sauce.

CHANSON PERE & FILS BOURGOGNE 2007

Pixed this up at Brix in the South End. Looking for a nice sipping Pinot Noir, and this was recommended as a bottle you could take home and drink right away. It has a very nice ruby colour with hints of redish brown right at the very edges. The nose is a bit earthy, with a bit of apple spice that reminded me of autumn. This wine is very well balanced with strong tannins and a bit of a bite of alcohol, making me thing this wine could be aged a little longer.

WILLM RIESLING 2008

I have always been intrigued by the long necked bottle and yellow label of wines from Alsace. They are some of the classic fragrant whites - Riesling and Gewürztraminer. Today I tried a Riesling from Willm. It has a very pronounced nose with notes of orange and pear. It shows flavours of Macintosh apples and lemon zest. Would go well with oysters.

JOSEPH FAIVELEY BOURGOGNE CHARDONNAY 2006

Part 2 of our tour-de-Bourgogne. This chardonnay has a nice pear nose with notes of banana, maple, and cat pee on the palate. Still holds acidity without a lot of the honeys, caramels and vanillas we get in other Chardonnays. C'est manifique!

LOUIS LATOUR MARSANNAY 2006

I am currently reading Red, White, and Drunk All Over by Natalie MacLean. The book starts with a description of the Burgundy wine region, one of the coldest in France. Burgundy is famous for pinot noir, a seductive, fragile, temperamental grape that is often the favourite of sophisticated wine aficionados. It is extremely sensitive to growing conditions thanks to its thin skin, earning the nickname “heartbreak grape.” Its fragility adds to its allure. Most Burgundois wine makers, however, seem to focus on the terroir – the soil, the vineyard, the region – which adds minerality and complexity to the wine.

In the spirit of this first chapter I decided to pick up a couple bottles from Bourgogne. We first drank the Louis Latour ’06 from the Marsannay appellation. This wine made a big first impression on me, but not for the reason you might think. I cut off the foil, about to remove the cork, and I noticed the foil was THICK. It was firm to bend, almost like a thin piece of steel. Next, I opened the bottle, and I noticed the cork was (a) real, and (b) in pristine condition. I have had some bad luck with corks recently, including one that was rotten resulting in corked, undrinkable wine that tasted like vinegar. This bottle, on the other hand was sealed with quality. A great first impression.

Oh, and it tasted good too! Despite its light, strawberry juice colour, the nose on this wine reminded me of a deep inky smell like when my pens used to break in elementary school. I could also smell a lot of alcohol. This wine was silky on the tongue, and Julia picked out flavours of black currants. It reminded her of a Gamay we had a few months ago. Overall, a delicious, complex Burgundy that I would happily drink again.

Valréas “Cuvée Prestige” Côtes du Rhône Villages 2007

God bless the United States of America. Wine here is just so darned inexpensive! I recently moved to Boston to start a new job (Julia will join me soon) and discovered Trader Joe's, a grocery store chain that sells many reasonably priced wines. They seem to average between $6 and $9, and there is a great selection from all major wine producing countries (sadly, none from Canada). They even sell a brand called Charles Shaw for $2.99!! This just blows my mind; in Canada you will never find a wine for less than $8.

Today, I'm drinking Valréas “Cuvée Prestige” Côtes du Rhône Villages ($5.99), an extremely dry blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Syrah. Definitely spicey but not especially complex. A good table wine that stands up well to tomato sauces or meats.

I also purchased a bottle of Beringer Founder's Estate Merlot 2006 for $7.99 (CAD $9.23). Just to illustrate the high price of wine in Canada, the same wine sells in B.C. for CAD $18.99!

CHATEAU D'ARGADENS 2004

This Bordeaux was the Vintages wine of the month for October. It is a Bordeaux Superieur, meaning it is a common wine produced with grapes from all over the region. Consisting of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, this red is refined and well balanced. The bouquet is subtle with notes of liquorice, black current, and leather. The palate suggests cloves and blackberry, and hints of the twelve months of oak aging.

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MOUTON CADET 2005

Mouton Cadet is the product of Baron Philippe de Rothschild. It is not good enough to be called Chateau Mouton Rothschild, so they called it Mouton Cadet (cadet meaning younger son in French). It is a Bordeaux AOC with grapes from Saint-Estephe and Haut-Medoc, plus other regions.

We ordered a bottle at Morton's - The Steakhouse, and it went perfectly with our porterhouses and rib eyes. A luscious, deep red hue, and a perfect balance of fruit and tannins. It is a blend of 65% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon, and 15% cabernet franc.

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Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival 2008

Last night Jules and I attended the Tasting Room event of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. As the cliche goes, I was like a kid in a candy store. There were dozens of wineries pouring hundreds of wines, and it wasn't just the common stuff either. There were was a selection of champagne, bordeaux, port, and myriad reserves. It was very crowded, so at times we had to get a bit pushy to get in front of the booths, but over all I was able to taste virtually everything I wanted. Having never been to this event before, I had hoped to take some tasting notes on some of the wines. Soon after arriving, I realized that this would be impossible, firstly because I had forgot a freakin' pen, but also because of the physical difficulty of juggling a wine glass, note pad, pen, festival program, and handouts. I did see a few others taking notes, but it looked very awkward. Maybe next time...
The regional theme this year was Italy, and it seemed this was the most represented country. Because it was the most crowded area on the floor we did not sample as many as we would have liked. I admit I am less familiar with Italian growing regions and grape varietals, however I do enjoy Italian wine. Here are some highlights:

• Prunotto Barbaresco 2004 & Bric Turot Barbaresco 2004 - according to their representatives, 2004 was an exceptional vintage for their Barbaresco wines. It showed; both the Barbaresco and Bric Turot Barbaresco were delicious, with high acidity, and pronounced fruit flavours
• Antinori Tignanello Toscana 2005 & Cervaro Della Sala 2004 - Julia and I agreed that the Cervaro Della Sala was our favourite white of the tasting room. And the Tignanello - hey, it's a classic.
• Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio 2006 - a refreshing, simple pinot grigio that offers good value.

And then there was the rest of the world. I was able to browse a downloaded version of the program ahead of time, and wrote down some wines that I wanted to try. Quite a few were French.

• Taittinger Champagne NV (FR) - of the half dozen or so champagnes we tried, including G.H. Mumm and Pommery, this was my favourite
• Chateau Haut Vigneau 2005 (FR) - a fine bordeaux, with pronounced tannins and a long finish
• Perrin Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-Du-Pape Rouge 2005 (FR) - I love Perrin Reserve Red Cotes Du Rhone, so I had to try their Chateauneuf.
• Perrin Coudoulet de Beaucastel Red 2005 (FR) - another fine Cotes du Rhone from the Perrin family, who, through recent acquisitions, produce dozens of other wines.
• Louis Latour Pinot Noir (FR)
• Ogier Caves des Papes Châteauneuf-Du-Pape, Clos De L’Oratoire 2005 (FR) - tried it just because of the great label
  
• Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Estate Sunrock Shiraz 2005 (CA) - I have a bottle of this on my rack but had never tried it before. Now I'm glad I bought it.
  
• Santa Rita Pehuen Carmenere 2004 (CL) - a special treat, since this wine was designated for industry tastings only. I distinctly remember hints of mint and burnt rubber
• Santa Rita Floresta Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (CL) - at first I thought this was a chardonnay because of its boldness. Very pronounced citrus
• Dr H Thanisch Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Auslese 2005 (DE) - very sweet and flavourful dessert wine
  

COTES DU RHONE PERRIN RESERVE 2005

Wow. This wine completely blew me away. What terrific balance and fragile complexity. It has an earthy aroma with hints of cloves and cranberries. Flavours of cocoa and plum with a slight spiciness and excellent tannins. Thanks to Mary Alice for a wonderful bottle.

Perrin Reserve consists of Cinseault, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre grapes. They are grown in the vinyards of Grand Prébois owned by the Perrin family in Orange, France.

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Christmas Tastings

Christmas is a time to enjoy friends and family, and what better way to celebrate the season than with a glass of wine. I've had a few nice wines over the last few days.

CHABLIS 1ER VAILLONS - CHRISTIAN MOREAU CUV GUY MOREAU 2005
For Christmas Eve I decided to try something special to go with the Dungeness Crab that my Dad was preparing. I decided to go with a nice Chablis, a white from Burgundy, which consists of the Chardonnay varietal. It was nicely balanced, quite acidic, and was reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc. I felt it lacked finish. Aged in 60/40 stainless/barrel, yet not very oaky.
Chablis known for best value Burgandy white. According to Jancis Robinson, author of How To Taste - A Guide To Enjoying Wine, young Chablis shows high acidity, and then goes through a five or six year period of maturation, afterwhich the beauquet opens up in complexity. I would like to try this same wine in about 2012.

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POACHERS BLEND - ST.HALLETT 2006
When the Chablis ran out, Dad popped open a bottle of Poachers Blend. I had been wanting to try this as it had recently been named best value blended white by Wine Access magazine. Very fruity. Reminded me a bit of champagne.

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SATURNA ISLAND VINEYARDS - PINOT NOIR 2006
Accompanied turkey dinner on Christmas night. Colour of raspberries. Very light, flavour of raspberries and cranberries. Overall, lacked depth.

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Kettle Valley Winery - Pinot Noir 2005
Smokey and earthy. Blackberries, currants. Deep, rich red colour. Solid tannins. Level of acidity to be expected in Pinot Noir. Long finish. Very nice.

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Note: you have probably noticed the new ratings system. I think that the 100 point rating system used by many publications is dumb since they only seem to give ratings over 80 (granted, they tend not to publish any ratings less than 80). One would think that you would want to stay away from anything rated lower than about 75. Furthermore, how can you really tell an 88 from an 89? Therefore, I tried to simplify my ratings to three simple choices. Wines rated one wine glass are ones I would tend to pass over in favour of trying something else. A two wine glass rating is a solid choice. A three wine glass is really great wine that is worthy of cellaring or opening for a special occasion.

CHATEAU LE MARQUISAT LA PEROUSE 2005

This is the first Bordeaux I have ever bought, and perhaps ever tasted. Fitting, then, that it cost me only ten bucks. I immediately noticed how fragrant this wine is - I felt I could drink it simply by sniffing. There are flavours of cherry and licorice, and a spicy finish. Not as big as expected, but again, I don''t know what is typical for a Bordeaux. Discovered this wine reading Jurgen Gothe's Uncorked column in the Georgia Straight.

Score: 85
SKU #871103 / UPC #00820633153764

La Bastide Vin de Pays l’Herault 2006

Fairly average wine. Simple, and without noticeable flavours. High alcohol on the nose. I couldn't find much info about this wine on the Internet - that can't be a good sign. Decent wine for the money. Vin de Pays l’Herault means "country wine" from the Herault region. According to French wine labeling laws, Vin de Pays is of lower quality than AOC and VDQS wines, but can still include the region and grape varietals on the label.

Score: 80
SKU #587196 / UPC #03382100000751

Côtes du Rhône - Mommessin Les Epices 2004

The Côtes du Rhône "Les Epices" is a delicious blend of Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault,and Syrah grape varieties. It is quite complex and well balanced, with plum on the nose. It has nice tannin notes that aren't overpowering. Mommessin is a French winery founded in 1865 in Burgundy, and is now located in the Beaujolais region. I loved this wine!

Score: 90