TWENTY ROWS THE GRAPPLER 2005

A wonderfully complex blend of 53% Zinfandel, 32% Syrah, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cherries, black pepper, and hints of chocolate. Very fruity with a smokey oak finish that lingers.

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.

BENSON FERRY VINYARDS OLD VINE ZINFANDEL 2006

Julia and I stopped at Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits on the way back from a great Malaysian dinner in Boston's Chinatown. We grabbed a bottle of Benson Ferry Vinyards Old Vine Zinfandel 2006 and popped it open when we got home. It was definitely a big, bold, fruity Zin, with juicy notes and a smokey after taste. Not much noticeable on the nose, and a deep cherry red colour. I wasn't overly impressed by this wine given its price ($16.99). I found it too sweet and lacking complexity.

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!

THIRTY BENCH RIESLING 2006

Highly crisp and citrus-y, this Riesling is a great specimen of the Niagara region's best grape varietal. Its dryness is very noticeable in the beginning, so I would advise letting it breathe for a few minutes. It is an award winning wine: Silver Medal (Best in Class) - International Wine & Spirits Competition, UK 2008; and Silver Medal - Canadian Wine Awards 2007. Knowing that Thirty Bench is famous for its Rieslings, we saved this special bottle until the very last moment. (We are currently packing up to move to Boston, and so our reviews will soon feature wines available in shops around the city.) I don't expect to find any Thirty Bench in Massachusetts, which is a shame.

ALVARO PALACIOS PRIORAT LES TERRASSES 2006

To celebrate the completion of a major milestone of my MBA I went to the LCBO in search of something special. The Vintages section had a number of selections on sale, and at very steep discounts. I picked up a bottle of Alvaro Palacios Priorat Les Terrasses 2006 for $30, a savings of ten bucks! Honestly I had never heard of this wine before but I figured it must be a great wine to justify a $40 price tag. Then again, Vintages had to discount it to clear out their inventory, so it must not be that good...

Alvaro Palicios is a very well known wine producer from the Priorat region in Spain. The region has a distinctive soil called llicorella that is has concentrations of slate and quartz. The harsh growing conditions in Priorat produces low yields of highly concentrated juices. As a result, Priorat wines are very lively and flavourful. Les Terrasses is the least expensive of the three produced by Alvaro Palicios, the other two being L’Ermita and Finca Dofí.

Les Terrasses is a blend of roughly 30% Garnacha, 60% Cariñena, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet comes through very strongly on the nose, with strong notes of plum and chocolate. Overall, the wine is fruity and vibrant, with undertones of minerals and mint. It is a great example of why I tend to prefer blends over 100% varietals - if a blend balanced right it offers an incredible complexity that is difficult to beat.