Essex County Wine Report

Please follow the link and see/hear this music video. Only a person from the east coast could be so right. http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en.htm

Our Appellations, Lake Erie North Shore and Pelee Island are the home of the Essex Scottish Highland Light Infantry, a regiment which my father and many other local men and women served in and liberated Holland from the Nazis. Prior to that they were involved in the infamous Dieppe Raid which was a disaster and decimated so many neighbourhoods in the area. In the Regimental system the regiments were located geographically so a disaster like Dieppe had horrible effects. About half the regiment was lost, but there was the “honour” of getting the furthest inland.

The Generals said that they learned alot and it saved thousands of live at D-Day. Well it is humorous that a member of the Royal Family was utterly incompetent and it took a dirt poor farm-boy from Missouri to get it right (well he made a great President too). I wonder how many silent cheers there were in the Legion Halls when Mountbatten was blown up by the IRA.

With our finest in Afghanistan, risking their lives and the tragedy at Fort Hood, I think that at 11:00 am tomorrow we should all bow our heads and pray for our brave lads and those who have served so proudly before them.

We need to remember with great pride how our brave men liberated the Dutch in 45 and maybe we can in time turn Afghanistan into a proper country.

So raise a toast to the brave ones and if you see an elderly man selling poppies ask him if he wants a coffee, he deserves it.

I always find it odd when local wine geeks refuse to try local wine, but are so quick to buy from any new wine region which the lickbo is promoting. True our region only has a limited number of wineries with limited to no support from lickbo or the local hospitality industry, so trying them requires effort...much more effort than it should btw.

So what happens when we take a local wine and have it go against a Sonoma, then a French wine. How can it hold up?

Last night we bbq'd some lamb, so what goes with this??? Syrah of course. Add to that we made an Herbes de Provence infused olive oil to marinade the chops and the Rhone wine should shine..right??.

We started with the Californian, Cline Syrah. This is a fine wine that Vintages carries all the time. It lacks that burnt fruit tastes and seems a bargain at the price.

Next was the Syrah from Ruthven via Mastronardi. My review tells what I think of it. Lean, not burnt fruit (basically can't happen here). It goes to say that I like this wine. Syrah can't grow here of course...but I love the local ones who somehow defy the spoken truths of the wine snobs.

Third was Venus Lauree, Cotes du Rhone Villages from of course the Rhone Valley in France. A very nice wine.

All are about the same price so there isn't a ringer.

The lamb chops marinated for about 2 hours. The oil was an extraction from Herbes de Provence and garlic. I was saddened that we didn't get local lamb but this was still good. We grilled them with pecan wood chips. Frenched green beans in garlic butter and a free form gratin aided as sides.

So how did it go? All 3 were great with the lamb and what was interesting was that all were fairly similar and none either stood out nor fell behind. That is interesting as the three regions are very dissimilar, but they had basically the same grape ( the Frenchy was a Grenache-Syrah blend which is typical from the Rhone). All blended well to the next.

It just confirms what a local winemaker keeps telling me. He believes that this area is wonderful and is the best area other than Napa and Sonoma in North America. He points to the development of the grapes which mature completely at harvest time. In hot areas the grapes may have the sugar, but they aren't mature therefore the have to hang and the sugar goes way up and the acid falls way down. The result is a 15% Pinot that is all fruit and no subtleties. Here the acid stays up and the sugar is there but not too high resulting in12-13% Pinot which is right in the sweet spot. Besides that, the good stuff in wine is more abundant in cool climate wines so the local wine is really good for you.

So it was fun and good to see that the local champion held its own . A winner wasn't chosen but I liked them all.

We just have to keep screaming that our local wine is as good or better than the imports. Just wish that the lickbo would support them rather than Yellow Penguin.

Tootles

CIDER UPDATE

getting ready to rack it as the primary fermentation looks to be almost done. Maybe Thursday

Since I see alot of my readers are not from Ontario I would like to add a little to the Cellared in Canada post.

CIC wines are blends of up to 70% foreign wine and 30% local juice. The odd thing is is that the only wineries allowed to make it are wineries with pre 1993 licenses. What is odder is that most of these (except the LENS ones...local) are now owned by Constellation Brands which is American. Constellation bought up Vincor, which was the largest Canadian group thus getting access to this market segment which was there to keep the industry viable.

The real problem is that the LCBO (gov't liquor stores) or lickbo as “the Prodigal One” refers to it, likes to harp that it sells ~ 52% Canadian content, but VQA is only 1/5 of this amount. So the CIC is the bulk of the wine.

So let's do some cipherin as Jethro Bodine would say. If VQA is only 20% of wine sold and CIC accounts for 80%.....lets see....30% of 80% is..naught goes into nought.....my goes-intos aren't that good ...so lets say 24% of the grapes are from Ontario. So lets say that 20% (VQA) and 24% (CIC) results in 44% of the grapes in Canadian wine sold by the Licko are actually Canadian. More grapes are sourced from outside Canada than from in.

Add to this, the fact that only a handful of the BIG wineries can make CIC legally, I wonder how we have a wine industry.

Go into the lickbo and you see Cellared in Canada prominently and the VQA sign. Well at least CIC wines are cheap but they are a fraud. I don't have a problem with them as they do create wealth and employment, but to the average person they think as these as Ontario wines, which they aren't. But remember they absorb more than ½ the grapes sold (and generally the poorer ones). Eliminating the program would severely harm the grape growers, and we as wine lovers need them.

So why does the lickbo do this???Nobody really knows but I bet they make more money on importing cheap wine and marketing it than working with small wineries. They want volume and are so proud that they are the 'biggest single buyers of wine and spirits in the world”....well Tesco (England) and Costco (US) may disagree. They seem to not be interested in the local craft wineries. True they will be more work to sell, margins would be more variable, but it would create jobs and local wealth.

So buy your wine from the wineries and **** lickbo as the don't care about us. Most wineries will ship so don't let dalton's gang stop you from buying our wine.

Tootles

On Grapes

The harvest is over, and alot of grapes were left unsold. I wonder if I could have been able to buy grapes from a grower. Per what I know they can't sell to me as I don't have a license to buy.

So I can buy grapes from California but seem to not be able to buy Ontario grapes.....better to let them rot.

So why not let the uncontracted grapes be sold to the public and......and.....U Brew wine shops. Yes could you imagine Drunken Dalton's being able to sell local juice. I am sure that that pressing could be arranged for the bulk juice and then the could sell fresh juice as a special. There easy peesy.... wouldn't it be cool if hobbyists could use all the extra grapes. And think of this one...we could deprive Dalton and his gang of the taxes.....hahahaha

tootles

Cider is going good....bubbling away

The harvest should be done and yet alot of grapes remain unsold. The current system is just basically wrong.

Most wine lovers want Cellared in Canada wines to be boycotted and the program cancelled. The problem with this is that the impact on the grape growers would be devastating. I am not a fan but eliminating this product would be disastrous.

If you didn't know, you have to have a pre- 1993 licence to sell Cellared in Canada Wine (CIC). This is basically unfair and gives the big players a real advantage. It was designed to allow the wineries to survive bad crop years, but has become a cash cow for Lickbo and the big wineries.

If it was cancelled many grape growers would be bankrupted. These are family farms which would be lost and remember the investment for grapes is huge. You just can't switch to soya beans for a year or two if you grow grapes. So to ban it would cause chaos and would have severe impact on the business.

So, how do I propose to solve the problems related to CIC. This is easy.

1)simply relate the percentage of local grapes to vary per the crop. If it is a bad year lower the content and if its a good crop raise it. The long term goal is to eliminate CIC but do it slowly.

2)allow all wineries to make CIC if they choose. Most won't but this is only fair.

3)make labelling to show what CIC is and that it is not VQA

4)allow Appellation Wine stores which sell only VQA wine from that Appellation. Put this outside the Lickbo so they can't torpedo it

5)make the Lickbo feature CANADIAN WINE...go to Michigan and California wine is featured. You can buy wine from all over the world but American wine is featured. Why does our gov't who owns Lickbo hate local wine. Well the make more money selling Yellow Penguin but it would be nice to feature what we sell and create jobs.

6)reform VQA and remove the tasting element. Keep technical rules, but let the winemakers make weird and wonderful wines. Make it fair and get the Lickbo out of VQA. Make rules that help the industry grow and create jobs.

CIC isn't evil, and it does move grapes. We need reform to make the industry grow and prosper. I don't care about exports as I'd like us to drink mainly local and drink everything made here. Wineries are a great vehicle to increase tourism and diversify the economy. With St Catherine's and Windsor down and out any new jobs should be promoted but my pal Dalton just doesn't seem to get it....bet he drinks Yellow Penguin.

tootles

Here the are and thanks again Gary

Sorry I haven't posted lately but I had been prepping for Cider Day!!!! That involves moving the press (it must weigh 300 lbs!!!), cleaning it, testing it, procuring apples, cleaning all implements, buying beer (bribes helpers) and then the day comes.

We got our apples from the orchard down the street at around 9:30. Bob it turns out was a hunting buddy of Terry's dad. He had alot of Macintosh, so that was the base. Add JohnnyMac, Delicious, Chieftains and two other sweets and there we were. 10 bushels of apples in Terry's SUV and room enough for us.

Then I final cleaned the press and started the motor for the chipper....it didn't work....not at all and I had 10 bushels of apples and no chipper.....oi!!!!. Gary from the Essex Wine Review came then and was concerned why I wasn't happy....I forced the motor to tun added oil and then it ran but I was filthy. And I never uttered a bad word!!! It worked the day before and the week before flawlessly. Its always something.

Well I needed a beer!!! So I had a few and realized that we didn't have enough beer. Now there was my 2^nd crisis.

It was great that Gary really enjoyed running the press...I bet he's sore today cos he worked really hard. So he left with Wanda then came back with his car and ....more beer...good man!!! He did decide to honour my west-end heritage by building a wall of beer bottles along the deck, just like its done in the old country. I dismantled the wall this morning btw.

The Suave and sophisticated ones came at ~ 4 and we were done at ~ 6:30. Then we tested my last batch which was Krausened (raw juice added instead of sugar prior to bottling to give natural carbonation) . They liked it and then an old boy I found....4 years old....acid was gone, colour was dim but to me it tastes like apple brandy...everyone liked the newer one...it was just fresher.

So what did all the hard work get us....80 litters of cider....thats it. 4 carboys which I hit with SO2 and will hit with yeast tonight. Let it sit all winter then hopefully it will go thru Malolactic Fermentation in the spring (a good thing as it rounds out the cider and gets rid of the really sharp malic acid...most reds and Chardonnays go thru it btw). Its spontaneous so we'll just have to wait.

Potential alcohol is 6% so no chaptilization is req'd (added sugar to boost alcohol) so with the secondary fermentation, the final product should be ~ 6.5%. After the SO2 added yesterday(it killed all the wild yeast and bad stuff) there will be no more chemicals added. It now up to the wine and beer gods to make it.

So was it fun...yes..will we do it again...yes...will we try grapes...yes...pears...yes...plums....yes and Sambo...no slivo as distilling is bad...the revenuers will get ya.....peaches...got to try again and of course apples.....next year I'm going for 12 bushells so it will be 100 liters. Gary start working out!!!!

Tootles

Pinot. There is a wine that says it all and nothing. In its best form there isn't alot of fruit or simply no fruit. Secondary flavours predominate: forest floor, mushrooms, and that weird note....barnyard. Why do I want my wine to smell of poop. I don't know but I prefer the forest floor description. But where is the fruit...no jammy Merlot notes here. Just good stuff.

Some new world ones tend to be fruity and high in alcohol. Both things are bad...bad...bad. No 16% Pinot works for me...just too big. The Pinots from here are highly under-rated. It is cool here, wine doesn't get much more than 12.5%. This is like the Burgundian Wines. They are lean and not high alcohol.

One of the best and oldest proponents of Pinot Noir here is Sal D'Angelo of D'Angelo Estates. He has been making Pinot here for a long time. Sal is a cool guy and I have always leant something from him when I have spoken to him.

The Pinot of the day is D'Angelo 2002 Pinot Noir. This baby is 7 years old and is still there and getting better. We had some to finish off the week so it wasn't with food but thats ok. Pinot is extremely food friendly.

Colour: this wine is deep red...like a good rose. It has great legs and a viscosity which bodes well.

Aroma: I smell pine forest, like up north..it was like a real fresh forest. Like any good Pinot I get forest floor. Deep dark cherries and spicy mushrooms. Boy the secondaries are there and this is what I want in a Pinot.

Now the taste: This is a big Pinot, really chewy with good tannins and acid. The finish is mineral. Add the classic dark cherries and earth notes and we now have a classic Pinot. There are lots of secondary notes just like it should.

Let me note that this is a big Pinot...really big. I love it as it show what a talented winemaker can do with Pinot Noir down here. At its price its a bargain and well I wish I bought it all. I am a reformed Pinot-holic who is currently backsliding. Thats ok with me as this local is worth getting my jones back.

tootles  

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all. It's been a tough year, but I think we all have things to be thankful for. This year for me has been very tough, but I have Terry and “that is a good thing”.

Friday night we got the call that our 'bootleg' chicken was ready and that we were to come after 12 Saturday to pick them up. Man, I thought they forgot, so it was off to Comber the next morning. Terry and I had our usual 'discussion' on how to prepare the fowl. Me, I wanted to turn it and she wanted to flatten it and grill it. I won as I stressed that I didn't know how to do a flattened bird and wasn't going to try on one of these special birds. So I won....then she got me with the “do you have enough propane line”. Yes Eadie, I should have just agreed in the first place.

Now to the bird....what a divine creature. We got there at around 1 and saw a wall of birds. They were big!!! I have never seen chickens this big. I guess that when they run around and eat stuff they can get bigger than those supermarket birds. The small ones had already been cherry picked so we got 4 in the 8-9lb range then one biggun. (editor's note: Jim is about to ramble so there may be a few big ones left and after eating last nights here is the contact info so you can see if any are left. Forgive him as he doesn't get out much. T 20300 Lakeshore Rd. 308, RR #1 Comber, Ontario N0P 1J0 519.682.0204 e richard@thethibertfarm.com ). We couldn't fit them all into the cooler so we picked one for dinner and sat it on the floor in the back seat, then we were off for wine. Since we were already in Comber we figured the Smith and Wilson was only a stone's throw away and we like the windmills. They are so beautiful.

Back to the bird. 9 lbs of poultry prettiness. This was no store bird from some poultry factory farm. This guy was a beauty. I made my usual jokes about it being as hormoned up as an East German swimmer and all laughed (editor's note...they were being polite).The family is proud of their product and it shows. The are very nice and have a cool farm dog....he greets then keeps a distance. Nice doggy.

(sorry for the underline as it shouldn't be there and I can't get rid of it...came from the cut and paste...oops)Per our belief that good food doesn't need alot of spice, Terry banned the Herbes de Provence and made me settle for sea salt and pepper. We filled the cavity with onion and celery chunks (leave the skin on the onion...beaucoup de flavor) and more salt. Wood chips were supplied by a pecan tree and provided some smoke during cooking.

So it was off to the bbq. Wine for cooking was Muscedere's Sauvignon Blanc. I love Sauv Blanc and the local ones mirror France more than the new world so that is good. (go see John Carnahan at the Tecumseh lickbo and ask him for the $23 Sancerre...just to see the direction we should go with ours...don't tell him I sent you or else he'll probably try to sell you Retsina). The wine is fresh and big...good choice as it was chilly and I had 2 hrs to go. At T-1.5 hrs Terry joined me with some yum yums and we had a crisis!!! My smoke pouch had caught fire and the wine was out. As the brave strong man I am, I bravely doused the fire with the chip soaking water for pouch #2 after I bravely moved the pouch, then I saved the day by getting a bottle of Sanson's Sauvignon Blanc. What bravery...What control of the moment!!!!

The Sanson was sooooo different. Almost buttery and much more viscous. It was classy and wonderful. Not that the Muscdere was bad...it isn't...its just more rustic in nature. So it turned and we talked then Terry had to go in to finish the sides. Rosemary and shmaltz (chicken fat) mashed potatoes, local squash and local beans.....hey.. we had a 25 mile meal and if we hadn't had the imported wine (Smith and Wilson is in Blenhiem) it would have been a 20 minute meal.

Now the bird just looked different...it was golden and didn't shrink, but gave alot of fat...well it was a big bird...no water just good juice. We let it rest then I carved it.....OH MY GOD!!! it was great...juicy, cut wonderfully, smelled great..the white meat was white and the dark was very dark....that could have been the smoke and the proximity of the leg to the heat. It was beautiful.....1/2 a bird fed the three of us... It was simply beautiful and the Smith and Wilson Sauvignon Blanc was wonderful with it. Just complemented it and made meal better. I probably should have went with a Chardonnay, but this was a good fit.

So is real chicken worth it......YES!!!!! That was simple. When things get to run around and move and are treated with respect they will tastes better. Bag the “Organic” thing and just get good food grown by someone who cares. It may be harder to find these people but I have found several, and am eating better for it. Methinks there may be a few left overs so call them and inquire...they probably will be big but thats ok...we checked with a fruit stand and when they grew chicken 9 pounders are usual and they get bigger.

Richard is cool...he has this belief that he wants to be “your personal farmer”. Cool idea cos he has beef does chicken, grinds his own flour....kinda like our grandparents.....

So I add a 2^nd corollary to the Mario Batali theory of life...”get to know your Butcher”

1^st corollary...get to know your winemaker

2^nd corollary...get to know your farmer

Happy Thanksgiving...I just can't wait to make stock from the carcass!!

tootles

and btw....you can email comments to essex_wine_report@yahoo.ca if you aren't a member 

It reminded me of the old Joni Mitchell classic....Chelsea Morning. We were off to Chez Swiffty to watch the Chelsea v Spurrs match. Should have been very good. We brought a bottle of Rhubarb wine and Bellini's....ie: A'Dorah and peach juice. I love this drink and other than coffee this is my favourite breakkie drink.

Sir Rod and Pete the younger were in attendance....food/spread was quite good. Much better than the game btw.

Well after the game we went to some wineries. What a surprise!

Stop 1: D'Angelo--- if you like big wines see Sal. If you like Pinot see Sal. If you like young wine, don't see Sal. Sal likes to age wine and his current Pinot is an '02. Yes a baby. It is a big Pinot and very good. Red wines include Cab Franc and Baco and Foch both hybrids, but he always has a bargain wine and at 8$ may be my current “cheapie goodie”. Funny it always seems that Sal is there when I am and he was and treated all of us very well. I like the guy.

Bought Pinot and “cheapie goody”

Stop 2: Sanson---Sanson is basically my model for a good winery. Good wine and food. He sells Berkshire Pork, Lamousell beef, heritage veggies, coffee etc. One stop for dinner. Best news is that the Savignon Blanc and Chardonnay are now available by the bottle (were just by the cast), The are great btw. The reds are very good too. The Baco is good (I know me liking one..they are getting better), but the Bird Dog is wonderful as usual. I have never met Dennis but have talked to him over the phone (but not about wine), he seemed nice but I don't know my winemaker...oopps but he has a nice cat.

Bought: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Baco, Berkshire Pork and steak

Stop 3: Muscedere--- they're my buds. I like their wine and Rob wants to start the Master Taster..Poor John C who will have him and me in the back row...add in that I hear Steve from Sprucewood is joining...it could be the second coming of the Three Stooges. Well their quality is great and their quantities are low, but the do make some normal priced wine and they are white and I like them. Their Pinot is great and so is their Riesling. Rob and I got into one of our wine philosophy discussions causing our group to go to the chairs. Well it was time for Rob to go to a Birthday party so we could leave. No more Syrah

Bought: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot

So we had a great time. I am happy to report that things in the vineyard may just work out. Low yields but good quality and just not the disaster that I predicted....I feel better

tootles