86 posts tagged “wine review”

What was it? A Muscedere 05 Canadian Oaked Chardonnay. Was Bacchus speaking to me? Well since they refuse to bottle the new Chardonnay, I will review this one again.

This wine, was the subject of a top secret review last year. I managed to obtain (or steal) a lickbo sample. Not final production but oh so nice. This one was a production sample.

Music tonight is Joe Jackson ‘Two Rainy Nights'. Its a live album from 2002 and is wonderful.

Dinner was Berkshire pork chops grilled with a wee bit of herbes de provence, new potatoes smashed with alot of butter and rosemary and fresh local corn. Pork from Wheatly, corn from down the street, and potatoes from Murray’s (also down the street). Local is good. My god, an Essex County meal….I wasn’t trying btw.

Now the wine:

A wonderful straw/gold color. Very inviting. The wine just hangs on the glass then falls in nice rivulets…..a good sign.

So far so good but how does it smell? You smell the oak for sure but it is nice and soft, then vanilla and pears, apples so nice. I could just smell it all night.

The mouth feel is wonderful, thick soft...it just feels good. I get the oak, but apples on the after taste. Butter, lot of butter oh this is nice. There is a little acid (good). A bit of mineral on the finish and a nice warmth of the alcohol. A wonderful wine.

This wine just makes me happy. The last time I had it I was powerless (merci enwin) and drinking it in the rain. This is much better.

With the food it held up very well. It mated with the pork and brought out its best attributes. Very enjoyable. Terry thinks the new one couldn’t have done as well, but how can I be sure as the new isn’t bottled yet!

Well this one is sold out, but Bacchus has had his way. E-mail Fabio and beg him to bottle the new one...offer to help bottle it too!!!...Terry did... as it is very good and needs to be enjoyed and if you have some of this 05 try it and enjoy.

To remind myself that I am a worthy piece of humanity, I asked Terry to load the wine fridge as I was returning from the weekly “League of Gentlemen” meeting. Actually, the females almost out-numbered the males this week. Hmmm, I must ponder this.

Well, my spirits were raised, and it seems Gewurtz 2 will actually happen. 

Now this was funny. I had been listening to NPR and the had this story about the iceberg fishermen in very northern Newfoundland. Well, I knew about the ones who fish for Iceberg Vodka (very good btw) ...well lo and behold V’s friend starts telling me about it. It seems her cousin is an iceberg fisherman. They catch iceberg bits and make bottled water out of them.  What a small world. 

Well, Terry did yeoman’s duty...she pulled 4 Pinots and all good ones. So when I got home I had a wonderful dilemma, Lailey, Rief, Muscedere, or Niagara College. What is a man to do???

Having had a couple of Rickert’s Whites….a real nice wheat beer, I had enough Dutch Courage (where did this term come from??), and went for the Rief. This is not the licbo stuff...We got it at the winery. The nice lady there, offered us the carafe at the end of the counter. Unmarked and only for “special people”. Not cheap, but cheaper than the Burgundian Big Boys.

This wine is an 2002 and they claim it comes from well drained soil..kinda like Burgundy. A big dark wine with lots of good stuff. An excellent wine with obvious good things. It oozes quality and I wouldn’t hesitate to serve this to the Queen. Serve this one with bigger food, I could just imagine a turned goose or duck...or lamb or Burgundian Beef Stew, or anything really good. More of a dinner wine. We had it with some nice cheese….a double brie, oka and it was oh so nice. A steal at $40. If in Niagara go and get some. Be nice and you can try some and try some of their Chenin Blanc...a nice dainty wine but gooooood.

After that Pinot, I just had to get out a bottle of Muscedere Pinot Noir. I had this when it was really young, at a tasting, and had the pre-release. It was very good then and is wonderful now. BTW just wait till next year...I had the wine at ~ 5 months and it was wonderful. This wine won a Double Gold at the wine competition and deserves the praise. It is lighter than the Rief and the first taste was not what I thought. It was unfair that we had an aged big boy before it, but after a half a glass, its wonderfulness came out. A wee bit light, but still all the Pinot goodness I love. It has the advantage to be more drinkaloneable and still be big enough to handle food. Give it bbq salmon, or turned duck or turkey or coq au vin. Take the lighter end of the red wine food spectrum and be happy. Just for thought; this is their first Pinot and the vines are just wee little things. Just think about when the ‘grow up’. Flat, clay and nothing like the Cote d’Or , but they won double gold. The wine will only get better and these guys are still kids too. Just wait until the figure out how to make wine...just joking!!!.

Listen to Mel Torme, “Live at Charlie’s” with this one and maybe his album with Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass with the Rief. The wines have the sophistication to match the sophistication of the music.

So try these and enjoy!!!

I have been pondering many issues lately and one which interests me was started from an article Pete the Younger emailed me. It was a piece about a study regarding the pairing of music to wine. Their choices were rather ‘interesting’ so I’ll add my 2 cents worth.

There is the beer group and or the beer and whiskey group. These bands include ZZ Top, George Thoroughgood, all blues and an new performers like Kid Rock.

The rum and beer group is led by Great Big Sea….why...because the are from ‘the rock’ and are a great party band..going to see them in Ohio this summer. Place in here all the great Celtic bands too. These tend to be from Cape Breton Island. My Gaelic isn’t good and I just don’t need another Sir Rod correction when I say that certain band name wrong….he won’t offer me a family discount either for their music.

So here will be some of my wine choices, starting with white wines.

Chenin Blanc: a wonderful grape that is French and not really grown much here. It is very light but has some depth and interesting hues. For this wine I suggest Yael Naim...Who is that you may ask. She is the woman who does the Mac Air theme. Her music is whimsical happy and light but really cool. It was recorded in Paris and just oozes that coolness. Some is in Hebrew but that is still good. So combine French sounds with the old Yiddish influences and there you go...light happy but with surprising depth.

Voignier: another rather rarish grape from France...southern mainly. Light fresh and  and again happy. For this  Ella Fitzgerald. She was just so cool and before she got ill could just groove, Happy, light and just full of life. Don’t discount her or the grape as there is alot there. She was an accomplished musician and made superb music.

Chardonnay: the grape I have learned to love. We all hated it in the late 80’s and now I love it. Stylistically it can move around and have many variations on a theme. No doubt this goes to Alyson Krauss. Union Station is/was great bluegrass, she does somewhat mainsream country as a solo artist and made that wonderful album with Robert Plant...it reminds me of the acoustic side of Physical Graffiti. She moves around gendres but you can tell its her. All good too...and btw I don’t like country kinda how I didn't like Chardonnay...I’m so conflicted.

Sauvignon Blanc: wow all French grapes. An early favorite of mine. Herbaceous and just oozing with flavour. Goes well with food and can have a rough side if not done well,but can be just wonderful. To this I will match Branford Marsallis, brother of Wynton and a fine sax player. He is really into Bebop and sometimes hard to listen to, but can be oh soo good….real music.

Riesling: so wonderful, can be sweet, can be dry, can be just wonderful. For this I suggest Jane Sibbery. I saw her in a small venue in Toronto and she was just stunning. Man layers and textures to her music. Can be sweet, can be tart and just wonderful.

Pinot Noir: the undisputed king of grapes. The best there is, was, or will be. To this I propose the Velvet Fog, Mel Torme. He could swing, scat and just had fun doing it. Not heavy stuff but full of depth, layers and talent.

Cabernet Franc: earthy tones with a little lightness. I like Joni Mitchell here. She started doing folk then now is doing great jazz based music. Intelligence, talent and the ability to to be cool. Years of cigarets have given her that raspiness in her voice which just works so well.

Merlot: like the character in ‘Sideways’ I am not a Merlot fan. Its just too jammy for me. Here I will suggest Beethoven's 5^th. Just too over the top for me. I like the 6^th much better.

Cabernet Sauvignon: big bold fruit….Wagner...enuff said

Meritage: not a grape but a blend...still really good and for this I choose Thelonius Monk. Complex intelligent full of life.

Sangiovese: in the finest forms just incredible. A tad lighter, but just packed with flavor. Here we have OP, Oscar Peterson. A wonderful musician who was regarded as ‘the best’ for years. For years wouldn’t leave Montreal but made his big impact when he did. Just love his music just like I love Tuscan wines.

Nebbiolo: complex deep dark tannic….hues of tar and alot of earthy stuff...not for everyone. Only one choice… Charles Mingus….complex, sometimes hard to listen to but makes wonderful music...you either love his music or hate it...I love it.

As you know, I full believe that the wine experience is influenced by: friends, food, music, food, and the karma of the space. All play a role and if in harmony a simple wine could just be wonderful.

I am sorry that I am late with this. The storm whacked our internet, then the router has been acting up. I have a new one but Terry is so busy that I am afraid to disrupt the computer to install. I can just see a “problem” when she has 8 shoots to process. Add work, screaming at expressvu on a daily basis...my satellite just slowly died. After 4 hours on the phone to some very nice but totally inept Indian techs I managed to get a Cdn so that I could cancel my account. She was very nice and got me to try again. Well their tech is on the way...yes at 8 am on Father’s Day.  (Later, I was to find out that I was lied to again and the tech is coming next Sunday (this info came from a very nice Indian fellow who really understood just how impressed I am with expressvu))

Last weekend was the series of open houses for the local wineries. Did I organize a trip?? Nope. F&J did so I just went along for the ride. We started out at Sprucewood. I really like the Mitchell’s and this is where F&J had their reception. It is really a nice spot and the drive thru the vineyard is just so nice and worth the trip alone. 

Over the last year or so I have gotten to know Steve and realize his passion for the business. A fellow Engineer, who isn’t in the ‘plastic pocket protector school’ is a wonderful thing to find. Tanya, his sister, is the winemaker. She’s an Engineer too and I think it shows in her wines. They are very consistent thru the line and very orderly. This may be sexist but I feel that they show a women’s touch. The wines are a wee bit lighter and certainly not “over the top”. Judicious use of oak, nice complexity. The line is good. Locally, we are blessed with 3 great female winemakers, Tanya Mitchell- Spucewood,   Lyse LeBlanc- Mastronardi (I apologize for the spelling error) and Izabel Benben- Aleksander. Their work is wonderful. What is really nice is that each has a style and the product is better each year.

The Sprucewood people can put on a spread. Cheese trays, fruit, reasonably priced interesting food and a band. They were really trying and were being rewarded by the amount of traffic they had. The lineup of wine is very nice and we even had dedicated red wine drinkers trying whites….very good indeed. Of note is the Late Harvest Riesling which is very very nice. I prefer Late Harvests to Ice Wines generally as they are not so sweet and are more accessible. We also really like the Chardonnay and the Pinot Rose. 

Then we were off to Erie Shores. They have put up a pavilion which is a great idea. Receptions at wineries are a wonderful thing, but the tent rental prices are very high. This is a good way to avoid that. They had a bus tour in when we arrived so we took over the showroom, Alma was as wonderful as ever and their wines were very well received.

Then we were off to Viewpoint, Their new wines were on display before the entry to the main hall. Let me just say that the future is quite good.

Of course we ended at Muscedere. Fab and Rob do such a good job but they haven't bottled the Chardonnay yet. J&F had left to prep for the party so it was us and Swifty. He likes wine and it was interesting to watch his response. Clean and fresh was what he found. Well the wine was fresh and hadn’t been abused by any angry custom agent or delivery man. Maybe its just good????

The celebration just finished the day. It feels like it was last year not last week. Well my friend from the ghetto of Rochester Hills wants to come visit so we’ll take him east. Mastronardi, Aleksander and Pelee Island. I’m looking forward to that weekend.

But the make wines the real way and their vines are 30+ years old. Its Marynissen Cabernet/Merlot and is available at the lickbo. Its priced great and tastes wonderful. I like it alot.

Music is simply Ed Love on WDET….a great jazz show and dinner was pizza from Calabria...this is decadent...it really didn’t go to well but I don’t care...I needed some good wine.

The color is deep red and it takes its color to the edge...no wateriness here. It hangs in sheets and just has some gorgeous legs….Condi legs...the go on forever.

The nose is really nice, but I aerate so its not pronounced, just dark fruit...kinda jammy smells, some oak and niceness. No nasty bits.

The taste...yes the taste...its great!..ok I’m done….just buy it. No really it is complex without being pretentious, nice tannins, some acids, oak  and enuff alkeehol to keep it fun. Fruit isn’t up front...this is real wine.

I would serve this with anything...no try red meat, lamb or goose. It would be heavenly with a turned goose. It has enough body to stand up to the fat and cut thru it. I like it alone which is strange as I like foofoo wines without food.

Musically choose something complex. I would say Bach or OP (Oscar Peterson). It needs to be cool and refined. No Ozzy here.

Well buy some and enjoy. This wine is a beacon to what we can produce when our vines get this old. Age gets wisdom and complexity.

Drink and enjoy. They are really nice people when you get to know them. I will go back there and get some more...maybe tomorrow!!

Yes I did like some of them, but at $70 it better be good. The Burgundies, yes they were good too...much better btw...but again at $70, they should be.

I just see massive snob appeal backing marketing. Like the amp designer who goes into the hills and meditates for 3 days before designing his amplifier and refuses to speak English to reviewers ( he is fluent but just grunts….you interview his assistant and he nods) just so he can charge double for his amps, I see the same thing. After some high dollar Bordeaux, I came home and opened a bottle of Crew. It not only stood up, it made me feel better and for less than half….hell yeah... the price. Is the French….” you can only grow grapes on this terroir” thing a myth? A couple of weeks ago I was listening to NPR when a geologist came on and spoke about a book called “Terroir”. He totally debunked the idea that the vines get the stone taste by the terroir. It was very interesting and will certainly get me an F.  BTW I don’t buy it.

Well l was really sickish last night and the first wine was so dreadful I was looking for the STP label…..well the 2^nd was wonderful...ooops it was corked...I faux pas’d big time...well the first was sooooo bad a corked wine tasted good...ouch..btw I am drinking Marynissen right now and am very happy.

Now the instructor is doing a very good job so I can’t blame him. The text is by my ‘favorite’ wine expert. She will stay nameless but I used to love to watch her show and heckle her….typical English know it all….oi...I’m not being nice am I 

So I’m having flashbacks to my Business degree...oi me taking a Labor Relations course from a woman who didn’t shave her legs. When I questioned her on the relevance of the Flint Sit Down Strikes and the Rouge fun to modern labour relations in the auto industry, she cringed and didn’t know about them……it was at U of Windsor...oi.  Well she called me at home and assured me that my “political” views would not damage my grades, I should have run…..I was in a class of union reps and well I felt kinda out of place…..hell I am pro union (gets me a higher rate) but I felt like a fascist. I feel that way now...but I am older, wiser and more of a bastard….I’ll just sit in the back and plot…..maybe I’ll lie and tell them that I only drink a real expensive wine that is unavailable except at this wonderful wine store in Highland Park...hell the kid was espousing how he likes to drink Chateaux Y’quim at about 3 bills a bottle, or the woman who loves Opus 1….I suggested she get some Il Bastardo (actually really really good)...she was horrified. I loved it. 

I’M A LOCALVORE AND PROUD OF IT!!!!!!!!

Really good:

Marchesi di Montechristo     Nebello del Bastardo 2002   this wine is wonderful and cheap… a great bargain which I wold happily serve an of my friends… Sir Rod went off the wagon to this wine and blamed me for recommending it. Big full and red...great with pasta and big food...aerate the hell out of it

Marynissen   Cabernet/Merlot 2002  this wine is from one of Niagara’s oldest vineyards and is wonderful. Stylistically similar to the great Bordeaux wines which Mr Parker loves. Not fruit forward and just wonderful...and a bargain...available at LCBO so get some

Lailey  Riesling 2006   another winner from Niagara. We showed up at 5 minutes to closing and we were still treated ok. They remembered us from the Wine Show and they make great wine. A wonderful Riesling.

Oyster Bay   Sauvignon Blanc 2007 An archetypical Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. Grassy notes and fresh fruity flavor. Serve with seafood or drink alone. I always loved this wine and it seems to have dropped in price.

Erie Shores  Reserve Cabernet 2005  An oakfest which I really think will get way better with age. Its very good now and would pair great with beef.

CREW Cabernet Sauvignon  2005 this is their Big boy and is a great wine if you love big chewy reds. Serve with red meat or game and be very happy.

Muscedere  Sauvignon Blanc 2007  this is a very big Sauvignon Blanc. So different from the Oyster Bay. More French in style and will work wonderful with food. I would suggest bigger seafood and chicken/fowl.

Remo Farina Ripasso 2004 different wine which is a special wine available only from the Veneto, specifically Valpolicella. New wine is laid over the pressings of Amarone (nirvana in a bottle) and gives alot of bod to the lightish Valpolicella. Great wine...we had it with Bolognese. Went wonderfully.

Well that’s some of what I am drinking. All very nice and available locally. They won’t embarrass you and all taste very nice.

BTW summer is here so its Vinho Verde time and please buy the cheap stuff as its actually better. Lickbo raised the price so now its about $8.50. Such a pity. Goes great with Paella and seafood or on its own, but keep it cold…..not good at room temp.

Tootles

Wine of choice is a beauty...a 2003 Gewurtztraminer but its Grand Cru Schoenenbourg. This my friends is a great bottle of wine. It’s from Huniwihr so it has a pedigree. Bloody hell it is a Grand Cru so it should be good.

My great grandfather was from Alsace, and I guess he was one step ahead of the Prussians during the Franco Prussian War. Off to Montreal then Toledo then to Windsor. My Grandmother..Maude Henrietta LaPlante..married one Orville Small. She was a firecracker who taught me alot about food, getting thru tough times and general stuff a Grandmother is for. Funny, she couldn’t cook but knew how to get fresh good produce. Going to the market with her was a trip.

Music is/was Alison Krause. One was her latest solo album and now is her album with Robert Plant (ex of Led Zepplin). Really good music. I usually cannot stand country but this stuff is really excellent.

Dinner was grilled salmon steaks with some grilled polenta with a mozzarella topping. All in all not bad.

The wine is wonderful. It takes me to a wonderful place. It makes me see visions of a young Sophia Loren stomping grapes in a classic vineyard. Ok off by miles, and a few countries, but the visual is great.

Visually, the wine is light gold, sparkly and just beautiful. Legs, this wine has legs like Condi Rice..just beautiful. The seem to go on forever.

The nose exudes a class sweetness, with all the tropical fruit you can handle. I get some petrol and wet stone. Wonderful, complex and just wow!!!!

The taste is out of this world. Round sweet and good. Though sweet, there is a nice balance of acid and a wee dollop of alcohol...13.5%..this is no lightweight. Ever once in a while I get the elusive petrol, but I think the exotic fruit and spice is much better.

With food this is a winner. Sweet with food...Yes sir!!! It has a great balance of acid and it managed to fight off and clear the salmon oil. It has unctuousness and just works so well with food. Man this is good!!!

This wine goes with my idea that the French still make the best wine in the world and if they avoid the fruit forward onslaught we will all have better lives.

Our four combatants were: #1 Sanson Estates Barncat 2004

#2 Pelee Island Meritage 2003

#3 Mastronardi Estates Meritage 2006

#4 Stoney Ridge Founders Reserve Meritage 2003

#1 Sanson: chosen because I really like this wine and wanted a representative from the Harrow/MacGregor area. This wine is great. Balanced and skillful done.

#2 Pelee: this was the first wine that I enjoyed from this area. It was the start of my journey. I really thought this could be the winner

#3 Mastronardi: from the Ruthven area, Mastronardi has been producing some great wines. I was looking forward to this one and had real high hopes.

#4 Stoney Ridge: quite honestly, it was in my wine fridge and thats why I added it. I like Stoney Ridge wines, but Terry and I go there for the cheese shop more than the wines. This is a Reserve series and wasn’t that much (I think). 

Not included: Sprucewood Meritage: very different from a standard Meritage as it is lighter in body. It is still very good, but I felt that it would be too easily identified.

Smith and Wilson Double Barrel. Stylistically similar to Barncat and since I had one non Meritage it was excluded. More than four wines would have been difficult.

Methodology: all four combatants were aligned on the top shelf of my wine fridge the day previous so temperature should have been the same. Cool, cellar temp but not cold nor room temp.

Numbers were applied by Myles while we were in the dining room. Four carafes were numbered, again by Myles so that there was a totally random nature to the carafe/wine interface. All wine was aerated thru my WMF stainless steel aeration funnel. I realize that the carafe may affect the wine. I apologize as I do not have 4 identical carafes, but I tried to keep them similar. Glassware was Rosenthal diVino series. Nothing special but good quality.

The wine was presented and samples were taken at random. The first wine was given a rating of 100 and the subsequent wines were rated relative to this. I gave each wine a score based on each reviewers relative ranking. Therefore a rating of 4 would imply that that wine was rated first by all 4 reviewers. Like golf the lower the score the better. 

Tasting panel. Terry and I as usual. The guests were the suave and sophisticated ones. Both are excellent chefs with extensive wine tastings in Germany and here. Tom loves big reds and rieslings and Carolyn being a pastry chef has a good sense of taste.

When they arrived we had some Pinot Noir (Niagara Teaching College) and appetizers.

Music was fine and causal starting with Yael Naim (she does the Mac song) and then Robert Plant and Alison Krause. Good stuff.

RESULTS:

The results did truly confuse me. I miss-identified all the wines to what I thought the were. All were good and here are some comments.

#1 Sanson: mellow, hints of soil//wine has legs, very fresh fruity aroma, tannic, deep deep berries//dark red, medium body,light aroma//fresh nose, smooth!smooth!smooth!

#2 Pelee Island: mild, pucker power, nice body, acidic// wine has legs, very fresh,fruity aroma,very dry but nice, wee bit lighter than 1//dark red, light body, tangy//great nose, nice legs,very tannic, big and mouth, almost a bitter taste

#3 Mastronardi: citrus aroma, mild flavour, quite different//very dark neutral nose, very mild, not alot of flavour//light red, slight dryness, not much flavour, taste the dirt//beautiful nose!, awesome, so smooth!

#4 Stoney Ridge: full grape aroma, hints of red beet, pungent flavour//rich berry nose, deep red, great legs, very tannic,oak nice, deep dark fruit//mild flavour, fruity, full bodied, light, crystal sediment ( a good thing btw….my note)

RATINGS:

#1 Barncat   9

#2 Pelee Island   11

#3 Mastronardi   13

#4 Stone Ridge   6  WINNER!!

These results do confuse me. The women seem to taste different from the men. There is also a wide statistical variance that implies too much difference from first to fourth. Also the winner was not anticipated beforehand. 

Dinner afterward was roast duck with french beans cooked in duck fat, asparagus and a potato gratin. Carolyn brought an awesome cake for desert.

Now with the meal all the wines went well. Terry went for the Mastronardi while Tom and I attacked the Stoney Ridge. All worked well. So the tasting may have been immaterial. I am not sure. If the purpose was to rate a wine rather than enjoy wine there was clear winner, BUT all were enjoyable.

In the macro sense I don’t think there was a clear winner. I believe wine is a total experience, with food, music and friends. The lack of ‘control’ causes the ratings to be moot. I am confused right now but like the blind methodology.

All in all an interesting event and all had a good time. Isn’t that the point.