Drinking Local To Boycott Beaujolais Nouveau

What was lost is now found – I finally found my notes from my trip to Ottawa two weeks ago which is the reason for this belated post.

It’s that time of year again – turkey, family, friends, more turkey, football, and Beaujolais Nouveau release time.  The third Thursday of November marks the annual release date of the young, light purple-pink, bananaish version of Gamay from the Beaujolais region of France.  We have George Duboeuf (primarily) to thank for littering the globe with this disrespectful-to-the-Gamay-grape swill.  (An interesting factoid about Beaujolais Nouveau – the release date is always the third Thursday of November, regardless of which date harvest occurs.)

I’ve read that the carbon footprint to ship Nouveau across the globe is obscene and is reason many avoid purchasing the Nouveau.  I don’t buy it because I think it sucks.

Once again I celebrated the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau by not buying any.  Instead, I quietly expressed my disdain for the Nouveau by drinking local – local to Canada that is.  My work travels took me to Ottawa, Canada, and on Thursday I found myself in Play Food & Wine in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.   Play Food & Wine is one of the best places in Ottawa to experience small plates, along with Canadian cheese and wine.

For my drink-local-to-boycott-Nouveau wine of the evening was the Stratus Vineyards 2007 Gamay from Niagara-On-The-Lake.  Although the bartender highly recommended this wine, I had my doubts about a Gamay from Canada.  Much to my delight, this Gamay was really tasty good.   This light purple Gamay opens with a lively nose of cherry, overripe raspberry, dust and hints of a meaty component.  On the palate, this wine is light bodied (but very lively) with blueberry candy and that same meaty component.  This wine, in my opinion, showed more acidity than traditional Beaujolais. Although this wine was $62CA per bottle on the Play menu, you can pick up a bottle for $29CA on the Stratus website.  According to the Stratus website, this is only the third release of their Gamay since 2001.

If you find yourself in Ottawa, a stop by Play Food & Wine for dinner and drinks is a must – and be sure to order a glass of the Stratus 2007 Gamay.

Other Drink What You Like Beaujolais related posts:

• Beaujolais – The Summer to Fall Transition Wine
• Marcel Lapierre Morgon
• Not So Nouveau

Coming next… Southbrook 2008 Triomphe Merlot from Niagara…

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Fair Trade Wine, Malbec, and Sam’s Samples

The growing popularity of Malbec, New Zealand Pinot Noir, biodynamic viticulture, citizen wine blogging, waning influence of uber-critic Robert Parker, and $10 wines are just a few of the trends shaping the wine scene of tomorrow.

Another notable trend having an impact, although admittedly small right now, is the growing prominence of social responsibility within the wine industry with an emphasis on fair and equitable treatment of the folks on the very front of the wine life cycle.

One ‘relatively new’ form of social responsibility making it’s way in to the wine industry is Fair Trade.  For those unfamiliar with the concept, Fair Trade products support farmers in emerging/developing nations through ethical treatment, fair prices, environmental stewardship, and community development.  I’ve had Fair Trade coffee, sugar, and chocolate, but never Fair Trade wine, until a few weeks ago…

As I’m roaming around Sam’s Club one Saturday afternoon loading up on food samples, I noticed a huge yellow, star-shaped shelf taker in the wine section touting their ‘new’ Fair Trade wine (new to this area) -  Neu Direction Malbec.

Neu Direction Malbec benefits the local farmers of Viña de la Solidaridad (Vine of Solidarity), an association based on preserving the rich, cultural heritage of the contratista-landowner relationship.  Ten small vineyard owners and nine contratistas make up the association.  The contratistas lives on the land with their families and are paid a percentage of the grape harvest by the vineyard owners.  The association currently owns 200 acres of vineyards with about a third certified organic, with plans to convert more over the coming years.  ~ Organic Wine Trade website

Neu Direction is produced by Bodega Furlotti S.A., from Mendoza, Argentina.  This wine is certified Fair Trade based on standards established by TransFair, the only independent third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the US.  2008 was the first year of the TransFair certification program.

Neu Direction 2006 Malbec – As a general rule, I try to avoid spending my wine dollars at big box stores, especially at Sam’s Club, but at just $9.99 for this wine, I went for it.  Deep purple in the glass, this wine showed basic dark fruits, licorice and earth.  Mild tannins with flavors of a blueberry, blackberry, and plum pie baked in a wood burning oven.  An ‘ok’ Malbec, reasonably priced, with a great mission!

With just 4.3 million bottles of Fair Trade wine sold, this movement is clearly in its infancy, with a lot of room to grow.

Curious if others have had experience with Fair Trade wines.  If so, leave a comment with your thoughts or any recommendations.

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In search of Canadian reds, eh!

Ok, I realize that ‘eh’ is usually used in the context of a question, but I just had to use ‘eh’ in the subject line since I’m in Canada this week.  (I am still working on my creativity  and photography skills.)

Although I have had many Canadian ice wines, I have never tried a Canadian red, so my mission for this trip is simple – expand my palate, taste a bunch of Canadian reds, and bring back a few.  Admittedly, I have never considered Canada a serious producer of anything other than ice wine, but I am keeping an open mind.

My first Canadian red (just wish I could embed a cheesy drum roll audio clip here)…  Inniskillin 2007 Reserve Series Pinot Noir made from fruit from the Niagara Peninsula.   Located in the Provence of Ontario, the Niagara Peninsula has the largest planted area of all the viticultural areas (VQA) in Canada with 13,600 acres under vine.  Thirty-two varietals are grown in The Niagara Peninsula (surprised by that fun fact).

Inniskillin Pinot Noir 2007 Reserve Pinot –  I ordered this as my first glass to accompany dinner of grilled salmon.  Not a very positive beginning – I found this wine thin, green with loads of very tart cherry.  I believe this wine retails for about $18CA/bottle ( ~$17/bottle US).  I noticed this wine in the airport Duty Free shop for just $14CA.  I think I’ll stick with the excellent Inniskillin Ice Wines from now on.

My next wine of the evening was this ‘little’ beauty, the Jackson-Triggs 2007 Cabernet-Merlot also from the Niagara Peninsula.   I received this as a check-in gift at the hotel, but I believe a bottle of this wine retails for about $15 CA.  Dark ruby in the glass, this wine showed a basic nose of dark fruit – blackberry, plum, and currant.  In the mouth, muted tannins with dark fruit and earth flavors.   An ‘ok’ wine, but definitely not on my ‘gotta have again’ list.

 

Although I have not had much luck here in Canada in terms of finding a nice red (yet), I must say Canada could win the ‘Friendliest Locals in The World’ award.  It’s interesting how friendly and social the Canadians are.

Next stop is Play Food and Wine in the By Ward Market to check out their Canadian offerings.

Hat tip to Tom Firth of Wine Access Magazine and Natalie MacLean for wine and restaurant recommendations while here in Ottawa.  Any one else out there with Canadian red recommendations?

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Lovin the Pinot

I have a growing love affair, or obsession of sorts, with Pinot Noir.  When considering my wine of choice on any given night I naturally gravitate to Pinot.  Given the price point of Pinots today, I tend to opt for other varietals during the week, but my ‘wine brain’ craves Pinot no matter what I’m drinking.  More than a passing taste, or seasonal craving, my wine purchases the last few months have consisted primarily of Pinot.  I feel one step below Miles, the Sideways protagonist.

This year, I have been on a personal wine mission to expand my tasting horizons by experiencing Pinots from the ‘other’ regions.  As a recent trip to Australia opened my mind to Australian Pinot (here, here, and here), so too did a visit to California introduce me to the Pinot’s of Anderson Valley.  Yes, Pinots have been produced in that area for a while, but I’m slow so they’re new to me.

During the Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Rosa in July, I had the chance to taste some damn tasting Pinot’s from a handful of top-quality producers in and around the Anderson Valley.  One such producer was Benovia Winery.

I first tasted the Benovia 2007 Savoy Vineyards Pinot Noir during the live tasting event at WBC, and was amazed at the purity of fruit this wine exhibited in just one small taste.  The WBC live tasting was a fast moving event, so I wasn’t able to spend much time with the wine, but made a note to revisit and learn more about the Benovia wines – in particular this Anderson Valley beauty.

My notes from original tasting… Benovia 2007 Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyards.  $58/bottle.  Although Benovia is located in the Russian River Valley, this Pinot was made with fruit from the organically farmed Savoy vineyard located in Mendocino County in the Anderson Valley.  I believe we were told that the Savoy vineyard is farmed organically.  My first tasting note on this one, “big cherry cola.”  The cherry cola aromas jumped out of the glass, followed by notes of red berries and earth.  I liked the structure of this wine, and feel it will be even better in a couple of years.  Just 370 cases produced.  Unfined, unfiltered.  Native yeasts for fermentation.  As an adjunct to my initial notes, the bottle we had tonight was excellent – pure raspberry, strawberry, and spices.  Damn tasty.

My wife and I recently opened another one of Benovia’s Pinots – the Benovia 2007 Bella Una Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.  $58/bottle.   Just 195 cases produced.  Overall, this wine was bigger than the Savoy – concentrated dark fruit and firmer tannins.  Nose of dark cherry, blackberries, baking spice and a slight earthy component.  In the mouth, concentrated flavors of more dark berries and cellar dust.  I feel this wine will show exceptionally well in a few more years.  We paired this one with grilled salmon, but I feel it would have been better matched with mushroom pizza!  (I looked on the Benovia site and was unable to determine if there was a little other varietal blended in with this one, so I’m assuming this is 100% Pinot.)

Of the two Benovia Pinots, I personally prefer the Savoy Vineyards Pinot better of the two.

Disclaimer:  I received both of these wines as samples.

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