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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Discover Carmenere…

On Thursday night, I participated in the ‘Discover Carmenere: The Lost Grape’ virtual live tasting event featuring Wines of Chile.  For those new to the format, these live tasting events provide an opportunity for a group of wine enthusiasts (bloggers) to taste the same wines and share their tasting notes/thoughts virtually via a live streaming feed and Twitter www.Twitter.com/DrinkWhatULike .   These virtual tastings attract an interesting group of bloggers across the US.  Thursday night’s session included @1WineDude, @WineHarlots, @mmWine, @AtlantaWineGuy, along with a handful of other Twitterers.

One notable difference with the format of this particular tasting event was the live video stream – eight wine makers gathered in Santiago, Chile to discuss their wines, and answer questions from the blogger participants.  This streaming video tasting format, along with the conference call, coupled with the live Twitter feed made for an ‘interesting,’ fast-paced tasting experience.

Joining me for the tasting were my wife and a couple of our friends, Rob and Jen Cordosi (8 bottles was a tad too much for me for a weeknight).   The tasting covered a diverse range of wines throughout the various Chilean wine regions – ranging in price from just $10/bottle up to $45/bottle.  Since the focus of the tasting was Carmenere  – the wines ranged from 100% Carmenere, to blends containing just 25% Carmenere.

Wines of Chile - Ready To Start

The line up for the evening included the following Chilean wines (Carmenere):

• 2007 Santa Carolina Reserva
• 2007 Odfjell Armador
• 2007 Viu Manent Reserva
• 2007 Cono Sur Vision
• 2008 Vina La Rosa Barrel Reserve
• 2007 Ventisquero Grey
• 2007 Terra Andina- Altos
• 2004 Carmen Winemaker’s Reserve

A short Carmenere history lesson…  The Carmenere grape, a member of the Cabernet family, was originally planted in the Medoc region of Bordeaux, France.  Today, this varietal is rarely found in France, but plays a central role in the Chilean wine market.

Of the eight Chilean wines we tasted, a few of my standouts include:

The ‘Awkward, but Loveable’ Wine of the Night Award goes to…   2007 Terra Andina – Altos. $18.99/bottle.  This was an awkward, but interesting wine.  I can only describe this wine the following analogy – remember back in high school there was always that one girl that was a bit awkward/borderline weird/unusual, but attractive at the same time?  This wine was similar to that girl – awkward, but likeable.  I picked up strong blueberry liqueur components throughout, along with hints of sauerkraut.  I really like blueberries and saurkraut, just not together.  That’s the awkward part – I liked this wine even with these two distinctly different components together.

My favorite 100% Carmenere of the tasting was the Vina La Rosa 2008 La Capitana Carmenere Barrel Reserve.  At just $18/bottle, this wine offers an excellent quality-to-price ratio.   Dark ruby in the glass, this wine had a full nose of caramel, blueberry, blackberry, and violets with a cocoa finish.  Light tannins.  I finished off this bottle the night after the tasting and I picked up a smoky aroma that wasn’t as predominant the night I opened it, along with a bacon fat component throughout.   Overall, for the money, this was definitely my favorite of the tasting.

My favorite Carmenere blend of the tasting was the Carmen Wine Maker’s 2004 Reserve Red.  A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Carmenere, and 25% Petit Syrah.  Dark ruby color, with a bouquet of vanilla tapioca, spice with heavy floral aromas.  In the mouth, this wine was on the sweet side with flavors of raspberry and mint – if there were such a thing as a raspberry-chocolate covered Peppermint Patty this would be it. At $44/bottle, this wine is definitely at the high-end of the Chilean price-point scale that I’m used to.  Well balanced, paired well with hanger steak and chimichurri sauce that my wife prepared for the tasting.

The Top 2 Finishers of the Tasting (hat tip to Rob for bringing a real camera to the tasting)

The ‘Priced Right to Drink A Bottle Alone’ Wine of the Night award goes to…

Santa Carolina 2008 Reserva Carmenere. At just $10/bottle this wine was the most economically priced of the tasting – a great Wednesday night wine to pair with ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’  Light Ruby in color, this wine had a simple, straight-forward nose of red fruit, tomato sauce, cinnamon, with slight hints of coffee.  Too much oak initially – needed some time to air out.

I enjoyed this tasting as it provided me a great opportunity to try a wide range of Carmenere-based wines, and learn a little more about the varietal.

A big THANK YOU to Andrea Davidoff of RFBinder, Wines of Chile, and to each of the wine makers – who were such good sports during the live video portion of the tasting – for making this tasting possible.

Disclaimer:  I received each of these wines as samples to participate in this event.

101 Uses for the Wines of Chile box - Use #13, temporary doggie nap spot while bed is in wash.

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Closing Va Wine Month with Memory of One We Lost

Saturday marked the last day of Virginia Wine Month – the annual event held each October to celebrate the Virginia wine industry and Virginia wines.  To kick off the 34^th annual Virginia Wine Month, I attended the Virginia Tweets event hosted by Virginia Tourism Corporation and Virginia Wine Marketing Office, and I finished Virginia Wine Month by opening a bottle to remember one of the Virginia wineries we lost in the last year.

Sadly, 2008 marked the last vintage for Oakencroft Winery – founder and owner, Felica Rogan, retired on December 31, 2008, and closed Oakencroft’s doors after 25 vintages.  When the winery opened, it was one of only five wineries in Virginia. (The new owners of the property did not continue the wine making tradition at the Oakencroft farm.)

Given the close proximity to UVA, I visited Oakencroft on many occasions during frequent trips to Charlottesville.  I always enjoyed the rustic charm of the tasting room – red barn exterior complemented with the dark wood interior.   A large pond, always full of geese, provided a place to relax during a visit to the winery.  The last time I visited Oakencroft in early Fall 2008, my son and I sat in the red Adirondack chairs at the ponds edge and played checkers while I enjoyed a glass of Oakencroft Viognier.

To close out Virginia Wine Month, and in memory of Oakencroft, I opened the Oakencroft 2005 Estate Chambourcin. I can’t remember how much I paid for this wine when I purchased it a couple of years ago.  I’ve never been a fan of Chambourcin, but I did appreciate the simplicity of this one (simplicity in a good way).  I liked the straightforward dark cherry along with hints of freshly ground coffee beans, and sweetart candy on the finish.

Hat tip to Felica Rogan and the difference she made in the Virginia wine industry… here’s to remembering one of the wineries we lost…

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