Wine Reviewer

A 10 Month Rest

2013-10-30T22:31:00.000-04:00

This is my first post on here in almost 10 months. My how time flies. I could say the hiatus was because I stopped drinking wine or moved into the wilderness away from all that scary technology, but that wouldn't be true. I really don't have any good excuse. I did stop making notes on wines, but I've decided to start this up again. So for today, the bad news is this post is just me rambling on, I don't actually have a review for you . The good news is that I'm once again attending the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo here in Toronto! On Nov. 16th I plan on writing many reviews on here, so mark it on your calendar.

A couple months ago I was in Napa, but no I didn't write any notes down so I can't post any of my traditional reviews. I did taste and subsequently buy a bottle of the best Pinot Noir I've ever had, very smooth with a nice finish. The wine is from Napa Cellars but unfortunately is not available at the LCBO. If you are thinking of going to Napa, I recommend doing your own tour. I found the bus tour to be too restrictive and I feel that the samples were smaller than if I had come in on my own. I also found out from the bus driver that some wineries in Napa no longer let buses come in because they feel on average not as many people buy their wine. Although Napa tends to get all the attention, I recommend touring around Sonoma (right next door) and also further south in Cali to Paso Robles.

I couldn't believe how much cheaper wine in California was compared to here in Ontario, Canada. I was able to buy a bottle of J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon for $13. Whereas back home that same bottle costs $22. An even bigger difference was Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial. It costs $62 at the LCBO, but only $37 at BevMo in California! It worked out to being cheaper than when I bought a bottle last year where it is made in Epernay, France.

2 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Wines

2013-01-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

I have never tried wines from the Chateauneuf-du-Pape area of France before, mainly because they tend to be priced in the $30+ range. I had the opportunity to try two different wines from this area over the holidays.

The first wine I had was Les Hautes Brusquieres 2009 $56.00. Even though it had been decanted for about an hour, it was still very dark and dense. The wine had a noticeable alcohol taste to it and was fairly chalky in taste. It was not too enjoyable and I wouldn't buy this even if it were $10. Perhaps a longer decanting time would help. JC83

The second wine was Anselme la Fiole $34.95 . I know bottle of this wine quite well because it stands out. It is slightly slanted and is purposefully dirty. Perhaps this is a homage to C-d-P's rustic roots, before Robert Parker touted this style of wine on the world stage, increasing the price four-fold. I enjoyed this wine more after letting it sit out for a while. It was a dense, full-bodied wine, but not quite as dark and thick as the Les Hautes. There was no vintage on the bottle that I could notice, which I found odd. JC85

All in all, a similar experience to when I first had amarone. Again, a wine that you can't really find for under $30 at the LCBO, and like the C-d-P's, a strong, deep-bodied wine that perhaps I had too high expectations for given the price and prestige surrounding it.

Hardy's Butcher's Gold

2012-12-28T22:24:00.001-05:00

Hardy's Butcher's Gold 2011 $15.00. This Australian wine is a combination of shiraz and sangiovese, something that I've never tried before. The wine is a deep red colour and the nose had a deep fruit smell. The sangiovese smooths out the strong shiraz, although there is still a peppery finish. This wine is on the heftier side and would go well with a nice steak. JC86

2012-10-28T21:39:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe it's been over a month since my last post. I attribute this to a few things, including getting a new computer, getting a new job and drinking mainly "home-made" wine that I've discussed on this blog in the past. I am very excited for a few weeks from now for the annual Gourmet Food & Wine Expo!

Gran Feudo Reserva 2006 $15.95. The wine is a combination of tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. As to what the percent breakdown is, I cannot say. This wine has a pleasant smell, hints of green vegetable. It was fairly smooth tasting, with herbal notes. This is a full-bodied wine that went well with my filet mignon. I would recommend red meat to pair this with, as it's not a sans food sipping wine. JC87

Blackstone Merlot

2012-09-22T16:39:00.000-04:00

Blackstone Winemakers Select Merlot 2010 $15.95. I ordered this bottle at a restaurant for my wife’s birthday. It was $35, so not a ridiculous mark-up. I recommend letting this wine decant for at least 30 minutes to open it up. It had a subtle fruit-oak mixed scent and was a nice tasting, fairly smooth wine. JC88

Pelee Island Monarch 2011

2012-09-16T15:52:00.000-04:00

Pelee Island Monarch Red 2011 $10.45. The 2008 vintage of the Monarch Red was the first wine that I bought multiple bottles of. It was the wine that introduced me to the Pelee Island winery and it was my go-to wine for a period of time. Then along came the 2009 vintage and it was noticeably sweeter, making it not nearly as good. There was a lot of anticipation for the 2010 vintage, hoping that it would be more like ’08 than like ’09. It turned out that there was no 2010 vintage. I was thinking that the Monarch Red was now a thing of the past, something I would only have in memories.

You could imagine my surprise and excitement when I was in the LCBO yesterday and spotted a Monarch Red 2011! I was cautiously optimistic and had to drink it that evening to see how it was. There was a fruity scent with subtle oak in the background. The taste was smooth, but still sweeter than I would have liked. I may buy another bottle, but unfortunately it won’t be my go-to wine. JC86

Beronia Tempranillo

2012-09-02T21:48:00.002-04:00

Beronia Tempranillo 2009 $11.45. A friend brought this Spanish wine over before he left for Spain. Powerful scents of fruit and oak. This is a full-bodied wine that would go well with a steak or a hardy stew. JC87

Wine Tasting at Summerhill LCBO

2012-08-24T07:28:00.001-04:00

It had been a while since I had gone to the sampling bar at the LCBO, so I decided to go a try a couple wines. The first wine I had was Chateau de L’Aumerade Rose 2011 $15.95. Rose wines from France are often much different than those from North America. To start, the colour of the wine tends to be very pale, like a salmon type colour. Next, they tend to be not quite as sweet as their counterparts overseas. Here are my tasting notes: There were citrus flavours and smell. A somewhat sweet wine, light and juicy. JC87

The second wine I had was an Italian Barolo. I don't have much experience with Barolo's because similar to Amarone, although not to the same extent, they are pricier wines. Patrizi Barolo 2008 $23.95. A oaky smell, reminding me of a nice cab-sauv. This is a heavy wine with a smooth taste that would be good with grilled red meat. JC88

Rafale Merlot

2012-08-19T22:27:00.003-04:00

Rafale Merlot 2010 $8.05. This was the red table wine at a wedding I was at. It’s a French wine from the Pays D’oc region. The nose had a fermented grape aroma and the taste was smooth, but with noticeable alcohol. A decent table wine, but nothing special. JC85

Farina Amarone

2012-08-10T23:32:00.001-04:00

Farina Amarone 1998. This was the first time I got to enjoy a glass of amarone. Up until this point, I had had a couple of samples, but bottles start at $35, so it has always been above budget. I had the opportunity to try a bottle of 14 year old amarone today. It was decanted for about an hour before drinking. It is a big wine, and at 14.5% alcohol you can smell it, mixed with a fruity scent. The taste was smooth but high in alcohol too. JC84

Tokaji Aszu

2012-08-04T08:14:00.000-04:00

Tokaji Aszu 2003 ($20ish for a 500ml bottle). This was the first time I had tried this Hungarian desert wine. It seems like most countries/regions have their own desert wine version, whether it’s ice wine from Niagara, Vinsanto from Santorini, Port from Portugal, etc. There was no distinct smell and a pear taste. I still haven’t found anything better than a nice port to finish a meal. JC87

Santo in Santorini

2012-07-29T22:09:00.002-04:00

After France, the next leg of our honeymoon was in Greece. We visited the beautiful island of Santorini, where grapes have been grown for wine for thousands of years. Unlike pretty much everywhere else in the world, the vines are grown close to the ground and as the vine grows, it gets woven around in a circle to keep the grapes safe from the winds.

The Santo Winery is a cooperative and the largest wine producer on the island. Rather than doing expensive wine tours offered by our hotel, we walked 15 minutes to the winery ourselves. For under 9 euros each, we got a screening of a short film on the history of wine in Santorini and Santo Wines, a private tour around the winery and three tastings each.

Even though the grapes are still picked by hand the same way it has been done for generation after generation, the wine making process at Santo is totally modern. The winery itself is at the top of the cliff overlooking the caldera, a truly beautiful view that didn’t get old the entire time we were on the island.

We asked them to pour 6 different wines and we shared.

Assyrtico 2011: This white wine and one of the most popular indigenous grapes on the island had a citrus smell. The taste was light and refreshing, reminding me of a sauvignon blanc. I really enjoyed it. JC90

Nykteri 2011: Another indigenous grape, this white wine had a wine cellar smell to it. It was more full-bodied and not as smooth. I think this would be better with food. JC87
Ageri semi dry Rose 2011: There were floral and strawberry notes. A somewhat sweet wine with a smooth finish. JC89
Kameni 2010: This dry red wine is aged in oak for 12 months. There was a strong oak smell. A fairly easy drinking wine, however no real flavour. It may do better in the bottle for a little while longer. JC85
Imiglikes 2011: This wine smells and tastes sweet. It is chardonnay-like, but sweeter. The Greek version of semi-sweet is what I’m used to as sweet. JC85

Vinsanto 2004: I get the feeling that this wine is what Santo is most proud of, and they should be given the number of international awards it has won over the years. This wine was aged for three years in oak barrels and is made up of 75% assyrtiko and 25% aidani. The grapes are sun dried for 8-10 days. The wine had an amber colour, reminding me of a well-aged port. It had an oak and caramel scent and a honey and caramel taste. It reminded me of a low alcohol port. JC88

We ended up buying a bottle of the assyrtico to take home with us.

Drinking wine in France

2012-07-21T07:42:00.003-04:00

One issue I’ve found in France is that almost all restaurants I’ve looked at just have the wine region and if the wine is red, white or rose. There are no other descriptors such as winemaker or vintage year. I suppose I could ask before ordering, but the name probably wouldn’t mean anything to me since I’ve been exposed to a limited number of French winemakers. I did enjoy a nice light and juicy rose from Coteaux du Languedoc, but since I ordered a glass instead of a bottle and didn’t think to ask anyone details at the time, I can’t provide anymore here.

Rochadour, Cote du Rhone. I had this wine at a restaurant in Paris. There was no distinct smell, perhaps a faint fruity smell after the wine had mixed with some air. The taste was smooth, light and fruity. JC85

Argine-Ferrari Iris & Figli Rosso di Toscana. This Italian red had oak notes and a strong smell. This was a full-bodied wine, not entirely smooth going down. JC85

Champagne – part 3

2012-07-16T22:56:00.000-04:00

The third and final champagne house we visited was by far the smallest and newest of the three. We stumbled upon Paul-Etienne Saint Germain (PESG) while walking along Champagne Avenue. It was offering three tastings for I believe 12 euro. We were greeted by Agnes Lagneau, who along with her husband, Jean-Michel, founded and run PESG. She said it took them four years of preparation (getting all the necessary legal documents was not easy) and they have been producing champagne for three years. Agnes mentioned that they produce 30,000 (either bottles or cases, I forget which) a year, a small fraction of Moet and Mercier.

Even though they are small, they produce five different champagnes: Tradition, Rose, Charme, Divine and Exception, ranging in price from 16.50 to 35.50 euro. Jean-Michel had worked at leading champagne houses for 20 years and finally realized his dream by starting PESG. He dropped by during our tasting and we chatted. Both Agnes and Jean-Michel were very down-to-earth and it was a nice change from the corporate big-business champagne houses we had previously gone to.

Tradition, the entry level of the five, is a brut grand cru blanc de blanc 100% chardonnay. There are apple and pear notes with a more apply taste. JC88

Rose, using 90% pinot noir and 10% chardonnay, has a candied apple scent. The wine is slightly sweet, but offers a nice balance. JC90
Charme has 75% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay. There is a cotton candy smell and slightly sour apple taste. It is creamier. JC88
Divine is 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay. It has a hint of apple and a very nice balance. JC91

Exception is 100% pinot noir, known as a blanc de noirs. There is no distinct smell, the wine is slightly sweet, with a nice balance and a long finish. This wine was my favourite of the five I tried, it also happens to be the most expensive. JC94

My wife liked the Divine the best, so we bought a bottle of that to take home. I'm glad that we decided to make the trip to Epernay. It is a nice little town and there is a lot of excellent champagne to taste here! I recommend doing your own tour to save money, go where you want to go and at your own pace.

Champagne – part 2

2012-07-13T21:28:00.000-04:00

From Moet, we ventured down Champagne Avenue in Epernay to Mercier. Both Moet and Mercier are owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. Tours are cheaper than Moet, starting at 11 euro for one sample, 16 euro for two and 19 euro for three. We ended up doing the two sample option. When you first enter the building, there is a massive barrel that Eugene Mercier had built for the 1889 World Fair in Paris. The barrel could hold 200,000 bottles worth of champagne and apparently it was one of the leading attractions at the fair, along with the Eifel Tower.

There definitely were similarities to the Moet tour, going by countless bottles in the tunnels and hearing about the process for making Champagne, however there were differences too. The Mercier tour was more of an attraction. I thought it would have been something Disney would design. It starts out by taking a slow elevator ride down to the tunnels. One side of the elevator is glass and you pass by different settings that you can see from the elevator. Once in the tunnels, there is a train that takes you around.

The first sample we had was the Mercier Brut. It was not as light-tasting as the Moet and no real noticeable scent. It was slightly sweet, still well balanced. JC90

The second sample was the Mercier Brut Rose. It had a slightly sweet smell and was well balanced between dry and sweet. JC92

Champagne – part 1

2012-07-11T23:24:00.001-04:00

From Paris, where we were staying, it is about 1 hour and 10 minute train ride to Epernay, home of some of the world’s most prestigious champagne houses. Before the trip, I had reserved tour spots at Moet & Chandon, a 5 minute walk from the train station. The tickets are pricy, ranging from 16.5 euro for one taste, or 23 or 29 euro for two tastes, depending if the second taste is the rose or the grand vintage. It is hard to fathom the immense amount of champagne that is stored underground. Moet & Chandon alone has 28km of tunnels, representing 10’s of millions of bottles!!

After watching a film narrated by Scarlett Johansson and taking a tour of the cellars, it is time for a tasting. We just got the basic tasting, the Imperial Brut, because we knew we would be drinking much more champagne before the day was done. I had never had Moet before and was wondering if it would live up to the hype of the tour guide and the price they charge. I ended up being very impressed. There are subtle cotton candy and apple notes. It is smooth, bubbly and delicious. Excellent balance. JC96

We ended up buying a bottle of the Imperial Brut, which was much cheaper here at 32 euro, which equals about $41.60 versus in Ontario, Canada at $60.65.

Making Wine Part 2

2012-07-09T22:20:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a number of weeks ago (May 10 post) that we were making our own wine. We received notice that our wine was ready to be bottled. We had been saving up bottles, so of the 30 bottles of wine we made 22 were reused bottles, with the remainder being new. The new bottles look a lot nicer for bringing over to someone’s house for a dinner party, but for everyday consumption, I don’t really care what type of bottle my wine is in, as long as it’s been sealed properly.

The Wine Butler (where we made it) was great. They have friendly, knowledgeable staff and equipment to make the bottling process easy. There was one machine that bottled, one that put the cork in, and one that heated the neck seal onto the bottle. It took about half an hour altogether. They also provided small labels to use.

The taste:

The Wine Butler told us that the wine will continue to mature and will be more optimal for drinking in two to three weeks. Of course we couldn’t wait that long, so we cracked open a bottle an hour later during lunch. The smell was of black cherry and strawberry. The taste was smooth and fairly light. This is supposed to be a South African Cabernet Sauvignon, but it tastes a little too light for that. As well, the alcohol content doesn’t seem to be too high. Overall I think this is a versatile wine and I will be interested to see how it tastes over time. Currently I would rate it a JC87.

Two Bordeaux Reds

2012-07-07T08:48:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of wines from the Bordeaux region I had while in France:

Pavillon Royal Bordeaux 2011. There was no distinguishable smell. The tastes was smooth, somewhat juicey and not as dry as most Bordeaux’s I have experienced. A nice wine overall. JC88

Chateau Genins Bordeaux 2011 3.40 Euro. This wine had a jammy smell with a smooth taste. It was a dry wine, what you would expect from a red Bordeaux blend, but not much flavour. I suppose you often get what you pay for. JC84

European Travels - Intro

2012-07-02T19:28:00.001-04:00

I haven’t posted anything for over a couple weeks now due to my honeymoon in France and Greece. The great news is that I had the opportunity to try a number of wines, many very good to excellent, which I will be posting about in the coming weeks. Two highlights I will mention and elaborate further on are a day trip to the Champagne region and a winery on the island of Santorini in Greece.

A wine I had on the plane to Europe was Les Tanner Syrah-Grenache 2011, from France. There were nice cherry and raspberry notes on the nose. This was a smooth, young, enjoyable table wine. JC87

Two wines from Portugal

2012-06-11T20:10:00.001-04:00

Crasto Vinho Tinto 2009 $14.95. This Duoro wine, made with the same grape varieties used in port, has a nice scent of oak and fruit. The taste was an explosion in my mouth. Nice full fruit flavour. This wine has an alcohol content of 14.5%, but you don’t really notice. Nice wine on its own, or with some red meat. JC89

Mateus Signature Red 2010 $8.95. Another Duoro wine, and unlike the rose, the red comes in a normal wine bottle. The wine has a subtle smell and a taste. It was a nice pepper scent with a fairly smooth taste. A nice unassuming wine that would be versatile with different cuisine. Good value. JC86

Bosco Eclipse Montepulciano D'Abruzzo

2012-06-02T07:12:00.000-04:00

Bosco Eclipse Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2009 $7.50. This was the table wine at a stag I went to last night. At first I couldn’t find it on the LCBO website, because when I did a search for “eclipse” I just get Mount Gay Eclipse rum, however it is under “Bosco”. However searching on winealign.com, it came up under “eclipse”, not “Bosco”. The wine had a subtle oak and fruit scent. It was fairly smooth with a pleasant taste. Like the majority of Italian table wines I’ve come across, not a bad value. JC85

Luigi Bosca Malbec

2012-05-26T22:40:00.000-04:00

Luigi Bosca Malbec 2009 $17.95. This wine is under the Vintages Essentials at the LCBO. I had previously tried the Luigi Bosca ‘Finca La Linda’ Malbec 2010 about a month ago and thought it was excellent. This malbec is a step above and it didn’t disappoint. The scent was mild oak, the taste was super smooth and full of fruit. Nice long finish. It was hard to notice the 14.1% alcohol as this did not taste like a high alcohol wine. This was the best malbec I have tasted to date. JC93

Calem 10 Year Tawny Port

2012-05-18T21:01:00.001-04:00

Calem 10 Year Old Tawny $23.95. I had not heard of Calem before reading good reviews on Wine Align. I picked up the 10 year tawny and was impressed. The colour is amber with a touch of red (depending on how the light hits it). The smell is sweet with a hint of fruit. The taste is nice and smooth, one of the smoothest ports I’ve had. I didn’t notice the alcohol as much in this as others. JC92

Mission Hill Reserve Merlot

2012-05-12T08:12:00.000-04:00

Mission Hill Reserve Merlot 2008 $25.95. I had never tried a wine from B.C. winery Mission Hill, but I had heard good things. I ordered this bottle at a nice restaurant that our friends had taken my wife and I to for our wedding gift. The wine was well balanced with full fruit flavours on the nose mixed with subtle oak. The taste was very nice, with a long smooth finish. An excellent wine overall, that everyone in the group seemed to enjoy. JC91

Making Wine

2012-05-10T20:07:00.002-04:00

One thing I’ve wanted to try for a while now is making my own wine. Rather than getting grapes or grape juice and doing everything myself, I decided to let professionals take care of the process. I found a Groupon deal to make 30 bottles of wine for $69 and decided to try it out.

The first part of the process lasted less than five minutes. It involved me pouring in a small amount of yeast into a container with my pre-selected South African cabernet sauvignon grape juice. In 6-10 weeks, I will go back and bottle the finished product. I will let you know how the end result turns out.