Jun 20 2012

The Great Tinhorn Surprise

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 4:29 am

20120619-212941.jpgOk, let me just start out by stating a couple of things:

1 – Merlot, on it’s own, from anywhere in the world, has never really excited me.
2 – I tend to avoid wines with a high stated alcohol by volume (ABV). I drink wine with food and my food doesn’t really like highly alcoholic wines.

Enter this week’s wine from Tinhorn Creek – the Merlot 2009. If my neighbours would be so kind as to take down their house, I would have a great view of this winery. (I mentioned that once about my other neighbour’s trees which blocked our southern view and then 6 months later after a wind storm, he cut them all down except one. Now we have a great view.)

Check out that ABV – 14.8% – Yikes! What was going to happen with my spicy BBQ pork steaks? I know this wine may have been slightly mismatched. But as a wine-guy and not a traditional ‘foodie’, when matching wines I try to err on the side of the wine. This means that even if the food isn’t as good as I’d hoped, the wine will still shine through above it.

The whole issue of high alcohol was put to rest with the first comment from my wife when she tasted the wine: “Wow, is this low alcohol?”

Hmmm…

20120619-212949.jpgSo here’s the deal. This wine’s stated ABV is high.

And it’s a Merlot.

But this wine is balanced – so well that the alcohol doesn’t even stick out. It’s got fruit (tons, not jammy or baked), oak (hints, very well proportioned) and acidity ( very well balanced), and the burn I was expecting from the high alcohol just wasn’t there. Just a long finish of plums, savoury spices, and cocoa. Wonderful stuff it was, and all things that I look for in a wine of any kind.

So, based on this wine, I will re-evaluate my avoidance of high alcohol wines but with some trepidation. Tinhorn Creek has been around for a while and they know how to deal with ‘challenging’ vintages and weird weather. I will likely be more willing to accept a higher alcohol wine from a vineyard of pedigree like that than a newer winery who has only been in business for a few years (i.e. less than a decade). Tinhorn Creek is more than capable of navigating these waters and with product like this humble Merlot, which retails for about $18, they can clearly walk the walk and talk the talk.

And I’ll be listening from now on.

Cheers from wine country!
~Luke

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Apr 22 2012

A Deuce from Red Rooster

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 7:05 am

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The boutique-winery brand of Andrew Peller has really started to stand out on its own lately with some super tasty wines that really show what a great bottle of wine can be. Winemaker Karen Gillis is probably the one to take most of the blame for this and is a great example of how great a winery can be in they can hang on to the same wine maker for more than 3 years. She’s been there since 2007 making this past vintage her sixth at Red Rooster.

What happens when a winemaker is allowed to get to know the fruit over time? Fabulous wines. Awards and accolades. Stuff like that.

Exhibit A is the Red Rooster Chardonnay 2010 which took home a Gold at the Canadian Wine Awards in 2011 and retails for about $18. When I tasted it, the nose was full of cantaloupes, vanilla, peach fuzz, and sweet herbs. The palate was extremely well balanced with melon, butterscotch, and lemon flavours and a finish that lasted until the credits rolled. It was a $30 chard in disguise.

Red Rooster’s Reserve Meritage 2009 is at a different point in its life and I almost felt bad for opening it so soon. The glass in front of my only confirmed that it was still a little wound up and not ready to show all of its flavours just yet. The nose offered up dark cherries, baking spices, oak, and cherry pie filling. The palate had great acid and tannins with flavours of dark fruits and leather. The big alcohol on this wine did not throw the balance of this wine at all but likely contributed to its velvety texture. As I wrote in my notes, it’s still early on in its potential life but all the elements of a great wine are there.

Check them out if you can find them! Cheers from wine country!

~Luke

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Apr 12 2012

Chenin Who?

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 6:15 am

Chenin Blanc doesn’t really make a lot of people’s Top 10 lists in BC wine. It’s not that common a grape in these parts and for those wine lovers who hunt down their favorite varieties, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris are probably going to get more shelf space in BC than Chenin Blanc. But here’s the deal with BC Chenin: It makes some awesome wines.

20120411-231914.jpgChardonnay is going to be a relatively predictable variety. Even unoaked versions can be soft and fruity. Pinot Gris can be soft on its own and Sauvignon Blanc is typically going to be a little on the crisper, more acidic side.

Chenin is more of a chameleon that way. Like Riesling, it can be made into all different kinds of styles. It can be racey and crisp, which is Quail’s Gate’s style, or soft and fruity, which is Road 13′s version made from old vines. Inniskillin makes a Chenin as part of their Discovery series and I recall it falling into the “soft and fruity” category as well, although it has been a while since I last tasted it.

In the “classic regions” for Chenin Blanc in France’s Loire Valley, it is made in all manners of these styles from bone-dry to lusciously sweet and makes a pretty good sparkling wine as well. Famously, Road 13 has tried out Chenin as a sparkler with some great success.

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Versatility and taste is what makes Chenin Blanc a great new variety to look for in the wine shop aisles. Many adventurous wine consumers are now looking for something new to step outside the ‘normal’ varieties that we’ve become all to which we’ve all become accustomed: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s not that these grapes make boring wines, quite the opposite. But we, as a wine-buying public, have hinged our tastes so closely to the single-variety wine for so long, it feels great to take a little trip with something different.

Because of it’s versatility, trying to figure out the style of a particular Chenin Blanc might pose a problem. For those who like the real crisp, zesty, and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc or un-oaked Chardonnay would really enjoy the Quail’s Gate Chennin Blanc. If a rounder Pinot Gris or Chardonnay is your thing, may I suggest the Road 13 Old Vines Chenin Blanc.

Outside of BC, the styles will continue to run through the shades of grey in between and beyond the limited amount of styles that are found here in BC. And that’s what makes the wine world exciting! Happy hunting!

Cheers from wine country!

~Luke

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Dec 22 2011

Volcanic Cab

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 5:13 am

To say that I’m preoccupied with wines in BC would be an understatement of the highest order (or lowest, I guess, since it is an understatement). I love knowing where the wines come from, where the winery is, who made it, what the vintage was like, and all the trivial ephemera that comes with knowing the wine scene in BC. Perhaps I am compensating for a small hockey card collection as a kid.

Whatever the reason, for this wine, I don’t really even care to know where it is from, who made it, or anything about it other than the fact that it is REALLY @#$^&* GOOD. If I could all-caps from the top of a mountain to let you know how good it is, it is that good. There are so few examples of good Cabernet Sauvignon from BC that when I find a new one, it is one of those things that I just have to tell everyone about.

Now Volcanic Hills Cabernet Sauvignon is not without their recognition. They won the Best New Winery of the Year at the most recent Fall Wine Festival. They took home a bevy of medals for a wide assortment of their wines and were truly deserving of the Best New Winery win. And it all started with a Lieutenant Governor’s Award for their Rose last summer.

Their first releases were light reds – Gamay, Magma (a blend) and then later a Reserve Gamay. (Now really, who is crazy enough to think that a Gamay should be labelled “Reserve”?? They are, and it was. Just saying…) I was a little apprehensive when approaching this particular bottle since it is not in the same light red category and Cab Sauvs are notoriously difficult to grow here in BC.

I’ve been on the record as saying that Cabernet Sauvignon is not really suited to the Okanagan Valley’s climate in general. There are far too many great examples of this around the world and the number of times that this grape fails in BC every 10 years out numbers the amount of successes. There are only certain areas where it seems to do ok and some of those areas are planted to other varieties. The number of wineries from whom I’d recommend a single-varietal Cabernet Sauvignon can be counted on one hand.

With this wine though, I might need two hands. It’s great. It’s tasty, it’s got great structure, it’s balanced, it’s got the tannins that’s aren’t totally green and it’s very easy to drink. It doesn’t have the rich depth of flavour that comes from a hotter climate, but as far as BC Cab Sauv goes, this is an awesome bottle.

Cheers from wine country!

~Luke

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