Vintages Release - October 24, 2009

Regretfully, due to the pressures of other events, I will not be able to do a full column, with tasting notes, this week. I hope that the following, abbreviated version will be of some use.

The theme of Saturday’s release will be Australian wines, with ports (the vinous kind, not harbours) as a sub-theme.

Australia, with its hot, dry climate, has earned an enviable reputation as a wine producing country, and Australians producers grow just about every kind of grape imaginable. The country is reputed to be the fourth largest exporter of wine in the world. The major red varietals, however, are cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, although pinot noir is starting to taking hold, especially in the cooler climate of Tasmania. By way of whites, Australia produces mostly chardonnays and sauvignon blancs, although rieslings are also becoming more common.

In many ways, Australia pioneered the new world popularity of shiraz, and produces vast quantities of it. Australian shiraz is often mixed with a little petit verdot. The latter varietal adds a little structure and acidity to shiraz, which, left to itself in an extremely hot climate, has a tendency to slightly over-ripen and become plummy. Shiraz is also often mixed with grenache and mourvedre (all three of which are in common use in the Rhone and southern France) to produce GSM’s (grenache, shiraz and mourvedre). Grenache, which has high sugar levels and low tannins, contributes alcohol and lighter flavoured, berry fruit. The shiraz imparts full bodied darker fruit – eg. blackberry and black current - tannin and (often) green and/or black pepper, while the mourvedre adds structure and acidity, with flavours of leather, tobacco, and plum.

Well made Australian shiraz can be delicious, although I have noticed some tendency (with some producers) toward the use of riper fruit lately, which produces a less well structured, more fruit forward wine. Many people like this “sweeter” version of shiraz, but my own tastes run more toward a more structured wine, without overly jammy fruit.

Australia also does cabernet sauvignon very well indeed, and Australians cabs are some of my favourite house wines. They are approachable early as a result of a long, hot growing season, and are usually big, bold wines, bursting with fruit flavours, but with good complexity and mouth feel. Despite the fact that they are (mostly) ready to drink upon purchase, I find that a year or so of cellaring will improve even less expensive versions quite dramatically. You don’t need to do anything special to cellar them – just keeping them in a cool, dark area of the basement will do.

Amongst whites, Australia’s chardonnays tend to stand out because the long, hot growing season imparts a level of richness that few other countries can match. I’ve had chardonnays from the Yarra Valley that were able to carry alcohol levels as high as 17% (12.5% is about the norm) because the fruit was so rich.

Best recent years in Southern Australia: 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Best recent years in Western Australia: 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005
Port wines are fortified wines from the Douro river valley in (you guessed it) Portugal. There are basically five main port grapes, including Touriga Francesca (the most common), Touriga Nacional and Tempranillo, although many more varietals are permissible. Almost all ports are blends of grape varieties and vintages, although vintage ports (which use grapes grown only in a single year) are produced in extremely good years.

Ports are usually served as dessert wines, and match extremely well with strong flavoured cheeses. They are made by adding distilled grape spirits to the wine to increase alcohol content to approximately 20%. Many ports need to be decanted and filtered before consumption, but almost all will keep in an unopened bottle for many years.

There are many different kinds and styles of port (including pink and white ports) as well as the traditional red. Ruby port is generally the cheapest, and does not improve in the bottle, while Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) is generally the sweetest. My favourite ports tend to be Tawny’s, which are aged in wooden barrels for at least 7 years, and are generally only medium sweet with nutty flavours.

It will come as no great surprise to know that you can spend virtually as much as you want on a bottle of port, but you can often snare a quite decent tawny in the $18-$25 range.

Best recent years for Ports: 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2004

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DESSERT WINES

Look for the Offley Barao de Forrester 10 Years old Tawny Port ($24.95)


SPARKLING WINES

Try the Louis Bouillot Perle D’Ivoire Blanc de Blancs Brut ($18.95) from Burgundy


WHITE WINES

Try any of:

- Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($24.95) from South Australia

- Xanadu Chardonnay 2008 ($19.95) from Western Australia

- Simi Chardonnay 2008 ($19.95) from California

- Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($13.95) from Chile

- Cathederal Cellar Chardonnay 2007 ($13.95) from South Africa

- Nicholas Maillet Macon Verzé 2007 ($22.95) from Burgundy


RED WINES

I had two favourite red wines in this release, but from very different parts of the world, and very different styles:

- My value pick is the Kililanoon Killerman’s Run Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($20.95) from South Australia. I bought a case. This is a very reliable, tasty wine that I can drink now, but it will be better in six months to a year. It will go with red meat of almost any description, as long as the cut isn’t too lean

- Le Serre Nuove Dell’ Ornellaia 2007 ($59.95) from Tuscany. I buy this wine every year as well, and especially wanted it this year. It’s the younger brother of the Ornellaia which I recommended a couple of releases ago (and which was about triple the price). This is a special wine for a special occasion – an occasion that could be as much as ten years from now. When you open it, your only regret will be that you didn’t buy more.

I can also recommend:

- Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2008 ($23.95) from the Barossa Valley, Australia

- Torbreck Old Vines Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre 2006 ($20.95) also from the Barossa Valley

- Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2006 ($39.95) from B.C.

- 7 Deadly Zins 2007 ($24.95) from California (a good zinfandel)

- Chakana Reserve Malbec 2008 ($16.95) from Argentina

- Terra Noble Gran Reserve Carmenere 2007 ($16.95) from Chile

- Cathederal Cellar Triptych 2006 ($16.95) from South Africa

- Coudelet de Beaucastel 2007 ($29.95) from the Rhone

- Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2007 ($59.95) from the Rhone (This may be in short supply)

- Monte Antico Sangiovese/Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($14.95) from Tuscany (very good value)

- Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella 2005 ($49.95) from Veneto (My favourite, moderately priced amarone)

- Descendientes de J. Palacios Petalos 2007 ($23.95) from Spain

Vintages Release - October 10, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody

Tomorrow’s Vintages release features the wines of Italy’s three greatest wine regions, Piedmont, Tuscany and Veneto. Together, those three regions produce almost all of the country’s best known wines, and thousands of different labels.

In all three cases, red wines predominate although all of the regions produce whites as well. However, the styles of wine and the grapes used are very different in the three regions.

Piedmont wines, coming from estates centered around the town of Alba, in Italy’s hilly and mountainous northeast, are generally made from the nebbiolo grape, which produces a lighter coloured, but generally tannic, wine, with traditional flavours of tar, roses, truffle, herbs, cherry, raspberry and tobacco. The best known wines from the region are barolos (called, by some, the king of wines) and barbarescos – both of which are made from 100% nebbiolo and often need substantial aging – as well as barbera and dolcetto, both of which are made from grapes of the same name, and approachable earlier than nebbiolos.

Best recent vintages in Piedmont: 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006

Veneto not only differs from Piedmont with respect to the grape varietals used – most often corvina, molinaro and rondinella - but also with respect to production techniques. In fact, Veneto production techniques are fairly unique throughout the world in that producers air dry many of the grapes before pressing to produce rich, concentrated, raisiny wines like amarone. They also enrich valpolicellas, made from the same grapes, to produce ripassos by aging the wines on the skins of the dried grapes previously pressed to make amarone. Veneto also produces a rich, sweet dessert wine – recioto – and a nebbiolo like wine – bardolino.

Best recent vintages in Veneto: 1998, 2003 and 2004

Tuscany is probably Italy’s most famous wine region; chianti its most famous wine and sangiovese its best known grape. The region encompasses some 36 different control districts (DOC’s and DOCG’s), each with it’s own, slightly different rules and standards. It is also home to a series of well known “super-tuscans” such as Tiganello, Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Solaia. Although sangiovese is, by far, the dominant grape, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, cabernet franc, syrah and many other varieties are used. The best known types of wine from the region are chianti (particularly Chianti Classico), Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, all of which use slightly different local variations of sangiovese.

Best recent vintages in Tuscany: 1997-2001, 2004 and 2006.

A word about Thanksgiving: Most of us have some kind of festive occasion at Thanksgiving, usually involving a big family dinner with turkey or ham or both. If you’re trying to match turkey, especially if cranberry sauce is involved, try a rich white wine, like a chardonnay, or a light, fruit forward red. By way of reds, some people like a gamay or even a rosé, but I personally prefer something with a bit more body, and perhaps some pepper, like a new world pinot noir.

If you’re trying to match ham, I’d suggest a dry Riesling as a white, or a burgundian pinot noir (which should be a little less fruit forward than its new world cousin).

A chianti would work with either turkey or ham, but, if gravy is involved, a heavier red like a bordeaux or a barbaresco would probably be appropriate.

WHITE WINES

The Spy Valley Chardonnay 2007 ($19.95) from New Zealand is a very good wine with vanilla, red and green apple, citrus and peach. It’s very refreshing, with good mouth feel and a long finish. It drinks very well on its own, and would be a good complement for white fish or a tuna salad, but I don’t think it’s quite rich enough for turkey.

For three suggestions (in ascending order of richness) that would go with turkey, try any of:

- the Paul & Mallory Talmard Macon-Uchizy 2007 ($16.96) from Burgundy. This is a beautifully balanced, buttery chardonnay, with oak, pear, peach, vanilla and notes of orange peel. And it isn’t often that you find a white burgundy at this kind of price. Highly recommended.

- the Inniskillin Winemaker’s Series Montague Vineyard Chardonnay 2007 ($18.95) from Niagara is ever richer that the Talmard. This wine is creamy, with cedar, pineapple, vanilla, butter and a edge of citrus.

- The Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay 2007 ($19.95) is a big, oaky wine, oozing with vanilla and concentrated flavour, including cedar, vanilla, melon, pear, butterscotch and tropical fruit. This is a typical example of a good California chardonnay, the home of rich chardonnays.

The Yalumba Y Series Riesling 2008 ($15.95) would be a good match for baked ham. There’s a bit of green apple, with lemon and lots of rich, concentrated tropical fruit and very little of the traditional diesel flavour. There’s enough acid to cut the fat in ham, and enough flavour not to be overpowered.

RED WINES

There are some very good values in red wines in this release.

The Sileni the Plateau Pinot Noir 2008 ($19.95) from New Zealand would go well with turkey. It’s relatively light and fruit forward with lots of sour cherry on both the nose and palate. Although this is not a rich wine, there are blackberry, kirsch and herbal notes which end in a longer than expected finish.

The Volpaia Citto 2007 from Tuscany ($13.95) would also work very well with turkey. It’s also quite light and fruit forward with cherry on the opening, and coffee and dark plum, with a bit of chalk, on the mid-palate and finish. The nose promises dark fruit, and that promise gets kept. Good value and a good wine.

The Alianca Particular 2006 ($13.95) from Portugal would work with turkey as well. This is a relatively light, soft wine with blueberry and raspberry on the nose, and those flavours plus blackberry, tobacco and vanilla on the palate. Great value, well balanced, and will drink well on its own, but with enough concentration to handle turkey with gravy or ham.

Of course, if you’re having gravy with your turkey, you might want something a little less fruit forward. In that case, try the Chateau Thebot 2005 ($16.95) from Bordeaux. We’re seeing a lot of good, unrated Bordeaux’s from 2003 and 2005, at really good, prices, lately – both of them were very good years although 2003 wasn’t a keeper’s year – but this is one of the best values I’ve seen to date. It is rich as a good Bordeaux should be, with aromas and flavours of earth and black plum, and notes of sweet herbs de provence and soft tannins on the palate with a medium long finish. The only reason I’m not buying a case is that I think this wine is at its peak now.

The Trapiche Broquel Bonarda 2007 ($15.95) from Argentina isn’t exactly Thanksgiving fare, but it’s a good wine and good value. It has a nose of coconut and blueberry, and flavours of coconut, black cherry, blueberry, smoke and oak. The tannins are firm enough to keep it for a year or two, but soft enough that it is approachable now. Vintages suggests pairing with meat casseroles or pasta with meat sauce, and I agree.

I wouldn’t have the Cantina Terre del Barolo Dogliani 2007 ($14.95) from Piedmont with either turkey or ham, but it’s a great buy and really good value. Expect a medium weight, chewy wine, with cassis, black plum, coffee, leather, black cherry, and a bit of pencil box. Pair with lean beef or a veal chop, and you have a real winner. The only flaw – a short finish which leaves you wanting more, but it’s still worth while.

The upper end of the red spectrum

A little pricier, but worth it:

Manuel Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($44.95) from Spain. This producer just turns out terrific wines, and if it were French or Italian it would be charging twice as much as it does and getting it. This is a big, rich cabernet sauvignon, with raspberry and cassis on the nose and palate, hugely concentrated with licorice, cherry, herbs and coffee, topped off with a finish that won’t quit. You can keep this wine for 5 years, or serve it tomorrow, with an hour’s decanting. Not cheap, but a bargain.

I wouldn’t normally pay $29.95 for an Australian shiraz (simply because there are so many good ones for less) but the St. Hallett Blackwell Shiraz 2006 is pretty special. This is a really good wine from a really good producer. Expect huge concentration on this wine, with aromas and flavours of cassis, licorice, pepper and raspberries. Pair with spareribs and a sweet sauce, and it doesn’t get much better.

I love lots of kinds of wine, but amarone is close to my heart and I’m picky about it. A good amarone needs to be raisiny and tremendously concentrated, with brooding black fruit, mouth drying tannins, a long finish, and the promise of chocolate or cocoa. The Zironda Amarone Della Valpolicella 2006 ($36.95) fills that bill, although I think it has at least 5 years of development to go. This may not be the greatest amarone ever made, but it’s worth the money considering what most amarones cost, and, if you can afford to wait five years, I think you’ll be really pleased. If you can’t wait, decant for at least three hours.

The La Spinona Bricco Faset Barbaresco 2004 ($38.95) is approachable now (with a couple of hours decanting) but will be better in 5 years. Expect tar, black cherries, earth, coffee and roses on a refined, sophisticated wine, with a long finish and soft tannins, that will work very well with rare red beef.