The theme of tomorrow’s release is “Good Cheer” and the Vintages magazine does contain some basic food and wine pairing suggestions. You should feel free to experiment though, since there are some food and wine combinations that would not necessarily occur to most people, but can be extraordinarily good. Dessert wines, for example, are a natural to go with sweets, dried fruit or nuts, but try a sauterne with foie gras and you’ll be convinced it’s a match made in heaven. I suspect an ice wine would work just as well as a sauterne. Similarly, cabernet sauvignon goes well with red meat or hard cheese, but it’s also a good match for chocolate.
There are lots of good, and unusual, combinations. You just have to go out and find them. The general idea, however, is simply to match the wine to the strongest taste on the plate.
That rule tends to break down with respect to champagne (another feature of this release, and certainly appropriate to the season) because champagne aficionados will insist that a good sparkling wine will go with anything. So, with that clumsy segue, let’s talk a little about champagne, or at least what I look for in a champagne.
I like creamy champagnes, with lots of body and structure, usually with some version of toast, bread or brioche, and not too much green apple. A good champagne can be delicate or rich, but should be well balanced so that there is enough acid to give that pleasant tickling sensation on the roof of your mouth, with enough different flavours – which may be as diverse as caramel, fruit, nuts and mineral (or even chalk) – to make it interesting. Like oysters, champagne is as much about the sensation as it is about the taste, so it should not be served too cold (certainly not right out of the refrigerator) in order to allow the different flavours to come through.
As the last release showed, you can spend virtually as much as you want on champagne, but this release has some more reasonably priced offerings which, while not the crème de la crème, will see you through the holiday season in style. Try any of:
- The Georges Gardet Cuvee Saint Flavy Brut Champagne ($39.95) from Champagne. I emphasize the place of origin because this is the only real champagne I’ll be mentioning here. We all know that you can’t call it champagne unless it comes from the right part of France, but this one is the real deal at a very decent price. Expect a rich, medium bodied wine, with lots of toast, green apple and ripe peach, with a nicely long finish and good mouth feel. You can have it as a celebration wine before dinner (with or without hors d’oeuvres), or keep drinking it right through the turkey main course.
- The 13th Street Premier Cuvee Brut 2004 ($28.00) from Niagara comes from one of the region’s best small wineries. This is a serious sparkling wine, with some racy acidity paired with some rich, creamy flavours of pear, ripe green apple and brioche. It’s not quite as rich as the Gardet, but would go wonderfully as an aperitif wine, or as an accompaniment to shellfish in a light cream or clear broth.
- The Bestheim Brut Cremant d’Alsace ($19.95) comes, no surprise, from Alsace, right next door to Champagne. It’s relatively light and creamy with notes of almond and hazelnuts, with some green apple, pear and spice. Best on its own as an introduction to dinner, or with hors d’oeuvres or mild cheeses.
- The Chandon Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine ($23.95) from California is a little unique in that it contains no white wine grapes whatsoever and is produced entirely from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. Expect, therefore, a slightly richer wine, with flavours of apple, cherry and strawberry, but still with a long, creamy finish. If you like cranberry sauce with your turkey, you’ll probably like this wine to go with it.
WHITE WINES
I’m not normally a huge fan of Semillon based wines, but the Chateau Haut Selve 2007 ($21.95) from Bordeaux is well worth trying. I got a nice blend of vanilla, apricot, white flowers, honey and lemon, finishing with some baked apple, on a well structured, semi-rich wine. Would go nicely with mussels in a clear broth, lighter style appetizers, or a salad with walnuts or pecans.
Pinot gris fans should try the Helfrich Pinot Gris 2008 from Alsace. At $13.95, you are unlikely to find a better value in this release, but don’t buy it only because of the price. Expect good acidity with stone fruit, pear and citrus peel, and a racy, if slightly bitter finish, that will complement poultry (white meat) or pork.
Australia’s Petaluma winery is far better known for its chardonnays than its Rieslings, but I liked the Petaluma Hanlin Hills Riesling 2008 ($21.95). It has some of the Riesling characteristic diesel on both the nose and palate, and rich pear, and lemon/lime flavours, complemented by a slightly spicy finish. I think this wine is better with food, preferably spicy food such as Szechuan or Thai.
If it’s sauvignon blanc you’re after, the Astrolabe Voyage Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($19.95) from New Zealand – the spiritual home of sauvignon blancs – is back. This isn’t a typical, gooseberry or kiwi fruit driven wine, but tends more to the grassy, herbaceous side. There’s spicy apple and some green bean on this wine that makes me think it would be better with soft cheeses or salads.
If you’re a chardonnay lover, this is the release for you:
- I’ve been a fan of Niagara’s Le Clos Jordanne almost since it opened, but I’ve not always been a fan of the prices. However, for $25 for the Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Chardonnay 2007 you’re getting good value. This is a lovely, rich wine with concentrated flavours of apple, peach, pineapple, vanilla and hazelnut. It’s still not cheap, but it’s worth the money. This wine will go with your Christmas turkey.
- New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay winery is better known for it’s very good sauvignon blanc, but it makes an excellent chardonnay, the Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2007 ($37.95). I must admit that I think it’s over-priced, but it is a great chardonnay and it doesn’t cost what you’d pay in Burgundy for a similar quality wine. Expect layers of ripe peach, vanilla, and caramel, with notes of tropical fruit, pear and hazelnut; great balance; and a long finish. Pricey it may be, but it’s a delicious wine.
- At $53.95, California’s Chateau Montelena Chardonnay 2007 almost makes the Cloudy Bay look undervalued, but don’t dismiss the Montelena on that account. This is one of California’s best chardonnays, although on the leaner rather than the buttery side of things. Expect stone fruit, mineral, almond, and just a touch of vanilla, on a medium bodied, very memorable wine. I’d pair with seafood, including shellfish, or cheese.
RED WINE
Let me take you back to Le Clos Jordanne again. Some of this winery’s top pinot noirs are selling in the $70 to $80 range, so I have no trouble recommending the Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2007 at $25. No matter how you cut it, whether by comparison to its bigger (pricier) brothers, or by comparison to pinots from other countries (including Burgundy – yes, I know Burgundy isn’t a country), this is a well priced wine for what you get. This is a concentrated, cherry driven, medium bodied wine, with lots of complexity, some herbal notes and minerality, and a good long finish. It’s a little more fruit forward than most good Burgundian pinots, but doesn’t suffer on that account. This is what I’ll be drinking with my Christmas turkey.
I’ve noted in previous columns that a good Rhone, at a decent price, is a great find as a house wine, because Rhones are so versatile. You can drink them on their own or with most foods. Despite its unwieldy name, the Domaine Grand Veneur Les Champauvins Cotes du Rhone Villages 2007 ($19.95) fits that bill very well. Expect a full bodied, earthy, chewy wine, with lots of leather, cedar, cassis, and violets. A tasty, tasty wine.
In the same vein, particularly if you’re a Bordeaux fan, go for the Chateau Rocher Lideyre 2005 ($18.95). 2005 was a great vintage, and while this may not be a top rated house (it certainly is not) it is a very good wine at a non-Bordeaux price. This is an rich earthy, leathery wine with black current, dark plum, a bit of chalk, and a touch of mushroom. Vintages suggests pairing with rare roast beef, and I agree, but they also suggest decanting for about two hours, and I thought that it was drinkable well before that.
I also liked the J. Lohr Los Osos Merlot 2007 ($19.95) from California. This is a big, typical California merlot. It’s very soft and ready to drink, but well structured with vanilla, cassis and blackberry notes, and a long finish. Good mouth feel, and perfect with a rib-eye steak.
You often get good value from South America, and Chile’s Canepa Reserva Privada Carmenere 2008 is no exception at $14.95. Like most carmeneres, what you get is lots of concentrated black fruit, with chocolate, tar and cedar notes. Extremely good value, and will go well with a burger or pizza, or with roast beef.
You can get good value from Spain also, and it’s easy to recommend the Atteca Old Vines 2007 ($21.95). This wine throws such a rich concentration of many flavours at you that it’s difficult to separate them all out, but there’s certainly blackberry, dark plum, licorice, smoke, cedar, and pencil box notes amongst the rest. The finish goes on and on. Decant for an hour and serve with red meat of virtually any description (except something too gamey).
On the pricier side
As usual, there are a few more expensive reds in this release that, if you have a bit of spare change, will reward a bit of patience.
- Chile’s Concha Y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($69.95) is a delightfully rich combination of tastes – tobacco, cedar, leather, mocha, spice and cassis – that reminds me of a good chateauneuf-du-pape. You can keep this wine for at least two or three years or drink it tomorrow (with some 2 hours of decanting) and a good cut of beef.
- I have long been a fan of the Antinori Guado al Tasso, and the 2006 version ($89.95) promises to keep up the good name. This wine does need time – at least three years, but it will reward the wait. Expect a well structured wine, with a long finish, and soft tannins, that with rich black, dried fruit flavours, plum, violets and some minerality. This wine has a well deserved reputation for quality.
- I’m also a big fan of the Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 from Napa, but it’s $125.95. I’m more inclined to get the Shafer One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (also from Napa) because, much as I like the Silver Oak, the Shafer is $40 less at $85.95, without giving up anything that I can see in the way of quality. Expect the Shafer to have lots of coffee, black and red cherry, raspberry, earth, smoke and mineral notes, and some violets on the nose and finish. Vintages thinks this wine will get better over the next ten years, and I agree.
- The Penfolds Saint Henri Shiraz is an iconic name in Australia, and the 2005 version at $74.95 promises to keep up the good name. This is a very well made, well balanced wine with elements of toast, loam, blackberry, black current, plum and mineral. This is a very nice wine, but I mist confess that Penfold’s two other red wine offerings in this release, the Bin 389 Cabenet/Shiraz 2006 and the Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2006 would tend to tempt me because they’re about half the price of the Saint Henri, and certainly much better than half as good.
Friday, December 4, 2009
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