Vintages Release - May 1, 2010

The theme of this Saturday’s release is “Zinfandel & Primitivo (Unlocking the Historical Connection)”. I must confess this subject leaves me cold. Oenologists have long debated whether the two varietals are related, and that may be in interesting academic argument, but frankly I could care less. To plagiarize and paraphrase at the same time - It’s about the taste, stupid.

The release also has a minor in New Zealand wines. New Zealand, of course, produces some wonderful wines, mostly whites, although they are trying to expand into reds as well. My view – for what it’s worth – the reds have a way to go to be reliable and consistent, although they show flashes of brilliance. The sauvignon blancs (which is where NZ gained its reputation) are getting generally better and better overall, and there are some really good chardonnay’s and pinot gris showing up.

White Wines

It’s easy to find good New Zealand sauvignon blancs in the $20 price range, but not so easy to find one with a price point south of $15.00 The Kapuka Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($14.95) fills the bill. It’s a very pleasant, easy drinking, refreshing wine, slightly grassy, but with gooseberry and lemon predominating. There’s plenty of acid, and a long, mineral finish. Good on its own, or with a summer salad, or whitefish.

I’ve been to Australia’s Yalumba valley, and I remember rich whites with high alcohol. The Yalumba The Y Series Unwooded Chardonnay 2008 ($15.95) fits right in, except that the alcohol level is only 12.5%. When you think of unwooded chardonnays, you often think of flinty, mineral flavours, where the fruit is fairly muted. Not this one. There’s no oak, but this is a smooth, rich wine with expressive vanilla, pear, apple, melon and some apricot. It’s very nicely balanced with a citric finish. Also good on its own, but would work with a soft cheese, or a grilled pork chop. I’m not a huge chardonnay fan (except for Chablis), but I really liked this wine.

There is a school of thought (to which my wife belongs) that holds that an unoaked chardonnay is a wasted opportunity. If you belong to that school, try the Rosehall Run Vineyards Chardonnay 2006 ($16.95) from Ontario. This wine has a bit of age (4 years) and concentration on it, and isn’t overly oaked, but the wood, together with vanilla, melon, lime, green apple, pineapple and a touch of chalky minerality, is most certainly there. Once again there’s good balance and good mouth feel. Vintages suggest pairing with chicken, and I agree, but I’m not sure about the suggestion of grilled salmon.

The E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone Blanc 2008 ($16.95) comes from one of the region’s most reliable producers. It’s a concoction of vigonier, marsanne and a bunch of lesser known grapes. The nose yields the vigonier signature white flowers, with a touch of honey, and there’s a rich, complex palate of sweet, white grapefruit, honeysuckle and peach. I think this wine is better with food, but it’ll suit a lot of foods – anything from hard cheese to pork to shellfish in sauce. A nice wine, but not for the traditional sauvignon blanc/chardonnay palate.

If you like aromatics, the you might also want to try the D’Arenburg The Stump Jump White 2008 ($14.95) from one of Australia’s best known (usually for their reds) producers. This wine is mostly riesling, with a little bit of riesling’s characteristic diesel, but leavened by sauvignon blanc, marsanne and roussanne. The end result is interesting. There’s some rich guava, peach and tropical fruit flavours, and some minerality, but with a seam of acid that comes through particularly on the finish. I think this is a food wine too – perhaps Thai or spicy Hunan, but pork chops would work too.

Red Wines

New Zealand does sauvignon blancs as well, or better, than anyone else in the world, but they’re trying to diversify. One of their major new initiatives is pinot noir, a tricky grape to grow, but yielding some great wines if done right. The Lake Chalice Pinot Noir 2008 ($19.95) is a very good effort, especially at this price. There’s spice and sour cherry on the nose, with that and some nice beetroot and strawberry on the palate. This isn’t a burgundian pinot, but it’s easy drinking and well priced, and, as the vines age, I’m betting this winery will be turning out some very nice wines. In the meantime, you would have no trouble enjoying this with pork or barbecued salmon.

Good cote du rhone’s and midi’s are a treasure, because they go with so many things and have so much flavour. Even better when, like the Domaine Puig-Parahy Georges 2007, they’re priced at only $13.95. This is a juicy, very spicy, offering with black plum, tar, pencil box, white pepper and cassis. This is a very good wine which would work well with any spicy food or white meat. At this price you can’t afford not to try it.

There have been a lot of good chianti’s around recently, and there are two more in this release:

- For a value choice, I’d go for the Castellani Chianti Riserva 2005 ($14.95). This is a light to medium bodied wine, with a bit of licorice, plum, spice, and tomato paste. It will be a great match for tomato based dishes – duh, it’s a chianti- but will go with poultry or shellfish.

- For $21.95 you get the Leonardo Chianti Riserva 2006. This is a medium bodied, rich wine with herbal and earthy notes, and velvety fruit flavours. You get all the Castellani has to offer (well, it should) and more. This wine is big enough to go well with red meat or hard cheese.

If you want a soft cabernet sauvignon, but one that packs some good punch at a good price, go for the Vina Tarapaca Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($$15.95) from Chile. This isn’t as concentrated as many hot weather cabernets (not necessarily a bad thing) but it has well integrated coffee, plum, cassis and vanilla flavours. It drinks well even on its own, but it’s made for veal or lean red meats.

At the slightly higher end of the Rhone range, there are also two good choices:

- The Cuvee Du Vatican Chateauneuf-du-Pape is one of the best known labels from this storied region and, at $36.95, the price hasn’t been this low in years. After tremendously successful vintages in 1998 and 1999, chateauneuf prices generally doubled (or worse) from circa $30 to well over $60, and it has taken a long time for them to come back. This is a really good, complex wine, with chewy tannins, tar, violets, black cherry, herbs de provence, earth and cassis. It’s a big wine, and needs food, preferably a grilled sirloin or New York strip, to really bring out the flavours. Decant for at least an hour before serving.

- The Gigondas region is right beside Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and the wines are usually quite similar, although often a little less full bodied. The Laurus Gigondas 2006 ($24.95) may be a little lighter than most chateauneuf’s, but this is no wimpy wine. It’s a medium to full-bodied offering with black currents and glycerin on the nose, and cherry, coffee, plum, violets and cocoa on the palate. I really liked this wine and think it’s really good value. Decant for an hour (or more) and serve with grilled red meat.

Primitivo/zinfandel origin debates aside, California owns the franchise on zinfandel (including that obnoxious muck – white zinfandel). Sorry couldn’t resist the shot. But the state produces very good red zinfandels, a number of which are featured in this release. You would not do badly with a number of them – the Seghesio, the Sebestiani or the Edmeades – but I recommend the Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2008 which is at the lower end of the price spectrum at $17.95. Expect raspberry, white pepper, cherry, oak, chocolate, blueberry and vanilla on this big, well integrated wine. I like to pair zinfandel with barbecued ribs, because the sweet flavours in the wine complement the barbecue sauce, but any grilled red meat would work almost as well (as long as the meat isn’t too lean).