Vintages Release - June 12, 2010

The theme of tomorrow’s Vintages release is the wines of South Africa.

I should say right up front that I think South Africa produces many good wines, but very few great ones. None of the really good wines are featured in this release, whereas there are some very good values from elsewhere available.

My advice therefore, is to ignore South African wines for the moment in favour of the following:

DESSERT WINES

The Royal Tokaji Tokaji Aszu Blue Label 5 Puttonyos 2005 ($19.95 for a 250 ml. bottle) is spectacular. This is one of Hungary’s best producers making Hungary’s best known wine in a extraordinary year. Expect amazing balance and complexity with marmalade, mineral, apricot, honey, smoke and key lime flavours. Unless you never liked a dessert wine in your life, buy this wine. It will be the best $20 investment you’ll ever make. Serve slightly chilled, but not cold, with dried fruit and nuts. For the price, this is great value.

WHITE WINES

New Zealand’s Dog Point Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($19.95) is a lovely wine, with notes of kiwi, gooseberry, grapefruity citrus, a little lemon grass and a touch of chalky minerality. The Dog Point owners are former winemakers for the famed Cloudy Bay Winery, and, while this may not have been their most stellar vintage ever, it will still knock the socks off most white wines. Serve chilled with fried white fish, with shellfish, or drink on its own. The acid is so well integrated that it will take you until the end of the long finish to notice it at all.

For a leaner white that also works very well with shellfish, go for the Domaine de la Tourlaudiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine 2008 ($13.95) from the Loire. This isn’t a terribly complex wine, but it is refreshing, with enough acid to counterbalance the sauce, even a cream sauce, and a with a long lasting chalky minerality If you like your white wines lean, this will please you and the price should do more than that.

If, on the other hand, you like a rich white, try the Caruso & Minini Isula Catarratto 2008 ($15.95) from Sicily. This grape varietal, catarratto, is not much used outside of Southern Italy, but it produces a concentrated wine with a nose of pitted fruit, and notes of red grapefruit, peach and nectarine on the palate. Vintages recommends it with shellfish, but I disagree, and would suggest that pork chop or chicken breast would be a better match. It will drink well on its own, but I think it’s better with food.

Finally, the Inniskillin Winemaker’s Series Two Vineyards Riesling 2008 ($17.95) from Niagara would be a good match for spicy dishes. It has some of the traditional Riesling diesel, with peach, white flower, grapefruit and green apple notes. Once again, although you can drink this wine on its own, it is better with food – a spicy oriental dish or pork would be best.

RED WINE

When I started to write this column, I expected to be seriously recommending the Domaine de Saint Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2007 ($34.95) from the Rhone. After all, what’s not to like – a chateauneuf from a good year at a very good price. I do recommend it, but a bit more cautiously than I thought I would. This is a good wine, with loads of complexity with dark cherry, raspberry, licorice, cedar, leather, raspberry and lavender, and it verges on being a great wine, certainly for the price. I wasn’t sure, however, that the flavours had come together quite yet, and I couldn’t tell when (or if) they would. It’s still a good buy, and I recommend it, but I think it still lacks something – which time may well impart. If it doesn’t improve, it’s still worth the price, and very enjoyable, especially with red meat. I intend to put a few bottles in the cellar and check it in a year or so.

I had no such quibbles about two other wines, both from Italy, and both in the under $20 price range:

- the Cantina Terre del Barolo Dogliani 2007 $13.95) from Piedmont is very soft and ready to drink with concentrated ripe cherry, and slightly earthy flavours. This is a rich, medium bodied, satisfying wine, with lots of soft tannins, a medium long finish and enough integrated acids to stand up to tomato based dishes, and enough fruit to complement beef, as long as it isn’t too lean. A very good wine for the price. You can drink it on it’s own, but I like the idea of it with Portobello mushroom burgers.

- the Tocchi Sagrantino di Montefalco 2004 ($18.95) from Umbria has a little age behind it, but the fruit (mostly black cherry) is vibrant and lively with great mouth feel. There is some cocoa on the long finish that just sets the wine off nicely. The wine is very approachable, and works well with hard cheese or lean beef.

If you’re still after a Rhone, go for the Les Piliers Syrah 2007 ($14.95). This is a big, chewy wine, dominated by kirsch, tar, plum and blackberry with an almost overwhelming nose and palate. Serve with a cut or roast beef or a rib eye, or with a hard cheese, and sit back and enjoy.

New Zealand is working hard at getting away from its reputation as being only a premium sauvignon blanc producer, and the Hunter’s Jane Hunter Pinot Noir 2008 ($19.95) is proof of their burgeoning success in pinot noirs (even if their naming skills - being somewhat repetitive -need a little work). This is a very nice, medium bodied, new world style pinot, with great balance, and dark cherry, chocolate and spice on the palate. I’d recommend serving with planked salmon or veal.

ROSĖS

Looking for a hot weather quaffer? Go for the Tawse Sketches of Niagara Rosé 2009 ($14.95) from (where else?) Niagara. Expect strawberry, raspberry and a little pencil box on this light, but refreshing, wine. It has a nice crisp, dry finish that works well on its own, but would nicely complement tuna or salmon salad, or just sun and a chaise lounge on a hot, lazy day.