A Tale of Two Rieslings

This is actually a tale of one Riesling, but tasted two different times, and the differences in my tasting notes. In 2007 or 2008 I purchased two bottles of Pierre Sparr's Altenbourg Riesling 2003 vintage (Alsace, France), and cellared these bottles till I opened one on April 26, 2009 (good thing I have a tasting note book I keep). At that time the wine would have had 6 years of aging. I noted that it was medium lemon/straw in colour. The bouquet and flavours were of oak, apple and honey. I noted that it felt low in acid and quite round in the mouth.

Now forward to June 10, 2010, a little over a year from the last tasting. Has the wine changed much since my April 26, 2009 tasting? There was some change in bouquet and flavour. On the bouquet, I had the honey and oak, but did not detect apple. Instead I wrote aromas of lemon, flowers, honey, and light petrol. On the palate I did not detect the apple flavour, but did get honey, oak, lemon and petrol. I also had the acidity higher and remarked that it was refreshing. So things can change in a bottle quite quickly.

FYI, petrol is an aroma and flavour that comes with the aging of the riesling varietal in the bottle. Sometimes you get it within 2-3 years (I've had that with some Australian rieslings), but usually it takes a bit longer. In Australia, I have been told, the preference is not to call the aroma/flavour "petrol" as to them it has a negative connotation. Instead, the preferred term is "hot buttered toast". Either way it makes the riesling wine more interesting and complex.

I hope you have a note book and write down your wine observations, then check back occasionally as I do to see if you find something interesting to you, and maybe to tell others.

Enjoy!

Breakfast with Bill Hardy!

Wow, what an interesting morning! I was invited with a group of other bloggers over breakfast to meet with Bill Hardy, who is the 5th generation from Thomas Hardy who started Hardys wines in South Australia. Bill is a winemaker as well as a Brand Ambassador for Hardys. Hardys is over 150 years old, starting in 1853. Quite a long heritage.

The main goal of the breakfast was to let us know about a new bottle being marketed in Canada by Hardys called the SHUTTLE. The Shuttle is a 250ml bottle that contains 250ml of wine. It uses a stelvin-like closure and consists of a bottle with glass. The closure is inside the plastic glass and the glass is inverted on top of the bottle of wine. We were shown the Chardonnay / Semillion blend shuttle. There will also be a Syrah / Cabernet Sauvignon shuttle also for the Canadian market. The nice thing about the shuttle to me, is that it is just the right amount of wine if you are having a meal by yourself, or to take on a picnic when you do not want to fuss with glasses and a bottle opener. You just twist the cap / glass to open the bottle; pour and enjoy. The price is also right at CAD$4.25 plus tax.

Bill let us talk about anything with him. I found out that this year's vintage, 2009, is generally very good. There was a heat wave at the beginning of the harvest which affected the early ripening white grapes, but then it cooled off and the remaining white and red grapes produced very well. Bill indicated that he is very happy with the red wine production.

Did you know that the Tintara Vineyard was the first purchased by Thomas Hardy in the McLaren Vale (1876), which is south east of Adelaide? You may have heard of the Tintara line of wines from Hardys. I can attest that the Tintara Shiraz is outstanding as I have had the opportunity to try this wine at previous South World Wine Society tastings.

Hardys is also supportive of many groups, and I found out that one group is Canucks Place here in Vancouver. Any winery that supports people in need, especially children, rate high in my books.

Closing off this blog, I asked Bill for the favourite wine that he produced at Hardys. I expected him to say a big, extracted Aussie Shiraz, but was pleasantly suprised when he offered two wines, and they were both dessert / fortified wines! The first wine was the 1985 Hardys Collector Beerenauslese Riesling. This is a dessert wine that has been affected by Noble Rot. The Noble Rot imparts a honeyed / marmalade type flavour to this sweet wine. The Noble Rot wizens the grapes, leaving less water before pressing, and therefore more syrup for fermentation. The yeasts typically have problems fermenting super sugary syrup and die around 12-13 % alcohol. This leaves a fair amount of residual sugar. If you have not tried a Beerenauslese level wine, you should try. Most come from Germany, and most are very expensive, but well worth the cost to try at least once.

The other favourite wine that Bill produced was a 1975 Vintage Port, which he also noted was made by accident. Bill had identified a block of very good grapes which he was going to use to produce a top level Thomas Hardy still red wine. He had started the fermentation of the block of grapes and turned over the monitoring of the fermentation to another winemaker. He forgot though to tell the other winemaker that that block of grapes was for a still wine. The other winemaker thought that those grapes looked like they would be prime for port so he added alcohol to the fermentation, thus stopping it (killing the yeast), and the rest is history.

To close, keep your eyes open for the new Shuttle and try it on your next picnic. Enjoy!

SWWS Big Reds tasting - Signup asap

April 12, 2009 07:41:43
Posted By Wine With Karl

For those of you who haven't been to a wine tasting before, or had much exposure to southern hemisphere red wine, the upcoming "Cellar Select Premium Reds" tasting by the South World Wine Society is going to be a blockbuster. Monday, Noon, April 13 is the deadline to sign up.

Many of these are iconic red wines in the southern hemisphere. Some are from vintages no longer available, so if you want to try them, this may be the only place you can try them. Here are the wines:

1. Pisano Uruguay Coastal Region 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon RPF
2. Saxenburg South Africa Stellenbosch 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Collection
3. Glen Carlou South Africa Paarl 2003 Syrah
4. Peter Lehmann Australia Barossa 2004 Shiraz The Futures
5. Tikal Argentina Mendoza 2006 Malbec Amorio
6. Benmarco Argentina Mendoza 2006 Red Blend Expresivo
7. Valdivieso Chile Central Valley Red Blend Caballo Loco No 7

From the website:

The Glen Carlou Syrah has won the John Platter Wine of the Year in South Africa. The Caballo Loco No 7 from Chile is blended and aged by the Solera method used for Spanish sherry, combining fractions of wine from Caballo Loco No 1 - 6 with 7. The Peter Lehmann Futures Shiraz 2004 is not only a benchmark Australian red, but comes from an outstanding Barossa Valley vintage. The Tikal Malbec was rated 91 points by Wine Spectator. The Benmarco Argentina Mendoza 2006 Expresivo is a beguiling blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Tannat, and is one of Argentina's top new wines. The Saxenberg Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the Cape's most elegant and highly regarded examples of this varietal.

You have till noon on Monday, April 13 to sign up. It's a great deal for these premium wines, plus check out the appetizers:

Plate 1
Stilton cheese with toasted walnut and dried apricot
A Van Lawn beef slider
Seared diver scallop, red wine butter sauce
Reddened salmon, red wine butter sauce

Plate 2
Grilled lamb chop with olive crust, natural pan jus
Sautéed chicken liver “Diablo”
Prime rib “melt”
Torpedo Prawn with sweet chili sauce

5 Nations Cup Results

February 2, 2009 07:43:25
Posted By Wine With Karl

A little over 2 weeks ago the South World Wine Society had their annual 5 Nations Cup. This is a blind tasting, where a white and red wine is tasted from each of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa. The members and guests of the event rate the wines without knowing which country each wine is from.

Everyone loves Australian wines. They have been #2 in sales after BC VQA wine lately, but they were #1 in BC for quite a while before that. People on the other hand have viewed Chilean and Argentinean wines as being somehow cheap and cheerful wines. This tasting proved to people the exact opposite. The favourite WHITE and RED wine for the evening was from Chile. Argentina's red wine came in second place. The Aussie red and white wines ended up in last place!

So, if you haven't tried a Chilean wine, maybe now is the time to go to your favorite bottle shop and picking up one or two? If you want to see which wines were tasted and their rankings, go to www.southworldwine.com and scroll down to the middle of the page.

And lastly a few Chilean wines you may want to buy and try:

- Novas Organic Carmenere Cabernet, Chile, 2004, $16.99
- Montes Alpha Chardonnay, Chile, 2006, $26.85
- Viu Manent Malbec Reserva, Chile, 2005 (private stores)
- Matetic “EQ” Sauvignon Blanc, Chile, 2005 (private stores)

Enjoy!

Celebrate Australia!

January 26, 2009 08:01:04
Posted By Wine With Karl

G'Day Mate and Happy Australia Day! On Saturday I was invited to the Celebrate Australia wine tasting, which was held in downtown Vancouver. 43 wineries were present, along with lots of food, and music. Each of the wineries offered 3-5 wines, so there were about 200 wines to sample this evening. I didn't make it through all of the wines, but found some very nice wines.

Australian wines over 10 years ago were in the sub $20 category and were predominantly full bodied, full fruited red wines. Now countries like Chile and Argentina are filling that price range. Australia is now into the $20 and up category, and rightly so, as they have some premium wine makers and wine regions.

Western Australia, particularly around Margaret River, are known for their Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines. More Old World in style and restrained, compared to the rest of Australia and the other New World countries. The Barossa Valley and Coonawarra are still producing big cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, but there tends to be more structure than in the past. The Yarra Valley is becoming more well known around the world for their cool climate pinot noir and chardonnay.

So you are probably hoping for a few wine picks from me, and here they are:

- Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon 2007, $26.99. If you have never tried Semillon (a white varietal), you have to try this one. It has a citrusy, apple, tarry nose. Excellent acidity with citrus/lime flavours.

- d'Arenberg The Custodian McLaren Vale Grenache 2005, $24.99. Wonderful toffee, tar, raspberry and strawberry fruit with sweet, ripe tannins.

- Heggies Eden Valley Chardonnay 2006, $27.99. This wine has nice acidity and minerality. Don't look for an overly oaked, buttery chardonnay here.

Enjoy!

An abbreviated list of wines for the holidays

December 8, 2008 07:56:58
Posted By Wine With Karl

Isn't technology lovely? Sometimes you spend a long time writing a long blog about wines for the holidays and it doesn't get saved! Well that just happened to me, so please enjoy this very short version of my wine recommendations.

Wines to take to a host/hostess. Try a wine they would not normally buy but would enjoy. Try a champagne (from France. Try Bollinger, Lanson, Krug, or Taittinger), or a sparkling wine (e.g. a cremant from France, a prosecco from Italy, Cava from Spain, or a New World sparkling, such as Gloria Ferrer from Napa Valley, or Lindauer from New Zealand).

An ice wine could also be a nice gift. Riesling ice wines are the best in my opinion as the high acidity of this grape complements the sweetness from the grape. Mission Hill and Quails Gate in the BC Okanagan have nice ice wines.

With dinner, assuming you have a turkey feast, try a lightly oaked chardonnay, or a lighter bodied pinot noir. On the chardonnay side try a wine from Deloach in California, Mission Hill Reserve from the Okanagan, or Evans and Tate from Australia. For a pinot noir, try Quails Gate or Mission Hill from the Okanagan, or Villa Maria or Kim Crawford from New Zealand.

People also like fortified / dessert wines. Buller makes a nice Muscat (Australia). You may try a port from Portugal, such as from Quinta do Portal. A full bodied Oloroso Sherry from Spain from Gonzalez Byass.

Enjoy the wines and enjoy the holidays!

Going to a wine tasting

October 28, 2008 09:00:37

Posted By Wine With Karl

You might be apprehensive, but do it. Going to a wine tasting is a great way to learn about wines. You will get the chance to try several wines in a row. The speaker will typically describe something about each wine before you try it, and give his/her opinion on what flavours they tasted and aromas they smelled. Practice makes perfect.

When you are trying wines at home, you may have one, maybe two wines. This is OK, but you can only compare one against the other. This can be a problem if you have one red and one white wine, as the two will likely be very different. What you want to do, if you do open two wines, is to pick two of the same varietal, e.g. two cabernet sauvignon. What you should also do is open wines from two different price points. Try a sub $20 and a $30-$40 Cabernet Sauvignon for example. Can you taste a different at the higher price point? Usually the higher price point wines use riper grapes, have more concentrated flavours and are aged in oak barrels for an extended period. The lower price point wine, may use lesser quality grapes (maybe picked before they reached thier full ripeness and may have some green grapes mixed in) and if there is oak, it could be from oak chips added to the fermenting tank. You will get a less expressive, thinner wine, with maybe a very oaky flavour, for example. It may not happen and you get a very nice inexpensive wine. There are many around. But usually you should be able to taste and smell the difference.

So wherever you are reading this blog from, go to google or yahoo and try to search for wine societies near to where you live. In Vancouver, BC, there is the South World Wine Society, BC Wine Appreciation Society, Australian Wine Appreciation Society, and a few more. At these societies they usually show wines from different price points and usually follow a theme, such as Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world, or compare Australian to South African wine. These wines have been picked specifically to show their differences.

If you are shy, you can get MyWinePal to host a wine tasting at your home. Here is the link: http://www.mywinepal.com/education.html Enjoy!

Welcome to my Wine World!

August 20, 2008 07:02:48

Well, it is said that a journey starts with the first step. I hope this first step is the many of steps that I will be taking with you in the future. I have always be interested in wine and it has led me to be the president of the South World Wine Society here in Vancouver, BC. I have also sought out wineries wherever I have travelled around the world. Some places I have visited wineries are:

- BC Okanagan

- Washington, Oregon, and California State

- South Australia (Adelaide, Barossa Valley)

- Nova Scotia

- Argentina

I will of course be visiting more wineries in the future and I will post my travels here in the blog. Over the next year I plan to visit:

- France (Champagne region, Burgundy, Alsace, and Provence)

- Argentina (hopefully make it to Mendoza)

- Chile

Other things you might read in my blog are wine events that I recently attended, what wine I'm currently drinking, and other specials I hear that are wine related. I want to provide you with information that is of interest to you, so please feel free to email me with your ideas!