Santa Rita Winery event at Boneta

Last night was a lot of fun. I was invited to meet a new winemaker from Vina Santa Rita winery, Mr. Carlos Gatica Llop, retry their range of wines, and enjoy some food from Boneta Restaurant. Carlos is a very friendly guy, who has worked in France and Spain, before working for Santa Rita in Chile. He has his feet in both the Old and New Worlds.

For those that are not familar with Vina Santa Rita, it was founded in 1880 by Domingo Fernandez Concha. The winery currently owns vineyards in the Maipo, Casablanca, Rapel, Leyda, Lontue and Limari valleys. They own the 2nd largest vineyard area in Chile.

I was fortunate enough many years ago to meet Santa Rita's senior wine maker, Mr. Andres Ilabaca, during a South World Wine Society wine maker dinner at the Seasons in the Park Restaurant in Queen Elizabeth Park. Now I have met Mr. Carlos Gatica Llop, their newest wine maker. I couldn't get Carlos to pick a favourite wine from Santa Rita. To him it is like choosing your favorite child. All your children are your favorite. But I can pick a few of my favorites!

The Medalla Real Single Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 ($20.99) was wonderful. Opaque purple in the glass. Capscium and black fruit on the nose. Black fruit, licorice, and a bit of spice flavour. Smooth.

The Floresta Apalta Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($55.99) was also an excellent wine. It is from 100 year old vines. Earthy, rich nose. Black fruit and black cherry flavours. Medium/fine tannins.

Other wines that are worth a buy are:
- Pehuen 2005 ($55.99) a premium wine made with 85% carmenere and 15% cabernet sauvignon.
- Floresta Petite Sirah / Sirah 2003 and 2005 vintages are around in BC ($32.49). Lots of black fruit and licorice.
- 120 Sauvignon Blanc ($11.99) A really inexpensive sauvignon blanc with LOTS of flavour.

Boneta served a variety of salads, gnocci, sausages with chicken and white beans. All were delicious and paired nicely with the wines I tried. For more info about Boneta click here.

Bourgogne: Tour De Terroir tasting at the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Fest

March 30, 2009 08:04:21
Posted By Wine With Karl

Friday evening was a "tour" across Burgundy. We tasted Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Gamay. Luckily only 9 wines this evening compared to 15 wines the previous evening.

First wine was Louis Bouillot Perle d'Aurora Rose Brut, a cremant de Bourgogne. Cremant is a sparkling wine made in France outside of Champagne. 100% pinot noir. Light salmon colour, strawberry aroma and flavour. Cremant is usually less expensive than Champagne but uses the same methods so try some cremant.

Next was Domaine Christian Moreau Pere & Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Los 2005. This is chardonnay from the northern Chablis region. Chablis is known for being steely and mineral, but with age comes complexity. This one had lemon, spice and mineral aroma. Light oak, apple, citrus flavour, and had a soft mouthfeel.

Chateau de Cordon Andre Pouilly Fuisse Les Vielle Pierres 2004. Pouilly Fuisse is the region just on the northern border of Beaujolais. The grapes for this wine are also chardonnay. Being further south, the grapes get more sun and heat and have more flavour and creaminess. Unfortunately the wine I had came from a tainted bottle so I can't tell you about it. Approximately 1 in 12 bottles suffer cork taint world-wide.

Our fourth wine was the Bouchard Pere & Fils Mersault 2006. More chardonnay, this time from the Cote d'Or, the main part of Burgundy. I marked this wine as a star. Fermented in barrel, this wine was full bodied, rich, with apple, spice, citrus and hazelnut flavours with a toasty finish. Pair with lobster.

The fifth wine was the George Dubeouf Beaujolais Villages 2007. A "village" wine is a step up from a simple Beaujolais. It typically has riper fruit and at least 0.5% more alcohol. Gamay is the red grape in Beaujolais. This wine had cherry and banana aromas. Cherry and juicy fruit gum, flavours. The banana aroma and juicy fruit gum flavours come from the carbonic maceration fermentation (i'll blog on that separately).

Next, the sixth wine was the Domaine Piron Chenas Quartz 2007. Chenas is the smallest Cru within Beaujolais, and has produced an excellent quality wine. This was medium reddish purple. Cherry aroma. Big cherry fruit flavour, a good level of acidity and medium tannins. A star for this one.

Our seventh wine was the Bouchard Pere & Fils Beaune Greves Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus 2006. Pinot noir here. The vineyard was once owned by nuns, thus the origin of the "Baby Jesus" name. The vineyard is in Beaune, which is the main city in Burgundy. This wine had beautiful cherry blossom aroma. Soft mouthfeel, cherries and strawberry flavours. Very well balanced. My OVERALL favorite of the tasting.

The eighth wine was the Olivier Leflaive Wines Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens 2005. Remember, Pommard produces masculine wines. This vineyard grows on iron rich soil, giving the wine more body and firm tannins. Garnet colour and big legs (high alcohol). Cherry and strawberry flavour. Full bodied, firm tannins, cherry flavour.

Our final wine was the Domaine de la Vougeraie Gevrey-Chambertin Bel Air 2006. I do love the wines from the Gevrey-Chambertin appelation. This wine had beautiful cherry and vanilla/oak aroma. Good acid, cherry flavour, medium body.Tour de terroir

Enjoy!

Dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 7, 2008 05:23:26

Posted By Wine With Karl

Yesterday evening was exceptional. Through the South World Wine Society and Whitehall Agencies, I and 55 other people sat down to dinner at Saltaire in West Vancouver and enjoy the wines from Aurelio Montes. Mr. Montes' winery is the 4th largest winery in Chile. He bought to us:

- Montes Leyda Sauvignon Blanc
- Montes Classic Cabernet Sauvignon
- Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Carmenere
- Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alpha Chardonnay
- Alpha M cabernet sauvignon blend
- Folly 100% Syrah
- Purple Angel Carmenere Petit Verdot

The Alpha, Folly, and Purple Angel wines are all Premium wines from Montes. Aurelio is a tall imposing man, but when you talk to him, he is very nice and down to earth. He told us of his experience of starting the Montes winery and growing it to the point where he was able to open a winery in Argentina in 2002, and another winery in Napa Valley in 2006! All the Montes' red wines have silky smooth tannins. Aurelio says it is because he likes to let their red grapes hang on the vine as long as possible. His Sauvignon Blanc was very much in the New World, New Zealand style. It had good acidity and a wonderful herbal nose (and paired very nicely with the chilled black tiger prawns with garlic aioli appetizer).

Our first course was a sweet curry creamed orzo which was paired with the Alpha Chardonnay. The Chardonnay comes from the Casablanca valley. It is oak fermented and aged in the barrel for one year. The lees (the dead yeast cells) are stirred in the barrel regularly to add a creamy texture/flavour to this wine. It had a wonderful pear and vanilla aroma. The creaminess of the wine and the full pear/apple/spice flavour paired nicely with the orzo.

The second course was a smoked black cod. It was paired with the Cabernet Carmenere blend and with the Alpha Cabernet blend. I thought the Alpha Cab with fuller body and firmer tannins help up well with the strong smoky flavour from the cod.

More to come for the third course and final course in my next blog.

You can visit the Montes website for more info.