Muy Gusto Wines of Chile

Today I enjoyed the wines from more than 3o Chilean wineries at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver. There was a range of red and white wines from the northern region of Limari down to the south in Bio Bio. There was Chile's signature grape, Carmenere at many of the agents tables, but also a wide variety of other varietals. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted red grape, followed by Merlot, then Carmenere. For the whites, Sauvignon Blanc is the most widely planted white grape followed by Chardonnay then Moscatel of Alexandria. One interesting varietal that I tried today was a Sauvignon Gris from Cousino Macul. I was told that this is the only Sauvignon Gris being offered in BC. This grape is a "lost" Bordeaux varietal that was brought to Chile before phylloxera infected the vines in France. This wine I believe was sur lie, as I detected some lees as well as lemon on the nose. It was a light bodied wine, with light acidity and peach flavour.

So what were some of the highlight wines that I tasted (I didn't taste all the wines at the event, so i'm sure there are some excellent ones that I didn't get to try)?

- Vinedos Emiliana Eco Bio Bio Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($12.95). I like this wine as it is organic and a great price. Who says organic has to be expensive? This wine had asparagus aroma. Good acidity with citrus and apple flavours. A New World Style Sauv Blanc.

- Montgras Ninquen. This is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine comes from the Ninquen hill in the Colchagua Valley. This wine was deep purple in colour. Cassis and cherry on the nose. Cassis, dark fruit and black cherry flavours. It is very full bodied and has a spiciness that builds in your mouth as you savour it's flavours.

- Santa Carolina Reserva de Familia Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($19.95). This wine has a nice cassis nose. It is quite round in your mouth and has ripe red cherry flavour, and a dry finish.

- Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet 2007 ($19.99) . This wine is medium garnet in the glass. Cassis, red cherry, and sweet red fruit aromas. Ripe cherry and black fruit flavours. This wine is very full bodied and has nice soft tannins. Outstanding value and quality.

That is all for now. There is alot of southern hemisphere wine events happening this week. On Thursday I'll be at the Wines of Argentina event, with more wines to blog about. Salut!

Visiting Everything Wine

I've Twittered about Everything Wine, located in North Vancouver a few times, plus I go there to pick up wines that are not in the regular BC Liquor Stores. Today I thought I'd tell you a bit more about Everything Wine in my blog.

I like this store as I can find Specialty "spec" wines, as well as more premium wines. Everything Wine has a special section at the back of the store with their premium wines. If you want to buy a bottle of Sassicaia, you can find it here (for $168.99). You can also find "cheap and cheerful" wine, such as Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay, which retails for $11.99. They have quite a wide selection of southern hemisphere wines, which is a good place to find good values and high quality.

Also during the weekdays, and maybe weekends, they have free tastings from 2pm to 4pm. These are free tastings. They also have special occasion tastings that you need to pay, but these tend to be more premium wines, and could have a wine maker in attendance talking about his / her wine.

The other nice thing I like about Everything Wine is that if you go to their website, you can query their wine database and see if your favorite drop is in stock. You can order it online, or go to the store to buy it. Their website is www.everythingwine.ca.

When I was there, they were going to have a special tasting of Sonoma wines for free, but I couldn't stay due to other obligations during the day, but I would have liked to try some. The other thing I noticed today is that they have the "Shuttle" bottles from Hardy's winery in Australia. They have Hardy's Chardonnay / Semillon and their Shiraz / Cabernet Sauvignon Stamp series. For those that don't know, the Shuttle is a bottle with glass built into the screw top. It is meant for picnics or just when you want a small bottle of wine to enjoy on your own. The picture of the Shuttle is in my blog.

I hope you have a chance to visit Everything Wine. Tell them Karl from MyWinePal sent you! Enjoy.

Zweigelt - A Red to Try

From my last 2 trips to the BC Okanagan, I sampled several red wines made from the Zweigelt grape. Zweigelt isn't a household name, but I think it should be more well-known. It is a grape conceived in Austria in the 1920's by crossing Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. You may say it is now the signature red grape of Austria. It has winter hardiness which is one reason why I think it is becoming more popular in the Okanagan. The name of the grape btw, comes from the Austrian plant-breeder Prof. Fritz Zweigelt.

The wines I tried were all quite full bodied, but did not have the big firm tannins of other varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Some have said that Zweigelt is more similar to Gamay in France.

Some BC producers of Zweigelt are:
- Stonehill Estate Winery
- Kalala Organic Estate Winery
- Hainle Vineyards
- Mistral
- Arrowleaf Cellars
and many more.

My recent review of the Stonehill Estate Winery Zweigelt Reserve 2006 ($19.90). "...had a dark cherry cordial type aroma. Very smooth in the mouth, with more dark cherry cordial and plum flavour. This wine, and grape, has a nice richness to it that makes it go well with a stew over the winter".

Give a bottle of Zweigelt wine a try and see what you think. Enjoy!

MASI Tupungato Passo Doble 2007

I was intrigued when I first heard of this wine for a few reasons. First it is by the large Italian winery MASI. Second it uses Corvina, an Italian grape, not common in Argentina. Third it uses the process of drying the Corvina grapes (concentrating the juice and sugars) and then fermenting them with the Malbec grapes (a double fermentation). Fourth, Passo Doble is a very macho bullfighting dance from Spain, so I was expecting this to be a very macho wine.

For those that have not heard of, or tried wines from MASI, here is a bit of info. The Boscaini family have been the owners of the Masi vineyards for six generations, starting in the 18th century. They started in the Venetian region and expanded to the Tuscany region. They then crossed contients and started a winery in Argentina. Most people probably know Masi for their Amarone wines, especially COSTASERA AMARONE CLASSICO. This wine is made of a mix of three grapes, Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara, which are dried on straw or bamboo mats before fermenting. You can expect from this wine to be dark red, and have a bouquet of baked fruit, plums and cherries, and a follow through of these flavours on the palate along with coffee and cocoa. Enjoy it with a hearty Italian pasta or meat dish.

And some info about the two grape varieties. Malbec is a grape used in Bordeaux, but never reached prominent status as it needs lots of heat to mature, and Bordeaux did not get hot enough, often enough. But Argentina, and in particular Mendoza, does have nice hot weather so that Malbec can fully ripen. The Malbec grape was brought from France to Argentina in the mid 1900s. It is now the signature RED grape of Argentina. The wines from this grape are typically deep purple in the glass, with plum and other dark fruit flavours and aromas. Sometimes some chocolate notes too.

The Corvina grape comes from the northeast part of Italy and is one of three grapes that go into Valpolicella. The grape has high acidity and sour cherry flavour and produces a light-medium bodied wine on it's own.

So how was the MASI Tupungato Passo Doble 2007 from Argentina? It was a bright purple in the glass. The purple to me coming from the Malbec grape. It had a very smoky, rustic aroma, but behind that was cherry, leather, menthol and cinnamon. On the palate, there was smoke, chocolate, sour cherry, some spice and a green herbal edge. There was not much tannins. It was a bit hot but had a slightly sweet finish, which could be a result of the dried Corvina grapes. There was also a fair bit of acidity which would have been from the Corvina grapes. I'd rate this wine in the interesting category. I'd suggest enjoying this wine with food, and not drinking it on it's own. You need some food to be a foil for the high acid in this wine.

The price in the BCLDB is regular $15.99 but right now is discounted to $14.99 (save $1).

A Taste of LaStella Wines

LaStella Winery is one of the new wineries in the Okanagan, opening it's doors in May 2007. It has a sister winery, which you may have heard of called Le Vieux Pin. I was recently invited to a tasting of LaStella's wines in Yaletown and was very impressed with their wines. LaStella operates their vineyards with a cross between organic and biodynamic practices. They also contract grapes from like minded, quality growers (which I will talk about shortly). They also take great care in the production of the wine, from hand-destemming grapes, to using whole berries for fermentation and using small open-top oak fermentors.

LaStella has both white, rose, and red wines. The two white wines I tried was the Leggiero Unoaked Chardonnay 2008 and the Vivace Pinot Grigio 2008. The Leggiero and Vivace grapes come from the Kalala vineyard. For those that have read my past posts, the Kalala Organic Winery in West Kelowna has produced some wonderful organic wines at a great price point. They also told me that they sell some of their grapes to other wineries. So I was VERY happy to see that LaStella is one of those wineries.

The Leggario had nice mango and pineapple aromas. It was medium body, with light acidity, lime and mineral flavours. The Vivace is a gorgeous, refreshing pinot grigio. It has a crisp citrus and pineapple nose. Good acidity, with pineapple, lime, and mineral flavours. Next I moved on to the Lastellina Rose 2008. This is a merlot based rose. It has a nice salmon colour and a ripe strawberry nose. It is medium bodied, with some spice (cinnamon), and strawberry flavour.

There were 3 reds to enjoy. I found out that the reds are all un-fined and un-filtered, which gives you the closest to a barrel sample experience as possible. The red first was the Allegretto Merlot 2006. It was medium garnet in colour. Ripe plums and light oak on the nose. Medium body and tannins, with black cherry flavours. Their premier wine that evening was the Maestoso Merlot 2006. This wine was deep garnet in colour. Ripe black fruit, cigar box and mocha nose. Ripe black fruit, cherries and mocha flavour, with a cherry finish. The tannins were very fine. This is an exceptional wine. Last but not least was the Fortisimo 2007. This wine will soon be bottled, so we were treated with a sneak taste of this wine. The Fortisimo is a Bordeaux blend, with approximately 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc. This wine had a very complex nose and aroma. I unfortunately did not take detailed notes on this wine, but it had many flavour dimensions and a long finish.

What's upcoming for LaStella? I heard that they have Sangiovese grapes planted and will be harvesting them to blend with other red varietals to offer their first "Super Tuscan". I joked that maybe it should be a "Super Okanagan". Either way, I look forward to trying this wine. Enjoy!

Other Food and Wine

We all enjoy food with wine. Grilled steaks with a big Aussie Shiraz, or lamb chops with a BC Pinot Noir for example. But have you considered fruit or chocolate? Maybe as a dessert or for before dinner? Grapes are very refreshing to enjoy with wines. I usually have white grapes with white wine. The sugar and acidity in the grapes seem to bring out more flavour in the wine for me. Also chocolate can be fun. We all know that dark chocolate is good for you. While letting some of that 75% cocoa chocolate dissolve in your mouth, why not try a merlot? Merlot is fruiter and has softer tannins than a Cabernet Sauvignon. I have found that Merlot seems to go really well with dark chocolate. I think the chocolate gives the backbone or structure and the Merlot fills the structure with body. It's a nice pairing. Another pairing I like is a sweet wine, such as a Sauternes or a late harvest wine, paired with a sour fruit, such as raspberry. Experiment with other fruits. See what interesting wine/fruit combinations work together. Enjoy!

Wines of South Africa Release

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be invited to the fall release of South African wines at the Sutton Place Hotel. Andre Morgenthal from WOSA in South Africa was present to tell us about wine making in South Africa as well as lead us through a tasting of 9 wines. I was fortunate to meet Andre as well about 5 years ago when he brought over a selection of bottles for us to try as well.

A bit of background for those of you that are not too familiar with South African wines. This year South Africa is celebrating 350 years of wine making, which started in 1659. South Africa is known as the Old World of the New World as their wines share characteristics of both worlds. You get the more fruit which is typically representative of wines of the New World, but you also get the structure and terroir of the Old World. These wines usually do very well with food. During apartheid, South African wineries produced wines that the locals enjoyed, but did not translate well to the palates of the rest of the world. When apartheid lifted in the early 1990's, South African wineries had to quickly adapt their wine making style to what consumers world-wide enjoy. It took a few years to get there, and their wines are now very well received on the world stage.

There are approximately 700 wineries in South Africa with about 6800 labels. It is a very ancient land with ancient soils as there was no glaciation as their was in North America for example. So the soils are from very old weathered rocks and have very small areas of unique soils/climate (terroir) across South Africa. So you could try a Sauvignon Blanc for example from 7 different regions within South Africa and they could taste very different.

The wines we tried were:
- Moreson Blanc de Blancs Brut Method Cap Classic Sparkling wine NV
- Vinum Chenin Blanc 2008
- Graham Beck Gameskeeper's Reserve Chenin Blanc 2008
- Thelema Sutherland Sauvignon Blanc 2008
- Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2008
- Winery of Good Hope Pinot Noir 2008
- Golden Kaan Winemaker's Edition Shiraz 2004
- La Motte Shiraz 2007
- Glen Carlou Grand Classique 2005

Moreson is a small producer in South Africa. Cap Classic is South Africa's term for Method Champenoise (changing the still wine into sparkling wine in the bottle). It had a very fine bubble. Red apple, citrus, light spice and bready flavour. It had a long finish. Nice.

The Vinum Chenin Blanc was a light, bright lemon colour. It had smoky, woody, waxy, lemon aromas. Light/medium body, round mouthfeel, with oak and citrus flavours, and a spicy long finish. FYI, "Steen" is the South African word for Chenin Blanc.

Graham Beck is one of my favourite producers in South Africa. I have read that President Obama drank a bottle of Graham Beck NV Brut sparkling on election night. This chenin blanc was bright, light lemony coloured. Green pine, citrus, oak aromas. Round mouthfeel with oak, spice, tropical fruit and citrus flavours. I tried this wine again at the end of the tasting and the aroma completely changed which is cool. The greeness disappeared and was replaced by a lime peel aroma.

We had one Sauvignon Blanc in the tasting, which was the Thelema Sutherland Sauvignon Blanc. Sutherland being the name of the vineyard in Elgin. This wine had lots of green vegetal aromas, especially asparagus. On the palate I noted "saltiness" which was not unpleasant, but very unique as i've only tasted this before in sherry. It could be that the green vegetal and asparagus flavours were so pronounced it "tasted" salty. This wine had good acid and length.

The Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay was our last white wine in the tasting flight. This is a BIG chardonnay with lots of oak, buttery, vanilla, citrus aromas. Full bodied with nutmeg, vanilla, citrus and apple flavours. Round mouthfeel.

Our first red wine was the Winery of Good Hope Pinot Noir. This wine started off with aroma of violets, but later in the tasting the nose changed to cherries and spice. On the palate there were flavours of violets, roses, red cherries and a dry finish. A nice light bodied pinot noir.

Our next red was the Golden Kaan WInemaker's Edition Shiraz. This wine was deep reddish purple in the glass. Tar, burnt rubber and dark fruit on the nose. Cherries and good fruit. Smoky finish and a bit of spice.

Another shiraz we enjoyed was the La Motte Shiraz. This one was deep extracted purple in colour. It had a nice nose, with some spice, red juicy fruit. A round mouthfeel with LOTS of red fruit and some spice. Dry finish. Very nice.

Our last wine is Glen Carlou Grand Classique. Glen Carlou is one of the wineries from South Africa that I like alot. Their shiraz is very good and their chardonnay. The Grand Classique is a Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc. This one was deep purple in the glass. Lots of vanilla, dark sweet fruit and chocolate nose. Medium-full body with black fruit and chocolate flavours. Very smooth.

Some of these wines are not yet available in BC, but I do know that you can buy the Glen Carlou at Everything Wine in North Vancouver. Enjoy!