Vinifico! The Original Vancouver Wine Blog

I’m currently down in San Francisco for work and haven’t really had much time to shop for wine. So, the other day I visited the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant to see what interesting wines they had in stock. I’m always on the lookout for wines from Sean Thackrey (they’re pretty scarce, so we don’t get them in Canada) so when I saw this bottle sitting there, it called out to me.

What’s it like? Good. Really good. It’s got a really cool nose that has eucalyptus, leather, ripe cherry and tar. The nose really says Cali-Italian Nebbiolo more than Sangiovese from anywhere. The flavors pretty much play that out. It’s a medium to full-bodied wine with a schwack of leather and tar with a floral thing going on as well as the full-on cherry liqueur flavours. It’s delicious and drinking perfectly right now.

If you can find it and are curious about the wines of Sean Thackrey this is the wine for you.

$35 USD at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchants in San Francisco.

I’ve been looking for this Nebbiolo since Candace and I had it at the now-closed L’Altro Buca in Vancouver’s West End last year. Well, it seems that the fine folks at Kitsilano Wine Cellars have finally decided to stock it. I wandered in there  last week and was pretty bloody happy to see it on the shelves.

The nose is really sexy. There’s ripe berry fruit along with a walnut liqueur edge. A sip really shows the seductive side of this wine. The full body opens up with ripe strawberry, ripe black cherry and a walnut liqueur. It’s just what I remembered and reminded me why I had been trying to find it.

So good.

$41 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars here in Vancouver.

This dinner at The Hermitage featuring the wines of Domaine Doudet Naudin was the first of two events I received invites to as part of my Media pass for the 2010 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Classic French food paired with extremely food-friendly Burgundy wine – what’s not to like? Nothing as far as I was concerned.

I hadn’t been into The Hermitage before last night. It’s a cozy place that is what you’d expect of an old-school French restaurant with a dose of 70′s living room tossed in – decorative brick arches, flowered curtains and all… but it worked. The room was comfortable and many of the folks in attendance last night were regulars who seemed to be on a first-name basis with the Hermitage’s owner, Hervé Martin. He creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

I grabbed a seat at the table reserved for media types and started chatting with the folks seated there, including Julie Pegg (contributing editor for EAT Magazine), Kelly Robson (wine writer for Chatelaine Magazine & her Full Bodied wine blog) and a couple of non wine geeks, Arnaud and Bobby. Soon enough, the dinner kicked off with a chat from the event’s sponsor, Rare Finds Wine Importers LTD and we were off. Here’s a scan of what was ahead. My mouth and palate were watering.

While we waited for the first course, we sipped the 2007 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, Château d’Antigny ($27.95 – 4 stars). It was the perfect palate cleanser – all flinty lemon with a puckering acidity that just begged for some food. Up next was possibly my favourite pairing of the night – the wild mushroom feuilletté with a veal and port reduction paired with the close to magical 2006 Savigny-Les-Beaune en Redrescul, 1er Cru ($45.95 – 4.5 stars). A white with a sauced mushroom dish? Yep, this white – and it was fantastic. It reminded me a lot of the Tissot Jura Chardonnays I tried a few months ago. It had a dill-like funkiness that really added to its powerful and earthy flavours. It was complex and delicious. Try some if you can find it.

After that, it was onto a delicate salmon fillet with a creamy sorrel sauce ‘troisgros’ paired with the last Chardonnay of the evening; the 2007 Pernand-Vergelesses Sous-Fretille, 1er Cru ($49.95 – 4.5 stars). It was another great wine-food pairing. The delicate flavour of the salmon helped highlight the crisp elegance of the wine. Delicious.

Next up was a delicious house-made duck sausage with pistachio purée of Jerusalem artichokes paried with a delicious and light and 2007 Gevrey-Chambertin ($56.95 – 4.5 stars). This is the kind of pairing that really helps explain the earthy French Pinot Noir food pairing magic. You taste each separately and they’re good, but it’s together that they really sing. The light red fruit and crisp tannins of the wine perfectly balanced the fat and earthy meat flavours of the duck sausage.

We weren’t done yet… the kitchen then served the beef tenderloin medallions and the 2003 Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Vergelesses, 1er Cru ($42.95 – 4.5 stars). The meat was fantastic and the wine really grabbed my taste buds. It had gorgeous dark cherry and plum fruit along with a floral and black pepper edge to its earthy finish. Wow. Another great pairing, by the way.

The last food/wine pairing of the evening was a selection of French cheeses with the 2000 Aloxe Corton Les Marechaudes, 1er Cru ($56.95 – 4.5 stars). I loved the earthy elegance of the wine, but this was the only pairing of the evening that didn’t click. I separated them – downing the cheeses and then savouring the wine.

A delicious vanilla syrup soaked rum baba rounded things off and left me wanting a walk to wear off the meal. All in all, Hervé Martin and his team did a heckuva’ job with the food choices and the wines really stepped up as well.

I left determined to drink more wines from Burgundy. That’s never a bad thing.

Our second day in California’s wine country got off to a lazy start at my new favourite coffee spot in Santa Rosa, Flying Goat Coffee. After taking a leisurely stroll around Santa Rosa’s historic Railroad Square, we hopped in the car and headed toward our first stop of the day – Mazzocco Winery, near Healdsburg.

I had been emailing back and forth with Mazzocco for a while regarding a sample bottle they wanted to send me. Because of British Columbia’s antiquated and ridiculous liquor laws, it’s next to impossible to receive wine as samples in our province (I know – go figure)… so, while I was down in the area, it made sense to drop by, pick up the sample and taste the rest of the current releases.

Mazzocco Winery
It was Saturday, so that meant that both the parking lot and tasting room were chock full of Mazzocco wine fans. Candace and I made our way in and found a little corner at the tasting bar. I’ve liked pretty much everything I’ve tried from Mazzocco, so I was looking forward to trying their new wines. I’ll give something away here – I wasn’t disappointed. At all.

Here’s what we tasted:

• 2007 Stuhlmuller Reserve Chardonnay ($36)
  Nice notes of vanilla, butter, caramel and citrus lead to a balanced and crisp finish.
  4 stars
• 2004 “Inheritance” Cabernet Sauvignon ($40)
  5 years in oak produced a smoothly balanced wine with a lot of vanilla and licorice spice to the dark currant flavours.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2005 Merlot – Dry Creek Valley ($28)
  This had a nice vanilla edge and some cracked pepper and a tonne of dark cherry/berry fruit with a long finish.
  4 stars
• 2005 Aguilera Petite Sirah ($35)
  This was very firm and tannic, yet approachable with its licorice and black cherry/berry flavours.
  4 – 4.5 stars

The Zinfandels:

• 2007 Briar Zinfandel ($29)
  This was the first Zin of the tasting and wow – the pure fruit that Mazzocco gets out of their Zins is so good. This had big ripe blackberry syrup with a vanilla bean edge. The finish lasted minutes.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Stone Zinfandel ($29)
  Big, delicious ripe red berry fruit with a syrupy edge and a long, long finish.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2007 Warm Springs Zinfandel ($32)
  A dose of Petite Sirah added some tannic heft to this full-bodied dark berry bomb. So good.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Smith Orchard Reserve Zinfandel ($50)
  Wow. I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but… again – this wine has outstanding dark berry with a syrupy edge to its long and pleasantly tannic finish.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Maple Reserve Zinfandel ($60)
  Mmmmmmm… the Maple Reserve. I really liked this (though I have to say that I really liked all their Zins). This one stayed with me just a little bit more. It had a dusty edge to its dark berry fruit with a touch of brown sugar to the long finish. Outstanding.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Antoine Philippe Reserve Zinfandel ($120)
  The winemaker’s personal reserve. Ever wonder what an over-$100 Zinfandel tastes like? Like this… or this is what that should taste like. When I reviewed the 2006, I called it “possibly the best Zinfandel I’ve ever tasted.” Well this may have surpassed it. Although the previous wines were great Zins, this was just a step above. Firm, but fine tannins cap the delicious dark fruit. Wow. Just wow.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Kenneth Carl Reserve Zinfandel ($150)
  This is just about right up there with the Antoine Philippe. This is the personal reserve chosen by the winery’s owner, Ken (Kenneth Carl) Wilson. It’s immense, with blackberry, black pepper and licorice. The finish just keeps on going. Another amazing effort.
  4.5 stars

I’d like to give a shout to Bernie (that’s her with me in the pic above), who despite having a packed tasting room, manged to keep the samples coming and was kind enough to fill me in on every wine we tasted and even showed me pics from the different vineyards.

The Zinfandels that Mazzocco turn out really hit my palate in all the right ways. They’ve got big and balanced fruit flavours with a briary edge to the firm, but not too firm tannins. Candace agreed. She picked these as her favourite wines of the trip.

Mauritson Wines
After leaving Mazzocco, I chose to drop in at nearby Mauritson Wines. Last summer, while in the area for ZAP, I had picked up a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County from them and was curious as to what their other wines might be like.

Here’s what we tasted:

• 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley ($17)
  This had crisp citrus fruit and a nice mineral edge to the finish. Very refreshing.
  3.5 – 4 stars
• 2007 Chardonnay Alexander Valley Valley ($25)
  I really liked this. It had a crisp citrus edge to its tropical fruit that led to a long finish. A very nice effort – only 457 cases were produced.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2008 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley ($27)
  There was an almost meaty edge to the pepper and dark berry/cherry fruit. Very tasty.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County ($35)
  This had refined and tasty black currant fruit with a vanilla edge. The tannins were fine, but firm and the finish lasted minutes. This could definitely benefit from some time in your cellar.
  4.5 stars

The Rockpile Zinfandels:
These are the wines for which Mauritson is best-known. I hadn’t really tried them before and have to say that I was very impressed. They were very well-balanced with loads of spice and dark fruit.

• 2007 Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel ($35)
  Tasty jammy ripe red berry fruit with black pepper and really nice mineral-edged tannins on the finish. Really good stuff.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Rockpile Jack’s Cabin Vineyard Zinfandel ($37)
  This really grabbed me. I picked up flavours of black pepper, licorice, dark chocolate and juicy dark berries.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Rockpile Westphall Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel ($37)
  I got a bit of a meaty edge to the nose of this wine… but the flavours were all about the dark berry fruit along with licorice. Wow – a very tasty Zin.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Rockpile Cemetary Vineyard Zinfandel ($39)
  This is a bit of a monster – it’s got all the beautiful dark Zinfandel fruit, but with layers of complexity and a load of tannins on the finish. This is the one I tasted that could sit in your cellar for a while. Very, very good.
  4.5 stars

There were a few other wineries I would have liked to have visited on Saturday, but quality should always win out over quantity. I would whole-heartedly recommend visits to both wineries. The folks manning the tasting rooms were unbelievably friendly and the wines… well, there wasn’t a dud in the bunch. Check them out. Your taste buds will thank you.

I’m putting together my write-up of last Saturday in Sonoma, but I was both thirsty and hungry, so this post worked its way into the mix.

Holy silky Pinot Noir, folks. This bottle was exactly what I was looking for when I pulled the cork tonight. I was cooking up some wild mushroom Tagliatelle and craving some Pinot – OK, it was in the opposite order. I was craving some Pinot and so I cooked up something to go with it.

I hadn’t really heard of McKinlay Vineyards before this bottle caught my eye the last time we were in Portland. It turns out they’re doing their thing in a more Burgundian style and have a bunch of folks excited about the bottles they’re turning out. You can now count me in with them.

I had a few sips before we ate and really liked it, but in true Burgundian style (13% booze, by the way), it was with the food that the wine really came alive. The earthiness of the wine really complemented the mushrooms and the fruit and acidity built on that. Wow. I really liked it.

The nose has a schwack of ripe cranberry and cherry along with a handful of of flowers and some smokey spice. A sip really explodes with the ripe red cherry, rhubarb, cranberry and citrus fruit. I’ll break it down. It just tastes really good and went so well with our meal that I wish we had another bottle. Enough said.

If you like Burgundy and have been looking for an Oregon wine to try, give this a go. I can’t guarantee you’ll like it – thank God everyone’s tastes are different – but I sure as heck did.

Nice work McKinlay.

~$38 USD at Vinopolis in Portland.

Candace and I headed into the Napa Valley last Friday and I was really looking forward to the appointments I had set up. The weather was spring-warm perfect, the traffic was light and I was looking forward to tasting some of Napa’s Cabernet. First in line was the venerable Beaulieu Vineyard, located in Rutherford. The second appointment was set for 2pm at Whitehall Lane Winery and we were penciled in at Cuvaison Estate Wines in Calistoga for 4pm. It was going to be an afternoon full of (hopefully) good wine.

Beaulieu Vineyard:
I had only visited Beaulieu once before – way back in 1991. That was also my first visit to Napa Valley. What I really remember about the visit was that, back then, like many guys in their early 20′s I was into the whole Seattle music scene and had the hair to match. It was halfway down my back. I know… I know, but hey – it was the early 90′s. The point of mentioning this was that many of the wineries, upon seeing 4 long-haired musician-looking types headed their way, lived up to the much-feared wine snob stereotype – they treated us like crap. We were there to learn, sample and buy. They made that much less pleasant than it should have been.

Not Beaulieu. To this day, I have a soft spot for them because of the open and friendly way we were greeted and led through a wine sampling education. It was what a visit to a winery should be – FUN. They helped send me down the road to being the wine geek I am today. I don’t remember the names of the nice folks from that visit, but will fondly remember our tasting with Robert last Friday.

We were greeted at the door with a sample of their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc and then made our way to their tasting bar and through their Maestro Collection and their Napa Valley Cabernets. Here’s a list and quick rating of what we tasted:

• 2006 Maestro Petite Sirah ($32) – 3.5 – 4 stars
• 2005 Maestro Ensemble Red ($27) – 4 stars
• 2006 Maestro Zinfandel ($30) – 4 stars
• (Unsure of the vintage) Tempranillo ($?) – 4 stars

The Cabernets:

• 2006 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) – 4 – 4.5 stars
• 2005 Reserve Maestro Cabernet No. 1 ($65) – 4.5 stars
• 2005 Reserve Maestro Cabernet No. 2 ($65) – 4.5 stars (my favourite of this flight)
• 2006 Reserve Maestro Cabernet No. 2 ($65) – 4.5 stars

After tasting these, Robert took us down to the members’ tasting lounge and seated us in front of 4 glasses. Into those he poured:

• 2006 Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir ($45)
  Beautiful colour with elegant ripe plum and cherry flavours.
  4 stars
• 2003 Tapestry Reserve ($? – a classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec)
  Balanced ripe fruit with firm yet silky mineral-laced tannins.
  4 stars
• 2006 Tapestry Reserve ($60)
  Bigger and earthier with a toasty edge to the dark cherry, black currant and dark chocolate flavours. Lots of tannin. Very tasty.
  4.5 stars
• 2006 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($115)
  Really good. Lots of complexity. I got licorice, blackberry, black currant and vanilla spice on the nose. The flavours showed all that along with some coffee. The finish lasted minutes and was very firm. It has the structure to last for quite a while and will be best in a few years.
  4.5 stars

Whitehall Lane Winery:
Next up was our 2pm appointment with Katie. This is a much smaller family operation compared to Beaulieu. It was bought by Tom Leonardini Sr. in 1993 and has seen extensive changes to the winery and the equipment since that time. The winery owns roughly 110 acres of vineyards in the Napa Valley including the Leonardini Vineyard in St. Helena and the Rutherford West Vineyard in, you guessed it, Rutherford.

Katie poured us a sample of their Chardonnay and led us out of the tasting room and into the winery. We watched them bottling their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and had a quick tour of the member’s lounge and a beautiful view of the surrounding vineyards from its deck. We then headed back to the tasting room to sample their wines. Here’s what we tasted:

• 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($16)
  Crisp acidity and nice citrus and melon fruit.
  3.5 – 4 stars

• 2007 Chardonnay, Carneros ($28)
  Again – nice and crisp with pear and citrus with some vanilla from the oak.
  3.5 – 4 stars

• 2007 Pinot Noir, Carneros ($28)
  Very light with nice red cherry and a bit of citrus and spice.
  3.5 stars

• 2006 Merlot, Napa Valley ($28)
  Black cherry and berry with a floral edge lead to nice vanilla and spice on the finish.
  4 stars
• 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($40)
  Nice tannins edge the ripe blackberry and black currant fruit with earth and spice on the finish.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($60)
  This is a blend of fruit from both of their Cabernet vineyard sites in the Napa Valley. It really grabbed my taste buds with its ripe fruit and elegant balance. Flavours of black currant, dark cherry and berry led to a spicy vanilla-tinged finish from the oak. It’s still quite young and will be best in a year or so (or more).
  4.5 stars
• 2006 St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($60)
  This was Candace’s favourite wine of the day, with a really nice nose that hinted at the ripe fruit to come. A sip literally explodes in the mouth with jammy back currant and berry fruit, followed by a long and elegant finish with very firm tannins.
  4.5 stars
• 2006 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($60)
  This wine was a very interesting counterpart to the St. Helena Cab. It tasted of the “Rutherford Dust” the area is known for. This also had really elegant fruit and a long spicy finish. I really liked this one.
  4.5 stars

All in all, I’d have to say that I really liked the Cabs we tasted. As a matter of fact, I liked them enough that I took a few with me when we left.

Cuvaison Estate Wines:
Last July when I was down in Napa and Sonoma for the Wine Blogger’s Conference, a mix-up left Graham, Shea and I standing in Cuvaison’s Calistoga parking lot wondering where the rest of the crew had disappeared to… only to realize that they had been bused down to Cuvaison’s newer Carneros facility. Well, I made a mental note to return to the cozy Calistoga tasting room the next time I was in the area – so with an appointment set up by my friend Paul Watkin of Seacove Wines (who represent Cuvaison in BC), here we were.

After a recent re-vamp, the room was not only cozy, but modern as well. We settled in at one of the tables and Gabe brought around the samples and filled us in on the geographical and winemaking facts for each wine. I was really impressed with what he poured:

• 2007 S Block Chardonnay ($38)
  This had really gorgeous fruit – orange peel, melon and pineapple that led to a balanced and crisp finish. Very tasty.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 ATS Chardonnay ($54)
  Wow. There was an explosion of flavour on the finish of this wine – crème brulée, nut, apple and mineral-edged lemon. Initially, a sip gave peach, and citrus flavours, but man… that finish. Very good.
  4.5 stars
• 2008 Mariafield Pinot Noir ($32)
  This Swiss clone gives bright purple cherry and cola flavours, with tonnes of spice and cherry cola on the finish.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2007 Block F5 Pinot Noir ($45)
  I really liked this wine. It was darker in colour than the Mariafield and struck me as having more going on. On the nose, there was blackberry and ripe red cherry. A sip gave me silky tannins that edged the black cherry cola, spice and floral flavours.
  4.5 stars
• 2007 Zinfandel, Bald Mountain ($35)
  This wine surprised me. I know Cuvaison is known for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but they also turn out a tasty Zinfandel. It had nice dark plum and berry on the nose. Flavours of ripe plum, dark berry led out to bramble spice and cracked pepper on the finish.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder ($45)
  Black pepper and ripe currant on the nose led to black pepper, currant and licorice flavours and a long finish.
  4 – 4.5 stars
• 2006 Brandlin Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder ($85)
  This really caught me off guard. Its’ delicious! The nose showed purple berry, vanilla and licorice spice. The flavours were big and balanced – ripe dark berry, black currant, licorice and spice on the long, long finish. Wow.
  4.5 stars

I have to say that this is the way to spend a day in Napa Valley. Make a few appointments and really spend the time going through each winery’s wines. There are a lot of great wineries in the valley, so take some time to check them out.

I’m going to detour from the under-$30 wine challenge for a day. I had this wine a couple of weekends ago and I liked it so much that I had to get it on the site. It comes from the France’s Saint-Joseph Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the northern Rhône and like many wines from that area is comprised of 100% Syrah.

Holy crap. I haven’t enjoyed a wine in this price range so much in so long. The nose is INTENSE – with bacon, cracked black pepper, blackberry, herbs and dust. It smells so GOOD. Look at me using the caps. This wine calls for it.

The flavours? It’s jam-packed with concentrated, yet polished blackberry, plum, meaty-like-bacon mineral and herbs. Yowza. It builds in the mouth unlike many wines I’ve had recently. This is the full-meal deal. It’s the wine equivalent of a beret-wearing macho man walking up to an Aussie (Shiraz) and knocking him out. It’s much better than any Shiraz I’ve had in a long time. So much better.

This is a kick-ass bottle of wine – especially for $50. If you can find it, grab a couple. Hell, grab a few. You’ll be glad you did.

$50 at Marquis Wine Cellars.

My first post of the year is a review of what is possibly the best Zinfandel I’ve ever tasted… A big claim, I know, but it’s my palate and you can pick your own favourites.

Graham, Shea and I came across this bottle while visiting the Mazzocco Winery during 2009′s Wine Bloggers’ Conference. We dropped in and tasted everything they had on hand with their exceptionally friendly staff, before being offered a special tasting of a few of their Reserve wines. Having fallen in love with their wines at ZAP, we weren’t about to turn that chance down. The result? I thought they were all standouts, but this one really grabbed our interest (and money).

I forget the exact story of how this and their other Reserve wines came into being, but the story is something along the lines of “owner of the winery thinks he (Kenneth Carl), the winemaker (Antoine Favero) and the vineyard manager (Juan Rodriguez) should peek at how the current vintages were developing and select small amounts of what they thought were the best of what they found  – and each of them would make their own blend”. The results are the Kenneth Carl Reserve, the Juan Rodriguez Reserve and the subject of this post – the Antoine Philippe Reserve.

It goes without saying that I was looking forward to popping the cork and savouring a few glasses. Graham had his in late 2009 – I enjoyed my bottle on the last night of my recent holiday.

I’ve never gotten this much from the nose on a Zin… there’s just SO much going on – I get maple-brown sugar, red licorice, brambles and so much ripe blackberry that my mouth started watering. It’s not overwhelming or boozy at all. The nose is surprisingly balanced for a wine with 16.2% ABV.

The flavours? My initial reaction was, “Wow.” It’s just so full and complex. Initially there’s a mouthful of ripe blackberries and plum fruit, which is then followed by an incredibly balanced mix of licorice, brown sugar (with that maple edge) and a lingering bit of violet on the velvety-tannic finish – which lasts minutes.

Graham had this to add:
“I too was taken in by the breadth of the nose on this wine.  I found the beautiful fruit and sweetness on the nose balanced by some nice leather and floral notes.  So appealing and elegant for a Zin of this magnitude.

It is completely mouth-filling with a nice dark plum backbone under the beautiful berries that mix over top.  The real “wow” here is how this wine is concentrated and structured but not at all over the top or cloying in anyway.  At 16.2% this is some seriously ripe fruit, but Antoine Favero has maintained an incredible finesse in this wine.”

How can you not love this wine?? Don’t like Zin? Try something this complex and balanced. It’s not just a Zinfandel. It’s a memorable and exceptional bottle of wine.

Only 100 cases were made.

$120 USD at the winery.

The Jura. I’ve already written about this fantastic area – and you can easily do some reading when you have the time. I’ve been on  kick with the region lately, thanks to the folks at Kitsilano Wine Cellars here in Vancouver. They received an impressive selection of wines from the Tissot winery a few weeks ago and I’ve been trying to make my way through them one at a time.

The nose on this wine is really piquing my interest. The first thing that came to mind with my initial sniff  – apart from the word, “Wow” – was slightly burned buttered popcorn. That’s exactly what I was smelling. Initially the flavours reflected that – like it had been liquefied and poured over a flinty stone before my sip.

10 minutes later, I’m getting vegetable stock on the nose, with a really approachable sweet citrus fruit edge to the flavours. With even more time, I’m starting to get warmed orange rind added to the nose… with candied orange peel going on in the flavours. Insane. I love it. It’s complex, yet forward and just plain fun at the same time. This is a swirl, sniff, taste, swirl, taste and smile wine. One that I want to last all night. I’m sure it would continue to change.

The truly remarkable thing about this wine is how alive the flavours are. It changes every five minutes. Essentially this is alive. Remember that conversation in “Sideways” when Virginia Madsen’s character explains why she loves wine? It went something like “… when you taste that wine, it tastes unlike it will at any other time. It’s alive and constantly changing.” The screenwriter was clearly thinking about wines like this. It evolves in the glass and decanter unlike many other white wines I’ve had; save for Tissot’s own 2006 “En Barberon” that I reviewed last month.

Shea over at Just Grapes Wine recently named this his #2 wine for the year. I can’t disagree with him. I’m thinking this will make my top 5 as well.

$65 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars.

PS: If you’re going to take this wine home, just give it 20 minutes in the fridge – no more. It just needs to be slightly cooler than room temperature (if that) to let its dictionary of flavours loose.

Chaos. The holiday season seems to breed it in various forms, and today for me it was in the form of my youngest daughter’s 5th birthday and a bowling party for 21 five year olds. Chaos sometimes comes lovely and adorable ways.

To celebrate the success of this event, I decided to open the last of my gems from our journey to Brown Estate Vineyards in July. We have detailed the stunning nature of the visit and the wines previously (including this one, however it is worthy of mention repeatedly). Again, it lives up to all the others.

The Chaos Theory is blend of the various blocks of zinfandel, and some of their tasty cabernet. When we visited, we had the chance to savor a barrel sample of the upcoming Cabernet (to be blended with Syrah I believe) and it had a beautiful dark fruit and graphite character. This offering makes the blend a seamless silky goodness.

The nose has beautiful blueberry with some cedar and nettle the builds into what I can only describe as “Christmas Spice” that continues on throughout every gorgeous sip. The palate has delicious dark fruit, plum, currant, and more blueberry in all it’s viscous goodness. The finish brings some clove, orange zest, and just superb balance that characterize Brown Estate wines in my experience.

This is another in the series of Brown Estate offerings that speak to the honesty, integrity, and genuine passion that are hallmarks of their wines. Love it. Plain and simple.

$36 USD at the Winery (a great deal).