Vinifico! The Original Vancouver Wine Blog

This guy is a knob (not to mention in need of some grammar lessons). Methinks he either has dead taste buds, or has always just had crap wine.

“Succulent.” – Aptly put by Sean when we first tasted this wine. We shared this one recently and have to say we were all wowed by the structure and body of this wine.

Cabernet Franc is produced here in BC with a wide range of styles, usually showing some red fruit and bit of pepper, but generally rather light wine that benefits from a light meat dish.

This is a whole other adventure. This first couple of swirls showed liquorice and beefy black fruit. This was followed up by a massive jammy delight of stewed prune, blackberry, and tobacco in the mouth. This was a monster. The finish went on and on with bitter chocolate, blackberry and some nice spice to top it off.

Easily the most enjoyable 100% Cabernet Franc I’ve ever had.

$38 USD

Seeing Sean’s write up on the Andrew Rich Pinot Noir Cuvee B sent me to my notes for this gem that I had on my recent vacation to Oregon. Simply put, Andrew Rich makes fantastic wines.

I had this recommended to me in a little wine and gift shop in Lincoln City and was immediately drawn in by the really cool packaging. The bottle is covered with postcards from Languedoc – certainly unique.

It’s a Rhone style red with Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache and Counoise and all that combines to make this wine a really great value. The nose was rich with black currant, tobacco, and a hint of mint. I just got an old world feel from this wine as it had so many layers. In the mouth there’s loads more currant and some plum and a hint of allspice. The finish has tonnes of soft tannins with some white pepper and more dark fruit and bit of anise for good measure.

Great Stuff!

$20 US

What is Cheese? It’s not what you think: Cheese is four days of cheese, wine and food bliss in the small town of Bra, Italy. Located in the province of Cuneo, just south of Turin, Bra is the headquarters for Slow Food International. If you haven’t heard of it, Slow Food is an association that promotes the pleasures of the table, taking time to eat and eating food that tastes good and is good for you. Slow Food also promotes biodiversity and the historical memory of culinary traditions.

Every two years Slow Food organizes Cheese here in Bra. Fortunately, I just happened to move to Bra this year right around Cheese time. I teach the anthropology of food at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in nearby Pollenzo, but I consider Cheese essential fieldwork for better understanding culinary culture in Italy and around the world.

Although cheese is the protagonist of this event, wine is certainly its ally. There are numerous enoteche throughout the various exhibits ad marketplace. Yesterday I discover the Super Whites stand, which features over fifty lovely white wines from the Friuli region of Italy. For 3 euros you get a glass and a generous pour of the wine of your choosing. I tried two blended whites. The first really blew me away. It was a Jermann, Vinnae 2006 (Ribolla Gialla, Tocai Friulano, Riesling). A straw colour, this full-bodied white went perfect with the Montebore cheese that I tried as I was wandering down the street, glass in hand. I returned to this stand earlier today and tried a Russiz Superiore, Coldisore 2004 (Tocai Friuliano, Pinot Bianco, Ribolla Gialla, Sauvignon), another big white with green, grassy overtones but a big ripe taste. Wow, are they ever doing a good job in Friuli making white wine. I have made a note to take a trip to the area when Sean gets here.

Perhaps the most amazing and overwhelming attraction here at Cheese is the Gran Sala del Formaggio e Enoteca. There are nearly 2000 wines that can be tasted by the glass and over 100 cheeses from around the world. This all takes place under a beautiful historic portico with a wall of wines on one side, cases of cheese and comfortable tables setup under tents on the other side. This is where I have been camping out.

The hardest part is choosing what to drink. There are nearly 6 pages of Piedmontese wines (Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Dolcetto and more), but I decided to venture to other areas of Italy that I knew I would not have much opportunity to taste unless I went there. This is what I drank:

Fontalloro – 2003 – Fattoria di Felsina – beautiful, classic, stylish,
I wanted to lick the rim of the glass (Tuscany)

Montefalco Sagrantino – 2004 – Tenuta Perticaia - musty underbrush,
nearly black. A bit rough but promising. (Umbria)

Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2001 – Vigneti Villabella – OH MY
GOD – I love this stuff. Sexy dried fruit, lush and all that and some
more… (Veneto)

I still have two more days of cheese and I plan on trying as much wine and cheese as my liver will take. Wish me luck.

I sent off our media application for the 2008 ZAP Festival this week, so naturally my thoughts turned toward Zinfandel. I’ve had this sitting around for a few weeks and it was time it fell victim.

In March of 2006 Francis Ford Copploa bought the Chateau Souverain property in the Healdsburg area of California’s Sonoma Valley. He already Had the Rubicon Estate thing going on in Napa, so I guess he felt the need to branch out into the wine world even more. He’s now making the Director’s Cut line of wines based out of the winery’s property. As far as I can tell, there’s no web site up, but the wines are definitely out in the market.

This is a Dry Creek Valley Zin. Usually that means less slutty fruit and a bit more tannin, licoroce spice and earthy flavours. That’s exactly what’s going on here. There’s none of the jammy fruit many people expect in a Zin, but I’ve gotta say tht it’s pretty bloody good.

The colour is a very dark, purple red. The nose is dark berry, tar and licorice spice. The flavours are as refined as a good Zin gets. There’s a soft edge of sexy dark berry that is perfectly balanced with the tannins and licorice spice with a vanilla/red licorice edge, leading into a long finish. It’s like a trip to a fussy adults’ candy store.

Do I like it? Yep. Quite bit. Would I buy it again? Again, the answer is yep. This wine just tastes good.

~ $39 at private wine shops here in Vancouver.

(verging on 4.5)

Holy crap, this is a great bottle of wine for the money. I’ve had this many times over the last few months and have been meaning to write it up. Well, here it is… finally.

The regular Babich SB is a great bottle of wine for the money. This one is like that reduced by an extremely talented chef. All the flavours are turned up a notch. The nose is a big bunch of lemon zest, passion fruit and grass. The flavours literally explode when sipped. There’s grass, lemon, gooseberry and a zesty white pepper and mineral-laced finish. It’s intense and concentrated. Fantastic stuff.

I had this tonight with a tuna, capers, grilled pepper and zucchini pasta with lemon zest and olive oil… and sweet Jesus, it was a perfect match. Wow. So good.

Believe me, I’ve bought it many times and I’ll be buying this again. There aren’t many wines out there that are a better value for the money. If you like Sauvignon Blanc, go buy a bottle of this, sit back and savour.

$20.90 at LDB stores here in BC.

I first tasted this wine a few months ago and have been meaning to write it up since then. Everyone has heard of Rioja (OK, almost everyone), but white Rioja? Well, Rioja is a wine region in Spain and yep, they make some white wine there as well. This is a blend of 90% Viura (also known as Macaebo, the most widely-planted white grape in Rioja) and 10% Malvasía.

Tonight, I paired the wine with a completely simple meal of grilled wild salmon (Sockeye), green beans and new potatoes drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil (Amelia, of course)… and it rocked. The salmon and lemon brought out a distinct (and bloody tasty) lemon-citrus edge in the wine. It was delicious.

Let’s break it down – the colour is a medium-pale straw yellow, the nose is flinty lemon and herbs… and the flavour? Well, that pretty much mirrors the nose. It’s a big mouthful of crisp, yet balanced lemon and pear with a bit of an herb edge. Interesting and really good.

If you’re in the mood for something white and different (and wine), give it try. You’ll be glad you did.

$27.99 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars here in Vancouver.

Recently in Vancouver, we’ve received a big shipment of reasonably-priced Bordeaux from the 1998 vintage. I’ve obviously enjoyed this… especially wines like the 1998 Chateau de Ferrand (phenomenally cool wine). I dropped by the big LDB store at 41st and Cambie last night and bought a few bottles of ’98 Bordeaux and this was one of them.

It’s a pretty cool bottle of vino. Even before I checked out the area of Bordeaux it’s from I breathed in a good whiff of the nose and thought Merlot. Turns out it’s a Lalande-de-Pomerol and is 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.

It’s got a great coffee/dark cherry/tobacco nose, which is followed up by sour cherry, black currant and coffee flavours. Tasty stuff.

To me, it’s bloody interesting to taste wines like this… wines that are well-made, aged to drink and are affordable. I understand not everyone wants to drop ~ $40 on a bottle of wine, but it’s pretty cool to taste something that’s pretty much unlike anything else you’ll sip. If you can swing it, grab a bottle and some good cheese or a steak, and you’ll see what this whole wine/food thing is about.

$39.90 here in BC at the LDB stores.

This wine was a last-minute pick-up tonight at the Liberty Wine Store at Granville Island. The weather is gorgeous here in Vancouver, but I’m starting to crave the big reds… I’m a big Zinfandel fan and I’ll tell ya’, this one was pretty damn tasty for the money.

I had it with the almost legendary Oyama lamb and date sausages tonight and my taste buds were pretty damn happy. I can’t say definitively that this is a better wine match than say a good Shiraz, but it was pretty good.

The nose is a great heap of dark, ripe berries dipped in chocolate. The flavours pretty much play that out – with a jammy edge to the fruit and dark chocolate.

What it adds up to is a tasty treat for the money and yet another wine I’ll be picking up to enjoy again sometime soon.

$22 – 27 here in Vancouver.

OK, I know I’m a wine geek, but this is kinda’ cool. It’s a set of 8 stemless Reidel wine glasses, 2 espresso finish serving trays and an erasable pen with ceramic plaques to identify the wines or to mark scores and notes. The price for the set is ~$130 if you’re looking for something unique to do when you have friends over.

* Thanks to Uncrate for the scoop.