Vinifico! The Original Vancouver Wine Blog

One thing I may be guilty of is not drinking enough of British Columbia’s red wines. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with them, but here in my home province, we’ve got a bunch of newer wineries charging very established prices for some unproven wines. I really have liked a few of them over the years. Recent ones that stand out in my memory are Township 7′s Syrah, Inniskillin’s Zinfandel and even the verging-on-ridiculously-priced Black Hills Note Bené (one of the only wineries to charge me for a tasting in the last bunch of years) was tasty.

One wine that I’ve seen around, but had stayed away from because of its higher price has been the Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin. So, when I came upon its little brother, I thought I’d give it a go. I have had this wine once before, but it was one of those nights that involve multiple bottles and I didn’t take notes. I thought I’d change that.

Osoyoos Larose is a joint venture between Vincor and a big Bordeaux wine company, Groupe Taillan, whose major French property is Château Gruaud Larose.

The wine is offered up at the very reasonable price of $25 here in BC… and after tasting it, I have to say that it’s one of the better buys in an under-$30 Bordeaux-varietal red wine. The nose is a crush of red currant, vanilla and bell pepper. The flavours show dark cherry, currants, vanilla and a bit of dark chocolate on the medium-long finish. Not bad for the moolah, folks.

The true test is whether I’d buy it again. Would I? Yes, I would… and you should too. It’s tasty and well-priced.

$25 here in BC at LDB stores.

(verging on 4)

I was on one of my regular visits to Kitsilano Wine Cellars last week when Kirk pointed me to this 1.5L Magnum as a frugal and food friendly crowd-pleaser. I was thinking I’d be having sometime next week at a party, but the cork was popped last night when Candace’s brother Michael was over for some pizza.

I’ve gotta say – this is my new favourite pizza wine. Its flavours paired so well that it brought a smile to my face.

If you’re not aware of what a Ripasso is, it’s an red wine from Italy’s Valpolicella region made by fermenting the young wine with the unpressed but drained skins and lees left over from making Amarone. This blend of 70% Corvina Veronese, 25% Rondinella and 5% Corvinone was all dusty sour cherry fruit on both the nose and in the mouth with bits of milk chocolate and raisin rounding out the flavours. Very tasty stuff that is completely ready to drink now.

Kits Wine Cellars was selling the wine only in Magnums… and I’m headed over tonight to see if they have more.

$40 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars for the Magnum.

Well now. I stumbled on this wine while shopping for a Christmas gift for a client of mine – and she’s a big fan of Pinot Gris/Grigio. I’ve had a few over the years that I’ve thought were decent, most notably Alsatian… and even one or two from Northern Italy. I walked into Kitsilano Wine Cellars and Kirk said if that’s what I was looking for, I had to pick this bottle up and give it a try. The grapes are grown in Italy, but then trucked just over the border into Slovenia, where the wine is made. I’ve never had a Slovenian wine. From reading the blog, you may have picked up on the fact that I have a pretty curious palate, so home it came.

Candace and I were cooking up a squash and sage risotto tonight, so I thought this might be a tasty match. Out came the cork and sip after sip gave up a nose that had tropical fruit, melon and stone. A juicy sip gave up all the baked tropical fruit and a flinty melon finish… like eating honeydew and pineapple out of a stone bowl. The finish stayed with me for a while.

What can I say? I really liked this wine – a lot. This ain’t your Momma’s Pinot Grigio. This is complex, tasty and has a finish that keeps your tongue busy. In the past, the Wine Dictator has called this, “The greatest Pinot Grigio from Italy”. I’m not gonna disagree.

Try it.

$37.50 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars.

I was cooking a little homemade pizza this weekend and spotted this bottle being cleared out at the local liquor store. One of the perks of living in the ‘burbs seems to be that our local stores are often discounting some pretty nice stuff.

It definitely didn’t disappoint. Deep purple in colour, it has some nice earth and floral hints with a bit of toasty espresso. Lots of dark cherry and plum with tight acidity made it nice pairing with the pizza (love my whole wheat crust!). The finish had more dusty violet and again the espresso made an appearance.

This was a really nice bottle for the money. If you see it in the discount section of your local store, it’s definitely worth a go.

$24.99 at LDB stores here in BC.

This is a first for the site – one vintage following another as consecutive posts on the site… but after the #10 rating for 2008 by the Wine Dictator, I had to try it as soon as I could.

I finally happened on the 2007 at an LDB outlet next to where I was buying my groceries tonight and promptly bought a bunch. I AM a Zin fan, after all.

I brought it home, opened it while cooking and promptly offered up the following post on Twitter, “…Holy crap it’s tasty.”.. and it is. The nose has all sorts of berry goodness followed up by flavours that eloquently yell berry, cherry, briar and spice!.. and finish it all up with firm tannins that mean business – and business is good. Very, very good.

It’s complex, tasty and a bit slutty at the same time. It’s like running into your hot doctor (if you have one) out at a club in a sexy black dress.

If you’re  Zin fan, or if you love a great, spicy and seriously tasty red wine, you should search this out. I like the folks at the winery… and I obviously love the wines. It’s not TOO much of the Zin fruit and at the same time, it doesn’t lack that dark fruity goodness.

Go Zin!

$34.99 at LDB stores here in BC.

I was out doing some Christmas shopping today (for me) when I found a good deal on Reidel’s Vinum Zinfandel glasses, so I grabbed ‘em… and went looking for a Zin to break one in.

When Graham and I visited San Fran in January for ZAP, we also did a quick tour of Napa and Sonoma and had a great meeting with the folks at Seghesio. Not only were the folks plenty nice, but their wines rocked… and the Sonoma Zin pretty much rules the roost in this price range. I haven’t found one in this price range (under $35 CDN) that beats it.

The nose gives me all that briary blackberry fruit I look for in a Zin and the flavours give up a mouthful of ripe blackberries, licorice and vanilla-edged all-spice. It also has enough tannins on the finish that this wine has structure. You could definitely pair it with food – think ribs, gourmet burgers or even some pizza. Tasty stuff. Give it up for the Zinfandel, folks and don’t confuse this with that pink crap.

Yum.

$34.99 at LDB stores here in BC.

(but kinda’ knocking on 4.5)