Archive for October, 2009
2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
Here’s a producer whose wines I’ve been meaning to try for a while now. I drove by the winery a few times while I was in Piedmont last year, but didn’t drop in. They’re known as the “the best co-operative in the wine world“, are said to be the main reason why Barbaresco became a separate D.O.C. from Barolo… and being from my favourite wine region, who am I to argue that? They receive grapes from some of the best areas in Barbaresco such as Asili, Moccagatta, Montefico, Montestefano, Ovello, Pajé, Pora, Rabajà and Rio Sordo. So what better place to finally get to trying one of their wines than my living room? 
According to the Wine Spectator, the “cooperative has always paid its members according to the quality of their crop rather than just the quantity. And that’s why it consistently makes outstanding Barbarescos.”
I picked this up for what I think is a good price for a quality Barbaresco – around $40 CDN. How would I describe it? The first word that comes to mind is “delicate”. The colour is light and a bright brick-ish red. It literally feels delicate in the mouth – and that’s not a bad thing.
The nose belies that. It has light ripe cherry brandy, nuts, tar and a floral rose thing going on. A taste follows along that line with a medium-weight mouth-feel that finishes with a long walnut/cherry/mineral-edge.
I love this kind of wine, so I’m going to give it a good rating. It has gorgeous flavours that stay with you and it’s extremely good value for the money.
Give it a try if you find it. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
$43.01 at LDB stores here in BC.
The 1st YVR Wine Bloggers and Sommeliers Group Tasting
The YVR Wine Bloggers and Sommeliers group is going to hold an informative tasting for the public on Tuesday, November 10th at Scott Landon Antiques (2349 Granville St.). It will be a “wine show” style tasting with approximately 10 tables. Each table is going to teach one simple wine lesson – for example:
- Table 1 The difference between Old and New World,
- Table 2 The difference between Warm and Cool Climate,
- Table 3 Method Champeniose vs Charmat Method etc etc.
After visiting each of the ten tables attendees will have a solid understanding of fundamental wine styles and will have tasted examples of each.
Sounds like a fun way to learn about wine, huh? Well, if it sounds good to you, tickets are $25 each and are being limited to 100 people. You can head over to the EventBrite page to purchase them securely online, or tickets will be $35 at the door. I wouldn’t wait though – because tickets are limited, they may sell out ahead of time and you may be out of luck.
Knowing the others in this group, there will be some truly great wine to taste and you’ll learn from some of Vancouver’s best wine folks.
I hope to see a bunch of you there.
View Comments2004 L’Azienda Agricola Renato Fenocchio “Aurora”, Langhe Rosso
This wine has been my go-to secret for a while now. Via Kitsilano Wine Cellars, I was able to get my hands on 6 bottles of it a while back… and I savoured every one of them. Candace and I have had it many times and also shared a bottle with Graham – making him want to find more of it as badly as I did.
It’s a hard-to-find (until now – I’ll get to that in a minute) blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera from the town of Nieve in my favourite wine region, the Langhe in Piedmont. It’s named for winemaker Renato’s daughter, Aurora and I think it’s even some of her young artwork that decorates the label.
I’m not 100% sure of the blend, but I think it’s mostly Nebbiolo with a dash of Barbera to spice things up. Now when I said it was my secret go-to wine, it was because you just couldn’t find this wine in town until last week – Kitsilano Wine Cellars received a shipment of ~ 10 cases. Now you and I can quaff this to our heart’s content.
In the glass, it’s got a classic light Barbaresco-like nose of dark cherry brandy, cinammon spice, nuts (think walnut) and a perfumed violet-edge to its tar scented finish. There’s even some of my felt tip marker in there. A big ‘ol sip gives up ripe red cherries, a kinda’ walnut liqueur thing going on and a long spicy finish.
2004 was a great year in the Langhe and this is a wine to try. It offers up a lot for the money. Most really tasty wines from the area run over $50 (at least) in our local stores. Kudos to the guys at Farmstead Wines for picking this one to bring in. In keeping with their standards, the grapes that make up Fenocchio’s wines are naturally farmed.
On their site, they point out that, “Not only do they have some of the best vineyards in the Barbaresco region, including parcels adjacent to Angelo Gaja’s, the family does all of the work themselves by hand… Renato and his wife Milva spend a ridiculous amount of time in their vineyards. In fact, their grapes are so good that they often sell excess to Bruno Giacosa.” I have to agree. These are some seriously tasty grapes, especially for the money.
$45 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars.
Marquis Wine Cellars’ – The Fifth Annual French Fête
Marquis Wine Cellars is sponsoring a fundraising wine tasting on November 4th, 2009 at the Vancouver Museum. It is entitled French Fête and it is a fundraiser for Fraser Academy School. Fraser Academy specializes in children with dyslexia, ADD and other motor skill output issues. They teach them the necessary skills not only to learn but be successful in business and life.
They’ll be pouring a superb selection of French wines, from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace and Champagne. This is an excellent opportunity to discover wines you or may not have had the opportunity to taste. The wines will be paired with some of Vancouver’s top restaurants such as Le Gavroche, Provence, Salt, & Benton Brothers Fine Cheese, just to name a few.
Tickets are $75.00 per person and they are available by calling the store 604-684-0045 or emailing them at info@marquis-wines.com.
UPDATE: This event has been canceled due to slow ticket sales.
John Clerides – Fundraising Wine Tasting – November 4th, 2009
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Sean,
We are sponsoring a fundraising wine tasting on November 4th, 2009 at the Vancouver Museum. It is entitled French Fete and it is a fundraiser for Fraser Academy School. Fraser Academy specializes in children with dyslexia, ADD and other motor skill output issues. They teach them the necessary skills not only to learn but be successful in business and life. Our son has attended the school for six years and the transformation has been nothing less than outstanding.
We will be pouring a superb selection of French wines, from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace and Champagne. This is an excellent opportunity to discover wines you or may not have had the opportunity to taste. The wines will be paired with some of Vancouver’s top restaurants such as Le Gavroche, Provence, Salt, & Benton Brothers Fine Cheese, just to name a few.
I am not sure if you have anything planned for that evening but I sure would love to see you there. Also, any help you are able to provide in promoting the event would be immensely appreciated. Last years event proved to be outstanding as we raised over $11,000.
Tickets are $75.00 pp and they are available by calling us at the store 604-684-0045 or emailing us at info@marquis-wines.com
Date: Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
John Clerides Marquis Wine Cellars 1034 Davie Street Vancouver, Canada, V6E 1M3 ( 604-684-0445 7 604-684-2471 E-mail: john@marquis-wines.com Our Passion. Your Enjoyment
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Hey Sean,
I’d love to go to this with you – thank you:) I’ll resubmit my bids for November and request this day off. The draft schedule comes out on the 19th and the final on the 25th.
xox,
Candace
On Oct 13, 2009, at 3:07 PM, Sean Calder wrote:
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2008 Bodegas Renacer Punto Final Malbec
It’s been a while since I’d had a Malbec. My barbeque choices have centered on Cabs, Zins and the like. I picked this one up a while back – the value of Argentinean reds being pretty good and at about $6 off, worth a go.
I had a nice peppercorn steak grilling, so I popped this open and gave it a swirl. Right off the first sniff, it was not what I was expecting. 98% Malbec with 2% Cab Franc, it has some of the earthy Malbec I knew, but some nice tar and black cherry, maybe even a bit cranberry as well. A couple of sips brought some nice meaty cherry, and earthy mineral but also a bit of heat and anise for good measure. The steak really balanced this off, and the pairing really worked for me.
The finish was nice, medium length with some more mineral and pretty tight tannins. I would definitely decant this one next time for that and the unfiltered aspect. It definitely got me thinking it’s time for a few more Malbecs. I’d buy it again – a good value at its regular price – a great deal at $15.99.
$15.99 at LDB stores here in BC.
2003 Tormaresca Negroamaro Salento Masseria Maìme
I walked into my local Specialty LDB store here in Vancouver tonight not knowing what I felt like picking up… just that I’d like it to be tasty and a great value. In the back corner of the specialty section, there’s a little cart upon which the folks that run the store put mark-downs in the more-than-$25 range. When I saw this wine on the table (marked down to $29 from $39), it really piqued my interest. It checked two boxes on my wine dance card – it’s Italian and it’s a semi-obscure grape, Negroamaro.
Now for a little background on Negroamaro. The grapes that made up this bottle were grown in the Southern Italian region of Puglia and more specifically in the Salento area, which would be pictured as the “heel” of Italy (if you think of the boot shape of the country). It’s an ancient grape, which can generally be described as a deep, dark and perfume-y.
Well, this wine is certainly deep, dark and perfume-edged; although it’s more than that. 2003 was an extremely hot year throughout much of Europe… and many wines suffered. The native Negroamaro grape seems to have fared well though. It’s accustomed to the heat of southern Italy, so the heat of that summer wasn’t too much for it. In fact, instead of the flabbiness of many of the wines from 2003, this one shows depth and structure.
It’s got a nose that is loaded with ripe dark fruit, perfume-like floral notes (think violets) and a rustic felt-tip marker like earthy edge. A sip gives up a really tasty gob of that dark fruit with blackberry and ripe black cherry, violets, leather, tar and a long and tannic rustic finish. It’s got healthy, but not very noticeable 14% booze.
For the money (at least here in tax-burdened BC), this is a helluva’ a wine for $29. I actually can’t think of another red wine I’d rather drink in that range. If you can find it for this price, you really should give it a try.
$29 at LDB stores here in BC.
2006 Masi Campofiorin Ripasso
Due to the outrageous liquor taxes in our fair province of British Columbia, this wine falls solidly into the value category. Yep, $20 for a decent bottle of wine is considered a value here in British Columbia. Don’t even get me started. Well, I will get started, but that’s another post.
OK, back to the wine. I’ve had it many times in previous vintages and thought it might pair fairly well with the home-made pizzas I was putting together tonight. The last vintage I tasted (2003) was a bit of a disappointment, but this one makes up for it. It’s a solid bottle for the money. The 2006 vintage has been declared by Masi as a 5-star vintage, the first since 1997 and only one of seven since 1964.
For the Veneto region, this is a pretty common blend – it’s comprised of 60% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 10% Molinara, and 5% Rossignola. Up front, when you take a sniff, there’s a bunch of ripe cherry and herbs. A sip shows dark cherries with a bit of a stewed edge, along with dusty earth and an herbal edge to its lingering and pleasantly tannic finish.
Yep, I’ll buy this again sometime soon. It makes a great sipper for when company drops by or for during the week.
$18.99 at LDB stores here in BC.
