The Rhone Gang "Hold Up" no. 6

Today's post brings us quite a unique wine, and one that I am happy to say hails from the Rhone Valley in France, which as I've mentioned before is probably my favourite wine region. The first interesting detail with this wine is that it is put together by some of the Rhone’s top producers, including the likes of Louis Barruol (from Château St. Cosme) and Frederic Chaudière (from Château Pesquié) who collectively go by the name “The Rhone Gangsters”. The second, and quite surprising point of interest, is that this wine is a blend of Pinot Noir and Grenache! I didn’t think I’d ever see these two grapes together, especially in a Rhone wine. But there you have it.

The Hold Up no. 6 is light but bright with a good acidic core and smooth tannins. The palate brings forth some really nice sour cherry flavours (probably from the Grenache) and a hint of strawberry (there’s the Pinot). Underneath the fruit are some pretty tones of earth, rocks and flowers. This will go great with lighter meats and cheeses and is also a heck of a lot of fun to drink. This is an exceptional wine, and quite under the radar right now. Plus, at this price point, this stuff is worth buying by the case. I just hope there's some left when I can afford to buy a few bottles.

Excellent

$27 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars

Au Bon Climat Hildegard 2002

I tend to love this winery, so when I saw one of their whites on sale I had to jump. I have to say that I was pretty disappointed in this one, but that it was well made enough for me to want to try some other of Au Bon Climat's whites.

The wine had a nice golden straw colour and comprised 55% Pinot Gris, 40% pinot blanc, and 5% Aligote. This was a pretty low-acidity wine that presented notes of pear on the nose. The palate was heavy on the pear and apple and felt slightly caramalized. I just couldn't get over the seeming lack of integration of flavours into a pleasant whole. The wine kind of went from tart apple to smooth pear to caramel and back to apple again. Needless to say I wasn't a huge fan. At least it was an ok sipper.

$48 ($34 on sale) at Marquis

Good+

Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion 1998

I managed to find this wine tucked away in the corner of my local BC Liquor store. While I know that this is a far cry from the famous Haut Brion Bordeauxs, I figured it would be a lot of fun to try out an older vintage Bordeaux from a decent producer. Keep in mind, however, that this wine was more a combination of new and old style Bordeaux as opposed to the purely classic.

The nose gave up sweet jammy mint and chocolate notes. The palate was tangy and earthy with pretty subdued fruit. I liked that. This is what you might call a more austere wine that has a lot of finesse and structure, smooth tannins, medium body and a medium length finish, but that is also not a big fruit fun blast. This requires you to be in the right mood when drinking. With some air the palate opened up into barnyardy coffee flavours.

Very Good+

$77 at BCLDB

Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

I've been pretty busy lately and so I've also been backed up a lot with the wine reviews. Today I plan to go through a few wines that I've had lately. The Montes Alpha Cab was a good value wine from Chile with a nose of roasted tomatoes, burnt hay and cherry. The palate was a blend of earth, cassis and chocolate. This wine was a bit rough, but it had a really nice flavour profile and a pretty darn good finish given the price point. Its moderate tannins gave it a nice structure but they do not overwhelm. If I have any critique it is that the wine is a bit over-extracted. Still, a good value.

Very Good

$27 at BCLDB

Vancouver International Wine Festival - Round 2

Things have been hectic around here so I've been a bit delayed posting this continuation of the Wine Fest series. However, today we are in for a treat as I highlight the wines of Piemonte.

Piemonte

Damilano Barbera D'alba

Mushroomy nose with a very earth palate. Closed and tannic right now. A heavy Barbera that probably needs age.

Good+ - $35

Damilano Barolo 2001

Very veggie, with wood spliters and smoke and moderate tannins. This was quite a unique wine that woke my brain up. After you taste enough wines you get used to certain flavours and even bored when the same old thing comes your way. However, this wine, the first Barolo I tasted at the festival, woke me up to the delights that wine is capable of. It was still a bit closed, but showed a lot of promise.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with Age) - $50

Damilano Barolo 2003

Another vegetal wine that is what I like to call "atom-dense". Drinking this is like pulling teeth and getting pummelled by a heavy-weight boxer. If you're a masochist wine drinker, this is great. Otherwise, needs time - but should be pretty good with enough coaxing.

Very Good - $50

Damilano "Cannubi" Barolo 2003

Wow. Very fruity and alive with a great flavour profile. The structure is there for this to last quite a while, even for a 2003. The finish is a bit short right now but I suspect this will develop with age.

Excellent - $85

Damilano "Liste" Barolo 2003

The best of the bunch. Amazing concentration and purity with loads of complex earth aromas and flavours. Yet, it is actually 'spritely' for a Barolo with a perfectly constructed acid and tannin balance - I love this sense of wit.

Excellent+ - $85

Prunotto Costamiloe Barbera d'Asti DOC 2001

Barnyard and heavily fragrant. An amazing Barbera to pair with a fancy pasta or Osso Buco. This one has aging potential.

Very Good+ - $56

Prunotto Nebbiolo d'Alba Occhetti 2005

Big bodied Nebbliolo with ripe tannins, but enough depth to make this a kind of "mini" Barolo. The rough-edged younger brother of the Barbaresco's to come who has not developed quite as much class.

Very Good+ - $35

Prunotto Barbaresco 2004

Wow. Crazy intensity here coupled with outstanding character. The fruit is big and powerful and very in your face. Yet, this is no new world wine - it's got a rustic temperament. This could sit in the cellar for quite some time and it will probably mellow into something quite special. Right now it's just a lot of fun.

Excellent - $55

Prunotto Barbaresco Bric Turot 2001

Very Rich, but also very soft. The tannins are well balanced. This is a reflective wine - something to drink on a cold sombre day in front of the fire place. It's the classy relative to the 2004 Barbaresco, and equally good. A wine for each mood.

Excellent - $80

Prunotto "Bussia" Barolo 2000

This will be a favourite amongst traditional Barolo lovers. It's tight right now, but not so closed as to be inexpressive. This has intensity, real intensity: the kind of intensity you rarely find in wine. It's broody too and I think it needs patience and cellaring to bring out its full character. This is another 'atom-dense' wine, but it has tremendous depth to boot.

Excellent - ~$100

Prunotto "Bussia" Barolo 2003

Chewy prune fruit with currently a lot more fruit concentration than the 2000. The tannins may be a bit much for some, but they will mellow with time. For me, this is drinking great now and in the next few years. It's the kind of wine that'll make you pause, take a breath, and reconsider, with each sip. Definitely one of the highlights of the show.

Excellent+ - ~$100


In the next installment I will be going international to explore the remaining wineries from across the world that I managed to taste.

Wine Blogging Wednesday: Comfort Wine

The theme this month with wine blogging wednesday is "comfort wines". Joel from wine life today has asked all us bloggers to choose a wine that we love to unwind to and write about it. For me this is a bit of a problem since I rarely drink the same wine twice unless I absolutely love it. So, like Sonadora, over at Wannabe Wino I am going to write about a 'type' of wine that I love. For me this is not a varietal, a winery, or a region. The wines I love to relax to are wines that go exceptionally well with food. I don't always drink wine with food or look for wine that matches well with food - but there is something special about finding that flavourful match for the food you love.

I am no expert at matching wine and food, but I love when I discover those magical combinations like Riesling and sushi, or Barbera and a simple tomato pasta. There is nothing more comforting after a long day than simple tasty food highlighted by a simple tasty wine. In this spirit, today I'll be writing about what has been an absolutely fantastic combination: a 2002 Woodward Canyon Charbonneau with some fantastic sushi (if you live in Vancouver you know that sushi is a staple of life here).

There's something special going on here. Pairing a Pacific Northwest Wine with a Vancouver speciality ended up being pretty much the definition of comfort. Woodward Canyon, a renowned Washington winery from Walla Walla, is known for their Cab Sauv's but this lovely white blend was simply fantastic.

The wine is 65% Semillion and 35% Sauvignon Blanc. Dark mellow yellow in the glass. This is seriously vibrant stuff. It's so unique that its secondary and tertiary flavours actually made me not only appreciate its boysenberry core, but actually enjoy boysenberry - something I don't generally do. The nose of this wine was a beautiful combination of caramel and hay and some sort of floral scents I couldn't strictly identify. The palate was heavy on the boysenberry, but it had a tinge of caramel and peaches without being over-toasted. The beautiful structure and pretty much perfect acidity made for a great match with sushi. One bite of a spicy tuna roll and a sip of the Woodward Canyon was the essence of comfort and I couldn't recommend this wine highly enough. Brilliant stuff.

P.S. For those who have been following my Vancouver Wine Festival coverage, I will be continuing that within a few days (it's been a busy week!).

Excellent
$47 at Marquis (Bought on sale for $33)

Vancouver International Wine Festival - Round 1

This weekend I attended the Vancouver International Wine Festival - a rather large event with over 700 wines poured. Amazingly I managed to taste 100 of those. The theme this year was Italian wine, which was a fantastic treat for those of us into old world flavour and style. There were a lot of great showings this year and in the next series of posts I will be providing my impressions on the top 40-50 or so wines I tasted, concluding with my top picks of the festival. Also, I don't have prices for many of these since only some are available right now in the BC market. Let the craziness begin!


Given the sheer quantity of wine I tasted, I am going to try and organize my notes by country, beginning with Italy. Since there were so many Italian wines I will be organizing my Italian notes by region. A nice map of the Italian wine regions is below:

I propose to begin with the Veneto, an old favourite.

The Veneto

Bertani Amarone 2000

The nose was typical, but rich, raisinated fruit. The palate was very nicely structured and built with notes of pitted fruit like plums. The wine was still a bit closed, but Bertani's are built to age and I think this one will do so beautifully.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with age) - ~$100 CAD

Bertani Amarone 1990

I was also lucky enough to taste the 1990 Bertani, which had a nose of some sort of coffee like liqueure, maybe kalhua. The palate was very heavy on the over-ripe raisin flavours with smoke and barnyard. I was a bit disappointed with this - it just seemed unbalanced a bit too sickly sweet or something. Still enjoyable, but not so much for the price.

Very Good - $120+ CAD

Bertani Villa Novare Valpolicella Ripasso 2003

My notes for this are sparse, but to the point: Fruity and raisinated with classic berry aroma.

Very Good

Tuscany

Tignanello 2004

The first super tuscan. I'd been wanting to try this for some time. A blackberry nose revealed, upon sipping, a very dry and tannic youthful wine that was slightly gamey, but still closed. Excellent to superb structure. Needs time.

Very Good+ to Excellent (with age) $96 CAD at BCLDB

Ruffino Tenuta Greppone mazzi Brunello Di Montalcino 2003

The best way to describe this wine is "refined barnyard". What a beautiful nose - just remarkably evocative of terroir, and gamey, earthy fruit. This wine is structured amazingly on the front end and the mid-palate and is a sheer joy to drink. The finish drops off a bit early, but I can't fault the wine too much for that given its beautiful flavours of hay-tea-like red berries.

Excellent+

Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale "Oro" 2004

I've had and loved the 2003 version of this wine. 2004 is regarded as a superior vintage and generally as a fantastic vintage in Tuscany generally. This was very intense and tannic and had an incredibly amount of body, especially compared to the '03. This is not drinking super great now, but it has the ability to age for quite some time. The 2003 on the other hand is drinking great right now, but won't age for long. Good job, but needs time.

Very Good+ $50 CAD at BCLDB

Banfi Barrel Sample - Janus Clone 10

I was lucky enough to taste several barrel samples from Banfi for their upcoming 2005 brunello. This clone was very mouth-forward and incredibly tannic in the finish. It was a bit barny and definitely had the suggestion of brunello, but this is obviously meant to develop the structure of the wine.

Banfi Barrel Sample - Janus Clone 50

This was very fruity in the nose and in the forward palate. However, it dropped off quickly. I suspect that the right blending of this and the last clone will produce an excellent wine. Quite a fun experience.

Carpineto Chianti Classico 2005

Wooh! Manure. At least that's what I got. It was pleasant in a strange way and I think it will drink fantastically well with the right kind of food. This is earthy, fungal and rustic. These guys made one of the first Chianti Classico's ever made and they clearly still know what they are doing. Great value.

Very Good+ - $22 CAD at BCLDB

La Braccessa Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano 2004

You don't see too many Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano's around Vancouver, so this was a treat. The nose was subdued fruit and earth. The palate had a fantastic development of plum and very smooth tannins. This tastes like the countryside - just a fabulous sense of terrior.

Excellent - $40 CAD

Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2003

This was quite surprising because the nose revealed the intensity of a new world minty and fruity cab sauv, even though this is made from Sangiovese. The palate was fruity and long and had very lovely smooth fruit and earth.

Very Good+

Altesino "Montosoli" Brunello Di Montalcino 2003

This single vineyard Brunello was a knockout. It will also kock you out with its price tag - which is around $150 CAD. Fungus and mushroom on the nose - this had great style and complexity. It was really earthy and had tremendous depth of flavour and the finish lasted ages. If only I could afford such things!

Excellent+ - $150 CAD

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino 2003

This is basically a toned down version of the last wine, at less than half the price. It's got character and a nice smooth style, but the loss in structure and finesse really hurt this.

Very Good+ - $70 CAD

La Vite Lucente 2005

Luce is run jointly by Frescobaldi and Mondavi and is trying to position itself as a sort of Opus One of Italy. Another Super Tuscan - but a good one. The nose was very mocha and the palate, while tannic, was nice and chewy and dense and had tremendous potential, especially for the price. Given the value on this wine, I think it deserves a hefty rating.

Excellent - $40 CAD

Luce 2004

This blend is 60% merlot and 40% sangiovese. The nose gives up dusty earth, but the palate is, as my notes say, "pucker pucker". Way to young right now - needs a lot of time and as such I don't feel I can judge this completley accurately. Not sure if it has the potential to turn into something great.

Very Good - $90 CAD

PHEW! Well, that's it for today. In the next installment I will be touring Piedemonte, including a host of Barolo's. I hope this post gave you the sense that there are some fantastic wines coming out of Italy these days. Clearly Tuscany as a region was a higlight of the show, but there is oh so much more to come.