Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port 1980

1980, my birth year. I'm not sure I should be admitting that, but I suppose it's still within a reasonable distance from the present. 1980 was, it seems, a pretty good year for port, and while I was saving this for some occasion or another, my recent experience with heat damage prompted a 'what the hell' pop open of this very intriguing bottle.

The nose was a little toasty, but also had currant, raisins, and dried cherry. While at first I thought the alcohol on the wine was a bit forward and unbalanced, with a little air everything seemed to settle into place and this turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. For those who haven't tasted older vintage port, with time the youthful vigour and intensity gives way to subtle layering, moderate tannin and great delineated expression of flavours that, when young, are often lost in the density of the wine.

With this Smith Woodhouse I tasted cherry, blueberry, chocolate, wood, fig, strawberry, burnt caramel, bergamot, and cigar. The level of complexity was impressive and the fact that such distinct flavours expressed themselves to a moderate palate such as my own was quite exciting. I was also shocked by the level of juicyness in the port, despite its leathery and dried fruit character. Even compared to other older vintage ports, this was a special bottle, and not really over the top in terms of pricing. Port fans owe themselves a sip.

Excellent
$50 at BCLDB

2006 Bordeaux Lunch and Tasting

Marquis wine cellars here in Vancouver occassionally hosts wine lunches with winemakers or regional themes, with this summer's big tatsing being the 2006 Bordeaux release here in BC. Now, for any American readers out there this may seem out of date, but unfortunately our BC distribution system means that we tend to see wines anywhere up to 1 year after the US market. My only hope is that they aren't languishing in some warehouse somewhere in the mean time.

In any case, the lunch at the Wedgewood Hotel featured three courses paired with seven wines and with another five wines from other vintages to taste after the meal - i.e. a lot of wine. As a brief note, the food was mediocre, but the 2006's were a pleasure to taste, if not decidedly almost all too young to drink now. Interestingly, most of the 2006's had a very similar flavour profile. What distinguished them was structure, integration, acidity and fruit density. All the wines are available at Marquis Wine Cellars.

2006 Bordeauxs

2006 Chateau Cantermerle, Haut Médoc

A nose of blackberry, graphite, lead and raspberry and a palate drinking well right now with wood/cedar, bright raspberry and cassis, chocolate and mint.

Very Good+
$60

2006 Chateau Gloria, St. Julien

This nose was more closed than the Cantermerle, but offered suggestions of black fruits. The palate again was more backwards and tight than the previous wine and had a fair degree of acidity. I got cedar, chocolate and casis with potential for solid aging on the mid-palate.

Very Good+
$70



2006 Chateau Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux

This is where the wines started to show their youth and tightness a bit too much. The nose here had blackberry, mint and stone and the palate was quite modern and smooth with cassis, caramel, and mocha. This is a sweeter and richer style of Bordeaux and will please those looking for a more modern styled wine. Perhaps a bit too rich/sweet for my tastes.

Very Good
$149

2006 Chateau Grand-Pur-Lacost, Pauillac

The coffee-like nose led into a nice up front blackberry taste and fairly bright acidity on the palate. Along with the coffee, this also tasted a bit like wood along with the dark fruits. Drinking fairly well right now, but I would not pay this for a wine to drink it so young. In need of age.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$120

2006 Chateau Cos d'Estournel, St. Estephe

The big-boy of the tasting, and the biggest wine too. There was incredible density and structure in this wine and, while way too tight right now, in my mind this will be the best of them all with age. The nose was a bit funky and again had black fruits predominating. A classic palate of cedar and cassis, there was tons of mid-palate fruit which is a good sign of the wine's aging potential.

Excellent
$275



2006 Chateau Coutet, Barsac

Barsac is part of the Sauternes region and thus this was a dessert wine. The nose here had lots of candied grapefruit and some pear and apple. The palate continued those flavours along with tons of candied orange and lemon. In the end, this is tarter and lighter than your standard Sauternes. While very tasty, I didn't find this as complex as other Sauternes I've had and the 2006 vintage doesn't seem to taste nearly as good in Sauternes as 05.

Very Good+
$50 / 375ml

2006 Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes

One of my favourites from the 2005 vintage, the 2006 was sweeter and balanced a little less well. Nonetheless, it was still very tasty with pear, nectarine and peach flavours predominating. I also love this wine's thick but silky texture, which is not too sticky or cloying while also being quite huge and expressive. This will definitely get better with some age.

Excellent
$65 / 375ml


Other Vintages

2004 Chateau Belle-Vue, Haut Médoc

Dropping down a level with this wine, I was not all that impressed. A nose of graphite and blackberry, and again on the palate with some cedar. The acid on this wine tasted out of balance tome and the tannins were somewhat too forceful.

Good+
$40

2005 Chateau Les Gravieres, St. Emillon

Getting better was this wine with its blackberry and caramel nose. More interesting was the palate of forest floor, blackberry and wood. I enjoyed the firm mid-palate acidity and solid ageable structure. Not the best '05 though.

Very Good to Very Good+
$70

2005 Clos du Marquis, St. Julien

Clos du Marquis is always one of my 'good buy' wines of Bordeaux. The second wine of famed Leoville Las Cases, the Clos is made in a very different style - more modern and fruit driven and immediately expressive. Nonetheless, this also has incredible aging potential and will probably be drinking great in another 10 to 15 years. The nose on this had cured meat and lots of density to the fruit. The slight graphite edge got overwhelmed on the palte with its heavy dose of blackberry and raspberry fruit along with a little pepper. This wine has wonderful balance and structure and amazing integration.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$110

2001 Chateau Canon la Gaffeliere, St. Emillon

This may have been the wine of the night for me and it shows how much Bordeaux needs to age. I'm sure many of the wines tasted earlier would defeat this in a blind if they had as much age, this was just showing beautifully at the tasting. The nose was smooth and expressive and the palate impressed with its game, blackberry, cedar, eucalyptus, coffee and overall superb expression.

Excellent
$121

2005 Chateau Rieussec, Sauternes

One of the big-boy Sauternes of the 2005 vintage, this was huge: pear, nectarine and lemon curd on the nose. The palate was all creme brulée, with hints of lemon curd, meringue, and jasmine tea. As with all the 05 sauternes I've had this had fantastic acidic lift to prevent palate fatigue. Acid in my mind is what makes dessert wine work, and this got the balance right.

Excellent to Excellent+
$85 / 375ml


My conclusions after this brief excursion into 2006 Bordeaux is that the wines are very good, are not as approachable as the 2005's right now, but will also be ready to consume at their full potential earlier. This is a good bargain vintage and if you choose the right wines I have no doubt you will be rewarded in 10 years time.

Darioush Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Darioush has one of the most over-the-top buildings in Napa Valley and has garnered a bit of a reputation as a happy-hour stop by. Despite this, they still make good wine. I have heard complaints that Darioush wines are over-oaked, but I can't say I feel that is the case here. This was the first of my heat-damaged wines that I started opening this summer in hopes they were still alive, and this flavourful Napa cab happily drank fantastically.

The nose gave up spice, cherry, chocolate, and plum. The palate was supple and elegantly balanced with raspberry, black cherry, baking spice, violet and molten chocolate. The long finish also tasted like graphite and cedar-box. I loved the soft texture of the wine and the nice long drawn flavours, but the midpalate was a bit linear. This is a very fruit driven and fleshy wine, but it also has fine tannins and elegance. Really just a great flavourful and well integrated Napa cab.

Excellent
$115 at BCLDB

Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc 2007

California is not known for sauvignon blanc, and what it does produce gets very mixed reviews. Seemingly unable to find a niche, like New Zealand and its zesty citrus driven SB's or Sancerre and its mineral-laced wines, many California wineries treat Sauvignon Blanc too much like chardonnay. What this means is too much oak and too much opulence for a wine that should be acidic and refreshing. With all the sun that the state gets, however, it can be tough to find the right balance. Spottswoode, a Napa producer known more for their elegant Cabernet Sauvignons, is one of the few that gets it right.

How do they do it? First of all, this wine sees only a brief touch of oak, and is picked relatively early in the growing season. Instead of dominant oak, this is fermented in steel vats and concrete eggs, the former allowing the natural acidities of the wine to show and the latter making the fruit rounder and lusher without the flavour profile that oak imparts. The final result? A wine with tons of citrus fruit on the nose, but also grass, stone and clay. The palate is wonderfully full bodied, but also amazingly spritely given the intensity of the fruit. The finish is long and clay-like, suggesting this wine could find a place between New Zealand and Sancerre. And, what did it taste like? Orange, grapefruit, stone, and a slight edge of that distinctive cat's pee taste SB fans know and love. This is a wine that lifts the palate upwards before drawing it back into a carefully structured and lengthy climax, and is perhaps my favourite Sauvignon Blanc from the US. Woth every penny.

Excellent
$54 at Marquis

Brancaia Tre 2006

Brancaia is a Tuscan producer with an interesting array of proprietary blends including the illustrious "blu". The Tre - a blend of sangiovese, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon - is their entry level wine and I suppose could be equated to a Rosso or a basic Chianti with its nose of herbs, forward spicy underbrush, cherry fruit and a bit of earth. This wine is surely made for easy drinking with its very soft, almost plush, palate of cherry, blackberry, earth and spice. Overall, simple, pleasant, balanced, but boring - very boring. Unfortunately, in the end I think this is not worth the money and doesn't taste like much more than a decent Chianti Classico.

Good+
$30 ($23 on sale) at BCLDB

Mer Soleil "Silver" Chardonnay 2006

Mer Soleil, Caymus' chardonnay project in the Santa Lucia Highlands, has been making superb wines for some time now. The Mer Soleil regular "gold" bottling is an oak-aged chardonnay that, while opulent, is also balanced and elegant. The "silver" - new in the BC market - is their unoaked chardonnay and is certainly also made with balance in mind.

The nose on this chard has nuts, caramel, butter, peaches and cream, pineapple, and banana sundae like you would expect from many California chardonnays. The palate continues the ripe and rich fruit with peach, pineapple, and coconut / pina colada. However, even with all the flavour this has great balance and fresh acidity. Texturally leaner and sharper on the palate than the oaked chard, this also makes the "silver" even more food friendly and perhaps more suitable for a hot day. While in California chardonnay abounds, quality balanced chardonnays are a bit harder to find. And, while if I were in the US I could recommend quite a few other very good chards at this price point, this is perhaps the best (or close to) California Chardonnay in BC for $35. As such, I highly recommend it for new world chard fans.

Very Good+
$35 at BCLDB

San Francisco Profile: Boulevard Restaurant

My final delight at the Wine Bloggers Conference was a dinner at San Francisco's Boulevard Restaurant, which I believe was awarded a Michelin star in the most recent guide. California American cuisine with a French backbone defines the style of this place, and its beautiful view of the bay bridge provides an appropriately Californian backdrop to the wonderful food on offer. I had a three course meal, including some nice Vouvray from Domaine Huet, and the wine list is well selected with a good range of styles and prices and mostly small producers both by the glass and the bottle.

Course 1: Short Rib Tortellini


Served with shaved summer truffle and squash and potato puree, this impressive appetizer had extremely decliate flavours, even with the short ribs. The thoughtful layering of flavour lay a nice foundation for the robust short ribs, which certainly gave the dish a nice punch when paired with the perfectly al dente pasta. I also appreciated how the creamy potatoes were coupled with crunchy diced cubes of squash, with the contrasting texture providing a little intrigue to the dish.

Course 2: Shrimp and Lobster with Seabass


Cooked with tomato, chili spice and some fresh crunchy beans, this dish again showed great attention to texture and subtle flavour combinations. While many think of sea bass as overwhelmingly rich, the fish in this dish was subtle and in no way over buttered or creamed. Rather, a light grilling highlighted the fish's fresh oils and how light its texture can be in the mouth - really bringing out the essence of the bass. Again, the beans and peas add great crunch and it is clear the chef here has great textural awareness. The lobster and shrimp were presented in a simple and pure form that brought out the umami flavours in the bass. This is a great dish with amazingly layered flavours and a very subtle spice kick. Really quite a brilliant dish.

Course 3: Panna Cotta


If all Panna Cotta tasted this good we'd all be the size of Italian opera stars. Plated with seasonal nectarines and raspberries, this was also served with perhaps the best sorbet I've ever tasted and a thoughtfully prepared baklava. The panna cotta itself had some impressively high quality vanilla beans ground into it: so pure and expressive with the perfect texture. The honey drizzled artfully on top added some intriguing floral elements to the dish. The sorbet was made with fresh nectarines and putting a spoonful in your mouth could be equated to eating a cloud. I've never tasted such light texture but such full flavour with sorbet before. The baklava was very high quality, with freshly cracked nuts and a floral and very fragrant honey. The pastry itself was light and crisp all in all making for textbook baklava.

In the end, this restaurant pretty much blew me away - and I've been to some very impressive places in the Bay Area when I was living down there. If you live in San Francisco or are planning a trip in the near future I highly recommend a trip to Boulevard.