Half the World in an Evening? Preposterous! Wines of North and South America - WSET 3.11

This week's map homework - nice map but maybe on blank paper next time?

This week's readings were insane - all of North and South America!

How the heck am I going to remember all of this info?

With just four weeks to go, it's pretty intimidating. Not at all like WSET 2.

In the mega-wine week, we covered bits about Canada, Oregon, New York, and Washington but spent most of our time looking at California, Chile, and Argentina.

Yes, we did leave out lots of areas but I guess those are the main ones.

The first wine we are going to look at, however, came all the way from the Okanagan, Mission Hill. We tried a 2016 Mission Hill Reserve Viognier ($22). This youthful wine had peach, melon and ginger spice aromas. On the palate, it was a really medium wine with medium acidity, body, intensity, and finish but did have high alcohol (just). It was rated as a Good wine and one that was good to drink now but not suitable for ageing.

I've already done a whole blog posting about our trip to the Willamette (rhymes with, "Damn it") Valley in Oregon - if you are interested in that, it is here. We tried one wine from there - a 2015 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir ($48). This wine had aromas of red cherry, red plum, smoke, vanilla, and perfume. On the palate, I also tasted some leather. This wine had medium body, medium minus tannins, medium plus acidity, and a long finish. It was balanced, complex and pretty intense and would garner a Very Good rating.

If you want to try an outstanding wine from the Willamette Valley, try the 2014 Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve that we had on our trip to Oregon. Although it cost close to $100, my wife and I opened a bottle we had squirrelled away from the trip last weekend and it was an intense, wonderful wine. I might have to buy it again, despite the hefty price.

On to California.

Courtesy Wine Folly

California was the most detailed area of the night but also the one I related to the most since I've actually been to Napa. Napa is just one of the wine counties that includes, in the North Coast, Sonoma and Mendocino as well. There are also many AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) which are the smaller wine area inside the region.

Napa County is probably the most highly regarded region with a multitude of different AVAs. The wines here are expensive and prestigious. For example, there's Los Carneros which extends into Sonoma and is famous for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - both still wine and high end sparkling. Three big AVAs that are famous for Cabernet Sauvignon are Stags Leap, Oakville, and Rutherford, although wines from these areas are super pricey. St. Helena and Calistoga AVAs are home to Cab Sauv, Syrah, and, California's grape, Zinfandel.

Zinfandel is a tricky grape - it ripens unevenly so it has to be hand picked but when it dries a bit and turns into a bit of a raisin, it is concentrated, full bodied, with wonderful red and black fruit as well as liquorice.

Sonoma County is the other big region with AVAs such as Russian River (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Dry Creek Valley (Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc), Alexander Valley (Cab Sauv), and Sonoma Coast (elegant Chardonnay and Zinfandel). The area of Sonoma County is actually bigger than Napa.

Mendocino County includes Anderson Valley which is very cool and is home to aromatic wines like Riesling and Gewürztraminer while Mendocino AVA has full bodied Cab Sauv, Zinfandel, and Syrah.

The Central Coast hosts the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (elegant Cab Sauv), cool Monterey (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Pablo Robes AVA (Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Syrah), and Santa Maria Valley (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - concentrated fruit and high acidity).

The last area we checked out was the Central Valley. This is a mostly flat area that is hot and dry and is a lake of cheap jug wine. However, the Lodi AVA has cooling breezes from San Francisco Bay and has some of the oldest and best Zinfandel vines in California. I would LOVE to try a Zin from Lodi!

So, let's look at the Zinfandel we did try! It was a 2015 Ridge Dry Creek Zinfandel ($74). This wine burst with aromas of black plum, cassis, raspberry, violet, vanilla, and liquorice. On the palate, there was also tobacco and plum - both red and black. It was a high alcohol wine with a long finish and pronounced flavours as well as medium body and tannins. Due to its lower tannins, it was not considered suitable for ageing but it would definitely be a wine to drink now! Although our instructor rated it as Very Good, I would have to go with Outstanding.

We also tried a 2013 Darioush "Caravan" Cab Sauv from Napa Valley ($89) and it was spectacular. It had aromas of black plum, cedar, forest floor, earth, black pepper, black currant, and coffee. On the palate, this developing wine had addition tastes of tobacco and mushroom. It was a high alcohol, high acidity, medium plus tannin wine with a pronounced intensity of flavours and a long finish - a classic Napa Cab! We rated this wine as Outstanding.

Before we leave North America, we did try a wine from Washington State - if you are interested in that blog entry, it is here. I would definitely revisit that area, as I would with Oregon. The wine we tried in class was a 2013 K.Vintners Syrah from the Columbia Valley ($67). This was another really enjoyable wine with black plum. black currant, white pepper, cedar and leather on the nose. This developing wine had cedar, blackberry and cooked fruits on the palate and was a high tannin, high alcohol, medium plus body, medium plus intensity, high acid wine. It was a bit astringent with the high acid as it could have been a little more plush or ripe. This was rated as a Very Good wine with ageing potential.

For such a skinny country, Chile has a fair number of wine regions to know. First, though, the grapes that are grown there. Cab Sauv and Merlot are big grapes in Chile as well as their signature grape, Carmenere. An interesting thing about Carmenre is that it is originally a French grape that fell out of favour after Phyloxera hit. Meanwhile, in Chile, thanks to being surrounded by ocean, mountains, desert, and ice fields, Phyloxera never came there. Wine growers in Chile thought they were growing a lot of Merlot but realized that it tasted different than other Merlots. That's because it was Carmenere!

White grapes of Chile are mainly Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

The regions of Chile are hard to remember so I will just review the four big areas - Coquimbo (Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Chardonnay), Aconcagua (Carmenere, Syrah, Cab Sauv and some Sauvignon Blanc), Central Valley (Cab Suav, Syrah, Carmenere) and Curico and Maule Valleys (Carignan). The smaller areas to watch for when you buy wines from Chile are Casablanca, San Antonio, Leyda Valley, Maipo, Cachapoal Valley, and Colchagua Valley.

We tried just one wine from Chile. It was a Carmenere and, if you want to revisit the Carmenere in a blog post that I thought was amazing, the link is here. This one was a 2016 Calina Carmenere from the Central Valley ($24). It definitely tasted of red fruit such as cherry, plum and cranberry as well as red liquorice. It had a certain herbaceousness about it that detracted from the overall flavour. It hit all the medium spots in acid, tannins, body, etc. and was just rated as a Good wine.

There is so much to learn about Argentina but I will just hit the things that relate to the wines I tried. First, the white grape that Argentina is famous for is the Torrontes grape. It is an intensely fruit and floral grape and is definitely and aromatic grape. It is found in a number of areas including Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja and Salta.

We tried an 2015 El Porvenir Torrontes from La Cafayate in Salta ($22). I had a difficult time deciphering the aromas of this one so I will go with the group's descriptors. On the nose were honeysuckle, melon, elderflower and orange blossom aromas in a pronounced intensity. On the palate it was dry with medium plus acidity, medium body, finish and alcohol. This 'drink now' wine was rated as Very Good.

The black grape from Argentina that is their flagship grape is Malbec. This deep purple, oaked grape is grown in Argentina more than anywhere else in the world. If the flavours are extracted gently, it can be a very elegant wine with floral aromas and spice. It can also be blended with Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot. I have had lots of Malbecs before form Argentina and have not been overly impressed by them.

The last wine we tried, however, did impress me. It was a 2014 Bramare Malbec from the Lujan de Cujo in Mendoza ($67). Name a black fruit and it was there. I loved this wine. Black plum, blueberry,  black currant - and more. It was definitely oaked with lovely cedar and tobacco but it also had that ageing flavour of barnyard, mushrooms, and earth. It was our last wine of the night so I just leaned back and sipped the contents of my tasting glass - no spitting with this one! This full bodied wine had intense  aromas on the nose and pronounced flavours on the palate. This wine was balanced, had length and was complex, deserving an Outstanding rating.

Now, back to my studying!

How do you say. "Oh, crap!" in Spanish. WSET 3.10 - Spanish and Portuguese Wines

Courtesy Art of the Table

Things started off pretty well....

I sat down at this week's class and Lynn, the instructor, handed back my blind tasting note - which I nailed - and the mini quiz - which I mostly nailed.

I was feeling pretty damned confident!

Then we did the first tasting.

It was two whites, one from Spain and one from Portugal. After Lynn described some of the characteristics of each one, I smugly came to the conclusion that the first wine was an Albarino and the second was a Vinho Verde.

Wrong.

Oh, crap.

The first wine was actually 2017 Aveleda Vinho Verde from Portugal ($15). It had a fairly complex flavour profile with pear, lime, orange blossom, melon, wet stone and a floral component on both the nose and palate.  This low alcohol, high acid wine had a little bit of spritz which was hard to detect initially since it was a bit of a surprise. This was a blend of mostly Loureiro and Alvarinho grapes.  A 'drink now' wine, this was rated as Good and would go well with cooked or fried white fish.

The second wine (that I thought was not as good) was actually a great Albarino from Spain - it was a 2017 Terras Gauda Albarino from Rias Baixas ($40). This had aromas of peach, apricot and pear and also a savoury or cheesy aroma - maybe even cream cheese. It had extended lees stirring which gives it that cheesy smell. There was similar fruit and savouriness on the palate along with grapefruit. This was a high acid, medium alcohol wine with a medium plus finish (not short, like I thought!). It was balanced and complex so would be rated as Very Good and could be aged for a bit.

Spain is a country with a big wine growing area but most of the vines are spread out so they get enough water. It just can't compete with Italy or France in the amount of grapes grown. There are a variety of climates in Spain with the main difficulties being either too much rain (on the coast) or not enough rain.

The big grape here is Tempranillo. This thick skinned, medium acidity grape is popular on its own or with other grapes. It's grown in Rioja, the Ribera del Duero, Navarra, Toro, and La Mancha.

Another big grape is Garnacha (Grenache). This high alcohol grapes is one that loves the heat and ripens late. It is usually blended with other grapes such as in Rioja, and Navarra. It is also grown in Carinena, Calatayud, Priorat, and Ribera del Duero.

Monastrell (also known as Mourvedre) is a great grape for the heat as it has quite a thick skin and ripens late. It is grown in the Levante area which includes Valencia, Jumilla, and Yecla.

There's also other black grapes such as Graciano (blending grape),  Mencia (a fresh fruit grape grown in Bierzo), and Carignan also known as Carinena and also known as Mazuelo.

Albarino is a popular white grape that is a thick skinned, high acid grape with stone fruit and citrus fruit. It is found is the northwest region of Spain.

Verdejo is the other bigger grape that is used a lot in sherry. It has melon and peach flavours, similar to Sauvignon Blanc, which it also happens to be blended with fairly frequently.

Our next two wines were, in fact, both Tempranillo wines from Spain. I would have been happy to drink both of these wines all night long.

The first was a 2008 La Rioja Alta Reserva Tempranillo ($75). This medium garnet wine was the more delicate of the two with tastes and aromas of red cherry, plum, strawberry, fig, toast, pepper, cedar, mushroom and leather. The finish was long, the intensity was high, and the wine was balanced and complex. An Outstanding wine that could easily age a few more years.

Not only was the first one great, the second was, in my opinion, even better! It was a 2011 Pintia Tempranillo ($104) from the Toro region of Spain. This wine was high in tannins and had flavours and aromas of smoke, black plum, blackberry, black cherry, violet, forest floor, cedar and leather. This wine was high in acidity, high in alcohol, had pronounced intensity, and had a long finish. Another Outstanding wine that could age for years!

I felt that I had redeemed myself with the Tempranillos. I nailed some of the flavours and aromas down and was started to feel smug agin. Then we had the next two wines. One was a Monastrell (Mourvedre) and one was a Mencia. I like Mencia - in fact, I've had three or four bottles. I tasted several at the Wine Festival in the spring! I KNEW my Mencia - I even recommended it to my table mates! I also remembered how tannic the Mourvedre was from Bandol so I thought it would be so easy to figure out which was which. The first one I thought was all black fruit and tannins so was the Monastrell and the second one was all red fruit and lower tannins so was the Mencia.

Wrong again.

Oh, crap. Again.

The first was 2016 Alvaro Palacios 'Petalos' Mencia from Bierzo, Spain ($46). It had aromas of red fruit, savoury, and roast coffee. It had only medium tannins and medium plus acidity with a long finish. It was rated as Very Good.

The second was a 2015 Juan Gil Monastrell from Jumilla ($33). This is the one that had the black fruit as well as vanilla on the palate. It had full body, high tannins, and a medium finish. This was a Good wine.

I'm usually a bit shaky on my tasting notes for white wines but I don't usually struggle so much with reds. I don't know what happened - possibly I decided that the first one was a Monastrell and that coloured the rest of my tasting. I've also listened to podcasts where wine experts have admitted to getting it wrong a bunch of times and that's their job!

Oh well, c'est le vin. On to Portugal.

Portugal doesn't just make Port! It makes lots of wine and many form the 5 varietals that make Port. They are Touriga Nacional (high quality, great flavour, high tannins), Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, and Tinta Cao.

There's also the wine grapes that made the previously mentioned Vino Verde - Loureiro, Arinto, and Alvarinho (same as Spanish Albarino).

There's a ton of other grapes (like Spain, like Italy), but I think we'll just focus in our last two tastings.

The first was 2015 Cabriz Touriga Nacional and others blend from the Dao region ($22). This ruby wine had both red fruit (red cherry, cranberry) and black fruit (blueberry, black currant) was well as savoury notes. This was a mostly medium wine that was rated as Good and was suitable for drinking now.

The final wine was a 2015 Quinta do Crasto Touriga Nacional Reserva and others blend from the Douro region ($54). This was a purple wine that tasted of black fruit including blackberry, forest floor, barnyard, toast and leather. This wine had medium acidity, medium plus tannins, and high alcohol with a medium plus intensity of flavours and a beautiful long finish. This wine was rated as Outstanding.

So, after a rather mediocre tasting night, I felt a little disappointed but I don't think you can accurately taste every wine that's put in front of you. Even the pros get it wrong. Luckily, for the WSET blind tasting, you don't have to guess the wine, just describe it. My challenge is to try to avoid jumping to conclusions when I taste the wine. If I think in the first three seconds, "This is a Chardonnay," I'll probably be hooped.

Oh well, time to study some more.

How do you say, "Oh, crap!" in Spanish?

"Oh, mierda!"

Wassa Matta With You? Wines from Central and Southern Italy - WSET 3.9

This week's class started off horribly - which is appropriate, I guess, as it was Halloween....

My first mistake happened before class - when I went for dinner at Pokéritto. Pokéritto is like Subway except it's for Poké - basically sushi rice, seafood and other stuff. I look forward to going here every class and so I had my usual (tuna, shrimp, crab, bunch of other stuff) but this time I picked the sweet chilli sauce, thinking it would have a tiny bit of heat, like sweet chilli potato chips.

Nope. Couldn't be more wrong.

I enjoyed the spiciness of the food, but I think it made me screw up my wine tasting - at least the first two wines. Mama mia!

Central and Southern Italy wine regions - courtesy Wine Folly

Central Italy has those wonderful Apennine mountains going down the middle so the great wine sites are in the hills of these mountains, facing south, if they are in the best sites. Altitude helps as well because this is a hot climate. Although there are lots of regions, Sangiovese grape is king, no matter the name.

The most famous region is Tuscany or Toscano - which contains Chianti, the oldest wine region in Italy. The Sangiovese is expressed as red cherries, plum and dried herbs and can be regular Chianti, Chianti Classico (grown on traditional sites, usually on hills and aged for 12 months), Chianti Classico Reserva (aged 24 months) and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione (aged 30 months).  In Southern Tuscany there are two excellent wines, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (confusingly, not to be confused with Montepulciano D'Abruzzo). On the coast are the Super Tuscans - basically wines made from international varieties like Cab Sauv, Merlot and Syrah rather than Italian grapes.

East of Tuscany is Umbria where the Orvieto DOC (remember, DOC means the lower of Italy's top tier and DOCG is the top of their top tier) makes a light bodied white containing Grechetto and Trebbiano grapes. Trebbiano is a neutral grape used for a lot of blending. Sagratini di Montefalco is another DOC that makes super tannic red wines.

Lazio is the region around Rome and, in the Frascati DOC, they make a medium bodied white from Malvasia and our mixing friend, Trebbiano. East of Lazio is Marche where Verdicchio is used to make high acidity whites in Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC and a red blend of Sangiovese and Montepulciano (the grape, not the place) in Conero DOC.  Finally, in Abruzzo, the ever confusing Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is made from the Montepulciano grape which is famous for a rubber smell and a purplish colour.

The first wine we tried was from Marche and was a Sartarelli Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico ($26). I was totally off on this wine - I do struggle with the whites at times - so I am relying on my group's skills for this tasting note rather than my own. On the nose, this wine had pear, lime and citrus flavours while on the palate, there were also almonds and a minerality expressed as wet stone. This wine had medium everything - acidity, alcohol, body, finish - and was rated as a Good wine that should be drunk now.

Next, from this part of Italy, was a 2015 Toscolo Chianti Classico ($29). I fared better on this one, getting red cherry, red plum, and cedar on the nose with tobacco and wood spice on the palate. This dry wine had high acidity - ready to cut through a tomato based pasta dish - and medium or medium plus in most other areas. It was Very Good and should be consumed now.

From the same wine region was a 2012 Sassetti Livio Brunello di Montalcino ($90). This was a medium garnet wine that had pronounced intensity on the nose - those same aromas of cherry and plum but also with cedar, game and farmyard. Developing on the nose, it also had similar tastes on the palate. This wine had high acidity, medium plus tannins, full body and pronounced intensity. A balanced, complex wine with a long finish, it was rated as Outstanding - with definite ageing potential.

The last wine from Central Italy was a 2016 Illuminati Montepulciano D'Abruzzo ($20). This had black fruits like black cherry, black plum and black currant on the nose as well as violet and cedar. It was on the cusp between youthful and developing. On the palate were similar flavours with smoke and balsamic vinegar added in. This was a high acidity wine with most other areas being medium. A balanced wine with some complexity, it was rated as a Good wine to drink now.

Southern Italy is hot and dry, especially inland. The vines there have traditionally been bush trained (the vine literally looks like a bush) to protect from the sun but some trellising has been used more recently. The best vineyards are, surprise, on the slopes of the Apennines.

Campania is the region around Naples. Three of the grapes that are grown are Fiano, Greco, and Aglianico. Fiano di Avelino DOCG makes a medium to full bodied white wine with stone fruit and medium acidity. It can age where it develops tastes of wax and honey. Greco di Tufo DOCG makes a high acidity white wine with tastes of green apple, stone fruit and passion fruit. This, too, can age and can have honey and mushroom flavours. Aglianico is made in the Taurasi DOCG (a great wine for the price) and is a high acid, high tannin red wine with black fruit and an earthy flavour. The Basilicata region is in the instep of the heel of Italy and also makes Aglianico in the Aglianico del Vulture DOC.

In the heel of the boot is Puglia. There they make Negromaro and Primitivo, both red wine grapes. Wines made here can be high yielding, 'lake of wine' type wines but there are good quality wines available as well. Negromaro can be full bodied with medium tannins and acidity and tastes of baked red and black fruit. The best can be found in the Salice Salentino DOC. Primitivo is genetically the same as Zinfandel and has a similar taste profile to Negromaro.

On of the islands off the west coast of Italy is Sicily. Nero D'Avola is a red wine grape with full body, medium acid and tannins, and tastes of plum and black cherry. The Etna DOC of Sicily makes both Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappucio which can be elegant, fragrant red wines with high acidity and tannins and tastes of sour cherry, strawberry, and cranberry.

The white wine that we tried from Campania was a 2009 Feudi di San Gregorio Fiano di Avelino Pietracalda ($41). This was the other wine that I flubbed, thinking it was the Verdicchio - so the notes here are, again, thanks to my brilliant group! This wine had stone fruit and pear on the nose and on the palate. The Fiano was dry with high acidity, medium body, medium plus intensity and a medium plus finish.  It was balanced and complex and earned a Very Good rating.

Also from Campania was a 2011 Taurasi Aglianico also made by Feudi di San Gregorio ($50). This lovely ruby wine had tasted of blueberry, black plum, stewed fruits, earth and charred wood on the nose and palate. It was a high tannin, medium plus acidity, full bodied wine with a long finish. It was balanced, complex and had an intense flavour and was Outstanding. You could drink this wine now or your could age it for a few years.

From Sicily was a 2016 Feudo Maccari Nero D'Avola ($26). This is a great pizza wine having black plum, cherry, cedar and black cherry on the nose and palate. Most other areas were medium but it was a pretty balanced wine and earned a Good rating. Definitely good for food!

Finally, we had a 2015 Benanti Nerrelo, also from Sicily ($25). This was the last wine of the night and I find that sometimes my palate gets a little tired. This was a fairly delicate wine (think Pinot Noir) and after some of these full bodied wines, it sort of got lost. It was a light garnet wine with aromas of cherry, raspberry, strawberry, cooked fruit and smoke, On the palate it seemed to have the same flavours but less intense (hence, its delicateness). Lynn assured us that it was a Very Good wine that would pair well with salmon or tuna.

Italy has so many wines and we've just scratched the surface. Luckily, we had two weeks looking at the vast numbers of wines and regions. Next week we are apparently tackling Spain and Portugal together which seems like a rather daunting task, seeing as there are so many areas, especially in Spain. I guess I will just have to 'press' on in my 'thirst' for wine knowledge!

Ciao!