Wine Tasting Group - The Great Ones! - Part 2

Wine tasting is such fun!

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend a wine testing with a number of people, some I knew from my WSET 3 course, and some that were new to me. This is part two of that evening. And there are some truly great wines that we had!

After a wonderful break of fancy cheeses, and some stimulating conversation about wine, we proceeded to the next flight of wines. Unlike the first flight, where we silent evaluated all of the wines at once before discussing, this time we tried a wine, took some notes and then had a (sometimes raucous) discussion on the wine. Although most of us spat some of the wine from the first four tastings, the wine certainly was having an effect and a lot more wine ended up being drunk in the second flight!

The first was the only white - one that most people were stumped by although I think that Verity nailed it.... The 2016 Granbazan Albarino Etiqueta Amber from Rias Baixas, Spain ($26 Vivino) had a very floral aroma with peach, apricot, apples, and a mineral taste on the palate that came from extended lees contact. There was also some citrus flavours on the palate as well. This was a high acid wine with medium body, medium alcohol, medium plus intensity, and a medium finish and complexity. I would rate this as a Good wine - not fabulous but still a drinkable glass.

Next was a wine that fooled us all. I tasted a spicy, minerally, funky, herbal, gamey wine that had red fruit. I was surprised that it was a Nebbiolo grape wine as the aroma profile for Nebbiolo is tar and roses. Nevertheless, this was a 2006 Giribaldi Barbaresco from Italy ($169 Vivino). The tannins on this wine had softened considerable but I could tell that this had once been a real mouth puckerer, The tannins were n ow just medium plus with high acidity, and additional flavours of tobacco and cedar on the palate. The group felt that it had been faked but not with new oak. I love a wine like this that has had enormous tannins and has softened to a tamed beast state! I rated this wine as Outstanding, despite not smelling tar and roses.

Our third wine had aromas of both red fruit and black fruit, at least for my nose. Along with cherry, strawberry, and plum, there was oak, leather and a nice, funky earthiness. This high acid, medium tannin wine was another one that the experts struggled with, although there were a couple correct guesses. It was a 2013 Ricasoli Colledila Chianti Classico Gran Selezione from Italy ($50 Vivino). The way this works is Chianti is the big region, Chianti Classico is the best of that region, Chianti Classico Riserva had additional ageing and quality markers, and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, a relatively new designation, has more ageing (30 months), 100% single estate fruit, and has to pass a selection board for each vintage. It's a rare feat and probably why I had such a hard time figuring out what it was. I would rate this as Very Good.

Our last wine in the flight was one that I should have got but I didn't. I was thinking a southern Rhone, Petit Sarah, or maybe a Mouvedre - but, no. It was a 2015 Chateau des Annereaux Lalande-de-Pomerol ($36 Vivino). This blend 60% Merlot and 20% each of Cab Sauv and Cab Franc had flavours and aromas of blueberry, black currant, blackberry, tobacco, vanilla, smoke, barnyard, and leather. I found the barnyard smell so strong - as did a couple others - that someone joked that it was like your grandmothers bathroom - a slight whiff of poo with a floral scent of perfume! Maybe we had all had a bit of wine at this point? Medium plus tannins, full body and medium acidity made for a balanced, fairly complex wine with a medium plus finish. Overall, a Very Good wine.

But wait! That's not all!

Our host, Andrew, brought out a bottle that, it turned out, had been given to him by one of the guests a while ago! It was excellent...

The last wine was my favourite of the night. I guessed, Syrah - right! Then I guessed Northern Rhone Syrah - right! Then I was asked the year - I guessed 2014 but it really was just a guess - my wine expertise is not there yet! So what was it? A 2015 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert from Tain Hermitage in the Northern Rhone ($61 - BC Liquor for a 2016). Crozes- Hermitage wines are usually not quite as good as Hermitage but this was wonderful. The next best region is Cornas and then Cote-Rotie. This wine was almost as good as some of the Cornas wines I have tried! I was impressed. There were medium plus tannins, medium acidity, medium plus body, and a balanced array of tastes and aromas including blackberry, blueberry, cassis, plum, black cherry, black olive, leather, smoke, mushroom, tobacco, and chocolate. This could probably age for another 5 years but it was delicious now. A stellar Outstanding rating.

And that is it!

Cheers!

Wine and Friends - A Spectacular Wine Tasting Evening - Part 1

Ah, wine tasting….

One of the best things about taking both my WSET 2 and WSET 3 was being able to methodically taste a number of wines in one evening. It’s not easy but it is something you can learn. And like most things that people learn, if you don’t practice, you get rusty. 

Last year, before moving up to Kelowna, I practised my wine tasting almost weekly with a friend. Now, although I still drink my fair share of wine, I don’t always drink my wine in a thoughtful enough manner. So I was very pleased when my old WSET wine tasting group decided to get together in Vancouver - with a few other wine aficionados. 

Our host, Andrew, and another guest, Justin, were by far the most accurate tasters - not a huge surprise as both have extensive wine education and are both competing for Best Somm of BC! There were other experts, including Stephanie, a Somm at a major Vancouver restaurant as well as my friends from WSET 3, Sarah and Verity. There was a Russian couple (the husband knew his wines extremely well, despite no formal courses), another female Somm from a Vancouver restaurant, Alicia, an artist who has a wine and art company (Unwined Events) with Sarah, and my friend, Stewart, who has a strong interest in wine. 

After some social time where I got to know some of the guests a bit better, we sat down to do some tasting. We did two flights of four wines and then a bonus wine at the end. 

The first four wines were poured and we began tasting. It was a bit more formal than our last tasting and my friend, Stewart, was a bit surprised. We silently swirled, sniffed, sipped, spat, scribbled and repeated as we made our notes on each wine. The WSET 3 focus was on describing the attributes of the wine but what everyone really wants to be able to do is to tell what the wine is, where it’s from and when it was made. Not easy!

The first wine was a white from Bordeaux, a 2011 Smith Haut Lafitte 'Les Hauts' from Pessac Leognan (a 2016 is available at the BCLB for $65 - I suspect that will be at the Wine Festival). There were aromas of citrus, lime, lemon, wet stone, oak and a minerally/funky aroma that we decided was lanolin. This wine was dry with medium acidity, medium body, a medium finish and was balanced. It was complex and had intense flavours. I thought this was a Sauvignon Blanc - and I was mostly right. Because it was a Bordeaux white, the general consensus was that it was a Sauv Blanc/Semillon blend. It is actually 90% Sauv Blanc, and 5% each Sauvignon Gris (which is basically a clone of Sauv Blanc) and  Semillon.  This is one of the best wines that the winery has produced, according to their site. I enjoyed it and thought is was Very Good. 

Next was another white. This was a wonderfully sweet wine, something that I didn't appreciate until a few years ago. It was a 1997 Moulin Touchais Chenin Blanc from Côteaux de Layon in the Loire Valley of France (Vivino $100). I believe, like most of the wines tasted, this was from a private liquor store - either Jak's or Marquis - but I can't get a price. Everything Wine lists a 1994 vintage at $51. This wine had aromas of honey, vanilla, fig, ginger, honeysuckle and mushroom. This botrytis affected wine had high acidity, full body, and a great long finish. Balanced, intense, and complex, I rated this wine as Outstanding. I did struggle with what this wine was, thinking it might be a Tokaji from Hungary.

Next was a red wine that I could not get - but was not alone in this. I thought it might be a Zinfandel or a Gamay or even some Swiss grape. It wasn't. It was a 2016 CaRo (Catena and Rothschild) Aruma Malbec from Argentina ($30 Everything Wine but out of stock). This wine that fooled us all had an overall musty character to it with blackberry, blueberry and cherry. There was a lot more red fruit on the palate. It had medium acidity, good balance, and medium complexity and finish. There were very soft tannins, however, which I felt made this wine a little dull. Overall, this was a Good wine.

The last wine of the first flight was a 2016 Artezin Zinfandel from Mendocino ($30 Everything Wine). There were aromas and tastes of cherry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry as well as pepper, cinnamon spice and 5 spice. The tannins were medium plus with high alcohol, a strong finish, and was balanced. It wasn't overly complex but everything else about this wine was great. I would rate this Zin as Very Good. My guess on this was either a Gamay or a Zinfandel - although I thought it was from Lodi.

At this point we had a break - for cheese and crackers. The cheese I brought (sourced at Perseval and Young in Kelowna) was an Ossau-Iraty from France. This sheep's milk cheese is amazing and really complemented the wines. Ossau-Iraty is one of the oldest cheese producing locations in the world (at least 3000 years!).

Next time, the second flight and the bonus round!