An Amazing Wine Tasting Evening with Friends

A group of friends in the midst of an amazing wine tasting.

WSET is not just for studying....

As I have alluded to before, people make great connections and friendships while doing the WSET course. We were all in it together, trying our best to pass the course, feeling the pressure of learning such a vast amount of information and feeling the pleasure of tasting wine together. 

But it finished in December!

Happily, the group that I have tasted with before - the friends that I have tasted with before - are continuing to get together. The first time, since our test, was a couple weeks ago when I was in France. 

The next time was just last Thursday.

Andrew was our host. He has taken both his WSET 3 and a comparable level of his CMS - Court of Master Sommeliers. He works at a restaurant but also works at a local independent liquor store and, therefore, can get a great deal on great wines!

Verity and her partner, Joey, were also in attendance. I took my WSET 3 with Verity - in fact, she related the story of our first class together - we had a champagne and some minor bubbles like Prosecco in a blind tasting. Both of us proudly announced that the Prosecco was the great wine, much to our chagrin! We both learned an awful lot more about wine since that first class. Verity also completed a comparable level of her CMS.

When I took my WSET, Sarah sat beside me every class - she was my WSET Buddy! It was great to see her at the tasting and reconnect with her once again.

A new person (for me), Steph, was working on the same level of CMS that Verity and Andrew had achieved. She is an actual Sommelier at a famous Vancouver restaurant! 

Finally, my buddy, Stewart, whom I have known since high school (when we used to drank a gallon bottle of Calona Medium White) came along as well.  Although he has not completed a formal wine course, Stew is well versed in the wine world (we've both come a very long way).

After everyone arrived, Andrew welcomed us with a glass of 2016 Crescent Hill Glennallyn Private Reserve Gewürztraminer from the Okanagan. As is common with this varietal, it was very aromatic and was a tasty, light way to start off our night. 

Andrew always does such a good job!

Our next wines were blind tastings. We had three whites and three reds.

Our first white was described by Steph, who spoke with such confidence that I was drawn in, hook. line and sinker, to what she thought the wines were. We tasted, and swirled, and spat. 

It was a Zarate Rias Baxas Albarino from Spain. It was not a strong wine and was not as full bodied as I thought it would be. 

Yellow, or lemon, in colour, this wine had aromas of lemon, apple, and had a minerality. These aromas were fresh, tart and ripe. On the palate, there were the same flavours - fresh or ripe apples, wet stone,  as well as medium plus acidity, medium length and medium complexity. There was also some oak on this wine.

As for all of the wines that we tasted, we all tried to come up with both the varietal and the place. Most people though this was a Chardonnay although some thought it was a Pinot Gris or something Italian. But we were all wrong. Albarino was just not on our radar! Overall, a Good wine.

Our next wine was another white and, this time, I nailed it. For me, petrol is an unmistakable aroma - and that means Riesling. Interestingly, unlike many of the petrol smelling Rieslings I have had in the past, this one was bone dry. This 2014  Howard Park Porongurup Riesling from Australia had additional aromas of rubber. pear, peach,. apple and a minerality. A complex nose with pronounced aromas.

On the palate, it was bone dry, as I said, with tastes of apple. It did not have the same mineral taste and was medium plus in alcohol and medium plus in acidity. This was a great dry Riesling - and I stated that to the group. Before the reveal I had also written down that I thought it was from Australia but hesitated to share that information. A Very Good to Outstanding wine.

Our final white was a real shocker. Verity described it as a 'giant in a sleeping bag' which means that it did not have a very pronounced aroma but when you got your nose close enough, there was an explosion of complex aromas. On the nose - and on the palate - were aromas like cloves, wood, popcorn, butter and vanilla. In fact, it smelled a little like a buttered popcorn Jelly Belly! It had medium acid, medium body and a very complex flavour.

Still, we didn't think it was all that fancy. We narrowed it down to Chardonnay but thought it was from California. You know, a big, oaky Chardonnay with lots of flavour.

Nope.

It was a Pouilly Fuiissé from the Maconnais region of Burgundy.  This 2014  Chateau Fuissé Le Clos Monopolé was not what we expected! It was probably the most expensive wine of the night, worth over $100. However, none of us found the elegance or refinement that we would expect from this kind of wine, although there was great complexity. I would rate this as Good to Very Good.

On to the reds!

Our first red of the night was a difficult one. Pale ruby in colour, it had aromas of mint and earth and a bit of an underbrush aroma. There were red fruits like cherry and raspberry as well as dried cranberry. On the palate, there were tastes of the same with the addition of some sort of leaf - like tomato leaf. It had medium plus acidity, medium minus tannins, and light bodied.

This Sangiovese wine was a 2015 Noelia Ricci Godenza Superiore from the Romagna area of Italy. It stumped us all. I thought it might be a cru Beaujolais although I couldn't detect the hallmarks of carbonic fermentation. There were some murmurings that it might be from Italy but no one had a strong feeling about that. Pinot Noir was another guess made by many of the group. It was certainly a surprise when the reveal came. This was a Very Good wine.

There next wine was probably my favourite. The 2015 Cannonball Merlot from Sonoma County had aromas of pepper, smoke, dark fruit such as plum and black berry,  jam, cedar and mushrooms. This wine had a pronounced intensity on its rather complex nose. On the palate was the same black, jammy fruits as well as some earthiness with medium acidity, medium plus tannins, and high alcohol. This wine had balance, complexity, length and intensity and I would rate this wine as Outstanding.  I first thought it was a Syrah, possibly from the Northern Rhone. My second guess was Merlot from California.

The final red for the night was another tricky one. The Chateau de Cherrière Bourgogne Pinot Noir was a very structured wine with medium plus acid and medium plus tannins, something I did not expect with a Pinot Noir. There were tastes and aromas of cedar, tobacco, farmyard, leather, mushroom, black fruit and black cherry. This was a real stumper as it had that Pinot Noir taste but such strong structure! I would rate this as Very Good.

One of the members of our group had something to celebrate so Andrew brought out a celebratory champagne style wine. The celebrant, Verity, then used a bread knife to sabre the wine! If you have a nice cold bottle of champagne (or other bubbly), you can use any kind of knife to open it. You simply slide the knife from the middle of the bottle up the seam of the bottle and, voila! The cork and some of the bottle will fly off the top!

Verity sabred a 1996 Summerhill Cipes Traditional Cuvée sparkling wine form the Okanagan ($80). I didn't do a formal tasting note at this point (we had finished the bottle leftovers at this point and were refraining from spitting or dumping) but I do recall that this was more than just a bready, yeasty tasting champagne. It had a beautiful golden colour. a nice fizz, and an exquisite taste that included a bit of a sherry.

A wonderful celebration to finish off a wonderful wine tasting evening!

Come Together ... Right Now. ... Over Wine...

Red wines from our tasting nigh

I'm actually a bit behind in my WSET blog but I had such an enjoyable time this week, I thought I'd blog about a recent evening.

I was invited to a wine tasting evening with some of the people from my WSET class. Here's what comes to mind:

As the big test date looms nearer (less than two weeks), I have become more and more focussed on memorizing facts, practising questions, making charts and maps, and recording myself talking about important information and then playing it back.

Thursday night was a big break from that - and a reality check. Wine is not just about learning and memorizing information - it is about the social aspects of getting together with people, having a few drinks, talking, laughing and enjoying each others' company. Yes, we tasted and talked about the wines and commiserated about our mutual trepidations of the upcoming test but we also talked about each others' work and lives and history - the wine was a part of the evening but it was not the only part of the evening.

To paraphrase one member of the wine group, at the end of the day, we have learned so much about wine, have been exposed to so many wines, have a much improved palette and nose, and have made friends with a bunch of new people.  I want to do well on the test, but I've already had a rewarding experience, regardless of the result.

A great group of wine-experts-in-training.

There were four others in the group; Sarah, who sits beside me during my WSET class and is originally from London, Greg and Marilyn, also in my class, who are part of the family that owns Deep Roots Winery in Naramata, and Andrew, a very knowledgable wine-o-phile who was able to procure our wines for the evening. I really enjoyed spending the evening with these people and also enjoyed sipping and discussing the wines.

The first wine was a bit of a treat. It was a 1994 (yes, I said, 1994!) Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley ($57 on Vivino). This was a highly acidic, intensely sweet wine with tastes of honey, candied apricot, orange zest, almonds, and some earthiness like mushrooms, probably from botrytis. This Chenin also had the distinctive aroma of lanolin or wet wool. It was an amazing wine to start with but, because I was driving, I ended up dumping some of it in my spit cup (ugh!). Definitely an Outstanding wine. I really have grown to enjoy sweeter wines like this because they are balanced with the strong acidity - as opposed to stick sweet wines I had when I was younger like Baby Duck or Calona White.

The first wine was a bit of a teaser and we just enjoyed it without doing a serious tasting. Our second wine was the first real taste. I sort of sat back and watched what others did during the first two tastings but spoke up more after that. I actually guessed (in my head, of course) that this wine was a Torrontes but never said anything - so much for showing off. This was a 2015 El Porvenir Laroum Torrontes from Cafayate which is in the Salta region of Chile ($30). This had aromas and tastes of citrus fruits like grapefruit and lemon as well as peach and apple. It also had non-fruit aromas of fresh grass and honeysuckle. This youthful wine was medium in intensity, acid, alcohol, body and length and was rated as a Good wine which was ready to drink but not suitable for ageing. And, to be fair, Andrew did help us narrow down the wine varietal before I made my amazing guess (that I kept to myself).

Next was another wine that I guessed correctly after Andrew's coaching, again, in my head (what a chicken!).  This was a 2017 Granbazan Albarino Etiqueta Ambar from Rias Baixas, Spain ($40). I really got pineapple on this wine as well as stone fruits like peach and apricot. Unfortunately, I got a bit of vanilla on this which means I was fooled as this wine did not have any oak on it. When I taste a white wine, I am always trying to taste if there is vanilla or toast on it which is a product of oak ageing - and I seem to find it far too often! There was a floral aroma as well of orange blossom that some of the other tasters got but that I missed. I struggle with floral aromas and I probably should find some of these flowers in the next 10 days before my test! This light bodied wine had medium plus acidity, medium plus intensity, medium alcohol and a medium plus finish. Seafood would be a wonderful accompaniment to this wine and, although it is not suitable for ageing, it is ready to drink and is Very Good.

Every now and then, there is a wine that is so recognizable that I can place it immediately. The bubble gum, banana, and red liquorice aromas are unmistakably a Beaujolais Nouveau - in this case a fresh 2018 Louis Max ($20). This is a low tannin, medium minus body wine that's not strong in intensity and does not have a long finish but it is FUN to drink! I really like this style of wine, even though it is not exactly loved by some wine experts. It is easy to slurp back and is friendly enough to go with food that is really casual. Andrew completed his WSET test earlier this week and a Beaujolais Nouveau was the red wine for the blind tasting. I would be so happy if that were the case for our test! This wine is definitely ready to drink and should not be aged. It was a Good wine.

The next wine was a tasty one - a 2015 Klinker Brick Old Vines Zinfandel from Lodi, California ($40). I actually guessed this one too, but, wonder of wonders, I actually said something!  This had aromas of black currant, blackberry, blueberry, pepper, tobacco, cedar and jam. I thought there were some tertiary aromas of mushroom but that didn't seem to be the consensus of the group. I looked on Vivino later and some people did think there was some tertiary aromas like leather so I really am not sure if this was developing or not. This full bodied, high alcohol wine had a medium plus intensity of flavours and a medium plus finish and deserved a Very Good rating. Could you age it? I thought you could but who knows?

The last 'official' tasting wine was a 2014 Chateau de Jau Jaujau Cote de Roussillon red wine blend from the Languedoc Roussillon region of France ($48). We didn't know this was a blend which showed up in our differing notes. Some of us tasted black fruits and some red fruits and some both. On the nose, I found red plum, blueberry, and blackberry as well as black currant leaf, and cedar. This wine had medium plus body, a medium plus finish, and a medium intensity of flavours. A Very Good wine, it was a blend of Syrah, Grenach and Mourvedre. It was suitable for ageing - but was a bit pricey.

Greg and Marilyn brought a wonderful wine for our final, informal tasting. It was a 2014 Deep Roots Naramata Syrah (I think Greg said it was around $40 when released but there's none left now!).  I was asked, earlier in the evening, what my favourite wine was - I really do like Bordeaux so I went with that initially - but, having this wine, I was reminded that Syrah is another one of my favourite wines - especially Syrah done right - which this was. There were aromas and tastes of blackberry, blueberry, and black plum as well as smoke, tobacco, and a bit of leather. There was also some pepper on the nose. This wine was lovely - full bodied, strong intensity of flavours, and a wonderful long finish. I would rate this Syrah as Outsanding and could probably age for a few more years.

As we sat around and chatted and sipped from the remnants of wine, I reflected on how enjoyable an evening I had. We made some progress on our tasting and we discussed some of the more frightening aspects of our looming test but, by far, the most important thing was a group of people coming together over a common interest and having a great time doing it.

Cheers!

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!

Vancouver Wine Festival - Oh What a Night! - Part Two

Another lovely Cava from Segura Viudas

It's really amazing - put a large number of people in a large room, give them a wine glass and access to over 700 different wines, and tell them they have just three hours to drink what they can.

That's the main premise behind the Vancouver Wine Festival.

And the people! They were so interesting! Most people were dressed rather smartly but there was the occasional chill dude in a t-shrit and jeans. There were also some women dressed in rather short, tight dresses that maybe weren't the most comfortable for a wine tasting - especially with stiletto heels... And, of course, there was the odd person wearing running shoes - probably a very smart idea as we all spent most of the three hours on our feet.

At many of the booths were people with blue lanyards attached to their name tags. These were the actual winemakers and they were great to talk to. They were passionate and answered all of my questions - even though they had probably heard them many times before - with an enthusiasm that was riveting.

Onto the wines, again.

We'll start with Portugal, the other country featured in the festival.

There weren't a ton of wines from Portugal, especially compared with Spain, but I did try a couple Douro Valley wines.  My favourite, by a mile, was Quinta de Crasto.  The first was a 2015 Superior  ($36 at Everything Wine) made with a variety of grapes including Touriga Nacional. Great berry flavours and strong body in this wine. The second was a 2014 Reserve Old Vines ($41). Amazingly, the vines that this wine was made of are over 90 years old! This was a smooth wine with balanced tannins. The vineyards that this one comes from has literally dozens of different grapes mixed so it's a real testament to the winemaker and the mix as this wine is a really enjoyable drink.

The last one from this winery was the first of the ports that I tried - and boy, did I enjoy trying.

The 2013 Quinta de Crasto Late Bottle Vintage Port was a good Port - not too sweet and with balanced tannins. It was about $26 at the festival which is a killer good deal. I hope that it ends up in the liquor store on a regular basis.

Fonseca had some damned fine Ports as well. My two favourites were the 2015 Guimaraens Vintage Port ($74 at the festival $87 at Devine Wines in Edmonton - 2012 vintage $82 at Everything Wine) with its raisiny elegance and the 2008 Vintage Port Quinta do Panascal($60 at festival, $44 - Marquis Wines in Vancouver) with its rich, creamy, black fruit flavours.

I had never heard of Warre's Port before and was thrilled to try this 1985 Vintage Port. What a rich, smooth, yet powerful Port. A wonderful taste. ($135 at the festival, $129 at Devine's in Edmonton). 

Ah, but there's always the one that got away. My youngest is a Supervisor at Brewery Creek and was able to try a 50 year old Taylor Fladgate Port at the Industry Tasting in the afternoon. Fifty year old! However, when I got to their table, I was told that the Industry people drained the bottle! Damn!

Moving on in our world tasing was a delicious Pinot Gris from New Zealand. The Villa Maria Pinot Gris Seddon Vineyard  ($33) was so crisp, honey-like and fruity that I immediately thought of that wonderful Fort Beren's Pinot Gris ($20) I had last spring. Although this one tasted very similar, the price point seemed just a bit high.

It is sometimes said that wine originated in Turkey - so where better to taste than at the only wine from Turkey, Suvla. I tasted two wines - the first was a unique Turkish grape called Karasakiz ($23) which was OK but a bit different than any other grape I had tried. It was a very light wine so it might be a good wine to pair with lighter fare. I also tried their 2010 Sur ($35 at festival and $30 at Marquis in Vancouver) which was a blend of several wines and I found that wine to be quite tasty with good tannins and a little sweetness and fruitiness. A very interesting couple of wines.

We tried a few wineries from France but the one that I enjoyed the best was from a negociant (and I'm sorry to say, I can't remember which one!).  They specialize in Bordeaux wines and I was privileged to have one of the winemakers from one of the wineries they represent lead me through a tasting of exceptional wines.

I started with a 2009 L'Egerie de Chateau Chereau from Saint-Emilion ($32) which was a Merlot/Cab Sauv/Cab Franc blend. It was good but not outstanding.

The next wine I tried was a 2009 Chateau du Taillan Cru Bourgeois ($37 - looks like it might be regularly stocked in BC liquor stores) from Haut Medoc. A Cru Bourgeois wine has to earn that classification each year which is no easy feat. It has Merlot, Cab Sauv and Cab Franc and is a wonderful black fruit, black cherry wine. A super deal.

I finished with a 2005 Chateau Verdignan also from Haut Medoc ($52) which was a blend of Cab Franc, Cab Sauv and Merlot. A very accessible wine that would pair nicely wth food but is delicious on its own. A splurge that would merit a special occasion.

Our final stop was our friends down south, the USA. I did skip the Canadian wines because there is only so much time to sample and I can try Canadian wines anytime. The three hours just fly along, especially when you take a couple shopping breaks.

The first winery was Charles Smith / K Vintners from Walla Walla, Washington. I liked all of their wines but I loved one - their 2014 M.C.K. - Motor City Kitty Syrah ($50). This powerful wine had delicious dark fruits and a super long finish. I couldn't find it in the onsite liquor store so we have altered our planned trip over Spring Break so that we go through Walla Walla on the way back from Las Vegas, just so I can pick up some of this wonderful stuff!

Finally, near the end of the night, we went to the California section to a winery we had actually visited in Napa seven years ago, St. Supery. We enjoyed all of their wines but the big standout for me was their Cab Sauv - and I was sure to pick up a bottle of this. I know, the photo is of the Sauvignon Blanc - and that's what happens when you are taking photos at the end of the evening! However, rest assured that their Estate Cab Sauv ($61) is a classic Cab Sauv with strong tannins but a balanced taste due to the fruitiness of the wine.

Thanks to the BC Liquor Store, we didn't actually have to pack our case of wine home - they will ship it to our local liquor store in a week or two for pick up.

As I finished my last glass (and, to be honest, I had stopped dumping when there was a half hour left so I could fully appreciate drinking, not just tasting, the wines), I said goodbye to my frat brothers from all of those years ago as my wife and I sauntered back to the hotel. We both had a fantastic time and really enjoyed ourselves. I am already looking forward to next year's wine festival.

¡Salud!

A Wine Podcast, A Wine Superstore, and a Couple of Wines

I am very fortunate that my commute to work is an enjoyable fifteen minute walk. While on that walk, I listen to a number of different podcasts ranging from fiction stories (Escape Pod), Star Trek Stories (Star Trek Outpost), a podcast about advertising (Under the Influence), travel (Travel with Rick Steves), and horror (Faculty of Horror).

I also listen to numerous podcasts on, you guessed it, wine.

One of the wine podcasts I regularly listen to is Wine For Normal People. Way back when I was writing this post (in August of last year, for goodness sakes!), I went on about how the host of the podcast, Elizabeth Schneider, can be a bit annoying at times. Well, since that time I have listened to dozens of her podcasts and I have had to reevaluate. Her podcast is extremely informative and covers a diverse range of topics - sometimes an episode deals with a particular winery in a particular area while other times there will be a great overview of a certain varietal or a particular region.

I have to admit that, about halfway through each podcast, she will do a plug for a product which lasts a few minutes but. luckily, I can just click the 15 seconds skip button on my iPhone and I can get right back to the podcast.

The podcast is certainly more accessible and entertaining than some of the more highbrow ones that I attempt to listen to (with sometimes limited success) so I think it is a great way to spend 30 minutes to learn something new about wine. There are over two hundred episodes - if you are starting out, I would look for the episodes dealing with particular grapes.

On to the superstore.....

Back when I did this post, I wrote about how Everything Wine was a great place to browse just wine. They don't carry anything else, just wine.

The only problem was that they were a bit of a drive away (in West Vancouver).

Well, just two weeks ago, an Everything Wine opened up in Langley (across the river from me) and I checked it out yesterday.

It really is a superstore for wine - it kind of looks like a Costco store for wine. The main part of the store is quite industrial looking - and my wife complained that it was not as cozy as the government liquor stores - but there are many, many different types of wine.

There is also a vintage cellar area that is quite large and has a good selection of $50 and up wines. Taking my WSET course has really helped in that I can recognize the names of many of these wines and producers. Unfortunately, I still can't afford most of them!

I bought a dozen wines ranging from a cheap California wine for $13  to a fancy French wine that was $45.  There was a volume discount which saved me between 65 cents to 5 bucks on each bottle. I'm not sure how the discounts work as a $23 bottle had a $5 discount, a $24 bottle only $1.22, and the $45 bottle only $2.27!

Still, I think it is fantastic to have another place to browse wine. There are some wines which I suspect aren't available in the government store. But I also want to make sure that I visit the smaller, boutique stores to see what they have to offer.

Onto the wines.

The first was a Spanish Garcia Carrion Pata Negra Rioja ($20 from the government liquor store). This particular wine was made from Tempranillo and two grapes I hadn't heard of before, Graciano (gives structure and aging potential) and Mazuelo (actually, Spanish for Carignan which is a blending wine). It was a nice dark wine with red fruit on the nose and both red and black fruit on the palate with some vanilla flavour - it is a Crianza wine so was aged in oak for at least two years. The average price on Vivino was $8 so I'm not sure why we're paying so much up here in BC! It was a good Rioja - nothing outstanding but pleasant to drink.

Next is Priocca Piacera (can't find a website) from Italy - a last minute grab at Everything Wine. At only $14 on sale, I thought it would be a good match for some wild mushroom ravioli in a tomato sauce. After all, piacere is Italian for like. It was a bit hard to smell on the nose so I was hopeful that this was a really complex wine..... but no. It was a disappointing bulk wine that was rather characterless - except for a mild astringency that was a bit unpleasant. The tomato sauce did manage to smooth out the wine a bit but I would definitely not buy this one again.

Finally, another wine form Everything Wine - and this was the cheapest of the dozen I bought there - a 2015 Redwood Creek Cabernet Sauvignon from California ($12.99). Surprisingly,  (especially after the Piacera wine) this wine had a rather enjoyable black fruit aroma. On the palate, the wine was a bit  jammy but was bold and had a rich vanilla taste. It was good wine for the price and I would buy it again - a great burger or meatloaf wine! I only had a glass last night and when I had another glass tonight, it was still very drinkable.

I am looking forward to trying the other 10 wines from Everything Wine! Good times...