Rosé All Day - A Friendly Rosé Challenge - France vs BC!

Some tasty Rosés from the cellar.

Every week, my friend Keith and I try to get out in the great outdoors and paint.

Neither of us is an expert - in fact, we both have so much to learn - but we enjoy getting out and trying to paint. The idea is not to make a great painting; the idea is to do some aspect of the painting well - or at least improve. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes it doesn't.

Today's plein air attempt at Mission Heritage Park.

Today was not a bad day for painting. I was happy with my tree - especially the leaves - and with the grass in front. The background wasn't so bad, either. A good couple of hours spent.

So then, it was time to have some Rosé.

A much younger version of me and wife with Rosé and Pastis.

Rosé is so popular now but it wasn't always that way. I discovered Rosé (not the sugary stuff like Mateus) in 2005 when my family was on a house exchange in Nimes, France. It was August and it was hot. Really hot.

At that time, my wife and I were red wine drinkers exclusively. But it was not red wine weather. Too hot! We looked around and people in Nimes tended to drink Kir (wine and cassis), Pastis (Pernod or Richard and water), beer, or Rosé. So we adapted.

After that, it became (and still is) our summer wine drink.

Two weeks ago, I was in Kelowna at the Salt and Brick restaurant for lunch with family. I had their Rosé flight which I really enjoyed. For today's tasting, I thought we'd do a mini flight of Rosé - one from France and one from BC.

The French wine was our first wine of the tasting. It was a 2017 Domaine De L'Ostal Rosé ($16)  from Pays D'Oc which is basically country wine from the Roussilon-Languedoc Region of France - just west of Nimes. This pale salmon wine made of 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah had a medium intensity aroma and smelled of cherry, strawberry, red liquorice, cinnamon and red jujubes. You can see that I struggled to use the usual descriptors!

On the palate there were some tastes of the same as the aroma as well as a bit of cotton candy and a slight syrupy flavour. Interestingly, the fruitiness of the aromas were not nearly that strong on the palate. It actually tasted just a hint off dry but on second tasting, that went away. This had medium acidity, a medium minus finish, medium alcohol and medium intensity. I would say this is between Acceptable and Good.

The BC wine in this friendly battle was a 2018 Mt. Boucherie Rosé ($22)  from West Kelowna.  I'm not sure what grape is in it but the 2017 was made with Zweigelt (an Austrian crossing of St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch)  so it's likely the 2018 was made with the same grape.

On the nose, which was pronounced in intensity, there were aromas of grapefruit, lemon, blood orange, strawberry and a minerality. On the palate, there were these same flavours as well as watermelon. This high acidity wine was dry,. intense, had a short finish, and medium alcohol. It was a great patio sipping wine and was very refreshing. I would give it a Very Good rating,.

Both wines had their pluses but the BC wine was overall a better wine, in our humble opinion. The French wine would make a nice pairing to different summer foods, especially grilled food. The BC wine was great on its own and would probably stand up to most light summer meals. The only problem with the BC wine is that it is only available online or at the winery. Road trip...

Rosé all day!

Vancouver Wine Festival 2019

Wine from the festival!

This year I went to my second Vancouver International Wine Festival. Last year was my first year and, armed with the knowledge I had gleaned from having taken my WSET Level 2, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. 

This year, with the news that I had passed my level 3 fresh in my mind, I had another wonderful experience.

One of the unexpected pleasures last year was bumping into some of my fraternity brothers from UBC (almost 40 years later) - including Phil, who I spent four months with travelling around the US back in 1982 (precise details elude me as the entire trip is shrouded in a haze of comradery, frat parties and alcohol). This year, we all met up at Al Porto in Gastown for a pasta dinner, and a chance to catch up, before wandering over to the festival. 

Once we arrived at the festival, we bumped into even more people I knew including first, yet another fraternity brother and his wife, a sorority sister from years ago, second, the son of our close neighbours as well as his friends and girlfriend (who, incidentally, also has her WSET Level 3), and, third, two of the people from my WSET 3 course that were in my tasting group (and who also successfully completed Level 3)!

The Wine Festival has a diverse and interesting crowd. Some of the people  sip, swirl and then spit each glass. Others just slurp back every wine they sample, a sure recipe for wobbly legs and sore heads. I take the middle path - swirl, sip, drink a bit, and then dump the rest. I do feel a little relaxed by the end of the night but am still able to identify and process the different tastes and aromas of the wines. 

The featured wine region this year was California. We spent some time in Napa almost eight years ago and enjoyed their bold, flavourful wines. Unfortunately, we did not end up purchasing a lot of California wine at this year’s festival as some of the wines we tasted (including the St. Supery 2014 Napa Valley Estate Elu) were not available in the wine shop while others were very pricey (such as the Stag’s Leap Artemis at $85). We did end up with two that we were very happy with.

 

The first was the Benziger 2015 Cab ($25.49). While having dinner and trading notes before the festival, Dave, another one of my fraternity brothers, showed me his notes on this wine and I am very glad that I visited their booth. This wine is a steal for the price. A fantastic, black fruit, aged and rich Cab that is going to be wonderful to drink. I would enjoy this one on its own, or with a rich meal.

We visited Hess a few years ago in Napa and I’ve always enjoyed their wines. The Hess 2015 Allomi Cab Sauv ($38.99)  was probably our favourite of the evening. I’m not sure why we didn’t buy more! It had rich black fruit including black currants and blackberry as well as a nice long finish, with a smoothness that is so California!

Just a little side note - you may wonder why we bought so many different wines. In all, we ended up with 17 bottles (some we bought two of) at a little over $500. This is not a common occurrence (believe me!). However, most of the wines that we bought are not usually available at the BC Liquor store. Even the ones from the Okanagan were only available for the festival or direct from the winery.  You might not find these at the BC Liquor Store but you may see them at Everything Wine or one of the many private liquor stores.

Moving up the coast, we ended up in the Willamette (rhymes with damn it) Valley in Oregon. We really enjoyed our visit there last year and loved the Domaine Serene Evenstad Pinot Noir we bought - although the $75 US price tag was a bit steep. Happily, we found the Elk Cove 2016  Pinot Noir ($43.99). The Willamette Valley style of Pinot Noir that we have grown to love is a fruity but minerally wine. Some of the Pinot Noir that we tried at the festival was almost too dry or too smoky or lacked fruit but this one had punchy fruit and was not overly austere. There were two other wines made by this producer that were specialty Pinot Noir but their price point was significantly higher.

Who says you can’t have reruns? Closer to home was the Wines of Substance K Vintners 2015 Motor City Kitty ($52.99) from Walla Walla, Washington). We had this one last year at the wine festival and ended up making an eight hour detour on the way back from Las Vegas a few weeks later so that we could buy this wine at the winery. Not only was this on sale this year but we found out that this will now be available at the BC Liquor store! Really enjoyed Motor City Kitty  (oh, that's what MCK stands for!) as it is a very tasty and bold Washington State Syrah.

We ended up with a few wines from right here in BC. That’s because a lot of the smaller wineries only sell their wines at the winery or only produce a small amount of wine each year. 

The first wine we tried was the Time 2017 White Meritage ($22.99) in Penticton. This one was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and was one of the recommendations that Gismondi wrote about in the newspaper. Interestingly, when we were having dinner before the festival, Dave was telling me how he had spent time in a wine course in the 80s that was taught by Anthony Gismondi before he became famous! This white Meritage was delicious with tastes of pear and apple and had a nice acidity.

The Wild Goose 2017 Gewürztraminer ($19.99) was also another Gismondi recommendation and it is a fresh, spicy and slightly off dry wine that cries out for some tasty white meat, or fish…. or just a nice sunny patio! Their winery is located in Okanagan Falls. 

Roussanne is a grape that I’ve always wanted to buy as I have only tasted it in my WSET course - until now! I was excited to have the Lake Breeze 2017 Roussanne ($22.49) as it did not disappoint. Although not that acidic it had very nice stone fruit and apple flavours. Looking forward to having this accompany some tasty dish at home like chicken, pork or even salmon. This winery is also located in Naramata. 

My wife absolutely loves 8th Generation Winery and is a big Riesling fan. Their 8th Generation 2018 Riesling ($19.99) was crisp and a touch off dry. It would be a wonderful accompaniment to spicy foods or barbecued white meats.

Going a little more international, we went over the Uraguay’s lone participant. The Garzon 2016 Tannat $24.49 was another suggestion from Gismondi. I love Tannat and its super strong, tannic nature. Looking forward to popping this one with something really rich or fatty or, hopefully, both!

Italy is home to more grapes than anywhere else in the world. How many? Over 350 "authorized" varieties and another 500 documented varieties. I was keenly aware of that when I tried the Savian Lison Pramaggiore Refosco ($18.49). This  organic wine was a very interesting one because it was made from the Refosco grape which I have never had before. It had a taste of mostly red fruits like red cherry and raspberry, but also had some hints of dark fruit as well. An easy drinking wine, this would be great for pizza or pasta. Nice price, too!

Who doesn’t like Prosecco? Mionetto had four different Proseccos and we got to try them all. The Mionetto Valdobbiadene Prosseco ($22.99) was my favourite because of its crispness and hint of fruitiness with an overall dryness to the bubbles. This wine is a great sparkler that would go with just about anything!

The Italian wine with the most amount of body that I bought was the Nerube 2016 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva ($30.99). This wine, which is made from the Montepulciano grape, is very nice and would be a great one to bring to an Italian restaurant when you want to have a nice red wine to accompany your meal. Both red fruits and black fruits are evident along with some spice! It’s not one to age but it is one to enjoy!

I still think that France is one of my favourite - if not my very favourite - areas for wine in the world. There weren’t a ton of producers from France but I still managed to find some stunning wines.

The Haut Medoc is located on the Left Bank of the Gironde Estuary in Bordeaux - think Cab Sauv dominate with Merlot and Cab Franc. The Medoc is the general wine area with the Haut Medoc being the better part of that region. The 2015 Chateau Lachesnay ($31.99) was one of the four wines that we tasted from Ulysse Cazabonne (also a great year).  The company owns at least four châteaux and we had a chance to talk to the winemaker of this particular wine (notice the winemaker's signature on the bottle!). Although it was not a wine that is a cru , it was still very tasty and the price was quite good. The other wines that we tasted were also excellent but were a bit pricey. This one was a touch austere with lovely dark fruit flavours and aromas and a beautiful long finish. Probably a special occasion wine that could stand a few years ageing. 

Finally, the Chateau Pesquié 2016 Cote du Ventoux Artemia ($48.99) was a Syrah and Grenache blend. It was delicious with blackberry, black cherry, and other black fruits on the nose and on the palate. There was also some vanilla, tobacco, and even a hint of chocolate. Another excellent French wine that might deserve a special occasion or at least a special dinner. 

About to unbox our festival shipment!

Our wine ordered (the BC Liquor store will box and ship your order to your local liquor store for free - ours arrived less than a week later), my wife and I stumbled back to our hotel after having a late night snack along the way. We reflected, not only on the great wines that we had sampled, but also on the interesting mix of people, the friends that we had seen the we knew, and the conversations with the producers and winemakers. 

An extraordinary event. I already can’t wait until next year!

Cheers!

Great wines under $20 - Italy, Spain and France

This week's painting - a vineyard - from a photo on my iPad...

Each week, my friend, Keith, and I go out somewhere into nature and we paint - it's called plein air painting.

Lately, we've been painting in Keith's basement - when it's below freezing, it's just too darned cold to paint outside!

After we paint, we taste a couple of wines while we eat lunch. Thanks to my Coravin, we only have a small sample of wine while the rest of the bottle stays fresh.

The past few weeks have been really quite good for wine tasting so I thought I'd briefly share the wines that we've tried. In most cases, the wines are under $20.

When I backpacked in Europe at the tender age of 24, I recall taking a ferry from Brindisi, Italy, to Greece. I remember it being rather chaotic getting on and off the ferry and having to share a cabin with a couple of strangers as well as my friend. Little did I know that they make a very nice wine there - the 2015  Corte Ottone Brindisi Riserva ($16.99). 

Riserva, happily, means something in Italy - it is a better wine that has to meet certain minimum requirements in ageing (unlike most countries where it has no legal definition). In this case, it means that it has been aged a minimum of two years. Brindisi is in the Puglia region of Italy so it should be no surprise that this wine is mostly Negroamaro (with some Sangiovese and Malvasia Nera). There were tastes of dark fruit like black cherry, black plum, and maybe a hint of dark fruit with vanilla and spice on the nose.Tannins were medium with medium acidity and a medium finish. I would definitely suggest this one with food - especially Italian - anything from pasta to pizza. It was also quite drinkable all by itself. Rated Very Good.  

Staying in Puglia, there is the Codici Masserie Fiano ($14.99) which was a fresh and floral wine, with aromas and tastes of peach, pear and apple. There was also a minerality - like a stone taste - that was a bit unusual. The Fiano grape is usually found a bit farther north, in Campagnia, so I'm not certain if this is the typical taste for Fiano. High in acidity, this would be a great food wine. Interestingly, when I poured this wine, I accidentally poured it again for our second wine. By this time, the wine had opened up considerably and the floral nature and complex flavours were much more apparent - we initially thought it was a different wine! Rated Very Good.

The actual second wine we tried that day was another Italian, a 2016 Bolla Soave Classico. Soave is the name of a wine made in Veneto where wine is made from mostly the Garganega grape. Classico means that this wine is made in the original area of the DOC (designated wine area - sort of like VQA) and is the better wine of the area. 

This wine was an absolute steal at $12.99. It has lots of wonderful fruity aromas and tastes including pear, apple, honey, lemon and pear. It also had medium acidity that would help it be a wonderful food pairing wine. I wouldn't count this out as a sipper, though, as it had a nice, round flavour that would be excellent for slurping on the patio - or maybe in the kitchen, considering the weather right now. I would rate this one as Good to Very Good - and suggest that it would be a good one to stock up on. 

Yesterday's tasting was one where I thought it would be interesting to try two wines that were made from the same grape but from different countries. This can be challenging as we try to limit our purchases to under $20 a.bottle and we also need a wine with a cork so we can Coravin the wine. The grape I decided on was Grenache (or Garnacha) - particularly became Keith had stated that he really didn't like Southern Rhone wines because they were a bit dull and boring. He was a bit surprised by our tasing!

From the Rioja region of Spain, we tried a2016  La Maldita Garnacha ($18.99). This wine tasted of dark cherries, black plums, and had an earthiness and spiciness that was good. It had high acidity, a medium finish, and some smokey notes as well. This wine was a food friendly wine but was bit rustic in its spiciness - almost a bit too strong - but it would go well with a strongly flavoured dish. I would rate this wine as Good. 

The second Grenache wine we tried wasn't actually just Grenache. It was a blend of Grenache and Syrah and was a 2015 Boutinot Les Coteaux Côtes du Rhône Villages ($19.99). This wine had all of the wonderful black fruiit flavours of the the Garnacha - black cherry, black plum - but also had a roundness and sophistication that the Syrah brought to it. There were medium tannins along with medium plus acidity and additional flavours like vanilla and spice - but not too much spice. The flavours were much more integrated with this wine. This wine would be an excellent food wine as it would go with a fairly wide range of food - from pork chops to lamb to steak to duck. It is also very nice to drink on its own. I reviewed the 2013 vintage of this wine a couple years ago and was a bit lukewarm on the rating - the 2015 vintage, however, is much better - even Vivino agrees with me, giving its best rating for the 2015 vintage.  A great deal for a wine that is almost as good as some more expensive Chateau Neuf des Papes wines, I would rate this wine as Very Good to Excellent. Fill your boots!

Cheers.

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!

Rhone Wines are Da' Bomb! - WSET 3.6

As Bacchus might have said, "All Grapes Lead to Rhone".

This week's class focussed primarily on the Rhone area. But first, we had a test.

It wasn't THE test - this was a mock test. We were given one wine to taste and write notes on. Then we were given four questions to write about.

The tasting was good. I could tell it was a Chardonnay - a Freemark Abbey 2015 Chardonnay from Napa Valley - $41 at Everything Wine (although we don't actually have to identify the wine) and I could taste the fruit as well as the oak on the wine. I'm pretty sure I listed all of the different parts of the tasting note, although I won't know for sure until I get the mock test back next week. 

The four questions were good as well. I think I nailed the first three. Example - "What is a Cru Bourgeois wine?" The last one was a tricky one and I didn't get it all. It was - "Describe a wine from Bandol including the grape and region." I got the region (last minute - Provence) but not the grape. I thought it was Grenache but it was actually Mouvedre. 

After the mock test was done, we started looking at the Rhone. The Northern Rhone is just Syrah for reds. And some of the Syrahs from there are wonderful! The whites are Viognier and the happy couple of Marsanne and Rousanne.  Famous areas include Cote Rotie ('roasted slope'), Hermitage, Cornas (Syrah only), Condrieu (Viognier only) and St. Joseph. 

The Southern Rhone, on the other hand, has a bunch of grapes. The reds from this area can have up to 13 different grapes in the blend! This is where you get your famous Chateauneuf de Pape wine which is predominantly Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre with some other grapes possible such as Cinsault or Carignan.  Besides Chateauneuf de Pape, there is Gigondas, Vacqueyras (good value!), Lirac (also good value!) and Tavel (rosé only). 

We also looked at Southern France which is basically the Languedoc, Roussilon, and Provence areas. This is a huge area with grapes similar to the Southern Rhone. There are lots of crappy, bulk wines but good wines can be found in areas like Minervois, Corbieres, Picpoul de Pinet (good value!), and Bandol. 

When we finally got to the tastings, I have to say that, not only was my palate better tonight, but that I really enjoyed these wines - they were amazing! 

The first two were whites from the Rhone area - one a blend and one a single varietal. 

The single varietal was a 2016 E. Guigal Viognier from Condrieu ($92). It had a pronounced nose with stone fruits such as peach and apricot as well as vanilla from oak ageing. On the palate were the same flavours but fairly low acidity, high alcohol, an intense taste profile and a medium plus finish. It was, as our instructor, Lynn, said, "A bit fat," so would garner a Very Good rating. 

The second wine was a white 2015 Combes D'Arnevel Chateauneuf de Pape ($48). This was a really nice wine that had aromas and flavours of honeysuckle, orange blossom, lemon, apricot, vanilla and minerals. It had time on the lees and had almost high acidity (especially compared to the Viognier). It was a dry wine that was also rated as Very Good - and because of the minerality of the wine, would be suitable for ageing. I have had lots of red Chateauneuf de Pape wines, but not a white one that I can remember - I will have to  change that!

Next we had three different wines from the Rhone. 

The first was a rosé although it was fairly dark for a rosé. It was a 2015 M. Chapoutier Beaurevior Tavel ($30). This deep salmon coloured wine had smells and tastes of strawberry, cranberry, red cherry, and plum. There weren't any secondary or tertiary notes on this one which meant you should drink it now.  This was fairly high in acidity and in alcohol and had a good, strong finish. I rated this one as Very Good. 

The next wine was a lovely 2015 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf de Pape ($60). This wine had both red and black fruits such as cherry and black currant on the palate and also had toast, cedar and a wonderful earthiness. The finish was long and the intensity strong in this balanced, complex wine. It was rated Outstanding and would be suitable for ageing. 

The last wine of the trio was a fabulous 2013 Jean Luc Colombo Terres Brulées from Cornas ($100). Made of 100% Syrah, this wine had a deep purple colour and aromas and flavours of black currant, black berry, black cherry, green pepper, charred wood, tobacco and earth. It had both high tannins and high acidity and tasted better than most Syrahs I have ever had! It was balanced, intense, complex and had a great, long finish. Suitable for ageing, this was definitely an outstanding wine!

The final two wines were from the big region of South France that covers Languedoc, Roussillon, and Provence.

First up was a Cotes du Roussillon Village - definitely better than just a Cotes du Roussillon and was a 2015 Les Terrasses Regis Bouchabeille from Domaine Bouchabeille ($30). This was a Grenache blend, like the Chateauneuf de Pape but was a LOT easier on the pocketbook. It had both red fruit (red cherry, red plum) and black fruit with secondary aroma and taste of cedar and the tertiary one of earth, meaning that it is still developing. The flavours were pronounced and there was a nice long finish so we gave this one a Very Good rating. 

Finally was an extremely interesting 2014 Mas de Rouviere from Bandol. The overwhelming aroma, at first, at least, was the smell of chicken gravy! It took awhile to figure this one out - what we were smelling was a gamey smell, desirable in a developing wine. There were also tastes and smells of black liquorice, black currant, and cedar. A profoundly intense wine made with 100% Mourvedre, I would have this again - it really started to appeal to me as it opened up. A Very Good wine!

And, a very good class! Loved the wines this week!

Vancouver Wine Festival - Awesome Night Out! - Part One

Assorted information from the Wine Festival 

This year is the 40th anniversary of the Vancouver International Wine Fest.

And it is the first year that I have ever gone.

Now that I know a bit about wines and wine countries, I thought I would really get something out of the Wine Festival - and I wasn't wrong.

There were several tips that I read about in different web sites and I did my best to follow them - in one way or another.....

Night view of the harbour from our hotel room. 

1. Stay near the festival or arrange a ride home
We booked a rather pricey room at the Pan Pacific but the accommodations were very nice (the view from the room is above) and we were literally beside the festival venue, the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.

2. Eat before you go
Although there was some food available, there was only three hours to taste wine, talk to people, and purchase wine at the on site liquor store. We went out to the Rogue Wetbar and had a variety of appies for dinner - without wine. We wanted to save up for the festival and found the food to be OK but not spectacular. Not sure if that was the lack of wine or the plainness of food. We were nice and full, however, which helped.

3. Stay hydrated
We had, easily, a litre or two of water at the restaurant. At the actual wine festival, we tried to have some water every three or four tastings.

4. Swirl, sniff, sip, and spit
The first three were easy. The last one was a lot harder. I tended to have a small sip of each wine and dump the rest in the spit bowls. That actually worked pretty well.

When we got to the wine festival, we lined up to hand in our tickets and get stamped. While we were waiting, to my surprise, I saw and chatted with three of my fraternity brothers (along with two wives and a daughter) from UBC! I hadn't seen them in over 30 years! I had travelled with one of the guys (Phil) around the USA for four months during a gap year. Happily, we kept running into them at the wine festival and drinking together, talking and catching up. It truly added another dimension to my night.

Onto some wines!

Our first stop was over to Friexenet (pronounced Fresh-net) where we tasted a few glasses of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine made in the traditional style of Champagne) then took a glass and wandered around the festival, observing and planning out our strategy. The Cava was excellent and we ended up buying a couple of bottles later on in the evening.

The theme of the festival was Spain and Portugal so it seemed like Spain was a pretty good place to start.

I had planned on taking notes or at least recording information on each wine I drank but that strategy soon fell apart. I think I needed staff for that and my wife was only there for the wine. I settled for taking photos of the wines that I liked.

The first Rioja that I really liked was from CVNE. This was a 2010 Gran Reserva ($28) which meant that it is aged for 2 years in the barrel and 3 years in the bottle. It is made from Tempranillo from one of the best wine areas in Spain, Rioja. 

I really liked that you could taste a number of wines from the same winery. The booth at Marques de Riscal had a number of wines and these three Rioja wines were all amazing. The 2016 Tempranillo ($16) was OK but needed some more time in the bottle. The 2013 Reserva ($28-available in liquor stores) had really good structure and a very nice taste while the 2007 Gran Reserva ($50) was very smooth and delicious - my favourite Rioja of the evening! 

I recently blogged about the Mencia grape from Spain.  I only found one Ribeira Sacra wine (made from Mencia) from the BC Liquor store, but in my research, I realized that Bierzo was another area that grows the grape. Happily, there was a winery in attendance from Bierzo that specialized in Mencia grape wine. The 2015 Descendientes de J. Palacios  Petalos ($37 - available in BC Liquor stores) was another wonderful Mencia with excellent structure, a touch of minerality and still some strong red and black fruits.

Although the first hour was mostly concentrated on Spanish wines, it was a bit of a blur. However, here are a few of the other really nice wines that we liked:

The favourite wine from Priorat was the Alvaro Palacios 2016 Camins del Priorat ($34). This wine is a blend (as is usual from Priorat) of Cab Sauv, Grenache, Syrah and a Spanish grape called Samso. Wonderful aroma with red and black fruits.

From the Ribera Del Guadiana was another beautiful Tempranillo - the Bodegas Alvear 2015 Palacio Quernado La Zarcita ($30). This wine was another smooth yet structured dark cherry wine.

A real standout was Arinzano which had wines that were all very enjoyable - and we picked up a few of these. This winery has the Pago designation which is a relatively new classification. Instead of a whole region getting a classification (like Priorat or Rioja), individual vineyards can apply to get an equivalent classification. Arinzano is one of only 17 vineyards to have this. There is a certainly a positive as all of their wines were very nice from the 2016 Hacienda Tempranillo to the 2010 La Casona ($44) made from Merlot and Tempranillo to the 2014 Gran Viino Blanco made with Chardonnay to the 2010 Gran Vino Tinto ($91) made from wonderful Tempranillo.

I did try some very nice white wines including a 2016 Marques de Riscal ($19)  from Rueda made with Verdejo grapes that tasted wonderful - fresh, fruity and light. My favourite white, though, was an Albarino from Rias Baixas made by Vionta ($24). The reason? My wife said it tasted like a glass of summer.

How can you beat that?

At this point, we headed to the onsite liquor store and bought some of these fantastic wines.

Next blog is part 2, the rest of the world!