Je t'aime, Bordeaux! WSET 3.4

I loved this week's class.

This week was all about Bordeaux - and I think Bordeaux is my very favourite wine.

Bordeaux is on the west coast of France and is split into two main regions, the left bank and the right bank.

The right bank is mostly clay soil so Merlot is the primary grape with some support from Cab Sauv and Cab Franc. There are places like Pomerol and St. Emillon that are very famous producers of this style of wine. It is excellent wine, undoubtedly, but my preference is for the other side of the Garonne River.

The left bank, ooh - la - la, is the home of the Cabernet Sauvignon focused blends which grow in more gravelly soils. There is still Cab Franc and Merlot (and, optionally, Malbec and Petit Verdot) but the driving force of these grippy, structured wines is Cabernet Sauvignon. The famous places include St. Estephe, Paulliac, St. Julien, and Margaux in the upper (Medoc) region and Pessac-Leognan, and Graves to the south. These might possibly be my favourite wines to drink in the world.

Courtesy the Wine Cellar Insider

Bordeaux wines can be pretty pricey - there are some that are thousands of dollars - but you can pick up a decent one for $40 to $60 - particularly something like a Cru Bourgeois, which chateaux have to apply for each year based on the quality of their wine. If you were to spend around $100 (definitely special occasion) you could find some exceptional wines. Only thing is, you probably would want to wait five to ten years to drink them!

The ranking system is interesting. In Medoc only, the top wines are called Grand Cru Classé. This category is divided into five 'growths' with first growth being the top wines. All of this ranking came from Napoleon III and the classification he directed in 1855. Little has changed since then. There's also Cru Bourgeois for those wineries that were too small or weren't around 150 years ago. In Graves, the better wines are just called Cru Classé - there are no growths. And in St. Emillon, they have another system with St. Emillon AOC at the bottom, then, St. Emillon Grand Cru Classé, and finally Premier Grand Cru Classé which is divided into A and B. All of these classifications had had their problems over the years.

Courtesy Wander and Wine

The other area we looked at was Alsace, a region of France bordering on Germany, which is home of mostly white wines including Riesling (dry style), Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat and some other grapes (Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner). It is the only French region that I am aware of that has the varietal of wine on the label. They do have some sweet wines - Vendages Tardine which is basically Late Harvest wine where the grapes have undergone passerillage (drying of grapes on the vine) and Selection de Grains Nobles where wines have undergone Noble Rot.

When buying an Alsace wine, there is the Alsace AOC (must be 100% varietal) and then the Alsace Grand Cru AOC (which must be made from one of the four Noble Grape varieties (Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Muscat). Much simpler than Bordeaux!

And now, some tasting....

We started off with wines from Alsace. We were given three and told that each was a different Noble Grape. Our group was able to easily figure out which wine was which.

The 2015 Trimbach Riesling ($60) was a bone dry Riesling with high acid, high alcohol, medium body, medium plus flavour and a medium finish. Definite tastes of apple, lemon, honey, flint and even a bit of petrol. I couldn't decide between Good and Very Good but this one could probably age a bit.

The Pinot Gris was a 2016 Domaine Mersiol ($36) from Alsace, of course. It had some nice fruit flavours including peach, apricot, nectarine and honeysuckle as well as some floral notes. Lynn, our instructor,  felt it was a Very Good wine and had ageing potential although I really like my Pinot Gris wines to be as fruity and floral as possible. I feel that way about most white wines.

The final wine of the three was a 2017 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer from Kuhlmann-Platz ($25). Although youthful, this wine had a complex array of flavours including peach, apricot, pineapple, lychees, roses and ginger. I thought it was high alcohol but Lynn, our instructor, said that it was probably because of the ginger that I was tricked into thinking it was higher than it actually was. I thought it was Outstanding but I think the consensus was Very Good as not everyone felt it had a long enough finish. It was, however, balanced, intense, and complex. A steal for $25!

The next three were from Bordeaux - my faves! One was a white, one was left bank and one was right bank.

The white was a Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend (about 80% SB) and was a 2011 Les Hauts de Smith from Pessac Leognan ($83). This wine had some great flavours but I missed a few of them so I will put what the class consensus was - grass, peach, lemon, pear, toast, mushroom, and vanilla. This was aged in barrels on the lees to give it a nice, buttery finish. This is another wine that had ageing potential and was rated Outstanding (although I had only rated it as Very Good).

The right bank wine was a 2012 Chateau Barde-Haut Grand Cru from St. Emillon ($96). There was both red and black fruit on this including cherries and plums as well as toast, leather, and wet leaves. It had less tannins than the next wine, surprising as it is two years younger, and also had a wonderful velvety mouth feel. If all Merlots tasted like this, I would drink it a LOT more often!

The left bank wine was a 2010 Chateau Capbern Gasqueton from St. Estephe ($126). I tasted black cherry, black plum, cedar, tobacco, and green pepper. It was an earthy wine that had some grippy tannins but still had great structure to it. Definitely could age and was rated Outstanding. My favourite wine of the course so far....

We had another Bordeaux and a wine from Cahors to round out the reds.

The Bordeaux wine was a 2010 Cru Bourgeois from Chateau Dasvin-Belair in Haut Medoc ($45). This was a great price and it had some interesting aromas and tastes including red cherry, green paper, pepper, black plum, toast, tobacco and cedar. Although its finish wasn't as long as the previous two, it was balanced, intense, and complex and definitely ready to drink - Very Good!

The wine from Cahors was a 2016 Gouleyant Malbec. It was OK - red berries, red currant, cranberry, and some smoke - but was a bit of a let down after the previous three. It was a Good wine and was ready to drink. 

Finally, we had a sweet wine from Sauternes. Unfortunately, this 2013 Chateau Armajan Des Ormes  ($39) at the end of the class and was a bit rushed. Suffice it to say that it was quite sweet due to noble rot and had oak and vanilla amongst its flavour profile as well as high acid.

A good wine but Bordeaux reds is where my heart is.

This weekend, our provincial liquor stores are having a release of the 2015 Bordeaux wines. I already bought a couple last week at Everything Wine but I have my eye on two or three in the special catalogue that they produced. Looking forward to some grippy, structured, wonderful wines!

The Last Blast of the Holidays

Mission Hill statues in the snow.

My wife and I both work as educators and have to return to work tomorrow morning. We've had a good break this holiday but it seems to have finished far too quickly. We spent some time in Kelowna with my eldest over New Year's and tasted some wonderful wine.

One of the highlights (other than visiting with my Grand-Puppy) was a tasting at Mission Hill as I don't think I've done an actual tasting there, despite the fact that my son-in-law works there. Yes, I've tasted several of their wines, and even had a barrel tasting, but I haven't actually had a wine shop tasting.

I was pretty impressed by their wines, especially the 2015 Reserve Syrah ($26) and the Terroir Merlot (I think it was the Whispering Hill - although it might have been the Splitrail - only available from the wine shop - I think it was around $50). We were also extremely fortunate to have a special tasting of Mission Hill's flagship, Oculus (2013 vintage  - $135) complete with Gabriel glasses (these glasses are very light weight and pretty expensive as well). I would love to purchase a bottle of this and really sink my teeth into it, so to speak, but I'm not sure I am ready to spend that much on a bottle of wine, despite how lovely it was. It screams out for a fine French meal and a romantic evening....

Back at home, we did manage to try a few different wines - most of them being quite nice.

The first was one that had been aging for a little bit - maybe a year or so. Apparently, I don't do a very good job of monitoring my wine cellar.

This was from Vin Amité in Oliver in the Okanagan and was a 2015 Hidden Corner Red ($32). I found it to be an amazingly good wine with great tannins and wonderful black fruit flavours. It is a Cab Franc, Merlot, and Malbec blend and it really sings to me. I do really enjoy a Cab Franc but adding the Merlot and Malbec just makes this a really nice wine to drink. I'm not sure where you can get this besides the winery but if you can, I would grab some. Definitely worth it and definitely good to drink right now.

Next up is a wine that I can't believe I haven't mentioned before. Synchromesh is a small winery in Okanagan Falls and we first had their Riesling when we had it at a friends' house for dinner a few ears ago. Since then, we often hunt down restaurants in Vancouver just so we can have some more of this tasty vino.

We purchased six bottles from three different vineyards through the Okanagan Wine Club and have sadly gone through five of them now. There are some differences between the different vineyards but, basically, they are all amazing Rieslings and I am kicking myself because I didn't buy a case!

We had a bottle of 2016 Four Shadows Vineyard Riesling ($26). It has a wonderful fruit flavour with honey, peaches, and even some tropical fruit - it has a faint sweetness to it which is remarkable. Riesling is supposed to be able to age a lot so I have managed to pry away one bottle from my own hands to see how it will cellar. Next year, I will make sure I go to the winery and buy a case - at least!

The only disappointment this week was something that I had tasted last spring and, at the time, I thought it was really 'cool' so I bought a bottle. It was a 2015 Fairview Cellars Fumé Franc ($25 - possibly only from the winery in Oliver). This is basically a wine made from grapes that were definitely affected by the smoke from the fires in the Okanagan in 2015. While it was interesting to taste this smoky wine, I tired of it pretty soon. Additionally, my wife was not interested either. Interestingly, it was rated very high on my Vivino app but I could not agree. Interesting how tastes change.

The next one is a very approachable, and not too expensive ($26), 2018 Malbec from Argentina from Amalaya - which, we learned on a trip to Napa - is owned by Hess. I thought it was a very nice wine when I had it a few years ago as Hess sold it at their winery in Napa. I hadn't had it for quite a while and was pleased with the taste of this approachable Malbec.

Finally, as tonight was the last night of our holidays, I cracked open a wine that had been in the cellar for two years. It was a 2011 Summerhill Spadefoot Toad ($44 - in Kelowna). I was a bit excited about this one and was not disappointed. I took care to decant it about an hour before drinking and then poured a nice glass. The nose was not overly complex with bell pepper and black cherry. But on the palate were some wonderful tastes! There was very good structure with some definite tannins but these were not overpowering. There were tastes of tobacco, black fruit and leather. The ageing did take some of the fruitiness out of the wine but the earthy flavours that were left were wonderful.

I did a terrible no-no by having this wine with a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and Italian sausage but it actually paired pretty well!

And now, back to work.... gotta pay for this wine somehow!

Old World vs New World wines - again- and some Christmas wine suggestions

This is one of those things that I have realized - or maybe, it's better to say - had an epiphany about. I know I've blogged about it before but it is such an important thing that I have realized that I am going to go on about it once again.

I have slowly grown to notice this, and thanks to taking my WSET course as well as tasting wine thoughtfully - one might even say, mindfully.

What is it? There is a big difference between Old World and New World wines and one way to look at it is this:

In the Old World - and here, I'm talking largely of France and Italy, although this may apply to other European countries - wine has grown up as an accompaniment to food. When you look at a fine French wine - say, a Chablis - the next thing that you do is figure out what you are going to pair it with - say, a whitefish or some shellfish with a cream sauce. These wines are really meant to be imbibed with the food of the area that they are close to. A bottle of Chianti? Try it with some Spaghetti Bolognese. A bottle of Bordeaux? Try a grilled steak or some lamb. Nebbiolo? How about a Piedmont fondue with truffles?

These are wines that cry out for a food pairing.

Just last month I had a Bordeaux from Paulliac that tasted ok at first sip but needed something. It turned out that it needed a big, juicy sirloin steak to make it sing.

New world wines, on the other hand, are, for the most part, just fine to drink on their own. It's easy to just sip away before dinner until the darn thing is gone and dinner isn't even on the table! This happens far too often at our house and with friends. On occasion, I bring a bottle of wine to a party, after asking what is being served, because it will go well with the food. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10, it will be gone or mostly gone by the time the first course hits the table.

Now, just because many New World wines are good on their own, it doesn't mean that they aren't good with food. Many of them make fantastic pairings. On occasion, though, the wines just don't sing like one from the Old World.

Here are some wine suggestions as Christmas approaches (but good anytime):

First is one that I've had before - but probably a couple of months before I started this blog. It was a (New World) 2014 Terrunyo Block 17 Carmenere from Chile - and I bought it for my (now) son-in-law because it was written up as the best Carmenere in Chile. At the time, I shuddered to pay $38 for a bottle of wine - now I don't shudder so much if I know it is going to be a special wine. When we bought this particular wine I actually purchased three bottles, one to give, one to drink, and one to hold on. Last night, we had the one to hold on.

It was a wonderful wine - even better than the first bottle. It was a super dark rich, purple wine with wonderful black and red fruit flavours and some tannins. It had some nice oak and was a wine that really seemed to stand up with a strong intensity of flavours. We had prepared pork chops baked in the oven over a potato and tomato gratin but, unfortunately, by the time dinner was on the table, guess what?

Next up is a tasty Tuesday night wine. Yes, it is good to drink fancy wines such as the Carmenere but the reality is that most of us can't afford to drink a $40 bottle every night.  This one I chose because somebody gave it 89 points (although there's a large contingent of experts who are not particularly please with the point system - for an excellent view on this issue, check out this article by Jancis Robinson) and it was an Old World Cotes du Rhone. It is a Pere Anselme La Fiole from the Cotes de Rhone - the producer is actually from Chateauneuf de Pape. Although my Vivino app thinks it' is an actual CNP blend, it is actually a $17 bottle that tastes pretty good - specially for a Tuesday night. Nothing too intense or complex and definitely goes better with some food.

The third wine was recommended to me by a pretty reliable source at one of my favourite liquor stores. It was a New World Argentinian Fuego Blanco Cabernet Franc Malbec that I was pretty excited about. I love Cab Franc and was intrigued about the addition of the Malbec. Unfortunately, I found this wine to be rather dull or thin - not awful but not worth the $35 I paid for it. I was defintely disappointed and would not consider purchasing it again - wth or without food. I was surprised that it was rated pretty highly in the  Vivino app (and that someone on the bottle had given it 93 points) but my advice is - stay away from this one.

Finally, a fantastic (Old World) port! For the 325th anniversary of the company, Taylor Fladgate has come out with a tawny port that is a mix of 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old tawny ports. It is incredible! It has complex tastes and is not overly sweet so you can really enjoy sitting back and sipping. It also comes in a commemorative bottle which reflects the design of the original port bottle when the company started (my wife loves the bottle and won't let me throw it out). At $48 a bottle, it's a bit of a splurge but is actually a great price for tawny port. I swear I can taste elements from each decade as I savour this wonder. If you have a port drinker on your Christmas list, I recommend that you check your local liquor store stock and buy what you can. There's a reason why there's four bottles in the photo!

Sauvignon Blanc- not just cat pee - Carmenere, and Malbec - WSET Class #4 - Part 1

I left early for this week's class. I had a couple errands to do but I figured I would have time to try out a new place that my wine group had told me about. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Pokéritto, there was a giant lineup and I was running out of time. I ended up at Tim Hortons for a chicken wrap which was rather tasteless and I could only choke down half. What do you pair with disappointment?

A few minutes later, sitting in class, Rajen (the guy whose family owns Desert Hills), asked our table group if we were interested in joining a monthly tasting group. I definitely agreed and am actually looking quite forward to it. Each person brings a bottle of wine in a paper bag and then the group does a blind tasting. Sounds like fun!

Our table group is quite friendly now, especially after discussing all of the different wines that we have tasted. Some of us shared about our weekends as well as other small talk.

This week we looked at a bunch of wines. The first two were the white wines Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.  By the way, Sauvignon Blanc has a bit of a reputation of smelling like cat pee. I guess I haven't smelled enough cats peeing because I didn't really notice it....

Sauvignon Blanc is a very aromatic white wine which is usually dry and is a crisp wine that ranges in taste from grassy (think fresh cut grass) to tropical aromas. It is found in many places in the world, mostly in cooler or moderate areas. It is also found in Bordeaux and is one of only three white wines in Bordeaux. In the New World, New Zealand is the place that grows great Sauvignon Blanc. Unlike Chardonnay, it is much more consistent in its taste. Interestingly, it is one of the few wines that is supposed to pair well with sushi.

Semillon is a much more neutral grape that is sometimes added to Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc doesn't age very well but Semillon ages really well and blends well with Sauvignon Blanc. Semillon is also found in Bordeaux.

Our first tasting had three wines - one was a Semillon, one a Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux and one a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

The first was a wine with a pronounced nose with aromas of stone fruit, green apple, green pepper, grass, and floral hints. On the palate, it had the same flavours as well as  grapefruit and some smokiness. It was definitely dry, had high acidity, medium body and a medium plus finish. It was rated as Very Good and was a 2015 Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre by Hubert Brochard and had the name Terroir de Silex. This wine had definite aging potential and cost $40.

The second wine also had pronounced intensity and had aromas and flavours of bell pepper, mint, green apple, tropical fruit ( I noticed pineapple), and peach. It had high acidity, medium body and a medium minus finish. It was also rated Very Good and, I think, was one of Dave, our instructor's, favourite Sauvignon Blancs as he was wearing a t-shirt from the winery! It was a 2015 Spy Valley from New Zealand priced at a mere $21. It was a very agreeable wine and our group enjoyed it.

The final wine tasted different than the first two - that was the first hint that this was a different wine. Where the other two were pale, this was medium in colour. It was a medium intensity wine on the nose with aromas and flavours of cut grass, apples, green peppers, smokiness, and toast - even though it was unoaked! It had medium body, high acidity, and a medium plus finish. It was Very Good. It was, of course, the Semillon. It was a 2009 Peter Lehmann from the Barosa Valley ($32). Semillon on its own is best aged and this particular winery only releases it aged - so it basically ages in the bottle for seven or eight years before being released. In fact, Semillon in general should age from seven to ten years before popping the cork!

The next post will deal with more Bordeaux wines but I will fast forward to the last two.

We spent some time looking at some other red grapes that originated from Bordeaux but were not that important in Bordeaux anymore. Both Carmenere and Malbec have been adopted by two different countries, Chile and Argentina, respectively.

The Carmenere grown in Chile was originally thought to be Merlot as Carmenere had basically been wiped out everywhere else in the world thanks to a virus. It makes purple wine and tends to have a bit of mint to its character.

Malbec is Argnetina's signature grape and has very dark fruit. It also makes purple wine and is a bit spicy, sort of like Syrah.

Our first tasting was deep purple and had a medium plus intensity on the nose. I noticed spice, black currant, cassis, prune and a general aromatic nose while there was black cherry and even toast on the palate. It was a full body wine with medium acidity and tannins and a medium plus finish. This 2013 Carmenere from Vina Tarapaca was rated as Very Good and cost $25. The words "Gran Reserva", however, don't have a great deal of meaning when it comes to Chilean wines. This wasn't a particularly popular wine with my table group but I didn't mind it too much.

The last wine was, of course, a 2014 Malbec from Catena in Argentina ($24). It was a medium to deep purple had a much lighter intensity nose than the Carmenere. I found it really hard to discern aromas and flavours but did come up with red fruit such as red currants. It had light tannins, medium body and medium acidity with a medium finish. It was rated Good. I have had quite a few different Malbecs and this one just wasn't that great to some of the others that I have had.

Next time, the tasting will look at Bordeaux reds - some of my favourite wines in the world!

Easter Dinner

What could be better than a wonderful Easter dinner of roast beef, potatoes, and plenty of other tasty foods? An Easter dinner with friends!

That's what we had last night. Good friends, good food, good wine, good times!

One person I was talking to last night was the girlfriend of our friends' oldest son. Her name is Caitlin (spelled the same as my daughter) and she has done both the WSET 2 and WSET 3. I was really pleased to hear how much she enjoyed WSET 2 - she said that she would have been happy to keep on going each week to class indefinitely! That sounds great! She also wants to take her WSET 4 but the price tag for that (~$10,000) is a bit out there.... The WSET 2, by the way, is still no bargain at $1000.

The first wine was one that we brought. It is one of my favourite Okanagan grapes, the Cabernet Franc - ($31.99). This is another of Tinhorn Creek's wines and is a very drinkable wine. There were some tannins (which made it go along fairly well with the roost beef) and some tastes of plum and currant (although I couldn't place if it was red currant or black currant - still working on that palate). It was nicely balanced and, even though it is just a 2013, I think it really was good to drink now.

After a small glass (I was the family designated driver, after all), I tried a wine that another friend had brought. The Alamos Malbec ($13.99) is an Argentinian Malbec that the friend loved because it tasted good and was inexpensive. I found it to be a smooth wine but not overly complex. It certainly is drinkable and I can imagine having this with a grilled steak with a bunch of guys hanging around the barbecue. It's not as strong a taste as most malbecs that I have had which was interesting.  Interestingly, their website only has wines as recent as 2013. It seemed to me that this might be a good weeknight wine - especially with some sort of beef or pork dish.

After our great dinner, we headed home.

The last tasting of the day was a Meadow Vista Cloud Horse ($22). Full disclosure - my daughter, Caitlin, works in the wine industry and is the manager of Meadow Vista. Meadow Vista makes honey wine - or mead - and I wouldn't usually go out and buy honey wine. However, she often will bring us a bottle to try and sometimes I am surprised.

Cloud Horse was one of those surprises. It was a pleasant wine for drinking - light and clear. It had a honey taste (so surprising) as well as a butter hint as well. It would make a good drinking wine or perhaps with some cheese as it's a bit sweet and would offer a good contrast. Maybe I'll actually have to go out and buy some.....

That's it for my Easter weekend - I will continue to post whenever I learn something interesting or drink an interesting wine. Feel free to drop me a comment!