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

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

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

Nope. Couldn't be more wrong.

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

Central and Southern Italy wine regions - courtesy Wine Folly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ciao!

Hester Creek Crush Party - Passion in a Bottle!

Last year, I went to the first Hester Creek Crush Party at the winery. It was a brilliant time! This past weekend, I was once again invited to this fabulous event. Everything about the day was enjoyable and very well put together.

We arrived about a half hour early (my wife wanted a good choice of parking so we could easily lug our wine home) and wandered into the wine shop. We were offered a tasting but when we declined, saying that we wanted to save ourselves for the party, the wine shop associate delivered three large glasses of ice water while we waited outside on the sun drenched patio. Nice touch!

A half hour later, we walked into the party, greeted by a couple of people including a friendly guy who I would later find out was the manager. In our tasting wine glass, were 2 coupons for glasses of wine and a sample card for their special release, the Garland, commemorating 50 years.

We walked into the courtyard where the party was taking place and, after getting a pour of their rosé, wandered over to the charcuterie section. There were different cheeses, breads, pepperoni, chilled clams, tomato tapenade, rillette, pickles, olives and host of other wonderful savoury foods, all prepared by Rod Bitters, the mastermind behind Raudz in Kelowna as well as Terrafina at Hester Creek.

We sat down at one of the many tables and enjoyed our food in the shade when my daughter noticed the hot food at the other side of the courtyard. Rod, himself, was one of the people serving up a great selection of food including a wonderful pork sausage, beef meatballs, and coleslaw, all which could be made into a slider. There was also pasta, salad and pizza - nicely prepared and very tasty. It was worth being in the club for the food alone!

There was a fairly strong breeze blowing and when I had returned with my food, I had discovered that my quarter glass of rosé had blown over, splashing my daughter's fancy dress! Luckily, it was a dark dress so was well disguised!

By the way, we are "Loyalty" members - all we had to do was make an initial purchase of a case of wine - and now we are in the club! No fees, no yearly commitment to buy wine (although we manage to purchase some every year), and no unexpected deliveries. Plus, you generate points with each purchase which can be used to buy more wine! It's the best wine club deal I've seen in the Okanagan.

At that point, we decided to go over to the Terra Unica section. Terra Unica wines are only available to wine club members (another good reason to be in their wine club) and we tried two whites that were delicious. The first was a 2016 Riesling - an off dry, flavourful wine with tastes of honey, apricot and pear while the second was a 2017 Semillon - refreshingly dry, it had flavours of apple and peach as well as something more substantial. It would be perfect with a nice fish like grilled halibut or even foie gras.

The first event that we had signed up for was the Cellar Tour. The winemaker, Rob Summers, was great the previous year where his passion for wine was so apparent. This year, Rob again led the tour where we escaped the hot sun into the coolness of the winery cellar.

The first wine we tried was a 2017 Old VinesTrebbiano ($24) - an Italian grape that is usually used for blending. Hester Creek is the only winery in the Okanagan to make Trebbiano and the vines that they grow it from are 50 years old. The wine was very pale and the aroma of pears was subtle. The taste was fruity and light - this would make a wonderful patio sipper.  I commented to my daughter that I could drink this one all day long (and got an eye roll in return).

The other wine that I really liked - and I mean really liked - was their 2015 Block 3 Reserve Cabernet Franc ($29). This wine was spectacular - it had everything that I wanted in a Cab Franc. There was a boldness of taste that the last Cab Franc I had was definitely lacking. It was all there - red fruits, plums, strawberry, black currant, and wonderful blueberries and lots of tannins to give this wine some excellent structure.

Rob definitely talked about the wine but what I enjoyed last year, as well as this year, was the stories he told - and he told a bunch. My favourite was when someone asked about how the winery dealt with animals that affected the grapes like birds (they use sound cannons - other than that, there isn't significant loss) and bears.

He first talked about how bears will eat a few grapes from one vine and then, 'squirrel!", will see the nice red grape of the next vine and eat a few there - and so on until they have eaten some of every plant in the row, compromising all of those grapes!

With Rob Summers, the extremely personable winemaker of Hester Creek

Before Rob was winemaker, the common practice was to shoot the bears - not a difficult feat because once the bear had finished eating, it would lay down and go to sleep in the vineyard, knowing there were plenty of grapes for the next meal. Rob found this to be rather cruel so he spend $10,000 to build a fence around his winery - and got the other two wineries nearby to do the same - and now the bears are not a big problem- most of the time. The occasional bear does wander down the main road (where there is no fence) and, if they get in, will be trapped in the vineyard with all those beautiful grapes! Then it's time to play Shoo, Bear!

After our excellent visit,we tried the Garland, which is their special commemorative once-in-a-lifetime wine as the winery is actually 50 years old! A blend of Cab, Cab Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec, the Garland ($60 - named after the owner, I believe) is a wonderful Bordeaux/Meritage style blend.  I'm not sure where you can get it other than the winery, but it is certainly worth tracking down. The taste I had was wonderfully complex but this wine probably needs to age for five years. I purchased a bottle for the cellar - let's see how long I can keep my hands of it for.

I had a full glass of the Cab Franc (did I mention that I really liked this wine?) with my second ticket and then we headed off for our second tour, the Vineyard Tour.

This tour was held by the president, Mark Sheridan. The previous tour had shown a passionate winemaker in Rob Summers and this tour showed how Mark was equally passionate about growing grapes. While we sipped on a tasty 2017 Pinot Gris ($18), he explained the workings of the vineyard, and answered many questions from the group.

Being from Australia, where water has always been a scarce resource, he said that he was initially shocked by the early irrigation practices in the Okanagan where vineyards would basically use sprinklers to water the vines - an ineffective way to do this. Now, with global warming a reality, he has implemented much more eco-friendly practices such as drip irrigation which are effective but also conserve water.

Another topic he talked about was the state of the Okanagan wine industry. I will try to be accurate in my take away although, by this point, I had had a bit of wine and was pleasantly baking in the sun. He said that the great variety of grapes grown in the Okanagan is one of its strengths - that there are so many micro climates and soils types that we can successfully grow different grapes, as long as we are growing the right grape for the terroir.

In the vineyard with Mark Sheridan, president of Hester Creek

The second thing was that the Okanagan wine prices have to be competitive with the world prices for similar wine. He felt that there were wineries in the Okanagan (no, he didn't say who) that charge too much - some, way too much - for their wines, especially when you compare the wines to somewhere like Spain or Argentina. He pointed to Hester Creek's signature blend of Cab, Cab France and Merlot called the Judge.  It has sold for $45 for the past five years - and he said that it can compete with any other $45 bottle of wine from anywhere else in the world. That's both passion and confidence!

After listening to Rob and Mark, I had a whole new appreciation for Hester Creek. What a passionate team! Hunger satiated and feeling good, even if a little baked, we headed for the wine store to stock up on this year's fine release of wines. A marvellous day!

Now that's Italian! Italian wines from WSET Class #6

Tuesday night's class marked the two thirds mark in our course of nine classes. It seems like time is accelerating - both at my job and at the WSET course!

Ah, Italy! It just seems last week (not two years ago) that my wife and I were spending time in Rome, walking the streets, sampling the food, admiring the amazing variety of ancient wonders, and drinking the wine.

You can have at least some of that experience here - you can cook yourself a wonderful meal, watch a great Italian movie, and sip a Pinot Grigio or a Nebbiolo as you recapture your great memories.

Cin cin!

Tonight's class focussed on a variety of wines but the first half looks at Italian wines.

We started with the whites. Italian whites are, for the most part, pale lemon in colour and tasting of green fruit. There are not a lot of differences between the different white varietals but that made it only more interesting as we proceeded to blind taste two different Italian whites and a Spanish one.

First things first, though - I discovered that Italy has over 1000 indigenous grape varietals. In Soave the grape is Garganega and in Gavi it is Cortese. Trebbiano is the most widely planted grape in Italy but you don't often see it on its own. There is also Verdicchio from Castello di Jesi.

Our first three wines were white wines - one was a Pinot Grigio (lighter than the French interpretation of the grape called Pinot Gris), one was a Soave (Garganega grape) and one was a Spanish grape called Albarino which is the signature white grape of Spain.

It was a pretty good evening for our group - and even for me! We were pretty much bang on with our assessments of the wine - or at least, that's how I remember it! The first wine was a 2015 Tolloy Pinot Grigio which was - well  - pale lemon in colour. It had a medium minus intensity nose and smelled of underripe peach and pear. On the palate, it was dry with high acidity and a medium minus body. I tasted the same fruit with a bit of grapefruit and lemon. It had a medium minus finish, was from the Alto Adige area (famous for Pinot Grigio) and cost a mere $20. It was rated Good.

 

Next was a better wine.Pale lemon in colour, it had medium intensity on the nose, lemon, grapefruit and apricot on the nose with a definite floral aroma. On the palate, there were the tastes of citrus, grapefruit and lemon and it had a dry taste (drier than the Pinot Grigio) with high acidity, light body and a medium plus finish. It was balanced, intense, complex and expressive and therefore earned a rating of Very Good. It was a 2015 Pieropan from Soave (made with Gargenega grapes)  priced at $29. 

 

The final white of the evening was a Pazo Senoran wine made with the Albarino grape which is the signature white grape of Spain! It was (surprise) pale lemon in colour and had medium intensity on the nose. There were aromas of ripe apple and pear, stone fruit and nectarine. On the palate, it was dry with medium acidity. medium body, and flavours of peach, white pepper, melon, and grapefruit. It had a medium finish, was rated Very Good, and this fabulous wine costs $37 

Switching to reds, we looked at a  famous Italian area. The first was a Chianti (made from Sangiovese grapes) from Castello di Bossi. It was pale garnet in colour and had a medium plus intensity on the nose with aromas of cranberry, cherry, violets, tea, and spices. There were similar flavours on the palate including red fruit such as plum, and high acidity, medium plus body, and medium plus tannins. The finish was medium and the overall rating of this $33 wine was Very Good. It was a pretty nice wine but paled compared to the next one.

This was a 2010 Uccelliera Brunello (di Montalcino), also made from Sangiovese grapes, and made south of Tuscany.  This was also medium garnet and was also clear. It was medium intensity on the nose and was very complex on the nose - red currant, raspberry, red cherry, plum, fig, cloves, spice and smokiness were all apparent. The palate also had plum, back currant, leather and tobacco. This dry wine was high in tannins, high acidity, full body with a fantastic long finish. I would rate this $100 wine as Outstanding. And a great way to finish off our wines of Italy!

Wineland at Hester Creek! Okanagan Spring Festival Part 1

This weekend, I was in the Okanagan as my wife and I visited our daughter (the one that works at Meadow Vista...)

It was a great visit - especially because of Saturday - but we'll get there in a moment.

On Friday, we went out for a nice little dinner at Bacaro Kitchen and Drink. They do great tapas, share plates and even meals and we had a nice assortment of chef's board charcuterie, cauliflower curry, prosciutto wrapped portobello mushrooms, Korean pulled pork sliders and duck confit spring rolls. The spring rolls were particularly amazing and the charcuterie is always an excellent choice.

With all of those different kinds of food, it was a challenge to select a wine for everyone. We ended up ordering a Viognier from the Okanagan which turned out to be just about perfect! It was a 2015 TH Wines (from Summerland) Viognier (their 2016 is $25 but I would guess the 2015 is only available in restaurants now).  It paired well with the spicy sliders as well as the rich spring rolls and had enough zip to it to meet the challenge of the meats on the charcuterie board.

Friday night, however, was just a warm up to Saturday.

Our first stop was Hester Creek. Last visit to the Okanagan, we ended up buying a case of their wine which made us a member of their Wine Club. That's it - no commitment, you just have to buy a case of wine.

Now,  as members, we were invited to their 1st annual Crush Pad BBQ party! We thought, why not, and booked a spot at the BBQ as well as a cellar tour. All free, mind you!

When we arrived, it was rather nice - a bit cloudy but definitely warm enough for a BBQ.

There was a fairly good turn out and we were a bit dazzled by all of the options. There were tents and tables set up in the courtyard and a live performer who did some killer covers of tunes by famous oldies such as James Taylor and the Beatles.

We were given a wine glass and two tickets each and headed off to the wine table to get a glass of wine. There was a choice of a Trebbiano white, a Cabernet Franc and a Character Red. I chose the Character for the first glass and it was a nice mix of Syrah, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Ah, but I needed to pair it with something....

Why not the giant table of charcuterie?  There were crackers, toasts, bread, sausages, olives cheese, a tone of sliced meats and much more. It was the most amazing charcuterie display - basically a buffet - and was all excellent quality. It also paired well with the Character.

After the charcuterie, we crossed the courtyard to the BBQ station. The guy beyond the grill was Rod Butters of RauDZ in Kelowna and now runs Terrafina, the Hester Creek restaurant. He was cooking up some mussels, cheese flatbread, wild boar meatballs, and chorizo. It's a barbecue, so I wasn't expecting perfection but I found the mussels a bit bland. On the other hand, the meatballs and chorizo sausage were outstanding - and also paired well with the Character.

I was feeling that this was like a Wine version of Disneyland with food, wine, more food, more wine, music and sunshine. It was the Happiest Wine Place on Earth!

Next ride - the Library tastings!

The Library wines were all part of the Terra Unica series and were only available to Club member on the day of the BBQ. There was a Gerwürtztraminer (floral, nice wine), a Petit-Verdot/Malbec (good wine, fairly complex) and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I fell in love with the Cabernet Sauvignon - it had great complexity, medium tannins, and a great, one finish. I ended up buying 5 bottles ($32.95 each) and will drink a couple now and age the rest.

As if things couldn't get better, it was time for our Cellar Tour. This was guided by the two winemakers, Rob Summers and Mark Hopley. Incidentally, Rob was the person who gave us our wineglass and tickets at the beginning of the day!

We received a tour of the cellar including the giant tanks and the many, many barrels of wine. Then we gathered around one area of the cellar and began a vertical tasting.

Here come da' Judge!

A vertical tasting is when you taste the same wine by the same winery but with different years. The wine we were tasting was the signature Hester Creek wine, the Judge.

Cheers!

We started off with the 2011. It was good but actually tasted a bit young or at least not stunning. The second one was a 2013 and it was amazing. It actually tasted like it was older than the first one! It had a roundness and smoothness that the 2011 didn't have. I ended up buying a bottle of that vintage ($45). Interestingly, the 2011 was $65 but I thought it was not nearly as good. Finally, we tasted a 2014 that was going to be bottled in August. It was definitely fruit forward and a bit young but it was easy to see that it had great potential.

After the Cellar Tour, I had my second glass - a Cabernet Franc. I really enjoy Hester Creek's Cab Franc but unfortunately I couldn't drink the whole glass as I had to drive. Spitting and dumping wine was something I did all day as it is the only way to make it through a number of wineries.

We had another winery to visit so, after I grabbed a cracker and chunk of cheese,  we went to the wine shop, made our purchases, and headed on down the Golden Mile to our next destination, Road 13.

My wife and I wandering the vineyards of Hester Creek.