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!

WSET 3 Final Results! Woo hoo!

The cherished Green Pin indicating I passed Level 3

So....got the final results for my WSET 3.

Not just that fancy green pin..... I also got my results for the two components of the test.

Just to refresh:

There was the blind tasting - which was two wines, a red and a white.

I was really, really, worried that I bombed the tasting. I did OK on the red but the white (which was a Sauvignon Blanc) tricked me.

Bad Sauvignon Blanc!

The second part was the knowledge tests.

The knowledge was split into two parts - the multiple choice which was 50 questions and the essay part which had four questions, each worth around 25 marks.

I felt that I passed the knowledge part - the multiple choice was pretty easy but the essay questions were hard - even though I had studied a lot.

How'd I do?

For the tasting, I got a Pass. No surprise there. I was really worried that I failed this part so to get a Pass was a relief.  It is a lot harder to taste and comment when you are in a room with a bunch of other people doing the same thing and the stress level is very high. And there's no cheese and crackers...

For the knowledge, I got Pass with Distinction! That means I got over 80%!! That was a surprise. I thought I'd maybe get Pass with Merit but had no idea that I'd nail the knowledge portion so well.  I guess all that studying paid off. Helps being a teacher and actually teaching kids how to study.

Overall, my grade was a Pass with Merit.

And I am happy with that. Really happy!

To get Pass with Distinction overall, I would have had to nail the tasting completely and I would have a difficult time doing that, unless the wines were, say, Beaujolais Nouveau and a Spätlese Riesling. Considering that I was off base with the Sauvignon Blanc, I am actually ecstatic that I did so well overall.

I will say it again - I am very happy with my results and am even happier that I am done!

Now, on to some nice wine....

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.

WSET 3 results - are in!!!!!

I passed!

After waiting over two months, I opened an email today from Fine Vintage that told me that I passed my WSET Level 3 - both tasting and theory!

There's no breakdown of marks telling me how I did in each section - but I don't really care! I've got my level 3!

I was pretty certain that I had passed the theory but I was not certain about the tasting - it was a true challenge. But it all worked out in the end. I will find out more when they send out my results in the snail mail.

Now, off to find a really nice bottle of wine to celebrate!!!!!

Superb Wine at Martin's Lane - Riesling and Pinot Noir

Our family tasting group at Martin's Lane

Just last summer, I enjoyed a visit to an amazing winery, right here, in the Okanagan.

Martin's Lane is owned by Anthony von Mandl of Mission Hill fame and their first wines were actually made at Mission Hill. Then, in 2014, the Martin's Lane winery was build on Lakeshore Road, just above Cedar Creek (also owned by Anthony von Mandl). It is a stunning winery with amazing wine and I was impressed by the experience.

Outside the winery, there is a large sculpture of Van Gogh's head (sculpted by Douglas Coupland of Generation X and Microserfs fame), with his missing ear to the ground. There was a contest to find a suitable subject for the statue and Vincent  is apparently listening to the grapes growing. The whole story of 'Project Redhead' is quite fascinating and you can read about it here.

As you can tell, it was an unusual start to our visit.

After giving the sculpture the heads up (argh), we headed towards the giant door that allowed us to entire the winery. By the way, Martin's Lane is a certified organic winery and the winemaking philosophy is one of non-intervention from the vineyard to the bottle.

I loved this spiral staircase right by the front door. There were  many interesting and unique architectural features at Martin's Lane.

Our first actual stop was a room with windows opening to the barrel room below. This was a place to watch the cellar hands work and look at the barrels of Pinot Noir and Riesling as they aged. Martin's Lane only grows those two varietals, similar to another von Mandl property, Checkmate, which only has Chardonnay and Merlot.  

Sitting on a table in the room was our first taste - a 2014 Naramata Bench Riesling ($65). This wine is made with grapes from old vines and was our favourite Riesling. There was a touch of sweetness and tastes of apples and pears with a wonderful minerality that balanced the fruit. Outstanding.

After one last look down at the barrel room, where we noticed another head of Van Gogh (insert joke here), we continued our tour of the winery. 

We saw this tiled floor with gold (probably real gold) tiles which represents the Pinot Noir and Riesling that is processed in their approximate ratio. 

I was also impressed by the display of different sizes of wine bottles. Just for kicks, it goes...

Piccolo or Split- 187.5 ml

Demi or Half - 375 ml

Standard - 750 ml

Magnum - 1.5 L

Double Magnum. - 3 L

Jeroboam - 3 or 4.5 L

Methuselah or Imperial - 6 L

Salamanazar - 9 L - that's a case of wine

Balthazar - 12 L

Nebuchadnezzar - 15 L

Solomon or Melchoir - 18 L

We then ended up in the tank room. 

One of the unique things about Martin's Lane is that it is on a slanted hill - the grapes are delivered to the top and work their way down the hill of the winery. The grapes are crushed and then the juice is gravity-fed to the stainless steel fermentation tanks. 

Then, down the slope to what looks like concrete ageing vessels. They actually might be clay/porcelain, as my vague notes have suggested. 

Speaking of concrete and stainless steel, there's lots of controversy. Stainless is very easy to control in terms of temperature and oxygen exposure but can impart a slight harshness to the wine. Concrete, on the other hand, gently oxygenates with little harshness but doesn't have quite the same amount of control that stainless had. Clay/porcelain, to further confuse things, apparently doesn't impart any tannins or minerality that concrete can.

Our tour over, it was time to taste some wines. Lauren, our guide, was knowledgable, experienced, humorous and personable. We really enjoyed our tasting experience with her. 

The 2015 Simes Vineyard Riesling ($55) was dryer than the first Riesling with a minerality complimenting the apple, pear and peach flavours as well as the floral aromas. This French clone also had some citrus notes. Very good. 

The final Riesling that we tried was the 2015 Fritzi's Vineyard Riesling ($75).  This wine had a complex nose and leaned towards tropical fruits. It was a drier wine as well and had some herbaceous notes as well as citrus flavours. There was also a touch of that wonderful petrol aroma to this wine. Very good. 

The first Pinot Noir we tried was the 2014 Naramata Ranch Pinot Noir ($100). It was a very aromatic wine with aromas and tastes of red fruit, especially cherries. It had medium tannins and a wonderful earthiness. Very good. 

Our second wine was a 2014 Simes Vineyard Pinot Noir ($100). This wine was both less floral and less tannic than the first wine. It was more refined  - even austere. Medium tannins. There were tastes of red fruit including cranberry and raspberry. Very good. 

Our final wine was the 2014 Fritzi's Vineyard Pinot Noir ($150). This wine really made me think of the Domaine Serene Evenstad Pinot Noir that I had had from the Willamette Valley. It was another complex wine with cherry as well as darker red fruit on both the nose and the palate. It had softer tannins than the other two and had a wonderful mouth feel. This wine is ready to drink but has definite ageability,. Outstanding. 

So, what did I buy? Well, even though I am always looking for a great deal, I bought two of these rather pricey wines because the quality was so high. I bought a Naramata Bench Riesling and a Fritzi's Vineyard Pinot Noir. The Riesling was opened for a special occasion - and was beautiful - and the Pinot Noir is in my cellar awaiting another special occasion. 

I also have this Pinot Noir that my son-in-law gave me - a 2012 Martin's Lane Pinot Noir. Could be time to pop this one...

Cheers!

"I can't hear the grapes!"

Mini Wine Tasting - Four wines under $30 from around the world

Wine and Plein Air DO mix!

Ah, my WSET course is a faint wisp of smoke that has gone. It's been over a month since I've written my exam.

But I still don't know if I passed!

One thing that I did during my WSET course was weekly wine tastings with my friend, Keith, usually after a plein air painting session. We have continued to do so and have tasted some pretty interesting wines, as well as paint3ed some fairly good little studies. We taste two different wines each week and the last two weeks have had us taste some of the best.

So I thought I'd share them....

Last week was my week - and I picked two wines from two very different places.

The first was a 2013 Unanimé Gran Vino Tinto ($30) from the Uco Valley in Argentina. This was a Bordeaux-ish style blend of 60% Cab Sauv, 15% Cab Franc and 25% Malbec and was a delicious wine. It definitely had some strong tannins but also had enough fruit to back it up. Medium plus acidity, black fruits, and a nice long finish. Incidentally, this wine was a present from the parents of a student I taught for two years - and I think this wine was from the first year. Vivino rates it as one of the top 1% of wines in the world and I'm not surprised with its aromas and tastes of blackberry, plum, cassis, tobacco, and leather.  This wine would age well for a few more years but I liked the boldness of it right now! A complex, intense wine, I would rate this as Outstanding.

Unfortunately, for some reason, I didn't take a photo of the next wine. That's too bad because this wine is a bit hard to track down.

For taking care of their dog, my daughter and son-in-law gave us a bottle of Jabulani (not 100% sure of the year) MCM blend ($25?) from Ottawa in Ontario. This wine was very interesting because it is a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Marquette grapes. Marquette is a hybrid grape which means that it is a hybrid of Vitas Vinifera (the wine grape species) and another, North American grape. This is like crossing  a wine grape like Merlot with Welch's Concorde grapes.

The result is a fruit forward, easy drinking, interesting wine. Unlike some other non-wine-grape grapes, Marquette is not 'foxy' or musky in it's taste - it is just fruity! This wine is low in acidity with medium tannins and is great to slurp away, despite its shorter finish. I'm not sure you can buy this outside of Ontario but if you find it, grab a bunch! It's a lovely red patio sipper.  A Very Good wine.

This week was my friend's turn. He picked a couple of excellent wines. Interestingly, they both tasted quite fruity and I mistook the first one for a new world wine.

The first one was an 2016 Zabu Il Passo Nerello Mascalese from Sicily in Italy.($23). The il passo might refer to the passito method. In this wine, the grapes are left on the vine to wither and raisinate, which concentrates the flavours and sugars. As a result, this wine is a little sweet (although I had a hard time telling if it was fruity or sweet), and quite rich in flavour. The Nerello Mascalese grape is one of the two main grapes in the Mount Etna appellation but it appears that this wine is made in the Sambuca di Sicilia area which is on the west side of Sicily while Mt. Etna is on the east side.

There were aromas and tastes of blackberry, plum, and black cherry as well as vanilla and some tobacco. This had medium tannins and medium minus acidity. The finish was medium and it was a fairly intense wine. This would go well with a number of dishes from steak to duck to pasta with meat sauce. I commented to my friend that I would prefer this with a pasta dish over many of the Chianti wines I have tasted! I would rate this wine as Very Good.

The other wine that we tasted this week was a 2014 Gerard Bertrand Saint Chinian from Languedoc, France ($24). The Languedoc region has a bit of a bad name for wine as it is part of the 'wine lake' of France where an ocean of cheap wine (like Fat Bastard and Arrogant Frog) is made. There are, however, some areas of really good wine and the region is making progress towards reinventing itself as a quality region. Saint Chinian is the name of the village and also the appellation so this is better quality wine. The grapes used to make this wine are Syrah and Mourvédre which are destemmed, pressed, and then a third of the grapes are aged in oak for nine months.

This was another wonderfully fruity wine although a bit more austere than the Sicilian wine. You could definitely taste the Syrah but the Mourvédre added some complexity to the mix. There were aromas and flavours of blackberry, plum, and black currant and, perhaps, some cherry. There was also tobacco, oak, a spiciness - including pepper - and some earthy, leathery characteristics with this wine. It had medium tannins (a bit surprising as Mourvédre can be a tannin bomb), medium plus acidity, and a medium plus finish. I really enjoyed this wine and felt it performed above its price point. I would rate it as Outstanding.

Continuing to swirl, sniff, sip, and slurp after my WSET is done is an important way to keep up the tasting skills I have (hopefully) developed. And, no matters how the painting goes, I always have something to look forward to!

Amazing holiday wines - for anytime!

Holidays are the time to bring out the big guns in terms of wine.

Now that things have settled down, it's time to reflect on the past couple of weeks and think about the wonderful wines that I drank. There were many, many excellent wines but three definitely stood out.

California Dreaming

I had my retirement bash at the end of June and, what a number of my friends and colleagues did was, give me a bottle of wine that was special to them.

Fast forward to just before Christmas - our anniversary. After (mumble mumble) years of wedded bliss, we thought we'd stay in downtown Vancouver (the Four Seasons, no less, but we got a killer deal). We decided to go to the Absinthe Bistro on Commercial Drive for, what turned out to be, a spectacular - and I mean spectacular - French meal.

When I was booking our reservation, I had asked if it was OK to bring our own bottle of wine and what the corkage fee was (corkage means the price charged by the restaurant to serve your wine - to basically to take the cork out and pour it). The cost was $24 so I figured it would have to be a pretty darn good bottle of wine. Then I thought of the special wine my friends Dale and Jodi gave to us.

The wine was a 2014 Emmolo Merlot from Oak Knoll in the Napa Valley ($64). We had the server decant it and could only wait about 20 minutes before we had to have some. It was a superb wine - much better than any other Merlot I've ever had. On the nose there were plenty of black fruits, a fig or raisin scent as well as definite leather and smoke. These were also apparent on the palate with chocolate, liquorice and toast adding to the experience. This medium tannin, medium minus acidity wine was Outstanding - it was balanced, had a long finish, was super intense with its fruit flavours and was definitely a complex wine. 

What did we accompany it with? We had a couple different appetizers and it went fine with those but the real winner was the main course. We ordered cassoulet - which is a wonderful French stew with sausages,. duck, white beans and a bunch of other stuff. Every restaurant has a slightly different version and Absinthe did not disappoint. The fruitiness of the wine combined with the elegant structure was a great complement to the salt and fat of the meats. 

A postscript on this wine - I am not usually such a big fan of Merlot but I liked this one so much that, just before Christmas, I bought another bottle. It currently resides in my cellar.

Happy New Year

My son-in-law, Dan, is a big wine lover - and actually completed his WSET level 3 a couple of years ago. For Christmas, his parents gave him a nice bankroll of money to buy wine. I was lucky enough to come along to the BC Signature Liquor Store and see what he was picking.

That night was New Year's Eve and we spent it with my daughter and Dan. We drank champagne, watched some of the festivities on TV, played Settlers of Catan, drank some more wine, and played a movie version of Cards Against Humanity. At one point, Dan opened up one of the wines he had bought - and it was excellent!

The wine was a 2000 Chateau Clarke Baron Edmond de Rothschild Listrac-Medoc Bordeaux ($70). First of all, after it was opened, I thought to myself - wow - 19 years old! Incredible! And it was another Outstanding wine! This medium plus tannin, medium plus acid wine had mellowed over time and would probably be good to drink for a few more years. This wine had aromas and tastes of black currant, black berry, leather, liquorice, toast, and a host of spices. Although the tannins were still in evidence, I still thought it was a wonderful wine and not too strong. It was balanced, had incredibly intense flavours, was complex and had a nice long finish. 

We probably should have had it with beef bourguignon but ended up having it with a charcuterie board which was still a good match. I sipped and smelled and savoured this wine and it happily took me a lot longer to drink than it would usually. This wine was decanted but we probably should have left it for an hour or so. I may have to pick me up a bottle of this one! The grapes in this wine were Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Cab Franc. 

Local hero

The three kings of the holiday were crowned with a wine made from a grape that my wife and I have always enjoyed - even before I started studying wine in earnest. Syrah is a grape that I love as it makes wines that are so drinkable and have character, in my humble opinion. 

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The one we discovered was a 2016 Le Vieux Pin Syrah Cuvée Violette ($40) made from mostly Syrah with a little bit of Viognier. This wine, from our own Okanagan, had aromas and tastes of blueberry, blackberry, pepper, raspberry, leather, and, yes, violets. This is a fairly fruity wine with medium tannins and medium acid. I think it has the capacity to age for several years - my problem is that it tastes so wonderful now, I don't want to lay it down! This is another Outstanding wine from Le Vieux Pin as it has everything you would want in a great wine - balance, complexity, length and intensity.

I became aware of this wine when listening to a blog or reading a wine column in the newspaper. It sounded like a good fit so I searched on the BC Liqour Store app - nothing,. Then I went to Everything Wine - nothing. I checked the winery - sold out. Then I thought - well, Save On sells wine - what are the chances? Rather good, it seems, as the Lakeshore Save On in Kelowna had some. As part of our stay over New Years, I picked up a few bottles of this wine. Now, to cellar or not to cellar?

All three of these wines were fantastic. They are certainly priced higher than most wines I drink but their exceptional quality makes them well worth the money.

Have a happy and wine filled new year!