Pinot Noir, Byron, Santa Barbara County, California, 2012, 13.5% abv, C$36++

Posted on July 5, 2016 by winellama

In August 2014, I was introduced to Byron when at the Wine Blogger’s Conference in Santa Barbara. They’re not generally available up here in Canada, so when I found this one, I snatched it up knowing it would be a delicious drink. IMG_7205

Translucent garnet, it has aromas of raspberry juice, fresh cedar, and dried fern.

The palate is dry with mouth watering acidity, slender tannins and flavours of more raspberry with pomegranate and a little black licorice.

The palate delivers more than the nose promises, but a long finish augments this elegant WSET Very Good wine.

One thing though – what is with their website?  No information exists about their wines or philosophy and all one can do is sign up for a newsletter.  But you can only do that if you’re American because to qualify, you must enter a state.  Really?  How provincial.

 

 

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Bodegas Bula, DO Montsant, Spain, 14% abv, 2012, C$22

Posted on June 27, 2016 by winellama

Montsant is a DO that literally occupies a circle of land surrounding the higher ranking DOQ of Priorat in northwest Spain, just west by a few hours of Barcelona.IMG_7204

They’ve been growing grapes there since Roman times and the names reflect it – Priorat referring to the priory that was run by the monks and Montsant referring to the ancient Montsant mountain range.

The grapes used in this concoction are Mazuelo (the most widely grown in the region – also called Carignan or Carineña and usually used as a blender for colour and tannin), Syrah and Garnacha/Grenache.

If Priorat wines are out of your price range, wines from Montsant will work for you.  The vast majority available in western Canada (if you can find them at all) are red and they tend to be big and deep – great for all sorts of meat and BBQ dishes.  You have to travel to Montsant and Priorat for the whites; they’re few and far between, but worth the effort.

Deep ruby, this wine has aromas of ripe cherry, freshly tarred road and wet rocks.  The palate is dry with slightly grippy tannins and medium plus acidity.  Flavours include more cherry and strawberry with soya sauce, black licorice and crushed stone.

WSET Good, it’s a little watery, but it has distinctive taste and character for a $22 wine, and is good bang for your Spanish buck.

 

Posted in Carignan, Grenache / Garnacha, Mazuelo, RED, Shiraz / Syrah | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Albariño, Viña Vedra, Val do Salnés, Rias Baixas DO, Spain, 2013, 12.5% abv, C$17++

Posted on June 24, 2016 by winellama

IMG_6917The Val do Salnés region is located in Rias Baixas and hangs way off the edge of northwestern Spain, north of the border with Portugal where the grape is called Alvarinho.

Hugging the Atlantic Ocean and cooled by its breezes, it’s one of the 5 Rias Baixas regions and grows the most Albariño.

On the eyes, it’s a medium lemon shade with aromas of nose-tingling rocks and salinity with lemon zest.

On the palate, it’s dry with juicy acidity and flavours of citrus – lemon, pomelo, pink grapefruit – salt air, wet rocks and almond.

WSET Good plus – it’s a lovely little porch sipper, a little hollow in the middle, and not terribly complex, but tasty and excellent value for your dollar.  Oh, and it goes great with jerk chicken and salad.

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Txakoli, Bodegas Gurrutxaga, Bizkaiko Txakolina DO, Spain, 11.5% abv, C$30

Posted on June 17, 2016 by winellama

A word to the marketing department at Bodegas Gurrutxaga.  A little additional English on the bottle would help get the word out.  Just sayin’…

imageBut then, perhaps they want to keep this one a secret – and I can certainly see why.  Nestled into the foothills of the north central Cantabrian mountains in Spain’s autonomous Basque Country, this is a delicate treat.

This winery is located north of Bilbao in Biscay, one of three provinces of the autonomous region which was granted status within Spain in 1978.

‘Txakoli’ (pronounced ‘Cha-ko-lee’) refers to the traditional style of the local wines, but the exact grape is not on the bottle and difficult to find online.  It is most likely the Hondarrabi Zuri (also spelled Ondarrabi Zuri) grape as that’s the main one from this province.

This version is slender and racy, coloured pale lemon and with minerals, citrus, almonds and Atlantic salt air on the nose.

The palate has good acidity with yellow grapefruit pith, nut, dried bitter herb and brine.

Elegant, clean and balanced, it’s got lighter body than I’d expected.
WSET Very Good and highly recommended, especially for seafood or salads.

Posted in Spain, WHITE | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sauvignon Blanc, Free Form, Haywire, Okanagan Valley VQA, BC, 2014, 13% abv, C$35

Posted on June 11, 2016 by winellama

This is a Sauvignon Blanc I can actually get behind.image

Now, I know many wine enthusiasts enjoy your favourite Sauvignon Blancs and that characteristic herbaceousness touched by citrus and gooseberry.

So often though, they’re industrially made and sweetened, showing little character.  I’m pleading with you – try this one.

Here we have a natural and unfiltered version that was held on its skins for 5 months, giving it a hazy, deep golden-orange colour with significant sediment. Think of this as the difference between fragrant, freshly pressed, handmade cider from the Farmer’s Market and sweetened, stripped, commercially prepared apple juice. Ah – now you get it!image

The nose shows sweet pear with tropical fruit, moss and mineral with a dry palate, juicy acidity, and flavours of mango, pear juice, pineapple, pink grapefruit and leaf. Its texture topped with flinty stones, this is a show stopper wine.

WSET Very Good plus – all natural, no added enzymes, SO2 or commercial yeast.  With wine this precise and fresh, you’ll never go back to those easy-to-drink, thinly souled, sweetened Savs.

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Pinot Noir, Free Form, Haywire, Okanagan Valley VQA, BC, 2014, 12.8% abv, C$41

Posted on June 10, 2016 by winellama

DSCF2854If I could drink this all day, every day, I would.  Hands down.  No question.

Unfined, unfiltered, fermented with indigenous yeast, and aged for 8 months on the skins in amphorae.  Pressed and then rested for two more months and bottled.  There were no additives and no SO2 used.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

Matt Dumayne (hamming it up below) and Alberto Antonini’s Pinot Noir creation is a thing of beauty.

Translucent and hazy ruby, this wine has aromas of raspberry, pomegranate and light green moss.

Dry with high acidity and light grip, it shows flavours of pomegranate and field berry juice with sword fern and a long finish.

image
WSET Very Good plus – balanced, delicate, layered, nuanced – a top example of what is possible in the Okanagan.

Posted in British Columbia, OTHER, Pinot Noir, RED | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cabernet Franc, Poplar Grove, VQA Okanagan Valley, BC, 2012, 14.3% abv.

Posted on May 26, 2016 by winellama

Here’s a tasty drink from one of several wineries located on the Okanagan’s Naramata Bench in beautiful British Columbia.

On the eyes, it sports a dense and deep ruby with aromas of crunchy raspberries, blackberry, pine, garrigue and minerals.IMG_6901

The palate is dry with medium plus acidity and lightly wound tannins that adore charcuterie.  Flavours include more raspberry and pomegranate with cassis and dried rosemary and thyme.  Crushed rocks finish it off.

The alcohol is too high, but despite the imbalance, it’s a WSET Good bottle that will go great with anything on the grill.

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Zinfandel, Brown Estate, Chiles Valley, Napa Valley, California, 2012, 15.2% abv, US$50

Posted on May 18, 2016 by winellama

Do you know how hard it is to get a bottle of Brown Estate?  They sell out pretty much everything they make annually to their wine club and select Napa Valley and San Francisco restaurant wine directors.  And no one carries it in Canada.  The only reason I know about it is from a friend’s recommendation and our visit there in 2013.

DSCF2870So, when I was on vacation in Maui and found this at Tamura’s, I snapped it up.

On the eyes, it’s a translucent ruby with aromas of bright black cherry, plum, and lightly dried tobacco leaf.

The palate is dry with medium body and high acidity.  Flavours show raspberry candy, black cherry, fresh plum, cassis, red liquorice and more tobacco.

WSET Very Good.  The alcohol is not hot, but is disappointingly high.  Despite that, this is perfumed and delicate, clean and layered, not heavy or pondering as many Zins are – a real treat.

Posted in California, Napa, OTHER, RED, Red, Zinfandel | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Riesling, Red Newt Cellars, Finger Lakes, New York, 2013, 11.8% abv.

Posted on May 12, 2016 by winellama

In summer 2015, I’d planned a visit to New York’s famed Finger Lakes AVA which I couldn’t follow through on.  However, I was able to snag this bottle via my favourite online wine sales company later that year.

Do they really grow grapes in northern New York state?  Yes, and they even make some pretty darned good wine there too.  Grapes (albeit, originally not the kind you necessarily want to make wine out of) were planted back in the early 1800s in this region that encompasses 11 lakes resembling long fingers etched by glaciers.

The ‘lake effect’ modeled by the bodies of water mitigate the harsh continental climate much as is done to the west in Canada’s Niagara region where award-winning Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is grown.  Here in the Finger Lakes, Riesling dominates a landscape that also includes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer.  There are also wines made from less noble, but still tasty, hybrids Cayuga and Vidal in both regions.

On the eyes, this wine is pale lemon with aromas of citrus, pear, lychee and light petrol.

The palate is lightly off dry with medium acidity and flavours of Bartlett and Asian pear, pomelo and petrol with some minerality. DSCF2858

WSET Good – a perfect brunch wine with quiche, fruit salad and sausage.  I was slightly disappointed by the low acidity which I had expected to be much juicier.

Photo credit – Mike Woods Photography

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Posip, Stina, Dalmatia, Croatia, 2013, 13.5% abv., C$40++

Posted on April 23, 2016 by winellama

Straight from a land where they’ve been making wine for over 2,500 years comes this Croatian treat to Canada’s west coast.  Its been a challenge for them, but all British Columbians owe a debt of thanks to North Vancouver’s independent wine importer, Direct Wines for bringing this winery to the marketplace.

The first thing one notices about this bottle is its almost completely blank slate of a label.  I spoke with Ivan Kovacevic from the winery at a dinner during the 2015 Vancouver Wine Festival and he explained the significance in that it’s meant to allow one to express one’s own feelings about the wine.  Aesthetically, it’s beautiful – don’t change a thing.

Made from the Posip grape – a perfect match for fish, seafood dishes and cheeses – this white wine is a deep lemon colour with aromas of ripe citrus, light brine and blossoms. DSCF2868

The palate is dry with steely minerality and juicy acidity that leaves you wanting that next sip.  Flavours show citrus and lemon rind with salinity and green blossom.  Light almond dominates the back end and lingers on the extended finish.

WSET Very Good – excellent with oysters, delicate and layered.  This particular bottle is not commercially available yet in BC, but their red Plavac Mali Majstor is on the shelves at the BCLB.  Buy anything you can find from this winery.

Photo credit –
Mike Woods Photography

 

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