winellama

Evans & Tate Metricup Road, Chardonnay, Margaret River, Australia, 2011, 13.5% abv.

Posted on July 15, 2015 by winellama

Visitors to the 2015 Vancouver International Wine Festival will recognize this delicious Aussie Chardonnay from Evans & Tate that punches above its weight in terms of value for money.

A shade of medium lemon with tears, the nose shows grapefruit pith, Meyer lemon, minerals, lemon grass and toast.

The palate is dry with strong acidity and moderate alcohol. The flavours are intense and include more lemon, lime and yellow grapefruit citrus, fresh herbs, pineapple, toffee and savoury oak. The finish is strong.

The flavours and aromas are clear and clean, supported by strong acidity and tasteful, subtle oak ageing. It lasted several days in the fridge as well with a stopper. Find it, drink it, share it with friends.

WSET Very Good

Photo: Wine-searcher.com

Posted in Australia, Chardonnay, OTHER, WHITE | Tagged Australia, chardonnay, Evans and Tate, Margaret River, Metricup Road, white wine | Leave a comment

Domaine Huet, Clos du Bourg, Sec, Vouvray AC, Loire, France, 2011, 13.5% abv.

Posted on July 14, 2015 by winellama

These are a few of my favourite things – the Loire Valley, Domaine Huet and Chenin Blanc. We visited this classic biodynamic benchmark winery in June 2014 but opened this bottle in July 2015. A second bottle was opened in October 2015 (notes at bottom).

On the eyes, this wine is a medium gold with light, quick legs. On the nose, it shows yellow apples and golden plums with an unmistakable steel wool sliced with flint. Aromas are reminiscent of a wet wool sweater – funky with beeswax and light hay.

The palate is lightly off dry (8 g/l RS), with medium body and high, mouthwatering acidity. Flavours are sherry toned and show more of the nose – ripe yellow apple with jasmine and subtle honey, almond skin and a touch of marzipan and a French oak sandalwood-spiked spice. We agreed tasting this wine is akin to the feeling you get when you put a penny in your mouth – which sounds off putting, but shouldn’t be.

This wine is electric with nervy minerality, precise and defined, elegant and so capable of ageing indefinitely (admittedly we opened this early – but I have one more and I’m sure it will be Outstanding by the time it is opened). It’s complex and unravels to a thing of beauty in the glass.

WSET Very Good Plus

When opened in October 2015, the colour still registered as medium gold with a nose of apples, ripe, yellow pears, dry hay and that funky wet wool reminiscent of many Loire Chenins, quince and deep, brown honey.

The palate is lightly off dry with refreshingly high acidity, medium body and flavours of dried straw, red apple, yellow pear and plum, a honeysuckle floral element, and a green gooseberry and passionfruit that was especially brought to life by the ham and goat cheese we paired it with.

Still nervy and mineral-driven, it’s elegantly complex and WSET Very Good verging on Outstanding

Posted in Chenin Blanc, France, Loire, WHITE | Tagged 2011, chenin blanc, Clos du Bourg, domaine huet, france, off dry, sec, Vouvray AC, white wine | Leave a comment

XO Armagnac, J. Nismes-Delclou, Berry Brothers & Rudd, NV, France, 40% abv, 69 GBP

Posted on July 13, 2015 by winellama

Any way you slice it, this BBR marque XO Armagnac is delicious and interesting stuff.

Florence Castarède is a sixth generation descendant of the Nismes-Delclou family and is currently running the stills at this Armagnac house. To underscore its longevity, the Nismes-Delclou house was established in 1832 and is the oldest Armagnac producing house in France.

Located in the tiny town of Lavardac, southeast of Bordeaux and northwest of Toulouse, they distill wine made from Folle Blanche, Colombard, Bacco and Ugni Blanc grapes. And while the rule for XO Armagnac is at least 6 years in cask, I found evidence on the web that the Nismes-Delclou version waits in French oak for a minimum of 20.

I did double check with BBR about this and while they’re not completely sure, apparently in tastings with the 1990 and 1995 Nismes-Delclou own label vintage Armagnacs, they tasted very similar.

Deep amber with aromas of burnt sugar, maple, caramel, marmalade and Seville orange zest, the palate is smooth and complex. Flavours of satsuma, more marmalade and burnt sugar, deep toffee and warmed walnuts, vanilla with toasted marshmellow overwhelm.

This is a sumptuous and richly complex spirit.

WSET Very Good plus – enjoy as frequently as possible.

Posted in Armagnac | Tagged BBR, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Berrys' XO Armagnac, france, J. Nismes-Delclou | Leave a comment

Domaine de Chaberton, White, BC VQA, Langley, BC, 2013, 12.9% abv, C$12

Posted on July 10, 2015 by winellama

While enroute to a weekend in Ucluelet, BC, we stopped in Coombs for lunch. There was one red and one white on the lunch menu – both from Langley, BC’s Domaine de Chaberton – available in mini bar bottles with tiny table water glasses for tasting.

I guessed it was a white blend of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc and several hybrids because of its floral and bitter elements – and it seems I wasn’t too far off.

A blend of 42% Madeleine Angevine, 28% Pinot Blanc, 17% Chardonnay, 9% Madeleine Sylvaner, and 4% Reichensteiner, this wine is made from grapes sourced around the province.

The Chaberton White is pale lemon with faint aromas – a little lemon and some lychee with grapefruit rind. It’s ever-so-slightly off dry with medium acidity and flavours of more lychee, lemon, citrus and some almond bitterness on the back end.

A WSET Acceptable wine verging on Good – simple but juicy, and unbalanced between nose and palate. Save your money.

Posted in British Columbia, Chardonnay, Madeleine Sylvaner, Madelleine Angevine, Pinot Blanc, Reichensteiner, WHITE | Tagged bc vqa, Chaberton, chardonnay, Domaine de Chaberton, Langley, Madeleine Angevine, Madeleine Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Reichensteiner, White | Leave a comment

Tawse, Quarry Road Vineyard, Chardonnay, Vinemount Ridge VQA, Ontario, 2011, 13% abv. C$34.95

Posted on July 8, 2015 by winellama

Irony of ironies, although I live in Canada, it’s almost impossible for me to purchase a wine grown and produced in Ontario living here on BC’s west coast.

This was picked up during a trip to the Niagara region in March 2015. The Vinemount Ridge VQA is a sub-appellation and 2011 was a cool vintage.

The wine is a shade a light lemon and has a nose of citrus and Granny Smith apple with caramel and oak.

The palate is dry with average acidity, more green apple, lemon butter, toffee and yes, oak, lots of oak.

A WSET Good wine – extremely heavy wood makes the elegant fruit difficult to enjoy.

Posted in Chardonnay, Ontario, OTHER, WHITE | Tagged 2011, chardonnay, Ontario, Quarry Road Vineyard, Tawse, Vinemount Ridge VQA, white wine | Leave a comment

Bottega, Il Vino dei Poeti, Prosecco DOC, Treviso, Italia, 11% abv, C$18

Posted on July 7, 2015 by winellama

Glera – grape of the ever popular and reasonably priced Italian sparkling wine Prosecco. This selection is perfect for appetizers, brunches, lunch time or summer sipping.

With its fizzy, persistent mousse, this bubble is the palest lemon colour. On the nose, it shows light aromas of almonds, vanilla pod and soft lemon.

The palate is dry with juicy acidity, light alcohol and flavours of bitter almond, frothy lemon meringue, yellow pear and Golden delicious apple.

Showing a moderate finish, this is a simple but delicious bubble. Enjoy, but not with strawberries – they’re only in the picture for colour!

WSET Good

Photo credit: Mike Woods Photography

Posted in Glera, Italy, OTHER, Prosecco, Sparkling Wine, WHITE | Tagged Bottega el Vino dei Poeti, Glera, Italy, Prosecco, sparkling wine, Treviso, white wine | Leave a comment

Viognier, Laughing Stock, Perfect Hedge Vineyard, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2013, 13.8% abv.

Posted on July 6, 2015 by winellama

There’s about 67 ha of white grape, Viognier planted throughout the Okanagan Valley. LFNG is located on the Naramata Bench, but the vineyard these grapes hail from is their Perfect Hedge Vineyard located to the south in Osoyoos and almost smack dab on the US-Canada border. Almost 1 ha of this vineyard is dedicated to Viognier and it’s grown at 320m.

Heady, aromatic and fuller bodied than most white wines, this version is snappy stuff. A beautiful medium gold, its seriously mineral-driven profile has aromas of ripe peach, apricot and nuts.

The palate is dry with juicy acidity and flavours that show more yellow peach and fresh apricot alongside hazelnut, lemon curd, honeysuckle and a tiny taste of toffee from the time 40% of it spent in French oak. Twenty-five percent of the wine aged in concrete egg, while 35% was aged in stainless steel. There’s the right amount of lightly bitter kernel and acacia on the back palate, thankfully less than is in most Viogniers.

With its fresh fruit, crushed rocks and acidity all balanced appropriately with the alcohol, it’s got everything going for it.

A WSET Very Good wine – enjoy now as we did with Kristin and Spence. It’s drinking perfectly.

Posted in British Columbia, Viognier, WHITE | Tagged BC, Laughing Stock Vineyards, Laughing Stock Winery, Naramata Bench, okanagan, Penticton, Perfect Hedge Vineyard, viognier, white wine | Leave a comment

Iron Horse Ranch and Vineyards, Winter’s Cuvée, Sebastopol, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California, 2008, 13.5% abv.

Posted on July 2, 2015 by winellama

We visited this winery in the beautiful Russian River Valley and its 65 ha of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines in 2013. While there, we purchased two bottles – both for children’s high school graduation celebrations. When the second one happened last week, we opened this 2008 Winter’s Cuvée.

Here we have a dry 72% Pinot Noir – 28% Chardonnay blend in which the dosage has been created with a brandy made from Joy Sterling’s distilled Pinot Noir and aged for 20 years. Only 250 cases were made.

The palest shade of lemon, this sparkling wine has a soft and persistent mousse. The nose is very yeasty with lots of fresh bread, ripe, red apples, caramel and deep toffee.

On the palate, the high acidity is a refreshing compliment to the flavours of more bread, red and yellow apples, hazelnuts, walnuts, fig and pear. There’s distinct lemon rind on the back end and the finish is long.

WSET Very Good plus, it made the perfect toast for Andrew’s escape from high school.

Posted in California, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wine | Tagged 2008, california, chardonnay, Green Valley of Russian River Valley, Iron Horse Ranch and Vineyards, pinot noir, Sebastopol, Sonoma County, sparkling wine, Winter's Cuvée | Leave a comment

Tokaji, Aszú Essencia, Royal Tokaji Wine Company, Tokay-Hegyalja, Hungary, 1993, 500 ml, 7.5% abv. C$246-365 (where available).

Posted on June 30, 2015 by winellama

This is an example of the famous Hungarian fully sweet dessert wine, Tokaji (‘Toe-kai‘). I have written about Tokaji before; pop to this page for a refresher.

For this version, producers blend their free run juice with the best Aszú (which is not a grape, but a type of wine made from botrytis affected white Furmint grapes).

This raises the sugar levels and the quality and classification of the wine – and it creates the very special Aszú Essencia which is the bridge between the classic Aszú wines and the incredibly rare Essencia.

To put this into perspective, the average sweet Auslese wines made from Riesling grapes have about 8-9 grams of sugar per litre and a sweeter Beerenauslese would have a high of 128 g/l. The Aszú Essencia boasts 350 grams of sugar per liter. Tooth rotting sweetness but never cloying because of the extremely high acidity which balances the high sugar content, this one is no exception.

A bona fide collectors’ item that was stored upon purchase in 1993 in a darkened and temperature controlled wine cellar, the box wasn’t even opened for over 22 years. From an officially excellent vintage (the best so far are agreed upon as 1993, 1999, 2000), this wine is WSET Outstanding.

A beautiful deep brown, the wine has viscous, thick legs and heavy sediment with deeply developed aromas of Demerera sugar, prune, fig, soft black raisins and over-ripe red apple.
The palate is fully sweet and shows Christmas pudding with brown sugar, more prune, quince and marmalade with orange oil. Literally, this is gorgeous.

The long finish shows off the first class acidity which balances the sweetness. Drinking beautifully now, the acidity can still support this wine for another decade. Although it could be paired with anything from foie gras to blue cheese, I would recommend enjoying it on its own just to savor as much pleasure as possible.

Sumptuously rich, layered, mouth-watering and deeply developed, this is hands down, the most rare and unique wine I’ve enjoyed since I started this journey about 5 years ago.

Thank you, Jane and Kevin, for sharing.

Posted in Furmint, Hungary, Tokaji | Tagged Aszú Essencia, botrytis, Furmint, Hungary, Royal Tokaji Wine Company, sweet wine, Tokaji, Tokay-Hegyalja | Leave a comment

Lorenzon Borgo dei Vassalli, Friulano, Friuli-Venezia Giulia DOC, Italy, 2013, C$15.40 at Marquis

Posted on June 26, 2015 by winellama

Made from the Friulano grape (aka Sauvignonasse) this wine is a characterful white from Fruili-Venezia Giulia in Italy’s northeastern corner and up against the border with Slovenia.

Pale lemon yellow, it has a beautiful fragrance of sweet, white flowers, lemon balm and distinct almond.

The palate is dry with refreshing medium plus acidity and seriously floral tones showing more white blossom, honeysuckle, almond paste, lemon and white peach.

Delicious and different with strong minerality, this is not one of those innocuous Italian white wines. Ditch the Pinot Grigio and enjoy some of this WSET Good plus wine.

Posted in Friulano / Sauvignonasse, Italy, OTHER, WHITE | Tagged Friulano, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, Lorenzon Borgo dei Vassalli Friulano | Leave a comment