winellama

Columbia Crest Grand Estates, Merlot, Columbia Valley, Washington, 2008, 13.5% abv, C$20

Posted on September 11, 2012 by winellama

After California, the US state that produces the most wine is Washington. The Columbia Valley AVA lies mostly in Washington State, but a portion of it overlaps into Oregon. At its northern most end, it extends almost into BC’s Okanagan Valley. It lies in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains between 46 and 46 degrees meaning it is positioned at the same latitude as Bordeaux and Burgundy.

It’s semi-arid though and receives little rainfall, so irrigation occurs but there are hot summer temperatures winemakers can take advantage of to ripen some challenging varietals. As a result, the area is renowned for Merlot, Chardonnay and even age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon.

This is an inexpensive version of Cab Sav from a very large, commercial producer.

Clear with a ruby core moving to a wide pink rim with noticeable legs, this wine has medium intense aromas of black plum, blackberry, clove and vanilla. The alcohol is a little intense.

Dry with average acidity, medium tannins and average body, it shows medium plus intense flavours of blackberry, blueberry, ripe damson plum, vanilla and baking spice. Over the course of the evening, it opened up to some deeper blackcurrant along with savoury mushroom and forest notes. There is the tiniest hint of greeness – a little bit of green bell pepper – nicely integrated. The finish is solid.

An inexpensive wine – this is a good find. WSET Good, drink now, but don’t age any longer.

Posted in Merlot, RED, Washington State, Washington State | Tagged columbia crest, Columbia Valley, merlot, red wine, Washington | Leave a comment

Lachini Vineyards, Cuvée Giselle, Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, 2006, 14.2% abv, C$95/US$65

Posted on September 9, 2012 by winellama

Last Thursday evening I went to ‘Oregon Takes Vancouver’ at the Stanley Park Pavilion and enjoyed tasting over 20 different wines from the Willamette Valley to prepare for a trip we’re planning.

I spoke with the winemaker at the Stanley Park event and even he was excited that I had this bottle tucked away. We purchased it months ago when I was reading about US wines for a WSET 3 class.

The Cuvée Giselle, named for their daughter, is clear with a pale garnet core and light ruby rim, moderate and even legs. On the nose, it has a medium intensity with developing aromas of ripe Bing cherries, strawberries and raspberries, west coast cedar and spicy vanilla.

The palate is dry with medium acidity and hardly noticeable dusty, silky tannins. There’s medium plus alcohol and body and this wine is bursting with flavours of cherry, raspberry, and blackberry, evolving into cedar fronds, wild mushrooms, a savory sweet bacon and a herbaceous mint.

The wild rice and roasted vegetables complimented the nutty and savory aspects of the wine beautifully. With its long finish, this wine is WSET Outstanding. Full, even, integrated, and brimming with cherries, cedar and spice. We couldn’t get enough of it. Neither jammy nor overdone – it was a beautiful thing.

A premium wine at C$95, we opened this at 6 years old. Drinking well now; not intended for any additional aging. This went beautifully with a classic west coast meal – roasted salmon, wild rice and barbecued vegetables.

Posted in Oregon, Pinot Noir, RED | Tagged cuvée giselle, Lachini Vineyards, pinot noir, red wine, Willamette Valley | Leave a comment

Stefano Faina, Gavi DOCG, Italy, 2011, 12% abv. C$31

Posted on September 9, 2012 by winellama

It was a really warm Saturday in September, so what better way to get ready for dinner than to enjoy a light Italian Gavi with some tart green olives and a little cheese.

This wine has a pale lemon green core moving to a thin water white rim with moderate legs. Its nose has a youthful medium minus intensity with very delicate aromas of apricots, white peaches and some light bergamot citrus.

On the palate, it’s dry with medium acidity, average and a medium minus body. Its light flavours include stone fruit and more green lime.

With its average finish, this is a WSET Good. Drink it now and don’t age.

Perfetto per un pomeriggio di fine estate!

Posted in Gavi, Italy, WHITE | Tagged Gavi, Italy, Stefano Faina, white wine | Leave a comment

Wente Vineyards, Sandstone, Merlot, Livermore Valley, California, 2009, 13.5% abv.

Posted on September 3, 2012 by winellama

In keeping with the recent Merlot roll I’ve seemingly been on, I opened up another bottle tonight to enjoy on this Labour Day weekend.

About a month ago I went to a US wines tasting and this was one of the wines we enjoyed. Livermore is located in the East Bay area close to San Francisco, so perhaps a little warmer than it would be on the coast, but this winery must be doing something right as its been in existence for over 125 years. They claim to be the longest family-run winery in California.

This wine is clear, medium minus ruby at the core moving to a wide light pink rim with noticeable legs. On the nose it’s clean, medium intensity, with youthful aromas of red fruit, some herbaceousness, blueberry and vanilla.

On the dry palate there’s average acidity, a very light tannin and the medium plus alcohol is a little unbalanced with this. The medium body is enhanced with flavours of blueberry, red fruit (raspberry), some greenness, baking spice and vanilla from the 16 months it spent in wood.

The finish is average on this WSET Good wine. Drink now, not intended for aging.

Posted in California, Merlot, RED, Red | Tagged california, livermore valley, merlot, red wine, wente | Leave a comment

Merlot, La Stella Maestoso, Okanagan Valley VQA, BC, 2008, 14.7% abv.

Posted on September 2, 2012 by winellama

In honour of a couple of great friends we had over tonight, I opened the La Stella 2008 Maestoso we purchased in Osoyoos). This was after we enjoyed a bottle of Vindication Cellars’ rosé and realized we’d been in Osoyoos and Oliver at the exact same time).

The flagship wine of La Stella, Maestoso is a 100% Merlot that is described as being the ‘perfect accompaniment to great cuts of meat that are prepared simply’.

We hand rubbed the prime rib with Montreal steak spice and roasted it and served the wine alongside rice, barbecued vegetables and a tomato-bocconcini salad with basil. La Stella doesn’t fine or filter their wines, so we probably should have decanted this beauty; there was sediment in the bottle. But, it didn’t detract in the slightest from the tasting experience

The alcohol is high but integrated and the mouthfeel, flavours and aromas intense. Opaque purple, the wine was brimming with blueberries and black plums, mocha and cedar with some gamey notes over the evening. It’s young but not astringent. Wonderfully balanced and round with ripe tannins showing the perfect grip for our prime rib. The finish was long.

WSET Outstanding wine; drink now, not meant for additional aging.

An expensive (premium priced) wine at $95. This is evidence that the Okanagan CAN compete on the world stage albeit at a cost that is substantially more than it probably should be to the consumer.

Posted in BC, Merlot, RED | Tagged BC, La Stella Winery, Maestoso, merlot, Okanagan Valley, red wine | Leave a comment

Merlot, Heaven’s Gate, Summerland, Okanagan Valley 2009 14.5% abv, C$25

Posted on August 31, 2012 by winellama

So now for a little bit of that wine a movie almost single handedly killed the market for.

We picked this Merlot up in Summerland on the Bottleneck Drive wine tour. Heaven’s Gate Estate Winery used to be a peach orchard and like most that have made the switch over to vines, opened recently in 2011. They have a great do-it-yourself vibe and an even greater winery dog.

This wine is clear, medium plus ruby at the core moving to a thin light ruby rim with deep legs. On the nose it’s clean with medium intensity and developing aromas of dark purple plum, spice and cedar. The high alcohol is noticeable here.

On the palate, it’s dry with medium plus acidity, medium tannin, more high alcohol and a medium body. It shows flavours of plum, Byng cherry, cedar, a little baking spice and smoke. The finish is medium, but the high alcohol makes it slightly unbalanced.

This wine is the front end of WSET Good; drink now, not meant for aging.

Posted in BC, Merlot, RED | Tagged BC, Heaven's Gate, merlot, Okanagan Valley, red wine, Summerland | Leave a comment

Barbera, Sandhill, Small Lots Program 10 Barrels, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2009, 15% abv, $30

Posted on August 27, 2012 by winellama

Boasting they have the only Barbera grown in Canada, Sandhill has produced a few vintages of this Italian varietal for BC red wine drinkers.

I wanted to have something not too tannic and a little fruity for the meatballs, so turned to this single vineyard, small lot wine (432 cases produced).

Barbera is usually a fairly uncomplicated wine, and as such it worked well with the meatballs and rice – the moderate acidity accompanying the tomato sauce.

Dark ruby red core, it had marked legs and a thick light ruby rim. With medium acidity and nicely integrated tannins, it has aromas and flavour characteristics of ripe Italian prune plum and purple Byng cherries.

The wine sports an average finish and is WSET Good. Enjoy now, not meant for further aging.

Posted in Barbera, BC, RED | Tagged Barbera, BC, Okanagan Valley, red wine, Sandhill | Leave a comment

Viognier, Black Hills Estate Winery, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2010, 13.4% abv.

Posted on August 26, 2012 by winellama

This one’s for my pal Michelle in Menlo, CA – that’s vee-oh-knee-yay for your neighbour, Michelle. Don’t worry, it gets easier to say the more you drink.

Until recently, there was not much Viognier grown outside of France. In fact, by 1965 there was only 8ha of it being grown in Condrieu in the Northern Rhone region of France. Now, it is popular because of its rarity and in 2011, it was actually named as the state grape of Virginia!

This version is full of medium plus citrus – lemon, yellow grapefruit and pomello – punctuated with spice. There was more tropical style fruit on the second day with pineapple and guava.

A lovely medium minus lemon at the core, this wine was a pleasure to drink. I can imagine it with chicken or even seafood or oysters just because of the strong lemon aromas and flavour characteristics. A solid WSET Good wine. Enjoy now; not meant for aging.

Posted in BC, Viognier, WHITE | Tagged BC, black hills, Okanagan Valley, viognier, white wine | Leave a comment

Church & State, Syrah, Coyote Bowl, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2009

Posted on August 24, 2012 by winellama

There was something inspirational about tasting this wine at the outdoor bar at Church & State’s Oliver operation – but when we opened it at Whistler, it was spectacular.

Deep ruby and savoury, there was significant spice and red fruit in addition to layers of black plum and bramble. The savoury notes grew as the wine spent some time in the glass to show bacon and cured meat. With the lengthy finish, this is a balanced and complex BC wine.

Everyone was impressed by this one – there has to be some reason it won Canada’s Best Wine in 2011.

A WSET Very Good wine; drink now and whenever possible.

Posted in BC, RED, Shiraz / Syrah | Tagged BC, Church & State, Coyote Bowl, Okanagan Valley, red wine, syrah | Leave a comment

Syrah, Le Vieux Pin, Okanagan Valley VQA, BC, 2009, 14.3% abv.

Posted on August 24, 2012 by winellama

The Le Vieux Pin wines come with lots of information on their labels – and this one is made from grapes grown at Dead Man Lake and the Black Sage Bench near Oliver.

Grown on mostly sandy gravel, clay and shale, there were 975 cases made. Unfined and unfiltered, there was a lot of sediment and we probably should have decanted to avoid that.

We enjoyed it, with spaghetti, fresh tomato sauce and bbq’d spicy chicken sausage.

A deep ruby core moving to a thick pink rim, it showed significant field berries, plums, black pepper and spice – cloves. It’s slender and more elegant than a ‘new world’ styled Syrah.

Deep with soft, integrated tannins, this is a WSET Good wine.

Posted in BC, RED, Shiraz / Syrah | Tagged BC, Le vieux pin, okanagan valley vqa, red wine, syrah | Leave a comment