MWG July 13th tasting: report (5/5)
Zero de Gris 2009, Frontenac Gris, Huff Estates ($34.95/375 ml)
The winery’s first ever late harvest wine (reportedly it would be an ice wine if VQA rules admitted the grape variety). 100% Frontenac Gris picked when the outside temperature is well below 0ºC (32ºF). Fermented and aged in stainless steel. 11.5% ABV. 300 cases made.
Rich amber in the glass. Spicy, slightly resinous nose reminiscent of goldenrod honey. Medium weight. Sweet but not sacharine or syrupy. Good acidity. Clean citrus and stone fruit linger long. While lacking the kaleidocopic flavours and acidic dazzle of the best Vidal ice wines, this is a pleasant after-dinner sipper.
MWG July 13th tasting: report (4/5)
Pinot Noir 2009, VQA Prince Edward County, Casa-Dea Estates Winery ($20)
Aged 15 months in oak barrels (not new ones, I’d wager). 12.2% ABV.
“Cherry slush” (in the words of one taster) and forest floor: doesn’t really pinote. Light- to medium-bodied. Reedy tannins and tart fruit, like red currants. Flat and lacking depth, though there are some tasty minerals on the finish. Not bad but far better Pinots can be had for about the same price. (Buy again? No.)
Pinot Noir 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Exultet Estates ($35)
The first vintage of this wine. Can’t find any technical info on the 2008 but the 2009 was aged in new oak barrels for about one year. 12.8% ABV.
Earth, berries, beet and some oak on the nose. Initially a dichotomy of fruit and oak in the mouth. Improved with breathing, gaining depth, breadth and balance and eventually holding its own against the Old Third Vineyard and the Hardie. 2008 was a tough vintage in Ontario; this medium-bodied wine was good enough that I’d be interested in tasting the 2009. (Buy again? Maybe a bottle of the 2009.)
Pinot Noir 2009, Cuvée County, VQA Prince Edward County, Rosehall Run ($22)
Made from fruit sourced from various Hillier area vineyards, including the estate’s own. Aged about one year in French oak barrels (no info on their age but probably not a high percentage of new). 12.5% ABV.
Nose of red berries and shoe leather. Smooth and simple, tasting of red berries and beet. Light, tight tannins. Good acidity and minerality. A refreshing, somewhat earthy quaffer. (Buy again? Yes.)
Pinot Noir 2009, County, Unfiltered, VQA Prince Edward County, Norman Hardie ($39)
Aged 11 months in small oak barrels, 40% new. 11.5% ABV.
Rich, Burgundian nose of earth, red berries and oak. Smooth, round, delimited. Pure fruit, a silky texture, fresh acidity and fine tannins. Sits lightly on the palate yet has substance and presence as well as an underlying stoniness. A wine with nearly everything except éclat. Pricey. (Buy again? At $25 probably; at nearly $40 probably not.)
Pinot Noir 2010, The Old Third Vineyard ($42)
Specializing exclusively in Pinot Noir, the winery planted its first vines in 2005. Total production, including a semi-sweet botrytized Pinot Noir, is under 500 cases. High density planting and severe selection keep yields low. This cuvée is fermented in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts, then racked into French oak barrels, a fraction of which are new, where it matures for about one year. Bottled unfiltered, unfined and minimally sulphured. 12.5% ABV.
Ça pinote like none of the others. A silky textured welterweight. The tart red fruit is rooted in stony bedrock, structured by fine tannins, buttressed by woody oak and present through the long finish. Has a depth and complexity that the other wines lack and a combination of elegance and earthiness evocative of Burgundy. (Buy again? Yes.)
Isole e Olena’s 2009 Chianti Classico
This 50-hectare Tuscan estate was created in the 1950s by combining two farms, one called Isole and the other called Olena. It’s good to see their Chianti Classico returning to form after the lean and green 2008. The wine made a near-perfect match with the chicken recipe you’ll find after the jump.
Chianti Classico 2009, Isole e Olena ($27.80, 00515296)
A blend of Sangiovese (82%), Canaiolo (15%) and Syrah (3%). Fermented on the skins in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for around one week, with daily rack-and-returns and pump-overs. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked into old barrels and 4,000-litre botti and aged for about one year. 14% (!) ABV.
Textbook Chianti nose: black cherries and pits, tobacco, terra cotta, cedar, leather and a whiff of kirsch. Medium-bodied. Very dry, almost to the point of austerity but saved by the fruit, which is somehow both very present and elegantly reserved. Astringent tannins – like those in long-steeped tea – and souring acidity provide just enough structure. Long finish with lingering plum peel, wood (not oak) and minerals. Ready to go and probably not a keeper. Sangiovese lovers needn’t hesitate.
Vin de beauté
Ajaccio 2009, Faustine, Domaine Comte Abbatucci (c. $35, Vini-Vins, 12 bottles/case)
Sciacarello (70%) blended with Nielluccio from biodynamically farmed 10- to 15-year-old vines. Macerated 40 days, fermented with ambient yeasts, aged in concrete vats. Around 20,000 bottles are made per vintage. 13% ABV.
Maquis with cedary overtones; sun-baked earth and stones; dried red berries. Medium-bodied. Muted and dried herby on the attack, followed by a light wave of not very sweet fruit (morello cherry?), tingly acidity and fine, astringent tannins that persist through the long, mineral and leaf-scented finish (tobacco? herbs?). Very dry and austere, yet seductive. Very close to the earth, yet noble. About three hours after carafing, it had sweetened and smoothed though lost none of its savour. Final thoughts: Burgundy-like weight, Chianti-like structure, flavour profile all its own. Drink slightly chilled.
Last I checked – a couple of weeks ago – this was still available (Vini-Vins’s website is little more than a placeholder, having been en construction for months, and they don’t have a mailing list). The price is approximate because I didn’t pay for the case and so haven’t seen the final bill.
I first encountered the wine at the Au Pied de Cochon Sugar Shack cookbook launch party, where Vini-Vins and Rézin each had a table of bottles from a half dozen or so estates poured by their respective winemakers. Gobsmacked by the 2006 Bandol rouge from Château Sainte-Anne, the other members of the party didn’t try the remaining wines on the Vini-Vins table and, a few days later, I failed in my attempt to find people to go in on a case. Fast-forward to June, when wapiti called to rave about a wine he’d been served at Café Sardine – the 2009 Faustine rouge – and inquire whether I’d be interested in splitting a case. (A Groundhog Day-like repeat occurred a few weeks ago, only this time the venue was Hôtel Herman and the wine was the 2010 Faustine blanc.)
Oddly, about the same time, friends who had spent part of the previous summer vacationing on the Île de beauté, invited me over for dinner. Two beautiful dry whites were served double-blind and I was instructed to identify their provenance. The texture and flavours pointed to the Mediterranean, the maquis on the nose suggested Corsica. Bingo: Abbatucci’s high-end cuvées, the best Corsicans they had encountered during their two visits to the island. As it turns out, both are also carried by Vini-Vins.
All of which is to say: this is an exceptional estate that makes outstanding wines and we’re fortunate to have access to them.
Nice gneiss
Am taking a short break from Prince Edward County to give me more time to hunt for technical information on the wines. In the meantime…
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine 2009, Expression d’Orthogneiss, Domaine de l’Écu ($20.40, 10919141)
100% biodynamically farmed Melon de Bourgogne (aka Muscadet) grown in a vineyard with a thin, gravelly top soil and an orthogneiss subsoil. Fermented with indigenous yeasts at 15–17ºC (59–63ºF). The winery uses gravity, not pumps, to move the must and wine. 12% ABV.
If wines were paintings, this would be a watercolour. One of the most minerally noses ever: quartz and chalk along with dried lemon. Richer and smoother than usual – surely the vintage speaking – but still subtle and nuanced, possessed of ample acidity and perfect balance. Starts off tasting of green apple- and lemon-flavoured rainwater, turns drier, quartzier and even a little bitter-herbal with a hint of paraffin lingering through the long finish. Beautiful Muscadet. The cork is long, usually a sign that a wine is ageable, and this one certainly is (the estate’s recommended drinking window is 2014–2017).
Though I didn’t take notes, I recently tasted the same producer’s 2010 Expression de Gneiss ($19.95, 10919150). Classic Muscadet, less weighty than the 2009 Orthogneiss (millésime oblige) yet every bit as pure and balanced: a tracery of minerals draped over waxy fruit and lit from within by glowing acidity. While the SAQ may spurn Muscadet’s other leading lights (most notably Domaine Luneau-Papin and Domaine de la Pépière), having regular access to Domaine de l’Écu’s three top cuvées is no small consolation.
See also The Rodney Dangerfield of Wines.
MWG July 13th tasting: report (3/5)
Chardonnay 2010, Unoaked, VQA Prince Edward County, Rosehall Run ($20)
A blend of Chardonnay (65%) and Chardonnay Musqué (35%). Fermented with the light lees in tanks at 10-12ºC. Aged on the lees for about 8 months. Malolactic fermentation kept to a minimum. 12.7% ABV.
Oddly floral but fresh nose with lemon, minerals and a hint of wax. Light textured and dry. Faint fruit (apple, pear, lemon), lots of minerals and a hint of bitterness. Crisp acidity and good length. Clean and refreshing. (Buy again? Sure.)
Chardonnay 2010, County, VQA Prince Edward County, Norman Hardie ($35)
Fermented in temp-controlled stainless steel tanks with gentle stirring of lees. Aged in French oak barrels from various coopers and with various levels of toast. 12.2% ABV.
Muted nose: lemon, apple, minerals and a hint of camphor. Richer than the Rosehall but not heavy. Attractive from the get-go with a minerally attack. Tropical fruit and oak emerge on the mid-palate, then segue into an ashy, lemon-pith finish. (Buy again? The wine has appeal but the QPR is whacky when you can get an excellent premier cru Chabis for less.)
Chardonnay 2009, Unoaked, VQA Prince Edward County, Casa-Dea Estates Winery ($16)
Fermented in stainless steel tanks. Five months’ aging on the lees. 12.9% ABV.
Canned Niblets corn, gaining some tropical fruit. Very dry. Rich, bordering on flabby texture. Little acid backbone and not much follow-through. (Buy again? No.)
Chardonnay 2010, The Blessed, VQA Prince Edward County, Exultet Estates ($35)
No technical info to be found other than a mention that the grapes are “ultra-ripe” and a reference to new oak barrels. Chances are good that it undergoes malolactic fermentation too. 13% ABV.
The nose? “Aunt Jemima’s butt – a happy, fun thing,” to quote one taster. Tropical fruit, butter, ashy oak, vanilla and a hint of caramel. Winey texture. Less than bone dry, though the sweetness and extract are balanced by firm acidity. Good length. In terms of New World style, goes right up to – but not over – the edge. (Buy again? Not my cup of tea – and that’s setting aside the in-your-face religiosity.)
MWG July 13th tasting: report (2/5)
Rosé 2009, Method Traditional, VQA Prince Edward County, Hinterland Wine Co. ($37)
75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. Aged two-plus years on the lees. Disgorged and dosed in batches as stocks run low. 12% ABV.
Medium salmon pink with a faint bronze cast. Fine, lazy bead. Muted nose: bathpowder and a hint of nectarine and yeast. Dry and minerally. Good balance between extract and acidity. Only lightly fruity until the finish, when raspberry swells. As the wine breathes and warms, it turns sweeter and less integrated and gains a faint metallic edge. (Buy again? Maybe, though a QPR winner it’s not.)
3630 Bubble 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Barnyard Wine Co. ($39)
A tiny winery. The wines are made at Hinterland’s facilities. The 3630 refers to the number of vines per acre. For the 2008 vintage, the estate’s entire crop was used for this bubbly, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 11.6% ABV.
Red berries, nectarine and a whiff of brett. Sourish and odd at first but coming around. Quite dry and never very fruity. Racy acidity it has in spades and lots of minerals on the finish. (Buy again? Maybe if it weren’t so expensive.)
Dea’s Cuvée 2008, Méthode cuvée close, VQA Ontario, Casa-Dea Estates Winery ($16)
A blend of Chard and Pinot Noir, with at least some of the fruit coming from elsewhere in the province. Made by the less labour-intensive cuvée close method (aka Charmat process). 12.5% ABV.
Yeasty, sour apple and silage with a metallic edge. Facile, fruity and sweet. Compared with the other wines in the flight, it tasted artificial and cheap. (Buy again? Nope.)
Cuvée Peter F. Huff 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Huff Estates ($45)
A blend of Chardonnay (65%) and Pinot Noir (35%), the winery’s “all-county Blanc de noirs” claim notwithstanding. Traditional method vinification. Spent 30 months on its lees. 600 cases made. 12% ABV.
Delicate on the nose and palate. Rich effervescence. Light lemon and red berries. Quite dry and long with a toasty/yeasty note surfacing on the finish. Very elegant and the standout in this flight. (Buy again? Maybe, though excellent Champagnes can be had for less.)
Les Étoiles 2008, VQA Prince Edward County, Hinterland Wine Co. ($39)
A 50-50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir made using the traditional method. Aged on the lees for more than two years. The name likely refers to Dom Perignon’s apocryphal cry when he had his first sip of sparkling Champagne: “Venez vite, je bois des étoiles !” (Come quick, I am drinking stars!). If so, the winery is throwing down the gauntlet 12% ABV.
Electrum with a fine but plentiful bead. Toast and lemon on the nose. Minerals, lees and faint yellow stone fruit on the palate. A little funky and disjointed on both, improving only slightly as it breathed. Good balance between stuffing and acidity. Showing some depth, breadth and length. Still, it was hard to shake the feeling that the wine was “unsettled,” as one taster put it. An off bottle? Unfortunate because you could see the Champagne-like potential. (Buy again? To give it another chance, yes.)
You say Albariño, I say Alvarhino
One last note before returning to the PEC wines. This never lasts long on the SAQ’s shelves and has almost disappeared from Montreal stores. Carpe diem.
Vinho Verde 2010, Alvarinho, Deu La Deu, Adega Cooperativa Regional de Monçâo ($19.40, 00927996)
The cooperative’s flagship wine. 100% Alvarinho. Two pressings. Allowed to settle 24 hours. Fermented at 18-20ºC (64-68ºF). Racked and filtered before maturation. Cold-stabilized. Passed through earth and membrane filters before bottling. 13% ABV. The name refers to Deu-la-Deu (“God gave her”) Martins, the wife of the mayor of Monção, who, in 1368 during a long Castilian siege, used the last of the city’s flour to bake loaves of bread which she tauntingly threw at the invaders, fooling them into believing that the starving townsfolk had provisions aplenty and that the siege was futile.
Yellow plum and peach, green pineapple in the background and a hint of coriander seed. The sweet-ripe fruit and texture verging on oily would mean heaviness were it not for the crisp acidity, crunchy minerals and surge of grapefruit-pith bitterness that persists through the long, dry finish. In addition to length, there’s considerable breadth and some depth. A bit less remarkable than the dazzling 2009 but easily the best Vinho Verde and best Alvarinho/Albariño I’ve tasted in the interim. Enjoyable as an aperitif, it also proved a natural match for grilled squid. Fish, shellfish and even white meats in southern European preparations will also work.
Now, can we get the monopoly to bring in the co-op’s red Vinho Verde?
Torrette syndrome
(Pardon the pun. I made it so Nick won’t have to.)
The next Prince Edward County post won’t be up for another day or two. In the meantime, here’s a note on an obscurity.
Vallée d’Aosta 2010, Torrette, Grosjean Frères ($25.55, 11660645)
The Aosta Valley is the narrow alpine corridor that connects northwest Italy to France over the St. Bernard pass and, these days, through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Torrette is one of several areas within the larger, but still small, Valle d’Aosta DOC. Torrette wines must be at least 70% Petit Rouge but may also contain Gamay, Dolcetto, Pinot Noir and/or any of several local red grape varieties. At a minimum, Torrette must reach 11% ABV and be aged six months (12% ABV and eight months in oak for Torrette Superiore). Grosjean’s version is 80% Petit Rouge and 20% Vien de Nus, Fumin and Cornalin, all from vines planted between 1975 and 1995. The grapes were destemmed, then macerated on their skins for seven or eight days, with pumping over three times a day. Maturation took place in stainless steel vats. This is stoppered with a plastic cork and clocks in at 12.5% ABV.
Odd nose: dried cherries, leaf mould and earth until you swirl, then dried blood and a hint of vinegary fish sauce. Medium bodied and dry. Not very tannic, though the understated fruit does nothing to hide the fine tannins, meaning there’s an astringent undertow that lingers long. Light, supple, sweet cherry quickly fades to a tart, faintly bitter finish with leaf tea and dried wood notes.
Pricey for what it delivers today. Torrettes are said to improve with up to ten years of cellaring, but you wouldn’t want to test that claim when the closure is a syncork.
This goes well with charcuterie, including lightly smoked meats. The winemaker also recommends it as a pairing for Valdostan “soups,”* a role I can see it playing supremely well.
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*For example: In a baking dish, alternate layers of sliced, butter-toasted country or black bread, Savoy cabbage braised with onion, and slices of fontina cheese. Ladle meat broth over. Top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and a little nutmeg, if you like. Bake in a medium oven until the cheese melts.
Brett happens 
Fall 2012 Cellier release: listing
with one comment
My copy of the fall issue of the SAQ’s Cellier magazine arrived today. As none of the other wine geeks I’ve spoken to have received their copies, as none of the local wine boards have any discussion of it or the associated releases, as the staff at the SAQ Sélection outlet I called seemed clueless about the releases and as SAQ.com currently has no mention of them, I’ve typed up the list of wines involved. You’ll find it after the jump.
The dates of the two Sélection releases are September 13 and 27. The Signature release is on September 20. (I cannot fathom why the dates are kept secret until a week or two before the first release, which greatly complicates the planning of Cellier tastings. The editorial staff must know the dates many weeks if not months in advance. Would it kill them to share that information with us? Announcing the dates and maybe the themes – not the wines – a month or so out might even create some sorely lacking buzz around the releases.)
The main theme is 2009 red Bordeaux. There’s also a handful of purportedly oyster-friendly whites, four non-Bordeaux reds for cellaring, a mini-vertical and a couple of big bottles.
Upmarket Bordeaux being fantastically overpriced, the Sélection releases focus mainly on lesser appellations; there are lots of cru bourgeois wines, Médocs and Haut-Médocs, Pomerol satellites, etc.
The alcohol levels are startlingly high. (In the list, I’ve boldfaced the 14%, 14.5% and 15% wines.) It’s telling that the only Bordeaux under 13% is also the only old wine in the bunch (the 1990 Château Les Ormes Sorbet). Yes, 2009 was a very ripe vintage but there’s obviously something else going on here (Parkerization? New Worldization? Global warming? All of the above?). Interestingly, none of the pricey Signature wines clock in at more than 13.5%.
The Mo’ Wine Group usually holds a tasting in conjunction with each Cellier release. This time around, I’m not sure. While it’s true that the group should probably be tasting more Bordeaux, on first glance I’m finding it hard to muster much enthusiasm for this lineup. Unfortunately, that’s beginning to seem like a trend: Cellier releases used to generate a lot of enthusiasm online and in the stores. These days, not so much.
UPDATE (2012-08-30): The “Bravo Bordeaux” listing is finally available on SAQ.com. Going by comments online and off (here, for example), I’m not the only person who finds it lacking.
Read the rest of this entry »
Written by carswell
August 23, 2012 at 17:31
Posted in Commentary, Events, News
Tagged with Bordeaux, Cellier