Posts Tagged ‘QPR winner’
MWG July 17th tasting: EGBB shoot-out
EGBB = easy-going Bordeaux blend.
North Fork of Long Island 2010, First Crush Red, Bedell Cellars ($25.30, 11040180)
Merlot (76%) and Cabernet Franc (24%) from young vines. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Vinified and matured in stainless steel tanks at low temperatures.13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: ???.
Black cherry cordial, cassis and a hint of graphite and a candied note that led one taster to remark “sports card bubble gum.” In the mouth, it’s a smooth-textured middleweight that somehow also manages to be light-bodied. Juicy, bordering-on-overripe fruit, light dusty tannins, sufficient acidity. The noticeable residual sugar weighs on the palate and rules out refreshment. A wine for people who don’t care much for wine? (Buy again? Nope.)
Côtes du Marmandais 2012, Le vin est une fête, Elian Da Ros ($20.65, 11793211)
A blend of organically farmed Merlot (60%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and Abouriou (20%). Manually harvested. The Merlot and Cabernet are destemmed, macerated for ten to 15 days and gently pressed. The Abouriou clusters are kept whole and vinified using semi-carbonic maceration. All fermentations are with indigenous yeasts. The wine is matured 14 months in old barrels. Unfined and lightly filtered before bottling. Sulphur is added only on bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Closed, initially funky nose showing lots of Bordeaux qualities – pencil shavings and cigar box, for example – but also exuberantly un-Bordeaux-like fruit along with some black pepper, red meat and a vegetal edge. The young, lightly raspy, appealingly rustic tannins notwithstanding, a fundamentally supple, silky-textured wine. The fruit – so pure and juicy – shines bright against a backdrop of dark minerals and lasts well into the tart finish. True to its name, this fresh and lively wine is a celebration of wine-making and wine-drinking. Drink slightly chilled. (Buy again? In multiples.)
Drunken cathedral
Pardon the Debussy pun…
Dâo Reserva 2008, Catedral, Cavas Velhas ($13.45, 00739680)
Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo, 50%), Alfrocheiro (30%) and Touriga Nacional (20%). Fully destemmed. Macerated and fermented in temperature-controlled (28°C) tanks. Matured for six months in Allier oak barrels and two months in the bottle. 13% ABV. $11.15 in Ontario. Quebec agent: Mosaiq.
Red plum, blackberry, spice, cocoa, blood, slate and something fresh, green and sappy, like crushed berry leaves and stems. Medium-bodied. Smooth but textured by nipping acidity, fine tannins and a faint astrengency. The nose’s slate and sap come out on the fair finish. The ripe fuit is a little too laden with oak. Were it not, this would be better – a pure and juicy quaffer. As it is, not bad, though best served lightly chilled and with food than without. (Buy again? Meh, though people less allergic oak needn’t hesitate.)
MWG May 15th tasting (1/6): Pink of course
Corse Calvi rosé 2013, Fiumeseccu, Domaine Alzipratu ($22.80, private import, NLA)
A blend of saignée and directly pressed juice, mostly Sciacarello though a little Nielluccio may also have made its way into the mix. If memory serves, this is 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Effusive nose of pink grapefruit, nectarine, garrigue, cat pee and cotton candy. Clean, citrusy and peachy on the palate. The gush of ripe fruit is carried on a stream of acidity to a dry, savoury finish with a saline snap and a quartz aftertaste. While I thought it was true to form and therefore excellent, especially for the price, most around the table – including several longtime fans – were unconvinced. One taster in particular, who’d bought a case with a party in view, expressed disappointment and regret. Note, however, that she opened one of her bottles the following weekend and totally revised her opinion, declaring the wine classic and delicious (top sommeliers around town agree with that assessment). A QPR winner. (Buy again? Done!)
Patrimonio rosé 2012, Domaine d’E Croce, Yves Leccia ($24.80, 11900821)
100% Nielluccio. Manually harvested. Made from the same juice used for the estate’s red wines but bled off (saignée) after 12 hours’ maturation. Cold-settled for 12 hours, then fined. Fermented in stainless steel tanks at 18°C for 15 to 20 days. Malolactic fermentation is prevented. Matured six months in stainless steel tanks. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Le Maître de Chai.
Compared with the Alzipratu, smoother, sweeter, rounder and grapier – redolent of peach, strawberry and watermelon with maquis overtones. Weightier too, though kept from heaviness by glowing acidity and a faint carbon dioxide tingle. The rainwater minerality turns saline on the long finish. Not light and refreshing enough to be a first choice for sipping on the deck or balcony. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something to serve with your aïoli monstre… (Buy again? Sure.)
oenopole workshop: picnic wines (3/4)
The reds were also served with three sandwiches: a Jewish-French fusion of chopped chicken liver and mousse de foies de volaille on raisin bread; open-faced corned beef garnished with red cabbage; and beef salami with chiles on a lobster roll-style hot dog bun. As is always the case at Hof Kelsten, everything – including the corned beef, salami, pickles and ballpark mustard – was made in house.
Achaïa 2012, Kalavryta, Tetramythos ($16.10, 11885457)
The estate is located in Achaea, on the Gulf of Corinth in the northern Peloponnese. This wine is made using the free-run juice from organically farmed Black of Kalavryta (Μαύρο Καλαβρυτινό) grapes, an indigenous variety once widely grown in the area but now nearly extinct. Alcoholic fermentation (with native yeasts) and nine months’ maturation are in stainless steel vats. Malolactic fermentation is prevented. Use of sulphur dioxide is kept to a bare minimum. The wine is unfined but coarsely filtered before bottling. 13% ABV.
While other bottles have often been reductive, the wine needing at least a couple of hours in a carafe to right itself, this was sweet from the get-go. Lightly candied red fruit, dark spice, slate, undergrowth and a hint of band-aid. Medium-bodied, supple, juicy and dry, with enough acidity to keep things perky. Not very tannic though a faint astringency and bitterness mark the finish. A savoury vin plaisir and a QPR winner. Drink slightly chilled. (Buy again? Yes.)
> A surprisingly good match for the chicken liver, which brought out the wine’s fruit. Excellent with the salami, unfazed by the smouldering chiles. Serviceable with the corned beef. Based on this sampling, the most picnic fare-friendly of the reds.
Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits 2011, Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand ($27.65, 11668698)
100% Pinot Noir from vines averaging 43 years old. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Three days’ cold maceration was followed by 11 days’ alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts, punch-downs and pump-overs. Undergoes malolactic fermentation. Matured 12 months on the lees, 20% in new oak barrels. Blended and filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Classic red Burg nose: red berries, old wood, beet, minerals, forest floor and hint of new oak. A medium-bodied, silky textured delight with sweet-ripe fruit, supple tannins, bright acidity and darker mineral and wood flavours that linger through the clean finish. As elegant as in earlier vintages but even purer and fresher. (Buy again? Yes.)
> Good with the chicken liver, the berry fruit coming to the fore. Worked with the salami but not with the chiles, which killed the wine. The best of the three wines with the corned beef.
Côtes du Rhône 2011, Daumen ($21.00, 11509857)
Biodynamically and organically farmed Grenache (60%), Syrah (30%) and Mourvèdre (6%) according to the SAQ (earlier vintages have included a dollop of Cinsault) from vines averaging 60 years old. Although marketed under Jean-Paul Daumen’s négociant label, the grapes come from the estate’s own vineyards. Manually harvested, partially destemmed, fermented in temperature-controlled vats with indigenous yeasts and punch-downs for about 20 days, matured approximately 12 months in concrete vats and neutral 50-hl barrels and bottled unfiltered and unfined. Sulphur is added – and then minimally – only just before bottling. 14.5% ABV.
Heady nose of lightly stewed plum, sweet spice, black pepper, leather and graphite. A suave middleweight filled – but not packed – with sweet fruit, enlivening acidity and ripe, round tannins. Pepper and spice perfume the long finish. So fresh and drinkable, the kind of wine the QPR Winner tag was made for. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
> Didn’t sing with the chicken liver. Not bad with the salami, though the chiles did the wine no favours. Very good with the corned beef. Would really shine with grilled red meat – a lamb burger, say.
MWG March 20th tasting (6/7): A couple of classic Chiantis
Chianti Classico 2011, San Fabiano Calcinaia ($21.95, 10843327)
A blend of Sangiovese (85%), Colorino, Canaiolo and Malvasia Nera; the estate is reportedly converting to organic production. Controlled-temperature fermentation and maceration on the skins for ten to 15 days followed by gentle pressing. Matured in second- and third-fill casks for 12 to 18 months. The lots are vinified separately and blended just before bottling. 14.5% ABV.
Architypical Chianti nose: cherry, terracotta, cedar, leather. Medium-bodied, structured and long. The combination of restrained fruit, drying tannins, tart acidity and heady finish produces an austerity that the almost-integrated oak sweetens only a little and that fairly demands the wine be drunk with food. Excellent QPR. (Buy again? Yes.)
Chianti Classico 2011, Isole e Olena ($29.95, 00515296)
A blend of Sangiovese (80%), Canaiolo (15%) and Syrah (5%). Fermented on the skins in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks for 15 days, with daily rack-and-returns and pump-overs. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked into barrels (5% new) and 4,000-litre botti and matured for about one year. 14% ABV.
Brambly cherry, cedar, peppery spice, dried earth, faint tobacco leaf. The juicy fruit is grounded in dark minerals, pointed by acidity and structured by soft tannins that turn dustily astringent on the long, tart, fragrant finish. Balanced and classy if lush, weighty and warm for an Isole e Olena. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG March 20th tasting (4/7): Go-to Venetos
IGT Veneto 2008, Campo Massimo, Albino Piona ($19.05, 12132035)
100% Corvina from 10- to 15-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Destemmed and pressed. Fermented and macerated in temperature-controlled tanks with pumping over and rack-and-returns. Aged ten months in stainelss steel tanks. 13% ABV.
Intriguing aromatic nose: floral, strawberry jam, leather, earth, lipstick. Fresh and lively in the mouth with the weight and structure of a Beaujolais cru. Tart berries and cherry sing while bell pepper and chervil hit a savoury note. Fair length. Very throwbackable, especially when lightly chilled. How do you say vin plaisir in Italian? (Buy again? Yes.)
Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso 2012, Morandina, Prà ($21.65, 12131964)
A blend of organically farmed Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Oselata. Destemmed, pressed and transferred to tall vats for 15 days’ fermentation and maceration with rack-and-returns. Transferred to 20-hectolitre oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. The resulting wine in then macerated on the skins of grapes used to make Amarone for five days at 25 to 30°C, during which time a second fermentation takes place (this step is what makes it a ripasso). Lastly, the wine is transferred to large barrels and a few French oak casks for a further 18 months’ maturation. 13.5% ABV.
Morello cherry, blackberry, bell pepper, fresh herbs and spice, in particular white pepper and licorice. Medium-bodied, tart and juicy, balanced. The fruit is clean, the tannins supple, the acidity fresh. Dark minerals and a bitter thread add depth. Exits as suavely as it enters. Not a vin de contemplation but perfect in its way. Great QPR. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG February 13th tasting (4/5): Baby Barbaresco
An impromptu addition to the lineup. Having had such a positive encounter with the wine at Orange Rouge, I brought a show-and-tell bottle to the tasting room to let the others know of its arrival. “How much extra would it cost to pop the cork tonight?” came the question. “Two dollars each,” was the answer, which elicited a collective “Go for it.” And we did, right then and there.
Langhe Nebbiolo 2012, Produttori del Barbaresco ($24.40, 11383617)
100% Nebbiolo from young vines, all of which are located within the Barbaresco DOC. Fermented with selected “Barolo” yeasts at 28ºC in stainless steel tanks. Macerated on the skins for 24 days. Matured six months in very large oak barrels. No fining, light filtering, minimal sulphur dioxide. 13.5% ABV.
Fragrant nose of cherry, sandalwood, tar and a floral note. A silky middleweight with sleek acidity and edgy tannins that add a light astringency to the long, clean finish. Wood and minerals darken the bright fruit, creating a kind of chiaroscuro effect in the mouth. Remarkable purity, energy and balance. Very similar to the Orange Rouge bottles but coming across as more structured and austere, probably due to the lack of food to soften its tannins and acidity and probably meaning that the wine will benefit from a year or two in the cellar or an hour or two in a carafe. Despite the SAQ’s recent 60¢ price hike, this remains one of the great red wine bargains at the monopoly. (Buy again? By the truckload.)
Soave sia il vino
Yet another wine that the MWG bought multiple cases of when it was a private import has shown up at the SAQ.
Soave Colli Scaligeri 2011, Castelcerino, Cantina Filippi ($18.85, 12129119)
A subzone of the Soave DOC, the Colli Scaligeri (Scaligeri hills) is considered something of a grand cru, though oddly enough, it is located just outside the Soave Classico zone. The organically farmed grapes for this 100% Garganega come from vines averaging 45 years old. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Matured on the fine lees for about six months, with occasional stirring, and an additional year in the bottle. Lightly filtered. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Wafting nose of pear, camomile, white spice, limestone and powdered honey. Lush texture. Dry yet so extract-rich you don’t really notice. The fruit is present but subdued: Asian pear on a bed of hay and straw. A saline undercurrent adds a savoury tang. The cuvée’s signature minerals are there but rounder, less crystalline, more chalk than the quartz of earlier vintages. The acidity is rounder too, surely a function of the hot summer. A bitter note – grapefruit pith and almond skin – emerges on the long finish. A richer, weightier, slightly less mineral- and acid-driven example of this wine but one that delivers enormous pleasure. Astounding QPR. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)
(The post’s title is a play on the title of a sublime trio from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, which I mention only because it gives me an excuse to link to this video of a masterful performance.)
First-rate second growth
Sauternes 2008, Château Doisy-Védrines ($25.50/350 ml, 11843177)
A 2ième cru classé de Barsac (Barsac is one of five Sauternes communes; its AOC wines can be labelled Sauternes or Barsac at the producer’s discretion). Sémillon (80%), Sauvignon Blanc (17%) and Muscadelle (3%). Manually harvested in multiple passes through the vineyard. Gently pressed then fermented for three to four weeks in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Matured 15 to 18 months in French oak barrels, around two-thirds of which are new. Filtered and fined before bottling. 13.5% ABV.
Classic nose: peach, citrus (orange? Meyer lemon?), hints of tropical fruit, honey, butterscotch, sweet oak and botrytis. Lush but not heavy, sweet but not cloying, in no small part due to the lively acidity. The fruit hasn’t totally lost its connection with the grape – not a given in Bordeaux’s sweet wines. Otherwise, the palate echoes the nose. A light wash of coconut and vanilla colours the long finish, which is blessedly free of the solvent notes that occasionally show up in Sauternes. Not as deep as some overachievers but with stuffing and balance enough to age for at least a decade. For now though, it’s delicious on its own and will surely accompany traditional pairings like Roquefort and foie gras to a T. (Buy again? Yes.)
Striking gold at Orange Rouge
The parallels were eerie. Dinner at a new-to-me restaurant. Spotting a vintageless Langhe Nebbiolo on the short wine list. Inquiring whether it might be the just-arrived Produttori del Barbaresco bottling and being met with incomprehension from the server, who offers to fetch a bottle and see. A eureka moment when the bottle is brought to the table. And a revelation when the wine is drunk with the food.
It first happened in March of 2012 at the now-defunct Jane. And it happened again the other night at Orange Rouge.
At a tasting a little more than a year ago, the Produttori’s general manager Aldo Vacca mentioned that after the “light” 2010s and “extremely ripe” 2011s, the low-yielding 2012 vintage was “ideal.” So I was stoked when I saw that the cooperative’s 2012 Langhe Nebbiolo had shown up at the SAQ ($23.70, 11383617). I’d reserved a couple of bottles but hadn’t tasted it.
Meanwhile back at Orange Rouge, we were having a hard time deciding what to order. Among the big dishes, both the roast duck and the three-ways arctic char beckoned. But discovering the wine clinched it: we were going for the quacker. “Be aware the duck requires about 30 minutes to prepare,” the server said. “You might want to order a few small dishes to eat while you wait.”
That we did, along with a 750 ml bottle of Ferran Adrià’s Estrella Damm Inedit ($8.30 at the SAQ, 11276336). The sriracha peanuts came in a small bowl and were crunchy-caramelized, mildly salty/spicy/sweet and compulsively edible. The popcorn shrimp, well breaded and deep-fried to a crispy brown, tasted of the sea and, if they didn’t exactly pop, they definitely snapped. A salad of fresh mint sprigs in a light, savoury, subtly spiced vinaigrette was delicious on its own and a quantum leap better with the garnish of crumbled fresh goat cheese. The beer more than held its own with everything: softly fragrant and effervescent, clean and light enough to refresh the palate and, with its delicate white spice and orange peel notes, complex enough to play off the spices in the food. In other contexts it has left me unconvinced, but here it was ideal.
Just after the wine was opened and poured, the duck made a spectacular entrance: a bed of stir-fried (?) napa cabbage, ringed by thin, overlapping slices of duck breast, crowned with mahogany-skinned thighs, wings and drumsticks and bed-headed with a shock of julienned carrot and zucchini. On a separate platter came a fan of largish half-moon steamed buns, a soy-based dipping sauce and cilantro leaves. The duck’s breast and extremities may have been cooked separately, as each was done to moist, rosy perfection; the pieces we savoured on their own, the breast slices with the buns. The cabbage, which required time and some digging to get at, had no wok hai but duck juice mojo in spades. The dish was a lot for three people, easily enough for four or, with an added side or two, six; still, there was never a question of our not polishing it off. It was, in a word, glorious, the best duck any of us has encountered in a restaurant or maybe anywhere. And it puts the “Peking” duck at places like Mon Nan and Cristal Chinois to shame.
The only side we ordered was a small dish of burned eggplant, the silken flesh garnished with bonito shavings and plated with a smear of mild green chile sauce. Delectable.
The Langhe proved an absolute delight, fully deserving of its advance billing. Redolent of cherry and blackberry with hints of tar, rose and anise, despite being served in small Duralex tumblers. Supple and fluid yet intensely flavoured at its core, the acidity illuminating, the tannins ripe and rasping, the sweet fruit lilting over a ground bass of slate, wood and earth. Delicious on its own, it sang with the duck and did bel canto duets with the eggplant. In short, a wine to buy by the case.
Stuffed to the gills, we could find room only for a small bowl of house-made orange ice cream served with three spoons. Smooth and silky, not very sweet and haunted more than flavoured by the citrus, it had a soft peppery kick from a scattering of slivered candied ginger.
The damage? With one bottle of beer and two bottles of the Langhe (the resto’s markup on alcohol appears to be the standard 110%, alas), $250 for three or $85 a person, including taxes but before tip. The food alone came to less than $50 per. A bit pricey compared with other Chinatown eateries, perhaps. Then again, other Chinatown eateries aren’t really comparable.
The Langhe’s distribution appears to be spotty. Some stores are currently showing inventories approaching and even exceeding 100 bottles. Others have received only a fraction of that number and are quickly blowing through their stock. A second shipment is slated to arrive in a month or so. Still, to be on the safe side, you should act fast. You simply will not find a more beguling Old World red at the regular price. And if you reserve your bottles now and pick them up on Valentine’s Day weekend, you’ll get 10% off (if part of a total purchase of $100 or more), which has to make this the QPR winner of the year.
Failing that, put together a party of food and wine lovers and make a beeline for Orange Rouge.
Brett happens 