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Spain Triumphant
Welcome to Friday First I have always had a soft spot for this wine, which comes complete with the black Torres bull sporting white horns. You can see my comments on the 2004 vs. 2005 vintages entitled “Getting the Bull from Santa” published on December 23, 2006 to see click here . Yes, it still is a great buy - but it’s much more modern, both in taste and packaging. The fruit is fresh and focused on cherries. There’s nary a hint of heat or oxidation, nor any excessive oak. In fact, the aging in American and French oak has been reduced from 8 to only 6 months. It now comes with a sealed screwcap, which happens to be very convenient at outdoor events where flies are always willing to die just to get a wee nip. So-long corky wines & flies, hello fruit. You will also find on the label a new green seal “Preserving the Environment” reflecting the steps that Torres is taking to reduce waste. In fact, Torres has budgeted 5 million Euros to reforesting woodlands.
Moving on to wines for Canada Day. Once again we have created a detailed summary of Ontario’s 2008 award winners. To date, there have been three “competitions” and a total of 177 awards. Only 11 winners, however, have received awards in two competitions – none in three. To see our 2008 list of award winning wines sorted by category click here, sorted by winery click here I am working my way through the various winners and, in some instances, rather astounded by the results. Of course, as the competition judging panels reflect a composite of palates, there are bound to be many surprises. Having participated in numerous international events, I can tell you that I often see wonderful wines bite the dust. To help, I will be highlighting various wines that I personally feel are deserving for your enjoyment.
 Here is another recent Ontario pick. Don’t miss Jackson-Triggs 2006 Delaine Vineyard Riesling (17509) at $19.95, which has been bumped up from a rating to . It has a fairly intense, gently spicy, ripe lemon-melon nose. On the palate it is dry and medium to medium-light bodied with well balanced, very classy, ripe lemony, melon and apple flavours with a bright, crisp finish. A great refresher that gets better every time I taste it.
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It was a hot time at local bar yesterday with glasses of held high toasting 
To add a lift to your upcoming celebration, rather than splash around with Champagne, try 
Having said that, I can heartily recommend the dry, harmonious, fruity Trius 2007 White, which is being released this weekend at the Hillebrand winery. Be aware that there can be dramatic shifts in quality from year to year. For instance, I was not keen on some of the 2004 releases. So when I highly recommended the outstanding Trius 2005 Red made by new winemaker Darryl Brooker, many readers inadvertently bought the 2004 carried at Vintages (they were disappointed). The current tasty 2006 is not as good as the 2005, while the upcoming 2007 should be terrific, perhaps even better.