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Fine
Wine Buys
Event Highlights for the New Year
©
Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post
Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday,
December 30, 2006
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There is a point when one simply stops counting. I am referring, of course, to the number of wines I taste during the course of a year. It's a bit shocking to admit that since the temporary cessation of twice-weekly LCBO tastings, where detailed notes would be made on up to 300+ items, I am finally enjoying wine with my meals more than ever.
The past year has been a bit of a roller coaster. First of all, a big thank you to all the winemakers who have spent countless hours with me detailing how they made the wines being tasted. Knowing how much love, sweat and tears goes into making that bottle, I genuinely wish that every wine could be a winner. As someone who has to pass judgment, however, some efforts are going to be much more successful than others. I make no apologies about sharing the crème de la crème every week with National Post readers.
Of all the 2006 highlights, the top event was Canada's own incomparable
Wine
Summit Lake Louise. It featured remarkable
vertical/horizontal tastings along with sublime wine-pairing meals from
renowned producers, such as Chateau Margaux, Australia's Two Hands,
California's Insignia, Italy's La Spinetta, etc. The 2007 event takes
place from May 31 to June 3 at the Post Hotel
in Lake Louise and will be feature Oregon's Beaux Frères Pinot Noir, an
incredible vertical from one of Bordeaux's most famous second growths
Château Cos d'Estournel, Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia, etc. The entry cost
for this intimate event is $2,575 per person including taxes/gratuities -
perfect for lottery winners (click
here to see).
Another
2007 highlight includes the upcoming Pinot
Noir 2007, which only takes place every three years
in Wellington, New Zealand. A technically oriented trade event, Pinot Noir
fans can also register for it and/or specific consumer tastings. It takes
place from January 29 to February 1 and the cost is $1,675 NZ
(approximately $1,357 CND). Note that there is the pre-conference Hawkes
Bay Syrah Symposium on Saturday, January 27 and the
post-conference Nelson Aromatics Symposium
2007 on Saturday, February 3 (click
here to see).
Closer
to home is the much less expensive and always sold out Vancouver
Playhouse Winefest. This is Canada's premium event
that doesn't cost an arm and leg. The theme this year is Australia and it
takes place March 26 to April 1. This year there will be some180 wineries
from 17 countries (including 54 wineries from theme country Australia),
1,480 wines - 717 in the International Festival Tasting Room and 763 at 53
special events. Some 21,500 attendees expected and you can make
reservations on line before remaining events go on sale January 22 (click
here to see).
Here
in Ontario, the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival hosts the 12th annual Niagara
Icewine Festival kicking off with the Xerox
"Images of Winter" Gala Evening on Friday,
January 19 starting at 8 pm at the Sheraton on the Falls Hotel in Niagara
Falls. Over 30 Ontario wineries will present some 100+ icewines, along
with matching food. Tickets are $150 (click
here to see).
Another
event taking place on Thursday, January 18 is the Napa
Valley Vintners Tasting, which features 23 wineries.
There is an afternoon invitational trade event followed by a consumer
tasting from 7-9:30 pm at Rosewater Restaurant at 19 Toronto Street.
Contact Leanne Feener at 905-336-8932 to reserve $75 tickets. As for the
slew of other events coming up, see my events calendar (click
here to see).
Moving on, I have decided to pass on this year's top ten as it really doesn't make much sense heralding selections which are no longer available. It is also worth asking whether that 95-point Shiraz tasted last January, is really better than the 94.5-point Bordeaux tasted last week. Instead, let me give you a few highlights that you can still buy for tomorrow night's bash.
This year's best inexpensive Ontario wines came from Ontario's Henry of Pelham. While the 2004 vintage is now sold out, the just-released Henry of Pelham 2005 VQA Chardonnay Reserve (252833) at $13.95 is also a winner (LCBO general list). It is dry, medium bodied and somewhat cedary with fairly rounded, ripe lemon and dried Anjou pear flavours - perfect for seafood, creamy pastas or poultry. Keep in mind its tasty companion, the go-with-anything 2005 VQA Dry Rosé (613471) at $11.95.
Looking
for something to go with oysters? A cool glass of tangy Bouchard
Pere & Fils 2005 Petit Chablis (51466) at
$19.05 will definitely hit the spot. Look for exceedingly pleasant, dry,
ripe lemon and Anjou pear flavours followed up by a crisp, lively,
melon-tinged finish. And talking about Burgundy, check out Splendido's
special January gourmet Bouchard menu (click
here to see).
Finally,
if lamb, steak or ribs are on the menu, I would recommend the just-tasted
(although released November 11th) Cline
2003 Los Carneros Syrah (955435) - a Vintages' best
buy at only $19.95. It shows great structure and harmony with
solid (15% alcohol), lingering, smoky, plummy-cassis, black cherry and
moccha-coffee flavours. There's still plenty available and I guarantee you
won't be disappointed.
I am already on the lookout for the best buys of 2007. Ironically, some of these items made their debut in 2006 and failed to meet the Vintages quota of a 75% minimum sell through in six months. As a result, come Tuesday, January 2nd, there will be a forced Vintages Delist Sale of 47 items released last August. Good quantities remain and National Post readers can access the full fully-linked list along with my personal ratings using the npreader password (click here to see).
Pick of the Week
Don't
miss this truly terrific sparkler Piper-Heidsieck
Vintage 1998 Brut Millésimé (8391) a December
9th ISD at $74.95. As it was not originally tasted, I made a special trip
to pick up a bottle last week. It's rich and delicious with lots of
refined, lingering, toasty, ripe lemon-melon flavours. Of the 600 bottles
released in Vintages, 23% were still unsold as of last Wednesday.
2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006
Tasting Note Database
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tasting note database from December 31, 2000 to October 2006, covers every
Vintages release product for the past 72 months. There are more than
14,000 notes in the database data. Just enter the name of the product,
supplier name or CSPC number. Or you can search by type of wine, country
of origin, even wine agent! Nothing could be easier. Also you can get information on the agent by clicking on the
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2006
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Contact Michael Vaughan at
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