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"Fair" Competition
from World's Wine Regions

Last weekend’s Vancouver Playhouse Fair was definitely a fair to remember! I sat beside André Saint-Jacques owner of Whistler’s famous Bearfoot Bistro at the annual Vancouver Playhouse wine auction. André was top bidder spending over $40,000. “It’s a great way to top up and add depth to our cellar plus help a good cause at the same time,” he explains. In addition, he spent another $40,000 on special orders on some of the 1,000+ items offered at this year’s California-focused event.

It is a shame that we don’t have an equivalent event in Ontario. In the first place, The BC liquor board supports the event by making sure that every wine featured at the fair actually appears in their on-site store. Out of 663 listings, only 27 or 4% are general list products, 304 are from specialty stores and a whopping 332 – over 50% - are appearing for the first time ever in BC! Nothing like this has ever happened in Ontario! Better yet, all licensee orders written up do not require any deposit. Considering that it often takes more than six months for the private order to show up, it frees up a lot of hard earned cash for restaurants.

Here in Toronto, we have three major wine events squeezed into a two-week period, which started with Germany last Tuesday. Next Wednesday, March 31^st, at St Lawrence Hall (157 King St. West) it’s Oregon’s turn with 14 producers showing 46 wines. I recently previewed 27 of them and was most impressed with the quantum leap in quality of 2002 Pinot Gris.

Over the past 39-months, only 10 Oregon Pinot Gris have graced LCBO shelves, half of which were never been presented for evaluation. The fact that neither the LCBO nor agents have been pro active in getting all these wines assessed has resulted in meager exposure. Another dilemma was that what was in the bottle occasionally didn’t match the high price being charged. Fortunately, the 2002 vintage is a breath of fresh air, which combined with a stronger Canadian dollar, should help matters.

Of six Pinot Gris tasted, I have three recommendations. My first choice/best buy is Willamette Valley Vineyards 2002 Pinot Gris with its appealing, gently honeyed, juicy, ripe apricot and tangerine citrus flavours. Note that 6% Pinot Blanc, 3% Muscat and 1% Auxerrios was added, augmenting both its texture and floral character. The estimated price is $21.50 and can be ordered from Allegro Wine Imports (416-466-2720).

A close second is the Foris 2002 Pinot Gris ($19.10), which has 13.9% alcohol and comes from Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley. This versatile crowd-pleaser has fresh ripe apricot and red apple flavours with fairly good acidity. By contrast, the fresh Sokol Blosser 2002 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris (pricey at $29.95) has faintly spritzy, bright, fresh ripe red apple flavours.

Moving on to 16 Pinot Noirs, don’t miss the highlight Lamelson 2001 Jerome Reserve Pinot Noir ($60.05), which currently is unrepresented in Ontario. Fairly deep purple in colour, the nose is quite classy with smoky, dried red cherry notes. It is well structured and fairly extracty with slightly smoky, sweetish, ripe black cherry flavours. Only 708 cases of this unfiltered classic were produced.

My second pick is the ready to drink and fairly juicy Sokol Blosser 2001 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($49.95) with its complex, spicy, ripe, cherry-strawberry flavours. This is one of their better efforts to date and certainly much better than the tight and rather disappointing 2000 that sits forlorn in the Vintages Classics Catalogue (748434 - $45).

Best value is the ever-reliable King Estate 2001 Signature Pinot Noir ($27.95), which has appealing, ripe strawberry and black cherry aromas. On the palate, it is very tangy and perhaps a bit on the light side with slightly cedary, bright, ripe red cherry flavours that show good length.

Next, coming up on Tuesday, April 6^th at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel is the 24^th annual California Wine Fair where 109 wineries will be strutting 374 items. Keep an eye out for some of the excellent 2001 red and 2002 white releases, which represent a qualitative turning point and will hopefully see a resurgence of confidence.

I previewed two outstanding reds, which received over 90 scores. Make way for the stunning Ironstone 2001 Reserve Old Vines Zinfandel ($39.50 – Lifford Agencies), which gives this grape a whole new meaning. Made exclusively from Zin grown at a single Lodi vineyard planted in 1909, the smoky, rich, sweetish, plummy, ripe beefsteak tomato flavours go on and on. Aged for 10 months in French oak, only 501 cases were made, so reserve today!

Also make a beeline to Franciscan Oakville Estate 2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($39.95 – Churchill Cellars). This beautifully proportioned blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc has gently smoky, ripe black cherry flavours that will sweep you away. I have posted my Chardonnay preview California tasting notes for National Post readers (to see click here and use the npreader password).

2001-2002-2003-2004 Tasting Note Database

Our tasting note database from December 31, 2000 to March  2004, covers every Vintages release product for the past 39 months. There are more than 6,000 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 agent’s name, as well as current LCBO store inventory by clicking on "Check LCBO Availability", which will automatically tell you the number of bottles at LCBO as of last night.

To use our winefind.ca Tasting Notes Database: click here

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