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Take out a Tuscan
for the long weekend
©
Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post
Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday,
September 2, 2006
LIVE
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I am scrutinizing today's Vintages release catalogue, looking for something great for this last summer long weekend. Featuring 120 items, along with 14 in-store discoveries, National Post readers can now see the complete, fully-linked, release on my website. Here are my picks.
A Cider for Insiders
Afraid
of getting drunk? You can drink seven four-ounce glasses of a
delicious French cider from Normandy's Cidrerie du Val de Vire for every
glass of Shiraz that touches your lips! The spicy, zesty, lightly sweet,
faintly effervescent, ripe apple flavours come with only 2% alcohol.
Sadly, Baron
Noir Sparkling Sweet Cider (4457) is only
available at the LCBO with their notoriously high mark-ups. It is also a
shame that the LCBO product consultants didn't get a chance to taste and
recommend this low-alcohol alternative. Instead of relying on LCBO
consultants, why not let food and grocery stores carry this type of
product.
Winning Whites
I
am a big fan of northern Portugal's Vinho Verde, especially with freshly
steamed mussels. The just-released Quinta
do Ameal 2004 Louriero Vinho Verde (578930) at
$14.95 costs a bit more simply because it's better. Made exclusively from
the Louriero grape, it comes with a sobering 11% alcohol and has very
slightly effervescent, ripe lemon-melon flavours with a refreshingly
tangy, crisp finish. No oaky flavours to worry about, just sit back and
enjoy.
While
there is a multitude of Viognier on the market, Yalumba
2004 Viognier (954644) at $21.95 from South
Australia's Eden Valley hits the spot. It has a spicy, floral nose with
some slightly peppery, youthful leesy notes. On the palate it is well
structured with floral, baked melon flavours and a lingering finish. You
don't notice the 14.5% alcohol! As much as I liked this 2004 screwcap
release, it doesn't compare to the outstanding 2003 presented at least
year's Vancouver Playhouse Festival.
For
Chardonnay fans there's a full-monty VQA Okanagan Valley effort Nk'Mip
Cellars 2004 Chardonnay (687699) at $17.95. It
is, in three words: ripe, toasty & flavourful. Coming from a lovely
new winery near Osoyoos, its bright, lingering, melon-cedar finish would
work well with poultry and veal dishes.
Ditto for the half-monty, which in this case is made from VQA Niagara Peninsula and Okanagan Valley Chardonnay. Unity 2003 Chardonnay (606608) at $19.95 has rather intense, cedary, ripe lemon and dried ripe pear flavours with some vanilla custard notes on the finish. The catalogue tells us that it is made by East-West Wines, which is the Jackson-Triggs wing of the Vincor group. Happily, the price is now down from $24.95 from its first appearance two years ago.
Finishing on a sweet note, there's nothing like sucking down a cool glass of Vouvray from the Loire while pondering the clouds floating over the lake. Domaine d'Orfeuilles 2003 'Les Coudraies' Vouvray (655076) at $16.95 is gently sweet with harmonious, gently juicy, honeymelon flavours. If some hot and spicy Asian or Indian cuisine is on your horizon, this would be perfect.
New Word Reds
Call
me a curmudgeon, but at long last I discovered a decent new Ontario red in
Vintages. Make way for Pillitteri
Estates 2002 Cabernet Franc (13763) at $17.95.
Deep purple colour, the ripe plum nose has some slightly earthy, herbal
notes, which carry over on to the palate. The dry, mellow, clove-tinged,
dried strawberry flavours would be a terrific match with a rack of lamb.
There's nothing sheepish about this one!
Did
I hear someone whisper Pinot Noir? I had to pinch myself after finding two
recommended releases. The best isn't cheap. From California's Santa Lucia
Highlands Morgan
2004 'Twelve Clones' Pinot Noir (642249) at
$32.95 shows lots of plummy, fairly juicy, smooth, ripe black cherry
flavours with a lingering vanilla custard finish. It has 14.2% alcohol and
is showing very nicely at the moment.
Meanwhile,
the rest of us (i.e. the bargain hunters) shouldn't miss Chile's Cono
Sur 2005 Visión Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Block 78
(689992) at $16.95 with its well structured, juicy, spicy, ripe cherry
flavours. While you can drink it today, here is one heck of red that is
capable of aging/developing for another year or so. It even improves after
some decanting! Dollar for dollar, it can't be beat.
Ditto
for the surprisingly well-structured Araucano
2004 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (687681) at
$11.95 with its extracty, red pepper, stewed plum and mocha flavours.
Jacques & François Lurton have done it again! However, unlike some
Valle Central reds, this one is still quite youthful and likely needs
another year or so to become more accessible.
Also
high on the hit parade are a pair of very drinkable, reasonably priced,
Aussi Shiraz: the juicy, cherry-berry, vanilla-tinged Wakefield
2004 Shiraz (943787) at $14.95 and the full
bodied, well-structured Andrew
Harris 2004 Highfields Shiraz (675512) at
$16.95. Fans should mark down Uncover Australia
2006, which takes place Wednesday, September 27th with some
600+ wines to sample (see www.wineaustralia.com/canada).
Held at MaRS Centre - 101 College Street, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 - $60
Tuscan Treasures
It
is a bit disheartening, but most of the better Tuscan reds, which are the
focus of today's Vintages release, actually cost you a small treasure. Of
some 24 reds, there are two best buys. Le
Farnete 2003 Carmignano (1321) at $22.95 has
slightly firm, ripe plum, prune and slightly earthy flavours. By contrast,
Banfi
2003 Rosso di Montalcino (681262) at $28.95 is
quite juicy and ready to enjoy.
Pick of the Week
Of
the entire Tuscan section of the Vintages release, my choice is the
deliciously sweet 1998
Vin Santo del Chianti Classico San Niccolò
(869) at $24.95 per half bottle. Produced by Poderi Castellare di
Castellina from air-dried Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes, it is viscous and
rich with lots of sweet caramel-apricot creme brulée flavours and yet has
a refreshing finish. Try with foie gras, dessert or simply by itself.
2001-2002-2003-2004-2005-2006
Tasting Note Database
Our
tasting note database from December 31, 2000 to August 2006, covers every
Vintages release product for the past 68 months. There are more than 13,000 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 Tasting
Notes Database: click
here
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2006
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Contact Michael Vaughan at
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