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Wines
to keep your Easter bunny at bay
Michael Vaughan
Wine & Spirits Columnist
National Post • Saturday, April 14, 2001
It’s
Easter, the time of year to smell the daffodils. Well, at least we’re
getting close. This and the impending arrival of the great Easter bunny
replete with colourful eggs is what I joyfully remember about this time of
year. Somehow the socio-religious recollections of church services have
been erased. For me, it’s a time to rejoice, repair and share.
With
respect to the latter, it was exactly 19 years ago that we first acquired
Rufus a mini Belgium hopper, as an Easter gift. Subsequently two more
rabbits appeared – the
second was splendiferous Sammy and last but not least Floppo, a min
American lop-eared escapee that was rescued from a cat by my brother!
Like
great wines, I loved them all. But my favourite was Floppo my trusty
companion who lived a life of royalty for almost 11 years. Daily messages
and freshly grated organic carrots served on Rosenthal china was his order
of the day! If there is reincarnation, may I return as Floppo II.
Floppo
and I had one thing in common - a nose for wine. He shunned reds, pulling
back at the smell of them, but went for the fruity wines that work so well
with a clove-studded Easter ham. And so in his memory I scoured the
LCBO’s General List shelves for some well-priced fruit-driven whites.
Riesling
is an excellent choice and fortunately enthusiasm for it is ever widening.
Better yet, it’s available in a wide diversity of styles with the
slightly sweeter styles go remarkably well with ham. Unfortunately, the
LCBO’s recent slash and burn purging of the General List saw the
disappearance of several tasty selections. In addition, one still has to
be picky because there is still a lot of mediocrity out there.
Based
on recent tastings, my hands-down best buy would be the honeyed, gently
sweet G.A.
Schmitt 1999 Niersteiner Spätlese
Late Harvest from Germany’s Rheinhessen. This blue-bottled
bargain at $9.95 has lovely balance with fresh melon and ripe apple
flavours. And with only 9% alcohol you don’t have to be worried about
getting smashed after a glass or two.
In
a similar vein from Ontario we have the delicious, all too often ignored,
well-priced ($10.95) Inniskillin
1999 Late Autumn Riesling, which has zesty, spicy, citrusy,
ripe apricot purée flavours.
If
seafood is on your menu I have two General List recommendations – both
on the dry side. First and foremost is the vibrant, fairly dry,
lemon-citrus flavoured Stoneleigh
1999 Riesling ($11.95) a gold medal winner at the recent
Toronto Wine & Cheese Show. Closer to home, your best bet is the
refined Henry
of Pelham 1999Reserve Riesling (12.95), which has refreshing,
ripe, lemony-melon flavours. Given its size, there’s no question that
the three young Speck brothers who drive the operation along with their
winemaker Ron Giesbrecht are now making the best wines in the province.
Those
wishing for a fruity red to match turkey or perhaps even salmon, need look
no farther than two new terrifically-priced Pinot Noirs once again on the
General List. It may not have a lot of sophistication but at only $8.50
you’ll be hard pressed to find better value than Patriarche
1999 Pinot Noir a simple vin de pays des Alpes de Haute
Provence which is light-bodied with dryish, bright, reasonably crisp,
spicy strawberry jam flavours.
Even
better is the surprisingly delicious Lindemans
2000 Bin 99 Pinot Noir, which has cedary, plums cherries and
rose hips on the nose and well balanced, fairly dry, rounded, juicy
raspberry-cherry-plum purée flavours. At $10.30 it’s unbeatable value.
Saving
the best for last, Stoney
Ridge 1999 Cranberry at $12.95 has delicious, fresh, fairly
sweet, ripe cranberry flavours with just the perfect touch of tartness.
This gold medal “best of show” award winning fruit wine offers a new
taste thrill that makes it a perfect poultry partner.
Now
is the time to plan ahead. First, there’s Toronto’s fledgling Santé
2001 - the Bloor-Yorkville wine festival that takes place May 2-5. Our
attempt to replicate the outstanding Vancouver Playhouse international
wine festival is still a bit of a mixed bag. Unfortunately, the timing of
events (disrupting my springtime planting schedule) along with the caliber
of some of the wines being presented leaves something to be desired. Also
the absence of the actual names of wines being presented at Saturday’s
seminars doesn’t help (a detailed list is now available on my website).
Nevertheless,
it is a step in the right direction. The best deal of the whole affair is
the Friday night International Wine
Tasting at the Design Exchange from 7:30-10:30 where the 75
participating wineries will be presenting some 300 wines for sampling!
You’ll have to rush to get remaining tickets at $65 (call Ticketmaster
at 416-870-8000).
On
Saturday’s Education Day I
will be presenting a comparative blind tasting (10 wines) at the “Pinot
NoirChallenge”. The Guide’s billing as “sensational” is an
overstatement and at $45 it's a tad pricey. Certainly my choice of morning
seminars would be the comparative tasting of eight “Superb Dessert
Wines” ($40). In the afternoon, the most interesting session by far will
be the tasting of eleven “Regional Reds” ($35).
Of
18 dinner events taking place on the opening Wednesday night, the best
have been sold out! On Saturday there are 27 winemaker dinners and a few
tickets for worthwhile dinners are still available. Consider one of the
two key Burgundy dinners – the JK ROM with Bouchard
Père & Fils ($125 all inclusive - NOW SOLD OUT) and Accents at
the Sutton Place with Joseph
Drouhin ($104.55 all inclusive). Call the restaurants to reserve or
the infoline at 416-928-3553, extension 27.
Finally, if you want to attend the upcoming tasting of the Classics 2001 Spring/Summer Collection make sure you register immediately as only 650 tickets are available. It all takes place at Toronto’s Sheraton Centre Thursday, May 17th from 6:30 to 9:00 pm! To purchase tickets ($85), call the Vintages Customer service line at (416) 365-5767 or toll free at 1-800-266-4764. The same event will also be held in Ottawa at the Château Laurier, Wednesday, May 9, 2001 6:30—9:00 p.m. (450 tickets available). Click here for a list of products being featured at the event.
Copyright Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada
2004
Prior written permission is required for any form of reproduction
(electronic or other wise) and or quotation.
Contact Michael Vaughan at
mbv@total.net