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A
wine lover's guide to the celluloid classis
Time to sip great wines in theatres all year round!
©
Michael Vaughan 2001
National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits
Columnist
Saturday,
September 8, 2001
I
am sipping a very decent, reasonably priced red in the cinema lobby wondering
why this can’t happen every day. It’s Film Festival time and thankfully
Jackson-Triggs
1998 Proprietor’s Reserve Meritage is the festival’s official
wine (available on the LCBO General List at $10.95). It’s a very decent
buy – a still firm, somewhat cedary, blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet
Franc and Merlot. It’s flowing freely (as were their, less expensive,
non-VQA reds) and I can’t help wondering why can’t it be like this all
year? http://jacksontriggswinery.com
I can still remember
being swayed by those cartoon intermission movie ads extolling the virtues of
quenching one’s thirst. The jingle went “let’s
all go to the lobby, to get ourselves a drink.”
The dilemma is which
wines to choose. It’s one thing to get a good wine, but to really enjoy
it; you have to marry it with the right film. So here’s my wine lovers
guide for the celluloid classics.
Red
Wine Films
First
and foremost, there’s The
Godfather, a film that needs a bold, assertively flavoured,
blood-coloured red. It has to be capable of evolving nicely in the glass
- after all, it is a long movie. In addition, it has to be of such a caliber,
that when it’s offered, you can’t say no!
Well
look no further; for here’s an extracty, full-bodied, bargain-priced red
that puts many higher-priced Amarone to shame. Tedeschi
1997 Capitel San Rocco at a mere $16.55 is here. The cedar box,
chocolaty, plum purée flavours amuse the front of the mouth, while lovely
back cherry notes persist on the lingering finish. The extra complexity
comes from refermentation on Recioto lees in the classic ‘Ripasso’
method.
I
must admit that Brazil was a bit of a challenge.
However, as Portuguese is this country’s mother tongue, I have found a
perfect red wine companion – Portugal’s Quinta
do Crasto 1999 Douro. This Tinta Roriz blend originates on
the steep north slopes of the Douro River. It’s so tasty and well priced
at $14.90 that just the smallest sip will flush your face with smiles
– sort of an instantaneous, albeit short lived, face-lift! It’s most versatile
and ready to enjoy, a genuine crowd pleaser.
I really wanted classic
French red for Babette's
Feast but there wasn’t anything worthy of a detour in
today’s release. So I slipped back to the comfort zone in terms of price
and taste with a delicious New Zealand entry - Linden
Estate 1998 Merlot, which is modestly priced at $18.30. It’s
intense, dry, somewhat spicy, minty, chocolate-plum purée flavours are
eminently more satisfying than equivalently priced Bordeaux. This 2001 Toronto Wine & Cheese Show Gold Medal
Red ($12 to $25 class) comes from the Esk Valley in Hawkes Bay
region (North Island).
White Wine Films
The
ultra crisp, dry Matua Valley 2000 Sauvignon Blanc
from New Zealand is the perfect choice to cut through the syrupy lyrics
of South
Pacific. At only $12.70,
its zesty, ripe, lemony-pear flavours make this best buy the perfect,
after hours, seafood sipper.
For that great classic
The Third Man what better a wine for the than Austria’s very
own Dr. Unger 1999 Grüner Veltliner Ried Oberfeld
at $14.90. It’s crisp, dry, slightly mineral-ish, lemony, unoaked,
Chablis-styled flavours offer excellent accessibility. This very well made
effort is 100% Grüner Veltliner, a uniquely Austrian grape.
Charlie
Chaplin was one of my heroes. While watching Modern
Times I would make a beeline for Nyakashegy 2000 Irsai Olivér a
very spicy, faintly off dry, Muscat-rosewater flavoured white. At only
$9.25 is perfectly priced bargain for the proletariat. The only problem
is pronunciation, that and finding it in the Hungarian section in Vintages.
After
all the above esoteric whites, I am forced to concede that American
Beauty perfection would be a California Chard. Middle America
adores it, so why not get the best - Gallo 1998 Laguna Ranch Vineyard Chardonnay
at $29.95. It’s rich, mouthfilling, somewhat spicy, lemon meringue pie
flavours will linger beautifully on the palate.
http://www.ejgallo.
Wines that go both ways
Despite his Mexican roots, Anthony Quinn, the recently deceased star of Zorba the Greek would have relished a bottle of Hatzimichalis 1999 Robola. It’s dry, well structured, slightly spicy, honeyed, melon-lemon flavours will undoubtedly stump your companions. A fine buy at $13.50, it would be my choice if dinning at Josos. http://hatzimichalis.gr/indexEN.asp
Of
course, it doesn’t stop there. In true Zorba fashion, Quinn would have
insisted on seconds. And what better than Constantin Lazaridis 1999 Amethystos.
This fairly robust blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Limnio has
cedary, bright, red pepper flavours and attractive black cherry notes
on the lingering finish. It’s showing nicely and is fair value at $23.55.
When
one has almost given up all hope in The
Piano,
what better than a terrific bubbly to lift the spirits. And here’s the
sparkler for you - Cloudy
Bay 1996 Pelorus at $27.80. Now I know that some of you will
ask whether a bubbly from down under is worthy of this price tag. Well
let me assure you that a recent vertical tasting with winemaker convinced
me that this ’96 was well worth a detour. A sublime high acid vintage,
it was aged three years on the lees and is now starting to flaunt its
toasty, complex, ripe lemon and melted hazelnut butter flavours.
To uncover further Vintages best buys and the LCBO’s deliberately hidden “In-Store Discoveries” (nine items this month) CLICK HERE.
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