All about wine, by James Cluer, Master of Wine
Congratulations to Jason Yamasaki! Jason won the Fine Vintage Blind Tasting Challenge at the IVSA-Vancouver New Products Salon. The wine was a 2005 Chateau Beaumont Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois Superieur from France with 13.5% alcohol priced at $50.
Thanks to all those who participated, and we look forward to seeing you at the next IVSA New Products Salon.
Our neighbors to the south are increasingly coming out with flashy, expensive wines. There’s usually an impressive story behind each one, such as The Long Shadows project where Allen Shoup has assembled the cream of the international winemaking community to create their signature varietal wines in WA. So, for example, you have Michel Rolland making a Merlot.
There’s no question that WA makes some gorgeous wines and I’ve been a huge fan of wineries like Betz and Woodward Canyon for years. They are, frankly, light years ahead of the Okanagan and a lot of it has to do with more expertise amongst the winemakers and grape growers.
But the price of some of these new showy wines is astronomical – with many of them ranging from $65+ and up. Are they worth it? I say no. You can get so many great wines for much less than that. And these expensive WA wines often seem to be cookie cutter with the same massive amounts of concentration, almost black colors, fruit flavors that border on the sweet over-ripe style, and enough alcohol to power the UK World Cup soccer team.
Nice to taste, but not worth buying, unless you just don’t really care about value for money in which case fill your boots.
There are dozens of white wines under $20 that offer excellent quality for the price. I love Sauvignon Blanc for just sipping by itself on the deck and Chile and New Zealand offer plenty of great value wines. Look for Marlborough on the label of Kiwi wines and the Casablanca valley on Chilean wines. These are the most respected regions.
The best value Rieslings come from Germany, Alsace, and Australia. Often German Rieslings can have a touch of sweetness, even at QbA level, and pair well with spicy food. Rieslings from Alsace are much drier, with crisper acidity and citrus flavors. Australians love their Rieslings too, but these can be extremely dry and only for those who like crisp, steely, austere wines.
Pinot Grigio from Italy will usually run you less than $20 a bottle and these are easy drinking wines. They mainly come from the cooler reaches of northern Italy, in Trentino Alto Adidge and Friuli. They are dry, light to medium in body and always marked by crisp refreshing acidity. Try them with scallops and crab cakes, or simply on their own. Pinot Gris is also the most planted white variety in B.C., so there’s no shortage of options from our own backyard and many of them are impressive quality for the price.
Gewurztraminer is under-rated and, as such, many of them are under-priced. It’s partly to do with the tricky pronunciation of the grape. But don’t let that put you off because these can be sublime, especially from Alsace and B.C. They can be very floral and tropical, smelling of roses and exotic fruits, and usually full bodied and heady.
When it comes to Chardonnay, look to Chile and Australia for real bargains. These are consistently well-made and economies of scale allow for attractive pricing. California is another option, as well as some entry level white Burgundies and wines from the south of France. If they are oaky then try them with richer foods, such as roast chicken.
The list could go on, given the multitude of other varietals lining our shelves, but we’ll leave the rest for another time. Oh, don’t forget Spanish sparkling wine, known as Cava. Now that’s a deal.
The wine world is excited about the quality of dry table wines coming out of the Douro valley. Why? With the decline in sales of Ruby Port the producers have to get creative and follow the market demand for dry red wines.
Some stunning wines have been produced. Barca Velha was the original benchmark, but now there are about a dozen producers who are becoming well regarded, and none more so than Quinta do Crasto. This is a dynamite producer and I consider the wines to be on a par with the some of the better wines in the world. And they could become some of the very best…
One of the issues that has hampered the success of Portugal has been the use of indigenous grape varieties with unfamiliar names. Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cao don’t exactly roll off the tongue. But this is now becoming a strength, an unique selling point, as some wine lovers tire of the standard repertoire of Shiraz, Cab, Merlot etc…
Expect these wines to be a bit rustic in the mid price range, and usually showing some chewy tannins, in a medium to full bodied style. They are a far cry from Napa Valley polished fruit bombs. Think steak on the BBQ or spare ribs.
Some of my recent favorites is Quinta Dos Quatro Ventos, Douro, 2005
This wine should be decanted for 1-2 hours. Quite deep in color with extraction from core to the rim of the glass. Good intensity with floral notes, more depth than the other wines, and a toasty charred oak wrapped in blackberries. Dry, full- in body, with good richness and weight, plenty of tannins to give structure, and nice overall balance. It would improve with cellaring for 2-4 years but decant it, let it open up, and then torch it with a leg of lamb.
Napa and Sonoma are some of my favorite places to visit. The hotels in wine country are fantastic. The restaurants are world class. And the wines can be superb.
California Chardonnay at the entry level to mid price range (under$30) offers you easy drinking wines. They are always dry but typically with a touch of residual sugar. They are at least medium to full in body, with soft acidity, and most lean towards a more tropical fruit style. Some are smothered in oak, but a few show more restraint.
These wines are like comfort food. They lack some excitement. But if you are looking for something to please a large crowd then it’s hard to go wrong with the ones I recommend.
In 1991, Chilean grape growers were told that many of their vineyards were not actually Merlot, but a different grape variety called Carmenere. You can imagine the phone calls…
After a quick meeting with the Marketing department, the wineries decided that Carmenere should become the signature grape of Chile. After all, nobody else grew it, except for a few small pockets of vineyards in Bordeaux where it originated.
After some false starts, it seems like Carmenere is now producing very high quality wines. The best are deep in color, with aromas of black cherry and an herbal note, like fresh cut grass. The palate is dry but very fruity in a typical Chilean style, a touch jammy, but with medium to high tannins, quite full in body, and plenty of richness to the mouthfeel.
I think the varietal has the potential to make outstanding wines, although it may be hard to beat Argentina’s Malbec and California’s Zinfandel as signature varietals. But I was very impressed with the quality of the wines from Vina Maipo, Arboleda, and Tamaya. But if you want a superb wine then try Montes Purple Angel. That’s worth buying.
Napa and Sonoma are some of my favorite places to visit. The hotels in wine country are fantastic. The restaurants are world class. And the wines can be superb.
California Chardonnay at the entry level to mid price range (under$30) offers you easy drinking wines. They are always dry but typically with a touch of residual sugar. They are at least medium to full in body, with soft acidity, and most lean towards a more tropical fruit style. Some are smothered in oak, but a few show more restraint.
These wines are like comfort food. They lack some excitement. But if you are looking for something to please a large crowd then it’s hard to go wrong with the ones I recommend.
Sebastiani, Sonoma County, California 2007
Beringer, Napa Valley, California 2005
“Life is too short to drink bad wine”, as the saying goes.
It’s about quality, not quantity. This means that I taste about twenty wines before I find one that will impress you. I always wondered why critics bothered reviewing mediocre wines, but then I guess they get paid by the word – OK, OK you’re cut off again…
Since 1953 only 29 people in North America have qualified to become MW’s. James owns www.FineVintageLtd.com a company that consults to airlines, governments, luxury hotel chains, major retailers and runs 7 professional wine schools in North America and the Middle East.
Fine Vintage Ltd also owns and operates a number of employment websites including www.WineJobsUSA.com www.WineJobsCanada.com and www.WineJobsCalifornia.com.