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Posts with category ‘America’

Twin Fin, Salmon Revival, Chateau de Beaucastel

Posted on May 4, 2006

It’s a rule of thumb (the purple thumb) that when the hype is about labels, demographics and price points, the wine in the bottle is likely mediocre—more so when cuddly critters are baring their commercial fangs. Which brings us to the LCBO general list and a new concept wine from California called Twin Fin (not the mascot of the San Jose Sharks). Twin Fin is actually decent wine but I’m not going to rave. It’s exactly the quality I expect from a $14.00 bottle, and fair value from California which still tends to be overpriced for what’s in the glass.

Mondavi, Chinese Fakes, Wine of the Year

Posted on May 29, 2006

I recently tasted a range of premium Robert Mondavi wines with Associate Winemaker (red wines) Gustavo Gonzalez during a visit to his Ontario agent Churchill Cellars. I was curious to get a sense of life at Mondavi under the new ownership of wine behemoth Constellation—the New York-based company that recently acquired Canada’s Vincor. Gonzales, who worked at the Napa winery before, during and after the transition, referred to the time before the Constellation takeover—at a time when Robert Mondavi was being publicly traded—as “the dark period” in terms of wine quality and direction (or lack thereof). He recalls that the Mondavi staff were actually petrified of Constellation’s arrival. “Given Mondavi’s long history of wine culture we felt like we were the Romans, and they were the invading Goths from the east," he said. “But, as it turns out, the Goths arrived and wanted to learn from the Romans.”

Vieux Télégraphe, Single Serve Stone Cellars

Posted on June 19, 2006

When the stakes are high, you gotta know when to hold 'em. An urbane, mild-mannered French winemaker named Daniel Brunier made two Toronto appearances late last week showcasing two family wineries from the Chateauneuf-du-Pape appellation in the south of France: the renowned Domaine Le Vieux Télégraphe, plus a newer, refurbished estate called Clos La Roquete. The most famed appellation of the southern Rhone is home to the world’s best known, most powerful and long-lived grenache-based reds, usually blended with syrah, mourvedre and other grapes—up to 22 are allowed. Although some Chateauneufs are robust and round enough to enjoy when young, others from top estates have considerable longevity.

Aussie Shiraz, LCBO Picks & Pans

Posted on July 31, 2006

The dog days of summer find me confined to my quarters, tasting virtually everything good, bad and indifferent on the LCBO general list, and on Vintages continuously available Essentials list. Hundreds of bottles are lined up for tasting in preparation for the fall publication of the Toronto Life Eating and Drinking Guide. It appears on newsstands in full magazine format in late October and then in the smaller Food and Wine CityGuide as a supplement to the December issue. I’m not quite ready to talk trends and observations, but I can offer faithful blog-readers a sneak preview. I will expand in the next couple of weeks as tasting continues; heaven knows that there is little else to report upon at this time of year. The wine world is on a summer snooze, much like my teenage sons.

Sommelier School and Washington Whites

Posted on August 8, 2006

While most wine drinkers, buyers and sellers have booked off for a summer hiatus—to finally sit back and enjoy those great value rieslings, rosés and sauvignon blancs— a group of Toronto sommeliers are in summer school, with no relief on hot days. They are the second class to register for the intensive 39-week Sommelier Certificate Program at George Brown College, offered in conjunction with the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers. This trade association has chapters in Toronto and Montreal, with links to similar European organizations. Certified members of CAPS can compete in the annual Meilleur Sommelier du Monde Competition being held next year in Spain.

The Wine of the Week & The Napa Follies

Posted on January 22, 2007

Errazuriz 2005 Carmenère **** ($13.95, LCBO #16238, Aconcagua Valley, Chile)
And now for something very affordable. New to the LCBO general list and a huge value if you like your reds black and deep and even. Chile has struggled to tame carmenère—the late-ripening, often green-tasting monster that is becoming its signature. But like the Concha y Toro 2005 Carmenère I heavily recommended before Christmas, this new Errazuriz version finds the handle at an amazing price. The nose drenched in cassis, mint, leather and wood smoke—all well proportioned. It’s full bodied, dense and elegant with firm but deeply embedded tannin. Considerable oak on the finish is the element that ties it all together but fruit is not lost. Excellent length. Drinkable now, best 2008 to 2012, ideal for a lamb roast.

* * * * * *

I first traveled to Napa Valley, California, in 1978 when wine was new and exciting, when the Robert Mondavi winery was less than 10 years-old; when once legendary names like Inglenook and Beaulieu were the establishment, and new enterprises like Grgich Hills, Joseph Phelps, Cakebread and Heitz were just beginning to generate some buzz. It was a time of wonderment, promise and innocence, with a sense that this bucolic crease in the coastal ranges north of San Francisco might one day be able to produce great cabernets and merlots to rival Bordeaux. There was not a lot of self-confidence back then, but there was plenty of humility.

Gallo Reflections

Posted on March 12, 2007

Wine of the Week
Gallo Family 2005 Sierra Valley Merlot *** ($8.15)
Nicely done for eight dollars. Mid-merlot with a shy nose and some lack of fruit depth but perfect berry ripeness nicely embellished by vanilla and back ground clove. A touch of tobacco and earthiness as well. Best now to 2009. The label change on this vintage emphasizes the family rather than founders Ernest and Julio.

Fair California

Posted on April 17, 2007

Wine of the Week
Beringer 2003 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, California
$40.15, Vintages Essential, 3525830, score 91
Collectors take note! The small, verdant Knights Valley, tucked in the hills between the Napa and Alexander Valleys, has always rendered very fragrant cabernet. Beringer’s historic heavy oak hand has stolen some of that vitality in recent years but this vintage rekindles the excitement, with very lifted toasty, cedary oak, chocolate and loads of cassis and mint. Full bodied, dense and elegant with firm tannin that will see it age 10 years. But also balanced to enjoy know as well—decant for an hour first.

Sweeping the pinot noir minefield

Posted on February 27, 2008

Every article I have ever read about pinot noir has noted that this is a grape that disappoints as often as it thrills—that it is necessary to be an adventurer, to be forgiving and able to get back in the saddle after forking out a substantial sum and finding the wine tart, mean or downright funky (especially when dealing with burgundy of lesser provenance) The red flag goes up again on March 1, when Vintages releases several burgundies from producers rarely seen here. There are a couple of winners, but overall the selection leaves me to ponder whether anyone is critically tasting these wines before they buy them. There is also a smattering from elsewhere, including Niagara, Oregon, California and B.C.’s Okanagan Valley, again with mixed results. As your minesweeper—and from the vantage point of pinot being my favourite variety—here is a review of every pinot I have tasted on this release, from best to worst:

California comes to Canada

Posted on April 28, 2008

The California Wine Fair rolls into the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Monday, April 28, brimming with bottles that, by and large, cannot be found on the shelves of the LCBO. Of the 69 wines assembled for the fair’s preview media tasting last month, only 20 are currently available at Vintages or the LCBO. This doesn’t mean the LCBO is ignoring California: a big promo swings into gear in early May that introduces several new brands to the general list; and on Saturday, Vintages will be offering up a couple of dozen new releases as well. But the fair showcases so many, many more—a huge reservoir of wine either being sold direct to restaurateurs via the below-the-radar consignment program, or wines that want to be here and might just find a niche if they create a buzz at the fair. With so many wines and so little time, the grapevine goes electric. Why must all the big wine presentations in our city be so restrictive, so pressured, and in such chaos? And why must the pourers spend most of their time apologizing that we can’t actually buy the wine they are serving?

Cheers to Santé

Posted on May 6, 2008

The 10th annual Santé: Toronto International Wine Festival kicks off Monday, May 5, with a week-long tasting menu of winemaker dinners, special events and seminars in venues throughout Yorkville. California and Australia are this year’s headliners. Here is the roster of major events, complete with some of the wines and wineries worth investigating. For more details and tickets, check out the festival’s Web site, www.santewinefestival.net.

David Lawrason

David Lawrason

David Lawrason has worked full time as one of Canada's leading, independent wine writers and educators for over 20 years. He was the founder of Wine Access magazine and Globe and Mail wine columnist for 13 years before becoming resident wine guy at Toronto Life, where he pens a monthly column and writes an exhaustive review of LCBO general listings for the annual Food and Wine Guide. As a wine educator he has taught sommelier programs at George Brown, Humber and Niagara Colleges, and has run popular public courses in Toronto since 1988. He has visited every major wine major producing country in the world, while focusing recently on the booming Canadian wine scene, as founder of the Canadian Wine Awards program, and Canadian wine columnist for Wine Access.

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