Vintages stores will be releasing dozens of new wines this Saturday. I have been able to taste most of them in advance along with other wine writers, a twice-monthly ritual that sees a couple dozen people sandwiched into a small white “lab” to work their way through almost 100 bottles. Some taste them all; some hit on a few big names. I am increasingly looking for quality above all else. The older one gets the more appropriate maxim “life is too short to drink (or taste and write about) bad wine.”
Read the rest of this entry »
The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
All stories relating to Spain
Vintages’ April 12 Release: The Top 10
Vantage Point (*)
Vantage Point offers election year audiences the sick pleasure of watching a staid U.S. president getting shot again and again and again—though that pleasure wears quickly thin when the president is a rumpled, wooden William Hurt, who, as the film’s trailer even indicates, seems to possess strange powers of resurrection.
Read the rest of this entry »
New Year’s bargain hunting
The flood of wine through Vintages stores doesn’t stop for an event as paltry as a New Year’s. With Monday’s Champagne fizz barely flat, the new release (out January 5) contains 85 new wines, many bundled for marketing purposes under a “What’s New” banner. There are entries from obscure regions like the Fronton near Toulouse in Southwest France, from Catalayud in Spain, and a fine sangiovese from Emilia-Romagna in Italy. More importantly for flattened wallets the vast majority are under $20, the silver lining of being unknown. Here are ten of the best buys from the January 5 release.
Trophy Wines Sell Out
My Drink column in current issue of Toronto Life reviews ten very expensive, gifting wines released Saturday (December 8th) at Vintages, complete with a warning that you need to “step lively” to actually acquire them. I should have said set your alarm clock for 5 a.m. Within an hour or two of doors opening many of the trophy bottles were sold out.
Holiday Shopping at Vintages
As much as I personally like to drag my heels on the issue of Christmas shopping, it was clearly evident from the throngs in the LCBO’s Bloor and Royal York store last Saturday afternoon that the season has been flung upon us. (I hear Royal York sold out of their 132-bottle allotment of Le Clos Jordanne—see Nov. 23 blog—by noon.) The upcoming January edition of Toronto Life has some great tips (and I hope inspiration) about buying fine wine at Christmas and offers suggestions from Vintages’ impressive Dec. 8 release. For those driven to finish their shopping this weekend, here are 10 worthy gifts already on the shelf, with largest stock allocations shown as of Nov. 26. To find stock at the store nearest you plug the LCBO product number shown into the Product Search function at www.lcbo.com.
15 Top Releases
Wine of the WeekObikwa 2007 Shiraz, Western Cape, South Africa ($9.65, 87 points, 527499)Huge value for less than 10 bucks. This brand new vintage shows an exuberant nose of blackberry, lilac, campfire smoke and clove. Mid-weight, slim and a touch sweet with soft tannin; it’s ready to drink. Very good density, acidity and length for the money, with lingering bacon and vanilla flavours. Watch for the 2007 vintage when shopping; the 2006 bottles, which are not as good, may be on shelf.
Canada’s Largest Fine-Wine Auction
Wine of the WeekChateau La Lagune 1982 Third Growth Bordeaux (97 points)This grand cru classé Bordeaux was perhaps the best value among over 60 legendary wines tasted Thursday in advance of the LCBO’s Fine Wine Auction running from October 12 to 15 in Toronto. At 25 years old, it is not so much a fountain of youth as it is an incredibly well-toned, lean and fit, middle-aged long-distance runner. Amazing energy, vibrancy and balance. Likely to live another decade or more. Read on for other awesome auction wines still very much alive and on the block this weekend.
Ten Killer Values Under $25
Wine of the Week Farnese 2005 Sangiovese Daunia, Italy ($7.45, 87 points, 512327)A major winemaking achievement from the south of Italy for this price, with clean, ripe berry-redcurrant fruit, leather and marzipan typical of sangiovese without any hint of acetic problems common in this area. It is almost satiny smooth and has an easy-drinking sweetness followed by a dry, sour cherry finish. Not great length but surely good enough at the price. Will grace any casual meal from pizza and pasta to wings, ribs and Mexican fare. It ranked ninth in the Top 25 Killer Values at the International Value Wine Awards.
Ten Picks from a Busy Week
Wine of the WeekNorman Hardie 2006 County Pinot Noir, Prince Edward County ($35, 89 points)The rainy harvest of 2006 was difficult for pinot noir in Ontario, causing dilution of flavour and a break down of the fruit. Norman Hardie’s solutions were to greatly thin the clusters and severely sort the grapes, reducing yields drastically. He has only 150 cases remaining of the final result—a light, elegant, focused and appealing pinot noir with typical county florality, cranberry/raspberry fruit and nicely inlaid oak spice and smoke. With a supple structure and fine tannin, it won’t cellar long beyond 2010 but is charming now. Most important is the potential it shows for county pinot noir. It’s available at the winery only, or order via the Web site.
All Hands on Decks
After yesterday’s sudden whirl of activity, the journos were back in the second floor canteen using the free WiFi or camped out in the twelfth floor alcoves; the jury is back deliberating; Amy St. Eve took half a day to sentence a Chicago area grocer/terrorist to 21 months in jail. Brit biographer Tom Bower is speculating as to which of Black’s London clubs might expel him if he’s convicted: “They can’t pitch him out for simple criminality. I suppose if he stops paying his fees that might do it.” Where last week the Canadians played euchre in the halls today the Brits engaged in a spirited game of gin rummy. In the meantime, after having reported on an imaginary note from the jury, Mark Steyn bravely admitted he was actually blogging from Spain. Hasta la vista, baby.
Heat-Busting Bargain Bubbly
Wine of the WeekJacob’s Creek NV Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut ($13.95, 88 points, 562991)South Eastern Australia A chardonnay pinot noir blend in the Champagne tradition, this was among my favourites when tasted blind in the under $25 International Value Wine Awards in Calgary last month. Not nearly as tropical, soft and sweet as you might expect from Australia. Very Champagne-like bouquet is lightly toasty and biscuity, with apple-pear, lemon fruit and chalk dust minerality. It’s mid-weight, firm and dry with a bead of tart refreshing acidity that lights up the wine.
1,000 Wines of the Week
I’ve tasted so many wines this past week that I can’t pick one to feature. Furthermore I don’t have tasting notes (yet) on any single one of them, because I don’t know exactly which wines I tasted.
Private Order Break Out
Wine of the Week Bodegas Terras Gauda 2006 O Rosel, Rias Baixas, Spain ($26, 91 points, www.thewinecoaches.com)Gorgeous aromatic, fleshy, lively and spicy white made on Spain’s northwest coast in Galicia, primarily from the local albarino grape (70%) with 20% loureira and 10% caino. Youth is so important with this style of wine that can sink into soupiness as it ages. This is as bright as they come, bursting with star anise, pineapple and grapefruit.
Sushi Time
Wine of the WeekOroya 2005Spain, $13.95, Vintages April 14, #25775(score 86)Created by Spanish giant Freixnet, this seemingly simple dry white was put together from native Spanish varieties —airen (60%), macabeo (30%) and muscat (10%)—specifically to match with sushi, as spelled out on the label both in English and Japanese. It’s rather innocuous when sipped solo, with vague floral, melon and citrus flavours set in a slim, dry yet harmonious frame. Well integrated acidity and alcohol forms the bedrock of the wine and the switch that turns it on is sushi, as discovered below. It really works.
Gezundheit
Last week I scoffed at the village wisewoman who foretold disaster after a brick-red moon. What a fool I was, what a mutton-headed fool, what an addle-pated dolt. Her cackling kin, riding their storm clouds at midnight across the streaming welkin, sent an ague down to torment me. It settled onto the sinuses and at the back of the throat and I woke up with what doctors call “a cold.”
