Wine Club: Episode Three

Last weekend was the third iteration of our small wine and dinner club, with hosting duties rotating to the third couple such that now all of us have hosted and created all three courses. Having started with entree duty, I was finally rotated to appetizers, and had been looking forward to it for ages – I had the perfect unique wine to share. A visit to Vista D’oro in the early fall had yielded a bottle of their fascinating Pinot Noix – a Sherry-like wine made from Pinot Noir that has aged for a year with Brandy-macerated walnuts. At the time of my visit the tasting room staff had suggested it would be the perfect accompaniment to a salty savoury olive tapenade so I immediately mentally linked it to one of my favourite appetizer recipes for Kalamata olive sundried tomato tapenade. Served alongside some Salt Spring Island Feta and a fresh baguette the tapenade was a big hit. The Pinot Noix provoked a great deal of mussing as it tickled our noses and palates: there was fruity Pinot Noir there but also the nutty Brandy walnut flavours, quite a roller-coaster experience and altogether delicious.

Our entree of the night was a truly exceptional duo of lasagnes prepared with almost entirely fresh homemade ingredients, right down to the ricotta! Homemade tomato sauce and pasta yielded results that are actually making me hungry as I write about it: mushroom lasagne for the vegetarians and a traditional meat dish for the other half of the crowd. Sandhill 2007 Small Lots Three was the ideal match – a blend of Barbera and Sangiovese with a touch of Merlot. The bottle had been opened earlier to decant and by dinner was awash in smooth juicy fruit. Considering only 266 cases were made I consider myself lucky to have tried this charming wine, some of which is still available on Sandhill’s website – get it while it lasts!

The final course was quite a sight to behold as we were presented with delightfully arranged dishes of poached pears and Poplar Grove Tiger Blue. The pears had been poached whole in mulled wine, and I’d certainly never had anything like that before! Ironically our dessert chefs pulled out a bottle of “D’oro”, the famous fortified walnut wine from its namesake winery Vista D’oro. Primarily Marechal Foch with Merlot and Cabernet Franc this wine is a unique and treasured treat. The aromatic red wine sauce and sweet pears mixed with the strong sweet flavours of the D’oro and tangy Tiger Blue made for a very enjoyable and memorable final course!

Upon reflection I’ve realized what makes our wine club so enjoyable for everyone: it is a non-competitive distributed compliment system! Since we are all making different courses that fulfill different functions, we are never in competition to “out-do” one another in a given evening; to do so would be attempting to compare apples and oranges, quite literally in some cases. Each course can be appreciated entirely on its own, and thus each amateur chef/sommelier receives unique compliments and praise. Because everyone contributes uniquely the compliments are distributed across all three couples, and everyone leaves happy in the knowledge that they helped make the evening a success! I’m looking forward to our next meeting in January: I’m back on entree duty and have already settled on the menu item and accompanying wine, neither of which I have ever tried before – it should be exciting!

Legacy Liquor Store

Last month a new private liquor store called Legacy opened in the Olympic Village (aka Millennium Water) neighbourhood; and not just any store, but the “largest private liquor store in BC!” At 8,600 square feet I can testify that this is a big store for someone used to the tight spaces of VQA wine stores and shops like Liberty Wines. I was fortunate enough to attend the grand opening and check out the BC wine selection, which impressed me a great deal in the expansive offerings and the aggressive prices. Although the majority of their selection was marked only by hand-written Post-It notes on that first day I could tell that Wine Supervisor Lesley Anne Saito has sourced some unique and hard-to-find offerings, and has permission to price them very fairly.

I have since revisited Legacy and although there were still a few empty spots on the shelves the majority of their wine has been displayed – with plenty of room to grow. In fact with such large common spaces in the centre of the store Legacy is able to build massive flexible displays like the tower of Joie wines I admired during my second visit. Upon entering I immediately spotted some rare gems in the BC wine section and was forced to make the difficult decision of which two bottles to purchase – my typical wine-shopping bag only has room for two, to keep my buying habits in check! Although Lake Breeze’s 2007 Tempest caught my eye – having just been awarded a high silver medal at the Canadian Wine Awards – I ultimately settled on two even rarer big reds for my 2007 collection. The first choice was relatively easy, as Legacy is the first store in which I have ever spotted Rollingdale’s La Gauche Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend. With only 385 cases produced, and a sterling 91+ points review from Icon Wines I knew this little-known wine would be a valuable addition. Rollingdale also produces a Merlot-heavy blend called La Droite (the names refer to the Left and Right banks of Bordeaux), but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky as to own the full pair; perhaps as Rollingdale’s reputation grows so too will their production and distribution.

The second bottle I selected was Bill Eggert’s “The Bear”, a complex Meritage blend from his Fairview Cellars winery. I was lucky enough to find the 2006 vintage earlier this year, and now thanks to Legacy I can add the 2007 to my collection. Once again I put my trust in the talented team at Icon Wines: their 91-93 point review for this vintage was hard to ignore. The Bear is said to be included in the wine lists of many top BC restaurants, and I look forward to aging mine a few years in an attempt to do justice to Bill’s hard work. Fairview Cellars recently updated their website to include more than just contact information – it now lists the current releases and purchasing information. In fact the 2008 vintage of The Bear is already available via the winery, and Bill is keeping the price at a very reasonable $35. A high-quality boutique winery Meritage for under $40 is a treasure in BC’s cut-throat industry, given the many challenges and expenses faced by small producers. I hope to keep adding wines from Fairview Cellars to my collection over the years; I would suggest keeping your eyes peeled for entry level blends like “Madcap Red” and “Two Hoots”, I certainly will be!

November Acquisitions - Part IV

Le Vieux Pin: Pinot Noir Reserve (2007)

This is one of the last Pinot Noirs from Le Vieux Pin, released only recently alongside the larger non-reserve 2008 bottling titled “Adieu”, officially their last bottling of Pinot Noir. It remains to be seen if a 2008 Reserve is resting in the cellars for release next year, but if 2007 marks the end of a (albeit short) era for Le Vieux Pin they have certainly gone out on a high note. Based on a strong recommendation from the staff at Taylorwood Wines I purchased this wine for my 2008 collection after reading a very positive review from John Schreiner; I particularly liked his description of the palate as being “almost as rich as a dark fruitcake.” Le Vieux Pin cropped the vines for this wine to a ridiculously low 1.4 tons per acre and released fewer than 300 cases, hence the $45 price tag – more than many Meritage blends in fact (still less than Foxtrot’s $55 Lt. Governor’s Award-winning Pinot Noir however). Still, if the early reviews are correct I think this wine will have excellent aging potential and will be a valuable addition to my collection; I may even taste it alongside Quails’ Gate’s 2007 Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir in a few years to see how two $45 Pinots stack up.

Poplar Grove: The Legacy (2006)

Perhaps one word sums up Poplar Grove’s approach to winemaking and that is “patience”. This merlot-heavy blend is a particularly good example of this approach, as after spending two years in oak the good people at Poplar Grove held it for a further 18 months in bottle to ensure it is fully approachable upon release. Considering it was released at the same time Mission Hill was taking the wraps of their 2007 red blends you can see how patient Poplar Grove is willing to be for our benefit. Bottle aging is expensive: with cellar space at a premium many wineries are hesitant to hold their product for long after bottling. Plus, it must be nerve-wracking to stare at thousands of bottles of $50 wine that you are NOT selling yet for months on end: who knows what calamity could befall that wine while it waits, everything from fires to mudslides can wipe out a year’s worth of product – and profit. Suffice to say, Poplar Grove must be very pleased this wine is now in stores, and receiving many positive reviews from the likes of John Schreiner, the often conservative Anthony Gismondi, and the fine gentlemen at Icon Wines. Although I’m certain The Legacy is excellent right now, mine is awaiting consumption in 2013 alongside an equally well-received Poplar Grove 2006 Cabernet Franc; I look forward to it!

Wine Club: Episode Two

Last weekend was the second iteration of our friendly little wine and food club. As my wife and I were hosts last time the dessert duty was passed to us this month, as the previous dessert chefs moved to the appetizer course, and the entree and hosting duties were taken up by the previous appetizer chefs. Our new appetizer chefs W & D had just recently taken up home cheese making and so we were treated to a delicious homemade eggplant and paneer curry paired with the highly-awarded Pentâge Gewurztraminer 2009. Having just received a Lt. Governor’s Award for Excellence in BC Wines plus a Gold Medal in the 2010 All Canadian Wine Championships, this Gewurztraminer did not disappoint in the flavour department. Not only did delectable aromas of oranges and lychee fill the air above our glasses, but the flavour was a perfect complement to the curry dish. We were all very impressed with Pentage and I’ll have to keep a close eye on them in the future: they have a very large repertoire of wines so it may take me some time to work my way through them!

                As the aromas of our entree course began to fill the air all eyes were drawn to the deep red hue of something special in the decanter on the buffet: our hosts B & L proudly revealed a bottle of Hillside 2002 Mosaic. Considering I’ve only began seriously collecting our fine BC wines in the past couple of years, I have nothing in my collection from such a far-removed vintage; the chance to try a well-aged Naramata-bench red was tantalizing indeed! As our plates were graced by a beautiful mushroom risotto with sautéed cherry tomatoes and asparagus we collectively relished the aromas coming from our glasses as the Mosaic was poured. This Bordeaux blend had been bottle aging for nearly seven years and the texture was silky smooth, with aromas and flavours almost unnervingly well-matched to the risotto. I was quite amazed at the earthy mushroom aromas that paralleled the dish in front of us, and murmurs of pleasure and sighs of contentment filled the room as we dug into our meal.

                After some seconds of risotto by at least one of us (how could I resist half-a-dozen different kinds of mushrooms?!) we took time to consider the dessert wine I had brought: Cherry Point Cowichan Blackberry. Although I had initially expected traditional grape wines to be focus of this club, I had already become the first to break out of the box with something different. Some wild blackberries I had picked last fall were still doing quite well in the freezer, but I felt the time was right for blackberry squares, and what better an accompaniment than their namesake wine. Cowichan Blackberry comes to us from Vancouver Island, where ripe wild blackberries are transformed into what we discovered is a smooth and well-balanced dessert wine, that despite one’s expectations is just sufficiently off-dry as to avoid perceptions of syrupiness. Of course the wine and squares paired quite nicely, and we all enjoyed trying blackberry wine for the first time. It was the end of another successful evening, in which we all got to be the stars: my thanks once again to my adventurous friends for embracing this concept so whole-heartedly!

November Acquisitions – Part III

Two "archive" wines were my third set of acquisitions in November, obtained from perusing the shelves of private stores in downtown Vancouver. I'm often surprised by what I find on store shelves when I least expect it, and in this case I got the rare opportunity to add some back vintages to my collection.

Osoyoos Larose: Le Grand Vin (2005)

The first vintage of this legendary wine was produced in 2001: a joint effort of Vincor and the French Group Taillan. Growing Bordeaux varietals in southern BC has proven a very successful venture, not only for Osoyoos Larose of course but for a great many wineries seeking to produce powerful red blends. Although I have no hope of ever collecting a bottle of the initial few vintages, finding several 2005 editions in Coal Harbour Liquor Store in late October was a very lucky break, especially considering the 2007 was being nearly simultaneously released. How Coal Harbour managed to hold on to a vintage now two years removed is a mystery to me, but when I returned in early November – after promising myself I would wait until the next fiscal month – there was only one bottle left! Although the 2007 is considered by many to be the “best by any measure” the 2005 was also quite positively received at the time. Now that I have all three vintages from 2005 to 2007 I’m thinking a six-year vertical would be very nice to look at indeed! Fortunately Le Grand Vin easily lends itself to long-term cellaring; this 2005 will still be relatively young in four years when I finally have to make room for the 2011. Six years will be sufficient for my needs however; I’m looking forward to an aged Grand Vin on my birthday each year starting in 2014!

Mission Hill: Select Lot Collection Syrah (2006)

Although I have the 2007 SLC Syrah I actually did not have any intention of purchasing this particular vintage. I was looking for a 2006 Pinot Noir to bulk up my Pinot selection from that year. Having spotted a 2006 Howling Bluff Pinot in Sutton Place Wine Merchant in October I returned with the knowledge it won a Lt. Governor’s Award, eager to add such a well-regarding wine to my collection. Sadly it was nowhere to be found, and the consequences of my (barely restrained) patience once again reared their ugly head! Perhaps “patience is a virtue” should be revised with an addendum “...except in cases of limited resources!” Still in mourning I spotted this Syrah, being familiar with its (excellent) younger sibling. Knowing I still had room in the 2006 rack I quickly digitally confirmed my expectations of excellence and made the easy decision to pick it up. Anthony Gismondi suggested one to three years of aging for this wine in 2009 so it should be perfectly ready to drink in 2011 when I open it up. Of course by then I may have the 2008 SLC Syrah and will want to hold on to all three vintages for a special vertical tasting!

November Acquisitions - Part II

A visit to Village Wines Dunbar in early November ensured I could check off another two wines from my to-buy list, including a rare past vintage from Sandhill and a delicious Chardonnay from Mission Hill to complete my 2007 Chardonnay collection. The three Village Wines stores are one of Vancouver's best sources for hard-to-find VQA wines, as well as the occasional unexpected treat!

Mission Hill: Select Lot Collection Chardonnay (2007)

Mission Hill has one of the largest portfolio’s in the BC wine industry, with four fully differentiated tiers of wine under their home label (not to mention their many semi-independent sub-brands). Within the Mission Hill label there sits the Five Vineyards wines, the Reserve tier, the Select Lot Collection, and finally the Legacy Series, home of giants such as the Bordeaux-style blend Oculus. Within their three different levels of “reserve” wines the Selection Lot Collection Chardonnay sits comfortably in the middle. Although the Reserve Chardonnay – at a very reasonably-priced $19 – racks up regular medals at the Chardonnay du Monde competition, this 2007 SLC wine has received a great many accolades itself, and continues Mission Hill’s aggressive pricing structure at only $22. In particular the 2007 SLC Chardonnay was named Best of Category at the 2009 All Canadian Wine Championships, and also received the Regional Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Buttery, baked apple flavours are often associated with this wine; just listen to Daenna Van Mulligen’s glowing review: “...oozes ripe pear and melon aromas, exotic citrus and praline with warm pie crust, baking spices and vanilla.” If that doesn’t make your mouth start watering I don’t know what will!

Sandhill: Small Lots Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah (2006)

The blending of Cabernet Sauvignon with Syrah was pioneered by the Australian wine industry, and has spread to North America as the benefits of this unique blend have become obvious: the powerful tannins and age-ability of Cabernet Sauvignon are an excellent complement and match for the fleshy fruit aspects of the Syrah. As part of Sandhill’s Small Lots Collection winemaker Howard Soon has blended grapes from Sandhill’s estate vineyard off of Black Sage Road south of Oliver. A very positive review from Icon Scores encouraged me to add a bottle of this intriguing blend to my collection, and I am certain Sandhill won’t let me down when I open it next fall. I’m particularly optimistic about this wine’s versatility, as it is reported to stand up well on its own or even with a dessert course of peppered chocolate! Only 363 cases of the 2006 vintage were produced, but I found nearly a full case at Village Wines Dunbar. The 2007 vintage was released in March and recently sold-out at the winery. Although I don’t really have the room in my collection I’ve decided to pick up a bottle should I see one, for it has been hinted to me that 2007 will be Sandhill’s last vintage of this particular blend; VQA stores or the Granville Island Brewery store (which also carries select wines, including Sandhill) might be your best bet before it’s gone forever.

November Acquisitions – Part I

The first week of every month usually means a bit of a shopping spree for me, as my self-imposed wine budget is reset, and I have a shortlist of collectibles burning a hole in my pocket. This month I added eight excellent wines to the cellar, including some valuable past vintages I was excited to find. I’ll discuss them two at a time over the remainder of the month, in the order I purchased them; enjoy!

Painted Rock: Cabernet Sauvignon (2008)

Painted Rock’s very first release of Cabernet Sauvignon last year (the 2007 vintage) won a Lt. Governor’s Award. Not only was this a very impressive way to enter the BC wine scene, but Painted Rock took home a second Award for their Red Icon blend! Sadly, although I managed to acquire the 2007 Red Icon (and the 2007 Merlot) I missed my chance in adding the Cabernet Sauvignon to my cellar. Fortunately I was ready to buy this year as soon as I saw the 2008 vintage appear on store shelves. Other consumers should be equally better off this year because Painted Rock surprisingly did not use any of their Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2008 Red Icon, leaving quite a bit more for the single varietal release. You may have to conduct a bit of sleuthing however, as it is unlikely to show up in VQA stores; I picked mine up from Brewery Creek, after seeing it first at Crosstown Liquor Store. Keep your eyes peeled for the 2008 Red Icon in the New Year, as it has received some extremely positive early press, and will surely be a valuable addition to any BC wine collection.

Blackwood Lane: Alliànce (2006)

A was afforded the rare and precious opportunity to visit Blackwood Lane’s winery in Langley, and couldn’t pass up the chance to pick up a bottle of the red blend Icon Wines awarded their Wine of the Year label in 2009. Even better, I was able to taste a nicely decanted sample during my visit, an opportunity often lacking for many of the wines I collect on faith (and lots of detailed research!). Although a $60 wine at the winery (and significantly higher-priced in private stores), Alliance is actually the baby brother to Blackwood Lane’s “The Reference”, a 95-point Bordeaux-style blend that retails for more than $100 in stores. Having decided that I’m willing to “settle” for 94 points, I opted for the Alliance, and my decision was cemented when I smelled the incredible aromas coming out of my glass in the tasting room. I was not ashamed to admit out loud that I wanted to stay and smell that glass all day long. My purchase was guaranteed without even needing a taste, but a couple of sips of that incredibly balanced, smoothly-textured delight and I was hooked. With bottle in hand I grudgingly left, already wondering if I could afford a second one to open immediately – I sadly have to wait until 2013 to taste it again if I follow my own cellaring strategy. Of course it should be even better by then, and hopefully will be followed by subsequent vintages: I’m told the 2007 is just as amazing, and awaiting bottling – I think Blackwood Lane may become an annual pilgrimage!