WINEWHINE # 23

Welcome to Hugh Gillis of Antigonish to the Whine


Dear Santa Claus: I know you have been busy with all the good little boys and girls, but if you have time this Christmas Eve I’d greatly appreciate it if you would think of me. Most of the time I haven’t been naughty (I don’t think grumpy should count as naughty and I’m too old to do any really naughty things.) On occasion I have even been nice. I once used my snowblower to clear a neighbour’s driveway and I have written a few cheques to worthy charities. I have even been known to semi vacuum the house, and most of the time I haven’t ruined Betty’s favourite things when doing the laundry.


Now, what do I want for Christmas? Well, I really like consumables and, of course, good wine is the very best consumable. So why not stuff my stocking with a bottle of Barolo, traditionally known in Italy as the “King of Wines and Wine of Kings”? Readers of my WineWhine know that I am not impressed with cheap Chiantis and even cheaper Valpolicellas. They also know that I do like Amarones and Ripassos. However, my cellar has, at the moment only one lonely bottle of ’00 Barolo. This wine from Piedmont is made exclusively from Nebbiolo grapes. It is very powerful and full-bodied with a complex set of aromas and flavours including strawberries, licorice, chocolates, roses and vanilla. Now, Santa, there is a downside to this best of Italian wines. In its youth it is very austere and tannic. In fact, one shouldn’t drink a bottle that has cellared fewer than 10 years. I’m thinking that if you brought me a bottle it would increase my life expectancy, because I couldn’t go until the Barolo was ready and I had tasted its richness. Anyway Santa, if you don’t get to Alba in Piedmont to pick me up a bottle, I would understand; especially if you brought me any of my other favourite wines. Merry Christmas Santa!


Bad news and Good News: The bad news is that none of you WineWhiners were winners in Jay Thomson’s 100 bottles of Wine on the Wall draw. The good news is that Jay raised $ 1400 for the Canadian Diabetes Society. In the past 6 years he has raised over $ 8,000. Thank you very much to those of you who bought tickets. Maybe next year some of those wines will come a little farther East.


What’s your favourite wine? When on occasion I am asked this question I have no ready answer. It depends on so many things, such as the food pairing, my mood, with whom I am sharing, etc. However, every once in a while I find that the wine I am drinking seems extra, extra good. So while I can’t tell you my favourite wine I can tell you what wines seemed very special over the past 12 months.


From my wine journal I noted that lots of bottles were opened in 2010 (how many is secret or my enemies might use that number as evidence to have me committed someplace). It turns out that 22% of the wines I drank were from Chile. France came in next with 15%, followed by Spain at 14%, Argentina at 12%, California at 11%, Australia at 9%, and Italy at 7%. The other 10% came from various places such as Austria, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and Washington State.



Here is the list of the 10 wines that got my top best ratings; prices varied from $ 15- $60 and there was no correlation between price and my liking:


# 10 ’04 Cabernet Sauvignon from the California vineyard of Francis Ford Coppolo


# 9 An Argentinian Brut Nature Cava from Dubois. This is about the driest sparkling wine I have ever tasted. Unfortunately, it no longer seems to be available.


# 8 ‘’04 Gilles Flatcher Syrah from St. Joseph, Northern Rhone. Extremely elegant this is the only French wine that made my list. However, there are not many really good French wines available in Nova Scotia, which may explain France’s poor showing on my list.


# 7 ’06 Tabali Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. I bought this wine on sale for $ 15. and then discovered it was no longer available anywhere in N.S. or Ontario. I was so pleased with this wine that we added a visit to the winery on our trip to South American last spring. However, because of the earthquake our wine tour got cancelled so I may never get to drink this wine again.


# 6 ’00 Castell de Falset Grenache from Monstat in Spain. Wine Spectator gave this wine a rating of 93/100 and I would have placed it even higher.


# 5 ’06 Marques Casa Conca Merlot. Another inexpensive wine of great value.


# 4 ’06 Amicus Cabernet Sauvignon from California. An absolutely elegant wine.


# 3 ’04 Villard Equis (Chile) is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. In fact Villard also makes a great Pinot Noir.


# 2 ’06 Luigi Bosca Malbec from Argentina (thanks to David Case for finding this one for me).


# 1 ‘03 Alfa Crux (Argentina) blend of Tempranillo, Malbec and Merlot. Heaven in a glass.

White Wine Bargain: Here is a must try not only for white wine lovers, but for all wine lovers. Trapiche Broquel Chardonnay is a very special, yet affordable white that will go with almost anything. Only very lightly oaked it will challenge the best of the great wines of Chablis, at 1/3 the price.

Opimian Offering # 199: This offering has many great Spanish wines at various prices. Here are a few that I recommend.


5583 Altos Cuadrado Monastrell. I particularly like the Monastrell grape and this is a bargain at under $ 15. Has a slightly bitter taste.


5588 “For a few dollars more” to quote the spaghetti western this Ribero del Duero from Monte Castrillo is available.


5891 If you are willing to spend close to $ 30 you can get one of my favourite Ribero’s from Torremilanos.


5892 This Gran Colegiata Reserva is well worth the price. One of the best wines from Toro.


5897 Spain makes great bubbly so I recommend this Montblanc Cava


5908 This is a must. Very inexpensive, this crackling Vino Verde from Portugal makes fabulous summertime drinking. Light and fruity you should always have a bottle chilled and ready for afternoon sipping.


My final Whine for 2010: Most of you will be drinking white wine with your turkey tomorrow. I think the Chardonnay that I mentioned above would be a good choice. Chardonnay is a better match to roast turkey than the more citric Sauvignon Blanc. However, I am one of those people who prefer red wine with turkey so tomorrow my family (they defer to my choice whenever I provide the wine) will be a Pinot Noir from Austria. Beaujolais would be another good match to your turkey.


Thank you to all who have read (or at least quickly scanned) my Whines over the past year! I hope you all have a very festive holiday and that you find peace, love and health in 2011

WineWhine # 22

WineWhine # 22

Welcome to Jamie Cassels of Victoria, B.C. to the Whine

The third week of November: It’s that time of year. Beaujolais Nouveau is about to be released and sold by the container load across the world. If you want my advice on buying Beaujolais Nouveau scroll back to Whine # 13. If you can’t be bothered and want the short version of my earlier comments, here is all you need to know: Don’t buy! Don’t buy! Don’t buy!

Umami: When I was in graduate school (in the middle of the last century) I was forced to buy and read Edwin Boring’s “History of Experimental Psychology.” The surname was an accurate predictor of how I was to find this tome.

As it turns out Boring not only caused grief for countless graduate students, he also caused all of us in the English-speaking world to greatly misunderstand the sense of taste. Boring chose a methodologically suspect research paper by German scientist D.P. Hanig, and then he badly mistranslated this paper, which had to do with mapping the tongue for taste receptors. For generations junior high science teachers have taught their pupils that there are only four types of taste receptors in the tongue (sweet, sour, salt and bitter) and that they are in four separate locations. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! There are five types of taste receptors and all five are everywhere on the tongue.

What has this to do with wine? For starters the Riedel company has made a fortune selling wine glasses that are shaped to direct different types of wine (bitter tasting tannic wine such as cabernet sauvignon or sour-tasting acidic wine such as sangiovese) to different parts of the tongue. My advice is to sell your shares in Riedel but hang on to any large bowled glasses that allow you to fully appreciate the nose of a good wine. Also, if you want more info on wine glasses, scroll back to Whine # 7.

So what’s this fifth sense of taste? It’s called Umami and it’s allows us to taste certain amino acids, in particular the salts of glutamic acid. This is the stuff in monosodium glutamate (MSG). The Japanese, in particular, have known about this fifth taste for almost a century. Roughly umami translates as “delicious” or “savory” and it is the taste that is found in certain high-protein foods that have been well aged. Some high umami foods are well-aged meats, aged cheeses, dried seaweed, shellfish, and soy sauce. Some foodies describe this taste as “meaty” or “brothy”. The taste is more subtle than the sense of salt, sweet, sour or bitter and it sometimes is simply described as the sensation of well-being that comes from eating a food high in these amino acids, such as a perfectly aged steak.

Now, comes the interesting part. What wines do you pair with high amino acid foods; that is those which give us the wonderful satisfaction feeling that follows tasting these umami-type foods? First, high umami foods accentuate both the bitterness and the acidity in the wine. Thus, for example, you should never pair Zinfandel with shellfish. But what about red meat (that perfectly marbled steak, for example)? Since the amino acids in the steak will bring out the bitter taste of the tannins in a young Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine may end up with a metallic taste. The answer to this one is to serve the well-aged meat with a well aged, and complex wine such as a 7 or 8-year old Cabernet from Chile or California, or a good Bordeaux from the left bank of the Gironde (couldn’t resist that little pretentious tidbit). The tannins have softened in these well-aged wines allowing the complex flavors to burst forth.

But, you don’t have a cellar and the $ 25. Chilean Cabernet is only 2 years old. If you don’t want the Cabernet to taste overly metallic when paired with your beautiful prime rib, there is a solution. Add a little salt and/or a squirt of lemon to the meat. If you don’t believe me, try this the next time you have a medium rare steak and a young Cabernet.

Three final comments: If you eat your meat well-done, it doesn’t matter what you do with the wine. Something bottled yesterday will do. Also, if you want a refresher on how long to age various wines scroll back to Whines # 3 and # 14. If you are on a low-salt diet and you don’t have an aged Cabernet, try pairing your meat with a decent Argentinean Malbec (anything over $ 15.). Malbecs are less tannic than Cabernet so a young Malbec will pair well with your beautiful joint of beef.

More on Valpolicella: In my last Whine I was hard on cheap Italian wines, and in particular, Bardolina and Valpolicella. However, if a cheap bottle of Valpolicella is at the very bottom on my wine choices a special version called Amarone della Valpolicella is near or at the top.

To make Amarone the vintner takes especially ripe Corvina grapes from the region (and only from good years), then spreads them on mats in cool rooms and lets them dry for 3 or 4 months. These shriveled grapes are then fermented. The result is a wonderful, full-flavored wine that is very high in alcohol content (14% - 16%).

Amarone della Valpolicella is not cheap. You should expect to pay $ 50. or more. However, you can’t do better for a special occasion wine (but perhaps only when there is a designated driver as a bottle of this stuff will leave you nearly incapacitated).

A slighter cheaper version was invented some years ago by the Masi company. The process is called ripasso and the wine that is made is really a beefed up Valpolicella. Regular Valpolicella undergoes a second fermentation while in contact with the lees (deposits) left over from the making of Amarone. This wine is also very good although very tannic when young. In Canada you can find several ripassos and one of the best is Masi’s Campofiorin.

The problem with ripasso and with the superior Amarone is that these wines need to age. Don’t even think about drinking them under five years. Ten years is better and a good Amarone will cellar for up to 20.

Don’t be discouraged, buy a bottle of Amarone, lay it down and in a few years you can bring it out and be truly amazed at how good it is.

Storing wine in your kitchen: Perhaps the worst place in your house to store wine is in the kitchen. First, the kitchen has too much light; second, there may be too much vibration; and finally your kitchen is far too warm.

However, if you must store wine in your kitchen, here are some pictures on how you might successfully do this. Thanks to my friends M and H for the pictures.

Opimian Special Offering 48: There are many good things to recommend from this special offering. My strongest recommendation is that you order either or both of the wines from Paulitta (# 5820 and # 5821). These wines comes in 500 ml bottles and are perfect for those occasions where you want a smaller bottle. In addition they are very inexpensive and will be ready to drink upon arrival. Although I haven’t tried the Sauvignon Blanc I bought a case of the Cabernet/Merlot last year and it’s a perfect everyday wine.

I have always recommended against buying Beaujolais Nouveau (see above). However, this offering has many very fine Beaujolais. Good Beaujolais is very light and perfect for sipping. The Chenas (5834) is one that I have tried and liked.

Also recommended is # 5844. French Chablis is the world’s best Chardonnay. If you like Chardonnay try a really good one from France.

The wine I recommend you avoid this time is also French. The Bourgogne Passetoutgrain (5849) is far too thin for Canadian taste. We are used to bigger and bolder New World wines and this one is an exemplar of a wine that brings about the comment “But French wines have no substance.” If you must try this wine, drop in to my house. I have a case of this stuff that I’d like to share.

Finally, if you haven’t tried Armagnac, try a case of 5875. Armagnac is a distilled wine (brandy) that is similar to Cognac, but not exactly the same. It is the perfect drink to end a great evening. Although it may take you a while to consume 6 bottles Armagnac makes a wonderful gift and, of course, it keeps forever.

WineWhine # 21

WineWhine # 21

Welcome to Martin Gleize of Paris, France.

In this issue of the Whine I am going to start a long-avoided series on Italian wines; make some comments on recognizing a decent wine list; talk a bit about gout; and, of course, refer to the latest offering from Opimian.

ITALIAN WINE. For 20 issues of the Whine I have avoided discussing Italian wine. The reason is that understanding Italian wine is extremely difficult. However, since I have been challenged by one of my readers the time has come!

As late as the 1990’s Italy produced more wine than the world outside of Europe. Only France produces more wine than Italy. With this much wine how does one know what is a good and what is a bad bottle? The task is made difficult because historically Italy has produced not only great wines but boatloads of truly awful plonc. And, of course, wine drinkers remember the 1986 scandal when 22 died from drinking methanol-laced Italian wine. More recently, it was discovered that producers of Brunello were substituting cheaper varietals than the required Sangiovese.

In theory, one should be able to recognize quality through a labelling system that is similar to the Appellation Controlee system used in France. Under this system the wine is shown to be from a particular area and the varietals and percentages of varietals are controlled by law. The top category is denominazione di origini controllata garantita (DOCG), followed by DOC and finally IGT (indicazione geografica tipica) which simply means wines typical of a region. On the other hand, there is lots of plonc sold with DOC and IGT on the label. Much more importantly many of the very best Italian wines (the so-called super Tuscans, for example) refuse to follow the classification system at all, preferring to blend non-traditional grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon into their wines.

Italy produces much more red wine than white wine. However, many of the whites are particularly good and I’ll write about Italian whites in a later Whine. In this issue, however, I shall restrict my comments to some of the better know inexpensive reds.

Sangiovese. This is the most commonly planted grape in Italy. This is the grape used to make Chianti, the well-know wine from central Tuscany. The world is awash with this light-colored, light-bodied wine. Cheaper Chiantis are highly acidic and low in tannins. This means that the first sip will taste “sharp.” On the other hand, when paired with an acidic food, such as your favorite tomato sauce, they can be a reasonable accompaniment. Chianti Classicos come from a more restricted region and are usually much less acidic. My advice is to avoid any Chianti that costs less than $ 20.

Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. These 3 Italian varietals are grown in Veneto (the region around Venice) and are blended to make the well-known wines of BARDOLINO and VALPOLICELLA. These light, somewhat prickly and bitter wines, which are intended to be drunk young, are produced in vast quantities and are found world-wide. Perhaps these are my least favorite of all wines (reminding me of stuff made from a wine kit). However, be careful not to confuse ordinary Valpolicella with the superb wine Amarone della Valpolicella which I shall discuss next time.

Montepulciano. As one goes farther south in Italy the wines become less acidic. Montepulciano is the main varietal grown in the Abruzzo area east of Rome. It is a medium bodied wine that is slightly smoky to taste. With more tannins than the wines above it ages well. Inexpensive, this wine is worth a try.

Nero d’Avola. This variety (sometimes called Calabrese) is the mainstay of Sicily. This wine is relatively powerful and packed with fruit. It is deeply colored and high in tannins. If you are looking for a bargain in an Italian wine, try one of these Sicilian wines.

GOUT AND RED WINE. Given my advanced age it is probably not surprising to learn that several of my male friends suffer from gout. Gout is caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood that leave deposits in the joints (particularly in the feet). For a long time it has been assumed that gout is effected by a rich diet. Alcohol is assumed to exacerbate this extremely painful condition.

Recently I was eating roast beef with a group of friends, two of whom suffer from gout. One accompanied his food with glasses of decent Cabernet while the other had his glass confiscated by a very protective spouse. Curious I decided to do a little net browzing.

It turns out that the most complete study of gout and alcohol was published in 2004 by a group of Harvard researchers lead by H.K. Choi. Based on a national health and nutrition examination these researchers found that the blood levels of uric acid were indeed associated with the consumption of some alcohols. Beer, in particular, seems to be the main culprit. On the other hand, THERE WAS NO ASSOCIATION BETWEEN URIC ACID AND WINE INTAKE. In fact, some even recommend drinking red wine. For example, Victor Konshin in his book “Beating Gout: A Suffer’s Guide to Living Pain Free” recommends one glass of red wine each day for gout sufferers.

FOR THOSE WHO LIVE IN ONTARIO. My bargain recommendation this time is a wine from Lebanon, sold at the LCBO for $ 13.50. Chateau Ksara Reserve Du Couvent 2007 is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. This medium-bodied wine is smooth and flavourful. It is light enough for sipping and heavy enough to accompany all but the most robust of foods. Give a bottle a try and let me know what you think.

FINDING A DECENT WINE LIST. I don’t think I have ever had bad food in a restaurant with a good wine list. Yet, many restaurants pay little attention to the wines they list. Since the mark-up is at least 100%, why do restauranteurs pay so little attention to their wines? I have no answer.

A good wine list should do four things: (1) there should a variety of light and heavy wines; (2) there should be wines from several countries; (3) there should be a good range of prices; (4) there should be wines that can’t be found a your local government store; (5) the vintage should be listed and most importantly it should be accurate.

Recently I have eaten in what should be 3 of the Maritimes better restaurants. At Churchill’s (Digby Pines) there was neither a Cabernet nor a Malbec on the list. Worse when I ordered a 2005 Zinfandel a 2008 appeared. This insult was repeated a second time after I had re-ordered. The excuse offered was it was the end of the season and they were re-stocking. Obviously, they had re-stocked with less aged wines and hadn’t bother to edit the wine list.

A restaurant with a good wine list is a great new French restaurant in Moncton called Petit Cavalier. The wine list included lots of French wines but also interesting wines from other countries. The relatively inexpensive Argentinian Malbec that I ordered matched beautifully my duck confit. At the end of the evening I complimented the restauranteur on his wine list. “Yes”, he said “after I was open a few weeks I brought in a Sommelier to help me upgrade my wines.”

Finally, I recently visited one of my favorite restaurants, Acton’s in Wolfville. There were four of us (including three wine lovers and a designated driver). Three is an awkward number for a bottle of wine. However, as they stocked as great Tempranillo from Rioja, the decision to have a second bottle of the same wine was unanimous. I am sure that if more restaurants paid attention to their wines, their profits would go up.

OPIMIAN OFFERING # 198. This offering has many interesting sounding wines, most of which I have not tried. Consequently my recommendations will be brief this time. Since my bias is that the best Australian wines come from Coonawarra I would suggest you (and maybe me) should try # 5747 the Red Trio.

In an earlier Whine I talked about Meritage (the New World wine that imitates French wine). # 5754 would be a change to try Meritage.

I was pleasantly surprised by an earlier coupon wine, Milyaroo Merlot. If you are looking for an everyday plonc you might try # 5766.

Finally, I was not impressed with a case of “Fat ‘n Skinny” that I ordered from an earlier offering. I suggest you avoid # 5775.

WineWhine # 20

It’s been a couple of months since the last Whine, so it’s time for me to put my two fingers to a keyboard. I shall start with a review of a fabulous restaurant that I recently visited, then tell you a bit about the varietal Bonarda and finish with some comments on the new “special offer” from Opimian.

5 Etioles: For some reason most tourists coming to Atlantic Canada don’t find their way to Northeastern New Brunswick (instead they drive the four-lane highway from Quebec to Nova Scotia and then complain erroneously that New Brunswick is nothing but spruce trees). In any event Betty and I make an annual pilgrimage to St. Ignace (where there is a wonderful golf course) and this year was no different. On our way north from Moncton we stopped for a late lunch at Cocagne where you can buy two very large, very fresh lobster rolls for $ 8.99. On our way to our motel at Kouchiboquac we drove through the tiny Acadian village of St. Louis de Kent and were surprised to see a large restaurant in an old purple house.

We stopped to scout out the menu and when we noted that we might like to eat around 8:00 p.m. the young man in front made two comments that sold us on returning for dinner. First, he noted that we would need a reservation for that time of night, and second he told us in his best Franglais that we might like to visit “The Cave” before dinner, to select our wine.

Although it was a week night the restaurant was packed when we returned at 8:00. Our waiter invited us to visit “The Cave” and then proceeded to lead us through a small door shaped like a parallelogram rather than a rectangle. Interest was added by a door frame where the parallelogram was tilted in the opposite direction. The steep wooden steps would require caution for an agile 10-year old. Anyone older than 21 or taller than 4’ 10” has trouble on the stairs. Apparently building inspectors are not welcome in St. Louis.

Wine in The Cave were organized by price with multiple bottle bins marked in $ 5.00 increments starting at $ 25. and peaking out at $ 55. I said to the waiter that this looked like it might take some time and he noted that I should take all the time I needed as the restaurant was open until 11:00 p.m.

Never having mastered that crazy Caribbean dance (remember the limbo?) I cracked my head climbing back up the steps that were constructed of ancient unplaned spruce. Fortunately, I hung onto a fabulous bottle of Malbec from Cafayette ($ 45.).

The menu was largely Italian and we were told that the specialty was seafood pizza. Although this sounded awful we did notice that many smiling customers were eating pizza. I ordered a small caesar to start and it came with 3 good-sized and very fresh lobster claws on top. I followed this with a very tasty lasagna while Betty braved the pizza. Her thin crust was covered in large chucks of lobster, succulent scallops and a smaller number of shrimps. These delicacies were covered with a very, very mild white sauce and an even milder cheese. My knuckles are still sore from the being struck by Betty’s cutlery as I tried to snag some bites of the pizza. Apparently this restaurant has been packed by locals and the occasional tourist for the past 19 years. If you are ever at the north end of Kent County, get a reservation at “5 Etioles”.

The next morning we lost lots of balls at St. Ignace but the four lobster rolls we had for lunch on the way home were ample compensation.

Bonarda: There are 100’s of different grapes used to made red wine. However, those of us who love red wine tend to drink the same varietals over and over again. Part of the problem lies with the producers and importers who place the same bottles before us. However, part of the problem lies with us the consumers. In the last month, did you drink anything other than Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Shiraz. If you answered “No” then shame on you. If you answered “Yes” I bet you opened a Malbec, a Zinfadel, a Sangiovese or even a Tempranillo. Add in Pinot Noir and I’ll further bet that 99% of the red wines you drink are from these 8 varietals.

In past Whines I have written about Chile’s great Carmenere and Argentina’s Bonarda. Let me suggest again that you try a Bonarda. There are three reasons that you should:

1: Bonarda is great bar-b-que wine and the season will soon end.
2: Bonarda is very inexpensive.
3: Bonarda does not need to cellar and is good on the day of purchase.

Opimian Special Offer # 47: After you have purchased a few bottles of inexpensive Bonarda, you might think about investing in some fine Bordeaux. A good Bordeaux is wasted with heavy meat charred over a hot grill; it is anything but cheap, and its needs years in your cellar. On the other hand, there are those special times when you deserve the best, or you need a special gift for someone, or you know you are holding something of value when the stockmarket takes yet another slide.

Bordeaux wines are magnificent or ordinary depending on the year. Because the southwestern France has weather that is unreliable the wines of Bordeaux are very different from year to year. 2009 was a good year, perhaps a great year. This month Opimian is offering you some potentially wonderful wines from among other villages Saint-Julien, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol. However, these wines are not ready to ship so you are being offered wine “futures”. In other words you pay 1/3 up front and the other 2/3 when the wine is ready to be shipped. The exact price, as noted in the offering, will depend on exchange rates, shipping costs, etc. MORE IMPORTANTLY, however, the approximate 2/3 that you will still owe will not be affected by whether or not 2009 turns out to be a good year or a great year. Thus, purchase commitment is a gamble. These wines may be much more expensive a year from now, or maybe not. In other words buying wine futures is just like buying shares on the market. In a few years you may feel like you own bank stocks. On the other hand your wine futures may feel like 1000 shares of Nortel.

By the way, I have bought wine futures in the past and my track record on the wine market is much better than my record on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

WINEWHINE # 19

Questionnaire: Many thanks to those of you who completed and returned my WineWhine questionnaire. Several of you made suggestions for items about which to write and I hope to be able to incorporate most of these suggestions in future blogs. Several people asked for names of “bargain” wines. This is an excellent idea but one that I may not be able to accommodate. As we have different selections in the wine stores in different provinces (and countries) I almost certainly may not be aware of bargains in your region. For that reason I am going to turn it back to you and ask you to e-mail me whenever you find a particularly decent wine at a bargain price. I’ll pass that along in the next Whine so that others in your region can pick up a bottle.

Sparkling wine: Several respondents made suggestions for more items on food and wine pairing. So I shall start with the wine that goes well with almost any food; that is, French Champagne or any good sparkling wine made in the traditional method (more below).

First, I should point out that Champagne is a region in France and the name Champagne can only legally refer to wine from that area. In fact, the French have been very litigious in protecting the name and their lawyers have been quite successful; unlike the Scottish lawyers attempts to keep the term “Glen” off the label of Nova Scotian single malt whiskey. In fact, there are good French sparkling wines from areas other than Champagne, such as Limoux (arguably producing sparkling wine before Dom Perignon started in Champagne) and Saumur. In Spain sparkling wines are called Cavas and in Italy many sparkling wines are simply called Prosecco which is the name of a grape.

Those of us in North America have had to overcome 3 myths that came from American movies of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Many of these old romantic movies featured a scene where Champagne was served. The cork was “popped”, the wine was poured into a flat sherbet dish, and a toast was made to celebrate some occasion or other.

First, the cork should not have been popped but rather eased out of the bottle with a bare whisper. This is done by grasping the metal cage surrounding the cork and carefully turning the bottle to slowly rotate the cork. Never, never, allow the wine to froth up out of the bottle. Second the wine, should only be served in high narrow glasses (called flutes) so that the wine does not lose its effervescence. Save those silly flat dishes for ice cream.

Third, while it is fine to drink a sparkling wine to celebrate some occasion, it is equally fine to drink sparkling wine with food. In fact sparkling wine makes great food wine, although most of us serve it too infrequently at the table.

Finally, and here I can’t blame the movie industry, we all too often drink sparkling wine at the wrong temperature. It should be very cold, and your refrigerator is insufficient. Take the wine out of the fridge and chill it for an hour or so in an ice bucket. Then gently open the bottle and enjoy.

There are two major methods for making sparkling wine. The traditional method (which used to be called Methode Champagnoise until those French lawyers stopped that term as well) is for a second fermentation to take place after the wine is bottled. This bottle fermentation creates the carbon dioxide (the tiny bubbles) that give the wine the wonderful feel in one’s mouth. All Champagne is made in this fashion, as are the Cavas from Spain and Proseccos from Italy. Unfortunately, a much cheaper method is to simply inject carbon dioxide into a bottle of still wine. Most German sparkling wines are made in this manner as are some cheaper American wines. Therefore, always look for some variation of the words “method traditional” on the label (metodo tradicional, metode tradicional, methode traditionnelle).

Also on the label will be words indicating the dryness of the wine. In my view the drier the better. The driest sparkling wines actually come from Argentina and are labelled Brut Nature. Next driest are wines labelled Brut Extra, followed by Brut, and then Sec (not very dry at all).

Now what are the foods that go well with sparkling wine? Asian food, fried food, caviar, bacon and eggs, chicken, ham, lobster, oysters, salmon, scallops, sushi, turkey, cherries.. In fact the only foods to be avoided are red meats and very sweet foods.

Good Champagne, and in fact not so good Champagne is very expensive. On the other hand, a decent sparkling wine (particularly Spanish Cavas) can be easily found in the $ 15. range. The important thing is to get a bottle with Brut on the label and make certain the wine has been made in the traditional fashion.

Since I am talking about Champagne and other sparkling wines I must add that Betty and I invited a couple of dozen people to a bar-b-que on Saturday. We didn’t tell the guests ahead of time that we were celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary. However, word does leak out in a small town and a few bottles of the very best French bubbly did show up at the party (see picture above).

Viognier: There seems to be a split in white wine drinkers between those who prefer a crisp, citric wine such as Saugivnon Blanc or Pinot Grigio and those who like a more aromatic, less crisp wine such as Chardonnay. Particularly for those who like Chardonnay I suggest you try a bottle of Viognier. This wine has a distinctive peachy flavour.

Viognier is a grape from the Northern Rhone and one which came near extinction in the 1970’s. In fact, in 1971 there were only about 35 acres of Viognier planted in the entire world. Since then, however, Viognier has reclaimed its status in the Rhone Valley and is now grown extensively in Australia and California and is currently being exported from Chile.

This past weekend I tried a blind tasting of a Chardonnay and a Viognier with two of my friends who are both Chardonnay lovers. Although they liked both wines there were split over which wine they preferred.

If you wish to try this wine it is easy to find in the $ 10. to $ 20. range.

Marechal Foch: Growing red wine in cold climates presents great challenges. For that reason white wines tend to be more successful in most Canadian provinces. One red variety favored by many producers in Nova Scotia and in British Columbia is the French hybrid Marechal Foch. This early producing, small grape wine is easy to grow in a short season and produces wine that is quite acidic as well as being tannic. However, there is a cult following for this wine and it can be a very pleasant drink, particularly if the vines are old.

Recently, a Whine reader from British Columbia sent me a bottle of 2007 Quails’ Gate Old Vines Foch. We had a special occasion with a couple of our wine loving friends and this bottle added immensely to the pleasure of the evening.

Opimian Offering # 197: For those of you looking for some bargain wines this offering has some good buys from California. For everyday drinking # 5704 Stone Valley Merlot would be a very good choice. Even cheaper is # 5690 Opimian California Red. On the other hand, I have not found this wine to be to my liking. It may be thin and lacking in much flavour. For those looking to spend a little more # 5712 Castoro Cellars Zinfandel should be a treat.

One of my favorite Spanish wines is again available. # 5726 Gran Colegiata from Toro is a great example of how good Spanish wines can be.

WINEWHINE # 18

Welcome Zoe Hayes of Antigonish to the Whine.

I have been writing this blog for almost two years and perhaps it is time to “take stock”. Perhaps the blog is serving a purpose or possibly the time has come to lay it to rest. Subsequently I am asking you, the reader, to complete the short questionnaire that was attached to the announcement message sent to the distribution list. Please, please, please, download the questionnaire, complete it and send it back to me.

CHARDONNAY: This past weekend we were invited by very old friends (I mean we have been friends for a very long time) to a dinner party. Because we have been there frequently I knew that the house system would be to open the wines brought by the guests and let the guests choose from those wines and also from wines provided by the hosts. I also knew that for the main course we would be eating Kassler (smoked pork chops)..

Choosing a wine to drink with smoked meat is never easy, but I eventually decided to take a bottle of lightly oaked Chilean Chardonnay. I was amused, but not surprised, to note that my Chardonnay was shunned by everyone. “Icky” was one of the more positive comments. In fact, Chardonnay is sometimes called the ABC of wines; in other words, “give me Anything But Chardonnay”

Chardonnay is one of the world’s most frequently grown grapes and there are many fans of Chardonnay. I also have friends who drink Chardonnay almost exclusively. Why is there such a diverse reaction?

Chardonnay is a non-aromatic, non-citric wine that lends itself to oaking. When aged in new oak barrels it takes on a very rich, buttery flavor that is loved by some and hated by others. Many Californian producers love to age their Chardonnay in new American oak barrels. On the other hand, the world’s greatest Chardonnays are produced in the Chablis region of Burgundy where they are still oaked, but in older barrels. These wines are lighter in colour, are more refreshing and do not have the “fatty” flavour.

If you are one of those who always avoids Chardonnay, may I suggest two things: First, try either a lightly-oaked Chardonnay, or one without any oak at all. The label should give you some indication of the oaking. In fact, I’ll bet that if you try an actual French Chablis you will have trouble maintaining your ABC attitude. My second suggestion is that you try a fully-oaked Chardonnay with freshly steamed lobster which has been dipped in melted butter. This is a match made in Heaven (i.e., Nova Scotia).

Finally, you might suspect that I am suggesting that wines should not be heavily oaked. Not so! A highly tannic wine, such a Cabernet Sauvignon, benefits from oaking. The flavour coming from the oak blends beautifully with the bitter flavour of the tannic acid that comes from the thick skins of the Cabernet grape.

NSLC. I have a love-hate relationship with the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission. First they are the agency that collects obscene amounts of tax on my wine purchases. Sometimes I feel that if I stopped drinking Nova Scotia would become the next Greece.

On the other hand, the good folks at NSLC try very hard to bring some of the world’s best wines to a store near me. Recently, the NSLC staged their second annual Antigonish Wine Show. This fund-raiser for St. Martha’s hospital provided a great selection of wines, fabulous food by Chef Mark Gabrieau, and good music performed by the Jazz Faculty of StFX. For those of you who live in or near Antigonish, get in line to buy your tickets for next year’s show. Any, by the way, the best wine in this year’s show was Alpha Crux from O’Fournier. The next time you visit me, ask very politely and I might even crack open a bottle of the 2002, or even the 2003.

WINES OF THE SOUTHERN RHONE: In the last two Whines I described the great Pinots of Burgundy and the Syrahs of the Northern Rhone. Farther down the Rhone Valley are the wines of the Southern Rhone. Once referred to as wines of the Midi, these bulk produced “vin ordinaires” did not have a very good reputation. However, the present production has improved in quality. Yet, all too often one can still buy a “Cotes du Rhone” that is thin and lacking in flavour. A much-better option is to choose a “Cotes du Rhone Villages” or even a wine from one of the 18 individual villages. You can recognize these wines as they will be indicated by “Appellation ‘village name’ Cotes du Rhone Villages Controlee”.

Wines from the Southern Rhone are always blends of several varieties of which Grenache is most often featured. Wines containing Grenache tend to be rich in flavour but with a strong taste of alcohol.

The most famous wine in the Southern Rhone is Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This rather expensive wine has 11 different varieties blended together. Again, however, Grenache tends to dominate. Some of you have seen the twisted and frosted bottle of Pere Anselme. However, the real sign of quality is whether or not a crest is embossed directly into the glass. In recent years Chateauneuf-du-Pape has lost a bit of its lustre and has fallen out of favour in North America. Still, for those of you who are patient (this wine requires long cellaring) it can be a rewarding experience.

For my money, however, better value comes from the Village of Gigondas (close to Avignon, the home of the Pope (Pape) during the dual papacy in the 14th century when Avignon rivaled Rome). These wines are a little cheaper, yet have great intensity with a full plumy flavour.

OPIMIAN CELLAR OFFERING 196: I have three recommendations this time. First for white wine drinkers who want to experiment with a lightly oaked Chardonnay I suggest# 5666 Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune Blanc, AC, La Justice, 2009.

I have two very strong recommendations for the red wine drinkers. Both of these wines are between $ 15 and $20, depending on your province and are worth much more. Early this week I had a bottle of the 2007 Domain Castan and it was fabulous. Thus, I suspect that # 5628 Domaine Castan, AOP Coteaux du Languedoc, 2009 is a safe bet.

One of my favorite wines from the South of France (in fact from an obscure area near Carcassone) is Chateau Salitis, Cabardes. I have had two previous vintages and suggest that # 5629, the 2008, is no doubt worth trying. Even my son complimented me on an earlier recommendation of this wine.

WINEWHINE # 17

Welcome Jim Bickerton, Chris Bryne, Neil Foshay, and Mike Melchin all of Antigonish and Jack MacLeod of New Glasgow to the WineWhine.

What is Meritage? For about 40 years the wine producers of California have competed with the wine producers of France to make the world’s best wines. Although the two most famous regions in France are Bordeaux and Burgundy, California’s wine makers see Bordeaux as their major competition. Perhaps this is because Napa and Sonoma grow many of the same grape varieties as are grown in Bordeaux.

There are traditionally two major differences between good Bordeaux and good wines from Napa. First, Californians have more sun and their grapes are more fully ripe when picked. This gives the “New World” taste which is both heavier and fruitier. Secondly, the great wines of Bordeaux are always blends, whereas California has traditionally produced single varietals (such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Zinfandel).

In 1988 a group of Californian producers banded together to produce Bordeaux-style blends. Typically these blends include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and occasionally Malbec. These growers coined the term “Meritage” to describe these wines. Presumably the wines have both “merit” and “heritage”.

Today you will find Meritage in better restaurants and better wine shops. Typically these wines are not cheap, but they are almost always good. Although mimicking French wine there is still a difference. Meritage has the traditional heavier feel of a new world wine and a sophisticated palate would not confuse these wines with the lighter wines of Bordeaux.

The Northern Rhone: South of Burgundy (and south of the city of Lyon) lies the Rhone Valley, one of the great wine producing areas of France. However, the wines of the Northern Rhone are quite different than those of the Southern Rhone. In the next Whine I’ll have a small section on the Southern Rhone.

North of Lyon (Burgundy) the Pinot Noir grape is dominant. However, just south of Lyon (Northern Rhone) the main grape is Syrah. Syrah has been grown in this region for perhaps 2000 years. For a long time it was thought that the grape originated in Persia (in a town called Shiraz) but recent DNA research has indicated the grape is indigenous to the Rhone Valley itself.

There are many sub-regions in the Northern Rhone. The wines that one is most likely to find in North American shops are Cote Rotie, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, and St. Joseph. All of these wines benefit from aging. Crozes-Hermitage is usually more affordable than the others. By the way, the Nova Scotia Liqour Commission sells something called Rhone Heritage. Don’t be confused, that is a much inferior wine.

Many of you know that genetically Syrah is the same grape as Shiraz. Most of you are also familiar with the strong, peppery taste of Australian Shiraz. If you try a Syrah from the Northern Rhone you will find that the taste is very, very different. My guess is that if you like Australian Shiraz you will not be impressed with French Syrah and vice versa (I’m in the vice versa group).

Peru and Uruguay: Betty and I are just back from our third trip to South America. This time we were on a cruise that had stops among other places in Peru, Equador, Columbia and Brazil. As you might suspect this was not a wine-tasting holiday. We were too far north and too close to the equator for much grape production. Nonetheless, there are South American wines that don’t come from Argentina or Chile. Peru and Uruguay are trying to get into the mass wine market. I had a few chances to taste wine from these two countries and my initial impressions were not very positive for Uruguay (it may be too rainy there) and much more positive for my small samples of Peruvian wine.

A fun way to buy wine: We ate on board ship 27 nights. The wine list in all the ship’s restaurants was extensive with wines in all price ranges. Prices were similar to what you would find in many Canadian restaurants. About 3 days into the cruise there was an announcement of a “Wine Bazaar”. The chief sommelier had decided to change the wine menus and sell off many of the wines which were not to be included (for example a particular vintage where there were only a few bottles left) in the new listings. The deal was that the wines were discounted 30% from the menu price and whatever wine was purchased was kept in the cellar until the diner asked for his or her bottle to be brought up to accompany dinner. A huge crowd gathered at the beginning of the bazaar. However, as the morning progressed fewer people stayed around and with about an hour to go the prices started to drop. By the end customers were asked to make offers on any of the remaining wines. I started by buying wines at 30% off and ended by getting wines about two-thirds off. I was told that I purchased more wine than anybody else on the ship. With some effort I managed to drink it all before disembarking.

Price changes? Now that the Canadian dollar is at par with the American we should start to see some small price drops in our European and South American wines. At least I am hoping that this is true. On the other hand, the Chilean earthquake destroyed about 13 million bottles. Chilean wineries south of Santiago were most effected. I know at least one While reader has been stocking up on Montes Alphas on the expectation of a price rise. All Montes wines are good but the Alphas are extra special so I think I’ll find a spot to store an extra case or two.

Cellar Offering 195: Wow! Twenty-four pages of wines from Bordeaux and Bergerac. How does one choose? I am obliged to make at least a few suggestions so here they are:

For those of you who like a crisp, citrus-tasting white wine try # 5567 Chateau Moulin de Launay, AC Entre-Deax-Mers, 2008

For those of you with a little time to cellar a classic red Bordeaux try # 5561 Chateau de Sours Rouge, 2008.

If you want to drink it right away try one of my favorites # 5588 Chateau Chante Alouette, AC Fronsac, 2008

For those of you with deeper pockets you must have some Margaux in your cellar so try # 5595 Chateau Tavac, AC Margaus, Cru Bourgeois 2005. Expensive but ready to drink.

WineWhine # 16

March, 2010

Welcome Joseph Khoury of Antigonish and Mike Melchin of Antigonish to the WineWhine.

Illiteracy on the CBC: The other night I was watching an episode of “The Republic of Doyle”, a private eye series set in St. John’s, Newfoundland. If you haven’t watched this program it is worth checking it out just to see Doyle’s muscle car go up and down those St. John’s hills.

In the episode in question the rum-running villain was played by Order of Canada Newfie actor Gordon Pinsant. At one point he is followed to the island of Saint Pierre (part of France, just off the coast of Nfld) where he sits at a table in a bar, boasting that he is drinking Bordeaux. Unfortunately, the bottle shown in this scene is not a Bordeaux bottle but a Burgundy bottle. Shame, shame, shame on the CBC.

Perhaps I shouldn’t pick only on the CBC. While I snooze on the couch, Betty faithfully watches a current crime series on Bravo called “White Collar” She reports that in this series there is featured a Burgundy bottle labeled “Vin de Bordeaux”.

The bottles used in Bordeaux are high shouldered and cannot be confused with the sloped-shouldered bottles used in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley. See the pictures for examples of bottles and the appropriate matching wine glasses. I have included two pictures for your perusal. One shows two bottles. On the left is a Bordeaux bottle and on the right is a Burgundy bottle. See how different they are. The other photo is of two wine glasses. On the left is a glass appropriate for sipping Bordeaux. On the right a very different shaped glass that sends the less tannic Burgundy not as far back on the tongue.

The slope-shouldered bottles of Burgundy: A wonderful way to spend a week or 10 days is to take the two-day car drive from Paris to Aix-en-Provence. On route you pass through three different wine areas. Traveling southwest from Paris you first go through the magnificent wine country of Burgundy, where some of the world’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines are to be found. At Lyon you encounter the Rhone River. Now traveling due south along the river you pass the wonderful Syrahs (Shiraz) of the Northern Rhone, eventually finding your way to Avignon on the southern Rhone where Grenache is the featured varietal in the famous blended wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. And you will not find a high-shouldered wine bottle during the entire trip.

The Wines of Burgundy (Bourgogne): Understanding the wines of Burgundy is at least as difficult as understanding the wines of Bordeaux. Generally speaking, however, the same principle applies; that is, the more specific the region that is named between the words Appellation and Controlee, the better the wine.

Before I elaborate, however, I need to point out that most vineyards in Burgundy are very, very small. This means that one could never ever get to know them all. The blame for this state of affairs is the French Revolution and its anti-clerical bias. Prior to the Revolution most of the wineries in Burgundy were owned by the Church, whereas the wineries in Bordeaux belonged to the Aristocracy and in some cases the Bourgeoisie. Above all else the Revolution was anti-church and the wineries were broken up into small holdings, which later became even smaller due to the odd nature of French succession laws (analogous to the creation of the very narrow farms along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec).

Now, back to present-day Burgundy. From north to south Burgundy is made up of several districts, the more important ones being Chablis, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaunne, Maconnais and Beaujolais. In Chablis, the wines are exclusively white and are made from the Chardonnay grape. Traditional Chablis are not oaked and are quite acidic. They are clean and crisp and quite wonderful. Many of us are more familiar with the heavily oaked Chardonnay of California. These “buttery” wines are what many people find lacking in refreshment. Before you join the ABC crowd (Anything But Chardonnay), try a French Chablis. You won’t be disappointed.

At the very south of Burgundy is the huge area of Beaujolais where the wines are made almost exclusively from the Gamay grape. I have written several times about Beaujolais so I’ll refrain this time.

Between Chablis and Beaujolais the Pinot Noir Grape is king. These wines are soft with lots of finesse. Many would argue that the very best wines come from Cote D’Or (Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune). Within these districts there are many, many smaller Appellations, but I have a hint as to how you can tell if you are getting the very best. Just as academics know that they are more likely to get their research papers published if they have a COLON in the title, lovers of Burgundy wines know that the best communes have a HYPHEN in the name. Some examples are Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St.-Denis, and Chevalier-Montrachet.

Finally, I should point out that the great Pinot Noirs of Burgundy need some time in the cellar. I just wish I had a few more quietly waiting that special occasion.

Wine Fraud in France: As many of you know France is struggling with maintaining its position as the largest wine exporter in the world. Their problems were not helped by a court in Carcassone that recently convicted a dozen merchants and growers for “organized and structured” fraud. Apparently they blended Merlot and Syrah and exported it as Pinot Noir. What is absolutely amazing is that some of this wine was purchased by E & J. Gallo and sold under the brand name “Red Bicyclette”. I am surprised that the buyers at Gallo could even believe that a cold weather wine like Pinot could come from hot climate area such as Languedoc. In any event if any of you have any “Red Bicyclette” please save me a bottle. I’d love to have a bottle of fake wine in my cellar to go with some of the bottles that only taste like they are fake.

I don’t know what sentence the fraudsters received. However, Carcassone has a history of strong punishment. During the Albigensian Crusades in 1209 Simon de Montfort captured the fortress from the Occitan Cathars and burned hundreds of the defenders in one large pyre after they refused to acknowledge their heresy against the Catholic church. Perhaps a punishment only slightly less dramatic is in order.

WineWhine Tasting: Twenty-four wine lovers joined Betty and me on Feb. 13 for a tasting. Although we have hosted a number of wine tastings in the past this was the first tasting specifically designed for readers of my blog.

We started the evening with a glass of Vinho Verde and then moved on to the food and wine “matches and mismatches.” For each food offering I tried to find both a wine that would complement the food and one that would not. The first pair of wines was an acidic Chianti and a non-acidic Merlot. As expected guests found that the Chianti got better once they munched on some tomatoey pizza bites. Again as expected the Argentinean Malbec went well with the spicy and flavorful empanadas, while the much lighter Beaujolais was not up to the heavy food.

The surprise of the evening, however, was a Portuguese blend of Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca (2006 Cume Do Pereiro from Doura). I had not particularly liked this powerful wine, but like others found that it matched beautifully with the very hot and spicy Portuguese Chorizo. Everyone preferred this wine to the lighter Rioja and this wine got more compliments than any other that was served.

The final pair of wines that was served with food was offered blind. Both wines were Barrel Reserva Cabernets from Cornellana in Chile and I asked my guests to tell me if they were drinking the same wine or two different wines. By the way the wine was served with lamb chops and sirloin bites. Everyone agreed that although the wines were similar they were not identical. In fact they were two different vintages (2005 and 2006).

We ended the evening with a couple of blind tastings. There were prizes for those who were able to identify the Zinfandel and the Tempranillo and the most noticed prize was one given as challenge to find the appropriate wine match. The prize was a can of pickled porcupine peckers.

Opimian Offering # 194: This catalogue features wine from Austria, Germany and Italy. The Austrian wines are from one winery (Hopler). I have not tried any of them but have twice ordered Pinot Noirs from Hopler. They were excellent so I expect any of these wines will be good.

As you know I am not a fan of German wines so will leave you Riesling fans to your own choices.

In this offering there are many wines from Italy. I tend to find cheaper Italian wines overly acidic. However, the farther the south in Italy you go the less acidic the wines are. My recommendations in red wines are # 5510 which is a Negroamaro. This is a very big, bold wine that should suit the North American taste. # 5522 is a merlot from Elena Walch, who I have found makes fabulous wines. My favorite varietal to serve with pizza is Nero D’Avola, the main grape grown in Sicily. I think # 5549 will be a great wine for those of you who don’t cellar your purchases. Finally, I have two recommendations for the white wine drinkers. For those who can’t afford Champagne, but still want great wine for special occasions try # 5502. Finally, although not a wine with great snob appeal there is # 5530. Soave has long been one of my favorite white wines.

Next issue of the WineWhine: In a few days Betty and I hope to be off for a holiday in South America. We are scheduled to fly into the earthquake damaged airport in Santiago de Chile this weekend. If we make it we will be cruising but will have stops in Chile, Peru, Equador, Panama, Columbia, Aruba, Grenada, Guyana and Brazil. After that we plan on a week in Toronto so won’t be back in Nova Scotia for about six weeks. In the meantime if you miss reading the WineWhine you can check my new blog at http://www.travelwhinewithron.blogspot.com/. I shall not be sending out notices when a blog is posted but you might check once in a while on our adventures and misadventures.

WineWhine # 15

February, 2010

Welcome to the WineWhine: Cecelia Taylor of Ottawa, Ontario; Reg Savage of Woodstock, N.B.; and Alejandro of Magda Wine Tours of Mendoza, Argentina.

This month I begin a series on French wine. My consultant on this project is my very good friend Gerard Gleize of Aix-en-Provence, France. Gerard is very knowledgeable on all French wines, but in particular the wines of Burgundy. However, his nose is not quite up to the level of discernment of that of his beautiful wife Marie-Claude. C’est la vie! I once saw Marie-Claude take a glass of red wine and comment correctly that the wine was fine but it shouldn’t have been served in a glass that had been stored in a cabinet where the wood had been oiled.

Also, this month I will translate of few of the silly phrases that one sometimes finds on the back of the bottle and I shall give my usual recommendations on what to buy from the latest Opimian offering.

Whine Quote: “Wine is like opera. You can enjoy it even if you do not understand it.”

The French Wine Label: Ever since I started writing this blog I have been intending to try an introduction to French wine. Since this is a difficult task I have been putting it off for over a year. However, what follows is an attempt to help some of my fellow North Americans initiate themselves into the mysterious world of French wine labels.

France remains the largest producer and exporter of wine in the world. For at least a century French wine was considered to be the very best in the world. In the past 3 or 4 decades French wines have been challenged by the great wines of the Napa Valley and even more recently by the more moderately-priced upstarts from Australia, Argentina and Chile. Nonetheless, France remains a country that produces good wines, very good wines and great wines.

Yet, when I go out to a friend’s house for drinks or dinner I am almost never served French wine (unless I go to E. Langille’s place, but then he is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres et un Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques and is therefore obliged to promote things French).

There are perhaps a couple of reasons for Canadians in particular to avoid drinking French wine. First, most good French wines are not available at our local stores and we must seek them out at places like the Port of Wines. Second, French wine labels are very difficult to understand. Seldom is the varietal given. Many French wines are blends of several varietals. Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a blend of 11 grapes. Not only is there no information on what grape you are drinking there is no good overall system of guaranteed quality, such as the Reservas and Gran Reservas from Spanish-speaking wine countries. Finally, if you are used to drinking big, bold wines from the New World (such as Shiraz from Australia or Malbec from Argentina) French wines may seem thin and lacking in zest. Get past that reaction, however, and you will discover a world of subtle complexity.

What the label says: French wine laws are very strict. Wines are labeled by specific areas and wines from an area are tightly controlled in terms of the varietals used and even the proportions of each varietal in a blended wine. About 35-40% fall under a system of name control called the AOC. On a label you will see the name of an area, such as Bordeaux, inserted between the words Appellation and Controlee. There are at least 350 areas or regions that have Appellation Controlee laws. Unfortunately for the uninitiated there are AOCs within AOCs. Thus within the Appellation Bordeaux Controlee area there are smaller areas with their own AOC designation. For example Appellation Haut Medoc Controlee indicates a wine from an area within Bordeaux. Then within the Haut Medoc area you find even smaller areas such as St. Julien. An Appellation St. Julien Controlee label means the wine came from St. Julien which is within Haut Medoc, which is within Bordeaux. Then, of course, the label may also indicate the specific winery such as in the picture which shows a wonderful bottle of 2002 Chateau Gloria which Gerard gave me this past summer.

In Medoc there is an even finer distinction which dates back to 1885 whereby certain (about 60) Chateaus are given the designation Grand Cru Classe. While this term is important, the specific meaning varies somewhat by region, so a Grand Cru in Medoc does not have the exact same meaning as it does in St. Emilion where the term Premier Grand Cru designates the very top wine.

What is important about all of this is that the smaller the area designated the better the wine. Thus the Chateau Kirwan Grand Cru Classe (shown in the picture) is better than some other, but not all Chateaus. It is better than a wine simply labeled Margaux, which is better than a wine labeled Haut-Medoc, which is better than a wine labeled Bordeaux. Unfortunately, there is nothing on the label to tell you that the Margaux is a wine from a much more restricted area than a wine simply labeled Bordeaux. The French just assume you know. Also, the quality of wine from a particular region varies considerably with the specific vintage due to the variable sun and rainfall from year to year. However, there are guides to successful vintages such as http://www.millesimes.fr/vintage.php.

Advice: Invest in a good book. To start I suggest Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Guide which is available in many bookstores and is easier to use than the better known Pocket Wine Book by Hugh Johnson. Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia is well worth the money and has lots of information on French wine. My favorite, however, is Hachette’s Dictionary of Wine: All the French wine appellations from A-Z, which is available used online at Chapters Indigo.

Other Designations: Below the Appellation Controlee wines are 3 more levels: Vin Delimite de Qualite Superieure (also by region or area), Vin de Pays, and at the very bottom Vin de Table. In choosing a French wine pick an Appellation Controlee or a Vin Delimite. Don’t ignore these designations because sometimes a VDQS or even a Vins de Pays is better than an AOC. This is because the designation stays for a long time and when the vineyard passes to the next generation the son or grandson may not be so skilled in making the wine. In any event, choose the smallest area you can afford. A wine labeled, for example, Appellation Bordeaux Controllee is probably not a good value.

More about Bordeaux: In my above attempt to describe French wine labels I have used only examples from Bordeaux. This is in part because of all the large wine areas in France (Loire Valley, Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Rhone Valley, Provence, Languedoc-Roussillon) Bordeaux is the best known in the English-speaking world, with the possible exception of Champagne. Remember, however, that the Brits call Bordeaux Claret.

Of the more than 150,000 vineyards in France about 22,000 of them are in Bordeaux. Bordeaux is the area in southwest France which surrounds the Gironde River and its tributary the Dordogne. As an aside some of the very best restaurants in all of France are in the city of Bordeaux and some of the most spectacular scenery is up the Dordogne towards the town of Rocamadour.

Bordeaux wines are always blends with the dominant grape being either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. Among the other varietals in the various blends are Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Because of this Bordeaux wines are perhaps more familiar tasting to North Americans than are the Pinot Noirs from Burgundy, or the Syrahs from farther down the Rhone Valley.

It should be noted, however, that most good Bordeaux need time in the cellar. The grapes are not picked fully ripe (unlike in the case of South America) thus it takes time for the tannins in the thick Cabernet skins to soften. So, don’t buy a good Bordeaux and expect to be able to drink it right away.

On the left bank of the Gironde are the important areas of Graves and Medoc. Within Haute Medoc are the famous areas of Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe. In these great wines Cabernet is the dominant grape.

On the right bank are the famous areas of Pomerol and St. Emilion. Blends from these areas are dominated by Merlot and as such the wines are softer and less tannic than those on the left bank.

Between the two rivers is an area strangely named Entre-deaux-Mers which produces mainly white wine dominated by the Semillon grape.

If you are starting a cellar it is worth the money to lay down a few bottles from any of the communes listed above.

Wine Label Foolishness: Most non-French bottles have two labels. On the front label you will find the year, the name of the winery, the country or region of origin and perhaps the alcohol percentage. The information on the back label will be more varied. There may be information on whether or not the grapes were hand-picked, the ideal temperature to serve, what foods make good matches, whether the wine is organically grown, etc.

The back label, however, may also contain a lot of marketing nonsense. Here are some actual phrases found on back labels along with my translations:

“It is an excellent company for any outdoor, post game, or family party” Translation: If this is the only bottle you have, open a beer.

“Made from grapes from the best viticultural areas” Translation: The producer bought up leftover grapes from several different producers and blended a truly awful wine”

“Reminds you of colors radiating from a precious ruby” Translation: There is nothing good to say about the taste of this wine.

“Named for the ….tribe who were indigenous to this area” Translation: Since there is nothing positive to say about the wine we might as well slander some poor group by association.

“Blended from grapes picked from new vines” Translation: You buy a new car, buy wine from old vines.

Opimian Offering # 193: This month’s offering has wines from the Rhone, from Argentina and from Chile.

Rhone: # 5423 2008 Domaine Gilles Flacher, AOC Saint Joseph. Expensive but a wonderful Syrah. I bought a case of the 2004 and it was/is magnificent.

# 5432 2008 Chateau de Montmirail AOC Gigondas. Gigondas is a village next to the vineyards of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and is very similar but slightly cheaper.

Argentina: Several wines from two different wineries are offered. I have had great luck with the wines from Bodegas O’Fournier but I am unfamiliar with the wines of Bodegas Mauricio Lorca. You might like to try one of the Tempranillos. Argentinean Tempranillos have a different taste than the more well-known ones from Spain.

Chile: This month wines are offered from Casa Nueva, from Vina La Rosa (Cornellana) and from Villard. I strongly recommend any of the Cornellanas and just as strongly recommend against the Casa Nueva. I have had some poor wines from this vineyard. Villard makes great Pinot Noirs.

Don’t forget the WineWhine tasting on February 13!