WHINE # 70

Welcome Dr. Ron Sawchuk of Prior Lake, Minnesota and Dr. Monika Thabur of Antigonish, N.S. to the Whine.

MALBEC:   In my past blogs I have many times indicated my liking of Malbecs;  particularly those from Argentina.  Recently my friend Jim asked me why I liked a wine with such an awful name.  It had never occurred to me that Malbec might literally translate as “bad nose.”  Perhaps the worst thing one could say about a wine. 

Intrigued I did a google search and learned that the name may have come from a Hungarian peasant, named Malbeck, who travelled around France planting wines.  There was even a hint that he had been working for a Cornish spy, but only a hint.  

Malbec appears to have come originally from France , where it is usually called Cot.  Originally a blending wine it is now only grown in Cahors in the south of France.  Cot is generally not very good and quite inferior to its South American cousin    Malbec as a single varietal did not come into favour until it was planted in Argentina, where it has now flourished for over a century.

Although Malbec is typically called Cot in France, when it is exported to Canada it is labelled French Malbec or simply Malbec.  Obviously marketing is critical and Canadians are familiar with the name Malbec but not with Cot.  In any event, my advice to you is to stick to the wine from Argentina, it is much superior to the wine from Cahors.

WINES OF NOVA SCOTIA:   For a long time I have avoided drinking Canadian wines; particularly those from Ontario and from my home province of Nova Scotia.  Primarily I am a red wine drinker and most growing areas in Canada do not have enough days of warm sunshine to produce popular red varietals such as Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon.  For example, for Cabernet grapes to ripen about 220 growing days are required.  In Nova Scotia in a good year we may get 190.

My anti-Canadian (and in particular anti-Nova Scotian) bias has been pointed out to me on several occasions, and in response I decided to try and be a little more objective and try to taste Nova Scotia wines with a more open mind.   This led to a short wine tour of the province (with a few stops for golf).  First stop was at the tiny Petite Riviere winery on the south shore.   The winery is currently owned by Antigonisher Sean Sears.  This winery offers exceptionally friendly tours and we ended up tasting 8 of the vineyards wines.  All were drinkable and the whites were particularly good.  Their Seyval Blanc, called Risser’s Breeze, I found particularly refreshing.

Wolfville Magic Winery Bus:  Most of Nova Scotian wineries are to found in the Annapolis Valley; not surprisingly since this area has the best weather.  A fabulous way to visit some of these wineries is to take the Magic Winery Bus.  This double-decker bus runs continuously on a loop through Wolfville, stopping at four different wineries.  One hops off, stays for an hour at a winery (or two hours if you are having lunch).  Hop back on and go to the next winery.    Two of the stops I particularly liked.   At Grand Pre Wineries there are beautiful vistas of the Annapolis Valley and the winery itself, including the restaurant, is very elegant.  Luckett’s winery is newer but also has great vistas of Cape Blomidon.  Lunch at Luckett’s is an experience not to be missed.  Not only is the food great, but the restaurant is outside (under a canopy) and the atmosphere is wonderful.

How good are Nova Scotian wines?  After tasting many different Nova Scotian wines this summer my conclusion is that the Reds are drinkable but not up to world standards.  On the other hand, Nova Scotia makes very good sparkling wines, excellent dry whites, and the ice wines are unexcelled.  Nova Scotia’s feature white  is called Tidal Bay.  Tidal Bay is Nova  Scotia’s only appellation wine.    In order to be called Tidal Bay each year a winemaker submits his/her wine to a tasting panel.    The wine must be a blend of specific varietals (including L’Acadie Blanc, Vidal and Seyval) and cannot contain more than 11 per cent alcohol.  Tidal Bay wines are crisp and light, but with lots of flavour.  My favorite is the one made by Grand Pre, which incidentally won gold this year as the best Tidal Bay.

Beaujolais Nouveau:   Once a year I feel the need to remind you of a wine to avoid.  Each November you will find large displays of Beaujolais Nouveau at your local wine outlet.  Don’t be fooled by this famous marketing ploy.  Beaujolais Nouveau is a thin, slightly acidic wine that won’t hold up to any food match and isn’t very nice for sipping.  This is not to say that there are not very tasty Beaujolais, there are, just not this one.

Travel Blog:  Some of you know that I have two blogs; this one on wine, and a blog on travel.  My travel blog is written and posted only when a trip (usually a cruise) is being taken.  Thus, I have not made a posting in some time, but in January and early February Betty and I will be visiting South Africa and a number of countries along the eastern side of that continent.  We will also be crossing the Indian Ocean to the sub-continent and beyond.  If any of you Whiners are interested in reading my travel blog please let me know and I’ll add your e-mail address to the distribution list so that you are notified when a travel blog is posted.

Opimian Offering 244:  The first offering of the season features wines from Australian and New Zealand.  Although pricey I recommend 8800 Briar Ridge Old Vines Shiraz.  Slightly more moderately priced are 8827 GMH Meritage and 8844 Shottesbrooke Estate Series Shiraz.  In any event my recommendation is to stick to Shiraz.  Although there are other good wines, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, from Downunder, nobody makes better Shiraz than those from Oz.