Whine # 75

MATEUS:  Those of you of my advanced generation will remember drinking certain inexpensive wines partly because of the exotic shapes of the bottles.  In college we all drank straw-covered bottles of cheap Chianti so that we could use the empties as candle holders.  Another favorite from the 60's was Portuguese Mateus, a slightly sparkling (actually crackling) rose.

A few months ago in a fit of nostalgia I purchased a bottle of Mateus and was surprised that I quite liked it.  Flash forward a bit to a warm summer night when we invited a few friends over for a backyard barbeque.  As we sat under our apple trees and had pre-dinner drinks I decided to serve chilled Mateus.  For comparison I also served a standard rose from Bordeaux, handing each guest two glasses simultaneously.  Not telling anybody what they were drinking I asked my guests to simply tell me which rose they preferred.  You guessed it, 4 out of 5 much preferred the Mateus to the more expensive Bordeaux.  Thus, if you are looking for a very inexpensive summer drink, Mateus is available in Nova Scotia for $13 per bottle; and at the LCBO stores in Ontario it is listed for only $10.05

Chilled rose is a great drink on a hot summer day.  Roses are made from a great variety of grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Carmenere.  Obviously these wines taste different from one another and I leave it to you to decide which you prefer.  My personal preference is Chilian rose, made from Pinot Noir.

Finally, rose must be served well chilled.  It is definitely not cold enough if brought straight from your wine refrigerator.  I like to chill the wine in an ice bucket for at least a couple of hours before pulling the cork.

THE HATFIELD HOUSE:  Ocassionally one finds an exceptional restaurant that is not in a city and that does not attract much press.  Last summer I described a great meal at the Red Cap Inn in West Pubnico (see Whine # 73).  This summer I discovered a very special restaurant not far from West Pubnico in the tiny Acadian village of Tusket (home of Canada's oldest courthouse).  Both restaurants feature seafood, but the Hatfield House is more toward the fine dining end of the spectrum.

The Hatfield House was built in 1793 by Abigail Price, a "widowed Black woman".  Unfortunately not much is known about her but my guess is she had a very interesting history.  The house sits on a beautiful lot on the east bank of the Tusket River.  We were fortunate to have a window seat in the 45-seat restaurant and stayed long after we had finished eating in order to watch a spectacular sunset over the wide river.

The restaurant is open Wednesday to Sunday from May until December.  As mentioned it is primarily a seafood restaurant, but we have never had more fresh or better prepared haddock, lobster, etc.  Although the wine list is short, it is adequate, and the food prices are very reasonable.

If you are looking for a holiday in southern Nova Scotia, drive past the traditional tourist towns of Chester, Mahone Bay and Liverpool and have some magnificent food at the Red Cap Inn in West Pubnico and The Hatfield House in Tusket.

AGLIANICO:  World-wide there are perhaps 2,000 different wine varietals being produced.  However, as time passes more and more vineyards choose to produce a small number of well-known, popular grapes.  In terms of red wines, perhaps 90% of the wines that you find available will be single varietals or blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah/Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, and Grenache.

One lesser known varietal is very slowly taking its place among the world's great varietals.  Produced mostly in the southern regions of Italy (Basilicata and Campagnia) Aglianico (pronouced Allee-ann-nico) is a fantastic wine that deserves attention by lovers of big, robust wines.

As you know wines (particularly reds) vary widely in terms of their acidity, presence of tannins, and alcohol content.  Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell and Malbec are high in tannins but low in acidity.  Pinot Noir and Grenache are also low in acid but also relatively low in tannins.  On the other hand Sangiovese and Montepulciano are high in acid and low in tannin.

What makes Aglianico almost unique is that it is high in both tannins and acid.  Perhaps the only other wine that has these characterists is Nebbiolo from Peidmont.  Of course decent Nebbiolo tends to be very expensive and thus very seldom finds its way to my table.  The downside of being high in both tannins and acid is that the wine usually needs long aging to hit its peak.  Aglianico is best when it is between 10 and 20 years old.  Fortunately for me I recently discovered a cache of 2006 wines on sale at the Port in Halifax.  I quickly bought out their rather small supply.

Aglianico is an earth-driven wine with a hint of a taste of leather.  Because of its acidity it stands up to barbeque sauce, and because of its tannins it is wonderful with high fat meats.

On my bucket list is a trip to Basilicata to find the perfect bottle of Aglianico.  If all goes well this should happen in early November.