Archive for the ‘$40-$60’ Category
Spotlight on Spain: Dominio de Tares Bembibre 2004
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Excellent, Mencia, Spain, Spanish Wine, Spotlights on March 28th, 2010
The story of Bierzo rekindles an intriguing debate in the world of wine: what makes a previously unknown wine region famous? There are obviously a few threshold criteria: a basic level of quality, a certain critical recognition. However, these don’t seem sufficient to drive a region into the limelight. In the end, fame seems to be elusive, even when vast swathes of sommeliers highlight the charms and qualities of a particular place (as happened with Bierzo). Sometimes this is just not enough. The question remains: why did Bierzo fail to reach the heights it supposedly had the potential to reach.
I don’t have a researched answer, but my suspicion is that the region failed to brand itself sufficiently. Priorat, the latest hot region of Spain (as of a couple decades ago), gained its reputation because producers like Alvaro Palacios not only made great wines, but built a cult reputation for them. Now Palacios’ top wine, L’Hermita, sells for $900 in the province. Something pushed Priorat over the edge of recognition so that it could attain cult status. Bierzo, on the other hand, despite having excellent quality wines, could never get that far.
The Bierzo wines can be of outstanding quality, with a climate that sits between the cooler climate of Galicia and the hot robust climate of Ribera del Duero. The unique grape Mencia is the base of the most important red wines of the region, and it has a unique character in the region sitting somewhere between Pinot Noir and Syrah. The grape is grown on slate and granite soil, and I think these are wines with terroir and unique personality. Now, many cheap Mencia based wines can be pretty thin and uninteresting, but examples like this particular bottle produce wines of depth, intensity and character. You have to know what to look for in the land of Bierzo, which could perhaps be another reason it never hit the big time – perhaps it either needs more high quality wines at low prices, or simply move completely towards quality and eschew cheap and boring wines. Of course, Priorat’s Palacios also built a winery here in Bierzo with his nephew, and along with a number of new producers (such as Paixar and Dominio de Tares), is pushing Mencia as an outstanding high quality red grape. I wonder if this handful of producers is enough for the region, however. I think Bierzo needs to make a greater commitment to quality and branding in order to achieve that next level of recognition.
This wonderful Mencia based wine is one of their top offerings, and displays a surprising level of concentration and elegance. While there was a noticeable oak component on the nose with coffee and chocolate, there was also clean black berry fruit, pepper and underbrush. The palate was fantastic, with some gamey notes, pepper, and very bright acidity. The crushed blackberry fruit ran over a wonderful rocky component. Tasting the wine, I can understand why Mencia hasn’t caught on in the world of the average wine consumer. While it is absolutely lovely, it is also not typical, and perhaps even challenging to appreciate. In any case, this is a great red wine that has challenged and awoken my very jaded palate at a time when I’ve found so many red wines very very dull. And that, I say, is a reason to be excited.
Excellent
$50 at Marquis Wine Cellar
I’d also note that Jake over at Cherries and Clay wrote up another Mencia based wine from de Tares that sounded quite delicious – check it out.
Spotlight on Spain: Bodegas Izadi Vetus 2005
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Spain, Spanish Wine, Spotlights, Tempranillo, Very Good on March 24th, 2010
Zipping west back into Castile-Leon, today’s wine was made in the Toro region of Spain, sitting several miles west of Ribera del Duero and Rueda (to be profiled soon). The main variety here is Tinto de Toro (aka Tempranillo), the tradition of which winds its way back to the days just following the “departure” of the Moors after the Reconquista. The growing season here is bold and hot and the fruit ripens a full two weeks ahead of Rioja. There are elevations here too, with vineyards planted at 600-750 metres above sea level. The result? Thick skinned fruit, lots of extract, density and naturally high alcohol. The wines of Toro can’t be anything but bold. Apparently a small amount of white wines are made here from Malvasia and Verdejo, but I could find nothing of these in the BC market. I will definitely be on the look out when I am in Spain.
Limestone or clay form the base of the vineyards, with alluvial soil over top. The legal minimum alcohol content here is 12.5% (and a maximum of 15%), but you will commonly find wines at 14% or above, all from natural fermentation. The region’s extreme climate actually makes it fairly natural to have grapes producing wines at up to 16% alcohol, so winemakers need to be careful with their ripeness levels in order to meet the regulations. There are also Reservas and Gran Reservas made here, although nowhere to be found in this market, and they are known to have an uncommon ability to retain fruit and power even with long aging. Recently, Vega Sicilia has put its paws on some vineyard land in Toro, resulting in the fabulous Pintia wine, which I’ve both reviewed in my Vega Sicilia Profile and shared with Sean of Vinifico.com fame (we had the heady and absolutely massive 2003).
I love how these wines were famous in Spain during mediaeval times, lost recognition for a while, and are now seeing a resurgence, and all for the same reason: the massive fruit-bruising style of the wines, whose high alcohol resisted oxidation and which in the modern world combine power with texture and structure in a way that the New World is often still trying to figure out.
This wine is made in a modern style with a clean red fruit nose, adding notes of licorice and oak spice (namely, baking spices). The palate is quite dry, with huge but ripe tannins and a bevy of cherry and raspberry fruit lying on a bed of savory herbs and earth. Sporting a long finish, excellent structure, good integration and reasonable heat, this is very well made. I would not call this a wine of singular distinction, but it certainly tastes good. With its dusty tannins and dusty fruit I have no hesitation calling this a dusty wine. 14.5% ABV.
Very Good+
$44 at Kitsilano Wine Cellar
Spotlight on Spain: Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rosado 1993
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Grenache, Spain, Spanish Wine, Spotlights, Tempranillo, Very Good, Viura on March 22nd, 2010
Today’s entry, the last of the Rioja wines in my Spain profile, is somewhat of a genre-buster. As I’ve mentioned before, Rioja (and Spain generally) has a disparate and noncontiguous history, with Romans, multiple Christian kingdoms, Muslim invasion and the Reconquista, not to mention the civil war, the dictatorship and the process towards modern Spain. Each of these ‘eras’ has had a distinct impact on the Spanish wine industry. Whereas the Romans brought modern Roman wine-making technology and techniques to Spain in the 3rd century, the multiple Christian kingdoms brought their wealth and appetite for fine wine 1000 years later.
I don’t want to rehash Spain’s complex history here, suffice it to say that in Spain almost nothing fits a particular ‘genre’ or a particularly clear pattern or mold. This has provided the industry both a wealth of diversity, but also somewhat of a lack of clearly discernable personality. In many ways, this means that in Spain it makes more sense to approach a wine in a bit of a microcosm, looking at the history and tradition of that particular producer and that particular plot of land. Thus does the easy to say tradition vs. modernity debate in Spain actually become a series of threads that each sew together completely different histories and traditions into particular conceptions of the ‘modern’.
So, when it comes to legendary producer Lopez de Heredia, a winery sewn far more tightly into Rioja 100 years ago than into the present, and Rose, a style of wine commonly associated with light, fruity, easy drinking, you know that this particular meeting of tradition and modernity will be anything but easily pigeonholed.
Lopez de Heredia's Tondonia Vineyards in Winter
First off, Heredia, founded in 1877, harvests and selects all grapes by hand, uses wild yeasts and ferments in huge oak vats with a capacity of 240 hectolitres for the reds and 60 Hl’s for the whites. One might also take notice at the vast use of American oak barrels – 14,000 at last count – occupying 6000 square metres of cellar space. Heredia combines extended oak aging with considerable bottle aging before release to produce wines of singularity. I, for one, have never tasted any other wines quite like those from Lopez de Heredia.
So how do these threads of tradition and history combine to create what some consider to be Rioja’s most important pink wine? Well first off, the Rose is made from tempranillo, garnacha and viura (a white grape), in an intriguing blend that is very very dry, but also maintains some of the classic bright red fruit character one usually associates with the pink stuff. But that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Remember, this wine is almost 17 years old! The rich and ripe cherry fruit on the nose becomes a terse and somewhat aggressive oxidative palate that yet retains persistence and elegance beyond any Rose you are likely to have tried. The combination of fruit and sherry-like oxidation makes this wine eminently food-worthy – pizza, jamon, almost anything at all, really.
That Spain can produce wines of such uniqueness next to modern fruit driven reds, bright and clean seafood friendly whites and smooth and silky earth driven classic wines is the embodiment of Spain’s tumultuous and non-linear history. The past several posts on Rioja are just such an indication of this complexity, as even this one famous region is nearly impossible to pin-down. In the next several posts I will be highlighting some of the lesser known regions and grapes of Spain, each with their own stories and traditions, and each with a particular take on why Spanish wine is a force any serious wine lover cannot ignore.
Very Good+ to Excellent
$45 at Kitsilano Wine Cellar
Spotlight on Spain: Miguel Merino Gran Reserva 1999
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Excellent, Spain, Spanish Wine, Spotlights, Tempranillo on March 17th, 2010
What is the distinction between tradition and modernity? The modern derives from the past, so the separation is not simply time. When we say ‘modern’ we tend to imply a break or change from what was. Thus, the distinction between tradition and modernity lies in philosophy rather than time – it is a shift in attitudes and perceptions. So what does it mean to bring modernity and tradition together? Can they subsist peacefully in the same room?
Miguel Merino is a producer that, to me, embodies this struggle. Merino is both a new wave artisanal producer, but also one who believes that the philosophies and approaches of the past have a lot to teach us. Jancis Robinson argues that wine making in Rioja is characterized far more by barrel maturation than fermentation techniques, with 225 litre barriques now being required by law. But, from where does this tradition emanate? The emigrating French winemakers fleeing phylloxera in the 19th century brought these barrel ageing techniques to Spain, and they have since stuck. Rioja’s unique twist has always been to use American oak rather than French, and to age the wines considerably before release. However, new producers are starting to introduce French cooperage, and this is sure to start changing the scope of the wines in the region.
So, what is tradition? As I intimated in my last post, tradition seems to be the unique confluence of historical perspectives. For me, Merino embodies this because he brings both the wine-making techniques that made modern Rioja what it is together with the new gesture towards approachability and fruit, without jettisoning the former for the latter.
In essence, wine from Miguel Merino tastes like it gestated in the womb of a traditionalist such as Lopez de Heredia or La Rioja Alta, but upon birth, gained the characteristics of an exuberant youth. And, gestation is the right word to use here because Merino believes in the tradition of releasing wines far later than the rest of the world. By using the monikers Reserva and Gran Reserva, Merino is remaining true to what producers like Finca Allende are avoiding – the long oak and bottle maturation process. This wine, the 1999 Gran Reserva (28 months in American Oak), is the current release from Merino, and is singing all the better because of it.
Made from 95% Tempranillo and 5% Graciano (an indigenous grape that promises great things), the wine glories in its forward raspberry, cherry and strawberry fruits, all wrapped up in dilly American oak. The gamey palate reiterates these aromas in your mouth and adds balance with wonderful secondary notes of cigar, and old oak. With air, this wine adds both graphite and gravitas and approximates a very good Bordeaux in style, elegance and substance.
Excellent
$60 at Marquis
Spotlight on Spain: La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva 2000
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Spain, Spanish Wine, Spotlights, Tempranillo, Very Good on March 13th, 2010
Moving from Spain’s second most famous region to its most famous, today’s post will start to explore the world of Rioja. Rioja is an intriguing land that has a history which epitomizes the dialectic between tradition and modernity that is so much a part of Spain’s wine culture. Traditionally, wines in Rioja were made to emulate the style of Bordeaux by long term aging in wood and bottle before release. This was done because the domestic French wines had been decimated by phylloxera in the 1800’s and Rioja stepped up to fill the gap left by the destroyed French vineyards. It was not uncommon to see wines released decades after the vintage date. This practice has diminished over time, with a move towards more approachable and accessible wines released earlier. In fact, this new push in Rioja to produce modern wines has almost totally overwhelmed the traditional bodegas, so much so that there are almost none left.
The famous Lopez de Heredia (founded in 1877) is the most important traditional bodega (its current release of wines is from the 90’s), but La Rioja Alta (a family owned winery founded in 1890) is also very much making wines in the traditional style.
Of course, phylloxera’s insidiousness did eventually spread to Spain and most of the vineyards had to be ripped out and replanted in the 1920s.Civil war in Spain and the second World War essentially collapsed the industry even further and it was not until the 1950’s that Rioja started to regain its reputation and market share in international markets.
I find it interesting that after the world wars cheap Spanish wine started to be marketed as “Spanish Burgundy” and “Spanish Chablis” – these wines were so bad they damaged the reputation of Spain as a wine region. Does this remind anyone of Cellared in Canada and the mass produced plonk sold by most BCLDB outlets? As soon as Spain made it illegal to use those terms, Rioja (which was legally regulated for quality control in the vineyards and bodegas) finally started to build the reputation that it enjoys today. Clearly, effective regulatory regimes are essential for the development of an industry and British Columbia could learn a lot from the lessons of older and more established wine regions. The VQA is a step, but is not nearly as effective a tool as the D.O. system in Spain (which of course has its own issues). In order to brand and market B.C. (and Canadian) wine effectively, a little more attention needs to be paid to creating inducements to increased quality. Systems that subsidize or assist the branding of poor quality wines are not going to help the industry grow and improve quality.
In Spain once Rioja was given a DOCa grade (the highest grade for wine quality in Spain), the quality of the wines drastically improved to the point where it is now difficult to find poor quality wines from Rioja. Clearly, incentivizing quality is essential for the growth of an industry.
Now, turning to the region itself, it is important to know that wines from Rioja are not just made with grapes from the most prestigious region (known as Rioja Alta), but can also derive from places like Alava, Ebro and parts of Navarra. So, if you are looking for the highest quality grapes, you should look for wines made from grapes grown in Rioja Alta.
This wine made by the Bodega with the same name as the region in which it grows its grapes, is made with Tempranillo from the warmer parts of Rioja and so the skins are thicker, giving the wines more natural tannins. Along with Tempranillo, wines from La Rioja Alta often have Mazuelo and Graciano added to the blend (two indigenous grapes) for tannins, colour, freshness and aroma. The soils in Rioja Alta are clay based, alluvial, and have outcrops of iron and chalk-rich subsoil.
Without going into tremendous detail, I would note that the battle between modernity and tradition applies to viticulture and vinification beyond simply barrel aging for extended periods. For example, a traditional producer will use large wooden vats to allow for more natural fermentation. Modernists use epoxy-lined vats with temperature controls that allow for more precise wine making.
La Rioja Alta (the winery) owns about 300 hectares of land and makes both crianzas and reservas. The reservas can be somewhat confusing as there are two lines – the Arana and the Ardanza (indicating different vineyard selection). This wine, from the Ardanza series, is made in a spicier more ageable style than the Arana, which tends to be fruitier.
When I tasted this wine I immediately noticed its baking spices and vanillan character from the long aging in American Oak (which Riojans prefer to French). The dill characteristics classically indicative of American Oak were also present in the medium bodied wine. This is a soft and taught wine with cherries and earth and that classic, almost tired, feeling for many older red Riojas. This is not a wine about modern fruit, however, but is a wine about tradition married with the cleanliness and alacrity of modernity. You can taste time when you drink this wine, and that will prove to be a superb experience for many. For me? Well this is not my favourite Riojan traditionalist, but I appreciate their attention to tradition and quality and they certainly deserve the reputation they have.
Very Good
$55 at Liberty Wine Merchants
In the next few posts expect a look at the various styles of Rioja, including a glimpse at their rarely considered (but oh so brilliant) white wines.
Spotlight on Spain: Alonso del Yerro 2005
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Excellent, Malvasia, Spain, Spanish Wine, Spotlights on March 9th, 2010
Whereas last post’s Alejandro Fernandez is by now an old hat in Ribera del Duero, Alonso del Yerro is a baby in the region. It also represents some of the new international influences entering the region, with Bordeaux based consultant Stephane Derenencourt making the wines (the other one being the famous Pingus, started by a Dane). This international influence can be experienced in the wine itself, which is made in a more modern and international style than the Condado, but without sacrificing its Spanish roots.
This influx of development in Ribera del Duero has also led to an influx of vine cuttings brought in from elsewhere: many of the new plantings are not of the native Tempranillo, but of clones from other regions. This, of course, has an impact on quality, and many critics believe that plantings made with these clones are less than ideal. The now impressive reputation of Ribera del Duero has also led to an influx of cult wines and wineries that try to establish their reputation within a vintage. We’ve seen before how big scores from the likes of Robert Parker can make an unknown winery into an international sensation, with massive price increases to boot.
The trick with Ribera del Duero is knowing which producers are gouging, and which are staying more honest in their pricing. For me, the Pesquera wines have always been very fairly priced. This wine, while still of exceptional quality, is definitely creeping up a bit high in price for my liking (although nothing compared to Pingus or Aalto).
The wine pours a pure dark red, and offers a modern-styled nose of dark plum, cassis, cedar and spice box. The palate again is modern with a lot of fruit – blackberry, cassis, really ripe tomato and some spice and wood. Good hefty tannins round out the texture and mouthfeel, which is powerful and clean. This is an excellent example of how a wine can be modern and fruity but also balanced and rounded out with secondary flavours to compliment the fruit, and how a modern wine can retain typicity. For me, typicity and regionality are the only way that modern wines work, and this is a great example.
Excellent
$50 at Everything Wine
2010 Olympics BC Winery Profile: Meyer Family Vineyards
Posted by Shea in $30-$40, $40-$60, BC Wine, Canadian Wine, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Vancouver 2010 Olympics - BC Wines, Very Good on February 19th, 2010
Olympic fever has taken hold of Vancouver as the passion for team Canada erupts throughout the city. Unfortunately, all of the official venues are serving only wines from Vincor or beers from Molson. What happened to supporting all of our local producers? The Olympics for me is a time to celebrate what is great about B.C. and the challenges and accomplishments of B.C.’s own wine growers.
As my profile of Hester Creek demonstrated, there are, unfortunately, not so great wines being made in the province. However, the point of this series was to seek out those wineries that are doing things right in B.C. and to highlight those who have been willing to take the more challenging direction of making complex and palate-challenging wines. I think Meyer Family Vineyards is a winery that, while young, is starting to seek out its own path unique from the crowds.
Jak Meyer started the winery very recently in 2006. The original idea was to buy a vineyard and outsource the production; however, this goal, which began with a successful (albeit small) vintage of Chardonnay, proved to be too small an operation to be a viable business (at only 600 cases). Thus, over the next several years, and by taking advantage of some good deals resulting from the recession, Meyer expanded the winery by adding 19 acres (14 planted) to the original 3 acres of Chardonnay vines.
The focus at Meyer has always been on Burgundy style Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a new Gewurztraminer coming out onto the market soon. However, while Meyer says Burgundy style he does not mean simply emulating Burgundy. The goal here is, most importantly, to produce wines of place – wines that taste like B.C. and the vineyards from which they come.
While right now I think the vineyards are probably too young to show true and complex terroir, I do think that these wines are moving along the right path. I was surprised and impressed by the minerality of the Chardonnay and the earthy tones in the two Pinot Noirs I tasted, the style of each differing considerably from the other. In the future, Meyer plans to bottle more single vineyard Chardonnay offerings in order to expand the fruits of this philosophy.
In the vineyard, the idea is to keep things as “organic” as possible, as winemaker Chris Carson explains:
“In the vineyard we are very hands on. All pruning, canopy management, crop thinning etc. is done by hand. Organic principles are employed, such as making our own compost which is put back into the vineyards. All the stems and pressing are put into the compost along with manure, hay and other organic materials. We do not use herbicides for weed control. Rather, weeds are controlled with a combination of plowing, mulches and the use of weed eaters.”
In the winery, the process is all about trying to show typicity of place rather than uniformity of style. As Chris explains,
“basically the growing season and the wine dictate the outcome, not the winemaker. My job is to maintain the expressiveness and the fruit quality from each individual site through to bottling. No additives are used such as enzymes for clarifying juice or colour, no yeast food or nutrients, no tannins, etc. The only additive that may be used is a small acid addition in warmer seasons.”
I don’t love acidulation, but I think that overall Meyer is making the right sort of choices in the vineyard and the winery and it is nice to see a B.C. winery taking the process as seriously as the final product. Wine should not be made just for the end-point of satisfaction. Doing so belies the importance of the organic process and development of the vines – what makes them what they are and adds the ‘poetry’ to the bottle. That said, specific practices in themselves are not enough – great wine always has that X factor that cannot be explained. But, surely it comes from the confluence of each particular detail of the process coming together to produce an expression that each detail could never do in itself.
Let’s take a look at the wines.
Both of the Pinot Noirs are whole cluster fermented (at least this season – the percentage of whole cluster varies depending on vintage) and left to cold soak. The wines are barrel aged “sur lees” and then fined, but not filtered.
First off we have the Meyer Family “Central Okanagan Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2008, which is made with fruit sourced from friends of Meyer’s who own a vineyard in the Central Okanagan area near Kelowna. The soil at this site is silt loam overlaying gravelly loam. The colour here was very dark red for pinot noir, and the wine had a nose of stem, tobacco leaf, and cherry. Overall I found the wine quite earthy but also with a good dose of fruit that is right now hidden under the tannins somewhat on the palate. Nonetheless, I really like the nose on this.
Moving on to the sip we find a medium body and an absolute ton of tannin. This is obviously still very young with its grippy texture and overt stem and earth character. Underlying that, though, is cherry and bright red berry fruit. Good but not overly intense acidity. This has great stuffing and can (and should) age. While the tannins are aggressive and maybe just a touch green, I like how this was made and think the wine has some good aging potential. I cannot recommend this to drink right now without some serious food pairing to mellow the tannins – but don’t let that put you off the wine, this is pinot noir moving in the right direction. While not as good as the Vieux Pin pinot I had, it’s a solid wine with potential.
Personally I found some nice stewed meat mellowed the tannins and helped bring the wine forward into fruitier territory in this extremely youthful stage of its life.
Very Good
$40
The second Pinot Noir is the Meyer Family “McLean Creek Road Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2008. The terroir here is quite different and the vineyards are on the alluvial and glacial formed terraces near Okanagan Falls. A blend of three blocks on the property, each site has distinctly different sun exposure and thus each site brings a unique characteristic to the blend. The dark red, brownish colour on this belies the feminine and light touch of the wine. The nose is brighter than the Central Okanagan bottling, with additional notes of stone, chocolate and spice. On the palate, this is a lighter style, with brighter fruit and a cleaner palate than the Central Okanagan – with chocolate and spice and subtle under the radar red fruits. These two pinots encapsulate the phrase ”to each their own.”
I enjoyed both, but I think I preferred the very light, almost gamay-like body of the McLean Creek. If you want a denser riper style, this will not be your thing. And, keep in mind these two pinots are fairly expensive for the quality. However, there are good reasons for higher prices for BC wines (See my article), even though this does not mitigate the impact of better quality competition from abroad.
So, while there is definitely room for improvement and these are simpler pinots for the price, I think these are honest wines pushing to achieve something realistically BC. I appreciate that and look forward to the future of pinot at Meyer.
Very Good
$40
The last wine, the Meyer Family Tribute Series “Steve Yzerman” Old Main Road Vineyard, Naramata Chardonnay 2008, is the piece de la resistance here. Stepping from tradition, I saved this for last because I think it is the star of the three wines I tasted from Meyer’s portfolio.
The Chardonnay is hand harvested and whole cluster fermented, and left “sur lees” for about 11 to 12 months. During this time natural malo-lactic fermentation occurs, and is either complete or partial depending on the natural process of the yeast.
The colour is medium yellow and the nose is all bright clean citrus, pineapple, banana, pear, and kiwi. This is really good stuff and sports a tart and clean palate with properly presented oak influence. Again, the palate brings pineapple and a little creme brulee. Nonetheless this is quite long and clean. Here we have a very well balanced chardonnay that is made for food, does not kick the oak bucket, and has great texture and alacrity – in other words, this is my kind of chardonnay.
In my final analysis, this is outstanding and so far the best chard I’ve had from BC. I would love to try Meyer’s higher end micro-cuvee chard because this is simply excellent stuff. And, as ironic as this is, my highest praise for a BC wine is that I would buy this without hesitation at its very reasonable price point.
Very Good+ to Excellent
$35
Note: Meyer Family wines are currently being poured by the glass at Salt Tasting Room and Market Restaurant.
*Full disclosure: I received these wines as samples.
Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir: Le Vieux Pin “Belle” 2006
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, BC Wine, Canadian Wine, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good on February 6th, 2010
In the last post of my Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir I move, finally, to my home, British Columbia. I decided to approach this region last in order to reflect back on my experiences with the various New World regions as I searched for a BC Pinot Noir that could stand up in quality to these other regions. This is undoubtedly a tough task right now since the region is so young (at about 30 years) and the growing conditions for Pinot Noir not ideal.
In fact, British Columbia is one of the world’s most northerly wine growing regions, with an extremely short growing season and early frosts. However, on the other side of the spectrum, since it is the northernmost tip of the Sonora Desert, the inner Okanagan Valley also sees heat spikes up to 40 degrees centigrade in the summer. This sort of heat can shut the metabolic processes of wine grapes down completely, making for uneven ripening and unbalanced sugar levels. The large Lake Okanagan does produce a lake effect and so offers a cooling influence that can temper the impact of the severe temperatures (whether hot or cold), but there are still many challenges for growers in British Columbia.
Many believe that BC, and the Okanagan in particular, is best suited for high acid, fragrant white wines such as Riesling. I do not disagree; in fact, most of the best wines I’ve tried from BC are white. However, at the recent Taste BC tasting, I discovered that some producers are also having a very serious go at making high quality Pinot Noir; and, while not many producers are succeeding, some are pushing the boundaries of what I thought was possible in British Columbia. One such winery is Le Vieux Pin.
Le Vieux Pin started as a project to produce “terroir” based wines in the Okanagan, mimicking the style of French wines from cooler climates, such as Burgundy and Alsace. The winery is located on the East Bench of Oliver, in the South Okanagan Valley and produced its first vintage in 2005.
In order to achieve its goal, Le Vieux Pin crops at a very low yield level, dry farms (which must be a challenge in the low-precipitation Okanagan), and uses minimal fertilizer. They also claim to have distinct soil compositions in each of their vineyards, with soils ranging from sandy to high gravel, and heavy claim and loam. These distinct soil conditions are the basis for the variation in their wines rather than particular wine making techniques. Le Vieux Pin produces three single vineyard Pinot Noirs, each of which receives the same treatment in the cellar. While I only have had the opportunity to taste one of the wines from this range, I was impressed with its structure and personality, and I did feel it was expressing a particular place.
In fact, I could not place this wine anywhere in the spectrum of New World Pinot Noirs I had tasted so far. The nose was reminiscent of an Oregon Pinot Noir, but the body clearly derived from far less ripe fruit, even while it had greater tannin density than many of the Oregon Pinots I’ve had. In fact, the palate was distinctly earthy and driven by more herbal flavours than you would expect after smelling its nose of cherry cola, baking spice, and cassis. Le Vieux Pin calls this a Pinot Noir for Syrah lovers, and I can actually see what they are getting at. While less ripe than all of the other Pinot Noirs (save perhaps the Rippon from New Zealand), it was still fresh and fruity enough not to taste sour or underripe. My suspicion is that they may have had a difficult time ripening the tannins (skins) in the grapes for this wine as the grapes sugar levels are clearly sufficient. It’s not a perfect Pinot Noir, but it is a wine with personality, and I appreciate that achievement.
Given this uniqueness I would love the opportunity to do both a vertical tasting and a horizontal tasting across the various vineyards.
Very Good+
$45 at Viti, Sutton Wine Merchants, and other private stores
*Full disclosure: I received this bottle of wine as a sample.
To wrap up my Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir series, in my opinion there are distinct styles being made across the New World and Pinot Noir seems to have a far greater diversity of personality than Cabernet Sauvignon does in these regions. In particular, the flavour and style variations I experienced in Oregonian Pinot were exciting, and I think that while this region is young now and learning the ropes, it has the potential to evolve into a mature region producing singular wines with personality. It has a ways to go, but I’m excited at its potential.
New Zealand also continues to be a region for me to watch, although I think it has a considerable challenge with respect to its pricing. The quality is just not there to justify prices mostly above $60 for the higher quality wines. There are just too many Pinot Noirs from elsewhere that have a better quality to price ratio.
Despite my amazing experience with Sojourn Cellars, California continues not to excite me that much. Clearly there is potential here, as Sojourn proves, but too many of the wines are good but not great, and have a more fundamental sameness than the Pinot Noirs from further north. Chile, for me, is also not quite up to par overall with Oregon, even as I did enjoy the Matetic considerably. Again, Chile is a region with potential, but a long way to go. I would put Australia in this category as well. The great producers, such as Grosset, can make good Pinot Noir in the right regions. But, overall, Pinot Noir from Australia generally disappoints, and Grosset is making wines far above the norm.
Lastly, British Columbia is the youngest region in the spotlight, and it shows. That said, good producers are pushing the boundaries and I think it will be possible to produce some good Pinot Noir in the province. However, doing so will be expensive and will rely on the appropriate sites. Most of British Columbia still remains suited to aromatic whites. But, I appreciate that there are wineries out there to make wine with personality and ‘terroir’ rather than simply producing wine to achieve great commercial reviews and maximum extract and fruit.
In the end, this has been a fascinating journey and I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.
Up next is a special series for the Olympics that will focus on some of our best BC wineries – with particular emphasis on the small guys, who, in my opinion, are not getting fair or proper exposure in the Olympics (that’s the topic for another rant). I hope people will spread word of these profiles around a bit so that some visitors might happen upon some of the articles and wines and truly taste what BC has to offer.
Winery Profile: Le Clos Jordanne
Posted by Shea in $30-$40, $40-$60, $60+, Canadian Wine, Chardonnay, Excellent, Pinot Noir, Tastings, Very Good on January 28th, 2010
My relationship to Canadian wine is both similar and dissimilar to most Canadians. It is similar because I have great pride for my country, as many Canadians do. It is dissimilar because for me pride translates into expectations. I would like my country to be famous for more than just ice hockey and doughnuts, and I demand excellence from Canada because I know we can live up to that standard. When we don’t, I feel disappointed but I never give up my search for the exceptional. While sitting at a table surrounded by other Vancouver bloggers and social media types and five glasses of wine I discovered excellence in Canadian wine, for the first time. Le Clos Jordanne has, for me, broken the threshold of quality that I have been searching for in Canadian wine for years. And, I am proud that we finally managed to do it. That Le Clos Jordanne is from Ontario does not bug me as a recently minted BC resident. I think our regionalism detracts from our nation, and I think that we should all be proud of what Canadians are doing no matter where they are from.
Le Clos Jordanne is a joint venture between Vincor and Domaine Boisset from Burgundy. The idea was to start a winery completely from scratch to capture the ‘terroir’ of a particular area of the Niagara Pininsula in Ontario around the village of Jordan. The Niagara Escarpment, on which the Niagara wine region of Ontario is located, has a limestone base deposited by the Glacier that carved out the Escarpment so many years ago. The Escarpment, combined with the cooling influence of Lake Ontario, provides the region with enough warm air to allow wine grapes to ripen properly, even given the extreme climate and, accordingly, frost and short growing season concerns.
Viticulture Manager Thomas Bachelder explained that the aim to produce wines with a sense of place was a decision to take the lessons of Burgundy seriously and to treat the terroir with respect rather than simply copying certain methods. Whereas California became giddy with malo-lactic fermentation and heavy French oak treatment despite the fact that their terroir was nothing like Mersault, Le Clos Jordanne aims to produce wines whose oak and fermentation process compliment the climate, soil, and growing conditions of the grapes. I think they have learned these lessons well (likely because Thomas spent time learning to make wine in Burgundy), and I am hugely impressed with the various wines’ ability to remain distinct from each other, despite very similar treatment in the cellar.
Recently in Montreal a group of wine experts set up a remake of the famous judgment of Paris tasting of 1976 that saw California wines beat French wines in a blind tasting. The idea was to pit France vs. America again, although this time with different wines. However, unbenknownst to the experts, a Le Clos Jordanne Claystone Chardonnay was snuck into the lineup and, amazingly, won top honours in the Chardonnay category. And, just so you have a sense which producers the wine was competing against, consider the likes of Jean-Claude Boisset, Joseph Drouhin, Mer Soleil, Sonoma-Cutrer, and Chateau Montelena, amongst others. These are serious competitors who are well respected and garner high scores from all sorts of media. As much as such tastings must be taken with a grain of salt, I think that this achievement is significant.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the wines. In a non-traditional move we were encouraged to begin with the Pinot Noirs before moving on to the Chardonnays. The first wine was the basic ‘village wine’ Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2006, which retails here in BC for $30. This was very forward and fruity, with a nose of spice, and medium bodied cherry. While simple, the palate is also really enjoyable with its dense but grippy medium body, hint of caramel and spice, and fantastic density and delineation. Very Good+.
I next moved on to one of the single vineyard offerings, the Claystone Pinot Noir 2006, retailing at $45. This was a big step up in terms of structure from the basic village wine. It had a softer, stonier nose, with a decidedly twiggy element. The palate was again soft, but also fruit driven and very elegant. Its grippy dry texture is austere but also draws into a lengthy and wonderful mineral finish. Very Good+ to Excellent.
The last red, the Grand Clos Pinot Noir 2006, was a selection of the best parts of the vineyards, and is a big very complex wine that is still very young. The nose had fantastic layering even as it was difficult to derive all the aromas just yet. Its red berry fruit was, as Thomas said, distinct from many New World Pinot Noirs, which often tend towards darker, richer fruits. The palate had a touch of grapefruit, some eucalyptus, and a spicy mid-palate. The great mid-palate structure will allow this to sit a while and develop more significant separation of all the complex layers. This is very likeable, but also reserved. Excelent. $70.
And, now on to the whites, beginning with the Claystone Chardonnay 2006 (the winner of the Montreal tasting). These chardonnays are unlike anything else being done with the grape in Canada that I’ve tasted so far, and are certainly vastly superior to most every BC chardonnay I’ve tasted. In fact, these are almost dead ringers for very tasty Burgundy wines, even while still having a sense of place. Is it distinctly Ontarian? Well, that will probably take some time to tell, but this is a great start. The nose is rich and has pineapple, banana and licorice. But this is not a flabby or buttery chardonnay. No, this has great acidity, is very clean and highlights its citrus flavours while offering hints of opulence with its banana and caramel. The long, minerally finish brings the palate back down to earth and keeps the opulence in check. A very good chard. Very Good+.
The last wine, a Grand Clos Chardonnay 2006, was my wine of the tasting. It is still reserved and I can understand why some would prefer the Claystone right now, but for me this kind of chardonnay is what you would see in a young Premier or Grand Cru chablis – tightness, almost reticence, but with the promise of greatness. The palate doesn’t give a lot up yet, but is dense and very complex. The texture is rich and wonderful – very rounded and even more opulent than the Claystone – but the structure is outstanding. This is real chardonnay, built for food, and could one day rival an excellent wine from Burgundy. Excellent.
In conclusion, these are the first wines from Canada that I’ve given an excellent rating to, and they well deserved it. For me, they broke the quality threshold that I’ve been longing for all these years. My only hope is that as many of you as possible can get the chance to taste these. Right now they are in very limited supply (I believe some are at 39th and Cambie), but if you want to taste great Canadian wine, these are absolutely worth seeking out. Colour me extremely impressed.
Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Matetic EQ Pinot Noir 2005
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Chilean Wine, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good on January 26th, 2010
So my idea to have weekly spotlights seems to have been thrown for a loop. I still love the idea of spotlights, though, so I’m just going to continue a given spotlight for however long it takes me to complete, interspersed with other posts. The current spotlight on New World Pinot Noir has been fascinating for me, and while I originally did not plan to try a Chilean Pinot Noir, a reader convinced me otherwise. After tossing a few ideas around I settled on this, the 2005 Matetic Pinot Noir from the San Antonio Valley. Matetic is one of the most important producers in the region and is widely considered to make one of the best Pinot Noirs in Chile.
Chile has always been a particularly distinct region, being so isolated that it is one of the last remaining places on earth where the original vitis vinifera vines can be planted without grafting them onto Phylloxera resistant rootstock. While water is scarce, necessitating irregation in most regions, it is still extremely cheap to grow vines in Chile given the consistently even climate, almost total lack of rot, and cheap land. And, don’t forget that non-grafted vines are much cheaper to plant. Of course, with developing popularity comes increasing land prices and more and more foreign interest. In fact, many wineries in Chile have been started by jet-setting foreigners, one of the most important of which is the Spanish producer Torres who helped bring recognition to Chile in the first place.
While the Central Valley is by far the most famous and most important region in Chile, with its sub-regions such as Maipo and Colchagua, the San Antonio Valley (a subregion of Aconcagua) is one of Chile’s hot new regions. It is particularly interesting for white varieties and for Pinot Noir since it has one of the coolest climates in Chile, being so close to the coast. Casa Marin, for instance, makes my favourite Sauvignon Blanc in Chile with grapes grown in this region. This new region, first planted in 1997 and officially recognized in 2002, has infertile soils of of clay and granite that help add depth and complexity to the wines grown here.
Matetic is run by a Croatian family that immigrated to Chile over 100 years ago, made a fortune in ironworking, and bought the Matetic estate about 20 years ago. A massive 16 000 hectare property, the Matetic family started planting vines here in the 90’s and made their first wines in 1999. Matetic is unique in Chile not because it is organic, which is becoming increasingly popular, but because it has been a pioneer in taking up Biodynamics in the country – a form of vineyard management and winemaking that is becoming increasingly important as much as it is also controversial. The Matetic estate is only 20km from the sea, making it particularly exposed to the very cool Pacific breezes. Of course, this also makes the 120 hectares of planted property particularly well suited for growing cool climate grapes such as Pinot Noir. The diurnal temperature fluctuations make this property particularly good at maintaining natural acidity in their wines while also producing wines with big fruit flavours. If you are curious to view a bit of the estate, take a gander at this video shot by wineanorak writer Jamie Goode.
Now, to the wine! The nose is very Chilean with its distinctive funk, somewhat like an earthy and twiggy cassis bramble. Otherwise, underling the intense power of the funk on the nose are hints of cherry and earth. With air, the nose mellows and adds chocolate and more earth. The palate is both classic and unique: cherry twigs, and generally massive fruit. There is good depth to the mid-palate here with earth, twigs and a punch of spice. This is really flavourful, but also starts out with a hot chocolatey finish (it is 14.5% ABV). I found after a couple hours of air, however, the heat dissipated and the alcohol integrated well into the wine.
In the final analysis, this is unique wine, but it also doesn’t really taste like typical Pinot Noir. There is such a distinctive “Chilean funk” quality to it (similar to what you get w/ the cabs and the carmeneres down there), and I have to admit I am not a fan of that funk. I almost feel like it is a flaw, but I suppose it is something unique about Chilean terroir. That said, I do think this is elegant and tremendously structured and a very good value at $50. Also, many people actually like that distinct Chilean funk, and if you do you will probably love this wine. Most U.S. Pinots at the $50 price in Canada would not have this level of structure. I think this is a peculiar wine with aging potential and I think it’s an enticing hint at the possibilities of Chilean Pinot Noir. It doesn’t bowl me over, but it makes me think.
Very Good+
$50 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars
