EverythingWINE

With the 2010 Winter Olympics barreling headlong toward us, it seems that every event in Vancouver is becoming a chance for the city and province to show the world that this town is indeed world class.

The Globe in a Glass tasting - benefiting Canuck Place Children's Hospital - at the Pan Pacific Hotel on Wednesday night proved that Canuck wines are as good – or better – than New World wines from the Aussies, Kiwis and Yanks. 

In a media-only tasting prior to the main event, wine writers had an opportunity to blind taste some offerings in the under $20 range. We were asked to guess the identities of 15 wines using a score card with hints like: “Donating $1.25 to Canada’s athletes” and “one of the province’s pioneers,” and a list of the producers and varietals on the back. How hard could that be?

I only tasted through to wine #7 when the wines were revealed and am happy to report that – with the help of said clues – I correctly identified the Sumac Ridge Gewürtztraminer (“#1 selling VQA wine in the BCLDB”), the Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc and Banrock Station’s Unwooded Chardonnay. Three out of seven – not bad.

But what struck me was the amount of positive notes I made for the Canadian whites, like the lively, delicate Nk'Mip Pinot Blanc, noted as "easier to drink than to pronounce." All the wines tasted solid and appealing, but somehow, my notes told me I liked the Canadians better. Had pro-Canada fever sunk into my subconscious?

At the main tasting we were treated to more Olympic-sponsored wines: the crisp, refreshing Tribute Brut from Sumac Ridge, the applicious Jackson Triggs Esprit Chardonnay and the succulent Inniskillin Commemorative Edition Vidal Icewine, all worthy examples of Canadian winemaking.

Other standouts included the Inniskillin Meritage, Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin, and See Ya Later Ranch Ping. When tasted against heavy weights like Hogue’s Genesis Merlot, and Ravenswood’s Lodi Zinfandel, these local wines firmly held their terroir.

Now that the Cellared in Canada controversy has been aired and settled, I think that when sports fans throng to the city next year, they will be pleasantly surprised to find that Canada makes great wines that are not just made from ice.
 

I love it when obscure grapes rise from obscurity after being discovered by the medical community. Tannat was total news to me after a study declared it the top grape for antioxidants, the molecular scavengers that eat up free radicals. Now, having tasted the few tannats on the BC market, I easily can imagine how that is. The texture alone feels like it could scrape clean your insides.

No grape's name says more about its content than tannat. Sounds like tannin and is full of tannins, thanks to its thick, dark skin. Those tannins contain a therapeutic class of polyphenol flavonoids called procyanidins, extracted from grape skin and seeds. The procyanidins' antioxidant influence is beneficial to venous and capillary disorders.  As a bonus, studies have shown they also mitigate the negative effects of high cholesterol on the heart and blood vessels, and fight Alzheimer's.

When an octogenarian friend of mine had a pacemaker installed and her doctor ordered her to drink a small glass of wine each day, I insisted she give tannat a try. I told her it packs the most punch and is sturdy enough to stay drinkable for many days at room temperature.

Although the grape is rooted in deepest, darkest southwest of France, tannat has found new life and popularity in Uruguay and Argentina.

Like all tannats, the Finca Las Moras 2007 Reserve from San Juan, Argentina requires lots of breathing time. The initial mouthfeel is a bit hard, but after 3-4 hours it becomes soft as flannel. The dense, ripe cassis is bold, but well balanced with wood, and notes of vanilla, mocha, and mint. Next day, the fruit gains jamminess and the mouthfeel becomes velvety. After two days it becomes yet more complex with coffee and dark chocolate. I'll let you know next week what the fourth day tastes like. This is stuff that challenges the tongue and makes you feel like you’ve consumed something substantial. A formidable wine for an accessible price.

Another tannat I’ve known and liked is Pisano Tannat from Uruguay. It's the one I prescribed. Again, hefty black body, weighty tannins, concentrated black fruit, hints of spice. If it doesn't cure what ails you, at least it tastes good trying.

Medicinal drinkers mustn’t forget malbec as it contains the highest amount of Resveratrol - a phytoalexin that acts as a natural antibiotic and is also thought to fight cancer. Cool climate malbecs score the highest. I wrote about High Altitude Argentine Malbecs a few weeks ago, but delicious malbecs from the Cahors region in France - like F. Pelissie Croix Du Mayne and Domaine Marcilhac Cahors - are also worth experiments.

And, as for my medically sipping, heart-boosted friend, well, she’s still ticking.
 

 
There are times in life when you feel an itch to step out of the civilized world and go feral in nature. Two wines I tried recently made me put on my wolf suit and tell my husband, “I’ll eat you up!” He called me a wild thing and sent me to the living room without eating anything. But with my glass in hand, I watched a forest grow and grow until the ceiling hung with vines, and I found myself where the wild wines are.

Domaine de Fabrégues 2006 Le Coeur from the Coteaux du Languedoc is a smooth blend of syrah and carignan with an intense, full-throated quality that made me gnash my purple stained teeth and roar a terrible roar: “Yum!” Like the majestic oak, its full body has chewy tannins and bold structure. The color and texture are dark as a cave, and the ripe plum and blackberries have a feral, brambly character. Meat, smoke and mineral notes taste like flesh cooking over a wood fire on a rocky ledge.

My raucous heart caused me to lead an open revolt with Vive La Revolution 2007 Pays d’Oc Grenache, and the rumpus began. Its smell of flowers and red berries growing on a forest floor made me roll my yellow eyes, but its accessibly smooth mouthfeel and mild tannins did not scratch with terrible claws. Instead, it tamed me with its magic trick of displaying lush red fruit and decadently savoury herbs. Then, the juicy, fruity finish told me, “be still,” and I did. I was excited by it, since it impressed me as the most wild wine of all.

Yet, these wines let me know they were lonely being drunk by themselves. They wanted to be where someone would love them for more than their quaffability and deep, intense flavours. And from far away, across the room, I could smell good things to pair with my wild friends: stewed venison, roasted pheasant, smoked duck and a heady mushroom sauce. Those scents made me say I’d give up where the wild wines are, but they said, “Take us with you. Match us with these delicious foods, we love them so.”

So, I sailed with my wild wines over the carpet towards the dinner table, in and out of a few minutes, to where I found my supper waiting.

And it was still hot.

(Regards and regrets to Maurice Sendak.)

It was a wild week of tasting here in the wine-soaked city of Vincouver, where Chilean and Argentine vintners breezed in with their carmenéres and their malbecs, and left us with copius tasting notes and mouthfuls of stained teeth. Aye, chihuahua, el vinos es magnifico!

Compared to skinny Chile, which enjoys a strong oceanic effect that moderates the climate and a typography of hills and valleys with rivers running to the Pacific, Argentina is a vast, dry desert. Vineyards hug the east face of the Andes for its water runoff as well as for the cooler climate elevation.

In a VIP tasting with Pablo Cuneo, winemaker at Ruca Malen, the operative word I heard was "Altitude." Altitude is a major factor in how the Argentines plan their vine planting because altitude is what defines microclimates. Between 450 and 1600 meters above sea level seems to be the sweet spot. To find the cooler climates, Cuneo said, “We have to play with altitude.”

With a renewed attitude for altitude, I plunged into tasting the country’s star red grape: Malbec.

Grapes for the Kaiken 2006 Ultra Malbec are grown in the Uco Valley near Mendoza at 1,000 meters abouve sea level. The result is a powerful and appealing wine with excellent structure and balance. A perfumed, meaty nose leads to a big mouthful of black fruit accented with sweet oak and easy tannins, and a long fruity finish.

The Susana Balbo 2007 Malbec has an enticing nose of baked, warm red fruit and the palete is plush, ripe and satisfyingly well-balanced. I just hope it becomes available in BC – and soon.

For now, her Crios Label will suffice to satisfy, as it always does. The Crios 2008 Malbec has lovely aromatics showing spicy black cherry and smoke, and the palate has layers of concentrated plum and black fruit. It’s been a fave of mine for years.

If that is too heavy for the moment, the Crios 2008 Rosé of Malbec makes a nice aperitif or accompaniment to fish or white meats. The colour is as dark as I’ve ever seen in a rosé and it has a surprisingly rich body. Its nose and palate are full of ripe strawberries and cherries and the finish is clean and refreshing.

But Argentina is not just about Malbec. The Finca Las Moras 2005 Gran Shiraz Three Valleys of San Juan impressed me with its fragrances of ripe black cherry, spice and leather, its soft mouthfull of black and purple fruit, and long peppery finish.

I thought it was an awesome syrah, a sentiment shared by Everything Wine staffer, Ivan Alphonso, who added, "With all these great wines, why did I leave Argentina?"

Did you attend the Argentina or Chile tastings? What were your favourites and why?

On Monday, Chile once again proved that it leads the world in high-quality, well-price wines. Not only does the long, narrow country “out Australia the Australians,” their wines also have a greater chance of being organically grown.

That’s the message I got at a VIP event hosted by the Wines of Chile tour at the Sutton Place Hotel. In a tutored tasting led by the estimable DJ Kearney, we learned that due to its abundance of water, a moderate Mediterranean-like climate, various soil types, as well as having ungrafted, phylloxora-free vines, in Chile, “It’s easy to be organic.”

We sampled twelve wines priced between $17 and $80, and the consensus seemed to be that $18 is the sweet spot for Chilean wines.

“No one can do pinot noir for $19 per bottle anymore,” Kearney said, as we evaluated three $18 pinots that all showed bright red fruit, exotic spice and real elegance.

The Cono Sur Vision 2008 exhibited lovely black cherry and cola flavours and a juicy finish, and in the trade tasting, the Cono Sur Organic Transition 2007 tasted quite similar, but with a bit more earthiness. This relatively new company is proving that environmental commitment doesn’t have to preclude value.

Once mistaken as merlot, Chile now produces more of the Bordeaux blender carmenére than any region on earth – including France. There are lots of $12-$15 ones that are very good, but in the $18-$20 range they are simply wonderful. Like the Viu Manent 2008, with its exquisitely balanced fruit and oak. Or the spicy cherry and chocolaty Viña Chocalan 2007, coming from what was considered a “miraculous” year for reds in Chile.

Sauvignon Blanc is considered one of Chile’s signature grapes, and we tried three of them in the $20 range: the biodynamic Matetic EQ 2008, Viña Quintay 2008, and Santa Rita Floresta 2007, all of them stylish and refined.

Syrah/shiraz is also a happening varietal in Chile. Consider the Viña Errazuriz Mas Reserva 2007, a rich, ripe mouthful of earth, plum and mint – well priced at $20.

In the trade tasting, I ran into Everything Wine staffers Toni-Lynn Frederick, Melanie Aulin and Pam Baldwin just as they finished pours of carmenére. "We’ve had non-stop value from start to finish." Pam said of the tasting. “I’m definitely coming again next year.”

I will too, because Chile is cooking some incredible wine values

Next week: don’t cry for me, Wines of Argentina.