Hi Everyone!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Hallowe’en! Now it’s time to purge all of that sugar with some crisp, dry Chardonnay (somewhere there is a study that supports this, I assure you). Some new galactic rockstars and some returning champions, all of them essential drinking, here we go:
Montalto Estate Chardonnay 2016, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. An absolute firecracker, especially on the naughty finish, my goodness. Just south of Melbourne sits the Mornington Peninsula, a cooler climate (for Australia, it’s still hotter than here) with a knack for Chards and Pinots, you may not have heard about it because not much shows up here – it’s a well-kept Aussie secret and most of the tiny production is consumed locally (and never submitted for international review – only local press). Lucky for us we get to drink the best of it, this Estate Chardonnay from Montalto is brimming with energy – certainly one of the best non-buttery Chards I’ve tried this year. The nose is restrained and refined, there is some citrus and stone fruit betwixt the minerals – it’s not Chablis but it’s not not Chablis either – and the medium-to-full body coats the tongue, but the story here is the Shazam, Van Halen Solo back end. Lightsaber-y tartaric acidity tempered by glycerine heat and apple notes, the finish is racy, immediate and brilliant. See for yourself this Saturday at 3pm in the River District Vintage Room. The secret is out. Best Australian Chardonnay – Gourmet Traveller Magazine, 96 points James Halliday, 3 cases available – Exclusive to Everything Wine, $50.99 +tax
Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay 2016, Dundee Hills, Oregon. To call this wine “buzz-y” is like calling a bottle-rocket a “kazoo”. Ever since the 2014 vintage placed #2 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2016, it has been nearly impossible to obtain (I credit my colleague Si Man Lee for grabbing this exclusive allocation for EW) and for good reason: drinking like a New World Chassagne-Montrachet, Evenstad stakes a credible claim to be Oregon’s Best Chardonnay. In many ways the backward image of the preceding Montalto, there is a wealth of lush, tropical aromas on the nose (pear, pineapple, mango, straw) but refined and restrained on the finish, with crisp minerality mixing with the creamsicle. Full and creamy mouthfeel, doesn’t hide its oak treatment but doesn’t lead with it either. Not yet reviewed by WS, could still place on “the list”, we’ll know in a couple weeks. 95 points Wine Enthusiast, 3 6-packs available, Exclusive to Everything Wine, $108.49 +tax
Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2017, Western Cape, South Africa. This has been one of my fave New World Chardonnays for about 6 years running, aged in 4 different mediums (barriques, large foudres, concrete and steel), and this is all I get until Christmas 2019. For some reason we always get Hamilton Russell in before most of the reviews come out – that’s probably the only reason B.C. gets any at all. That said, there’s a lot of wind in the sails of this 2017 vintage, everyone who has tried it seems pretty jazzed about it, and no wonder: Anthony Hamilton Russell has yet to make a bad Chard, and has effectively become his own premium category. Floral citrus zest and caramel apples on the front end, full body and outstanding Burgundian tension on the tail – haven’t tried it yet as it’s just arrived but the hype says that this is the vintage to purchase irresponsibly - and Hamilton Russell always sells out in normal years. I’ll update when the WS and Parker reviews come in, but for now: 94 points James “Oh-Hello-Sounds-Like-You-Opened-Wine” Suckling, 4 6-packs available, $58.49 +tax
Until next time, Happy Drinking!!
Hi everyone!
Very excited to share these wines with you, I’ve been collecting them for a while, now, in small quantities. Over the past year, I’ve been turned on to some teeny-tiny Piemontese producers, just as some of the small-to-medium houses have released some of their best wines in a decade (indeed, I’ve already written about some of them, including my potential W.O.T.Y. Albino Rocca Barbaresco Ovello). I’ll have one major “Back-Up-The-Truck” Barbera arriving in the next few weeks, but in the meantime, I’d like to tell you about some of the smaller lots of Piedmont I’ve accrued of late:
Cappellano. Although the Cappellano story goes back 5 generations, it was Teobaldo Cappellano, Italian by heritage but born and raised in the horn of Africa, who put the family back on the map when he arrived in Barolo after his father’s untimely death in 1955. Although the Cappellanos had been famous/notorious for making Barolo Chinato in the late 19th century (Chinato is when crazy people add quinine bark and herbs to Barolo, placing it somewhere between “Aperitif” and “Potion”), the wartime years saw the family sell off their grapes to bulk producers, and adopt the “if it grows, spray it” mass-agricultural ethics of the more industrialized countries.
What Teobaldo did makes sense in a 21st century fine wine context, but it seemed like mad abandon to contemporary 1960s common-sense viticulture: he reduced the family’s vineyards to only 4 hectares (madness! How will you eat?), sold off the French Barrique barrels in favour of large, neutral Botti (are you crazy? The Americans won’t buy it!), ended the use of pesticides and herbicides in the vineyards and stopped adding sulphites in the winery (but chemicals are fine! – cough). Perhaps the most notable act that Teobaldo did towards cementing his crazy-hermit-cave-kingdom reputation was to ban all wine journalists from his property unless they agreed to never assign a numerical score to his wines. Teobaldo passed away in 2009, but his son Augusto carries all these traditions on to this day.
Cappellano still makes only 800 cases of wine per year, and it’s incredibly hard to get, to my knowledge only Quebec and B.C. get any in Canada, and the U.S. is largely ignored – the majority of their production is sold locally and in France and Germany. Augusto carries on his dad’s traditions of long macerations and fermentations with no added yeasts (no added anything, unless you count bottles and corks), and I’m proud and honoured to offer their wines:
Cappellano Barolo “Otin Fiorin” Pie Rupestris 2013. From the Gabutti cru in Serralunga d’Alba, in fact the labels used to say “Gabutti” on them but Teobaldo removed the name in protest of the cru’s expansion (and instead included the name of the land’s previous owner, Otin Fiorin). This is surprisingly drinkable and generous considering the Pre-WW1 methods, the fruit is present and vibrant in a way that resembles Grand Cru red Burgundy – crystalline precision of fruit and concentration that (at least right now) outshines the considerable tannins. Let’s not confuse “traditional” for “funk”, just because Augusto makes his wines the way The Lorax would doesn’t mean there’s any barnyard going on – there’s a purity of fruit and earth that is direct and piercing. 2 6-packs available, $107.99 +tax
Cappellano Barbera d’Alba Gabutti 2012. Planted in the non-southwest-facing parts of the Pie Rupestris vineyard (the parts where Nebbiolo isn’t planted), this firecracker of a Barbera is a study in balance: the softer fruits and medium body are electrified by the streak of glorious acidity, but they also keep the acidity from taking the paint off your house. Floral and spice elements invade the red-fruit-driven nose, and the body vibrates with energy – see for yourself when we pour it in the River District Vintage Room at 3pm this Saturday. 2 cases available, $57.49 +tax
Elio Filippino. The 50th anniversary of the Filippino family’s winery this year was enough to propel the charming but hermetic Elio to travel the world – I met him in the springtime here at the store. Elio contains 0% English so he travels with a translator, an impeccably dressed older Italian lady who seemed forlorn that she couldn’t smoke anywhere. Also following the ethic of not submitting for numerical scores, Elio largely makes wine from only two hills near Nieve, Serra Capelli and San Cristoforo, and practices a vineyard management style so brutal it’s lucky for him that grapes can’t have lawyers. Concentration and longevity are his goals, and his Barbarescos are statuesque and powerful, especially:
Elio Filippino Barbaresco Serre Capelli Riserva 2013. Hide your kids. Reminds me of the Elio Grasso Runcot Barolo, in that it’s unapologetically aged for 2 years in new French Barriques and it drinks like it just wrestled a bear and won. The nose is gorgeous, floral and generous, and drinks at the upper limits of what body you can wrest from Nebbiolo – a loooooong finish with fireworks. Shades of minerality persist and the acidity checks the weight, this is, in fact, in balance, but the glory days for this rock star start in 2025. Stellar vintage from a stellar vineyard, what more can one ask? First time ever in B.C. 2 wooden 6-packs available, $74.49 +tax
Beni di Batasiolo. The Dogliani brothers started Batasiolo in the 1950s, and have specialized in bringing wines from the Barolo DOCG to us at reasonable prices – in fact they’ve been in our market so long, it’s likely that the first Barolo you ever tried was by them. We’ve managed to find some back vintages that have both feet in the zone, drinking-wise:
Batasiolo Barolo Vigneto Boscareto 2006. The notoriously tight Boscareto cru in the Serralunga d’Alba commune generally takes several years in bottle to lose its baby teeth, but the nice folks at Batasiolo have done that for us. This Boscareto is firmly in Act One, there are tertiary notes of leather surrounding the primary bright red fruits and spicy beef broth, with cigar box, dried flowers and happiness. The body and finish are still bulletproof. 92 points Wine Spectator, 2 6-packs available, $75.49 +tax
Batasiolo Barolo Riserva 2007. All hail the Lord Mayor of Gulp Town. This gathering of various Barolo crus is drinking like an elephant hug right now – the grip is perfect and the nose is amazeballs. Dried fruits, dried lavender and Cherry Coke beneath some dusty topsoil and burnt orange. Enough tannin to remind you that it is, indeed, Nebbiolo, but nothing is poking out past the supple body. Fully in the zone, not sure why it’s this cheap. 95 points Decanter Asia, 2 cases available, $54.99 +tax
I’ll be back tomorrow with a Back Up The Truck California Cab!!
Happy Drinking!
Postscript: Rome doesn’t get a lot of rain, so the nice Italian folks that built Rome’s Airport forgot to tell their roof what to do with it. My right foot found a puddle on the floor of an airport walkway (we Vancouverites have 26 words for puddles – it didn’t occur to me to avoid this one) and it kept sliding, my left foot stayed in place but twisted in a way that feet don’t. The resulting sprain didn’t keep me away from the store when I got home, but it should have cuz I think I made it worse by walking on it.
To point: I won’t be in the store much in the coming days (I’m here today only briefly), but I’ll still be writing emails – I have too much great wine to tell you about and frankly I get bored just sitting at home with my stupid foot in the air. My overworked but understanding team here at Everything Wine River District will be helping me out by getting your orders ready – if you want some of these (or other) wines please reply by email (not phone) so I can instruct them on what to put together. Thanks, and Ow.
Post-Postscript: Decanter Asia is an adjudication put on by Decanter Magazine in Hong Kong, considered to be the top wine competition in Asia (and judged by the top Asian wine experts), but distinct from regular Decanter points, which are awarded in London.
We often get questions from customers around Halloween, Christmas and Valentines Day asking which wines and chocolates to pair together. It's a question that stumps many wine professionals, simply because the two are quite difficult to pair. In the words of Wine Folly's author,
Madeline Puckette, the two are just "awkward friends".
On their own, chocolate and wine are two delicious and sometimes luxurious individuals, which is why they are often given as gifts during festive holidays, birthdays, etc. Think about a romantic movie you once saw - what does the guy always get the girl to say "I love you", "I want to be with you", or the classic "I really messed up"? He comes to the door with wine and chocolates in hand. What you don't see in the movie is how those two taste when put together - in reality, it would really wreck that "cute" moment when she pairs the gift and is left with an over-powered and less than romantic taste her mouth.
So why don't these two flavours always work? Wine and chocolate both have very strong flavours that compete for the same taste buds in your mouth. When pairing wine and food, the idea is to showcase one "star flavour" or have two flavours that can complement each other such as sweet and spicy. When wine and chocolate are paired together the wine usually ends up tasting a bit (or a lot) sour and ultimately leaves us with a rejection to the pairing.
Our alternative to pairing wine and chocolate? Drink wine with flavours of chocolately goodness. For example:
Have a favourite wine you enjoy drinking on Halloween? Let us know in the comments below, and check out our list of Spook-Tacular wines on
sale from Oct 26th-31st!
Hi Everyone!
I’m back home after a whirlwind tour of Italy with my mother and brother; we went to Montalcino, San Gimignano, Panzano in Chianti, Florence and Rome, eating and drinking the whole way. It was resplendent in many shades of awesome. I’ll have some tales to tell down the road, but today I’m writing about an amazing wine from a Tuscan village I didn’t quite make it to on this trip:
Montepulciano.
I have to stop referring to specific small Tuscan villages as “walled, hilltop towns” as if that’s a distinguishing characteristic. They
all are. After spending a week in the Tuscan countryside, I can testify that I never spent any time in a valley, either driving or visiting, because the towns and roads are all in the hills. If you told me that Tuscan vampires came out at night but only in the valleys, I’d believe you because everything is built to avoid those vampires.
That said, Montepulciano
is a walled hilltop town, surrounded by vineyards that grow a particular clone of Sangiovese called
Prugnolo Gentile (there is a Southern Italian grape that’s actually
called “Montepulciano” but it’s confusingly
never grown
in Montepulciano – I had a dream where I brought the grape to the town and created a wormhole). In contrast to Brunello’s
Sangiovese Grosso and Chianti’s
Sangiovese Piccolo,
Prugnolo Gentile (meaning “plummy and soft”, kinda) is richer and generally less acidic, and the building block for one of Italy’s great wines:
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Nobiles often nose like Chianti Classicos but drink like Brunellos, large and long-lived, but their lesser lore makes them far more affordable for wine drinkers, especially compared to Brunellos.
Although
Carpineto has been quietly producing wines from all over Tuscany for over 50 years, it’s their Vino Nobiles that have always captured my attention – structured like linebackers but still graceful and gorgeous, and the stars aligned for this amazing
2013 Riserva. Simply put, it’s the
best points-to-price ratio I’ve seen in years. If this wine doesn’t place highly on the WS Top 100 this year… I’ll be wrong.
Behold this handsome beast: richly layered and tightly strung with black fruits and slow, deliberate deployment, some mineral notes. Drinks like twice the price, lovely mix of masculine and feminine on the nose with violet and cedar, the tannins are firm but don’t poke out past the ample body. Aged a year longer than the DOCG requires, drinking now but could go a decade standing on its head. Whatever you buy of this, you’ll wish you bought more (I do). If there’s any left by Saturday we’ll pour it at
3pm in the River District Vintage Room.
Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2013. 95 points Wine Spectator, 15 6-packs available, $40.49 +tax
Start your engines, and Happy Drinking!
Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving this year, we think we can all agree that the anticipation for delicious food (followed by a fantastic food coma) is running high. It's about this time when we start to strategically plan out where to put each festive dish, so you can have as much food on that plate as possible, knowing you'll be feeling as stuffed as that turkey you just ate. You know not to fill up on salad... you've got the rest of the year to eat those leafy greens.
With so many different flavours from earthy Brussel sprouts to creamy garlic mash potatoes to that sweet, cinnamony pumpkin pie, it's hard to choose that perfect bottle of wine to pair with your meal. But fear not, pumpkin-spiced enthusiast, here is our Thanksgiving pairing guide to make sure those flavours are amplified by the wine you're sipping and the food you're eating.
Turkey & Chardonnay:
First off, let's start with the true star of every Thanksgiving dinner, turkey or tofurkey! We recommend pairing the bird (or the tofu bird) with a lightly oaked Chardonnay! A Chardonnay that has been lightly oaked will be bright, acidic and juicy with just a hint of richness to compliment a rich and buttery turkey.
Recommendation: R Collection Chardonnay!
Roasted Root Vegetables & Pinot Noir
Nothing says fall like a colourful plate of buttery roasted root vegetables. If these find their way onto your Thanksgiving plate, we recommend pairing it with a juicy red with balanced acidity and notes of sweet spices that will complement the strong vegetable flavours.
Recommendation: Meiomi Pinot Noir
Stuffing & Merlot:
Something guaranteed to take up nearly half your plate? Stuffing - the food that seems too good to only eat once a year. We'd recommend a wine with soft tannins that won't over-power the medley of flavours found in stuffing. Try this Thanksgiving favourite with Merlot!
Recommendation: Curious Incident Merlot
Smoked Ham & Tempranillo
A big smoky ham deserves a big, bold and full-bodied red wine! We'd recommend a Tempranillo. Since a smoked ham is juicier, less sweet and less salty and offers more texture, a wine with sweet spices and berry flavours would compliment the dish quite nicely!
Recommendation: Alceo Tempranillo 2015
Pumpkin Pie & Prosecco
We need to take back what we said about Turkey being the star of Thanksgiving, we all know it's really pumpkin pie. This year, pair the sweet treat with a glass of fruity Prosecco. The chilled effervescence in the bottle of bubbly will elevate and lift the pie's spiced filling and denseness of the crust.
Recommendation: Cecilia Beretta Prosecco
Want to know where to find these wines? Check them out on our sale page
here. Or, stop by any of our locations on Saturday, October 6th to taste these fantastic Thanksgiving-worthy wines!
Our Vintage Room Expert picks continue with our Victoria Vintage Room Expert, Nick Blewett! Read the full transcript of the video below, or check out the video on our
YouTube channel!
You can find Nick's pick
here.
Hello everyone!
I'm Nick, Vintage Room Expert from Everything Wine in Victoria. I'd like to talk to you today about a 91-point wine from Secret Indulgence in St. Helena, California! It's a 2015 American Vintage red blend. It contains 65% Zinfandel and 35% Petite Syrah, most of which is sourced from Sonoma County, but some as well from Livermore in the central coast.
The body is big and dark and bold with dark flavours black cherry, blackberry, as well as some spices and mineral notes. Both Jeb Dunnuck as well as Robert Parker's Wine Advocate have scored this bottle 91 points! I would pair this with smoky BBQ ribs or a nice rib-eye steak!
The more Bordeaux I drink, the smarter I get, I think.
When considering a region that is so strictly terroir-based, i.e.: whatever happened to that farm that year happened to the wine, the variance between vintages is pronounced and easy to compare. In fact, the more you taste of the last bunch of vintages, the more the personality of each year emerges. I’ve taken to thinking of recent Bordeaux vintages like strolling past various birds in an aviary; each year is a different bird. Hey, the aviary is open, come stroll with me!
2009 is a lusciously feathered, prize-winning peacock, whose luminous tail contains all the colours of the rainbow. He’s gotten kind of fat because we keep giving him celebratory biscuits, but he’s still beautiful and shiny and omg I wanna give him another biscuit.
2010 is an eagle. A majestically strong, stoic eagle of regal stature who will outlive me and you and the building we’re in. Some people get weirded out because the eagle doesn’t seem to move, but he actually does – just not when you’re looking. I am not worthy enough to gaze upon the eagle any longer. Also, I am crying.
2011 is a handsome falcon who obeys orders and tastefully fulfils all expectations, but you can’t see him because he’s behind the eagle.
2012 is two feet and a beak poking out of an egg. We don’t really know what kind of a bird it’ll be yet; It’s a really nice beak so things might turn out great, but man that bird is taking its sweet time to come out.
2013 well, damn. That’s not even a bird, it’s a platypus. What the hell.
2014 is a healthy, fluffy pigeon. He can move cars with his mind and witness several dimensions in unison, but everyone walks by him because he’s a pigeon. The pigeon is Zen so he understands and does not mind.
2015 is the last bird on our tour, and worth the wait because she has the best attributes of all the other birds (except the platypus, who has now soiled his own bed). She’s strong like the eagle, shiny like the peacock and possesses powers we are only starting to understand.
We didn’t think we’d see another classic Bordeaux vintage for a while, let alone another one-two punch like the dynamic duo of 2009/2010, but the 2015/2016 vintages have added new pages to the book of legends. If we’re being granular the right bank (St. Emillon, Pomerol, Merlot-based wines etc.) made out slightly better, but 2015 was a tide that lifted all boats, and the quality was superb up and down the ladder.
But every silver lining comes with a cloud, and the bad news is that the prices are back up to the “no-I-meant-what-is-the-price-for-one-bottle” level of the 09/10 vintages. At the end of this month the government will release their list of 2015 classified growths. We’ll have a handful of those too, but not until a bit later because for some reason our classified growths were held up at the LDB (running private wine retail in BC is like playing cards against one who is both player and dealer).
Collecting Bordeaux can stretch our collecting budgets well beyond comfort and reason, and it can present a dilemma: How can you possibly buy smart and wide, instead of putting all your eggs in just a couple of gilded baskets? Well, like this:
Our talented and attractive buying team (take me with you next time, guys!!) has found lesser-known but well-rated 2015s from all over Bordeaux, all for under $100. Some are collectable, some are glugable, but they are all 2015s and available right now. We’ll be pouring many of these on Saturday at 2pm if you’d like to try them. To the juice:
LEFT BANK: MEDOC
Chateau Greysac 2015, Médoc. For the French in Bordeaux, driving past a historical estate must be like driving past a barn in Chilliwack for us – you really don’t think much about who built it or when, and you only care if it grows something you want. Likewise, nobody cared about the 1700s-era Greysac estate until the Angelli family (one-time owners of Fiat and Chateau Margaux) bought it in 1975, modernized the facility and started to squeeze good juice. Situated near the top of the Médoc, Greysac is more influenced by the whims of the Atlantic so vintage variance is pronounced but this 2015 is way-fab. Nearly equal Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, a medium-to-full body with soft but pronounced tannins and baking spice. A tad randy now, but we don’t want to lose those blackberries so a 5-year nap will get us to the sweet spot. 91 points Wine Advocate, $54.99
Aurore de Dauzac 2015, Margaux. I picture wine from Margaux as a bouquet of lavender wrapped around a pencil, after that pencil has murdered a box of blueberries. Aurore is the Second Wine to the 5th Growth Chateau Dauzac, Cab dominant with just enough Merlot to fill all the holes. The Floral and fruit elements are here as well as tobacco and oaky vanillin – this is a ripe and quite drinkable Bordeaux but could still mellow out a smidge with time. Layered and exciting. Whereas many Second Wines are built from the passed-over barrels for the Gran Vin, Aurore is selected geologically, from grapes on mineral-rich deep gravel. Good structure and a generally good attitude, if you don’t drink Aurore you could hire it. 92 points James Suckling, $75.99
Chateau Lilian Ladouys 2015, St. Estèphe. Consistently one of my favourite houses (within the realm of affordability) and a living example that you should always get your homework handed in on time. Just a few hundred metres from Lafite, the 19th-century owners of this 16th-century house failed, as legend has it, to get their certifications to the adjudicators in time to qualify for placement in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Now co-owned with Chateau Margaux by the Lorenzetti family, the 21st century has seen a renaissance in quality at Ladouys, and the Merlot-driven wines this Cru Bourgeois has offered in the last 2 decades have been at or above the quality level of Classified Growths (IMO), but without the accordant prices. As frame-forward as any St Estèphe, with deep mineral postholes and bright red fruits with white blossoms and toast. Tight now, Approachable in 5 years, singing in ten. Buy everything you can, this sleeper wakes up as a knight. 92 points James Suckling, $75.99
La Devise de Lilian 2014, St. Estèphe. The Second Wine to the above Lilian Ladouys made about as soft and inviting as a St Estèphe can get, like dressing a wolverine in a Spongebob costume. Cabernet-driven and quite a bit more approachable than the Grand Vin, with generous black fruit and bits of smoky caramel leading the way, this is elegantly drinkable and more than a bit floral. Rich and delicious but it’s still a St. Estèphe and it still doesn’t trust you, so decant it long enough for it to get used to your scent. $51.99
Chateau le Pey 2015, Médoc. Another Cru Bourgeois northern-Médoc 50/50 Cab/Merlot blend with great value from the Compagnet family – Father, Mother and both sons run nearly everything (not to be confused with the much larger, more commercial Ch. Pey La Tour). Ripe blue fruit dominates this 2015, with chocolate powder, plum, blackberry, firm tannins and a dusty finish. Everything is good to go but the finish, it’s still kind of angular and needs the soft rub of a couple years to smooth it out. $39.99
Chateau Peyrabon 2015 MAGNUM (1.5L), Haut-Médoc. One of the few estates that straddle two Bordeaux appellations, Haut-Médoc and Pauillac. This Cru Bourgeois is from the Haut-Médoc side, a large plot of 40 hectares from where dark, plummy, spicy Cab-driven wines spring forth. One of the only houses to ever sue to get accepted into the 1855 Classification (the suit was filed in 1869, they were refused), Peyrabon smells like smarties (no kidding) and drinks like an excellent idea, soft and approachable even in youth, the fact that we’re selling this gulper in Magnums is deliciously frightening. 91 points Wine Enthusiast, $99.99
LEFT BANK: GRAVES
Le Dauphin d’Olivier 2015, Pessac Leognan. The Second Wine to Chateau Olivier, a Classified Growth of Graves (The wineries of Graves/Pessac, Bordeaux’s oldest growing region on the eastern side of the city, have their own classification system apart from/in tandem with the 1855 table. Don’t worry, it’ll all sort itself out). Nobody is entirely sure how old Olivier is, the running guess is that it dates back to the Plantagenets and has a credible claim to be the oldest wine estate in Bordeaux, and is also one of the few “Chateaux” that is, in fact, an actual castle (moat and drawbridge included). The estate itself is quite large, boasting forest, prairies and vineyards, and owned by the same family since the mid-1800s, making Merlot/Cabernet wines that teem with blackberries and raspberries locked in a cigar box. The Dauphin has always had a rep for being uncannily close to its bigger brother in quality. $59.99
Le Dauphin d’Olivier Blanc 2016, Pessac Leognan. The white version of the above (many Pessac houses are as well known for their whites as their reds), a blend of 50/50 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon. Floral and stone fruit notes reign over lesser toasty bits. Delicious now, will get better in 5 years and then will get weirder. Weighty and powerful, not a “patio” wine unless your patio is made of dragons. $55.99
Clos des Lunes Lune d’Argent 2015, Bordeaux Blanc. A Semillon-driven hellcat from 30-year-old organic vines, this is a dry white wine made in Sauternes by Domaine de Chevalier, the bonkers-good (and expensive) classified growth of Graves. Thick and viscous with fantastic, layered acidity; pear, honeysuckle and citrus on the nose. If I have any left of this after this weekend then everyone is very silly. 93 points James Suckling, 92 points Wine Spectator, $39.99
RIGHT BANK
Chateau Haut Brisson 2015, Saint Emillon Grand Cru. An elegant, restrained Emillon with a medium body and good aging potential. Leathery raisins swirl around the nose with strawberries and sweet oak, creamy palate and lively finish. As such I was surprised to learn that winemaking consultant/arsonist Michel Rolland (Masseto, Oculus, Pedestal, land mines, booster rockets, etc.) was involved in this, the style is far more graceful than what he’s known for. Gorgeous and inviting, 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. 95 points James Suckling, $84.99
Chateau Tour Saint-Christophe 2015, Saint Emillon Grand Cru. Ok, here’s the bunker-buster Michel Rolland wine I was expecting (he consults on this also, he is busy), 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and somehow 5% Napalm. This is the biggest boy in today’s sandbox, rich, textured and gloriously boozy; the nose is like a blueberry bagel and a slice of Christmas cake started playing leapfrog (that is a weird descriptor but try it on Saturday and tell me I’m wrong). Although robust, the wine is mostly in balance with itself, the tannins are a tad pokey but with food you won’t mind. Will be spectacular in 5 years. Probably the best value in this offer. 96 James Suckling, 95 Jeb Dunnuck, $89.99
Chateau de Pitray 2015, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. A robust, grippy affair, boasting a saline, almost sandy nose over lower notes of chocolate syrup and blackberry jam. Boasting a family history going back to the 1500s and an absolutely marvelous Chateau, the Pitray estate has been a getaway for the wealthy for centuries, wine until very recently was a secondary pursuit. 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, the tannic finish is still a little out of step with everything else but this’ll all come together gloriously in 3-4 years. 90 points Wine Enthusiast, $39.99
Time to learn more about the world-famous wine region, Bordeaux! We sat down with our South Surrey store manager, Rob Carras to learn more about this varietal, its flavours, the region, and of course what foods it pairs best with! You can watch the full video
on our YouTube channel or read the full transcript below!
Hi everyone, my name is Rob Carras and I'm the store manager at Everything Wine in South Surrey. Today I'm going to tell you about the World-famous wine region, Bordeaux!
Region and Flavour Profiles
Red Bordeaux wines are often medium to full-bodied, with notes of black currant, cherry, plum and cedar. The vintage and the region will have a lot of factor into the quality of the wine. On the left-bank, you'll get wines with more structure, more age-worthiness whereas the right-bank, more plummy, plushy fruit, and more approachable in their youth.
Varietals in a Bordeaux blend
Typical varietals you'll find in Bordeaux are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, a little bit of Petite Verdot and a little bit of Malbec. Actually, the first Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines originated in Bordeaux, France.
Food Pairing
Now to my favourite part, the food and wine pairing! Red Bordeaux goes really well with pot roast, black pepper steak - the tannins in the wine really cut through the fat in the meat and the flavours are definitely complimented by that black pepper on the steak. If you're vegetarian try it with roast potatoes or a green bean casserole!
Price
Here at Everything Wine, we have Bordeaux in every price range. We have lots of option under $20, much more approachable and everyday drinkers, all the way up to the most sought-after wines in the world, up to $8,500 per bottle!
Interested in try a Bordeaux wine for yourself? Be sure to check out our Bordeaux release, happening September 21st!
Filling your wine rack with some local gems and classics during the last few weeks of Summer!
It’s the last few weeks of summer and fall is approaching fast. I like all four seasons, but especially fall and winter. With BBQ season almost done for the year, it is time for slow-cooked meals, Dutch ovens, crock pots and hearty meals. The cooler weather matches well with bigger wines (maybe a switch from white to red) and warmer dinners. I probably drank more white than red this summer, but it also depends on the food pairing. I’m looking forward to tasting the newest release of the iconic
Black Hills Nota Bene 2016. This is one of BC’s greatest red blends (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc) and it sells out every vintage since their first in 1999. I will be pouring the 2016 Nota Bene this Saturday in the Langley Vintage Room! Collectors and BC wine enthusiasts are quick with this one, it will sell out fast! Retails for $62.49.
We also have the
Beni Di Batasiolo 2007 Barolo in all our Vintage Rooms. This is a fantastic wine that is ready to drink (requires a few hours of decanting) or could be cellared for another few years. A great match with wild mushroom risotto and aged parmesan Reggiano or a charcuterie board with meats and aged cheeses. A steal at $55!
I am also very excited to have
Checkmate in the Vintage Room here at our Langley location. These wines are very hard to get (restaurants get first dibs) so I’m lucky to carry it! We have the 2013 Silent Bishop Merlot and 2014 Attack Chardonnay. This artisanal winery only produces two varietals (Chardonnay and Merlot) and they do it right. Some of the best Chardonnay and Merlot Canada has to offer!! Very small production, 12 barrels for the Merlot.
The 2014 Attack Chardonnay retails for $114.99 and the 2013 Silent bishop Merlot retails for $84.99.
Enjoy the last few weeks of Summer!
Cheers,
Q
