essex wine report

NEWS FLASH!!!!!

A new winery is starting!!! That’s right. I have it on good account that just south of “the Freeze” grapes have been planted.

Well actually I have 2 vines of Cabernet Franc so in 5 years I will have full production of wine.

Some friends were adding to their vineyard and gave Terry and I 2 vines….very cool. They just don’t look like one would expect. Just basically a cane and a graft on it.

What it will really do is allow me to see how the vines grow and what really wine is about. Maybe someday I can really plant some volume, join up with the Mondavis and make Opus 3, right here in Kingsville. Then I can be a featured villain of Mondo Vino II.

Yes we all can dream.

I have lived thru Dr Carl Sagan warning of an upcoming ice age as a child….my mum probably still shakes about that one- I wanted to buy firewood and move south… to acid rain and now Al Gore. His movie has been banned by Terry as it may damage my heart, but now lets see how our environmental saviour is doing. Not satisfied to be ungreen he spruced up his house and yes…uses more energy. I can respect Rd Begly as he belives what he says, but Al is a joke. Read this

Father’s Day…7:30 am

I am sorry that I am late with this. The storm whacked our internet, then the router has been acting up. I have a new one but Terry is so busy that I am afraid to disrupt the computer to install. I can just see a “problem” when she has 8 shoots to process. Add work, screaming at expressvu on a daily basis…my satellite just slowly died. After 4 hours on the phone to some very nice but totally inept Indian techs I managed to get a Cdn so that I could cancel my account. She was very nice and got me to try again. Well their tech is on the way…yes at 8 am on Father’s Day.  (Later, I was to find out that I was lied to again and the tech is coming next Sunday (this info came from a very nice Indian fellow who really understood just how impressed I am with expressvu))

Last weekend was the series of open houses for the local wineries. Did I organize a trip?? Nope. F&J did so I just went along for the ride. We started out at Sprucewood. I really like the Mitchell’s and this is where F&J had their reception. It is really a nice spot and the drive thru the vineyard is just so nice and worth the trip alone. 

Over the last year or so I have gotten to know Steve and realize his passion for the business. A fellow Engineer, who isn’t in the ‘plastic pocket protector school’ is a wonderful thing to find. Tanya, his sister, is the winemaker. She’s an Engineer too and I think it shows in her wines. They are very consistent thru the line and very orderly. This may be sexist but I feel that they show a women’s touch. The wines are a wee bit lighter and certainly not “over the top”. Judicious use of oak, nice complexity. The line is good. Locally, we are blessed with 3 great female winemakers, Tanya Mitchell- Spucewood,   Lyse LeBlanc- Mastronardi (I apologize for the spelling error) and Izabel Benben- Aleksander. Their work is wonderful. What is really nice is that each has a style and the product is better each year.

The Sprucewood people can put on a spread. Cheese trays, fruit, reasonably priced interesting food and a band. They were really trying and were being rewarded by the amount of traffic they had. The lineup of wine is very nice and we even had dedicated red wine drinkers trying whites….very good indeed. Of note is the Late Harvest Riesling which is very very nice. I prefer Late Harvests to Ice Wines generally as they are not so sweet and are more accessible. We also really like the Chardonnay and the Pinot Rose. 

Then we were off to Erie Shores. They have put up a pavilion which is a great idea. Receptions at wineries are a wonderful thing, but the tent rental prices are very high. This is a good way to avoid that. They had a bus tour in when we arrived so we took over the showroom, Alma was as wonderful as ever and their wines were very well received.

Then we were off to Viewpoint, Their new wines were on display before the entry to the main hall. Let me just say that the future is quite good.

Of course we ended at Muscedere. Fab and Rob do such a good job but they haven’t bottled the Chardonnay yet. J&F had left to prep for the party so it was us and Swifty. He likes wine and it was interesting to watch his response. Clean and fresh was what he found. Well the wine was fresh and hadn’t been abused by any angry custom agent or delivery man. Maybe its just good????

The celebration just finished the day. It feels like it was last year not last week. Well my friend from the ghetto of Rochester Hills wants to come visit so we’ll take him east. Mastronardi, Aleksander and Pelee Island. I’m looking forward to that weekend.

Well I will start this review by stating that this wine is wonderful and I will buy more. I first had it at the winery and this winery is great. It is Near Iniskillen but is very different. The building isn’t great, they aren’t terribly friendly at first, but open up when they find out you like real wine and have a really nasty cat.

But the make wines the real way and their vines are 30+ years old. Its Marynissen Cabernet/Merlot and is available at the lickbo. Its priced great and tastes wonderful. I like it alot.

Music is simply Ed Love on WDET….a great jazz show and dinner was pizza from Calabria…this is decadent…it really didn’t go to well but I don’t care…I needed some good wine.

The color is deep red and it takes its color to the edge…no wateriness here. It hangs in sheets and just has some gorgeous legs….Condi legs…the go on forever.

The nose is really nice, but I aerate so its not pronounced, just dark fruit…kinda jammy smells, some oak and niceness. No nasty bits.

The taste…yes the taste…its great!..ok I’m done….just buy it. No really it is complex without being pretentious, nice tannins, some acids, oak  and enuff alkeehol to keep it fun. Fruit isn’t up front…this is real wine.

I would serve this with anything…no try red meat, lamb or goose. It would be heavenly with a turned goose. It has enough body to stand up to the fat and cut thru it. I like it alone which is strange as I like foofoo wines without food.

Musically choose something complex. I would say Bach or OP (Oscar Peterson). It needs to be cool and refined. No Ozzy here.

Well buy some and enjoy. This wine is a beacon to what we can produce when our vines get this old. Age gets wisdom and complexity.

Drink and enjoy. They are really nice people when you get to know them. I will go back there and get some more…maybe tomorrow!!

Last night I struggled thru another wine tasting. I am about ready to quit. What I have discovered is that either I have no taste whatsoever, or that these Bordeaux’s are extremely over-rated and over priced.

Yes I did like some of them, but at $70 it better be good. The Burgundies, yes they were good too…much better btw…but again at $70, they should be.

I just see massive snob appeal backing marketing. Like the amp designer who goes into the hills and meditates for 3 days before designing his amplifier and refuses to speak English to reviewers ( he is fluent but just grunts….you interview his assistant and he nods) just so he can charge double for his amps, I see the same thing. After some high dollar Bordeaux, I came home and opened a bottle of Crew. It not only stood up, it made me feel better and for less than half….hell yeah… the price. Is the French….” you can only grow grapes on this terroir” thing a myth? A couple of weeks ago I was listening to NPR when a geologist came on and spoke about a book called “Terroir”. He totally debunked the idea that the vines get the stone taste by the terroir. It was very interesting and will certainly get me an F.  BTW I don’t buy it.

Well l was really sickish last night and the first wine was so dreadful I was looking for the STP label…..well the 2^nd was wonderful…ooops it was corked…I faux pas’d big time…well the first was sooooo bad a corked wine tasted good…ouch..btw I am drinking Marynissen right now and am very happy.

Now the instructor is doing a very good job so I can’t blame him. The text is by my ‘favorite’ wine expert. She will stay nameless but I used to love to watch her show and heckle her….typical English know it all….oi…I’m not being nice am I 

So I’m having flashbacks to my Business degree…oi me taking a Labor Relations course from a woman who didn’t shave her legs. When I questioned her on the relevance of the Flint Sit Down Strikes and the Rouge fun to modern labour relations in the auto industry, she cringed and didn’t know about them……it was at U of Windsor…oi.  Well she called me at home and assured me that my “political” views would not damage my grades, I should have run…..I was in a class of union reps and well I felt kinda out of place…..hell I am pro union (gets me a higher rate) but I felt like a fascist. I feel that way now…but I am older, wiser and more of a bastard….I’ll just sit in the back and plot…..maybe I’ll lie and tell them that I only drink a real expensive wine that is unavailable except at this wonderful wine store in Highland Park…hell the kid was espousing how he likes to drink Chateaux Y’quim at about 3 bills a bottle, or the woman who loves Opus 1….I suggested she get some Il Bastardo (actually really really good)…she was horrified. I loved it. 

I’M A LOCALVORE AND PROUD OF IT!!!!!!!!

Well, since the Meritage fest I really haven’t been able to review any wine so I’ll give you some quick thoughts on some.

Really good:

Marchesi di Montechristo     Nebello del Bastardo 2002   this wine is wonderful and cheap… a great bargain which I wold happily serve an of my friends… Sir Rod went off the wagon to this wine and blamed me for recommending it. Big full and red…great with pasta and big food…aerate the hell out of it

Marynissen   Cabernet/Merlot 2002  this wine is from one of Niagara’s oldest vineyards and is wonderful. Stylistically similar to the great Bordeaux wines which Mr Parker loves. Not fruit forward and just wonderful…and a bargain…available at LCBO so get some

Lailey  Riesling 2006   another winner from Niagara. We showed up at 5 minutes to closing and we were still treated ok. They remembered us from the Wine Show and they make great wine. A wonderful Riesling.

Oyster Bay   Sauvignon Blanc 2007 An archetypical Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. Grassy notes and fresh fruity flavor. Serve with seafood or drink alone. I always loved this wine and it seems to have dropped in price.

Erie Shores  Reserve Cabernet 2005  An oakfest which I really think will get way better with age. Its very good now and would pair great with beef.

CREW Cabernet Sauvignon  2005 this is their Big boy and is a great wine if you love big chewy reds. Serve with red meat or game and be very happy.

Muscedere  Sauvignon Blanc 2007  this is a very big Sauvignon Blanc. So different from the Oyster Bay. More French in style and will work wonderful with food. I would suggest bigger seafood and chicken/fowl.

Remo Farina Ripasso 2004 different wine which is a special wine available only from the Veneto, specifically Valpolicella. New wine is laid over the pressings of Amarone (nirvana in a bottle) and gives alot of bod to the lightish Valpolicella. Great wine…we had it with Bolognese. Went wonderfully.

Well that’s some of what I am drinking. All very nice and available locally. They won’t embarrass you and all taste very nice.

BTW summer is here so its Vinho Verde time and please buy the cheap stuff as its actually better. Lickbo raised the price so now its about $8.50. Such a pity. Goes great with Paella and seafood or on its own, but keep it cold…..not good at room temp.

Tootles

I am sorry that I have not posted lately, but I have been pondering a major issue to myself and am having a rather tough time getting my thoughts out.

What I mean is: do I have it all wrong?? Am I to drink wine in a singular activity and avoid any other stimulus or am I right to say that all the sensory inputs affect how we enjoy a wine.

I’ve discussed this at length lately with a winemaker and an associate whose wisdom I respect. I like to compare wine with music. What is your favorite musical experience???  Was it a sterile singular experience, or one where the music was shared with friends and other people? Great music to me has always included other people.  A great band in a smokey bar with a bunch of friends, maybe??? Having Carol Pope tower behind you at the Horseshoe (yes a brush with stardom) listening to Jack DeKeyser is a cool memory. Or John Lee Hooker in a club that used to be a supermarket which just boogied with the music.

As one who really was into stereo equipment, I knew people who only listened alone in the dark. I always found something rather odd about that. Were they listening to their equipment or the music?? I like old bebop jazz so I can’t have perfect recordings, but I strive for a ‘joie de vive’ that a ‘perfect’ modern recordings just don’t have.

The same is for wine. I have had the opportunity to sample some wines that are ‘above my pay grade’ lately and it confuses me. In a sterile environment these wines are technically very good, but this is reminiscent to sitting in the dark listening to music. My best wine memories involve other people. Sitting around the table with a beaker of Chardonnay from the vat was a good one. Carolyn laughing up a storm when she was over for dinner last time, or the fun of opening up one of my stored Nebbiola’s for Terry, Tom and Carolyn later that night. That wine to me was great and was to everyone there too. I bet it would be good in a test but what’s the point?? 

We all enjoyed the wine and it was made better by having people I care for around me. Tom, Carolyn and Terry (the yute had crashed by then). Why would I want to have one of Mr. Parker’s 100’s alone in the dark when I can have a local wine (ok Niagara) with friends. 

So does critical tasting matter??? I really don’t know. Wine is personal. I like whites more than reds, other people I know only drink reds. I loath the Australian lack of soul and love local wine since I know who made it. I don’t need Opus 1 (though I’d love to try some..if I didn’t have to pay for it that is) and am happy (very happy lately) to mate wine made from people who know me when I enter their store and with fine local food. Add Terry, friends, music and I really, really am happy. 

Is that so wrong or did I just fail. 

I always like to drink proper French wine when I can. Terry is out…dinner with Myles…so I decided to grill some salmon, listen to some music and have a wee dram of wine.

Wine of choice is a beauty…a 2003 Gewurtztraminer but its Grand Cru Schoenenbourg. This my friends is a great bottle of wine. It’s from Huniwihr so it has a pedigree. Bloody hell it is a Grand Cru so it should be good.

My great grandfather was from Alsace, and I guess he was one step ahead of the Prussians during the Franco Prussian War. Off to Montreal then Toledo then to Windsor. My Grandmother..Maude Henrietta LaPlante..married one Orville Small. She was a firecracker who taught me alot about food, getting thru tough times and general stuff a Grandmother is for. Funny, she couldn’t cook but knew how to get fresh good produce. Going to the market with her was a trip.

Music is/was Alison Krause. One was her latest solo album and now is her album with Robert Plant (ex of Led Zepplin). Really good music. I usually cannot stand country but this stuff is really excellent.

Dinner was grilled salmon steaks with some grilled polenta with a mozzarella topping. All in all not bad.

The wine is wonderful. It takes me to a wonderful place. It makes me see visions of a young Sophia Loren stomping grapes in a classic vineyard. Ok off by miles, and a few countries, but the visual is great.

Visually, the wine is light gold, sparkly and just beautiful. Legs, this wine has legs like Condi Rice..just beautiful. The seem to go on forever.

The nose exudes a class sweetness, with all the tropical fruit you can handle. I get some petrol and wet stone. Wonderful, complex and just wow!!!!

The taste is out of this world. Round sweet and good. Though sweet, there is a nice balance of acid and a wee dollop of alcohol…13.5%..this is no lightweight. Ever once in a while I get the elusive petrol, but I think the exotic fruit and spice is much better.

With food this is a winner. Sweet with food…Yes sir!!! It has a great balance of acid and it managed to fight off and clear the salmon oil. It has unctuousness and just works so well with food. Man this is good!!!

This wine goes with my idea that the French still make the best wine in the world and if they avoid the fruit forward onslaught we will all have better lives.

I always enjoy tasting and reviewing a wine prior to the general public. So I have another. When Terry and I went to Muscedere’s open house a few weeks ago Rob told us about his new Chardonnay. We were waiting for some and since they ran out of bottled Pinot Noir(at the open house) we had a reason to go back.

While we bought a couple of bottles of Pinot (double gold last Thursday at the All Canadians….Congrats!!!!!). We were able to try some Chardonnay and here is the review of what we had. At the winery we had a sample right from the tank. Then we had some with some cheese and bread with the family. All I can say is that we were quite impressed.

Chardonnay is a classic French grape which hails from Burgundy (the Pinot Noir people). Now when the King banned Gamay a few centuries ago, he let Chardonnay stay which was a good thing. Poor Chardonnay has taken a few hits lately. Too much oak done by those ‘blokes’ from down-under and some just real bad product. Done well its very good but bad is bad. Those citrus notes get fugly.

So here we are at Muscedere. No hills like Burgundy, hot days, clay not gravel…..so what do we get????? Will STP get a new source for carb cleaner??? NO NO NO NO!!!! This stuff is great and I drank my only bottle. I am distressed.

We had it last night with dinner. I tried to make Gordon Ramsay’s lobster pasta. We didn’t feel like making fresh pasta (the yute was at band camp so no child labour to turn the pasta machine) so we chose a real good egg tagliatelle from Italy. The lobsters were canners…frozen…oh my god I can feel the yelling now…f********** frozen lobsters….are you f********* trying to f******** poison me!!!!!! Bloody Hell!!!!!!!! Are you just too f********* stupid or lazy to use f********** dried f************ pasta in my f*********** beautiful recipe!!!!! You should be f************ bloody happy that I let you read my f*********** book!!!!! Oh yes we are doing crab cakes tonight and OMG we have high end chilled canned claw meat….Don’t let Gordo know.

Anyhow it follows my mantra of simple but good ingredients. If I had the proper ingredients and a minimal skill level it would have been stunning. It was very mild and let the lobster thru. Classy, I guess thats why he has more Michelin Stars than Elizabeth Taylor had ex-husbands.

Music was none…oops….had Kitchen Nightmares on…..we really like that show.

Now to the wine……..It had a nice light shine and color. I don’t want to go too far there as the final product may be different…a little maybe…maybe a wee bit clearer. This wine has legs…good viscosity and just came down the glass so nicely.

The nose was strong but not overpowering. This one is unoaked so no beavers need apply. What we get is pineapple….lots of pineapple…I don’t like pineapple but I like the smell of it and green apples…Granny Smiths…fresh off the tree and papaya. Very classy nose. 

Now the taste….. I won’t tell you because I want it all. That’s it - - review done. Ok.. I’ll let you have some too. The taste is wonderful with good mouth feel. It is tangy with good acid content. It isn’t overbearing but will allow this wine to stand up well to food. In the French way, I think trout, lightly(I mean lightly) dusted in flour then pan fried in real butter then capers and white wine. It has the finish to cut through the butter.

Oopps, I must be hungry. I get loads of pineapple, green apple and papaya, just like the nose.  I like this and baby just look at the vines…they are still babies and man the will just keep getting better…I can’t wait.

This wine is more old school to me than other New World Chardonnays. It doesn’t have the mineral taste but the vines are young, but stylistically I think it is that way. It just tastes good to me. Nicely balanced crisp tasty this should be a real winner for them.

I just want some more. 

PS: Rob and Fab…get bottling this stuff soon!!!!!! I know you two are busy, but Terry and I will work for wine if you need bottling staff!!! This wine is too good to keep off the shelf. 

before peter, rod, cathy and terry say my blog had errors i would like to apologize for any mistake but my blog page is acting rather strange and will not let me preview and is changing things on me….one of life’s travails