A Wine Before Its Time

I’ve run into this particular problem more than a few times, and I should know better by now. I drank 3 wines way too soon. I’d done my research and was familiar with the pedigree of the wineries, and wines, but I got caught up in the moment. The wines were good, but down the road, they would have been much, much better. Needless to say, these wines currently are only getting 3-Star ratings. Fortunately, I have 5 more of the Stag’s Leap to test down the road, but none of the others.

*** Easton Estate Bottled Zinfandel 2004 – Vintages 281501 – $39.95

*** Inglenook Cask Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 – Vintages 29553 – $89.95

*** Pine Ridge Vineyards, Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 – Lifford Wine Agency – $115

This backslides me into what I’d like to discuss today.

When sharing a bottle or 2 with my wife, I can gauge the level of the wine(s) we are about to drink and plan accordingly. Meaning that, if we are having more than 1 bottle in the evening—we start out with something that has a lighter flavour profile and then follow it up with something a little bigger, bolder, fuller to round out the evening.

When we’re with more people, it’s hard to gauge where an evening will go – who will be drinking, how much will everyone be drinking – making it difficult to plan what to open next. This is particularly the case when everybody brings something different, and you’re not quite sure what they brought or what to expect.

Early in an evening of drinking when you drink something that has a big flavour profile, it’s hard to go back to something lighter. You, at least we, try to go bigger. And that’s where the recent problem occurred—and like I said, it’s happened before.

One solution—drinking the same wine all night, but that stifles my adventurous spirit. And I just don’t like doing that. To me, opening each new bottle is a discovery; it tells a story and becomes part of the narrative of the evening. Plus, different bottles fuel my imagination and spirit.

The second solution—plan better. That’s the hard part.

With that said, here is a general serving order to keep in mind for future evenings: start with sparkling wines and champagnes, then rosés and blushes. These should be followed up with white wines, light red wines, then stronger red wines, and dessert wines. You can end the evening with higher-quality, higher-alcohol ports, Sherries, and after-dinner wines—assuming anyone is still standing by this point, of course!

First Press Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The End Of The Line.

The Preamble
I purchased a case of the 2007 First Press Cabernet Sauvignon a couple of years ago and we drank most of them shortly thereafter.

We had friends over for dinner a week or so ago and one of our guests brought up that he enjoyed the First Press quite a bit the last time (or a some other previous time) he was over.

I rummaged through our wine fine fridge and found our last remaining bottle and brought it out for us to enjoy. Let me say, we were sad to see it go.

I haven’t seen it at the LCBO since that time, but on the WineAlign site, they have Churchill Cellars as the broker of record (although I can’t find it on their site). The LCBO does carry a chardonnay from First Press though if you’re interested.

When it was here I paid $19.95 for it.

My Review
In the glass: a red-purply jammy colour.

On the nose: lush, cassis, cedar notes and vanilla.

On the palate: black fruit, spice, cocoa, decent balance at this time, definitive tannins and medium finish although it was a touch hot.

For me, this wine is in he same California Cabernet wheelhouse as Irony and J. Lohr (a little fuller bodied than Lohr). It’s a bit brash, a bit young, but still quite fruit forward with enough tannins to make it interesting. It’s fairly well balanced and easy to drink.

Otherwise, I don’t know too much about other vintages and how “good” they were. Anyway, it was 6 years old and maybe could have lasted a few more. I remember when we first purchased it and drank most of them, letting it rest for a little while more definitely helped it out.

Regardless, I liked the ’07 and if I ever find any other vintage – I’m buying it!

3 Stars

Joey Restaurant (Eaton Centre, Toronto) 3 Wines

Out With Friends

The Preamble
I recently met a friend (and a friend of his) at Joey Restaurant (Eaton Centre location, Toronto). I hadn’t seen this particular fellow in five years. As you know, a lot can happen in that kind of time. We sat, chatted and drank wine. It was great catching up.

We had some nibblies and drank 3 bottles of wine. They were, in the order we drank them:

EDGE 2010 “Napa” Cabernet Sauvignon, California $68 (2.75 Stars)

TREANA 2009 “Paso Robles” Cab/Syrah, California $90 (4.25 Stars)

IL BRUCIATO by Antinori, Cab Blend, Italy $78 (2 Stars)

I would have loved to finish with the TREANA, but it was still a great night nonetheless.

As far as the pricing is concerned, restaurants generally run their markups from about two times the price of the bottle and up. That’s close to the case here. The LCBO has the EDGE listed at $26.95 and the TREANA at $39.95. I could not find the IL BRUCIATO.

Quick Reviews
The EDGE was nondescript. When I go out and I’m paying almost $70 for a bottle of wine – I want more. If I drank it at home, I’d be less disappointed. Still not sure if could recommend it though.

The TREANA was sublime. It’s definitely one of the better bottles that I’ve tasted in the recent past. Good nose, great balance and an excellent finish. I actually just picked up 4 bottles!

The IL BRUCIATO is another one those wines (I have touched on this before) that just should not be served now. It’s simply way too tight. I don’t even think hours of decanting would or could have opened that bottle up. You certainly can tell it has something going on there, but the tannins were almost too much even for me to handle. I would seriously wait at least another 5 years for this wine to be ready to drink.

Do I have a moral to this story? Yes, I guess I do. Check with your server when you’re out and ask a lot questions. Beyond that, sometimes you’re just flying on blind faith when you’re out!

Echeverria Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2008

Everyone has his or her favourites.

The Preamble
For me, for the price-point, I’ve always loved the Echeverria Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva. The 2009 was recently released and I already have two cases! I think we first had the 2003 or 04, and since then – we’ve been hooked.

I’ve written about our trip to Chile before; this wine was another reason we went there. My friends at Lifford Wine Agency had set up a tasting for us – and by some kind of miscommunication (I have to take to the blame here), we missed it. When we got to the Echeverria Family Winery, no one had any idea we were coming (as we were supposed to be there the day before). I apologized profusely, up and down, in as many languages I could, and in the very most of broken Spanglish I could muster.

Needless to say, they were not prepared for us. My wife had that look on her face that likely all wives do when their husbands screw up. Anyway, and I honestly think that because of how horrible my Spanish was/is, they did a tasting for us right there in their office. They brought out the accountant, who spoke the best English, to facilitate (and two other very kind folks).

We were enjoying our tasting and to our surprise, the wine maker showed up near the end. We had a lovely conversation with him. He asked which year (of the Reserva) we enjoyed the best and I had said the ’05 was my fav (he liked the ’07).

Anyway, they were too kind to us (even though I think a few people were not happy with us at Lifford and at the winery). At the end of it all, we left with half a dozen bottles or so.

My Review
In the glass: deep red, almost dark purple colour.

On the nose: woodsy, peppery, black fruits.

On the palate: cedar, peppercorns, plums, cherries and chalk with a smooth, medium length finish.

The Echeverria Cabernet has always been fairly well balanced and is considered a medium to full bodied red made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
grapes and has 13.5% alcohol per volume.

Every year has been a little different, but overall the quality has remained high. I have no doubt in my mind that the 2 cases I recently purchased – I’ll enjoy!

I’ve never had a problem recommending this wine.

3.25 Stars

Justin Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

A lot depends on what you pay for it.

The Preamble
An interesting thing to note about the Justin Cabernet Sauvignon (not sure if it’s true) is that they change the label every year – which might make it hard to follow when you go to purchase. I also don’t know if this extends to the other wines.

I purchased this bottle about 6 weeks ago while in Buffalo at The Premier Group. It was listed at $19.99, but if you bundle it in a case (of 12) you get more off. Plus, you get further discounts if you’re a member.

The LCBO here has it listed for $33.95. That’s quite a disparity if you ask. So, when it comes to rating this wine based on the Quality Price Ration (QPR), we get into a tricky area – especially when you’re cross-boarder shopping and the dollar fluctuating the way it does.

I would easily recommend this wine at $20 (or less), but at $34 I’d be hard pressed. It was good, but when you tack on an extra 14 bucks – there are better wines at this price point.

You can find it at the LCBO in the Vintages section with this number 684308. The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is made up of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The alcohol level listed on the bottle is 13.9% alcohol/volume, but for some reason the LCBO has it 14.5%. The sugar content is 2 g/L. and this is considered a dry (D) red wine.

The Review
In the glass – it was a deep crimson.

In the nose – it had blackberry, vanilla, woodiness and hint of spice.

In the mouth – it had nice balance, with the black fruit showing well, and a hint of cocoa came through in the end rounding off a medium length finish.

Anyway, like I stated above, I liked this wine. I’ve read that other years it has been better, but this one was pretty good to me.

3 Stars

Arboleda Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

NICE SURPRISES.

The Preamble
I likely picked up this bottle last July or August (by looking at the release date on the LCBO site). I can’t remember 100%. No biggee though.

Between our house and cottage, at any given time, we have somewhere in the range of 130 – 180 bottles of wine. Sometimes more, almost never less. That’s just the way I roll.

Anyway, this means is I forget some bottles that I’ve purchased. That’s ok, but I’m glad I purchased it. It’s always a nice surprise to have a tasty bottle and look up to find you only paid $16.05 for it!

You can find it at the LCBO in the Vintages section with this number 606764. The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon is made up of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 3% Syrah. The alcohol level is 14% alcohol/volume and the sugar content is 6 g/L (although the technical data on the winery site shows it as less). This is considered an extra dry (XD) red wine.

The Review
In the glass – a deep ruby-red.

In the nose – it was woodsy, hints of dark berries, cocoa and vanilla.

In the mouth – it was full bodied; had a touch of acidity, but still very flavourful with the fruit coming through, it was chewy and a touch chalky, and it had a medium length to the savoury finish.

Like I said, we were pleasantly surprised with this wine. We didn’t decant it, but could have. I was quite happy with the nose off the bat as well as the first sip (and glasses).

It could use a few more years on the shelf and that’s ok. I’ll be back at the LCBO today (hopefully) to pick up a few more bottles!

I can totally recommend this wine.

3.25 Stars

Clos Du Val Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The Preamble

I first tasted Clos Du Val wines at the California Wine Tour a few years ago. The next one is coming up April 8th.

Anyway, my wife and I both enjoyed their selection, and as I do – when I seen it at Vintages – I HAD to buy one to try!

Clos Du Val wines seem to garner critical acclaim, and from what I can tell, this acclaim is well deserved. In February of 2011, The New York Times sampled 20 Napa Valley ’07 Cabernets priced under $100. The ‘07 Clos du Val Cabernet ranked 3rd was deemed to have the “Best Value” of the bunch.

Like many wineries they make many levels of their wines. The one we had was from the Classic line, their entry level. They have 3 more tiers: Winemaker’s Signature, Reserve and the Flagship/SLD line.

We drank the 2007, it seems the 2008 is out at Vintages now. There are not many left, but can find them with this number 652925.

In the bottle you’ll find 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 3% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot. It was aged for a total of 18 months in French oak barrels (25% new).

Note: this is a 375 mL bottle for $19.95.

The alcohol is 13% alcohol/volume and the sugar content is 3 g/L, and it’s considered a dry red wine.

The Review
In the glass – a deep rich, plurply red.

In the nose – there was cocoa, blackberries and vanilla.

In the mouth – layers of black currents, herbs, earth and spice. The tannins were robust and the finish was medium in length.

For me and my wife, this represented the quintessential California Cabernet nose that we both love (although slightly, just slightly understated than other BIG Californian Cabs). From there, we knew that the flavour would follow suit.

I can recommend this for two reasons. One, at 375 mL, it’s perfect when you don’t want a 750 mLs. And two, it tastes great. But, like I said above, it’s $19.95 for a half bottle.

Aquinas Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Swapping Bottles For New Experiences

I’m always looking for new wines to try and recently I traded bottles with a co-worker. I gave her a 2009 Echeverria Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon and she gave me a 2010 Aquinas Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Aquinas is made up of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 5% Syrah.

The Review
In the glass – you could sort of see through it’s medium ruby colour.

In the nose – it had a nice bouquet, although a touch muted, a hint of a vanilla and black berries.

In the mouth – I found it to have cocoa and oak, and overall, it showed nice ripe fruit.

I enjoyed it this wine. It had a good finish with nice tannins, but I found it to be slightly out of balance – the acidity seemed to come through when it was in the mouth and on the finish. But, with a price in the mid teens, it’s hard to beat.

Burrowing Owl Merlot – 2009

My wife and I never made it to the Burrowing Owl Estate the last time we were in BC, but we’re not going to miss it next out – for sure!

Friend shared a lovely Cabernet Sauvignon with us recently and when I saw the merlot in a recent LCBO Vintages release – it was top of mind and I knew I was going to get one (should get a couple more).

Burrowing Owl has built quite a reputation and this wine definitely enhances their portfolio.

On the nose you’ll find it to have red berries, concentrated flavours of plum, black currant, dark cocoa and fresh ground coffee. These flavours carry though to your mouth with a hint of spice and a touch of heat on the finish. This wine is full bodied and super smooth, it has great texture a long finish that I really love.

It’s totally drinkable now with ripe, integrated tannins, but there is an underlying intensity and structure that leads me to believe that it could last 5 -7 more years in the bottle.

Quick 2-Star Ratings

** Union Squared Red 2010 – Ontario – Vintages 292359 – Price: $17.95

** Di Majo Norante Contado Riserva Aglianico Del Molise 2009 – Italy – Vintages 967208 – Price: $15.95

**1/2 Château La Grave Expression 2009 – Vintages 277053 – Price: $ 13.95

**1/2 Tossals Junior 2006 –Vintages 278135 – Price: $ 18.95

**1/2 Santa Ema Reserve Merlot 2009 – Vintages 642538 – Price: $ 16.95

**1/2 Alta Vista Premium Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 – Vintages 129957 – Price: $ 14.95

**1/2 Château Des Capucins 2009 (Blend) – Vintages 279992 – $19.95