Saturday Night – Happy New Year! - Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course I did Beef Tenderloin with a port and shallot sauce with mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and a side of green beans.  I went with another bottle I was looking forward to trying - a 1996 Chateau Margaux.  Chateau Margaux is one of the five first growth Bordeaux and we hadn’t tried it yet, so I was eagerly looking forward to this.

The nose on the wine was a mix of eucalyptus, buttered lobster, rose, cherry, cassis and vanilla.  Tasting the wine, cassis and black licorice are the dominate flavours to the wine.  For the structure of the wine you will find fine silky tannins, good acidity and a lovely delicate balance to the wine.  Mick and Kathy really loved this wine, I on the other hand was disappointed as I found it too thin and too precise, I like my Cabernet Sauvignon blends to be bigger and bolder with a huge mouth-feel to them and this wine was not that.  I was a decent pairing with the food and I enjoyed it, just didn’t love it.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 94, Mark - 89, Kathy – 93, Amy – 90, Overall – 91.5.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine -

CHÂTEAU MARGAUX 2001

VINTAGES 176826
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 695.00
Wine, Red Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Bordeaux, France
By: Compagnie Medocaine Des Grands Crus
Release Date: May 5, 2010

Tasting Note - Performing well from bottle, Chateau Margaux's 2001, which is somewhat reminiscent of both the 1985 and 1999, is an elegant, seamlessly constructed effort with a deep ruby/purple color, and a beautiful nose of flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, and cedar. A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc, this forward, opulent beauty can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years. This is one of the most elegant wines of the vintage. Score - 93. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, June 2004)
Please note that this is for the 2001 and not the 1996 reviewed here.  Kathy found this bottle two years ago at the LCBO for $399.  The $399 price for a Chateau Margaux was a heck of deal.  For two years I had been looking longingly at this bottle in the rack and itching to try it.  The wine was nice but just didn’t meet my expectations.

For dessert we did dark chocolate and a cheese platter and finished up the wine with the chocolate and opened a bottle of Yalumba Antique Tawny to go with the cheese. 

It was fun New Year’s Eve and I very much enjoyed trying the two wines whose price point dictate that these are a once year type of occasion.  I’d like to wish my readers a Happy New Year and look forward to discovering all sorts of new and wonderful wines in 2012.

Cheers!

Mark

Wine Club Bonus Tasting – Port

We had some extra cash in the kitty, so Wine Club decided to have a bonus tasting. This would be our first look at fortified wines as we were trying the 10 year old and the 20 year old Taylor Fladgate Tawny Ports. I brought in some Stilton and St. Agur blue cheese to go with the port.

I have reviewed the Taylor Fladgate 20 year old a number of times on this blog so I won’t go into much detail. The 10 year old Taylor Fladgate was a big surprise as I haven’t been a big fan of it in the past but the one we tried was really good. Usually there is a world of difference between the 10 and 20 year version, but they were much closer than usual and that makes the price difference between the two harder to justify.

Both were excellent with the cheeses and slowly sipping on both while nibbling on the cheese and crackers made it a fun way to kill a lunch hour.

Here is the LCBO information on both

Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny Port

VINTAGES# 121749
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 34.95
Wine, Port,
19.8% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : S
Made in: Portugal, Portugal
By: Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description - With these top-of-the-line Tawnies with age indication, Taylor Fladgate aims to create a consistent quality year in and year out.

Tasting Note - A refined and subtle Port. Outstanding. Lovely aromas of flan, caramel and egg custard with a hint of toffee. Medium-bodied, with a light sweetness and a refined, clean finish. Tastes older than 10 years. Drink now. Score - 91. (James Suckling, www.winespectator.com, Sept. 15, 2003)

Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Old Tawny Port

VINTAGES# 149047
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 68.95
Wine, Port,
20.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : S
Made in: Douro, Portugal
By: Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman
Release Date: Dec 6, 2008

Description - After 300 years of continual Port production, Taylor Fladgate can rightly claim to be masters at their craft. This ready-to-serve aged Tawny is close to perfection. Match it with crème brûlée or hazelnut torte to fully appreciate Taylor's trademark rich apricot and dried-fruit flavours and lengthy, nutty, honeyed finish. Just as with the 10-year-old version (121749, $34.95), once opened this will last for several weeks.

As you can see the 20 is almost twice the price which most years it is worth it but I think this year I may pick up the 10 year old instead.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night - "Stuff your pie-hole" Edition - Part 3

Here is a link to Part 1
Here is a link to Part 2

For dessert, we decided upon a cheese tray for a few reasons. Amy had been reading the latest issue of the Wine Spectator and the cover story was all about cheese. Kathy and I are organizing a wine shopping bus trip to the Premier Group store in Kenmore NY and thought a small pre-event wine and cheese party might be fun so we needed to scope out supplies.

I had heard about Mickey McGuire’s Cheese Shop in Dundas as one of our wine club members had purchased some cheese from McGuire's for a previous wine club meeting and it was first rate. So, Kathy and I thought it be fun to scope out the place before we needed to shop for our wine and cheese pre-event and purchase the cheese for our Saturday night dessert at the same time.

Mick and Amy had picked up a bottle of Yalumba Antique Tawny on their recent trip to the US which was another great reason to go with cheese.

"Too good for words!"

I was surprised at how small Mickey McGuire's Cheese Shop was and how big the selection was for the size. All of the staff was incredibly passionate about cheese. They would happily cut of a piece for you to try and tell you all about the cheese as you tasted it. There were no prices and no signs on any of the cheeses. If you wanted to know anything about a specific cheese you asked. Conversely if you need a cheese to pair with something or were looking for certain qualities in a cheese you could just ask.

It was a fun experience. I did find it a bit pricey but one would expect to pay more for premium cheese and great service. I have added a link to Mickey McGuire’s Cheese on the right hand side of the webpage in the “Links” sections.

In the end we bought a mild goat’s cheese, a peppercorn goat’s cheese, a Le Gruyère Premier Cru, a blue cheese with a red wine crust, and the most awesome cheese ever – St. Agur which is a creamy French blue.

Here is what Wikipedia had to say about the Le Gruyère Premier Cru -

Le Gruyère Premier Cru is a special variety, produced and matured exclusively in the canton of Fribourg and matured for 14 months in humid caves with a humidity of 95% and a temperature of 13.5° Celsius.

It is the only cheese that has won the title of best cheese of the world at the World Cheese Awards in London three times: in 1992, 2002 and 2005.

The two favourites for the night were the St. Agur and the Le Gruyère Premier Cru.

The port was a great pairing with the Blue cheeses and the Gruyère and ok with the goat’s cheese.

The Yalumba Antique Tawny had its usual nose of stewed prunes and caramel. The port is so smooth and sweet it reminds you of toffee as you drink it. It is an amazing port and I highly recommend this as a “must buy” if you find it.

This was purchased in the US and is not available at the LCBO. It is $17 US for a 375 mL bottle which is about $27 Canadian after duty, taxes and exchange rates.

Here is the group rating for the wine –Mick – 90, Mark – 94, Kathy – 90, Amy – 90, Overall – 91

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about it –

Yalumba Tawny Port Barossa Museum Release Antique NV

Lightly sweet and elegant, not a huge, mouthfilling style but one that unfolds its walnut, nutmeg, cinnamon and coffee flavors on a lithe, silky sweet background. Drink now. –HS

Score – 92, Price $15/375mL

It was good to have Mick and Amy back but my waistline isn’t thanking them after all that wonderful food.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night – Mixed Grill

Mick and Amy were away for the long weekend, so Kathy and I had a Saturday night free. My parents called and invited us to dinner on Saturday so we didn’t end up on our own for Saturday after all. I talked about the dinner with my father and we hashed out a dinner menu for the evening – Caesar salad to start, mixed grill as the main course and a cheese tray for dessert. I offered to pick-up the meat for the mixed grill and bring the wine to go with the courses.

That Friday night, Kathy and I went to a local butcher and picked out the meat for the mixed grill – 3 beef tenderloins, 2 marinated pork center loins, and 2 basil and sundried tomato sausages. Once we got home, I marinated the beef tenderloins in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Montreal steak spice and stored them in the fridge.

I then hit the wine rack to try and figure out which wines to go with the three courses. I decided to go with old favourites instead of going with something new. I avoided going with a new wine due to Mick and Amy being away (didn’t want them to miss out). I picked a 2006 Louis Jadot Bourgogne to go with the Caesar salad, a 2001 Joseph Phelps “Napa Valley” Merlot to go with the mixed grill and a Yalumba Antique Tawny (Port) to go with the cheese tray.

"Caesar in the making."

Saturday afternoon we packed up the car and headed over to my parents. Dad had everything prepped and ready to go for dinner. We decided to eat sooner than later and soon were sitting down with a nice glass of white Chardonnay and plate of Caesar salad. I have covered this wine 3 times already on this blog so I won’t go into much detail on the wine.

"Table ready!"

The Louis Jadot Bourgogne is $19 a bottle Canadian (LCBO product # 933077). It is a nice crisp, precision driven Chardonnay that is a good pairing for Caesar salad. I would highly recommend picking up a few bottles of it as it is a very good wine at a pretty decent price point.

"A fired-up grill!"

The main course was the 3 beef tenderloins, 2 marinated pork center loins, and 2 basil and sundried tomato sausages plus my father did up green beans and baby potatoes as sides. The beef and the pork were good but the star of the show were the sausages; they were extremely flavourful and I was upset that I didn’t get more of them.

The 2001 Joseph Phelps “Napa Valley” Merlot was its usual excellent self. The wine is an experience unto itself, from the uncorking of the bottle with cork being stained at the bottom with a deep rich dark purple hue, the heady aroma, the full and balanced mouth-feel to the smooth lingering finish of the wine. I love this wine. It is $44 US (about $71 CDN a bottle) and worth every penny. It was a great pairing with all of the different main course items.

In case anyone reading this is thinking, “Man, is this guy being paid by Joseph Phelps to write this stuff?” The answer to that is no, heck I don’t even have any ads on the blog.

In case anyone from Joseph Phelps is reading this Blog – I would happily spend the rest of my days blogging about Joseph Phelps wine and finding food pairings that go with them. Just send me a mixed case on a monthly basis and I will be your Blogging PR pimp for life!

"Say cheese!"

The cheese tray and Yalumba Antique Tawny were a nice way to finish the meal. The Yalumba Antique Tawny is a great port. I have covered pairing before on the Blog, like the two other wines listed, so I won’t go into much detail. All of the previous reviews can be found on the “Wine List” to the right of the page. The Yalumba was bought in the US and I think worked out to around $30 CDN for a 375ml bottle. This price point makes it slightly cheaper than the Taylor Fladgate 20 year old port. In the past when we have compared the two, the Yalumba was the preferred choice.

It was good of my parents to have us over for dinner, especially since we have extremely limit kitchen facilities with the renovations going on. These renovations are certainly crimping our home entertaining style, though I probably could write a whole article on wines that pair well with drywall dust!

Cheers!

Mark

All I want for X-mas is my two front teeth!

We had our friends, John and Kim coming in from British Columbia for the Christmas holidays, so we ended up doing the dinner thing on a Friday again as that was the only day open on their busy schedule. Mick and Amy joined as us well so it was a dinner for six.

The dinner menu for this evening was as follows - Poached Pear Salad, French Onion Soup and Lemon Prosciutto Pasta.

The first course was Poached Pear Salad. This recipe was one I copied from the 1010 Bistro. It is Baby Spinach in a Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing, topped with Blue Cheese, Poached Pears and Spiced Pecans. I paired this with a Robert Mondavi Riesling and a Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris.

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2007/11/20-favourites.html (For a full write-up on the Mondavi Riesling)

I had the Pinot Gris on the rack for awhile and was anxious to try it as I'd tried the lower end version of Pierre Sparr's Pinot Gris and really liked it. I knew the Mondavi Riesling was a good match as I'd had this combination before.

LCBO Information

PIERRE SPARR MAMBOURG RIESLING 2002
VINTAGES 686006
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 31.95
13.0% Alcohol
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Alsace, France
By: Pierre Sparr Et Ses Fils S.A.
Release Date: Sep 1, 2007

Description: Sparr No Expense. With a combination of enviable terroir, ancestral knowledge and modern technology, the Sparr family have been at the top of the winemaking game for three centuries. Wine Spectator awarded this Grand Cru Riesling a 91 and saying it has 'rich peach, apple and mineral flavors and vibrant structure'.

The Riesling went great with the salad but the Pinot Gris was less than stellar. The sweetness of the dressing and the pears was too much for the Pinot Gris and it was giving off a very bitter like favour.

The second course was a French Onion soup. For this I paired the Pinot Gris again and a Bouchard Finlayson South African Sauvignon Blanc with it. I'd been saving this Sauvignon Blanc for a few years as I really enjoyed it the first time I had it. I think I might have kept it a tad too long as it was slightly past its prime; it wasn't off but lack the vibrant fruit I remembered from the first time I had it. The Bouchard Finlayson Sauvignon Blanc wasn't the greatest pairing with soup, not bad but nothing to write home about. The Pinot Gris was the biggest surprise, against the salt of the soup the fruit in this wine came to life. It developed an almost oily mouth-feel and the fruit became so dominant that it almost reminded me of an Ice Wine.

I couldn't find the Bouchard Finlayson Sauvignon Blanc on the LCBO's website which doesn't surprise me as I bought this a few years back. I can't remember the exact price but suspect it was around $20.




The Pierre Sparr was a much better match with the soup than the salad but still wasn't an ideal pairing. Discussing this with Mick, I thought the Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay would have been a great match or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Next time I make this I will try it with both and see which is better.

For the main course, I made a Pasta with Lemon Cream and Prosciutto.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/107652

This recipe is an old favourite and it pairs very well with Merlot. I paired this with the Joseph Phelps "Innsfree" Merlot. I have covered this Merlot in an earlier article -

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2007/10/saturday-night-takeout-food.html

The Merlot paired as well as I expected it to and was a big hit with everyone.

We went with a cheese tray for dessert with crackers and shortbread cookies. Speaking of shortbread, I was trying to open the plastic wrap that the shortbread with my teeth when the wrap slipped and my top teeth came crashing down on my bottom - end result I cracked and lost half my right front tooth. I could almost hear my mother in the background going "Don't open that with your teeth." Hopefully my dentist is open this Monday or I won't be smiling for family Christmas photos this year!

To go with the cheese tray, I had two ports on hand - an old stand by and a new one I had yet to try.

The New One

"Old Faithful"

I didn't think many other ports could touch the Taylor Fladgate 20 year old port until this summer when I tried a Yalumba Tawny Port that blew me away. The R.L. Buller & Son is another Australian Port like the Yalumba and Robert Parker had rated this a 94 so I couldn't wait to try it.

I'd picked up the R.L. Buller & Son on my last trip down to NY at the Premier Group. It was $22.99US for a 375mL bottle (So about $37 CDN. after duty). This puts it in the same price range as the Taylor Fladgate 20 year port which is about $68 in the LCBO.

The R.L. Buller was more oaky and sweet then the Taylor Fladgate but I liked the Taylor Fladgate better as it seemed smoother and more complex. The R.L Buller had that classic prune aroma that most Tawny Ports have but stranglely enough its aroma reminded Mick and myself of a California Cabernet Sauvignon.

My Top 5 Tawny Ports to date are -

1. Taylor Fladgate 30 Year old Tawny Port

2. Taylor Fladgate 40 Year old Tawny Port

3. Yalumba Antique Tawny

4. Taylor Fladgate 20 Year old Tawny Port

5. R.L. Buller & Son Tawny Port

So while the R.L Buller wasn't as good as the Taylor Fladgate, it still was a very good port.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night - Pizza D'oh!

Mick was getting busy in the kitchen again this Saturday and had two new items on the menu - Lobster Chowder and Pizza Margherita. The wine pairings for the evening were a 2005 Foxglove Chardonnay which Mick had picked up down in the US on our last wine run @ $12.99 US ($21.30 CDN after duty) and a Joseph Phelps 2001 Le Mistral which he got for $15.oo US a bottle ($26.22 CDN after duty). The Foxglove Chardonnay isn't available at the LCBO and the Le Mistral is @ $58.00 but it is the 2004 not the 2001.

When we arrived Mick was struggling to roll out the Pizza dough. He'd rolled it, thrown it, tried just about everything he could to get to stay flat but it kept shrinking back to its original form. The only thing he did manage to do with the dough it to get extremely pissed off about. I tried helping but no luck, in the end we decided to hit the supermarket and picked up a store bought pre-made Pizza crust.

After our quick trip out to the market, the first course was Lobster Chowder and the Foxglove Chardonnay. The Lobster Chowder's main ingredients were Lobster, bacon, potato, cilantro, cream and fish stock. The soup had a good flavour to it but after my first couple of spoonfuls, I thought to myself 'this would be awesome with some corn in it'. Mick's wife, Amy piped up about two minutes after this and suggested that corn would be great in the Chowder.

The wine was a good pairing but not great, I have had Lobster Chowder before with a Cabernet Sauvignon and it was an amazing match. The Foxglove was kind of funny as it was buttery but not overly so and it had a bit of mineral to it as well. I'd describe it as a California Chardonnay with some Burgundy influence to it. It was a great value at $12.99 but I'd go with a Kendall Jackson Chardonnay if you are a fan of a California style Chardonnay or a Bouchard Pere & Fils 'Bourgogne' if you like French style Chardonnay. This one was trying to please both of those crowds and didn't do it.

The main course was a Pizza Margherita which was made up of Tomato, Olive Oil, Garlic, Prosciutto, Mozzarella di Bufala and Basil. Mick did a great job on the Pizza and it was enjoyed by all (even with the store bought crust!).

Mick had called me in the afternoon to discuss which wine to go with the pizza as he was torn between a Merlot and the Le Mistral by Joseph Phelps which is a Rhone style wine. The Merlot didn't surprise me as it is a nice safe choice to go with if you are not sure, but the Le Mistral did. It is a blend of mainly Syrah (Shiraz) and Grenache and a tiny percent of other grapes mixed in, it is the style that Chateauneuf-Du-Pape is made in. I was concerned it would be lost against the garlic, prosciutto and cheese flavour and suggested that maybe a big bold Zinfandel would be a better choice. Mick said he thought of a Zinfandel too but was afraid it would overpower the pizza. He decided to stick to his guns and go with the Le Mistral.

Mick was right - the wine was an excellent pairing, it was nice and smooth and didn't create a strange taste with the pizza. I'm still curious to see how a Zinfandel would go with the pizza but it would be hard pressed to be better than the Le Mistral.

For dessert I picked up a Pecan Pie and a Maple/Apple coffee cake as Mick had some 1995 Late Harvest Vidal as the dessert wine of the evening. I also grabbed some Danish Blue cheese and crackers as I still had half a bottle of the 1989 French Sauternes in the fridge from last week. The Sauternes didn't go with the baked Apple Tart I had made. We found the Sauternes closer to a port then a dessert wine, so I wanted to see how it went with a Blue Cheese which is an ideal pairing for port.

Both wines when poured were a deep amber in colour and were almost impossible to distinguish by colour. The aromas on both were similar but the Late Harvest had a much more powerful aroma. The Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Vidal was great with both of the desserts. It truly is a wine that I'm proud to say is Canadian. The Sauternes was very good with the Blue Cheese, much better than it was with the Apple Tart last week, but I'd take an aged Tawny Port over it any day of the week.

The 1995 Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Vidal was the best year that they ever made and a few years back Amy managed to buy the last case of it directly from winery. This was the second to last bottle left.

I'm not sure what the current year of the Late Harvest is as the LCBO stock information doesn't list year (I'm going to guess and say 2004) but the Late Harvest is a great little dessert wine and you really should pick some up as you won't be disappointed.

LCBO Info.

HENRY OF PELHAM LATE HARVEST VIDAL V.Q.A.

LCBO 395228

375 mL bottle

Price: $ 19.95

Wine, Fortified Wine, Dessert/Fruit/Miscellaneous Wine

10.8% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 16

Made in: Ontario, Canada By: HENRY OF PELHAM FAMILY EST. WINERY

Tasting Note: Bright yellow gold colour; aromas of honey, ripe peach, fig and apricot; sweet with ripe fruit flavour; well-balanced by crisp lemon acidity; rich and luscious without being too cloying.

Serving Suggestion: Serve chilled, a good introduction to dessert wines; fruit flan.

Cheers!

Mark.

The 1010 Bistro

The 1010 Bistro is located at 1010 King Street in Westdale in Hamilton, hence the name. My wife, Kathy and I enjoy this restaurant immensely. The food is first rate, good wine list, and the owners (David and Daniela) and staff (Lee) are the best.

http://www.1010bistro.ca/

Kathy and I took some time off of work (end of last week and the beginning of this week) and decided to kick our vacation off with dinner at the 1010.

We started with Crab Cakes and Grilled Calamari as our appetizers and I decided to try a bottle of Bouchard Pere & Fils Petit-Chabis to go with the appetizers. The Petit-Chabis is an unoaked Chardonnay from Burgundy. It was crisp with a nice touch of citrus and paired extremely well with the Crab Cakes, which was surprising as the Crab Cakes are served with a spicy sauce and spicy is usually a good way to fuck up a California Chardonnay. It was good with the Calamari as well. The Petit-Chabis was $40 at the 1010 and runs about $20 at the LCBO.

I tried a Bouchard Pere & Fils Bourgogne (also about $20 at the LCBO) about a month ago with a Pine Nut Salmon recipe I did for my in-laws at Thanksgiving and it was really good, so this is why I went with the Petit-Chablis as I wanted to see if it was as good as the Bourgogne.

For our main course I had the aged Beef Tenderloin and Kathy had the special which was a NY Strip and a very large grilled Prawn. Both were served with grilled fall harvest vegetables. We decided to stay on the French wine and ordered a 1989 Château Petit-Figeac from the St.-Emilion region of Bordeaux.

Here is the Wine Spectator's write up on the 1989 Château Petit-Figeac (88 rating)

Slightly one-dimensional but shows lovely chocolate and berry character throughout. Medium- to full-bodied, with velvety tannins.--1989 Bordeaux horizontal. Drink now. –JS

I do not have tons of experience with French Wines and have made it a mission to become more familiar with them, so I was excited about the opportunity to have an aged Bordeaux. The initial smells I got from the wine were subtle fruit and lots of earthy smells. The wine was very smooth and exceptionally easy to drink, the tannins were very soft but the fruit was barely there. The wine paired very well with food. I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away, there are other wines I have had in the wine's price point that I have enjoyed more. The wine was $310 at the 1010 and was listed in a 2005 newsletter from the Lifford Wine Agency for $160 a bottle.

Kathy had a flourless chocolate cake topped with white and dark mousse and a glass of Taylor Fladgate 20 year old port and we were the last in the Restaurant and sat and chatted with Lee and Daniela. Eventually we called a cab and got our drunken butts home.

All in all, a great evening at one of Hamilton's finest restaurants.

Cheers,

Mark

Saturday Night - My wife is always right...

This Saturday night's dinner was supposed to be my turn to cook, but as Mick and I spent the day Wine shopping in NY and didn't get back until 6:00pm it ended up being takeout. We have an Italian Food/Pizza joint in the area called Chicago Style who makes great pasta. We ordered Garlic Bread with Cheese, two Anti-pasto salads, two fried Ravioli, a large Tortellini Alfredo and large meat and cheese Ravioli in tomato sauce for dinner.

My main reason for going to NY was to pickup more Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Merlot. http://www.jpvwines.com/. Joseph Phelps wines are quickly becoming some of my favorite wines on the planet. I have tried their Insignia, Le Mistral, and their Napa Valley Merlot. The Napa Valley Merlot is the most amazing Merlot I have ever tried. I have tried the 2000 and 2002 Napa Valley Merlot and both were equally as good.

I was looking at getting some more as I was down to one lone bottle of 2002, and after visiting the Joseph Phelps website, it looks like they are no longer making the Napa Valley Merlot. The 2002 Merlot was released on Jan. 2005 and that is the last Napa Valley Merlot they have listed... there should be 2003 and a 2004 out by now but there isn't. The LCBO no Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Merlot in stock, the Lifford Wine Agency (which is the agent that handles Joseph Phelps products in Ontario shows the Merlot in their "archived" wine section, so my last shot at finding some was the Premier Group in the NY... they had the 2001 Napa Valley Merlot listed on their website so I was in business and off to NY we went.

In New York State, the Prime Wines location of the Premier Group in Kenmore was were we ended up. They had six bottles of the 2001 Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Merlot in stock ($44.99 US each) which I snapped up.

While I was there I noticed they also had the Joseph Phelps "Innisfree" Merlot on sale for $19.99, regular price was $25.99. I had never tried it but decided to take a gamble and buy a case.


For dinner with the pasta we tried the 2003 Innisfree Merlot and the Napa Valley 2001 against each other.



Both were very good, though I preferred the Napa Valley, I wasn't upset at the fact that I had another 11 bottles of the Innisfree sitting down in the cellar!

They both paired very well with the Alfredo, the Fried ravioli and the Garlic Bread with Cheese. Both were OK with the Ravioli in tomato sauce. Both were not so great with salad.

If you can get a hold of either of the Joseph Phelps Merlot in your area, do so you won't be disappointed.


For dessert we had a couple of large wedges of St. Agur (a French blue cheese) and two ports - Taylor Fladgate 20 year old Tawny port and a Yalumba Antique Tawny. Both of these are like Heaven in a glass.

Funny story about the Yalumba Antique Tawny... last time we were down at the Premier Group, my wife, Kathy came across a lone bottle of this and wanted to pick it up. We argued, I didn't want to buy for two reasons - it was from Australia so we could probably get it at the LCBO and it was getting taxed in NY and then again at the border so it would probably be cheaper via the LCBO. Secondly, WTF do Australians know about making port???

In the end, the Yalumba was $17.99 for a 375mL sized bottle, so I decided to give in and it ended up in the cart.


We opened it on Father's Day as my father is a huge fan of Port and Blue Cheese. It was stunning... I liked it even better than the Taylor Fladgate 20 year old port.

I tried everything to find another bottle back in June but there was none to had.

So when I saw three bottles sitting on the shelf in Prime Wines this past Saturday I grabbed all three. We opened one of them for dessert and it was as good as I remembered it to be.

This is not the first time my wife has been right and I have been very wrong about a wine... so to quickly recap - Joseph Phelps makes great wines, especially Merlot, the Australians make a kick ass port and my wife is a wine genius who I should never question.

Cheers!

Mark