Wine Club – Cotes du Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape

For the month’s meeting we were taking a look a couple of wines from southern Rhône – a 2004 E. Guigal Cotes du Rhône and a 2005 Perrin & Fils “Les Sinards” Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Kim, a Wine Club member, was nice enough to make a homemade lasagna to go with the wines.

"And in this corner..."

Both wines were a nice dark ruby/purple in colour. The nose on the E. Guigal was a combination of spice and dark berry. The nose on the Perrin & Flis had cherry, tobacco and a slight floral element lingering in the background. Out of the two wines the Perrin & Fils was my winner for nose.

"The plucky half price option"

Tasting both of these wines was interesting as they both had a lot in common; fruit and spice on the tongue to start, big tannins and good acidity. Where they differed was the finish the Perrin & Fils had a smoother finish. I was leaning towards Perrin & Fils as the more enjoyable wine of the two before we tried the food.

"Was it worth double the money?"

With the food, I actually liked the E. Guigal more as the lasagna mellowed the finish and brought more fruit to the forefront. The Perrin & Fils with the lasagna picked up a funny taste at times.

Here is the LCBO information on both wines –

E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône

LCBO# 259721
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 18.40
Wine, Red Wine,
13% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 1
Made in: Rhone, France
By: E. Guigal,
Release Date: N/A

Tasting Note - Deep ruby purple colour; complex aromas of mixed spice, plums, dark berry and pepper with floral notes; dry, medium to full-bodied, well balance with supple tannins, and flavours of white pepper, cassis,black cherry and mineral; good length on the finish.
Serving Suggestion - Pepper steak, lamb, grilled portabello mushrooms or seared duck in a cherry reduction sauce.

Perrin & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape “Les Sinards”

Vintages# 926626
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 38.95
Wine, Red Wine,
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Rhone, France
By: Perrin & Fils
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description - Jean-Pierre, François and Pierre Perrin created Les Sinards as an homage to their late grandfather. With some of the grapes sourced from their famous Château de Beaucastel estate, this is a classic Châteauneuf with cherry, chocolate, tobacco and chicory aromas. It's dry, medium- to full-bodied and packed with rich fruit flavours, as well as earthy and smoky notes. With such great structure, match with a leg of lamb or roast beef cooked with plenty of garlic, thyme and rosemary. It will also reward 2-4 years in a cellar

I would probably give the Perrin & Fils the nod as the better wine of the two but not by much; it certainly wasn’t worth twice the price. Both wines went with the lasagna but I’d probably prefer a Merlot over either them. Being completely honest – both were fun to try but I wasn’t blown away by either and don’t see myself rushing out to get more. I do have a bottle of the 2004 E. Guigal as my “take home” bottle from Wine Club which I will store on the rack. I’d be curious to try this wine again with prime rib roast or roast chicken and see how it pairs as I suspect that it would be very good.

Next month’s meeting we’ll be taking a look at South African Chenin Blanc vs. a French Chenin Blanc.

I don’t see any wine opportunities coming up from now until Christmas, so I take this time to wish all three or four of my dedicated readers a Merry Christmas and hope that they all receive a nice bottle or two under the tree this year!

Cheers!

Mark

Happy Birthday Sara!

Kathy and I were at my parents for dinner on Friday to celebrate Sara’s (my sister) Birthday. The menu for the evening was Dad’s lasagna, garlic bread and Caesar salad. If you have been reading the blog for awhile this isn’t the first time that menu has popped up at my parents’ house. My father is a great cook and does a ton of different wonderful meals but lasagna and Caesar salad would have to be his signature dish and happens to be both my wife’s and my sister’s favourite. Since tonight was to celebrate Sara’s Birthday, lasagna it is.

We started with the Caesar salad and garlic bread and paired it with a bottle of the 2006 Louis Jadot “Bourgogne” Chardonnay. Great pairing but I have covered this wine and food combo so many times on the blog if I write about it one more time you’ll think Louis Jadot is paying me or I’m a member of the Romaine Lettuce Farmer’s Association!

"Black labels with gold or white lettering are hard to get good photos of!"

To pair up with the lasagna, I brought a bottle of 2006 Zenato Valpolicella Ripassa. This wine was a recommendation of Diane Braemer, a LCBO Product Consultant at the Upper Gage and Fennell LCBO. Diane has done a wonderful job of stocking the store’s Vintages section with very good wines and the store, for its size, has a great selection. Diane has also been very helpful in getting in wines for me for Wine Club.

Even though I feel that the LCBO should be privatized to better serve Ontario consumers, I certainly can’t deny that there are some very talented and knowledgeable people who work at the LCBO and Diane easily fits into this category. Kinda of a “hate the game not the player” sort of situation.

The nose on this wine was big, no swirling of the glass needed to nose this wine! Raspberry, chocolate and peat moss aromas jumped from the glass and had me drooling in anticipation of tasting it.

Unfortunately, the wine wasn’t quite up to my expectations I got from the nose. It was slightly off balance with the acidity a touch too high and the tannin a touch to low, nice fruit and a great finish. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice wine and it did go well with the lasagna but it didn’t live up to the stunning nose. This was a big wine and at times was a bit too much for the lasagna, I will try this wine again but would like to try it with a roast or a NY strip steak.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

Zenato Valpolicella Superiore Ripassa
Vintages# 479766
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 24.95
Wine, Red Wine,
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: Veneto, Italy
By: Azienda Vinicola Zenato
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description - Founded in 1960 by Sergio Zenato, the winery's philosophy is to celebrate the region's traditions coupled with an unquenchable desire to surpass everything they have done before. The Ripassa consistently delivers on that philosophy with its aromas of blackberry, plum purée, smoke and cocoa. The palate is dry with plenty of fruit flavours, hints of licorice, ripe tannins and even more cocoa. A great match for pecorino cheese, roast beef, or pasta with meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce.

Thanks to my parents for hosting the dinner and Happy Birthday Sara!

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 – Something old and new – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course Mick was the grill-master again and this time giant ass “T” bone steaks were his medium. He also served them with a side of grilled vegetables. The wine for this course was a 2002 Benziger “Sonoma County” Cabernet Sauvignon.

"Where's the fruit?"

The nose on the Benziger was very pleasing with tobacco, cedar and dark roast coffee. The taste was very surprising for a California Cab. as the main thing lacking on it was fruit, which is something you don’t say very often about a California Cabernet. The wine did have good tannin and good acidity and a smooth finish. This was a very ‘adult’ cab as the main flavours running throughout were coffee and dark chocolate.

The wine was a good match with the steaks which Mick cooked beautifully but it got a bit weird with the grilled veggies.

No LCBO information on this wine so I’m guessing Mick picked it up in the US. The Wine Spectator didn’t review the 2002 but did review the 2000 and the 2005 and both were listed at $19 US a bottle. This would put the wine at about $33 CDN a bottle.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 87, Mark - 88, Kathy – 86, Amy - 88, Overall – 87.25.

I liked the Benziger Cab. but not sure if it was a good dinner Cab. The lack of fruit limits its versatility and for me makes it a winter/fall wine. I think this wine would be nice to have on a cold day, sitting around a warm fire with some dark chocolate, in this role I think it would excel.

December maybe a quiet period on the blog for Mick, Amy, Kathy and myself as our schedules aren’t matching up well for the month. On the upside, the next time we get together my kitchen will hopefully be done and I’ll get to cook for a change.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday night – Something old and new – Part 1

Mick was back to his usual hosting/cooking detail this past Saturday. The first course was an old favourite that we haven’t had in awhile – Prosciutto wrapped shrimp paired with a 2005 Robert Mondavi Riesling.

While Mick was out grilling the shrimp, we poured out the wine. The Mondavi Riesling had a soft perfume-like nose with pear, rose, lychee and grapefruit elements. The Riesling was showing peach and pink grapefruit flavours on the tongue with ok acidity.

Mick finished cooking the shrimp and we all sat down to enjoy the first course. Mick’s prosciutto wrapped shrimp were great and the Riesling was a good pairing.

I tried to find LCBO information on this wine but they don’t carry it. The last time the Wine Spectator reviewed the Mondavi Riesling was in 1996 and they gave it a 83 rating. I know we bought this at the Premier Group in NY for about $8-9 US a bottle so with duty and exchange it would be about $13-15 CDN.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 89, Mark - 85, Kathy – 89, Amy - 89, Overall – 88.

The Riesling is listed on the blog as one of my $20 favourites, but I have found the last couple of times I have had it, the shine is wearing off of it for me. I’m starting to find it too sweet and too one dimensional. The wine comes across syrupy and sloppy compared to European Rieslings and I truly feel that they would be a better food match most of the time.

On the other hand, 3 out of 4 of us still really enjoy it and it is a very good price point compared to those European Rieslings I was comparing it too.

Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night - Off to a foreign country for the night – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For our main course we all went with the Filet Mignon and ordered 3 sides for the 4 of us – Roasted sweet potato, fresh asparagus and fresh cut steak fries. Side note - the sides were huge, 2 would be more than enough for 4 people.

"1999 Chateau Latour"

To thank Mick and Amy for hosting Saturday night dinners for the past 6 months or so, we decided to order a bottle of 1999 Chateau Latour, Pauillac. Château Latour is one of the five first growths of the Bordeaux region. We tried the Les Forts de Latour back in November of 2007 -

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2007/11/saturday-night-4-bottles-2-drunk.html

which is Château Latour’s second level wine and it is one the top five Cabernets I have ever had so I was really curious what their top level would be like. It was pricy as all of the top five growths always are but the Western Door hadn’t marked this up very much at all.

Andrew the manager came by to open the wine. We chatted and I commented about the price not being marked up very much. He said keeping all of the first growth at low markup was the Western Door’s way of thanking its wine loving patrons. He decanted the wine but poured out a small taster size in each of our glasses while we waited for our main course to arrive.

"This photo was taken days after the dinner, so picture how dark this cork was when first opened!"

The bottom of the cork was so dark purple it almost seemed black. The nose on this wine was awe inspiring – big, complex with dark chocolate, coffee, green pepper, herbs, clove, cedar and dark berry running throughout. The really cool thing about the nose is about every five minutes or so it would change and one of the aromas would pop out to the forefront and then fade five minutes later as another one took its place.

Tasting the wine was interesting as it was very nicely balanced, good fruit, tannin and acidity but it too would change. At times the wine did become a touch too tannic and at other times it was really good.

I was disappointed a bit at the taste as it was really good but it didn’t blow me away. I figure by the ratings, history and write-ups about the first growths that it would blow away Joseph Phelps Insignia or the Robert Mondavi Napa Private Reserve or even the Les Forts de Latour but I actually preferred the taste of those wines over it. The nose on the other hand was easily the nicest nose I ever had the pleasure of sampling.

It was a good match most of the time with the Filets but as I said at times the taste changed on it so sometimes it was heavenly with the food and other times merely good.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 93, Mark - 95, Kathy – 92, Amy - 91, Overall – 93.25.

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about the wine -

CHÂTEAU LATOUR Pauillac 1999

Big, yet racy '99. Shows blackberry aromas, with a hint of spice, and is full-bodied, with a solid core of fruit, firm tannins and a dark chocolate and coffee aftertaste. Wonderful texture. Goes on and on. Best after 2006. 13,330 cases made. –JS

Score: 93
Release Price: $148
Current Auction Price: $305

The main course was very good as the Filet Mignon was cook to perfection and all of the sides were very tasty.

We finished the evening with dessert or at least the ladies did. I enjoyed the Western door; Andrew, Hal and Justin were great and made us feel very welcomed. It was a blast to try a first growth Bordeaux though at their price points I don’t see me doing that again real soon. Thankfully, Kathy did very well at the Casino that night which helped offset the dinner bill.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night - Off to a foreign country for the night – Part 1

As a break from our usual Saturday night and to give Mick a well deserved rest from cooking, Mick, Amy, Kathy and I headed over the border to Seneca NY for a night. We got a room at the Crown Plaza across the street from Casino Seneca. We had dinner reservations at the Western Door restaurant that was located at Casino Seneca for 6:30pm.

Thankfully the weather was decent and with US dollar so high against the Canadian peso… err I mean dollar, the border was quiet so we arrived at the hotel at around 5:00pm. We all checked in and each couple went their separate ways to unpack, get changed and settle in before heading over to the Western Door for dinner. Kathy was unpacking and did an “uh oh” and explained that she forgot to pack my outfit for dinner. We called across and ask if jeans were OK and were told they were fine but no short sleeves were allowed.

We headed across to dinner and I was relieved to find that there were at least two or three other people in the restaurant in jeans. Nice thing about an upscale restaurant connected to a Casino is that they don’t tend to be as picky about dress code as a normal upscale restaurant. We were seated and soon met our serving team of Hal and Justin. Hal was awesome, very funny and great timing on food and drinks.

We decide to start with a bunch of appetizers – I had the lobster bisque, Kathy had the clams casino as did Amy and Mick went with crab cakes. We also order a “shrimp tree” to split among the table. For the wine, I picked a 2001 Prosper Maufoux, Mont de Milieu, Chablis from Burgundy to go with the appetizers.

The lighting at the Western Door is more geared to atmosphere than for examining wines and table lighting wasn’t good, the colour looked to be the normal yellowish gold that you’d expect from a Chardonnay. The aroma had a nice toasty vanilla aroma with a good mix of citrus. The Chablis was a bit of an odd duck, it was a bit more fruit forward for a French Chardonnay and the acidity was rounded but a touch blunt. The saving grace of the Chablis was that it had a very lemony finish to it which helped its pairing with all the seafood appetizers.

It was a good match for the crab cakes and the clams casino, an ok match with the shrimp tree but was a little funky with the lobster bisque. On a side note, second best crab cakes I have ever had; the actual crab cakes themselves were really good but the sauce served with it was too bland.

The Prosper Maufoux, Mont de Milieu, Chablis was listed at $62 US on the wine list and judging by the mark-up on other wines in that price point, I would guess it would retail in a store in the US for about $25. At $25 US that would be about a $35 wine in the LCBO and at that price point there are much better Chardonnays out there.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 87, Mark - 87, Kathy – 87, Amy - 86, Overall – 86.75

I couldn’t find this listed on the LCBO’s website or on the Wine Spectator’s website.

Click here for Part 2