Pinot Purgatory

I am caught in Pinot Purgatory. Having tasted what was possibly the best wine I've ever had (Belle Pente's Pinot Noir), it's been a never ending search, always reaching, never finding another quite as good. Can you hear my soul wail at it despairs at being separated from the Divine One forever? Where are you, excellent Pinot Noir? Where? Where? Where?...(her voice trailing off into a whisper, Barb's pale visage sinks backward into a dense fog. End scene).

I've picked up a few bottles recently and here's my completely subjective opinion. All of these wines are available from a well-stocked LCBO (which means if you're from Midland, you'll have to go to Barrie. Quel Suprise.).

Le Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir 2007
This wine is supposedly some of the very best, award winning Pinot Noir Ontario has to offer. I had high hopes. They were dashed, or rather slowly deflated like air being let out of a balloon. I tried this wine 3 times to be sure. IMO, it was not worth the $40 I paid for it.
Darkish colour, very perfumey smelling, like walking into the florist shop. The smell I liked.
Taste: alcohol burn, strawberry, mouth puckery raw peas. Verging on the edge of bitter. Ok, not great, I expected better.

Andrew Rich 2007 Pinot Noir Wilamette Valley Cuvee B
I found this Oregon Pinot Noir in the California section of the Barrie liquor store. I'm sure Oregon doesn't mind being considered part of California, right? Oregon is like California's very stylish hat. If you protest, write the LCBO and tell them to give Oregon its own dang section!!!
Colour: very, very light and super clear. Unbelievably clear. It looked like someone ran a Photoshop filter over it to make it appear clear and sharp.
Nose: lush, ripe strawberries from the garden, fresh and mossy smelling
Taste: super-smooth---UNBELIEVABLY smooth; very fresh strawberry; soft, ripe camembert; creme brulee. Gorgeous. Not the orgasmathon experience I had with Belle Pente's offering, but still, really, really good.

Cave Spring Pinot Noir 2008
I had high hopes for this next offering. Cave Springs makes the most excellent Riesling evah, so it was my hope that their Pinot Noir was equally as good. They didn't disappoint me.
Colour: dark!
Nose: Rose for sure, and maybe a bit of cocoa?
Taste: If the Oregon Pinot Noir was pretty, this wine is sexy. Intense flavour, like fresh, crushed raspberries. There's a bit of minerality there. Nice and smooth going down, no scrape across your tongue bitterness. I think this has the distinction of being the nicest Ontario Pinot Noir I've had so far. Not break the bank either; I think it was around $17.

Final assessment: there's a good, an even gooder and a forgetter. Still searching for that holy grail Pinot Noir though. I may have to sashay over to Oregon to get it. Yes, sashaying is my primary method of transportation.

I'll leave you with this Kate Bush video, which is eerie, because this is EXACTLY the dance I do Saturday nights whilst wandering the moors, looking for that delicious, elusive, perfect Pinot Noir. In fact, if you exchange the words 'Kathy' for 'Barb, and 'Heathcliff' for 'Pinot Noir', you have a song that precisely describes my condition. It's like Kate Bush used a time machine to travel into the future, spied on me, then travelled back to her own time and wrote this song.

Guest Blog: Lorri in San Francisco, Part Deux

Part Deux - Ho Hum

Well after immense peer pressure, let me submit Part Deux from my travels to San Francisco, which I fear may be somewhat anticlimactic at this point. Note the delay between blog posts - and this is exactly why I don`t blog - my dear readers would unfortunately forget my name in between posts. So I am quite happy to ride on Barb`s Know Nothing coat tails, and contribute where I can. I may be somewhat overqualified to contribute to this blog - I really do know nothing about wine, much much less that Barb at this point.

May I just point out however at this point she may have to rename her blog to Know Some-things Blog - I have learned some most interesting facts and trivia from my dear sister thanks to this blog - and now I dub thee the Cliff Clavin of the wine world. Thank you for all the interesting and obscure wine trivia. (And you didn't even have to ask. You're welcome!--B.)

Back to San Fran.
Well in my last blog I promised to tackle the French side of the menu - which I never made it to on the last night of my trip, so very sorry to disappoint. I must at least in part blame it on my classmate Kristine, a fabulous successful thirty something from Chicago in the same industry as myself - we gabbed for hours over the most delicious Cosmos - and forgot all about the wine.

I had to fly home at the end of the next day - but had some time to kill before my flight, so I called Barb for a lifeline on which French wines to try - she hmmm`d over the list while I secretly decided to steal one last glass of that delightful Hess instead of risking another glass of heartburn before heading off on the airport shuttle. Why mess with a good thing? So I sat in front of a beautiful fireplace in my Parisian hotel, with free fast wireless, typing up all my new inspiration over a glass of Hess Cabernet Sauvignon. One of those `moments`in life, you know what I mean?

In conclusion dear reader, I confess I am guilty of shirking my wine homework..... I need to study harder.....Much harder...... :D

PS - Heading to Chicago this week...is that a wine region?

(Apparently every state makes wine, including Illinois. I've never tried any, but you can view the Illinois wine-maker's website here.--B.)

Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee!

Happy November everyone! I trust you've all had a fun and safe Halloween. It was cold, but the kids got their candy and I got a kick out of my adorable children dressing up as a black cat and jester. And I'm proud to say I haven't eaten even one Halloween treat out of their bags! Discipline!

Let's start the month off with a little music, shall we? I've just found the next song I'm going to learn on my gee-tar; it's called Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, by Stick McGhee (later covered by Jerry Lee Lewis)

Enjoy, my lovey doves! (Next post is a face off between Ontario and Oregon Pinot Noir!)



'Til next time,

Barb

A Grape by Any Other Name.....

Hey wine darlings!

So I'm talking to my sister on the phone the other day, and we're gabbing about Cabernet Sauvignon. She'd tried something yummy whilst in California, and was thinking about sampling the same grape but from a different country, just to compare. When I suggested some Bordeaux, she got the confuseds--she didn't realize that Bordeaux is pretty much synonymous with Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Sauvignon blends. And for what its worth, I didn't know it either until I started writing about wine. And why would a person know that?! Grape varieties are not printed on French labels! For the life of me I don't know why there can't be some sort of worldwide wine-label standard, but until I'm queen of the universe we'll all just have to familiarize ourselves with the different wine pseudonyms. Here's a cheat sheet for some of the most popular grape varieties. Print it out and tuck it in your wallet, so you have it handy the next time you're in the liquor store trying to figure out what Meritage is. FYI, for this I am using Wikipedia and What's a Wine Lover To Do ? by Wes Marshall as references (I'll write a little review of the book in a future blog post, but in the meantime just take my word for it and buy this book, it's a good 'un!).

Shiraz is aka: Syrah, Hermitage; Crozes-Hermitage; St-Joseph; Côte-Rôtie; Cornas.

Pinot Noir is aka: Pinot Nero (Italy); Spatburgunder (Germany); Blauburgunder (Austria, Switzerland); Burgundy (France). Special Note: Champagne is usually made with Pinot Noir.

Cabernet Sauvignon: Bordeaux (is often a blended with smaller amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Left-Bank Bordeaux usually has a higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon); Meritage (means Bordeaux-style blend).

Sauvignon Blanc is aka: Sauvignon; Sancerre; Pouilly Fume; Saint-Bris; Fume Blanc.

Chardonnay is aka: Chablis; Pouilly Fuisse; Batard-Monrachet; Meursault; Côte d'Or. Special Note: Blanc de Blancs means champagne made from only Chardonnay grapes.

Pinot Grigio is aka: Pinot Gris.

Gamay is aka: Beaujolais; Beaujolais-Villages; Beaujolais-Nouveau.

Sangiovese is aka: Brunello; Sangiovese Grosso; Chianti (which is70%-100% Sangiovese).

Malbec is aka: Auxerrois; Côt Noir; Pressac. Special Note: if your wine bottle says Mendoza and it's red wine, it's probably Malbec (the Mendoza region is becoming synonymous with Malbec, although it does produce other good wines like Tempranillo and Chardonnay).

Tempranillo is aka: Rioja

I'm relying on you more experienced winos to fill in the blanks for me. I'm sure I've made some egregious omissions!

Now off with you, go wine shopping! It's almost the weekend for heaven's sakes!

'Til next time,

Barb

Better Know an Appellation: Châteauneuf du Pape

Appellation: A legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine are grown. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, such as what grapes may be grown, maximum grape yields, alcohol level, and other quality factors, may also apply before an appellation name and may legally appear on a wine bottle label. The rules that govern appellations are dependent on the country in which the wine was produced. (adapted from Wikipedia definition).

With a nod to the witty and adorable Stephen Colbert (whose 'Better Know a District series is always good for a larf), I give you the inaugural 'Better Know an Appellation' post. A little wine edumacation won't hurt, I swear. You'll be able to use your newfound wine knowledge to impress girls at parties. After that, you're on your own.

So you ask, what's the BFD about Châteauneuf du Pape? We all see that high-brow, lonely looking wine on the shelf, waiting there with its expensive price tag but getting nary a second glance. It's the one everyone is curious about and nobody buys. You city dwellers--and particularly city dwellers outside of Ontario--may not get this. Let me explain. It wasn't until recently that I even knew there was more than one kind of Châteauneuf du Pape. I thought it was the name of a winery, not a whole appellation. Why is that? I'll tell you: it's because all you ever see on the shelves representing the whole appellation is a single offering from one winery. That's it, that's our selection--a selection of 1. If you're from Ontario you know what I mean. It's the bottle with big fancy lettering on the label, and it's kind of old looking and costs around thirty bucks. And the row it stands in is always full, because it's usually sitting next to $10-$15 wine that looks less pretentious and perfectly drinkable. There's nothing to declare it's special, apart from the high price tag. Maybe this is not the case in your bustling metropoli with you big fancy liquor stores, but this is what we have to contend with in the land of tallboys and reservation cigarettes. Although I will say, the Midland LCBO has stepped it up and introduced a second Châteauneuf du Pape. It's in a funny bottle that's made to look antiquey and dusty, and has a weird shaped neck (I'm sorry, but how stupid do they think we are? "Haw haw haw!" laughs the opportunistic French winemaker! "We'll put zees wine into zee funny shape bottle and charge 5 times what its worth! Stupide North Americans! Haw haw!"). I'm sure many of these bottles will enjoy long lives as tapered candle holders in the windows of dorm rooms across the land.

I bought a bottle of Châteauneuf du Pape on our last liquor haul in Barrie. Happily this store is better stocked: they had several to choose from (the dusty, funny shaped bottle was nowhere in sight). I bought it because I'm committed to trying wines I've never experienced before. I'll continue to buy it because it's as delicious as Alan Rickman in a man-blouse. I've really never experienced anything like it, ever. It's unbelievable. It's haunting. But more on that later.

Châteauneuf du Pape is an appellation in the Southern Rhône district. It's warm and sunshiney, but with wicked mistral winds. Said winds cool the vines (and sometimes destroy them), whilst they receive lots of Mediterranean sunshine. This makes for unique, favourable growing conditions. The soil is crummy, or rocky to be more precise--it's the leftover rubble from ancient glaciers and receding shoreline. Perfectly round rocks of all sizes are everywhere. The land is tough to work, but get this: those plentiful round rocks retain heat, warming vines at night, thus facilitating the ripening process. And those same rocks help keep moisture trapped in the soil, so thirsty vines have lots to drink in hot summers. Can you imagine how lush these grapes must be come harvest time? And as if these conditions for super-ripeness weren't enough, wine growers heavily prune back their vines so that their harvests are very low yield. The plant energy is diverted to fewer bunches, which makes for even more lush, dense fruit. This is, by the way, the law of the land. Châteauneuf du Pape legally requires vineyards to yield no more than 35 hectoliters per hectare (this is very low). It sounds strict, but the law ensures that only the absolute highest quality grapes go into the region's wine, thus protecting its reputation.

So what kind of grapes are we talking about here? Well, legally speaking, red Châteauneuf du Pape may be made up of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsaut, Muscardin, Counoise, Vaccarèse and Terret Noir. Most of those I hadn't heard of until now. But for reals, the most important one on that list is Grenache, because by law, all red wines have to be 50% from this grape. The other three important ones on that list are Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsaut. There are laws surrounding grapes for white wines too, but I think I'll leave it out altogether, as 90% of the wine out of this appellation is red.

Okay, so what becomes of unique growing conditions and strict laws surrounding production? Un-bee-freaking-lievable wine, that's what. People, dig deeper this week and buy a bottle. Please. You will thank me. Truly, I've never tasted wine more fascinating and complex. This week, the wine I enjoyed specifically was Domaine du Haut des Terres Blanches 2007. I paid around $37 for it at the Barrie LCBO on Bayfield (it was in the Vintages section). There's a photograph of the label at the beginning of this post: memorize it and go seek it out. If it helps, there's a wee circle on the top right hand side of the label declaring that this wine scored 91/100 with Robert Parker. Deeply, deeply flavourful, this wine unravels itself on your tongue. It has a beginning, middle and end, with surprising twists in the middle, like a good novel. I was skeptical at first as it didn't smell like much, but this wine was just holding out on me until I committed to the first sip. At first there's a surprising, bright whoosh! of minerals and red berries across your palate. It then evolves into a mouthful of tantalizingly rich, red fruit flavours. Then a wonderful spiciness starts to tease the edge of your tongue. Finally for an achingly good finish, your mouth fills with deep caramel flavours. You can practically chew this wine's flavour. Utterly, utterly fascinating. It was so rich and complex--perfect for fall weather, when you want your food to be really extra nourishing and satisfying. This wine is the sweat off the neck of your lover during a night of passion. You want this wine.

I hope you've enjoyed the first installment of Better Know an Appellation. It'll be a regular gig on this blog.

'Til next time,

Barb

Guest Post: Lorri Soaks up the good stuff in California.

Hi Di Ho, guest blogger from from San Francissss-co.

Barb asked me to do some reconnaissance on Californian wines while I’m out here on a course, and assigned me the kind of homework you don’t mind doing – taste as many wines as possible, and report back!

Can I first say that although I am trapped in class within this hotel for 13 hours a day for four days straight (not kidding – Barb warned it could be a cult – no sign of Tom Cruise so far , phew). The hotel is spectacular – Sofitel – which looks and feels like it was transported straight from Paris. Even the staff here speak French. God Bless boutique hotels. They have gone to every extravagance in this hotel to make it feel like you ARE in Paris. Except you are in California.

So how could I say no – of course I took Barb up on her challenge to head up a good old fashion Smackdown, pitting wine mecca against wine mecca – France vs. California.

(Barb – take note – Canadian wines not mentioned here whatsoever. Sorry)



The first night I tried a Hess Cabernet Sauvignon - $14 a glass I thought this better be good.

Oh my goodness, this wine embodied everything you dream about Californian Cabernet’s - I do confess I have a personal bias for Californian Cabernet Sauvignons.

To channel Barb for a moment, the wine smelled rich and fruity but had an amazing velvety texture like drinking liquid velvet, with an amazing deep oak-ey finishing taste – positively sensual from beginning to end. She would probably say that it is almost as nice as Alan Rickman’s armpits or something like that – well if that is good, then she is right. It made me crave brie wrapped in smoked salmon (the wine, not his armpits). My perfect wine, really. A TKO in Smackdown terms – really spectacular. I actually sampled the wine on a break which seemed to end far too quickly; as they called us back into class, yes I did bring my wine back to class with me – hell, no way I was giving up that last 3-4 sips of liquid gold. The nice thing about travelling outside of Canada is that local people think that you are exotic and excuse your behaviour, writing it off to cultural differences. Charming. Oh those Canadians are so European! Yep, I milked that one all the way. Oh...what do you mean you can’t drink wine in class? Oh sorry about that, well it’s gone anyways. Tee Hee Hee! However the few fellow Canadians that attended the conference were completely on to me and were either laughing or said – Hah – nice one! You look like fun, I’m sitting with you tomorrow.

End of Thursday.

Next.....Friday.... Zinfandel!

I was dragging my ass Friday afternoon in class – still screwed up from the time difference, and a long 1.5 hours till our short dinner break when an intriguing text message comes in from Barb. “SONOMA ZINFANDEL – Try some tonite and tell me what you think!” She was drinking chateau neuf du pape at the time, which I’m sure we will all be reading about sometime soon.(n.b.--yes you will! B.) She loves those fruity wines.

So, of course doing what I’m told, I order a glass of Seven Deadly Sins Zinfandel from Sonoma, and highly recommended from our austere looking lounge hostess (Note - not a waitress – a lounge hostess). Also $14 a glass, so given my previous evening experience I have high expectations of heaven part deux.

The bouquet was very promising – definitely had a strong, inviting aroma, the kind that really makes you look forward to savoring that first tasty sip. And, I never stick my nostrils in my glass – unlike someone else we know – but just setting it down on the table suddenly made the room smell like the Glade Air Fresheners were Zinfandel scented and had just spurted out a mist of Zinfandel from one of their timed room scent fresheners. Well I am sorry to say that is where the fun ends.

In hindsight, I should have never tried anything that rhymes with Death to the Infidels. You just know you are in for a whole lot of trouble. The first sip started fine, and suddenly I could feel the acidic reaction building in momentum. As it snaked its way into my gullet I could instantly feel it rising again in the form of instant severe heartburn. After the third sip, I could feel cankers forming in my mouth, and giant subterranean zits starting to form on my face.

I Know Less Than Nothing about wine – so I can’t even use the right terms – but I can tell you: Eww yuck. Me no likey.

And I don’t know if it’s because it’s a Zinfandel grapes, or because of the winery, or the year or whatever – all I know is me no likey.

So far – the Ying and Yang of what California has to offer. 1 Good, 1 Evil.

Tonite I tackle the French side of the menu, and see if their wines have a better success then their military history.

--Lorri

Borat + Wine = My best day ever.

Looky what I found on YouTube! Borat goes to a wine tasting! This is going to be a great day, I can tell.

Enjoy!



'Til next time,

B.