Canadian Wine Guy

Since it has been crazy busy here (will not let up till next week so the reviews will be scarce) I will do a quick update on the concert we went to last night at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts.

First off the venue: Lovely architecturally with a beautiful use of wood design, well thought out stairs/levels that allow for great views of the surrounding area inside and out. Refreshment bars are well located on each level and were serving Canadian wines (highlights were 2004 Trius Red and NV Trius Brut, both solid). The sight lines inside the hall are tremendous, we had front row center of the second balcony which was a perfect spot for a concert. Everything about this venue is nice except for the sound. The sound simply does no justice to the hall, when a trumpeter starts to wail it should be forceful, not subtle. While trying to make the sound perfect they seemed to have almost toned it down too much.

The people: David Brubeck is one of the few remaining Jazz Legends. He has been a force in the Jazz industry for over 60 years both as a composer and a jazz pianist. Heck he has won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. With all that said, you would expect the venue to be packed and the people a hopping, right? The hall was only about 80% full (unlike closing ceremonies at the Montreal jazz Festival last year where it was packed). Now maybe I am a bit old fashion but on top of the low turn out, I could not get over the cut off shorts, Birkenstocks, and the general attire of the average patron. It use to be that for a concert of this nature it was minimum semi-formal, non? Well dress code aside the most disturbing event happened as the Quartet plus two guests wrapped up the iconic “Take Five” which Brubeck has closed most of his recent shows with, no sooner were they standing for applause but a good 10% of the people in the seats got up and made it to the exits as fast as they could. It may be the first time I have ever seen concert fans not stand for an encore after a brilliant performance. Amazing, shocking and embarrassing.

The concert: The Laila Biali Trio opened the show. A Canadian composer, pianist and singer Laila has an outstanding voice and performed well opening for such an icon. While she performed as a trio, it is best to be said that she could have performed with only her bassist as most of the songs performed had her drummer as more of accessory, just my two cents. Still a good performance and it was great to see a Canadian open the first Jazz concert in the Four Seasons Center. The Dave Brubeck Quartet needs little comment, they simply play outstanding jazz and time in time out show incredible range and talent. All of the band members are past retirement age yet they have the energy of 20 somethings when they get going. At 86 years old Brubeck does not have a spring in his step but he has amazing dexterity still in those marvelous fingers, he tickled the ivories last night a few times that had everyone in awe. As for the rest of the band, Bobby Milatello on sax and flute, Michael Moore on bass and Randy Jones on drums are the long-time members of this great quartet. While Milatello is generally what most people “wow” at as he demonstrates incredible range and power, for me it is Randy Jones that remains the most remarkable of the remaining three. Last night, as well as last year’s closing at the Montreal Jazz festival, Jones had a solo on drums that brought the house down. He is worth the price of admission alone.

To close out, if you have not had a chance to see the Brubeck Quartet I highly recommend it. As Dave continues to get up there in age the performances will get fewer and fewer and you will miss your chance to see one of the few Greats still with us. It is not often you can say you witnessed live someone who is mentioned in the same breath as Ella, Duke and Louis and at the same time be completely entertained.

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This picture says it all:

After her long trip away Mrs.CWG brought back a sheer bounty for me. She of course tried most but not all, and there are no guarantees to their quality but over the next few weeks we will review a wine here and there.

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CWG has been busy of late so apologies for no reviews. I am in the process of changing companies/roles and the past few weeks have been hectic (yes yes I know, excuses). In the next few days I will get out a review of a Bulgarian red that Mrs.CWG brought home plus a Champagne. Till then sip well.

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Ah Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the famous southern Rhône town and appellation that lies to the north of beautiful Avignon. For those not aware, the town gets it’s name from the fact that the Papacy once ruled from Avignon. Of course any good Pope needs a new castle, so one was built, and voila you get “new Castle of the Pope” aka: Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Creative? Well not really. The vines and winemakers long outlived the Avignon Papacy (which did not last even a mere hundred years) and by the end of 1300s Burgundy wine was well known and having had Popes enjoying it added much to the reputation of the surrounding wines. The wine that was once consider “for the popes” soon came to be known by the town to the north’s name. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape is an AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) under which thirteen different grapes can be used to make wine, for reds the three primary grapes used are Syrah, Mourvèdre and mostly Grenache Noir. The Domaine des Chanssaud is a family run house that can date it’s ownership back to 1826. Currently it is run by Patrick Jaume and was an original AOC member house in 1935. The house actually produces two reds under the Châteauneuf-du-Pape label a special Cuvée and the one we are drinking today.

This red falls under the usual heavy Grenache usage of most from the AOC, with both Syrah and Mourvèdre in single digit percentages as well. Also making appearance, though very limited, is the Cinsault variety of grape. The 2003 vintage came from a hot summer which led to the region producing some irregular wines in terms of quality. For that reason some gems can be found, but you also risk a poor wine on occasion. Enough about the nitty or the gritty, on to the tasting!

Decanting this led to a plum coloured wine that was ripe with black cherry on the nose. The first few sniffs led to more cherry but with a hint of vanilla. On the first sips this younger wine was not as harsh on the tannins as expected, both cherry and raspberry were present. With a few more sips the body of the wine came to light, while not a full blown heavy wine it straddles the middle between medium and heavy. With a few years that should soften slightly. I started to get a little bit of earthy and molasses out towards the end of the first glass, but what was most noticeable was the peppery tastes that was starting to dominate. Overall quite a few interesting flavours and quite a nice finish. The second glass had soften quite a bit from aeration. This wine will benefit from a few more years in the cellar but you will not be disappointed in cracking it right away. It is a serious wine from a serious region. I think I will need to try and find the special Cuvée the next time I am in France to bring back and enjoy. For those not familiar with Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s this wine will go tremendously well with a rack of lamb, duck breast or a strong cheese of three. Those looking for a nice bottle to bring to friends, while very worthwhile just make sure that lemon chicken is not the main dish, otherwise the meal will be dominated by wine instead of complimented.

This is a solid red from an excellent appellation, this is getting an 88.
Mrs.CWG is in transit and should be home for the next review to impose her strong thoughts and impressions upon me!

For Ontario residents: Vintages #959833 @ a price of $33.95

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Today it is CityNews:

“I bought a birthday card for my nephew that was $5 U.S. And it was $8 Canadian, and I said to the clerk, ‘That’s ridiculous. You know, that’s a 60% exchange rate,’ ” complains a man who knows a thing or two about loonies and toonies, BMO economist Doug Porter.

Despite an exchange rate of mere pennies, Porter says at the retail level we’re still miles apart.

“There is roughly a 10% price gap between Canada and the U.S. Even when you use a very conservative exchange rate like 88 cents, which is what the average has been over the last year and a half,” he said

Welcome to last week, wait two weeks ago!

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Welcome to last week Globe and Mail…

“I think this helps explain one of the reasons why corporate profits have been at a record high as a share of national income in the last couple of years,” Mr. Porter said.

In theory, a runup in the currency should make imported goods cheaper and damp down inflation. That’s happening a bit, but “not nearly as much as could have been expected,” he said.

Canadian Wine Guy has you “scooped” Tavia Grant and Roma Luciw, I suggest not pilfering me!! SO Miss Grant and Mr Luciw please refer to this blog (as if you haven’t already!)

on to your morning cafes loyal readers, nothing to see here…

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Tonight I ventured off to the Sip Ontario event, a showcase of the Ontario Wine Awards, below is the blow by blow as blogged by the berry throughout the night (pardon the spelling!). There will be no pictures this year as Mrs.CWG took the small pocket camera and my hands where to full to bring the full sized AND drink wine, since drinking wine took precedent!

18:44
Hot hot walk for a short jaunt of 20 minutes, I can fully grasp now why the movement in the Caribbean is so elongated and drawn out. It is their attempt to avoid sweating. Does not help that my recent running regime has led to excess perspiration… Of course I arrived 30 minutes to early, as Mrs. CWG would tell you I have a habit of being early or at least overly prompt. I have decided to browse the lovely distillery district for the next 20 minutes pretending to be tourist and mostly watching the people. For those that have never been to this district you are missing a hidden jewel. The area is a former distillery (hence the creative name) and now boasts an excellent assortment of restaurants, arts and crafts house plus a few specialty shops. It is without a doubt one of the best walks in good weather. Just a note to the ladies out there, this area is mostly cobblestoned, meaning high heels are not recommended!

18:53
Apparently I am not the only one early as when I strolled around the corner, I witnessed some 50 people in line. Very good to see, no word if the event was a sell out but I will inquire as I can. (edit: it was not a “sell” out but the tickets sales exceeded expectations)

19:21
First gem, while being distracted by the charming Inns of Ontario representative, I tasted an excellent 2005 Pinot Noir (Gravity) from Flat Rock Cellars, bright on the tongue and solid finish, I will ensure I do a full review in the upcoming months.

19:45
Just tasted the Reif Estates 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon that beat out the Château des Charmes Cab Sauv for the gold. Solid wine with firm tannins, 2-5 years of cellaring still to go at first glance, I will be picking up 2-3 bottles to review and store.

19:57
The 2004 Angels Gate Cabernet/Merlot appears to be a sleeper. Solid tannins, ripe fruit and a good nose. No awards but worth investigating, I will be sure to buy a bottle or two to get a full review in. (At this point I am sure Mrs.CWG is cringing)

20:11
I know that outside of 2002 complex reds I am eagerly awaiting the 2005’s, since we are still 8-10 months away from release, next year this event will be stunning for bold reds. Lots of 2005 Pinots and Bacos here, but the few “heavier” reds are still young and really not ready to taste. That said, to change gears, I just tried the Konzelmann Estates 2004 Riesling Traminer Late harvest, phenomenal, these will be a bottle or two in the future. Late harvests are so often overlooked by their big brothers the Icewines, but this is one excellent wine.

20:24
Strewn Three (Strewn Wineries), a nice meritage with even tannins and ripe fruit, 3 to 5 via the winemaker, with 5 to 8 if you are looking for even balanced Bordeaux style. This little known winery may actually have a solid winner here if the price is not too high. I believe this was a 2004 and I will follow up if I can with a review.

20:32
I am going to wrap up, I am touring the desert wines at this time as I have tried most of the bold reds and some of the award winning whites. While not much else has griped my palate with solid “Wows” it is not for lack of quality but from sheer overwhelming aromas and tastes. The icewines and late harvests are simply tremendous and while Canada is often thought of as a desert wine producing country, it does produce some of the best and has deserved that reputation, on to more late harvests and icewines, pardon me!

20:45
Lies, lies, lies; alright I am not a wrapping up yet, just had the 2004 Coyote’s Run Barrel Fermented Vidal Icewine, at $40 a bottle may be the biggest steal in the pricey icewine market. As well it is the gold medal winner. Things to ponder for those looking at the big named vineyards in Niagara.

20:54
Whoa am I going to have to find links tonight (for those that do not know this entire evening has been blogged on my blackberry), and I have found another gem. Lailey Vineyard has produced an excellent barrel fermented 2005 Vidal icewine that should be reviewd. Make note Mrs.CWG I see several purchases on the horizon. The Winemaker believes 2 to 4 years to mature to excellence.

Aftermath: The event was excellent, great venue, excellent setup, good representation from the wineries, there was tremendous food throughout (I avoided blogging as to what I was eating, but suffice it to say the food was bite sized and perfectly matched to the multitude of wines).

Okay that is it, tomorrow is an excellent southern Rhône for review. Till then, sip well!

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This 2005 came to the CWG household via a housewarming gift. The kind fellow brought this plus one for himself (you may say he is the best sort of guest, non?) and proceeded to enjoy the Italian white with much passion. Once placed into the cellar this wine has sat untouched … TILL NOW!! I will be very brief this evening as I am running out of internal gas. On to the tasting!

This is a straw coloured white that while young is at the perfect age to drink. On the nose right away is a solid aroma of apple. The initial slurps yields more of the green apple with a hint of peach. Continuing on lent more of the same with a soft finish (which was expected). After a glass I ended up getting a hint of pear and lemon. Needless to say this wine brings out a solid amount of fruit and with a soft finish lends itself to lighter dinners, appetizers or aperitif style drinking. For a hot summer night you will not be hard pressed to serve this chilled to guests as it will be both refreshing and pleasant; that said, I’d avoid having 2 or more all by itself as you may be overwhelmed by the fruit. If you were looking for dinner suggestions to go along with this I’d look at a pasta with a light sauce (avoid cream based), a lemon pepper chicken or a nice cedar plank salmon.

While a solid white I am not sold entirely on, for that it gets an 85.
Mrs.CWG for once is quiet (might have something to do with being in Europe.)

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Harbouring a stuffy nose preventing me from doing a true review I decided to do a short write up on Woofstock, Toronto’s annual 2 day festival for dogs and their pets, I mean owners. For those who do no know Mrs.CWG and I are no longer with our boyz, both having passed on to puppy heaven, with that said I felt a twinge of pain going out the past two days because my neighbourhood was FILLED with pups. When I say pups I mean more canines then the eyes could count. Small ones, tall ones, fat ones, skinny ones, young ones and of course old ones. If you loved dogs this was the place to be for 2 days.

The event is well organized and it shut down Front Street East from Jarvis west to Scott (which is one block east of Yonge). As well it occupied Wellington to Scott and Church from Esplinade making it several blocks of dog dog and more dog. The numerous vendors were selling everything from food to doggy portraits, included in the stalls were the very important dog rescue agencies (for example: Boxer Rescue Canada). Basically if you needed something for you canine friend (a Cedar doghouse/loft per chance?) you could have found a vendor.

I took a bunch of pictures, but here are a few to post, each for it’s own uniqueness. Enjoy!

Note: My plan is to be attending the Sip Ontario @ Fermenting Cellar on Tuesday (see the events posting from a few days ago), if you are planning on attending drop me an email.

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A big TGIF to all those out there about to head home for a relaxing weekend. Weather in Toronto is currently hot and muggy with a huge storm about to come through. I am going to be having vodka martinis tonight (no hate mail please) and unwinding from a long arduous week.

Till tomorrow, sip well and enjoy!

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I guess since we are in June it would be a great idea to share some nice wine related events going on in Toronto this month:

Monday June 11: Wines of Germany
From 7-9pm @ Coupe Space (998 Queen Street East) with Jamie Drummond (Sommelier, Jamie Kennedy Kitchens)
“Fresh from his wine tour of Mosel, Rheinghau and Pfalz, Jamie shares obscure treasures from the oft-overlooked
vineyards of Germany. Jamie delights in bringing you surpirising gems in his trademark irreverent style.
Leiderhosen optional.” Cost is $75/person.

Tuesday June 12: Sip Ontario
From 7-9:30pm @ Fermenting Cellar (in The Distillery Historic District, 55 Mill Street)
“Celebrating Ontario Wine Week is June 10 to 16, 2007. Amidst the historic backdrop of Toronto’s Distillery District you and your friends are able to explore premium VQA selections of more than 25 award-winning wineries and an extraordinary collection of Ontario Tourism’s Distinctive Getaway Chefs.” Cost is $50/person and you can order here.

Tuesday June 12: Chateau Leoville Barton
From 6pm @ Toronto Board of Trade (1st Cdn Place @ King & Bay)
The Toronto Vintners Club is hosting “A rare opportunity to taste 8 wines from Ch Leoville-Barton (1988 - 2002) from vintages rated good to excellent. Leoville-Barton is a “super 2nd” growth estate. Tasting has been opened up to the general public.” Cost is $80/non-member or $69/member.

Wednesday June 20: Energy Savings Group Wine, Whisky & All That Jazz
From 6pm @ Liberty Grand (25 British Columbia Rd, CNE Grounds)
“This cool combo of classic jazz, fine wines and rare whiskies is one of Toronto’s premier events. For those who are hip to collecting, there’s a fine wine auction with selections from some of the country’s best cellars. The evening features a lavish sit-down dinner in the Renaissance & Centennial Rooms followed by entertainment with Canadian chanteuse Holly Cole. ” Cost is $375/guest with proceeds going to Covenant House Toronto.

Thursday June 21: Summer Solstice Dinner
From 6:30pm @ The Boulevard Club (1491 Lakeshore Blvd. West)
Australian Wine Society “Once again we are celebrating this “Midsummer’s Day” at the Boulevard Club on Toronto’s waterfront. Our Cellarmaster has selected the wines and the Executive Chef has lined up a wonderful dinner. We meet at 6:30 outside on the deck overlooking Lake Ontario for bubbly and appetizers, then inside to the Solarium for a full four course dinner with wines. Wines will be matched with each course and a “sticky” with dessert to top off the evening. Last year we sold out very quickly, so book early.” Cost is $85/member or $95/non-member.

Note: If you wish to have your event listed at the Canadian Wine Guy site, use the contact page to drop me an email.

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Yesterday was a day to sit back, sip wine and contemplate life, simply because most of the city was stuck indoors as Mother Nature was doing her best to pretend it was late fall, not early summer. With the winds a blustering and the rain a drizzling the Canadian Wine Guy decided to sit back, relax and sip some wine. I know, I know, a novel idea! When looking into the wine fridge I wanted to drink a red, but with no particular region calling me, I decided to look at the Canadian section and see if there was something ready to at least give the ‘Ol College try. Sitting there, all lined up in their little part of the cellar world were 6 bottles of Henry of Pelham Meritages all of different vintages. I could not resist pulling out a 2003 as I had not actually tried one yet and if my memory served me correctly I was sure to have a nice wine. Mrs.CWG and I had gone with some close friends a few summers ago to Henry of Pelham estates to do a traditional wine tour, while we in fact decided to forgo the only tour that day we did not however leave without tasting and buying wine. Our friends are huge fans of the Estate’s Baco Noir but being the Bordeaux man that I am, I was drawn to the Meritage or “Cabernet-Merlot” as they have dubbed it. Getting away from the actual wine (as I will review it below) and focusing on the Estate I have to recommend a few things. First make the trip, it is a lovely drive and Henry of Pelham Estate has a charm to it that is uniquely Niagara. The tasting and wine boutique are very quaint and well laid out, the staff is typical wine region: friendly and knowledgeable. But mostly, plan on going for lunch in the summer to harvest times. The Coach House Cafe is a great little eatery that is worth spending some time sipping the house wines and nibbling on food. In the good weather months you can sit outside and soak in the surrounding vineyards. Okay, enough of that, on to the tasting!

I was worried that the 2003 really was not going to be ready to drink, well maybe not “ready” but I was at least concerned that I was opening it a good 3 to 5 years too soon. With the knowledge that I had another 2003 in the cellar I choose to take the plunge anyways, wine, after all, is for drinking. When decanting the Meritage gave off a nice solid red with hint of rust on the edges and a distinctive raspberry smell came to my nose. The initial swirls led to an even more in depth raspberry with a hint of blackberry. Initial sips showed an equally balanced wine with amazingly light tannins. After I got into the wine light oak came to the surface as well as a light hint of caramel. The equal balance from the initial sips did not change, how it rolled on to my tongue seemed to finish with the same polish. I was quite surprised that a 3.5 year old Bordeaux style blend would be as ready to drink as this was. As I sit here writing this I still cannot seem to shake the feeling that this wine is actually ready to drink now, though I will hold the final bottle in my stock for 2 to 3 years just to see the changes. While not an overly “complex” wine I found it to be detailed enough and with plenty of room to change. If you have a bottle or can find a 2003 I doubt you will be disappointed with this. This wine can compete with most lower to moderately priced reds and is worth having a “go” for yourself.

After some soul searching, despite enjoying the wine it simply did not wow or amaze, a solid well priced wine gets a solid 84.
Mrs.CWG has nothing to say on this topic as she is off in Eastern Europe for work. She has however promised to bring back some Bulgarian wine which she has been remarking is quite nice. If she brings back wine then she will be forgiven for abandoning me!

EDIT: Mrs.CWG says

“How could you open that without me!”

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I try not to blog about politics or anything close to, but this is something a great many Canadians are getting affected by and either are choosing to be silent or simply have not gotten any support from their elected officials.

Okay so you ask “CWG what are you talking about?”

I am talking about the fact that over the past 3 years the Canadian dollar has continued to gain strength compared to the US dollar but yet prices have not shown the same volatility, usually in the vendor’s favour.

Before we get into it anymore, let me state a few facts (to see where you can find the rate changes go here):
02 Jun 2003 0.73 US dollars
02 Jun 2004 0.73 US dollars
02 Jun 2005 0.80 US dollars
02 Jun 2006 0.91 US dollars
02 Jun 2007 0.94 US dollars

As you can see over the past 5 years the Canadian dollar has steadily risen in comparison to the US dollar, and despite this rise Canadians are still paying prices based on exchange rates of 5 years ago for most products, INCLUDING WINE!! What it means to the average Canadian is, despite the fact that importers (be it the LCBO, Automobiles, Computer products) are able to buy more with the same Canadian dollar (or buy the same product for less money) the cost savings is not being passed on to the consumer. Shall we look at some examples?

We will start with big ticket items, cars:
Domestic: we will pull out a vehicle that we can choose the exact same options, for this I chose the Chevy Corvette Z06 fixed roof (CDN site, US site), prices pre-options: Canadian $90,485 MSRP and US $70,000.00 MSRP. This is for a Buffalo NY zip code, which puts the “real” exchange rate at around 0.77 not the 0.94 that it currently is. In even terms it means that a Canadian buying their Corvette in St Catherines instead of in Buffalo pays $16,000 real dollars more for the same car.
Foreign: for this example we will choose the BMW M5 sedan, US site and Canadian site for your references. The MSRP in Canada is $113,300 and in the US is $82,500. This equates out to a “real” exchange rate of 0.73 or an out of pocket difference of $25,534.

Without a doubt this has been going on for years as even the Toronto Star had an article on it in their weekend Automotive section a year or so ago. Let’s take the exchange rate for something as simple as wine. For this exercise I choose wine.com (shipping to NY state) and the LCBO prices.

Australian: Wolf Blass 2004 Gold Label Shiraz; wine.com: $19.99, LCBO: $30.85, “real” exchange rate of 0.65, out of pocket $9.68
Californian: Beringer 2002 Knights Valley Alluvium Red; wine.com: $27.99, LCBO: $50.15, “real” exchange rate of 0.56, out of pocket $20.37
Bordeaux: Christian Moueix 2003 Merlot; wine.com: $10.79, LCBO: $15.95, “real” exchange rate of 0.67, out of pocket $4.47.

What does all this mean? It means that until a public stink is made retailers will continue to fleece the average Canadian consumer over what amounts to large amounts of money. Think this is important to you? Pass on this blog and/or share the information, until then try not to think of the extra money you are paying.

Cheers

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