Canadian Wine Guy

This will be my first attempt at blogging via my blackberry as the only method (aka write and post from berry). Simply put, I am traveling so much these days that doing reviews has become nearly impossible. So when I have wine I will do my best to blog it, and I will fill in the blanks (pictures, LCBO info) at a later date. As well, I will do my best to check spelling, but if my accuracy stinks from time to time, just be sure to chalk it up to excess wine!

On to the tasting!

The Trius reds have been on my must drink list for awhile. A good blend of the principle Bordeaux grapes, this specialty-winery of the Canadian giant Hillebrand already produces several great wines (Trius Brut (nv) for one). Inky red in colour with an excellent bouquet of cinnamon, cherry and oak this wine from an average vintage started off well. With the solid start, the wine was a nice and chewy but not overly tanniny. For an ‘03 this was surprisingly ready to drink now. A nice even finish with a good hint of pepper.

Of the Canadian reds I have had recently, this is up there. I am giving it a well deserved 87
Mrs.CWG says

“I am glad we have a few bottles of this left”

LCBO info to follow.

Ps: you will end up seeing a dspam message, ignore it!

EDIT: LCBO # is: 303800, $19.95 (they do not state a vintage year, which means ‘03 may no longer be available, unsure why there is no year attached to their listing)

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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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Is it just me or does the full names of some wines seem to stretch two to three pages in width? Well this long named wine (and we need to include the whole name to properly define it) is one of wines Mrs.CWG brought back for me over a year ago during her worldly travels. Why it may seem strange to an outsider to see the Canadian Wine Guy requiring his better half to retrieve a Canadian wine via traveling as opposed to me just walking down to the local vintages section, it is not strange, it is simply very difficult to get Okanagan wines in Ontario (while it must be said the same is true in British Columbia in respect to Ontario wines). While the Niagara wine route has some geographical recognition, the Okanagan Valley for most is a question mark. Nestled into the interior of the rocky mountains in British Columbia, the wine region extends from the Okanagan Lake in and around Kelowna all the way south to the border of Washington State and the Osoyoos Lake region. The region boasts almost 75 wineries, many of which have had wines win or be recognized on the international scene. Included in this recognition, if not leading the charge has been the Jackson-Triggs Winery. Canada’s largest winery has presence in both the Niagara and Okanagan regions with their Okanagan operation located in the southern portion of the valley near Osoyoos. While they have been in Niagara for just over 23 years, their presence in British Columbia is much less experienced yet their short time in the region has led the winery to some high accolades.

Okanagan Jackson-Triggs has three labels plus one “terroir” brand, starting from the entry level Proprietors’ Selection to the intermediate Proprietors’ Reserve all the way to the more selective small quantity Grand Reserves. The wine we are reviewing today is their Bordeaux style Meritage from the high end Grand Reserve collection. The wine blends what most consider to be the five traditional Bordeaux grape varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Somehow in recent years the Carmenere grape has been banished to the sidelines and ignored from “Bordeaux” clarets! The 2003 is simply not purchasable anywhere in Toronto, and as such Mrs.CWG had to bring it in from BC on one of her many trips in 2006. We can buy the 2004 now in select LCBO’s but not the 2003. While I will be giving the 2004 a shot, if the 2003 is any indication, I expect that it will need to be cellared for 5 to 8 years more before being truly ready to drink. With that…. on to the tasting!

The decanting produced a very simple purple colour which surprised me with it’s extended time in oak (18 or so months), generally I have found this alone tends to soften the colour away from the “grape juice” look. The initial nose on this was strong berries, with oak in the mix. Upon swirling and getting a good sniff the berry smell (raspberry and/or strawberry simply too hard to discern) was firmly entrenched. The initial slurps did nothing to tone down the berry flavours. After several sips the true complexity of the wine began to come through, hints of vanilla and strawberry jam made for an interesting collage. The oak and tannins soon took over. The tannins did not soften over time and were very abrupt even towards the end of the second glass and the oak seemed to get a tad heavier instead of smoother, which I found to be odd. This wine in my viewpoint is simply not ready to drink yet, it is too young. I am very glad that Mrs.Cwg bought two bottles, as I am tagging the second bottle as a drink in 2010+. Odds are good with the effort put into the wine and the quality of the grapes that this wine will soften while not taking away any complexity as it ages. That will surely lead to a fine wine if you have the patience.

For now though, this wine is no more then an 85.
Mrs.CWG says

“Make sure you mark this for later consumption!”

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Well aren’t we in a Burgundy mode? If you read the review of the Burgundy yesterday you would be thinking “why Canadian Wine Guy would you review two Burgundies in a row?” Well fun enough, this is a Canadian burgundy, a joint venture between Canadian wine conglomerate Vincor Canada and Burgundy based Boisset . Vincor owns Inniskillin, Sawmill Creek and Jackson Triggs as well as a few other smaller Canadian wine producers. Boisset is an equally large vintner with vineyards primarily on the Rhône both in the Burgundy region and the southern Rhône region. When the two of these got together to create Clos Jordanne it brought some excitement to the Canadian wine industry. Their decision was to plant and produce as if Clos was a Burgundy house, soil separation and only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. This, as well as French influenced wine makers, allowed the house to begin to produce excellent wines with a good sense/feeling of a French wine.

This Clos is the Village Reserve which is very reasonably priced for the effort, skill and patience put into it. For Clos Jordanne reds they have three Pinot Noirs with the Village Reserve being the best priced. The grapes come from all of the Clos vineyards and the care taken can be seen and sensed quickly on the wine. While not one of the true “terroire” Jordanne wines I doubt most would call this the inferior horse in the stable. While a single vineyard wine produces great variations (if unsure refer back to the Château des Charmes review where a mere 50 meters made all the difference in the world) if does not truly indicate superiority over it’s multi terroire cousins/brothers/sisters (or whatever they may be called.) On to the tasting!

Without a doubt I was surprised by a slight rusty colour as I both decanted and later poured into our glasses. The scents were primarily fruit, cherries and raspberries with black cherry winning the war once the swirls started. Swirling brought out a nice blend of smells, some of which i was not truly able to distinguish while also getting both oak and hint of earthiness (not the bad moldy/dusty, just a hint of earth). First sips did little to dampen the cherry flavours and provided a nice light Burgundy style wine with a hint of oak on the finish. The following sips brought forward a bit more oak and a little less cherry with a small undertone of apple and a small bit of floral. Wow, alot of smells and feelings out of this wine, but still very enjoyable. I found that for a Pinot Noir this wine still holds strong tannins, not overwhelming but strong none the less.

I took some time to rate this, one because it was Canadian and I did not want to show favouritism for the region and two because it is so largely different from the red wines I truly think Niagara and Okanagan does best (Bordeaux style). After much thought and careful deliberation’s I came up with a rating of 88.
Mrs.CWG says

“Even for $25 I would have this again, but I wouldn’t share it!”

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If you have never had the chance to do a Niagara Wine tour, I truly think you are missing out on a little slice of life that needs to be enjoyed. Nestled away from the hub-bub of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and far enough away from the “glitz” of Niagara Falls lies the Niagara Wine Region. The region is bound mostly by Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment but tends to have some vineyards that rise above the escarpment. The area is known for it above seasonal temperatures and fertile ground which yields good fruit harvests one of course has become grapes. More can be said on the escarpment area (in much much more detail) but suffice it to say, the wine region has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 30 years and despite being overlooked on the international scene still produces outstanding wines. Wine touring the region from Beamsville to Niagara on the Lake can produce some lovely visits and at last count there were over 70 wineries to explore and enjoy, each with it’s own charm and usually it’s own gem. Fielding Estate Winery is located in the Beamsville Bench area, nestled nicely up a ways into the escarpment such that the Lodge has a nice view of the Toronto skyline way across Lake Ontario, Both Mrs.CWG and myself have had the pleasure of enjoying tastings at the Lodge with what turned out to be some of the most knowledgeable and friendly staff in the entire region. During our tastings (we have been more then once) we had a chance to find two wines that had us very happy after the sale was complete. In fact we had found 3 or 4 to be honest that we liked enough to buy, but it ended up being 2 that kept our attention.

One of the above mentioned two wines is this relatively inexpensive white hybrid chardonnay. While 2006 is young, this white is meant to be drank young, and enjoyed thoroughly. While it may change ever so slightly from one or three years sitting in the cellar, it is a “drink now” wine. The colour is a straw yellow, and the initial citrus aromas take over your senses. Not to try and guess which citrus smell hit me first, lemon tended to be the one with the most “oompf”. First tastes brought forward the citrus but also peach and apple. The wine is a a semi sweet, if you are using the sugar scale I believe it would be a “2″ in terms of sweetness. The lasting impression is of a nice easy to drink white, with heavy citrus, light peach and a hint of apple. This wine would be a nice compliment to fish, rosemary chicken or early summer evening sipping on the terrace. A pleasing, no nonsense wine that is overly enjoyable, worth the purchase.

This is an 84 overall.
Mrs.CWG says

Have always loved the Chardonnay Musque

Btw the other wine that is a must have from Fielding, but requires cellaring, is their Meritage Reserve, very yummy!

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Well here it is, the 2002 Château des Charmes St. David’s Bench Cabernet Sauvignon. For those that have read my posts in the past, you are probably wondering why on earth is the CWG acting all weird over this wine from a winery I really have not heard anything from? Well… during the 2007 Niagara Ice Wine Festival Mrs.CWG and I had the pleasure of having a nice private wine tasting session at the Château set up by Michèle Bosc who is the Director of Marketing for the vineyard. For those that are not familiar with the winery be sure to visit the link top their website and do a read on the history of the Bosc family’s dedication to wine making. During the tasting we got to enjoy over 9 different wines from different vintage lots and despite expecting to enjoy the 2002 Equuleus (Bordeaux style blend/meritage) it was this gem that took all at the tasting by surprise. Château des Charmes has two 2002 vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon, one is from the Paul Bosc vineyards the other is from the St. David’s Bench vineyards, both of which are no more then 50 meters from each other. In a true display of terroir the wines were remarkably different and the St. David’s Bench took away the prize for the best wine in everyone’s book.

So with great glee I could not wait to revisit this little gem. One of the hardest things to get through to people unfamiliar with Canadian wines is that while you may experience a poor or medium wine we do produce a large amount of great wines in both the Okanagon valley and Niagara peninsula. The fun part is finding those precious wines! This Cab Sauv is one of them. On to the tasting notes:

We decanted the Cab Sauv and the first smell was a distinctive strawberry with hint of currant, not what I remember but still nice on the nose. The wine was a deep ruby colour with a hint of rust on the edges. First sips led to the same berry hints but with the currant being stronger this time. As we consumed the wine, the wine was extremely well balanced and the a slight spicyness came out to complement the berry flavours. Added to the strong structure of the wine it also had a medium tannin so it left the mouth fully satisfied after a good chew or two. Without a doubt the wine met the lofty expectations. I think that despite it’s wonderful state now, it will be equally beneficial to cellar this for 3 to 4 more years, which, if you do not have any will mean you will have to act fast. Château des Charmes lists it as sold out on their website and I have only seen a few bottles in a select few LCBO’s here in Toronto. For $25 a bottle it is under-priced for the level of quality of the wine.

It is with trepidation that I rate this wine, one because I am about to give my first 9x rating and second because I think I will be using this as a benchmark. It is hard to rate/judge wines when you have a good idea of what you see as a complete wine, and of late this is the most complete wine I have had. While in France in late April I drank many a french wine, trying to enjoy Rhônes, Bordeauxs and Burgundies as much as possible. During that trip I found so many wines I truly enjoyed, this Cab Sauv would have easily have been mistaken to have been from one the better French vineyards had someone snuck it in.

This wine gets a solid 90
Mrs.CWG says

“Delicious”

Oh, sorta a PS on this post, in the next 2 to 3 months I will be reviewing another Château des Charmes gem that deserves mentioning in case anyone is looking for a well priced dessert wine between now and then: 2006 Late Harvest Riesling

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Our first Canadian wine to be reviewed. This bottle was plucked from the cellar after having been one of the monthly wines offered up by the Peller Estates “Wine Country at Home” Membership. The 2002 is ready to drink now, but will also see some changing if you let it sit for another year or two. The wine has notes of spice with a hint of Vanilla. While it is an enjoyable wine, I found that I was slightly disappointed in it. Understanding that this is not Peller Estates high end (the Private Reserve line is below the Andrew Peller Signature Series), still for a price of $20+ a bottle I expect a bit more complexity and depth. Maybe it is my expectations of a Cabernet Sauvignon but I wanted more “oomphf” then this delivered. Was still enjoyable, it was wine after all!

I will back track though, this wine will be very tasty with a medium spiced red sauce pasta, a bbq pork chop or a striploin (maybe reduce some Cabernet with some mushrooms for a nice sauce. Do not shy away from this if you like even keeled red that will be smooth from start to finish.

After some good thought I feel this wine warrants an 82 on the ratings scale.
Mrs.CWG says

“enjoyed it”

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