Eating in Paris, part 3

Posted on April 19, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

If you are looking for the perfect Paris dining experience that does not require a Michelin guide entry, look no further then Chez Janou in the 3ieme. Cramped, noisy, chalkboard menus and reservations required, this local Bistrot is fantastic. In warm weather try and reserve a terrace table and watch the Marais pass you by.

A provencal restaurant that serves some great signature dishes (thon provencal for example) you will be hard pressed to not find something to tempt your taste buds. We started with the moules gratin then Mrs CWG shocked the world by having magret de canard (so original…).

We went with a 2006 Chapoutier Deschants (Saint Joseph) for our wine and were not disapointed. Tasting notes were not taken but we enjoyed it to the last drop. The wine selection is Rhone heavy and should have enough choice to satisfy all budgets and tastes alike.

To finish the dinner off be sure to leave room for desert. The creme brûlée still remains the best we have ever had, but if you have room for 2 also get the chocolate mousse and try not to faint when they leave the huge bowl at your table. Overall you will get a great dinner with an experience to match.

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Eating in Paris, part 2

Posted on April 18, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

Paris is a huge melting pot of people and cultures, with this comes culinary delights from many nations. on night three we chose to head off to our favorite Moroccan restaurant, Le 404 in the 3ieme. Just north of the ever busy Les Halles area, walking into the dark cave like restaurant will blast your senses with spices and a consistent hum of voices and music.

Always packed, this restaurant will test the average North Americans personal space limits with it’s cramped tables. Once you have wedged yourselves in, start with the house mojitos and your journey is well on it’s way. Mrs CWG, not having had every piece of duck in France yet, dove into the apple/cinnamon canard tangine. I went with a lamb and prunes tangine that rivaled the Mrs. for quality and enjoyment.

As for the wine, do not be shy and try some North African reds that are featured here. We went with the 2007 Les Trois Domaines (Maroc) recommended to us by our neighbouring table and were rewarded with an intense fruit forward wine with a good balance and hint of spice. We finished off with some house tea poured into our tiny cups from a meter above to finish off a wonderful evening with panache. A great dining experience we recommend to all.

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WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2005

Posted on April 17, 2009 by John Galea

This is an absolutely varietal Aussie cab. There are all the typical flavors and aromas of a cab mixed in with a very slight pepperyness on the finish as is typical for an Aussie. Terroir can never be underestimated and is clearly evident in this wine. The wine has a medium finish. I paired it with a pork sausage and it went well. This is a good value wine. It will continue to show well for a good couple years. It through a ton of sediment in the glass which decanting would have solved. From a flavor point of view it really didn’t need to be decanted.

Jeremy Oliver gave it a 95, I would give it a solid 90.

From the LCBO web site:
WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2005
Coonawarra, South Australia

TASTING NOTE: A fine, elegant Coonawarra cabernet whose ripe, floral perfume of cassis, blackberries, dark chocolates and cedar/vanilla oak has a faintly confiture-like aspect. Fully ripened but smooth and supple, its long, fleshy and spotlessly presented palate of vibrant small black berries, mulberries and plums knits tightly with vanilla/cedar oak. Full to medium in weight, framed by firm, pliant tannins, it’s a wine of style and stature. Score – 95. (Jeremy Oliver, www.jeremyoliver.com.au, May 2007)

84996 (D) 750 mL $24.95
Featured Oct 25th 2008
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TOMÀS CUISINÉ VILOSELL 2005

Posted on April 16, 2009 by John Galea

I bought this wine back in June of last year. Looks like there isn’t any more at the LCBO, which is a crying shame. I actually went back and grabbed more it was so good. Out of the bottle there was a bitterness to the wine, but I could taste underlying goodness just waiting to be uncovered. After decanting for 1 hour the wine displayed lovely tastes with some complexity. The Oak is well under control and the usual black berry flavors are there. The finish is medium. This is a good tempranillo. I would agree with the 3-5 years in the cellar improving this even more. Too bad I don’t have more!

From the LCBO web site:
TOMÀS CUISINÉ VILOSELL 2005
DO Costers del Segre
The wine is a blend of 58% Tempranillo, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Carignan, 4% Syrah and 3% Merlot, aged for 9 months in a new French oak. The aromas are complex, featuring blackberry, black currant, black pepper, cedar and spices. Dry with good fruit surrounded by softening tannins and a good acid streak. This superb wine is an ideal choice for grilled steak, plus it will also reward 3-5 years in a cellar.

066928 (XD) 750 mL $20.95

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Eating in Paris, part 1

Posted on April 16, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

Being in Paris means opening our culinary trip with a tried and tested family favorite. Relais de Venise is the benchmark for l’Entrecote (‘steak and frites’) in Paris. It remains the only place that locals queue nightly in order to be seated for dinner. All you must know is “seignant, a point or bien cuit” in this gastronmical wonderland, where your only choice is desert (well wine too, but the house red is one on the better in Paris) and cafe types, if you have room. In the Maillot area it is a short walk from the metro or a nice 15 min jaunt from Etoile/Arc de Triomphe.

If it is a great artisan sandwich you are looking for, try lunch at the hip Cosi in the 6ieme. Their chalkboard menu contains a feast of choices, none of which will disapoint.

Canard, duck, however you call it, Mrs CWG is the queen of the fatty little bird. Once in Paris her heart turns to eating as much of it as possible! We tried ‘Il etait une oie dans le sud ouest’ last night, a place famous for it’s fois gras. The missus’ confit was outstanding while my magret (breast) was delightful. The house Bordeaux was a perfect compliment, rich with a full body and good fruit. While no pictures of the bottle were taken (we had a carafe) I did however capture the tables in an image, notice something unusual??

more later!

-posted via WordPress app on my iPhone


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HENRY OF PELHAM OFF-DRY RESERVE RIESLING 2007

Posted on April 15, 2009 by John Galea

I cracked this one the other night. This is a smack in the middle Riesling. Not too sweet, but also not that long in flavor. It is varietal on the nose, with a pale color. This wine is in the middle between a Kabinett and a Spatlese. Overall it was an Ok wine but nothing stellar. I would probably give it an 87 or so. This is more of a style thing for me. I think they should either choose to make a sweet wine and do that or make a dry one and do that. This off dry (or semi sweet) is an odd one. All in all it was fine, but compared to what I call the benchmark Niagara Riesling which for me is the Cave Springs, this one is a bit of a disappointment. I paired it with Fajitas and it went well with the cheese in them. This wine would make a good patio wine. You could sip this one happily on the deck. So all in all, not a bad wine, just nothing outstanding. I won’t be rushing out to grab a case of these 🙂

Check LCBO stock

From the LCBO Web site:
HENRY OF PELHAM OFF-DRY RESERVE RIESLING 2007
VINTAGES 557165 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 15.95
Wine, White Wine,
11.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : MD
This is a VQA wine

Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Henry Of Pelham Family Est. Winery

Release Date: Sep 27, 2008

Tasting Note
Pelham’s Rieslings are consistently good values and well made wines year after year – this one is no exception. This is a wonderful peach/apple mix of fruit on both the nose and palate and a nice petrol undercurrent is already beginning to develop. I recommend that you also taste for the mango that’s present, and pleasant, in the mouth. (Michael Pinkus, www.ontariowinereview.com, June 17, 2008)

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Leffe on Tap

Posted on April 14, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

Nothing says Paris like taking a pit stop at a brasserie (does it matter which one?), grabbing a table and watching the world walk by. As we sit close to Congres (Maillot) we are enjoying one of the finest Belgian ‘pressions’ there is, Leffe. Despite my body being unsure of where it is (40 hours ago I was in Seoul, 20 hours ago in Toronto) I have to say a warm spring day in Paris can sure make you not care.

blog more later

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Hello from Paris!

Posted on April 14, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

It has been a world wind two weeks for CWG (if you have been following status updates on my Facebook page you’d have gotten whiplash). Having travelled to north eastern Russia (Yakutsk) and back, Mrs CWG and I boarded a plane for Paris yesterday and now find ourselves sitting in the executive lounge of the Hilton Arc de Triomphe. We are sipping on a lovely 2007 Bourgogne Aligote, ‘Les Planchants’.

Crisp, fruit forward with good acidity this is a great stand alone wine. This wine has a great green apple and is pleasantly dry for an Aligote. A great way to wait for our room to be ready.

All week I will be blogging via my WordPress application on my iPhone.

Cheers

ps: belated happy 5th Mrs. CWG!

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Basics of decanting

Posted on April 12, 2009 by John Galea

To decant or not to decant. A question often asked so I thought I would give my thoughts on the subject. Decanting is all about allowing some oxygen at the wine. Growing up I always thought taking the cork off the bottle would do the trick. But of course, the amount of surface area in contact with the wine is trivial so this does next to nothing. Decanting is all about bringing a large amount of the wine in contact with oxygen.

Experience will help you anticipate which wines benefit from decanting and how much. Some folks decant wine for as much as half a day, but I don’t. What I do is I will open the wine say 1-2 hours before the meal and taste it. I look for bitterness, and alcohol flavors in the wine that I deem undesirable. When I taste these I decide to decant the wine. How much of it I taste determines how long I think I need to decant it. Take a number of large body Niagara Cab Francs. These need a good two hours. Younger wines will need decanting more than mature wines.

Another reason why you may want to decant is sediment. Some wines will throw a lot of sediment as they age. Carefully pouring the wine into a decanter and leaving some in the bottle can remove most of the sediment. Then when you pour for your guests they don’t end up with stems and the like at the bottom of the glass. Some people really don’t like that.

Decanters don’t have to be expensive. They just need to have large surface areas. How much you pay for it has more to do with how fancy you want it to look. Mine is a duck style decanter similar to this one.

I highly recommend picking up a decanter. It can make a huge difference in the wine taking one you thought was nasty and revealing it’s true potential. Decanting can help to take a wine that really ought to be kept for another year or two and make it close to that NOW!!!

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Waterstone Cabernet Sauvigonon 2005

Posted on April 10, 2009 by John Galea

We attended the California wine event. The majority of the wines were not available at the LCBO. There was a dizzying array of wines at the event and not one of them was bad. I was quite impressed. Never did check out the food. I could rave about a number of wines, but that would be cruel since you can’t get them. Ya gotta love living in Ontario don’t ya. Anyway, this wine was one of the stars of the night for me. It is available on consignment for $38.40 and was a lovely, absolutely varietal Napa Valley Cab. Deep ruby in color, typical black berries on the nose with a lovely mid pallette complexity finishing off with a medium to long finish. I wuld say another 1-2 years of patience will be well rewarded. A decanting would be prudent. This wine is by no means cheap but it was better tasting then wines at twice the price. I was impressed. Anyone heading to CA want to bring me some back:)
Waterstone

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D’ARENBERG THE CUSTODIAN GRENACHE 2006

Posted on April 9, 2009 by John Galea

I’ve had this one before and has been consistently quite good. Out of the bottle this had quite a bitter taste to it. Decanting 45 min fixed this and left what I have come to expect from this wine which is a well mannered smooth lovely wine deserving of an 89-90 rating. This wine has a medium finish to it. I quite enjoyed it. I paired it with a Mediterranean sausage and asparagus and it went fine with it. Day two paired it with smoked salmon, red fish, red wine. And it was even better the second day!

From the LBCO web site:
D’ARENBERG THE CUSTODIAN GRENACHE 2006 McLaren Vale South Australia TASTING NOTE: Deep red. Very fresh aromas of raspberry cherry and blackberry. Smooth and seamless with deeply concentrated nicely focused red fruit flavors no apparent tannins and slow-mounting sweetness. I suspect that some Old World palates will find this a bit lacking in nuance but I really like its freshness and clarity of fruit. Score – 90. (Josh Raynolds International Wine Cellar Sept./Oct. 2008) 713040 $21.95 Featured 3/14/2009

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Bottle

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GANTON & LARSEN PROSPECT WINERY LARCH TREE HILL RIESLING 2007

Posted on April 8, 2009 by John Galea

Another one from the Global wine tour’s BC event. This wine is a reasonable Riesling, varietal in flavor and nose. It had a slight effervescent tingle on the tongue. It had a nice bit of tartness on the finish and it was a reasonably long wine. It would pair well with fatty foods. The instructor paired it with a with a white cheese. For the price it is not a bad wine. I would probably give it an 88-89. Not sure if I would say it is any better than say a Cave Springs Riesling, but for something different it would be worth a whirl.

From the LCBO Website:
GANTON and LARSEN PROSPECT WINERY LARCH TREE HILL RIESLING 2007
VINTAGES 70698 | 750 mL bottle Price: $ 13.85
Wine, White Wine, 12.5% Alcohol/Vol. This is a VQA wine
Made in: British Columbia, Canada By: Mission Hill Vineyards Inc.
Release Date: Aug 30, 2008

Description
Launched with the 2006 vintage, this winery is a new venture for iconic BC producer Mission Hill. Ganton and Larsen are the two growers who supplied Mission Hill with its grapes in the winery’s early years. These well-respected properties are now the source for terrific wines like this citrus- and peach-packed Riesling. Soft and juicy with delicate mineral notes, it’s the perfect wine to sip and savour during the waning weeks of summer.

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Sumac Ridge Private Reserve Merlot/Cabernet 2005

Posted on April 7, 2009 by John Galea

This is a lovely Bordeaux blend that includes Merlot, Cab Sauv and Cab Franc. The Cab Franc is noticeable but not overwhelming. The wine is well under control with reasonable tannins, and a nice finish. A good solid wine priced about right. I get currant/cassis flavors with some vanilla imparted from the oak. All in all quite a nice wine! Also tasted at the Global wine tour BC event.

From the LCBO web site:
SUMAC RIDGE PRIVATE RESERVE MERLOT/CABERNET 2005
VINTAGES 101626 | 750 mL bottle Price: $ 17.95
Wine, Red Wine, 14.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: British Columbia, Canada By: Vincor International Inc. – B.C.
Release Date: Jan 10, 2009

Description
Rich extracted fruit-dark plums, chocolate, coffee beans and earthy aromas. On the palate it is smooth, full bodied and a bit meaty showing flavours of black cherry, leather, vanilla and spice with soft tannins on the finish. This is the type of wine you always want to grab two of! (www.winediva.ca, June 2, 2007)

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Fast Hello from Yakutsk, Russia

Posted on April 6, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

With John picking up all the slack with posts, there is a reason why. I have just spent the past 3 days travelling from Canada to get to Yakutsk. I would talk about the wine if I would dare drink it, so let’s say it is vodka for me, stick with what they know!

Chat soon, till then see entry #8 on this list!

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Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Proprietors’ Grand Reserve Merlot 2005

Posted on April 6, 2009 by John Galea

I’m on a BC roll. We attended a BC Wine event put on by Global wine tour. After tasting this one at the event I ran out grabbed 5 of them. This is a lovely Merlot. Some varietal nose and tastes although not the smoothest Merlot. It has a lovely medium to long finish with a good amount of dryness. The wine is deep purple in color. We paired this to a BBQd steak (chocolate brownies and truffles for dessert) and it went well. So well we polished off the whole bottle! Good Merlots are hard to find and this a good one. I would give it a 90-91. Yummy … We decanted this one for 1/2 hour and I would recommend it. The wine had a slight bit of bitterness out of the bottle that quickly passed. More than 1/2 hour and you could loose some of the distinctiveness of the wine.

There are not a lot of Okanagan wines that make it to Ontario so jump on them when you can. They are distinctive wines with lots of character.
Check LCBO Stock

From the LCBO web site:
JACKSON-TRIGGS OKANAGAN ESTATE PROPRIETORS’ GRAND RESERVE MERLOT 2005
VINTAGES 643445 | 750 mL bottle Price: $ 24.95
Wine, Red Wine, 13.8% Alcohol/Vol.This is a VQA wine
Made in: British Columbia, Canada By: Vincor International Inc. – B.C.
Release Date: Jan 31, 2009

Description
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate was named Winery of the Year at the Wine Access 2008 Canadian Wine Awards. This flavourful Merlot is a testament to their commitment to quality, showcasing ripe black fruit and spicy notes, with a lovely plush texture and a long, fine finish. A winner with prime rib.

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Mission Hill Chardonnay Reserve 2006

Posted on April 4, 2009 by John Galea

This is a very good Chard. It has a lovely bit of butteryness, not over the top though. Clearly secondary fermentation has been done. Some oak is present and it has a creamyness to it. The wine was left in contact with the lees for 8 months Autolysis

This wine has a nice medium to long finish. I picked up a very slight green flavor off the wine. This is a good wine as long as you like this style of Chard. This is more of a Californian style Chard. Yummy.

From the LCBO web site:
MISSION HILL RESERVE CHARDONNAY (V) VINTAGES 545004 | 750 mL bottle Price: $ 19.95
Wine, White Wine, 13.5% Alcohol/Vol.Sugar Content : XD
This is a VQA wine Made in: British Columbia, Canada By: Mission Hill Vineyards Inc. Release Date: Oct 11, 2008. From one of BC’s most beautiful wineries, comes this elegant, flavourful wine. Winemaker John Simes, working with the blessings of visionary owner Anthony von Mandl, has created a wine loaded with peach, tropical fruit (pineapple and banana), floral, butterscotch and toasty oak aromas. It’s medium full-bodied with a creamy texture leading to a long finish. An inspired match for pan-seared chicken breast with rosemary and garlic.
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Ridgepoint 2005 Chardonnay

Posted on April 4, 2009 by John Galea

We bought this wine at the winery and is not available at the LCBO. The wine has a nice honey yellowish color to it. This wine is a VERY mild Chardonnay. Maybe leaning more towards the Chablis style than the Californian style. No butteryness to it with a mild finish. I paired it with a piece of pan fried Cod and it went ok, but not stellar. The wine is good but not great, and for the $20 ticket you can get better wines. I would not be rushing out to get more. That said the winery has a lovely country style restaurant that serves home style Italian cooking for a very reasonable price. This is definitely not one of Niagara’s finest. These guys have even tried to plant Nebiolo grapes (the ones used in Barolos). Needless to say so far this has not gone well with production being low in good years and zero in bad. I have not tasted that one so can’t comment on the quality.

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FAMIGLIA BIANCHI MALBEC 2005

Posted on April 3, 2009 by John Galea

I’ve had this one in my collection for a while now and it has softened nicely. The 2006 is in the stores now and seems to have a similar rating. It is a lovely smooth Malbec, absolutely varietal. It has a medium finish. The wine itself is a lovely dark color with a nice bouquet. For the price this wine is a good deal! Run out and grab some of the 2006!

From the LCBO web site:

FAMIGLIA BIANCHI MALBEC 2005 San Rafael, Mendoza (Valentin Bianchi) TASTING NOTE: Has a nice creamy texture, with alluring raspberry, fig, mocha and spice flavors that pump through the rich, velvety finish. Drink now through 2008. Score – 89. (James Molesworth, www.winespectator.com, June 30, 2007) 677559 (XD) 750 mL $13.85
Featured 1/14/2008

Bottle

Bottle

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PELLER ESTATES FRENCH CROSS CAB MERLOT

Posted on April 2, 2009 by John Galea

We were served this one free of charge on the flight back from Cuba. This wine was grape juice with alcohol thrown in. You can see why it was free. The vines must be a couple years old. There was nothing distinctive or noticeable about this wine. It wasn’t awful, just absolutely nothing to it. Looking for something to serve someone who doesn’t like wine? This might be just the right wine for you 🙂 Otherwise … stick with Welches
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2005 Lussac-Saint-Émilion La Combe Rouge

Posted on April 1, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

So we decided to continue to delve into the wines brought back from France a few years ago with this inexpensive red. Lussac-Saint-Émilion is part of the Bordeaux region and a sub appellation of the Saint-Émilion. Most of the producers in here still remain family operations and the price on the wines remains some of the real bargains from Bordeaux. This wine is primarily Merlot but is blended with some Cab (I believe Franc if my taste buds are worth anything) but in reality that is just a guess as trying to find any information on this vintage was impossible (oh google why do you let me down?). One interesting note before I get into the tasting was the fact that the cork was covered (see the picture below) with Tartrate crystals, something which is uncommon but happens in wines. These clear crystals do not alter the taste (at least that I have found) and do not represent a ‘corked’ wine either. Tartaric Acid is the culprit for this interesting formation which is better represented by this picture here. Anyways, on to the tasting!

Decanting this wine showed off the interesting tartrates and a nice purple colour with heavy raspberry nose. Several swirls of the glass brought out more berry and a tad bit of oak with a hint of vanilla. The first couple of sips showed good fruit with solid tannins. Black cherry (a common aroma for this style) with heavy raspberry and blackberry came out in this fruit forward wine. The finish was long and smooth and as the wine opened up cinnamon and light spiciness came out. Overall the wine was very well balanced and for the price this wine tasted above and beyond expectations. With the firm tannins and solid fruit I would hazard to guess this could be cellared for 2 to 7 years longer and you will notice changes that should be positive, though it is ready to drink now if you are so fortunate to have one or two stashed away.

The CWG Subjective Rating for this wine is 89 out of 100.

Mrs CWG says

What a great bargain, I am glad we still have another bottle!

2005_lussac_saint_emilion_la_combe_rougetartrates

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Soroa red and white wine

Posted on March 31, 2009 by John Galea

Just back from a trip to Cuba. The all inclusive pricing included all the alcohol you could drink. We drank the Soroa band Red and White wines. We were told these were brought in from Spain and bottled in Cuba. The red was a simple easy drinking wine with a bit of depth and a medium finish. Paired well with most foods. Quite reasonable.

There were two different whites with the same (or similar) labels. One tasted a lot like a Riesling and the other tasted like a Sauv blanc. Yet again these were absolutely palatable food friendly wines. Would thrill no one, but not awful either.

The resort carried two different beers. Bucanero which was a 5.4% beer with a lovely hoppy flavor. Quite nice. Easy drinking.

The second was Cristal which was a 4.5% beer that had a slightly longer, slightly bitter finish to it.

I quite enjoyed many of all of these on my week stay in Cuba 🙂 Not one hang over either so these were by no mean harsh …

And no, you can’t get them in Canada, you will just have to plan your own trip to Cubalicious!

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2004 Château de Seguin (Bordeaux-Supérieur) Part 2

Posted on March 30, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

Last night we had no idea what to drink, so we decided to open this wine we picked up in Paris a few years back. We bought this on a whim to fill up the bags coming home with some cheap Bordeaux and with the low price and medal on the label (marketing!) we grabbed two (as well as several others). We reviewed the first of the two a year or so back, this is the follow up. As I have been hard pressed for time the past few weeks I want to get you into the tasting notes right away, but safe to say this, the Bordeaux region has an unbelievable variety of small and unknown vintners, what we do not get here in Canada (Ontario particularly) is selection at good prices. I know recently it was fun to link the $4.97 Yellow Tail picture from the US and laugh at the fact we pay $11.95 for the same wine, but unfortunately this is a grim reality. We overpay for wine and spirits here, Château de Seguin produces nice inexpensive wines, there is no reason we should not have access to them for a reasonable mark-up. On to the tasting!

The decanting showed a wine that was vibrant in purple hues with no visible sediment. The nose had cherry and a slight bit of oak on it. A good swirl and more fruit came out. For a 2004 at first nose this was ready to drink now. Once we got into the structured tasting wild-berries came out with hints of vanilla. Tannins were obviously there but were even and appealing The fruit stayed on our palates throughout the bottle and the finish was longer then expected. The nose did not betray the wine, it is ready to drink now and I doubt it will benefit from additional time in the bottle. Overall we quite enjoyed this the second time around, though the rating did not change.

The Subjective CWG rating is 86 out of 100.

chateau_de_seguin_2004

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LCBO – Vintages Burgundy Release 25 March 2009

Posted on March 25, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

If you get regular emails from Vintages this one may interest you. There are some very good wines featured and if you are looking at buying this may be a good time to look at these:

(Overall List Here)

2006 Bouchard Pere & Fils Volnay Taillepieds 1er Cru for $65 a bottle
2006 Champy Volnay Taillepieds 1er Cru for $65 a bottle
2006 Joseph Drouhin Savigny-les-Beaun Les Talmettes 1er Cru for $45 a bottle
2006 Louis Latour Montagny la Grande Roche 1er Cru for $28 a bottle (White)

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CWG’s Sabbatical OVER!

Posted on March 24, 2009 by CanadianWineGuy

Well sort of! I am back from a longer then usual business trip and with a few pictures and comments to fill the blank space until a new review. Here we go:

3_wines

Had these three wines the night before I left. Quickly: The Trius was below average, not what I expected from them, Thirty Bench disapointed all of us with a rather average Chardonnay, Arrowood impressed us to the point that Mrs CWG is demanding I bring back some on the next trip to California. In fact, the 2005 Sonoma County Chardonnay was outstanding and rates a 90+ from this wino.

cheap_oak_leaf

Where the heck can you find wine in Canada for less then two 2L bottles of Coke? I did not venture to try any of the Oak Lead offerings, but worst case I guess you could distill it …

just_like_home

Let’s see 11.95 or 4.97? Quite a price difference for us Canucks, not that I recommend buying Yellow Tail Shiraz.

2007_ique_malbec

Had this nice inexpensive Malbec out with friends in Yuma, Az. Good tannins and structure, I think if you had the patience the Ique Malbec would reward you.

chimay_on_draft

This interlude brought to you by Chimay on tap at Sogno DiVino in San Diego. Not wine but extremely yummy none the less!

and Lastly, this is the best present to come home to:

nice_present

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Calamus White 2007

Posted on March 19, 2009 by John Galea

This wine is, you guessed it, not available at the LCBO 🙂 I’m on a roll. We picked this one up on the latest trip down to Niagara. The wine is a simple slightly complex white. It would go well with a lot of dishes. It has a very slight effervescent tingle on the tongue, but it’s not overwhelming. Slightly sweet, slightly tart wine. Not overly complex. For the price this wine is a good deal. Great for the up and coming trips to your deck!

Niagara trip 2009

From the website:
Calamus white

2007 Calamus White VQA – $12.00
A refreshing blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer
“…a palette of tropical fruit salad…a hint of sweetness balanced by refreshing acidity…Great for chilin’ on the patio this summer”
– Mike Lowe

2007-calamuswhite_sm

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