Dusty, Earthy, and Delicious: An Evening of South Africa Reds

April 25th marked a night of tasting premium South African reds with our local chapter of the South World Wine Society. As usual, it was a gregarious group with a diverse range of opinions and no hesitation sharing them. Here’s a short review of the wines we sipped in the order we sampled.

2002 Mulderbosch Steen Op Hout, Stellenbosch
The evening began with a bit of a mystery as we attempted to identify the grape variety of our reception wine. Frank and another young man we later learned is also going through WSET training got it almost immediately – Chenin Blanc (for those who know, clearly identified on the label by its Afrikaans name of Steen). Although, I’ll boast on Frank’s behalf because he figured that one blind – unlike me, he hadn’t gone back to check out label. An overtone of burnt matches and a bit bitter at the back of the mouth, this is the first South African Chenin Blanc to have contact with oak.

2001 Walker Bay Pinot Noir, Hamilton Russell Vineyards
Descriptors from our assembled company included mineral, slate, just plain beautiful, and “a haunting perfume like night on the plains of Africa.” Typical old world style, this was Frank’s favourite of the evening, my second favourite. Denise, who claims to “really dislike Pinot Noirs,” said it turned into her top choice but only after she began pairing it with food.

2003 Reserve Cape Blend Simonsig Frans Malan, Stellenbosch
A blend of 45% each Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon rounded out with 10% Merlot. Designed as an attempt to create the definitive “Cape Blend” (which must, by law, include Pinotage) this wine prompted a true love/hate relationship. Most people loved it big time chatting happily about the spicy notes and rich vanilla. But those who didn’t like it, really didn’t – and were extremely vocal about it. Consensus was it needs food – as one woman said: give me laaamb, baaaah. (Photo of the dusty plains and mauve sunsets above courtesy of Simonsig)

2001 Rosendal, Stellenbosch
Not just organic but biodynamic we agreed this is what the British would call a “correct wine.” Dusty like the African desert, earthy, and with the bakery nose that comes from using only naturally occurring yeasts, Paul, our cellar master described this wine as “a convivial evening with good food and friends” – apparently perfectly aligned with the winemakers philosophy of getting right down to drinking and enjoying a wine rather than talking about it too much. (Rosendal barrels in the field shown left. Photo courtesy of the winery.)

2003 Saxenburg Cabernet Sauvignon Private Collection, Stellenbosch
Stalky green pepper and barnyard earned this wine the title of being “a young, angry teenager waiting to make a statement.” This is a winemaker who used to divide his time between France and South Africa, but now chooses to concentrate his talents only in the latter.

2002 Ruste en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch
Literally translated as “far enough,” this Ruste en Vrede Cab is the only South African wine to place in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines four times – although this particular vintage is not considered one of their stellar ones. Controversy raged as to whether it was leather or barnyard. In the end, opinion seemed split 50/50, but all agreed this is perfect for nights when the planned activities are throwing a steak or two on the barbie and watching mindless TV – like that would be hard to find on the tube these days?

2004 Syrah Glen Carlou, Paarl
Smooth, voluptuous, alluring, with perfect balance and tannic integration, this Syrah was named Wine of the Year in the 2006 John Platter South African Wine Guide – long acknowledged as the definitive authority on South African wines. “It’s really great, but it’s a bitch to find,” someone let us know from the far end of the room. But at an approximate cost of $30, it’s also one I’m betting a whole bunch of us will rush out to snap up whatever few remaining bottles we can find. Words of wisdom from cellar master Paul: This is the wine you pull out on the first date.
FYI: In the annual Platter Guide competition, wines are first tasted sighted. Subsequently, all five-star wines are tasted blind to determine the ultimate winner.

2003 Shiraz Radford Dale, Stellenbosch
This Shiraz could hang out with the Aussies undetected – hardly a surprise when you realize the winemaker harkens from Barossa. More about international style rather than terroir, we agreed this wine is designed to appeal to the North American palate. There were brief rumours this is the wine you open now you’re half way through the first date and have moved into the living room. Most, however, said it was the one to sip as you’re sitting around with “the gang” after work and telling jokes about your boss.

2002 Syrah Boekenhoutskloof Estate, Franschboek
Coffee, chocolate, and all those yummy flavours come together to create a slightly restrained but full wine that’s surprisingly different from its 2001 younger sister which was actually made from grapes grown closer to the Indian Ocean. (Note: this winery doesn’t appear to have an individual website but they are listed if you follow the link above.)

1996 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Klein Constantia
Amber poetry on the nose, it took us both a while to actually take a sip of this one as we savoured the distinctive aroma of Noble Rot. After great anticipation, however, we both felt let down when it hit the palate – a little flat and bordering on harsh – especially disappointing since only four or five vintages have been produced.

A Chip Off the Old Barrel

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about barrels lately – varying amounts of toast, using radar to plot flavor profiles, and technical specs from various cooperages. Okay, so it’s part of my WSET training, but it also reinforces some interesting – or more accurately startling – information.

For example, the oaked Chardonnay you have in your hand may actually have never seen the inside of a cask. That Napa Cabernet Sauvignon for 60 bucks? Quite possibly nada
in the barrel department but high in the oak chips or staves.

So here’s how it works. To fake the flavour, there’s a selection of oak chips (now does the image at the right really make you want to run out and buy a wine that's been sitting on these - go on, be honest), oak powder, oak inner staves, or something called oak extract – chips, dust powder, (shown left) from one supplier. And let’s not forget Quertain Effervescent Tablets and Liquid Oak Tannin.

Sound like a drugstore rather than a winery? Well how about this? The April 2007 issue of Wines and Vines Magazine is all about oak alternatives. One advertisement boldly asks, “Is it barrels or alternatives? Only the winemaker will know for sure.”

So do you really know how the oak flavor got into your wine? Can you tell if the oak is from barrels or a bag of chips?

Wines and Vines did a taste test of wines made using alternatives – mostly barrel staves – and found that “only the most highly trained palates will be able to taste the difference between barrel only and oak adjuncts.”

Funny thing, though, the Italians have banned oak chips and the French are just waiting for legislation to pass banning them – this is contrary to new EU laws that do allow use of chips and other oak adjuncts. Do they know something we don’t?

My research into barrels may never be useful in a practical sense. After all, Robert Parker gave a Napa Cab Franc (Larkin 2004) made with staves 92 points and called it one of the finest Napa Cab Francs made. Perhaps the question is not so much who is using Liquid Oak or what they charge for it. Perhaps it’s more about whether there is a difference between industrial wines and artisan wines. If you can’t tell the difference, does it really matter?

Let me draw a comparison. Think about buying a bag of vanilla cookies from a company that spits out millions per day off an assembly line. They’re a bit hard and dry, but you know it’s a vanilla cookie. True the fake vanilla leaves a residual, slightly off taste in your mouth, but hey the bag was cheap – like a $10 vintage of almost any wine.

Now think about the little mom and pop bakery just down the street. You bite into one of their softy, gooey, delicacies hot off a baking sheet. I don’t need to describe the fragrance, the texture, and the richness of the genuine vanilla. Do you care this single cookie cost almost the same as the bag of its mass produced distant cousins? Doubtful.

There’s definitely a place for assembly line products – cars, computers, video games. Wine just isn’t one of them.


Barrel photos courtesy of Haut Brion

Developing Terroir: BC Wines Come of Age

Big, bold, and daring or crisp, delicate, and sophisticated. Whatever your preference in wines, BC’s burgeoning wine industry now boasts some of the finest. “BC is clearly developing its own, unique persona,” says Tim Ellison, co-founder of the BC Wine Appreciation Society and long-time sommelier. “As we become more connected to the many individual terroirs and as our vines age to produce grapes with more complexity, we are creating a truly identifiable BC style.”

Award Wining Vintages

“We are no longer trying to mimic other parts of the world,” adds Mike Smith, owner of Recline Ridge Winery(shown left). “Thus our wines show well on the world stage.”

Judges agree, and BC wines are now receiving an ongoing stream of accolades from international, domestic, and local competitions. In one that shook the wine world, last year Jackson-Triggs Estate Wines became the first North American winery to win the prestigious Rosemount Estate Trophy for best Shiraz/Syrah at the London International Wine and Spirits Competition beating out competitors from such Shiraz/Syrah heavy weights as Australia and South Africa with their Okanagan Estate Proprietors’ Grand Reserve Shiraz 2004.

The Wines We Love to Sip

BC consumers are clearly passionate and loyal, so much so that according to the BC Wine Institute who regulates the VQA program, more than 80% of the VQA wines produced in British Columbia remain here.

“British Columbians have a very sophisticated palate, but they are also willing to be adventurous,” says communications manager Lisa Cameron. Although names like Chardonnay, Merlot, and Pinot Noir are still at the top of the list of BC-grown grapes in terms of production, you’ll also find many other intriguing varieties to tantalize your taste buds. Ehrenfelser, Foch, Kerner, Madeleine Angevine, Siegerrebe, Sovereign Opal, and Zweigelt are just a few of the lesser known varietals gaining a steady following of loyal sippers. Hazel Manser, who with her husband Jack, (shown right) owns Larch Hills Winery, says they are also now produce three organic wines – Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, and a Pinot Gris.

Climatic Opportunities

With global warming an increasing concern in many commercial sectors, a surprising number of industry watchers are cautiously optimistic the wine industry might actually benefit from climactic changes. In fact, Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell recently suggested the wine industry could expand by 50% thanks to warmer weather making it feasible to grow grapes in new areas. “Ten years ago,” he points out, “no one would have guessed we could grow Shiraz grapes in the Okanagan – now it produces some of the best in the world.”

“We are already seeing it happen in Europe,” says Gary Kennedy, one of four owners at the family-run Granite Creek Estate Wines. “Grapes that used to grow well in France are now being grown in England. In 20 years, we may see wines that were grown in Oliver being grown here in Salmon Arm – and we may see new wineries opening up farther north up the valley.” (Lush and juicy, some of the Granite Creek grapes are show above.)

But Gary stresses he believes it will be a long time the public’s appetite outstrips production. “Shortage of good land is one of the industry’s challenges,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons we opened the winery – to preserve and expand viable farmland. I believe we can stand a lot more wineries in this province before any of us suffer any pressure from over production.”

Looking for more information on BC wines? Here are two resources worth bookmarking on your web browser:
BC Wine Institute: www.winebc.com
Okanagan Wine Festival:www.owfs.com


This article was first published in BC Wine & Golf Magazine (April, 2007)

Semillon: Plain Jane or Belle of the Ball

Tonight’s wine tasting gives new meaning to the word “contrast.” On the table are two wines from Down Under: a Parri Estate and a Noble One Botrytis Semillon from De Bortoli. Both wines are 2004 vintages, both are 100% Semillon, and that’s about where the similarity ends.

First up is the Parri Estate (shown at the right with a magnificent gum tree in the foreground).

According to the Parri website, this wine has citrus, gooseberry, and grass aromas. One whiff is all it takes to get the citrus. One sip and Frank face contorts into that lip-puckering expression usually reserved for the big, fat, tannic-laden Shiraz wines I’m so fond of. “High acidity – yup, we’ve got that.” He grabs the bottle to read the label. “Well structured, the palate is driven with whips and chains and wooden sticks by fresh citrus.”

I’m still trying to figure out why it reminds me of Riesling, so it takes a minute before I catch his ever so slightly embellished commentary regarding the whips and chains. “But that said,” Frank carries on still absolutely deadpan, “it would be a great wine paired with the right foods – like those tiger prawns with chili sauce at Joe Forte’s or a seafood salad.”

Following our usual tradition, the next thirty minutes are consumed with cross checking all possible references we can find among the ever-expanding library of reference books. (Although we do take a few minutes to check out the photos of hand picking grapes at the Parri Estates - shown at the left)

“In most of the vineyards Semillon sits around sullenly like an overweight schoolgirl, showing awkward fatness or just plain dullness in the wine it produces. In odd places though, as if under the spell of a fairy godmother, it can be transformed into a raving beauty,” says Jancis Robinson in Vines, Grapes, and Wines.

According to Oz Clark in his classic Oz Clark’s Encyclopedia of Grapes, Semillon is “a grape that doesn’t like to do it the normal way. It will grow just about anywhere and reckless produce gigantic crops of grapes that taste of …? er, nothing really.” He adds that winemaker Michael Hill Smith succinctly describes the flavour of unoaked Hunter Valley Semillon as “battery acid.”

However, we also discover that in Argentina, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc are frequently blended and sold under the guise of being Riesling. Ah ha! I feel vindicated. Apparently the combination of 50% wild yeast with 50% Alsace yeast contributes to the Riesling illusion in this particular wine.

We agree the Parri Estate Semillon is a wine that begs for food. Perhaps buttery, fatty oysters which, alas, are not to be found at this hour of the evening. We try it with prosciutto (a good match) and a slice of parmesan (disaster – don’t even think about trying this combination).

This wine should also come with a big warning label: Do Not Serve Too Cold! As it warmed, the nose became more complex, the taste less overwhelmingly acidic. The finish is definitely longish on the mid-palate, but this is not high on our list of sipping wines. And the slight fizz that seemed to last for the entire hour we spent with it was somewhat distracting although we believe it was more a quirk of the wine than an actual fault.

As Frank pops the cork – yes, that’s real cork – on the De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon, we both suppress a sigh of anticipation. “I just love noble rot wines,” he says as fragrances of apricot, nectarine, and peaches float out of the bottle filling our nostrils.

We don’t talk much for about 15 minutes – this is simply too delicious to interrupt with words. Frank’s descriptor is finally “an angular schoolmarm who’s been softened up with Botrytis.” I prefer to think of it as “a Chippendale in a bow tie and nothing else.” And if both are both sexist descriptions – who cares? Certainly we don’t.

We spend a few minutes attempting to find the perfect musical pairing – Etta James doesn’t work, nor does Edith Piaf. Ray Charles and Diana Krall’s duet, You Don’t Know Me, is close. Eventually, we settle on Nat King Cole.

The finish is still lingering on our palates after an hour as the word “heavenly” comes to mind. The contrast between this and our previous selection is astonishing. I would have never batted an eye if Frank had simply poured and told me it was a French Sauterne. Luscious, rich, full, the sugar lingers on the lips but not on the palate.

Later, with a bit of investigation, we find out that the vintage filling our glasses has accumulating over 320 Gold Medals, 98 Trophies, and 95 International Awards including being named a three-time winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition for Best Botrytis Wine. No question this is one Semillon that definitely qualifies as a ravishing beauty under the spell of a fairy godmother.

A Tale of Two Margauxs

The other day I was at a supplier’s shop to pick out some materials for a movie I have coming up. To my surprise, Corrine, the young lady who meticulously keeps track of the accounts, asked how my wine classes were going – which led quite naturally to a conversation about wines in general. Suddenly Corrine looked at her boss and me. “So what’s the oldest bottle of wine either of you had ever had?”

In unison, we both replied: Chateaux Margaux 1953. At first Corrine had an issue with the fact we’d actually drunk a wine older than she is – like I said, she’s young. But when she realized we’d both mentioned the same wine, she wanted to know our stories.

Being a gentleman, I felt it only proper to let Margot, my supplier, tell her story first.

This particular bottle, she explained, was a birthday present – the vintage year meant to be approximately the same as the her own. Her boyfriend of the time was working out of town, and she was meeting up with him to celebrate her birthday.

Apparently said boyfriend, realizing he’d forgotten her birthday, went into panic mode. What to get as an appropriate birthday present and how to have it flown to an isolate spot on the ice fields of Jasper? He made many, many calls on radiophone trying to secure a gift. Finally, he talked to a friend in the restaurant business who suggested the wine – brilliant. A Chateaux Margaux for a Lady Margot.

But how to get a bottle of wine across a province, down some logging roads to a remote helicopter pad, and then to a camp in the middle of nowhere in the 12 hours before Margot arrived? After bribing the transportation coordinator, several office assistants, and a few others – at a cost of great favours to be rendered in the future – the wine was on it way. The boyfriend’s ass was saved.

Little did either of them suspect Margot was unknowingly going to become the courier for her own gift – she also worked in the film industry and often handled time sensitive deliveries of one sort or another. All her boyfriend knew or cared about was that the wine, the lady, and a box containing some gear were on the road heading for Jasper.

Everything arrived safe and sound, but the ground crew informed Margot her boyfriend was still working on top of a mountain on the ice fields. Would she like the helicopter to fly her up the mountain so she could drop off this very important box of gear personally? With a little gentle “persuasion” from the office staff and transportation people, it seems the production company was under the impression this box of gear was critically needed in order for them to finish this project.

Margot still remembered the wine and celebrating her birthday under a clear, blue sky on a snowy mountaintop. She said there were no corkscrews, so they opened the bottle with a screwdriver and drank Chateaux Margaux out of thermos mugs while watching wild mountain peaks stretch unending into the distance.

At this point, I told everyone I couldn’t possibly top Margot’s story and would tell mine another time. I had pulled the cork with a piece of climbing gear, and we drank it out of plastic cups not thermos mugs. The weather was cloudy and a storm front was on its way. But this had been her story, so who I am to argue? I remember the wine was elegant, refined but not too much more about it. The lady was a wild gypsy, clearly contrasting the wine in her own, wonderful way.

Photos taken on location during filming of Wings of Courage. Frank takes a spin behind the wheel then relaxes in anticipation of the first sip - nectar no matter what you're drinking it out of.


www.chateau-margaux.com

Calling All Centenarians: The Wine Century Club

If you’ve been sipping Assyrtiko, Ehrenfelser, Xarel-lo, or Zweigelt lately, chances are you’re eligible for membership in the Wine Century Club. Now more than two years old, this obviously fun-loving group of wine enthusiasts was founded by Deborah and Steve De Long in the spirit of adventurous wine drinkers everywhere. Now I ask you, do the people at the Second Anniversary Dinner Celebration shown here not look they are having big time fun?

Requirements are simple: you must have tasted at least 100 different varietals. For us, it’s been a competition to see who can find the most obscure, unknown grapes. Frank puts it down as being an invaluable addition to his WSET training; I’m just contrary and like to go against the grain. We have no idea who’s ahead in ferreting out new vintages at this point – but last week we both took great delight in submitting our membership applications. And yes, we’ve tried all four of the above wines.

According to the Wine Century’s website, the “big six” are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling. Let’s face it though, when you get right down to it, isn’t every wine considered ordinary or typical in some part of the world – which, as the club website points out, makes trying “uncommon” wines all the more fun since “you can be transported to a faraway place with just a sip!" Or, as Jennifer shows in the photo from the Wine Century's First Anniversary Dinner at the right, with a sabre and a bottle of champagne.

We have no idea what to expect when we receive our official membership certificates, but you can be sure we’ll keep you posted. And whether you’re as obsessive about discovering new varietals as we are or not, the club’s website is a delightful romp through the world of unusual wines and unexpected taste sensations. Just be aware that though the application works on an honor system, the fine print notes: “Should you lie, may the wrath of Bacchus curse your palate.”

Check it out for yourself at www.winecentury.com. You can also download the application form and begin your own explorations. Cheers.

Wolf Blass Changes Your Outlook on Picnics

Listen up all you folks who think the move from cork to Stelven is horrific. Here’s a new one to ponder. How about plastic wine bottles? Yup, that’s plastic – just like a bottle of 7-Up or Pepsi. So call me a hypocrite. Like Frank, I’m a big time advocate of Stelven closures over cork. But plastic wine bottles? Some things just aren’t done.

The event was a tasting at our local liquor store. And yes, it was the press release announcing Wolf Blass would be rolling out their 2004 Bilyara Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Bilyara Reserve Chardonnay in “environmentally friendly PET containers” that attracted my attention. Actually, it attracted my ire. Drink wine from the same, ugly container I pour my OJ out of? No way. I want beauty with my wine.

I arrived at the tasting gunning for bear – or more accurately, gunning for Wolf. The fragrance of roast lamb from behind the demonstration kitchen appeased me momentarily – the folks at LCB usually like to further entice people with food. I still couldn’t see those ugly wine containers, but there were a couple of bottles sporting the distinctive Wolf Blass label sitting on a display table with a particularly charming young man apparently eager to pour for me standing behind. Twist my arm.

I reach for the Chardonnay just as a voice behind me says: “Think you could get away with this with a regular wine bottle?” I turn just in time to see a woman grab a wine bottle from the Wolf Blass display, and with great aplomb, hurl it to the floor. I’m not sure if my eyes went as wide as the young couple’s who were standing in front of her did.

But the anticipated sound of shattering glass never happened. The young man behind the table was suppressing a laugh. I picked up the bottle he’d just poured from – plastic. I’d been had.

And the wines? The Chardonnay was surprisingly pleasant – a bit too much oak for my taste, but not the overpowering wood bomb I’d anticipated. And it went superbly with the halibut appie created by Kristopher Barnholden, executive chef at the Stanley Park Pavilion (shown above with his assistant Chris and Susan in between). The Cab was overall disappointing – lacking in body but not bad as an afternoon sipper for when you want a patio red. And it did complement the lamb shown here that was our second tasty treat from Chef Kris.

After a lengthy discussion with my jovial, gentleman pourer, we agreed it was probably grossly unfair to either wine to attempt making a true assessment out of the mini plastic (what else?), disposable wine glasses used at these events. He stressed the concept that a plastic bottle would allow you to chill the wine faster while carefully sidestepping my question that surely the reverse would also hold true – they would also come back to room temperature faster. And although I could never quite get him to say he actually liked plastic bottles, we did have a meeting of minds that this alternative might be great for picnics or hiking due to its much lighter weight.

Bonus, these bottles also save you about a dollar per bottle over the same wine in glass. But wine from a plastic bottle? This is going to take me a while.

Note: When I asked Frank for his thoughts on vintage PET bottles, there was an uncharacteristic silence that stretched out for a long moment. “Well, what do you think?” I asked again. He mumbled something that sounded remarkably like “too weird – not even going to comment on that one” and just walked away. Guess we’ll still be hauling glass for our summer picnics – which is quite okay with me.

More info of interest:
The lightweight PET bottle holds the same amount of wine as a standard 750ml wine bottle, yet it is designed to be 33 percent shorter for easier storage in a refrigerator, cooler or cupboard. It is fully recyclable and weighs just 54 grams prior to filling, offering an immediate 85 percent reduction in packaging weight. With the reduction in weight, more wine can be transported per load than with glass bottles, so the net environmental benefit from the reduction of fuels used in shipping and trucking is significant.

FYI: Here’s the Wicipedia definition of PET bottles.
Polyethylene terephthalate (aka PET) is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family that is produced by the chemical industry and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber.

Wine Quote of the Day April 13, 2007

Okay, so we have no idea who Hannu is - other than that we believe he's Finnish - but this was fun.

If you can't put the bottle in a safe place under your chair, you are either in too fine company or you've fallen off your chair just to meet your bottle on an equal level.

Hannu

Perfect Pairings: Amarone Intentions

I’ve been feeling under a bit pressure over the last few days. An astonishing number of people have been inquiring how our lady did with the Amarone pairing – the pairing being herself with the wine.

So far, I’ve resisted recounting the tale of how it all worked out because what you, our readers, probably don’t realize is that I would really like to live a little longer. By not sharing this info, the lady in question will not kill me or attempt to remove body parts I have been accustomed to having. However, she is currently off on holidays and will not likely be reading the blog for a few days. So I’ll take a chance and share what information I have – as long as you all promise not to tell her I let the story out.

When we last left her, she had in her possession not one but two bottles of Amarone to help fuel some serious amorous intentions. A semi-unsuspecting gentleman was coming over for dinner. He probably thought it was going to be a nice relaxing evening. Poor soul. Knowing the lady’s state of mind, the chances of him getting out of there before dawn were somewhat less than nil. Little did even I know he wasn’t going to be getting out of there for a few days.

Now you need to appreciate that the wine and the woman both have a whole lot of character and style. This was probably one of my better pairings, though usually I am thinking about pairing food with wine. Still, isn’t this is really what wine is all about? To find the perfect match, to share special moments, to mark a time and place and people coming together? Happy holidays guys. And I didn’t tell anyone anything – not really.

Jet Li's Dream Wine Accessory?

You should have known better. The house party wasn’t exactly a wine lover’s haven, but you brought a bottle of your favourite Sancerre just because you felt like sipping something that didn’t remind you of either purple-tinged vinegar or pancake syrup mixed with some type of unidentifiable vegetal matter. You went to pour your first refill and discovered… an empty bottle.

Here’s a wine accessory you can brandish around that just might solve the problem – the brass knuckle corkscrew. No, we’re not kidding. This nifty what-do-you-get-the-geek-with-everything gizmo was so weird we just had to laugh.

Merlot meets the Mob. Or visualize this scenario from one reader. “What, you don’t like red wine? Have you seen my corkscrew? Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Who thinks up this stuff?

Canadian Taxation Woes

There’s a move afoot to tax wines made from 100% Canadian grapes, and the Canadian Vintners Association (CVA) isn’t impressed – neither are we.

The European Union (EU), the world’s largest producer and exporter of wine, accounts for 50% of the Canadian market and its wine-producers are supported by over $2.3 billion in annual subsidies – support Canadian wineries currently don’t enjoy for either domestic or export production.However, the EU is considering WTO action against Canada over a small excise duty exemption that applies to only 5% of Canadian producers’ sales – an exemption currently also granted to domestic producers in the United States and Australia.

Above: watering the vines at Burrowing Owl, one of Canada's many award winning wineries.

Why the EU appears to be singling out Canadian producers and leaving both US and Aussie producers alone is anyone’s guess. But CVA president Dan Paszkowski believes many of Canada’s smaller wineries need this excise measure to help level the competitive playing field, so he’s launched a new website where Canadian wine lovers can log on and support the domestic wine industry. You can check it out for yourself at www.supportcanadianwines.com.

FYI:

The Canadian Vintners Association (CVA) and its predecessor, the Canadian Wine Institute (CWI), has a mission statement: “To encourage the growth and development of a vibrant, competitive, and economically viable Canadian wine industry through focused leadership.” Some of the ways they achieve this include:

- Initiating development of the first Canadian national quality standard for wine in 1996.
- Advocating labelling regulations that are fully transparent and informative for the consumer, while being commercially acceptable to the wine industry.
- Participating in wine and health symposia and providing financial support for research
- Coordinating an annual export strategy for Canadian wine that has successfully obtained over $2 million dollars in export funding from the federal government over the past few years.
- Initiated and reached agreement with Germany and Austria on an International Icewine Standard that played a fundamental role in enhancing Canada’s terms of access to the European Union.

The CVA also awards scholarships at the following post-secondary institutions:
Brock University
Niagara College Foundation
Okanagan University College
University of British Columbia
University of Guelph

www.canadianvintners.com

Celebrating British Columbia's Wine Industry

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you probably already know both Frank and I are big time fans of the BC Wine Appreciation Society (BCWAS). Now more than 140 members strong, BCWAS brings together a diverse, vibrantly eclectic mix of wine aficionados, wine newbies, and unabashed wine geeks – yes, that would be the crowd who can intelligently discuss residual sugar and malolactic fermentation numbers with Frank.

But no matter what the event, laughter and camaraderie are always the true “main course” – no stuffiness allowed here. It is certainly the first organization either of us have ever belonged to where a member actually had the chutzpah to suggest “we’re all about enjoying wine so let’s adjourn, sip some wine, and socialize so we can really get down to business” at an AGM. The motion was passed unanimously, and within less than a quarter of an hour we had committed volunteers on board for membership coordinator, events coordinator, and newsletter editor.

Over the past two years, word is spreading. At our event last month (shown above), we were privileged to taste several wines that remain completely unavailable to the general public or even many exclusive local restaurants. But don’t take our word for it, check out the BC Wine Appreciation Society for yourself at www.bcwas.com, and when you visit in person, be sure to come over and say hi – we’d love to meet you.

Here’s an introduction to one of the founding members of one of the best wine associations going.

****

Getting to Know Tim Ellison
Originally published in the April 2006 BCWAS newsletter

He’s dynamic, bubbling with enthusiasm, and unfailingly generous with both his time and his knowledge. Teaching a wine appreciation class dressed in a traditional Japanese obi doesn’t faze him in the slightest. Nor, it seems, does most anything else. He considers himself a hospitality enthusiast although he’s been a chef, the proprietor of his own restaurant, and is currently a much sought after instructor at the Art Institute. Who else could it be but our own Tim Ellison.

Known for his devilishly quick wit and flamboyant charm – don’t you just love a man with the élan to make a pink and orange striped shirt look outright fantastic – Tim, along with Francis Dorsemaine, was one of the founding members of the BC Wine Appreciation and remains an avid supporter of our British Columbia wine industry. Check out any of Vancouver’s wine events, and you’ll likely find him there expanding his already extensive knowledge. After all, it’s tough work but someone has to do it.

Although he’d long been fascinated with the relationship between food and wine, Tim’s journey into “the wild and wonderful world of wines” didn’t truly begin until 1988. “I was on a road trip through Oregon’s Wette Valley. It had been an exceptional year for winemaking in 1985, so the shelves were packed with all these great wines. It really piqued my interest, to the point I started reading and visiting the wineries just to educate myself.”

In no time Tim was hooked. But it was more than a decade before he took formal training. “I waited forever because I was actually afraid of failure,” he admits. “The thought of doing a blind taste testing was downright scary.”

Eventually, though, he signed up for the first level of the International Sommeliers Guild certification, ultimately graduating from the program in 2003. “It was like a light went on,” he says, adding that the biggest surprise was just how much influence the winery and winemaking techniques has on what ends up in the bottle. “The mystification was gone, no more misconceptions because now it was all based on fact.” Now also enrolled in the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) diploma program, Tim has his sights set firmly on gaining the prestigious Master of Wine designation.

Last fall, Tim made yet another career shift when he took on the responsibility of teaching full-time at the Art Institute. “It’s such a privilege to be able to contribute to people’s success, to help them avoid the mistakes I did and get there sooner,” he says. “When I read about them in the newspaper or visit them in their own restaurant… there’s no feeling to compare.” He laughs. “Actually, my students typically end up teaching me almost as much as I teach them because they have such a variety of backgrounds and experiences – I just don’t usually tell them that.”

Tim offers this advice for anyone interested in a wine career. “Just go for it. Don’t think about the expense, don’t be afraid of blind taste testings. You absolutely don’t need to be intimidated. Pursue the passion and you will get there.”

Wine Quote of the Day April 14, 2007

Here's one we came across the other day that really sums up a great attitude to life.

Excellent wine generates enthusiasm. And whatever you do with enthusiasm is generally successful.

Philippe de Rothschild in conversation, 1980

The World's Most Useless Wine Accessory?

And now for something completely different. I think I have discovered the world’s most useless, utterly pointless wine accessory – the Champagne Parachute.

Here’s the premise. When you fire the cork out of a bottle of sparkling wine, the parachute enables you to follow its trajectory and find it.

The entire underlying idea here is just plain faulty, wrong – so wrong I can’t even find the right adjectives to express how bad this is. The thought of firing a cork out of the bottle – which will cause the wine to froth out and wasting one of life’s basic food groups – leaves me at a complete loss. Why anyone would do this, I can’t imagine. Morally it has to be wrong. I suspect it’s dangerous as well.

The correct way to open champagne without hurting anyone or damaging the champagne is really quite simple. Remove the foil and cage, hold the cork down with your thumb, and twist the bottle – not the cork, the bottle. Counter-intuitive I know but no one loses an eye, windows don’t get broken. You’ll get a gentle, sensual pop, no wine wasted by fizzing all over you or the floor, and better yet, the bubbles actually last longer. Trust me, Susan and I have run repeated tests to ensure the accuracy of this statement.

If anyone finds an accessory more useless than the Champagne Parachute, do let us know. We’ve put a link to the website for this device just to show it really does exist.

For now, I’m going to ignore a suggestion that if we were to have cork-shooting contests to see who could shake the bottle the hardest, this device would aid in judging the distance. Some people just need a little work.

www.iwantoneofthose.com/champagne-parachute/index.html

Note: Dom Perignon is the Benedictine monk credited with inventing champagne. We hope he really did have as much fun as it appears in the saucy illustration above and can only imagine what might have happened if someone really did find the cork that night.

To Screw or Not to Screw: A Matter of Geography?

Controversy continues to rage about closures – and this year’s Playhouse WineFestival was no exception. Cork is king says the old world, stelven is stellar says the new.

Speaking at “The Iberian Criterion” seminar, Cristiano van Zeller, owner of Douro’s Quita do Vale, got right to the point when a participant put the thorny question to the entire panel: what about stelven closures? While others squirmed uncomfortably and avoided eye contact, Cristiano spoke out in clear, ringing tone. “I’ll use cork. I’ll pay for the bottles returned because I believe cork is better – for the wine and for the environment.”

Now there’s no question this is a man with a sense of humour to go along with his extensive wine knowledge. Earlier, he’d explained the reason one of his wines is named Ecclesiastical Sin is because they are still, centuries later, trying to uncover the link between the Abbot of the monastery that once owned the vineyard and a lady of somewhat dubious repute named Dona Maria.

He’d also described his response when a journalist, intrigued by the concept of pressing grapes by foot, had once asked: but how do you get rid of the hair of the legs? “Simple, you just go ptoot, ptoot, ptoot.” His imitation was spirited and his grin irresistible. But when it came to closures, there was no room for debate. Cork is king in Cristiano’s vineyards.

Fast forward to the following evening at a lively tasting of Aussie Shirazes entitled Regional Heroes. “I don’t want any more of those filthy rotten corks,” said Bruce Tyrrell principal of Tyrrell Wines. A ripple of spontaneous applause went through the room.

From the back, the outspoken and much loved Aussie Master of Wines, Michael Hill Smith quickly forestalled another question. “And if you define romance in your life by the pop of a cork, you really need to get a life.” More applause, this time punctuated by a few cheers.

An interesting side note: this was also the only tasting we attended with a senior lady wine principal in evidence – Vicki Arnold, general manager of Glaetzer Heartland Wines shown here with Grant Tilbrook, Ben Glaetzer, and Scott Collett (left to right – we know you know which one Vicki is).

One final anecdote in the spirit of cultural exchange – a little known definition among gourmets from Down Under. Moderator Mark Davidson maintained an absolutely straight face as he informed the gathered group that it was on a visit to the Margaret River wine district he learned the local definition of a seven-course Australian dinner: that would be a six-pack and a meat pie.

Seriously, this was our favourite of all the wine tasting. More than a superb opportunity to experience the true breath of Australia’s most famous grape, it was gave us insight into the life philosophy of Australian winemakers. It’s true – every one of them present could legitimately be classified as “a character.” Good natured banter is clearly as much a part of the heritage of these wines as the grapes themselves. Descriptors included such scientific gems as “yummy” or “bloody delicious.”

And while debate over cork versus stelven will likely remain as hot as the Aussie sun far into the future, one panelist finally asked an even more burning question. “What’s the difference between a winemaker and god?” The answer is simple. God doesn’t think he’s a winemaker.

Photos at the top of the page courtesy of Heartland Wines.

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival

We’ve done it. We’ve survived the 29th Annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Three delicious days of swirling, sniffing, sipping, and savouring. We’ve made some new friends, re-connected with several old ones, and, as is the tradition of this annual extravaganza, discovered an astonishing number of new wines and wine knowledge. The theme this year was wines from Down Under with the grape varietal focus being Riesling. Here's a brief overview with more detail to follow.

Hands down the best value we found were the selection of sit down, formal tastings – an opportunity to compare as many as 14 wines related by grape varietal, country, or producer. Top of our list was “Aussie Shiraz: Regional Heroes” – an eye-opening comparison of Shiraz wines from every region of Australia. The diversity left us breathless. And good news for Frank, these were a long, long way from the fat, in your face tannic bombs most often associated with Aussie Shiraz.Smooth, delicious, and boasting a long, long finish several he freely admitted would challenge the most sophisticated WSET hopeful to differenciate from a Cote Rotie.

We were far from the only festival-goers who agreed the International Tasting Room, while utterly spectacular in its breadth – 1,550 wines from 17 countries including more than 200 from Australia – was also overwhelming. We usually pick varietal as our method of attack for large venue tastings – typically concentrating on two whites followed by a couple of reds. It took about two minutes for us to recognize this was not going to happen when confronted with thousands of square feet of displays.

Ultimately, we settled on pursuing wines we either hadn’t seen or felt were unlikely to find elsewhere. Skalani from Boutari, a blend of Kotsifali and Syrah that’s coming soon to BC and Visanto, a blend of Assyrtiko and Aidani – both proving the point that this wine producer is about far more than cheap pizza wines.

Naousa has always been the Boutaris’spiritual and commercial center. The dining room at Dining Room at their Naousa Winery is a popular spot to experience this viticultural heritage.

Four Chateau Musar wines from Lebanon – the winemaker, a crusty white haired gent who definitively qualifies as a “character,” was not about to let anyone sample out of the order he felt best. And RPF Tannat from Pisano, the sole representative of Uruguay’s wine industry.

We tried Super Tuscans while people cued up for sparkling wines with a more aggressive marketing campaign behind them, and sipped a Maison M Chapoutier Viognier that was poetry in a glass – we both made a toast to the forward thinking vintners who said “No!” when this grape was nearing extinction.

In all, for any wine lover, the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is still one to mark on your calendar. For info on next year’s event, check out www.playhousewinefest.com.

Ramblings Around Riesling

It’s the second day of the Playhouse Wine Festival here in Vancouver. Four days of wine tastings, seminars, and chatting with other people in the wine industry. Now only one year shy of its third decade anniversary, this year’s annual extravaganza features 1,550 wines from 180 wineries in 17 countries. It’s going to be a totally delicious, decadent challenge to keep up.

We’re just back from a Riesling tasting – Riesling being the featured grape for the 2007 Festival. More complete notes will follow later, but here are a couple of decidedly non-vintage, though utterly intriguing, stories you probably won’t hear often.

A spontaneous round of applause went to the speaker from Maximin Grunhauser for his enchanting, almost whimsical account of the business challenges faced by medieval monks who originally planted the estate in 966AD. At that time, each monk was given a daily allowance of wine as a form of “payment” for their work in the vineyard. Considered a fair price, each brother was entitled to three litres of wine a day. Only one full meal, but three litres of wine – 21st Century diet divas take note, there are wonderful things to be said about the nutritional values of wine.

Then came a couple of years of bad harvest. Since large amounts of the monastery’s production often remained at home, the abbot of the day decided to reduce the allotment to a mere two litres per day. Monks began falling ill, languishing in their cells, and failing to attend prayers or mass. In despair, the abbot called in a physician who is reputed to have said, “Abbot, you may be a man of God, but you are not a man of business. You have to fill the cask or it will rot and the stomachs of the monk are no longer full, thus they are ailing from rotten stomachs.” The abbot in his wisdom, immediately increased the daily allowance back to three litres in order it should not rot the brothers' insides, and soon the monks were, once again, filling the church with their prayers and their voices raised in song. Yes, god works in mysterious ways.

While most wine aficionados know Wolf, founder of the acclaimed Wolf Blass Winery, was born in East Germany, worked in the European wine industry for 13 years before immigrating to Australia’s Barossa Valley in 1961, and has long been considered a leader among the new generation of Australian winemakers, here’s lesser known peek at the face behind the label. According Scott (who’s last name we unfortunately both missed) tonight’s presenter from the winery, if you were to ask Wolf to name his three greatest passions in life, the answer would be: fast women, slow racehorses, and great Riesling. Okay, so we don’t get the slow race horses either, but we can certainly agree on the last comment.

The taste of the Rieslings from France through Germany and Austria, across to North America, and right on over the ocean to the Land of Oz is still lingering on our taste buds. Here’s to the King of Grapes.

Oz Meet Mosel Mogel

Wait a minute. A Down Under winemaker showing off a bottle of German Riesling and a Mosel Mogul with big, fat Aussie Cab in hand? In the gregarious spirit of Old World meets New, award-winning winemakers Stuart Blackwell (left) and Ernst Loosen (right) swap bottles to give us journalistic types a stellar photo op.

The event was an LCB tasting of Dr L Riesling from Dr Loosen Vineyards and two offerings from Australia’s Barossa – Gamekeeper’s Reserve and Faith Shiraz by St Hallett Wines. Food and laughter flowed freely, and it was soon apparent the two are actually good chums – or should that be mates?

Most of us began with the Dr L Riesling, a delicate and fruity example of why many wine aficionados consider this grape a much under-rated King of the Vines. Ernst punctuated his commentary with witty, often charmingly irreverent anecdotes about the history of Mosel wines, the intervention of the Catholic Church in winemaking during the Middle Ages, and how, on a recent sales trip to India, people were astonished to learn there are just 500 residents in the village by his vineyard – “why, that’s how many we have in our corner yard.”

Starting with a cheery “G’day,” Stuart took us on a quick tour of the vineyard courtesy of PowerPoint. Because Barossa has never been plagued by Phylloxera, many of the local vines boast pedigrees going back more than a century. To prove it,Stuart produced a shot of a 126-year-old-vine with a “really big, beautiful butt” that's still producing enviable quantities of grapes year after year. Whoa – that’s one big mama of a vine.

The Gamekeeper’s Reserve – a blend of Shiraz, Grenache, and just a touch of Touriga Nacional for a hint of rose petals – is a steal at $14. Sure it’s a perfect pizza wine, but all agreed it had plenty of robustness to carry off a heartier barbeque pairing as well. Still, my favourite of the three had to be the Faith Shiraz – okay, so Frank could have predicted that. It slid across my tongue, rich and creamy, lingering like a satin bathrobe on a model’s shoulders. And yes, if Frank can ever get the lipstick off the Riedel, there’s now a bottle in the wine cellar for a second, at home sampling.

PS: A big Thank You! goes to Jodi Rogers, product knowledge and event coordinator from the Cambie Street LCB store, for allowing us to use her cheeky photo of Stuart Blackwell and Ernst Loosen.

www.sthallett.com.au
www.drloosen.com

Riedel and Lipstick or Unlucky Pairings

Remember the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you made a really bad choice in life? Something you knew, as you where doing it, would all go bad?

To my deep regret, after lots of pleading and begging, I let the young gentlemen from our last post borrow a pair of Riedel glasses to aid in his anticipated romantic liaison. Bad move – really, really bad move on my part. Just how bad it was going to get, I had no idea. But I had that sinking feeling as I agreed to lend them out.

Sunday morning I got a phone call asking where he could buy some of these wonderful glasses – he hadn’t been able to find any quite the same thing at the nearby dollar store. Having at that point only downed one cup of coffee and it still being rather early in the day, I didn’t pick up on the subtle messages being sent. I gave him the names of a few shops where he could find said glasses. Before I could ask him how the wine pairing with the object of his amorous desire went, the phone went dead.

Half way through my second cup of coffee, a voice mail arrived. Something was wrong with the glasses. I knew it would all become frighteningly self-evident soon. I was thinking of all the evil, nasty jobs I could give this guy when he next came onto my crew as a movie greensman. Digging ditches in a filthy, smelly swamp was the first thought that came to mind. I’ll forego mentioning some of the ones that came later.

A few hours later, the phone rang. Would I be home for a while? The young man wanted to return my wine glasses and two-stage corkscrew. All my evil thoughts dissipated. How little I knew.

He arrived carrying a Riedel box containing a brand new glass. I took one glance at the other glass and my worst fears were realized. Bright red lipstick – the brightest red lipstick I’ve ever seen. Now I know lipstick on crystal is hard to remove without using some form of nasty cleaning stuff, but this lipstick must be part Crazy Glue. It will just not come off.

His wallet – as he showed me – was empty. He’d already cashed in his beer cans, gathered up all his spare change, and borrowed some money from his mom to avoid the wrath he knew was coming his way. After beating on his head and shoulders for a while, he agreed another glass would becoming my way soon – not in the next ten minutes like I wanted, but by the end of the week. My visions of sending him into swamps became more focused.

Please, if there is any one who can tell me how to get the lipstick off, I would be grateful. If it involves a dishwasher, I’m out of luck as I am the dishwasher here. Meanwhile the red-rimmed glass sits on the counter.

Susan’s Note:

Okay, so is this where I get to say “I told you so”? No, of course not! When Frank announced he was going to actually loan out prized glasses, I merely made a mild mannered comment. “Oh, it rather surprises me that you’d agree.” What self-control – on my part, not his. He is, after all, the one who agreed.

Now you have to understand Frank’s hatred of lipstick is… intense. Lipstick of any colour has been know to send him into a tirade usually prefaced by something along the lines of “Don’t they know it’s whale blubber they’re putting on my glasses?” Red lipstick? You get the picture.

For now, I’ll content myself to surreptitiously smiling every time I see the red-rimmed glass perched regally on the counter. Mind you, I do have a interior designer friend who is well known for her love of using everyday objects to create unique, artsy accent pieces like lampshades or sculptured plant pots or picture frames. Perhaps I’ll pop by with some old lipstick tubes. After all, Frank’s birthday is just around the corner.

Riedel is found at www.riedel.com

Romance and Wine or Lucky Pairings

Spring must be lurking around the corner, hidden away in the rainy Vancouver weather. For our friends in Toronto, the daffodils are up and the magnolias are starting to bloom – ignore the rain comment.

It is Friday and I’ve already received a couple of interesting phone calls for help with food and wine pairing. Perhaps I should say hopeful pairings of another sort.

First, a young gentleman in his early twenties who works with me occasionally called with, what for him, was an unusual request. “I need the name of a French wine – preferably with a cork and some sort of castle on it.” Before I could get over the idea that I may have finally weaned him off of his Molson’s, hundreds of bottles that could work for him were already flashing through my mind. I needed more information.

Apparently he was having a young lady over for dinner. Ah ha, the motives quickly became more apparent. His budget – $20 or $30 max but the wine had to be really good. The young lady in question must be quite something. “Okay, why a castle on the bottle, and why does it have to have a cork? And does the young lady like red or white wine?”

“Red or white? Oh shit. I’ll get back to you.” Click.

I was still processing that information as the phone rang again. Busy morning. This call was from a very interesting woman friend in her late forties. “I’m having someone over for dinner. I need to have a really good wine.”

“What food are you pairing with?” A simple question, or so I thought.

“I want a wine for pairing with me. I’m not worried about the food.”

Right. Now I had the facts straight, I suggested an Amarone and – knowing of her extensive music selection – some smoky jazz from Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington. Yes, I assured her, two bottles would be enough. In fact, I was pretty confident that in her current frame of mind two bottles would be more than enough.

Within minutes, the phone rang again. The young man was back on the phone. “My sister says she likes a white wine – one from New Zealand she thinks.” All right, the object of his affections is probably drinking New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Taking a step up, Chateau Sancerre sprang to mind. Same grape but it does have a castle on the label and a cork.

I asked him why the castle and the cork? “I want to look cool, and nothing out of a box like other guys. By the way, can I borrow a corkscrew and a couple of those nice glasses you have?” The idea of my Riedel glasses leaving the house with this guy in charge of them for a few days did not sit well at all. The corkscrew – maybe. The glasses – no way. After all, you can only do so much to aid in the cause of love and romance.

Required Reading

My bank account, the wine cellar, and I sat down this afternoon and took a long look at the required and suggested reading lists for my WSET Diploma and CSW from the Society of Wine Educators. I plan to write the CSW at the Wine Educators conference in Monterey this June and have just started working on my WSET Diploma.

After much crosschecking and taking inventory of books already in my possession, the bank account went into total shock. Its color went from black to red, and its positive frame of mind suddenly turned rather negative.

Of course, then the wine cellar had to be informed that its addictive preference for Premier Crus Chablis, Amarone, Gaja, and Hugel Rieslings is about to be put in check. It didn’t want to hear about Yellow Tail at all. When informed there would be no more Veuve Clicquot, its temperature went from 48 degrees to 80 in about five seconds. “There are other sparking wines made in France,” I mentioned, which somewhat pacified the wine cellar as long as we could agree they would all be method classique and not something out of a tank. “Asti is made in the cuvee close method,” I told it. Since the cellar has not been taking any wine courses, it seemed fine with that.

On a slightly more serious note, though, we will be doing reviews on some of the books required for the various certifications, and our crack designer, Karin, will be putting this info up on the blog along with where to get them. I’d love to hear from any students about what books you found most beneficial and any others you discovered that aren’t on these lists. A favourite of mine is Jamie Goode’s The Science of Wine. Also, if you find some useful websites, feel free to send them along.

As I take another look at the reading list for the Masters of Wine, I try not to let either the bank account or the wine cellar see how lengthy it actually is. I ever get that far, I think I’ll have to marry someone who owns a bookshop.

WSET: http://www.wset.co.uk
Society Of Wine Educators: http://wine.gurus.com
Court Of Master Sommeliers: http://www.mastersommeliers.org/syllabus/certified
International Sommelier Guild: https://www.internationalsommelier.com
Masters Of Wine: http://www.masters-of-wine.org/reading.aspx

Canadian Wines, VQA, and Other Dark Secrets

There is a dark little secret hiding on Canadian wine labels. It lurks, often in camouflage, waiting for the unwary. In most cases, no one ever notices. Another con perpetuated.

But let’s start at the beginning. In Canada, some wines are known as VQA wines – Vintners Quality Alliance. Theses wines are easily identified by a neck label or by boldly printed letters on the label. They are from either Ontario or British Columbia, and each province administers this program independently.

Ontario rules say a VQA wine must be made from 100% grapes grown in Ontario. Much like Germany, there are rules on minimum sugar levels at harvest for each variety, a restriction that is important for quality especially in a cool weather wine region. Each wine is blind tasted by a panel who determine whether or not the wine demonstrates sufficient varietal character and approve the label. If the board is not satisfied, they can refuse to grant VQA status.

The VQA designation is an appellation system as well. The label can say Ontario Wine or have one of the 12 Ontario regions listed. (Note: Ice wine from Ontario has some different rules but we’ll explore those at a later date.) So far so good, right? In Ontario, the label has to state winery, area, grape variety – hybrids are permitted here – producer, and alcohol content. No secrets here.

With five wine regions and over 140 wineries, the province of British Columbia has almost the same rules but it is voluntary to belong to the VQA. In this province, VQA must be made from 95% BC grapes, and if the bottle says “Estate” on the label, 95% of the grapes must come from the vineyard listed. So far so good, still all above board. Buy a VQA wine and you’re buying a Canadian wine.

Now sometimes you’ll see a bottle of Canadian wine without the VQA label. Many very small producers don’t belong to the VQA program. Since they sell out their entire product every year, they aren’t concerned with having the VQA label and all the government paper work and hassle that goes with it. They simply list the wine region and grape variety on the label, and that’s what’s in the bottle. Once again, not a problem. You know what you’re buying.

So here’s where things get shady. There’s one more designation you’ll find on Canadian wine labels: Cellared in Canada. So if it’s cellared in Canada, it’s a Canadian wine right?

Sorry, wrong. That’s the dirty little secret being perpetuated on an unsuspecting public. Cellared in Canada wines could have very few Canadian-grown grapes in the bottle. In fact, they could have none at all. The only thing you know for sure is that the wine you’re holding in your hand was actually put into the bottle somewhere in Canada. The contents could be Aussie bulk wine, sell offs from southern France, tankers of grapes shipped up from Washington State or California. No wonder some Canadian Cabs taste like they’ve been grown in warm climates. That Merlot, if it is all Merlot, could come from anywhere – literally – in the world.

Even more astonishing, the various liquor control boards willingly contribute to this confusion by placing Cellared in Canada wines on the same shelves as VQA wines. In the three BC government liquor stores we checked, the aisles marked as VQA wines had more Cellared in Canada wines than VQA – by a factor of about three to one. To see what you are actually buying, you have to read the very, very small print. One producer even stooped to the tactic of embossing the miniscule font in a shiny, reflective gold material – unless you were actively looking for it, the Cellared in Canada notation simply looked like part of the graphic design.

Could it be that the government is more concerned with selling big companies wines – wines that clearly dominate on the shelves – than in helping the Canadian wine industry? We’ve talked to many small wineries who can’t get shelf space because their production is considered too small. Come on, LCB and LCBO. Stop misleading the consumer with your placement of Cellared in Canada wines. Try taking some of the conglomerate wines off the shelf and make way for a few of the outstanding Canadian wines this country produces. If we want an Aussie Shiraz or a Napa Valley Cab, we’ll walk to the appropriate aisle.

***

Here are two final bits of information to get you thinking.
Both BC and Ontario sell more Cellared in Canada wines than VQA.
Air Canada, our national airline, serves Cellared in Canada wines on their flights.

Wine Quote of the Day for March 20, 2007

Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it.

Unknown

Brave New World Meets Wine

So when does a wine stop being a wine and becomes an engineered concoction?

Some of the world’s largest foods giants are now tackling this thorny question. And hold onto your wine glass, because it’s a question that may be puzzling wine lovers for years to come.

It’s called Nano-Engineered Wines. The premise is that you buy a liquid at the corner grocery store, then in the comfort of your own home, you nuke it in a correctly tuned microwave transmitter. In minutes, you can be sipping a glass of “wine” fully customized to your personal taste buds.

Apparently, microwaves activate microscopic nano capsules with an ability to convert the liquid into whatever wine tickles your fancy at the moment. Feel like a New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc? Just program your trusty transmitter and voilia – cat’s pee on a gooseberry bush.

Prefer something a little more robust – say a big, bold Aussie Shiraz? Just dial in smoke and spice, maybe a little leather, and zap, it’s ready to go. If you want to be really different, how about making said Shiraz white? No problem. It’s all in the tuning of the microwaves. In fact, you’ll apparently even be able to dial or tune in (not quite sure what the terminology would have to be) the alcohol level. A Napa Cab at 7% perhaps?

And here’s another twist. Legions of unemployed wine critics – every wine would be a hundred points after all. Perhaps they would have to be more involved telling you how to dial up something like a Grand Cru Chablis.

Could this Orwellian scenario actually be the future of viniculture? No, somehow we can’t see this drink really being called wine because the definition of wines is fermented grape juice. The only possible good thing to come of it would be the death of the points system at last. Which goes to show there is a silver lining to every cloud.

Now lest you think we are making this up, here are some links to the articles we saw. So weird it has to be true? You be the judge.

www.nanowerk.com
observer.guardian.co.uk

Sparkling New Look

For those of you who have been following us for a while, we hope you’re enjoying our new look and the many additions to blanc-de-noir.

This is entirely due to the work of Karin Schmidlin from bluecreative. Karin has done wonders to improve the visual impact and feel of the blog and, as many of our readers have indicated, has made it a lot more user friendly.

I confess I know very little about the various computer languages, nor do I want to take time away from my wine studies to learn. My Mac and I get along quite well enough. Over the years, AutoCAD and I have also managed to develop a more or less working relationship for when I’m designing movie sets or landscaping projects.

Susan, on the other hand, can look at a computer or just walk by and it will stop working. I’ve seen her do things to her Mac that I wouldn’t have believed were possible. If the Internet crashes one day, it will probably be Susan’s fault.

So we both appreciate the creative inspiration Karin has already brought to blanc-de-noir and can’t wait to see the results of her future plans. Be sure to check out her website at www.bluecreative.ca. And Karin, the Riesling is on its way with our thanks.

Susan’s Note:

And just wait till you see what else she’s got in store. Karin, our hats are off to you. Thank you for your artistic input and for continuing to hound us for images – which we’ll get to you this week. And I promise, cross my heart, your computer is safe - I’ll never, ever touch it.

Wine Quote of the Day for March 16, 2007

What a marvelous sentiment. We raise our glasses to this man.

Writing in my sixty-fourth year, I can truthfully say that since I reached the age of discretion I have consistently drunk more than most people would say is good for me. Nor did I regret it. Wine has been for me a firm friend and a wise counselor. Often...wine has shown me matters in their true perspective, and has, as though by the touch of a magic wand, reduced great disasters to small inconveniences. Wine has lit up for me the pages of literature and revealed in life romance lurking in the commonplace. Wine has made me bold but not foolish; has induced me to say silly things but not to do them.

Duff Cooper, Old Men Forget.

Surviving the WSET Exam

The exam is over. Done at last. It’s difficult right now to tell whether I’m experiencing pure relief at the thought I can actually sleep later than 6:00 am this Saturday morning without becoming overwhelmed by stabbing pangs of guilt or whether there is a vague sense of let down – have run on adrenaline and drive for so many weeks, it’s hard to let go.

I’m fairly sure I’ve passed, I hope I passed with distinction or at least with merit. But for now, it is all in the hands of some anonymous examiner in London who, hopefully, will love my answers to the essay questions. If only I knew where and to whom to send that good bottle of Riesling… no, no, just kidding. There is an eight-week wait for the results – a long, long wait.

Have the 35 weeks plus hours and hours of study been worthwhile in retrospect? The program certainly focused my previously scattered learning methods. The advanced level covers just about every wine region in the world. It was a constant reminder of just how little I really knew about wine – and how much more there will always be to know.

For me, the most valuable tool was the WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting, an approach which practically and literally forces you into a more disciplined and thorough tasting technique.

I’ve met some nice people over the course of the three levels. It really helps to hear the comments and opinions other people have about the wines in front of you, the things one person may miss entirely. That was invaluable. Thank you to all my classmates from the last three levels for the time and notes shared.

What’s next? On to the Diploma Level in a week or two – just so much more to learn. Two years and many more wines to come. I will let you know how it progresses and would love to hear from anyone else taking the Diploma Level WSET – maybe an opportunity to compare notes and share knowledge?

For now, the books and notes in the living room, kitchen, and study have all been organized and put away – at least for a few days. Susan, I know I said I was going to take some time off – oh well, what can I say?

www.wset.co.uk
Diploma Guide: www.wset.co.uk/qualifications/diploma/default.asp
Advanced Level Guide: www.wset.co.uk/qualifications

Susan’s note:

Actually, I’d have been astonished if you took an entire month off. I’m impressed it only took 24 hours before the call of a wine book proved utterly irresistible.

Yes, folks, Frank decided to do some “light reading” the night after he wrote the final, and what did he choose? You got it – a wine book.

However, I must also tell you of his remarkable restraint on Tuesday, when only one hour after turning in his examination paper, we ran into a casual acquaintance at the local pub. (Yes, of course we were celebrating!) “So what’s the difference between a Cab and a Shiraz?” she asked innocently.

Frank’s eyes widened only slightly, probably not enough that she’d actually notice. I didn’t hear the entire explanation – I had to turn away so as not to offend because I lack the self-control Frank has, and my eyes went very wide, very quickly. She’s a nice enough gal, but her timing was, shall we say, a bit awkward. Still, Frank handled it with aplomb – as always.

Soon now it will be time to embark on another round of studies. But this time, you can be sure I’ll be reminding Frank more frequently about his last instructor’s advice: you need to drink more red wine!