Category Archives: Merlot

Bottle Maturation

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Sipping on a bottle of properly matured, well cared-for wine is like running into the awkward guy from algebra ten years later at your high school reunion.

He’s turned out to be – hopefully – fleshier and more toned in physique than his younger, gangly self, with a smoother timbre replacing the squawky, pitched stutter of yore. And perhaps his then-clashing talents of number-crunching and collecting 70′s vinyl have evolved into a profitable online music entrepreneurship.

Everything about him is still there, just now in far better shape. It just took several years for that potential to develop into something more.

I’ve got both an Old World and a New World example that I’m excited to share with you:

Château Faizeau Sélection Vielles Vignes AOC Montagne St-Émilion 2006

This wine was released in BC in the fall of 2009. The Montagne Saint-Émilion area is just northeast of the principal Saint-Émilion appellation, and like its namesake, showcases Merlot-based wines, which in this case come from some older vines that have been green-harvested to concentrate flavour development in select bunches that have been left on the vine. From one French website, it appears that “flying winemaker” Michel Rolland seems to have consulted on the wine. The site also notes that the vineyard is made of 12 hectares of clay-limestone and sandy soil, and 50% of the wine was aged in barrel for 18 – 24 months.

Opened on April 16, 2011, thanks to my generous friend (and graphic designer extraordinaire) Lydia. Within an opaque core of blood red lies a soft and seductive nose of black cherry, plums, blackberries, baking spices, cocoa and licorice. The rich, velvety palate is gently concentrated with red and black berry flavours, a hint of herbaceousness, and secondary notes of cinnamon, chocolate, licorice and earth, finishing with refreshing acidity that suggests further aging up to another 5 to 6 years would be fine. Lydia, Natasha and I ate this with Mediterranean cheese and spinach pies, which tasted great – I would also recommend trying this with a piece of good dark chocolate or a meat dish with mole sauce to really play up the voluptuousness of this wine.

Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc Okanagan Valley VQA 2005

Sean and I had the fortune to visit with Poplar Grove’s winemaker, Ian Sutherland, two years ago on a holiday in Naramata. There, we got to barrel sample some varietal components of his Bordeaux blend, Legacy, including some Cabernet Franc, and I’m fairly certain it was at that moment that I became a believer in Cabernet Franc’s potential to claim the title of Best Okanagan Black Grape. The barrel samples were intense, concentrated and left us with black teeth for the day – Sean was especially hooked and bought a bottle of the 2005, and we’ve been interested in Cab Francs across BC since.

I visited the winery again this past weekend on the way home from a short road trip through Penticton, and Julie, the lovely lady managing the tasting room that day, mentioned that Poplar Grove uses the help of Bordelais consultant Alain Sutre. Apparently, Sutre’s advice vis à vis Poplar Grove’s Cab Franc is that extra hangtime is allowed for the fruit such that it’s picked within the precise and short timeframe wherein sugar ripening slows down but the rate of phenolic ripeness speeds up, letting the grapes build up extra flavour complexity without the excess of natural sugars.

This funny, adorable border collie belonging to a neighbour of the winery had me working hard for my wine! I must have thrown that grapevine stick 50 times.

Opened on May 7, 2011. Deep purple-black in the glass with some garnet hues along the rim, this wine displays a heady aroma of ripe plums, prunes, blackberry, currants, tobacco, cedar and spice. In the mouth, fine sweet oak tannins combine deliciously with a medium-plus body of ripe cherry, currant, plum, leather, spice, chocolate and licorice flavours and a medium-plus finish. A rewarding wine right now but could certainly hold up for another couple years if not longer.

This still had all the concentrated black fruit flavours and tannin of the original barrel sample, except worn and woven into a much smoother cloth. We sipped happily on this without food, however I would have loved to try this with some grilled rosemary lamb chops or rib eye seared perfectly medium rare. Finishing: 18 months in French oak barrels plus an additional 12 months of bottle maturation prior to release. $35 at the winery (fairly positive it’s now sold out)

Black Cloud 2006 Pinot Noir

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There is something I love but can’t put my finger on about Okanagan Pinot Noir. Because, when you really think about it, the Okanagan can be subdivided into several fairly different and diverse micro-climates: The shortchanged-on-daylight slopes of Summerland, sunny Naramata on the other side of the valley, and dry-as-British-humour Osoyoos down South, but to name a few.

So how is it that all Okanagan Pinot Noirs appeal to me in the same general way?

After all, if terroir has anything to do with the lovely Okanagan wines I’m drinking, they must all somehow each exude their own unique properties. Yet, puzzlingly, I seem to consistently taste more complexity in Pinot Noir wines from the Okanagan than I do of most other red varietals grown in this area – namely, the Cabernets and Merlots that seem to be chiselled into the woody badasses and warm fruit bombs, respectively, that I keep coming across.

Vive la différence, I say!

Maybe I simply haven’t tried enough Pinots, or perhaps it’s just that I don’t know enough about the varietal or local viticulture practices to justify my yen for yumminess. Of course, it could just be sheer kismet that Pinot Noir grows quite well in my beautiful province; frankly, I don’t know.

What I do know, however, is that I can definitely chalk up another victory to Okanagan Pinot Noir, thanks to this bottle of Black Cloud 2006 Pinot Noir I’m enjoying tonight!

(The grapes in this bottle were grown in Okanagan Falls, another interesting part of the Okanagan Valley. Did you know there are no actual waterfalls in this eponymous region?)

Look at the beautiful legs on this puppy.

Check out the beautiful legs on this puppy.

Here’s a tasty experiment for you: Have you ever smelled or eaten Morbier cheese? It’s a semi-soft, ashy AOC (controlled origin) cheese from France that smells a bit like, well, ash, as well as salt and umami. Morbier is easily recognized by its middle stripe, like someone decided to draw across its length with pencil. Anyway, go visit your local cheesemonger, smell a hunk of Morbier and remember that scent. Now pour yourself a glass of Black Cloud Pinot Noir, sniff it, and tell me that does not at all smell similar to Morbier. Ah, I knew you were a liar.

Tasty Experiment #2: Get yourself some of the aforementioned Morbier, some fatty, moist prosciutto and dried Morello cherries. Now wrap a small wedge of Morbier and a dried cherry with a slice of prosciutto. Pair with Black Cloud Pinot, duck breast, a date or your significant other and a sexy DVD. You won’t be disappointed.

Tasting Notes

Mostly mahogany in colour with flecks of deep crimson. The mature colour makes me think that this should peak either now or quite soon. As I ended up waxing poetically above, the nose begins in a rather earthy, savoury, ashy fashion – think Morbier and Reishi mushrooms (ganoderma lucidum) – followed by aromas of ripe cherries and strawberries. A slightly spicy, tamari sauce character permeates the cherry / berry palate with silky tannins, medium body and kind of bloody (but in a good way!) finish. Try the above appetizer as a food pairing, or venture into more exotic territory by serving this with Chinese five-spice beef shank (ng heung ngau yuk). It’s a cold cut normally served at the beginning of a Chinese banquet, in the same platter as the jellyfish and roast suckling pig. $25

Note: The 2006 vintage is Black Cloud Winery’s first bottling, and I certainly hope there are many more to come. Check out the links below for more reviews!

Links

Black Cloud Winery

Bradley Cooper – winemaker for Black Cloud and Township 7

Other Reviews

Full Bodied: Vancouver Food, Wine and Cleavage

Vinifico! The Original Vancouver Wine Blog

Wine Bard: Confessions of an Oenophile

Between the Vines

Globe In Your Glass

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Last Wednesday, October 28, was Globe In Your Glass, a new world wine tasting in Pan Pacific’s tony Oceanview Suites, hosted by Vincor Canada, the Canadian offshoot of beverage conglomerate Constellation. Partial proceeds from the event benefitted Canuck Place hospice.

My enjoyable evening started by visiting the media suite, albeit a bit tardy, for the Global Values Blind Tasting Challenge, a random smattering of 15 mainstream bottles under $20, red and white. Unfortunately the answers were announced just as I was getting there – the blind tasting actually started ahead of time – so I missed the tasting portion, but reading the hints provided on the tasting sheet, I could tell anyone with wine brand knowledge or sales savvy could easily get most of the answers right without tasting anything. Karl at MyWinePal tasted and guessed an impressive 8 wines (I think; it was at least 7) correctly!

I moved on to the Sumac Ridge reception / tweetup with David Wicken, the winery’s fictional social media personality. The wines on hand were Sumac Ridge Black Sage Merlot, in my opinion always a winner, and an exemplary Black Sage-area red; Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer, BC’s top-selling white VQA wine (and I think of the entire BC VQA category itself); and Sumac Ridge Tribute sparkling. The non-vintage, Olympic commemorative Tribute turned out to be a wonderful oysters-on-the-halfshell pairing, the tangy mignonette and briny bivalve matching the zesty, crisp flavours of the brut nicely.

In the main tasting room, I had the chance to try a bunch of wines whose labels I knew far better than its contents. The highlights?

Chef Roger Planiden’s Food Pairings

Dare I say it was the busiest booth of the evening? Vincor’s Great Estates of the Okanagan Executive Chef Roger Planiden prepared some wonderful food pairings to match with Vincor’s top BC VQA selections, my favourite two being:

  1. Pacific scallop and sunchoke velouté, with Nk’Mip Chardonnay ($16): Buttery, creamy goodness – the Chardonnay fruit and acidity still shined through.
  2. Goat cheese terrine wrapped in prosciutto on a crostini, with See Ya Later Ranch Pinot 3 ($20; a blend of Pinot Gris, Blanc and Noir): Melon and fresh fruit flavours provided beautiful contrast to the cool gameyness of the goat cheese and cured ham.

Lots of Varietal Character and Terroir

Tasting Globe In Your Glass’ offerings side by side, it soon became evident to me that the different geographies and climates behind these wines provided each with lots of unique flavour nuances that one might not perhaps glean from drinking something individually, or by exploring the wines of just one country. Some of the wines that stood out most for me are below.

I encourage you to check out a new world-themed wine tasting if you get the chance – it’s a great learning opportunity!

Inniskillin Discovery Series Chenin Blanc 2007 (BC VQA)

Clean, honeyed fruit with typical straw / hay Chenin flavours. $17

Jackson-Triggs Proprietor’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (BC VQA)

Tropical guava and passionfruit flavours shot out of my glass. This was an affordable treat that I’ll be remembering for the next sunny day. $15

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (New Zealand)

Grassy, mineral tones and yes, aromas of pee. $22

Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (New Zealand)

Crisp citrus, blatant asparagus and green beans and bracing acidity. $16

Nk’Mip Qwam Qwmt Pinot Noir (BC VQA)

I’ve never met an Nk’Mip Qwam Qwmt wine I didn’t like. This one just screams classic new world Pinot with its silky texture and earthy, sensual bouquet. $30

Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2005 (BC VQA)

Worth laying down for several years or more, this gem is more of an old world-styled Bordeaux blend with lots of oak, fruit and tannin and plenty of terroir, and it never fails to please. I love it for its value ($45), and even more so because its second wine, Pétales d’Osoyoos ($25), is almost just as good and incredibly drinkable, yet half the price.

Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (Napa Valley, California)

I tasted subtle but pervasive licorice flavours in this chewy red, and would love to know if anyone else who’s tasted this also detected the same thing, and can tell me where it comes from. $40