Tag Archives: AOC

Rooty Tooty Fresh n’ Fruity

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Anyone remember that old IHOP chestnut? I think the moniker accurately describes two of the finds I picked up at this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

Not only were the wines rooty, tooty, fresh and fruity, the prices were right too – you can buy these wines and have your (pan)cake too!

Interested Vancouverites can try to pick these up while there may still be a small amount leftover from the fest:

Finca El Portillo Sauvignon Blanc 2009

I met winemaker Gustavo Bauzá at Playhouse, who seemed to be very proud to pour this wine for me, almost more so than his signature Mendoza Malbecs and reserve Malbecs. With that much good faith, I had to take home a bottle of this for myself.

This refreshing white offers a fruit salad nose with dry, crisp flavours of green Thompson grapes, citrus and fresh, sweet wheatgrass on the palate. Clean, stretched out acidity from start to finish makes this a perfect wine for summer food. Opened on Mother’s Day (May 9). $15

I did end up having spot prawns with this wine, as I was hoping to, which worked out beautifully, as did the other dishes I made for Mom: Curried fresh tomato gazpacho soup with cucumber and Saltspring Island mussels cooked in the same wine. Yum!

El Portillo also makes a sparkling wine in the traditional method with Champagne varietals Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which I’m very curious to try.

Domaine des Cèdres Rosé de Loire 2008

This wine is from a little biodynamic winery in the Loire Valley with about 19 hectares of vineyards, up from an original 6 ha when it was founded in 1936. Domaines des Cèdres produces a Vin de Pays red, Vin de Pays rosé, an AOC Côtes du Rhône red and an AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages red.

I opened this last week to celebrate a recent achievement, and was rewarded with delicate flower petal aromas, fresh strawberries and sweet rhubarb coming off the nose. On the palate, this medium-bodied salmon-coloured beauty was dry – more dry than one would expect from the juicy nose – although the round fruity flavours remained right into the finish. $18

Ed.: See? What’d I tell you about the rooty part? Well, rhubarb… Stalk, root; whatever.

All I had for food that night, sadly, was a box of Vietnamese takeout, because I had no time to cook. But the bun thit nuong’s grilled pork with fresh raw vegetables on warm vermicelli in a sweet/sour/salty fish sauce (nam pla) formed an inspired East-West pairing with this Loire rosé.

Links

Finca El Portillo www.bodegasalentein.com

Domaines des Cèdres www.domainedescedres.fr

Two Alsatians

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For those who enjoy white wines, it doesn’t get much better than Alsace.

From harmonious matches made in food heaven, even at the low end, to cellar-worthy additions that will experience chameleonic change over years, sometimes decades, of aging potential, there is something for everyone in this most famous of white wine regions.

Alsace lies in a northeastern pocket of France bordering the Vosges mountain range, an area blessed with soils rich in minerals and a continental climate.

The first vineyards were planted in Alsace more than 2,000 years ago. Today, over 5,000 wine producers exist in Alsace, with roughly 220 of the largest wineries representing 90% of all production.

There are three AOC (classified) appellations in Alsace:

Alsace AOC

Expect fresh, fruity and food-friendly still wines made generally of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Sylvaner, Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc.

Alsace Grand Cru AOC

Single vineyard, premium still wines made only from the noble Alsatian varietals: Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Accounts for roughly 4% of total production in Alsace. Grand Crus usually display higher complexity and characteristics of the vines’ terroir. Some late harvest wines are made under this classification.

Crémant d’Alsace AOC

Mainly made from Pinot Blanc, although some Crémant Roses are produced by blending with Pinot Noir, this is Alsace’s sparkling wine classification.

Moreover, these three classifications comprise the only French AOCs that can be officially labeled by varietal.

Below, a quick glance at two different Alsace AOC wines that I hope will whet your appetite for more!

Facts and figures above courtesy of Thierry Fritsch of CIVA (Conseil interprofessionel des vins d’Alsace – www.vinsalsace.com), with whom I had the pleasure of dining with in June 2009.

My very first attempt at cooking with phyllo pastry shown here.

Dopff et Irion “Les Crustaces” Alsace AOC 2007

Opened January 22, 2010. This golden blonde beauty is a blend of Sylvaner, Auxerrois Blanc (sometimes called Pinot Auxerrois) and Pinot Blanc. The nose is subtly juicy, with fresh aromas of lychee (litchi), peaches and pears with a touch of minerality. An off-dry, juicy palate of pears, citrus and apple flavours is underscored by refreshing acidity and notes of stone and gravel through the finish. Trust the label’s nod to crustaceans and pair with poached prawns, fresh crab or a scallop ceviche. Huge value! $12

Yes, that is a Mac in the background.

Pierre Sparr Riesling Alsace AOC 2005

Opened January 29, 2010. It’s not quite the neon hue of Mountain Dew, but it’s certainly a bright lemon yellow. Equally vibrant is its fragrant nose of lime peel, stones and white flowers with Granny Smith apple notes. This wine’s palate shows the greener side of Alsace: Citrus, lime, green apples, chalk and wet stones form a tart mélange on the tongue with bracing acidity that hints at several more years’ worth of enjoyment. Try alongside a lemony sole meuniere for the “like with like” pairing, or contrast it with another Alsatian specialty, onion tart, for a tasty balancing act. $13 for 375 ml (can be found in full bottles for $20)

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