Tag Archives: Semillon

Chateau Haut-Bergey Blanc 2007

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Dear Readers,

Let me boldly interrupt my summer-long hiatus from blogging by introducing to you the best wine I’ve enjoyed so far this year, hands down: Ch Haut-Bergey Blanc 2007 from Pessac-Léognan.

A find from last fall’s BC Liquor Stores Bordeaux Release, an annual promotion I’m proud to say I used to work on, this wine waited patiently on my wine rack for nearly a year until I decided to uncork ce petit chiot (“this little puppy” in French, naturellement) on my birthday in August.

And what an excellent gift this wine was to the tastebuds, indeed!

A little bit of background info:

Together, Ch Haut-Bergey and Ch Branon (Pessac-Léognan) plus Ch Barde-Haut (St-Emilion) and Clos l’Eglise (Pomerol) comprise the Bordeaux properties of Vignobles Garcin, a small family-owned wine conglomerate.

The white wines of Haut-Bergey come from a mere 2 hectares of Graves soil, well known for a high gravel composition (from which Graves gets its name), excellent drainage, and the unique trait of imparting particularly mineral-tasting characteristics into wines from that area. Graves is 50 km inland from the Atlantic coast, along the southern edge of the Garonne, an estuary of the famous river Gironde in Bordeaux.

I’m sure by now you’re asking, “So… What the hell did it taste like?!” Indulge me while I offer a few more fun facts.

Made of 82% Sauvignon Blanc and 18% Semillon from mature vines (35 years on avg.), only 8,000 bottles of this wine are produced. Hand-picked grapes, grown under la lutte raisonée (philosophy of minimal intervention), are fermented in stainless steel vats; 30% of the grapes then aged in French barrels over 12 months.

Ahh… Okay, now let us give the tasting note.

Ch Haut-Bergey Blanc 2007, Pessac-Léognan

Lemon in colour. The nose reveals an inimitable Bordeaux white wine bouquet of crushed granite, ripe apple, freshly sliced citrus, burnt grass and hints of tropical fruit with cerebral intensity. Not to be outshone by the heady scent, the palate is at once radiant and delicate, with wave after wave of juicy citrus, quince, mango, gravel and subtle warm spices from the oak aging. Supported by a firm acidic backbone, the velvety textured wine feels rich in body yet refreshing at the same time. The only thing holding one back from rushing to down the entire bottle is the wine’s delectable finish.

Fantastic with oysters on the half-shell (which was the food theme of my birthday party), and I’ll wager that a slice of that heavenly chèvre (soft goat’s cheese) with preserved lemon from Les Amis du Fromage would be another mouth-watering pairing. $59 last year at BCLDB.

Some echoes of praise from the pros:

Profile: This white wine is very accomplished: it is just a shame that they have such a miniscule vineyard. They are almost Burgundian in style with their plushness and creaminess. If you can find a bottle, these are well worth picking up for they are very reasonably priced given their scarcity.
- 92-94 pts, Wine Advocate

Golden. Oaky nose. Palate also quite oaky, with nice weight of fruit. Creamy-rich, with nice freshness. Oak tannin on the finish a little dominant. Sound effort. Drink 2012-18.
- 15 points / 3 stars, Decanter

 

Trust Your Gut

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If there’s one thing I learned about wine tasting tonight in this year’s installment of the Art Institute of Vancouver’s Wine Professional Challenge (part of the annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival), it’s to trust my instincts.

I signed up after seeing the link next to my WSET Diploma registration information, and thought it’d be a great way to test myself and kick off the next level of my wine education. Was it ever!

After a fun but challenging Round 1 of blind tasting four wines, we were asked to identify the country from which all the bottles originated. Having already deduced a steely, limey Clare or Eden Valley Riesling and powerfully ripe, spicy Syrah or Zinfandel-like red out of two of them, I was convinced that the wines must be from Australia.

The more I read into the possible sum of all parts as well as other people’s reactions during our intermission, however, led me to guess Spain – after all, a chalky Rias Baixas Albariño and juicy, berry-filled Tempranillo certainly couldn’t be too far off the map, plus it’s this year’s theme region at Playhouse!

Alas, when the winner was announced (the most deserving Jay Whiteley, sommelier for Hawksworth Restaurant), it was revealed that it was Australia after all.

Moral of the story: Don’t second guess!

In any case, it was great fun to take part in this challenge, my first-ever blind tasting as well as professional wine competition, and I look forward to the day when I can be 110% sure about my palate-based choices!

The judges were, naturally, a heavy-hitting “Fab Five” of industry veterans in British Columbia, including organizer and WSET instructor, Mark Shipway; sommelier extraordinaire Neil Ingram; wine educator Michaela Morris; Barbara Philip, Master of Wine; and John Puddifoot, owner of fine retailer Puddifoot, for which the wine challenge’s Puddifoot Award is named after.

As for the wines? The Aussies were a delicious quartet of Hunter Valley Semillon, Barossa Shiraz, Clare Valley Riesling and Tasmania Pinot Noir.

I celebrated my hard work the good ol’ Canadian way… With an ice-cold beer.

Lessons learned in Round 2: Wine labels, customer service, food pairing and wine accessories

  • Read the entire label before talking! I was waxing poetic to Michaela about a Gran Reserva wine, when I noticed – a mere 45 seconds before my time was up – that it was actually not from Rioja at all but halfway down the country in Valdepeñas. Oops.
  • The customer is always right. White wine with steak? Why not? My pick was sparkling wine (i.e., Champagne or Cava), the rationale being that it would be a nice refreshing palate cleanser in between big, beefy bites. It worked!
  • Be adventurous! Play with enhancing or contrasting flavours when food pairing and you can easily come up with one or two very different suggestions for each course that can cater to varying tastes. This was a fun topic and I feel I held my ground quite well. I guess having a food and wine blog helps!
  • When in doubt, joke! I could have probably earned a few extra points had I actually said to John what I thought about the Wine Shield, “It’s like a diaphragm for wine bottles that keeps oxygen from impregnating the liquid – complete with a handy plastic applicator!”

After all, wine doesn’t always have to be dead serious, right?

See Ya Later, Momo My Pal

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This post is dedicated to Momo, my family’s beloved dog that passed away this evening.

Friendly, playful and always eager to show her affection, it was a joy to have her as part of my family for the last 13 years.

Momo, you were a great friend. I will always miss you.

MOMO 1997 - 2010

In tribute to Momo and special pets everywhere, my wine for this post is the dog-themed See Ya Later Ranch “Jimmy My Pal” 2008 white blend.

Known as Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards (old label here) until the early to mid 2000s, See Ya Later Ranch was once the home of a Major Hugh Fraser, one of the first people to settle in Okanagan Falls – a town that, quite misleadingly, has no actual waterfalls.

Fraser was a great lover of dogs, even going so far as to build his own dog cemetery on the ranch (which still exists). This Vincor-owned winery, headed by winemaker Dave Carson, whom I have had the great pleasure to meet and work with, has since adopted Fraser’s life story as the See Ya Later brand’s driving force.

If you ever have the chance to visit Okanagan wine country, I highly encourage a drive up to See Ya Later Ranch. Nestled atop a huge hill at the end of a steep and windy road – it’s a good 15-minute drive uphill from Highway 97 – the tenacious wine lover is rewarded with breathtaking scenery of the Okanagan Valley as well as one of the area’s loveliest-looking tasting rooms with a view.

Weather forecast: 80% likelihood of further T-shirt precipitation. 50% chance of raspberry. (Sean at See Ya Later's winery gate - photo by me)

Pet accessories abound in the winery shop, which also accepts donations to the SPCA in lieu of added tasting fees – another clever extension of Fraser’s goodwill toward man’s best friend. Speaking of which, partial proceeds of “Jimmy My Pal” benefit the SPCA, so you can feel comfortable that your enjoyment is going toward a good claws cause.

Gucci helped me write this post for Momo.

Tasting Notes

Opened February 8, 2010. Composed of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Gris and 30% Semillon. Soft, sandy white in colour with peachy tones. White blossoms, stones, white-fleshed fruits and citrus form a subtle and feminine bouquet. A soft, juicy palate of peaches, pear, apple and other round fruits reveals itself in a supple, almost oily way. The only food pairing I could think of when I did open this bottle was Hong Kong-style fruit salad, which is basically a simple fruit salad that may also contain boiled eggs and/or shrimp, and mayonnaise. It still seems like the ideal pairing – I’d eat it. $16