The LG Wine Awards (Part I)

From July 3-5, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the ‘Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Ontario Wines’ (thankfully abbreviated on Twitter as the #LGWineAwards).  This was my first experience behind-the-scenes at a wine competition.  And what an experience it was. 

A total of 268 wines were entered, from which the judges (ahem, adjudicators) ultimately selected only 11 winners.  I was glad to not be a judge.  The level of quality, on the whole, of these Ontario wines was quite high.  There easily could have been upwards of twenty winners. Unfortunately, according to the parameters of the competition, a maximum of 12 winners could be chosen. 

Each category of wines had their standouts.  But, in my view, the categories that were most consistent were no surprise: Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Icewine, and Sparkling.  These are some of the grape varieties (and wine styles) that have proven to be most successful in Ontario. 

The list of winners will be announced in the coming weeks, all of which are exceptional.  (There will be no leaks from me!)  I am proud to know that these wines will be representing the Ontario wine industry.

In Part II, I hope to provide an in-depth view of what happens behind-the-scenes at a wine competition.

An Evening of 'Natural' Wines at the SAT Food Lab

I had the opportunity to visit SAT’s Food Lab last night.  This fun Montreal restaurant-meets-cafeteria is run by two former Laloux chefs: Seth Gabrielse and Michelle Marek.  The menu changes weekly(-ish), with this week’s menu happening to be a vigneron theme.   However, it wasn’t for the food that I made my way downtown during a bizarre March blizzard.  (Fine, blizzard by Niagara standards.)  Rather, the wine list (crafted by La QV and Oenopole wine agencies) emphasized only ‘natural’ wines.  These are the type of wines that you rarely get a chance to purchase at your friendly government monopoly liquor stores.

I won’t dive into the intense, and almost downright nasty, on-going debate on natural wines.  All I will say is that these wines were made from grapes grown according to organic and biodynamic viticultural standards, with the resulting wines having little to no chemical additions.  That means, by and large, these wines are a product of wild (or natural) fermentations, then bottled without fining or filtering and little (or no) sulphur addition.  The goal is to craft a wine that is a true expression of terroir.  (Whether natural wines are a true or ‘better’ expression of terroir is another story.)

These are the five wines I tried:

(1)  ‘Epaulé Jété Blanc’ 2010, Domaine Catherine and Pierre Breton, Vouvray

100% Chenin blanc (I believe).  Organic, biodynamic viticulture; hand-harvested; wild fermentation; non-filtered; little to no sulphur addition.  A simple, clean, crisp wine with minerality, green apple, and peach.  A non-descript wine that, if tasted blind, could have been any number of varieties.  This is very much a food wine. 

(2)  ‘Les Amandiers’ 2009, Chateau La Tour Grise, Vin de France

100% Chenin blanc.  Organic, biodynamic viticulture; wild fermentation.  This is not AoC accredited.  The first thing that immediately jumps out at you is the colour: its deep, golden-brown.  And the first taste confirms that, yes, this is oxidized.  Nevertheless, it is an interesting wine, as it turned out to be one of our favourites of the evening.  The wine has bright acidity, with nutty minerality and apple.

Nothing that I could find on the producer’s website indicates that this wine was purposefully oxidized.  This leads me to think it’s just one of the potential consequences (benefits?) of low (or no) sulphur additions.  It’s interesting now, but I don’t know if that’ll be the case in a year.

(3)  Pinot Noir 2009, Domaine Meinklang, Burgenland

This producer does not have a website.  The nose provides an initial whiff of smokey bacon.  I found the smokiness to dissipate over time, and was replaced with cherry and blackberry fruit.  Overall, a decent wine.  My comment at the time was, “This tastes like a Pinot that costs $18.”  (I was a little off; La QV lists it at $25.)  For me, though, there was something missing – as is so often the case with Pinot at this price range.

(4)  Epaulé Jeté Rouge 2010, Domaine Catherine and Pierre Breton, Chinon

100% Cabernet Franc.  This is a textbook Chinon: herbaceous with cherry, raspberry fruit.  I picked up a slight minerality on the palate and, interestingly, a little tar on the nose.  Perhaps it would have been better appreciated when paired with food.  

(5)  Method Traditionelle Rosé 1999, Chateau La Tour Grise, Saumur

Blend unknown; I assume some combination of Cabernet Franc and Chenin blanc.  I cannot believe that this from the 1999 vintage.  The colour (albeit the lightning wasn’t ideal) shows no indications of aging, and the wine is incredibly clean and fresh. Bright acidity, fresh strawberries, and beautiful creamy texture.  This was completely unlike the 2009 ‘Les Amandiers’ we tried from the same producer.  Overall, by far, my favourite wine of the evening.

And what did I learn?  A natural wine does not ipso facto make a good wine; but natural wines can be great wines.    

Tasting Session #3

Tasting Session #3

For our recent third tasting session, we made the leap from whites to reds.  The theme for the session was affordable Italian reds.  The two winners of the evening, in my opinion, were:

(1) Folonari Valpolicella Ripasso Classico ($14.95)

            Easily recognizable as a Ripasso: rich, extracted dark fruit flavours (black cherry), with a smooth, silky texture.

(2) Matervitae Negroamaro ($9.85)

            Both the nose and palate were dominated by barnyard characteristics.  A simple, but enjoyable wine.

Negroamaro is a variety that I had not been exposed to before this tasting.  It is found primarily in southern Italy, where it is grown in both the Salento and Puglia regions (it is the dominant grape variety in the latter region). 

Oz Clarke describes it as a “rather odd-tasting grape” with farmyard and medicinal flavours.  It is often blended with Malvasia Nera to produce a higher quality wine.

Negroamaro is certainly a grape variety that I look forward to trying again in the near future.  The LCBO carries approximately twenty Negroamaro wines, all of which are under twenty dollars.     

Tasting Session #1

The first tasting for our as-of-yet untitled tasting group occurred this evening.  The theme was Sauvignon Blanc.  On the docket were three wines that we hoped would give a good introduction into this distinctive variety:

(1) Le Courlis 2009, Sauvignon Touraine, Clos du Porteau ($14.95) [Loire Valley, France]

            An understated nose of cut grass that led to mineral and tropical fruit notes on the palate.

(2) Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Marlborough, Mount Riley ($15.95) [New Zealand]

            A wine that exemplified the variety New Zealand has made famous: cut grass, peach on the nose that carried over to lychee and herbaceous notes on the palate.  

(3) Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Sonoma, Et Cetera ($14.95) [California]

            A wine completely out of balance by its high alcohol content (14.2%): what little fruit the wine offered was completely dominated by the alcohol. 

Of the three, the crowd favourite was split between the wines (1) and (2).  Wine (1), perhaps, lacked the varietal characteristics that are often most associated with Sauvignon Blanc.  Other than the faint aroma of cut grass on the nose, it lacked any herbaceous qualities. The tropical notes, however, were an interesting surprise for a wine from the cooler Loire Valley region.  It was, in my opinion, the most elegant of the evening with well-balanced acidity and alcohol.

The Mount Riley Sauvignon Blanc substituted the minerality of Le Courlis for more pronounced herbaceous qualities.  It was an equally impressive wine, but one with a noticeable alcohol presence at 13.5%.  Based on my tasting experience, it was a wine very typical of many New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs at this price range.

The third wine was selected to give an example of a Sauvignon Blanc from a warm climate region.  Its high alcohol content, however, completely dominated the wine.  The alcohol heat was evident on the nose, with only a modest amount of fruit coming through.  The herbaceous flavour of the wine came through on the tip of the palate, but was soon easily dominated by the alcohol on the back.  Overall, it was the group’s least favourite wine.  It was telling that, with the bottles of the first two wines empty, this third bottle was still over half full.     

         

Oak Chips

There is nothing glamorous about using oak chips.  Indeed, most producers do not go out of their way to advertise their use.  But the use of oak chips is somewhat entrenched within the wine industry.  The cost of oak barrels, at times, can necessitate the use of oak chips.  For instance, an average French (quercus robur) oak barrel costs approximately one-thousand dollars; an American (quercus alba) oak barrel, five-hundred dollars.  For entry level wines (e.g. wines under $15), the use of oak barrels is cost prohibitive.  Oak chips are used, instead.

I don't have any real problem with this - I expect that any oaked wine under approximately $15 will have used oak chips.  That being said, I do expect more from a more expensive wine.  Recently, I saw a $20 Californian wine at the LCBO that advertised on its label that it had used oak chips.  That seems, to me, like poor bang for my buck.  I did not pick it up.  On the other hand, I did purchase a bottle of the Dona Paula 2009 Estate Malbec at $17.95/bottle.  This less expensive wine had undergone barrel maturation in first, second, and third-use French barrels (33% for each) for eight months.  (I should note, however, that this was not mentioned on the bottle itself.  I, rather, gathered this information from the incredibly detailed tasting notes on its website.)

While the use of oak barrels vis-à-vis oak chips does not necessarily result in a superior wine, it does at least provide the appearance of being a superior wine.  And in an industry in which marketing plays a pivotal role in sales, I can think of no reason why one would advertise the use of oak chips - though, I do admire the transparency of doing so.

The Dona Paula Malbec had the classic profile of an Argentinean malbec: big cherry fruit with vanilla notes.  It could have been better or worse than the Californian bottle.  But I did feel like I was getting more bang for my buck.  And, at the end of the day, that can mean a lot to any consumer.