Survivor Wine

International Bright Young Things

2009-04-02T22:03:00.003-07:00

Warning... this is not a true wine review.

Last week I was a volunteer at the Vancouver International Wine Festival.
Being in the industry (and a bit of badgering) got me 'top honours' as a wine pourer. That means we got to wear black tops instead of white tops. Exciting.

Sarcastic comments aside, it was a great day. I poured the wine for three tastings - Vinho Verde, Blind Blind and Icons of BC.

Vinho Verde was a double-revelation. The first being the wines, crisp, sparkly, fresh and new. All my favourite white wine characteristics bundled into one - all be it schizophrenic - region. 60 odd different varietals have been classified for the Minho region in the far North region of Portugal, and I can't pronounce most of them, with the most recognisable being the trendy Alvariniho.

The excitement of discovery, as I said, of the crisp wines of the region, was emphasised by the method. We'd finished pouring for the tasting and the crew were sitting at the back listening to the panel discussing the wines. And the food matches. Torture! Fortunately for us, the tasting was not a sell out and the supervisors generously let us sit in on the second half of the tasting.

Of the six wines we tasted, one was similar to riesling, one similar to Sauvignon Blanc, one had a lemon sherbet noze, a few were plesantly sprintzy, or pétillant if you're French, the rose was disapointing to start with but complex and satisfying after it warmed up a little. And the remarkable thing was that as the glasses got warmer, the wines maintained their structure and integrity, which was astounding given the second revelation, right up this blogs alley.

Price. Of the six wines tasted, none were over $20. There were many shocked sounds reverberating around the tasting room after that announcement, mine included.

A caveat - I grabbed a botttle of Vinho Verde from a local shop, not one from the tasting, and while it had the refreshing pétillance of some of the wines of the area, it lacked flavour and depth. But at $13, or at least sub $20, you can afford to try a few until you find your favorite Spring tipple. Sante!

(I'll write about the other tastings - as well as the main public tasting - over the next week or so)

Submission

2009-03-12T23:15:00.001-07:00

Bingo! Adam hits the trifecta, getting three reviews out in one night after so many dry days. In the blogsphere, anyway. Enjoy.

It's hard to find a good Pinot Noir at a good price. It's a notoriously fickle grape to grow and manage, as such overheads in the vineyard and winery are higher than other varieties. Sub $20 Pinots are often tanic and thin. Not too pleasant, and need to hide behind a robust pasta or a spicy pizza. It's easy to spend upwards of $50 for Pinot, and even some of those are a disappointment, especially when you look at your empty wallet. At the other end of the sea-saw though, a good Pinot is sublime, complex and worth the search and expense.

So this 2006 Mission Hill Pinot Noir, a VQA wine from the Okanagan could have fallen either way. At $22 it's got a lot of competition. Does it hold up or wash out? But before I got to the wine, I had another conundrum. Should I put the arty-farty picture on the blog, or the one with the gold medal? Fear not, I put them both in for your visual enjoyment.

On to more serious fare. The nose; meaty, slightly unripe berries mix with richer plumb and raspberry flavours, with a little vanillan oak. So far so good. I was enjoying it.

In the mouth I found nice berry flavours, most of the greenness had gone, replaced with spicy plumb and integrated oak and a lovely lingering length (now there's a three letter acronym for you).

This was a wonderful surprise at this price point. I have not had a lot of experience with Okanagen Pinots, but I'll certainly be searching out a few more when I'm in the mood for a silky smooth Pinot in the future. I would have been happy paying an extra $5 for this one.

Parallel Universe

2009-03-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

Well looky here, two reviews in one night...

Yeah, OK, I'm a stuck record. Predictable. Boring. I admit it. But here's another Cotes du Rhone wine...

The Parallele "45" from Paul Jaboulet Aine is a typical Cotes du Rhone red from the 2006 vintage.

Slap bang in the hotly contested "just a whisker over $20" market, I was just about to find out whether the heavy bottle and old-school label that marketers hope spells "classy" (and more importantly "buy me") lived up to the moniker.

--As an aside, I'd originally mistyped that last word as "monkier". Perhaps I should have left it like that, and those with a curious mind and a sharp eye would have googled it.

Well with a full glass in my hand the rich dark red colour definitely looked classy. The nose was slightly alcoholic, (no kidding I hear you say, but you can occasional get a real spiritsy whiff in wines with higher alcohol content) with tertiary characters. Dusty berries, lightly stewed blackberries, tobacco leaf and dark chocolate proceeded, keeping true to the marketer's wishes.

The palate was dusty, tanic and tight. Tobacco leaf, tea leaf, dried berries and a tight dry finish. Still tasty, but a bit of a let down after the previous hooplah.

Before you stop reading in disapointment, I have to say that most French wines are built to be drunk with food, and it was no exception here. Over dinner the fruit really came out to play. A rustic roast chicken, perhaps, with some chorizo and capsicum (bell peppers for you North Americans) thrown in to add flavour. Out come some great berry fruit flavours accompanied by a fuller mouth feel and a bit of cold tea (trust me). Fantastic.

As such, if you're looking for a glass of red by itself, the $21 price tag is about on the mark. If you're looking to whip it out with friends over dinner (the wine, that is) then I reckon you could get away with telling them it cost you $30-$35, such is the lift with a good hearty caserolle. Sante!

Looks like I'm Up Sh1t Creek Again

2009-03-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been that long? I should really clear some of these wines in my note book.

Here's a start.

Ten Dollars Fifty is not much to pay for a bottle of wine in anyone's book, is it? Some days you could find that in coins in your pockets. So what do you get for spare change? Well, spare wine, really.

Sawmill creek Sauvignon Blanc is a non vintage blend, made of more than one vintage. So perhaps small parcels left over from other bottlings and blended, or perhaps picked up on the open market at a good price. But does all that really matter? At this price, not at all. You're not going to be worried about where it was grown (mostly in Canada, but no specific region) or the subtleties of the region, the meso climate blah blah. All that wine waffle doesn't come into play here.

The label says it all really. My notes nearly matched it verbatim.

Mine being: With a citrus and herbaceous nose this cheap wine is fairly cheerful. Slightly uncomfortable acidity has been masked by a creamy texture and a hint of oak. The shortish finish is also a bit sweet compared to the dryness of the nose and initial palate.

And the label, if you didn't read it in the pic: crisp, dry, citrus, slightly herbaceous, hint of oak.

Which presents two points. One. Obviously they're so desperate to be considered as such they've put the tasting notes on the front label. Kind of like pinning your CV to your tie when you go for an interview. Two. That was it. Bit of oak, some vaguely varietal characteristics and nothing. There's no real need to flaunt fancy tasting notes on a bottle of plonk at this price, let alone on the front of the bottle.

What I'm really trying to say here is a ten dollar wine is a ten dollar wine. Good enough to quaff while you're pouring a fair portion over your chicken hot pot, or bring out after the nice wine has run out and everyone is slightly tipsy. Nothing more, nothing less, and as such right on the money.

Lust For Life

2009-02-17T14:55:00.005-08:00

Here's an article for a wine writing comp I submitted recently, I thought some of you may enjoy reading it. Let me know if you like it, or if I should forget writing that book...

The Peculiar Life of wine.

The joy of wine drinking can often be dulled by analysis. Searching for faults or flaws, ticking off characteristics. Often we forget about The Peculiar Life of Wine.

In the beginning, loins are laid bare to the elements, fending for themselves for tens of years, centuries even. Each year surviving vicious knife attacks and being left out in the cold - the harsher the conditions the better. Roots take hold in the crumbliest of shale, producing the most tenacious liquid. Finally the seed is harvested at it's peak, destined for greater things. And as if that wasn't enough, it only happens once a year.

Fertilisation isn't the privilege of one successful sperm here, grapes burst forth and mingle with the juice of thousands, an orgy of flesh, juice and the odd frog. The resultant primeval soup is cultivated, fermented, crafted and manipulated. Shaped into life-giving matter by oak and secondary ferments, adding complexity until the perfect unity is formed. The time taken is beyond the tantric dreams of mere mortals, this dance can be years long.

(Those with certain religious views may want to skip this paragraph). Contraception is a necessity in the peculiar life of wine. It takes place first on the vine, selecting the right grapes at the right time, discarding anything not perfect, a basic genetic purification. Later it takes the form of removing rouge parcels, blending and selecting, discarding undesirable batches, leaving only the best to continue towards greatness.

The bottle then becomes the womb. A protective environment that will see the wine develop and evolve. Synapses connect, bonds are forged and a being is formed. This pregnancy can take years and needs the parental love any unborn being craves. Cool, dark cellaring, protection from vibrations, movement, light. Utmost care is needed to nurture as the wine grows and develops in it's protected environment. Some guardians may have a brood of thousands, tending each one carefully. Others choose IVS, or In Vino Selection, at their local bottle shop.

A quiet pop or hiss of a cork, a crack of a screw-cap seal signals a birth, a new life released. The blood red flow of wine out of the bottle's neck, cascading into glasses. Cheers from multiple recipients, celebrating new life and new potential. Everything is in the future, waiting to be unveiled. The parents may not be there, but you can feel their pride and hopes of success for their young charges.

Somewhat closed after it's gestation in the bottle, wine's first moments are often hesitant, like a toddlers unstable waddle or throw of a ball. A lot of noise being made, but nothing coherent yet. A swirl of the glass here and there, like a guardian's careful guiding hand, encourages the wine to grow, mature and explore its potential.

As a teenager, wine finds it difficult to express itself, often appearing muted or below potential. Brooding, distracted and unfocused perhaps but opening up, slowly showing glimpses of things to come. Too far yet to be fully revealed but enough to whet the appetite.

Fully developed, wine engages all the senses. The journey complete, the spirits enlivened and the masked potential revealed like rays of sun through rain clouds. Subtle notes become beacons of flavour, scent and aroma. Every mouthful is a celebration of life and the journey that lead here.

However later in life there comes a tendency to waffle, perhaps labour the point and get somewhat off track. Reminiscing about the fullness of fruit and flavour that seemed not so long ago. Punch lines are blurred and urgency lost. Wine's passing into old age is by one of two means. Getting bitter or losing its marbles. Bitterness sets in in the younger set, flavours being tainted and the vinegar of spoilt potential courses through the glass, lamenting the fact it sat open too long without being drunk. An older wine has a more noble demise, gradually dulling, getting a little dusty and not really knowing what's going on. Dreaming of a more fruitful time it appears tired in the glass, not even a shadow of its youth – which may have been just hours before.

Sometimes, things don't turn out the way they should. The tragedy of cork taint, potential cloaked by a wall thick or thin, of wet cardboard or subdued nose. The plight of a wine handicapped so is less considerate than if a human, and often results in a journey down the sink (unless that dodgy uncle is in town again). Oxidation, reduction, these too can spoil the potential of a newly born wine and usually suffers the same plight.

Other times wine is born old, coming out of the bottle tired and age-weary, bereft of the flavours of youth. Life before birth has taken it's toll. The tragedy here is many-fold. So much potential, so much care, where did we go wrong the owner asks? We nurtured, we cared, we waited for that special occasion. Realisation though, too late, that sometimes holding on isn't always the best. Or that the top of the fridge may not be the best gestational environment.

Sadly, and more often than not, the life of wine is cruelly cut short. Just as the cloud of youth is being dispersed and the unencumbered beauty celebrated by all, the bottle is drained, finished. The final gift often a gritty deposit polluting the last greedy glass. As the only cure for an empty bottle is a full bottle, the practice of purchasing wines in cases, or duodecaplets, can mitigate these symptoms.

So next time you crack a bottle of wine, don't just think of what's wrong with it or what's right with it, think about it as a living entity and enjoy what it's been through and what it's parents wanted it to be. It just might make the wine world a better place.

Sweet Surrender

2009-02-12T00:27:00.003-08:00

I love Riesling. (Is there a pattern here? Am I reviewing what I love? I guess I'll buy things I WANT to drink, because I'm not being paid for this blog, but I like to explore new wines, regions & varieties.)

Anyway, Australia is spoiled with two of the greatest dry-style Riesling regions in the world; the Clare & Eden valleys. And I love them, especially with a bit of age. But this blog is about what I can find now, not reminiscing.

And so introducing the Mirassou 2006 Riesling from Monterey Country, California, U S of A.

Up front there's a developed sweet tropical fruit on the nose, flagging that we're not in the same steely territory of the Rieslings I'm accustomed to. But there was a contentious mineraly vibe going on in the background that maintained my faith in the 'true' Riesling essence - at least from an Australian's point of view. Many other countries would argue, strongly and rightly.

So once in the mouth it was an Australian purist's let down, but a flavour lover's delight of sweet tropical lychee with melon and honey. The acid plenty enough to tame all those sweet fruits and lead into a nice balanced finish. Lovely.

At $12, it's right on the money, or a few dollars over. Grab it with your favourite Japanese take away.

Piece of Pie

2009-02-10T22:44:00.005-08:00

French Sauvignion Blanc. I usually love it. The hint of wood taming the more grassy tones, lovely. So with joy I lay down $17 for Thierry & Guy's Fat Bastard Sauvignon Blanc 2006.

First impressions were OK. Straight off the bat it was obvious this was going to be more in the new than old world style. On top of that we were a fair way from the Loire Valley, way South in the regoin of Languedoc-Roussillon. No great matter, I love them both. Or all three, as it were.

Cracking the bottle and having a whiff, it was citrusy (is that a word?) and grassy, good varietal flavours but quite thin on the nose. No real punch. This extended into the mouth, light and fruity with an OK length the only real thing I can say about it is... indescript. No real issues or faults, but it didn't rouse any great passion or excitement.

Because of that, I could make up a bit more here or I could just cut to the chase and say that at that price there's too many contenders. There is a chance there was a slight cork taint taking the edge off the flavours, so I may revisit this one if I feel so moved, but as it stands I'd probably pay not more than $10.

Roam

2009-01-28T21:58:00.003-08:00

Well once again I've been sucked in... This time by a name with obvious nods towards one of my favourite regions.

2005 Goats do Roam Red Blend, South Africa

None to subtle. But in this goat-eat-goat world of wine marketing, this time it did it's trick. I picked it up, took it home and drank it - and now I'm writing about it. So someone's doing something right out there. But what of the name? Is this South African wine true to it's French aspirations?

Well it's got a nice dark red colour out of the bottle, mid weight, so all seems in order so far.

Moccha, chocolate, pepper, stewed berries, Christmas cake, vanillan oak. OK, not quite typical Cotes du Rhone (lets just say CdR from now), but close enough. Hold on, there's a hint of herbaceousness in there too. Herbaceous? Definitely not CdR teritory. Is the façade crumbling? Time to ask Google I think.

Unsurprisingly I'm not the only one to go down this path. The French did so a few years ago. Questioning the CdR links that is, not asking google.

For me though, it's pretty close to the CdR style, even if it's not exact. The pallet is just as agreeable, with more Christmas cake, stewed berry fruit, chocolate, tobacco, complex herbaceous, forest floor tones. True to style or not, it's still rather nice.

The only drawback would be it being slightly thin and warm on the finish, probably due to the %14 alcohol. Nothing to detract from the enjoyment really, especially if you're enjoying with food.

So at a whisker over $16, I'd be happy to spend $20-$25 for this one. Well done goat people.

Note.
I was a little surprised at the herbaceous and forest floor characters, so after a bit of research I found that this blend has %20 Pinotage. South Africa's flagship grape, Pinotage is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut, which could explain these characters. I'm also pretty sure that no Pinotage is used in the South of France...

Distance Equals Rate Times Time

2009-01-24T23:11:00.006-08:00

Good to see a bit of age creeping into the cheap-seat category. Or perhaps that's why it's cheap - dump and run.

If it's the former, we may be the winners here. One of the quotes gleaned about from other internet sites is "Spain's answer to Châteauneuf-du-Pape" which goes a long way towards explaining why I was so taken by it initially - and as we all know; if it's on the internet, it must be true.

I wrote down quite a bit about this wine. Lot's of good wine descriptors like dark chocolate, plumb, stewy fruit, christmas cake, dusty, cherry, coconut, cigar, cedar - I was clearly enjoying the 'nose'.

2004 Equis Red Blend, Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla, Spain

But I was let down in the palate division: tanic, astringent, sweet cherry berry (that's the good bit), clingy finish, high tannins but short finish. In my notes I've got in capital letters at the bottom:

"PROMISED SO MUCH, FINISH LET IT DOWN".

So with that I'm going to go with the dump and run prognosis. Perhaps this was a great wine a few years ago - the nose would certainly attest to that. But it's fallen on hard times and at $17, I think it's on the money.

Badfish

2009-01-24T22:39:00.007-08:00

We've tried a lot of Pinot Grigios over the past few months. I guess because they offer an opportunity for good quality at a low price because it's not really an 'in demand' trendy gape, and it doesn't require a lot of difficult & expensive winemaking treatments to make it a nice drop.

But it can also expose some lazy winemaking. The Fisheye Pinot Grigio is a good example here. The best thing about it I think is my photo (I quite like it!).

2007 Fish Eye Pinot Grigio, California, USA.

Light on the nose, with a hint of lemon, it was thin with a slight herbaciousness. A slight spritzyness either meant it was a bad bottle or a bad wine. It had a decent acid finish, but not much else going for it. So I'm going to revisit this wine.

Stay tuned for a re-test.

Ends

2009-01-24T21:34:00.010-08:00

I guess this one bucks the trend somewhat. Or does it?

It's a $21 red. So not bargain basement cheap, but I used to quaff 15 year old reds with pizza on a Tuesday night, so I'm entitled to upping the budget a little every now and then, aren't I? Anyway, this was intended to be drunk at a friends place, but the new year wellness issues meant we drank it at home one night.

So with that it's an appropriate wine to open up the dialogue again - it was one of the wines we had (but didn't drink) when we were sick, and it's called "THE PROCRASTINATOR", and I haven't posted for some weeks now (of course I have very good reasons).

Anyway, enough preamble, what are we up for?

As I said, it's a $20 plus bottle of red from one of my favourite regions, McLaren Vale. A Cab Franc/Cab Sauv blend we're looking at a veritable summer fruit-bowl of berry, cherry and raspberry bonded with earthy herbaceous tones, chocolate, tobacco, desiccated coconut. It's one of those wines that is easy to write about - so many flavours popping out of the glass.

After taking the first mouthful I was thinking "is this good because I've been tasting cheap(er) wine for so long, or because it's just darn good?" Smooth, integrated flavours, toasty oak, berries, spicy, white pepper, as I said it makes writing about it easy. With tannins s o smooth I couldn't believe that this was a 2007 red. I'm starting to question this cheap-wine philosophy - is this wine an anomaly or can $5-$10 really make such a difference? I guess you can look at it a different way: It's 40% more expensive than a $15 bottle, but the flavour is many times more. Investment = wise, when you can afford it.

2007 Wits End "The Procrastinator" Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale, Australia

To cap it off, If you want to have a great night, not just a good night, it's worth spending that extra $5 or so - wisely of course. My vote is I'd be happy to hand over $30 for this $21 bottle.

Bingo!

Just a Test

2009-01-09T23:04:00.003-08:00

Hi all. Once again I'm here to apologise.

I've been rather ill for the past few weeks - what timing, I was in bed at 8pm on New Years Eve, and that was only because I had to stay up to put my son to bed...
Anyway, fully on the road to recovery now, so you will see a few more reviews up over the coming weeks as I work through my backlog of notes. As such, no glowing reviews of stellar champagnes supped to bring in the new year unfortunately. That's one wine genre you really don't want to skimp on though, but that's a whole new entry there.

A few reports have been trickling back to me that people are having difficulty viewing the blog after the last post, so I'm hoping this may 'reset' things and all will be viewable again. Send me a comment if you're still having trouble viewing the entries. Hold on, that's not going to work.

Oh, we've also had a disagreement with our ISP as well and as such are in the process of changing. We'll be off the air until Tuesday, so it will be at least then until the next review. I'm sure we'll be a lot more content with our internet service as a result though.

A belated happy new year to all!

Groovallegiance

2008-12-27T21:36:00.017-08:00

OK, my cards are on the table.

I love the Rhone Valley. The wines, the flavours, the jewel in it's crown; Chateauneuf du Pape. It's been a long time favourite. So it should come to no surprise that I found the Chateau de Valcombe 2007 Shiraz Grenache agreeable. Regardless of it's sub $15 price tag, it was always going to be a winner for me.

2007 Chateau de Valcombe Syrah Grenache, Rhone Valley, France

Allegiances pledged, lets get down to it. It's a lot of wine for a little bit of money. Dark burgundy in the glass with aromas of pepper, forest berries, chocolate and spice. Textbook, and I was in heaven.

Chocolate berry/cherry, earthy, liquorice, good integrated tannins; a few mouthfuls in and I was still on a roll. A lighter style wine, but what it lacks in weight it more than makes up for in complexity & interest. The only low point was it was a little hot on the finish, but with food this wouldn't be noticeable.

The Rhone did it again for me, and you'd see me digging into my pocket to the tune of an extra fiver for this one. Perhaps cheap isn't all that bad.

Fairytale of New York

2008-12-27T00:07:00.003-08:00

Merry Christmas.

I could call it a Christmas Hiatus, but I'd be lying. I haven't posted for two weeks and I have no reason. But I've still been drinking, surprise surprise. I have many notes to transform into posts and put a lot more effort into the photos, so hopefully wine and words will come thick and fast over the next few weeks.

Cheers!

I Turn My Camera On

2008-12-11T23:22:00.003-08:00

My wife has bought to my attention that the photos I've supplied with the last few posts have been somewhat... uninspired.
And I have to admit, they are. While it's not really essential to describe a wine, I love my photography, and it's disappointing to show you sub-par pics of the product I've been imbibing. So thanks for reminding me Teesha, no more!

Naked in the Rain

2008-12-08T22:05:00.012-08:00

Unoaked Sauvignon Blanc is not unusual by any means. So it seems odd to use this angle as a selling point. Oaked Sauvignon Blanc would turn heads more these days in most quarters (Sancerre being the obvious exception). That's what the guys at Naked Grape Wines have done though, with their Unoaked Sauvignon Blanc. And it's an OK drop. I mean, it's a Canadian wine made from local and imported juice, and comes in at $11 a bottle. So it doesn't have the weight of the world's expectations on it's shoulders as, say, a bottle from Martinborough may have.
So how does it shape up?

NV Naked Grape Sauvignon Blanc, Canada.

Pale straw in the glass with upfront grassy characters, so far so good.
A hint of a creamy palate at first, before the acidity regains control and brings it back in line with some melon and citrus flavours.
The after-taste has a slight sulphur taint, which probably means that part of this batch has been around for a while and freshened up a few too many times.
What does all that mean? Well it's a quaffable drop that would slide along nicely with Japanese takeaway, which is exactly what we did.
And as an $11 wine and I'd say that's pretty much on the money.

Can I kick it?

2008-12-03T21:14:00.010-08:00

On the back of the last successful Pinot Grigio purchase I thought I'd try my luck again. Kind of like tempting fate I guess, but this time I thought I'd go to the source, or at least close to it; Sicily. That island at the end of Italy that looks like the boot has just kicked a ball.
The Montalto 2007 Pinot Grigio set us back a mere $15, but would it be a set back in my quest for good cheap wine? Let's see...

2007 Montalto Pinot Grigio, Sicily, Italy.

Lovely and light colour with an austere, minerally, steely lemon nose. Right up my alley.
On the first sip I detected a little spritzy tang, but that lemon steelyness was still there along with some lovely earthy mineral tones. Classic.
With a reasonable length this was could become a bit of a favourite. There was a slightly extracted flavour at the end, but if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't taste it, so it wouldn't detract from your enjoyment in any way.
I have to admit that being an Italian Pinot Grigio the bar was set higher than for the cheaper Californian Barefoot that flew in right under the radar, but I think it held it's head high at the price point. While I think it's a good price, I probably wouldn't be too disappointed if I spent another $5 on this.
And bonus points for being in a screwcap bottle as well. I miss the Australian screwcap movement!

Best Foot Forward.

2008-11-27T22:26:00.014-08:00

Well I bought this wine because of it's price. Really. It was cheap.
I love Pinot Grigio. I don't go for the whole Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris naming thing, but I do like the grape. Still, I've yet to come across a good, cheap Pinot Grigio.
So why risk disapointment again? It's non vintage and non regional, two important aspects to guide me to wines I think I'll like.
Vintage not for a specific vintage, but to see if the wine is fresh, or has a bit of age, it gives you an idea of the taste profile.
Region because that's the way the modern wine world is going. For premium regions anyway. Boutique areas suitable to a handful of particular grape varietals. The old world has been doing this for centuries, but then they've had a bit of a head start to work it out.
But this wine had neither. And still I bought it.
California was the appellation and non vintage, However $9.99 was the seductive price, and it succeded. Without a vintage on the label I'd assume it's a mega-blend bought on the free market or left over from superior labels, blended a couple of times a year.
However because I ignored my first instincts, I succeeded in picking up quite a nice little drop.

NV Barefoot Pinot Grigio, California, USA.

Mineral and lychee with a slight sweetness of honey and jasmine. Good structure, clean and crisp with a tight finish. Not complex or thought provoking, but neither was the price.
It's also not something you want to drink with lunch, as you'll probably find yourself in the same place many hours later telling some stranger why you want to marry the person over there, even though you've never met them. It's very easy to drink.
So while I'll probably shell out another $5 for this wine it will remain a bit of a party trick. Not something I'd share because of it's quality, but because it's so enjoyable and so cheap. It's already got a home in our fridge as a 'just another night' wine.

Fire it up.

2008-11-27T21:08:00.019-08:00

OK, I have another admission. I got a bit of a tip off from a local rag on this one.
And thank (insert deity here), because I wouldn't have chosen this one. The label is a bit dodgy, a full wrap around with quite a few issues keeping it crinkle-free at the back. Not a professional outfit at first impression. But I must admit, the label has grown on me, what I first thought was cheese central I now think is kind of funky. What do you think?

2006 Garnacha de Fuego Old Vine Grenache form Calatayud, Spain.

Perhaps I've been enjoying the open fireplace at our new home too much.
Anyway, so now you know we're looking at a Spanish Grenache (and if you didn't, well you definitely do now). Not just an ordinary Grenache apparently, but a Grenache On Fire.
Anyway, enough of the preamble. What was it like?
Firstly, lets just say that I like this style. Spicy, earthy, cherry & wood berry flavours, all jumping out of the glass. But not at first, I'm always a bit disappointed straight after opening this wine, but it opens up quickly and excitingly.
Ticking all the boxes that us wine-types look for, it's got good length, grippy tannins, tight with a long finish. Unfortunately I found a bit of stewy fruit or overcooked characters mixed in there as well, but not enough to subtract from the overall enjoyment.
Where this wine comes into it's own, however, is with food. With a home-brew spag bol this evening, (quite a bit found it's way into the saucepan, but not enough to leave my glass empty of course) this wine kicked off it's heels and partied. No, hold on, this wine caught fire! Yeah, OK, now I'm trying too hard. But the fact remains: it lifted. No more overcooked characters, the body felt bigger in the mouth, those sexy spicy flavours were enhanced, it really came into it's own. It's definitely a wine built to be enjoyed with food.
So what was the damage? Picked up at the local BC Liquor store in Canada for $15.99.
How good was it?
Well, I'm not going to rate wines on this blog, or score them out of 20 or 100. But I will tell you how much, or little, I would have been happy to spend on the wine, seeing as this is really what the blog is all about.
So:
I wouldn't have been disappointed if I'd spent $5-10 more on this.
But don't tell BC Liquor that.

Start me up.

2008-11-27T20:40:00.006-08:00

So I've got to get something off my chest first. I've had a bit of a head start here.
Of course.
We've been in Canada for over a month, so of course I've had a few bottles of wine. Of course I've got some favourites already. So in the first couple of weeks forgive me if my 'hit rate' is a little high, but it's only natural to revisit a few discovered gems to share with you.
So consider this my month-long disclaimer.