November

Well I would say that was a pretty enjoyable autumn we had?  I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the outdoors at their best and maybe enjoy some good wines too!  This month we’re back to basics, just six solid wines to enjoy based off what we tasted with our importer friends.  Speaking of enjoying wine with friends, Val & Anthony are back after six weeks in Europe!  You may even see them at the store from time to time over the winter months!

I’m excited to announce that I’ve started collecting some unusual products in our closet for what will be a twelve days of Christmas mixed case!  For $150 you’ll get a selection of bottles ranging from beer to wine and many things in between, each will be wrapped up to have a surprise each day, along with some notes about them.  We will have just ten of these cases available on a first come first serve basis, so pop into the store or give us a phone call to reserve yours!  They will release on December 7th and payment will be collected upon pickup.

Big thanks to everyone who came out to the Wine Workshop last week!  we finally got into the red wines, a trend which will continue for this month as we cover Oak, Spice, and Earth, tickets are up now for November 29th so get your seat now!

As well we’re six days away from the Whisky Workshop with Wild Life Distillery, we’ll be tasting four whiskies and learning about their differences both in the distillery and in the glass.  At the end of the night you’ll take home a nosing glass to enjoy future drams in!

Clark Estate

Chardonnay

We picked this wine up on a steal of a deal, which is why I’ve got listed here at $20 rather than the $26-$30 range that previous Clark Estate wines have sat at on our shelves.  Consider this my formal apology for having 600 words going off about volcanic soils in last months newsletter.  

The nose of this wine has a really pleasant fleshy apple and peach.  On the palate I found heaps of lemon and grapefruit, along with more green apple, and a hint of lily.  The finish has a faint woody presence.  With only 30% malolactic and a brief period in old oak, this is a Chardonnay that utilises those techniques for a touch of texture and complexity while still allowing the fruit to take the spotlight.

$20

Tenuta di Corte Giacobbe

Pinot Grigio Ramato

Ramato is derived from the Italian word for Copper, “rame”.  This refers to the colour of this wine, the result of a brief period of skin contact, much like an orange wine.  This stylistic choice begins in the vineyard where grapes are intentionally exposed to sunlight as it encourages pigment development in the skin.

This style of Pinot Grigio was actually the historic norm until the 60s when Santa Margherita brought uncoloured Pinot Grigio to the international market.  Now if I can inject my own, personal opinion for a moment; as overwhelmingly successful a move as this has been for Pinot Grigio, it has also lead to the grape becoming known as an uninteresting, patio pounder wine.

Which is fine in that setting.

but…

I was really psyched to taste this.

This is Pinot Grigio as a food wine!  The palate has an interesting mineral texture to it, along with a faint hint of tannin.  Crunchy apple and melon open up the fruit profile, then shifting towards subtle cherry and strawberry.  Towards the finish it ends ripe with peach and apricot.  The flavours are clear and straightforward, meaning you can pair this with many dinners and rest assured that while it is interesting, it won’t be stealing the spotlight from your main course.

$25

Desquiciado

Malbec

There is just one thing I look for to determine if a Malbec is worthy of our shelves or not: floral flavours!  I found them in this wine, a whiff of violet and rose petal right at the begining of the nose.  It is this floral note that I find really elevates a wine in drinkability.  Red fruit follows that opening, with raspberry both fresh and stewed, and some baked red plum.  On the mid-palate the flavour shifts towards clove, vanilla, tobacco, and a little licorice on the finish,  Ultimately this is a lighter style Malbec, with its usual crowd pleasing nature.  This would be a nice wine to share with good company and a roast chicken or pot pie.

$25

Bodegas Borsao

Berola

Okay, I think this is the last Garnacha based wine from Borsao to be featured in the wine workshop.  What can I say?  They’re an excellent producer with quality offerings at many different price points.  This Berola is a step above their entry level.  Blended from Garnacha and Syrah and aged 14 months in French and American oak, this wine shows really great balance.  While some Garnacha, like Borsao’s Tres Picos can be quite meaty and leathery, the addition of Syrah here really tames that wild character and moves it towards a more earthy palate.  The acidity provides some lift to what is otherwise a full feeling wine, with a fruit profile showing a nice mix of black and red fruit; blackberry, plum, blueberry, and cherry.  The tannins are fairly mellow from the time in wood and that has brought some rich notes like cocoa, cedar, and toasted coconut.

$24

Featherstone

Cabernet Franc

Featherstone Winery located in the Niagara Peninsula is built on many sustainable and low intervention practises.  In the vineyard they employ sheep and a falcon to control leaf growth and pests, and they stick only to their vineyards, not seeking to produce more wine than what they can grow themselves.  In the winery they utilise indigenous yeasts, and have even experimented with Canadian oak barrels!  While this wine in particular sticks to American oak, I will be keen to keep an eye on these guys for their pursuit of showcasing Canadian terroir.

This wine pours a gorgeous ruby colour and right away shows the signature herbal note of Cabernet Franc with an aroma of sage or rosemary.  On the palate we’ve got juicy red fruit of cherry and raspberry, maybe leaning a little into the black fruits too.  The finish is clean and tight with a chalky, slate like minerality to it.

$28

Shed Horn

Zinfandel

I don’t know about the rest of you but when Zinfandel weather hits, I’m ready to throw a party.  Bring out the sweaters, stews, and board game nights, because I’ve got just the wine for you to cozy up with.  This Zin comes from Lake County in California, North of Napa.  The combination of high elevation and the proximity to Clear Lake creates the effect of near constant wind during the ripening period, along with plenty of sunshine.  The effect is that vines have plenty of light to promote ripening in the grapes, while the winds keep things cool.  The wine then shows a distinct dryness and a bright red fruit profile of plum and cherry.  There’s some cool slate minerality here, and plenty of cedar, toasted wood, clove, and cinnamon.  The tannins have a real silkiness to them that give this wine an excellent richness.  This is a great example of Zinfandel that hasn’t fallen head over heels into a jam jar.

$38