Friday, April 14, 2006

Prahova Valley Pinot Noir 2000
























Another not-entirely-successful experiment for us, this Romanian Pinot Noir from Prahova Valley was very brown--"garnet" would be the polite term for the colour, we guess. It had, according to our notes from February 24, "little bouquet" and "no distinguishing characteristics." We labeled it a "generic red" and indicated we would not buy it again, although Ed liked it better than Margaret Anne.

Boutari Dionysus in Spring Moschofilero 2004

Yep, it's Greek. And no, we don't know anything about Greek wines (except for what we've heard about retsina) or about this varietal, Moschofilero. But every once in a while we like to try something out of the blue--how else can you make happy discoveries?

Well, this Boutari Moschofilero wasn't exactly an unhappy discovery, but we weren't thrilled, either. It had a flinty nose--Margaret Anne put it down as "wet rock," although Ed found at least a touch of citrus in it. The flavor, too, was more on the grassy side of things than the fruity.

Not a bad wine, by any means, but probably not one we'll rush out to buy again.

Mt. Boucherie Gewurtrzaminer 2004

This Mt. Boucherie Gewurtrzaminer, from an Okanagan winery we aren't familiar with, was very similar to the Wolfberger Tokay Pinot Gris in the previous post. The Gewurtrzaminer has a richer bouquet, but we preferred the slightly fruitier Tokay Pinot Gris to this one's definitely flinty edge. (This surprised us, since normally Gewurtrzaminer is one of our favorite varietals.) This was fine, but since we had it hard on the heels of the Wolfberger, we'd give the edge to the Alsatian wine.

Wolfberger Tokay Pinot Gris 2004


We're not sure what was going on when we drank this $20 bottle of Wolfberger Tokay Pinot Gris 2004 from Alsace, but the entirety of our notes reads as follows:

"Very nice."

Henry of Pelham Baco Noir 2006

The 2002 vintage of Henry of Pelham's Baco Noir was recommended to us by fellow Canadian wineblogger Tim Jacobs (although I don't think he's blogged about it himself--he was commenting on our post about a Vineland Estates Baco Noir). We didn't see the 2002 on our local shelves, but the 2004 was available and we picked up a bottle on the basis of his suggestion.

Unfortunately, our notes are rather vague, possibly due to the fact that we drank it on Valentine's Day and had other things on our minds.

Wait a minute, that didn't come out right...

Anyway, here's what we wrote: "Red berry, cherry and peppery nose. Dry but fruity." It cost us between $12 and 14 here in Saskatchewan. And yes, we'd buy it again.

Ironstone Xpression 2004

Margaret Anne was dubious about our purchase of this Ironstone Xpression red (for around $10--it was another clearance item at the government liquor store) but she found it nicer than she remembered from a previous encounter. Strawberries and roses on the nose, and a flavour that is fruity sweet without being sugary sweet. Nicely balanced, it went well with Asian pork, although not with the marinated vegetables or shrimp creole that were also part of the meal. "It's a red that tastes like a white," we agreed.

A pleasant beverage for a hot day, we'd guess--although we had it in a Saskatchewan February and enjoyed it just the same.

Louis Guntrum Seagull Liebfraumilch 2002

This Louis Guntrum Liebfraumilch from the Rheinhessen is light and sweet on the palate but with a nice touch of acidity and a dry finish. In short, it's a very typical German white wine, and would have been worth almost twice the actual price: just $7.95 off of the clearance table at our usual government liquor store. (We also appreciated the fact it was just 8.5 percent alcohol.)

Vineland Estates Cabernet Franc 2004


Again, this came through the Vineland Estates Wine Club, so it cost us $17.50, essentially, which includes delivery, a recipe and some other interesting printed material. Our notes are short and too the point: "Veggie. Green pepper. Nice, uncomplicated, good tannic bite."

As we recall it, a perfectly fine table wine, nothing spectacular. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Smoking Loon Viognier 2004


We enjoyed Viogniers long before they became the varietal de jour they seem to be now. So we were predisposed to enjoy this 2004 Smoking Loon Viognier--and weren't disappointed. "Lots of flavour," say our notes from January 21 (yes, we're still trying to catch up). "Grapefruit...A bit of caramel on the nose and as it warms in the mouth."

We've since had it a couple more times, both by the bottle at home and by the glass at a restaurant. We continue to recommend it highly.

This costs $16.50 a bottle in our government-run liquor stores.