The Willetts on Wine

Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2005

2008-04-06T22:04:00.004-06:00

"Very typical" summed up our response to this Jackson Estate 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: grapefruit on the nose and grapefruit on the palate, with some grassiness and lime. It's a solid Sauvignon Blanc, but nothing special: well worth drinking, but not a "Wow!"

Henry of Pelham Pinot Noir 2006

2008-04-06T21:54:00.002-06:00

This Henry of Pelham 2006 Pinot Noir was quite pale, almost a dark salmon in colour--closer to cranberry cocktail than anything else. It had a nice berry/cherry nose, quite light, and also tasted of cherry and raspberry.

It went very well with fresh basil.

We wouldn't call it a classic Pinot Noir, but we enjoyed it: it's pleasant, not profound.

German Wine Society at the Seven Oaks

2008-03-18T22:49:00.006-06:00

Saturday night the German Wine Society gathered at the Seven Oaks Best Western to enjoy a very fine dinner with some very fine wines. And here are our notes:

Reception

2005 Gustaf Adolf Schmitt Niersteiner Kabinett - Rheinhessen

A little sweeter than we expected;
Very nice;
Would be good with Asian food, we suspect.

Appetizer: Chicken vol-u-vent with cream sauce

2003 Martinshof Muller-Thurgau Halbtrocken - Pfalz

A very typical Muller-Thurgau;
Seemed extremely robust and flavorful after the light reception Riesling;
Nice acidity;
Well matched with the chicken appetizer (which our six-year-old daughter loved; we liked it, too!).

Soup: Consommé profiterole

2003 Martinshof Gewürztraminer Spatlese - Pfalz

The soup left us cold, partly because it was cold--or, at least, not very hot. It had crunchy noodle things floating in it which some people disliked. Ed didn't mind those, but hated the gritty bits of parsley, which were just annoying. Most people at our table didn't finish it.

As for the wine:

Extra honeyness;
Lots of lychee flavour;
Very, very nice.

Entrée: Bison tenderloin with sun-dried tomato sauce, potato au gratin and seasonal vegetables
2003 Black Tower Pinot Noir/Dornfelder - Pfalz
2002 Selbach Riesling Spätlese - MSR

We may not have liked the soup, but we loved this fabulous entrée: tender, delicious, wonderful. Also very, very large.

As for the wine, first, the red:

Light bouquet;
Dark red in colour;
Fruity;
Good tannin;
Went very well with the bison.

The white:

Also very nice;
Went better with the sun-dried tomato glaze and vegetables than the bison.

Dessert: Peach and apple strudel in phylo pastry, garnished with white chocolate
2000 Dienhard Beerensauslese - Rheinhessen

The dessert was absolutely delicious; way too big after the giant appetizer and huge entree, but somehow we managed to choke it down.

As for the wine:

Ed loved it;
Margaret Anne said "I've had better";
Burnt orange and honey flavours;
As usual, we preferred the wine by itself rather as a match for the dessert.

And that's that! As the rural correspondents for the Weyburn Review used to write when Ed was editor there, "A good time was had by all."

Laughing Kangaroo Shiraz 2002

2008-03-04T20:44:00.004-06:00

This 2002 Laughing Kangaroo Shiraz was a very, very dark purplish red, almost black, with a red berries and a little pepper on the nose. I thought I detected some of the clove that would be varietally appropriate, but Margaret Anne didn't get it.

Very dry and not as peppery as some Shirazes, but it's hard to say much more about it because the extremely high alcohol content, 14.5 percent, meant that mostly it just tasted hot: the alcohol simply wiped out whatever nuance we might otherwise have noticed.

Not bad, but probably wouldn't buy it again because of the alcohol content.

Les Fondettes Sancerre 2006

2008-02-28T16:47:00.005-06:00

We really enjoyed this 2006 Les Fondettes Sancerre. We found melon, apricot and floral notes on the nose, and the flavour reflected that. Lots of tart green apple as well and citrus, but more lemon than grapefruit. On the lingering finish, a bit of grassiness comes through. Recommended!

(My apology for the dreadful label photograph! Darn cellphone camera...)

Peter Lehmann Barossa Riesling 2005

2008-02-27T17:45:00.003-06:00

This Peter Lehmann Barossa Riesling 2005 and appropriately petroleum (Rieslingy) nose. It was tart, dry and citrusy, with a lingering grapefruite aftertaste. It was an excellent accompaniment to Cambodian Chicken and Rice with Shrimp. We'd buy it again.

Cairnbrae Old River Marlborough Riesling 2004

2008-02-26T22:51:00.004-06:00

This 2004 Cairnbrae Old River Marlborough Riesling had lots of petroleum on the nose (in other words, it was very varietal). As it warmed, it opened up with a touch of grapefruit, and maybe even honey. Tart, dry, pleasant.

Vineland Estates Pinot Noir Reserve 2004

2008-02-26T22:42:00.003-06:00

This Pinot Noir Reserve from Vineland Estates was garnet in colour, with lots of cherry and other red fruit on the nose. Even though it certainly looked mature, the tannins could still have softened a bit with additional aging. It went very well with light, curryish beef and beans baked in molasses and rum. We'd buy it again.

2008-02-26T22:03:00.004-06:00

We're back!

Yes, I know, it's been over half a year since the last Willetts on Wine post, and things were pretty sporadic before that, but, well, life happens.

We realized we've been missing posting our wine remarks on here, not so much because we figure a lot of people are reading them but because the main reason we started this in the first place was so we could easily look back and see what we thought of various wines in the future.

So, without further ado, we begin with the annual meeting of the German Wine Society here in Regina, held at the Travelodge Hotel, and featuring, for the second year in a row, a matching of fine German wines with fine cheeses, this year from the Italian Star Deli. And to simplify things, I'll give my notes in point form:

Martinshof Heroldrebe Rose Trocken 2002

Lovely pale coppery colour;
Very dry;
Diesel on the nose most prominent feature;
After that, just sort of a generic wine;
We didn't like it much.

(Heroldrebe, a varietal we hadn't run across before, is a cross between Portugieser and Blaufrankisch, and one of the parents of Dornfelder, with which we're quite familiar.)

Martinshof Riesling Trocken 2000

Sparkling (which surprised us);
Diesel nose (which didn't);
A touch of sugar;
A touch of fruit;
Very refreshing.

Matched very successfully with Emmenthal Swiss, made from raw cow's milk, this one aged a minimum of twelve years; nutty, mild, only produced in the Emman valley in Switzerland

Martinshof Muller-Thurgau Halb-Trocken 2003

Rather bland;
No nose;
Well-balanced but not a lot of fruit;
Very generic.

Kindermanns Pinot Grigio 2003

Wine is fairly dark;
Not much nose;
Still fairly bland;
Not what we're looking for in a Pinot Grigio.

Served with Santa Lucia Pepato, creamy sheep's milk cheese with whole peppercorns in it--and once again, we thought the Riesling was the better match, cementing what we already knew: Riesling is, without a doubt, one of the most food-friendly of all wines.

Martinshof Kerner 2003 Spatlese

Nice nose, quite floral;
Nice balance;
Sweeter, honeyish.

It was served with Applewood Smoked White Cheddar, and this was the best wine/cheese match of the evening--but just the same, the Riesling still worked well with it, the sparkle in it helping to cut through the cheese's creaminess and honey/smokey flavours (very much like bacon and maple syrup).

Martinshof Scheurebe 2003

A bit more floral nose;
Nice balance, tilted perhaps a bit more to acidity than some wines of the evening.

Served with Guinness White Cheddar, and it matched it well enough. The Kerner was also a nice match.

Martinshof Weisserburgunder Auslese 2001

Nicely balanced;
Nice touch of sugar;
Lovely bouquet, a mixture of floral and honey (heavier on the honey).

It was matched with, and went well with, Onion Cheddar.

As always with the German Wine Society, it was a most pleasant evening.

And as for the photo up there...hey, if life hands you a fuzzy cellphone picture, make Impressionistic art!

This could almost tempt us to make our own wine...

2007-07-21T15:08:00.000-06:00

It's always been our philosophy that we'd rather let wineries make our wine for us than making it ourselves. But the WinePod almost tempts us. It's an:

...automated home winery that vinifies up to four cases of wine using traditional winemaking techniques combined with modern oenological technology, conducting the entire post-harvest process in its stainless steel chamber, cold soaking, pressing, and fermenting the grapes, and aging the wine for six to twelve months (or less, depending on personal preference).

Even if we never use it, if it improves other people's homemade wine, it will have been a worthwhile invention!

Apologies for light blogging...

2007-07-20T08:58:00.000-06:00

It's been busy. But Willetts on Wine is still active, never fear! More, and more regular, posts on the way.

Wine's not just good for your heart...

2007-06-26T10:28:00.001-06:00

...it may also (both red and white) combat tooth-decay and upper-respiratory-tract-infection bacteria.

An online TV network for wine-lovers

2007-06-06T15:51:00.001-06:00

Check out The Winery Channel.

(Via Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog.*)

*As opposed to The Willetts on Wine, which is currently more like a monthly wine blog. But we still hope to do better...

Beringer Founders' Estate Merlot 2003

2007-05-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

This 2003 Beringer Founders' Estate Merlot had a lovely nose, both smoky and full of berry notes. In fact, we found the nose nicer than the taste, but that's not to say it didn't taste fine, because it did. Lots of apparent sweetness from the fruit, but good tannins, too, making it a well-balanced wine that was just what you'd expect from a good merlot.

We happened to be trying it with cheese from Regina's Bulk Cheese Warehouse, and found it went well with Blue Benedictine, especially at the back of the palate. It also went very well with Old Masters Gouda.

We'd definitely be willing to buy it again.

(Sorry for the poor-quality label shot: sometimes all you've got is your cellphone camera.)

Co-operative wine glasses

2007-04-25T09:50:00.000-06:00

Drinking alone, they say, is a bad idea. These cooperative wine glasses force you to work together with your drinking partner to share a bottle of wine.

Although we suppose you could manage to drink on your own by holding one glass high in the air while drinking out of the other one...

Cape Barren 2003 Old Vines Shiraz

2007-04-05T23:19:00.000-06:00

"Not a fruit bomb" was Margaret Anne's first comment on this Australian Cape Barren 2003 Old Vines Shiraz. It certainly has big flavour, but it's more in the leathery, smokey-oak sort of way. We didn't get the cloves/cinnamon flavours one expects from Shiraz, though the pepper was certainly there. We're not sure how much of that was from the grapes, though, and how much was from the extremely high alcohol content--15 percent. Maybe our tongues were just burning.

Quite possibly we drank this too young and it will become better balanced with age.

Wine on tap?

2007-04-01T16:45:00.000-06:00

We don't host dinner parties of the size that would require this...

(Via Gizmodo.)

Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home...

2007-03-26T12:18:00.000-06:00

...you're stinking up my wine:

Ladybugs may look pretty but they also have a dark side. In some places, the polka-dotted insects have become a nuisance by invading homes and crops, including some vineyards. To make matters worse, the bugs produce a foul-smelling liquid that, besides irritating homeowners, can be inadvertently processed along with grapes and taint the aroma and flavor of wine.

***

A growing number of winemakers say that their wines have an abnormal aroma and flavor, known as ‘ladybug taint,’ that resembles the bug’s characteristic odor. Winemakers report that there are more ladybugs in vineyards and on the grapes during harvest. Experts believe that the bugs accidentally become mixed into the juice during processing and fermentation, resulting in inferior wine.

Forget about cooking with the good wine

2007-03-25T11:21:00.000-06:00

The cheap stuff works fine. Better, in fact, in many cases.

Which is a great relief to us, because we hate pouring a third of a bottle of excellent drinking wine into a boiling pot of something-or-other.

Lindemans South Africa tasting

2007-03-21T23:23:00.000-06:00

Ed had the pleasure today of attending the local launch of Lindemans South Africa line of wines, put on at the Willow on Wascana restaurant by Lindemans Canadian representative, Fosters Wine Group Canada.

Lindemans's stated goal in expanding into South Africa is to bring South Africa wines to the attention of a broader swath of the wine-buying public, who are already familiar with Lindeman wines as being well-made, affordable and approachable.

All three terms certainly apply to the wines on tap (well, they weren't literally on tap, being in bottles, not kegs, but you know what we mean) at the Willow this afternoon.

Lindemans South Africa Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon were on display, and Ed liked all three of them. They were also well-matched with appetizers from the Willow.

The Chardonnay is friendly and fruit-forward, not oaky at all, with the usual tropical fruits (Ed particularly picked up on banana) and a nice mouth feel--a bit of that Chardonnay butteriness, but not the almost cloying oiliness of some Chardonnays. The wine was refreshing by itself and just as good with the appetizer, lemon-drop chicken, the lemon taste of the chicken somehow bringing out the matching tartness in the wine.

The Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon were both what Ed would typify as "drink-now wines"--fruity, friendly, un-intimidating, but well-made and well-balanced. The Cab had lots of berry flavours (strawberry in particular) and a good varietal nature to it: there was no doubt it was a Cab. It was good to drink on its own and also went well with coffee-roasted boar rib, should you happen to have some lying around.

The Shiraz featured chocolate and licorice flavours, and, again, lots of up-front fruit. It seemed a bit dead on the nose, but Ed still rated it as probably his favorite of the three wines, with the Chardonnay second and the Cabernet third. However, he liked them all and wouldn't hesitate to buy a bottle next time something food-friendly and ready-to-drink is called for, or to order a bottle in a restaurant.

Also on display today were the Pink and Yellow sparkling wines from Yellowglen, which are supposed to be the best-selling sparkling wines in Australia. They're both pleasant and perfectly reasonable $14.97 alternatives to more expensive bubbly, although our favorite sparkler from Australia continues to be the E & E Black Pepper Sparkling Shiraz. We previously tasted them at the opening of the Assiniboia Gallery's new home, and enjoyed them there. Ed thinks he likes the Pink a bit more than the Yellow, possibly, suggested the pourer, because of a hint of pinot noirishness about it.

Not a dud among the lot, today, and all worthy of future purchase.

Two chardonnays, briefly

2007-03-19T15:42:00.000-06:00

We had occasion to try two Chardonnays over the weekend, the 2003 Liberty School Chardonnay Central Coast from California and the 2002 Inniskillin Founders' Reserve Chardonnay from the Okanagan. The first had lots of tropical fruit--we particularly noted pineapple--plus vanilla and oak. Very flavourful. However, we actually preferred the latter. We didn't make notes, but we did taste them side by side, and found the Inniskillin lighter--less aggressive, I guess. Which seemed to be what we were looking for.

For some reason we failed to take a picture of the Liberty School label. Oh, well.

Kim Crawford Pinot Grigio 2004

2007-03-19T15:31:00.000-06:00

This 2004 Kim Crawford Pinot Grigio was a bit of a disappointment. Steely and minerally, without much fruit, and nothing that really struck us as particularly varietal. It reminded us of...well, of a couple of disappointing California sauvignon blancs (see previous post). They were pretty much interchangeable.

We wouldn't choose it again.

And...we're back: Society for American Wines at Rock Creek Tap and Grill

2007-03-15T15:52:00.000-06:00

A long hiatus on this blog, we know, but...well, it's been a busy time.

But we're back, and what better way to start than with some comments about the most recent event of the Society of American Wines?

Tuesday's event was held at a new Regina restaurant out in the booming east end of town. The Rock Creek Tap and Grill isn't particularly Irish in feel or decor, but SAW decided to call the event a St. Patrick's Day winetasting anyway (although of course it wasn't actually held on St. Patrick's Day, either...)

No green wine was served, in any event. Instead we began with two California sauvignon blancs, one from Redwood Creek (we didn't catch the vintage) and one from Sutter Home (2002, in that case).

We didn't, unfortunately, care for either one of them. The Redwood Creek was...well, "simple" is what we wrote down. "Thin" was another word (and one which kept coming up over and over). The Sutter Home was marginally better. We suspect we've been spoiled by drinking too many Marlborough sauvignon blancs from New Zealand ("anything with Bay in the name!" is our motto). These two just weren't up to that standard.

The appetizers were very good, though: sirloin lollipops (skewered steaks covered with a crispy mashed-potato coating) and "tipsy scallop and potato galette with harissa chevre," which must have been good, because Ed ate his helping and helped someone else eat theirs, too.

Dinner itself kicked off with Guinness and Dubliner cheese soup (the most Irish thing on the menu); essentially an onion soup, but with chunks of potato and bread floating in it. The cheese was sufficient without being one of those choke-threatening masses one sometimes sees in onion soups in restaurants.

Accompanying it but not, alas, matching up with it in anyhing more than an adequte fashion was the 2002 Delicato Chardonnay. According to the Delicato website, this wine "has a soft nose of tropical aromas of pineapple, coconut and honeysuckle with hazelnut, oak and spice nuances. With layers of forward fruit on the palate, the wine opens up to flavors of green apples, bananas and hints of nectarine with a creamy texture."

We didn't get all of that, although Ed certainly noted the nice mouth feel and also picked up a lot of green apple in the taste, as advertised. (Bananas, though? Not so much.)

As a palate cleanser, strawberry key lime sorbet hit the spot (though it was perhaps a bit too sweet). Then came the main course, marinated beef rolled with seasoned vegetables over mashed potatoes. The wine was the only red of the evening, the Concannon Vineyards Central Coast Petit Syrah, 1998 vintage.

And there was that word again: "thin." The wine may well have been better when it was first released. But all we got was leather...maybe a little spice...and lots of woodiness. Not enough fruit to make it interesting. And we didn't find that the food improved it.

Actually, our favorite wine of the evening was probably the dessert wine, Quady Essensia 2004 Orange Muscat. Lots of orange flavor (natch), sweet but nicely balanced. It even worked pretty well with the dessert, pistachio mousse with caramel drizzle barnbrack (think bread pudding).

A great evening for food, for wine...not so much. But then, it's just as important to discover the wines you don't really care for as the ones you do, isn't it?

Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais-Villages 2005

2006-11-18T18:51:00.000-06:00

We chose this 2005 Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais Villages to go with a specific chicken pot-pie recipe that called for a "young Beaujolais." (Actually, we looked for a Beaujolais Nouveau, but they had sold out quickly.) Gran Alice was struck by its "fruity and floral" character, and Margaret Anne agreed with the "fruity" part, but Ed found it neither particularly fruity or floral, but merely "another of those ordinary red wines the French do so well." (He may have just been in a bad mood.)

In any event, it went very nicely with the chicken pot-pie, the fruit "filling in the edges of the dish," in Margaret Anne's words, providing a nice contrast to the earthy, savory pot-pie.

We'd buy it again, especially for that meal, but wouldn't go out of the way to do so otherwise.

The truth about terroir

2006-10-31T16:17:00.000-06:00

If there was a theme to this year’s Wine and Food Festival at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, from which my wife and I just returned (feeling very well wined and dined indeed, thank you very much) it was terroir.

Terroir is a French word which has no English equivalent (and the French like it that way). At Banff, Ruth Souroujon, vice-president of marketing for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, defined terroir as “the total natural growing environment of any viticultural site that allows a grape variety to uniquely express itself.”

Winemakers’ focus on terroir makes sense when you realize that the idea that the same grapes grown in different locations result in different-tasting wines is central to the entire wine industry. If there were nothing to terroir, then all wines from one region made from one particular grape would be indistinguishable from wines made from another region from the same grape—and people would pay as much (or as little) for Generic Red in a Jug as they do for Chateau Petrus.

Oddly enough—or not so oddly, if you’ve ever heard the near-worshipful way some people talk about wine—being scientific about terroir is controversial. Jamie Goode, author of the recent book Wine Science and holder of a Ph.D. in plant biology, says some people see terroir as a philosophy, as “a unifying theory encapsulating a certain approach to wine that encompasses the almost metaphysical circle of soil, nature, appellation and human activity.” But Goode, being scientifically minded (as am I) prefers to strip away the philosophy and focus on the scientific reasons the same variety of grapes grown in different plots of land taste different from each other.

In a Harpers Weekly article in September, 2003, he explored the “mechanisms of terroir.” He pointed out (and I think I heard some talk like this at Banff) that there is a long-standing belief among some winemakers that the mineral content of a vineyard’s soil affects the flavor of the wine made there: i.e., flinty soils impart a flinty taste, chalky soils impart a chalky taste. Goode (and the experts he consulted) found this implausible, to say the least.

Indeed, a French (yes, French) scientist, Gérard Seguin, surveyed the properties of soils in the Bordeaux region and could find no reliable link between chemical composition and wine character or quality. Instead, he found a connection between soil drainage and wine quality: the best terroirs, he found, were the ones where the soils are free draining, with water tables high enough to ensure a regular supply of water to the roots up until the time the berries change color (called veraison). After that, ideally, the water recedes, so that the vine stops growing and concentrates on ripening its fruit.

It’s possible, Goode pointed out in his article, that tiny variations in the minerals available in the soil affect the expression of certain genes within the plant, which might indeed impact the final flavor of the grape, but that’s a far cry from “a flinty taste comes from flinty soil.”

Soil type may affect grape growth in another way: dark soils retain heat and radiate it at night, while light soils reflect heat and sunlight immediately back onto the vines but don’t retain as much heat at night. Those effects would tie in with the overall microclimate of the vineyard, which varies with altitude, orientation and geography, and also affects the growth of the grapes.

The best way to get a feel for the effects of terroir is to taste several wines made from grapes grown on different plots of land but vinified by the same winemaker. Which is exactly the exercise Soujournon led us through at Banff: we tasted five Cabernet Sauvignons, each made from a specific plot (at altitudes from 401 to 2,204 feet above sea level, with varying aspects and varying kinds of soil), and then attempted to blend our own equivalent to Kendall Jackson’s signature (and quite expensive) Grand Reserve Cabernet.

I thought my resulting blend was quite successful, though alas I was not allowed to pour it into a bottle and sell it.

The exercise convincingly demonstrated that terroir—the scientific version of it—really does make a difference. It may not be as simple as the soil directly imparting flavors to the grapes, but considering Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, for one, suggests the spring application of manure to vineyards, that’s probably a good thing.

More good health news regarding red wine:

2006-10-23T13:41:00.000-06:00

Red Wine May Cut Risk of Colorectal Cancer.

The secrets of bubbly bubbly

2006-10-09T11:06:00.000-06:00

Want an extra-bubbly champagne experience? Wipe the glasses vigorously with a clean towel before serving.

That's because new research shows that champagne bubbles begin with tiny cylindrical fibers deposited on glasses from the air or towels used to dry the glasses.

The research could help scientists deal with unwanted bubbles in food processing, medicine and other fields.

California’s first crop Gruner Veltliner

2006-09-21T23:58:00.000-06:00

Last year at the International Wine and Food Festival at the Banff Springs Hotel, we had the pleasure of enjoying a tasting of Austrian wines, featuring, of course, the premiere Austrian varietal, Gruner Veltliner.

Now Von Strasser, a Napa winery, has harvested California's first commercial crop of the grape. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

For our part, we found that, alas, as with so many other varietals, the bottles we really, really liked were the ones that were really, really expensive.

More good health news about wine

2006-09-21T14:47:00.000-06:00

A new study has found that "moderate red wine consumption in a form of Cabernet Sauvignon may help reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD)."

Using high tech to determine grape-picking time

2006-09-16T18:10:00.000-06:00

California winemakers are probably more amenable than most of the world's vintners to using the latest technological advances, as we discovered at the International Wine and Food Festival in Banff last fall listening to a presentation from Cakebread Cellars outlining their use of remote sensing and other technology.

Here's another example (the "Modeston winemaker" in question is E & J Gallo):

A Modesto winemaker is using the latest 21st century analytical chemistry technology to supplement the time-honored practice of tasting a mouthful of grapes to determine when the fruit is ready for picking.

The winery has turned to spectroscopy and chromatography to evaluate aroma, color, taste and mouthfeel of grapes...

Unprofessional behavior...

2006-09-13T10:52:00.000-06:00

...from CKOM News Talk 650 Radio in Saskatoon.

Two days ago a producer there called to ask me (Ed) to do a short telephone interview Thursday morning at 6:10 a.m. (!) about wine drinking in Saskatchewan. He agreed. The producer did mention there was a possibility that the segment would be bumped because of the then-breaking news of the shooting in Montreal, but that the call would happen in any event.

I got up at 6 a.m. (about 40 minutes earlier than usual) to be ready for the call, which came. As half-expected, I was bumped, but the call was rescheduled for this morning, same time.

Again I got up at 6 a.m. Came 6:10--no call. No call at 6:15. Or 6:20. Or...well, you get the idea.

At just after 6:30, I finally called the producer, who said the segment had been bumped again for the same reason and she hadn't called because she didn't want to bother me.

As if sitting around for half an hour when you'd much rather be sleeping is better than getting a call saying, "I'm sorry, you've been bumped again"--or as if I'd prepare for a morning radio interview by waiting for the phone to wake me.

"I would have preferred to get a call," I said.

"I've obviously wasted your time," said the producer, in tones far frostier than the oh-so-warm-and-won't-this-be-wonderful tones she used when originally booking the segment. "So let's just pretend this never happened."

The conversation ended with reasonably polite goodbyes, but I was, and continue to be, steamed that this flighty radio-type a) thought it was better to leave someone booked for an interview sitting by a telephone waiting without calling him to tell him his interview had been cancelled rather than "bother" him with that little detail and b) far from being apologetic, became downright huffy when questioned about it and suggested we just "pretend this never happened."

A simple, "I'm terribly sorry, of course I should have called" or "I don't think we'll be able to reschedule and we're terribly sorry for all the inconvenience we've caused" would have been nice--and would have prevented this blog post.

Which is also going up at Hassenpfeffer.

A big thing? No, not really. But an annoyance--and absolutely unprofessional and unacceptable behavior.

And should CKOM wish to interview me about anything again, I will make a point of telling them so before the interview goes ahead.

Who needs a sommelier?

2006-09-02T20:20:00.000-06:00

In Japan, there's a new robot that can identify wines and cheeses.

At the end of the robot's left arm is an infrared spectrometer. When objects are placed up against the sensor, the robot fires off a beam of infrared light. The reflected light is then analyzed in real time to determine the object's chemical composition.

***

When it has identified a wine, the robot speaks up in a childlike voice. It names the brand and adds a comment or two on the taste, such as whether it is a buttery chardonnay or a full-bodied shiraz, and what kind of foods might go well on the side.

Staete Landt Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005

2006-08-28T22:54:00.000-06:00

Breaking our usual rule of thumb (well, actually, it's Ed's brother's rule of thumb) that the best sauvignon blancs from New Zealand are those that have "Bay" somewhere in the name, we tried this Staete Landt Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc on the recommendation of staff at the big Willow Heights main liquor store in Calgary. We got grapefruit and floral notes on the nose, and then grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit and more grapefruit on the palate. Very refreshing, but very, very citrusy.

Barossa Valley Estate Spires Shiraz 2003

2006-08-28T22:49:00.000-06:00

Made in a dryer, less fruity style than some shirazes, this inexpensive Barossa Valley Estate Spires Shiraz ($13.25 in Banff) had the pepperiness typical of the varietal and was certainly worth the money. The label also talked about vanilla flavours, but we didn't really get that. Nonetheless, we'd definitely be willing to buy it again--especially at that price.

Sainte Odile Crémant D'Alsace

2006-08-06T23:53:00.000-06:00

This méthode traditionelle sparkling wine from Alsace lacks the toastiness we like to associate with champagne (at least, with the champagnes we like most), offering instead a generic citrus flavor--very close to lemon. Nevertheless, we deemed Sainte Odile Crémant D'Alsace "very nice" and would certainly recommend it to someone looking for an alternative to champagne. It went very well with our dinner: shrimp in coconut milk.

Our UC Davis 20-Point System-inspired rating: 16.5/20.

Note: Margaret Anne's mom Alice liked this wine very much and wants it noted she though 16.5 was too low.

Greg Norman Estates Limestone Coast Shiraz 2003

2006-08-06T21:11:00.000-06:00

Wine notes at The Willetts on Wine resume after a long hiatus!

We've got tons of notes to post, but that's been the problem: too many notes, not enough time, and thus we just haven't posted any at all in the mistaken belief we must catch up before we can proceed.

Instead, we're just going to start where we are and try to keep up to date from hence forward, while adding a few older notes as we get the chance.

So, the Greg Norman Estates Limestone Coast Shiraz 2003. Very peppery, but with lots of berry, too, and a good touch of leather (probably from the tannins). It's very nice now but those tannins hold the promise of good aging potential, as well. Our one criticism: we found the nose quite closed--there simply wasn't much there, even after it had been in the glass for a while. Our UC Davis 20-Point System-based score: 16.5/20.

Does this count as terroir?

2006-08-04T14:01:00.001-06:00

Apparently, some California wine may owe part of its quality to dead fish.

"What does it take to make a fine California wine? Grapes, water, sunshine, the skilled hand of a master vintner -- and a few thousand dead fish. A few thousand dead chinook salmon, that is, according to new research that shows for the first time that the salmon that die naturally in California's Mokelumne and Calaveras rivers contribute significantly to the growth -- and likely the quality -- of wine grapes raised nearby.

"How? Wild animals eat the salmon carcasses, converting the nutrient-laden fish into fertilizer for the grapevines."

How ya goin' to compete with that, France?

Record smells, play them back later

2006-06-29T11:00:00.000-06:00

No, really.

Somboon's system will use 15 chemical-sensing microchips, or electronic noses, to pick up a broad range of aromas. These are then used to create a digital recipe from a set of 96 chemicals that can be chosen according to the purpose of each individual gadget. When you want to replay a smell, drops from the relevant vials are mixed, heated and vaporised. In tests so far, the system has successfully recorded and reproduced the smell of orange, lemon, apple, banana and melon.

They don't mention this possibility in the article, but this could be a boon to wine-lovers: record the bouquet of a particular wine, then play it back later while tasting a different wine so you can compare the two. Or simply save it into a library of wine odors to further educate your nose.

Does red wine help us sleep?

2006-06-16T17:50:00.000-06:00

Italian scientists think so.

They claim it contains melatonin. Other scientists are unconvinced.

Drink enough of it, of course, and sleep you will, albeit under the table.

Improving grapes through genetic modification

2006-06-15T10:53:00.000-06:00

Would you drink wine from genetically modified grapes?

I (Ed) would. They're not talking about putting in genes from spider monkeys or some such; just speeding up the kind of genetic development that would otherwise take decades of work, trying to get genes for, say, disease resistance from one kind of grape to another without altering the wine-making characteristics of the recipient grape.

The grapes wine are made of are already the result of, in some cases, centuries of cross-breeding. There's nothing particularly "natural" about most of them, in that they didn't evolve to their present state purely through natural processes; they had help from humans.

So what's the difference?

(Via Fermentation.)

Wine wiki

2006-06-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

Check out EncycloWine, an online wiki (that is, user-written-and-edited) encylopedia focused strictly on wine. (Via Professor Bainbridge on Wine.)

We Willetts are wary of wikis (though not of alliteration), but this looks like a good one.

Cheap wine, strange names

2006-06-07T10:03:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting article on all those funkily named inexpensive wines on the market. We've tried and liked several of those mentioned. But (note to potential gift-buyers) we really really like the expensive stuff, too!

Sancerre Les Fondettes 2004

2006-05-31T20:42:00.001-06:00

Minerally and lemony on the nose, this $28 bottle of Les Fondettes Sancerre was a real palate-cleanser, very dry and acidic and grapefruity, with a lingering finish. "It's almost bitter," said Ed. "Not to me," said Margaret Anne. Gran's opinion? "So-so."

We rated it 16.5/20 using the UC Davis system.

Robert's Rock Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay 2005

2006-05-30T23:27:00.000-06:00

This inexpensive ($10-$11) Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay mix from Robert's Rock came across mostly as a Chardonnay. We got grapefruit on the nose and vanilla on the tongue. But we liked it enough to rate it 15.25/20 using the UC Davis system. It's not a bad wine, just nothing special.

Stoneleigh Marlborough Riesling 2004

2006-05-30T23:15:00.000-06:00

Our notes on this Stoneleigh Riesling from New Zealand read:

"Mineral, petroleum, steely nose...dry...citrusy palette...grapefruit, green apple, generic citrus..."

We rated it 16.5/20.

It was recognizably Reisling but very different from the German Reislings we usually drink and enjoy...and, we think, prefer.

Still, a fine wine and we'd be willing to buy it again.

Wyndham Estate Bin 444 Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

2006-05-30T22:57:00.000-06:00

This 2002 Wyndham Estate Bin 444 Cabernet Sauvignon had a "soft mouth feel--tannic but not harsh."

And that seems to be all we wrote about it, although we did give it a 15.5/20 rating as we began experimenting with the UC Davis 20-point wine-rating method (here's one version).

Oh, and it cost us $17.

Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Rosé 2004

2006-05-30T22:49:00.000-06:00

"Fruity but dry. Lingering after taste. Grapefruit? Lemon?"

Thus reads the entirety of our notes. Must have been busy cooking.

But be it noted that Marqués de Cáceres rarely lets us down with any of its various wines.

Perrin Côtes du Rhône Reserve 2003

2006-05-30T22:40:00.000-06:00

A very floral bouquet...lavender, perhaps? Mellow on the tongue, but with a bit of a tart bite on the finish. Ed rated this Perrin Côtes du Rhône Reserve a 5 or 6/10, while Margaret Anne liked it a bit better, rating it a 7/10.

Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Shiraz 2003

2006-05-30T22:29:00.000-06:00

We tasted this Wyndham Estate Shiraz side-by-side with the Little Penguin Shiraz in the previous post. This one more bouquet and came across as both drier and more tannic and, we thought, better-balanced. Lots of that good Shiraz spiciness. We preferred this one.

The Little Penguin Shiraz 2005

2006-05-30T22:17:00.000-06:00

We confess we bought this ($12.50) Little Penguin Shiraz to cook with, but of course we tasted it, too. It's very fruit forward, with lots of prunes and plums jazzed up with good shirazzy spicinesss--black pepper and maybe cloves. So, better than we might have expected for the price, but still a bit too soda-poppish for our taste. Our favorite Australian Shiraz, which alas we can rarely get, is (the much more expensive) Barossa Valley Estate E&E Black Pepper Shiraz, still or sparkling.

See the next entry on the Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Shiraz...we tasted it side by side with this one.

Vineland Estates Sauvignon Blanc 2003

2006-05-29T23:13:00.000-06:00

Very dry. It starts out on the grassy/flinty side of Sauvignon Blancness, but somehow evolves into citrusy. A nice, straightforward white wine from one of our favorite Ontario wineries.

Penfolds Thomas Hyland Shiraz 2003

2006-05-29T23:08:00.000-06:00

Cherry and blackberry on the nose, and pepper rather than fruit in the mouth--and lots of tannin: lots of tannin: we fear we robbed the cradle drinking this 2003 Penfold s Thomas Hyland Shiraz so soon. We'd love to try it again in a few years.

Firesteed Pinot Noir 2003

2006-05-29T23:03:00.000-06:00

This Firesteed Pinot Noir from Oregon, vintage 2003, set us back $18.95. We found it light, fruity and acidic, "pleasant but uncomplicated." The most damning comment in our notes: "It's just sort of...there." We didn't find it interesting enough to want to buy it again.

Fetzer Valley Oaks Fumé Blanc 2004

2006-05-29T22:44:00.000-06:00

We found this $15 bottle of Fetzer Valley Oaks Fumé Blanc 2004 "fresh" and "lemony/citrusy" with a "bite" to it and a hint of oakiness. Margaret Anne commented that she got apple, peach and apricot on the nose.

"Very good," we wrote in our notes from March 4. "We should buy it more often."

What we didn't realize until we blogged this was that we'd already had it once--at the Creek in Cathedral Bistro for our anniversary last September.

Here's what we wrote then.

California trounces France...again

2006-05-25T13:41:00.000-06:00

After 30 years, Californian wines still rule the roost.

A new use for fine crystal wineglasses...

2006-05-12T15:10:00.000-06:00

...that doesn't involve wine.

Prahova Valley Pinot Noir 2000

2006-04-14T23:56:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T23:46:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T23:19:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T23:13:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T23:00:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T22:54:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T22:46:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T22:38:00.000-06:00

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

2006-04-14T22:27:00.000-06:00

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.

Vineland Estates Late Harvest Vidal 2004

2006-03-26T16:56:00.000-06:00

This Vineland Estates Late Harvest Vidal is very, every nice. With banana/tropical fruit/peach/apricot notes, it's nice a fresh, with good acidity. There's a little bit of honey and a little bit of lemon, and it goes very well with both chocolate and fruitcake.

This one we got through the Vineland Estates wine club. Best thing is, we have another bottle!

Langenbach Kabinett Riesling 2004

2006-03-26T16:43:00.000-06:00

This 2004 Langenbach Kabinett Riesling cost us only $7. We would gladly have paid more: it was a very typical German Riesling--and by typical, we mean "good." Alas, one reason it was so cheap was that it was being discontinued. We bought a couple of bottles to start with and tried to buy more but, alas, we were too late.

Too bad!

Columbia Crest Sauvignon Blanc 2001

2006-03-26T12:58:00.000-06:00

This Columbia Crest Sauvignon Blanc 2001 from Washington State's Columbia Valley is a very inexpensive wine, just $9 in our liquor store. But in its price range, it shines: it's a fine, typical, nothing-to-complain-about-and-lots-to-like low-end Sauvignon Blanc. We wouldn't buy it again for much more, but we'd definitely buy it again for that price!

Marqués de Cáceres Rioja 2001

2006-03-26T11:45:00.000-06:00

This 2001 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja had a lovely bouquet with cherry and cedar notes, and a similar mixture of fruit and woodiness on the palate. It went really well with aged cheddar and Raincoast Crisps. We will definitely buy it again! (It cost us about $20.)

Two Latours and a Palmer: Happy Birthday Dr. Alice!

2006-03-26T11:11:00.000-06:00

We can't believe we've taken this long to blog about this, but...

On December 30 we celebrated the 83rd birthday of Margaret Anne's mother, Dr. Alice Goodfellow-Hodges, and we did it in style, with a wine/cheese/chocolate tasting and dinner.

The wines were something very special: a Chateau Latour 1974, a Chateau Latour 1994, and a Chateau Palmer 2001. (We decanted all three just before serving; the Palmer might have benefited from longer decanting, but we didn't want to over-oxygenate the older Latour.)

We were saving the Latours for a special occasion, but in the once case, Margaret Anne had been saving it for a special occasion for at least 20 years, so we decided, well, what the heck. (She bought it at the liquor store when it was being discontinued; at the time, it probably cost her no more than $30 or $35.)

So, how did the 1974 Latour hold up, especially considering 1974 is not considered a great vintage?

Well, says Margaret Anne, "If this was a bad year, I'll take a bad year any day." She liked it the best of all three of these great Bordeaux. Although supposedly on the downhill slide, it was beautifully balanced, neither too sharp nor too bland. Our notes feature words like "smokey" "vegetal" and "barnyard" (but in a good way).

1994 was also considered a less-than-great vintage year. Ed bought this bottle of Latour as a birthday present for Margaret Anne. It cost about $250 a couple of years ago. Ed liked this one the best, finding it better balanced than the 1974, with much more berry left in it. Margaret Anne liked it, too, but she still preferred the '74.

We did try them with cheese, and although there have recently been stories about cheese killing the taste of any wine, we weren't disappointed in the pairings. We particularly liked a cheese called "Old Dutch Master Gouda" with them.

Finally we come to the Chateau Palmer 2001. We recently had the opportunity to taste a number of great wines at the Banff Springs International Wine and Food Festival (which we will blog about, even though it's now been five months since we were there) but we were most impressed with the Chateau Palmers that we had there. So we bought a bottle while we were in Banff, for something close to $100, specifically for Dr. Alice's birthday.

(We have another reason to like Palmers. Back in the 1980s, Dr. Alice won a bottle of 1978 Chateau Palmer at a bingo night at the Ontario Club. That bottle remained in the cellar--first in Toronto, then in Regina--awaiting another, yes, "special occasion," and since in more than 20 years that occasion had not yet arisen, we finally decided to drink it for Ed's 40-somethingth birthday. We liked it.)

The 2001 Palmer had an almost chocolate bouquet after the others. It was noticeably younger and more tannic and certainly would have benefited from aging.

Our guests seemed to prefer either the 1994 Latour or 2001 Palmer over the 1974 Latour.

We must have tried the wines with the chocolates we were tasting, but they must not have worked very well because we have no recollection of them.

All in all, a fabulous birthday party. Ed says "One we probably won't repeat very often" but Margaret Anne says "We should do this again next year." (To which Ed is amenable, provided he doesn't have to pay for all the wine!)

Goats do Roam 2003

2006-03-26T10:58:00.000-06:00

This Rhone-style (Goats do Roam=Côtes du Rhône, get it?) wine from South Africa was a Christmas gift from our nieces. We're working from three-month-old notes here, but they indicate we found it "pleasant, uncomplicated" and "fruity but dry."

A strange mix of characteristics, perhaps, but we enjoyed the wine.

Our rating: 6/10.

You think wine is good for you now...

2006-03-21T19:06:00.000-06:00

...wait until it comes from grapes with an extra-heavy dose of Vitamin C!

German Wine Society dinner with Rainer Lingenfelder: The Meal, The Wine

2006-03-19T12:25:00.000-06:00

On March 5 the German Wine Society held a very special dinner at the Seven Oaks in Regina--not special because of the venue, so much (though the food was very good!) but because we were honored by the presence of Rainer Karl Lingenfelder of Germany’s Lingenfelder Estate Winery, scion of a family that has been making wine in the Pfalz region of the Rhine Valley for 13 generations.

We're going to go through the evening’s food and wine first, then provide a full recounting of Lingenfelder's comments in a separate post.

The evening began, as such evenings are wont to do, with reception wines. The first was a 2001 Kirchheimer Schwarzerde Kabinett (Pfalz). Very nice, very typical, nothing remarkable, it made a pleasant reception beverage.

The second reception wine was a 2004 Gustav Adolf Schmitt Nierstiner Kabinett (Rheinhessen). We found this not quite as sweet as the Kirchheimer, and a bit more acidic. Margaret Anne suggested lychee as one of the flavours she detected. We liked this one a bit more than the first wine.

The food began to appear, starting with an "appetizer" that was almost big enough to be an entrée: Saskatchewan walleye in a puff pastry boat. With it came a 2003 Mosel Gold QbA (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer). This was a very pale wine with a citrusy nose and just a slight hint of that "hydrocarbon" smell that is typical of rieslings. It made a nice match with the appetizer.

Rainer Lingenfelder commented that the Mosel Gold was richer than usual because there had been a very early flowering in 2003, which gave the grapes longer to ripen. In Germany, Lingenfelder, said, 2003 was a good year for whites, and an even better year for reds.

The soup came next: Consommé Celestine with Brandy. It was delicious, but not as hot as it might have been. Served with it: 2002 Lingenfelder Riesling Spätlese (Pfalz), our first taste of our guest's wines (which are not--yet--available in Saskatchewan). We found it very, very nice. Again, there was a touch of hydrocarbon. We felt it had a richer mouth feel than the previous wines.

Lingenfelder commented that with the earlier flowering that has become the norm in the last 15 years, possibly due to global warming, wines are reaching Pradikett level "without even trying that hard."

Someone asked if the riesling qualified as a halbtrocken ("half dry") to which the reply was no, because its residual sugar is too high.

Halbtrocken and trocken are defined by sugar and acidity levels, Lingenfelder explained.

For a wine to qualify as a halbtrocken the residual sugar can't be any higher than grams of acidity plus ten. For a wine to qualify as a trocken ("dry"), the residual sugar can't be more than the grams of acidity plus two.

Although in North America people think of German wines as inherently sweet, in Germany, Lingenfelder said, consumers actually prefer dryer wines. As a result, more dry German wines are sold domestically than are exported.

The Lingenfelder Riesling we tasted with the soup, which sells in Canada (where you can get it) for $20 to $25, doesn’t qualify as a halbtrocken, but it does have a nice acidity that keeps it from seeming too sweet, and that lingers on, leaving a fresh taste. Lingenfelder noted that the wine is beginning to develop secondary flavours.

Soup was followed by salad, which, of course, was not accompanied by wine. The salad, described on the menu as "Pea Shoot with Spring Greens," included a large doughnut-shaped crouton and a miso-flavoured dressing. Very nice!

The entrée, roast bison with a saskatoon berry reduction served on a wild rice croquette with root vegetables and butternut squash, was accompanied by two Lingenfelder wines: their 2002 Fox Label Dornfelder and their 2004 Hare Label Gewurztraminer Spätlese.

We found the Dornfelder to be very light and fruity, with not much bouquet. The Gewurztraminer was also very nice, and quite dry despite being a spätlese.

We felt the red went better with the bison, while the white went well with the wild rice and the squash but didn't quite work with the bison--making the pair of them, we guess, just about the perfect accompaniment.

Both of these wines, it's interesting to note, feature screw tops. Lingenfelder said that for wines intended for consumption within five years, and wines in which they want to preserve a fresh, young character, white or red, "the screw top is a sensible thing to do."

But, he went on, "With the estate-bottled wines, which can be aged 10 to 15 to 20 years, we've stayed with cork. You want a little oxygen to help with the aging of the wine."

All the Lingenfelder wines were relatively low alcohol, in the 10 to 12 percent range generally. Asked about alcohol levels, Lingenfelder said he felt winemakers have been going overboard with high alcohol levels because judges praise high-alcohol wines in competitions.

"We cannot compete in making high alcohol wine anyway, so we carved out a little niche for ourselves in offering something different, a lighter-style wine," Lingenfelder said. "Everyone is experiencing these hot, big monster red wines. There's a counter-current starting to happen. People are getting a little tired of being tired after drinking wine. Luckily the world of wine is so diverse and so interesting there's room for different shades and different colours and different flavours."

There are still plenty of people in North America who are surprised to find out the German reds like the Dornfelder even exist; but in fact, as Lingenfelder pointed out, a third of the wine produced in Germany is red. "Red wine is highly fashionable in German, very much sought after, in parts very very expensive," Lingenfelder said. Although his family has always made red, he noted, they're now making a little more than they used to.

Dornfelder is a relative newcomer to the wine world; the grape was only developed 50 years ago or so. A wine that has a much longer history in the Pfalz region, Lingenfelder said, is the Gewurztraminer.

"It's been in the Pfalz at least for 400 years, probably longer, as it is in Alsace (literally next door to the Pfalz, in France). We have a similar mix of grape varieties." Riesling continues to be the most important of those, he said, but Gewurztraminer and Scheurebe, "another very spicy grape variety" are also widespread.

The Gewurztraminer served with the entrée is very interesting, Lingenfelder said. It's dry, with just a couple of grams of residual sugar, but it still comes across as round and soft. Because it is a Spatlese, despite its being so dry "you taste the ripeness," he said.

Lingenfelder also pointed out something else interesting about the Gewurztraminer grape: it's one of the few varieties you can recognize by flavour. "Riesling gets it flavor from the fermentation, but Gewurztraminer does have its natural spice flavor from the grape to some extent.”

Dessert was Poached Pears Victoria (pears poached with strawberries), accompanied by a 2003 Martinshof Kerner Spatlese (Pfalz). The wine was very nice by itself--we've liked every Martinshof wine we've tried--and surprisingly good with the dessert; the acidity was sufficient to cut through the cream.

According to the menu, that was the final wine we would be tasting--but Lingenfelder had a special surprise for us: a 2003 Trockenbeerenauslese that, at 240 oechsle (a German method of measuring specific gravity, and hence sugar content, in grape juice before fermentation, that’s similar to the Brix method used in the U.S.), was the highest the family has every achieved. Wines with that much sugar (it's around 40 percent!), even higher than in ice wine, can be too syrupy--but not this time.

Lingenfelder made only two beer kegs of this wine (and as a result, it sells for $300 a half bottle). He has been trying to spread it among as many people as possible. We each got exactly five ml, distributed by pipette. That was just a few drops each, but it's so rich a few drops is sufficient (although all of us would have been happy to have a few more--Margaret Anne used her finger to get every last drop out of her glass!).

"It's unbelievable you can drink something like that," Lingenfelder said, and that it has "so much flavor, so much aroma, so much acidity."

It's only 6.5 percent alcohol and, in fact, Lingenfelder said, they had to really struggle to ferment it, especially since Lingenfelder takes an all-natural approach to winemaking, eschewing adding yeast or even yeast nutrients. "We stir the ferment and we warm it," he said. "We keep it above 25 C, so we usually take it into our kitchen. Quite often we put it in a water bath, and in the water bath we have a heater and a thermostat. We stir it. It was a struggle to get the alcohol in it, it took some time."

Such high sugar levels in the grape would be impossible if not for a happy accident of nature known as "noble rot."

"The grape itself or the vine itself cannot deposit that much sugar in the grape, the osmotic pressure would be far too high," Lingenfelder said. "So there have to be other factors which come into play. We have to somehow get the water out and concentrate everything else.

"There are two methods of doing that: a dry concentration process or a freeze concentration process. (In) a freeze concentration process, as happens in ice wine, you freeze the juice in the berry."

Not that the juice really freezes: instead, the water molecules form crystals, concentrating the remaining juice and sugar...and since sugar acts as an antifreeze, the more concentrated the sugar the lower the freezing point of the water it's dissolved in.

However, that wasn't how the Trockenbeerenauslese was made: for it, Lingenfelder used a dry concentration process, essentially turning the grapes into raisins. Instead of the water freezing out, it evaporated, leaving behind juice that was sweeter and more concentrated.

The resulting "raisins," however, were not like the familiar Sultana raisins which shrivel in the heat. "We need a little helper to permeate the skin, to make little holes in the skins of the berries, and then the sun shines on the berries and the water evaporates quickly. This little helper is called noble rot, or botrytis. It is a fungus. It grows in the skin and permeates it, makes little holes. It not only makes little holes so that the water evaporates, it also leave traces of its own aroma. The honey aromas you get in there are partially botrytis. This fungus grows on the berries, covers it all. It looks rotten, but the result, as you can see is liquid gold."

It's similar to truffles, he said. "Truffles look rotten, they come from the earth, but they are gold you can eat, and this is gold you can drink."

He was right about that. The wine had a gorgeous bouquet, absolutely beautiful, and a gorgeous flavour, too. The comment at our table was, "Better than any ice wine."

All in all, a fabulous evening of food and wine. We look forward to someday having Lingenfelder wines in Saskatchewan liquor stores--and to having Rainer Lingenfelder as a guest at another German Wine Society event in the not-too-distant future.

For more on what Rainer Lingenfelder had to say, read the next post!

German Wine Society Dinner with Rainer Lingenfelder: The Speech

2006-03-19T12:21:00.000-06:00

(Photo: Rainer Lingenfelder autographs a bottle of Lingenfelder Fox-Label Dornfelder for Margaret Anne.)

On March 5 the German Wine Society held a very special dinner at the Seven Oaks in Regina--not special because of the venue, so much (though the food was very good!) but because we were honored by the presence of Rainer Karl Lingenfelder of Germany’s Lingenfelder Estate Winery, scion of a family that has been making wine in the Pfalz region of the Rhine Valley for 13 generations.

We've created two posts, this one providing a recounting of Lingenfelder’s formal speech, and the other providing our comments on the evening’s food and wine, with some additional comments by Lingenfelder.

The Lingenfelder vineyards are of medium size for the Pfalz region, Lingenfelder said, but that means that they're only about 15 ha.

"Our production is accordingly tiny," Lingenfelder said, adding, in an echo of something often heard in Saskatchewan, "It's difficult to make money in agriculture." He gave the well-known advice about how to make a small fortune in the wine trade: first, invest a large fortune.

Lingenfelder is already exporting to Ontario, B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and the Maritimes--and on this trip he had spoken to a buyer at the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority. "Hopefully you will see our wines soon," he said.

Lingenfelder showed a slide of the family home, a 19th century house in which he was born and still lives. ("Pretty to look at, but not so comfortable to live in," as he put it.)

To understand the Lingenfelder wines, Lingenfelder said, it is first helpful to know where the Lingenfelder estate is. "Location, terroir, origin is very important," he said. "We are not making a produce without heritage, we are making a product that has a place in the world."

The Pfalz is a grape growing region in the Rhine Valley in the southwest corner of Germany, bordering France--specifically Alsace. Along the Rhine and the side rivers is wine country.

That's a bit remarkable when you consider that the 50th parallel runs through the region--making it essentially as far north as Regina, and you can't grow (or at least ripen) grapes in Regina. The difference is that the Gulf Stream brings warm water, and hence warm weather, to the coast of Europe. Even so, the region is definitely "borderline viticulture area," Lingenfelder said. Fortunately, the Pfalz is a warm area protected by mountains and hills, giving it "an almost Mediterranean feel."

The geological and climatic conditions of Pfalz combine the advantages of cool climate viticulture with fully ripe fruit (unlike, say, the Champagne region of France, where they can't fully ripen fruit but have come up with an excellent way of making use of unripe grapes!)..

The Lingenfelder family has been growing grapes for 13 generations, since 1520, always in the same area, though not exactly in the same village.

He showed a picture of himself, his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather when he was a small boy, then showed a photo of his own three sons: the 14th generation.

"What do we do?" Lingenfelder asked rhetorically. "It is really quite simple: we grow grapes." They're not so much winemakers, he said. Instead, "wine almost happens by itself."

They have a modern cellar, where they use stainless steel tanks to preserve the natural fruit character of white wine. "Stainless steel does not interfere with the wine," Lingenfelder said. Oak, on the other hand, "gives off flavour and lets the wine breath." That's wanted for some styles, but not all.

The wine-making process is very natural. "We do control the temperature," Lingenfelder said, but "we do not stabilize or fine our estate bottled wines...we do not add yeast, we do not add bacteria."

This "completely hands off" approach makes the wine "a natural expression of the part of the soil where the grapes are growing," he said.

He also said that although it usually works well, there are sometimes "small disasters where the yeast don't do a proper job." Those wines are still "OK," he said, but are sold off in bulk. "You sometimes have to pay a price if you want to make very individual and very special wines."

For their red wines, they use barrels that are more than 100 years old, Lingenfelder said. The Dornfelder tasted during the dinner came from those barrels.

"We're trying to combine the modern approach and the traditional approach," he said. "Both have their place. Both are good for specific reasons . . . We try to use modern technology to bring out the best of what we've got without too much interference."

Among the newest Lingenfelder wines are the various animal-label varietals. Lingenfelder showed off the Bird-Label Riesling. "It is a serious wine, yet it comes in an uncomplicated, consumer-friendly package."

The traditional German label contains a lot of information, Lingenfelder said, but in this fast-paced age not so many people can take the time to try to understand the small print. "Even some people who are trained in wine find it difficult to pronounce some German wines," he said. "We finally, and somewhat reluctantly, decided we should make it easier for everyone."

They hired a designer from California (Chuck House) to come up with a label based on how the Lingenfelders see themselves: as farmers with a long tradition on the land, who are having fun with what they're doing.

"We didn't give him any visual clues...more importantly, we gave him Riesling to drink--lots of Riesling." In fact, he said, since it took more than two years for the design process, "We marinated this guy in Riesling."

The result, he said, was a "very nice label" which speaks to the Lingenfelder terroir, soil, and vineyard, with a hint of light-heartedness.

The bird label was so successful the winery was asked to put other grape varieties under the same label. "People asked for ‘Bird Label,’ not ‘Lingenfelder reisling,’" he said.

However, every grape is a "different animal," so instead of using birds on every label, he said, there's Hare Label Gewurtrzminer, Fox Label Dornfelder, Bee Label Morio Muskat, Owl Label Pinot Grigio . . . "It's a whole zoo!"

Lingenfelder wrapped up his brief talk with his motto for this new age of wine: "The 21st century," he proclaimed, "is the age of Post-Chardonnism."

The Society for American Wines at The Crushed Grape

2006-03-09T23:41:00.000-06:00

Hard on the heels of the previous post comes a somewhat less-belated report on the Society for American Wines’ dinner at The Crushed Grape, one of Regina’s newest restaurants, and one that (as the name indicates) specializes in wine, offering the largest selection of wine by the glass in the city.

This evening featured the king of California wines, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Up first: Sterling Vineyard Napa Valley 1999. “Fruity!” says Ed. “Bitter!” says Alice (Margaret Anne’s mom, not our four-year-old daughter, who did not accompany us.) “Very dry, not much flavour!” says Margaret Anne. Take your pick.

Ah, but that was as a reception wine. With the appetizers (Tomato Anchovy and Asiago Cheese Crostinis and Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Tartlets)...

“It comes alive!” says Gran. “Anchovies are too salty for it!” says Ed. “It’s better with the onion!” says Margaret Anne.

Oops, we’re not done yet. Here come more appetizers: Cranberry, Walnut and Gorgonzola Cheese in Filo, and Parmesan Cheese Crisps.

Everyone agrees it goes pretty well with those, so the general consensus: it’s best drunk with food. Ed didn’t mind it by itself, but Margaret Anne says she probably wouldn’t buy it.

Except our consensus is early. Here comes another appetizer: Paté with Icewine Jelly on Rye. What do you know? It goes pretty well with that, too. (Or so says Ed: Margaret Anne doesn’t do paté, either. “It’s still liver,” she says.)

It’s time for the soup, specifically Parisian French Onion Soup. A tough match. Is the Kendall Jackson Vintner Reserve 1998 up to it?

Says Margaret Anne, “I love the soup, and I love the wine.” Put them together and...well, they match "well enough." She thinks the wine has a nice earthiness to it that matches the soup.

Just for drinking, Ed preferred the reception wine, but he’s alone in that opinion. Margaret Anne much preferred the Kendall Jackson, although Alice says she found it a "little sharp."

Entrée time. Let’s check the menu: Grilled Meat Trio of Venison, Beef Tenderloin and Rack of Lamb, Blue Cheese Polenta Cylinders, and Olive Oil and Sea Salt Oven Crisped Asparagus.

Two Cabs accompany: J. Lohr Seven Oaks 2000 and Robert Mondavi 1997.

Notes on the J. Lohr: “Nice...berry...green vegetable nose...a bit more complex than the Kendall Jackson, more secondary flavours...goes really well with the polenta.”

Notes on the Mondavi: “Much darker than the J. Lohr, can't see through it ...nicer, too. Very, very nice. Rich, velvety nose, noticeably richer than the J. Lohr. Also velvety on the palate.”

Both wines match the meat dishes very well. Margaret Anne likes the J. Lohr more with the food. Alice prefers the Mondavi, though she prefers the J. Lohr just for drinking. Ed was apparently too busy eating and drinking to express an opinion.

And to wrap it all up, dessert: Bittersweet Chocolate Paté (okay, Margaret Anne admits, she’s not dead set against patés in general, just the livery ones) with Nuts and Dried Fruit. Matching it: Gallo Coastal Vineyard 1999.

Notes: “Kind of thin. Still rather tannic, hasn't really mellowed a lot. OK with the chocolate”

Alice didn’t think it went with the dessert at all; she thought the Robert Mondavi (she still had some left, if you can imagine) matched the chocolate much better. Margaret Anne liked the Gallo more the more she drank (funny how that works), although she didn’t think it went with the nuts, either. She did like it with the chocolate.

And then, to wrap the evening up nicely, Alice won the door prize: a bottle of Leaping Horse Shiraz 2001. Which was most welcome, considering she’d also won the door prize (exactly the same thing) at the event blogged below, at the Creek in Cathedral Bistro.

A good time, as they say, was had by all.

The Society for American Wines at the Creek Bistro

2006-03-09T22:53:00.000-06:00

A belated report on the Society for American Wines dinner at the Cathedral Creek Bistro on January 27. This dinner was as interesting for the food as for the wine: everything, and we mean everything, right down to the ice cream, contained garlic. Fortunately, we both attended, so we didn’t have any, um, personal scent issues later on.

The reception wine was Beringer White Zinfandel 2004. It costs $11.95 here in Saskatchewan, and was paired with an amuse bouche of roasted garlic on a crostini. It wasn’t our favorite: light and fruity, sure, but essentially uninteresting. However, it went okay with the garlic.

The same wine was paired with the appetizer, a trio of roasted garlic, stilton and walnut tarte, garlic prawn and salt cod brandade on a bread point. (Why, yes, we are copying this from the menu. Why do you ask?)

The White Zinfandel went nicely with the prawn and the garlic, stilton and walnut tarte and wasn’t bad with the salt cod; it didn’t match the garlic prawn quite as well.

Next course: soup. Specifically, garlic-sage soup with olive tapenade. Matching it: Cline Oakley 2002, a blended white that went very well with soup, and on its own. Said Margaret Anne, “I love it. Full of flavour. Nice mouth feel. Lasts on the palate. Different flavour.”

Next came a palette cleanser: lime-garlic sorbet

The main course followed in due course: “duo of chicken breast with forty cloves and garlic-crusted pork tenderloin with garlic-shallot mash.” Another Cline product accompanied it, this time the Oakley Vin Rouge, again a blend of several varietals, from the familiar—Syrah—to the complete mysteries to us: Alicante? Bouschet?

In any event, it’s a nice light red, with notes of cherry and possibly red pepper—something more herbaceous than fruity, anyway. Comments from those at our table: “It reminds me of cough syrup.” “I get broccoli, especially in the aftertaste.” Ed, however, didn’t really taste the vegetableness (vegetality? vegetativeness?) others seemed to pick up on.

The principle behind the night’s pairing of wine and food, we were told, was simplicity/complexity: if the wine is complex, keep the meal simple. Since, instead, we had a complex meal, simple wines were chosen.

The dessert wine was Essensia California Orange Muscat 2004. We found this very nice, with a definite orange flavour. (Gee, you think maybe that’s why it’s called Orange Muscat? Duh...)

Dessert itself was roasted, yes, garlic ice cream with “petite pointe of (wait for it)...garlic fudge.”

And yes, it was good. And the wine actually went with it.

A very nice evening in one of our favorite restaurants. (We returned to it just a couple of weeks later for our traditional Valentine’s Day lunch.)

And if they ever put it on the menu, we’ll even order the garlic ice cream again.

Drinking wine together: a glowing experience

2006-03-08T16:51:00.000-06:00

Scientists have come up with high-tech glasses that let you share a drink with someone--even if you're far apart. The glasses incorporate a variety of coloured LEDs, liquid sensors and wireless links:

When either person picks up a glass, red LEDs on their partner's glass glow gently. And when either puts the glass to their lips, sensors make white LEDs on the rim of the other glass glow brightly, so you can tell when your other half takes a sip.

So even if you aren't all aglow, your glass will be!

German Wine Society Annual Meeting/Wine & Cheese Tasting

2006-02-25T22:03:00.000-06:00

The German Wine Society held its annual meeting on February 19 at the Eureka Club (which, oddly enough, is the club owned and operated by Alcoholics Anonymous. Are they trying to tell us something?).

The annual meeting always features wine-tasting, of course, but it doesn’t offer a full meal like the usual GWS events do. Instead, the executive usually tries to come up with something a bit different, and this year, besides the AA connection, they came up with a wine and cheese tasting.

They matched some usual and unusual German wines with an equally interesting selection of cheeses from the Bulk Cheese Warehouse, which recently opened in Regina.

The registration wine was a Langenbach Binger St. Rochuskapelle 2000 Kabinett from the Rheinhessen. We rated it a very typical Kabinett Riesling: nothing special. It was fine, but we wouldn’t go out of our way to buy it again.

The first cheese came after the annual meeting. It was Huntsman Cheddar, a hard cheese consisting of Stilton sandwiched between Cheddar Double Gloucester. It’s supposed to go well with beer, but we had it with a German red (yes, they do exist): Martinshof Regent Rotwein 2000, from the Pfalz region. Regent, we were informed, is a relatively new type of grape, created less than 40 years ago and only approved as a varietal in 1994. One of its best features is that it is fungus-resistant. It's described as having aromas of black cherry and black currant and a not-very astringent finish, and that sounded about right: we found it a very young-tasting wine, very fruity, with a nice freshness to it.

The second cheese was German Butter Cheese, fresh, creamy, with a hint of parmesan. It was paired with Martinshof Gewurztraminer Spatlese 2001, which reminded us once again of why we enjoy German Gewurztraminers so much, and emphasized our disappointment with a Canadian Gewurztraminer we tried just a few days before (but haven’t blogged yet). The bouquet was not immediately appealing, having something of a diesel exhaust smell, but the flavor was very distinctive and very full-bodied. This late-harvest wine was sweet, spicy and rich, with notes of apricot and lychee.

Cheese number three was Cambonzola. Developed in Germany in the 1970s, this cheese features streaks of gorgonzola, a mild blue cheese, in camembert. One of the odder wines of the night accompanied it: Martinshof Chardonnay Spatlese 2003. We were intrigued by the use of the chardonnay grape, but we weren’t big fans of the wine. It didn’t have much bouquet and a kind of odd flavor—Margaret Anne described it as sooty or smoky. She didn’t like it at all; Ed didn’t mind it as much. It went fairly well with the cheese, but several people reported the Gewurztraminer was an even better match.

Number four was Cave-Aged Gruyere. The smell, and the fact it was cave-aged (for a minimum of five years, we were told), reminded Ed of a story told by a Spanish cheesemaker at the International Wine and Food Festival in Banff a few years ago, of a young American GI who smelled a smell so horrible emanating from a cave that he took a flamethrower and incinerated the cave’s contents, convinced it must contain rotting corpses. Turned out it contained the local specialty, a cave-aged cheese.

This probably didn’t smell as bad as whatever cheese that was, but it certainly did smell. But we both love stinky cheese, so it wasn’t a problem for us. The matching wine, Valckenburg Madonna Auslese 2002, was the colour of apple juice, very, very good: quite sweet, but with a nice bit of acidity. It went well with the cheese, but then, said Margaret Anne, “I think the stinky cheese goes with everything.”

The seventh cheese was one we’d already bought and enjoyed from the Bulk Cheese Warehouse: Gouda Old Dutch Master. The beverage suggestion for this hard, strongly-flavored cheese is beer or Scotch. We had it instead with Frickenhauser Kapellenberg Bacchus Kabinett 1999. Apparently we didn’t like it very much the last time we had it at one of these events, as we were reminded (people actually read this blog? Who knew?). We didn’t like it all that much this time, either. Margaret Anne felt it exhibits “florally soapiness” and neither of us felt it matched the cheese all that well. Ed liked the wine by itself better than with the cheese, and liked the Madonna with the cheese better still. (A little Madonna was all Ed had left in his glass at that point.)

The eighth and final cheese was Chevre, a fresh, mild goat cheese which, we were informed, is very high in fat because goats give less milk and thus it has a higher fat and protein content than cow milk. It was matched with a Seaview Sparkling Shiraz, the only non-German wine served this evening (it’s Australian). Margaret Anne and I love the E&E Sparkling Pepper Shiraz. We found the Seaview fruitier and less complex than the E&E but still quite nice, and a good match for the Chevre.

And that was that. The next GWS event is dinner with a winemaker, from Lingenfelder. We’ll be there, and we’ll be blogging!

Vineland Estates Carriage House Red

2006-02-21T07:10:00.000-06:00

We got this Vineland Estates Carriage House Red as part of our subscription to the winery's Wine Club, which means (since we pay $35 a month for two bottles) that it cost us $17.50. It's only $9.95 if you buy it right at the winery, but on the other hand, we didn't have to go to Ontario to get it and it came with tasting notes and a very good recipe, so we're not complaining.

This is Vineland Estates' own house red, served in their restaurant (where we've eaten a couple of times, enjoying the deck beneath the giant shade tree). Our notes from December 16, when we tasted this, speak of pepper and dark berry notes on both the nose and tongue. As it happens, Margaret Anne is a big fan of black pepper on strawberries, so maybe that's why she enjoyed this quite a bit. (So did Ed, although he's not so big on the peppered strawberry idea.)

A very nice blended red (Cabernet Sauvignon and Baco Noir, to go by the winery's notes) for drinking at table.

Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva 1993

2006-02-20T22:36:00.000-06:00

Our notes are...scant. We drank this Carpineto Chianti Classico on December 4, at home. It cost $25.70, but whether this came from Margaret Anne's cellar and thus that $25.70 was 10 years ago, or whether it was something we bought at the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority store, we no longer remember. (Or at least Ed no longer remembers, and since he's the one writing this...)

We wrote, "Earthy, leathery, garnet colour."

And that's all I can tell you about it.

Possibly we were too busy enjoying it to take notes!

Wal-Mart wine wit

2006-02-12T00:33:00.002-06:00

The lead to this appears to be an actual AP story; the proposed names for Wal-Mart Wines are not, but they sure made me laugh! (Via Dvorak Uncensored.)

Here's a humorous net gag going around the email boxes of America. Found by John Markoff. It's based on an AP report as the lead-in to the gags.

BENTONVILLE, ARK (AP) — Some Walmart customers soon will be able to sample a new discount item: Walmart’s own brand of wine. The world’s largest retail chain is teaming up with E&J Gallo Winery of Modesto,California, to produce the spirits at an affordable price, in the $2-5 range. While wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a bottle of WalMart brand wine into their shopping carts, there is a market for cheap wine, said Kathy Micken, professor of marketing at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. She said: “The right name is important.”

So, here we go:
The top 12 suggested names for Walmart Wine:
12. Chateau Traileur Parc
11. White Trashfindel
10. Big Red Gulp
9. Grape Expectations
8. Domaine Wal-Mart “Merde du Pays”
7. NASCARbernet
6. Chef Boyardeaux
5. Peanut Noir
4. Chateau des Moines
3. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Vinegar!
2. World Championship Riesling
And the number 1 name for Wal-Mart Wine …
1. Nasti Spumante

The science behind bouquet

2006-02-09T23:40:00.000-06:00

Here's a fascinating scientific examination of wine's bouquet.

And for once, it's not one of Ed's own columns.

A time machine for wines?

2006-01-24T14:15:00.000-06:00

Here's Ed's latest science column, which this week happens to be related to wine. You can find more of Ed's columns, most of which don't have to do with wine (but do have to do with science) here.

***********

Probably thanks to books and movies, many people think that the older the wine, the better.

That's not necessarily true. As one rule of thumb notes, more good wine is drunk too late than too early. Wines kept too long in the bottle actually deteriorate, and some wines simply never benefit from being kept in the bottle at all. However, for certain wines—generally complex (and typically more expensive) reds, bottle aging softens the harsh tannins present in the wine when it's young, and allows the various components in the wine to slowly change and blend, releasing more (and different) flavors and aromas.

The biggest problem with bottle aging, from a wine connoisseur's point of view, is that it takes so darn long.

An inventor in Japan claims he has an answer to that, but wine experts are taking his claims with a grain of salt (or possibly, being wine experts, a nice bit of Brie).

The Associated Press reported this week that Hiroshi Tanaka says he can transform a bottle of freshly fermented red wine into a mellow "aged" wine in seconds, by passing an electric current through it.

His machine is described as about the size "of a stereo" (although, considering the wide range in stereo sizes, that's a less-than-helpful comparison). Wine passes through one of the device's two chambers; tap water passes through the other. A special membrane, which Hiroshi Tanaka's company, Innovative Design and Technology Inc., has patented, separates the two. Platinum electrodes drive negative ions from the wine into the water through the membrane.

Tanaka says his machine works by breaking up water molecule clusters, allowing the alcohol in the wine to more thoroughly blend with the water, although he notes that the exact mechanism of water molecule clusters is a matter of scientific debate. (Water molecules do apparently form weakly bonded clusters with other water molecules—and with alcohol—but "water molecule clusters" also feature prominently in a lot of pseudoscientific claptrap, which may not bode well for Tanaka's success.)

However it works, tasters agree that wines passed through the machine taste different. Back in October, the Times of London also reported on Tanaka's machine. (I don't know why it took until January for the AP to do so.) The Times noted that sommeliers at one winery described the effects as "interesting." The AP story says that "to the untrained palate, a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau...became a more full-bodied, complex wine. Similar treatment to a Sauvignon Blanc 2004 resulted in a drier aftertaste."

But is the effect the same as aging?

Probably not. Bottle aging is complex and not fully understood. (For example, debate continues on how much of a role oxygen plays in bottle aging, which is important because of the current drive in some quarters of the oenophile world to replace natural corks with synthetic closures. Natural corks allow a small amount of oxygen through; will wines age the same if that oxygen doesn't reach them? Right now the evidence appears to indicate that oxygen doesn't play a role in the aging of wines in the bottle, but not everyone is convinced.)

That doesn't mean Tanaka's device may not have some uses. The great Bordeaux winemakers are unlikely to be installing any wine-electrolysis machines any time soon, but there might be a market for home users (especially home winemakers), especially since the transformation apparently takes only 15 seconds. Wineries in California (Robert Mondavi, for one), Chile, South America and elsewhere are at least keeping an eye on the machine, according to The Times.

Tanaka thinks his electrolysis machine might be able to improve other forms of alcoholic beverage, from sake to vodka to...well, to shochu (distilled sweet potato spirits--a small shochu maker in southern Japan is so far the only confirmed investor in the device).

Color me skeptical. Still, even if nobody in her right mind would let it anywhere near her most expensive wines, a device that improves the taste of mediocre wine could certainly prove useful the next time a guest shows up with a bottle of "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not Burgundy" or "Fill-in-the Blanc."

You wouldn't bother aging them. But briefly electrocuting them at least couldn't hurt.

The wines, that is, not the guest.

After cheese, is all wine the same?

2006-01-21T17:46:00.000-06:00

That's what a study reported on in New Scientist claims: apparently cheese masks the subtle flavours that distinguish good wine from plonk, to the point that even experts can't tell the difference between the two.

In other words, if you're going to have a wine and cheese party, don't serve the good stuff.

We just wish someone had told us that before we poured out those two bottles of Chateau Latour as Margaret Anne's mom's birthday party recently (tasting notes to come)...

Wine drinkers have healthier diets than beer drinkers

2006-01-20T07:25:00.000-06:00

People who buy wine have healthier diets than people who buy beer, according to a new study.

But what about people who buy both? (Hic.)

Pegasus Bay Sauvignon Semillon 2003

2006-01-17T11:59:00.000-06:00

Ed's brother Dwight buys New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc by the rule that all the best ones have "Bay" in their name. This Pegasus Bay isn't a pure Sauvignon Blanc, but a Sauvignon Semillon blend, but the rule still seems to hold true. "A diesel nose (but in a good way!) and grapefruit flavour," says our written note from November 25. "Very grapefruit." That's all we wrote, but we know we enjoyed it.

Good though this is, though, we like pure New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs better.

Renwood Zinfandel 2001

2006-01-17T11:55:00.000-06:00

We like Zins in general, and we liked this Renwood Zinfandel in particular. ("Delicious!" says our written note from November 18.) It didn't have a huge nose, but it had a wonderful earthy, spicy flavour, and Margaret Anne detected a bit of cherry. Although still fairly young it was quite brown in the glass--garnet, we guess you'd call it. Recommended, and we'd certainly buy it again.

Les Jardins de Bouscassé Le Jardin Philosophique 2003

2006-01-17T11:33:00.000-06:00

This Les Jardins de Bouscassé Le Jardin Philosophique 2003 with the artsy label is a Pacherenc du Vic Bilh, a fairly rare white wine made from the Petit and Gros Manseng varietals. It can be sweet or dry; this one was dry--in fact, very, very dry. It had a lovely fresh citrus bouquet, and lots of flavour (the label suggests peach, which we're willing to go along with), with a lingering, though somewhat bitter, aftertaste. Very interesting, and we'd certainly buy it again.

Vineland Estates Dry Riesling 2004

2006-01-17T11:28:00.000-06:00

We received two bottles of this Vineland Estates Dry Riesling through their wine club, and we liked it so much (being German wine fans and hence Riesling wine fans that we are) that both bottles are already gone. It's fresh and tart, a bit green appley, a bit apricotty (hey, that's what we wrote down!), with a lovely acidic bite. Yum!

(Our apologies for the blurry label photo. By the time we noticed we hadn't gotten a good shot, the bottle had gone to recycling.)

J. Lohr Cypress Merlot 2002

2006-01-17T11:23:00.000-06:00

We had this J. Lohr Cypress Merlot at the new Crushed Grape restaurant here in Regina, whose claim to fame (aside from a very nice ambiance and pretty good food) is that it offers a very wide selection of wines by the glass. (Although, as you can see, we bought a bottle.) It set us back about $36 at the restaurant.

We didn't take a lot of tasting notes, since it was a social occasion, so all we'll say is, "Very purple. Very fruity. Very nice."

Briar Ridge Merlot 2003

2006-01-17T11:09:00.000-06:00

This Briar Ridge Merlot has a more vegetative than fruity character, both on the nose and on the palate. It's quite dry. We found it good, but not outstanding, so if we were shopping for a Merlot, would probably look elsewhere first.

Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner 2003

2006-01-16T22:08:00.000-06:00

We tasted a number of Grüner Veltliners at the International Wine and Food Festival at the Banff Springs Hotel in October (about which much, much more at some unspecified future date) because one of the sessions was on Austrian wine, and Grüner Veltliner is the archtypical varietal of Austria. We enjoyed them very much in Banff, but this one from Schloss Gobelsburg was, for some reason, a bit of a disappointment: it seemed thin and uninteresting, especially in comparison to the Martinshof Morio-Muskat Kabinett blogged about two posts ago.

Perhaps we only like higher-end Grüner Veltliners...obviously, a wider sampling is needed!

Wine drinkers 'follow their own path in life,' a survey says

2006-01-12T12:24:00.000-06:00

According to a new survey, wine drinkers are "confident, savvy adventure seekers." Well, of course we are.

Wine drinkers are also more likely than non wine-drinkers to:

Be open to new experiences

Follow their own path in life

Be confident and information-savvy consumers

Desire intangibles, experiences and emotions

Have their life priorities in order

Eschew brands as badges

Wine drinkers are also (this is a personal observation, not one the study puts forward) more likely to consider themselves all of these things than non-wine drinkers, which just might skew the results, y'think?

Martinshof Godramsteiner Münzberg Morio-Muskat Kabinett 2003

2006-01-06T17:45:00.000-06:00

This is one of the wines we ordered directly from Germany through the German Wine Society. Our notes: "Lovely nose. Peach/apricot. Fresh, fruity, nice touch of acid, a caramelly aftertaste. As it warms, more of that caramel comes through."

We've enjoyed every one of the Martinshof wines we purchased, and this one was no exception. Best of all, it came in a one-litre bottle!

Domaine Rimbert Coteaux du Languedoc 2003

2006-01-06T17:39:00.000-06:00

An absolutely beautiful gold color is the first thing we noted about Domaine Rimbert white from Languedoc upon pouring--it looks like a dessert wine, but it's actually quite dry.

And that seems to be all our notes from October say about it, except for "A smell of quince?" Which is also not something we would normally write, except we happen to have a collection of essential white wine scents (the collection is called Le Nez du Vin--I don't know if you can still get it) and quince was the closest.

Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2003

2006-01-06T17:28:00.000-06:00

This Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel isore vegetative than fruity on the nose--"Green pepper," says Margaret Anne. A lingering taste of...vanilla?Our notes (we tasted this on October 21) say "tart pomegranate," which seems a very unlikely thing for us to have written down--perhaps it's on the label.

In any event, this is a big wine (as it ought to be at 15 percent alcohol), nice and spicy just the way we like Zinfandels, and we'll definitely buy it again, given the chance. It cost us about $25.

Vineland Estates Baco Noir 2002

2006-01-06T16:34:00.000-06:00

We subscribe to the monthly wine service of the Niagara Peninsula's Vineland Estates, which means we get two bottles of wine a month from them, plus a recipe that the wine should complement.

This Baco Noir had a nice nose--the tasting notes that came with it suggested leather and tobacco, but while Ed will grant them leather, he didn't get any tobacco. Margaret Anne felt the wine tasted "young," which may be the same thing Ed called "a certain tartness, almost sourness." The aftertaste "lingers for a little while, then goes flat," says our tasting notes. (We tasted this way back in October--we've been a bit remiss in blogging-so we have to go by what we wrote down then.)

Alice (Margaret Anne's mother, not our four-year-old daughter of the same name) said she'd only rate this 5/10. That sounds about right to Ed, but Margaret Anne may have liked it a bit more.

The Vineland Estates wine club charges $35 a month, so this bottle cost us $17.50--of course, that included delivery to Saskatchewan.

Scientists working to improve wine

2005-12-28T16:23:00.000-06:00

Selfless scientists continue laboring to improve our favorite tipple:

"Lorenz 'Larry' Biegler, who teaches chemical engineering at the university, is working on mathematical formulas to automate the fermentation process, adjusting ingredients and conditions to ensure robust flavors and higher yields from grape harvests."

We'll drink to that.

More on screw caps

2005-12-19T23:26:00.000-06:00

A scientific study in New Zealand has discovered that they're better for sauvignon blancs than corks.

Oddly enough, for what it's worth, the last New Zealand wine we had was corked.

On the other hand, it was a chardonnay, which we bought without reading the label closely enough--we thought it was a sauvignon blanc. (Cloudy Bay makes chardonnay, too, apparently. Who knew?)

Do you dab it on your wrist, or drink it?

2005-12-16T22:12:00.000-06:00

It's a new men's fragrance produced using wine alcohol and aged in French oak.

We've got many, many wines to blog about when we get an hour or two...over Christmas, perhaps?

Except, of course, then we'll have even more wines to blog about...