Garden Notes

Notes from the garden (23 wines means that notes don't get produced as early as usual!):

Alain Renardat-Fache Cerdon Méthode Ancestrale - Dinner in the garden started out with a real curiosity - a pink sparkler you almost never see here. Made from gamay and poulsard, it is naturally fermented and no dosage is added, so you get a fairly low alcohol wine with a bit of residual sugar. Soft and quite similar to a demi-sec Champagne, and very interesting.

I next lined up my contribution - a 3 bottle blind tasting of 2002 BC Gewurztraminer.

Mt. Boucherie - one of the best Gewurz noses, without much sweetness to it, medium dry in the mouth with decent length and acidity.

Thornhaven - more sweetness in the nose, and considerably more colour to this wine. Soft, with a bit of residual sugar, but it was well balanced and on the whole was my favourite. Most of the table agreed they liked this best. A small producer near Summerland - I bought this when I tasted at the winery as I am always in search of the best BC Gewurz. Too far off-dry to make my Hall of Fame.

Tinhorn Creek - quite pale in colour, and not showing much in the nose. Not a bad wine, but not very varietal.

2001 Suckfizzle Augusta Sauvignon Blanc Semillon - the oak seemed a bit more obvious than it was in the bottle I had last month, but similarly clean and fresh in the mouth.

1990 Bathaser Ress Schloss Reichertshausen Rheingau Riesling Spatlese - as with many Rieslings of this age, the sugar is starting to drop off a bit and the nose was like following a Diesel VW down the autobahn. Well balanced and pleasurable wine.

2000 Kreydenweiss Kritt Pinot Blanc 'Les Charmes' - lots of mineral in the nose, and a sort of lemon soap thing happening. Lightweight and smooth, with perhaps a small hollow in the middle.

2001 Yalumba 'The Virgilius' Viognoer Eden Valley - citrus and floral notes dominated this nose, with none of the apricot or peach you often see (or rather smell). Soft low acid wine that drinks well now, with a silky smooth feel to it.

2003 Dom. Lafond Roc-Epine Tavel - I am a big fan of French rose - a far cry from the pallid sweet garbage often made on this continent. The French make dry high alcohol examples in Tavel, Bandol, and Provence that put most other areas to shame - wines that if you close your eyes would be guessed as being red wines. This one was no exception - a strawberry nose with a hint of herbs, and a balanced crisp wine.

2002 Turkey Flat Rosé - you couldn't have illustrated my point better if it had been planned. This wine, made from Grenache, cabernet, shiraz and dolcetto, was really, really strange. Lots of colour, and a nose that was reminiscent of a slightly spoiled Pinot Noir. It was a tad sweet, and while it had decent flavour concentration, it finished with sweet cherries. Not the sort of wine a nation with so many men called Bruce should really be making……bizarre pink soda pop after the Tavel.

1999 Brusset Le Grand Montmirail - the person that brought this wine had been fidgeting while we drank the whites (and pinks) as he is a red wine sort of guy (and his name isn't Bruce). Sadly, this wine was slightly corked, which made it impossible to properly evaluate it. I didn't buy it, so I couldn't have preferred it to the 1998 which I have in the cellar (both Grand and Hauts), but I recall it as being a pretty decent wine. A bad day for the poor guy - he had discovered that you can't find an address that you have forgotten to write down, and took as long to get from downtown to West Van as some people had taken to come from another country!

1991 Wynns Coonawara Centenary Shiraz Cabernet - I've only tasted this once before, quiet awhile ago. Lovely sweet fruit nose and long and sweet in the mouth, finishing dry.

1994 Ridge Geyserville - a wine blended with zin, plus 28% cab, 8% petite sirah and 4% mataro. Ripe berry nose with some black pepper, rich full and long in the mouth. Drinking very well now.

2000 Donedei Columbia Valley Cabernet - it is always exciting to discover a winery you hadn't heard about that is making good wines. This was so good and they make so little wine (under 300 cases) that I almost don't want to post a note on it! Large framed wine with a big sweet nose of berries and cassis and excellent length. Lots of oak, and the wine needs time yet, but I think it is going to be special when it gets where it's going.

2001 Surh Luchtel Cabernet Sacrashe Vineyard - OK, two wineries I'd never heard of! Spicy nose with chalky fruit and a hint of coconut, sweet entry, bit simple right now (that may change with age) but very pleasant.

1998 Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet - dark wine with a lot of ripe fruit in the nose and a serious hit of mint. Mellow and ready to drink.

We took a short respite before dessert and indulged in:

2002 Dom. Ogereau Coteaux de Layon Saint Lambert (Moelleux) - a great sweet ripe fruit nose and surprisingly light on its feet, clean and acidic at the end despite what must be significant residual sugar.

Then we charged into the cheese with:

1997 Geyser Peak Reserve Alexandre - I found this to be less than convincing - sweet and simple.

1998 Shafer Firebreak - there seemed to be almost no Sangiovese character to this 92% Sangiovese wine! A little green, still with lots of soft tannins and an overabundance of acidity.

1996 Rosemount Balmoral Shiraz - no doubt about the origin of this one - tons of oak, dark wine, mint….couldn't be anywhere else and instantly identifiable as Oz if you were blind tasting. This wine has smoothed right out and I thank the person that brought it (I'm not sure who that was - bottles just seemed to keep appearing in an endless line from the other end of the table) as I have an untouched half case I should think about moving up a bit on my 'to drink' list.

1995 Geyser Peak Shiraz - tough act to follow but this showed a reasonable varietal nose, the expected sweetness and was medium long. Ready to drink now.

1994 Ch. Guiraud Sauternes - not the best vintage for Sauternes, but a reasonable showing nonetheless. Surprisingly dark colour, nice sweet apricot nose, and fairly good length. Great garden sticky!

Now I have to go down and find all the bottles…..

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Bill Spohn
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