Roy from Seattle and Nicos from London were in twon last night and we sat down to a meal and some interesting bottles in Vancouver.
1994 Selbach Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese - I mistook this as being a younger Riesling, given the acidity, which is downright feisty, but the initial explosive blast of fruit preceding it makes this a very enjoyable wine, on the low end of RS for a spatlese.1997 Dauvissat Chablis Prem. Cru 'Vaillons' - not much trouble identifying this as a Burgundian chard, and that it turned out to be a very nice Chablis was no surprise. I have had various Chablis with the Vaillons designation - Verget, Laroche and more recently very pleasant if young '02 Dom. Barat, but this was one of the nicest - slight funk on the nose that gave way to mineral, that in turn gave way to a definite cheese nose. Now beginning to show the complexity that comes with age, it has good balance and ended with a lanolin sort of feel to it.
2000 Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir - this was a good wine to show the out-of-towners what BC wine is about. Lovely limpid colour, cherries and a touch of cocoa in the nose, sweet and well structured with good length, if ultimately lacking the complexity of a Burgundian Pinot Noir.1994 Kanonkop Paul Sauer - this is a meritage style wine blended with
75%CS,12.5%M,12.5%CF, half of it got 22 months of new oak. One of my favourite (with Delheim, Warwick, Backsberg Klein Babylonstoren and La Motte) South African Bordeaux blends. I chose this as I noted that our guests had experienced a less than satisfactory performance with the 1997 in Seattle. Dark wine, with a very Bordeaux nose, though there was more oak showing than I recalled from my last tasting. The only clue to origin was the typical high terminal acidity (many more modern SA wines seem to be losing this rather handy hint). Still with lots of softening tannins. Some mint came out in the nose with time (the wine continued to improve in the glass) and I think it could use a bit more age.1999 Burge Family Draycott Shiraz 'The Grateful Reserve' - some indecision as to whether this was a Shiraz or not, but the country of origin was in no doubt. Big fruit, pretty good balance, and despite a considerable amount of tannin, it drank surprisingly well now.
2001 De Toren Fusion V - another South African wine, but in the new style - first made in 1999, this vintage has 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet franc, 14% Merlot, 14% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot. The stony fruit and bacon fat nose is the only give-away that we weren't in France, and the wine was well structured, with adequate if not lavish fruit and slightly green tannins. I'm still drinking my 1999 but it may be time to begin sampling this vintage.1992 Gallo Estate Cabernet - I have one bottle left of the 1991 cab from this huge producer - in my opinion a great ringer as no one expects this sort of quality from the makers of Hearty Burgundy. Dark, with a closed nose, sweet entry, lots of soft tannin, again, like the previous wine a shade on the green side. Good wine.
2000 Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko (Nemea) - yup, fooled by a wine from the land of the lion that was snuffed by good old Hercules. NO ONE was thinking Greek! This 14% alcohol wine was obviously a ripe hot country offering, but it finished with good acidity and somewhat dry tannins - a revelation in terms of quality expectation from this country for most of us.1994 Henschke Mt. Edelstone Shiraz - there is a half case of this very wine lurking (somewhere) in my cellar, and I hadn't even thought to try it yet, so it was doubly nice to have the chance to taste a bottle. Dark, with sweet mint nose, and surprisingly mellow and approachable, finishing long and sweet. It drinks well now, but the tannins say it will last a long time.
1998 Willamette Valley Vineyard Joe Dobbes Pinot Noir Signature Cuvee - this should have gone with the BC Pinot and the Kanonkop with the De Toren, but those were the only misplacements of the night. Some blackberry and spice in the nose, and then full sweet Pinot in the mouth. It benefited from airing and developed a cinnamon and almost perfume nose.1997 Jackson Triggs Proprietors Grand Reserve Riesling Ice Wine - this is the attempt of the tank farmers at JT to make a TBA style of wine. Golden colour, brown sugar nose, sweet, balanced and simple (it was remarked that those last three were all of the attributes one of our younger male members looks for in a companion). The pros from Dover were dutifully complimentary, and it was not in fact a bad wine, in that it was reasonably well made. I suggested that if a great German late harvest wine was like a novel, (and perhaps a good Californian in that style, a Hemingway short story), that these Canadian 'Ice Wines' and such were like comic books - perfect to send home in fancy expensive half bottles with Japanese tourists, but in terms of standing on the world stage, they just aren't there yet.
1977 Fonseca Port - this was without doubt the wine of the night for me. Although still too young to be drinking (unless someone else opens it), it admittedly drinks exceptionally well now. Dark, with a hot rubber nose giving way to deep fruit. Medium sweet and powerful in the mouth, and a finish of exceptional length. This is a baby and has decades ahead of it, but it is so smooth and supple in the mouth that it would be hard to resist it now. From the conversation of Roy and Nicos, who are both Port devotees of Johnstonian proportion, they have been doing very little resisting lately.