Wine Review - 2007 Glen Carlou Syrah: Jammy Wine That Doesn't Taste Like a Sugar Cube...Finally!

As you might had figured out from the title, we are not against Jammy wines.  In fact, quite to the contrary, we love big and delicious red wines.  The part we have trouble with is when they are big jammy wines and have a crap-load of residual sugar still.  That's when jammy just means jam...sweet, sweet jam.  Now, given the trends we have seen in the wines from Australia and other countries, we might now be in the minority.

Enter Glen Carlou Syrah....it is definitely a jammy wine on the nose.  It smells super oaky and has tons of strawberry and raspberry jam in there.  So much so you begin to think it will taste like sweet Aussie Shiraz.  So, it is super welcoming to find that it is a dry red wine in all the best ways.  There is tar and leather and all those characteristics but it tastes like a big, bold red wine.  Really nice.

From the descriptions we have read it is aged in oak and is picked from a lower yield vineyard.  They say black currents and even herbal tea and we will buy into all of that.  It is a dark wine that certainly sticks to the glass on the swirl so you can tell there really should be some body in the wine and there certainly is.  It is a good food wine but would be great on its own.  We got this wine on sale at $22 locally and on sale it makes a lot of sense.  At the higher price ($25) it is still worth a taste.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Dark wine in the glass that sticks to the glass.  Looks like a thick wine.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Oak, tar, leather, and ripe jammy fruit.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Complex and big red wine, that is dry and fruity all at once.  good overall balance with tannins that are front of palate but not overwhelming.  Solid wine.	8.0
	Total:	16.0 / 20  (80%)

Shannon commented that the South African wines we have had thus far in the year have been fairly good as a group.  That may lead us to try more.....and why not.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2010 Albet I Noya Xarel-lo Classic: Quick Review After a Busy Weekend

Having only tried Xarel-lo at the odd wine tasting over the years we did not really know what to expect from this wine. It was a bit of an unknown.  What we found out quickly is that this is basically as close to Sauvignon Blanc as a grape can get without being called Sauvignon Blanc.  It was a very crisp and refreshing white wine and went great after a long day working in the garden.  It had the tropical fruit notes and crisp acidity of good Sauv Blanc but in our opinion finished completely different.  It had an almost bitter orange finish....not bitter bad per se but still a touch on the bitter side.

If you were to put a glass of this next to a NZ Sauv Blanc you would be hard pressed to notice a difference.  The wine producer Albet I Noya says it produced in the Ordal Mountains and was cold macerated and was in stainless most of the way (no oak).

Overall, a nice warm weather drinking wine with a lot of grapefruit and green mango on the palate.  Really quite nice and was just under $18 locally so not a bad price.  Based upon that it is a buy recommendation. If you like crisp and dry whites this one will work for you and certainly saying Xarel-lo instead of Sauvignon Blanc sounds pretty cool.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Light and clear wine, greenish to very pale yellow.  It looks like Sauv Blanc.	3.5
Smell (0-5)	Strong tropical notes of starfruit and kiwi. Again, think Sauv Blanc.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Crisp and dry with notes of grapefruit, green mango with a bitter orange finish.  Interesting but not off-putting finish that is definitely not like any Sauv Blanc we have had.	7.5
	Total:	15.0 / 20  (75.0%)

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2009 Pepperwood Grove Old Vines Zinfandel: A Walk Down Memory Lane

We discovered Pepperwood Grove about 7 or 8 years ago in the United States via their California Pinot Noir which was an absolutely amazing wine for being $7 USD. It was one of those wines that stood out at that price point. We picked it up at our local outlet of The Fresh Market (a chain of gourmet markets on the East Coast of the US and an amazing shopping experience if you ever get the chance...so relaxing). 

But back to the wine. 

We later tried to find the wine again but alas this version only able to be found a couple of more times.  The next time we saw the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir it was clearly marked as Chilean Pinot Noir and not nearly as good.  We have subsequently come to find out the shear size of the Pepperwood Grove brand as part of the Don Sebastiani & Sons wine conglomerate (which is huge).  The complexity of the wine belies the size of the company and its brands.

The Zinfandel was something we tried in the US and remembered as being a solid wine but we wanted to revisit the brand and the wine.  As a Zinfandel it has a dark look in the glass, so dark as to be opaque but still not as dark as other Zins we have had.  The wine looks like a medium bodied wine in the glass which is a little counter-intuitive to the typical Zin.

The smell is quite big which is in line with what we would consider to be a Zin but the dominants smells are wood, strawberry jam, and nutmeg.  There is a lot going on in the nose. 

As for the flavour profile, the wine tastes like it smells with strawberry jam continuing along with more hints of oak/vanilla.  The wine is certainly fairly bold but it is not overly tannic so there is a bit of an issue with the balance.  If the acid and fruit were in balance and the wine was a bit more round it would be amazing.  As it stands, it is a solid drinking wine and has enough complexity to make it interesting.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Dark but medium bodied look in the glass, not typical Zin.	3.75
Smell (0-5)	The nose is all wood, strawberry jam, and nutmeg.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Complex enough wine to keep it interesting with oak/vanilla and strawberry jam again but not overly tannic and the balance is not quite there.  Good overall though.	7.75
	Total:	15.5 / 20  (77.5%)

This is a good drinking wine with enough jamminess to make it worth a try. At $17 locally it is in the right price range but we would prefer $7 US. ;)

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2009 Montebuena Rioja: That's A Spicy Rioja....And A Keeper

When we bought this wine at $17 locally we had no idea it had a bit of a wine reviewer pedigree. According to the internet, this wine was rated 90 points by James Suckling and the Wine Advocate. So, we tried it without knowing what to expect. This wine is made of 100% Tempranillo and smells like a cigar box packed with chili powder and dried cranberries.

It is a dark, almost black, wine and is very thick in the glass. Swirling the wine makes it look like there is a sheet of wine around the edge for a good two or three seconds before it slides back into the glass. Very cool.  Once we got to the bottom of the decanter the amount of crystals and debris was surprising.

The wine really took a long time to open up as expected for the age of the wine. A Rioja can age though they say drinking best in 2013 and 2014. It tastes like it could age for a long while. The structure in the wine is very evident with the tannins being very bold and the overall flavour profile being wood and very dark stonefruit (see black cherry or plums). The tannins dry out the sides of your mouth and wine almost disappears but then the comes back with a vengeance.  

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Dark wine with a thick swirl in the glass.  Lots of debris.  Cool looking wine.	4.75
Smell (0-5)	Tobacco and spice with lots of dried cranberries.  Smells bold and woody.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Super complex wine with strong tannins and stonefruit.  Starts and stops on the palate but it is extended and dry, dry, dry. Whoa.	8.75
	Total:	17.5 / 20  (87.5%)

This wine tastes really good now but we bet it will taste even better in 2015. Maybe we buy one and hang onto it. At $17 it is totally a good investment. So, that is our recommendation buy and hold.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2010 Mont'Albano Pinot Grigio: Solid Italian White All Around

This wine was another impluse purchase at the counter. We wanted to get a white that we could easily pair with food and this one seemed to fit that bill. It is an Italian Pinot Grigio from Friuli by producer Sartori.

We noted that it did not look like it spent any time in oak with a pale wheat-y colour.  After some research it looks like we were correct.  It has a little green in the colour but overall just looks clean in the glass...standard stuff.

The nose has starfruit in there with that clean concept coming through again.  Pretty mild but nice on the nose.  There is a little minerality in there as well which is nice.  That flinti-ness carries through to the flavour profile and is a nice feature.

The flavours of soft less acidic fruit (see starfruit or kiwi or something like that) really come through and are awesome.  There is a nice tartness to the wine but it is cut but just a touch of residual sugar (just a touch).  It is defintiely a dry white wine but has that bridge between Chardonnay and Dry Riesling that makes it stand out.  Very nice.  We had it with Seafood Chowder and it was awesome because it cut through the fat with that crisp acidity that balances out milk fats.  Good match.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Straw-Wheat-y colour with a little green in there.  Call it pale.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Nice mineral nose with notes of starfruit.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Less acidic fruits come through with a touch of mineral and a hint of sugar and a touch of bitter at the very end.	8.5
	Total:	16.5 / 20  (82.5%)

At $16.75 locally it is a worth-while purchase (come on warm weather).

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2008 Wente Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon: Wickedly Good California Cab

Wente is a producer we have heard a lot about anecdotally over the last little while.  We have heard good things and we decided to get this Cabernet which is a tad higher in price than we would normally get ($22.50) but once we opened it....it was totally worth it.  The wine is billed as 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petite Sirah, 6% Merlot, 4% Barbera, 3% Petite Verdot.  So there are a lot of grapes wrapped up in the wine.  The complexity shows throughout.

First off as soon as you smell this wine it smells exactly how you think a California Cab should smell.  Big and bold....there is fruit and oak and spice.  It you can ever go to Wine Country in California, take a deep breath cuz that is what this smells like.  It has a delicious nose that smells hotter than it tastes.

The swirl is again, exactly what we would expect from California Cab.  Deep and dark with a lot of "legs" forming on the side of the glass, it looks great.

The flavours are amazing....it is warm and round and elegant.  There is a lot of fruit in the taste that work well with the oak and the tannins.  Everything just plays well together with this wine.  The mouthfeel is where this wine really shines.  It is very big and bold with a lot of stuff going on.  It just works all around.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Deep and dark colour with a very purple look.  Seems thick in the glass as the legs stream down the glass.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Big and bold with lots of fruit and oak.  Delicious.	4.5
Taste (0-10)	Fruit, oak and tannins with lots of roundness and balance.  An elegant wine.	8.5
	Total:	17.0 / 20  (85.0%)

This is one great wine.  Buy it if you want try to a good example of California Cab.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Trend - Sweeter Wines (A Commentary)

We have noticed an uptick in the number of articles and mentions on the InterWebs surrounding the growing popularity of sweeter wines, most specifically the increase in Moscato (aka Muscat) sales.  HERE is an article from Philly.com that reflects that trend.

Now, we are not haters (or snoots) when it comes to sweeter wines we simply have preferences.  We do love a good Gewurztraminer or Riesling.  We have tried a few Dry Rieslings of late that have been really great.  However, as a wine sensation, to us there is nothing better than the pucker and lusciousness of big, bold, and balanced red wine (whatever the grape).  But, that is preference talking.  So, if we are in a Wine Bar/Restaurant that is what we are going to gravitate to first.  The whites we drink tend to be situational.  Hot day and a patio?  The last thing we want to see is a glass of Aussie Shiraz.  Having a nice seafood feast?  A wonderful flinty Riesling hits the spot.  But, what drives a trend?  Is it that wine drinkers like us get into habits/ruts and suddenly we get swept up in drinking a Moscato and then we tell our friends (online and otherwise) and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and voila a trend is born.  Or is there something else behind this?  Maybe wine companies doing a bang up job at marketing a category that has been sagging.  Maybe Wine Bloggers picking up on what people around them are drinking or plugging a particular preference (see us and Cab Franc)?

In any event, whatever the reason or reasons, it is very interesting to see how this unfolds in the real wine world.  Will there be grape farmers digging up Chardonnay vines to plant Moscato and Riesling to capitalize on the bandwagon?  Probably not but for some larger producers I would say there may be a number of orders being placed to those folks who are growing Riesling (good for them!).  Here in Canada, Riesling tends to do pretty darn well so the future looks bright should this be more than a flash in the pan type of trend.  We don't feel like we follow wine trends, but who knows maybe we do and just don't realize it.  We did drink a lot of Aussie Shiraz when they were plugging that.....and then we did drink a lot of Malbec when Argentina hit the economic skids and now we are more than enamored with Cab Franc.  Hmmmm, maybe we are sheep being led to pasture!  :)

Bottom line, let your taste buds do the walking.  Try everything, and if Moscato or Riesling ring true to your palate then guess what, that is your preference not some trend.  If the trend gets you trying new wines and making new wine adventures then 'God Bless Wine Trends!'.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2009 Lavau Cotes Du Rhone Villages: Eating Pork For Dinner? Have This Wine...

We were having a Porchette Pork Roast for Supper and decided to have this wine with it.  At $16 locally from Bishop's Cellar, we thought this Grenache and Syrah blend would go well with it.  How right we were...

The tannic acidity in the wine cut through the fattiness of the pork perfectly.  The dryness of the wine also lent itself to the dishes we were having simply due to the fact it was rich (i.e. Polenta).  We thought the wine could stand up on its own, but with a nice dinner it never got the chance.

Typical of Rhone wines, there are fresh blackberries on the nose with a cherry sensation once you get your nose right in there.  Really nice.

Can't stress enough how good this wine is with food.

If we had to put an analogy to this, it would be like having a campfire and not having hot dogs and marshmallows to go with it.  Just a shame to not have food with this wine.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Deep ruby colour that walks close to a cranberry colour in the light.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Heavy nose but a lighter wine, lots of berries and cherries.  Bold but not too sharp.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Not sure if the wine has seen oak or not but has a layer of complexity to it that oak normally brings, more cherries and a little spice.  Dry and tannic but still with some level of balance.	8.0
	Total:	16.0 / 20  (80.0%)

This too might need to be a repeat try with another pork dish.....ribs maybe. Mmmmm ribs.....

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2009 Masi Passo Doble: Wow This Wine Is Italy Via Argentina and Awesome!

We decided to have this one this evening as a match for some lamb and boy did this wine meet the mark.  It is described as a blend of Malbec and slightly dried Corvina grapes.  It is made by Italian wine producer Masi as part of a winemaking venture in Argentina. 

The wine is delicious....full bodied and round with a nice balance of all the good things we love in red wine.  The tannins are bold and there is just a hint of sugar which allows for a balance in wine.  Really, really nice.

In the glass, there is almost a brownish, mahagony tinge which is interesting for a 2009 wine.  It looks like it is an aged wine which is not surprising given the boldness of the wine.  Looks really nice when you swirl it.

On the nose, we got a lot of sour cherry and chili powder which was a great sensation.  We really liked the smell.  Not a lot to say about it other than to say it is a great smelling wine.

The taste is where this one is the star.  Such an elegant mouthfeel, with a lot of boldness.  Really flavourful with strong tannins that don't overpower the balance.  At $17 locally this wine is a buy recommendation for sure.  Another bring it to a dinner party wine.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Dark Malbec tones with mahogany tones in the wine.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Bold nose with a bit of cherries and chili powder and spice.  Really great.	4.5
Taste (0-10)	Cherries continue with the spice and bold tannins balance with a tiny bit of residual sugar.  An elegant wine and awesome at $17.	8.5
	Total:	17.0 / 20  (85.0%)

Great wine at a great price!  Try it you will like it.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2010 Adalia Valpolicella: Tannins and Cologne For Days (Thank God for Decanters)

Shannon has successfully fended off the Strep Throat she was battling so we decided to get her back in the game.  We ventured out for the first time in a few days and surprise, surprise wine shopping was a priority. 
This wine comes from Italian winemakers Adalia.  We purchased it from Bishop's Cellar and we decided to have a homemade pizza with it.  We figured this would be a good match.  At $21.50 locally it is a bit more than we would normally pay for a Valpolicella but it is a nice Spring Saturday...what the heck.  This wine is comprised of 30% Corvina, 40% Corvina Grossa, 20% Rondinella, 10& Molinara.

We opened this wine and decanted it for probably 30 minutes before trying it and that was a mistake.  The first glass of this wine was shall we say tight....it was bitter on the finish and over-perfumed (cologned).  We came up with the analogy of this being like that friend who has too much gel and one too many buttons open on their shirt.  However, we let the wine open up and it did up a couple of buttons along the way. 

The wine finally came to a place where the fruit actually shone through.  Prior to that, it was all spice and tannins which on a young wine like this one is not the best.  It was the bitter finish that did it in early on.  It tasted like when you get 90% Cocoa chocolate thinking it is a dark chocolate bar.  Way too bitter.  Once it opened up it transitioned to rounder mouthfeel with a hint of tannin but definitely a more balanced profile.  Thank Goodness....

The wine was typically Valpolicella in the glass though with bit more darkness than we would normally expect.  The nose was perfumed (initially not in a good way) and then showed the fruit and some spice as the wine opened up.

The flavours softened over time and what was almost hotness transitioned to a way better mouthfeel and lot less bitterness on the finish.  We actually began to enjoy it once we got halfway through glass number two.  This is yet another reason that decanting helps wine become more enjoyable and drinkable.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Typical Valpolicella colours though with a slightly deeper tinge.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Spice and heat initially but that transitioned into a more ripe fruit sensation with some spice notes.	3.5
Taste (0-10)	Thank goodness this wine opened up.  At the start this wine finished super bitter but afterwards it balanced out and became a more rounder taste.  Ripe fruit started coming through and it tasted a lot more like Valpolicella.  It is a nice wine if you give it the time it needs but at almost $22 it is a stretch.	7.5
	Total:	15.0 / 20  (75.0%)

We said as we were tasting this that we have had better Valpolicella at a lower price and that really became the key inidcator for this wine.  If it were $17 locally it would have gotten a higher score simply due to the value.  Not at all a bad wine but certainly takes patience to get the most out of it.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

'Harvest' - Another Wine Documentary That Looks Good...

We found the link to this one on WineBusiness.com. It is another Wine-related Documentary this time about the drama around the 2011 Sonoma Valley harvest. It gets into the lack of glamour around what it takes to work the vineyards to make the product enjoyed around the world. Lots of human stories and business on the line. This is another one we hope to see in the near future. Check out the trailer:

FYI, this was a crowd-sourced and supported movie and they raised over $6000 for the funding of the project.

On a separate note, Shannon has been knocked down with Strep throat so the wine tasting for the next week or so will be spotty at best. Passing her all the good Karma for a speedy recovery because...dammit...I can't drink all this wine by myself. :)

Keep on drinking (Strep-Free)!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2005 Sogrape Callabriga Dao: Fantastic Smelling Wine That Sorta Comes Through on the Flavour

We unfortunately had a wine that we purchased for $20 that had a full-on moldy cork. So, we decided to take it back to the store and it was gladly returned. We took the opportunity to upsell ourselves on a wine we had seen advertised in the Wine Spectator. The Sogrape Callabriga Dao is almost $29 locally.

Once we opened and decanted it we noticed that it is either unfiltered or it has thrown a lot of debris in the seven years since it was made. The sight in the glass is extremely cloudy and there was a lot of debris in the glass. So we are leaning towards unfiltered.

We were absolutely enthralled by the nose on this wine.  It is amazing...full of dark fruit and oak (not vanilla....oak).  It smells so attractive and fragrant it makes you want to drink it. Wow...

First off, let's just say that the flavour on this wine is really great.  It is, however, not as great as the smell.  There is a slight disconnect on the palate compared to the nose.  We really like the taste which still ripe fruit, oak, and leather.  It is dry the way Aussie Shiraz is dry (starts with some sugar) and quite full bodied.  The oak is really at the forefront which is not uncommon with Portuguese Wines but there is just a slight fall down on the balance.  The powerful tannins seem to just fade away at the end which shortens the taste.  This is another situation where if the taste matched the nose this wine would be an MVP.  As it stands it is just an all-star.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Cloudy deep, dark red.  Looks unfiltered.	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Dark, ripe fruit with tons of oak.  Elegant and delicious.	4.75
Taste (0-10)	Big, deep red with tons of oak again.  Good balance overall but falls off at the end.	8.5
	Total:	17.25 / 20  (86.25%)

This is a really nice wine that absolutely needed decanting to show its true colours. If you have $30 to spend on a wine this is not a bad way to spend it.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - Middle Sister Mischief Maker Cabernet Sauvignon: Great Flavour from a Mysterious Wine

This wine from the Middle Sister Wines in California caught our eye at our local NSLC Port of Wines.  At $18 locally it is a nice wine with a very interesting marketing concept (check out their website at the link above).  This wine is supposedly 80% Cabernet with 20% of other Red Varieties (no details provided).  This wine also does not have a year on the label so it could be a 2010 or 2001 (it sure does not taste like a 2001) so we are thinking that it is a more recent vintage grouping.

We decanted it and tried it with a braised lamb dinner and it was delicious.  The wine really goes beyond the marketing play.  It is a fairly soft red overall.  It has a some nice ripe fruit and dried herbs.  On their website it says there was no oak, and we believe that to be true.  The tannins in the wine are fairly round and has some earthiness to it.  It is pretty nice for a non-descript wine.

The flavours are plums and the website says cocoa (and we'll buy into that).  It is fairly full bodied overall and is a nice California Cab and makes us want to try the rest of their roster which is quite large with 10 total wines in their portfolio.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Dark red wine which sticks to the glass.  Looks like a Cab	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Plum and blueberry with dried herbs and a little sweetness on the nose.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Dry red wine with dark fruit and a touch of cocoa.	8.5
	Total:	16.5 / 20  (82.5%)

Great wine with an elegance and a lot of flavour into it.  Nice dinner wine.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2009 Folonari Valpolicella Classico Ripasso: Really Liking the Ripasso Style

For those who are familiar with Italian Wines the Ripasso style of winemaking will be very familiar. For those of you who might not be as familiar, this style of winemaking basically leverages the use of Amarone wine skins (which are dried) as part of the fermentation of this Valpolicella which is normally made with Corvina, Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara grapes (according to Wikipedia - though we knew the Corvina part).

In any event, this style of wine tends to elevate some of the flavours and this wine was no different, though we started drinking it too soon after opening. Glass number two was substantially better.

The flavours (once the opened up) were much more elegant than a typical Valpolicella. There was a softness to the wine that was very pleasant. It is a drinking wine though. Where big-brother Amarone would be a special occasion wine, this is an everyday wine.

Lighter in colour in the glass than we would expect it still has a great visual that is Italian red all the way. The nose is also soft but holds that dried fruit undertone of dried cranberries. Really very nice.

Overall, a solid wine at $20 and due to extra effort in making the wine, totally worth it. There are others we have had and we will certainly be trying more of these.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Lighter red wine for something with this level of body.  Really nice looking wine.	4.25
Smell (0-5)	Dried Cranberries and Oak with a little bit of tar if you can believe that.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	Cranberries continue with Vanilla and Spice.  Fuller bodied than the typical Valpolicella.	8.5
	Total:	16.75 / 20  (83.75%)

Look for Ripasso the next time you are in the mood for Italian red wine. You will not be disappointed.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wine Review - 2005 Jost Cabernet Franc: All the things we like about Cab Franc only Local

This Cabernet Franc is produced from grapes grown here in our Annapolis Valley.  The vintage of this one is 2005 making it an oldie but a goodie.  We have heard tell of a 2006 version floating around but have yet to see it. 

The vineyard where the grapes were grown is near Blomidon Estates winery in Habitant, NS just outside Canning (for those who might be interested).

This version is a similar style to the ones we have had from Niagara with a similar flavour profile.  It is a little thinner than some of the versions we had from Niagara but overall has a nice mouthfeel.

We are certain the nose is virtually identical to the Ontario versions with plums and violets on the nose but a bit of barnyard.  The Ontario has much more barnyard going on than this one but it is still in there.  The visual is similar in the sense that it looks like a Cab Sauv and has a similar weight in the glass.  It is definitely thin as far as the swirl is concerned but not too thin (it is 12% after all). 

The flavour is Cab Franc for sure.  More violets and plums and is tangy and tart but not overly so.  It really does taste nice.  We enjoyed this, only slightly less than our Niagara versions.  Overall a nice wine and at $20 it pushes the budget but doesn't break it.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Normal Red wine look, nothing spectacular in the glass but nice.	3.75
Smell (0-5)	Violets, Plums, Barnyard, and a touch of  Oak.  Very nice nose.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	More plums and barnyard, good amount of flavout and body.  Nice drinking wine.	8.25
	Total:	16.0 / 20  (80%)

If this represents Nova Scotia Cab Franc in general.....sign us up!

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon

Wonderful Tasting Weekend

We had a great Saturday night dinner party with our friends Craig and Cheryl with homemade pasta and all the trimmings. We wanted to have one of our special collected wines and we made the decision to go with the 2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from De La Montanya in Sonoma. There was a lot of yeast cells in the wine and we stood the bottle up for a few days and then decanted the wine for a couple of hours. As a prelude we started with a 2007 Stonechurch Pinot Noir from the Niagara Valley.

The Stonechurch was an excellent wine with a lot of body and structure for a Pinot Noir.  We really enjoyed the wine with its earthiness and fruit.  It was grassy enough to remind us of NZ Pinot but had that barnyard nose that Niagara is known for (and that is definitely a good thing).  At $20, if you can find it, buy it.

The main event was the De La Montanya and after a decade it was a star for sure.  Once in the glass it was all mahogany with the aging front and centre.  There was still a little debris in the glass but nothing offensive at all.  It looked like an aged wine.  On the nose it was still a bit tight with notes of dark chocolate and a bit of leather but the fruit was still there.  As we went through the bottle the fruit came out a bit more but the real shining piece was the flavour.  It was super full bodied with an awesome mouthfeel.  There was a lusciousness to this wine which revolved around solid dark plums and cassis.  So silky and elegant.  It was awesome and yet another time capsule wine.  So great.  We believe this was a $25-30 wine in 2004.  They do good work at De La Montanya.

Finally after all was said and done we opened a Rosé from Niagara's Featherstone Winery.  This was a fairly nice way to round out the meal with an off-dry Rosé which had a highly butterscotch nose and some light crisp acidity.  It was a palate cleanser for sure and would make a fantastic patio wine and at $15 once again if you can find it, buy a case. 

We didn't take the time out to score these wines per se but we can definitely give our indications.

2007 Stonechurch Pinot Noir (17.5/20 - 87.5%)
2002 De La Montanya Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (19.0/20 - 95%)
2010 Featherstone Rosé (16.5/20 - 82.5%)

As Shannon always says, 'I like Wine, Wine is good!'  This was a good wine weekend.

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon