Unfussy Wine Enthusiasts | Wine Reviews & Articles

New Zealand was the first table we visited at the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival so our palates were fresh.  We have had good luck with Stoneleigh Wines and this one truly delivers.  The price point for Kiwi wines was a bit higher than in previous years but the quality of wines were very high.  Both the whites and the reds were very solid across the board.  This wine however, was a stand out among them.  It is not a typical NZ Pinot Noir in many respects but holds true to the region in others.  The one adjective that stands out for this wine overall is "Elegance".  There is a refinement that other Pinot Noirs just don't have. In the glass the most noticeable variance from typical is that the wine, though ‎still quite light, is a much darker purple on the colour wheel.  The wine remains watery and this looking as one might expect but if the picture does it any justice at all it should the purple that you can...

This is yet another selection from the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  We didn't get to a lot of the Australia table overall but there were some highlights and we felt like this wine was one of them.  Australia gets a lot of attention during the show with very drinkable and palate friendly wines but for a few years we didn't feel like they deserved the hype.  We found a lot of over ripe and hot wines with too much jam in their reds and over-oaked whites.  We think Aussie wineries are getting the message that some jam and oak are great but too much doesn't keep people coming back for more. This Cabernet has a deep purple verging on black colour in the glass. The wine is very thick in the glass though the legs on the swirl are super speedy. It looks like a rich, thick luscious wine. The nose on this wine is pure strawberry jam. We're wary of that jam smell but it is combined with blackberries and black cherries and is quite attract...

This is one of the last wines we had from the 2013 NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  It sat for more than a year in our rack waiting for its turn.  We remembered nothing of the wine because it was so long ago but we were glad to see our way out of the stock from 2013.  We have had Sileni Pinot Noir as well and found that to be a great wine was well. In the glass, the wine is light yellow in colour and show a very slight effervescence which is interesting.  The other main characteristic we noticed was that the wine looked a lot less watery than we normally see if NZ Sauv Blanc. The nose is full of pears and peaches with a hint of mint.  The one main note we get is....wait for it....stinky feet.  That's right, there is a crazy amount of stink in there and it just works.  Why?  Because it's followed by a very cleansing mist of alcohol.  It is really cool. The flavour profile is a lot more traditional with a lot of pin...

‎This was a purchase at the NSLC Port of Wines Festival this year. It was an interesting taste profile so we picked up a bottle for closer inspection.  Frank Nobilo carries on the tradition of Ernie Els, Mike Weir, and other Pro Golfers who have ventured into the wine business with his Nobilo Wines .  This version is a good one. In the glass the wine is pale yellow with a green hue.  It is a watery wine and is very clear.  It looks like a Summer wine and certainly makes one want to drink it.  We miss Summer...if you couldn't tell. The nose is tropical though and through which, if this is your first review of ours you're reading, we love.  There's mango and papaya front and centre.  Beneath all that is a lemon peel element that really rounds out the nose.  Very nice smelling wine. The flavours are interesting to say the least.  It is a typically tart and crisp Sauv Blanc.  There is a citrus component on palat...

This wine was on the roster for Mer et Soleil  at this year's Port of Wines Festival and we had a chance to try it both freshly opened and with a little time open.  Overall, it was a nice drinking wine but definitely develops more when the bottle is open for a while.  We would go as far to say it is better to decant this wine to open it up a bit. Bright crimson is the best was to categorize the look and colour of the wine.  There are slow legs in the glass on the swirl and it seems to stick to the sides as the wine comes down.  It has an oily look to it as well which make you feel like this will be a big wine. The nose hit us with cherry blossoms and violets as the dominant building blocks of the bouquet.  We also see light oak and vanilla notes underlying all of that.  It's a solid nose on this wine. The oily nature of the wine in the glass continues on the palate. It sticks to the tongue quite readily.  This com...

This was a late in the show NSLC Port of Wines Festival selection. Palates were exhausted and there wasn't enough bread to bring it back. We knew we wanted to hit the South Africa table before we left and we wanted to find a Pinotage to take home. Well, mission accomplished with the Beyerskloof Pintoage ($18.49 locally). It still stood out with tired tongues but to be honest we weren't sure if we were gonna love it when we tried it. Well good news... Pinotage tends to be a lighter coloured red wine and this one is about average though it has transparent edges which is an interesting effect. While not as thin as it's cousin Pinot Noir, there is definitely a clear structure to the wine. We have found Pinotage to be nutty to the point of dark chocolate or even coffee.  This wine however is not as nutty as we might expect. There is a touch in there but this reads more like a Grenache with distinct notes of Cherry Twizzlers and vanilla in there. ...

We just completed a great weekend of wine at the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival . We were fortunate to be able to pour some wines for both the afternoon and evening sessions of the Friday show. It was our first time pouring at the show and it was a super fun time. We were volunteers for Mer et Soleil a local wine importing company and had a very interesting time pouring some very interesting French wines. Shannon poured the Terraburdigala Roc de Jean Lys (70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc) and Thienpont Bordeaux White (75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillion). I was lucky enough to pour the Brut and Rose from the Deutz Champagne House  as well as the Famille Bougrier Muscadet. The crowds were very enthusiastic and lively and pouring these wines for them was really great. Friday afternoon was a lot of hospitality industry staff along with some folks who are making a day of things whereas Friday evening was much busier with a more 'traditional' crowd of wine lovers an...

As we go through our purchases from the NSLC Port of Wines Festival in September we continue to hit high point after high point.  This wine is another award winner and is a really nice wine. A blend of Negroamaro and Primitivo grapes this wine is made in the appassimento style which is to say that grapes are dried and pressed into the wine.  This is particularly popular with the Italian Amarone della Valpolicella.  It adds a lot of round bold flavours to a wine that can be categorized as a little thin at times.  This wine benefits from that style of winemaking. The wine is a very dark purple with mahogany edge in the glass and has very quick legs on the swirl.  Really nice and it looks older than it is.  You can thank the wine skins for that.  Well done. There is a fiery nose with notes of sugar plums and black pepper.  The beauty of the appassimento style is that body and nose.  Excellent. The body is much larger than if th...

This was another pick-up at the NSLC Port of Wines Festival in September.  In fact this was one of the very first wines we tried in the VIP section upon arrival.  Needless to say the flavours in the wine were top of mind as we decided which wines to try. This wine from Italian producer Pieropan   is made from 85% Garganega and 15% Trebbiano di Soave.  Some Soave is fermented in oak but this one is fermented in glass-lined cement tanks.  That said, it has both a freshness and some body as well. The wine has a golden hue in the glass and it almost is an apple juice colour.  There are slick legs running down on the swirl but you would swear there is some level of oak involved.  Interesting. There is a very mild nose on this wine that did not increase as the wine warmed up in the glass.  Very subtle and soft smells of carmelized peaches and again vanilla (which would denote oak of some level).  Interesting. When we tasted ...

We are having a rich roasted lamb dinner tonight and thought that a big bold wine was in order.  When we grabbed the bottle it looked familiar and upon checking we had the 2008 last year around this time (review here ).  Like the 2008, the 2010 was a purchase from the NSLC Wine Festival in September.  Don't judge us but we are gonna recycle a bit of that review for time's sake because it still applies. From Graffigna Wines , this Malbec is a nice version of Argentina's signature grape.  As expected, this is a dark wine with deep purple colours and a thick skim in the glass. Once again the nose is very oaky and we get a lot of dark fruit and stone fruit, maybe black currents and plums.  Last time there was a cocoa undercurrent as well as a little smoke. All this still applies to the 2010. Just like in 2008, the 2010 has lots of violets and blackberries in the glass.  That said, this time around it is a very elegant balance of tannins, fruit, an...

This post is way overdue considering we attended the Festival on September 28th but such is life.  We absolutely relish attending this event each year.  In fact we have attended every year since we returned from living in the US in 2005.  This year's event was VERY different for us.  Our son was born at the end of August which made it a very challenging decision to attend. Shannon was torn about leaving him with his grandmother right up to the week before the Festival.  So, once she decided that it would be a go I went and purchased our tickets to the Saturday afternoon Grand Tasting which is by far our favorite session to attend.  It is always busy but it is during the day and you tend to find it a manageable crowd versus the evening sessions where, let's be honest, it becomes partly a nightclub.  When we were in our 20's that was absolutely a plus...not so much now. So, tickets are purchased and not two hours later the phone rings and a nice l...

Courtesy Wine-Searcher.com The blogging time allotment is seriously hard to find with a child in the house.  So, once again this will be a short and sweet review.  This is a wine from Peter Dennis Wines  and it was an award winner at this year's NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  It retails for $24.79 locally and is worth every penny. It was an early taster at the show and a memorable one.  Extremely well made for the price point.  It is a super dark wine.  So much so there is no light passing through that glass.  We would call it a black cherry colour and a nice looking wine. It has a bold nose with lots of vanilla and cedar.  The smells are blackberry/blueberry juice with a really luscious bouquet.  Underneath all of that there is a caramel undertone that smells awesome. On the palate you get a very round mouthfeel that finishes smoothly.  Again, a well made wine.  The flavours of cherries and blackberries dominate ...

We are considering making an appearance at this year's NSLC Port of Wines Festival which is featuring the wines of Italy.  It really is the most wonderful time of the year.  However, should we decide to attend, it will be a vastly different experience from previous years.  Lots of sip/spit/dump....and while that makes us sad in a lot of different ways we will undoubtedly have a better tasting experience and our babysitter and child will also appreciate that. It brings up an interesting question. We have sampled a good number of different wines over the last few years (especially at this festival).  Many bottles, grape varieties, regions, countries and on it goes.  We don't consider ourselves wine snobs by any stretch of the imagination but we have begun to develop certain, shall we say, preferences.  These preferences are not really a price equation but more a quality equation.  We have been kinder than most to some wines but we feel like ther...

So, wine blogging without Shannon is like playing in the big game with your star running back on the sidelines with a strained hammie.  Not a perfect situation by any means but you dig deep and play on. This wine was a purchase at the 2012 Port of Wines Festival where it stood out from the crowd with what we felt were strong flavours for Pinot Noir.  Well, there was some truth to that and some false memories.   The Ned from Marlborough is a nice version of Kiwi Pinot but there are some shortcomings. In the glass it is a fairly standard looking New Zealand Pinot which a light and clear colour profile with a thin structure.  Call it cranberry juice/strawberry kool-aid coloured maybe even a watery looking wine.  It is not unlike many that we have had from Marlborough so this has a similar visual.  It is a pale wine overall which screams cool climate Pinot. The nose is definitely Kiwi Pinot with loads of cherries and other berries.  The label say...

So, it has been twelve days since our last post....very slack.  We have been in the midst of work commitments and holiday preparations.  No excuse, but definitely something we want to remedy with lots of holiday cheer. Tonight's wine was a purchase from the NSLC Wine Festival in September.  We have a couple of them left from our original stock and this one was a stand out at the show. From Graffigna Wines , this Malbec is a nice version of Argentina's signature grape.  We liked it a lot at the time of purchase but a few months on we wanted to see if we were still into it. As expected, this is a dark wine through and through.  We love the look of Malbec on a good day but this one is great.  Deep purple colours are the order of the day with a thick skim in the glass.  The legs run pretty slowly but at 14.5% alcohol can't say it is a surprise. The nose is very, very oaky and we get a lot of dark fruit and stone fruit, maybe black currents and p...

We bought this wine at this year's Port of Wines Festival and we recalled it to be an amazing flavour profile and mouth feel.  We were right.  Thank you taste buds! This wine from Vina Maipo  is from the Maule Valley in Chile and is made from 75% Carménère and 25% Syrah and, let's get this out of the way now....is delicious! In the glass this is a wine is extremely dark and that darkness is made up of that South American wine violet colour and is thick, really thick.  It hugs the glass and has very extended legs once you give it a swirl.  Nice looking wine. The nose is rich and delicious.  There is a nice boldness to the wine which has notes of spicy cherries, leather, and tobacco.  The spice is like a white pepper which perks up the nose when you stick it in the glass and give it a whiff.  The fruit is there for sure, but there is an oaky backdrop that is awesome. The taste is round and luscious with a lot of great notes cherries and ...

MyNSLC.com We attended the Saturday afternoon Grand Tasting at this year's Port of Wines Festival put on by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.  It is an annual event that we absolutely look forward to each year.  Who are we kidding?  Let's just call it what it is...it's our Christmas.  The event had modest beginnings back in the Nineties will less vendors and a smaller venue.  It is now an extremely successful event with a featured country/region each year.  This year's focus was on Chile.  Ten tables of Chilean wines that we were really looking forward to as it is such a value driven wine country.  Check out the full Event program here  (note this link might disappear someday). The weather was not cooperating with a lot of rain but the kind staff allowed us into the entry area of the Cunard Centre so we weren't drowned rats.  Bravo!  The layout of the room is tasting tables around the edge of the large room with tasting stat...