In early 2006 I took the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 1 Foundation course in wine tasting. The course was taught by James Cluer of Fine Vintage Ltd in Vancouver. For these posts I am using the Systematic Approach to Tasting Wine (PDF, 50K). Wine is evaluated according to Appearance (clarity, intensity, and colour); Nose (condition, intensity, and aroma); Palate (sweetness, acidity, tannin, body, flavour characteristics, and length); and a conclusion on overall quality. I prefer whites, or I am more familiar with them, so that is what I will focus on, at least initially. I will sample wine from a variety of countries, and search out good BC wines. Let me know if you have any comments or something to suggest.
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Pale gold appearance. Interesting nose: a big mix of citrus and fruit, from grapefruit to apple and everything between. Medium body with good acidity; a strong grapefruit quality. I’ve been drinking more of this varietal but find this unusual, in a good way. Casa Lapostolle.
Clear lemon-gold appearance. Nose is classic Riesling stone fruit with citrus and a hint of floral quality. On the palate, a real acidic punch nicely accenting the sweetness, which is a bit beyond off-dry. Nice body with apricot-honey and petrol notes. Very good; recommended. Bassermann-Jordan.
Clear, light gold appearance. Medium sweet nose, apricot-honey with a hint of petrol. Quite sweet and light on the palate, with low acidity; typical honey and stone fruit notes. Quite good, especially for the price, $20 at Kits Wine. It seems that this geographic area (Okanagan, Washington State) has a lot of potential in this varietal. See Washington Hills.
Medium clear yellow appearance. Nice lemon-petrol nose. Very earthy palate with strong lemon notes and a hint of citrus; nice acidity. Very distinctive, and unlike many of the recent, mostly German, Rieslings I’ve tried. I quite enjoy this one; recommended, particularly at the price, about $20 Canadian.
Light silver-gold appearance. Medium, classic slate-petrol Riesling nose. Dry, medium body with good acidity; mineral, lime, and apple notes. Quite good, but overpriced at $30 from Kitsilano Wine Cellar.
Clear light silver appearance. A fascinating (I don’t drink Muscadet) light lemon-grapefruit nose and a hint of almond. Dry with great acidity, tart lemon, and excellent finish. Very nice!
Clear, medium lemon appearance. Wonderful intense apricot-honey nose. Very nice balance, excellent acidity against significant minerality; strong sweetness and fine body. An excellent wine, highly recommended. Weingut Markus Molitor.
I’ve gone off Chardonnay a bit recently (as have many others, from what I’ve read), but this was a staff pick at Kits Wine Cellar, so I thought I’d give it a try. Clear light lemon-gold appearance; classic Chardonnay nose with nut and oak qualities. Strong acidity with tasteful oaking; pretty one-dimensional, though. Good body and length.
Another bottle I picked up at Nancy’s Wines for Food in New York.
Clear, medium gold appearance. Nice apricot-petrol nose. Good acidity balancing earthy sweet honey qualities. Excellent.
A birthday gift from my wife, bought on my first visit to Everything Wine in North Vancouver.
Clear, pale silver-gold appearance. Straightforward Riesling nose with honey, melon, and slate qualities. Good body. But the apricot-honey palate seems to be working somewhat in opposition to the acidity, and a bit of lingering minerality in the length disappoints slightly. Still, a nice drinkable Riesling.