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.
Visit Local Wine Events, a great source of tastings and other happenings for many locations in Canada, the U.S., and other countries. And vote for this blog!
Medium yellow-gold. Lovely medium intensity honey-stone fruit nose. Low acidity, nice round sweet flavour with good body. Recommended for Riesling lovers. $35 (down from $51) at Kitsilano Wine Cellar.
Curious about British Columbia Rieslings, as I enjoyed Joie‘s 2007 Riesling so much.
This one is clear, pale gold with a classic Riesling nose—honey/apricot with mineral qualities. Off-dry with good acidity. Hints of honey and apple but slightly weak in terms of balance and flavour. Good, though, and drinkable; shows promise, and it’s nice to see another off-dry BC Riesling.
See Wild Goose Winery.
A blend of organic Grenache and Marsanne from Southwest France near Carcassonne. Clear gold appearance. Apple-citrus nose with perhaps a hint of oak and pepper. Nice acidity, perhaps not as defined as previous bottles I’ve tried, which were 2006 I believe. A pineapple quality with minerality but a bit dull. Good, but disappointing given my prior experience.
This French organic wine has a medium yellow-gold appearance. Intriguing hay-vegetal nose. Medium body. Flat on the palette with relatively low acidity; slight mushroom quality that’s not entirely objectionable, but there’s little subtlety here. (It can’t be corked, as it is a twist-top.)
I’m going to try a few relatively inexpensive organic wines.
First is this Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, about $15 at the BC Liquor store. Pale clear straw colour with a light citrus-pineapple nose. Good acidity; strong citrus notes and a good finish. Straightforward and drinkable. Recommended. See Emiliana.
Yellow-gold appearance with medium mineral nose and a hint of grapefruit. Strong acidity, light body. Dry mineral-citrus with nice length. About $21 at Kitsilano Wine Cellar. Recommended. See Anakena Wines.
Medium lemon-gold appearance, with a citrus-apple-oak nose. Dry with good acidity, medium body. Nice fruity quality, but overcome a bit by oaking. I think I am developing a distaste for oaked wines. Very nice, otherwise; recommended.
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.