Lancelot

I work wine retail and have followed Leonetti wine for the past 12-14 years. I am positive that the best time to drink Leonetti wines is in the first 2-3 years. They are monumental, magnificent wines that show extemely well in the first years of their lives, I am not however convinced that they improve with age (they will hold but that's different from saying they get better). They are usually exremely harmonious and polished right out of the shoot, so why wait? Most people I talk to regret not drinking them sooner. If you are looking for longer term agers from Washington , Quilceda Creek and Chaleur are better bets.

I saw a small stack of Oysoyoos Larose at Thurlow and Alberni liquor store earlier this week;(it comes in wooden 6 packs). There might still be some there. For what it's worth i thought the wine was a snapshot of what some Bordeaux tasted like 20 years ago,IE Chateau Meyney 1985. Very rustic with the fruit buried really deep, it may come around but i'm not sure. It was also exceedingly floral. Rumour has it that the original working release price was pushing $70.00. Cheers BTW Working price for Mission Hill Occulus is $35.99 not $50.00 as stated earlier. Not that the price difference would change my purchasing decision.

Just up in Naramata last week. Red Rooster 2002 Merlot was solid, the new winery/tasting room is a big improvement. I second the recomendation re Elephant Island, the dry pear wine and the sweet apricot is good. Re La Frenz I had a glass of the 2003 Viognier at the new wine bar in Oliver, The Toasted Head, and it was classic style soft floral wine. The big surprise was Lake Breeze , the food was excellent (chef Markus was at Cafe il Nido in Vancouver) and the new 7 Poplars Chardonnay was a steal at $17.90, (I had it pre-release... it may be out by now)

Vera's Burger Shack on Davie Street is now open.

I work really close to Vera's Burger Shack (at Marquis Wine Cellars) and the best guess is they will open Wednesday. It looks good inside, draft beer and a big garage door that opens to the street. This is great news for Davie Street however it will be dangerous for me as I'm so close.

My problem is less about under-represented cuisines and more about under-represented cuisine in certain areas. Why is it that Commercial Drive can't do a good French Bistro? I would sell off several non-essential body parts for a good steak/frites and a foie gras appy.Is your probability of sucess that much better if you are one of 30 places where someone can get a greasy slice of pizza or a cup of coffee? Just asking....I'm sure there are other nieghborhoods that would love a good noodle house or Malaysian or other ethnic style restaurants and just don't see them open because another Subway or Starbucks is about to open up. BTW my beef is not with the chains i just want the independants to give them a run for their money.

1999 Hollick Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon with a really good free range spatchcocked roast chicken, mashed potatoes with aged white cheddar and braised carrots with shallots. The Hollick is superb, good dense firm but not hard tannin nice saturated red/purple color. There is some oak but not full telephone poles. Medium finish that has a slight dried cranberry character with low acid. After dinner a nice big glass of Seppelt DP 63 Grand Muscat, as my friend Delbert likes to say "Good booze!". Lighter bodied than the Rare Muscat with aromas of cold tea and cinnamon buns right out of the oven. Drinking it chilled is my favorite way, however 98.6 degrees F might also work.

It sells for 19.95 Canadian in British Columbia , tax included plus a 10 cent bottle deposit. Reataurants get a very small discount of the retail and typically sell it for 40.00-45.00 dollars.Many restaurants offer a silding scale markup so wines in this category will be marked up higher (as a percentage) than 60.00-100.00 dollar wines.

Does anyone out there have any address/phone number/e-mail for Moulin Touchais in the Loire Valley? I really need to get in touch with them and have had limited success searching on the web. Thank you in advance for any help.

I opened a 1992 Elyse Morisoli Vineyard Zinfandel. Purchased from Marquis Wine Cellars in Vancouver B.C. (I am employed there) in 1995 for approx 24.00 Can $. It was holding up much better than expected. Soft tannins with a slight earthy character, still some fruit and nice acid . At 12.9 % alcohol it was a nice change from the 15-17% Turley/ Martinelli monsters that are fun once and awhile at a tasting but more problematic at the dinner table.I haven't tasted Elyse in a long time but I worked crush there in 1996 so it brought back some fond memories.

Check out Hills Foods, you can get nice tubs of it and keep it in the freezer until you need it . Hills Foods Ltd. Unit 1-130 Glacier Street Coquitlam, British Columbia Canada V3K 5Z6 Phone: (604) 472-1500 / Fax: (604) 472-1501 E-Mail: sales@hillsfoods.com They have a $100.00 minimum cash and carry policy. They supply game and other items to a lot of restaurants in the lower mainland. They have frozen goose legs that are great for confit. And whole lobes of foie gras are available too.

I'm looking through Emile Peynauds' book The taste of Wine (first published in 1983 and translated to English in 1986). Page 240 under the heading When To Decant. "Only bottles which have sediment need to be decanted". Then on page 242 "Two last rules suffice to guard against any mistakes in ecanting.First;if it is necessary to decant,it should be done at the last moment,just before sitting down or just before serving,never in advance. Finally (in exceptional cases):only wines suffering from some fault(for example lack of cleanness on the nose, the presence of some gas, a little thinness in constitution)warrent decanting sufficiently in advance to allow for plenty of contact with air". Mr Peynaud seems to believe in his writings that decanting for any other reason than to remove sediment or blow off bad stuff(my technical term) was/is scientifically indefensible. Now I will be the first to admit that I enjoy the act of decanting wines, particularly old port. But has any one come up with any empirical evidence in the last 20 years to disprove Mr Peynaud's assertion?

On average it probably is about 6-7 wines a day. Somedays no wine, other days up to twenty. On trade days at wine events it might be up to 100 quick tastes (Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival, Vin-Italy,ZAP). On a trip to Australia in March this year it was 505 wines and 47 wineries, I have a very understanding wife. At casual tastings with friends not more than 10 wines,(the most notable exception was a dinner where we opened 17 different bottles of Turley... the horror...the horror...)Many nights it is no wine at all. I should define what I mean by really good wine. Really good wine is a wine that outperforms the price and has character and finesse. Unfortunately given the markup structure for wine in B.C. there are less wines that meet that criteria here than in other parts of the world. We have minimum pricing here so it's not as competitive as many of the US markets. Good wine simply performs well against other wines in it's peer group. Not good wine is merely that, overpriced or flawed. With regard to Sassacaia I have had 85-87-90-and most vintages in the late 90's and would agree that the more recent vintages have not had the same profound effect on me that the 85 had. Perhaps paying $40 Canadian had something to do with it.

As a wine industry professional I taste aprrox 2000-2500 wines a year. In the course of that year I might have 50-75 really good wines and 5-10 profoundly great wines.It is relatively easy to be critical and descriptive of the average to so-so wines but I have a problem with the really great wines. My question is this. Are the truly profound wines intellectual or emotional experiences that defy description? For example I have tried the 1985 Sassicaia 5-6 times in my life. Each time I have been at a loss to truly describe and be analytical about this wine, (some might say I simply lack discipline).Each tasting experience of this wine has thrilled me, to the point that simply talking about it makes the hair stand up on my arm.In my experience it is difficult to make complete notes about wine like this because I am so enthralled about the act of tasting! Maybe the attributes of a geat wine is that it will defy adequate description. I'm curious if other tasters have difficulty tasting great wines and keeping good notes or do you simply surrender to the moment?

My understanding of cork has led me to believe that cork could only absorb a maximum of %20 humidity. So if the inside of the bottle is %100 humid, the moisture in the cork will only leave the cork to an enviornment that is below the % of moisture in the cork. My concern would be that if your cellar is too humid the labels will rot, living in Vancouver thats our bigger concern. Maybe i am missing something in my logic. I am sure someone will enlighten me.

Present collection numbers approx 750 bottles. The wine we have had the longest in our cellar is a bottle of 1986 Leoville Barton that we purchased in Sept 89 for $18.00. Lots of Turley ,big stupid Shiraz and port. However I have begun to walk upright as modern man. Increasing numbers of whites are starting to appear ie Albert Mann, Gaston Huet , Kalin. Tons of dessert wine are filling the racks. Kracher from Austria is my current obsession as well as large format wines. Wines from British Columbia are starting to increase as well . Would like to make some big dents in the numbers but the buying disease continues.

Cellar temperature is probably the most important aspect for storage. If I were to wieght the relative importance for various factors of storage it would be thus. 90% temperature 7% light 3% vibration. Given the choice between storing a wine at the correct temperature but vibrating slightly versus no vibration and too warm I know what I would pick. Grandmothers basements or friends in Alaska are also good options. PS The 90 Pol Roger is excellent, I tried a bottle last summer that was clean, fresh,beautifull mousse and a tart citrus finish. Not as biscuity as Veuve Clicquot or Bollinger Champagne

I am curious if anyone has any experience tasting wines from the Massandra Collection. These wines were initially made for the Czar's in Crimea and sold through Sothebys awhile ago. I was recently given a bottle of 1948 Lavadia Cabernet Tawny Port and a 750 ml bottle of Pink Muscat . I am not sure what to expect or what context in which to consume. I could guess but experince tasting Eastern European dessert wine is very limited. Thanks