Wine of Week readily available in Vancouver and BC

[Chef Metcalf]

We tried the Yalumba Viognier last weekend after getting snowed in on a night we were planning to go out for dinner.

Ended up making Thai food and it went reasonably well with the spicy food.

I've tried it at a wine tasting event before, but coulnd't really remember what I thought of it (not much, or it would have been in my notes I guess).

BF thought it was a sweet wine at first, due to the fruit, which quickly fades away to dry.

First few tastes were slightly effervescent...anybody else get that?

A little peach and apricot too.

Kind of underwhelmed I guess.

I liked the screw cap though!

I don't know how I would like it on a bottle that I had aged for 5 years, but I'm glad to see them fazing out the cork.

I think in the end it will work out better for the wine producers and wine store staff with less returns from corked bottles.

I was at the Australian wine tasting today at Storyeum and was surprised to see that two of the wineries had a Shiraz mixed with Viognier (95% to 5%).

One was from Hungerford Hills, Fishcage series (don't remember the other winery). That was a new one for me! Never heard of them mixing white to boost the taste of the red.

Here are some that I liked...

Angus The Bull 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon $21.95 (you can hear it screaming for a steak as soon as you open the bottle). Drinks like a $40 Napa Cab and got 90 odd points from Robert Parker. The 2002 vintage is supposed to be even better. This one has been out since last summer and is a fantastic value wine.

St Hallet Blackwell Shiraz 2002 $34.95

Full bodied, lots of plum, spice and licorice with a nice finish.

Normans 2001 Chais Clarendon Shiraz from McLaren Vale $45.00

Blackberry, cherry, licorice and smooth as silk.

Happy imbibing

[montrachet]

Chef Metcalfe,

Missed seeing you at the Storyeum tasting tonight but it looks as though you left early.

Interesting venue but much too crowded and stifling hot.

The Shiraz/Viognier blend is an offtake of the Northern Rhone region wine called Cote Rotie. Syrah is blended with Viognier but this practice seems to have become less and less fashionable as it is a difficult varietal to grow particularly on the steep slopes of Cote Rotie. When done properly though, Viognier adds a floral perfuminess to the robust Syrah component found in this wine and makes it more "elegant" than say the all Syrah wines of Hermitage to the south.

I wanted to try the Chardonnay/Viognier blend at the Langanook booth but they never received shipment of this obscure offering. Dunno though, at $36 a bottle, I would probably prefer to spend that on another DOV outing at West

Three wines I enjoyed tonight were the Katnook Estate "Prodigy", the "Dead Arm" from d'Arenberg and St. Hallett's "Old Block Shiraz". On the more affordable side, I think the

[montrachet]

(oops! I hit the send by mistake!!! )

Grant Burge "Miamba" Shiraz was a good buy at $31.95.

Mike

[Chef Metcalf]

Hi Montrachet

I was at the trade tasting in the afternoon from 2-4.

Too bad we didn't meet up though, it sounds like we have similar tastes in wine.

All the ones you added were on my picks lists too so I'm glad you posted them!

I tried the Grant Burge, it was lovely. I read it without my glasses the first time and thought it said Giant Burger!

Thanks for the wonderful explanation of the syrah/viognier. Much more detail then I was able to get at the tasting. Always so rushed and crowded.

Funny you said it was hot in there. In the daytime they had all the strange looking air vents that come out of the round pillars at wierd angles blowing to the point where people were complaining that they couldn't smell the wine.

I missed the Katnook Prodigy (how I don't know), but did try the Cab, thought it needed some ageing though.

The D'Arenburg Dead Arm was awesome (and was the only one I didn't spit)!

Hey, I'm late for work..bye.

cm

(oops! I hit the send by mistake!!!  )

Grant Burge "Miamba" Shiraz was a good buy at $31.95.

Mike

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[Coop]

Thanks for the love Keith. Ling I don't really like the roofing tar aromas that some old school Italian wines have. I believe this comes from a process called "governo". I'm not sure that's the case with this wine, but it's very strong in my notes. This just isn't a wine I care for anymore. I don't think it's flawed, just not for me.

BTW if you may have noticed I love Italian wine, especially from this emerging (Sicily) area.

[Brad Ballinger]

Okay, you knew it would happen -- someone from the eGullet Team would step in. And it makes sense that it is someone from the Wine Forum.

Hi.

Let me first state that Rebel Rose (the other Wine Forum host) and I think it is great that the British Columbia group is doing what you are doing. Personally, the more discussion about wine anywhere in the world, the better. So this isn't a cease and desist post.

Rather, I would also encourage you to participate in the Wine of the Week activities taking place in the Wine Forum. We strive to select wines that are widely available so that as many people can participate as possible. On occasion, there may be a wine that can't be found in every market, but I would hope that is the exception more than the rule.

Our desire is that eGullet members explore and benefit from a number of features the site has to offer, and we encourage members to explore the entire site. I recognize some members in this thread from their contributions to the Wine Forum. It would be great to have even more. Visitors to the wine forum can learn from even more of you! Those who come to learn and discuss wine likely won't come to the Western Canada Forum. But they may still benefit from the wine discussions of this group. So that's why we are asking you to check us out and participate in the Wine Forum.

I understand that your focus is on wines available in your market. But I would think that Vancouver is cosmopolitan enough (it's certainly more cosmoplitan than where I live) to have a large and diverse wine selection, and that many wines distributed widely in North American (if not worldwide) find space on a shelf in Vancouver. A virtual acquaintance of mine (her internet name is Mishy, but I have no idea what her real name is ) is a sommelier at a restaurant in Vancouver, and she and I have discussed a wide variety of wines -- not just those that her restaurant has access to.

Thanks for reading. If there are any questions, please send me a PM. We don't want our discussion threads to devolve into policy discussions.

[winegeek]

I can't speak for everyone but we have started a thread here because the wines that we choose are easily available locally. A high number of wines posted in the Wine Forum are not available here ( I don't believe you've ever had the pleasure of dealing with the LDB ). I agree with you that participation in the wine forum can be beneficial to all. I also encourage everyone here to join in. You can never have too much discussion on wine, especially while consuming it .

[Coop]

Seeing this is the WOW we are discussing here are my thoughts on the availability of the 4 WOWs. #1 Renwood Barbera Not available. #2 Peter Lehman Shiraz BCLDB listing. #3 Planeta La Segreta Rosso (my choice) BCLDB listing. #4Trimbach Riesling available at many private stores. So Vancouverites could have participated in 3 out of 4.

[Rebel Rose]

Hello, everybody!

I'd like to add my encouragement and applause for starting a regional Wine of the Week. I hope you don't mind if we pop in to check out the BC wine scene. We'd love to have you participate in our discussions as well.

I know, having lived in B'ham, that Vancouver is a wonderful metropolitan area, and I'm also aware that BC and Western Canada covers a lot of territory where many wines are unavailable. When I invented tasting tag I didn't think we'd all get to participate every time. Shoot, I live in a small town with a limited international selection. So I hope that whenever you have the chance, you'll play along.

In the meantime, I'd like to point out that although Brad and I support the BC:WOW, it isn't ultimately our decision, and site management will undoubtedly want to see a ongoing regional focus in a regional Wine of the Week. My advice would be to search first for wines produced in your area. In addition to providing an important regional focus, I know that our "Winers" would love to see some in-depth reporting on wines produced in your region, and we'll be visiting often.

Please PM me if you have any questions! Back to the fun.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

Thought I would pass on my comments on Dr. Taurino. We tried it with spaghetti bolognase. As some of you may remember, I and some friends have been involved in a spaghetti cookathon for a soon-to-be aired TV show. (And yes, I will let you know when it will be on). Suffice to say, I am not too eager to eat a lot more spaghetti in the near future. But I digress. Where I was aiming for, was to say that yet another plate of spaghetti seemed a good reason to break out the Dr.

Maybe not the best match - I found the wine to be almost over-done in a fruity sort of way (oh boy - I can see the eyes rolling - this woman doesn't know squat about wine talk). No one flavour came through at all - it was just a mish-mash of alcohol and fruit. I like wine that has more definable flavours. The flavour was muddled. But it wasn't awful or even, not good. Just not anything that made me go - yummy. Anyway, the upshot is that we wouldn't likely purchase it again.

Speaking of bad wine - I was at a conference dinner at the Westin last night at which they served Okanagan Vineyards Red Wine and White Wine. WTF is Okanagan Vineyards? Whatever it is - it was some wickedly bad wine. I didn't even drink it and that is saying something. It had a VQA label on it which is really concerning. Maybe I should have been suspicious when I saw the fluorescent yellow cork (plastic). Anyway, word to the wise - even if it is free, it probaby isn't worth it.

And, going back to the Yalumbas recommended by waiterblog, I wasn't able to warm up to the Vignoier (I know that is spelled wrong) but have since bought more of the Grenache. We had the Yalumba Y series Cab Sav at the HSG the other night and really enjoyed it - so thanks waiterblog for getting me to try something new and different.

Anyone want to recommend some more wines? But this time we better stick to the rules and make it something local or not readily available elsewhere. (I am not sure how we figure that out - even the BC wines aren't always easily available at the LCB) Sigh. Sometimes even the simple stuff gets complicated.

Off to open a bottle of wine Something I know how to do.

[nwyles]

WTF is Okanagan Vineyards?

Karole, this is a PG site.

Language, please.

I can't see who Okanagan Vineyards is ? Inniskillen came up a couple of times.

Mystery wine ? Beware the yellow cork.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

I like Inniskillin so I will be so upset if they are pedaling that swill. Maybe we should get the Alcohol CSI unit on it. I know just the guy for the job

[appreciator]

Karole.... I think I might have seen the wine you are talking about for sale at the VQA store on GI (inside the market) yesterday... when i was, incidentally, buying a bottle of Inniskillin Cab Sauv.

Judging from the price $8.99, I was assuming (rightly or wrongly ) that it wasn't going to be that good.

Next time I'm on the island, I'll scope out further details and report back. Unless someone else beats me to it.

I think it would be great to do a BC WOW.... though I don't have one to suggest at the moment.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

We just had a bottle of the Inniskillin Cab Sav with dinner tonight. This is wine we picked up in Alberta and interestingly, it isn't listed in the LCBC product guide. The number on the bottle is 632117 in case I am reading the book incorrectly. We drank from the Reidel stemless glasses which were a Christmas gift. I am still trying to decide how I feel about them.

The wine. Reasonably big nose with lots of leather. Still a fair amount of tannins left so it is best with food and obviously could stay in the cellar longer. We had it with a piece of Costco fillet. The wine is definitely a medium bodied Cab and has almost a sweetness to it. Flavours of berries and some plum. Tannins give it a bit of a dusty flavour when not paired with food. I also think I can taste pencils? OK time to stop drinking when you think you can taste pencils.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

The dreadful Okanagan Vineyards was at a big banquet so it might be a special order thing. But, as the dinner was for business types from all over the world, it was unfortunate that the BC wine was so stunningly dreadful. I spent most of the dinner apologizing. Suprisingly, the salmon was wild and was actually nicely cooked for banquet salmon. Tip of the hat to the Westin.

I just looked in the product guide and there is an Okanagan Vineyards Merlot 2001 for $5.99. I was cetain it wasn't a varietal - but I have been known to be wrong on many occasions. This might have been one of them.

[Viola da gamba]

From what I can tell on "Okanagan Vineyards" - it seems to be a Vincor production - the attached webpage is strongly editorial but at least it clears up the distinction between "Okanagan Vineyards" and "Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards" - maybe Jamie can clarify?

A BC Merlot for $5.99 ? I guess you get what you pay for.

http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_01.15.98/plus/drinks.html

[merlin]

as the article confirms B.C. means no more that labelled or bottled in B.C....tanker truck loads of cheaper imported plonk....same as the Jackson-Triggs white label v. black label chardonnay...mind you, neither of the latter are particulalry good IMHO