Montreal Wine and Spirits show finds?

[Vanessa L.]

Any highlights from this weekend's wine show at the Palais des Congres? I went but am far from knowing what to look for. Anyone really excited by what they saw or tasted?

[sf&m]

Did not get to spend a ot of time there, but did enjoy it.

1. Tasted a couple of nice Primitivo vines - that's supposedly the same grape as Zinfandel.

Elegant old world Zin so to speak. DeParkerized California Zinfandel. Not fancy IGT wines from Puglia. Check out Primitivo Canaletto 2003 Casa Girelli. Code 00597021. $15 per bottle.

2. Went to a Banyul seminar. A white Banyul which name escapes me at the moment was perfect with foi gras. Never had white Banyul before. Memorable. The red Helyos Banyul 2002 was suberb... $72 at SAQ.

Seems the were more Italian then French wine represented.

I only went on Thursday afternoon and Sunday so not at "peak hours" so the show looked a bit slow compared to the Ottawa Wine and food show in November. Hopefull the kids held the Montreal party flag high on Friday and Saturday night.

To bad it's only held every other year. But I can understand why. The wine agents mount some very expensive booths. A bit confusing with the agency system and wines from all regions under each umbrella.

Finaly we had the regular booth babe marketing ploy. How about Tequila Rose (yeah, that's pink Tequila) represented by two VERY curvy Senoritas poured into pink tight dresses.

I loved it!!

Edited March 29, 2006 by sf&m (log)

[Thesorus]

Any highlights from this weekend's wine show at the Palais des Congres?  I went but am far from knowing what to look for.  Anyone really excited by what they saw or tasted?

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went there friday after work, the place filled up rapidly at around 6:30.

anyway, I did taste a couple of good things, did not buy anything ( my dad bought the Navan cognac/vanilla "thing" )

1- from les Caves Monmousseau, a very good Cheverny rouge and a better Chinon

2- from Mommessin, an also very good Brouilly ( La Montagne Bleue ) and Fleurie ( La Chapelle Des Bois ).

3- from La Maison Picard, an excellent Pommard ( which might be my favorite wine )

4- a few extravagant Chablis from Les Domaines Jean Durup.

( I think that you can see a trend in my wine taste ... )

and a few other forgettable whites and reds

[Vanessa L.]

The Picard Pommard was outstanding.

I catered for the LCC boys the previous evening and the Grand Marnier rep. had us making cocktails with that Navan Vanilla stuff. I think they were serving the same ones at the show. I found the cocktails too sticky-sweet, but cold, on its own the stuff is pretty good.

As for that Tequila Rose, the girls would have been less out of place at the bar and beverage show a few months ago, or on St-Laurent waiting to get into Buona Notte. Did you taste the stuff? It made me think of the ear infection medication you used to get as a kid. Yuck!

Thanks for the wine picks. I agree, they should definitely have that show once a year. One more excuse to drink in the middle of the afternoon.

[Mr. Fagioli]

I was really impressed with the Matua Paretai Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc...but not $30+ impressed. A really complex and unique NZ sauvignon blanc with a looong finish. If it ever shows up at the SAQ or a resto wine list and you feel like splurging and already like the style, it's worth a try. The same winery's chardonnay was OK, but not nearly as memorable.

Also from NZ: Kim Crawford pinot noir 2004. As you might expect, this is quite lively and "fun". Looking forward to drinking this soon.

One disgusting abomination: Wyndham Estate sparkling Bin 555 Shiraz. The regular flat version is a pleasant mass-market wine and a hit at parties; add bubbles and it's just so completely, utterly, unremittingly wrong.

Edit: Just noticed that there's a recently revived thread on sparkling shiraz. Seems the abomination in this case may be a function of cheapness, since the style does have something of a noble history. Shame to be introduced to it with something that was (to me) so appalling.

Big disappointment with the Leon Beyer Cuvée des Comtes d'Eguisheim pinot gris 2000. Lots of mushrooms in the nose and mouth, low acidity, watery mouth-feel, weak finish. The agent insisted the mushroom aromas and flavours were normal and the wine was fine, but as it happens the very next bottle was corked. Should have asked for a whiff of that one for comparison. Only $49.50 at your local SAQ Sélection; hurry while supplies last.

Tasted a whole bunch of other stuff, but don't have my notes with me. Mainly new world wines, much of it cheap stuff I wanted to know about without having to get a whole bottle.

Edited March 30, 2006 by Mr. Fagioli (log)

[the caveman]

Did not get to spend a ot of time there, but did enjoy it.

Went to a Banyul  seminar. A white Banyul which name escapes me at the moment was perfect with foi gras. Never had white Banyul before. Memorable.  The red Helyos Banyul 2002 was suberb... $72 at SAQ.

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The white banyuls was from Mas Cornet and around $25 a bottle on private import from Arvin.. and the Helios was extraordinary..though expensive..

I was at the show for 3 days and from what I remember (it's a bit fuzzy)

1. Tissot's Savignan and his new experiment, a recioto style red Vin de Paille

2. Joel Gott's Zinfandel,

3. pretty well the whole line of Niagara based Peninsula Ridge

4. Taupenot-Merme's Morey St-Denis

5. Both Ferriera and Ramos Pinto Duoros were also pretty impressive

Too bad all these wines are only available on private imports...bonehead SAQ!