Green Green Grass of Wine

[James Kendal]

A Pinot Noir that I must say is one of the best wines I have had recently was incredible smooth with hints of cherry with a aroma that was of blossoms in spring with hints of oak.

It was from Alderlea Vinyards and was a 2003 vintage and is located in Duncan.

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Alderlea make some fine wines. I agree with your description of their Pinot Noir.

However, at close to $40 a bottle - double it if you're in a restaurant - I won't be buying their product with any frequency (when I can choose from a world of great wines for half the price).

Memo - dreaming of the day the BCL will bring in a $12.00 Bierzo

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The regular 2003 Pinot was released from the winery for $22 and the Reserve 2003 Pinot was $35. Worth the price, IMHO, when you start looking at what Pinot Noirs cost from Oregon, New Zealand and Burgundy. The regular Alderlea Pinot is an excellent buy.

[stovetop]

“If one is looking for inexpensive wines to drink daily (let's say under $17) then it is probably best to look at imports from Spain, Argentina, Chile etc.”

James two good points---I have gone for Spain-Chili- Argentina for many years (home and the restaurant menu) and usually over Australian; I guess I am burnt out on that country and their Cab Sav – Shiraz and Blends. I still enjoy and find the price point of those wines and the quality is still there. If you catch a find early enough and the gov has not increased the price; you generally have a wine that you can make money on and the customer is happy- it is a win win situation. This is a bad habit of the liquor board, just when a wine finds it time and market they have to go and jack up the price and ruin it for us. You can from my experience find nice price wines that taste good. I believe you can create a very good menu from digging around the liquor store for new wines from those regions and get a solid menu for a average restaurant with 10 bucks cost and a selling price of 30.

“I will admit that the greenness can be found in immature vines, poor vineyard management decisions, and or, overall lack of ripe fruit but usually we get the opportunity to taste these wines before we buy them (i.e. trade tasting etc). I also feel that some of our B.C. wineries should focus more on a handful of wines and stop trying to make so many different selections. Determine what works best in the vineyard and focus on that varietals.”

As for the other point I have been wondering about this for a while and was thinking it was just me; why the hell not focuses on wines that would do well in certain terroir. It really does make the wineries scramble to buy grapes from somewhere else rather then just focus on grapes that do best on the land they have. Alderlea and many of the Cowichan valley wines seem to really have done their homework and are being very prudent and not going out and getting grapes from other regions. They pay for in terms of volume and price but I believe that is a good trade off to get the wines they have been getting. I would bet the farm on what they are doing and believe these wineries are going in the right direction. It really is true terroir because they are not introducing a foreign grape. It is grown and made right there. That is the true difference in a high volume and intensive farming. Lower price point but you will never get the charm and quality characteristics of a winery that only use their own grapes and would forgo a season so they would not have to compromise that effort. That is what good wine making is all about and hats off to them. That to me is what terroir is all about realy understanding what type of grape you are best at and putting out a top wine.

[mkjr]

What can you get from California for under $40 that has any kind of pedigree.

....

Lately, Golden Mile (Merlot, Pinot), Herder (Twin Bench Chard, Pinot Gris), Laughing Stock (meritage), Inniskillin (discovery series), Black Hills, Burrowing Owl (Cab Sauv), Blue Mountain Stripe wines and bubbles are all exceptional wines, well made and well justified in price.....

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I will have to check my mailer prices but I recall my Kosta Browne Pinots last Feb. were $38 bucks each a bottle for the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast (took a little while to get to Canada tax free), my 2004 Roar Pisoni was around $40 or so and so too were my Radio Coteau single vineyard Pinots. I also think that my Loring single vineyard Pinot's were around the $40 buck mark also (FYI, they make there way to Canada for around $60 retail but not in BC). There are a few other mailers that I know my prices were around the $40 buck mark for many Pinot's. All dollars above in US$ but at the current f/x rate they are only slightly higher (if you can take your time to get them back tax free that is also 2 or 3 at a time). Forgot to note that there would be a little extra for shipping on these...

That said, perhaps a more accurate question is what can you get from California at the BCLDB that has any kind of pedigree. Given the mark ups in BC, I suspect these wines would be closer to $70, in which case you are 100% correct. Although the recent surge in the CDN dollar means that this may change a great deal, but only if they BCLDB passes on the f/x savings to its consumers. Prices for Cali wines have dropped in Ontario.

If they have some Landmark wines in BC around I would take them in a second (the board has had them in the past and I know Marquis gets them but not sure if there are any still). In Ontario the Landmark chardonnay and single vineyard pinot's come in just under $40 (and I would drink those over any chard and pinot from either BC or Ontario any day of the week). Sorry but they are just more my style.

I have had the Blue Mountain stripes, chard and pinot (and will try a bunch of last years releases when I get to my parents for the holiday's as they get lots of BM) and I must say the chard is probably the best they make (a close second is the Pinot Gris). They are also good - very good wines. Not had any of the others you have listed. However, given my preferences for the types of Pinot's I am drinking these days, I find the Blue Mountain Pinots pretty thin and contain the characteristics that this whole thread is about. I do drink some green wines here in Ontario but I just do not like them much and life is too short to wait for wineries to make wines in a style I prefer. I had the 1999 Blue Mountain stripe a month or so ago and I would have a little concern about its ability to age (although I was not sure if 99 was a great year or not and I am sure many of you may know better) but it was over the hill IMO. I will, in the next few weeks, endevour to try some older (1995 and 1996) Quail's Gate Family Reserve Pinot's that I have had earlier in their lives that were good to very good and see how they are doing now. I drank the initial ones a few years back so my memory would be too write to write about.

Edit to add note about shipping costs.

Edited December 4, 2006 by mkjr (log)

[James Kendal]

You would think that the prices have come down considering the exchange rate but I have yet to see it really happen here.

[mkjr]

You would think that the prices have come down considering the exchange rate but I have yet to see it really happen here.

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Too bad. Kind of like book prices I guess.

[Memo]

...I've come to the conclusion that green-grass is part of the BC (red) terroir.

And just what kind of grass are you talking about....LOL

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I've fortunately weaned myself off the Saltspring Vineyards wines long ago. All that hemp culture on the island really permeates the vines.

I have no tolerance for the regional/seasonal hippy-shack, green-grass taste.

I prefer tobacco any day.

Memo - when vacationing in Cuba, my bottom line is a tan mark

Edited December 5, 2006 by Memo (log)

[appreciator]

...I've come to the conclusion that green-grass is part of the BC (red) terroir.

And just what kind of grass are you talking about....LOL

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I've fortunately weaned myself off the Saltspring Vineyards wines long ago. All that hemp culture on the island really permeates the vines.

I have no tolerance for the regional/seasonal hippy-shack, green-grass taste.

I prefer tobacco any day.

Memo - when vacationing in Cuba, my bottom line is a tan mark

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Garry Oaks Vineyard has a blurb about Salt Spring's terroir here.

Strangely enough, no mention of hemp.

Edited December 5, 2006 by appreciator (log)