Spicy Dessert Wine

Wine of the Week - Bonus

The Flame - SILVER SAGE  -2013 - Okanagan, BC 
Winery Price- $24.99

Last week my friend Wayne brought me a wine to try from his favourite winery in the Okanagan, Silver Sage. This is no ordinary wine; the first thing that tipped my off was the large chilly pepper inside the bottle. This is a late harvest sweet dessert wine; meaning the grapes are picked later than normal so the sugars concentrate in the grapes. These are usually served chilled and is made from 100% Gewürztraminer , and I would recommend it for this hot little number. The sweetness and high acidity helps cut through the heat

I will give you the same advice Wayne gave me, "You have to have a least 3 sips"
On the nose you get ripe apricots and fuzzy peaches, with a hint of something interesting, perhaps the hot pepper spice.

On the first sip in the mouth you get the same sweet fruity flavours,  and is quite refreshing, then you swallow,

....OH GOD DAMN, too hot in the Hot Tub.

Second sip, nice, fruity, and pleasant well balanced good acidity, then you swallow, ....wait for it, WOW TOO HOT, makes me sweat.

Finally the third sip, not as much fruit since your taste buds are seared and cringing in pain, but you do get more complex spicy hot pepper flavours, ...the swallow, not so bad, I can live with this, 4th sip, 5th sip, 6th sip.....

Try it if you dare!

Syrah vs. Shiraz

Wine of the Week

Syrah or Shiraz - What's the difference?

This week I am going to bring some clarity into the difference between Syrah and Shiraz. As I would say "Same shit, different pile", but this isn't shit it is one of the great noble grapes, so up Shiraz!

Syrah/Shiraz are the same grape with different regional spelling. Syrah is originally from France, and has been grown in the Rhone Valley there ever since Roman times. Shiraz is actually just Syrah pronounced with a thick Aussie accent.....()  It has small black berries with dark coloured skins. Syrah does not fully ripen in cool climates, but varies greatly depending on where it is planted. There are a few decent versions coming out of the Okanagan now too.

Winemakers outside of France and Australia will use either spelling with no any real standards. Most of the time it's Syrah, but sometimes if they are making an Aussie style wine, they will label it Shiraz.

Classic French Syrahs are big, age worthy classic wines usually with a some spice and a hint of herbaceousness. The best are from the northern Rhone, but they won't say Syrah on the bottle. They will be labeled with the appellation; the best being Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage,  but these are expensive. Try to get your hands on a Crozes-Hermitage a much larger appellation that is more accessible. These will have black pepper spice, some dark fruit, clove, leather, perhaps earthy notes, and chocolate.

The best Aussie Shiraz comes from their hot climate wine region's, Barossa Valley, Hunter Valley, and McLaren Vale. These are big and powerful wines, fuller bodied with riper fruit than the France; with notes of blueberry, eucalyptus, sweet spices, and dark chocolate . With more noticeable oak notes like vanilla, smoke and coconut.

A great Barossa Shiraz that I enjoy is TSCHARKE Barossa Gold 2011-
      -  $19.99 BC Liquor



Thanks for reading, Enjoy!

Wine of the Week

Bairrada Frei Joao Reserva -2001 Caves Sao Joao - Beiras, Portugal
BC Liquor - $24.99
Kits Wine Cellar - $29.99
My Vivino Score: 4 star

This week I bring you one of the best values I have found for a 14yr old wine! If you want to see if you like older wines, because they tend to be too expensive and offer a different flavour spectrum. Not all people are into the dusty cigar box, figs, leathery, tar, and what not that some old wines can taste like. Give this a try, good value, plus the label's made of cork, and it has a hand drawn number on it! Radbad!

This wine hails from the Bairrada wine region in Portugal. A country once known only for their fortified Port wines; Portugal has had a resurgence and now also makes some really nice big powerful wines. I have been exploring a few Portuguese wines lately and I have been pleasantly surprised with their character.

The more popular regions of Douro and Dao both offer really great value and are usually a blend of native grapes. Touriga Nacional tends to be the main grape and also one of my favorites. This grape can offer some of the biggest chewiest tannins out there, and is rarely found outside of Portugal. The wines from Bairrada are mostly made from the Baga grape; which has really high acidity and tannins that can make it harsh and tough. Traditionally this grape needed 20yrs cellaring to soften it, but modern wine making techniques have helped them get it out to us quicker.

If you really feel like splurging and exploring older wines, I saw Kits Wine Cellar has the 1995 and 1989 vintages of this same wine. I would be more than happy to help you drink them, and tell you how great they are, and how great you are for buying the wines and how great it is you're sharing them with me. I have shared, gifted, and drank this wine; plus today I guiltily bought another bottle to go into the cellar (wine fridge) to age for a few more years. So go get it now, before I end up buying them all :)

  
Tasting Note:

This wine gave me; ripe black cherry, raisins, fig, some baking spice, vanilla oak notes,
and maybe a hint of liquorice. A rustic but vibrant wine with lots of little nuances gripping your tongue as they dance by. Improves with an 1hr+ decanting, and would go well with food.


Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Wine of the Week

Q - Pinot Noir - 2009 - QUINTAY. -Casablanca Valley, Chile
Everything Wine - $21.99 - ON SALE ($29.99)
My Vivino Score: 4 star

This week I bring you a cool climate Pinot Noir from the Casablanca Valley in Chile. This was a nice wine that was showing a little more garnet in colour as it has aged a bit. It doesn't seem like 2009 was 6yrs ago, but this Decanter World Wine Award Bronze winner from 2011 is ready for drinking now, and by now I mean last Saturday. It is probably on sale to make way for the next vintage coming in, but it still has some wonderful health benefits and life in it.

The back of the bottle mentions that "This fruit driven, aromatically intense Pinot Noir was aged for 8 months in French oak and bottled unfiltered." Inside the bottle it mentions things more like mmmm, delicious, oooh, as your savour the lingering finish. Don't let the screw top fool you this is good vino! I would buy this wine again.

Since I am ramping up to start my next wine course in just over a week. I thought I would share with you my detailed wine notes that I made for this wine. This is what I systematically have to go over for every wine in class, and what I try to do in my head with every wine I taste. My next course will add more categories and more detail on top of these points.

I decanted the wine for 1 hour before tasting.

Appearance: (judged over top of white paper)
Clarity - Clear
Intensity - Medium
Colour - Garnet

Nose:
Condition - Clean
Intensity - Medium
Aromas - Ripe strawberry, red cherry, plum, some mint, new leather, and toasted caramel.

Palate:
Sweetness - Dry
Acidity - High
Tannin - Medium
Body - Medium minus
Flavor - Ripe strawberry, red fruits, over baked caramel, some spice, clove, bit of minerality.
Finish - Medium plus

Conclusions:
Quality  - Good to Very Good


Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!

 

Wine of the Week

Reserva Tannat 2013 - Finca Las Moras. -San Juan Argentina
BC Liquor Store - $12.99 - ON SALE ($14.99)
My Vivino Score: 4 star (for good value)


This week I bring you a Tannat from Argentina. Tannat is a grape originally from France, but can thrive and can fully ripen in Argentina. It is also the national grape in Uruguay, where it is called Harriague. It definitely got it's french name from it's hard stringent tannins. If you like big reds and are looking for something new to try; this grape may do the trick. It is usually aged in oak to try and soften it's distinct hardness, and those mouth biting tannins.

This one had nice hints of cherries, some spice, and a hint of tar. There's also some nice black currant notes, and a hint of some eucalyptus. The tannins are well integrated for a Tannat, and I would call this pretty good value. If you were going to pair it with food; try it with some roasted meats, or have it with something that has a BBQ sauce.  Enjoy!