Confessions of a Huge Wine-R

Hope everyone is staying safe and preparing to get back to whatever our “new normal” is going to be in the wake of this pandemic. Lots of BC wineries are open now and lots more opening up in the near future, so if you are so inclined, get out there and support them. At a socially responsible distance of course!

Let’s get right to the reviews, starting with some Okanagan wine:

Some stuff from Australia and Chile:

And down the coast, we visit Oregon and California:

And, leaving the best for last, this is what all Zinfandel should taste like. This is the second consecutive vintage of this wine to achieve this high score. Hopefully once the borders open I will be able to get some more of this!

That’s it for today, and I am caught up on old reviews.

Next up: This Wednesday, I will be visiting a local winery for a tasting, and you can expect a full report on that later this week! Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Finally have time to catch up on reviews of some really good stuff we have been enjoying over the past several weeks/months. Starting with BC, let’s get right to it!

 

Here is an example of what a huge difference a vintage can make. This is a wine that usually shows beautifully year after year, but quite a difference in these two vintages for my palate!

And, a few beauties from other parts of the wine world. Try to find this one from Argentina if you can!

That’s it for now! Next up, lots more random stuff, as I am going to catch up on all my reviews in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will know that it’s a bit of a challenge to attend wine tastings these days. OK, it’s impossible.

So if you can’t go to a wine tasting, why not bring the tasting to you? That’s what Black Hills Estate Winery in Oliver is doing. You pick the wine (there are three packs available: Red, White, Mixed), and they ship it to you and spend an hour on Zoom with you, tasting through the wines. You’ll get led by a knowledgable wine evangelist, and you can bring as many friends as you like (they do not necessarily have to have purchased the pack – the winery requires only 2 packs purchased per session).

A couple weeks ago, we participate in the red wine session, and last night we participated in the white wine session. You can see the various offerings at this link.

We have been club members for years, but this would be the first time we had tasted these specific wines, with the exception of the Nota Bene and the Syrah, which we tasted at last year’s Nota Bene release party. I didn’t review them that evening, but I recall thinking how good the Syrah was, and how big and intense the Nota Bene was. My opinions have not changed.

The other red wine in the pack is the 2018 Carmenere. I am not reviewing that at this time, because I just didn’t like it very much. This is a wine that I usually absolutely love, but this one falls flat, for now. I have this wine in my cellar and I will report on it the next time we open one. I have no doubt it will improve with time; in fact, the bottle that we opened during this tasting did get better when we went back to it the next day, so there is lots of optimism. If you have these, I would definitely let them age for a while.

On to the report!

As for last night’s whites, we opened (and started enjoying) the Alibi about 5 hours before the tasting, and the Viognier about 3 hours before the tasting. Both improved significantly by the time we got the virtual tasting started. The Chardonnay was opened a half hour before the tasting but not poured until it was time to drink it during the event.

The winery is making plans to open with limited spaces available, in early June. You will need to make an appointment (or get very lucky if you just drop in), particularly early in the re-opening process, so if you are going to be in the area, give them a call and book your spot.

As a bonus review, when pulling the 2018 Viognier out of our wine fridge, I noticed that we had a couple bottles of the 2017 in there, so today we cracked that one open to see the difference…..and it’s a completely different wine.

That’s it for today! Coming up, a bunch of random stuff we have been enjoying over the past few weeks/months.

As of right now, I have tasted through all the rosé that I have had delivered during this pandemic (and some that were here before that). Here is part two of the report.

Still a few 2019’s to come….have not yet heard release information for a couple perennial favorites, Black Hills and Culmina. I’ve been told that Black Hills new vintage is going to be COMPLETELY different than what they have done in the past. No more Pinot Noir rosé, it has been replaced with a Provence-style rosé featuring Rhône varietals. Exciting!

OK, on to today’s report. There are some beauties in here!

Up next: Got lots of great stuff to report on, so stay tuned!

I am not the most patient person on the planet. In fact, I am probably closer to the other end of the spectrum. I want what I want, and I want it right freaking now. It has always been that way, and I can’t imagine it will change at this point in my life.

So, that kind of attitude really doesn’t work well in the world of fine wine. It needs to age, and since not many wineries do that for you (at least, not enough), you need to do it. That takes patience.

We have been buying wine for, I dunno, around a decade. I started up this blog in 2013, which was probably not long after we began our journey into wine, so it’s probably slightly less than a decade, in fact. But in that time, we have amassed quite a collection. The fruits of our labours, and the patience we have shown, are really starting to pay off.

(BTW did you know that studies estimate that 90% of all wine purchased in the USA is consumed WITHIN 24 HOURS??? That is awful. We have so much more work to do in educating the wine-drinking public).

Yesterday, I ventured out of the house to our offsite cellar. We had 6.5 cases of wine that needed to go in, through our various spring wine clubs and not to mention the wine we bought at the Vancouver International Wine Festival just before we ended up quarantined due to COVID-19. I don’t leave the house that often these days, but with some simple precautions, I am pretty unlikely to catch the virus dropping off and picking up wine at our cellar. It’s unlikely that I’ll run into any people there (and I didn’t), and the wine itself has been in the cellar since long before COVID-19 existed. And since I didn’t have room in our storage lockers to put 6.5 cases in, well, a bunch of “ready in 2020” wine had to come out.

Five cases, in fact, came home with me. This is where the patience is paying off. Many of these bottles have been in the cellar for many years, and looking at the vintages that are coming out….2010, 2011, 2012, 2013…..these wines will have aged beautifully. And I’m not just talking about those ‘special’ bottles either, a lot of the wines we brought home yesterday are just your everyday, easy drinking wines that might be fine to consume at their release date, but they’ll be much, much better now.

The only downside, of course, is that it’s not like I had room in our wine fridges for 5 cases of wine! Far from it. This is what the wine room looks like now.

All the wine you see in these pictures is “overstock” LOL. The fridges are jam-packed, not to mention there are 4-5 bottles of rosé and white in our actual fridge. You can probably tell that we have not been entertaining for quite a while!!

Why all this talk about patience? Well, another instance of patience paid off last night, as we cracked open our first bottle of wine from Leonetti Cellar. We have tasted a few of their wines at tastings and had a couple bottles at restaurants in Vegas, but this is the first one we had opened at home. We spent 2-3 years on the waiting list just to be able to buy wine from them, and until last night, everything had gone into the cellar (and nothing had yet come out). This particular bottle came aged already, and although it would undoubtedly got even better with more time, you gotta drink this stuff sometimes, right?

Also yesterday, we enjoyed these two beautifully aged BC Chardonnays. The 2013 came home from the cellar with me yesterday, while the 2015 is actually the current vintage, as Checkmate does a bit of the aging for you!

Incidentally, my wife, who’s palette I totally respect, thought I transposed the scores on these two wines; she enjoyed the Checkmate just a tad more.

Oh, and speaking of drinking beautifully aged wine, from time to time you might get lucky and find a winery that is pulling some very old stuff from their cellar and putting it on sale. That was the case with this bottle that we bought recently. It was so good, we had to buy a couple more.

And to finish up this report, a bunch of random stuff we have enjoyed in the past weeks, including another off-the-charts-delicious Pinot Noir from Hartford.

That’s it for today, coming up soon is part 2 of the BC rosé report, plus a ton of other random stuff to report on. I have pages and pages of reviews to prepare and submit. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Full disclosure: We are not really “drink rosé in the spring and summer” people. We tend to drink it all year round. Having said that, this is the time of year that the new ones start to hit the pavement. Below, a bunch of BC rosés that we have been enjoying so far this spring.

Consider this “part one” of the BC rosé report, as I have a lot more to taste and review.

First, a few from last year that you can still find.

And here are a few new ones:

Not a bad bottle in the bunch. I sure love a good rosé.

Up next: Got a bunch of random bottles to report on, and in the not-too-distant future, a bunch more 2019 BC rosés in part 2!

 

Hope all my readers are safe and hunkered down with a tremendous amount of wine to get you through. We are going to be in this for a while.

Dine Italia is the best event of the VIWF, every year, and the event we look forward to most. It sells out in minutes every year, and one of these times we are not going to be lucky enough to get tickets, but that hasn’t happened yet. Knock on wood.

I would be remiss in not mentioning how incredibly lucky we all were, looking back. Spending a week in close quarters with wine producers and workers from all over the wine world, including France and Italy, which as we all know, have been absolutely devastated by this virus. At Dine Italia, I sat right next to Andrea Bermond Des Ambrois, the Export manager from Gancia wines. We talked, we shook hands, and we ate our meals shoulder to shoulder. Chilling.

To the food and wine we go!

Note – in cases where the price listed is followed by a ?, it means I am not sure where you could find this wine, but the price listed was given to us by the winery itself. It is likely a suggested retail price.

RECEPTION

CORNETTO DI SALMONE

This is not totally my thing, I am not a huge fan of caviar OR smoked salmon, but it was still pretty darn tasty. It was paired with a wine we have had before, albeit I can’t remember exactly where.

PRIMO

TUNA TARTARE

For the first time in the history of this event, they served me something I couldn’t even try. I don’t like raw fish, I don’t like tuna cooked or not, I despise cucumber and I would rather eat dirt than watermelon. Not exactly a “Dean” dish. No biggie, it was bound to happen. Others enjoyed it.

SECONDO

GARGANELLI AL FUNGHI

It’s not unusual to have a pasta dish with mushrooms, but this is probably the first time I’ve had a mushroom dish with pasta. The mushrooms were the star here, and while mushrooms are not my favorite thing in the world, they can be delightful when done right. THIS was done right.

TERZO

INVOLTINI DI VITELLO

Aged milk fed veal, aged parmigiana reggiano, spinach, balsamic Cipollini, Jerusalem artichoke chips, Valpolicella jus

OH. MY. GOD. This was, probably, the best thing I have ever had here. It was unanimous amongst our group, this was just superb. The flavors melded perfectly, and it was paired beautifully with two excellent wines.

QUARTO

FILETTO ETRUSCA

Another really special dish, paired with two fabulous wines.

QUINTO

FORMAGGIO E DOLCE

Taleggio, Vermeer, Aged Asiago, Cranberry raisin crisp, fresh fruit, candied nuts, essence honey & Vanilla bean custard, fresh strawberry compote, strawberry – chocolate tuilé

A perfect way to finish off a fantastic meal. Two wine pairings with this as well, one of which was a lot more successful than the other.

Well, that’s it for today and this officially closes off the 2020 Vancouver International Wine Festival for me. Here’s hoping that the friends we have made at this event year after year are all OK, and that our lives get back to normal before next year’s festival, which is being hosted by South America! Very much looking forward to it.

Next up: Tons of random stuff to report on, and I am starting to taste through the new BC rosés that I have received so far, and will do a special entry featuring a bunch of those. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!

You’ve heard of “Love in the time of Cholera”? Welcome to “Wine in the time of Covid-19”. Man it feels weird to write a blog post about wine, or anything else, in these uncertain times, but let’s do it anyway.

My wife and I are virtually quarantined; she has autoimmune issues, so she hasn’t been out of the house in over a week, except to take the dog out to do her business. I have only been out twice, to pick up some groceries and run a couple of essential errands. She works from home all the time anyway, and I am lucky enough to have a job where I can do the same for the duration of this pandemic. We know that we are incredibly fortunate, so many people have no ability to work from home, so they either have to stay away from work and lose the income, or take their chances in the face of a pandemic. Neither choice seems very good to me.

Anyway, on to more pleasant topics, the rest of the world that we sampled at the recent Vancouver International Wine Festival. If you read my two entries on the host region of France, you will know that we really focused on France this year, getting to all but (I think) 4 tables. The downside to that, of course, is that we got to a lot fewer tables of all the other countries.

Table 44 – Domaine Bousquet

Domaine Bousquet 2018 Virgen Organic Red – 86
Domaine Bousquet 2017 Reserve Organic Pinot Noir – 89
Domaine Bousquet 2016 Grande Reserve Malbec Organic – 87

Table 45 – Bodega Catena Zapata

Zapata 2017 Malbec – 88
Zapata 2016 Alta Malbec – 90
Zapata 2017 Alta Chardonnay – 88
Zapata 2017 Malbec Argentino – 91

Table 46 – Bodega Colomé

Bodega Colomé 2017 Atentico Malbec – 90
Bodega Colomé 2018 Amalaya Malbec – 88
Bodega Colomé 2018 Amalaya Torrontes-Riesling – 84
Bodega Colomé 2017 Colomé Estate Malbec – 90
Bodega Colomé 2017 Amalaya Gran Corte – 89
Bodega Colomé 2018 Rosé – 87

Table 47 – Pascual Toso

We bought everything we tasted here, except for the trade-only wine which wasn’t available…and we certainly would have bought that too if it had been!

Pascual Toso 2016 Magdalena Toso – 93+

Table 49 – Angove Family Winemakers

Angove Family Winemakers 2018 GSM – 92
Angove Family Winemakers 2018 Family Crest Chardonnay – 88
Angove Family Winemakers 2018 Organic Cabernet Sauvignon – 85
Angove Family Winemakers 2017 Warboys Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Grenache – 90

Table 51 – Jacob’s Creek

Jacob’s Creek 2016 St. Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon – 91
Jacob’s Creek 2018 Steingarten Riesling – 87
Jacob’s Creek 2019 Tea & Wine Chardonnay – 82
Jacob’s Creek 2018 Double Barrel Chardonnay – 88
Jacob’s Creek 2017 Double Barrel Shiraz – 89

Table 52 – Majella Wines

We had the distinct pleasure of speaking at length with owner Brian Lynn, a delightful gentleman who enchanted us with tales about various winery topics; in particular, the story of how this particular wine came about:

Majella Wines 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon – 90
Majella Wines 2014 GPL68 Cabernet Sauvignon – 93+

Table 53 – Nugan Estate

Nugan Estate 2015 Manuka Durif – 92
Nugan Estate 2016 Alcira Cabernet Sauvignon – 92
Nugan Estate 2017 King Valley Fresca’s Chardonnay – 92

Table 54 – Tyrrell’s Wines

Tyrrell’s 2018 Hunter Valley Chardonnay – 90+
Tyrrell’s 2017 Vat 8 Shiraz Cab – 93

Table 55 – Yalumba

Yalumba 2018 Eden Valley Viognier – 90
Yalumba 2017 Barossa Shiraz – 88
Yalumba 2017 Barossa Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon – 90
Yalumba 2017 Barossa Grenach Shiraz Mataro – 88
Yalumba 2018 Bush Vine Grenache – 91

Table 77 – Moraine Estate Winery

Moraine Estate Winery 2018 Reserve Riesling – 92
Moraine Estate Winery 2018 Reseve Pinot Noir – 92

Table 78 – One Faith Vineyards

One Faith Vineyards 2018 Rosé – 88
One Faith Vineyards 2018 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – 89
One Faith Vineyards 2017 Certitude – 89
One Faith Vineyards 2013 Grand Vin – 93+

Table 89 – Viña Carmen

Viña Carmen 2019 DO Matorral Chileno – 85
Viña Carmen 2017 Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon – 89

Table 90 – Viña Santa Ema

Viña Santa Ema 2017 Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon – 89
Viña Santa Ema 2017 Gran Reserva Merlot – 88
Viña Santa Ema 2019 Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc – 87

Table 91 – Viña Undurraga

Vina Undurraga 2017 T.H. Sauvignon Blanc – 87
Vina Undurraga 2017 Sibaris Gran Riserva Pinot Noir – 88
Vina Undurraga 2017 Sibaris Gran Riserva Carmenere – 88

Table 93 – Franc Arman Winery

Franc Arman 2015 Istria Teran – 88
Franc Arman 2012 Istria Teran Barrique – 90
Franc Arman 2018 Rosé – 87

Table 96 – Felsengartenkellerei 

Felsengartenkellerei  2017 Acolon Terra S – 86
Felsengartenkellerei  2018 Justines Kerner Fels Edition – 88
Felsengartenkellerei  2018 Riesling Terra S – 86

Table 99 – Weingut Nik Weis – St. Urbans-HOF

St. Urbans-HOF 2018 Urban Riesling – 89
St. Urbans-HOF 2018 Bockstein Kabinett Riesling – 92

Table 101 – Basilisco

Basilisco 2015 Teodosio Aglianico del Vulture – 91

Table 106 – Gancia

Gancia NV Prosecco DOC Brut – 89

Table 107 – Cantine Giacomo Montresor

Cantine Giacomo Montresor 2018 Soave le Fattorie – 90

Table 108 – Casale del Giglio

Casale del Giglio 2018 Bellone Bianco Lazio IGT – 88
Casale del Giglio 2017 Cesanese Rosso Lazio IGT – 89
Casale del Giglio 2013 Mater Matuta Rossa Lazio IGT – 91

Table 110 – Masi Agricola

Masi 2012 Osar Ocelata – 91
Masi 2014 Brolo Compofiorin Oro – 88
Masi 2014 Toar Valpolicella – 90

Table 120 – Tiberio

Tiberio 2018 Terbbiano d’Abruzzo – 88
Tiberio 2018 Pecorino – 87
Tiberio 2018 Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo – 87
Tiberio 2017 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – 90

Portugal

Table 130 – Fonseca

Foncesa NV Bin 27 Reserve Port – 88
Fonseca NV Terra Prima Organic Port – 88
Fonseca 10 Year Old Tawny Port – 92
Fonseca 2017 Vintage Port – 93

Table 131 – Quinta Da Foz

Quinta Da Foz 2014 Douro Tinto – 90
Quinta Da Foz 2018 Vinha da Foz Douro Branco – 88
Quinta Da Foz 2015 Douro Tinto – 87
Quinta Da Foz 2015 Grande Reserva Vinhas Velhas Tinto – 93

Table 132 – Lavradores de Feitoria

Labradores de Feitoria 2016 Três Bagos Douro Reserva Red – 91
Labradores de Feitoria 2016 8 Bagos White – 86
Labrodores de Feitoria 2016 8 Bagos Red – 87

Table 133 – Herdade Das Servas

Herdade Das Servas 2017 Monte das Servas Escolha Rosé – 88
Herdade Das Servas 2017 Monte das Servas Escolha Red – 87
Herdade Das Servas 2015 Unoaked Red – 87
Herdade Das Servas 2013 Reserva Red – 90

Table 134 – Vincente Faria Wines

Vincente Faria 2018 Animous Douro DOC – 88
Vincente Faria 2018 Gloria Alvarinho – 89
Vincente Faria 2018 Animus Rosé – 87
Vincente Faria 2015 Vincente Douro DOC – 90

Table 142 – Marqués de Riscal

Marqués de Riscal 2018 Tempranillo – 87
Marqués de Riscal 2015 Reserva – 92

Table 146 – Bodega Garzón

Bodega Garzón – 2019 Estate Pinot Noir Rosé – 88
Bodega Garzón – 2019 Reserva Albariño – 88
Bodega Garzón – 2018 Estate Cabernet Franc Tannat – 90

Table 148 – Duckhorn

Decoy 2018 Rosé – 88
Calera Winery 2017 Central Coast Pinot Noir – 89
Duckhorn Vineyards 2016 Merlot – 90+
Greenwing 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – 90

Table 154 – La Crema

La Crema – 2018 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay – 88
La Crema – 2018 Monterey Rosé – 86
La Crema – 2018 Monterey Pinot Noir – 89

Table 156 – Michael David Winery

Michael David Winery 2017 Petite Petit – 91
Michael David Winery 2015 Freakshow Cabernet Sauvignon – 88
Michael David Winery 2017 Earthquake Petite Sirah – 92
Michael David Winery 2016 Lust Zinfandel – 90

Table 159 – Robert Mondavi Winery

Robert Mondavi – 2016 Reserve Chardonnay Carneros – 90
Robert Mondavi – 2018 Winery Fumé Blanc – 90
Robert Mondavi – 2017 Pinot Noir Carneros – 90
Robert Mondavi – 2015 Maestro – 92

Table 161 – Signorello Estate

Signorello Estate – 2017 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon – 92+

Table 162 – Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Ste. Michelle 2017 Intrinsic Cabernet Sauvignon – 90
Ste. Michelle 2017 Intrinsic Red Blend – 90
Chateau Ste. Michelle 2018 Columbia Valley Rosé – 89

Well folks, that is it for the tasting room at the 2020 VIWF. One last report from that event, the best event of the festival every single year, Dine Italia!

 

OK let’s get right to it, the rest of the host country of France.

TABLE 23 – Jean-Luc Columbo

Les Abeilles 2017 Côtes du Rhone Blanc – 87
Les Abeilles 2017 Côtes du Rhone Rouge – 88
Terres Brulées 2016 Cornas – 87
Les Bartavelles 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape – 90

TABLE 24 – Maison Joseph Drouhin

Joseph Drouhin 2018 Mâcon-Villages – 89
Joseph Drouhin 2018 Chablis Reserve de Vaudon – 89
Joseph Drouhin 2018 Morgon – 92

TABLE 27 – Maison Le Star Vignobles & Châteaux 

Maison Le Star 2018 Entre Parenthèses Rosé – 84
Château Cazeau 2016 1560 Bordeaux Rouge – 87
Château Ad Francos 2018 Bordeaux Blanc – 88
Château Picon 2016 La Reserve Bordeaux Supérieur – 90

TABLE 28 – Louis Bernard

Louis Bernard 2016 Côte-Rôtie – 90
Louis Bernard 2018 Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Louis Rosé – 87
Louis Bernard 2016 Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Louis Rouge – 88
Louis Bernard 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape – 90

TABLE 29 – Louis Jadot

Louis Jadot 2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir – 87
Louis Jadot 2018 Bourgogne Chardonnay – 87
Louis Jadot 2018 Beaujolais Villages – 89
Louis Jadot 2016 Clos des Ursules 1er Cru – 90

TABLE 30 – Maison Louis Latour

Louis Latour  2018 Mâcon-Lugny – 90
Louis Latour 2018 Les Pierres Dories – 89

TABLE 31 – Domaine Michel Gassier/Les Halos de Jupiter

Domaine Michael Gassier 2018 Rosé – 87
Les Halos de Jupiter 2017 Côtes du Rhône – 90

TABLE 32 – Château Minuty

Château Minuty 2018 M de Minuty – 88
Château Minuty 2018 Prestige Rosé – 89

 

TABLE 35 Paul Jaboulet Ainé

Paul Jaboulet 2018 Côtes du Rhône Paralleil 45 Blanc – 89
Paul Jaboulet 2018 Côtes du Rhône Paralleil 45 Rosé – 87
Paul Jaboulet 2018 Côtes du Rhône Plan de Dieu – 87
Paul Jaboulet 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape – 89

TABLE 36 – Domaines Paul Mas

Paul Mas 2018 Chai Mas Blanc – 87
Paul Mas 2018 Clos des Mûres – 89

TABLE 37 Château Pesquié

*I reviewed most of these wines at the Ventoux Feast earlier.

TABLE 39 Saget La Perrière

Saget La Perrière 2015 Late Harvest Chenin Blanc – 89
Saget Le Perrière 2017 M de Mulonniere Anjoy Chenin Blanc – 88
Saget Le Perrière 2018 Terres Blanches Poully-Fumé – 90
Saget Le Perrière 2017 Terres Blanches Sancerre – 89

TABLE 40 – Maison Sichel

Château Angludet 2016 Margaux – 94+
Château Trillol 2014 Cucugnan Corbieres – 90
Domaine de Pellehaut 2018 Harmonie de Gascogne Rosé – 88
Château Argadens 2016 Bordeaux Supérieur – 89

TABLE 41 – Champagne Taittinger

Taittinger NV Brut Reserve – 87
Taittinger NV Prestige Rosé – 85
Taittinger NV Prelude Grand Crus – 89
Taittinger 2007 Comte – 92

TABLE 42 – Turquoise Life

Turquoise Life 2018 VieVite – 88
Turquoise Life 2016 Extraordinaire – 86
Turquoise Life 2018 Juliette Rosé – 88
Turquoise Life 2018 Breezette Rosé – 88

TABLE 43 Ulysse Cazabonne 

Ulysse Cazabonne 2018 Domaine de I’ile Rosé – 91
Ulysse Cazabonne 2018 Domaine de I’le Blanc – 91
Ulysse Cazabonne 2015 Chanté Alouette – 92
Ulysse Cazabonne 2016 Château l’Eden – 90

Well, that’s it for France and that’s it for today. Up next: Two more reports from the Festival. The rest of the world, and Dine Italia!

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alrighty let’s get to it, and we will start with the host country of France. I hear they make some pretty good wine over there.

As always, I will present scores for everything I tasted and full reviews of anything we bought, and some other special stuff along the way.

As with last year, I will do this “by table”, since many of the tables have multiple labels. For prices, if it says “$XX BC Liquor Store”, you can assume it is on the BCLS website and is available in at least some BC Liquor Stores on a regular basis. If it says “$XX Festival”, then I do not believe you will find it in BC Liquor Stores. Of course, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t find it in private stores if you look hard enough.

There are 43 French wineries, and we got through just about all of ’em. In order to not put all my readers to sleep, I’ll split this blog post into two parts.

TABLE 1 AdVini

Clos de l’Oratoire 2017 Chatautneuf-du-Pape – 88
Haut Combes 2018 Faugères – 88
Domaine Laroche 2018 Chablis St. Martin – 88

TABLE 2 Vignobles Alain Brumont

Château Bouscassé 2015 Madiran – 88
Château Montus 2014 Rouge – 88
Château Montus 2002 Cuvée Prestige – 88

TABLE 3 Arthur Metz

Arthur Metz 2018 Pinot Pinot – 87
Arthur Metz NV Crémant Rosé Pinot Noir – 86
Arthur Metz NV Perle Noire – 86

TABLE 4 Aubert Vignobles

Château Saint Antoine 2016 Bordeaux Supérieur – 85
Château Sessile-Aubert 2015 Montagne Saint-Émilion – 88
Château d’Anielle Saint-Émilion Grand Cru – 88
Château La Couspaude Saint-Émilion Grand Cru – 87

TABLE 6 Borie-Manoux

Château Colbert Canet 2018 Rosé – 87
Château Begadan 2016 Médoc – 88
Château Lions De Batailley – 90+

TABLE 7 Domaine Boutinot

As of the time I am writing this, the only table where we bought everything they were offering.

 

TABLE 8 Famille JM Cazes

L’Ostal Cazes 2018 Pays D’Oc Rosé – 87
Michael Lynch 2017 AOC Bordeaux Rouge – 85
Château Ormes de Pez 2016 Sain-Estephe AOC Rouge – 86
Château Villa Bel-Air AOC Graves – 90

TABLE 9 M. Chapoutier

M. Chapoutier  2018 Côtes du Rhône Belleruche Rouge – 88
M. Chapoutier 2017 Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem – 86
M. Chapoutier 2018 Tavel Rosé – 89

TABLE 10 Crus et Domaines de France

Château Lamarque 2015 Bordeaux – 88
Vieux Château des Combes 2015 Bordeaux – 88
Château Bois Pertuis 2017 Bordeaux – 85

TABLE 11 Domaine Duseigneur

Domaine Duseigneur 2016 Côtes du Rhône La Chapelle – 87
Domaine Duseigneur 2017 Châteauneuf du Pape Rouge Catarina – 91
Domaine Duseigneur 2017 Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc Catarina – 90

 

TABLE 12 Fortant de France

Fortant 2018 Marinière Coteaux Varios en Provence Rosé – 87
Fortant 2018 Gaia Coteaux d’Aix en Provence – 87
Fortant 2018 Coastal Cabernet Sauvignon – 88
Fortant 2017 Gaia Saint-Chinian Organic – 87

TABLE 13 François Lurton

Mas Janeil 2017 San Soufre – 89

TABLE 14 François Martenot (Bourgogne)

François Martenot 2018 Aligoté – 88
François Martenot 2018 Petit Chablis – 88
François Martenot 2018 Saint Véran – 88

TABLE 15 François Martenot (Bourgogne/Beaujolais)

TABLE 16 Gabriel Meffre

Château Grand Escalion 2018 Amoureuse Rosé – 87
Laurus 2017 Beaumes de Venise – 89

TABLE 17 Les Vins Georges Duboeuf

TABLE 18 Gérard Bertrand

Gérard Bertrand 2018 Côte des Roses Rosé – 87
Gérard Bertrand 2018 Domaine de L’Aigle Chardonnay – 86
Gérard Bertrand 2017 Grand Terroir Tautavel – 88

TABLE 19 Les Grands Chais de France (Bordeaux/Provence)

Château Terrebonne 2018 Rosé – 86
Château La Grande Clotte 2016 Bordeau – 85
Chãteau de Balan 2015 Bordeaux – 85
L’Endllos Domaines Edmond De Rothschild 2015 Bordeaux – 85

TABLE 20 Les Grands Chais de France (Loire)

La Château O Sauvion Haut-Poitou 2018 Sauvignon Blanc – 86
Château de Fesles 2016 Anjou Blanc – 86
Château du Cléray 2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie – 86

TABLE 22 Hugel & Fils

Hugel & Fils 2018 Gentil – 88
Hugel & Fils 2016 Pinot Noir – 85

That’s about half of the French wineries, so we’ll stop there for now.

Next up: Obviously still have to report on the other half of the host nation, plus everything else in the world, but in a few hours we are heading out to our favorite event of the Festival every year: Dine Italia! Chances are that my next blog post will be a recap of this beautiful lunch.

Until next time!