Trapiche - Broquel

Producer: Trapiche

Name: Broquel

Vintage: 2007

Varietal: Malbec

Region: Argentina

Price: ~ $16

The first one of the night! A nice full bodied Argentinian Malbec. I don't usually like South American wines but it would be stupid to only tried wines that you knew were "safe" at a wine festival. The bouquet has a nice forward spice with oak, full plum and blackberry notes. The palate brings flavours of cocoa, spice, blackberry, oak, with a long dry finish. The winery is in Mendoza but I'm unsure if the grapes are from that area or not. Oh those crazy Argentinians...

J

PS: Did you hear that a Great White Shark was ripped in half by a BIGGER Great White Shark?! Or...

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Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival 2009

The Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival 2009 is one of the largest wine festivals in Calgary. Like a lot of festivals, it's a great opportunity to try a lot of different wines without committing to purchasing a whole bottle. And that's why I go: to taste wine... a lot of wine. The problem I have with this festival is the goddam ticket drink system. It's a wine festival, not a small town graduation party in the local community hall. Why not increase the festival entry price to cover the sample costs and get rid of the stupid drink ticket system? Who wants to mess around with drink tickets? If the smaller Wine Fest can do it—which in my opinion is much better—why couldn't the larger Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival do it?

Anyway, a lot of vendors at the festival. About five rows of exhibitors including a wine/cheese tasting seminar area that was quite interesting. The next few wines that I'll be writing about will be from the festival.

Peace ooouuut!

J

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Red Bicyclette - Syrah

Producer: Red Bicyclette
Varietal: Syrah
Vintage: 2005
Region: France
Price: ~ $13

Black cherries and a hint of spice make the bouquet of this richly burgundy French syrah. Unlike many syrah's with their forward spice this has a subtle spice wrapped in rich black cherries. Very simple and uncomplicated with a medium to light body and a quick finish. Maybe it's just me, but I found there was a slight metallic tinge. And keep in mind there is no AOC designation. On the back it says that it's grapes are gathered from the Languedoc-Roussillon but there is no Languedoc-Roussillon appellation. I wouldn't say it's a memorable wine but it is an easy drink when you're watching House.

Hey-oh!

J
Sent from my BlackBerry device.

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Deinhard - Riesling

Producer: Deinhard
Varietal: Riesling
Region: Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Germany
Vintage: 2007
Price: ~ $15

The bouquet smells largely of citrus fruits with hints of peaches and apricots. The wine is dominated by citrus and mineral flavours complimented by floral notes. A fairly light and crisp body with a silky, mid-dry finish and a slight acidic end. I wouldn't say that the wine is as balanced as it could be. I found that the acidity overpowered all of the other flavours which is too bad. Overall it was okay, but I'd probably pay a little bit more and get a really good Piesporter.

In the meantime, let's check out what the Japanese are up to.

Peace ooouuut!

J

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Dan Aykroyd - Discovery Series

Producer: Dan Aykroyd
Name: Discovery Series
Vintage: 2007
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Region: Niagra Peninsula, Canada
Price: ~ $14

Remember the Blues Brothers? Fairly famous blues band/sketch that everyone loved from the late 70s to the 80s? Yeah, this wine is nothing like that. You would expect it to be a down-and-dirty, bold but smooth wine to match the rhythmic blues of the band. But it doesn't. And if it doesn't, then there shouldn't be a stage mic on the label. Just doesn't even make sense. I get it Dan; you like blues and wine. But in your case it is not a good match (your no Greg Norman).

Along with a clear and thin appearance, the bouquet smells of spice and dark cherries and has a slight mineral or stone scent. It tasted of oak, blackberries and spice with a quick dry finish. The tannins were a little sharp and the overall body of the wine was too thin for my liking. I think that the ingredients are there to produce a pretty good wine but the 2007 vintage is not doing it for me.

Sorry Danny, maybe try Coneheads 2?

J

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There's too many!

I'm thankful for soo much wine! Happy Thanksgiving!

J
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

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(oops) - Carmenère Merlot

Producer: (oops)
Varietal: Carmenère, Merlot
Vintage: 2007
Region: Chile
Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: ~ $19

I've been waiting to taste some wine all fucking night. Nothing tonight seemed to go right. Wind is howling wildly, DVR had to be reset and it took me longer than I was expecting to caulk the new window frames.

*sigh* oh sweet sweet wine...

I have to admit, I purchased this wine based purely on the label and its design. It wasn't a hokey label whose image changed depending on the angle you're looking at it from. Nor did it have a clever cartoon animal that was deliberately made to look cute and loveable. It was simply laid out well in a "newspaper column" type arrangement with an interesting typeface. And since I am a graphic artist it caught my attention.

It has an aroma of forward black berries and—as the first time smelling this scent—leather. Leather! Go figure. I mean, I didn't know what I was smelling until I read the label and sure enough, leather. The type of leather that you'd make a very old brown book bag out of. You'd think it would be terrible like old leather shoes or mouldy old winter leather gloves but it was quite nice.

The 70% carmenère and 30% merlot had excellent balance with bold oak complimented with blackberries and a hint of spice. The full body touches your palate on all areas and finishes medium to long and not overly dry (but dry enough).

Chiggity check yourself before you wreck yourself...

J

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Deerfield - Shiraz Cuvée

Producer: Deerfield
Name: Shiraz Cuvée
Varietal: Shiraz, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Sirah
Vintage: 2004
Region: Sonoma, United States
Price: ~ $26
Alcohol: 16.1%

I'm not entirely sure why Deerfield decided create a 16.1% alcohol Shiraz Cuvée. I mean, that's pretty much Amarone alcohol from a Californian wine. This poured like thick syrup that coated the wine glass. The kind of wine that stains your lips and teeth and really makes you look like a wino. I tried to include a picture of the colour and clarity but the blackberry has a shitty camera.

The bouquet smells intensely sweet (alcohol naturally smells sweet) and hot. It's complimented by a strong toasted spice smell with a slight nutty aroma. The wine itself tastes (and feels) like molasses or brown sugar. Even though the alcohol content is high it's still fairly smooth. Toasted spice, heavy black cherries and a finish that's long and almost tacky. For how sweet it is the finish is somewhat dry.

Personally, I thought it was too sweet. I mean, it could've been balanced with a little more acidity to tone it down. I woke up with a slight headache from two glasses of this stuff. That's like eight-TEEN glasses!

C-ya!

J

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Barone Ricasoli - Brolio

Producer: Barone Ricasoli

Name: Brolio

Varietal: Sangiovese, et al

Vintage: 2006

Region: Chianti Classico, Italy

Price: ~ $28

And we start with a little news story out of Annapolis.

You would think they would've used a big red stop sign to warn kids that a sex offender lives at this house rather than a cute halloween pumpkin that easily blends into all of the other halloween decorations! Doesn't even make sense!

And now onto a fabulous little wine called Brolio. This was a gift from our good friend Danah who spent many evenings (and some afternoons) at Abruzzo, an excellent Italian restaurant here in Calgary. The bouquet smells of dark cherries with strong notes of pepper and spice. It has a complex and balanced palate with an interesting earthy spice that reveals itself with each sip (almost getting stronger and stronger). The full body finishes long and dry.

Peace ooouuut!

J

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Greg Norman - Petite Sirah

Producer: Greg Norman
Varietal: Petite Sirah
Vintage: 2006
Region: Paso Robles, United States
Price: ~ $17

What does an Australian golfer ranked 252nd in the world with a vineyard in the United States know about wine? You would think absolutely nothing but as it turns out—there is something interesting there.

The bouquet of the Greg Norman Petite Sirah (or Syrah) smells heavily of black cherries, mild spice and oak. The palate is nicely balanced with forward spice, cassis and has a long velvety dry finish. It was a very nice petite sirah that would've tasted even better with a 12 oz rib eye with peppercorn sauce. A nice rib eye would taste great right about now...

I love weekends. Back to work tomorrow though...

Okay, peace ooouuut...

J

PS: who's that creepy guy in the background?

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Beringer - Founders' Estate Merlot

Producer: Beringer

Name: Founders' Estate Merlot

Varietal: Merlot

Region: Napa Valley, United States

Vintage: 2005

Price: ~ $17

Winter is coming and I'm still dragging ass trying to hold onto summer. Gotta pick up the hammer again and finish off our renovations and work is supposed to get busier as the months progress. October? It's already October? What the hell happened to September?

Big story today in Halifax about a Bishop named Raymond Lahey who was caught with child pornography on his computer. What makes this story a little different is that previously he brokered a $15-million settlement for victims of sexual abuse by priests of the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia. As I was following this today the comments on the CBC website were just pouring in by the second. One of the reasons why I absolutely appreciate the internet: although I may not agree with some of the comments, we're all given a platform or forum in which to be heard.

What does this have to do with wine? Absolutely nothing.

I'm a follower of Wine Access Magazine's twitter updates and one of their daily wines was the Beringer 2006. Unfortunately for me the wine store near my place didn't carry that vintage so I had to settle for the 2005. The bouquet smells of ripe plums, blackberries and a touch of black cherries. On the palate it was a full bodied merlot with warm spice flavours. It was complex enough for me to try and identify the various spice and berry notes and finished long and dry. Balanced and velvety. My only thing would be to let it breathe for a bit before drinking.

You know, after all the previous pedophile talk, here's a video to lighten things up (pun intended). Play it over and over again. Put it on a loop if you have to.

J

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