quicksearch
A Taste of Black Rock Resort has come and gone and so, too, have nearly 100 lucky Vancouver Sun subscribers who joined us in Ucluelet last weekend to taste wine, dine, hike and enjoy the fabulous West Coast lifestyle.
After spending three days with so many interested wine drinkers, it's clear to me there's more than a wine revolution going on in Vancouver. We are finally building that elusive culture of wine where the producer, the server and the customer are all starting to move in a similar direction.
A wide range of ages displayed a similar thirst for knowledge and insight into the business of wine, but perhaps more significantly, what they really crave - attention wineries, distributors, fellow writers and bloggers - is simple, useful information that empowers them to be smarter, savvier consumers. Not the demystifying, dumbed down, so-called anti-snobbism dreck that plagues the Internet.
Most revealing is the frustration consumers suffer when trying to locate any wine they have read or heard good things about. I would agree that situation is less than ideal, and I have 25 years' worth of knowledge about who sells what and where it's likely to be sold. The average wine buyer gets very little help for what should be a slam-dunk online search.
Vancouver Sun readers couldn't have shouted it out any clearer to me last weekend: "Where can I find the wine that you recommend in your Saturday column?" Clearly they crave an easier method of finding wine, wherever it is sold in B.C. As successful as wine has become, most distributors/ agents, retailers and wineries do a dreadful job of telling you where you can purchase their wine. I know this because I spend half my days tracking down the price and availability of most wines sold in B.C. and the rest of my day trying to locate a bottle shot or a picture of the label.
The BCLDB, which grosses about 2.8 billion dollars a year in sales, has a snappy-looking website with a large search engine, but the data are incomplete, the vintages are out of date and frankly you need to be a master of wine to navigate a system that doesn't respect the names of producers and the appellations of their wines. I'm not even going to ask why we cannot order wine online direct from the government.
Private wine stores are beginning to improve their sites, but I'm guessing 95 per cent of private wine stores do not allow any public access to their inventories. B.C. wineries are finally getting a better online presence but pricing and vintage information is often too vague.
I'm not sure what can be done, but a quick companywide meeting and maybe a weeklong in-house blitz to double check prices, vintages, spelling of names, appellations and availability would improve the information available in print and online, and that goes for all those restaurant wine lists.
Now to some of the wines that impressed us last weekend.
The Jacob's Creek Chardonnay Pinot Noir Brut Cuvée N/V is new to the market but a fun addition for those of you who want a dry but fruity sparkler without that aggressive acidity in the finish. The grape mix is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the nose a citrus affair with soft red fruit flavours, a touch of yeast and crushed hazelnuts.
The delicious Averill Creek Vineyard Pinot Grigio 2009 from Vancouver Island wowed the pre-dinner crowd on Saturday night and it was a perfect foil to a mini cup of chanterelle risotto appetizer. Razorthin but with stone fruit, lemon oil and honey aromas and flavours that give it enough weight to carry its juicy, melon mineral finish.
The Emiliana Novas Winemaker's Selection Syrah 2006 surprises with its warmth given the cool nature of the Casablanca Valley. Look for smoky, meaty Rhone notes over cool, spicy, plummy fruit. The palate is a mix of red fruits with coffee, chocolate and savoury berries. A seriously delicious organic red.
Benziger Merlot 2007 sports signature Sonoma textures: supple, soft tannins. Certified sustainable, its rich black fruit and pepper aromas and flavours with a dash of milk chocolate are hard not to like. Beef tenderloin is recommended by the winery and we concur.
La Domelière Rasteau Côtes du Rhône Villages 2009 hails from an excellent vintage. The blended red is a 70/20/10 blend of Grenache, Syrah and mourvèdre. Expect an attractive, sweet smoky nose with bits of red fruit spice. The entry is fragrant with black cherry, plum, licorice root, savoury, meaty, peppery kirsch flavours. Try with lamb or chicken grilled on rosemary or keep for a year or two to soften.
Finally, as the cool weather arrives reach for the Dow's Old Tawny Port Aged 10 Years. It is a blend of wines that have spent a minimum average of 10 years in oak casks. During the process, the deep purple colour of youthful port wanes to a more subtle orange/ brown/tawny colour, hence its name. Nuts and exotic spice mix with toffee, nutmeg and orange peel, lending this delicious port style its enormous curbside appeal in the glass. Sip forever by the fireside or with nutty cake desserts.
Ucluelet Picks
Jacob's Creek Chardonnay Pinot Noir Brut Cuvée N/V, Australia
Price $14
UPC 9300727839244
Score 87/100
Remarks A citrus affair with soft red fruit flavours.
Averill Creek Vineyard Pinot Grigio 2009, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Price $20
UPC 00626990087908
Score 87/100
Remarks Razor thin but with stone fruit, lemon oil and honey aromas.
Emiliana Novas Winemaker's Selection Syrah 2006, Valle de Casablanca, Chile
Price $25 private wine shops only
UPC N/A
Score 90/100
Remarks Rich, cool, spicy, plummy fruit.
Wine Benziger Merlot 2007, Sonoma County, California, United States
Price $30.00
UPC 785774000455
Score 89/100
Remarks Rich black fruit with a dash of milk chocolate.
La Domeliere Rasteau, Côtes du Rhône Villages, Rhone Valley, France
Price $22.00
UPC 664605313080
Score 89/100
Remarks Try with lamb or grilled rosemary chicken.
Dow's Old Tawny Port Aged 10 Years N/V, Douro Valley, Portugal
Price $39
UPC 5010867200067
Score 91/100
Remarks A delicious port style with enormous curb-side appeal.
