Passion Equals Excellence

When I enquire as to how the photo came about, inevitably the story goes something like: "Mondavi was in the region 30 years ago and convinced me I should pursue my dream, build a winery and start making wine."

For decades I marvelled at how Robert Mondavi could have been so right about so many wineries in so many regions.

Recently the penny dropped, as they say, and it was all revealed. It turns out each one of the successful owners or winemakers is a driven, passionate person. Mondavi may not have known what the future held but he was sure that passionate people always make the best wine.

This week, three extremely passionate people were in Vancouver to showcase their latest wines -- two from France and one from Spain.

Miguel Torres Jr. is one of the most impressive next-generation winery types in the business.

At 33, he and his 38 year-old sister Mireya are slowly taking over the reins at Torres, running what has to be considered the premium large winery in all of the Iberian Peninsula.

Torres Jr. has pushed his father to spread the company vineyards out from its origins around Vilafranca, Penedès, to some of Spain's other well-known regions.

The result is several terrific new labels, including Celeste (Ribera del Duero) and Salmos (Priorato).

The pair blend effortlessly into the original Penedès lineup featuring, among others, Torres Coronas, Mas La Plana and Vina Esmeralda.

The latter Torres Vina Esmeralda 2006 is perhaps the best Esmeralda since it was first released in 1961. The Upper Penedès blend is a delicious mix of 85/15 moscatel/gewürztraminer.

Now under screw cap, it has an even brighter level of minerality with intense floral, lemon oil and spicy, nectarine skin aromas. It's a bright, zesty wine with lychee, green apple, lemon lime notes. The styling is delicate, yet suited perfectly to calamari or mussels or curried chicken.

The Torres Celeste 2004 from Ribera del Duero is a slightly bigger red than we normally see from Torres in either Priorat or Penedès.

Love the smoky meaty, black cherry nose with just a hint of chocolate aromas. Matured in French oak it has a rich dense fruity mid-palate with gripp-y tannins.

The flavours are dry and earthy with coffee, garrigue and black fruit undercurrents. Celeste was a double-award winning entry at the 2007 International Value Wine Awards, grabbing best tempranillo and best Spanish wine honours. Drink or hold this beauty.

From Spain we head to the south of France where, in a little over eight years, Jean Claude Mas has put together a fabulous lineup of labels under the umbrella Domaines Paul Mas.

The brainchild behind Arrogant Frog, the studious Mas takes his winemaking a lot more seriously than he takes life and the result is a sort of New World mentality imposed on Old World vineyards. Can it get much better?

Arrogant Frog Ribet Red Cabernet Sauvignon -- Merlot 2005 is not so arrogant with its snappy red screw cap and label. The 55/45 blend grows between the Mediterranean Sea and the Hérault Valley, lending it a fragrant, balanced, sensible character.

Only a quarter of the wine sees oak to help fill out the mid-palate. After that it's simply a delicious drop of inexpensive cabernet merlot and that's not easy to accomplish. A barbecue red with frog's legs. Ribet ribet.

Jean Claude Mas blends viognier fruit from cool and warm sites, using young and old vines to shape the Paul Mas Viognier 2006.

Only 15 per cent of the wine is barrel-fermented in new oak; the remaining 85 per cent is aged only in stainless steel tanks.

Much like the previous edition, it has a wealth of peachy apricot, ginger fruit with a mineral, honey, butter finish. A versatile food wine, not to mention a fabulous bargain. Buy it by the case.

Still in France, passionate Pascal Jolivet is the poster boy for Sancerre, the Loire Valley and for a grape name his colleagues would never breathe on the label: sauvignon blanc.

Jolivet is a sauvignon blanc evangelist be it Sancerre, Pouilly fume or his now famous Pascal Jolivet Attitude Sauvignon 2006. As always, the minerality jumps at you with bits of seaweed and chalk. Jolivet looks for balance of acidity and integration, which you get in the slightly less acidic 2006 harvest.

The style is fresh, with delicate notes of smoky, mineral, grapefruit, green apple skin citrus and white peach. It's medium-bodied with more citrus-apple notes in the finish.

Think oysters, Dungeness crab, halibut or veal.

Jolivet wines may only be 20 years old but they do not lack in character or respect for the Loire. Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2006 is a blend of three vineyards or soils: 50 per cent of the wine comes from "Les Caillottes," a very chalky site; 30 per cent is "Les Terres Blanches," grown on the highest hills over clay and chalk and 20 per cent is "Silex," a stonier site rich in flint and clay. Fermentation is slow and cold using indigenous yeasts.

The all natural process yields impressive, intense sauvignon, tightly wound, yet with fine balance. Dry and elegant; think sushi, shellfish pork or asparagus.

TORRES VINA ESMERALDA MOSCATEL - GEWÜRZTRAMINER 2006, Catalunya, Spain

Price: $14.49

UPC: 08410113001122

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Perhaps the best Esmeralda since it was first released in 1961.

TORRES CELESTE 2004, RIBERA DEL DUERO, Castilla-Leon, Spain

Price: $26

UPC: 08410113003508

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Smoky meaty, black cherry nose with just a hint of chocolate.

ARROGANT FROG RIBET RED 2005, VIN DE PAYS D'OC, Languedoc, France

Price: $13.99

UPC: 03760040421377

Score: 87/100

Remarks: A barbecue red with frog's legs. Ribet ribet.

PAUL MAS VIOGNIER 2006, L'HÉRAULT, VIN DE PAYS D'OC, Languedoc, France

Price: $13.99

UPC: 3760040420127

Score: 87/100

Remarks: A versatile food wine, not to mention a fabulous bargain.

PASCAL JOLIVET ATTITUDE SAUVIGNON 2006, TOURAINE, Loire Valley, France

Price: $24

UPC: 3490960007138

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Delicate notes of smoky mineral, grapefruit and white peach.

PASCAL JOLIVET SANCERRE 2006, Loire Valley, France

Price: $38

UPC: 03490960001167

Score: 90/100

Remarks: An all natural process yields impressive, intense sauvignon with finesse.