Vintage Matters

Is that more sunshine than you have a right to expect? The longer this weather lingers, the happier winegrowers are all across British Columbia. As we head toward the end of the 2012 growing season and the birth of another harvest, it's worth discussing the notion of "vintage."

In the drive to constantly to simplify wine, there is a perception that vintage doesn't matter to consumers and often, upon inquiry of its missing status on wine price lists, I'm told it's a nuisance. Among the biggest perpetrators are retailers, especially government monopolies, restaurant wine list creators and lifestyle magazines.

"Vintages change all the time," is the common response as to why the wrong vintage is listed, or worse, there is no vintage at all. I suppose it's easy to be lazy about the year because, really, what does it matter?

Well, it matters if it rains all year, or there is a drought. It matters if the winter is punitively cold, and it matters if the weather is warm and dry the last two months of the growing season. Every weather scenario has an effect on the quality of the wine.

In many ways, vintage variation reminds us all that real wine is a living breathing entity that is so much more than just a commodity. Thinning and dropping clusters of grapes that won't fully ripen are all parts of the vintage story. Long walks among the vines tasting grapes late in the season, followed by agonizing decisions about what to pick and when, seem little more than an aggravation if distributors and retailers suppress a wine's birth year.

Vintage, like appellation and producer, is a key component to any wine's DNA. It could help prevent fraud, it makes it far more collectible and, as it ages, it allows everyone to assess the wine in a thoughtful manner.

Maybe it's best if we take a vintage cue from the French who employ the term "vendange," from whence the English term vintage emerged. The vendange refers to the harvest or the finale of the growing season. Like any agricultural product, grapes change in taste and quality from year to year as a direct reflection of the variation in weather during the growing season, and particularly at the harvest.

And that, my friends, is why vintage matters.

Mezzomondo Salento 2010, Puglia, Italy

Price        $10

UPC         8032610311346

Score       88/100

Remarks Fittingly fragrant the number one pick is 100 per cent negroamaro an indigenous grape grown in Apulia. Blackberries, plums, dark chocolate with a savoury undertone over deliver for the price. So round and fun to drink; it's ridiculous value for $10. You can even age this another three years and it will improve.

Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Las Barrancas 2009, Maipú, Mendoza, Argentina

Price        $18

UPC         718742000225

Score       88/100

Remarks    The Toso reserve is a good example of what cabernet can be in Argentina. Dry and smooth on the palate with cassis, pepper, black olive, meaty, tobacco flavours with some savoury dried herbs and small grained tannin on the finish. A solid fruit style that is just coming into its own this fall.

William Fèvre Petit Chablis 2010, Chablis, Burgundy, France

Price        $25

UPC         3443620004145

Score       87/100

Remarks A fine introduction to Chablis and its restrained chardonnay style. Expect a dry, juicy style yet tight with fresh acidity. Citrus/lime, green apple, pear, light lees and seashore flavours with a bit of honey jump from the glass. A bit young but we love the purity and balance.

Feudo Maccari Nero d'Avola 2010, Sicily, Italy

Price        $20

UPC         008033011200970

Score       88/100

Remarks    Classic Italian country red with earthy, tobacco, strawberry, black cherry, liquorice aromas with a hint of balsamic. The attack is dry, with very light tannins and more smoky, tobacco, black olive, cherry, cedar, liquorice, savoury flavours. A drier, food style wine for current drinking. Good value.

Kendall-Jackson Avant Chardonnay 2010, Monterey - Santa Barbara, California, United States

Price        $20

UPC         081584047674

Score       89/100

Remarks    The 2010 Avant is a slightly riper version of the '09 with more floral butter, cream and mango notes; almost Santa Barbara-like. The attack is creamy and fresh with honey, ripe mango fruit, lemon, butter, baked apple all with a touch of creamy lees. An impressive, fresh, lean style chardonnay that would look good on restaurant wine lists.

Mission Hill Quatrain 2008, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada


Price      $44


UPC       776545555663


Score    89/100


Remarks              The 08 Quatrain is a 34/22/15/29/ blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and syrah fermented in large French oak vats. The nose is an attractive mix of spicy, vanilla, chocolate, cherry jam aromas with flecks of pepper, tobacco, meaty/orange compote. The attack is dry and elegant even slightly Bordelais lean with some gritty tannins. The palate is awash in smoky, peppery, chocolate, meaty, minty, black cherry fruit with an Okanagan swirl of herbal, savoury, tapenade and vanilla flavours. A bit on the lean side but this will fill out in the bottle over the next few years. Well done.