My only complaint about the Green Evolution Eco-Friendly Wine Tasting is its apparent lack of organization and its lack of printed material about the wines. Now, I suppose to be Eco-Friendly you would forego the use of paper that folks will eventually throw away (or hopefully recycle) once they get them home and throw on their coffee table for the rest of the month – but there were some catalogues available, but very few, so the choice should be print none (so that everybody has to write on their hands and wash the ink off later) or print more so everyone has the chance to recycle the books at the end of the month (or have them decompose naturally on the coffee table) … but the bottom line here is that I did not have at my disposal all the details of the wines I would normally like to have when writing these reports – and I promise not to print this one off for editing purposes. Write green, Think green.
Alright, so aside from that little glitch in the action I found this tasting to be very interesting. It was held at Earth restaurant (1055 Yonge Street); approximately 21 wines were being poured all from producers who are certified organic, practicing bio-dynamics and/or other sustainable methods of growing grapes and making wine. From these 21 wines, which were all available to order through Vintages (but not in store), I have pared it down to 7 that truly shone. One note about the lone Ontario winery in attendance, Southbrook, reviews of their wines can be found on my website, namely: 2008 Triomphe Merlot and the 2007 Poetica Chardonnay which were all part of their turn to the eco-wine; also look for a review of their 2009 Rosé coming soon … sign up for the newsletter to keep up-to-date. Now enough with the blatant self-promotion, on to the wines …
New Zealand …
Yealands 2009 Riesling ($19.00) – a nice minerality and fruitiness on the nose; palate was crisp, fruity and refreshing with notes of apple, pear and lime, all with that seam of minerality cutting across the tongue. (****)
France, Alsace …
Domaine Weinbach 2007 Reserve Personnelle Gewurztraminer ($43.00) – absolutely spectacular Gewurtz; beautiful intense nose with great mouth feel – apricot, peach, lychee and spice were most dominant, but there were also subtleties that made this wine really come alive both aroma-wise and palate-wise. If you only try one Gewurztraminer in your life this is not a bad place to start and end. (****½)
Chile …
Vina Arboleda – on value alone these two wines are ones you should be putting into your cellar because they will reward a few years there. The wines are line priced around the $18 mark (top price is $18.95); they were showing three, but these two got my attention: The Arboleda 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon ($18) was chocolate, black raspberry with mocha-tannins on the finish (****) … The Arboleda 2008 Syrah ($18.95) was bigger, bolder and better with mint and blackberry on the nose which followed onto the palate, culminating in a lovely finish of white pepper and delicate tannins. Good smooth finish to tannin-grit ratio here, keeping things juicy and dry all at the same time. (****½)
United States …
While some swooned over the Benziger Sauvignon Blanc I wrapped my palate around this new single vineyard Pinot Noir: Signaterra 2007 Pinot Noir ($69.00) – Bella Luna Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Signaterra is a new line in the Benziger portfolio. The Pinot was very Cali, lovely and smooth with lots of good cherry and raspberry fruit – soft and supple, a real pleasure to drink. (****½)
Finally, there were the Paul Dolan wines; the organic 2007 Zinfandel ($19.00) was juicy with nice tannin structure on the finish. The palate proved to be loaded with red raspberry and vanilla along with a touch of spice rounding out the finish (****). There was also the Dolan 2006 Deep Red ($56.00) a blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah and Grenache, all from a biodynamic vineyard. The 15.5% alcohol should make this a bruiser of a wine, but it was barely perceptible, instead it had finesse and elegance that really popped in the glass. Peppery-spicy notes, beautiful dark fruit: blackberries, cassis and hints of cocoa, both on the nose and the palate, in the mid-palate you’ll also find lovely red fruit before the finish kicks in with more pepper and spice (****½). The blend is different every year, but I am told the wine is always just as good.
Wines of the Tasting …
My top two wines were (white) Domaine Weinbach 2007 Reserve Personnelle Gewurztraminer and (red) Paul Dolan 2006 Deep Red.
Alright, so aside from that little glitch in the action I found this tasting to be very interesting. It was held at Earth restaurant (1055 Yonge Street); approximately 21 wines were being poured all from producers who are certified organic, practicing bio-dynamics and/or other sustainable methods of growing grapes and making wine. From these 21 wines, which were all available to order through Vintages (but not in store), I have pared it down to 7 that truly shone. One note about the lone Ontario winery in attendance, Southbrook, reviews of their wines can be found on my website, namely: 2008 Triomphe Merlot and the 2007 Poetica Chardonnay which were all part of their turn to the eco-wine; also look for a review of their 2009 Rosé coming soon … sign up for the newsletter to keep up-to-date. Now enough with the blatant self-promotion, on to the wines …
New Zealand …
Yealands 2009 Riesling ($19.00) – a nice minerality and fruitiness on the nose; palate was crisp, fruity and refreshing with notes of apple, pear and lime, all with that seam of minerality cutting across the tongue. (****)
France, Alsace …
Domaine Weinbach 2007 Reserve Personnelle Gewurztraminer ($43.00) – absolutely spectacular Gewurtz; beautiful intense nose with great mouth feel – apricot, peach, lychee and spice were most dominant, but there were also subtleties that made this wine really come alive both aroma-wise and palate-wise. If you only try one Gewurztraminer in your life this is not a bad place to start and end. (****½)
Chile …
Vina Arboleda – on value alone these two wines are ones you should be putting into your cellar because they will reward a few years there. The wines are line priced around the $18 mark (top price is $18.95); they were showing three, but these two got my attention: The Arboleda 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon ($18) was chocolate, black raspberry with mocha-tannins on the finish (****) … The Arboleda 2008 Syrah ($18.95) was bigger, bolder and better with mint and blackberry on the nose which followed onto the palate, culminating in a lovely finish of white pepper and delicate tannins. Good smooth finish to tannin-grit ratio here, keeping things juicy and dry all at the same time. (****½)
United States …
While some swooned over the Benziger Sauvignon Blanc I wrapped my palate around this new single vineyard Pinot Noir: Signaterra 2007 Pinot Noir ($69.00) – Bella Luna Vineyard, Russian River Valley. Signaterra is a new line in the Benziger portfolio. The Pinot was very Cali, lovely and smooth with lots of good cherry and raspberry fruit – soft and supple, a real pleasure to drink. (****½)
Finally, there were the Paul Dolan wines; the organic 2007 Zinfandel ($19.00) was juicy with nice tannin structure on the finish. The palate proved to be loaded with red raspberry and vanilla along with a touch of spice rounding out the finish (****). There was also the Dolan 2006 Deep Red ($56.00) a blend of Syrah, Petite Sirah and Grenache, all from a biodynamic vineyard. The 15.5% alcohol should make this a bruiser of a wine, but it was barely perceptible, instead it had finesse and elegance that really popped in the glass. Peppery-spicy notes, beautiful dark fruit: blackberries, cassis and hints of cocoa, both on the nose and the palate, in the mid-palate you’ll also find lovely red fruit before the finish kicks in with more pepper and spice (****½). The blend is different every year, but I am told the wine is always just as good.
Wines of the Tasting …
My top two wines were (white) Domaine Weinbach 2007 Reserve Personnelle Gewurztraminer and (red) Paul Dolan 2006 Deep Red.
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