Bubbles for your Valentine

In the world of Champagne there is much beauty, passion and majesty. It sparkles like a precious stone dancing in the sun’s last light and although all Champagne is sparkling wine not all sparkling wine can be Champagne. Although the methode champenoise is duplicated in wine growing regions across the globe, true Champagne is a sparkling wine from Champagne, a region in France. It does not come from Spain, California, Canada or anywhere else for that matter. It is unique to the region and as such its name is jealously guarded by the ever vigilant French and rightly so! Therein lies the crux of a life long battle between the fortunate Champenois and their wonderful elixir and the not so lucky, located outside the region, producing good bubble in the time honed method.

All sparkling wines, the good, the bad and the ugly strive to emulate Champagne, the Holy Grail of fizz, if not in style at least in name. Through due diligence and aggressive litigation this is no longer the problem it once was and it is unlikely you will ever come across a bottle of Greek or Chinese Champagne. Today most wine making countries have come up with terms to indicate if a sparkling wine, though not Champagne, has been made utilizing similar methods. Look for such terms as cremant, cava or tradional method on the label. This is the best way to put the sparkle in your favourite bubble and indicates the producer is serious about what they are doing.

Today most people enjoy sparkling wine that is fairly dry. If you want a dry Champagne or sparkling wine look for the term Brut on the label. It will be dry, much drier than a bottle labeled Extra Dry, which really means off-dry and is therefore sweeter than a Brut. Very strange these funny little terms but what is a person to do?

Serving sparkling wine is easy. A standard (750 ml) bottle will serve 6 people a glass of wine each. Just refrigerate the bottles for at least a couple of hours or plunge into a bucket of ice and water for 20 minutes. To open grasp the cork firmly and twist the bottle and resist the temptation to let her rip. The “pop” of a cork is magic but a big waste of bubble and money. Just ease the cork out with a sigh, not a bang and gently pour into flutes or tulip shaped glasses and enjoy. Look deep into your sweetheart's eyes and utter the appropriate salutation!

Lanson Black Label Champagne Brut France

Lanson is one of the few Champagne houses to not put its new wines through malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity. The finished product leaves the cellar crisp and clean with plenty of fruit and a core of underlying acidity that needs time to soften. When given that time the flavours of this little brut can be sublime. Very refined with tiny bubbles, biscuit and apple aromas, a lovely creamy texture with great depth of flavour and a steely resolve. Highly enjoyable!!!

Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut France

This well managed growers co-operative is one of the fastest growing Champagne brands in the market today. Beautifully balanced with delicate citrus, apple and toasty aromas that ease onto the palate and linger through the finish. Tight and restrained with understated elegance!

Piper Heidsieck Champagne Brut France

Florens-Ludwig Heidsieck was the son of a Lutheran pastor and made a living as a draper in Reims before getting into the fizz bizz. Two hundred and twenty-five years later his Champagne house is still hanging in there. A good all rounder with gentle floral aromas and crisp citrus flavours makes this sassy little brut a good introduction to any evening.

Delamotte Champagne Brut France

Bubble is a wonderful thing! As they say “you can have too much champagne, but never enough!” Delamotte is light gold in colour with tiny but persistent bubbles. Seamless and superbly balanced with sweet pear and peach flavours, good length and a crisp elegant finish!

Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut France

Family owned and operated, Duval-Leroy farms about 150 hectares of prime real estate, much of it located in the heart of the Cote des Blancs. This provides about 25% of the company’s annual grape requirements and helps maintain the quality and consistency of these fine champagnes. Big and bold with an attractive yeasty, toasty bouquet, great balance with lively citrus flavours, fine acidity and a soft creamy finish that just keeps going!

Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Reserve France

Light gold with a gorgeous mousse and a wonderful nose of hot buttered toast, baked apple and white honey. Very ripe but not heavy, with great length and balance. If you are in the market for bubbly this beauty has it all.

It's not 2005, but it's still great!

Call me irresponsible, but for the most part, until the Liquor Distribution Branch brings down their prices for it, we here at Spiritmerchants are giving most of the 2006 Bordeaux a pass -- the quality was pretty good but the prices were still up there in the stratosphere with the 2005's. (And we won't even think of the relatively even pricier 2007's still in the pipeline!) So until the somewhat more sanely-priced 2008's come out (and the very good-looking 2009's even further down the road) we'll be searching under rocks and in basement cubbyholes for Bordeaux from the halcion pre-millionaire, pre-2005 Bordeaux vintages.

One winner we've discovered is Fronsac's 2004 Chateau les Tonnelles, a nifty 100% Merlot offering from yet another of Bordeaux's undervalued regions. You can find effussive praise for it (and for what it's worth, a 90-point rating) here; I'm just going to say it's yummy and leave it at that!

One last, brilliant 2005 Bordeaux bargain!

Is this the last of the 2005 Bordeaux to pass through our doors? It’s certainly the greatest bargain! In a year where we’ve seen wonderful Bordeaux from even the most modest producers, Chateau la Maroutine stands out — a big, plush, yummy merlot-based stunner! Don’t hesitate — it’s going to be a long time before the 2008 Bordeaux comes to call!
Price? $21.65 (+ deposit)

Stand by, We're Back Soon!

Larry's Page will be up and running again in its usual splendor in a day or two!

The Week in Alcohol

First they supported the Hutu in Rwanda and now this The government of France is now advising its citizens not to drink wine. "The Ministry of Health has published guidelines which advise, 'The consumption of alcohol, and especially wine, is discouraged.' " In other news, the majority opinion of the civilization that gave us the Maginot Line is that wine poses a risk to health


For a start, they're both better taken in drunk "Terre d'Asti, a promotional body representing the Asti region in northern Italy, has launched Wine & Passion, an international literature competition to promote Grignolino d'Asti wine. The Italian trade body is looking for writers to come up with the most original literary work on the affinities between the Grignolino grape and football..."


So they must be just ecstatic about their government's latest health guidelines Champagne sales dropped nearly 5% in 2008, drawing a sour-grapes reaction from industry representatives. "Ghislain de Montgolfier, co-president of Champagne trade body the CIVC, said continuous growth and a record year in 2008 were 'too much' for the region. 'The fall is a good thing: our purpose was to decrease sales by 2% at the start of 2008. ' "


The "Domaine de Bernard Madoff" label should have been a giveaway Millions of bottles of wine from France falsely labeled as Pinot Noir were sold in the US over the last several years. "According to southern French newspaper La Depeche, the fraudulent wine was sold by winemakers and cooperatives to the negociant which in turn sold the wine to Sieur d'Arques for export to the US. It is not clear at which stage the fraud occurred. Citing an informant, the newspaper said the profit margins for those concerned were 'huge'. Pinot Noir fetches double the standard price for red wine from the region."


The rain of frogs at harvest didn't help the 2008 vintage either Gloom and Doom about Bordeaux is pouring in from all directions: Sales dropped more than 30% in the last 5 months of 2008; The Vintage Wine Investment Fund dropped 30% of its 100m Euro value; Chateau Latour is being dumped by its owner, the Luxury goods group PPR; Publicly traded funds like the International Wine Investment fund are off by as much as 85%; and the worldwide recession is destroying the market for the high-priced luxury cuvees as bankers spit into the outstretched hands of former billionaire hedge-fund managers everywhere

Three New 2005 Bordeaux!

Ho, hum---another day, another great (and reasonably-priced) 2005 Bordeaux! An old favorite and two new friends arrived at Spiritmerchants this week, all yummy, and all in the low-to-mid $20 range!

The Medoc Cru Bourgeois Chateau La Gorce has been a buddy of ours for a long time, but we've never had one as fine as their 2005---and if memory serves, the price may even have gone down since the last vintage!

The 2005 Chateau Bergeron is from the Cotes de Blaye on the Right Bank of the Gironde---which these days is becoming notorious both as a region of under-priced works of genius, and a regular Bordeaux Home of Bargains. It's a mix of 85% Merlot, 10% Cab and 5% Malbec and as such is supple, muscular and structured to last. We've brought in 20 cases, and that's the quantity a lot of our customers have been buying it in!

Chateau Peyraud is from the P.C. de Blaye as well and clocks in at 100% Merlot. It's as ingratiating as only a Bordeaux-grown Merlot can be: Earthy, plump and user-friendly, it's also the real bargain of the trio, lightening you wallet by just north of $20---and lightening your day as well!

A Fistful of Malbecs!

Malbec makes no pretense to being a wine for all seasons: January is when this varietal really shines! Winter stews, roasted vegetables, evenings when the sun goes down early... that's malbec's home ground. Here are three wines that show you both the fruit and the soil, and manage to be both earthy and sophisticated!

• Don Eugeno Reserva 2005, from the Uco Valley in Mendoza, Argentina: Full-bodied with good tannins; big without being dopey---Sam Elliot rather than Ben Afflick.
• Pascual Toso Malbec 2007, from the Maipu vinyards in Mendoza: Its maker calls this wine "sincere"; James Molesworth of the Wine Spectator called it "...fresh and open, with a mix of raspberry and black cherry fruit followed by a modest dose of toast on the easygoing finish"; I call it potent, earthy and rich! (And at less than $15, I also call it a steal!)
• Altos las Hormigas Malbec 2007 from Mendoza: What can I say? A mighty wine---rustic, with fresh cherry fruit andjust a hint of anisette on the finish. Roast a squash and get out the glasses!
  

Mission Hill Oculus is back on Sale!

They made it better than ever, and we knocked the price down!

This year's edition of Mission Hill's flagship Bordeaux blend contains 42% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cab Franc and 10% Petit Verdot; all hand-harvested and sorted, and aged in 100% French oak for 13 months. This is the best Oculus yet, and it's tasting beautifully already!

But wait, there's still more! Until Christmas, we're taking the price down more than $6 below what the BC Liquor Stores will be charging you. So, get your Christmas shopping done early---especially for those special friends who have a history of sharing their bounty around!

Is this the finest chardonnay ever produced in BC?

Meyer Family Vineyards makes a serious grab for the hearts and palates of BC wine-drinkers with its 2006 Tribute Series Chardonnay! (They've got a nice website, so if you want to know more than you ever thought you wanted to know about them, by all means pay them a visit!) But all you need to know from me is that I was blown away by this (very Burgundian) effort from JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens up on the Naramata Bench. They made 550 cases (1030 6-packs, actually) of this offering, and we've brought in as many as we could get. At just north of $30, it's a bargain as well!

Road 13: New signposts along a great old trail

Along with having one of the best websites of any winery I've ever seen, Pam and Mick Luckhurst and winemaker Michael Bartier of Road 13 Vineyards have raised the quality bar for BC wines as well! Pam and Nick bought the Golden Mile Winery in 2003, gave the name back to the region, and introduced Road 13 wines to the world. We were all knocked flat by their 2007 Chenin Blanc!

For a moment we'll let them be the ones to talk about it:

"The vines producing these Golden Mile grapes are a sight to behold – 40-year-old gnarled, thick, beautiful trunks that continue to produce big, perfect clusters of botrytis infected Chenin. The grapes were picked with relatively high acidity this vintage, destemmed, and crushed to the press with a small amount of skin contact. Fermentation was conducted on the cool side and arrested at an off-dry state to balance the acidity. A small amount of the blend (15%) was allowed to ferment in new tight grain French barrels and was racked from these barrels immediately following completion of fermentation – 3 weeks total barrel time for this portion. Some Sauvignon Blanc has been blended into this wine, bringing the contrast of very ripe pineapple aromas."

I can't add anything more to that---it's yummy stuff, and we're stocking as much of it as we can, for just north of $20! Stay tuned for more winners from Road 13 in the coming weeks and months!

Coming soon...No! Here Now at a Spinnakers store near you!

In our relentless quest to bring you a peerless combination of brilliant quality wines at thoroughly modest prices, our fearless product consultants have come up with four new wines we're convinced are drop-dead winners! Prices will all hover in the vicinity of $25 or less.

• Jaboulet-Vercherre Bourgogne Rouge 2005 2005 may have been a terrific year in the Cote dOr, but this was ridiculous: a basic Burgundy for about $25 that was this good? None of us had ever tasted anything like it: Classic Burgundy nose, and fruit as silky-smooth as a bucketful of kittens. Better yet, it's still improving in the bottle---we tasted this in the morning and finished it off at dinner, where it was even better! This is a bargain that has the potential to keep on delighting you for years!
• 2005 Chateau Haut Vigneau Cotes de Blaye Another excellent modestly-priced Bordeaux from 2005, where a miracle vintage has proven kindest to the budget-minded consumer: if the Latours and Moutons are fetching record prices, the petit chateaux like this one have never made better wine---and they're all fighting for a spot in your cellar, so prices have never looked so affordable. This example 85% Merlot, with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and another 5% Cabernet Franc; it has a wonderful, earthy nose with plenty of tannic bite on the palate---very seductive now, but with the promise of even better to come, if you can only keep your mitts off it long enough!
• "Manior de la Tete Rouge" Bagatelle 100% Cabernet Franc from vigneron Guillaume Reynouard, working in the Saumur AOC: Dark, intense---maybe the most macho Cab Franc you've ever had at this price!
• Pica Broca "La Sauvageonne" Terrasses du Larzac 2005 Another wonderful Syrah-Grenache-Cinsault combination from the Coteaux du Languedoc, this has an earthy nose that suggests some Mourvedre was in the mix as well; but since that's a variety not listed on the label, we'll just have to assume that it comes from expert winemaking and a nice bit of terroir.

Case upon case of all of the above are now here at both Spinnakers Spirit Merchants' locations!

The Week in Alcohol

The 'she could end up rotting in Hell' part was taken out by his Firefox grammar-checker A Paris judge has filed charges against critic Robert Parker for defamation of his former assistant, Hannah Agostini, author of Robert Parker: Anatomy of a Myth. "The charges were filed Friday against Parker for writing on his Internet site that Agostini 'could end up stagnating in prison,' and for misrepresenting the penalties that she faces, officials said.... The critic declined comment about the case. He was fined €2,000 ($2,820) by a Paris court in March for violating Agostini's presumption of innocence."





As a sobriety test, you just have to type out "Super Saver Shipping" without slurring your words Amazon.com announced that they would soon be selling wine online





The return address on the rice bags to the Lepage factory in Mianzhu, China should have been a bit of a giveaway Japan's Sake supply has been compromised by tainted rice. "Shipments of pesticide-ridden, rotting rice, intended for use in glue factories, have ended up in the human food chain, principally as ingredients for brewing the national tipple. In the past week more than a million bottles of shochu and saké - drinks made from rice - have been recalled over safety fears."




Their "drink beer and be impotent" campaign didn't seem to work too well The Brewers association of Canada announced that over the next five years it would be donating $1 million to the study of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Canada



...but especially when somebody's applying for a job as a T.T.C. executive The Toronto Transit Commission announced that it would soon be testing some workers for alcohol and drugs. The report "recommends that employees in 'safety sensitive' jobs like vehicle operators or track workers, their supervisors, and members of the TTC executive be subject to six stages of drug and alcohol testing: when applying for a job, when there is 'reasonable' suspicion of impairment, after an incident, after a violation, after treatment and randomly."

He then went on to observe that they had bad weather and produced crummy soccer players as well Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver complained that Britons didn't appreciate decent cuisine, and that "the only people who drink more than us are the Irish and the Scottish"

The Week in Alcohol

The only problem is that Yellow Tail sets off the alarm as well Scientists in France have designed a technique to detect counterfeit wines. "The results reveal the age of the bottle, and the wine within it. This data is then compared to results from bottles known to be authentic."

Your ticket there on Air Canada will cost you $1259.99 Macau---which has recently eclipsed Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world---has eliminated it's 15% tax on wine "in a bid to become a dominant player in the regional fine wine market".






It was followed by a sex-free orgy at Tommy Lee's hotel room Motley Crue played a concert at Toronto's Molson Amphitheater at which alcohol was banned.









However, the age of consent still stays at 10 France plans to raise it's drinking age to 18







It all happened when Becks and Posh left Real Madrid for Hollywood The Foreign Office in London released figures showing that the number of British tourists in Spain arrested for being drunk grew by a third over the course of the previous year

Racing in front of Gordon Brown will do that to a guy In Britain, a dozen jockeys have been caught drinking and riding by random alcohol testing. "But as only a tiny fraction of those who ride each day are tested under the system, it is thought many more jockeys are still slipping through the net and riding under the influence of alcohol".


He actually thought he was riding in the fifth race at Epsom Russian high-jumper Ivan Ukhov was banned from a Swiss track meet for jumping while inebriated. Film at 11:00.

They're Here! The 2005 Bordeaux!

We've got about 20 new, fabulous examples of the brilliant 2005 Bordeaux Vintage in the store right now! Prices range from an unbelievable $22.95 for a stellar, traditionally-styled Chateau Curton la Perriere Cuvee no. 5---which is fabulous now but still has years left in it; all the way to a mightyWine Spectator 92-pointer Chateau Pontet St Emilion at $75.58. Among the delights between those bookends: Chateau Fombrauge St Emilion Grand Cru; Chateau Bouscaut (a Graves Grand Cru); the brilliant Medoc C.B.E. Chateau Potensac; and a very few bottles of the stunning Chateau D'Aiguilhe---another WS 92-pointer!

Robert Parker has called 2005 the finext Bordeax vintage he's ever been around professionally for, and for once, I agree with him! The best news of all, though, is the wonderful quality of even the modestly-priced chateaux---everybody was making great wine this time, and those of us who have neither the thousands to pay for the first growths (or, indeed, the time to wait for them to mature) can play kid-in-a-candy-store without sopending the earth. The best year ever is also the best value ever as well? You read it here first!

Coming Soon: New 2005 Bordeaux!

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, God and the Panama Canal willing, Spiritmerchants will be getting in it's mammoth order of the 2005 Bordeaux's. (It's not quite as mammoth for the store as it originally was, with a few of the rarer specimens already spoken for by some of the Island's nicer restaurants, but this leaves more splendid deals for the rest of us.) Some Highlights? How about Chateau Cos D'Estournel's 2005 Goulée for a start? Robert Parker gave it a score of 91, sipping it from the barrel in 2006; and while we at Spinnakers by no means worship at Parker's pant-cuffs, well, even a blind pig finds a truffle now and then. In the same price-range, we'll be stocking a half-a-dozen cases of Chateau D'Aiguilhe (90-93 points from Parker in 2007), and altogether, we'll be bringing in almost a hundred cases of fifteen different chateaux, ranging in price from under $20 to whatever we finally come up with for the Cos D'Estournel that we spent a painful number of Euros for.

We'll have a complete list up on the blog and the store site when I get around to it, but in the meantime, here's the story renowned negociant and all-around Bordeaux sage Bill Blatch had to tell about the 2005 vintage in Bordeaux, pilfered from Jancis Robinson's website.

Great Bottles---Great Vintages

Larry Sez:
This utility is under construction---come back soon!

Coming to Spinnakers: 10 wines from Israel

Any day now, Spinnakers Spirit Merchants will have 10 new Israeli wines on its shelves. For some background, here's what Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate had to say about their latest (large) survey of Israeli wines:

Quietly, and without attracting much consumer attention, Israel has developed a wine industry that will confound preconceptions. A country whose wine industry once was largely considered insipid and mostly aimed at satisfying religious needs, today has dozens of wineries and a serious enough industry to have a few trophies. That, to be sure, does not mean Israeli wine production is new. Ignoring Biblical times, Israel has been producing wine since long before it was actually a State. Carmel, Israel's largest winery, was founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, the owner of Château Lafite-Rothschild. It traces its roots back to 1882 and it dominated Israel's wine scene for a century.

It is only recently, however, that more than an occasional Israeli wine has attracted serious interest. Even prestigious Golan Heights, an old stalwart familiar for its Yarden label in the USA, did not begin operating until 1983. Its founding was one of the important landmarks in modern Israeli wine history.

In the generation since Golan Heights’ debut, the industry has undergone massive change. While giant Carmel still has a dominating market share, and Carmel, Golan Heights and Barkan together control about 75% of the marketplace, much of the attention has shifted to Israel’s boutique wineries, a relatively new phenomenon. Tiny Margalit, for instance, calls itself Israel’s first boutique winery. Its debut vintage, the 1989 Cabernet Sauvignon, was just released in 1991. This shouldn’t be taken to mean that the larger wineries are bad, incidentally. Golan Heights is on every short list for “Best of Israel,” and Carmel is producing small production, high quality wines, too, both under its own label and Yatir.

The first issue in dealing with Israeli wines is invariably whether they are Kosher. The larger wineries generally produce Kosher wines, but most of the boutique wineries do not. Importer Haim Hassin of SolStars asserted, “There are close to 200 wineries in Israel and about 150 of them are non-kosher boutique wineries.” The total output for the boutique wineries is, however, fairly small. It is fair to say that if you are going to be drinking Israeli wines regularly, you will regularly encounter Kosher wines. The second and therefore more important issue is what significance a Kosher certification has for the non-Kosher consumer to whom such wines must be marketed if they are to be considered mainstream products. The simple answer: no one should avoid wines simply because they have Kosher certifications. Based on my tastings, in fact, Kosher wines are among the best in this report, such as those from Domaine du Castel and Yatir. It seems generally irrelevant....

The most important thing to understand is that those sickly sweet Passover wines Americans are used to have nothing to do with the types of wine Israel is bragging about these days. Now the mainstream wines are more likely to be bottlings of Bordeaux varietals, Chardonnay or Syrah that have typicity and will seem familiar to sophisticated consumers. They can be big and bold, as at Yatir, or graceful and old world, as at Domaine du Castel. You can put a bag over a Bustan Syrah and watch your friends argue about whether it is a Languedoc or Rhône. Israeli wine isn't an oddity any more, and it is certainly not just for those who keep Kosher.

A detailed list of the new Israeli wines coming to Spinnakers can be found here. An overview of them, from their importer, International Cellars, can be found here. Notes from a preliminary Spinnakers tasting are available here. Perhaps not surprisingly, there have been some dissenting political voices; for an example of the rhetoric, go here. More news when the products actually hit the shelves.

For the Hard-to-Please on Your Christmas List....

...May we suggest overkill? From Concha y Toro, we have what amounts to an instant vertical of their fabulous Don Melchor Cabernet---six bottles; six vintages. The range of flavors promises to be breathtaking, with the '87, '88 and '89 fully mature and the '97, '98, and '99 just coming into their own. While I've never been one to worship the numbers that Robert Parker tosses over his shoulder, here's what The Wine Advocate had to say about the '97:

94 Points. The 1997 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon is exhibiting some development in color and bouquet. On the palate it remains impressively youthful with layers of flavor and excellent balance in its full-bodied personality. It continues to evolve and may reach its peak by 2015. It should drink well through 2040.

Be sure to give me a call in 2040 to let me know if it lasted!

New Wines From Chateau Gres Saint Paul!

Just arrived---and here in BC, exclusive to Spinnakers---five new products from Languedoc winemaker Jean Philippe Servière! Robert Parker's been onto this producer for years, and his last encounter with Servière's Chateau Gres Saint Paul Antonin moved him to write: "Believe it or not, this smells like a $50 bottle of Cote Rotie! Made from 70-year old Syrah vines, it boasts an amazing perfume of bacon fat, tapenade, and blackberries. Dense and medium-bodied, with loads of fruit, this is a beautiful offering that sells for a song." (At least as far as price is concerned, Parker understates: An entire flight of Gres Saint Paul wines can be had for a short medley.)

As well as the Gres Saint Paul Antonin, Spinnakers has brought in Servière's dry Muscat "Libertine 2006"---and for a look at what the winemaker himself has to say about his wines, check out "Les Vins" at the Gres Saint Paul website. You may need your Larousse, but his pride in the product is obvious.

We've got three more---even more reasonably-priced---offerings from this producer: Servière's Grange Philippe Syrah; Piccolino (100 % Mourvèdre) and Gypsy---a rosé that's a 60/40 mix of Syrah and Grenache. Sourced off-property, they are nevertheless made with the same care---and if Antonin can be had for a song, these three will cost you a mere bagatelle.

Larry Sez: This page is under construction

....But stay tuned! Over the next few days and weeks, I'll be getting this blog up to steam with news about hot new products available exclusively to anybody in the BC blogosphere who has the wherewithal to come to this web page!