Best buys in tomorrow's Vintages release

Michael Vaughan
Friday, August 29, 2008

From Ontario, the following pair of whites are worth trying:

Mike Weir 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (686972) at $15.95 rated ** out of three stars. This VQA Niagara effort has a very pale straw colour. Intense, spicy, peachy, grapefruit nose with some rhubarb notes. Very dry, bright, medium-light bodied, very tangy, spicy, yellow grapefruit flavours with a lingering, zesty, rhubarb-tinged finish.

Next is Flat Rock Cellars 2006 Seriously Twisted (87783) at $22.95 rated **/**+. This VQA Twenty Mile Bench wine comes in a screwcap bottle. It has medium light yellow colour. Complex, lime-tinged, slightly smoky, baked lemon meringue nose with some cedar notes. Intense, quite well structured, medium-full bodied, baked lemon and lime purée flavours with a long, lingering, gently toasty finish.

French Burgundy can be great and this one is worth it. Joseph Drouhin 2006 Puligny-Montrachet (51383) at $64.95 rated **+/***. It has a medium light yellow colour. Forward, attractive, ripe lemon nose with some hints of vanilla. Dry, medium to medium-full bodied, fairly extracty, harmonious, ripe lemon purée with some slightly peppery, vanilla tinged custard flavours on the lingering finish.

There are two Spanish white standouts. The first is Muga 2007 Barrel-Fermented White (958736) at $15.95 rated **. This barrel fermented blend of 90% Viura and 10% Malvasia was fermented in new French oak with 3 months on the lees. It has a pale straw colour. Very toasty, spicy, ripe Anjou pear purée nose with some slight resiny notes. Dry, crisp, spicy, medium bodied and quite well structured with toasty, lemon and ripe pear purée flavours plus a lingering finish.

The second is Gomez & Rial 2006 Alargo Albarino (82446) at $18.95 rated **. This Albarino (aka Alvarinho) has a very light yellow colour. Slightly spicy, honeyed, ripe lemon-melon nose with hints of nuttiness. Dry, medium-light bodied, harmonious, ripe lemon-melon flavours with a crisp, tangy, lingering finish.

Moving on to the reds, the best buy of the release comes from Argentina. Luigi Bosca 2005 Reserva Malbec (79293) at $15.00 rated **+/***. This Argentinean effort has an intense deep purple colour. Wonderful, complex, slightly spicy, smoke-tinged, ripe plum and dried ripe cherry nose. Dry, medium bodied, fairly extracty, plummy, ripe cherry purée flavours with a lingering, slightly cedary, smoke-tinged, mocha finish. A terrific value.

From South Africa comes Bellingham 2005 Dragon's Lair (68692) at $19.95 rated **+. This blend of 88% Shiraz, 10% Mourvèdre and 2% Viognier has a very deep intense purple colour. Intense, smoky, spicy, plummy, baked cherry nose. Spicy, dry, extracty, medium-full bodied, baked plum and dried black cherry flavours with a long, gently smoky, lingering finish. This wine was aged for 18 months in 50% new wood and 50% second fill French oak barrels. It has 5.69 grams of residual sugar but good total acidity of 6.04.

There are some destination reds from Spain. Starting with Alvaro Palacios 2006 Remondo La Vendimia (674564) at $16.95 rated **. This 50-50 blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha has a deep intense purple colour. Juicy, ripe cherry nose with some cedary notes. Dry, medium bodied, gently juicy, ripe, plummy-cherry flavours with a lingering, spicy, harmonious, vanilla tinged finish. An international, wide-appeal style.

Followed by Emina Prestigio 2005 (67066) at $24.95 rated **/**+. This 100% Tempranillo has been aged for 16 months in oak. Extremely deep intense purple colour. Spicy, cedary, gently juicy, black cherry purée nose. Dry, fairly intense, medium bodied, quite extracty, slightly sweetish, juicy, ripe black cherry flavours with some cedary notes on the lingering finish.

Ads for Worthwhile Wines

Michael Vaughan
Friday, August 22, 2008

I recently had an inquiry regarding advertising. Why does Vintage Assessments have ads? I explained that for many years we refused to accept any advertising. After all, if Robert Parker doesn't have ads, why should Vintage Assessments?

It eventually became painfully evident that our small, albeit discerning readership simply wasn't big enough to generate sufficient revenue to support the costs of running this publication. We want to keep a cap on our readership so that our recommended wines will be available to them exclusively. It would be nice to have 100,000 readers, but how does one spread 200 cases over so many readers?

So rather than expand our readership base, we decided to run a very limited number of ads in each monthly issue. Moreover, we decided to only run ads for wines or spirits which we believe are worthy of drinking.  In other words, if it isn't worth drinking, it will not appear in Vintage Assessments.

The reason: we want make sure that our readers enjoy the wines being advertised. That's a win-win situation. If readers end up buying an advertised wine which disappoints, they will not consider buying other advertised wines. We want only winners appear in the pages of Vintage Assessments.

To that end, our upcoming issue features an ad for a new widely-available Sicilian white that's priced under $10. I first tasted Montalto 2007 Pinot Grigio (73148) earlier this summer at a portfolio tasting with the export manager. I was impressed with the succulent melon-pear fruit on the nose and the juicy, crisp, juicy flavours. Unlike many Italian Pinot Grigio, this one wasn't bland, shy or overly dry. Best of all at $9.95, it is very reasonably priced.

I discovered that this new Sicilian winery was founded in 2000 and only uses the latest technology to produce a totally new, fresh, vibrant wines from a very ancient region. The stelvin screwcap range emphasizes value. In fact, I first discovered Montalto in 2005 when the red was launched in Ontario. Here is what I said about it in my weekly column when I was trying to match a red with roast turkey:

On the red front, it seemed that anything with juicy, tangy, fruity, cranberry-cherry flavours worked very well. I initially thought that this would rule out old world styles that often have dusty tannins and high extract. Imagine my surprise when tasting a recently released general list effort from Sicily. Montalto 2003 Nero d'Avola Cabernet Sauvignon was the definitive turkey wine of the tasting. This IGT blend of 60% traditional Nero d'Avola and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon comes in a modern screwcap bottle. Aged for three months in one-year old French and American oak, the focus is on fruit and freshness. Deep purple colour, the nose is very bright and attractive with ripe, plumy, strawberry fruit. It is dry, crisp and medium-light bodied with tangy, plums, cranberry and cherry flavours with a crisp refreshing finish. Easy to drink and on the refreshing side, it works perfectly with either light or dark meat.

Today, three vintages later, the price of Montalto 2006 Nero d'Avola Cabernet Sauvignon (621151) has crept up from $8.95 to $9.70. Happily, the juicy, accessible, attractive flavours are still there.  It's a red that doesn't pretend to be something it isn't. An everyday, versatile, crowd pleaser that appeals to a wide array of palates. We strive to uncover best buys and new finds for our readers and always welcome your feedback.

The best buy Vintages release white

Coyote's Run 2006 Reserve Chardonnay (49775) at $20.95 **/**+. This VQA Niagara Peninsula white has a complex, fairly intense, spicy, cedar-tinged, ripe lemon-melon nose. It is dry and quite well structured with harmonious, fairly complex, ripe lemon-melon flavours and an attractive, buttery, gently toasty, lingering finish. Screwcap closure. At peak.

The best buy Vintages release red

Finca Flichman 2006 Expresiones Reserve Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon (507707) at $15.95 **+/***. This oak-aged blend of 60% Malbec and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon has a intense deep purple colour. Complex, toasty, spicy, baked black cherry nose with lovely butterscotch notes. Solid, dry, medium-full bodied, well structured, extracty, plummy, slightly smoky, black cherry flavours with a lingering, exciting, mocha-chocolate finish. Should improve over the next 12 months.