Michael Pinkus Wine Review - On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - Churchill Cellars Portfolio Tasting ... March 30, 2009

11 Apr 2009

Details: Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

The Churchill tasting is very interesting, because every time they do this tasting I have run out to the LCBO and picked up a few bottles of something. Last year it was the Hardys Gewurztraminer/Riesling, the year before that it was the Bankside Shiraz. This year I didn't get a chance to make my post-Churchill LCBO run because I was off to see Joe Sealy’s tribute to Hoagie Carmichael at the Old Mill immediately following the tasting -but I'll tell you what my "run out" wine would have been had I not taken that side trip.

Churchill's entire tasting was comprised of wines on the general list, in vintages or coming to vintages - so that makes it easy to recommend wines and easy for you, dear reader, to run out and get some.

And here is a list of the wines I deemed worth you getting into your car (or walking) to your local liquor retailer ... (Read more)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.

Report from - Bokke Tasting ... March 25, 2009

29 Mar 2009

Details: Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

At a minimalist art gallery in downtown Toronto we assembled for the second time in almost six weeks to try more offerings from Eleanor Cosman and her Bokke wine agency … if you missed my last Bokke article check it out here. Bokke is the agency that brings in the Goulart wines, one of which I found quite impressive last time out. During a recent visit to the U.S. I made the discovery that their labeling for the U.S. is a little flashier than our more conservative packaging here in Canada and with different names for the same wine - check up my review of the "Classico” Malbec.

Today's tasting focused on nine wines, most, as expected, from South Africa. The exceptions were the Goulart wines from Argentina and an excellent Pinot Noir from New Zealand: Coney Wines Pizzicato Pinot Noir 2006 ($38.00) - a rich beautiful nose loaded with cinnamon, vanilla, black and sour cherries; the palate showed lots of sour cherry; a touch of spice and cranberry on the finish … it also had a nice seam of acidity running through it.

Wines from South Africa …(Read more)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.