25
Feb
2009
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Before the big awards are handed out (Gala, February 27, 2009 Fallsview Casino) the press is given a preview of the highest rated wine from each winery.
For those who don’t know, Cuvee is the Academy Awards of the Ontario wine industry. Panels of winemakers sit in a room with hundreds of submitted wines, blindly screening the work of their peers. Thing is, because it’s blind, y9ou don’t know if you voted Slumdog of Benjamin Button until the winners are announced at the Gala event and tasting. Nobody knows the outcome until Price-Waterhouse, or whomever is guarding the Cuvee knowledge, releases it on the big night ... the only thing the press can do is surmise as to who possibly could have won what. Though the wineries do know their top rated wine because they are asked to provide samples for this very tasting.
The following is a list of wines that impressed me – full reviews of these wines will be coming to my website (www.ontariowinereview.com), be featured in an upcoming Weekly Wine Note, or as a Pick of the Bunch in my newsletter in the coming weeks. All wines that were previously reviewed (before February 25, 2009) are linked for your perusing pleasure ... (Read more)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
12
Feb
2009
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
I have always been interested in the age worthiness of wine, but Chateau Musar has turned this fascination of mine into an art form. Here they don’t release wine before its time, and time usually dictates a few years in barrel and bottle. The current Musar release is the 2001 vintage, so that should give you an idea about what the term “time” means to this winery. I have written about Musar before, so instead of boring you with a rehash of details I invite you to learn more by reading my previous article – as for this article, let’s get right to the tasting.
Today, a small group of us tried 6 Musar wines in the comfort of Oasi Restaurant (fellow wine writer John Szabo’s place). Three whites (1995, 1999, 2001) and three reds (1991, 1997, 1998) were offered up for tasting all of which are being released thru the new on-line store Vintages has set up (Vintages On-line Exclusives). My top three wines were as follows:
Chateau Musar Red 1991 ($140.70) … proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that these wines age ever so gracefully. Serge Hochar (owner and winemaker) once said “as Musar ages they get younger” – we’ll call this the Benjamin Button effect. You would never believe this wine is 18 years old. The nose is still vibrant with fruits like sour cherry and other red fruit … the palate follows in the same vein with dried red fruit that seemed sweet yet dry at the same time – this wine truly defies description as you hold it in your mouth and put your nose to the glass, all the while the number 18 sweeps through your head. “No way,” I kept on saying to myself, “No way this wine is 18 years old.” Amazing. If the other two reds (1998 - $69.00 and 1997 – $79.00) age this well, they’re a steal at their current price.
The other two wines from Musar that I enjoyed were white … these are rare finds in the LCBO system and are just starting to come back into the marketplace. The 2001 ($35.00) had nutty aromas and tastes with lovely spice, clove, rusty apple and vanilla – good acidity in this wine makes it feel vibrant in your mouth. The 1999 ($63.95) had caramel nuances along with slightly oxidized peaches and pear with firm acidity – these wines really have to be tried to be believed – that goes for the reds as well as the whites.
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
