I am traveling on Monday and have been crazy busy of late at work (think auditors, think pain) so I have not been able to bring forward a few reviews I have wanted. This is a brief one to talk about the following three wines:
The other night we had a friend/coworker over who lives and works out of Moscow and Yakutsk, Russia. I made my chorizo paella (had no shrimp sadly and had a time constaint) that someday I should post the recipe to. We actually drank the above wines in the following order and as such I will talk briefly on each:
First wine was the 2005 Château des Charmes Cabernet Sauvignon (St David’s Bench) which we have a few of in our cellar. At $26 dollars you are getting into a bit pricier (just a tad) red out of Niagara then most are willing to spend, sadly. This 2005 is excellent, in fact it may rival it’s older brother the 2002 that I reviewed earlier. A well bodied Cab that has good fruit, good tannins and a good finish. 2005 was a great growing yield that sadly produced low yields, so well crafted 2005 reds from Niagara should reward you, this did jsut that.
The next wine we went to was the 2007 Henry of Pelham Non-Oaked Chardonnay. For some reason the LCBO pages are not showing the listing, but trust me I bought it here! It is roughly $13 for the 750ml bottle. I primarily wanted a white to use in the paella, but in reality we got a fresh fruit forward wine. Good body and even mouthed this wine will not win everyone over. No oak in Chards sometimes disturbs people, but I find that this grape can produce good oak free wine if the winemaker is careful enough. While this will be overwhelmed by heavily spiced foods, it will stand up to most meals and will drink well on it’s own. For the price it is worth having a go at if you are looking for a summer white.
The last bottle we had was designed to be the highlight of the wine drinking experience. The 2005 Domaine Berthet-Rayne Châteauneuf-du-Pape is $45 here and has gotten some good reviews so with some pressure to choose I decided that this should be given the good ol’ college try. With some well known reviewers giving it high 80s you would expect it to at least be worth the price, but I did not find it to be the case. It was a good wine, with solid fruit and some good spice, but in respect to the earlier Cabernet of the evening it did not out perform or dwarf it. In fact, for the the price, I’d rather get two of the Château des Charmes for the same money. That is not to say you will not enjoy this or compare it to an $8 plonk, but for a ‘Pape failed to live up to expectations.
That is all for today, enjoy your Saturday, and as always sip well!
