Canadian Wine Guy

Another one from my wine meetup group at Earl’s. Pale in color with a nose of minerality. On the mid pallet the wine is a lovely dry crisp wine with some nice citrus notes coming through along with minerality to match the nose. The wine is medium in length on the finish with some lovely mouth grip. It lingers pleasantly. Another lovely food friendly wine. Earl’s picked well. I would give this a solid 89. It’s sadly not available in the LCBO. My search shows its $12 at the winery in the US.

From winery’s web site:
Tasting Note: Fragrant mango, white peach and Asian pear notes swirl in the glass. A refined Pinot Gris with vanilla bean, green apple and minerality. The crisp citrus finish is clean and shows balanced acidity. Varietal blend: 100% Pinot Gris
Oak: 100% Stainless Steel Fining: Bentonite, PVPP Aging: 5 months

Another one from my meetup group at Earls. Dark in color with a nose of red berries and cherries. On the mid pallet the wine matches the nose with some red berries coming through. On the medium length finish the wine displays some lovely super dry pucker power with red berries living on in the mouth along with some oak noticeable. I would give it an 89-90. Quite nice.

From the LCBO web site:
FREEMARK ABBEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010 VINTAGES 904532 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 39.95
Made in: California, USA By: Freemark Abbey Winery
14.4% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Firm Sugar Content: 7 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry

Pale in color with a very mild nose. On the mid pallet the wine is very mild at first and then starts to build displaying some lovely lime and citrus notes. The finish on the wine is on the medium length. This isn’t a bad Sauv Blanc but nothing amazing either. I would give it an 88-89. Not in the LCBO but available at the winery in the US for $12.

from the Winery’s web site:
Tasting Note: Bright aromatics of lime, jasmine bloosom and cantaloupe. A refreshing palate of grapefruit, passion fruit and limeade. Hints of citrus linger on the finish with balanced acidity. Varietal blend: 100% Sauvignon Blanc Alcohol: 13.1% Vineyards: Willard, Oasis,and Sagemoor Oak: 100% Stainless Steel Fining: Bentonite Aging: 2 months

Dark in color with a lovely nose of red berries and jammie notes, more towards strawberries. On the mid pallet the wine is fairly subdued with some light red berries coming through overwhelmed almost immediately by form acidity, big tannins and pepper. This wine definitely lives in the long finish. Leaving behind some nice dryness, some lovely complexity and noticeable oak. For me this wine is way too young. Either age it or let it breath. As it did breath even in the half an hour I had the glass it was starting to open up to allow some of the fruit to shine though. For now I would consider it an edgy wine. I’d give it an 89 or so due to the lovely complexity and dryness. Make sure you have this with something hearty or you won’t be tasting the food. Sadly not in the LCBO. $17 in the US at the winery.

From the winery’s web site:
Winemaking: The third cool growing season in a row for our vineyards included a lower yield and delayed ripening. We harvested the grapes over the last week of September, before the rain. The resulting fruit retained well developed
flavor, outstanding balance and deep quality of fruit. During fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, the cellar crew performed daily pumpovers—extracting color and flavor from the skins. The wine was aged in American oak barrels for 12 months. A touch of Petite Sirah (10%) adds layers of color, structure, and tannin to our Zinfandel. Tasting Notes: Our Mother Clone is a classic Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. Aromas of raspberry and allspice lead to Bing cherry and strawberry flavors framed by subtle black pepper spice. Well integrated flavors with well balanced
acidity and warm toasty oak are a hallmark of our style. 14.8% Alcohol

Pale in color with a lovely nose of vanilla and some minerality. On the mid pallet the wine displays some lovely vanilla notes to match the nose along wine some nice crisp minerality. This is a lovely well made smooth chard. The minerality makes it even more of a food friendly wine. We paired it with seafood fettuccine alfredo and it went well. I would give it an 89+. Sadly hardly any left anywhere in Ontario.

From the LCBO web site:
WILLIAM HILL CHARDONNAY 2011 VINTAGES 988840 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 27.95
Made in: California, USA By: William Hill Estate Winery

13.6% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Rich Sugar Content: 8 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry

Pale color with a mild nose with some traditional chard notes coming through. On the mid pallet the wine displays some mild pear notes along with some butterscotch coming through. On the medium length finish the wine displays some acidity and the chard fruit lingers nicely. This is a nice chard. I would give it an 88-89 or so, but given the price this one IMHO is not worth the money.

From the LCBO web site:
MER SOLEIL RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2011 VINTAGES 958975 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 34.95
Made in: California, USA By: Charlie Wagner
Release Date: Mar 15, 2014
14.5% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Full-bodied & Rich Sugar Content: 12 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: D – Dry

Tasting Note
Rich style of Chard from the Santa Lucia Highlands sporting coconut cream pie, banana and ripe pear. Nice use of oak here, while impressively bright acidity brings balance. A tasty choice for lobster tail or turkey pot pie. (VINTAGES panel, Nov. 2013)

Another one from my meetup group at Earls. Dark in color with cherries (from the cab) and plums (from the Merlot) coming through. On the mid pallet the cab is dominant with cherries coming through. There’s also a hint of strawberries coming through from the Zinf. On the medium length finish the wine displays some noticeable mint notes along with some acidity and some nice dryness. I would give it an 88-89. Not in the LCBO but $19.95 at the BC liquor store 🙂

From the BC liquor Store’s web site: The 2011 vintage uses varietals (Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) aged separately before contributing to the blend, aging in oak barrels. Bright and red plums find a nice dark chocolate finish with some cinnamon, black pepper and anise. The wine is dry in style, medium bodied, and has ripe tannins. Enjoy this fruit forward wine alone or with grilled steak.

I tasted this one as part of my wine meetup group at Earls in Mississauga. Very pale in color with a mild nose. On the mid pallet the wine displays some lovely mild peach notes. Subtle at first but it builds very nicely in the mouth. The wine has some almost “thickness” to it from a texture point of view. On the medium length finish the wine has some nice tartnes as well as acidity that linger nicely in the mouth. This is a very food friendly wine and an absoloute bargain for the price. I would give it an 88-89. Yumm.

From the LCBO web site:
MIRASSOU PINOT GRIGIO LCBO 274480 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 13.95
Made in: California, USA By: Mirassou Vineyards
13.0% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Light & Crisp

From the Winery’s web site (not for the year I tasted):
Our 2011 Mirassou California Pinot Grigio reveals intense aromas and flavors of white peach, baked apples, and juicy pear with notes of citrus. The sweetness of the bright fruit flavors balances nicely with the crisp acidity. This versatile wine pairs beautifully with spicy dishes as well as grilled poultry or seafood.
The grapes for our 2011 Pinot Grigio were selected from vineyards along the Russian River Valley with a portion from the Lodi Delta. Both regions have characteristically cool evenings and mornings, which allowed the grapes to retain their great natural acidity. The 2011 growing season began late because of an unusually cool and wet spring, contributing to this wine’s excellent, crisp acidity.