Life · Quaffing · Tasting

2016 was questionable, so here are 20 wines to pair with 2017

I ended a past blog post – themed: a review of 2015 – with the words “Welcome, 2016. I will cut you.” Though I feel like I did personally make some substantial dents in this crunchy titanium can of a year, the general consensus seems to be that we created a blueprint for goodness, but then said blueprint was stolen, lit on fire, and then puréed with an unwashed beige-coloured towel embroidered with the words “~fUcK yOu~”, styled in Comic Sans MS.

I won’t fill this post with hopes for 2017 so that I don’t build myself a bigger bowl of disappointment, but instead will list wines that remind me of an upwards trend of hope, a vague connection to the vapid consolation of Pantone’s Color of the Year, a fresh and flora-driven yellow-green named “Greenery“.… read more

Tasting

Gamay Noir: the Sansa Stark of Wine Grapes

(The night is dark and full of small spoilers. Tread carefully past the picture for the wines!)

I mention Beaujolais to people – in the same way that I might bring up Sansa Stark in a Game of Thrones discussion – and I watch as faces crinkle before I make my case for the dark horses.

Gamay is a red grape that hails from the Beaujolais region in France (and Sansa hails from Winterfell, but you knew that), and it’s fashionable to dislike Beaujolais. The ditzy Beaujolais Nouveau variations of the 1970s and 1980s – all laden with pear drops, banana, and bubble gum flavours from carbonic maceration – once represented half of all Beaujolais sold. It’s since dropped to around a third, but I find that a large fraction of consumers can’t seem to shake the image of what might be the essence of season 1 Sansa.… read more

Life · Quaffing · Travel

Josh Likes Paris

I’ve unapologetically become my parents when it comes to travelling, which primarily means that I like to arrive at airports hours and hours before I realistically need to. Combine that with what Erin and I decided to drink the night prior, which was all of Cava, fresh hop beer, and bourbon. Why?! But the morning turned out fine, and we had shitty mimosas and beer at the airport to satisfy the unending ghosts of the night prior. The short layover in Montreal slowly eased us into our French-speaking modes, followed by a decent 7-hour flight to Paris. I sheepishly told the flight attendant that I would like the chicken option for dinner, which really just means I muttered “poulet”.

I don’t remember what in-flight movie I saw, but after watching the trailer, I realized this might not be the time to finally watch Taken.… read more

WSET Diploma

“Hot & Bothered” – Oh Land: Jean Foillard 2011 “Côte du Py” Morgon

Jean Foillard 2011 "Côte du Py" Morgon[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 8: Burgundy]

There’s something really funky and weird about this wine, in an awesome way (though what isn’t funky and weird in Racine’s portfolio?). It’s strange for it to be introduced in class as our benchmark example of Beaujolais, with this eccentric combination of raspberry lambic beer, garden soil, a mouthful of red fruit, and a hint of spice and dirty socks. Not typical or traditional, in my opinion, but really cool, and I most certainly hope that something funky and sort of new age, for Beaujolais, strikes the fancy of more consumers. A pipe dream, perhaps, because I’ve heard this described as a wine that would get hipsters in New York hot and heavy.… read more

WSET Diploma

And we’ll never be royals: 2012 Maison des Bulliats Régnié

2012 Maison des Bulliats Régnié[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 1]

It only strikes me now how overlapped the Venn diagram between Gamay and Barbera can be – both tend towards high acid and spicy red fruit, though both also grow differently and can be vinified differently in different subregions. Purer red fruit, for example, in Barbera d’Asti, and a bit spicier and darker in Barbera d’Alba, sort of like how you can get estery Gamay from Beaujolais Nouveau over to the earthier and grittier cru Beaujolais like this one. And suddenly my Sansa Stark = Cru Beaujolais and Arya Stark = Barbera d’Alba analogy sort of makes more sense.

This wasn’t as complex as a Sansa Stark though. Spicy red fruits, yes, and a nice glowing acidity, but mostly fresh, and just fresh – and sometimes it’s hard to be a fresh red.… read more

Life · Tasting

2014 Vancouver International Wine Festival – Wine Tour de France Seminar

This year’s wine fest kicked off with me doing the blind tasting challenge on the Wednesday – the rest of my day consisted of lunch with colleagues, errands involving heavy lifting, and then seeing the new Lego movie. I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted, which is an obvious call for trouble: the next day started off with a France-themed tasting at 9:30AM; the big, busy, and irritating trade tasting at 2:30PM; and an exciting Bourgogne-themed tasting at 5PM. A day full of constant mouth stimuli.

Since this was one of the trade tastings (opposed to a consumer one), there were lots of familiar faces. But I shamelessly admit that any human interaction is personally difficult and gruelling before 11AM (or maybe I’m just a naturally horrible human being), and so I sat down on one of the seats, smiled at the 12 glasses in front of me, got my notebook ready, and did my best not to spill anything.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 G. Descombes Morgon

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med ruby, legs
Nose: clean, med intensity, developing, red fruits, raspberry, cherry, earthiness, spice, floral
Mouth: dry, med- body, high acid, med fine tannin, med alcohol, med length, med flavour intensity, red fruits, floral
All in all: Good quality: a good balance is evident in the well-integrated high acidity. Although the flavour characteristics need a bit more time to show their best, the wine is elegant, being light but concentrated in the flavours, despite having a mere med length (although some said med+). Drink now, but has potential for short-term ageing.

2011 G. Descombes Morgon

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

I’m a big fan of the earthier Beaujolais crus, the ones I encounter being Juliénas, Moulin-à-Vent, and Morgon.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 Christophe Pacalet Beaujolais-Villages

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med+ ruby, purple rim
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, red fruit, black cherry, juicy raspberry, spice, floral, grapey
Mouth: dry, high acid, med- tannin, med alcohol, med- body, med flavour intensity, grapey, cherry, juicy, med length
All in all: Good quality: the high acidity and tongue-coating brightness is well balanced; 100 percent ambient yeast gives a lovely complexity. The finish could be longer, and the mid-palate seems a little hollow.
Identity guess: Mid-priced Beaujolais-Villages from France; 2 years old.
Is really:
 Mid-priced Beaujolais-Villages from France; 2 years old.

2011 Christophe Pacalet Beaujolais-Villages

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 6]

YES.

Let the record show that I actually guessed this wine correctly right down to the very wine – it was the only wine during the class in which I didn’t really second guess the grape, region, or any other factor.… read more

Quaffing

2009 Château du Bois de la Salle “Les Armoiries” Juliénas

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med ruby, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, earth, cinnamon, red fruits, cherry, raspberry, white pepper, floral, hints of smoke
Mouth: dry, med bodied, high acid, med fine tannin, med flavour intensity, med+ finish, med alcohol, raspberries, spice
All in all: Good quality: amazingly woven acid and a persisting earthy red fruit flavour show good quality, but a relatively simple combination of aromas and a slight alcohol imbalance are the negative points. Drink now, but has potential for short term ageing.

2009 Château du Bois de la Salle "Les Armoiries" JuliénasSometimes chunky Beaujolais is what I want after a bittersweet day. An area known for its bright and cheery red fruit is met with a fair amount of earthy sass in the Gamay grape of some of the ten Beaujolais crus (like Juliénas). … read more