There's a World of Great Wine: Thoughts about Lifford's 2011 Grand Tasting

The world of wine is a big one and it's only getting bigger as more unconventional wine countries like China, India and Thailand develop further and increase production. To complicate matters if you look at the terroir, people, winemaking and the grapes each region has something unique and special about it. Which if your a wine lover makes the whole journey of finding that special bottle that much more exciting and rewarding. But even for the dedicated oenophile staying on top of a region let alone a world of wine is a bit of a daunting task. That's why having the opportunity to taste a wide range of wine carefully selected from around the world is the perfect opportunity to get some insight into what's happening in the world of wine. One such event is the Lifford Grand Tasting. This year's tasting featured 51 wineries from Lifford's award winning portfolio of international wineries. The proceeds also go to Delisle Youth Services which works with youth and their families so that that they can learn grow and thrive.

One of the standouts from the tasting was from right here in Canada: Painted Rock. Located on shores overlooking the stunning Skaha Lake this winery is on the former property of the largest apricot orchard in the British Commonwealth. As far as tender fruits go apricots tend to be the most finicky so clearly this is a great piece of land. Despite only purchasing the land in 2004 and planting a year later, the winery has quickly made a name for itself as a top quality producer. The focus is on the five Bordeaux grapes (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petite Verdot. The flagship 2008 Red Icon is a meritage blend of 20% Merlot, a quarter each Malbec and Cabernet Franc with the remainder being Petite Verdot. That's right none of that other Cabernet grape. This wine had beautiful aromas and flavours of cassis, black plums and blackberries. Joining the fruit were flavours of cocoa, vanilla and oak spice. Underlying that was a savoury cigar box element that balanced nicely and gave it a dimension beyond the ripe fruit. It possessed the strong acidity and tannic structure to suggest it will develop and drink well over the next few years. The wine that really intrigued me was the 2008 Syrah. The Skinner family, which owns the winery, fell in love with wine touring the south of France where Syrah is behind some of the region's best wines. The wine is full of lush black cherry, bramble, white pepper, vanilla and oak spice. But what really drew me me in were the seductive leather and gamey notes. It was lush and juicy without being over the top and had the tannins and acid structure that made me want to revisit it in a few years.

Another outstanding producer was Kiwi producer Craggy Range. If you've ever tried a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and thought 'I like it but I would love it' if it didn't try so hard for attention the this is the one for you. Over the past forty years the Kiwi take on Sauvignon Blanc with vibrant grassy and tropical flavours has become a world benchmark. Sometimes that style can lack a bit of finesse but not with the 2010 Te Muna Road Vineyard from Craggy Range. It has aromas and flavours of gooseberry, passionfruit, citrus and herbal grassiness that cannot be mistaken for anything but New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. But it manages to do so with an elegance and subtlety that you don't often come across in the Kiwi take on this grape. The majority of fruit is de-stemmed rather than whole bunch pressed and fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak barriques and stainless steel. The result is a wine that retains balanced acidity with a slightly rounder and fuller mouthfeel than the average Sauvignon Blanc. Another favourite was the 2009 Gimblett Gravels (Block 14) Syrah. This was more food-friendly cool climate Syrah than inky jammy warmer climate Shiraz. Blueberries, black current, black plum are rounded out with rose petals before the perfumed kick of Tellicherry black peppercorns on the finish. It's a well balanced wine with a medium mouthfeel, acidity and just enough grippy tannins to pair well with heartier meat dishes.

The last outstanding wine was the 2006 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato. If you've never had a top quality of Barolo this was a wonderful chance. Barolo is the enigma of the wine world and the grape of romance. Barolo is 100% Nebbiolo, the notoriously fickle grape, that's carefully tended to by small family run estates in the fog covered hills of Piedmont, Italy. It has the power and finesse of a thoroughbred horse and only really begins to reveal it's mysteries and true potential after years of careful finishing. It looks relatively innocuous and light with a bricking garnet red colour but make no mistake this is a serious wine. There were aromas and flavours of dried black cherries, berries, tar, earthy truffles and oak spice and they concentrated without being heavy. To open this wine now is a bit of shame because it's simply nowhere close to its peak. Yes, acidity is strong and food friendly and food would help to tame some of the strong tannins that slowly build and take over as you taste. But for those with patience, years of cellaring will help tame those tannins and allow the wine to reveal its secrets and nuisances.

Pinot Gris, It's not you it's me

I don't hate Pinot Gris. I just wanted to get that out there because people seemed to have the impression that I do. I love wine too much to hate any grape. For me what makes wine so exciting is the possibilities. Between the grape, the viticultural practices, the fermentation and the wine making techniques there's enough potential to cause the indecisive to have a nervous breakdown. Then when you throw in the variation that a cool climate blesses Ontario with you really have limitless possibilities. All of that conspires together in this little thing that drives any wine lover. I'm talking about the search for that one perfect wine from that one perfect vintage that suits you perfectly. You might not ever attain that perfection because as your tastes develop and as you learn more it can become a bit of a moving target. But if you've got the bug (if you're reading this you do) you're going to get damn close tasting a lot of great wines made by some passionate and amazing people. And you'll have lot of fun along the way doing it.

From Taste Gris

For me I'm not sure that one 'perfect' wine will ever come from the Pinot Gris grape. Although I haven't been privileged enough to visit the Alsace, which arguably produces the finest examples of Pinot Gris in the world, I have been lucky enough to visit Oregon's Willamette Valley home of the world's largest producer focused on top-quality Pinot Gris and BC's Okanagan Valley where it only trails the citizen-of-the-world that is Chardonnay in tonnage and value.I didn't fall in love with Pinot Gris during my visits there. The many wines I tried had lovely aromatics, but didn't really give me a whole lot more. That's what frustrates me about Pinot Gris. When I give it a swirl and lean into my the glass I get a wonderful nose full of flowers, pears and melon that sweetly entice me into to taking a sip. Once I take one that promise is almost never fulfilled. Although I love a wine that can beguile me a little it can only get by on its charming nose for so long before it has to deliver in other ways. Instead of doing that Pinot Gris just makes me long for aromatic varieties like Riesling, Viognier, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir where I get an experience that satisfies on my tongue just as much as it on the nose.

I'm glad I wrote the initial tweet which inspired the whole #TasteGris event if for no other reason than it brought friends beyond the virtual community of Twitter into one room where we could share, discuss and taste together. That being said it really was a great learning experience for me. There were some very good wines, but more importantly there was a breadth of flavours and styles that prove it would be foolish to outright dismiss the grape entirely.

From Taste Gris

Some of my favourites of the afternoon were the 2009 Fielding Estate Rock Pile Pinot Gris with its peach, pear and the smallest hint of barrel spiciness. The partial barrel fermentation provided a beautifully rich mouth feel but there was also a nice lively acidity. In a single word: balanced. The Stoney Ridge Excellence from 2009 also had a a beautiful floral nose and delivered with peach and pear on the palate. It was interesting to experience the vintage variation between the 2009 and 2007 Thirty Bench Pinot Gris. According to the technical notes both wines were more or less made the same and yet the oak influence seemed to come through much more clearly on the 2009. The 2007 has a bit of pink easer on the nose before giving way to the pear, peach and melon. The mouth feel was quite rich on both making a strong argument for barrel fermentation. So was the difference primarily from vintage variation between the hot and dry 2007 and the cooler and wetter 2009 vintage? Or is it mainly the extra two years of bottle aging that the 2007 has over the 2009?

From Taste Gris

Lastly the 1992 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Clos Saint Urbain Rangen de Thann Grand Cru Tokay Pinot Gris really was something special. The beautiful golden colour, the botrytis influence of apricot and peach, the slight spiciness, the rich oily mouth feel and balancing acidity all added up to one magnificent wine. It was a bit of a revelation for me. Enough to make me a Pinot Gris lover? No, but certainly more than enough keep Pinot Gris in running to be the 'one' wine for me.

From Taste Gris

P.S. A big thank you goes out to Sandra Oldfield for organising the BC contingent of the our Pinot Gris line-up. We don't often get to taste BC's wines here in Ontario so it was privilege to get a taste of the Okanagan for this event. An extra special thanks goes out to Rick VanSickle for organising this even in my honour. Not only is he a true gentleman but he's a true ambassador for Canadian wine and Niagara wines in particular.