The Very Merry Month

The May 10^th Vintages release brings us a mixed bag of goodies including a tempting treat for Pinot Noir fans, a good deal on a Nahe Riesling and two gorgeous reds from opposite sides of the globe, and one really great Vintages in-store discovery.

Get yourself outside to see some floral fireworks over the next week or two.  Our private and public gardens are exploding with colour that only happens in these parts for all-too-short a time.

Vintages Release – May 10^th, 2008

Spätburgunder Rhymes with Orange…

Balthasar Ress

Spätburgunder Trocken

QbA 2004

Rheingau, Germany

(66498) $12.59

120 (12 pack) cases available

In 1870 Hattenheim hotelier Balthasar Ress founded a winery with the intent to produce high quality Rheingau wines for his catering business and hotel.  Today the winery estate is run by the fourth and fifth generation of the Ress family, Stefan and his son, Christian.  Balthasar Ress owns 40 hectares of vineyards, the majority of which are near the town of Hattenheim.

There is not a lot of Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) planted in the Rheingau so fruit for this wine is collected from various sites. 

This Pinot Noir has pleasant cherry, spice and cranberry on the nose with a teeny hint of barnyard.  It shows medium-bodied fruitiness that is dry and well balanced.  Focused berry fruit and mixed spice make this package an absolute delight, and at a price just shy of $15 it is an affordable treat!

Kruger-Rumpf

Munsterer Pittersberg

Riesling Kabinett

QmP 2006

Nahe, Germany

(692368) $16.86

100 (12 pack) cases available

We sampled this charmingly fruity Riesling at this week’s German Wine Fair to rave reviews.  It was also great fun to say “Kruger Rumpf” all night long.  Wines from the lower Nahe region are nicely concentrated with a fine balance of mineral acidity and crisp, mouthwatering fruitiness.  This Kabinett shows nice spice and mineral notes on the nose and palate with a mélange of cool and tropical fruits as well.  The wine has a delicious off-dry finish of citrus fruit and green apples.  Drink this now with some Cambozola, fruit and a bit of duck foie gras mousse.

d’Arenberg

The Galvo Garage

Cabernet Merlot/Cabernet Franc 2004

McLaren Vale, South Australia

(907584) $22.84

500 (6 pack) cases available

êêêêê winecurrent.com

“From the best vintage in living memory, this is richly textured, full bodied and robustly flavoured. Look for aromas of spice, creosote and cherry and a concentrated gusher of cassis, black currant and mulberry flavours in this 'Bordeaux blend' red. Tightly wound by grippy tannins now, cellar a case of this for splendid drinking 2012 to 2020. If you're starting or augmenting a cellar, or simply wanting to experience an incredible wine, pick up a whack of it”.

The Galvo Garage offers another glimpse of winemaker’s Chester Osborne’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.  ‘Garage wines’ are made in many famous growing regions including Bordeaux where they are considered by many (Robert Parker) to be the real thing, while others (Jancis Robinson) suggests that they are fads and will disappear soon.  The Italians have their super-Tuscan Bolgheri wines and the good folks in Napa have their fill of Screaming Eagle-like Garagistes.  Here are Chester’s complete tasting notes for the ’04 Galvo Garage:

“Upon release the deep dark, garnet appearance suggests a powerful full-bodied wine. Upon raising your glass the exotic array of classical cabernet blackcurrant cassis, ripe berries, green runner bean and sumac characters dominate your senses but with poise, almost like a sense of real perfume. A dark chocolate, blackcurrant and prune juice mix of flavours dominates with, mulberries, dark plums, cherries, mocha, lavender, cut flower stems and violets laced with spices.

The palate is cool in character, tightly structured; plenty of depth with a very fine array of chocolaty tannins swirling around. A lovely fresh mint acidic background gives dryness to the intense black / red fruit finish.

The mid palate and finish is complex and challenging as the fragrant fruit characters are trapped in a cocoon of grittiness. As it opens up it looks more Margaux like with its vibrant aromas crossed with Napa tannins and mid palate power and a Bolgheri finish, but it’s McLaren Vale through and through”.

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet”.

Romeo and Juliet

Casa De Santa Vitoria Tinto 2005

Vinho Regional Alentejano, Portugal

(70896) $15.15

200 (12 pack) cases available

The Alentejano region is alive with experimentation, new wine making techniques and a ton of young new winemaking talent.  If you want to know what the future of world-class Portuguese wine tastes like, give this a whirl!  This Tinto’s cepage includes Aragonez (Spanish Tempranillo), French Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and the Portuguese native Trincadeira (Tinta Amarela). 

Wow! You’ll see rich, deep purple-red colour.  On the nose there is a traffic jam of dark plums, strawberry, cherry, spice, smoke and vanilla (almost a bit like an intense Dr. Pepper smell).  The wine is mid to full-bodied with pleasing ripe cherry notes and a juicy-fruit acidity which gives the wine verve.  The finish is intense and warm with tannin and spice finishing long and flavoursome. 

This is one of those wines that you might pick up on Saturday and wait for a couple of weeks to open.  Eureka! This is THE barbecue wine that you’ve been looking for.  You trundle back to your local Vintages location to discover that all of your neighbours had the exact same reaction and now, sadly, it is all gone.

I would venture to guess that these 200 cases will disappear rather quickly.

It is interesting to note that portions of this wine were made by a very clever robotic system called a pigeaur, which simulates the traditional foot pressing. The wine spent nine months in American and French oak casks and another six months of ageing in the bottle before release.

Try with robust tomato-based dishes, full-flavoured grilled foods and with moderately strong cheese.

Insider’s In-Store-Discovery

Among the many benefits of your Imbiber’s Report subscription is that you are given a big insider’s ‘heads-up’ with little gems like the following.

Eileen Hardy Shiraz 2002

McLaren Vale, Australia

(461368) $76.80

56 (6 pack) cases available

We featured this wine at the trade and public wine tasting at Santé this week.  There is healthy demand from restaurants and collectors, so if you plan to pick some up, please do so early.  The 2002 has only just been released and has not been reviewed by the press.  Here are my notes from tasting it this week at Santé:

Rich, inky red black in colour.  Mouthwatering aromas of deep concentrated dark fruit, mulberry, plum jam, vanilla spice, tobacco and eucalyptus all vie for your attention.  Multiple layers of fruit – blackberries, blueberries, cherry and strawberry are mixed with star anise, nutmeg, black pepper, smoke and vanilla on the palate.  A fresh cranberry / pomegranate-like acidity maintains perfect balance and adds poise and elegance to the mid-palate.  The tannins are maturing well and give the wine a fine, silky-textured mouthfeel reminiscent of medium-roasted fruity coffee and bittersweet chocolate.  The finish is long, intense and complex with spice and fruit lingering indefinitely.  The 2002 Eileen Hardy Shiraz shows all of the hallmarks that are expected of this Australian icon and can be summed up in two words; powerful elegance.

Classics Collection

Willm Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives 2004

Alsace, France

(62695) $44.40

10 (12 pack) cases available

90 Points Wine Spectator

“Starts out smooth and rich, with lychee and butterscotch flavors and a hint of grapefruit.  Firms up a little from midpalate to finish, with a slight astringency.  Think Muenster.  Drink now through 20015.”

The minimum age of the vines used by Alsace Willm when producing this delightful elixir is 15 years. It is only made in exceptional vintages when the conditions are perfect for producing vendanges tardives.

Once the noble rot has set in and the grapes are fully ripe and mature, the grapes are handpicked and brought to the cellars.  The whole bunch pressing in the pneumatic presses is slow (4.5 hours) and soft in order to have the best extraction.  Decantation happens at low temperatures and only then is fermentation allowed to start.  This fermentation can take between 3 and 3.5 months.  Once finished, the wine rests for another 4 to 5 months in tank or vat until a light fining and soft filtering if necessary. Once bottled the wines are kept in the Willm cellars for at least 3 years before being offered to the public.  This is a perfect wine for any cuisine with sweet and sour notes, poached or en terrine foie gras, honeyed turkey, grouse or duck.

All orders for the Classics Collection need to be placed by e-mail or fax by 5:00 pm Wednesday, May 21.  For all the details, go to www.vintages.com and click on the Classics Collection link for May 2008.