Blog - Why, oh why, is the quintessence of wine kept from Ontarians?
Friday, June 12:
On a bike trip, 5 km can be a long way away, especially after you’ve had a big lunch. During my Naked Wine Show research trip in the Loire Valley, I have had a couple of occasions to realize this. In those instances where you simply can’t go tooling around the vineyards in search of a friendly winemaker who will let you taste his/her stuff, then ride away empty-handed, there are places like the Maison des Vins in Saumur. This “house of wines” offers examples of regional wines such as those from the AOCs of Touraine, Saumur-Champigny, and Chinon. They have both small and large producers, with a variety of price points.
We started with Ch. de Fresne 2008 Anjou Blanc, (made from Chenin Blanc) which was light and lively, with some lemon rind notes. Good for drinking right now. In comparison, the Ch. Pierre-Bise 2007 from Anjou smelled and tasted more like cooked apples, and baking spice, and could be cellared for a few years. It’s a much fuller wine, from a much warmer year, and the difference was easily noted.
Moving on to another study in contrasts, we sampled Domaine de la Girardrie sparkling wine, made in the tradional method from Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Franc. Dry, with flavours of Golden Delicious apple, and a higher level of acidity, it would make a great sipper for cocktail hour. The next sparkler was Gratien & Meyer Cuvee Flamme, that smelled of tangerines and smoke. Quite dry, racy acidity, and with a short finish.
After the Maison des Vins, I needed to get going, but not before I made one final stop in the tiny village of Parnay. There I was treated to a sampling of wines from Ch. de Targe. This winery is nearly bio-dynamic, and currently does not sell any of its wines in Ontario. This is a shame, because absolutely everything I tried was fantastic. The wine that stood out the most for me was ‘Quintessence’ 2005. 100% Cabernet Franc, it was fermented in new oak casks, and rings in at 14.5% alc. Opaque plum colour, with a high intensity nose of green pepper, baked black fruit, and some game notes. On the palate it was dry, with a full body, and flavours of dark fruit, tobacco, and smoke. Long, long length. Gorgeous. If you’re going to VinExpo in a few weeks, look for the house, they will be in Hall 1.
All that wine tasting made me hungry, so the evening was capped off with some asparagus, and some duck with mushrooms and green beans, followed by chocolate cake. No, it’s not a bad life.
Check out the original post at http://www.nationalpost.com/arts
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