EUREKA! The California Wine Discovery

The Eureka! wine tasting took place on April 22 within the confines of the historic Carlu venue at College Park. 

We started the tasting with the 2022 Grenache Blanc from the Acquiescence winery in the Lodi region of California. It is a slightly bubbly wine with nice acidity and depth. Also from the Lodi region, we sampled the Albarino from Bokisch vineyards that we found to be fruity, semi-sweet with low acidity.


After this intro, we headed to the Bonterra Organic Vineyards that had built a rustic pavilion in which to showcase their wines. On the way, we made quick stop at the food stand, where we had a delicious assortment of cuts, cheeses and dried fruits to prepare us for the tastings ahead.


At Bonterra, we had their Cab Sauvignon with lots of body, deep tannins and a hint of sweetness. 


We moved on to Wente, a 140 year old family-owned estate winery, where we started with the Sauvignon Blanc, of which 168 cases are coming to LCBO in October. We also tasted the Pinot Noir, a single vineyard wine with good acidity, the best Pinot Noir in this tasting season so far. We believe this wine could even retain its qualities while chilled. 

When we got to Dry Creek Winery, we tried the Zinfandel, a light wine with good tannins and acidity.


Similarly, we tried the reserve Zinfandel, a full bodied wine from Klinker Brick Winery, a 110 year old single vineyard. 

Hoopes Vineyard, from Napa, was our next stop, we sampled their 2023 Rose, 70% Cab Sauvignon with Merlot, Syrah, Malbec and Petit Verdot thrown in for good measure. The result: a low acidity wine with good balance and body. In addition, we tasted the 2018 vintage of the winery's flagship wine: the Cabernet Sauvignon. Between 2008 and 2012 the Cab Sauvignon was the only wine made by the winery. The 2018 vintage exhibits balanced acidity; would pair very well with steak. The 2019 vintage, which we also tasted, has more acidity and fruitiness, and costs half as much as the 2018!


Returning to California's Lodi region, we tried Caraccioli's bubbly, an equal blend of Pinot Noir and Chard, hailing from Santa Lucia highlands. It is a 2021 estate wine that follows organic practices, with creamy foam and lots of fresh red berry notes. 


At Frey, we tasted the 2018 Viognier, a certified USDA organic, stainless steel-fermented wine, containing no sulfites, with fruity aroma and a bit of acidity, reminiscent of Vinho Verde. We also tasted the Petite Syrah, a purple wine with nice balance and low tannins. 


Our tasting concluded with two brands under the same umbrella, Sebastiani Chardonnay, a wine where the oak comes through strongly in a pleasant way, and the Chalk Hill Chardonnay, a wine with lots of fruitiness and good acidity.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Drink Chile 2023

Image
On November 20 we went to the venerable Windsor Arms hotel in Toronto, where a large hall was fully loaded with food and drink, awaiting the sommeliers, restaurateurs, wine brokers, press and members of the general public, there to spend an enjoyable and, in many cases, productive afternoon. For once, we decided to go by the book, that is the tasting guide and notes book, as opposed to our usual mix and match. Keeping with the organization theme, we decided to take a quick tour of the tasting tables and familiarize ourselves with the layout and find the food table. For us, who just taste some of the wines, but drink others, it is important to get a certain measure of food, especially cheese, in order to be able to last all the way. It is well known that fat is dampening the effects of alcohol, enabling one to have a larger intake.  So, we started the tasting at Arboleda wines, to us a new producer. We first tried the Brisa, a full-bodied wine with deep, mineral acidity. We proceeded to
Read more

The Oregon and Washington State Wine Expedition (Toronto) 2024

Image
This year the Toronto iteration of the Oregon and Washington State Wine Expedition was hosted on April 8 at the El Mocambo historic venue with exhibitors spread over two floors. There were both first time exhibitors and others that have become fixtures of this yearly show. Upon arrival, we were led to the second floor of the venue (the main floor of the tasting). Food this time was pass-around and kept coming regularly. Our focus this year were mainly white and rose wines, and wines one does not expect to find in the regions exhibited. So, upon arrival at the A to Z a winery, that we also sampled from last year, we started with the 2022 Oregon Rose Wine, a San Giovese Pinot Noir blend, a wine with nice acidity retailing at LCBO for $27.95. We continued with the Pinot Gris. a low acidity, smooth on the palate wine, retailing for $24.95.  We next stopped at Solena's stand, another winery that we sampled from before. Here we tried the Grande Cuvee Pinot Noir, a wine with a profund aro
Read more