One Word Wines


Following the decline in wines named after animals, it seems like the new trend is wines with one word in the title. Short, catchy and easy to remember, they dont yet have the baggage carried by their annoyingly cute competitors. Im tired of penguins and bears crawling across my sideboard and its time for something new. So this post is my tribute to some of the best one-word wines Ive enjoyed lately: Zed Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand - $12.40 @ the MLCC). Being a contrary kind of person, I think Ill start at the end of the alphabet. Zed (made by Montana Wines) is a new Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. (Zed. Zealand. Very cute). Its well-priced (especially for a Kiwi wine), well-made, has a neat label, a catchy name and its sure to be a success this summer. And its really good too, even if it aint no Fish Hoek. Loads of lemons, herbs and melon on the nose and in the mouth, with softer fruit than you typically find in a Kiwi Sauv. Its got the zippy acidity so common to this part of the world, but its not overwhelming, and is a great introduction to New Zealand at a good price. 

Bloom Riesling (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer - $13.99 @ DeLucas). Like many other people in the wine world, Im a sucker for a good Riesling. Especially at this time of the year. Spring just seems tailor-made for crisp, light white wines. Bloom has a beautifully floral nose (almost like lilacs) with some mineral overtones. Having recently moved eleven yards of gravel around my backyard, Id say that it has a hint of gravel to it. But since I didnt wear a dust mask, everything has a hint of gravel these days. In the mouth, its a classic German Riesling. Loads of peaches, more flowers, some sweetness and lots of acidity to balance it off. Its as close to perfection as youll find from Germany for under $15. We served it up with a selection of fine Indian dishes from Ivory and it went well with everything, and was even better the next day. And I love the marketing. My biggest problem with German wines is the labels. Ive learned to figure them out, but Ive seen people walk away from some beautiful German wines just because they cant decipher the labels. Dr. Loosen (maker of the fabulous Dr. L Riesling) gets it, and so do the folks at Bloom. Marketing is key when there are such a wide selection of good Rieslings to choose from. So kudos to the folks at DeLucas. Im glad they took a chance and brought this one in. Theres also a Muller-Thurgau from the same folks with a similarly-catchy one word name, which (strangely enough) runs for $15. I havent tried it yet, but I cant imagine it being better than the Bloom.

Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon (California - $18 @ Kenaston Wine Market). One of the few downsides to living in Canada (aside from the weather) is that American wines are really expensive. I travel to the States pretty regularly, and its hard going to Minneapolis and finding wines for $7 or $8 (US) that you cant find for under $20 at home. Having said that, the Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon is a great value for $18 (Canadian). Avalon Winery focuses on making fine Cabernets. They have a California bottling and a Napa Valley bottling. Both are fantastic, but only one is a "one-word wine". Ill cover the Napa Valley bottling another day. I think they are also connected in some way to the folks who make Rock Rabbit (Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc) and Mark West (Pinot and Chardonnay). Suffice to say that the name may be short but the wine is not. Lots of beautiful berry, plum and chocolate flavours shine through here, and are wrapped around a core of soft and tasty tannins. Youll even pick a little hint of the dustiness that I've found in great Napa wines (although this is mostly sourced from Central and North Coast fruit). For $18, its a great California wine. And the companion Avalon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is an even better value for $25.

Lindeman’s Bin 35 Rosé


A dependable dry rosé for the summertime is a very good thing. I enjoy white wine, but sometime I just crave the richness of flavour found in red wines. And the blistering heat and humidity of summer are not a friendly match with bigger red wines. That’s where rosés come into the picture. The drier they are, the more they will satisfy your red wine cravings, without being too overwhelming (try a big Cabernet outdoors in mid-July and you’ll see what I mean). Judging by my experience yesterday, I think the Lindeman’s Bin 35 will be a frequent visitor to my fridge this summer. I’ve passed this one up a few times in the past, but after spending most of the weekend on yard work, I was craving a cold glass of wine. The rest of the wines in the Lindeman’s Bin series are usually good, so I decided to give the Bin 35 a try. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but it was a pretty good move on my part. Made from Grenache and Shiraz, this wine packs a lot of flavour into the glass. It’s a bit darker than most rosés I’ve come across lately, and the nose has a lot of sweet fruit (cherry for the most part). But it’s soft and dry in the mouth, with more fruit (cherries again and some raspberries) and a little hint of spice. I had this by itself, but it would be a great match with BBQ chicken, grilled salmon or even home-made burgers. As a bonus, it’s on sale at the MLCC for $9.99 right now. Stock up for the summer, it’s worth it.

Wine Blogging "Lite" Reds


For the twenty-second edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday (hosted by the fine folks at Winecast), the focus is on "lite" alcohol reds. Specifically, red wines with 12.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) or less. Given our less-than-perfect climate, Canada (especially Ontario) is home to a lot of good light reds. I chose to go with an Ontario wine, the Konzelmann Estate Pinot Noir (VQA - 2004 vintage). Konzelmann is a boutique winery in Ontario which is best known for their Germanic-style wines. Not surprising, given that the owner comes from a winemaking family from Stuttgart. They do a very nice range of Rieslings, an neat Zwiegelt and some nice icewines, including (in good years only) a Riesling-Traminer icewine and a Cabernet Sauvignon icewine. Interestingly enough, they also label wines with both the German and English names. So as you can see by the label, my bottle proudly flew the Spatburgunder flag high. Enough rambling. Let’s talk about the Konzelmann Estate Pinot Noir. This wine is only 12% alcohol, so fits in perfectly with the theme of this month’s tasting.

It’s in the general listing at the MLCC, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find. And it’s well-priced, you can pick up a bottle for $12.30 (CDN) plus tax. In the glass, it showed a darker colour than I expected, with a strong sour cherry nose and plenty of Pinot Noir funkiness. And beets. For the first time ever, I actually smelled beets in the glass! Moving past the beets with some difficulty, I found (not surprisingly) sour cherries in the mouth. They were joined by strawberries, more of that gloriously nasty Pinot funk and some very well-balanced tannins with a long finish. This is a tasty, well-priced Pinot that shows what Niagara can do. It’s not the most accessible Pinot Noir (try the Saint Clair from an earlier post), but with some age and the right food pairing, it would be excellent. And longtime readers will know that I do love those nasty funky Pinots. I’d recommend leaving this one to settle for a few years. I think this is a wine that will improve with some age. If you’d like to drink it now, pair it with food, try some lean wild salmon, duck or even a big plate of sushi. And if you’re going to serve it in the heat of the summer, chill it for ten or fifteen minutes to make sure the Pinot funk shines.