Chilean wine line-up

Monday, November 30th: Wrote my Post City column on Port and also my 680 NEWS wine reviews. In the evening down to The Chase for a dinner with four friends. Ordered oysters and veal chop. We brought our own wines:

• Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chaumées 2011
• Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet 2004
• Guigal Côtes Rôtie La Mouline 1997
• Dr. Crusius Traiser Riesling Eiswein 2009 from the Nahe

A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Tuesday, December 1st: Took the car in for winter tires and then to an appointment with my dermatologist (all well). Tasted a few wines to celebrate:

• Tenuta Poggioverrano Dromos Maremma Toscana 2005 ($39.95): deep ruby colour; a nose of Bing cherries with a meaty note lifted with subtle oak tinge; rich and full on the palate and beautifully balanced with black cherry, blackcurrant and tobacco flavours and underlying minerality. Still youthful and fresh. (93)
• Beringer Founder’s Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (Napa -$16.95): richly extracted, round and fleshy on the palate with a peach flavour and lively acidity. (87)
• Beringer Founder’s Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 (Napa – $17.95): deep ruby colour; cedar and blackcurrant nose; sweet fruit that finishes dry. Easy drinking. (87+)
• Quails’ Gate Merlot 2011 (Okanagan): deep ruby-purple colour; cedary, tobacco and blueberry bouquet; medium-bodied, dry and savoury with a fine spine of acidity. (89)

Wednesday, December 2nd: Spent much of the day on Grapes for Humanity business – getting the wines together for a Chef Massimo Capra dinner we auctioned off at our “Italy Uncorked” event last May. And paying bills. Tasted one wine, which we finished with a beef stir-fry for dinner: Mitolo Jester Shiraz 2013 (McLaren Vale – $22.95): dense purple colour with a herbal, blackberry, black tea and leather nose; full-bodied, rich bitter chocolate and black fruit flavours. (89)

Thursday, December 3rd: Recorded my 680 NEWS wine reviews and then drove down to the Chef’s House at George Brown for a lunch meeting. The manager told me my lunch partner had called in to say she was sick. So I picked up a chicken curry at Amaya Express on King Street and ate it at home. Worked on the novel.

Friday, December 4th: A Vintages release tasting this morning, then stopped into New York Fries on the way home. Ordered a small fries, which I ate from the bag as I walked home (even though my mother taught me not to eat in the street).

At 5:30 pm down to Hola Tapas Bar on Queen Street East to conduct a tasting of Chilean wines for 24 people, matched with Chilean dishes. The wines:

• Errazuriz Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2014
• Santa Alicia Gran Reserve de Los Chardonnay 2013
• Santa Digna Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2013
• San Pedro 1865 Single Vineyard Carmenère 2013
• Falerna Reserva Syrah 2010