Since our enforced departure from Las Vegas on Monday, March 23rd, we have been in self-isolation at our house in St. Catharines, relying on the kindness of strangers and good friends alike to keep us in fodder. We have spent that last twelve days of our fourteen-day incarceration, not writing King Lear, but working on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle that now commands our kitchen table, forcing us to eat at the counter. It’s a sentimental painting by Norman Rockwell (but then, weren’t all his paintings sentimental?). In those hours not getting backache bent over the kitchen table, I have been cataloging my wine cellar and finding all kinds of hidden treasure, some of which we have been forced to rink before they – and we – get over the hill. And the tastings of wine that still, mercifully, arrives at the door.
The puzzle
The progress… after a week of on-and-off application
On Saturday I participated in a global toast to the late Michael Broadbent, an event created by his son Bartholomew on his Facebook page. Everyone opened a bottle and sent a message from 3 pm. I opened a bottle of the Jackson-Triggs Entourage 2016 (reviewed below). Michael was the quintessential man of wine and a great teacher and mentor to millions.
Toasting Michael Broadbent
Fish Hoek Sauvignon Blanc 2017 (Western Cape, $9.95, LCBO #129726)
Very pale straw in colour; grapefruit nose with a light floral note; light to medium-bodied, crisply dry and, good fruit expression with lime, grapefruit and gooseberry flavours. Good length. (89)
Fish Hoek Shiraz 2017 (Western Cape, $9.95, LCBO #129734)
Deep ruby colour; cedary, savoury nose of blackberry with herbal notes; medium to full-bodied, dry, savoury, blackberry flavour with lively acidity and a note of iodine on the finish. (89)
Spoken Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Washington, $24.95 – 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Syrah, 3% Merlot)
Dense purple in colour; cedary, plum nose with a herbal note; medium to full-bodied, dry, savoury, dark chocolate flavours. (88.5)
Maison Latour Mâcon-Lugny Les Genièvres 2018 (Burgundy, $21.95)
Bright, pale straw in colour; minerally nose of apple with a touch of underbrush; medium-bodied, dry, richly extracted flavours of apple and green pineapple with a touch of minty-ness on the finish. (89)
Boasso Barolo Commune di Serralunga 2015 (Piemonte, $39.95, Vintages #109116)
Ruby colour with a tawny rim; a bouquet of dried rose petals and cherries; medium-bodied, dry, elegant, beautifully balanced and firm yet silky on the palate with cherry and red plum flavours and resolved tannins. (92)
Marques de Riscal 2015 (Rioja, $24.75, Vintages #32656)
Deep ruby in colour; cedary, cherry nose with a light coconut note; medium-bodied, dry, tobacco, plum and strawberry flavours; well-balanced and harmonious. (90)
Marques de Riscal Rueda 2019 (Rueda – Verdejo, $13.95)
Pale straw in colour with a lime tint; slightly grassy, minerally nose of green plum with an ote of green herbs; medium-bodied, crisply dry, fresh and tart, lively on the palate with lemony acidity and a long clean finish. (90)
Jackson-Triggs Entourage 2016 (Niagara Peninsula, $34.95 – LCBO & Wine Rack Stores, April 4th)
Sparkling wine finished with Icewine. Old gold colour; honey and apple on the nose; medium-bodied, off-dry, apple and honey flavours with a note of ginger. Easy drinking. (89)
In cataloguing my cellar I came across this treasure: Inniskillin’s first vintage of Icewine
