December 1st: I was invited to a tasting put on by the Port Dalhousie Underground – sixteen wines, mainly sweet.
Here is the list, which doesn’t include the half-bottle I found in my cellar.
My top scoring wines were the two Loire wines – 1989 Moulin Touchais and 1989 Domaine des Baumard, 1990 Von Simmern Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Rielsing TBA, my bottle of 1989 Hambacher Ortega TBA, 2011 Klein Constantia “Vin de Constance”, Jose Maria de Fonseca Muscat de Setubal “Alambre” and the miraculous 1946 Bodegas Toro Albala Pedro Ximenes Don P.X. Convento Seleccion from Montilla-Moriles.
After such a magnificent tasting, the beers went down very well.
Other wines tasted this week:
Township 7 Seven Stars Rigel 2020 (Fool’s Gold Vineyard, Okanagan)
Pale straw in colour; very active mousse of tiny bubbles; toasty, yeasty nose of apple and brioche; medium-bodied, crisply dry, lemony green apple flavours with a honeyed note in mid palate. Great length. Very satisfying. (91)
Malivoire Stouck Farmstead Red 2020 (Lincoln Lakeshore, $26.95, winery only)
61% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon. Opaque purple in colour; spicy, toasty, vanilla and blackberry nose with a suggestion of pepper; medium-bodied, dry, firmly structured, plum and blackberry flavours carried on fresh acidity. (89)
Château des Charmes Rosé 2017 (Niagara-on-the-Lake, $34.95)
Traditional method, blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Lovely coral pink colour with an amber hue; vigorous mousse of tiny bubbles; a nose of strawberries and red apples; medium-bodied, dry, elegant with a flavour of wild strawberries carried on lemony acidity. (90)
Hester Creek Syrah 2020 (Okanagan Valley, $29.99)
Deep ruby in colour; lightly floral, blackberry and black olive bouquet with oak spice; medium to full-bodied, dry, black plum flavour, finishing on a saline note. (89)
Claymore London Calling Cabernet Malbec 2019 (Claire Valley, South Australia, $19.95, Vintages #522110; to be released December 17th)
30% Malbec, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep purple-ruby in colour; toasty, tobacco, blackcurrant and vanilla nose; full-bodied, richly extracted, intense blackcurrant, black plum and dark chocolate flavours with balancing acidity and soft tannins. (92)
Jim Barry Single Vineyard Eastern Ranges Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Clare Valley, South Australia; $29.95, Vintages #26925; released December 3)
Dense, deep purple-ruby in colour; spicy, coconut and vanilla nose of black fruits; full-bodied, dry, intense and concentrated, richly extracted cassis flavour, firmly structured with ripe tannins. (90)
Paolo Leo Passo del Cardinale Primitivo di Manduria 2020 (Puglia; $19.95, Vintages #496463)
Dense purple-ruby in colour; intense Christmas cake nose with vanilla oak notes: full-bodied, dry, plum and currant flavours carried on lively acidity. (91)
