Wine Tasting continued during the Summer with a meeting at Tim and Maggie’s home on Thursday August 3rd with two white wines and two red wines being served. Each of the four wines served had something unique about them, and generally all four wines had fans who said that they would buy it. As an example, one of the white wines served was a Vouvray Chenin Blanc (2021, $19.15) from the Bougrier family in Loire, France that was off dry making suitable as an aperitif. Another example was the Chateux Haut Balastard (2021, $14.85) that was from the Bordeaux region of France that was less than $25.00 – the minimum that you would expect to pay for a good Bordeaux.
Another thing that made this August meeting unique was that attendees were invited to try tasting the red wines with food, as well as served alone. Comments on adding food to the tasting was that it made the wine lighter and toned down the flavour when paired with cheeses, crackers, or other food. Reactions were mixed on whether the red wines were better with food or not.
Below are the two wines enjoyed by the majority of people at the last Wine Tasting event of the Summer.
Niagara Penninsula, Ontario – Unoaked Chardonnay, Kacaba Vineyards, 2020
This wine was quite popular with our wine tasters with 7 out 11 (64%) saying that they would buy this wine. This wine was unique as it was a Chardonnay (which is usually not a popular wine among our Club members), that most of the attendees said that they would buy. The price of the wine was $15.95, which has not changed in the last five years, and it has a 13.5% alcohol content. Awards include winning a Double-Gold, Best of Category at the All Canadian Wine Championships in 2021, and a Silver Medal at the Ontario Wine Awards in 2022.
This sustainable VQA wine from Vineland was described by the participants as being light, dry, with a citrus/grapefruit flavour, resulting in a little bit of a pucker when initially tasted. The LCBO states that it is a pale straw colour; with a light aromas of nuts, citrus fruit and lees; light to medium bodied and fresh on the palate with green apple and citrus notes. It is described by its producers a bright, crisp and clean wine that is wonderfully balanced, dry and refreshing.
This wine is said to pair well with pork, rich fish such as salmon or tuna, poultry, cream based dishes, salad or vegetarian meals.
Bollina,Tuscany, Italy– Blended Red, Cletus from Cortemedicea, 2019
This was the most popular wine served with 11 out 12 of the attendees saying that they would buy it. This red wine was a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Sangiovese with 13.9% alcohol, made in a cutting-edge style using temperature control, ultrafine filtering and micro-oxygenation. It was priced at $18.95 per bottle, which is unusually inexpensive for a Tuscan wine. Luca Maroni gave it a score of 98 out of a 100 on his website lucamaroni.com on Dec. 29, 2020. While many other wine reviewers view this score as an overstatement, it still is a good wine for the price point.
Our wine tasters described the wine as smooth, medium to full bodied, with legs when it is swirled. The LCBO says to expect plenty of dark berry fruit, blackcurrant and mocha shading, and to pair it with braised beef or lamb. Natalie MacLean states that the wine is lush and zesty with dark berry, black currant, mocha, savoury herb and subtle spice flavours. It is juicy and refined on the palate. Enjoy with lamb chops from the grill. Other suggestions are that this wine would go well with cured meats, veal, and poultry.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 