REVIEW - Raats 'Original' Chenin Blanc

REVIEW - Raats 'Original' Chenin BLANC
Stellenbosch, South Africa 2009

SKU: 721651  
Origin: South Africa
Agent: Marram Fine Wines Ltd.

 like the colour of straw, with a faint greenish hue. But I was in a room with industrial lighting so that may be off a bit.

In the Glass - This wine is a clear pale yellow,

On the Nose - It has a medium intensity, with clear creamy, tasty, nutty notes. Stone fruit like peach and pear. Some blanket citrus (apple, pineapple). Nice minerals , and a earthy wet wool smell that is a really common descriptor for Chenin Blanc or Semillon.

On the Palate - This dry wine has a strong medium acidity to it. With predominate flavors of apple pie, cooking spice, orange blossom and peel, peaches, apricot and blanket stone fruit. It has a creamy nature to it due to the fact that this wine is aged on its lees for 6 months prior to bottling. With a medium sized body, it has a good balance and a medium length finish. I find

For food pairings with this one i would go with any seafood and cream sauce, or a deep fried calamari. You can lay this one down for some age if you want, maybe 2 years at most, but she's good to go now, and for about $25 you really can't go wrong

Chenin Blancs to have a sort of viscosity to it, so when I tasted this wine blind it was relatively easy to feel that it wasn't a chardonnay, even though the tasting note i have here very much look like a chardonnay.

Chenin Blanc, known locally as Steen, has been a specialty of South African winemakers for over three hundred years. Chenin Blanc is an interesting little grape that South Africa has developed into its own creation. Known locally as "Steen", it originally started as a French varietal,  Traditionally coming out of the Loire, and predominantly being marketed on the grapes high acid content and age ability. Over all South Africa has had a real run of it when it comes to joining the global wine market, back in the 80's it was removed from the market, and after that they tried to market SA wine to a black only community, which obviously had huge political back lash. Racism what? But now they have a decent and ever growing global following and have even developed a grape all of their own called Pintoage, its a clone of Pinot Noir and Cinsault.

Cheers! 

REVIEW - 2009 Balland Chapuis Sancerre Le Vallon

REVIEW - 2009 BAlland Chapuis Sancerre Le Vallon 

SKU: 1090247  

Origin: France  |  Loire Valley
Agent: Nobilis Wine Importers Ltd.

In the Glass – This wine has a pale to medium lemon colour

On the Nose – This clean, medium intensity wine is fresh. With lots of citrus, specifically green apple, lemon zest, grass and hay. It has undertones of mushroom, with a stony/steely minerality.

On the Palate – This dry wine has a medium body with strong medium acidity. It sits on your palate with flavors of mint, pungent green pepper, and oyster minerals. Finishing long and with a grassy quality. Over all its well balanced and has a great "ocean breeze" quality to it. This comes from the chalky soils its grown in. I would call this wine very good. Especially to those out there who can appreciate the acidity.

According to their website Balland-Chapui has been owned by Guy Saget and his family since 1998, and it remains a historic name in Sancerre. Domaine Balland-Chapuis name has existed in Sancerre since the 17th Century.

With a Sancerre what you need to know is that this isn't a Sauvignon Blanc that is full of tropical new world fruit. Its grown in the Loire River, which, while being the longest river in France, is full of very stony limestone soils, known as “caillottes”, and chalk soils. It's easy to see why this wine pulls all that minerality.  

The Saget family boasts that they stick to "excellent vine growing and wine making principals using older vines, cropping at lower yields and letting nature speak for itself". Very much a "if it aint broke don't fix it" king of thing. This is a ideology that I think many producers who have come into winemaking with a preexisting and  historic label tend to leave behind because they are eager to make a unique name for themselves.  Dont get me wrong, I'm sure Saget family has made some changes to the way Domaine Balland-Chapuis was crafted prior to 1998 but they still stick to the same tried and true methods. And really, you're in the Loire, making Sancerre. What can you really do to change it?  

Now, it's been said that the 2010 vintage was the best they have produced yet but this is still one fine wine. I would pair this with any fish or a dish with goats cheese in it. The high acid will go with salt, other acid (as it will mitigate) and will also cuts through fat and oil. Over all fruit goes with spice so it would be great with wasabi peas too. This one will run less than $35 in most liquor stores

Cheers!

REVIEW – 2009 BARON PHILIPPE de ROTHSCHILD “MOUTON CADET”

REVIEW – 2009 BARON PHILIPPE de ROTHSCHILD “MOUTON CADET”

SKU: 407551  

Agent: Vincor Canada

In the Glass – clear medium/deep, some sediment, purple tinge but mostly ruby

On the Nose – clean, med to pronounced, red fruit, cherry/berry, and a tinge of pungent, vanilla spicy and herbaceous.

On the Palate – This wine is dry, medium acidity, full of under ripe tannin, greenstone quality, seedy fruit, acidic red fruit and pomegranate. It has a short to medium finish. Not overly balanced tannins as in it goes strait down the pallet with nothing to complex. It’s acceptable, but tastes mass-produced.

Baron Philippe created Mouton Cadet in 1930, taking the name “cadet” from his place as the youngest in his family.  In the 80+ years since its creation it has become the entry Bordeaux wine for most of us. Also note worthy - it gained a Bordeaux AOC classification in 1947 after WW2, and it had actually shut down production completely during war times. Philippe de Rothschild passed away in 1988, leaving his business to his Daughter

This little Bordeaux is a blend of 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. And spends between 6-10 months in stainless steel vats and sees no real oak in its life. I think thats because that would make it to expensive for what the business owner, Philippine de Rothschild, is intending this wine to be. It is a good beginners Bordeaux blend and has its place in our wine markets. I think you would be hard pressed to find a retailer that didn’t have at least one of Rothschild wines on its shelf. And at under 15$ it wouldn't break the bank like most other Bordeaux wines

I would drink with this wine any red meat dishes, but watch for sauces. Something like a peppercorn gravy may over power this one and leave you feeling that it’s a bit watered down.

Cheers!

Review 1884 Malbec Reservado 2009

Review - 1884 RESERVADO MALBEC 2009

SKU: 770925 

Agent: David Herman & Son Ltd. 

So last night was had a bit of a family get together dinner and we were pleasantly gifted with this deceiving little wine.

On the Nose; full, warm plump berries, red fruit but it was slightly restrained which I found surprising. With a lot of the Argentina wines I’ve had lately, it’s a bit like being assaulted with a fist of hot ripe fruit. I very much appreciated and enjoyed not being punched in the face by a wine

On the Pallet; Smooth, smoky and sweet, with soft tannins.  It has a short to medium finish. I didn’t find a lot of follow through on this one. It may have been due to the sweetness of it, which I think comes from the oak. But don’t get me wrong it wasn’t offensively sweet. I think this wine would make an excellent cold night next to the fireplace wine. I wouldn’t want to pair it with anything to heavy, because it’s so timid and reined in. For example I had this with BBQ’d burgers and I had to put the wine down while I was eating because it was all but lost in the meal.

Over all I like the throw back to the old malbec styles with wine, where it’s not the huge over the top fruit bombs like we’ve seen coming out of Australia in recent years. I liked that you could sit back and just enjoy it without the flavors and mouth feeling distracting me. But that is also its downfall in my opinion. It is soo mild, so if you are even considering pairing something with this, it’s going to be left behind.

 For under $15 a bottle and it being in most retail liquor stores it’s pretty easy to get your hands on. If you are looking for a cheap red to try with a friend or a date and watch a movie, over all I would recommend this one.

Cheers!

Review - Peachy Canyon 2009 Petite Sirah

Peachy Canyon 2009 Petite Sirah

SKU: 724453

Origin: United States  |  California

Agent: Lanigan & Edwards Wine Merchants Ltd.

Grown at the Mustard Creek Vineyard of Heaton, Alta Colina, which is the Paso Robles appellation. This deep purple blend of 83.5% Petite Sirah, 16.5% Syrah is quite the concoction!

From what I found in my research the markers here wanted maximum extraction from harvesting at the coldest times (which just seems like torture to me), to extended cold soak prior to fermentation (again with the cold)! After it is aged in French and Hungarian oak.

 

On the Nose – you are instantly hit in the face with candied blueberries, like the really sugary kids blueberry-flavored candies.

Pallet – an over load of blue fruit, ripe, very rich and extremely sweet. With a medium finish on it I would highly recommend food with this one. 

This is not a winos wine, I would say its place is for someone who likes really sweet simple wines, or wants to get fancy and move away from their Barefoot or Jackson-Triggs.

Cheers!