REVIEW - Lake Breeze Meritage, Okanagan, BC 2008

REVIEW - Lake Breeze Meritage, Okanagan, BC 2008 

SKU: 129270  

Origin: Canada  |  British Columbia
Agent: Harvest Vintage Imports Ltd.

In the glass  - deep ruby/garnet right to the rim

On the Nose -  This wine has a medium intensity with a blatant purple Welch's grape juice on the front. Accented with strawberry, jam and a cooking sherry smell. And if left to sit it develops into a leathery tobacco.

On the Palate – This dry wine has less then medium acidity and about medium tannin, giving it over all good body and length. I noticed that i could feel the alcohol on this wine, it was hot on my gums, and dried out my mouth. And with persistent tannins to compound that I found it a bit distracting. There is some good jammy fruit in the background of this wine but i need to get past that initial heat blast. Specific flavors I found were sour cherry moving into a black cherry, blackberry, spice. wonderfully structured oak in this wine that is the last thing left on the palate after its medium finish.

I actually visited the Lake Breeze winey last summer in my flying trip through the bench last year. I visited over12 wineries in under 9 hours. All by my lonesome. it was a great experience but I can hardly wait to go back again and give each winery the time and attention it deserves.

Over all this Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon is one I would call a good wine, and for less than $30 it really makes a wonderful Canadian addition to the cellar. I believe this wine will continue to improve over the next 2 years as well.

Cheers!

REVIEW - 2007 Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, California

 2007 Sequoia Grove Cabernet sauvignon Napa Valley, California

SKU: 740382  

Origin: United States  |  California
Agent: Charton-Hobbs Inc.

This wine is done by winemaker Michael Trujillo who had taken over production at Sequoia Grove in 2002. He used estate grown fruit in this bottling along with fruit from the Tonella Vineyard that they recently bought. He also buys grapes from Morisoli and Beckstoffer in Rutherford, Stagecoach in Atlas Peak, Lamoreaux in the Oak Knoll District and Healy in St. Helena It's a 50 acre prime property in Rutherford. Sequoia Grove is named after one of the last remaining Redwood groves in the Napa Valley and they also boast about being environmentally friendly and sustainable practices, but I couldn't find anything on them actually being organic or biodynamic.

In the Glass – this wine is medium to deep purple, with purple deposits of colour on the legs in the glass

On the nose – It was nicely aromatic, with notes of oak and vanilla, red cherry, fruit jam with lots of cherry, black currant, toasty spice that reminded me of medicinal tobacco,  there was also a back ground of charcoal and chocolate.

On the Palate – This is a dry, medium acid Cabernet. It had good and persistent tannins, with full body, and flavors of cherry, vanilla and iron; like dark green leaf spinach. Coupled with a long finish, it was balanced and delicious. Easily quaffable.

Over all this wine was good, but it didn't blow me out of the water. I would look forward to trying some of their reserves and getting a more focused picture on what Sequoia Grove is trying make with their label

The blend on this is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, the remainder being Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As far as location percentage it is all Napa Valley (49% Rutherford, 19% Atlas Peak, 14% Oak Knoll, 12% St. Helena, 3% Yountville, 3% Napa Valley). Clearly a Bordeaux-style wine made in the heart of Rutherford, and a alcohol content of 14.2%, i  would pair this with any red meat, especially grilled with veggies

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!