July 21st Vintages release - Cool climate gets a cold shoulder

Cool climate wines seem to be the rage lately.  I suppose the conventional thinking is that this might be a good thing for Ontario wines  as it'll show  that they can compete in both flavour and sophistication if the temperature ranges of the producing regions are similar. That thought process requires a real leap of faith and requires we take into account at least two variables:

·         that some of these regions have a very narrow vinofocus and  their wine, cuisine and culture have symbiotically evolved over centuries to adapt to that focus

·         that other regions are not really cool so much as comparatively cool. Take for example  Australia Cool. How many ice wines are produced in their so called  ‘cool climates’?

 If Oz has ‘cool climate’ wines then certainly Ontario produces  ‘cold climate’ examples, so case closed  methinks. Anyhow, cool is the focus this week (OZ and the Loire). I’ll continue that theme by turning a cold shoulder to this release.  July 21 offers up a 57 to 60 point release in the VRSS (my humble opinion). A very few ‘must haves’ and most of the wines presented  that fall into the nice to have  category are already represented by very similar examples in the cellar. As with many of the recent releases, the whites and fizzies  are as interesting as many of the reds being offered. Since I’m not terribly interested in whites and fizzies , what does that leave me with?  Well, more disposable income, I suppose.

FIZZIES and/ or SPARKLERS, those carefree, effervescent little buggers for summer sipping

Joseph Cattin Brut Cremant d’Alsace - $16.95

Tenuta S. Anna Prosecco Superiore de Valdobbiadene - $18.95

WHITE WINES

2010 Ken Forrester Reserve Chenin Blanc - $17.95 – Across the board  this one rates over 90 points and for a wine this good, is also well priced.  WS: 90 pts; WA: 92 pts; W E: 90 pts  

2010 Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling - $18.95 – Another  ‘off centre’ name and wine from Washington States’s  eponymous Rock and Roll winery, Charles Smith. Very tasty (citrus-y with little or no petrol) and always good,  Charles Smith wines are to be enjoyed  right from the store or after a year or three aging.   WS: 90 points  

2009 Red Hill Estate Chardonnay - $21.95 – The review , even taking into account James Halliday’s inflatomatic scoring of Aussie wines (94pts?), is a good one.  Could be worth a try.

2010 Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko / Athiri - $16.95 – something slightly off the beaten path from Greece. WS: 90 points  

2010 Martin Codax Albarino $16.95–  Another off the beaten path wine  serve chilled with ceviche or lightly breaded crab cakes perhaps.  Very well scored white 87 to 90 points 

RED WINES

2009 Altocedro Reserva Malbec - $24.95 – This might be the best red wine option in the release. It is the best if you like big juicy black fruited accompaniments to slabs of red flesh being seared on a grill. From La Consulta in the Uco Valley within Mendoza. Some regard this as the finest grape growing region in Argentina and certainly this wine does nothing to contradict that opinion.  A great big wine for a great big steak but also at a pretty big price. WA and WS: 92 points

2009 Clos de los Siete - $21.95 – A Michel Rolland investment in big tannic juiciness, this too will stand up to anything grilled.  As the vineyard grows up, so too does the wine. WA: 90 pts;  WS: 89 pts; Tanzer  90 pts

2009 Summers Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - $29.95 A 90 point Napa cab for under 30 bucks? Ok, I’ll bite! Robert Parker: 91 points; Wine Enthusiast: 90 points

2010 Domaine La Guintrandy Cotes de Rhone-Villages Visan Le Deves - $14.95 – Try one, then buy a bunch is my bet.

The Australian cool climate release looks less than stellar. There are some interesting wines but none that really, really  turn my crank and none of them are real terrific values. Of the Aussies in the release, the following  ones are my selections, but I’d take the two (maybe the three) Argentines and try the Napa cab before them:

 2008 Tahbilk Shiraz - $20.95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown: 91 pts – A very good wine from what I would describe as a traditional Aussie  producer .

2008 Camelback Shiraz - $27.95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown says 92 points  - A man is not a camel.  Hmmm, at the same time a camel is not a man. Just as well or there’d be far less wine around!  Enough philosophy, on with the drinking! And please note there was no off colour 'camel' related reference made during this wine review.

2010 Tyrrell Rufus Stone Heathcote Shiraz - $19.95 – An OK wine but shouldn’t be more than $17.95. Hello LCBO, are you out there?

2009 Durigutti Malbec – $16.95- A former WS top 100 producer, this’ll be a good BBQ wine for burgers or sausages and casual  get togethers . Nothing too sophisticated, just lots of dark fruit and soft tannins.

2009 Gabriel Meffre Laurus Gigondas - $26.95  - Not a bad price for an ‘almost CNdP’ WS: 91 points’ Is it better to wait for the 2010 Grapillon D’Or in the next release? Or buy both? Such a conundrum!

2009 The Show Cabernet Sauvignon - $17.95 – Another  easy drinking summer BBQ wine from California that you can age for a few years  if you can stay away from it for long enough.

2009 Tedeschi Capitel San Rocco Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore - $18.95 – If you like the Vintages essential Zenato Ripasso, try this one. It’s a few $’s less and usually very good. I W C: 90 points

ROSÉ WINES

2011 Chateau St. Roch Syrah / Grenache rosé - $14.95 – The best rosé choice this week but only if you’re out of rosé and have to have a new one. Otherwise, save a few bucks and look around for past rosé picks @ $12.95.

BIG BUCKS

2009 Delas Haute Pierre Chateauneuf du Pape - $37.95 – JM in WS: 92 points  - not cheap but age worthy and a terrific vintage.  

2006 Livio Sassetti Pertimali Brunello di Montalcino - $47.95 – From the terrific ’06 vintage, expect smoke, tar, more red fruits than black - WS: 94 points

Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch Shiraz 2009 $35.95 - The 2008 was released in November and covered in a blog entry at that time. It’s a great name and cleverly marketed by Plunkett Fowles but once the cork is pulled, that cleverness doesn’t taste quite as fulfilling as the price indicates it should. Good with squirrel though.