  Wine lovers in Ontario have hit the jackpot. Cusumano's rich and intense Syrah will soon be widely available for $9.95 per bottle. The same wine retails for as much as $18 in other part of the country. |
The past wine-soaked year took me to California, England, Austria, and Australia and across much of Canada in search of great wines and the personalities, cultures and traditions that shaped them. As fate would have it, my two favourite tastings took place within weeks of each other in November.
At the beginning of the month, Australian winemaker Peter Gago stopped in Toronto as part of a cross-Canada tour to showcase the new releases of Penfolds so-called “bin” and “luxury wines.” The impressive lineup featured the 2004 Grange — a stellar vintage of Australia’s most famous red wine — as well as my sentimental favourites St. Henri and Bin 389, a Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet that never fail to impress.
My sentimental selections also speak to my financial status. I had no reservations about naming the 2004 Grange as the wine of the year and featuring it on the cover of a recent issue of Vines Magazine. It’s a monumental wine, with stunning depth of flavour, but also elegance, focus and an inordinately long finish that make it one of the most remarkable wines I have ever tasted. It will be drinking beautifully 50, 60, 70 years from now — long after I’m picking on a harp (as my Aunt Anna would say).
But at $499 a bottle, I’m happy to live with the memory of the 2004 Grange. The release of the 2005 St. Henri ($75 range) and 2006 Bin 389 ($40 range) were fantastic wines that delivered pleasure in the glass and at a price point that while still a splurge is worth the investment in my estimation.
Niagara’s Le Clos Jordanne produced the other lineup of wines that have proved to be unforgettable. Winemaker Thomas Bachelder and assistant winemaker Sebastien Jacquey presented a range of Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from the 2007 vintage that represent a new level of quality for Canadian wine.
The 2007 Claystone Terrace Chardonnay ($40), 2007 Le Clos Jordanne Vineyard Pinot Noir ($40) and 2007 Talon Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir ($37) were the most interesting wines for me on the day of the tasting. Each revealed terrific intensity and rich, ripe fruit expression on the palate.
The most exciting wines, however, were the 2007 Village Reserve Chardonnay and 2007 Village Reserve Pinot Noir, which both retail for $25 in Ontario. Not only as these the most approachable wines for drinking right now, but they also offer a lot of the compelling complexity and style that marks the more expensive single-vineyard wines. It’s always great to see quality shine through in a producer’s entry-level wines.
Christopher Waters is editor of Vines Magazine. He can be reached at chris@vinesmag.com
Wine of the Week:
HHHH (out of five)
Cusumano Wines 2008 Syrah
Sicily, Italy
$9.95 (045590)
Wine lovers in Ontario have hit the jackpot. Cusumano’s rich and intense Syrah will soon be widely available for $9.95 per bottle. (The same wine retails for as much as $18 in other part of the country.) This is a good $18 red — it’s a killer $10 bottle that is likely going to be many people’s new house wine.
