VALUE:
Don Simon Seleccion Tempranillo - Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, Spain
Nothing wrong with this food friendly bottle for $10. Carried by red berry fruit - raspberry & strawberry - with a slight green ferny character and some dustiness on the palate. It’s medium weight, has some bright and balanced acidity, and finishes quite soft. More information on it in yesterday’s post (Cheap As Clay #11). $10 @ Kitsilano Wine Cellars, $9.99 @ Everything Wine.
LOCAL:
Averill Creek ‘07 Pinot Noir - Duncan, BC
This wine shocked my palate, apparently inexperienced in Vancouver Island wine, when I first tried it a couple weeks back. Proprietor Andy Johnston, feels that the Cowichan Valley has the right characteristics to produce a Burgundian-style Pinot Noir. It looks like he’s onto something as his Pinot Noir has quickly become one of my favourite BC expressions of the grape. The complex nose brings sweet smelling cherry and plummy fruits, a slight sweatiness, cinnamon gum/hearts, and a gingerbread character. The palate is silky with good acidity - tart cherry and raspberry with slight earthiness. Light, elegant and very good. Availability off the island isn’t fantastic, but they have a “Where to Buy” page to help in your hunt. The Pinot Noir is definitely available at Sutton Wine Merchants for less than $30, and Salt Tasting Room is currently pouring it by the glass.
FAVOURITE:
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht ‘04 Zind - Alsace, France
This is one the basic releases from the legendary biodynamic producer Olivier Zind-Humbrecht MW. Made from a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Auxerrois, it’s a fantastic, rich expression of Alsatian wine. The nose was a little stinky off the bat, pineapple juice with spiced pears and caramel. Big acidity with a chalky minerality, green apple characters, great intensity, and a nice lengthy finish. Very interesting - a style of Chardonnay that I wouldn’t get sick of. It’s currently marked down at Kitsilano Wine Cellars to $35 from $45ish. A little more about Olivier Zind-Humbrecht here, if you’re unfamiliar.
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4 Responses:
September 15th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Jake
Did you happen to have a discussion with Mr Johnston about challenges re the climate of the Cowichan?
I would be interested to hear about techniques adopted to mature pinot noir where temperatures are milder and where there is significant rainfall during the growing season.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I did not, but that would be a great discussion. I think parts of the Cowichan Valley have a different climate than I perceived… I’d like to see some more indepth stats, but here are some basics:
Climate Information
Average Temperature Summer
(July, August) high 23 deg C; low 12 deg C (72 deg F; 52 deg F)
Average Temperature Winter
(December, January) high 6 deg C; low 1 deg C (42 deg F; 34 deg F)
Average Annual Precipitation 997 mm (39 inches)
Annual Hours of Sunshine 1845 hours
Almost the same sunshine and temps as Burgundy, although definitely more rain. It’s be interesting to see when all that rain falls, as I imagine a lot of it is winter rainfall which obviously wouldn’t be detrimental
http://www.french-property.com/regions/bourgogne/weather-climate/
September 15th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Some more cursory data on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan,_British_Columbia
Looks like it gets pretty wet towards end of Sept/October. If this is key ripening window, considering the generally mild summer, I wonder how this plays out. Another large factor of course is the soil and drainage, site depending. Maybe drainage tiles could help?
http://ohioline.osu.edu/b919/0004.html
Or is this disloyalty to terroir?
September 16th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Kenji, It looks like they did do some soil drainage preparations before planting:
http://www.averillcreek.ca/ready-for-planting,56.html
Disloyalty to terroir? I know some people who would argue yes. I think they make excellent distinctive Pinot for BC, which probably wouldn’t be possible without good drainage.