Buyers’ Guide to VINTAGES July 19th – Part Two

Guess Who’s Coming to the BBQ?
by David Lawrason with notes from Sara d’Amato and John Szabo

David Lawrason

Every year about this time food and wine media all over the northern hemisphere like to feed into the season with features on BBQ wines – and VINTAGES magazine is no exception with the July 19th release. As if we needed help to understand that what we really want are wines to fit the relaxed, convivial mood of dining outdoors. We want fruit and balance and purity. We don’t really need nuance, and we don’t want to belabour precise matches to this or that. Nor do we want average quality wines masquerading as BBQ wines just because they are cheap. There is some art to creating balanced wine, and it is fine by me if that means they are more expensive. VINTAGES has its selections, but we only align with them on and couple in terms of quality. So we have gone beyond to suggest others that show balance, purity and flavour depth – wines that make us feel good, like an evening with friends and family, for which the BBQ is merely a prop.

Where the Stars Align

Hedesheimer Hof Grauer 2012 Burgunder Kabinett Trocken, Pfalz, Germany ($18.95).
David Lawrason – I am paying a lot of attention to pinot whites from the warmer German regions of Pfalz and Baden. This has real polish and oodles of fruit.
Sara d’Amato – Oof, the name is a bit of a mouthful but so is the wine – rich, decadent and deserving of such a grand title. To break it down, name of the grape: grauer burgunder aka pinot gris; the level of quality or sweetness: Kabinett Trocken (Kabinett is generally off-dry unless designated “trocken”). A sure-fire value.

Paco & Lola 2012 Albariño, Rías Baixas, Galicia, Spain ($18.95)
David Lawrason – The fragrant, slightly exotic albarino grape – that is making waves along the Atlantic coasts of northwestern Spain and over the border in northern Portugal’s Vihno Verde – has a very summery, garden fresh appeal. This particular example is one of the best to arrive this year.
Sara d’Amato – A terrific introduction to albarino, this textbook example is nicely packaged and offers appealing notes of dried herb, saline, pear, lime and lemon curd. Juicy and fresh but also with great presence and gumption.

Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler 2012 Riesling, Mosel, Germany ($13.95)
David Lawrason – This is shockingly good value – a classy, super fresh and bright Mosel riesling. It may not work with grilled foods, but if your al fresco dining also includes fruit based salads and mild cheeses grab a handful.
John Szabo – Dr. Pauly’s basic QBA riesling is a terrific deal, offering all of the hallmark Mosel riesling character at a price that would make most rieslings blush. This would make a fine “house” wine for the summer.

Alain Jaume 2012 Grande Garrigue Vacqueyras, Rhone Valley, France ($24.95)
David Lawrason – Meat–meisters who want more than fruit in their red will love this rich, ripe, plummy, peppery, spicy southern Rhône. My love affair with Vacqueyras continues, but this is not for the faint of heart.
Sara d’Amato – In the shadow of the great wines of Gigondas, Vacqueyras is certainly an unsung hero of the Côtes-du-Rhône, producing some of the better values of the southern villages. This example is really quite polished, tight and refined with all the “garrigue” that title suggests. Fleshy, juicy and widely appealing.

Lawrason’s Picks

Niro 2012 Pecorino, Terre di Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy ($15.95). Pecorino – the grape not the cheese – is emerging as yet another “discovery white” among the somm set. With good reason. This is a bright, balanced, subtle yet powerful dry white – not to mention excellent value.

Rockway 2012 Small Lot Block 12-150 Riesling, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula ($18.95). Since Niagara College grad David Stasiuk took over the winemaking helm at Rockway the quality has rocketed at the only Ontario winery with a golf course. This has good weight, presence and depth with some refreshing stoniness.

Viña Cobos 2012 Felino Malbec, Mendoza ($19.95). Argentina will undoubtedly be drowning their soccer sorrows with great hunks of scorched beef and mugs of malbec. Commiserate with this lovely, balance beauty from the hands of California roving oenologist Paul Hobbs.

Brazin 2011 (B)old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi, California ($19.95). This has good heft and thankfully comes up just short of being overly confected and mocha-fied like so many of its modern, overly commercialized peers. The nose has some of the brambly, woodsy, outdoorsy character (the French would call it garrigue) that I like in authentic zin.

MacMurray Ranch 2011 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County ($24.95). Yes it is a borderline overly fruity, sweetish California pinot, but it actually hangs together, and has ideal out-door ease, freshness and charm. Chill lightly.

Herdade do Sobroso 2012 Sobro Red, Alentejano, Portugal ($14.95). This is a decent buy in easy drinking Portuguese red – and not often do you hear those words in the same sentence. It blends local varieties of southern Portugal with cabernet and syrah, aged just a short time of three months in barrel to maintain exuberant fruity appeal.

More Picks from Sara

Schreckbichl Colterenzio 2012 Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige, Italy ($18.95). Although we saw this come through almost a year ago, I certainly preferred it most recently. The wine has seen a lovely mini evolution and is drinking beautifully at this point.

Château Haut Dina 2010, Côtes De Bordeaux Castillon, Bordeaux, France ($15.00). A rustic, traditional blend primarily made up of merlot as is usually the case in the right bank. Undeniably charming with some lovely pleasure enhancing faults such as just a touch of brett and volatility. Such ruggedness is nicely balanced with a wide array of fruit from plum to fig. A wine with a great deal to offer at this price – Bordeaux traditionalists take note!

Perrin & Fils 2011 l’Andéol Rasteau, Côtes Du Rhône Villages, Rhône, France ($19.95). Rasteau can grow remarkable grenache on its sunbaked terrain and the varietal often makes up a good deal of the appellation’s blends. Typically a good value, the 2011 l’Andéol is immediately appealing, revealing and easy to appreciate. Its affable, supple and succulent nature makes for a terrific everyday red but it is also quite versatile and can be enjoyed from aperitif to cheese course.

Viña Tarapacá 2011 Gran Reserva Carmenère, Maipo Valley, Chile ($17.95). One of last year’s judges picks at the World Wine Awards of Canada, Tarapaca’s Gran Reserva shows no signs of loss of life. In fact, it continues to exhibit more harmony and complexity as it gently matures. Sourced from high quality vineyards throughout the Maipo, it is especially distinctive of place and variety and exhibits the structure and concentration of a wine twice its price.

Szabo’s Best Buys

Cave Spring 2011 CSV Riesling, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula ($29.95). 2011 is a fine vintage for the Cave Spring CSV riesling, balancing ripeness and freshness in the usual dry and more full-bodied style favoured by winemaker Angelo Pavan. A fine wine for current enjoyment or mid-term cellaring.

Mastroberardino 2012 Greco Di Tufo, Campania, Italy ($22.00). Regional leader Mastroberardino delivers another fine example of Greco di Tufo, which, along with Fiano di Avellino, producers the region’s top whites in my view – this has character and personality in spades, and no small measure of volcanic-ash minerality.

Fattori 2011 Soave Motto Piane, Veneto Italy ($22.95). Soave is a schizophrenic region, with a large but uninteresting part of production grown on flat, overly fertile soils. The best, however, come from the poor volcanic hills to the north, like this, from a 3.9h parcel of 30-year-old garganega on Monte Calvarina. Grapes are dried for 40 days to create a full-bodied, rich and creamy, intensely flavoured example, with high alcohol (14.5%) and a whack of salty, savoury, volcanic minerality. A fine find for fans of distinctiveness and regional character.

Trimbach 2011 Réserve Pinot Gris, Alsace, France ($23.95). A lovely wine in the classic, upright, firm and dry Trimbach style, with excellent intensity and length, especially considering the generally lighter and earlier maturing 2011 vintage.

Castello Di Gabbiano 2009 Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany, Italy ($22.95). 2009 is a full and very ripe, structured and concentrated vintage for the Gabbiano Riserva, displaying almost Brunello like richness, which was my guess (and teammates Sara D’Amato and Steve Thurlow) when faced with this wine blind in the final episode of So, You Think You Know Wine?, season four. Suffice to say that it has depth and intensity above the mean.

Dei 2010 Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy ($27.95). I love the elegant wines of Dei, always seamless and refined, structured and complex, neither overly traditional nor obviously modern. The 2010 is a fine vintage, the epitome of refined sangiovese.

Château Lalande-Borie 2010, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France ($39.85). Arch-classical left bank Bordeaux from a great vintage, best after 2018, or hold until the late ’20s.

Abad Dom Bueno 2006 Crianza Do Bierzo, Spain ($14.95). Wow – what a terrific value. Most wines in this price range can only dream of this complexity. It’s fully mature, yet still holds on to attractive dark fruit and floral character. To buy by the case.

Domaine Berthoumieu 2011 Haute Tradition Madiran, Southwest France ($17.95). I first tasted the wines of Didier Barré over a dozen years ago and was impressed then, as I am now, by the way he manages to tame the rough tannins of tannat without sacrificing regional character and authenticity. This wine will appeal to fans of classic cabernet sauvignon, with which it shares similar dark berry, cassis fruit flavours and firm structure. Best suited to cuts of rare-grilled beef or lamb on the BBQ.

…..

And that’s it for this edition. I will be missing the great i4c event this weekend due to foreign travels (a rare trip to New Zealand in winter) but John Szabo will be in Niagara flying the flag and moderating events. If you have some time to catch up on your reading don’t miss recently published articles wherein John explores the wines of Greece in-depth, and Julian Hitner raises the awareness of Haut-Medoc in Bordeaux, an especially good source of good value wines in the terrific 2010 vintage.

Until next time!

From VINTAGES July 19th release:

Lawrason’s Take
Sara’s Selections
Szabo’s Smart Buys
All Reviews
July 19th Part One – Very Cool Chardonnay

Editors Note: You can find complete critic reviews by clicking on any of the highlighted wine names, bottle images or links. Paid subscribers to WineAlign see all critics reviews immediately. Non-paid members wait 30 days to see new reviews. Premium membership has its privileges; like first access to great wines!

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