Free BCLDB Events Feature Wines of Argentina

From the Dana Lee Consulting media release:

The diversity and great value of Argentinean wines will be front and centre at provincial liquor stores this summer. From July 29th to September 1st, 2018, 60 BCLDB stores will have Argentinean wines on display, and there will be free consumer tastings at select BCLDB locations.

The BCLDB Signature Liquor Store at 39th & Cambie will host free consumer tastings on August 10th AND Friday, August 17th. Guests will enjoy samples of top Argentinean wines paired with complimentary traditional meat and vegetarian empanadas from Panaderia Latina Bakery.

There will also be free consumer tastings at select BC Liquor Stores. The events will take place on the weekend of August 3rd & 4th, as well as the weekend of August 24th & 25th.

Featured wines will include:

• Alamos Winery Malbec Bodega Catena Zapata High Mountains Malbec
• Bodegas Escorihuela1884 Estate Grown Malbec
• Bodegas Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec
• Doña Paula Estate Malbec
• El Esteco Don David Cabernet Sauvignon
• Luigi Bosca Malbec
• Luis Segundo Correas Valle Las Acequias Malbec
• Masi Passo Doble Malbec
• Penaflor La Mascota Cabernet Sauvignon
• Penaflor Unanime
• Susana Balbo Wines BenMarco Malbec

In addition, Wines of Argentina is accepting entries for an online contest. The prize package includes 2 nights' accommodation at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler; 2 tickets to Cornucopia's flagship event, Crush Grand Tasting; and 2 tickets to the festival's Wines of Argentina seminar. Visit https://whistlercornucopia.com/contests/ to enter; contest closes August 31, 2018.

Wines of Argentina Consumer Tastings

Signature BCLDB Store at 39th & Cambie

5555 Cambie Street, Vancouver

Friday, August 10th AND Friday, August 17th 2018

2:00 - 6:00pm

Featured Wines: Heat Wave Wines

If the wine in this week's Featured Wines column tickle your fancy, you can order them directly from Jordan by email (JCarrier@everythingwine.ca) or find him in the Vintage Room of Everything Wine's newest location River District in South Vancouver (8570 River District Crossing).

Heat Wave Wines

By Jordan Carrier

Heat, heat, burning heat,

Melts the soles under my feet,

Look at this! It’s kinda neat:

I’m frying an egg on the street!

Looking for delicious ways

to temper, soothe and cool the blaze

and chill throughout this summertime?

Well, looky here folks, I have wine:

Rippon Mature Vine Riesling 2016, Central Otago, New Zealand

I’ve been waiting for this wine to arrive for a couple months, if it’s as good as the 2015 then this may be my unofficial Wine Of The Summer. The vineyards around Wanaka Lake enjoy a more temperate climate than the rest of the South Island’s Central Otago region, and the Mills family takes advantage of this extra heat by letting the 35+-year-old Riesling vines get a bit of extra hang-time – though not to the point of Botrytis. Organic and dry-farmed, the crushed grapes are left on their own lees (from indigenous yeasts) for over 3 months, adding more comforting texture than a shag-carpeted van filled with bunnies and hair-dryers. Green apple, honeysuckle and beeswax abound. The ever-so-eensy-weensy off-dry finish (hey, you deserve it) is tempered by a sobering streak of tartaric acid, striking the right balance between Disneyland and the Dewey Decimal System: it can keep for a decade and get a good education but it’s hella fun right now. 94 points Robert Parker, 3 cases available, $49.99 +tax

Chateau Le Puy Rose-Marie 2016, Bordeaux, France

A Rosé that isn't. Ever wonder why the Brits call Bordeaux “Claret”? I’m gonna tell you anyway: because it wasn’t this colour when they named it that. Back when the marriage of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine joined Bordeaux and England to form the Angevin Empire, the wines of Bordeaux weren’t red, they were a deep, electric pink, just like this rare offering from Chateau Le Puy’s winemaker/shaman/nut-bar Jean-Pierre Amoreau. The 13th Century English had never had a steady supply of good wine before, and they excitedly named this dark Rosé “Claret”, after the intense “éclair” of colour. Over subsequent centuries the wines reddened and darkened but the name stuck, even as the original Claret style passed into legend. But did it?  Mr. Amoreau, already renowned for his pre-20th-century methods and style, makes this robust, floral, beautifully rustic throwback by running off Merlot juice during fermentation (saignée method, for those taking notes) and keeping it in old oak for almost a year. I’m loathe to use the term “natural wine”, but this wine fits the bill: no added sulphites, no pesticides, farmed by horse – to my knowledge the only electricity involved is in the bottling. I’ve even heard stories of Jean-Pierre running through his vineyards on a full moon to ward off evil spirits (I guess it worked, though, as this wine contains no evil spirits). Try the Claret that started it all (and serve at cellar temperature, not fridge-cold) 2 wooden cases available, No Evil Spirits, $78.49 +tax

Passopisciaro “Contrada P” 2015, Sicily, Italy

Need a summer fun buddy? Meet Nerello Macalese, an expressive, light-bodied grape that thinks you should totally break up with Pinot Noir because Nerello is prettier, more fun and will love you way more. It’s true, the wines are way friendlier and filled with a joie-de-vivre that the studious Pinot often lacks, but the catch is that you have to move to an active Volcano, because Nerello Mascalese is only grown on the slopes of Mt. Etna. This Cru (Contrada) called Porcaria (P) is widely considered to be the best vineyard on that slope: the thin layers of hardened lava crunch under your feet and the extra light reflected off the Mediterranean gives spunk and ripeness to the Nerello grapes, even at the sky-high altitude of 2100ft. Brilliant red fruits abound here, swirling with baking spices and quinine, the ripe 2015 vintage boosted the body and the powerful, time-bomb finish. This is Etna royalty, the Queen Of The Volcano, and I’m stoked that it’s finally available. 94 points Wine Spectator, 4 3-packs available, $118.99 +tax

Stay cool out there, folks, and Happy Drinking!

Vote! The Best of BC Wine Country Awards

From the Wine BC's media release:

BRITISH COLUMBIA - The Best of BC Wine Country Awards are back - a crowd-sourced online survey curated by the BC Wine Institute launches today inviting the public to vote on their favourite BC wine experiences from specific “Best of” categories related to BC wine and food tourism.

From Monday, July 23 through August 17, the Best of BC Wine Country Awards will generate authentic recommendations from the public on categories including: Best of BC Wine; Best of BC Place; and Best of BC Experience. Within these, 12 sub-categories are offered for each of BC’s unique wine regions!

“We are excited to bring back the Best of BC Wine Country Awards for a second year to encourage visitors to share their favourite experiences while touring BC wineries this summer,” notes Maggie Anderson Communications and Content Director of the BC Wine Institute. “Whether it’s for the experience, the award-winning wines, the local food, the people or the scenic views, we want to know first-hand from winery-goers what keeps bringing them back.”

Integrated this year are BC wine give-aways, offering voters the chance to experience the Best of BC Wine Country by winning one of three prizes: (1) Best of BC Wine gift basket; (2) An overnight stay at a Best of BC Winery Accommodation or (3) Dinner for two at a Best of BC Winery Restaurant. All they need to do is vote and share their excitement for #BestofBC18 on social media.

“Here in BC, they are essentially the people’s choice awards of wine. Winners are selected by consumers – not wine experts.” says Claire Newell, travel expert and best-selling author of Travel Best Bets. “My friends and I voted last year over a glass of our favorite BC wine with our tablets or smartphones in-hand. I expect more of my friends will join this year because there are prizes to win!”

With 276 BC grape wineries open to the public, more than 74 winery restaurants and 16 regional wine trails throughout the province, download the Wines of British Columbia new Trip Planner App and start exploring the award-winning wines available in your backyard. Have your say in what makes BC a world-class wine destination, and vote for your top picks for a chance to experience the Best of BC Wine Country.

Awards are presented for the Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands and other regions including: Thompson Valley; Shuswap; Lillooet; Kootenays; Prince George. Winners will be published on WineBC.com and #BestOfBC18 prize winners will be announced on September 13.

Vote for your Best of BC Wine Country and enter to win #BestofBC18 here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/bestofBCwine18

Download the Wines of British Columbia Trip Planner app by searching “BC Wine” in either the App Store or Google Play store or click the links directly for: Android or iPhone.

Check out last year’s Best of BC Wine Country Award winners for trip inspiration here: bestof.winebc.com

Featured Wines: Back Up The Truck!

If the wine in this week's Featured Wines column tickle your fancy, you can order them directly from Jordan by email (JCarrier@everythingwine.ca) or find him in the Vintage Room of Everything Wine's newest location River District in South Vancouver (8570 River District Crossing).

Back Up The Truck!: Summer Edition

By Jordan Carrier

As Summer signals that it is indeed here for a bit – I think it really means it this time – I’d like to bring your attention to a couple wines of great power, great points and reduced subtleties. These are bunker-busters, large, loud and luscious, and they are both politely under $75. This summer is gonna be swell.

Fantini Edizione Cinque Autoctoni 2015 Italy

A New World wine from the Old World. If your 93-year-old aunt texted you “omg that rave was so lit” you’d feel weird about it, and that’s because “old-doing-new” rarely works out, except for when it does: Edizione is on fire, I’ve already sold through 20 cases of it and the buzz hasn’t subsided. Edizione seems almost specifically engineered to anger Italian traditionalists: Not only does it refuse to specify a village or DOC like most Italian wines, it’s sourced from several regions (Abruzzo, Puglia predominantly), made from indigenous (“Autoctoni”) grapes that are almost never blended together (Montepulciano, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Malvasia Nera and Negroamaro), and to cause maximum consternation they age it all in blasphemous new American oak, which Italian winemakers employ about as often as snakes use chopsticks. If an Amarone stuck a fork in a light socket, that’d be a starting point. The Negroamaro gives dark, stewed fruit, the Montepulciano builds the frame, the Primitivo brings power, spice and precious, precious alcohol. Layered, balanced and electric. By sheer weight alone this’ll cellar for decades, but what then? I don’t know what this becomes and I like it too much now to wait. The bottle is huge, like Hillside Select huge, and the reason I mention this is that it feels like a one-litre bottle but it ain’t. 99 points Luca Maroni*, Best Italian Red 2018 (Luca again), 6 6-packs available, $53.99 +tax

Montes Purple Angel 2015 Colchagua Valley - Chile

The Carmenere-As-Big-As-A-Bear returns. I’ve written about Purple Angel for so many successive vintages that I’m not sure what I can newly provide other than knock-knock jokes, but it’s enjoying an exceptionally good vintage in this 2015 offering, which could be a personal best for one of Chile’s most delicious ambassadors. Chocolate wrapped in a cherry wrapped in a plum wrapped in an anvil, this is maximalism liquefied, and it’s drinking great now with grilled meat but will positively sing when the training wheels come off in a couple years. Noted Hyperbolist James Suckling gave this 2015 99 points, and although he treats each wine like it’s the first one he’s tasted after a year in prison, it’s notable that this is the highest score he’s given Purple Angel. Not many other reviewers have gotten to this vintage yet, but if patterns hold you can reasonably expect Parker to come in 2 points lower and Wine Spectator one point lower than that. This vintage is not to be missed. 99 points James “Gulp” Suckling, 6 6-packs available, $74.99 +tax

We’ll be pouring both of these 99-point blockbusters in out River District Vintage Room at 3pm this Saturday, but until then,

Happy Drinking!!