Featured Wines: Trade Jabs and Napa Cabs

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).

Trade Jabs and Napa Cabs

By Jordan Carrier

If wine could talk, it’d probably say “dude, leave me out of it!”

I’ve been asked more than a few times this past week if I thought that collectors should quickly buy up Napa wines, lest the current rumblings about tariffs erupt in a tit-for-tat trade war with our southern neighbours. It’s not unheard of for wine to become a hostage in these disputes, as our recent spat with our neighbours to the east has shown, so it’s certainly plausible that Canada, in retaliation for tariffs imposed on our southbound exports, could make American wines cost even more than they do now.

I think that’s pretty unlikely though, even if retaliations escalate. American wine comes from states that voted decisively against the current President, so hurting grape growers in those places won’t really cost him politically, he’d go from unpopular to unpopular with no electoral consequence. China, by contrast, would reportedly take aim on agricultural products like soy and grain, grown in swing states that would wield more influence if they were angry, and I suspect that we – if drawn in - would also strategically target imports from Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania rather than wine from Washington, Oregon and California.

So my final answer would be: Don’t buy Napa Cabs for fear they’ll double in price, buy these Napa Cabs because Jordan only got a tiny bit and he’s gonna sell out and then you’ll be sad. Here are some legendary Cabs, new into the Vintage Room:

Featured Wines: The U.S and Yah!

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).



The U.S and Yah!

By Jordan Carrier

Hi Everyone!

My trip to US wine regions last week was outstanding and unforgettable, but we did have to make a last minute change to our plans. Napa and Sonoma were originally on our itinerary, but with all of the devastation that this last month has wrought, we felt that imposing on their hospitality would be wrong, especially while so many people are still hurting, so we went further south (Paso Robles and Santa Barbara). I met with an Oregonian winemaker a couple days ago who showed me a video that a fellow winemaker from Sonoma had filmed from his backyard this week: a giant red nighttime blaze on a mountain with a bright yellow flaming core in the middle of it. California is still warm and dry, and new fires are still a risk.

There has, perhaps logically, been a bit of a run on Napa/Sonoma wines lately, but I’m not sure it’s necessary. Nearly everything but Cabernet was harvested before the fires, wineries that weren’t damaged (which is most of them) periodically lost power and thus control over the speed and nature of their fermentations, but wholesale vintage spoilages haven’t been widely reported – winemakers are, by nature, adaptable. We still have two or three vintages in bottle waiting to come to market before we get to 2017, so any shortage that this year may incur wouldn’t be felt for a while. If you need a reason to stockpile Californian wine (besides its deliciosity), do it because NAFTA may fall apart and we’ll be smuggling in Caymus over the Cascades on the back of a mule.

“But won’t the prices go up?” I’ve been asked, more than a few times. Yep, for sure. They were going to anyway. Next year many North Coast wineries will roll from an outstanding vintage (2014) into another perfect vintage (2015), two years after the vintage that Robert Parker called Napa’s best ever (2013). The international markets have noticed and worldwide demand has skyrocketed, pushing prices into classified Bordeaux territory. Napa and Sonoma belong to the world now, but that’s no reason to stop visiting them or to stop drinking their amazing wines – in fact they’ll need us to do that more than ever, going forward (and 2015 was a stellar vintage up and down the west coast as well).

Here are some great US red wines for your kind consideration:

Sea Smoke 2015 “Ten” Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, California

This Pinot wants to eat your Pinot. When you drive through the Santa Ynez valley in daylight, on the other side of the mountains from Santa Barbara, you wonder how Pinot Noir can even survive here: blazing sun and 38C weather (in late October!). But at night the Pacific winds flush all the hot air out of the valley to provide those cool nights that Pinot adores. The day’s sun ripens these grapes to Wrestlemania proportions, however, and the mighty Sea Smoke “Ten” (which is the number of fingers you have in the air when you surrender to it) is a perfectly huge specimen. Chocolate, cola, and squished blueberries are surrounded by floral notes; there is ample elegance here on the finish, it’s not just clumsy power, and the finish skirts perpetuity. Almost viciously popular and rare, this is the largest amount of this cult wine that I’ve ever been able to offer. No ratings found (yet), 5 6-packs available, $162.49 +tax

Bootleg 2013, Napa Valley, California

Offered before in a previous vintage, this 2013 Cabernet-driven blend (Petite Sirah and Zinfandel are vocal passengers) drives into Prisoner territory and then leaves it in the dust. Deep, round and surrounded by just enough structure to hold it in, with crème de cassis and minty notes gently drawing you into the Pleasure-Dome. Sourced from the fabled Stagecoach vineyard before Gallo bought it (and before it partly burnt, alas), Bootleg is richly dark and unexplainably great value. Would have been a Back Up The Truck wine if I’d been able to get more. 94 points Robert Parker, 6 cases available, $54.49 +tax

Elk Cove 2015 La Boheme Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon

The Willamette valley is stunning in October, the Pinot leaves turn yellow and the hills look like their grandma knit them a sweater. Planted in 1985, the La Boheme vineyard is one of the highest up in the valley (800ft elevation), and has provided the Campbell family of Elk Cove (I’ve been there and found it bereft of both elks and coves) with gorgeous fruit that truly epitomizes the word Pretty. Some of the most aromatic, expressive Pinot in Oregon is grown here, I smelled it for 20 minutes before drinking it, and the ideal 2015 vintage boosted the red raspberry freshness to mingle with the violets and topsoil. You could cellar this reliably, but you could also work hard and do homework all your life without ever learning to finger-paint. I’m drinking this now (after a long sniff). 92 points Robert Parker, 3 6-packs available, $74.99 +tax

Caymus 2014 Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California

Certainly no stranger to these pages, or to most of your cellars, the “Napa Cab That Got Everyone Into Napa Cabs” returns with intensity and body to spare. Black Twizzlers duel with red ones on a cedar plank by throwing ripe blackberries at each other until they both fall down, bottled. 6 wooden 6-packs available, $199.99 +tax

Featured Wines: Napa Awesomeness

If any of the wines 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 Morgan Crossing location in South Surrey.

Napa Awesomeness

By Jordan Carrier

There’s a cartoon circulating on social media that shows a caveman and a cavewoman enjoying a glass of wine as they discuss the finer points of food pairings. “It’s easy”, the lady says, “if it tried to eat us, pair it with red wine. If it ran away from us, pair it with a white”.

The Californian red wines that have rolled into the vintage room over the past weeks are so robust and so huge, that by that caveman logic they should be paired with, like, a rabid tiger with sharks for feet. We’ll be seeing a lot of well rated, high profile Napa and Sonoma wines released this year, as some wineries release their 2012 reserve tiers and others release the mighty 2013s, a vintage that Robert Parker has called the best of his 37 years of wine reviewing.

The accolated vintage, conflated with our lower dollar, will certainly drive up prices on US wines in the future, but the wines featured in today’s email were bought and imported last year, before stuff got real. We received them only recently because of the BCLDB’s tendency to subject new wine imports to an intense, months-long staring contest in their warehouse. They refuse to release the wines to private stores until they’ve had a good, long, hard look at them. Or so I presume. To the wines:

Lewis Cellars

Former race car driver Randy Lewis runs this relatively small winery with his wife Debbie and his son Dennis, but it’s their winemaker Josh Widaman, formerly of Pahlmeyer and Stag’s Leap, who makes headlines here. The bruiser of a Cabernet sees almost 2 years in new French oak, while the spicy Alec’s Blend, comprised of Syrah, Merlot and Cab, gains gorgeous, lush texture from its residency in smoother American oak. Thick, concentrated juice is the focus, and has landed them on the WS Top 100 with enviable frequency. I got the most that I could, I hope it’s enough.
Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, 95 points Wine Spectator, $124.49 +tax
Lewis Cellars Alec’s Blend, 94 points Wine Spectator, $104.99 +tax

Venge Vineyards

Before you start imagining “Venge” as a Chuck Norris character, I should inform you that it’s a Danish name that rhymes with Benji. Not so tough now, eh, Chuck? These wines ARE tough, though. The Bone Ash Cab, from an organic, dry-farmed 12 acre plot in Calistoga, is a dense time capsule that Mr. Parker insists will last until the middle of this century, while the Silencieux, from younger vines, gives the modern Napa fruitsplosion of blackberry and blueberry that devours most parties and demands offerings of meat. The Venge family has farmed Napa since the 1970s, and 3^rd generation Kirk Venge leads the valley in sustainable viticulture. Plus he kicks butt. Sustainably.
Venge Bone Ash Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, 96+ points Robert Parker, $138.99 +tax
Venge Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, 95 points Robert Parker, $108.99 +tax

Spottswoode 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

One of the most Bordeaux-like Napa Cabs on the market, which surprises the folks at Spottswoode more than anyone. Farmers since 1972, winemakers since 1982, organic since 1985, the Novak family pretty much just bottles what comes out of the ground with minimal intervention. Luckily for them, what comes out of the ground at the historic Spottswoode estate is strikingly similar to classified Pauillac, full, flinty and piercingly bold. Like in Bordeaux, however, minimalist winemaking produces varied vintages – not every year is a winner – but this 2012 is a joyfully classic offering from an outstanding season, and is a Cellar Star that will peak in 2 Olympics. 96 points Robert Parker, $209.49 +tax

Cade Howell Mountain 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

I saved this one for last to make sure you were still paying attention. Sister winery to Plumpjack, Cade is where you want to go when zombies take over, because they’re LEED certified, almost off the grid (powered by solar), on the top of a mountain (good defensive positioning), and they’ll have stacked cases of this godly tonic, on par with Hillside Select, Insignia and Cardinale. You can drink this tonight or in 20 years, and in both cases you will find mouth-topia. I was able to grab 3 6-packs of this, but if you’re interested please hurry, the zombies are coming. 98 points Robert Parker,  $282.99 +tax

Featured Wines: California Gold

If any of the wines 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 Morgan Crossing location in South Surrey.

California Gold

By Jordan Carrier

If you believed the disaster movies, 2012 was supposed to be the year that California broke apart, swallowed its cities and turned its vineyards into fish food. Instead, 2012 ended up being the first of a string of amazing years in Golden State vineyards. California’s water troubles, while verging on crisis for most agriculture, have contributed to 3 – possibly 4 – stellar vintages in a row from 2012 to 2015. We may well be entering a golden age of California wines. Presented here are some premium examples of the 2012 vintage (with gems from 2010 and 2013 thrown in because I’m sneaky-like-ninja) for your perusal. You will want to grab all of them, this is normal. Strap in and let’s begin.

Araujo Estate 2012 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

A 38 acre vineyard east of Calistoga that was planted in 1880, and has been planted to Cabernet since 1964. Poor, gravelly soil and old vines contribute to super low yields and super high concentration, so much so that fruit from Eisele has built Ridge’s wines, Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernets, and Joseph Phelps Insignia until the late ‘90s when the Araujo family took over the vineyard and hired Michel Rolland to kick everyone else’s behind. He did. The estate is now owned by Chateau Latour, and the wines now rival Harlan and To Kalon in quality, price, and difficulty for Jordan in finding them. (96-98+) points Robert Parker, $849.99 +tax

Signorello 2012 Padrone

Ray Signorello Jr’s tribute to his Italian father returns with a drinkable, dense intense-fest of blackberry, coffee, stones and currant. Mostly Cab Sauv, with a voluptuous, ultra-tangible mouthfeel that gives Shafer Hillside Select a reason to look over its shoulder. Like Hillside, this is awesome now and awesome in 2035, although by then the word “awesome” won’t be spoken anymore, they’ll say “this bleep-blop Padrone is Kanye-tastic”. 97+ points Robert Parker, $210.99 +tax

Kathryn Hall 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Remember when you first heard this name. The Hall family has owned vineyards since the ‘70s, and Kathryn helped manage them with her brother until she went to law school, then into public life, and eventually became the US ambassador to Austria, after which she seized her family’s reigns again, returning to steer the winery forward to awesomeness. The Hall winery is certified organic and LEED Gold, and makes this Cabernet with an abundance of energy, flavour and charisma, showing blueberry, raspberry mocha and remarkable drinkability for such a thick, structured wine. 97+ points Robert Parker,  $225.99 +tax

Flicks and Flights: Bottle Shock

The Flick: "Bottle Shock" directed by Randall Miller, starring Chris Pine and Alan Rickman

The Flight: Grgich Hills Estate California Chardonnay, Meursault 1er Charmes White Burgundy, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Artemis California Cabernet, Clos du Marquis Red Bordeaux

Bottleshock is a fictionalized account of the factual events which lead to a Californian Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon outscoring Burgundy Grand Cru and Bordeaux First Growth wines at the Steven Spurrier organized competition now known as the “Judgment of Paris”. This, now mythical tasting from 1976, announced the arrival of quality New World wines and challenged the presumption of French wine dominance. Long is the list of historical inaccuracies that litter the movie’s plot including the complete omission of winemaker Mike Grgich, who was instrumental in creating the winning Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena, and in the introduction of Wine Sharking where winery workers dupe unsuspecting local bar patrons into betting against one’s ability to correctly guess the vintage, label and blend of a series of wines tasted blind.

The plot intertwines Spurrier’s conception of the tasting and trip to California to acquire the appropriate challengers with the strained father-son relationship of winery co-owner Jim Barrett and his hippy-living son Beau. Spurrier weaves the kooky world of 1970’s Napa valley winery personalities while father and son learn to communicate in an effort to save the beloved family business and succeed in Paris. Fairly formulaic.

The film suffers from a poorly paced and conceived script that would have been wiser to stick to the trials and triumphs of the actual events (as captured in the book Judgment of Paris by George M. Taber) rather than focus on made-up characters and wine hijinks like the aforementioned Wine Sharking. However, for wine lovers, watching Alan Rickman as Spurrier wax poetic about the intricacies and delights of a great glass of wine will save the film, mostly. He chews-up the scenery with his reserved and inherently snooty Britishness, pointed speech and elaborated diction – ok, I’m describing most Alan Rickman roles. Whatever. This one is about wine! Rent it and follow along with...

The Bottle Shock Drinking Game:

1. Take a sip of California Chardonnay every time…The editor cuts to sweeping helicopter shots of vineyards in an effort to connect poorly paced scenes of the two competing narratives.
2. Take a sip of White Burgundy every time…You see an iconic Citroen DS or a chain-smoking old man with a baret in a scene to reinforce the setting is in France.
3. Take a sip of California Cabernet every time…The film overreaches with an awkward social comment on gender or race inequality in 1970's Napa Valley by way of its motley crew of society challenging misfits.
4. Finish the bottle of red Bordeaux once…You realize that, despite the tittle of the film, the key, plot-moving wine fault is never attributed to the unsettling caused by the vibrations of transportation, aka actual “bottle shock”. Whoops!

- Liam Carrier ©copyright 2012 IconWines.ca

Vancouver Wine Fest Lives On!

The sad news that the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company was closing was shortly followed by happy news for BC wine lovers that the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival will live on. Run as a separate business entity, the wine fest may undergo some re-branding before next year's event but we can expect the same efficiency and attention to detail that makes our home market wine fest one of the most respected and best attended in the world.

From the winery principals I spoke to, including Brian Lynn, the proprietor of Majella Wines in Coonawarra, I heard rave reviews on how the festival is run behind-the-scenes where small things like a properly communicated schedule go a long way to making our international visitors feel welcomed. Lynn also mentioned the amazing volunteers who he credited most for making the Vancouver festival a must-attend event for their small winery.

Next year's theme region has already been announced as California and the global focus is Chardonnay. Hopefully, this will mean a higher attendance of wineries from Burgundy, a famed region for Chardonnay that was under represented at the 2012 festival.

Keep an eye on the festival website for more information on next year's event: www.playhousewinefest.com