What's In Your Cellar, Jordan?

Photo Credit: Surrey Now

Jordan Carrier
Everything Wine @ Morgan Crossing
Vintage Room Consultant
everythingwine.ca

As the Vintage Room Consultant for Everything Wine @ Morgan Crossing and with a modest collection of his own, Jordan oversees two cellars of wine. Pouring and sourcing famous first growths and the icon wines of the world for clients, satiates any desire to splurge on trophy wines. At home he tends to focus on value wines that will evolve and change over time as not all cellar-worthy wines need be to expensive.

Q - What are your favourite wines to cellar/collect?
Red ones and dessert wines, no further specificity is available, I really have no criteria other than I want it and I want to keep it.

Q - What are your favourite wine regions to cellar/collect?
I’m trending Old World with my recent purchases, but the majority of my collection is older, New World buys. Time goes by, we change…

Q - What is the purpose of your wine cellar/collection?
Practical, I like to see how a wine evolves, however upon opening I find myself entertained and personally gratified.

Q - What inspired you to hold onto that first bottle or case beyond when it was ready to drink?
Tasting an aged bottle of wine, wanting to recreate that experience.

Q - Was there a particular bottle or region of wine that was the impetus of starting your collection?
It was a Merlot from Robert Mondavi, I don’t even think it was a Reserve, but I kept it for a few years and was so totally transformed by the experience of drinking it that I knew I had to do that more.

Q - Is there a jewel of note or a favourite wine in your collection?
No trophy wines, I don’t believe in keeping anything I would feel unworthy of someday drinking. It’s a respectable collection of wines, but there are definitely some clubs it couldn’t get into.

Q - Any particular duds or disappointments of note?
Osoyoos Larose 2004, I kept that thing forever and when I opened it, it was simultaneously too tannic and falling apart. Very disappointing.

Q - What causes you to actually pull the trigger on a special bottle from your cellar?
Sometimes occasion commands an offering, sometimes I just deserve it, sometimes the wine is likely peaked so it’s a “use it or lose it” scenario.

Q - What have you learned about wine from starting your collection?
It’s amazing how much money I don’t spend on wine. I think, being in the wine industry, I’ve learned much more by being an active taster and pursuing every opportunity to scavange knowledge.

Q - Would perusing your wine cellar offer any insight into you as a person?
I think a far more insightful discovery about someone of my income level is what I want in my cellar but don’t yet have. What’s there now reflects mostly the opportunities I’ve been afforded.

Q - Any general comments about building a cellar/collection?
Always keep buffer bottles on hand that would age well but don’t necessarily need to. They will protect the truly age-worthy bottles from your raging thirst.

Q - What advice would you share to anyone wanting to start a collection of wine?
Be prepared for a Long Game, this is an investment, not a sport.

 - Liam Carrier ©copyright 2012 IconWines.ca

BC Wine Deal: Rosé Special

Two of the Okanagan Crush Pad brands have lowered the price on their tasty rosé wines by a whopping 40%! Both wines were $18.99 and are now on sale until July 31st for $11.39 per bottle if you order direct from Alison@okanagancrushpad.com. Shipping is just $15 in Metro Vancouver and $25 for the rest of BC.

Haywire Winery 2010 Gamay Noir Rosé

Wild raspberry, rhubarb, Bosc pear, light brioche and floral aromas make for a lovely nose on this salmon-meets-brick coloured Gamay Noir rosé from Summerland.

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Bartier-Scholefield 2010 Rosé Table Wine

Also a 100% Gamay, bone-dry rosé that may not appeal to fans of BC blush the likes of JoieFarm's flagship pink. However, the concentration achieved on the palate is so great and cheerful, that despite the dryness, one is left with a loving embrace of freshly baked cherry-goodness and rhubarb-tang.

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What's In Your Cellar, Michèle?

Photo by Paul A. Bosc

Michèle Bosc
Château des Charmes
Director of Marketing

chateaudescharmes.com

Prior to marrying into the Bosc family, for whom a tradition of winemaking extends seven generations, Michèle had already decided on a career in wine and considered the Sommelier field prior to joining the family business where a background in both Science and Marketing has served her well.

Her basement-housed cellar favours red Burgundy and both Left and Right Bank Bordeaux which make special appearances alongside selections of Château des Charmes wines at family gatherings.

Q - What inspired you to hold onto that first bottle or case beyond when it was ready to drink?
Curiosity of how wine evolves over time…each bottle being a unique individual. So there is the emotional connection side of it but my background is science so cellaring is a bit of a live experiment that you have to wait to see the results. Did you wait long enough—or too long? That’s part of the fun.

Q - What is the purpose of your wine cellar/collection?
Family celebrations. When we have an extended family meal or special friends visiting we bring up a bottle from the cellar. Once it is finished we sign and date the bottle (family) or have our guests sign and date the bottle. Wine is best enjoyed when sharing the experience with friends and family. This tradition helps to bring back the memories of a special meal.

Q - What causes you to actually pull the trigger on a special bottle from your cellar?
Mood, family celebration or a very special cut of meat.

Q - What have you learned about wine from starting your collection?
Wine is alive. It lives and breathes every day. No bottle will be the same as in the moment when you open it. There is much romantic about that. And, that you can wait too long. And, if the wine was out of balance in the beginning cellaring won’t change that.

Q - Would perusing your wine cellar offer any insight into you as a person?
Maybe. Remember, cellars are both collections of things you have purchased as well as things you have been given.

Q - Any general comments about building a cellar/collection?
Buy what you love. Be patient. Sometimes the best reason to go to the cellar to pick “a bottle” is simply because. Most importantly, not all wine is meant to be aged.

Q - What advice would you share to anyone wanting to start a collection of wine?
Wine doesn’t necessarily get “better” with age. It simply changes, evolves, matures. Not everyone likes an aged Chardonnay or Icewine. But if you are curious about wine, cellaring is an amazing way of learning about well-made vs. not well-made wines. If you are serious about wine make sure you take notes. They can be published in a shared tool like Cellar Tracker or WineBizerkers. Or you can simply set up your own Excel spreadsheet to keep track of what you have an when you think you should open a bottle. Buy at least 3 bottles so you can open them at different times. This is where the notes come in….check what you thought last time…how has the wine evolved? Do you like it better now or then? Etc. You may find you like some producers and varieties aged longer than others. Please…if you are using a community tool and you don’t like a wine there is no need to publicly slag the bottle. It may be very well made and you may not like it. That's OK. But the general rule of thumb is if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all. Remember, wines are like our children.

 -  Liam Carrier ©copyright 2012 IconWines.ca