Canadian Ice Wine and Dessert Wine….OH CANADA!

Canadian Ice Wine and Dessert Wine….OH CANADA! – Episode #90

September 14, 2006

Wines tasted in this episode:

Today Gary attacks and talks about Canadian Ice wines and Dessert wines. Gary is blown away by the efforts from up North and asks a great little question. Please join in and ask Gary some questions and look for the fun and excitement in this episode!

126 Responses

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September 15, 2006

Eric
I’m a bit surprised at the lack of mention of German botrytised wines. Here’s one to try: 1994 St. Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein Trockenbeerenauslese. Essence of nectar.
September 15, 2006

garyv
POST 100 …YEAH ME I get FREE SHIPPING !!! JK new episode up in a few folks Have a great weekend and thank you for all your support. Oh and pass the word, always looking for new WLTV HEADS!
September 15, 2006

Grant Gallagher
it;s funny – we’re all hovering around the site – salivating.. waiting for the episode to post. WAIT IT”S HERE… (kidding)….
September 15, 2006

Cesar
Gary,
That episode was a lot of fun to watch. Now I have to go try some ice wine, tonight. My favorite wine is Port and one of my favorite Ports is the “83 Real Companhia Velha. I also enjoy Tokay.

Anyone want a good wine read try “The Accidental Connoisseur” by Lawrence Osborne. It’s a light read, like reading someone’s journal whose been on several wine tasting trips.
September 15, 2006

TimF
Julius – I read an article this summer that said Macari is for sale. Too bad — they make some good juice. I just wish I had $9.5m sitting around so I could buy it…
September 15, 2006

Julius
TimF – You really know your s**t! I didn’t think anyone would care about the Seibal hybrids. And in regard to one of your earlier comments about Macari, the best wine I ever had from Lomg Island was the Macari Bergen Road. Expensive for LI (~$35) but as good as any from Napa at that price.
September 15, 2006

Jason R.
**** Tammy #82 – You may be the second person from Iowa watching. I’m the first. I have watched from Ep #1. Your bird question – That has been addressed. I’ll let you discover on your own this one and many other things as you watch the episode.

I agree – Iowa may have the WORST selection of any state I have been to, but one good thing is that almost every state will ship to IOWA. I travel for work 2 weeks out of the month, so I either ship in by the case, or pick up bottles while traveling. Note: Even if you can find it at local shops in IA – many times still less expensive to pay ground freight and ship in from NJ, NY, CA – Keep in mind you dont have to pay sales tax on orders from outside state. Just keep weather conditions in mind and also I like to order on Fridays – They tend to fill, and ship order on Monday and it should arrive to you later in the week. Avoid having them ship on Friday – Sit in truck or warehouse over the weekend and then start making the journey. I have ordered 100+ cases in and have only had 1 problem. UPS forklift truck went into side of box. Only one bottle of 2003 Beaujolais ($10.99) broke – all other bottles were fine. Company handled claim, shipped me new bottle and they handled claim with UPS. Freak accident. Anyways – i do tend to let the wines I ship in to “Settle down” for at least a month as I believe that in shipping they can bounce around and show a little awkward right after. Also – since I ship mostly in the spring, fall and even winter – I let the bottles reach room temp very slowly (Many arrive very cool) by opening the top of the box and taking the styrofoam cover off, but leaving them in the box. This some how insulates them and it will take a good day for them to settle in, but I try to avoid any drastic temp changes. Good luck!!!
September 15, 2006

TimF
Grant – It wasn’t bad — it just had no oomph. Not anything you’d expect from a vintage port. Part of the problem may have been that we had a bottle of Old Codger Tawny before we had the 1975. The Old Codger had tons of fruit flavor and the 1975 was a joke in comparison. Supposedly it was well stored — I bought it from a place with a cellar where they had to go get it for me not a retail store. I’ve got another bottle of it left to try. I just think the 75s are done…
September 15, 2006

Jason R.
Tammy #82 – You may be the second person from Iowa watching. I’m the first. I have watched from Ep #1. Your bird question – That has been addressed. I’ll let you discover on your own this one and many other things as you watch the episode.

I agree – Iowa may have the WORST selection of any state I have been to, but one good thing is that almost every state will ship to IOWA. I travel for work 2 weeks out of the month, so I either ship in by the case, or pick up bottles while traveling. Note: Even if you can find it at local shops in IA – many times still less expensive to pay ground freight and ship in from NJ, NY, CA – Keep in mind you dont have to pay sales tax on orders from outside state. Just keep weather conditions in mind and also I like to order on Fridays – They tend to fill, and ship order on Monday and it should arrive to you later in the week. Avoid having them ship on Friday – Sit in truck or warehouse over the weekend and then start making the journey. I have ordered 100+ cases in and have only had 1 problem. UPS forklift truck went into side of box. Only one bottle of 2003 Beaujolais ($10.99) broke – all other bottles were fine. Company handled claim, shipped me new bottle and they handled claim with UPS. Freak accident. Anyways – i do tend to let the wines I ship in to “Settle down” for at least a month as I believe that in shipping they can bounce around and show a little awkward right after. Also – since I ship mostly in the spring, fall and even winter – I let the bottles reach room temp very slowly (Many arrive very cool) by opening the top of the box and taking the styrofoam cover off, but leaving them in the box. This some how insulates them and it will take a good day for them to settle in, but I try to avoid any drastic temp changes. Good luck!!!
September 15, 2006

Grant Gallagher
TimF – so sorry about your’75. I am always very wary about buying old port retail – especially if you find it standing upright. One simply never knows how it has been stored over the last 30 yrs. http://www.thevintageportsite.com/ says that the ‘75 is close to the end of its viable life and even then only if it has been stored well; they say “This young wine should be allowed to age in its own bottle for at least 15 to 20 years from the time it is bottled to achieve its optimum maturity.” so chances are your bottle was over the top. Sorry.

BigBen – THANKS for the link to episode 48!

Grant
September 15, 2006

DougieFresh
great episode, glad to see someone showing some love to Canada.

during your sign-off today, what was that thing you did at the end with your fingers? Were you throwin’ the WL gang sign of something?

You’re such a gangster.
September 15, 2006

Vinacull
Thank you Joe. I wish I had another bottle of the ‘90 Baumard too. We drank the last one about a year ago.
On a different front, I second Arnold’s request for an Episode on Chablis! Show us some wet-dog and barnyard funk Gary. You could have some more WWF action figures as co-hosts.
Many folks here love Port, as do I, so an episode on that would be very cool as well. QUESTION for you Gary: Will you please give us a hint and prime our palates on what you will do for Episode 100? We’re on the 10-Ep countdown now…
September 15, 2006

TimF
Julius — You are correct. Vidal Blanc is a French hybrid (mixing American and French grape varietals) created from Ugni Blanc (AKA Trebbiano in Italy — used as a blending grape in Chianti) and Seibel (hybrid created by Albert Seibel). One of the clones (Seibel 4986) is called Rayon D’Or.

Seyval Blanc (several vines of which are growing in my back yard presently) is a cross between two Seibel hybrids — one of which just happens to be Rayon D’Or…

BTW – I am regularly humbled by the magnitude of wine information there is…
September 15, 2006

sheila
Great episode. Love dessert wines/ice wine. Would like to hear your idea of the best temperature to serve these wines…

QOD…Kracher #9…tastes like creme brulee…

sheila
September 15, 2006

Julius
BTW, I would like to add that I thought it was a very good episode. You are getting better at describing the wines. I thought it was interesting that the Jackson-Triggs Vidal had the classic Riesling characteristic – Petrol, which none of the Rieslings showed. Also, I thought that Vidal was a cross of Ugni Blanc and Rayon d’Or.
September 15, 2006

Julius
Oops, to continue, 2001 DeBortoli Noble One and a 1999 Royal Tokaji Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos.
September 15, 2006

Julius
I am a big fan of dessert wines and certainly one of the best I ever had was a 1997 Yquem, but I’ve had a few others worth mentioning: 1963 Fonseca port, 1996 Pierre-Bise Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu Les Rouannieres,
September 15, 2006

Judith
Gary, thanks for the great episode. I’m a big fan of Canada and Canadian icewines. In fact, my introduction to icewines was at the dinner after my wedding in Toronto. Wow, I was blown away. Fortunately, we were driving back to the states and able to bring some bottles home.

QOD: So far, my favorite dessert wine is 2001 Ch. Suduiraut. Like drinking a velvet apricot peach, with a finish that goes on forever. I’d love to see you do an episode on Sauternes. (And I’m looking forward to trying the Tokaji you tasted a few episodes back.)

Thanks again for a terrific episode.
September 15, 2006

Arnold
When you first started WLTV I thought “How stupid” and never watch. Out of pure bordom I watched an episode and now I’m hooked. I am learning so much about wine. Great work! I’ve been trying to go through older episodes but have a long way to go. If you haven’t already, could you feature some Viognier, Chablis and Roses? You asked a couple episodes ago what I was drinking right now: a 2005 Rose from Provence (Sorry, don’t recall the producer), it’s just horrible, I started cooking with it.
September 15, 2006

Tammy G.
Gary,

I have just started watching your show and LOVE WLTV! I am going back and watching as many of the old episodes that I can! Being from Iowa, we are very limited on our wine experts. But, we do have a few wineries here. (mainly sweet wines – not my favorite!) Oh, by the way, what is that chirping noise I hear on your show? Are your windows open? Do you have birds in your room? It’s kind of annoying.
Thanks, Tammy
September 15, 2006

Jim Vandegriff
Thanks, Gary, for the wonderful episode. A great resource for people interested in Icewine is the book “Icewine” by John Schreiner. It is a wonderful book devoted to icewine around the world, with chapters which detail the procedures and history of hundreds of icewine producers from Germany, Austria, Canada, US, Slovenia, Australia, Romania, New Zealand, etc. It is an excellent book. My favorite late harvest wine had to be a 1971 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese goldcapsule. When I opened the wine and inhaled the aromas, I thought I was in heaven or more precisely, Valhalla, and was drinking the nectar of the gods. What an incredible wine…and I’ve purchased later vintages at WineLibrary! Another favorite which Jaye mentioned was the 1977 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Porto. Complex, structured, entrancing, powerful, incredibly aromatic wine with wonderful flavors. I second the call for a porto episode. Thanks for wltv; it is a great service. Jim
September 15, 2006

JW
Gary – Good episode and timing. We spent Labor Day weekend in Niagara and I tasted through many of the same ice wines you tasted here (Inniskillin, Hillebrand, Peller). Interesting comment about the body shop smell – that “petroleum” nose and feel turns me off of several Vidal based ice wines. My Interestingly, I had already posted notes and had the same reaction to the Peller Cab Franc…matter of fact as we left the tasting I said, “not so good, let’s move on” – my wife laughed. Came home with several bottles of Inniskillin Late Harvest Riesling though.

QOD – Best ice wine I have had was Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling Ice Wine. Overall, my favorite stickys are the Sauternes.
September 15, 2006

Rich T.
Alright!!! Great episode!!! Finaly some of my sweet tooth faves reviewed!! I have been to Peller and Iniskillin this summer and was blown away by the icewines. Sorta answered my question I have been asking about the quality of semi-sweet wines, or super sweet as with these. I now do not feel like a total wine wimp now, Thanks Gary!!!!!
September 15, 2006

joe
Vinacull:

Great, great call on the Coteaux du Layon – amazing stuff. Baumard is out of this world – had a ‘97 that was young but Fab…wish I could try a 1990 now! Try Pierre-Bise too.
September 15, 2006

SeanM
I had the Neige at the Washington DC Wine and Food Festival, I thought the crowd was going assault the guy to get his stock because at the festival you can’t buy only taste. Everyone wanted a bottle of that wine.