QOTD: 2004 Sella & Mosca Cannonau Riserva opened up a new chapter for me: Sardinian wines. Beautiful dark fruits, dried black cherries, tobacco, leather?, a little pencil shavings, tar, REALLY interesting stuff (for me) at 9.99 US BONES!!

Thanks a million for tasting some Canadian wines… it is definately a challenge to find good Canadian wines under $15, and I live in Ontario.

QOTD: German Riesling rocks it. I never even considered it before, and now I love it.

QOTD: the wine was the Arrocal 2004 – previously I found Spanish wines to brash, rustic, probably from my prior experiences with the ‘black bull”. Then at a recent wine tasting it was suggested to try the Arocal and now I look for Spanish wines with similar profiles. BTW, I am not a big fan of Canadian wines even though I am Caandian for the same reasons as you just highlighted – the reds are so green and the better ones are priced out of their PQR.

QOTD: the wine was the Arrocal 2004 – previously I found Spanish wines to brash, rustic, probably from my prior experiences with the ‘black bull”. Then at a recent wine tasting it was suggested to try the Arocal and now I look for Spanish wines with similar profiles. BTW, I am not a big fan of Canadian wines even though I am Candian for the same reasons as you just highlighted – the reds are so green and the better ones are priced out of their PQR.

QOTD: the wine was the Arrocal 2004 – previously I found Spanish wines to brash, rustic, probably from my prior experiences with the ‘black bull”. Then at a recent wine tasting it was suggested to try the Arocal and now I look for Spanish wines with similar profiles. BTW, I am not a big fan of Canadian wines even though I am Candian for the same reasons as you just highlighted – the reds are so green and the better ones are priced out of their PQR.

Central CA coast wine from Cass Winery. I thought that it was just too hot there to make anything but a fruit bomb. Plenty of structure too.

QOTD: 2006 Terlato & Chapautier Shiraz/Viognier. I never expected to find an Australian wine that I liked.

I’m trying not to have any preconceived notions about regions or vintages or kinds of wine, therefore I haven’t had any wines that really disagreed with them.

QOTD: I recently had a white Zin that knocked my socks off. I know in the wine world there’s lots of opinions about white zin being the layman’s wine that everyone buys cause they dont know any better, but it really can be a lovely, sophisticated grape.

great show gary!

QoTD: Peacock Ridge Merlot from South Africa…. SA?!?!? didn’t even know they fermented grapes there… now my eyes are open. Thanks to you! 😉

One of the wines that changed my opinion on the region of Hungary for red wine is Gere Kopar 2003 Cuvee. It is a very good Bordeaux Blend, I bought it when I was in Budapest. I tasted it blind with a group of very serious tasters they were all thinking super tuscan or left bank bordeaux. Here is the link if anyone is interested. I think it is expensive for a red Hungarian wine, BUT I think the quality is great. Gary, if you can get a bottle on the show let me know. I ended up buying a case from the US importer who is very tiny.

http://www.greathungarianwine.com/Hungarian_Wine___List_of_Wi.html

I always was down on Greek Wines…thinking they were nothing more than Dry Uninteresting Retsinas…but after dining at a 5 star All Greek Restaurant in Atlanta with a 100% all Greek Wine List..I was extremly impressed with the quality to price Ratio especially Boutari’s Nemea Agiortikiko which is a Greek Version Of Pinot Noir

Canadian ice wines are good.
QOTD: I think that Csrignane is my most recent experience to shake up my ideas about wine. We had a Potter Creek Carignane with pizza and just didn’t know what to make of it. I’m going to have to try some other carignanes to compare. This carignane was like a huge bar of high quality bittersweet chocolate with a tinge of berries in the background. A small amount of it went a long, long way. I suddenly felt like I should be in Spain at a flamenco bar drinking it in tumblers and pounding the table with the filled glass in lieu of applause. I looked up carignane and it did originate in Spain. Odd. Anyway, it was the first wine in a long time that I didn’t think that I would confuse with another wine. I’m going to look for it when I see that it is blended with something else and see if I can identify it’s contribution. So, we went home and the next day opend a bottle of Licia Albarino and couldn’t stop drinking it. We didn’t have to think about it; we were positive that we liked it, and that’s a good experience too.

The last opinion-changing wine that I quaffed would have to be the 2004 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon. I’d had a few reds from California and wasn’t impressed by the finishes, but a tasting of Groth opened my eyes to the fact that California reds can have some great finish. Of course finding a reasonably priced bottle of wine from the Oakville area of Napa is next to impossible I’ve found (esp. in Ontario).

Sorry to hear about the Pelee Island tasting. If possible we need to get you some wines from the North Shore of Lake Ontario (Prince Edward County). Very small vineyards the new ‘it’ area of wine making in Ontario. British Columbia (Okanagan Valley), and Nova Scotia (Lunenburg) are also great areas in Canada. One Lunenberg winery makes 26 different wines, none from grapes. Name a berry, and they have a wine made from it.

QOTD = Cabernet Rose by Bell Mountain Vineyards in TX. Woulda never guessed that a Rose, let alone a TX wine, would be a ringer…but it is. Just goes to show, you never know.

QOTD: the 2003 Nevis Bluff Pinot Noir from Central Otago. I’ve had a fair amount of NZ Pinot from both Central Otago and Marlborough and they had mostly been done in a new world style, well, the Nevis Bluff could’ve been a dead ringer for a Burgundy. It wasn’t just that it was done in that style, but it was also tremendous too and it is a shade under 25

QOTD: Ballet of Angels from Sharpe Hill Vineyard, in Eastern CT. Rather complex and lovely with Indian or Thai curries. Just never expected such good wine from CT.

I just realized that the wine that changed my views on wine was the Chinon L’Esthete Cabernet Frank not the Carignane. So, I don’t really know what French wine is like.

After East Coast wines (mostly Maryland and New York Finger Lakes wines) gave me my wine palate, I promtly moved to the West coast! In the last 8 months, I’ve tried more wines here, from more places, than every before; having brought a few of my old favorite wines with me, I decided to pop them and give them a shot with my new and improved (is that even possible?) palate. Lo-and-hehold, they were nasty! Little flavor, horrible QPR, and overall lacking. Until, I popped a bottle of ’02 Optimus from Swedish Hill (a Bordeaux blend from NY, weird huh?) which I adored in New York — and it was still very good. That wine kept my ego in check.

QOTD: Colonia Las Liebres, Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina. As I keep spending more per bottle, this wine reminded me that it’s possible to have good inexpensive wine. Very enjoyable…QPR….

QOTD: Colonia Las Liebres, Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina. As I keep spending more per bottle, this wine reminded me that it’s possible to have good inexpensive wine. Very enjoyable…QPR….

GV – What to Drink with What you Eat is an awesome book – I look at it constantly! Thanks for bringing it out. QOTD – Just had a wine from Régnié – and I totally dug it. Now I’m thinking Beaujolais Crus might be more often for me – and what value!

Interesting show. I am not disappointed because I have been out to Pelee Island and their wines are pretty mediocre. It is a tough area to make good wine, much like a lot of Ohio where I live. I could send you some Ohio wines that are, in my opinion, respectable and see if you want to do a show on those. Anyway, I think Canada does indeed make some serious wine. I have had several wines from Niagara-on-the-lake that were very good. The cab franc from that area is pretty darn good – it is about the same latitude as the Loire Valley in France.

Gee, Coooool/Interestin’ Episode !!
Had a Canadian Wine last summer. The Magnotta Cabernet Franc Ice Wine.
The bottle itself weighed about 20 pounds (375 ml, $20). Was soooo
pumped about tryin’ it……but it was reeeeally MEEEEEEEEEEEH !!!!!
Nice “packaging”, but BOOOORING wine………tasted like sugar-water…

QOTD: ???, nothings changed da Mind recently………

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you pour all the bottles from the show into the bucket!