pop & pour

By Dan Steeves

Day 17 of the Bricks Wine Advent Calendar brings us back to Italy for a taste from the iconic region of Chianti Classico, located south of Florence in central Tuscany. For me, Chianti is synonymous with pizza and rich pastas and is my go-to wine for such fare. It can be quaffable yet complex and its strong acidity makes it easy to pair with a lot of different foods, especially most of my favourite Italian dishes.

One of the many sub-zones located within the greater Chianti region, Chianti Classico has a long history of winemaking going back thousands of years; the region was officially delimited back in 1716. At the time, it was known solely as Chianti, and as popularity of the wine increased in the early 20th century, the region had to expand to further adjacent towns to meet demand. In 1932, “Classico” was added to wines made within the original delimited Chianti area and in 1984 it was established as its own DOCG. Chianti Classico is generally known as a higher quality wine compared to its neighbouring Chianti wines due in part to the more strict rules on its production, including longer aging (minimum 1 year vs 3 months), grape varietal content (Classico must have a minimum of 80% Sangiovese and no white grapes are permitted), and higher alcohol (minimum 12% vs 11.5%). Further quality tiers also exist in Chianti Classico with Riserva and Gran Selezione wines. Riserva wines must be aged for a minimum of 2 years, while Gran Selezione wines must be aged a minimum of 2.5 years, are comprised of the best fruit from the estate’s own vineyards, and have to be approved through a tasting panel to ensure they meet the strict quality threshold.

Tonight’s wine, the 2014 Félsina Berardenga Chianti Classico, comes from a relatively young producer which started in 1966 and whose vineyards are located on the southeastern edge of the Chianti Classico border at Castelnuovo Berardenga. All of Félsina’s Chianti Classico wines are made with 100% Sangiovese and throughout the years they have worked to ensure the best possible matches between various Sangiovese clones and the terroir of their lands. Out of the 600 hectares of land held by Félsina, only just 15% is under vine with the remainder farmed for other crops (olives, grains, fruits, etc) as they believe strongly in maintaining biodiversity on their land. This passion and respect for the land carries through to their wines, which showcase rich and dense flavours with an elegant structure.

The wine has a medium ruby colour with a fairly deep core, more than what you might expect for a Chianti (Classico). With a medium intensity, the wine comes out of the gates with an assortment of fruit aromas including plum, raspberry, dried dark cherry, and red licorice. The fruit isn’t overbearing though, and is layered over a strong core of developing notes of wet stone minerality, leather, clove, a light medicinal aroma and uncooked pie dough. This beautiful nose is equally matched on the palate, which shows much more earthy flavours of dried leaves, leather, clove, tomato leaf, vanilla, and walnut. The cherry and plum fruit come through on the tongue as well, but more the skin of the fruit than the flesh. Structurally the wine is solid with strong acidity, fleshy tannins, and a finish that provokes you to fill up your glass and take another serving of spaghetti.

89+ points

The easily recognizable black rooster seal of Chianti Classico. If you don’t know the story behind it, check out this previous post on Pop & Pour here.

By Raymond Lamontagne

Day 16 and we are still in California. Today we leave behind the high ABVs from grapes grown in the hot interior but vinified in Napa, to get a look at what Jon Bonne calls the “new California wine”. Rutherford is considered to be among the finest Napa Valley AVAs. It lies on the valley floor, getting ample sunshine and warm temperatures, two factors that translate into optimally mature grapes that yield opulent, richly-flavored wines. However, a cooling fog also moves northward up the valley from the Bay area, modulating the sunshine that would otherwise napalm the grapes into a watery oblivion. The results are ageworthy wines that display a precise balance of fruit and acidity. Although Cabernet Sauvignon is the undisputed king across the region, more traditional California variety Zinfandel retains a few toeholds here and there. At Frog’s Leap, Zin is the favourite.

Interestingly enough, the same Riedel varietal tumbler glass is used for Sauvignon Blanc/Riesling on the one hand, and Zinfandel on the other. Maybe they mean white Zinfandel?

John Williams and Larry Turley started Frog’s Leap in 1981, ultimately creating a successful boutique winery that grows only organic grapes and practices dry-farming of vineyards (no irrigation, which many believe leads to sickly vines and bloated grapes that contain less acid, more sugar, and fewer of the  phenolic compounds that make wine worth inspecting, as opposed to crushing). They also incorporate at least certain aspects of biodynamics. Although these guys do not take themselves particularly seriously, stewardship of the land is another matter. Careful attention to yields, the aforementioned dry-farming, and respect for terroir work together to spawn Zins that show restraint, high-toned acids, earthy flavors, and (thankfully for the Advent-soaked liver) more reasonable ABVs. All of this emerges with minimal use of intervention. John Williams believes that nature makes wine, rather than man or woman. Finally, some of Cali’s fascinating grape-growing heritage is reflected in the fact that these old school Zins are often technically field blends: Other black grape varietals grow amongst the Zinfandel vines and are tossed into the pot to round out Zin’s corners and provide additional aromas, flavors, and mouthfeel. These can include various teinturiers (grapes with red flesh, historically used to provide more colour) as well as old warhorses that might be consigned to the dust bin of history were it not for a recent (positive!) trend toward preserving the past. The 2015 Frog’s Leap Napa Valley Zinfandel is 79% Zin, 19% Petit Syrah (or Durif), and 2% Carignan. Let’s delve in.

Cork Rating: 6.5/10. I like the Frog’s Leap swoosh, but otherwise this looks a bit like a cigarette butt.

This is a truly smoky, meaty wine upon first impression. One quick sniff yields powerful hickory smoke BBQ sauce and fresh ground beef. A few more sniffs reveal bramble jam, complete with canes and leaves, pumice stones in a sauna, dill seed and weed, allspice (maybe I should just say pickling spices across the board). I taste mealy Saskatoon berries, blackberries purchased in winter when they are rather tart, strawberries, raspberries, maybe a dab of peach conserve and a sprinkle of sweet dried chilli. None of these fruits are overly ripe or cooked, and everything is just a day or two past green. Peter and I exchanged Instagram messages while tasting this wine, and in addition to what turned into a rather wonderful conversation about the twists and turns of life, he helped provide this take on the primary fruit. Somewhat sweet but far from jammy, and every bit as balanced as Rutherford promises to deliver. Fresh acidity lifts everything up, and the tannins have some grip and just enough stem. This is what I absolutely love about an old fashioned Cali Zin: bright fruit but with ample old thorn-bush shrubbery, robust smoke and spice, tons of country character, nothing blowsy. Curry spices (star anise, cumin, coriander) show up late. Finish is persistent and features another perfect symmetry between fruit and aromatics. After last night’s alcoholic explosion, this is a breath of fresh air. Incidentally, some of my favorite wines are those that trigger bittersweet memories. This one takes me back to the raspberry patch in my old backyard in NW suburban Calgary. I do not live there anymore and I am happy in the downtown core. But the memories remain.

92 points

By Raymond Lamontagne

We’re back in DAC. The Old World classics continue to roll with an Austrian red, and I’m on deck for my third Austrian wine of the blogging campaign. The Calgary wine scene has seen a recent proliferation of Austrian sips, many natural or biodynamic, and the vast majority that I’ve sampled are charming, characterful, and delicious. A few have been stunningly superb. The entry level Krutzler Eisenberg Blaufrankisch is a textbook example that the winemaker describes as a “people’s wine”:  uncomplicated, approachable, congenial, and Krutzler’s best seller, yet still hearty enough to pair with richer meals. This is the Reserve, however.

I wonder if its Austria??

Blaufrankisch is often deemed “the Pinot Noir of the East” due to its proliferation across Eastern Europe and presumably also its taste characteristics. I can see the analogy, although to my palate, crossing partner St. Laurent often seems more quintessentially “Pinot”. Blaufrankisch can yield densely tannic wines (see Fox Run’s offering from the Finger Lakes, NY, which was sublimely floral but excoriated my tongue). This young impetuosity often gives way to a velvety mouthfeel and deep cherry and woodland berry flavors with age, while retaining a pronounced acidity. So yes … A Pinot relative at least in spirit.

One of Blaufrankisch’s parents is the fascinating Gouais Blanc. Gouais is a vinous Genghis Khan: decried as a barbarian, but sowing its seed far and wide. This white grape was deemed coarse and far too rustic, banished to the hinterlands early in the Middle Ages. This ill will almost rendered it extinct. Gouais did however have ample opportunity to cross with Pinot numerous times, perhaps imbuing the latter with some degree of hybrid vigour, and those crosses live on as some of the top wine grapes in the world today (Gamay and Chardonnay!). Fortunately extinction was forestalled and Gouais persists as a prime source of genetic diversity, if not a stellar offering in the glass. The other parent of Blaufrankisch is the ultra-rare Blaue Zimmettraube, recently re-discovered in the German Rheinhessen region. Most evidence suggests that Blaufrankisch itself originated in Lower Styria (in present day Slovenia), spreading to Germany (where it is called Lemberger, the name also used in NY and other US states), the Czech Republic (where it is called Frankovka), Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, and even Italy. Finally, Blaufrankisch is a rising star in Hungary, where it goes by the pert handle “Kekfrankos”. Some claim that these names lack market appeal. I say slap on an appropriately Gothic font and let the flavours speak for themselves. Besides, “Lemberger” sounds like a cheese. Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Steeves

We are now officially into the second half of the Bricks Wine Advent Calendar! It’s been a fun ride so far with some fantastic wines, which for the most part (10 of 12 bottles) have all been from Old World wine regions. Tonight, we go back to the New World (perhaps New World wines will have a larger influence in the second half of the calendar?) with a wine from Sonoma County, California: the 2015 Schug Carneros Estate Winery Pinot Noir.

Day 13 wine was not an unlucky one!

Los Carneros AVA (commonly referred to as just Carneros) spans across the southern part of both Sonoma and Napa counties just north of San Pablo Bay. The region has low hills and relatively low elevation and is known for its moderate climate that is heavily influenced by cool winds blowing in from the Bay. The stress from the cool, windy conditions draws out the growing season which promotes crisp acidity and flavour development in the fruit and makes it an ideal location for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and for sparkling wine production. The region is so well suited for sparkling wine production that a number of famous Champagne houses (Moet & Chandon – Domaine Chandon, Taittinger – Domaine Carneros, and GH Mumm – Mumm Napa) have set up operations in Carneros for producing high quality sparkling wines.

The Schug Winery is a family run operation, started by Walter Schug and his wife Gertrud in 1980, and is now headed by their son Alex Schug although all of their children are involved in the operation. Walter and Gertrud moved to California from Germany in 1961 to start working in the developing California wine industry. In 1966 a position working with the northern California portfolio for E&J Gallo allowed Walter to forge relationships with hundreds of growers in the region and gain insight to the prime vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. This experience was sought by Joseph Phelps in 1973 and Walter started a 10 year tenure as VP and winemaker for the new winery (next time you see a bottle of Insignia or Backus vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, you now know who was behind it). In 1980, Joseph Phelps ceased production of Pinot Noir but made an arrangement with Walter that he could continue to produce it under his own private label while still the winemaker at Joseph Phelps. A few years later, Schug went out on his own, and in 1989 purchased land in the Carneros appellation and started the Carneros Estate which runs today.

2015 Schug Carneros Pinot Noir – WS Tribute Vintage – Remembering founder Walter Schug who passed away in 2015.

The 2015 Schug Carneros Pinot Noir has a medium ruby colour and a pronounced nose of cherry, raspberry, bramble, and cranberry along with nutmeg, vanilla, and slight smoky and medicinal aromas. The wine shows its cool climate upbringing with its crisp and earthy aromas, and it is a delight to take in all the scents. On the palate, the wine attacks immediately with a spicy character and nicely balanced crisp acidity and silky tannins. Flavours of dark cherry, cranberry, currant, leaf, tree bark, and clove persist with a rather long finish. I am a big fan of cool climate New World Pinot Noir and this wine most certainly does not disappoint! At the $30 price point it offers tremendous value for a highly regarded region like Carneros and a winery with deep roots in the development of the regional wine industry.

90 Points

“Bliss” by Charles O’Rear 1996

P.S.  If you’ve ever used a PC, there should be a 100% chance you recognize the above picture. The picture of a relaxing green field with the rolling hills on a beautiful sunny blue sky day, which was a default background for Windows XP. The photo, aptly named “Bliss”, was taken on film in 1996 by Charles O’Rear while driving through Carneros. There are no vines in the picture, as they were all ripped out a few years prior due to a Phylloxera outbreak, but this area is now once again under vine.