A few tips to consider in your quest for deep wine appreciation:
appreciate the aromas. You’ll feel as though you’re drinking the wine well before you’ve sipped the contents. Darren LeBlanc, Specialty Product Advisor at Notables by PEI Liquor, has a few suggestions to begin your adventure into the world of fine wine. 1. Chateau Clinet Pomerol 2016 $218.90, Bordeaux, France Awarded 97 Points by Robert Parker Garnet purple in color with cedar and smoke giving way to black and red plum, cassis and graphite. Luxuriously textured, perfectly composed. Medium bodied and vivacious with layers of red and black fruit mixed in earth on a complex, lengthy finish. 2. Chateau Clos L’Eglise Pomerol 2015 $172.90, Bordeaux, France Awarded 94 Points by Robert Parker Inky garnet in color. Earthy nose with hints of truffles, kirsch, jam preserves and oolong tea. Full bodied on the palate, richly fruited and layered with savory intensity. Firm, fine grained tannins brush the teeth as you settle into a finish of damp forest floor and mulberry fruit in savory baking spice. 3. Chateau Cos d’Estournel 2009 St. Estephe 2eme Cru, Bordeaux, France $617.99 Deeply colored, the 2009 is wonderfully intense with notes of
blackberry, red currants, blueberry compote and rose hips. Exotic aromas abound with underbrush, pencil shaving, coriander, mace, and nutmeg. Full bodied and richly textured with plush tannins and a long spicy finish. 4. Masi Mazzano Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico, Italy 2011 $152.50 Awarded 96 Points by James Suckling Powerful and brooding, this wine entices with notes of ripe fruit and woody spice. Elegant mouthfeel combines with dense fine-grained tannins and a tar-tinged, minerally underpinning. As the wine settles on your palate, you experience mulled black cherry, dried thyme, prunes and bergamot culminating in a complex and lengthy finish.
PAIR IT CORRECTLY
Whether it’s a Pinot Noir, or a fine bottle of Australian Shiraz, pair the wine in question with the appropriate meal. Some meats will call for a full- bodied red, yet others for a crispy white wine.
SAVOUR AND KEEP A WINE JOURNAL
Appreciating good wine takes time; hence it’s not for those who want to dash. After uncorking a good bottle, and pouring it into a glass, sniff and savour the smell of the wine alone before sipping. Then acknowledge the tastes you encounter (keep a wine journal, so you will remember the notes) and savour them fully.
5. Bollinger Rose, Champagne, France $118.79
Wine Spectator – 95 pts Robert Parker – 96 pts
REMEMBER THE AROMAS
Beautiful floral scent on the top note opening to a bouquet of red currant, green fig, and mint. On the palate this rose sings with white raspberry, peach, toast and candied ginger notes. The mousse envelopes the palate in soft luxury, then the wine finishes long and creamy with spice and smoke.
If the wine is young, a good bottle requires decanting into another vessel and then it sits open to oxidize for a while to soften it. Fine wines may sometimes be consumed right after the opening (as in for example an older vintage pinot noir), but often fine wines whether aged or not, will require some breathing time before being served. Sniff, savor and swirl the wine in the glass to see its viscosity as well as to
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FALL 2022/WINTER 2023 www.pei-living.ca
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