Blog #3 Some Past Tasting Notes (From France)

As I had mentioned in my past two blogs I would be adding some of my past tasting notes over time and this blog will be my first installment of a few of these notes. I have decided to add a few notes from various regions in France. I thought why not start here where wine has such reverence and there is so much diversity.

Chateau du Trignon- Gigondas - 2004 – Cotes du Rhone (Southern) - France

This Chateau was bought in 2006 by the Quiot family from Chateauneuf du Pape, so this wine marks the second last vintage of the Roux family which owned the property since 1895. It will be interesting to see the evolution of the wine now that the new proprietors have taken over. Let us hope that the new owners continue the tradition that the Roux’s have begun because this wine is excellent.

Gigondas is a very interesting appellation, essentially east of the major Rhone city Orange near the villages of Sablet and Vacqueyras it is influenced heavily by its major geological feature the small and beautiful mountain range known as Dentelles de Montmiral. This small mountain chain is essentially the foothills of Provence's Mont Ventoux and an are formed from Jurassic limestone which has eroded into jagged peaks. Now although Gigondas is situated in the hot southern French Mediterranean climeate, the Dentelles de Montmiral provide a much more elevated and therefore cooler region to grow vines. Furthermore, the climate of the region is moderated by the Mistral winds which blow through the Rhone Valley.

The soils of the region are composed mainly of red clay and some limestone. Being quite mineral laden the soil is very poor which for making wine a huge asset. Under appellation rules makers can use a maximum of 80% Grenache a minimum of 15% of either Syrah or Mourvedre and only a maximum of 10% of other varietals allowed to be grown in the Rhone valley with the one exception or Carignan. From what I have tasted Gigondas can produce some great value southern French wine with tons of personality and a real sense of terrior.

The 2004 Chateau du Trignon is Grenache based with Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault in supporting roles this wine shows why the Gigondas appellation can rival the best in France and certainly its neighbor Chateauneuf du Pape. Dark purple in colour with a lighter purple rim this wine begins with complex notes of cherry, currants, violets, earth and a floral lavender note. All of which combines to conjure up the smell of a freshly bloomed spring meadow. In the mouth this wine is delicate with tons of juicy red and black fruits, and a touch of creamy caramel. Given time this wine begins to change where notes of rock and graphite begin to take centre stage and floral fruit notes although still present move to the background. The wine remains very juicy and well balanced in the mouth and has a lovely long tasty finish of floral minerals. Excellent.

Chateau Combel La Serre - Coeur de Cuvee - Cahors - 2004 - Southwest- France

I have not tasted too many wines from Cahors, but after tasting this wine I think it is a region that I must explore more. I found very little information about this producer except for an address so I could not tell you much about how the wine is made. The region of Cahors, however, is very interesting in that it is the home of the currently very fashionable Malbec grape. Although it certainly has not been Cahors that has made Malbec fashionable rather it has been what is coming out of Argentina.

All wine regions tend to have some special geography that makes them what they are and Cahors is no different. In its case the region is heavily influence by the Lot river which flows throughout the region. The vines are planted around the city of Cahors on both banks of the Lot. In fact in medieval times wine from this region was supposedly called the black wines of Lot due to the dark colour of the wines produced. Although the region is in the fairly hot South West of France Cahors actually shares quite a bit in common with Bordeaux's climate which is directly north-west. This is due to the fact that the Lot river acts as a moderator to the warm weather. Cahors does however receive quite a bit of warm sunshine year round more so than Bordeaux.

The soils of Cahors are mainly marine limestone from the Jurassic era mixed with some clay. Under AOC regulations all wines must have at least 70% Malbec making up the wine the other 30% can be either Merlot or Tannat. Although I have not had much Cahors it seems to offer great value for some very unique and interesting wine.

The Chateau Combel La Serre 2004 Cahors is 100% Malbec. It possesses a deep, dark almost black colour with a red purplish rim. The nose is quite subtle but very lovely with notes of blue and black berries, red licorice, earthy spice, minerals and a fascinating smoky scorched earth note. In the mouth the wine has plenty of interest as well starting with berry flavours that become more dense with tannic fruit on the mid palate. The aggressive mid palate tannins subside for the finish which is actually very soft and pleasant with notes of lovely red berries. With air the wine took on more spicy dark fruit flavours and a great savory note while the tannins softened too. Overall the wine was very good and matched lovely to the Moose stew that I had matched it with. Very Good.

Guigal Cotes du Rhone Blanc- 2007 - Cotes du Rhone (Northern) - France

This is an entry level white wine from one of the most distinguished producers not only in Rhone but in all of France. Known for their Cote Rotie's (La Mouline, La Turque, La Landonne, Chateau D'Ampuis) Hermitage Ex Voto's and Condrieu's (La Doraine, Luminescence) all of which are out of my price range, Guigal produces some of the best wines in the world. The only Guigal's I have had are their entry level whites and reds, but I must say the focus on quality even at the lowest level is spectacular.

This wine being a Cotes du Rhone Blanc means that the grapes can be sourced throughout the Rhone valley and Guigal certainly does not have a shortage of vineyards. Being sourced from such a large area it would normally be difficult to find out what the actual grapes used in the wine were and what type of soil and conditions the grapes were grown in. However, Guigal is an extremely good company at being transparent and the have very in depth and informative technical sheets on their website. All I can really say is that they are a producer that everyone should try as they are making some very very good wines across the board.

This 2007 Cotes du Rhone Blanc by Guigal is 55% Viognier 20% Roussane 10% Marsanne 5% Clairette 5% Bourboulenc and 5% Grenache Blanc with an average age of 25 years. The grapes are grown in varied soil conditions of sediment, limestone and granite. The yields are an average of 33 Hl/Hectare and the wine is matured entirely in stainless steel.

The wine is a clear pale yellow with lovely floral aromatics. It is much like smelling a fresh spring garden along with notes of honey, white pit fruits, and subtle citrus. The nose is quite complex and even more subtle and interesting floral notes appear for brief moments then disappear again. In the mouth the wine has a lovely rich mouth feel with notes of floral spice balanced by a great stream of mineral acidity. The borderline opulent mouth feel is tremendous for an entry level wine at this price. The wine finishes with some good length and more floral spice that has a touch of sweetness to it. Overall this wine is a great value and very delicious. Very Good.

Blog # 2 Thoughts On Tasting Notes

As I stated in my first blog entry I will begin posting my tasting notes, which may take some time as I have quite a few, and they tend to be scattered about. But, I thought before I post them, it may be a good idea to share my thoughts on tasting wine and how I have decided to express what I have tasted into some sort of coherent summary.

When I first began to actually write down tasting notes for wine I thought, OK, look at the wine, smell it, taste it, then write down some score out of 100 as an overall evaluation. At the time I thought that this was the best way to taste wine and gave a good indicator as to how good the wine was. However, over time I think that this was a bit misguided. First of all, there is far much more to wine than just how it looks, smells and tastes. I know some people would disagree with me here and say if it smells good and tastes good then what is the problem? Well there actually is no problem with this assertion, but I think it really is only part of the overall appreciation of wine. For me wine tells a story, a story about where it came from, about the weather, the soil and the person who made it. I think to fully appreciate the wine we drink it is important to know the entire story. Therefore, when I write my notes on this blog I will try and share as much information about the wine as I can. I think this will allow anyone who reads my tasting notes to understand where I am coming from and hopefully learn more of the story behind the wine.

A second issue I have with tastings notes is the 100 point system or even the 20 point system. I used to use this approach when I began tasting wine, but over time I have found this to be a hugely problematic way to taste wine. First of all what is the difference between a wine that scores 92 with one that scores 93? Is it true that the one that is a percentage point higher really a better wine? Furthermore, what in the wine with the score of 93 gave it its extra 1%? It seems absolutely ridiculous for anyone tasting to actually have the ability to determine 1% differences in a wine. Secondly, how can one actually claim that a wine is 100% perfect and how is perfection being assessed? I mean is there actually a criterion that one can develop where you can say this wine smells 100% perfect or tastes 100% perfect? Again this seems quite difficult if not impossible . A third issue I have with the scoring system is the fact that it allows tasters to be quite lazy with their tasting notes. How many times have I read a tasting note that looks like this:

"Ruby red colour, blackberries, vanilla and earth on the nose, medium bodied, nose replays in the mouth, score 93."

How unbelievably unhelpful, how on earth is the taster able to put a score of 93 up while providing nothing as to why they did so? Many wines have these notes so why is it so good. This happens all too often and really misguides people.

With this in mind I have decided that my tasting notes will start with a bit about the winery and the wine maker if I cannot find this information I will be up front about it and let anyone reading this know. After that I will give as much information as I can about how the wine is made (i.e. when it was picked, type of yeasts used, aging method etc.) again the depth of this information will vary. Then I will provide my standard notes appearance, bouquet, taste, body, finish etc. Then I will give reasons why or why not I like it and what I think of the wine overall. I think that this is a much better system and really allows anyone who reads my notes to learn more about the wine and also understand why I enjoyed or did not enjoy a particular wine.

I will begin posting my tasting notes this week and will publish a full blog on the recent trip I took to Prince Edward County, one of the newest wine regions in the world. It was a great trip and I have some wonderful wines to talk about and some great stories as well. Take care and cheers.

Hunter

Blog # 1

So here it is my very first blog. Welcome to Hunting Vines, I have decided that it would be wise to use my first blog as a way to introduce myself and why I have decided to create a blog about wine as well as what I will be blogging about. I also think it would be appropriate to outline my credentials or lack thereof as to why I should even be writing about wine in the first place. So here we go and please try to bear with me as this is my first time blogging.

To begin as you may have figured out already my name is Hunter Kangas and I am currently living in Ottawa, Ontario. I received my Baccalaureate of Arts (Honours) Degree in International Development specializing in political and economic development from the University of Guelph. Clearly, this has little if anything to do with wine, but it has provided me with the ability, I think, to approach wine critically and analytically. I really paid little if any attention to wine in my youth as I come from a long line of beer drinkers, but in the Spring of 2005 I was bitten by the wine bug during an anniversary dinner with my partner (Becky). From that point on I became increasingly interested and obsessed with wine. In 2007 I began working in the wine industry as a retail sales rep and in 2009 I completed the "Ontario Introductory Course for Ontario Wines" from the Ontario Wine Council.

Now certainly my credentials are not extraordinarily impressive, I have worked wine retail for roughly 2 1/2 years and have completed a small course on wine, but I do read quite a bit and taste even more. More importantly, I absolutely love wine and have such a passion for knowing everything I can about this liquid that I feel I at least deserve an attempt to blog about it. If anyone does decide to read this blog I hope that they also think I have enough knowledge and passion to write about this subject.

With that out of the way I suppose now would be a good time to outline what this blog will be about. I envision this blog to cover a couple of things. First, I see it was a good way to publish my many tastings notes. Over the next few weeks I will add as many of my past notes as I can and as I taste more wine I will add those as well. Secondly, I will blog about various wine topics, issues and debates that I think are important to better understand wine. Finally I will blog about my wine experiences from travel to various thoughts I have about the subject. Obviously as time goes on other things may be included in this blog so I will let it evolve and see where it takes us. Above all I just want this blog to be interesting, informative and a great addition to the collective knowledge of wine so I will do my absolute best to achieve this.

I hope that this blog will begin a great dialogue about wine so please do not hesitate to post you comments on this blog or email me at hunter.kangas@gmail.com. There is not much else to say on this first post but let the journey begin. Thanks so much I am looking very forward to this.

Cheers,

Hunter