Blind tasting notes
2005 Township 7 Seven Stars – every winery in BC seems to feel obliged to make a sparkling wine. Some do it passably well, some apparently incompetently and this was an example of the latter. Blush colour, fruity sweet nose, a ton of yeast (‘Hey look at us, we used yeast’) and a fizzy mousse that totally dissipated after a couple of swirls (not enough Sparklets cylinders used?). Developed peach pits in the nose and a bitterness at the all too quickly arrived at end. Why do they insist on afflicting the buying public with these amateurish attempts? Stick to still reds where they occasionally do quite well.
2004 Golden Mile Pinot Noir Black Arts – the Black Arts series are this BC winery’s reserve wines but this was another failure as far as I was concerned. Light simple varietal nose that actually fooled a few people into thinking Burgundy, light body and colour, slightly browning edges, pleasant but certainly not of a calibre that warrants any sort of reserve label, and getting old far too soon – I still have 1998 BC Pinots that are delicious and seem younger than this one.
1995 Ruffino Chianti Classico Reserva Ducale Gold label – I bought a case of this and this is the first one I have opened (still have some 1990 as well). Don’t be fooled by the regular buff label – huge quality difference. This one shows good colour right out to the edges, which are lightening but not browning. Bit of heat in the nose, as well as tar and good fruit, decent depth, smooth and well balanced. What a Chianti should be, and it should drink from now and over the next decade or so.
1998 Mas La Plana – I was always a fan of this wine back in the 70s when it wasn’t just straight cabernet, but I think it took a bit of a dip in quality. Dark with a toasty, oaky cocoa nose, tasty on palate with good flavour definition, lots of soft tannins, getting a little bit jammy at the end. We had another bottle that showed differently near the end o the tasting (I’ll put the notes next for comparison). This faded in the glass over about an hour, but had been open about 4 hours. This may be an indicator of longevity expectation?
1998 Mas La Plana – second Torres bottle – a whiff of vinyl at the beginning, then mostly tar in the nose, good balance, nice finish with bitter cherry, quite different than the other bottle. Some preferred this, others the first example. I don’t know if the difference could be attributable to airing time.
1998 Los Vascos Grand Reserva – a favourite of mine, this Chilean Bordeaux blend made by a Lafite affiliate has always been great bang for the buck. Medium dark wine with a dill and salt nose, smooth on palate and at peak drinking now. Very nice.
1996 Mas La Plana – yup, 3 of them got together to conspire to try some recently released (in this market) vintages. Dark, with a plum and smoke nose, a little light in midpalate, I thought, ready to drink, ending with tannin but not much fruit. Pass.
1994 Mas La Plana – not corked, just flaccid and bland to the point that we decided to send it back to the store. Clearly the 1998 is the pick of the litter.
2005 Petales d’Osoyoos – the second wine of the Gruaud Larose JV with a BC winery. Nice fruit, medium body, pleasant, what’s not to like?
2004 Petales d’Osoyoos – darker wine with bright high toned fruit and cocoa nose, chocolate in the mouth , ending a bit sweet. Nice, but too soft – needs more acidity to avoid flabbiness. Still, these unassuming wines come across as better value than the much higher priced Osoyoos Larose first wine, which I have found to be competently made but ultimately has failed to engage my interest.
2005 Ch. Clos Haut-Peyraguey – no idea if this Sauternes house has any relation to another favourite of mine, Haut Peyraguey. The Nose on this pale wine was single-mindedly pure pink grapefruit! After airing it then developed a bit of coconut, and the combination was a winning one. Medium weight, not too sweet, with good balance. Very tasty.