WTN: Lynch Bages, Pavillon Rouge, Prunotto Barolo, Osoyoos, Sanford, Yalumba

Wines from a birthday dinner. Notes in the order I tasted the wines.

Lynch-Bages 1990 - Still quite dark, classic pencil shavings on the nose. Pronounced earthiness. Very dry, savoury, smooth. Flavors of smoke and roast meat. Some leather nuance as well. Long finish with plenty of life. This is a 95 points from RP but it just didn't do much for me. I really wanted to like this and kept it in my glass for nearly 3 hours. It was ok but not really a style I like.

Sanford and Benedict Sanford Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2000 - Pale, roast meat and a little hot on the nose. Slight bubblegum as well. After an hour or so coffee notes also appear. Slightly overripe fruit comes out in the taste after an hour's airing. Long finish. Didn't start out too well but opened up nicely. Very good.

Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2005 - Perfumed, good peach fruit flavors. Lacks the bitterness in the finish I associate with viognier. I generally don't like viognier but this is pretty good.

Prunotto Barolo Bussia 1999 - Modern style. Sweet and ripe. Roses on the nose. Very vibrant wine. Still primary flavors but already good to drink. Age will only improve this but already impressive now. Excellent with the osso bucco.

Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux 1997 - Quite pale. Soft and sweet with some chocolate flavor. A little weak in the finish. Fell apart after an hour. Drink it up if you have it.

Osoyoos Larose 2004 - From Okanagan Valley, BC. A Bordeaux blend. Chocolate milkshake nose. I was expecting a thick, oaky, overly sweet wine based on the nose but was pleasantly surprised by this. Medium bodied, tannic, New Worldy in style but not over the top. Nice balance. Needs maybe 2 years to develop further. Very good.

Nice notes, Jay.

What's with these Canadian meritage?

I had totally forgotten about the bottle of 2003 Jackson Triggs Grand Reserve Meritage that was brought over by a visiting friend from Toronto about a year ago and which we didn't get to open then. I believe, and could be wrong, that the fruit on this one were from the Niagara area. Anyway, this black red wine wih dominant cabernet franc aromatics and wood shavings was a quite a pleasant surprise with dinner just 2 weeks ago. This one was quite big, with some nice cab franc fruit, white peppery and had a long finish.
I'd probably buy a couple of these if only they were readily available here in NYC.

[Jenise]

The Canadian wines are better than they get credit for and improving all the time. Jay's 04 sounds a lot more open and accessible than the 02 or 03 were at this stage, but both should be well above average at least five years out.

Hi Jenise,

Canadian wines are improving (Jancis Robinson just did a column on them), but I have some rules of thumb for buying them. In my opinion, for most reds (except pinot) the BC wines from the Okanagan are consistently better and riper than Ontario red wines. Some warm years like 98 and 02 are good for ON reds but most years ripening reds in ON is a struggle. I prefer whites from ON vs BC, especially gewurztraminers and rieslings. The ON and BC chardonnays are both good but I don't drink many as I am almost an ABC wineaux. Ice wines from both ON and BC are very good to excellent. Best bargain from Canada: late harvest riesling and vidal wines that are very close to being as good as ice wines for a fraction of the price. Finally, not much Canadian wine is available in most places in the states except for icewine and a few wines found in the border states with Canada.