Altocedro Reserva Malbec 2009, La Consulta Vineyards, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

The fruit in this bottle is sourced from ancient vines between 49-67 years old. Maturation taking place in French oak (new and second use) for 15 months.     

Wow, what an incredible nose on this Malbec with aromas of blackberry, bing cherry, violet, chocolate, black pepper and toasty oak. On the mouthfeel, full bodied, rich and luscious texture, balanced acidity and velvet tannins. This wine’s finish is long, creamy, and smoky with great fruit concentration. A big wine in every sense of the word, lots of toasty oak but well balanced by big, ripe luscious fruit flavours, big alcohol at 15% but well integrated tannins adding structure to the whole package. A real treat, strongly recommended, score 90 points.

Purchased July 21, 2012 LCBO New Release (187880) at $24.95

Henry of Pelham Reserve Cabernet/Merlot 2007, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada

From the very good 2007 vintage in Ontario, this wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot; aging took place in French and American oak barrels (40% new) for 18 months.

This wine opened up with aromas of blackberry, cherry, plum, leather, tobacco, cracked pepper, vanilla, savoury and herbal notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, dried herb flavours, spicy with fine texture, fresh acidity and silky tannins. Medium length on the finish, dry with savoury notes and tobacco flavours. I truly enjoyed the moderate alcohol at 13.5%, very well balance and enjoyable, savoury style red blend. Score 90 points.

Purchased September 3, 2011 LCBO New Release (395855) at $24.95

Canonica A Cerreto Chianti Classico 2008, DOCG, Tuscany, Italy

Beautiful ruby in colour, this wine opened up with aromas of red cherry, plum, sweet spices, licorice, light cedar and savoury notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, juicy with good energy, lively acidity and dusty tannins. Good length on the finish with savoury and slightly spicy flavours lingering.

I enjoyed this wineries Chianti Classico Riserva 2007, but I think I preferred this wine better. With a more restrained use of oak, you get a purer expression of Sangiovese very flavourful and ready to drink. 10% Merlot was added to the Sangiovese, which helped this wine achieve the softness and juiciness that make it more approachable right now. Very good value, score 89 points.

Purchased September 1, 2012 LCBO New Release (283697) at $16.95

Artezin Zinfandel 2010, Mendocino County, California, USA

In a blind tasting this wine would be easily recognizable as a Zinfandel, from its medium ruby colour, but don’t let that light colour fool you. The nose is very expressive with a rich and fruity mouthfeel and a explosive flavourful finish, classic Zin. This wine is a blend of mostly Zinfandel at 89% with Petite Sirah at 10% an Carignan at 1%, maturation took place in 100% French oak (second and third fill).

This wine opened up with aromas of ripe berries, plum, fresh herbs, black pepper, vanilla and cinnamon notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied with delicious forward fruit flavours, crisp acidity and silky tannins. This Zin finish is very long, spicy, fruit focused with light tannins and a bit of heat from the 14.9% alcohol. Just a beautiful and well made juicy red here with great purity of fruit and carefully restrained oak.

I don’t often have the words California and good value in the same sentence but Artezin Zinfandel 2010 certainly qualifies as a very good value. Strongly recommended, score 91 points.

Purchased September 29, 2012 LCBO New Release (302943) at $21.95.

Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced in-ka-meep) is North America’s, first Aboriginal owned and operated winery. Qwam Qwmt (pronounced kw-em, kw-empt) as spoken by the Osoyoos Indian Band translates to “achieving excellence” and is their premium tier of wines. The winery and vineyards are located in the town of Osoyoos (160 kilometres from the US border and the state of Washington) in Southern Okanagan Valley.

Strongly deserving of the only gold medal given to Cabernet Sauvignon at the Wine Access 2010 Canadian Wine Awards, this wine opened up with aromas of blackberry, wild berry, cassis, mint, cedar, tobacco leaf, coffee and earthy notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied with alcohol coming in at 14.5%, very fresh and elegant with flavours of black fruit, cassis, mint, leather and tobacco with balanced acidity and smooth well integrated tannins. Good weight and length on this Cabernet Sauvignon finish with a very smooth texture and excellent depth of flavours. Very enjoyable Cabernet, definitely more earthy than fruity. Score 89 points.

Purchased July 18, 2011 at the Wine Barrel in Victoria BC at $30.10.

Quinta Do Quetzal Reserva 2007, Do Alentejo, Portugal

This wine is a blend of 40% Trincadeira, 40% Alfrocheiro and 20% Alicant Bouschet, maturation taking place in French oak for 12 months plus an additional 8 months in bottle before release, alcohol comes in at 14%.

Great nose on this blend with aromas of ripe berries, cherry, plum, sweet spices, floral and wood spice notes. On the mouthfeel, medium bodied, soft seductive fruit flavours, spicy with balanced acidity and silky tannins. The wine finish is long, fruit driven, slightly spicy, very smooth with good energy. This wine doesn’t scream Portugal to me, definitely not rustic for sure but well made, not overly manipulated, made in a more modern style. There is a real elegance and sophistication about this wine, I did enjoy two bottles of Quinta Do Quetzal Reserva 2007 and both were consistently good, score 91 points.

Purchased June 23, 2012 LCBO New Release (277376) at $27.95

My top three enjoyed wines in September 2012

Another interesting line-up of wines tasted this month, 17 wines from 7 different countries and only one big disappointment. Apart from my top three picks this month, again, it’s really hard to narrow my choices down to three picks but here are a few wines which also deserved some recognition; Deumayen Trez Reserva Malbec 2007 from Argentina, this is a real comfort wine, lots of flavours, very smooth and very enjoyable, I had to go back and purchase another, and Beaulieu Vineyard Tapestry Reserve 2008 from California, a well made, elegant ready to enjoy Bordeaux blend.

My top three wines in September

1- Te Mata Coleraine 2007, Hawkes Bay, North Island, New Zealand

http://paulnjoywine.blogspot.ca/2012/09/te-mata-coleraine-2007-hawkes-bay-north.html

When you have a good friend (and sommelier) visiting from Out of town, you want to open something special. I had heard a lot of great things about this wine, and it sure lived up to the expectation and then some. Most enjoyed wine by far, this month.
 

2- Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand

http://paulnjoywine.blogspot.ca/2012/09/whitehaven-sauvignon-blanc-2011.html

A one - two finish from New Zealand on my top wines of the month. This is a perfect example of the style of Sauvignon Blanc I enjoyed, with tropical/citrus fruit, great acidity, crisp and refreshing.
 

3- Mission Hill Oculus 2006, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

http://paulnjoywine.blogspot.ca/2012/09/mission-hill-oculus-2006-okanagan.html

My best experience with Mission Hill Oculus so far, has been Oculus 2003, enjoyed at a Christmas dinner party in December 2009. A mature, well integrated wine that was so smooth and elegant. The Oculus 2006 has all the elements to achieve that complexity and finesse, it just needs a couple more years to get there. Which means, I will need to be patient with my remaining bottle. Still quite impressive and enjoyable right now.