A Mixed Bag in Toronto on a Wednesday

Full Blog Post: http://thewinenerds.ca/bottles-toronto-wednesday/

• 2010 Stratus White 90 Points

  Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula, Niagara-on-the-Lake VQA

  (tasted double blind). This pours a fairly dark shade of golden yellow. The nose to me speaks of Semillon with abundant wax, slate, straw, honey, lemon, herbs and lanolin. Certainly some slightly more advanced aromatics which had me thinking this was a few years older than it's actual age. Definitely some oak on this wine with mildly oxidative winemaking lending the richness. The palate is dry with a touch more viscosity than expected and a medium minus length finish carried on wax, herbs and honey. This an old-world styled wine with the emphasis on non-fruit complexity. Well made. My best guess was aged Semillion from Australia or possibly white bordeaux and that is essentially what this is styled after. A blend which involves prominent Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay with other white varieites in support. I thought this was quality wine.

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• 2010 Domaine Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet

  This was an interesting wine to watch evolve. It's certainly young, only showing glimpses of it's full potential. The nose reveals lemon custard, mineral, green plant stem, roasted red pepper, lemon zest and hints of brown spice. The palate is much more linear than the nose would suggest with blazing acid and a medium lemon juice and mineral tinged finish. Not scored today as I found it tough to assess but it is well built and there's no reason to believe this won't develop nicely in the coming years.

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• 2001 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Slow-oxed for 6 hours prior to consumption. Pours quite dark with very light bricking. This wine is in such a fantastic spot right now, totally in the zone for my tastes. While clean and free from VA and Brett it is still so traditional with evident use of Slavonian Oak. The nose shows wonderfully savoury notes of balsamic drizzled strawberries, red and dark cherry, old polished wood, undergrowth, dusty soil, rosemary, hints of cured meat and pipe tobacco. The palate is still fairly structured with abundant acid and tannin suggesting there isn't a hurry to drink. The sweet dark cherry textured fruit on the palate is wonderful with a cherry pit finish that lingers nicely. Toward the end of the evening this showed savoury tomato paste notes on the palate that were thoroughly enjoyable. Everything I want in Tuscan Sangiovese.

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• 1992 Dunn Vineyards Petite Sirah Howell Mountain 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  When initially popped this wine was all brett and deep, primary fruit that was really closed in and tight. A couple of people thought it might be mildly corked, but I was never convinced. This is consistent with what I've had in early 90's Dunn. After a couple of hours in the decanter I thought it came together nicely with notes of farmyard, hay, blackberry, black currant, dry soil and espresso. The palate repeated the deep rich fruit and hay/farmyard on the medium-minus length finish. Good, but certainly not great.

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• 2000 Ridge Petite Sirah York Creek 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  Killer showing from this humble wine. It pours deep and opaque with no bricking. From the first pour this was deep, polished and rich with notes of cassis, blackberry, aged sweet balsamic, tar, brown sugar, and hints of caramel. For whatever reason this reminded me of the polish of a Sandrone Barolo or a Tuscan Merlot. The palate is lush with abundant tannin and a medium finish carried on dark fruit. The big caveat here was that after a couple of hours of air this became extremely caramelized and butterscoth driven. A big detractor for most at the table.

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• 2005 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Flawed

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Really tough showing here from Beaucastel. The nose is all port, prunes, figs, dried strawberries and dates. The palate is overripe and lacking any kind of refinement or balance. I'll withhold judgement until I taste a bottle from another source, however this is concerning as this bottle was bought on release from the LCBO and stored properly.

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• 1989 Château Meyney 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  I've had this wine so many times, but this is up there with some of the best showings I've had. Certainly this wine is slowly starting to fade and there is no need to age any longer. The nose is of leather, old cedar, mushroom, undergrowth, red currants, tart black raspberry and dark cherry. The palate has very little remaining tannin, but excellent acid and a medium length cedar and leather tinged finish. A pleasure to drink this one today.

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