Lunch at the Gilead Cafe
Gilead Cafe, Toronto, ON, Canada
Tasted November 28, 2013 by Dave Canada with 396 views
Introduction
As part of the lead up to the 12th Annual Stonefields Dinner put on by Michael Barnstijn every year, the volunteer servers, organizers and special guests always gather at Jamie Kennedy's Gilead Cafe to connect over good food and wine and make any last minute calls on wines for the dinner.
Flight 1 (2 notes)
Paired with Marinated Lake Tout with Pumpernickel
The palate sports razor sharp acidity with lime, green apple, minerals and lime and has a medium finish with moderate complexity.
This is great as an aperitif.
The nose jumps with ripe red fruits…..strawberries, raspberries, cherry couple with autolytic notes and minerals…this is very pretty and integrated.
The finish is medium+ in length and complex
Flight 2 (1 note)
Paired with Squash & Sunchoke Soup
The nose is very open and inviting with aromas of lemon, quince, caramel, hazelnut and marzipan.
The palate is balanced and integrated showing notes of lemon, honey, hazelnut and marzipan augmented with great minerality. This wine has obviously seen some time in oak but it does not stick out at all and gives an aded weight that is quite pretty.
The finish is long….very pretty wine.
Flight 3 (1 note)
Paired with Sunflower Poached Halibut with Beurre Blanc
This was a bit reduced when first opened but it blew off after about 20 minutes.
Once that wine had opened up, there were ripe citrus notes followed by honey, white flowers, lemon custard and minerals.
They finish was medium+ in length.
Flight 4 (2 notes)
Paired with Roast Beef, Croquette Potato & Bordelaise Sauce
2/3 Grenache, 1/3 Shiraz, aged in 300L older American and French hogsheads
The nose was really integrated and inviting…could immediately tell that this had some age on it.
Aromas of herbs, plum, cherry compote, spice and eucalyptus.
The palate so integrated….this is 15.8% alcohol and I could not tell at all. This is bright and elegant with a great balance of ripe, aged dark fruit and great secondary character.
The finish is medium+. Great wine.
The nose showed bright fruit, cherry, pepper, pyrazene, and some medicinal notes.
The palate is dominated by pepper, tart cherry notes and minerals with a medium length finish.
Flight 5 (1 note)
Paired with Salad with Cheeses
The palate was very nice…..flavours of marmalade, orange rind, brûlée, marzipan and honey dominate with good balancing acidity.
The finish is long, complex and layered.
The only thing holding this wine back is the small deficiencies on the nose.
Flight 6 (1 note)
Paired with Pouding Chomeur
Such a lifted nose with pure orange, mint, marmalade, caramel, honey and flowers. I could smell this all day.
The palate was so pure…..intense flavours of mint, orange, marmalade, burnt brûlée and flowers balanced with great acidity.
The finish is long, layered and complex….a stunner of a wine.
Closing
Jamie Kennedy's food was spectacular and Drew Noon's 2001 Eclipse was a real revelation for me.