Drink Wine Today ... but use the right glass!

Just a follow up on my last post. I have been testing the tasting on the right day theory. I am happy to report I tasted 10 Sauvignon Blancs with my panel on June 15th, a leaf day, without any ill effects. I really tempted the lunar crowd last night, a root day of all things. Tasted a high end Super Tuscan and same thing, nothing but praise for the wine. Now I can relax and return to my normal drinking pattern. That is, enjoy my wines whenever and wherever the occasion arises.
I am NOT a wine snob, never have been and never will. Each wine deserves a chance to tell its story. But I have to tell you that I am a bit of a wine glass snob. I often bring my own glass when attending trade tastings. After all when tasting a series of wines, should you not give the wines a chance to show off their best? The rolled rim restaurant style of glass at these tastings are just not very helpful.
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a Riedel Glass tasting, sponsored by the largest wine shop in Victoria, Everything Wine. The Riedel representative introduced us to the latest in the Riedel series of glasses, the Vitis.
Before I sold my wine shop in Victoria, The Wine Barrel, I became a firm believer in what the right glass can do to enhance the wine drinking experience. While I think the Vitis series are beautiful and elegant and I now have a set of them, I do not think that they have an advantage over the Vinum Extreme series. Recently I shared a 1989 Opus 1 with a good friend and I chose the Extreme Cabernet glass rather than the Vitis Cabernet glass. The Vinum Extreme is, I feel, better suited to a big bold wine like the Opus 1. It still makes me drool when I think of this tasting.
Now to get to the point of this post. Some years ago, Riedel introduced an Icewine glass. The sales representative at that time, tried to convince me that since British Columbia makes some of the finest Icewines made anywhere, I should be selling these glasses. I was of the opinion that this new glass was just not the right one for our BC Icewines. I felt that they may be very suited for Ontario Icewines and they were in fact created using Ontario Icewines but BC Icewines are different. He reported this to Riedel in Austria and that started a challenge. In other words, put your money where your mouth is.
Well, OK then . I contacted a number of BC Icewine producers to get their opinions on the difference between BC and Ontario Icewines. As well I spoke to John Schreiner, the author of Icewine -The Complete Story and got his take on it and a number of other in the know individuals. Next I created an "Icewine Glass Evaluation Chart".
Click on it to get the enlarged version.
Next I collected 3 BC Icewines and 1Ontario Icewine and put a panel of 6 local wine experts together (OK, 5, I was taster #6), including bringing John Schreiner over from Vancouver. John, in my opinion is the world's number 1 expert on Icewines. I won't go into details but the long and the short of it was that my theory about the Riedel Icewine glass was proven correct when 5 out of the 6 panelists agreed that indeed the Riedel Icewine glass was the best for the Ontario Icewine but not as suited to the BC Icewines we tasted.
Since Riedel had been interested in my project, I forwarded them all the information. Guess what? If I would order 50,000 glasses they would create a glass according to my specifications for a BC Icewine. Well...it was fun!
When I visited Tuscany with my friend Sanjoy from California we had the pleasure of tasting the wines made by Alessandro Dondi, the winemaker at Castello di Bolgheri. I believe it to be 'the' super, Super Tuscan. I brought it back with me and it looks like we finally will have a distributor to bring it into BC. I shared part of the Castello di Bolgheri this week with some local wine experts and quickly added nitrogen preserve to the bottle. Their opininion was that it was outstanding. Elegant was one of the descriptors.Tonight I am sharing the rest of this wine with a wine loving lady friend. I guess I will use the 'elegant' Vitis Cabernet glass for this get together. Just done right BBQ'd steak and a great wine and great company.
Yes, I believe the right glass is essential to the ultimate enjoyment of a great wine.

Icewine and Christmas Greetings!

Winter has hit all of Canada with a vengeance and British Columbians who can normally brag about their mild winter conditions, are shivering and shoveling on a daily basis. Vancouver Island, where I live, has seen up to and over 2 feet of snow in some areas. That includes my home. Those are pictures of my driveway and other than a path down the middle, I have given up on keeping it clear. I have rarely seen conditions like these in the 15 years I have lived here.
The good news for Icewine producers here in BC is that they were able to pick grapes for their 2008 vintage. When grapes are picked at this time they result in luscious fruity Icewines. If the required freezing temperature ( -8 degrees Celsius or 17.6 Farhenheit) does not come till January or Frebuary which is often the case, the fruit has become more dessicated and the resulting Icewines are more concentrated but do not display those big fresh fruit flavours. Growers in the Okanagan saw temperatures drop to -12 and with the wind chill factor to minus 21 degrees Celsius. As always my source for Icewine conditions was John Schreiner, the auther of the ultimate book on Icewine. I introduced my readers to John a few times and most recently on my September 5th blog entry.
I am eager to do some further posts on my Tuscan tour but it seems appropiate for this my 100th post to wish you all the best of the season and a Happy and Healthy New year. That means of course that you must do your share and continue to drink those Red Wines.
Greetings from Wilf and my little friend Maddie. That is a two foot snow bank behind her.

Fake Icewine warning......!!!

(click to enlarge pictures) Fake icewine label and Victoria, Vancouver Island's largest selection of Icewines at The Wine Barrel.

British Columbia had an outstanding Icewine crop for the 2006 vintage. (see my December 3 entry in archives) Other areas in the eastern states and Ontario have not had the required Icewine temperatures and most icewine makers have all but given up hope of picking grapes for this vintage. Some have picked the grapes set aside for icewine production and are turning it into late harvest dessert wines. Ontario did get a cold snap this past week and some Icewine harvesting is happening there. With an increasing interest in and popularity of Icewine there will be a shortage of Icewines next year. China will be making icewines but they won't be the real thing. Natural frosts with the grapes allowed to stay on the vine and picking the grapes in the summer and then using a deep freeze are just not the same. Because of the potential shortage watch for the imitation and fake icewines to come on the market in increased numbers. If it is a true Canadian Icewine look for the VQA designation on the label. Often fake icewine labels have some grammatical errors as well as spelling mistakes as in the above label. They dance around the word "icewine" carefully and use confusing language. One final note. With all that has been written these past weeks on Icewines there is one point that needs correction if you run across it. There are temperature and minimum brix requirements but there are no date restrictions. The grapes can be picked any time when the temperature drops to -8 degrees Centigrade and not November 15 as I have seen in some publications. I know, because I have discussed this with the world's expert on Icewine, John Schreiner. I hope you will get the opportunity to enjoy a "real "Icewine sometime soon.

British Columbia picks grapes for Icewines!!

A sudden cold snap in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, the home of some of the best Icewines in the world and vintners were taking advantage of the early frosts to pick the grapes for the 2006 harvest. I was looking for some global warming experts to get them to explain the more than two feet of snow that got dumped on our usually mild and snowless Vancouver Island. I could not find any of them. Maybe they were buried in the snow.The rosebud in the vase is posing on my sundeck railing along with the unexpected frosty precipitation.
In a direct communication with the world renowned expert on Icewine, John Schreiner, and I quote: "Any vintner that failed to pick icewine grapes this year should not be in the business. It was magnificently cold for three or four days … not just nights, but days. It was possible to pick in the day and I imagine most did. " and "the 2006 icewine vintage will be outstanding because it was early, when the grapes were full of healthy fruity flavours..... bursting with fruit character of an early freeze wine." John's book entitled simply "Icewine" is the ultimate book on Icewine. Follow this link to get John's perspective on the 2006 vintage. One of my favourite BC wineries is Tinhorn Creek. They produce the only Kerner Icewine in Canada. Lush and flavourful, its one of my favorites. I expect their Icewine and many of the BC Icewines to walk away with multiple medals when they are released. Try and get some and you will taste what God must be drinking from Icewine Paradise here on earth.