“Let’s be honest: there’s only one activity more satisfying than drinking good wine with good food; and if you’re drinking good wine in the right company, the one pleasure, more often than not, will lead to the other.”– Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine by Jay McInerney

via book reporter

One of the biggest, and my personal favourite, wine tasting event of the fall is the annual Australian wine tasting put on by Wine Australia in conjunction with the Australian Consulate. This year the event is being held at MaRS Centre (101 College Street) which is also celebrating its 1st anniversary Sept. 27, 2006 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

There will be over 70 Australian wineries pouring over 400 different wines! I’m looking forward to revisiting some of the wines I tasted last year during my trip to Australia.

You can read Michael Vaughan’s article, “An Australian Avalanche” for his picks from the advance tasting and links to the show catalogue and table map.

I’m back!

I took the summer off from updating this blog to enjoy all it had to offer: travel, concerts, films, friends, food and of course wine!

September marks the start of a very busy wine season.  In the northern hemisphere it’s the beginning of harvest.  The southern hemisphere in the mean time, is ready to show off the “fruits” of their labour.

It’s going to get busy around here so let’s raise a glass and get started.

The take over of US based Constellation Brands of Canda's Vincor has received final approval from shareholders.  As with most buyouts, job cuts are now expected at Vincor and may even includ Vincor CEO Donlad Triggs.  I heard from a source that Vincor will now be called Vincor Canada adn no other changes are expected other than the head office cuts.

The New Zealand Wine Fair is being held today in Toronto at the Design Exchange.  Micheal Vaughan's Vintage Assessments makes some picks has .pdf's of the 164 wines available sorted by varietal, producer and vintage.  New Zealand is of course know for the best Sauvignon Blanc's on the planet with grassy herbal and fresh fruit flavours and excellent acidity.  The Kiwi's however, our now also turing out excellent Pinot Noir's (my favourite red varietal) that are able to stand up against the benchmark French Burgundies and American Pinot's from Califorina and Oregon.

via gapingvoid 

 In this corner: Beppi Crosariol, The Globe & Mail Wines & Spirits Columnist 

Pick of the week Twin Fin Pinot Noir ($13.95, product No. 613281). This pinot is a remarkable achievement for less than $20. It's medium-bodied, with rich cherry and raspberry-like fruit. 

And in this corner: Michael Vaughan, National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist and Editor of Vintage Assessments

Buyer Beware Alert!

I rarely issue alerts on wines that might be avoided, but I am concerned that unsuspecting fans of Pinot Noir might be seriously disappointed by today's Globe & Mail Twin Fin Pinot Noir recommendation.  As a Pinot Noir professional, I spent the entire afternoon at the recent California Wine Fair tasting all 35 Pinot Noir on display. When I came to the booth featuring Twin Fin, I was asked: how do I like it?  I replied to the rep behind the table if he really wanted to know.  He nodded.  I then said, that in my opinion:

 Twin Fin is the worst Pinot Noir of the entire California tasting.
It seems almost devoid of any true Pinot Noir character!

That's not to say that a freshly-opened bottle is bad – it isn't. But for me, it just fails to deliver!  Worse yet, Twin Fin appears to collapse in the open bottle. At $13.95, it simply isn't worth the money!

Vintner toasts $1.5B deal with comments from Donald Triggs, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vincor International Inc. and How Constellation Won with comments from Richard Sands, Constellation Brands’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The Offical News Release

After not wanting to dance with Constellation Brands a mere four months ago, Vincor has been sold for $1.5B (including debt) lock stock and wine barrel.

“This is viticulture’s equivalent of the first moonwalk. Wine making will never be the same,”

Italian researches have mapped the genome of the Pinot Noir grape.  The so called “heartbreak grape”, named as such because it is often difficult to grow may not be so difficult now that scientists can create a clone that would be easier to grow.

I wonder what Myles would thing of this?