Best imported wines of 2008
And still they keep on coming, the best of the year. Today, the augmented baker’s dozen of imported wines that impressed me most in the past year, if not necessarily my accountant.
Top of the list, best of the deals: the entire Cono Sur portfolio of varietals from Chile. How long can they hold that $10.99 price point? The two toppers are the Pinot Noir and the Gewürztraminer, both 2007 (2008’s ought to be here any day now) and, yes, $10.99 apiece.
If you love Viognier, there are plenty to choose from, especially B.C. versions. But none taste better, especially for the price, than Gerard Bertrand Classique Viognier 2005 from the south of France—$12.99 and also still holding, vintage after vintage. For the time being.
Fazi Battaglia Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico, in the unusual amphora-shaped bottle, continues to define attractive, affordable Italian dinner wine; $14.99 is good value and great taste.
Two Peter Lehmann Shirazes are on the list, just because I can’t make up my mind. Maybe this’ll do it for you: one costs $14.99, the other $48.99. Anybody getting a tax refund this year? The budget model is the Weighbridge Shiraz 2005, mellow and hearty for winter stews and casseroles. The big-ticket item is the Eight Songs Shiraz 2001—astonishing depth and complexity and definitely one for the big glasses that don’t go in the dishwasher. Both are in the Australian section of the government liquor store, which owns the entire Shiraz market here, with more than 300 different ones available; Peter Lehmann alone has six listed.
This past year, we explored the phenomenon of blending Viognier with Shiraz to impart an intriguing touch to the favourite red-grape variety, and this one impressed mightily: Johnny Q. Shiraz Viognier 2006 ($14.99—as you’ve noticed by now we’re ascending the price ladder, but this is still a real deal). Fruity aromas, lots of cherries and berries, and a deep, dark finish. When you’re ready to move past Yellow Tail but maybe not quite to Wolf Blass, yet.
Speaking of Wolf Blass, the iconic Australian wine leader has two on this year’s list: the Gold Label Shiraz Viognier ($29.99) and the Grey Label Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($36.99). The first is fragrant and fresh, easy-drinking S-V with a bite at the front of the tongue and a sensational, peppery finish. The Cab shows a little eucalyptus, summer savory, berries, and chocolate and an impressive, round finish. Magnificent meat wine.
Crios de Susana Balbo Malbec 2006 ($21.95, from Sutton Place Wine Merchant). If this is your introduction to the current crop of Argentine Malbecs, it’ll spoil you for many of the cheaper ones. Massive but smooth, great colour, plenty of smoky oak, sweet and ripe cherries rolling all over the palate. It struck me as the best Malbec in town last spring. Supplies might be evaporating, though.
From the tiny Washington winery Camaraderie Cellars comes a nearly Meritage blend of all five big red Bordeaux varietals, called Elégance (the 2005 costs $39.99 when you can find it)—rich and intense, very big, with lots of layers of fruit and spice and well-integrated wood. We do know how to pick ’em in this corner, if I may say so myself: at deadline time for this column, word came that this very wine, of this very vintage, had won the prestigious Jefferson Cup, in the invitational competition of the same name, organized to celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s passion for wine. Seven hundred wines went in, 17 won the cup; Camaraderie was the only Washington winery to take that honour.
Domaine Emilian Gillet Quintaine Viré-Clessé 2003 ($43.99 at various Liberty Wine Merchants around town, particularly Park Royal Shopping Centre), a soft and subtle, sensuous food wine that would welcome asparagus with prosciutto and creamy blue cheese, or St. André with fresh peaches; fresh halibut steamed with ginger, scallions, and black beans; chanterelles in pepper and butter; anything vaguely decadent and ultra-flavourful.
Prepare to jettison all your ideas about Pinot Gris when you enter into a bottle of Marc Tempé Schoenenbourg Pinot Gris 2001 ($62.95, via www.farmsteadwines.com/), a huge, rich wine that’s sensational all on its own (and how many PGs do you know can do that?) or as an after-dinner treat. Surely the year’s most unusual wine. Supplies are scarce. Just as well.
Supplies of this may be scarcer still, and costlier: Grey Sands Glengarry Pinot Noir 2006, from Tasmania, cost me $72 in a private wine store in Kitsilano, even though the “official display price” with the Liquor Distribution Branch is $59.95. But it isn’t listed in the system, so private stores can sell it for anything they want. Well, it’s certainly worth the $60, but $72 is stretching things. Still, it brings forward explosive fruit flavours, developing into soft and mellow textures, with a hint of tangy oak on the finish and some of the most generous fruit you’ve ever seen in a PN.