From the Cellar

Wines at Andre's - Night 2 (Ontario / British Columbia / Chile / Portugal)

13 Apr 2018

Details: Category: Uncorked Tonight

(October 18, 2016) ... A night spent with my podcast partner, Andre, is usually filled with talk, food and older wines from my cellar ... these were tonight's gems (and flops) - all Ontario wine unless specified:

The Hatch 2014 Black Swift Vineyards Syrah (British Columbia) ... we interviewed the guys from the Hatch winery tonight (link here) and I try this simply amazing Syrah they produce fro the first time, which I later turned into a video review ( link here ) love what these guys are doing and this wine: gorgeous smoky, meaty black fruit, with coffee, cocoa and spice - just what the doctor ordered for BC Syrah and at a respectable 14.2%.

Colio 2007 CEV Cabernet Franc Reserve ... this wine was sealed under plastic and it showed undertones of oxidation, a little balsamic raspberry, and funky harshness - it was totally unpleasant and certainly not the exciting wine I was hoping for based on the vintage and pedigree of the winery.

Jackson-Triggs 2004 Shiraz, Proprietor's Reserve ... another plastic corked wine and even older, the plastic plug has done nothing to help this average-vintage wine: disgustingly atrocious, foul and more port-like than port, but in all the wrong ways, it seems to have turned rotten plum into dog food (and that's a quote).

Hacienda Araucano 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile) ... nicely spiced , plummy and also slightly pruney, but with some elegance on the mid-palate that follows through to the finish.

Roquevale 2004 Grande Escolha (Portugal) ... blackberries and spice with some pepper, but this wine has also turned a corner and developed more secondary and tertiary notes than primary fruit and even has a port like nuance, this time it's in a good way.