22
Jun
2010
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
South Africa has a lot of celebrating to do. They are currently hosting the “world’s game” in the form of the FIFA World Cup plus they celebrated their 350th birthday (1659-2009) of winemaking history … not being a soccer fan that’s the one that most interests me. They were also here in Toronto promoting wines that will soon be, or are now, in the LCBO system. 18 wines were tasted, plus a couple others that were snuck in by the producer (they were only suppose to bring one). As usual I boil it down to a handful of must have / get wines. This time I give you the top 7, six of which are great value wines, the seventh is very tasty: ... (find out which wines they were here)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
22
Jun
2010
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Merry Edwards came to town, do-dah do-dah. We drank wine and it was fine, oh-do-day-day. Could have drank all night, the wine tasted good today. Merry Edwards came to town, oh-do-dah-day.
Don’t usually sing a winemaker in or out of town but Merry Edwards seems a different sort and might even enjoy the serenade.
Merry has been a winemaker for over 37 years (and yes that is how to spell her name and the name of her eponymous winery – I checked the business card, twice, and the website). She started her own winery in 1998 after years of toiling for others – though to this day she still does consulting work for other wineries. Merry is one of those “focused” winemakers who specializes in a single grape … in this case it’s Pinot Noir. And the care she puts into the wine starts in the vineyard, “terroir includes the vintner,” the tutorial video told all assembled, and Merry repeated it personally a few times, “so that when the grapes get to the winery 75% of my work is done.”
In 2001, something funny happened on the way to making Pinot Noir; Merry and her husband Ken decided they needed a starter wine for winemaker’s dinner, so they did a one off of 120 cases of Sauvignon Blanc. People went crazy for it and so did restaurateurs who tried it. This was not something Merry or Ken expected, nor did they really want to get into the Sauvignon Blanc business, so they told people, when they were asked the price, the most outrageous price they could think of for a Sauvignon Blanc. As fate would have it people started to snap this wine up by the case, so their initial 120 cases didn’t last too long. Today they produce some 80,000 cases of Sauvignon Blanc, and it truly is delicious, and pricey. The rest of their wines are Pinot Noirs, except for one dessert wine which failed to make the journey to T.O. – hopefully next time.
The Wines … (out of 8 wines tried I picked three - find out what they were, and see the pictures)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
