‘WINE SPOTS SPECIAL: 16th

Annual Vancouver Playhouse
“international Wine Festival,
*: March 3-5.

ITH ALL the good
quality inexpensive
POW cabernet sau-
vignons irom the vineyards
‘of the world now available
locally, the old tastebuds
inevitably get somewhat
aded.°

_. With that in mind, we set off
forthe 16th International;
elebration of the Vine, deter-
mined to get tangled up in some
‘alternative vines and sample the '
juice of some less fashionable
“fruits, 2, —_
Thanks to that bit of foresight,
actually got to taste the E&E
Black Pepper Shiraz 1991, from
Australia
top-end limited releases: made
from century-old vines. (Last
jear, | got to sniff the dregs ‘of the
last glass.) A huge luscious wine
+ that, would embarrass most
entrees, it needs to be enjoyed -
nits own.or.with a.nibble of
strong cheese.. . oo
Now. the bad news; it’s not
currently listed and retails for
‘about $30 when it is.:The small °
lot brought-in for. the festival was
scoops

mined.to get. some you might
consider contacting one of the
private wine:stores or calling
Select Wine Merchants directly
at 687-8199 for special-order
assistance: °
“Still determined to avoid the
cab stands,”
send, of the alphabet and sampled

.,sorne zinfandel. | was introduced .

to this' grape by my former land-
lord; Antonio. Meola, who used ~
to press and make his own in the
double garage under my suite. In
exchange for putting up with the
aroma of fertnentation (nobody
homé but me and a lot of very
“happy wasps), | was treated to
litres of stand-up red that put hair
‘on your chest even if you ;
*> thinned it with water,. -
 California’s Ravenswood
winemaker Joel Peterson evident-
‘ty shares Mr. Meola’s wine-mak-
“ing philosophy. “I like to get all
- there is out of the grape,” he says
“with impish understatement,
“ pouring samples of what looks
‘like squid ink and tastes like all
the fruits of a long hot summer
‘ crammed into a single glass.
» : He takes the same approach
to his cabernet; which we
couldn’t resist, leaving the wine
on the lees for an extra couple of
weeks to “get it all,” producing a
: tannic giant that will be heaven

‘in aglass in 10 years.

“1A 10% dash of that cab goes
into his Merlot, adding structure
and complexity to what is often a

> shallow fruity “pop wine.” |

Ravenswoodl's cabernet and
merlot are not available focally

- ~ but look for them when you're in

_, the US. The “zin” is listed by the
. LDB in two versions: Vintner’s

Blend 1991 at $18.70 and

Sonoma County 1997 at $27.40.
"_... He looked knackered by the
end of the show but Peterson is
‘obviously a man who loves his
work and you can taste it in his

$s Renmano, one of their °

C up.by discerning topers~ :
immediately but if you're deter-. .

.we stayed at the far .

John Moore
WINE SPOTS

wines. .

The only other zin in the run-
ning for my money is the compa-
rable powerhouse, Old Vines,
from California’s Rodney Strong.-

Two vintages are available local--
“ly: the 1990 at $22.75 and 1991
- at $22.95. Like the

Ravenswoods; the ’91 runs to
14% alcohol due to the high
sugar content of the grape that
makes it such a challenge for
winemakers. So sip, don’t swill.

.. Other California winemakers,
whose accents suggested fati-
tudes significantly south of
Sonoma, were also in attendance

at the Geyser Peak Winer

exhibit. Winemaster Dary'
Groom and winemaker Mick
Schroeter are both products of
the former prestigious Penfolds

“Group ownership who've tossed

in their lot with the Californians
to become Young Turks of the
new revolution in Californian

wines, _- :

These are the unfortunately
named Meritage wines which
aren’t even listed here yet. The
laudable move to establish stan-
dards of wine quality that began
with the now petrified Lichine
Classification of Bordeaux in
1855 has led to an unhealthy

obsession with “appellations”

and “denominaziones.” Early on,
the Californian industry elected
to label wines by grape variety
first and region second.

This made sense when they
were producing low-end bulk
-plonk whose only claim to fame
was its geneology but it became
a straightjacket for winemakers

‘who wanted to start doing a bit

of creative blending a /a
Bordelais.

A glance through Hugh
Johnson’s Encyclopedia of Wine
reveals the kind of witches’ brew
concoctions of up to five grape

_ varieties Bordeaux winemakers

use to give the world’s most
famous and expensive chateaux
their distinctive personalities;
each sanctioned by such names
as Paulliac or St. Julien but as
different as night and day.

Unable to achieve the com-
plexity of the great Bordeaux
under the restrictive definition of
“cabernet sauvignon,” the
Californians were doomed to run
second forever or get flexible. '

They opted for the latter
course.

This is the first we’ve tasted of
their attempts to go beyond the
voutique cabs from Stags Leap
and fron Horse and produce
blended wines with a distinctly
New World vengeance.

Using the full range of tradi-
tional Bordeaux grape varieties
— cabernet sauvignon, cabernet
franc, merlot, petit verdot and
malbec — combined in a now-

See Geyser Peak page 32

Wednesday, March 23, 1994 - North Shore News - 27

DER CERCA AAD MY ETT TE ET

7

Whole *Boneless eSmoked

519264

* Fresh, Extra Large -

navel oran

540468 ,

Bakeshop

pudding loaf cakes"

Lemon, Chocolate and Madeira, 450 g Le
228932 _ each _

Foremost™, homogenized, 2%,1%, or skim, 2 litre

Minute Maid, frozen concentrated, assored, 295 - 355m!

orange juice

033233

no name™, 225 g

macaroni and cheese dinner

026542

CONVENIENTLY LOCATED AT 17TH AND LONSDALE.
3 NORTH VANCOUVER

Prices in etfect until closing, Saturday, March 26,1994, while stocks last. “
We reserve tie right to limit quantities.

Rey

4