2005 Chateau Roc de Cazade

This was a wine that I picked up at my local Gall & Gall store. Mainly chosen because it was a 2005 Bordeaux; I am trying to taste as much as of this vintage as possible.

Colour: deep red, purple in colour. nice looking wine.

Nose: i love this nose. elegant and full of red fruit. more cherry-like than cassis. my nose is slightly blocked up today so i may be way off here!

Palate: spicey red fruits followed up by solid tannins. my first impression is that the tannins are little dominant which is a pity. I guess at this price who can complain.

Finish: slightly bitter; the tannins hang around for a bit too.

Conclusion: All-in-all not a bad budget-priced red wine. I just prefer a bit more fruit than this wine offers.

2002 Chateau de Charmes Cabernet-Merlot

Chateau des Charmes is a winery located on the Niagara Peninsula in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is owned by the Bosc family, and family of French origins. The winery is best-known for it's reds, and it's old world style.

This Cabernet-Merlot is classic bordeaux-blend made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: nice red in colour, going to brick-red towards the edges of the glass.

Nose: lovely currant and black berry aromas. some spice and earth aromas.

Palate: good fruit: currants, black berries and cherries. a nicely balanced cabernet with an excellent structure. nice solid, grippy tannins.

Finish: nice length to the finish.

Conclusion: a very nice wine. worth the $17 canadian i paid for it.

Wine and Food Arrogance

I've been in Canada for work the past week. Tonight, while zapping through the channels I spotted a show on Slice TV called The Heat. I spotted the footage of the wines, and vines immediately so began watching. The show was about catering for a harvest party for the part-owner of Canadian winery Inniskilin, Donald Ziraldo.

Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with good good and wines. However, what really ground my gears was the way in which Donald tasted the food cooked for the test meal. Every dish had too much sauce, not enough flavour, too dry etc. Ok, he's the client but it really struck me as so stuck up. It's everything that I hate about about a certain section of food and wine. It's that snobbish arrogance. Pathetic is all i can say. After watching the show there's no way i will ever purchase any of Inniskilin's overpriced wines.