Berserkers,
The Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ gathered at Victor Restaurant in downtown Toronto to pair some French wines and a Portuguese sparkler with a tasting menu. Unlike previous sojourns, the chef specifically asked us for tasting notes for the wines beforehand so that he and his sous-chef could play with the menu they were creating for us.
The food was amazing and transformed the wine immensely. There is one particular dish’s cooking method I intent to blatantly steal for my own, it was that awesome. On to the wines:
LUIS PATO NV SPARKLING BAGA – I am far too manly to drink Rosé wine normally, but this was a happy exception. A Portuguese sparkling wine made from Bava grapes. Lovely body and bubbles, bright pink color, bright and refreshing sour cherry flavors and aromas with one neat little twist on the finish – the lees from the secondary fermentation gives suddenly lend their flavor to the finish which gives a very fine tobacco taste that lingers on the end. Very good sparkling wine. I would even argue a demi-sec version of it with just a touch more residual sweetness would absolutely kill. As good as if not better than any Blanc de Noirs I have ever had. RECOMMENDED Served with Saku Tuna Sashimi
NICOLAS JOLY 2005 COULEE DE SERRANT SAVINNIERES – Board member Jay Shampur’s second contribution after the sparkler above. He warned us that this was a “weird” wine and we would either love it or hate it. How could anyone hate a Loire Chenin Blanc wine? Was he smoking crack?
After we tasted the wine, I was certain that he blatantly was. Right off the bat, WOTN. The single most incredible Chenin Blanc wine I have ever tasted from anywhere, sweet or dry, bar none. However, this required some preparation as it was decanted 24 hours beforehand (Unusual to me for a white wine) and carefully maintained at the right temperature.
Dark gold color, full-bodied at 15% ABV, creamy mouthfeel and mind-blowing flavors of cream, caramel, butterscotch all supported by a backbone of canary melon. For those of you that haven’t had one, it’s a yellow melon whose flavor swings between honeydew and butternut squash i.e. sweet but buttery. Starfruit might also be a good descriptor though it is much more acidic and not as accurate a note to me. This just absolutely blew us away on its own but was stunning when paired with the Olive Oil Poached Organic Salmon, tomato confit and spiced olives. Brilliant stuff. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and worth both its high price and long preparation. This will convince you that Nicolas Joly deserves his living legend status.
VINCENT GIRARDIN 2011 PULIGNY-MONTRACHET “LES VIELLES VIGNES” – A generous contribution from Michael Wright, this young Chardonnay based Montrachet had the misfortune to come right after the Nicolas Joly. Too bad so sad. That said, while it had no chance at all of surpassing that wine, this was very good for a Chardonnay wine.
Interestingly to me, it seemed like a perfectly balanced cross between an acidic and flinty steel-vinified Chardonnay wine like Chablis and a buttery barrel-aged one from France or California. Rather than seem like a weak version of either, it seemed perfectly balanced. Just when I thought it was tasting too acidic, I detected some nice butteriness. When it seemed too big, the acidity would poke its head through.
These were secondary notes that were all supporting the Meyer lemon and fresh green apple flavors of the wine. Interestingly, as amazing as the Joly was, this was a much better wine for food pairing and was in fact paired with a Little Neck Clam Risotto and then a Brown Butter Poached Lobster with Lemon Ricotta Ravioli. Both dishes brought out some buttery sweetness in the wine as well as more flintiness. Excellent match. In fact, I tried the Joly with both dishes for fun and the food absolutely killed the Joly dead by making it taste bitter. I’m not a Chardonnay fan but I have to say this was an excellent food matching wine. RECOMMENDED
CHATEAU DE BEAULON NV 10 YO PINEAU DES CHARENTES – This is a bottle of now-rare French Pineau sweet wine that has fallen out of favor with the generations as many fortified wines have, and an even rarer red version made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Dark ruby red in the glass, very full-bodied, high heat on the nose masks most of the aromas even after 2 hours decanting. Ruh-roh.
Never fear, this actually was a very good sweet wine. Lovely rancio flavors of butterscotch, vanilla and burnt sugar toffee support very sweet and rich cherry and blueberry fruit flavors and then a hint of both chocolate and Cognac flavor shines through on the finish (Pineau is fortified with freshly made Cognac before being barreled). Although it’s oversimplifying, this wine is what you would get by crossing a very well aged Recioto della Valpolicella with a Ruby Port. As Michael Wright said, it might even have been WOTN were it not for the presence of the Nicolas Joly. Extremely well-paired with a fresh Coconut Sponge Cake topped with a Dark Chocolate Chai Spiced Ganache.
