Wonderful tasting downtown, 34 participants, we all discovered some new wines.
`07 Domaine Lafage Blanc Cote Est, Cotes Catalanes.
Nice reception wine, dry, minerally, medium bodied. Popular, $20 Cdn.
`09 Charles Melton Rose of Virginia, Barossa Valley.
Good rose, bubblegum aroma. Raspberry cherry on nose, dry with strawberry on finish. $25 but worth it. Nice!
`06 Sella and Mosca Cannonau, Sardinia.
Baked finish but well received by many. Funky nose/strawberry. Quite tannic but pate helped. No oak, typical island feel. $30 Cdn ouch.
`07 Bodegas Zabrin Atteca Old Vines, Calatayud Sp.
New wine for me, this hit the spot for sure! Dark red fruits, good acidity, smooth dry. Quite concentrated, liked it a lot. $25.
`07 La Curio Bush Vine Reserve Grenache, McLaren Vale.
Small boutique winery, have some in the cellar. Would not hold too long. Nice wine, chilled OK, med-bodied, soft tannins, cherry fruit, not bitter as some may think? $30 worth it. This is Alberta pricing!!
`05 Caves des Papes Oratorio Gigondas, Rhone.
Strange slim bottle, this is a co-op? Served too chilled, better at room temp but did not turn me on. Clay soil showed, low tannin. Many liked this however, $39.
`04 Mas Martinet Clos Martinet, Priorat.
WOTN, no doubting that. 14.5% alc, $82 Cdn. Coffee, blackberry nose/tobacco too. Wow fruit, wonderful tannins. Not hot, my first high-end Priorat. Many forumites say cellar this style of wine. Can see that but not sure what to expect after say ten yrs/ie secondary flavors! Not for the faint-hearted eh.