Berserkers,
One third of the Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™, namely board members Mike Grammer and yours truly, convened with friends in downtown Toronto for brunch with a trio of friends along with some excellent classic French cuisine at Le Select Bistro, one of the finest classic French restaurants in the city. This is nearly a year to the date after our March 2024 brunch visit which I also wrote about here on the board. After some catching up, we jumped right into the wine:
MICHEL GONET 2008 GRAND CRU MESNIL SUR OGER BLANC DE BLANCS CHAMPAGNE – Ah, this was a very nice start. This had a massive rich brioche taste and heavy mouthfeel upon first sip, but then it lightens up tremendously and the tartness rises and it becomes really refreshing. Basically transforms from a classic riche into a modern lean Champagne right in the glass. We ordered a half-dozen oysters to go with this to start and it was a superb match, the oysters bringing out a mellow sweetness to the Champagne.
VINCENT FOREAU DOMAINE DU CLOS NADIN 2016 VOUVRAY DEMI-SEC – From celebrated third generation Vouvray producer Philippe Foreau. Foreau is particular about his Vouvray, as he never chapitalizes to achieve the Demi-Sec level and malo-lactic fermentations are never permitted to occur. Wearing its age very well, this demi-sec Vouvray is bright straw gold in the glass, but on the palate has a phenolic and maturely sweet off dry quince flavor that, were I not clearly able to see that the wine was a bright straw gold in color, I would swear comes from a much older maderized wine. Really quite complex for a demi-sec wine of any kind and it was another superb match with the oysters, this time we ordered a full dozen to go with it.
The other guests had the classic French Onion Soup as their starter instead of the oysters.
With the aperitifs out of the way, it was on to the main brunch courses and a trio of reds:
GRACE FAMILY VINENARDS 1993 VINEYARD 29 NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON – This wine engendered a discussion at the table on what Cali Cab was like before it was ruined by Robert Parker in the opinion of the attendees. This was in fact brought to give us a pristine example of it. This was quite light bodied, very comparable to a Pinot Noir based wine in texture. This was dry, delicate, tart and slightly tannic. The others at the table also noted balsamic, cedar and barnyard notes. Some dried red cherry fruit present, but this is not a fruit forward wine and has quite a lot of umami characteristics.
F. OLAZABEL ET FILHOS 2013 MONTE MEAO TOURIGA NACIONAL – Table wine made from 100% Touriga Nacional, one of the main Port wine grapes. Per my research, the Touriga Nacional used in this wine is grown on granite, quite severe terrain for growing grapes on that results in vines producing fewer and smaller but more concentrated grapes. After crushing, the grapes are foot trodden in granite lagares before fermenting in French oak. The wine is then aged for fifteen months in older French barriques.
All this care definitely paid off in the final wine, which has a delicate but fragrant very sweet nose which totally belies a medium-bodied wine with a very intense red berry flavor with a saline note and a long finish that lasts forever on the palate.
CAP ROYAL 2018 BORDEAUX SUPERIEUR – A supermarket Bordeaux blend made from 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes that punches far, far above its weight and proves to be a shockingly hight QPR. Still quite, young, this is just bursting with blackberry and black plum flavors. Still quite tannic, it will definitely benefit from aging. No experienced Berserker will ever mistake this for Chateau Petrus Or Chateau Le Pin, but neither could one deny the quality on display here as a friendly, flavorful and drinkable affordable Bordeaux style wine that can actually age. I mean, I usually hate Bore-dough wine and I enjoyed this for what it was.
Of course, all three wines benefitted immensely from the food we paired it with as well. I really, really wanted the Eggs Benedict as Le Select Bistro makes a superb one, but once I saw the reds come out I knew I would have to go along with the half of the table that ordered the Steak & Eggs with Frites:
The other half of the table enjoyed Croque Monsieurs and Croque Madames (i.e. a Croque Monsieur topped with a sunny side up egg):
We then moved on to dessert and our grand finale:
QUINTA DA DAVESA +40 YEAR OLD TAWNY PORT – This 40 Year Old Tawny Port is distinguished by that “+”. It signifies that 5% to 10% of the wine is from the 1944 vintage. 
This is an incredible Tawny Port, with a rich layer of mahogany, treacle and molasses that conjures up images of WWII era London in the mind. Lots of dried fruit and sweet honey. Absolutely no burn from the high ABV, with a soft and mellow nose and mouthfeel. Insanely rich and good, to the point where you can honestly drink it as a brandy spirit. In fact, I’m drinking some from a Glencairn as I write this and that’s how I’ll finish off the remainder. This was a touch expensive but worth every penny.
We had three great desserts to match with this. The first was the house cheese plate with honeycomb and candied walnuts:
Second was the classic French Chocolate Soufflé:
And finally, Le Select Bistro’s signature dessert, their take on the classic Apple Tarte Tatin:
This was a great brunch. We’ll have to do it again soon. Our thanks to the the staff at Le Select Bistro for their excellent service. TWEC ™ shall return! 
