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Question: After a recent WSET session some of us were discussing soils in Chablis and blue clay was mentioned. Don’t know what cru Chablis has blue clay and hope you can help me?
Answer: Clever question. Yes those Kimmeridgian soils dominate the top Chablis properties but the fully south-east facing Grand Cru Blanchot has some special blue clay in the subsoil there.
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As followers of this site know well there is a very unique wine region that has emerged in British Columbia (BC) Canada. There are so many grape varieties (and blends) being used to produce some world class distinctive exciting wines. Wines of BC (@winebcdotcom) as the voice of the industry are doing an admirable job of marketing them. One of their successful projects is the “Judgment of BC” to spotlight BC wine examples against comparable imports in blind tastings to assess their quality. The first one of Chardonnay & Syrah was held on August 25, 2015 with guest judge Steven Spurrier and the second of Riesling & Pinot Noir on June 21, 2016 with Dr. Jamie Goode. The 3rd was on August 18, 2017 featuring BC’s most planted varieties of Pinot Gris & Merlot. Your scribe was requested by Anthony Gismondi of Gismondi on Wine to submit some impressions of this special tasting for an article on his popular website. You can access this report with links to the two earlier Judgment write-ups on this site at gismondionwine.com under heading Articles.
Have you tasted a Pinot Gris or Merlot from British Columbia?
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By Joseph Temple
With summer ending and the cool autumn breeze soon blowing through the orchards, nothing is better than settling in for the evening with some classic comfort food and a nice glass of wine. Here are just a few ideas to get the conversation started. What are some of your favorites?
By avlxyz [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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By Ann Larie Valentine [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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By FiveRings (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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By jeffreyw [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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By Neil Conway [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr
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Question: I am trying to learn more about the location and geology of the different vineyards in Barolo. Would you recommend something to help me out?
Answer: I too am a keen student of those exciting unique vineyards. Fortunately last month I surprisingly was presented with the perfect book for both of us when I handed over the reins of being Honorary President of IWFS from myself to Dave Felton. It is The Barolo Great Vineyards Encyclopedia by vineyard map genius Alessandro Masnaghetti first edition September 2015 by Giunti Editore S.p.A. (www.giunti.it). This book has detailed maps of all the Barolo vineyards showing owners and producers with production statistics. Highly recommended.
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There is a plethora of wine festivals out there making it difficult to follow them all and put them into some meaningful context. However your scribe usually enjoys those with a narrower focus such as a specific wine region or one single varietal. For example the leading International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) in McMinnville Oregon held on the last weekend of July now with over 30 years experience highlights each year quality ones from North America, Europe & South America. Others have followed with their pinot noir festivals including Pinot Noir NZ 2017 held on the Wellington waterfront this year featuring 117 wineries from 8 New Zealand regions. Upcoming on January 25-27, 2018 featuring 33 wineries will be the 13th Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration (pinotcelebration.co.nz).
So many varietals are proving successful in the emerging unique BC wine region but pinot noir is clearly among the leaders. In 2013 a small group of wineries led by JAK Meyer (mfvwines.com) and including David Paterson (tantalus.ca) with others set out to begin raising the profile of this outstanding varietal extremely well suited to BC’s differing terroirs. Their 4th one #BCPN2017 just held in the appropriate end of August time-slot was a great success having grown from a start of 13 wineries with 150 attendees to a top selected 34 wineries with 350 guests at Linden Gardens at Kaleden in the Okanagan, BC on August 18, 2017. The event attracted a global wine media representation including guest speaker Richard Hemming MW of JancisRobinson.com who expressed some interesting thoughts on pinot noir. Richard suggested that this varietal attracts so much international attention because of 4 main factors among others: 1. the ability of this varietal to give an expression of the place it was grown; 2. the difficulty to get the grapes perfectly ripe; 3. the range of complex flavours a successful wine can deliver; 4. the potential for a “pinot noir epiphany” (a moment of sudden revelation or insight) resulting in a meaningful experience or emotional response – this possibility continues your search. In an increasingly virtual world he felt these factors with an expression of a time & place allow us to commune in a valuable way while drinking pinot noir.
A thought provoking break-out session was a wine tasting showing the effect of using in BC a specific clone. There are so many different ones being experimented with but the ones featured here were Dijon Clone 115 (floral more tannins), Dijon Clone 667 (lower acid cranberry spice), Dijon Clone 777 (medium acid with rounder tannins) and Spatburgunder (medium body savoury plums). Blending attempts of those 4 varietals by the participants was educational and the winemaker consensus opinion tended toward the possible benefits of complexity by using more than one clone.
This Festival is one to consider for your visit to the Okanagan next August. What a pinot noir revelation. So many excellent elegant wines to try and to consider for cellar purchasing. Have you tried a BC pinot noir that impressed you?
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