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We hosted a dinner party on July 19 with an educational wine tasting of three red wines just before and with the main course of duck leg confit. Big fans of those classy 2005 Bordeaux reds with that attractive structured concentration of fruit with firm tannins. The vintage conditions were favourable with warm dry days and cooler nights helping to preserve balanced acidity. Many classified growths now are starting to show their wonderful quality classic style on an early plateau of outstanding pleasure. Some of the Cru Bourgeois are drinking beautifully now. Wanted to serve the underrated Chateau Cambon La Pelouse Haut-Médoc 2005 but decided to compare it with two other 2005 reds made in a Bordeaux like style but from elsewhere all at 20 years of age. Picked a Napa Cab and a BC Okanagan Meritage for the comparison. Your scribe as host knew the wines and the order but the guests didn’t and tasted them initially double blind. All thought they were perfect pairings with the duck course.

Here are the three red wines of 2005 and some brief impressions:

2005 MERRYVALE CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY 2005 started off wet but was an excellent vintage also in Napa not overly hot but with cooler conditions. This winery in St. Helena from long time owners the Schlatter family produces wines in a classic style. Visited their tasting room several times and appreciated the use of quality grapes from key vineyards in Carneros, Yountville, and St. Helena resulting in this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine. They use native yeast fermentation, extended maceration on the skins with 18 months in French oak barrels (32% new) with quarterly racking. Nice dry-sweetness. At 14.5 abv it shows rich ripe intense black olives and menthol notes in a smooth mouthfeel. A very Cab Sauv focus showing that Napa style. Popular.

2005 CHÂTEAU CAMBON LA PELOUSE HAUT-MÉDOC CRU BOURGEOIS SUPÉRIEUR Left Bank property in the Macau commune well situated near Chateau Cantemerle & Giscours. This blend of 50/30/18/2 of Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot used 50% new oak and was impressive on release. Less alcohol at 13.5 with that remarkable Bordeaux ageability. Shows a wonderful developed charming bouquet but is so much softer now yet still fresh with finesse & elegance. Most complexity and length. Beautiful delicious drinking.

2005 BURROWING OWL ESTATE WINERY MERITAGE ESTATE BOTTLED Family owned winery in south Okanagan at Oliver BC Canada by the Wyse family who always produced fine balanced wines with ageability. This blend at 14. 4 abv is mainly Merlot 64% with Cab Franc 25, Cab Sauv 10, and tiny amounts of Malbec & Petit Verdot for 1455 cases. Renowned reviewer John Schreiner in 2008 for Appellation America noted 2005 “small fruit set due to rain at flowering …reduced yields naturally.” His comments at that time were “It is a wonderfully rich wine, beginning with aromas of vanilla, chocolate and cassis. Palate flavours plum cassis & touch of spice (cloves). The long ripe tannins contribute to the wine’s appealing texture. There is elegance and balance here, with a drink-now accessibility but enough firmness for several years of cellaring.” Today it surprises with mellow round attractive supple textures full of life. Definitely in this ball game. It has a rather distinctive unique character of blackberry blueberry earthy sweet spice notes from those deep sandy soils. Well done. From a global perspective top quality wine from many key regions even at 20 years of age can really surprise you.

This insightful friendly tasting made for an interesting social evening over dinner. Put your own themed wine grouping together for a similar fun function. Enjoy.

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Question: What is the Morillon grape?

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Your scribe is a long time devotee to top natural cork closures on fine quality top wines for aging. In the old days there was nothing else. There were some TCA corky issues that could arise but it wasn’t that bad. Less producers needing less top quality corks. Not the case today with so many more new wineries in the game. Now with differing opinions out there on so many alternative choices for wineries it makes it difficult to know which is the best closure. Most agree on the screw cap effectiveness for fresh early drinking wines. However for longer aging the jury may still be out. Check out here this posting of Ridge Vineyards on 12 types of corks and wine closures for more details.

Over the past several years on opening many wine bottles it has been surprising to me the number that are now using Diam corks. We answered a question about Diam corks on the Ask Sid Wednesday feature back on April 4, 2018 linked here. Also noted on this Blog posting on May 21, 2018 here (and followed up on October 25, 2021 here) the interesting decision of Olivier Bernard at Domaine de Chevalier starting with 2015 whites followed by 2016 reds to convert both Grand Vins to long top quality Diam 30.

As a keen collector of Christian Moreau Chablis (especially Les Clos) I have been monitoring the different corks used by them back to 2010. That vintage 2010 Les Clos is holding wonderful maturity brilliantly but wished it had a better cork as they only used the Diam 5 (as did then 77 year old Vaillon vines of Guy Moreau cuvee). 2011 & 2012 Les Clos are in normal cork closure but the brilliantly balanced acidity of long cellaring 2014 is Diam 10 before going back to natural cork again for 2015. The exciting 2020 Les Clos also is in Diam 10 like the 2014 but wish they had chosen Diam 30 – like Benjamin Leroux did for his 2020 Meursault Charmes Dessus and his other wines. Long aging potential deserves their best.

We know New Zealand and Australia wineries are big fans of screw caps. Enjoying many top younger whites from those regions with that closure including young 2021 Shaw & Smith M3 Chardonnay.

Lots of European classic producers still using old style corks from 2021 Redigaffi by Tua Rita, Domaine Billaud-Simon (Faiveley) 2020 Montee de Tonnerre, 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino by Biondi-Santi, 2015 La Clarté De Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan, and 2010 Chevalier Montrachet les Demoiselles from Domaine Louis Jadot – though Jadot, Bouchard Pere and other larger houses have now endorsed Diam.

Another newer synthetic closer by Nomacorc is Select Green 300 and others designed for controlled oxygen management made from sugar-cane used for example by Vincent Careme on his South African Chenin Blanc.

However, most surprising to me has been the plethora of wineries who have endorsed Diam. 2020 Château de Fieuzal (like Domaine de Chevalier) is in Diam 30, 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Bouchard Pere only used Diam 10 though 2015 Meursault Goutte D’Or from Domaine des Comtes Lafon & Corton-Charlemagne Louis Jadot both Diam 30 Grand Cru best. Olivier Leflaive 2017 St. Aubin Champlots is Diam 10.

A clear majority of value younger white Burgundies your scribe has opened so far this year are all Diam 10: includes Armand Heitz, 2020 St Aubin 1er Cru Sur Gamay Mark Haisma, 2021 Pernand-Vergelesses Domaine Jean-Baptiste Boudier, and 2021 Monthelie Blanc Cuvée Miss Armande Douhairet-Porcheret.

Maybe a trend?

Please let us know what your thoughts are on your preferred wine closure?

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Question: How are producers trying to make No Alcohol wines more popular?

Answer: Some quite good non-alcoholic wines are now in the marketplace. But many consumers still don’t believe wines with no alcohol have the same body mouthfeel interest and complexity of wines with alcohol. Some grape varieties – like Sauvignon Blanc – have fared better and Rose & especially spritzy carbonation bubbles are trending well. However the latest marketing ideas involve the addition of more flavour enhancers including bitters, spices, herbs, vanilla, tea, fruit juice and the like. Not all are strictly using only fermented grape juice as in production of normal wine with alcohol.

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Canadians are being encouraged this year by the Federal Government to travel in Canada, promoting domestic travel rather than to the USA and other foreign destinations. Last month, they launched a Canada Strong Pass initiative offering deals on national parks, museums, and other attractions & experiences across Canada. Exploring your own country is a great idea – especially if it includes finding interesting food & wine discoveries.

Your scribe was in Montreal last week and was impressed with many food items and restaurant menus. Quebec key specialities of POUTINE (French fries, cheese curds, and hot gravy) at LA BANQUISE and others & Smoked Meat (long line-ups still at SCHWARTZ’S Deli since 1928 on the major north-south street of Saint-Laurent – called “The Main) were no longer a focus for me this trip. Still excited about their many quality creme glacee ice cream shops including ICONOGLACE, KEM COBA, UNICONE, and a must in Old Montreal of Mlle CATHERINE. Excellent pizza led by recent award winner PIZZERIA NAPOLITAINE #900 at several locations should be checked out for an authentic Margherita. The food markets are interesting and purchased some clean paler morel mushrooms ($16/100grams) coming from the Yukon from Les Jardins Sauvages. Admired the bakery talents of AUTOMNE with top baguettes, batard, and 7 grain using all their own flours. However my favourite is still those outstanding fresh Montreal bagels. Big long time fan of ST.-VIATEUR Bagel Factory (since 1957) and their classic style. This trip bought hot fresh sesame bagels from them and the highly rated FAIRMOUNT Bagel (since 1919) for a blind tasting comparison. Both are outstanding but different with St-Viateur toasty and more chewy while Fairmount seemed slightly sweeter and softer. Fun experience.

Lots of top restaurants to enjoy. The two best for us were – MONARQUE BRASSERIE starting with Grilled Octopus fattoush salad, labneh, dukkha, and chermoula ($26) followed by Duck Confit fingerling potato, duck jus ($36), and Roasted half Cornish hen morels, asparagus, sauce poulette au Vin Jaune ($36). Smart by the glass program with value found for forwardly white 2023 Alvarinho Soalheiro Granit Vinho Verde Portugal ($16) & well paired red pinot noir 2023 Bourgogne Côte D’Or Domaine François Buffet ($19).

MASTARD One of only three Michelin Award winners this May – all one rosette – with Jerome Ferrer -Europea, and Sabayon. Five outstanding courses ($90) locally sourced ingredients, and cooked to perfection. Wine pairings offered and food allergies & intolerances are taken into account. See the fantastic menu attached. Liked how they printed out the names of their whole team contributing to the memorable meal, including our attentive server Benjamin Houde. A worthy better than one-star execution. Highly recommended.

Also checked out the enticing menu of June 28 attached for the consistently highly rated RESTAURANT MON LAPIN at which it is rather hard to get a reservation.

As a wine aficionado, something I support are BYOB restaurants, and Montreal has lots of these. We tried three on this trip and were delighted with all of them. Highly recommend:

LE P’TIT PLATEAU: Aubergine Confite et Ses Herbes ($15) & Fondant Souris d’Agneau Romarin et Amandes Grillées (15 hour “melting” lamb shank) for $40.

LES MÔMES: Three course $80 with exquisite Tarte tatin tomate cerise/Glace Burrata/Pesto pistache; Flétan vapeur & Carre de porc Iberique/ Fraise du Québec & Chocolat/Noisette/Cardamome verte.

OTHYM: Beautiful blue flower fresh pea, onion, and wild mushroom tartelette ($21) & Canard Goulu compressed leg and breast ($30) Great local suppliers used.

Perhaps should have brought BC wines but instead three classified Pauillac from 2003 paired well with vying for best of the vintage Duhart Milon over dependable balanced d’Armailhac and usual top favourite property Grand Puy Lacoste solid as well but not singing as elegantly in the hot vintage conditions.

Really like the amazing value lunches at MILOS and wrote up here previously our extraordinary experiences in Las Vegas & Hudson Yards in New York. Estiatorio Milos Greek restaurant the original one was opened by Milos in 1979 on Parc Avenue in the Mile End neighbourhood of Montreal. It is still popular and going strong with the quality lunch $49 serving three brilliant perfect courses. Tender grilled octopus with fava bean sauce, Sea bream grilled with broccoli, and moist walnut cake with vanilla ice cream is hard to beat. Visited twice on this trip. So very highly recommended! As is a culinary visit to Montreal.

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