Image courtesy: Foxtrot Vineyards IG @foxtrotvineyards

BC wines are distinctly unique and deservedly receiving more respect now around the world. The diversity of the 80+ grape varieties (almost equal white and red) grown over 929 vineyards expanding across 10,260 acres for 271 licensed wineries makes it somewhat difficult to get a handle on what is currently happening but BC Wine Institute (www.winebc.com) marketing helps. However outside interest in the region continues to build with some consolidation taking place such as the recent purchases by Andrew Peller of Black Hills, Gray Monk & Tinhorn Creek and Arterra Wines of Laughing Stock Vineyards. Last year saw the purchase by Phantom Creek Estates of south end Black Sage Bench land estimated for around $50 million with an equal amount expected to spent on plantings winery etc. An exciting alive wine region for sure.

Several grape varieties (and blends) are certainly becoming world class by finding the right terroir, taking advantage of older vines, and using much improved viticulture and winery expertise. A big favourite of your scribe is pinot noir and following the development of this variety in BC has been most encouraging. The level of complex elegance now shown in the wines produced by pinot noir specialists is remarkable. Therefore the news just released of the change in ownership of leader Foxtrot Vineyards (www.foxtrotwine.com) was of prime interest. Not only another smaller winery purchase but an amazing endorsement by Burgundy experts on the very high quality of the existing pinot noir wines that are produced there. The press release says that New York attorney now co-director of Foxtrot Douglas Barzelay is an authority on the wines of Burgundy and co-author of a forthcoming book Burgundy Vintages – A History from 1844 and is quoted as “We were attracted by the consistent high quality of the wines produced at Foxtrot and believe that the Naramata Bench is poised to claim its place among the top terroirs for pinot noir in the world. Noted is Nathan Todd Operation Manager Private Cellar Selections LLC in Greater New York City area also a new co-director stating “We have no plans to change the formula that has brought Foxtrot such success. We salute the achievements of Torsten and Kicki Allander (Founders who have announced plans to retire) and under son Gustav Allander’s direction (winemaker who will be retained in charge of viticulture & winemaking) we look forward to carrying out the expansion plans that Foxtrot has already put in motion.”

What a ringing endorsement of Naramata pinot noir & Foxtrot Vineyards that is!

Hope you have been fortunate to experience a Foxtrot pinot noir. Your impressions? Anyhow recommend perhaps you buy a few bottles of the 2015 before the price is likely to go up.

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By Joseph Temple

Have you ever been at the dinner table and wanted to reach for the salt shaker? You know all those tiny white crystals will greatly enhance the flavor of the food you’re about to eat—but then all of a sudden, you hesitate. You hesitate because, for years, society has told you that too much salt consumption will lead to high blood pressure, chronic diseases, and a possible stroke. Knowing all this, you decide to continue eating your food salt-less.

Sound familiar?

But according to a recent book by Dr. James DiNicolantonio, a cardiovascular research scientist and a doctor of pharmacy, all that we were taught about salt from the medical community and official government dietary guidelines were misleading at best.  Published in 2017, The Salt Fix dispels all the conventional wisdom we had about this mineral, arguing that if anything, we should be consuming more of it.

“We cry salt, we sweat salt, and the cells in our bodies are bathed in salty fluids,” writes DiNicolantonio. “Without salt we would not be able to live.” Using examples from history dating back millions of years ago, he presents a convincing case that human beings did not evolve as a species on a low-salt diet. Interestingly, by the eighteenth century, Europeans were consuming an estimated 70 grams per day–nearly seven times the amount consumed today by the average American. And although no records about hypertension existed during that period, the book begins to reveal some fascinating data once it starts looking at the twentieth century.

While today one in three American adults suffers from hypertension, for the first half of the 1900s, that number was only around 10 percent.  As DiNicolantio argues, how can high blood pressure be three times as high “despite salt intake remaining remarkably stable over the last fifty years”?  All signs point to another white crystal known as sugar, which saw a spike in consumption beginning in the late 1980s to 120 pounds a year per person or 150 grams a day. So why did salt get such a bad reputation while sugar escaped such scathing criticism until very recently?

Going back to the first “salt is bad” report in 1904 by two French scientists, the author dismantles the most prominent studies used by the medical community, showing that they were either based on inappropriate study designs, research misinterpretation, or a lack of evidence to support their conclusions. Yet despite these flaws, numerous magazine articles and television news reports continue to remind us that salt consumption leads to high blood pressure.

One strength you’ll find in The Salt Fix is the section dealing with official government dietary guidelines and how they can easily be manipulated by lobbyists. For example, while salt was being raked over the coals, the 1985 Dietary Guidelines for Americans stated: “Contrary to widespread belief, too much sugar in your diet does not cause diabetes.” In fact, it wasn’t until the year 2000 that those guidelines linked sugar consumption to heart disease and diabetes—a product of intense lobbying by the sugar industry despite a plethora of medical evidence to the contrary.

So does a low-salt diet really reduce the risk of developing any of these diseases? A resounding no according to the author who points to South Korea where the average person eats over 4,000 milligrams of sodium daily. “They [Koreans] feast on … grilled meat marinated in a sea of sodium-packed soy sauce … Yet Koreans manage to somehow have one of the world’s lowest rates of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and death due to cardiovascular disease.” Nor is this an anomaly as DiNicolantonio shows that a diverse set of other nations from Japan to Canada and Australia all consume high-sodium diets and yet they all have a lower rate of death due to heart disease than the United States.

With a well-researched debunking of the whole “salt is bad” argument, the author then moves on to show that increased salt consumption has a number of health benefits.  These include helping to manage shock, kidney problems, and inflammatory bowel disease. Interestingly, those who exercise regularly are probably the one’s who need the most salt since a person can excrete nearly 3000 milligrams of sodium while working out in a warm climate. By increasing your salt consumption, according to the author, you’ll retain more water and thus, reduce both fatigue and muscle cramping.

Challenging the conventional wisdom most of us had about this mineral, The Salt Fix offers readers a thorough critique of the low-salt diet by uncovering the many flaws of over a hundred years of research into this subject. And by showing us the many positives that salt can offer us, you may never have to think twice before reaching for that shaker.

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Question: I am an amateur cook looking for new fish preparation ideas I could watch on TV. Your recommendation?

Answer: Well lots of video out there including on line at the YouTube website and others. I seem to be always setting my VCR to record cooking shows on PBS and The Food Channel and trying to find time to watch them. Though the best program for fish recipes I have enjoyed over the last year is Fish The Dish by Chef Spencer Watts on Gusto (315 on Telus). He is very entertaining in preparing fish dishes but full of good recipe ideas too. It is a worthwhile series each with a special theme on preparing fish in different ways like with Seeds, Garlic, Wrapped, Stuffed, Cold, Oil, Butter, Breaded etc. Check it out.

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Corton-Charlemagne has an intriguing history going way back to Charlemagne the Roman Emperor who was instrumental in converting the then all red Corton vineyards to some white on the upper slopes “en Charlemagne”. It turned out to be a brilliant move as Chardonnay really suits that superb limestone base covered by a clay-marl soil there with differences noted between both the Pernand and Aloxe slopes. Today the Corton property has a surface area of around 160 hectares of which roughly 50+ is Corton-Charlemagne white. The largest proprietors at just under 10 hectares each are Louis Latour and the historic Bonneau du Martray (Stan Kroenke of Screaming Eagle, Arsenal football, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Avalanche last year purchased majority ownership still partnering with the longtime Le Bault de la Moriniere family) followed by Bouchard Pere at just over three and many others. Of course these limited production wines in demand are becoming even more expensive these days but some of them from smaller growers like Jean-Francois Coche-Dury and Leroy are amazingly so. This Grand Cru shows quite a unique terroir when compared with other white Burgundies usually combining a very good acidity balance to that steely mineral structure plus intense fruit concentration that improves to rounder complexity with some bottle age. IMHO except for the usual pre-mox concerns Corton-Charlemagne (together with some Grand Cru Chablis – especially Le Clos, Chevalier-Montrachet, and Meursault-Perrieres) has the best cellaring record of all the Burgundy whites.

A dinner was held this month at the Cactus Club Coal Harbour to see how some vintages would show and especially when paired with accompanying food courses. In Partners the IWFS Guide to the Game of Wine & Food Match-Making by Andre L. Simon he recommended Corton-Charlemagne with Sole Bonne Femme – an admirable choice! However as this Menu sets out Chef Rob Feenie and his brigade successfully used instead Flatbread, Calamari, Prawn Ravioli, Sablefish and even Duck Confit to advantage. Some brief comments:

2014 Corton-Charlemagne Louis Latour & Louis Jadot: This first flight followed our aperitif of an excellent forwardly drinking 2002 Bollinger RD Champagne disgorged November 19, 2015 after 13 years on the lees. The Latour style usually has fairly prominent lees character but seemed less so after that. It was full rich and concentrated but the style definitely is evolving towards earlier picking and less new oak. Classy and balanced but needs more time. Jadot shows a lot of sulphur on the nose presently so controversial but lovely elegant fruit underneath it that should develop nicely. The caramelized onions on the “pizza” were divine with the young wines from an outstanding vintage for Burgundy whites!

2010 Corton-Charlemagne Louis Latour & Vincent Girardin: Hot fried spicy dill squid worked well here with the classic 2010 quality year from reduced yields with impeccable balance. Latour had some initial sulphur aromas but cleared off with airing to become a delicious full complex wine just approaching the best plateau of drinking. No rush. Girardin had bottle variation with one showing maderization and the other mature but soft for the year and forwardly drinking already.

2008 Corton-Charlemagne Remoissenet & Bouchard Pere: Better flight with more interest. Remoissenet Diamond Jubilee with their signature open aromas of cabbage-sauerkraut (in a good way) bouquet and rich pure flavours while Bouchard Pere more closed in yet so elegantly structured and going through a rather funky offbeat stage but impressive so optimistic it will blossom out soon. Food matching of creamy pasta almost ideal.

2006 Corton-Charlemagne Bonneau du Martray & Chateau de Corton Andre: What a big difference between the two bottles of the Bonneau du Martray! One has bad pre-mox undrinkable but the other is brilliant in the fresh minerality you seek. Already excellent in this leaner style but expect it to climb to even greater complexity with more age if it can avoid pre-mox. Pierre Andre is in a richer sweeter caramel profile with a specific intriguing ginger note. Goes well with the rich buttery flaky earthy black cod that was a delicious matching – the modern day fish with cream & mushrooms as enjoyed by Andre Simon.

The smoky duck confit too actually worked OK with the remains of 8 Corton-Charlemagnes but a preference was shown for a Burgundy red and especially a mystery wine that turned out to be the formidable fragrant sophisticated 1991 Musigny from Comte de Vogue. What a treat. What a pairing. Finishing up with 1986 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes doesn’t hurt either.

Your thoughts please on Corton-Charlemagne age ability and their best matching with different foods.

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Question: What is selection de grains noble?

Answer: Vendanges Tardivea (VT) & Selection de Grains Nobles (SGN) are terms used in Alsace pioneered first by Hugel (the indomitable late Johnny Hugel) back in 1976 for late harvest wines. Grapes for SGN have reached even higher sugar levels than for VT resulting in a special wine made by successive picking selection of individual over-ripe grapes affected by noble rot (botrytis cinerea) and is only produced in the best years where favourable conditions allow it. The single grape varieties that are possibly able to  achieve this level are usually Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, or sometimes Muscat d’Alsace. Wines produced with a SGN label are usually sweeter intense powerfully structured complex treasures with a long finish on the palate that seem to age forever. In my IWFS Blog earlier this week you will see reference to 3 bottles of this spectacular first SGN in 1976 from Gewurztraminer grapes. What a joy to taste!  Seek them out.

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