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15th Anniversary Nostalgia Tasting with Guild Governor Emeritus Peter Ward |
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Reported by Robert White
 Guild members arrived at the Chelsea Club on March 17th for a tasting held to celebrate the Guild’s 15th anniversary. Philip Nicholson, co-founder of the Guild, introduced noted wine writer Peter Ward. Peter wrote a weekly wine column in the Ottawa Citizen for 29 years, was a recipient of Wine Person of the Year, and was one of the Guild’s first Governors. This was a tutored tasting with Peter providing and eliciting comments on the selected wines, while providing entertaining anecdotes from his many years in the wine column “business”.
As Peter was introduced, we enjoyed a Lustau Puerto Fino Solera Reserva Sherry. Along with the typical almond nose, some picked up notes of earth or truffle. This Sherry was smooth with a long finish—and a fantastic value. Even those not too fond of Fino Sherry (such as the reporter) did not offer this to the nearest fern plant.
Rather than tasting wines made with some of the more common grapes, Peter chose some more interesting and different combinations. We opened the tasting with a 2003 Sensi Mantello Sangiovese-Syrah blend. While the Syrah introduced some color, spices, and tannin, it also left the wine with some astringency. Most thought there was not enough fruit for further aging. We moved on to the 2000 Finca Sobreño Reserva Toro. This Tempranillo from an area close to the border with Portugal exhibited a pleasant bouquet of deep fruit and pencil shavings with excellent balance and backbone. The group was split on whether this wine or the final one of the flight, another Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, the 1999 Alenza Gran Reserva, was best. The Alenza had a fabulous nose, sweet fruits, low tannins, well balanced (although slightly more acidity would have been welcome), with a long finish.
 We then moved on to a flight of DOCG Nebbiolos from Italy’s famed Piedmont! The 2001 Dessilani from Ghemme was a little tired. Peter explained Ghemme wines do not age as well as those from Barbaresco and Barolo in part because of soil, altitude and sun exposure. The Barbaresco was a little disappointing needing more fruit, structure and acid. Peter explained that while Barbarescos could be considered the Prince of Piedmont, Barolos were the King. But this time the King was corked. All was not lost however as we had the opportunity to try the wines with an Italian Vento d’Estate Cow’s Milk Cheese aged in Wine Barrels; and a Silo Québec 9 Year Old Cheddar. The Italian cheese match was extraordinary with the cheese flavours going through an explosion of taste! The cheddar was excellent as well.
Flight three showed an eclectic group of wines. First up was as 2003 Yalumba Grenache from the Barossa Valley. The wine was done in American oak and had lots of fruit, including eucalyptus notes. It could have done with a little more acidity and it was a touch bitter on the finish. The 2003 Château de Pibarnon Bandol AOC, was a very interesting blend of Mouvedre and Cinsault. It was a simple and not very appealing wine with an industrial/medicinal taste. Some thought this wine was “thrown” together to use up some extra wine left over from hopefully better blends. The final wine of the flight was a 2004 Grande Escolha that was made with the same grapes primarily used in Port production (Touriga Francesca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Roriz). The wine showed good fruit, low acidity, and a short finish.
The highlight of the evening and what everyone was waiting for were the Ports! We started with a 20-year-old Tawny with a sweet bouquet and flavours of wood, orange peel, and figs. Peter prefers 20-year-old Tawnys, because any longer and they pick up too much wood flavour. The 1987 Vintage Port from Rozès, a French house, was an excellent example of an aged vintage Port. The 1994 Quinta da Eira Velba came from one of the best years of the century and is owned by the Newman family, of Newman’s Port fame. The Port was probably in a “lull” and will improve over the next decades. The 1989 Burmester Vintage Port had an atypical ketone notes on nose, but not on the palate, which had deep flavours.
And of course with the Ports were two of the classic matches, dark chocolate and blue cheese. And a beautiful combination they were with the Ports being slightly sweeter that the cheese and chocolate. Many found that the dried cranberries took away the flavours of the Ports. We would like to thank Peter Ward for visiting with us again, and for all the great stories!
Thanks to Guild President Jay Hunt for pulling this all together.
The Wines- Lustau Puerto Fino Solera Reserva Sherry, Portugal, $15
- 2003 Sensi Mantello Sangiovese-Syrah, Toscana IGT, Italy, $25
- 2000 Finca Sobreño Reserva, Toro, Spain, $30
- 1999 Alenza Gran Reserva, Ribera del Duero, Spain, $79
- 2001 Dessilani Ghemme, DOCG, Italy, $30
- 2004 Antiche Cantine dei Marchesi di Barolo, Barbaresco, DOCG, Italy, $43
- 2001 Vigna Cerretta Ca Rome Romano Marengo Barolo, DOCG, Italy, $76
- 2003 Yalumba Grenache, Australia, $31
- 2003 Château de Pibarnon Bandol, AOC, France, $40
- 2004 Quinta do Cachao Grande Escolha, Duoro, DOC, Portugal, $23
- Quinta do Estanho 20 Year Tawny Port, Portugal, $49
- 1987 Rozès Vintage Port, Rozès LDA, Portugal, Private – approx. $100
- 1994 Quinta da Eira Velba Single Vintage Port, Private – approx. $100
- 1989 Bumester Vintage Port, J. W. Burmester & Ca. LDA, Portugal, Private – approx. $100
- Tasting Accompaniments
- Vento d’Estate Cow’s Milk Cheese aged in Wine Barrels
- Silo Québec 9 Year Old Cheddar
- Bleu d’Auvergne
- Craisins (dried cranberries)
- Barati & Milano Cioccolato Extra Fondente
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 May 2008 )
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