Cellar Move to Iron Gate

After more than 30 years of our wines being stored in various members' basements, we entered into an agreement to store the club's wines with Iron Gate, private wine management. Toronto Vintners is very grateful to Larry Stein who was our principal cellar master for all these decades of storage. Braving the elements and inbetween snow storms, our wines were safely transported from his basement and also the basement of Peter Muto, one of our winebuyers, to the new Iron Gate location in downtown Toronto. Thanks to Peter, Larry and also Larry Goldstein for assisting with the move.

Bowled over by '97 Barolos, Nov. 2008

Our November 2008 wine tasting was a very good showing of the 1997 vintage of Barolos with one exception - one bottle of the Fontafredda was corked. Nevertheless, even those who didn't have a corked wine rated the wine at or near the bottom of their favourites. The greatest consistency in ranking was on that wine. Otherwise, the group and even the two guest speakers tended to prefer different wines.

The group as a whole ranked the Marchesi di Barolo Cannubi, Marchesi di Barolo first while both Stramwasser and Phin had the Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia (the most expensive wine in the tasting) as their top pick.


Our club met for the first time at the University of Toronto Faculty Club with our reception wine being served in the comfortable setting of a sitting room. We were treated to a very nice, under $20 / bottle, 2006 Campolietit Ripasso Valpolicella, shown below.



After we tasted our wines, plates of appetizers were served. Our sold-out crowd was educated and entertained by the tag team of Bernard Stramwasser of Le Sommelier Inc. and Jason Phin, Sommelier for Vincor Canada. All in all, it was a really great evening.



Here's how the wines were ranked by the Group, by Stramwasser and by Phin.
Name of Wine (in order poured)

A. 1997 Giovanni Manzone Barolo le Gramolere, Giovanni Manzone.
Group's Ranking 6; Stramwasser's Ranking 3; Phin's Ranking 7

B. 1997 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco, Renato Ratti
Group 4; Stramwasser 8; Phin 5

C. 1997 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Monfalletto, Cordero di Montezemolo
Group 3; Stramwasser 6; Phin 6

D. 1997 Ca Rome Barolo Vigna Rapet, Ca Rome
Group 7; Stramwasser 5; Phin 3

E. 1997 Giacomo Brezza e Figli Barolo Sarmassa, Giacomo Brezza e Figli
Group 2; Stramwasser 4; Phin 2

F. 1997 Marchesi di Barolo Cannubi, Marchesi di Barolo
Group 1; Stramwasser 2; Phin 4

G. 1997 Fontanafredda Barolo Serralunga, Fontanafredda
Group 8; Stramwasser 7; Phin 8

H. 1997 Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia, Aldo Conterno
Group 5; Stramwasser 1; Phin 1.

Barolos are SOLD OUT!

Sorry to disappoint those who were tardy in registering but as expected, the Barolo wine tasting has sold out.

Down to the last spots

As of 11 PM tonight, there is now only 1 ticket left for our 1997 Barolo tasting. TVC members - well that's 1 member - so wake up, smell the coffee & register or you will miss a great tasting. Of course, a non-member could bypass you and register in the meantime. But we warned you that it was going to be sold out well before the deadline and we are going to be right!

Only 4 spots left for 1997 Barolo tasting!

TVC Members - as of today, there are only 4 spots left for our 1997 Barolo tasting on November 26 so please don't want any longer to buy your tickets!

Guest speaker: Bernard Stramwasser

At our November 2008 tasting of 1997 Barolo wines, we are delighted to have Bernard Stramwasser as our guest speaker. Those of you who attended our May 2008 dinner at Amuse-Bouche will recall Bernard as the evening's sommelier. He did a fabulous job pairing wines with our dishes. And so we are fortunate and excited to have him again in November.

Bernard was featured as Sommelier of the Month on page 14 of the International Sommelier Guild's May 2007 newsletter. Bernard is a co-owner of Le Sommelier Inc. , a wine import company dedicated to introducing Canadians to premium wines from small, and mostly family owned boutique producers from all over the wine producing world. And so TVC is fortunate and excited to have him again in November. Hope to see you at the Barolo tasting!

2009 Membership Renewals

Renewals were sent out to our members over the past couple of days and are due by December 31. To renew, please send in your cheque or renew online using a credit card at: www.onlineregistrations.ca/torontovintners/

Membership renewals are $50 for a single and $80 for a double.

Wines of Mendoza, Argentina

Name of Wine (in order poured)	Group	Expert	Guest
1. '04 François Lurton Piedra Negra Malbec	8	7	6
2. '04 O. Fournier Alfa Crux (Malbec)	3	8	5
3. Bodegas Poesia 'Poesia' 2004	6	6	8
4. Bodega Navarro, Correas Ultra 2004	2	5	7
5. Clos De La Siete 2006	7	4	4

Name of Wine (in order poured) Group Ranking Expert Guest Ranking
1. François Lurton Piedra Negra Malbec 2004 8 7 6
2. O. Fournier Alfa Crux (Malbec) 2004 3 8 5
3. Bodegas Poesia 'Poesia' 2004
6
6
8
4. Bodega Navarro, Correas Ultra 2004
2
5
7
5. Clos De La Siete 2006
7
4
4

1997 Barolos

On November 26, 2008, Toronto Vintners Club will be presenting 1997 Barolos from a vintage that is considered to be 'fabulous'. Critics herald the 1997 as the richest, ripest, most approachable of them all (Wine Spectator rates it ‘99’ calling the wines "super-ripe, opulent, flamboyant" while Parker gave it a more ‘modest’ 93). Whether it's a 99 or 93 – there’s no denying that these wines should be fabulous to drink especially after more than a decade of cellaring.

Here are the wines we'll be tasting:

1. 1997 Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia, Aldo Conterno $75. Robert Parker [RP]: 91. Wine Advocate # 135 June 2001.
2. 1997 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco, Renato Ratti $54. RP: 91. Wine Advocate # 135, June 2001.
3. 1997 Ca Rome Barolo Vigna Rapet, Ca Rome $60. RP: 91. Wine Advocate # 135, Jun 2001.
4. 1997 Giacomo Brezza e Figli Barolo Sarmassa, Giacomo Brezza e Figli $ 50. RP: 89. Wine Advocate # 135, Jun 2001.
5. 1997 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Monfalletto, Cordero di Montezemolo. $54. RP: 90. Wine Advocate # 135, Jun 2001.
6. 1997 Fontanafredda Barolo Serralunga, Fontanafredda. $40. RP: 92. Wine Advocate # 135, Jun 2001.
7. 1997 Marchesi di Barolo Cannubi, Marchesi di Barolo $59. RP: 90. Wine Advocate # 135, Jun 2001.
8. 1997 Giovanni Manzone Barolo le Gramolere, Giovanni Manzone. $65. RP: 87 -91. Wine Advocate # 135, Jun 2001.
   

This will be a popular tasting and likely to sell out so we encourage people (especially our members) not to delay in registering! To get more details about the tasting and the wines, go to: www.torontovintners.org/2008/1997barolos.htm

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Event Details

Date: Wed. Nov. 26, 2008
Time: 6 PM
Price: Members: $62; Guests: $77
Location: Faculty Club, Univ. of Toronto, 41 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C7
Registration deadlines: Mailed Reservations - Fri. Nov. 21/08; Online Payments - Noon Wed. Nov. 26/08

Join Toronto Vintners first and then register for tickets.
To register without joining the club, click here.