N. Rhone Reds - Fresh Starts & Rising Stars

On November 18, Toronto Vintners Club features wine producers who are rising stars, new owners or innovate/fresh ventures that have all established enduring or recent reputations for producing quality wine in N. Rhone. From Côte-Rôtie, we feature Maison Michel Chapoutier and Patrick Jasmin. Chapoutier has produced wine for over 200 years but during the 1980s after son Michel took over, quality really improved and by the late 1980s, Chapoutier had started to receive considerable international attention for its wines. Their labels are distinctive because they include Braille. Jasmin Cote Rotie's first vintages date back to 1910 and current owner, Patrick who took over in 1999, is a fourth generation winemaker in his family. Jasmin deliberately produces very low yields to maintain high quality; as a result, the winery produces a mere 2,400 cases/yr. and only 1,200 cases of Côte-Rôtie of outstanding wines. The three AOC's of St. Joseph, Hermitage and Crozes Hermitage are represented by Ferraton Père et Fils, a small family-owned business with its roots in a tiny vineyard holding in Hermitage. A friendship between Michel Ferraton and Michel Chapoutier led to a joint venture in 1998. Ferraton operates independently but under the Chapoutier expertise and finance with resulting increases in wine quality. From Cornas, we have wines from 3 producers. Johann Michel is a rising star whose family includes renowned winemaker Robert Michel. Johann Michel is one of the smallest AOCs in France, comprised of only 288 hectares. Johann started his winery in 1997 and produces only about 20,000 bottles/year. Delas Frères was founded 160 years ago and in 1993, was acquired by the Champagne house of Louis Roederer where today, Delas wines are crafted by an expert panel managed by renowned winemaker Jacques Grange. Delas wines have been lauded for their intensity of flavour and excellent value. Courbis is the most southern domaine from the border of AOC Cornas. Brothers Laurent and Dominique Courbis now operate the family estate which dates back to the 16th century.

Toronto Vintners has acquired 8 wines from 5 appellations d'origine contrôlée (AOC) in Northern

Rhône : Cote Rôtie, St. Joseph, Hermitage, Croze Hermitage and Cornas.

Date: November 18, 2014

Time:  6 PM

Location:  Faculty Club, Univ. of Toronto, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, Ontario

Fees:  TVC Members:  $67; Non-Members & Guests:  $87

Register/Buy Tickets  Please note that ALL ticket sales are final and we are unable to issue any refunds unless we are sold out and have a waiting list.

Our guest speaker will be Zoltan Fekete of Kylix Wines.

Wines of Northern Rhone

Theme:  Wines of Northern Rhone
Date:      Tuesday, February 19/13
Time:      6 PM
Where:   41 Willcocks St., Toronto, ON (U of T Faculty Club)
Cost:      TVC Members:  $85;  Non-Members/Guests:  $100  (includes reception wine plus light appetizers with the wines)
Buy tickets  Note:  All ticket sales are final. No refunds will be offered unless we sell out and have a wait list.


On February 19th, Toronto Vintners Club features eight reds from the Northern Rhône region, including three from the northern-most Côte-Rôtie, two from Hermitage and three from Cornas. Our Côte-Rôtie selection includes a 2003 Domaine Yves Gangloff, and a 2004 and 2005 Domaine Jamet. From Cornas we will taste a mini vertical of Franck Balthazar from 2005 and 2006 and a 2006 Arènes Sauvages.  Finally from Hermitage we will taste a 2006 E Guigal and 2007 Ferraton Père & Fils. Given the diversity across the region and the quality of the wines, this tasting is not to be missed.  As always, we will start our evening with a reception wine.  We will first taste the 8 wines blind and then light appetizers will be served once we’ve had a chance to nose and sample the wines.  Non-members and guests are always welcome!

Chateau de Beaucastel Vertical Results

On Tuesday October 18, 2011, Toronto Vintners Club had the exciting and rare opportunity to taste a vertical of Chateu de Beaucastel, with samples ranging as far back as 1995.  Everyone in attendance agreed that all the wines were amazing

Our speaker for the evening was Howard Cayman, from Charton Hobbs, who are the importers of the wines were were tasting and all of Perrin & Fils wines, to Canada.  Howard has worked in the wine industy for many years.  He has spent some time in Harrods wine department as well as working as an assistant wine maker in many wineries in both Canada and France.

Cheateau de Beaucastle are the only producers in Southern Rhone to produce their wine using all 13 grape varieties allowed in the production of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and they have been strictly organic since 1964.

 The wines were tasted in chronological order, starting with the young '07 through to the '95.  Howard spoke about how when tasting a vertical like, it is extremely difficult to rate and compare these wines against each other as they are all in different stages of evolution.  Luckily the group was able to work through these difficulties and come up with a ranking.

The groups favourite wine of the night, turned out to be the '98, which had a beautiful sweet aroma and great flavours of juicy blackberry, licorice and truffles.  Our second favourite wine was the baby of the group, the '07.  It had great acidity and Howard spoke about how it has a great life ahead of it and could last for 25 or 30 years.  Howard's, the speaker of the night, favourite wine was the 2000.  For anyone out there holding bottles of the '95 vintage, even though it scored well (3rd for the group and 6th for the speaker), it showed signs that it was on the back end of it's life.  Howard said that it had reached it peak and would notget any better.

Name of Wine (in order poured)	Group Ranking	Guest Ranking
2007 vintage	2	3
2004 vintage	8	8
2003 vintage	7	4
2001 vintage	5	2
2000 vintage	6	1
1999 vintage	4	7
1998 vintage	1	5
1995 vintage	3	6

Beaucastel Vertical is coming!

On October 18, TVC will be tasting a flight of 8 wines from Chateau de Beaucastel ranging in age from 1995 to 2007.  TVC members have been given an exclusive opportunity to register and buy tickets for the event before it's opened up to the general public.  These wines are very expensive and very exclusive so it will be a rare opportunity to sample them in a single sitting.  The price for members is $95 and $115 for non-members and guests.   For an interesting article and 10-year comparison on the rise in prices for Beaucastel, click here.


Now is a good time to join Toronto Vintners because if you join now, your membership will be paid up until the end of 2012 and by joining now, you'll receive a notice for this event with all the registration information.  For more details about our membership, please click here.

N Rhone Rankings

A glitch with the courier company resulted in our Rhone wines being delivered late to our tasting, but thankfully they did arrive!  We are grateful to the staff at the Faculty Club for allowing our attendees to browse their Group of Seven works of art and savour appetizers while the late arrival wines were being poured.  And also a big thanks to our guest speaker, Daniel Beiles for sharing his insights and knowledge about Northern Rhone reds and to the patience and understanding of our attendees regarding the circumstances.  Here are the rankings of the wines from the evening.

Name of Wine (in order poured)	Group Ranking	Guest Ranking
A.  Leon Barral, Faugères Jadis 2004	1	2
B. Franck Balthazar, Cornas Chaillot 2006	3	4
C. Franck Balthazar, Cornas Chaillot 2005	5	4
D. Jamet, Côte-Rôtie 2004	6	1
E. Jamet, Côte-Rôtie 2005	4	3
F. Domaine Yves Gangloff, Côte-Rôtie La Barbarine 2003	2	6
G. Domaine De Trevallon 2003	8	7
H. Domaine De Trevallon, 2001	7	8

The Rhone Ranger - Northern Rhone Reds

This month, Toronto Vintners Club returns to the Rhône wine region in Southern France, situated in the Rhône river valley. Northern Rhône is characterized by a continental climate with harsh winters but warm summers and is influenced by the mistral wind, which brings colder air from the Massif Central. Northern Rhône is therefore cooler than southern Rhône, which means that the mix of planted grape varieties and wine styles are slightly different. The primary grape used in northern Rhone wines is Syrah which is often powerfully flavoured and full-bodied. Aroma characters can range from violets to berries (usually dark as opposed to red), chocolate, espresso and black pepper. No one aroma can be called "typical" though blackberry and pepper are often noticed. With time in the bottle these "primary" notes are moderated and then supplemented with earthy or savory "tertiary" notes such as leather and truffle. We will be tasting some rather exclusive and expensive wines at this event. Click here for a full listing of the wines and tasting notes.  Since our French wine events tend to be extremely popular, you are advised to register early.  Please note that all ticket sales are final!

 
April Event Details
Theme: The Rhône Ranger - Northern Rhône Reds
Date: Tues. April 20, 2010
Time: 6 PM
Price: TVC Members: $80; Guests: $95 
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Location: Faculty Club, U. of Toronto, 41 Willcocks St. Toronto, ON M5S 1C7
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