2004 Pomerol & St. Emilion (Right Bank), September 22, 2009

We are pleased to offer a tasting of Bordeaux Right Bank wines to inaugurate the 2009-2010 season. With five selections from St. Emilion and three from Pomerol (home of Petrus), we can compare the two regions. Pomerol produces only 5.3 million gallons of wine over 2700 hectares and is characterized by more robust flavours which lend longer aging, whereas St. Emilion is one of the largest and oldest viticulture areas, producing 36 million gallons (over one third of Bordeaux production). St. Emilion wines tend to reach maturity quicker. The 2004 vintage was rated above average to excellent with early maturing for these two regions and these wines should be drinking well right now. The selection includes Premier Grand Crus such as Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse, Beausejour Becot and Troplong Mondot as well as some Grand Crus such as Beauregard and Le Bon Pasteur. For a complete listing and tasting notes of our wines, please click here (you will leave this Blog).

Our guest speaker is Peter Boyd, profiled in Wine Access magazine as one of "Canada's Top Sommeliers". Peter has had a long association with Scaramouche Restaurant, worked with some of Canada’s best chefs, and spent time living and working in France. We are delighted that he can join us for the evening.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Tues. Sept. 22, 2009
Time: 6 PM
Price: Members: $65 Guests: $80
Register/Buy tickets
Venue: The Toronto Board of Trade, 4th floor (Downtown Toronto), 1^st Cdn Place, King St. West (NW Corner of King & Bay St.), Toronto
Directions: How to Find the Toronto Board of Trade

Deadlines:
Cheques must be received by Fri. Sept. 18/09
Online Payments - Sun. Sept. 20/09
Cheque-payment option to be disabled midnight, Tues. Sept. 15/09

Please note that all reservations/payments are final!

2005 Zind-Humbrecht, June 16, 2009

Next month, the Toronto Vintner’s Club is pleased to present a rare tasting of exclusive Alsatian wines from one of the oldest producers in the region. The Humbrecht family has long winemaking traditions, going back to the Thirty Years War (1620). The Domaine Zind-Humbrecht was created in 1959 with the union of family owned properties of Zenon Humbrecht and of Emile Zind. It is known as one of, if not the best producers in the region.

The region produces only 7 varietals; Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinto Blanc, Sylvaner, Vendange Tardive and Selection de Grains Nobles. We are pleased to present 3 of these varietals from various vineyards owned by Zind-Humbrecht including some Grand Cru. And, the 2005 vintage is not just another new vintage but a great one, equal and perhaps superior to the much lauded 2001 vintage.

Event Details

Theme: 2005 Zind-Humbrecht, Wines of Alsace
Date: Tues. June 16, 2009
Time: 6 PM (reception wine); 6:25 Formal tasting
Price: TVC Members: $50; Guests: $60
Location: Toronto Board of Trade, 1st Cdn Place, East side of Bay St between King and Adelaide streets
How to Find the Board of Trade

Click here to Register / Buy Tickets

To learn more about Zind-Humbrecht and its wines, go to:
http://www.wineanorak.com/zind_humbrecht.htm
http://www.thewinedoctor.com/tastingsprofile/zindhumbrecht.shtml

Brunello Rankings, May 26/09

Our tasting of 1999 Brunellos was a very good evening by all accounts with our attendees enjoying the knowledge, insights, and reception wine provided our guest speaker, Sommelier Angelo Agostino, who also doubled as our reception wine supplier!! Thank you so much Angelo and La Cantina Imports.

When the speaker and group have different opinions about the wines, it makes for an even more interesting and entertaining evening. The group and Angelo agreed on the Mastrojannim, ranking it seventh. But they were at opposite ends of the spectrum on their favourite and least favourite wines! The Group loved the Mocali, Brunello Di Montalcino ($55) while Angelo put it in last place. Of course, people may love all the wines but we force them to rank them which means something has to be first and something is placed last.

So here are the rankings in the order in which they were poured.

Guest Speaker's Rankings
5. '99 Fattori Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG $42
8. '99 Mocali, Brunello Di Montalcino $55
2. '99 La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino $65
6. '99 Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino $59
3. '99 Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino $69
4. '99 Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino $55
1. '99 Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino $62
7. '99 Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino $56

The Group's Rankings
8. '99 Fattori Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG $42
1. '99 Mocali, Brunello Di Montalcino $55
5. '99 La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino $65
4. '99 Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino $59
6. '99 Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino $69
2. '99 Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino $55
3. '99 Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino $62
7. '99 Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino $56

1999 Brunellos - SOLD OUT!

As expected, our May 26th Brunello event has sold out!! If you want us to put your names on a waiting list, please email us. TVC Members will be given preference over guests if any tickets become available.

10 tickets remaining

Only 10 tickets remain unsold for our 1999 Brunello tasting event on May 26.

To purchase tickets, click here.

1999 Brunellos

Brunello is considered to be one of the richest and most prestigious wines produced in Italy, largely due to its exclusivity. The 1999 vintage is regarded by the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino as a 4 star year on their 5 star scale. Declared a ‘great vintage’ by Jancis Robinson, 1999 Brunello ranks second only to the 1997 vintage (a “classic”) and TVC is fortunate to present 8 wines from a highly rated year. Our guest speaker for the evening is Angelo Agostino of La Cantina Imports.


Event Details

Theme: 1999 Brunello
Date: Tues. May 26, 2009
Time: 6 PM (reception wine); 6:25 Formal tasting
Price: TVC Members: $68; Guests: $88
Location: Toronto Board of Trade, 1st Cdn Place, East side of Bay St between King and Adelaide streets
How to Find the Board of Trade

Click here to Register / Buy Tickets

Surprises!

Our "Spain - New World Wines" event was an evening of surprises. To start off, guests were served hors d'oeuvres in the lounge of the lovely Faculty Club along with a lovely and very reasonably priced reception wine from VALDRINAL located in the prestigious D.O. Ribera del Duero region of Spain which lies approximately 2 hours north of Madrid. People were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wine for the price - around $19. The wine was supplied by Cellar D'Or Fine Wines so please contact Cellar D'Or to order this wine.

Behind the scenes, the club directors were dealing with an unexpected surprise - 2 of the wines shipped from the cellar were not Spanish! A mix-up in the inventory resulted in two French wines being delivered instead and there was nothing that could be done about it at that late stage. Fortunately, the most expensive Spanish wines had been delivered to us and the French substitutes that had bought for a future Rhone tasting were also very expensive. So attendees drank some very good wine over the evening.

But the biggest surprise was later in the tasting when attendees discovered just how good the Spanish wines were - certainly they were very good rivals for the traditional areas of Navarra, Rioja and Penedes. The overall quality, particularly of the most expensive wines, was excellent. The wines were full, very rounded, well balanced with good fruit, and had long finishes.

Our guest speaker, Barry Brown - President of the Spanish Wine Society, added his usual blend of humour and vast experience of visiting wineries in Spain to the evening and gave us his comments about the wines while guests drank the wines and munched on appetisers served by the U of Toronto Faculty Club wait staff.



Rankings by our Guest Speaker in his order of preference (with several ties because he loved them all)
1. 2005 Mas Doix, Salanques (Priorat) $88
2. 2004 Alion (Ribera del Duero) $93
2. 2004 Cesca Vicent Abat Domenech (Priorat) $59
2. 2004 Bodegas Castano, Casa Cisca Monastrell (Yecla) $65
2. 2006 Alvaro Palacios, Les Terrasses (Priorat) $40
6. 2004 Costers del Siurana Clos de L'Obac (Priorat) $85

Group Rankings
1. 2004 Alion (Ribera del Duero) $93
2. 2004 Bodegas Castano, Casa Cisca Monastrell (Yecla) $65
3. 2005 Mas Doix, Salanques (Priorat) $88
4. 2004 Cesca Vicent Abat Domenech (Priorat) $59
5. 2004 Costers del Siurana Clos de L'Obac (Priorat) $85
6. 2006 Alvaro Palacios, Les Terrasses (Priorat) $40