I recently attended the Vintages Bordeaux Meets Burgundy tasting at the King Edward Meridian hotel in downtown Toronto. This is the tasting event that I look forward to every year. Not only is it a great way to taste wines from classic French regions but the food is always fabulous and plentiful! Last year's event only featured wines from Burgundy. I have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with this year's Burgundy setup at the show. The show last year had many more diverse wines to try and some of the winemakers were there pouring their wines. Nevertheless, there were some interesting finds. This year they were also conducting a silent auction of wine gift baskets. Because I'm a sucker for packaging, I made sure to put in my bid on a few of them. I wanted those leather journals and corkscrews that came with the wine. Sadly I didn't win. Someone outbid me at the last second. Oh well, the last thing I needed was more wine in the house! Whenever I enter the room of a tasting event, I always become a bit overwhelmed because of the high number of wines that are being poured and the limited time I have to try them. This year I tried a different strategy. Usually everyone starts off with the white wines so those tables are always crowded. I decided to do the unthinkable - gasp! I started with the red! Not just any red - Burgundian Grand Crus. I started straight from the top. :) Well, the strategy didn't end up working for long. I eventually just mixed it all up - red, white...no dessert wines yet though. I always save those until the end. I ended up treating this tasting more as a social event. The last big tasting I went to was the Bordeaux event at the Four Seasons and it was really hard work. I left that tasting with my teeth feeling like they were beaten up in an back alley somewhere. I decided to just take it easy and have fun at this one. It didn't bother me that I didn't make my way through the entire booklet of wines to taste. I even went and had seconds (okay, also some thirds!) of some wines that I just enjoyed drinking.
Some of my personal highlights of the night:
Chateau Suduiraut 2006 Sauternes
$49 for 375 ml (Bordeaux)
Chateau Margaux 2006
$799 (Bordeaux)
Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 2005
$995 (Bordeaux)
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2006
$109 (Bordeaux)
Domaine de la Vougeraie Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2005
$169 (Burgundy)
Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2006
$159 (Burgundy)
I wanted to try the Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2005 but I forgot to go back to get a sample! Imagine that. I like saying the name. It sounds very aristocratic - Com-te-sse de La-lande. Perhaps a character from the movie "Dangerous Liasons".
I can honestly say that I've never tasted so many expensive wines before. These were some pretty high prices! $995...$799... Did they taste that expensive? They were delicious wines but for that money, they didn't do anything miraculous to me like make me grow to be my desired 5'11 or bring me a truck load of Jimmy Choo handbags. For those prices, I could have a small collection of some great wines. I could certainly purchase an airplane ticket and go to Bordeaux myself. Chances of me getting into some of the grand estates for a visit would be slim, unless The Yummy Grape becomes a worldwide sensation! It would be fun to get a group of people to purchase a bottle of one of those wines above and enjoy a thimble of a taste. :) How much is too much to pay for wine? Is there even such a thing? Who are these people that are purchasing these wines for such prices? How does one get invited to their place for dinner?
I recently made a trip out to California for work. I know, lucky me! I am fortunate to have a job that allows me to get to sunny Santa Monica a few times a year. I left just at the right time as Toronto was calling for a snow storm. Being in Santa Monica in late February was a real treat. It was sunny and warm with flowers beginning to bloom. I could get used to that kind of winter. For a few years now, I've always wanted to visit the Santa Barbara wine country. This region was featured in the movie Sideways. Every time I was in the LA area, my plan of visiting the wine region was put on hold due to fires around the Santa Barbara. It seemed that California was always burning when I was there! This past trip, it seemed that luck (and nature) were on my side. Santa Barbara is about 2 hours or so from Santa Monica and then another half hour inland to wine country. The drive up to Santa Barbara is really gorgeous. You will go through the Malibu Canyon where windy roads and steep cliffs await you. Then you'll find yourself driving along the ocean coast where on one side, you'll see the snow covered mountains and on the other side, restless waves crashing against the beaches. The most beautiful of all the wine trails in the Santa Barbara wine region is the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail (Foxen Canyon Road). It's one of the more scenic routes and has some great wineries along the way.
We started our journey at the small town of Los Olivos. Note that when coming to this area, make sure that you have enough gas as finding a gas station around here can be challenging. Los Olivos is a cute town full with tasting rooms and cafes. All the wineries of the area have tasting rooms here in the town just in case you can't get out to the wineries themselves.
Driving along the Foxen Canyon wine road, my eyes opened wide as I took in this picturesque area. It was pretty spectacular. There were rolling hills with sharp contrast between the green of the grass and the blue sky. The landscape was barren with funny looking trees and cattle grazing. The pictures attached to the end of this post really don't do this region justice. It felt like my husband and I were the only two people in the whole area as it was so quiet. We took the top down on our red Mustang convertible and soaked in the sunlight. We had such a relaxed, slow-paced day. Driving along the road, we really took our time to take in the sunshine and enjoy the scenery. At each winery visited, the people were laid back and cheerful. They were eager to share the history of the area and the wines with us. The tastings were usually no more than $10 plus you could keep the glass as a souvenir. The tasting fee was usually waived if you purchased a bottle. This region is well known for Rhone-style wines as well as for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It would have been great to have continued driving all the way out to the Paso Robles region. That will be for the next trip!
"We specialize in Syrah, Grenache, Viognier and other artisan Rhône-style wines from Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley. Here, we put down roots as one of California’s first wineries dedicated exclusively to Rhône-style wines. Since then, nothing has changed. We still live for Rhônes." - Curtis website
I liked everything I tried! Since this was my first stop, I had to be conservative in my purchases. I ended buying the 2005 Mouvedre from grapes grown in the Santa Ynez Valley.
"If you don’t know FOXEN,
you don’t know Dick . . . or Bill." - Foxen Vineyard website
Haha! I just love that quote above. I love it as much as I love the wines coming out of this winery! This winery actually has two locations. One location is the new solar-powered winery and tasting room. Here, Burgundian-style wines are featured such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The other location is located up the road and is now called Foxen 7200 (because the address is 7200 Foxen Canyon Road). This is where the famous Foxen "shack" is located. I remember seeing the tasting bar in "Sideways". I can't believe that I was there! It really is a shack! This location has wine for tasting that focuses more on their "Bordeaux and Cal-Ital-style" wines. We were given some snazzy anchor temporary tattoos too. :)
Located in the Santa Maria Valley, this winery is creating some lovely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I purchased the 2007 Estate Chardonnay. I preferred the Estate to the Reserve. A week later, I was enjoying the bottle with a few friends and it was a great success.
"Riverbench Vineyard was established in 1973, when its first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes were planted on the property. For years since then, some of the most renowned wineries in Santa Barbara County have purchased our fruit for their own wines. Over time Riverbench has become a prominent name for high quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Santa Maria Valley." - Riverbench Winery website
"At Kenneth Volk Vineyards, our main focus is on vineyard designate wines from Santa Barbara. We understand the importance of terroir, unique soil, and the sea influence in this region, which is gaining renown for its cool climate and ideal growing conditions.
Our second focus is on Bordeaux varietals from Paso Robles. These quality wines boast ripe fruit flavors and are suitable with a variety of cuisine." - Kenneth Volk website
I purchased the Kennth Volk 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon made from some of their vineyards in the Paso Robles region. What was interesting about this winery is that they had a wine made from the Tempranillo grape variety which is normally seen only in Spanish wines. It was delicious.
"You are on the eastern edge of the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County. The temperature is mild, the wind is steady and the terrain is gentle and rounded. In the winter these hills are tinted gold and raw sienna. In the summer they are all shades of green. Our wines are a reflection of their surroundings. Every time you taste one of Byron’s wines you are surrounded by the flavors, textures and scents that can only come from here the Santa Maria Valley." - Byron Wines website
We ended our day back in Los Olivos at the Byron tasting room. Wines from another winery called IO were also available here for sampling and purchase. I believe that the founder of Byron started IO. We ended up buying the IO Nielson Vineyard Viognier 2007. It was delicious! I'm really into Viognier right now. My wine rack is seeing an increase in the number of bottles filled with this yummy grape.
I think 5 wineries in one day is a great effort! I am definitely planning another trip out to this region. It was visually breathtaking and mouthwatering delicious. These are the wineries that I hope to visit on that next trip:
Yes that's right! You can tour every location from the film "Sideways". I have to do that next time I'm in the area.
In my honest opinion, I found the geography of the Santa Barbara wine country to be more beautiful than both Sonoma and Napa. Maybe I'm just a more rustic-kind-of-gal. Sure, you don't see the grand estates like you do in Napa but this region is breathtaking in a different way with fantastic wines to back it up. Sadly, I didn't run into Miles...maybe next time! I also drank some wonderful Merlot. Shhh.
Chateau Suduiraut 2006 Sauternes
Domaine de la Vougeraie Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2005
