Wines of the World

This week the wines we chose to drink were all purchased from Vancouver’s University Golf Club wine event that we attended back in June. The event featured wines from around the world and took us out of our usual BC comfort zone. The wines were selected and sold by the experts at Marquis Wine Cellars. The first wine that we tried was Luis Felipe Edwards 2005 Gran Reserva Shiraz from Chile. The winery produces on a much larger scale than those in BC, exporting to 40 countries and producing over a million cases per year. The wine had the aroma of cherries and oak and was very rich in flavor. While we generally do shy away from ‘oaky’ wines the strong fruit flavor evened out the taste. It went great with our BBQ dinner.

The next wine was HRW (Hendry Ranch Wines) 2006 Zinfandel. Hendry is a small estate winery located on the benchlands in the south-western Napa Valley and most of the property has belonged to the family since 1939. The 117 acre vineyard is divided into 50 different blocks, each managed separately based on soil, climate and varietal. This wine was also aged twelve months in French oak barrels but again was not overly ‘oaky’ to the taste. The suggested pairings are barbequed ribs or chicken but we had chicken parmesan from Urban Fare which we thought went very well. The aroma was of dark fruits with a slightly fruity and spicy/ smoky flavor.

The third wine was Charles Melton The Father In Law 2005 Shiraz from Australia. The winery is located in the Barossa Valley which has gained both national and international recognition for its fine red table wines. Charles Melton was one of the first to recognize the value and tradition of the Barossa’s old vineyard Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. At a time when others were pulling out vineyards of Shiraz to plant more fashionable varieties, he was convincing farmers to keep their historic vineyards. He was one of a small group of winemakers who helped retain the viticulture heritage of the Barossa. The wine gets its name from a portion of the grapes being harvested from Syd Weckert’s (the Father in Law) Clare Valley Shiraz block which combines their spiciness with the Barossa’s sweet berry aroma. The wine tasted very rich and robust but was also soft and sweet. This was my favorite by far and luckily we bought two so will be opening the other very soon.

While we will continue to support the BC wineries (because it is good for both the local economy and the environment) it is nice to taste something new every once in a while.

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