As wine novices, it was hard not to feel a bit overwhelmed at the International Wine Tasting held at The Carlu on May 7th. Sitting at the mid-way point of the week long Santé: Toronto International Wine Festival, the event featured over 300 wines from 74 wineries representing 12 countries - a typical night out for serious oenophiles, perhaps, but for fledgling winos like ourselves, it was hard to know where to start.
After a few minutes of walking around gawking at the various reds, whites and rosés on offer, we decided to just dive in and try a cross-section of styles and countries. A couple of hours later and slightly tipsy (we're still not used to that whole spitting thing...), we left with a few new favourites, including the following:
Salena Estate Organic Shiraz 2006 [Australia] - A full-flavoured but also quite dry shiraz, with fruity notes of cherry and cranberry.
Strewn Gewurztraminer 2006 [Canada] - A delicious wine with an interesting floral character, along with notes of lychee and tropical fruit. ($12.95/750 ml - LCBO 65359)
Fonseca Terra Prima Reserve Organic Port [Portugal] - We tried three ports from Fonseca, but this was easily our favourite. Ridiculously rich with 20% alcohol, it holds flavours of dark fruit and chocolate with a long, smooth finish. ($24.95/750 ml - LCBO Vintages 67132)
Anselmi I Capitelli 2005 [Italy] - Pleasantly sweet, warm and boozy with notes of peach and apricot.
DogRidge The PUP Chardonnay 2006 [Australia] - Fresh and bright, with notes of citrus and light oak, and a hint of limestone.
Lakeview Cellars Vidal Icewine 2006 [Canada] - The tasting notes from the winery promise "a rich, aromatic nose of apricots, honey and peaches" and "flavours of sweet honey, ripe tropical fruit and very subtle hints of citrus", which is pretty much bang-on. ($19.95/200 ml - LCBO Vintages 522672)
Lykos Winery Kratistos Nemea 2003 [Greece] - This was our first experience with this style of wine, made with the Agiorgitiko grape variety. It had a nice spicy quality, with flavours of plum and dark berries, with a somewhat dry finish. ($15.95/750 ml - LCBO Vintages 61473)
Ogier-Caves des Papes Heritage Cotes du Rhone 2006 [France] - The rep ran us through a tasting of three wines in the Ogier line, including a Chateauneuf-du-Pape that will be available at Vintages later this year for $99, but we actually preferred this much more affordable option with rich flavours of dark berries and vanilla. ($15.95/750 ml - LCBO 535849)
Of course, we also tried a few wines that didn't win us over at all, but that's the great thing about huge events like this with so many different options on offer - learning about wine is all about trying as many as you can and teaching the palate to notice the various nuances. We came away a bit overwhelmed but having learned a lot just from the tastings we did and from talking to the various winemakers and merchants. We're both looking forward to next year and the opportunity to do it all again.
