On a recent trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, the epicenter of Ontario’s Niagara wine region, I tried a couple of standouts from the nearby Reif Estate Winery (pronounced "rife"). Owner Klaus Reif moved to Canada from Germany in 1987 and bought the Reif estate from his uncle. Seeing the area’s great potential, he began crafting high-quality wines at a time when the region was barely a blip in the wine atlas. That year, the winery produced Niagara's first-ever late harvest wine, icewine’s younger and less-sweet cousin.

The winery continues to innovate and improve. I tasted the Reif Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve VQA 2006 (about $25 Cdn) and was impressed by its depth and structure. Strong aromas of cocoa powder and tobacco leaves wafted up from the glass and flavors of dried cranberry, blackberry and raisins dominated the palette. The oak was prevalent, but not overpowering. There was a good kick of acidity and tannin that would mellow nicely over the next few years in the cellar.

Quaffability Rating: 91

The winery scores another winner with the Reif Estate Icewine Reisling 2008 ($25 Cdn for 200 ml bottle). An absolutely delectable icewine, brimming with honey, stone fruit and vanilla flavors. And much more affordable than many other icewines.

Quaffability Rating: 93

Labels: Ontario, Reif

I’m sure you know the wine: Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir, made by American wine giant Gallo, with a cutesy label depicting, of course, a red bicycle. The orginal label had a French guy sporting a beret and carrying a panier full of baguettes on his red as a dog runs behind holding one of the baguettes in its mouth. Well, it turns out some of that Pinot Noir was probably not, in fact, Pinot Noir. In a French court, 12 people were found guilty of selling falsely labeled wine to Gallo, which was then used to make Red Bicylette.

The defendants received suspended sentences of one month to six months and minimal fines – very light punishment for a fraud that earned each of them up to $750,000. The interesting thing about the story is that there were no complaints from either Gallo or the many, many drinkers of the mass-market Red Bicyclette. The blended wine sold as Pinot Noir was obviously a pretty good fake. In addition, the wine doesn’t claim to be 100% Pinot Noir, although to be considered a Pinot, EU regulations state that it does have to be at least 85%.

This article in the London Telegraph finds some irony in the whole situation since Red Bicyclette was released at the time of the movie Sideways, which had sparked a massive demand for Pinot Noir in the American market. The problem was that there apparently was just not enough cheap Pinot Noir available in the south of the France, where the Bicyclette’s other varietal wines originated.

All in all, quite an impressive feat of blending, I’d say. The scam involved some 13.5 million liters, or 3.6 million gallons, of fraudulent wine, also sold to wine giant Constellation Brands. The “Sideways” effect goes on. Maybe it’s time we cut down on our Pinot Noir and started drinking more f-ing Merlot?

Labels: Pinot Noir

Wine Review: Luigi Bosca Malbec 2006 (about $21 US, $25 Cdn)

Argentina has recently surged ahead of Germany, Spain and Chile to become the fourth-biggest exporter of wine to the U.S., trailing only Italy, Australia and France – and all thanks to its bold and beautiful signature grape varietal: Malbec. In France, Malbec is a Bordeaux blending grape and planted mainly in Cahors. It's inky dark and produces intense wines with strong tannins. Argentina has taken the grape as its own and planted it with gusto. It was first brought to South America in the mid-1800s, but only gained worldwide fame in the late 20th century.

What’s driving the popularity of Argentine Malbec? Simple: they’re high on assertive flavor and generally low on price.

Today’s featured wine, the Luigi Bosca Malbec 2006 (about $21 US, $25 Cdn) is a little on the high side of the average price point for Argentine Malbecs, as many good ones come in at $12-15, so I was expecting something really delicious. Did it deliver? Sort of. I took an immediate liking to the perfumy bouquet of fresh-ground spices and oak. Flavors of concentrated blackberry, coffee and herbs played off each other to create a pleasing overall richness. It left me slightly underwhelmed at this price, but it’s nevertheless a delicious expression of the region.

Quaffabilty Rating: 90

Labels: Malbec

Labels: Australia

If you’re looking for something a bit different in a white and don’t mind off-dry wines, try some of the Chenin Blanc-based Vouvray wines from the Loire Valley in France. There are many different styles of Vouvrays that range from dry to sweet to sparkling, but the off-dry version is probably the most exported and best known.

These wines are bursting with unique fruit flavors derived from the clay and flinty limestone and chalk terroir on the right bank of the Loire in the mid-western section of France. The town of Vouvray lies just east of the city of Tours, at the eastern edge of the Loire River. The region has a long history of winemaking,. Monks fashioned wines hundreds of years ago, and the appellation of Vouvray was created back in 1936.

The dry Vouvrays can be cellared for many years, but the semi-sweets should be consumed within a couple of years. I tried the Bougrier Vouvray 2008 (about $12 US, $15 Cdn), a semi-sweet but still light and fruity wine, with some mineral notes. It’s an unassuming wine that would pair well with seafood or soft cheese. The Chenin Blanc grape is worth exploring to wake up your palette to some new fruit flavors over the usual Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc

Quaffability Rating: 85

Labels: france, red wine review

I have a cold this week and haven’t had a chance to taste much wine – still drinking it, just not tasting it. So instead, I’m taking the opportunity to look at some of the biggest trends in the wine industry this year.

A recent survey by market research firm Mintel reveals that 58% of Americans drink wine with dinner on a regular basis. The survey also says the wine market has grown by 20% between 2004 and 2009, even through the recession. There was a slight decline in 2008 at the peak of the economic turmoil, but Mintel forecasts the industry will grow slightly in 2009, and I’ll take a wild guess and say it will surge ahead even more in 2010.

Americans and Canadians still love their wine drinking, but the recession - and a new breed of younger-generation wine drinkers - may have ushered in some new trends:


Younger Generation Leading Growth
Baby Boomers are no longer driving the wine market – the next generation of young wine drinkers account for 45% of the growth. http://millennialmarketing.com/2009/05/millennial-wave-hits-wine/

Wine Clubs
Younger wine drinkers – those in the 25-34 age group – are twice as likely as Baby Boomers to belong to the wine club. This could partly explain the rapid growth of wine clubs across North America.

Sophisticated Palettes
That same group that’s driving the wine market now are pickier than the average adult when it comes to wine. A Merrill research study found that 40% of younger wine drinkers say expensive wine tastes better, and that same percentage will also spend $40 on a bottle of wine for a special occasion, compared to $24 for all adults.

Whimsical Labelling
If you cringe at the sight of animals on wine labels and groan at ironic names like Cats Pee on a Gooseberry Bush, Hair of Dingo, Ceci n’est pas un Carignan and Utter Bastard, get ready for more of the same. This type of marketing is working and will likely become even more rampant.

In the Box
It hasn’t yet pulled out of the “cheap” status, but more people are buying boxed wine to drink at home, even if they’re too embarrassed to serve it to their guests. Clever marketing could help bring boxed wine out of the closet.

Outside the Box
Wine bars (in my hometown of Toronto, anyway) are now in heavy competition and are serving audacious selections to set themselves apart. The smaller wine bars that only have 10 or 15 options are choosing interesting varietals from lesser-known regions. This can misfire if the oddball wines don’t taste good (as I have discovered), but a good selection of off-the-beaten-path bottles does make a place stand out.

A Little More Sparkle
As more producers outside of Champagne produce sparking wine, people are discovering that you don’t have to spend a small fortune to enjoy the bubbly. I’ve been touting the joys of Prosecco, Cava, Cremant, American and Canadian sparkling wine and others on this blog for years.

Labels: wine trends

Labels: health