Blind tasting notes

2005 Township 7 Seven Stars – every winery in BC seems to feel obliged
to make a sparkling wine. Some do it passably well, some apparently
incompetently and this was an example of the latter. Blush colour,
fruity sweet nose, a ton of yeast (‘Hey look at us, we used yeast’)
and a fizzy mousse that totally dissipated after a couple of swirls
(not enough Sparklets cylinders used?). Developed peach pits in the
nose and a bitterness at the all too quickly arrived at end. Why do
they insist on afflicting the buying public with these amateurish
attempts? Stick to still reds where they occasionally do quite well.

2004 Golden Mile Pinot Noir Black Arts – the Black Arts series are
this BC winery’s reserve wines but this was another failure as far as
I was concerned. Light simple varietal nose that actually fooled a few
people into thinking Burgundy, light body and colour, slightly
browning edges, pleasant but certainly not of a calibre that warrants
any sort of reserve label, and getting old far too soon – I still have
1998 BC Pinots that are delicious and seem younger than this one.

1995 Ruffino Chianti Classico Reserva Ducale Gold label – I bought a
case of this and this is the first one I have opened (still have some
1990 as well). Don’t be fooled by the regular buff label – huge
quality difference. This one shows good colour right out to the
edges, which are lightening but not browning. Bit of heat in the nose,
as well as tar and good fruit, decent depth, smooth and well balanced.
What a Chianti should be, and it should drink from now and over the
next decade or so.

1998 Mas La Plana – I was always a fan of this wine back in the 70s
when it wasn’t just straight cabernet, but I think it took a bit of a
dip in quality. Dark with a toasty, oaky cocoa nose, tasty on palate
with good flavour definition, lots of soft tannins, getting a little
bit jammy at the end. We had another bottle that showed differently
near the end o the tasting (I’ll put the notes next for comparison).
This faded in the glass over about an hour, but had been open about 4
hours. This may be an indicator of longevity expectation?

1998 Mas La Plana – second Torres bottle – a whiff of vinyl at the
beginning, then mostly tar in the nose, good balance, nice finish with
bitter cherry, quite different than the other bottle. Some preferred
this, others the first example. I don’t know if the difference could
be attributable to airing time.

1998 Los Vascos Grand Reserva – a favourite of mine, this Chilean
Bordeaux blend made by a Lafite affiliate has always been great bang
for the buck. Medium dark wine with a dill and salt nose, smooth on
palate and at peak drinking now. Very nice.

1996 Mas La Plana – yup, 3 of them got together to conspire to try
some recently released (in this market) vintages. Dark, with a plum
and smoke nose, a little light in midpalate, I thought, ready to
drink, ending with tannin but not much fruit. Pass.

1994 Mas La Plana – not corked, just flaccid and bland to the point
that we decided to send it back to the store. Clearly the 1998 is the
pick of the litter.

2005 Petales d’Osoyoos – the second wine of the Gruaud Larose JV with
a BC winery. Nice fruit, medium body, pleasant, what’s not to like?

2004 Petales d’Osoyoos – darker wine with bright high toned fruit and
cocoa nose, chocolate in the mouth , ending a bit sweet. Nice, but too
soft – needs more acidity to avoid flabbiness. Still, these
unassuming wines come across as better value than the much higher
priced Osoyoos Larose first wine, which I have found to be competently
made but ultimately has failed to engage my interest.

2005 Ch. Clos Haut-Peyraguey – no idea if this Sauternes house has any
relation to another favourite of mine, Haut Peyraguey. The Nose on
this pale wine was single-mindedly pure pink grapefruit! After airing
it then developed a bit of coconut, and the combination was a winning
one. Medium weight, not too sweet, with good balance. Very tasty.