Roy from Seattle and Nicos from London were in twon last night and we sat down
to a meal and some interesting bottles in Vancouver.

1994 Selbach Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese - I mistook this as being a younger
Riesling, given the acidity, which is downright feisty, but the initial
explosive blast of fruit preceding it makes this a very enjoyable wine, on the
low end of RS for a spatlese.

1997 Dauvissat Chablis Prem. Cru 'Vaillons' - not much trouble identifying this
as a Burgundian chard, and that it turned out to be a very nice Chablis was no
surprise. I have had various Chablis with the Vaillons designation - Verget,
Laroche and more recently very pleasant if young '02 Dom. Barat, but this was
one of the nicest - slight funk on the nose that gave way to mineral, that in
turn gave way to a definite cheese nose. Now beginning to show the complexity
that comes with age, it has good balance and ended with a lanolin sort of feel
to it.

2000 Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir - this was a good wine to show the
out-of-towners what BC wine is about. Lovely limpid colour, cherries and a
touch of cocoa in the nose, sweet and well structured with good length, if
ultimately lacking the complexity of a Burgundian Pinot Noir.

1994 Kanonkop Paul Sauer - this is a meritage style wine blended with
75%CS,12.5%M,12.5%CF, half of it got 22 months of new oak. One of my favourite
(with Delheim, Warwick, Backsberg Klein Babylonstoren and La Motte) South
African Bordeaux blends. I chose this as I noted that our guests had
experienced a less than satisfactory performance with the 1997 in Seattle. Dark
wine, with a very Bordeaux nose, though there was more oak showing than I
recalled from my last tasting. The only clue to origin was the typical high
terminal acidity (many more modern SA wines seem to be losing this rather handy
hint). Still with lots of softening tannins. Some mint came out in the nose
with time (the wine continued to improve in the glass) and I think it could use
a bit more age.

1999 Burge Family Draycott Shiraz 'The Grateful Reserve' - some indecision as
to whether this was a Shiraz or not, but the country of origin was in no doubt.
Big fruit, pretty good balance, and despite a considerable amount of tannin, it
drank surprisingly well now.

2001 De Toren Fusion V - another South African wine, but in the new style -
first made in 1999, this vintage has 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet
franc, 14% Merlot, 14% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot. The stony fruit and bacon fat
nose is the only give-away that we weren't in France, and the wine was well
structured, with adequate if not lavish fruit and slightly green tannins. I'm
still drinking my 1999 but it may be time to begin sampling this vintage.

1992 Gallo Estate Cabernet - I have one bottle left of the 1991 cab from this
huge producer - in my opinion a great ringer as no one expects this sort of
quality from the makers of Hearty Burgundy. Dark, with a closed nose, sweet
entry, lots of soft tannin, again, like the previous wine a shade on the green
side. Good wine.

2000 Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko (Nemea) - yup, fooled by a wine from the land of
the lion that was snuffed by good old Hercules. NO ONE was thinking Greek! This
14% alcohol wine was obviously a ripe hot country offering, but it finished
with good acidity and somewhat dry tannins - a revelation in terms of quality
expectation from this country for most of us.

1994 Henschke Mt. Edelstone Shiraz - there is a half case of this very wine
lurking (somewhere) in my cellar, and I hadn't even thought to try it yet, so
it was doubly nice to have the chance to taste a bottle. Dark, with sweet mint
nose, and surprisingly mellow and approachable, finishing long and sweet. It
drinks well now, but the tannins say it will last a long time.

1998 Willamette Valley Vineyard Joe Dobbes Pinot Noir Signature Cuvee - this
should have gone with the BC Pinot and the Kanonkop with the De Toren, but
those were the only misplacements of the night. Some blackberry and spice in
the nose, and then full sweet Pinot in the mouth. It benefited from airing and
developed a cinnamon and almost perfume nose.

1997 Jackson Triggs Proprietors Grand Reserve Riesling Ice Wine - this is the
attempt of the tank farmers at JT to make a TBA style of wine. Golden colour,
brown sugar nose, sweet, balanced and simple (it was remarked that those last
three were all of the attributes one of our younger male members looks for in a
companion). The pros from Dover were dutifully complimentary, and it was not in
fact a bad wine, in that it was reasonably well made. I suggested that if a
great German late harvest wine was like a novel, (and perhaps a good
Californian in that style, a Hemingway short story), that these Canadian 'Ice
Wines' and such were like comic books - perfect to send home in fancy expensive
half bottles with Japanese tourists, but in terms of standing on the world
stage, they just aren't there yet.

1977 Fonseca Port - this was without doubt the wine of the night for me.
Although still too young to be drinking (unless someone else opens it), it
admittedly drinks exceptionally well now. Dark, with a hot rubber nose giving
way to deep fruit. Medium sweet and powerful in the mouth, and a finish of
exceptional length. This is a baby and has decades ahead of it, but it is so
smooth and supple in the mouth that it would be hard to resist it now. From the
conversation of Roy and Nicos, who are both Port devotees of Johnstonian
proportion, they have been doing very little resisting lately.

1997 Dauvissat Chablis Prem. Cru 'Vaillons'

This is Rene & Vincent?

>From the
>conversation of Roy and Nicos, who are both Port devotees of Johnstonian
>proportion,

Ok, you've got me- Johnstonian?
In any case, as I believe this is Mr.Hersch, I'm shocked you only had one Port!

Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

>1997 Dauvissat Chablis Prem. Cru 'Vaillons'
>
>This is Rene & Vincent?


Sorry, not sure.
>
>>From the
>>conversation of Roy and Nicos, who are both Port devotees of Johnsonian
>>proportion,
>
>Ok, you've got me- Johnsonian?

That would be Samuel Johnson - "Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men"

And:

Talking of drinking wine, he said, "I did not leave off wine because I could
not bear it; I have drunk three bottles of port without being the worse for it.
University College has witnessed this."
Boswell: "Why then, Sir, did you leave it off?"
Johnson: "Why, Sir, because it is so much better for a man to be sure that he
is never intoxicated, never to lose the power over himself."
Boswell: Life