CellarTracker vs. Snooth
I don’t want to get into this debate at all really, but I’m writing this more to support CellarTracker here. To me, this really reflects poorly on Snooth. Whether innocent mistake or not, ethically, this is still unacceptable. For those unfamiliar, it sounds like Snooth has been “scraping” data from the CellarTracker website. I’ve been a user of CellarTracker for a couple of years. I’ve occassionally browsed and contributed to the Snooth site as well, but no more. I’ve removed my account.
Here is Eric LeVine’s newsletter from CellarTracker on the subject. And you have to commend him for being awfully forgiving in the circumstances. Eric provides links in his newsletter to the blogs that originally identified the data scraping.
2007 Mission Hill Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
I haven’t written about white wines on here at all… because I just don’t have them all that often. But tonight called for a class of white. My wife and I were making a creamy chicken pasta for dinner, and the reds I have just didn’t seem to make any sense.
For this particular wine, I’m not exactly sure how it got into my wine cabinet. Possibly someone brought to one of our dinner parties to which many others had already brought and opened wine.
Good reason to host dinner parties: people feel obligated to leave the wine they brought, even if they don’t get to drink it.
I just did a quick lookup on the wine, and noticed that the 2008 has actually won quite a few awards, including a gold medal at the 2010 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition (click here for details).
But in any case, this wine was a great choice for dinner. Now, my wife is seven months pregnant, so this one was all me. It had aromas and tastes of sour apples and citrus. A nice, crisp white. A mouth-watering finish. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of why I should drink more white wines. And a great way to end a long weekend.
2007 Konzelmann Barrel Aged 4th Generation Merlot
My sister brought me this bottle of wine as a gift last year. She lives in Ottawa for the time being and thought I needed to expand my horizons and learn about some Ontario wines. For the record, she is right.
According to the Konzelmann Estate Winery website (click HERE), this wine is a Bordeaux style red aged 18 months in French oak barrels.
And it’s good!
Deep, pure red in colour, it has aromas of plum, blackberry, and oak.
Taste was smooth, not too dry, and more fruity than I expected. Slight spice to it.
Overall, very good. Not too heavy and well-rounded. Great wine to relax!
2005 Antelope Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon
I purchased this wine at the winery last year. While not one of my favourites, they do have some great wines.
This one was a deep and dark red and had aromas of plums, apples, and oak. The taste was more of the same. No pucker, but still quite dry.
Overall, good but not great. Smooth, but not too exciting. Alcohol was quite strong, perhaps I didn’t let it breath enough.
My disclaimer is also that I did not drink it with a heavy meal. Possibly didn’t have my pallette prepared enough for a heavier cabernet-sauvignon type wine.
2007 Prospect Winery Haynes Barn Merlot Cabernet
My parents had a dinner party a couple of weeks ago and one of the guests brought this bottle of wine. Now, I have only had a couple of Prospect wines, so I’m not entirely familiar with their lineup, but I have enjoyed the ones I have had.
This wine was no disappointment either. It was fantastic. It was a treat that there were only two of us drinking red wine at the dinner, so we got a good thorough tasting of it as well.
The wine was a thick dark red, and had an ever-so-subtle purple hue.
I had plums and cherries and a slight floral aroma. Medium tannins and a very smooth finish. A sweet and smooth wine.
I loved it. And it wasn’t too heavy to sip without a meal. I had mine both during and after dinner over a game of cards. Perfect.
2007 Second Crossing Merlot (Twisted Tree)
I was given this bottle of wine as a gift in the summer. In the past, I have really enjoyed Twisted Tree wines, so I was definitely excited for this one. Especially given that it is so close to town (Osoyoos), it’s an easy trip up to the winery when I’m visiting.
And I definitely enjoyed this wine.
Very smooth, excellent texture. Not too deep or dark, but a nice rich red colour. Some plum and berry and a wood/leather on the tongue.
Very good wine. I would definitely recommend another. And my guess would be that now is the time to drink it. No blue or bronze. So just about perfect.
I would definitely pick up another. Highly recommended. And an easy wine to drink.
2005 Hester Creek Reserve Cabernet Franc
I just realized how long it’s been since I last wrote here. I’ve been on a bit of a cycle of drinking regular wines instead of trying new ones. And my wife is pregnant so we are soon expecting our first. That puts a different dynamic on what gets served with dinner.
Needless to say, I cracked this bottle last night (click HERE for the winery website). And I was definitely looking forward to it. I decided it was time to dig something out of the cellar and go for it.
I bought this bottle a couple of years ago at the winery on one of our day trips through the Oliver-Osoyoos wineries. Their winery is one of my wife’s favourite wineries (she loves their pinot gris and semillon chardonay) both for their excellent white wines and their tasting facilities. It is always one of our first stops.
And their reserve reds are some of my favourites. I always have high expectations with their reserve wines and this one was no exception. Bold and powerful is what I was looking for.
The wine was deep maroon. Thick, deep, and dark. A little bit of browning, probably due to my inadequate storage methods. Smells of plums, raspberry, oak, vanilla. Taste had some spice, peppery. And plums and berries.
Overall, an outstanding wine. Nailed the bold and powerful. I liked the spice especially. Good oak flavour to it as well. Fantastic! Sad to say I only had one bottle left. I’ll definitely pick up another one of these.
2007 Stoneboat Pinot Noir
Last night I opened a bottle of 2007 Stoneboat Pinot Noir. Stoneboat has been one of my favourite wineries to visit in the south Okanagan Valley. And their wines are consistently some of my favourites.
One of the things that always catches my eye is their distinct labels and bottle shape. The picture here doesn’t show the shape of the bottle very well, but it’s definitely unique. The diameter gets larger as you move up the bottle, and just above the label it cuts back in to form the neck.
According to their website (click HERE), a stoneboat is a sled used to remove heavy stones and was “originally used to clear our home vineyard of its abundant river rocks.” They chose the name because “a stoneboat is representative of qualities that we value: hard work, tradition and perseverance.”
I find their wines to be very smooth but with lot’s of flavour. They always have a distinct oak flavour that is unique to their wines. A couple of years ago, the wine that really caught my attention was their pinotage. And this past year as well.
This pinot noir didn’t disappoint either. I highly recommend either of these wines if you ever have the chance to pick one up.
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