Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Report from ... The All Canadian Wine Championships Judging, Day 2 - May 17, 2011

Greeted by 30 Rosees this morning
Another early day.  We arrived at The Other Place Catering venue by 9AM ... the schedule showed my panel was tasting Sauvignon Blancs, a small handful of Semillons, Rosés, Bordeaux-style blends and a few others.  The tasting went as expected, but lunch proved to be a bit of a surprise ... usually day two is quiche day, but weren't we all pleasantly surprised when we were presented with salmon and mini potato latkes with a delicious Bailey's creme brulee for dessert.  After lunch we went through the major medal round judging: sweet wine, fruit wine, red wine and white, which are to be announced at dinner in the evening at the same Lebanese place we enjoyed last year: Mazaar.

I can't reveal names of wineries but I can tell you that Ontario took home the best White and best Fruit wine trophies, BC did there usual masterful job with Red and Quebec will be taking the highest Dessert wine honours.  The announcement of all the winners is this Friday (May 20, 2011) and can be found on the All Canadian Wine Championships web page: http://canadianwinetrail.com/cwt/all-canadian-wine-championships/.

Musar 2008 Jeune Red
As for dinner, some of the wines were of interest while some were just plain boring ... the best of the night were:
Chateau Musar 2008 Jeune Red - a blend of Cinsault, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with really good red fruit with the right amount of spice and pepper, a real highlight of the night.
Batzella 2006 Tam - a Tuscan red made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc aged 24 months in oak and another 8 in bottle; I am told this is the neighbour of Sassicaia (for you wine freaks that should mean something).  licorice, red berries, and spice, this wine was lush and still very ageable.
Three Loose Screws 2008 The Crusher, Wilson Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - this was a typical California Cab with lots of red juicy fruit, red licorice and some chocolate; surprisingly it had less alcohol (13.5) than the Tuscan (14.5).

As for dinner ... everything was amazing and here are the pictures to prove it:
Pita, hummus and something cheesy
Calamari
Garlic-lemon butterfly shrimp
Plate a Lebanese goodies
Baklava

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