De Bortoli “dB” Petite Sirah

I picked up a bottle of the De Bortoli “dB” Petite Syrah at my local Liquor Mart last night. For $10.99 plus tax, you’ll find a beautiful (and very well-priced) wine. Lots of ripe red fruit on the nose, with a strong hint of chocolate in the background. Taste-wise, the fruit gives way to the chocolate, which is balanced out by some spices and lots of oaky tannins. And it’s all topped off with a long, smooth finish. I’m going back today to pick up a few more bottles to set aside.

Very tasty and highly recommended. I served it with a home-made veggie pizza (DeLuca’s sells balls of ready-made pizza dough for $1.39), and the wine fared well against the hot peppers, capers and wine-defying artichoke hearts.

I didn’t realize Australia was doing much with Petite Sirah (a.k.a Durif). I had always thought that export production was limited to California, and I’m not sure if the Australians got their rootstock from France or (more likely) from California. Regardless of where it comes from, this is a tasty wine, a great value and a nice change from the usual suspects (Cabernet/Shiraz/Merlot) that we find from Australia.

Lots of news - and a monkey too!

Not a real monkey, but a cute cartoon on the label of a tasty new wine. Anyways, it’s been a long absence for me and there’s lots of news in the Winnipeg wine world.

First of all, an astute Wine in the Peg reader noticed that the Liquor Mart in Madison Square was selling the Seven Deadly Zins (prominently featured in an earlier post) for $25ish. I’ll be picking that one up as soon as I can get down there.

In other Winnipeg wine news, Wine,Wine,Wine has called it quits and packed in his keyboard. I will miss his contributions, but I hear that he is moving on to bigger and better things. On that note (hmm…), I see that the Winnipeg Free Press has hired a new wine columnist. His column (Uncorked) made its debut in last Wednesday’s paper, and (from the sounds of it) went over very well.

So it’s time to welcome another wine blogger to the local pack. I’d like to introduce my loyal readers to Sunday Afternoon Waste, where Big Roddy dispenses his own unique brand of wisdom. And he writes about wine more often than not – be sure to check out his port tasting notes.

As far as my own wine tasting goes, a couple of good wines have crossed my path lately. First of all, I tried Nobilio’s Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc last weekend. It’s full of everything you expect from a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; lots of grapefruit, gooseberries and tropical fruit goodness. The finish is a bit shorter than I’d like but that’s my only complaint.

At $14.82 before taxes, this is a huge bargain and I think it’s much better than both Stoneleigh and Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush - the other two NZ Sauvignon Blancs at this price range. And the wine rep tells me that it’s named after an actual geographic area, and isn’t just hopping on the animal-name bandwagon.

My other wine find is the Columbia Crest 2001 Reserve Syrah ($24.97 at the Kenaston Wine Market). I’m not sure if the other private stores carry it, but this is worth the trip to Kenaston.

It’s more Rhone than Australia, although you might have clued into the fact that it’s called Syrah rather than Shiraz. While it’s more restrained and less jammy than your typical Shiraz, this is still a huge wine. But huge in a restrained kind of way (more Andre the Giant than Hulk Hogan). Lots of plums and leather in the glass, with a surprising blast of spices as it hits your mouth. The spices quickly make way for some chocolate-powered goodness, and the finish is very long and smooth. There are plenty of tannins in there, but they’re kept under wraps. I am a big fan of Columbia Crest wines (and I’m not alone), and this is probably my favourite one to date. It’s well worth the $25 it will cost you.