Canadian Grapes to Wine
VINTAGE 2005, Page 15
The Latest Round - Oct. 15 in Ottawa
{Please also see David's article How the Winning Canadian wines were made which describes the Cedar Creek and Colio winning wines.}
It is becoming an expected phenomena... Canadian Meritage wines being chosen over classed Bordeaux wines in blind tastings by expert tasters. The latest event was perhaps the most dramatic so far, an October 15 tasting hosted by the Vendange Institute in Ottawa in which both a British Columbia and an Ontario wine topped the highest ranking Bordeaux, a second growth 2000 Chateau Lascombes worth $65.
That was the conclusion of 35 expert tasters who blind tasted six wines from each of Bordeaux, ontario and British Columbia. The tasting also involved 26 members of the public who might be described as 'experienced tasters' and the combined results of all 61 participants ranked four Canadian wines ahead of the Lascombes.
There were warm compliments for the professionalism of the Vendange tasting which was organized by Foreign Affairs Canadian Wine Promotion Coordinator Janet Dorozynski, Larry Paterson (www.littlefatwino.com), Andre Trottier, Gary Koestler, Hugh Johnstone and the Vendange team. Despite this there was the predictable uproar at the outcome from diehard Bordeaux fans.
Several wine writers who participated noted that Bordeaux wines are built to last from ten to thirty years or more, whereas Canadian wines are made to be more approachable at an earlier date, but aside from this caveat, as the French would say, "Let the wines speak for themselves," and they did.
Following are the results of the averaged scores of the 35 expert tasters who participated, courtesy of Larry Paterson. The number in brackets between the ranking and the numerical score is the ranking by all 61 participating tasters.
The results speak for themselves. The Canadian wines were definitely not out of place with the classed Bordeaux, and from a price point of view the conclusions are obvious.
Our thanks to Larry Paterson for supplying the scored rankings, as well as the accompanying commentary from this www.littlefatwino.com website.
Canada vs. Bordeaux
1. ( 1) 88.94 2002 Platinum Reserve Meritage (Cedar Creek), British Columbia, $40
2. ( 2) 88.03 2000 CEV Reserve Merlot (Colio), Ontario, $25
3. ( 5) 87.24 2000 Chateau Lascombes, BORDEAUX 2nd, $69
4. ( 4) 86.80 2001 Pinnacle (Sumac Ridge), British Columbia, $50
5. ( 3) 86.54 2002 Meritage (Burrowing Owl), British Columbia, $35
6. ( 6) 86.35 2001 Chateau Pontet-Canet, BORDEAUX 5th, $74
7. ( 9) 86.18 2002 Osoyoos Larose, British Columbia, $35
8. ( 7) 86.09 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Stoney Ridge), Ontario, $25
9. ( 8) 85.60 2000 Chateau Rauzan-Gassies BORDEAUX 2nd, $55
10. (11) 85.57 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron, BORDEAUX 2nd, $109
11. (13) 85.20 2002 Reserve Cabernet Merlot (Fielding Estates), Ontario, $35
12. (12) 84.86 1998 Cabernet Merlot (Lakeview Cellars), Ontario, $25
13. (10) 84.74 2002 Oculus (Mission Hill), British Columbia, $38
14. (14) 84.23 2001 Chateau Brane-Cantenac, BORDEAUX 2nd, $95
15. (15) 83.74 2001 Chateau la Tour-du-Pin-Figeac, ST EMILION GRAND CRU CLASSE, $60
16. (16) 83.65 1998 Blend (Thirty Bench), Ontario, $35
17. (17) 82.54 2000 Bear's Meritage (Fairview Cellars), British Columbia, $25
18. (18) 81.44 2002 Cabernet Merlot (Cave Spring), Ontario, $25