The defining comment of the day was that "There has never been this much wine expertise in one building in Ottawa ever!" This tasting involved eight people who would primarily be described as professional wine writers, twenty-three as professional sommeliers, three as commercial winemakers and five as certified Wine Judges. Four of these people were involved in organizing the event so their scores were not counted. There were twenty-six other (mainly quite serious) wine-lovers in attendance as well. The conduct of this tasting was monitored by Sopexa which is the excellent organization responsible for marketing French wines. This tasting was not challenged by anyone in attendance for procedural fairness. National Capital Sommelier Guild Co-Founder and Governor J. Phillip Nicholson announced at the end of the tasting that he'd participated in many superb tastings and competitions in the past, but this was the most professional judging he had personally attended, primarily because of the extra safeguards taken for maximum "blindness" and objectivity. Tasting organizers puffed up visibly at this and we all feel really special now (The good people at Vendange, Janet Dorozynski, Andre Trottier, Gary Koestler, Hugh Johnstone and some obnoxious wee fat lad)... and the Vendange people who served the wines (and took away the glasses, kept bread in front of winos, worked in the back rooms ...) were professional, friendly and unobtrusive. Seamlessly presented!

There was general agreement - and some astonishment - that eighteen wines of such high calibre had been assembled. Many in this room expected the Canadian wines to be okay (but ... but ...). The results in my opinion should be closer than they appear. The first few wines served almost always score lower than the last few wines served with wine number one (in this case Fielding) always being hurt. Nobody can figure a way around this, so the answer is to be absolutely fair and make the pouring order a random selection just before the tasting. In this case we poured three flights of six wines each. Five of the six wines from the first flight finished in five of the lowest six positions (the exception was the Stoney Ridge which finished in seventh position overall despite being wine number six in the pouring order). I have always maintained that if you turned the service order around and re-poured the same wines to the same people you would change the rankings significantly. If you were able to double the portions poured and put all eighteen wines on the table at once this would be fairer (but you'd need huge tables and the cost of such a tasting would be much more expensive). This was a very close tasting, much closer than the scores indicate.

As usual, there are those who questioned why wine "X" was included instead of wine "J" or "R", but as the person who was primarily responsible for the Ontario wine selections I feel that it was a good cross-section of those available from Ontario. The wines were selected to include large and small producers, new and old. The wines from British Columbia seemed to do quite well. The point was not to have a competition between Ontario and British Columbia, it was to establish a benchmark between Canada and Bordeaux. These wines were indeed close, and a similar future event may turn everything around. Of the abovementioned first six wines, three were from Ontario, two were from Bordeaux and the other was the lowest scoring wine from British Columbia.

This is how I view the results of the tasting:

 1) 89.32  $ 40 Canada (poured last)
 2) 87.88  $ 25 Canada (poured 16th)
 3) 87.39  $ 35 Canada (poured 9th)
 4) 87.30  $ 50 Canada (poured 10th)
 5) 86.70  $ 69 Bordeaux (poured 12th)
 6) 86.37  $ 74 Bordeaux (poured 15th)
 7) 86.31  $ 25 Canada (poured 6th)
 8) 85.72  $ 55 Bordeaux (poured 11th)
 9) 85.68  $ 35 Canada (poured 17th)
10) 84.83  $ 38 Canada (poured 14th)
11) 84.79  $109 Bordeaux (poured 7th)
12) 84.70  $ 25 Canada (poured 8th)
13) 84.23  $ 35 Canada (poured 1st)
14) 83.31  $ 95 Bordeaux (poured 3rd)
15) 83.16  $ 60 Bordeaux (poured 5th)
16) 83.13  $ 35 Canada (poured 4th)
17) 82.81  $ 25 Canada (poured 2nd)
18) 82.23  $ 25 Canada (poured 13th)

As always in these tastings an important component is the "Guess which wines are Bordeaux". Canadians assume that it OUGHT to be easy for anyone with any knowledge to taste twenty wines, nineteen of which are Canadian and the other a good Bordeaux, and EASILY determine the Bordeaux. In fact it is much like the fairy tale of the Princess and the Pea (where the REAL princess could indeed feel the pea beneath all the beds and mattresses). Only a top-level expert who is in constant touch with wines of this calibre has a real chance of determining which is Bordeaux and which is not on an ongoing basis. Good Bordeaux and Good Canadian wines are very close {It is very easy to be sure of good Bordeaux by sticking to the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux Wines.} Another common complaint involves the relative number of Bordeaux in a tasting. Many experts want to see half the wines from Bordeaux. Fair enough, so when this is funded by someone I'll gladly attend. The wines are very expensive, especially the best ones. As is, the Canadian wines (and one Bordeaux) were donated to this tasting. Also, if the Bordeaux are that much better they should stand out even if there are relatively few. The other common complaint is that the tastings don't use First Growth Bordeaux. Again, at hundreds of dollars per bottle, I'll be happy to attend such a tasting when someone else funds it! (I have put all five First Growths into similar tastings in the past).

Personal congratulations to David Lawrason of Wine Access Magazine who did indeed correctly identify all six Bordeaux! Close behind with five of the six were Winegrower Bob Madill of Sheldrake Point Winery in the Finger Lakes who is also an American Wine Society Certified Judge, Sommelier Lee Wagner of the Algonquin College Sommelier Program and the Ottawa Congress Centre and Sommelier Randy Dufour of CAPS and National Director of Estate Wines, VINCOR International. Of the fifty people trying to identify the six Bordeaux in this room full of expertise, seven people did get four correct, eleven had three of the six, twenty had two and eight had one (everyone who put in their estimates got at least one). With all due apologies, when you consider that one-third of the wines were Bordeaux, those getting from one to three correct can almost be ascribed to random chance. This is an infuriatingly tough exercise for most people including experts. Come with an attitude, leave with an ulcer.

Rarely am I able to identify the wines in these tastings (I consider myself an average taster). The point of these tastings is not to "knock down" the big guys (Bordeaux) but to show the incredible similarities between top Canadian Cabs, Merlots and blends and Bordeaux reds. I would go as far as to say that the wines of British Columbia's largest areas, and those of Southwestern Ontario, have the ability to fully ripen their grapes every year, and may be considered more akin to the best of California and the new world. Those of Niagara, where the vines just ripen the grapes at the last moment in many years, may have more similarity to Bordeaux. Andy Trottier made a nice powerpoint presentation about these three areas at the beginning of the tasting.

It is an unfortunate part of being Canadian that many in Canada will not take other Canadians or their products seriously until they have been recognized outside the country (if you are looking in from outside Canada this is unfortunately true even with governmental agencies in Canada). As a sample of this, take a look at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), an official organization of a Canadian Provincial Government. Their Vintages or Classics Catalogue releases (their top quality publications for top end products) generally don't quote independent Canadian wine experts for anything other than Canadian wine! My challenge to Canadian governments at large is that they should host these tastings internationally and at home. Picture a tasting - very similar to the ones at Vendange and Brock - being conducted at Canada House in London England, with the British Wine Press as the judges. Or how about a tasting in San Francisco with California and French wines? Hey Prime Minister Martin this wouldn't cost a lot and could be really good for Canadian agriculture (and national pride)! Maybe we should become a little more aggressive in promoting our best products? (and no I don't want to be there to take part - round objects don't travel well on airplanes...)

The red wines being produced in Canada from the Bordeaux grapes are mainly identified as Meritage, Cabernet or Cabernet-Merlot, or single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Merlot. In my opinion, the better Canadian examples stand up to their Bordeaux targets quite well until they are eight to ten years old. I do not believe that current wines will match the longevity exhibited by great Bordeaux beyond 15 years at most. This is partly due to relatively young vineyards, and partly to more modern winemaking techniques (I don't know that modern Bordeaux will age as long as it used to!). I also believe that once the vines are old enough to produce more complex and age-worthy vines they will match Bordeaux stroke for stroke. At this point, the general rule I use for personal ageing of the Ontario wines (I don't have enough knowledge to speak of the British Columbia wines) is that a top quality Merlot will peak in five to ten years, a Cabernet Franc in seven to twelve years, and a Cabernet Sauvignon from eight to fifteen years. Blend longevity should be approached based on the relative percentages of the component varieties, and ageworthiness demands proper cellaring conditions.

The one Ontario wine I would like to see made is "Three Guys Geritol Noir (Oldest Vines Cabernet Sauvignon)". The Three Guys are Jim Warren, Ed Gurinskas and John Marynissen, all ex-amateurs that have made wonderful wines during their professional winemaking careers from the Bordeaux varieties mainly at Stoney Ridge, Lakeview Cellars and Marynissen. And John Marynissen was the first in Canada to plant significant amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, in the late 1970's. I can't help thinking that if there were enough grapes from these now fully mature vines for each of these distinguished youngsters to make one barrel each that we might just glimpse the future of Canadian red wine made from the Bordeaux varieties. How about it guys?

If you wish to comment on this article, or the tasting, or want advice on how to set one of these up, please feel free to email me at littlefatwino@trytel.net

Larry Paterson, October 28, 2005...

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