Winery: Layer Cake
Vintage: 2008
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Alcohol: 13.9%
Blend: 100% Malbec
Tasting: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

… and we are back in Argentina for a quick visit and then we are off to Italy.

First of all, let me ask you a quick question.  Who isn’t enticed by the name Layer Cake?  I mean that just says yummy on so many different levels.  (By the way, ‘yummy’ is one of those wine technical terms that we mentioned that we would throw around every now and then J.)  We first tried these wines at a wine tasting in February of this year.  The customers really enjoyed them and were quite taken with the fact that they had the same name, but were from different countries.

I love this quote from the Layer Cake website…

“My old grandfather told me the soils in which the vines lived were a layer cake. If properly made, the wine from these vines was like a delicious cake layered with fruit, mocha and chocolate, with hints of spice and rich, always rich. Never pass up a good Layer Cake.”

A. Orlando Tribute, Jayson Woodbridge

We have talked about the Malbec grape a few weeks ago.  This wine we are tasting this week is also from the Mendoza region in Argentina.  Mendoza, like Alberta, is known for its abundance of sunshine.  On average it has more than 300 sunny days a year.  Tourism in the region has increased dramatically, due to the interest in the wineries in the area.  Wine related tourism has become one of the largest sources of income for Mendoza.

This wine has a lot of flavour.  The winemaker’s notes say that they allowed to grapes to stay on the vine a full four to six weeks after most of the neighbouring vineyards.  They wanted to make sure that these grapes were picked at their peak so that all that extra flavour would come through in the wine that you and I enjoy.

It is amazing the flavours you get on your nose.  There is blackberry, cherry, plum with dark cocoa and even a touch of spice.  The taste is reminiscent of dark chocolate, dark cherries, jam and some spice.  This wine has so many flavours.  There is no wonder why Robert Parker rated this 2008 vintage a whopping 91 points!  Positively decant this wine and you will not be disappointed in the flavours that come out of your glass.

Food Pairing:

Grilled steak; Beef Stew; Barbequed Lamb; Sausage and mushroom pizza.

CSPC:     738090
Price:

$23.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)

*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice

- - - - - - -

Winery: Layer Cake
Vintage: 2007
Location: Puglia, Italy
Alcohol: 13.9%
Blend: 100% Primitivo
Tasting: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Puglia (also known as Apulia), is the famed ‘heel of the boot’ in Italy.  This region of Italy produces more wine than any other area of the country.  The place where these Primitivo grapes come from is called Manduria.  Now, like in most areas of Italy, there are regulations/laws surrounding making wine and having certain designations like “DOC” or “DOCG”.  For those of you who like cars (like me) it would be like having a Buick, Buick LS, or Buick LTD (sorry, I can’t translate into Ford and Chrysler language, as I grew up in a mostly GM family).

Manduria Denominazione di Origine Controllata, labeling requires 14% alcohol. The people at Layer Cake found that they liked this wine below 14%; therefore it falls into ‘IGT’ Puglia for area designation.  I always like to say that the ‘IGT is for the rebels… and that is a good.  Where would we be today if people always followed the rules?  No one would want to explore new avenues of anything.  As usual, I digress.

Primitivo (Pree-mih-TEE-vo).  You may think you don’t know this grape, but I bet you do.  The University of California at Davis discovered that Primitivo is not just related to the Zinfandel grape from California, but it is the same grape variety.  Until that happened, Primitivo lived basically in obscurity.  Since that time, it has enjoyed the trappings of the spotlight.  And well it should.  Like with all grape varieties, when they are grown in different parts of the world, they are going to taste a little different in each place.  They take on the characteristics of the soils in that particular area and of course the weather (rain, sunshine etc.) will play a big part in what the wine tastes like.

Enough about all that, let’s get on with the wine.  As always, get it out of the bottle and let it sit for a while.  All the nice flavours will come out.  When you pour this wine it is a rich colour of dark ruby and purple.  It has some nice zippy spice balanced with lots of black fruit.  It warms you up as it slips down your throat.

Robert Parker gave this vintage of the Layer Cake Primitivo 89 Points!

Food Pairing:

Pizza; Barbequed beef, pork or chicken; Hamburgers;  Lasagna; Duck.

CSPC:     738091
Price:

$23.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)

*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice

Let’s head off to Spain next week. The lady who makes this next wine is a real dynamo. Richard and I just loved her when we met her. Come by and visit Diana from 4 – 7 on May 19th.

Winery: Silvertop
Vintage: 2008
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Alcohol: 13.5%
Blend: 100% Malbec
Tasting: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Map courtesy of mendosaholidays.com

We will be heading to Chile next week.  Our flight landed in Mendoza on the way and we noticed some vineyards nearby the airport, so we thought we would stop and take a look.

Okay… raise your hands… who hasn’t heard of Argentinean Malbec?  It certainly has come on our wine scene with great vigor over the past couple of years.  Now there are a lot of wineries from Argentina, but the vast majority of wines come from the Mendoza region.  I believe the number is about 75 - 80%, actually.

The history of the country is fascinating.  Of course its connection with Spain goes back many hundreds of years.  The Monks started developing the vineyards in Argentina back in the 1500’s.  This year, Argentina will be celebrating their 200^th Anniversary of Independence from Spain.  Now the Spanish culture still plays a large part in this country.  You will notice, for instance, that a lot of winery names being with ‘Bodegas’, which is ‘winery’ or ‘house of’.  Today some of the red wines being produced in Argentina include:  Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Bonarda and Sangiovese.  White wines include:  Torrontes, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon, Semillon, Riesling, Viognier and Gewürztraminer.

Let’s get on to this wine.  What the heck is Malbec anyway?  Well, the Malbec grape came from France originally, but there is not a lot left to be found in the country.  There are some areas where it can still be found.  The most notable area is located in the south west of France.  The region is called Cahors.   Recently there have been some wines from this region that have come back into the spotlight.  Why?  Well, because Malbec has been getting a lot of press from Argentina and Malbec is big in Cahors.  It follows that Cahors will be garnering a bit of the limelight, as well.  And as Martha says… that is a good thing.

Now at $10.99, you know that this is not going to be a big powerhouse Malbec, but what you will notice are the great red berry flavours, red plum, cherry and even a little bit of tobacco that you get on this wine.  In your mouth there are those red fruits like raspberry and cherry with that touch of the red plum again.  It has a nice bit of fruit, but not in a sweet way, just some nice fruit.  When I tried this wine for the first time about 1½ to 2 years ago, I was surprised that there was so much flavour for the price.  It was a nice surprise indeed.  This makes a great ‘sit back, put your feet up and relax kind of wine’.  Argentinean wines are such a good value.  They are so worth trying.

Food Pairing:

Beef… Beef… and more beef!  Did I say ‘beef’?  Barbequed lamb; pizza with chorizo sausages; chili.

CSPC:     734702
Price:

$10.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)

*Price correct at time of printing.  Price subject to change without notice

Winery: Silvertop
Vintage: 2009
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Alcohol: 13%
Blend: 100% Torrontes
Tasting: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Torrontes grapes make the quintessential white wine from Argentina.  Although it makes up about 10% of white grapes planted in Argentina, it accounts for about 20% of the sales.  Interesting!  Now until recently, it was thought this grape variety was indigenous to Argentina, but recent DNA testing has found that, in fact, the grape has roots in the Eastern Mediterrean region.  Which, when you think about it makes sense.  Most of the grape vines in the New World regions were most likely brought over by explorers from the ‘Old World’ during their travels.  Simplistically, they wanted to bring a little bit of home with them so that they could make their own wine for celebrations and the like.

This wine has such flavourful aromas.  You get anything from orange/citrus and some flowers to peaches/peach pit.  Now although you get all these notes, the wine is dry.  It kind of fools you when you get all those wonderful aromas.  This is a wine to enjoy when it is young.

Food Pairing:

Asian food, especially Thai and Vietnamese; guacamole; Mexican food; clam chowder with a wee touch of spice.

CSPC:     734704
Price:

$11.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)

*Price correct at time of printing.  Price subject to change without notice

I have some very exciting news for you!!!  We will be doing an ‘Earth Day’ weekend tasting this weekend.  Friday, April 23^rd from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 24^th from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.  We will be tasting Organic and Biodynamic Wines.  Come by and join us.

Next week Richard and I are going to hop on that flight and head over the Andes Mountains to Chile.  See you there!