My November 11 Vintages Picks

What's old is new again (again!): Mead, one of the world's most ancient fermented beverages, is BACK, and that's why we have to protect the bumble bees from the nasty neonic pesticides that are wiping them out!

    Rosewood Mead Royale Honey Wine is a divine half litre of sweet stuff, aged in French oak barrels yet, for a mere $16.95. Less than the ancient Romans and Greeks would have shelled out for this ambrosia of peach, white flowers, roasted hazelnut, ginger and caramel pleasure. Historically fermented with water, spices, grains or hops, it makes the perfect medium-sweet sipper or elegant apres-diner closer to a fine meal. Grown in Canadian hives, too. 

    Reminds me of me favorite license plate; BZBZBZ, on a courier van! Also up there as a sweet pleasure is Noble One Botrytis Semillon from De Bortoli in Riverina, New South Wales, Oz. Another one for the Barsac/Sauternes crowd who'd love to afford priceless Chateau Yquem: a quirk of nature from grapes desiccated and intensified by Noble Rot (botrytis, looks hideous, tastes great). $29.95 for 375mL. After dinner, save a mint, literally, and it's not cloying, it's uplifting. Almost worth emigrating to Australia for... 

    Speaking of apres-diner, if something more bracing is your pleasure, there's Glenfarclas 21-year-old Highland Single Malt. It does have a hint of honey and a fino Sherry in its approach although the impression right behind that is that your mouth has been set aflame for a few minutes of BBQ flavors, malt and mocha. And that's OK, although it'll cost you $146.95. There was room and board for quite a while at the distillery. 

    If all that leaves you dry, let's talk Riesling, Henry of Pelham Estate 2013, a star value! This Ontario VQA from Niagara should really have a German passport! The profile is so classic Mosel, petrol, slate, green apple, and lime citrus, just off-dry, that the label should say Heinrich der Pelham. It's great! $17.95, even better.

    Just for the label, The Goatfather, $14.95, is worth trotting out for your next party and the guests will actually like the dry Italian style red. The grapes are grown in South Africa by the guy who makes Goats Do Roam just to tick off the uber-protective French (Cotes du Rhone??) 

    Monterra is a juicy and affordable Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills, $19.95. Has a delicate fruitiness, a touch of sweet beets and truffles. Great with any kind of mushroom dish. 

    Mr Black's Concoction is a Rhone-style GSM grape blend: that's Grenache, Syrah and Mataro (aka Mourvedre) and it's big on raspberry, strawberry, smoke, even a little tar, and savoury earth notes. Delicious $24.95, from Small Gully Wines.

Ay Up, Lad! Yorkshire Inn Is Number One!

As an old Yorkshireman, I'm totally chuffed that the Black Swan in the tiny village of  Oldstead, Yorks, has been named by TripAdvisor as the best restaurant in the world.

Ten years ago Tommy and James Banks took over a rundown pub, They were seventeen and nineteen years of age. With their parents and co-workers, the brothers renovated, invested, and created a new culinary style where ‘farm to fork’ cuisine finds its finest expression. Everybody pitches in, cultivating the vegetable garden, and working the harvest. The interior was designed and built as a cooperative effort. Innovation and individual responsibility are the pillars on which the young enterprise has been built. It took only seven years for Tommy Banks – at age twenty-four – to be awarded a Michelin star. Now, TripAdvisor has named Black Swan as the best Fine Dining restaurant in the world, followed by another British eatery, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, in New Milton.And there is a wine from Carnuntum (Austria) that catches the eye among the wine-pairings for the Menu de Dégustation: its name is Prellenkirchen, and it comes from Weingut Muhr-van-der Niepoort. Grower Dorli Muhr tells about the wine: The wine is grown on the Spitzerberg in Prellenkirchen (Carnuntum). I submitted it on five separate occasions for the official control number, and five times it was rejected as ‘not meeting the quality standards’. I ultimately bottled it as Landwein (instead of Qualitätswein) – with which it could bear no more detailed designation of origin, region or village. I was even obliged to disguise the name on the label. (The wine is labelled P............N)

Prellenkirchen is served with the scallops

To make this wine, Grüner Veltliner grapes were foot-trodden and fermented on the skins – then matured for a year in large wooden cask before being bottled with 10% Riesling. "We vinified an ‘orange wine’ before we'd even heard this category exists," says Dorli Muhr. "Wines of this type require time in order to develop. Now, after five years in the bottle, it is simply splendid. In Austria we run up against and push back against – and not only with the tasters for the federal control number – rejection and lack of understanding. But sommeliers all over the world are quite enthusiastic about the wine."

James Banks,the somm at Black Swan is one of them. He serves the 2011 Prellenkirchen with scallops accompanied by celery from the restaurant’s own garden in fermented celery juice and dill, reduced to a fine cream.

"The earthy/acidic notes with the sweetness of the scallops, together with the white wine from Spitzerberg provides an astonishing flavor experience," says Banks. 

It's a great wine list --  blackswanoldstead.co.uk/assets/pdfs/wine-list.pdf

The Black Swan is a tranquil rural retreat beside the North York Moors National Park, 20 miles north of York in an area famous for its picturesque scenery, castles, abbeys, market towns, perfect for walking, cycling and touring.

 

It Takes A Village....

Brand ambassador Dani Facciani

It takes a village to raise a wine and Poderi dal Nespoli (pop. 30) is fully qualified. 

    Since 1929, two families, the Ravaiolis and the Martinis, have created magic in the hills of Romagna, just south of Tuscany. 

    Affordable wines, because beautiful Emilia-Romagna, is under the radar, even though its historic centre, Bologna, is Italy’s food capital. Even though Romagna is home to Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati, Parma ham, Parmesan cheese and fabulous balsamic vinegar from Modena. 

    You sense a wine bargain here, close to the Adriatic? One reason, says brand ambassador Dani Facciani, is a huge investment in 2010 in a fabulous new winery and a welcome mat extended to wine-loving visitors. 

    Perhaps your choice will be Colibri $14.95, a smooth, elegant fizz from 100% Chardonnay (think Prosecco without harshness). Nespolino Bianco $13.95, a Trebbiano/Chardonnay blend, great with Indian food! Pagadebit white, $17.95, dialect for “pay the debt” which winegrowers count on from this sturdy floral-citrus fresh vino, great with fish, seafood, salad, or chicken. Dogheria is Pinot Bianco, from young vines, $18.95, with a rich floral nose, minerality, saltiness from the soil, once covered by the ancient oceans, and close to the sea. More elegant than Pagadebit, it shows oyster minerality that calls for tartare, sushi, ceviche and clams. 

    In Italy 1% of wine consumption is pink. However, the export market is asking for it. Hence, Filarino,100% Sangiovese with a mere 3-4 hours of grape contact with the juice for color. It offers pomegranate and cherry notes, fresh, easy drinking, in a great package showing a penny farthing. Check out the embossed sock! 

    In Sangiovese, there’s a blend, Nespolino Rosso 70/30 with Merlot, all dark chocolate and soft tannins, fruity with a touch of oak and vanilla. Perfect for pizza, pasta, anything tomato sauce, a steal at $13. 

     The flagship Sangioveses are Prugneto, six months in barriques, all cherry, plum and supple tannins, with good acidity for food, especially Bolognese sauce (ragu), anything pork, butter, olive oil, fresh pasta, rich stews and grills, and Il Nespoli Superiore Riserva 2013, a selection from several vineyards, two years in barrique and one in American oak. Deep, mature flavors of leather, tobacco, blackberry, raisin, fine tannins with great complexity and aging potential, $24.95! Serious and elegant.
    If you ask for a drink in Emilia you get a glass of water. In Romagna, they give you Sangiovese. To buy any of these wines, contact Bella Mitchell at Select Wines, 416 367 5600 x 13.