Discovering Aquitaine & Bordeaux wines - seminar and luncheon at TOCA

The Date and Time: Tuesday, Sept 3, 2013  11 AM to 2:30 PM

The Event: Discovering Aquitaine & Bordeaux wines – seminar and luncheon.

The Venue: TOCA, Ritz Carlton

The Target Audience: agents, winery reps, LCBO, and wine media.

The Availability/Catalogue: there were five wineries/owners at the seminar, but one was already repped here in Ontario by Edwards.

The Quote/Background: there were 28 or so people at the seminar which was ably presented by Anne Popoff who wisely concentrated on the mechanics of the region and the wineries. She said that 60% of Bordeaux still stays in France, the rest is exported (primarily the higher end wines). We tasted through 26 wines of the 2008-12 vintages. Ubifrance, the French Embassy Trade Office in North America, was the organizer.

The Wines: I've added FOB where known to me.

 

**** BEST -- Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Chateau de Lionne Graves 2010 Rouge, 6E FOB

-Chateau Peneteaux 2010 Bordeaux Rouge, 1.85E

-Domaine Patrice Moreux Sancerre 2012 Blanc

-Chateau Ambe Tour Pourret St.Emilion Grand Cru 2010

-Chateau Teynac Cuvee Vieilles Vignes Puisseguin Saint-Emilion 2008

 

***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Chateau de Lionne Graves 2011 Rouge, 6E FOB

-Chateau Pont de Brion Graves 2011 Blanc [65% semillon] 7E FOB

-Chateau Pont de Brion Graves 2010 Rouge

-Chateau Pont de Brion Graves 2009 Rouge

-Chateau Guillaume Blanc Cuvee du Consul 2010 Bordeaux Superieur, 3.75E

-Domaine des Blais Cotes de Provence 2012 Rose

-Chateau d'Aiguilhe Querve 2010 Cotes de Bordeaux Castillon Rouge

-Patris St.Emilion Grand Cru 2011, 8.90E

-Le Moulin Pomerol 2010, 34E

-Chateau Lanbersac Puisseguin Saint-Emilion 2009

-Chateau de Roquebrune Lalande de Pomerol 2010, 8E

-Chateau Moulin de Clotte Cuvee Dominique Castillon-Cotes de Bordeaux 2009, $17.95 LCBO

-Mas Karolina Cotes du Roussillon Village 2011

-Mas Karolina Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes 2011

 

*** GOOD -- Three Stars (85 – 87 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Chateau de Lionne Graves 2010 Blanc

-Chateau de Lionne Graves 2011 Blanc

-Chateau Pont de Brion Graves 2011 Rouge

-Chateau Les Trois Tours Bordeaux 2012 Rouge

-Domaine Auzias Cuvee Monsieur IGP de la Cit de Carcassonne Rouge

-Chateau Moulin de Clotte Castillon-Cotes de Bordeaux 2010

-Le Clairet Rose Bordeaux 2011

 

The Food: we were served courses and expected to get our own wines for accompaniment. I decided to taste all the wines first or between courses, so I did not really have a chance to taste all the wines with the food. First up was an enticing strawberry gazpacho with mozzarella and truffle (no wine with this one). The organic salmon tartare with avocado puree was superb with a variety of Graves and the Sancerre. I had seconds. The reds were split between the Cornish hen marinated in piri-piri (too spicy for many of the wines) and the cavatelli pasta in a basic san marzano and basil sauce (best choice). The goat cheese panna cotta would have gone well with a Sauterne, if there was one.

The Downside: we were late in getting started, that's becoming normal these days.

The Upside: I especially liked the format of the community table – it gave me a chance to see everybody.

The Contact Person: carole.ringuet@ubifrance.fr

The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 89.

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com