In This Issue
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I
Respond to a Reader's Query
LCBO Racks Up Another Big Win
The Winemaker Has No Clothes … and Possibly No Oak! |
From the Frugal Mailbox
Subscriber
Paul Petersen recently sent me a rather long email that raised
a number of important points. With Paul's permission, I'd like
to do my best to respond to each one.
"Hello
again, Richard:
"We've
noticed for some time now that we have tried quite a few of the
wines for which you post reviews and enjoyed them. In some cases,
the reviews were done before we first found your site, or we
somehow overlooked the fact that you had posted one ... Do you
go back and review particular favourites from time to time?"
My
preference would be to either have a trust fund so I could buy
every wine that I try, or that I was such a high profile wine
writer that vendors were falling over each other sending me samples.
Neither is the case. Oh well...
I
confess that, as a reviewer, I'm somewhat at the mercy of the
system we have in place in Ontario. Although I devote a fair
amount of space to running down the LCBO, they do treat us wine
writers rather well. We have the opportunity several times a
month to taste current releases at the downtown office. I also
sometimes go to the monthly Mississauga tastings. So each month
I get to taste wines that are "new" to the General
List and to Vintages. That's the good news.
On
the downside, once a product has been added to the General List
system, it goes thereafter by a CSPC number, which is not sensitive
to vintage changes. In the past, once a wine has been put in
front of us, that's it; it will likely never show up again. I've
put some pressure on the system to make an effort to add new
vintages to the tastings, with some success. So within these
restrictions, I do attempt to retaste wines as new vintages appear.
Occasionally, I'll even break down and buy a bottle if I haven't
run into it at other tastings.
"As
we acquire more wines and accumulate more experience, we are
constantly pleasantly surprised to find many that are below even
$10 a bottle, and often disappointed to find that they were a
one time release at the LCBO."
The
dominating reason for a wine to disappear is because of lack
of interest. The General List is a fairly static system, with
not much effort put into promoting. So if consumers don't pick
up on a better than average wine, it won't be repurchased. It
may also be that the wine was in limited production (a relative
term, since most General List products are mass produced). But
the overriding reason is, it just didn't sell.
"In
a summer trip to Prince Edward County, though we found several
wines we liked, many were of disappointing quality for the price
-- the most notable drawback. Are all Canadian wines overpriced?"
Are
Canadian wines over-priced and not very good? Hmmm ... it may
often seem that way, but it's important to understand why.
When
you pick a foreign wine off an LCBO shelf (or any store shelf),
you're seeing only the best of the lot. That winery might make
a dozen mediocre wines for every one that gets picked up by the
retail channel. At a local winery, on the other hand, you see
everything.
As
for the price, when it costs up to $50,000 to purchase an acre
of vineyard and another $25,000 to plant it, with minimum wage
over $7/hour, with taxation at every level of production, with
some foreign governments giving their wineries subsidies, Ontario
wineries will always be at a significant disadvantage. Yet despite
these obstacles, we make some stellar, fairly priced wines and
even quite a number of bargains.
"While
we're on price, how is it that apart from premium brands, for
instance, all vodkas are within a couple of dollars of each other's
price, no matter where in the entire world they come from? A
quote from a Microsoft CEO comes to mind: "We don't have
a monopoly. We have market share. There's a difference."
- Steve Ballmer. Indeed!"
I
would ask: How can you have market share when you don't
share the market? A monopoly is essentially about power, and
the LCBO has near absolute power in Ontario. And while the LCBO
doesn't dictate prices, as the "largest buyer of beverage
alcohol in the world", their price point objectives are
pretty hard to sidestep.
"On
the flip side, a discovery such as the Waupoos
2005 Geisenheim was an absolutely wonderful surprise with its
strong grapefruit flavours, a welcome addition as both a white
and an Ontario wine to the dozen or so in total in both those
categories among the 300+ reds we have, mostly from France, Chile,
Argentina, Spain, Portugal and Australia. There's a fairly clear
pattern there, from what little we know of wines."
"Too
bad the Geisenheim is not available at all via the LCBO. It was
$15 at the Waupoos winery anyway. The Trumpour's Mill was also
a nice-to see addition at Vintages, the first such wine coming
from Prince Edward County apparently, but in a similar price
range. Wineries appear to be prohibited from reducing the price
we pay at source, compared to LCBO shelves; they were the same."
It's
nice that you were attracted to a relatively unknown grape. (Geisenheim
is one of many neo-Riesling grapes developed at the Geisenheim
Institute in Germany.) If you can find a top-notch, locally-grown
wine at $15, that's about as good as it gets. Will the LCBO ever
have this wine in stock? Probably not. It has a number of things
going against it. First, it's not Chardonnay, nor any other easy-to-sell
grape. It's also likely that the quantities are too small even
for the Vintages section, let alone the General List. And of
course it's a small Ontario winery, and the LCBO typically is
the last to acknowledge these.
Yes,
a winery cannot undercut the LCBO. And if the LCBO has listed
the price as too low, the winery must then lower its price. All
"sales" prices must be pre-approved by the LCBO, so
that "$.75 off" tag went through many hands. We couldn't
want you to be tempted to buy from the winery INSTEAD of the
LCBO, would we?
"Sadly,
the most difficult thing to find this summer was a wine that
did not blend Prince Edward County wines with Niagara. Almost
regardless of reason, we consider the practice very short sighted
if wineries there ever want to make a name for the distinctiveness
of their offerings, in particular since the Niagara area seems
to have world "brand" recognition, and is way ahead
in the competition."
The
case with Niagara fruit in, as you mention, Trumpour's Mill wine
is a special situation. In Ontario, you must commit to planting
a minimum of five acres of grapes before you can obtain a winery
license. Under the best circumstances, those vines will take
four years to yield a useful crop. What many wineries do in the
short term is buy from other producers until their own grapes
come 'on-line'. The wineries in Prince Edward County are as anxious
as you are to have their own grapes on their shelves. But to
pay the bills until then, they buy in from other parts of Ontario.
Come back in 2-3 years and you will likely find only PEC-grown
wine on the shelves (weather permitting).
"We
note now too, that the Canadian section in the LCBO now states
"cellared in..." and a recently available blend with
Australian products has been disastrous and frankly, awful, especially
given that we enjoy the identifiable character of many Australian
wines."
Yes,
the Cellared
in Canada section ... that is a hard won-victory. Until
recently, anything that came out of an Ontario-based winery could
appear in the Ontario section, and often these Cellared in Canada
wines were put into the VQA displays. After years of complaining
and lobbying, the industry finally convinced the LCBO to be honest
about these wines. They are not Ontario wines and they are not
Canadian. They are, for the most part, cheap imports blended
with the absolute legal minimum of Ontario wine (lately it's
gone as low as 1%). The situation is rather scandalous. Wineries
hate it because it harms the image of Ontario wine, it devalues
the real product( i.e VQA) and, frankly, it is deceitful. I would
like to see an entirely new section at the LCBO -- "Other"
or "Unknown" -- so we can see these wines for what
they are.
In
my November 2004 newsletter, I discussed
the role of the foreign content ruling as it originally applied
to Ontario vineyards. Unfortunately everyone -- the big wineries,
the LCBO, and the government -- got too used to the easy money
to be had by importing bulk wine at pennies a litre and selling
it as Canadian often at a premium compared to better quality
imports! That situation has gone from bad to worse, with a small
number of factory producers now flooding the market with this
plonk.
"I
hope that we are not becoming wine snobs. We're not pretentious
about it, but the practices are baffling and sometimes appear
completely illogical if not unreasonable."
Are
you becoming wine snobs? If it means asking questions, seeking
value and holding out for good, honest wines, they I certainly
hope you are!
"All
that aside, we continue to enjoy your work and reviews and also
wanted to again thank you as regular readers who take your advice
often. Please keep it up! I'm off to purchase the Hungarian Grand
Cuvée Brut you recommended some weeks ago."
Nice
to know I'm appreciated.
Another Reader Checks In on Alternative
Packaging
Greg
McLeod, Toronto, Ontario writes:
Bravo
on the Wolf Blass commentary, re. PET bottles and the incredibly
wasteful promo brochures.
Brochures
aside, whether they are using one-time use glass, Tetra or plastic,
the wineries in general are still miles behind the times.
If
the wineries truly had an environmental conscience they would
follow the lead of the Canadian beer
industry and switch to refillable, refundable bottles. This system
is widely regarded as one of the world's most successful models
for waste reduction.
Until
that time, the truly environmentally conscious oenophiles will
see these efforts for what they are: cheap marketing ploys used
to elevate overpriced wines which have few redeeming qualities
in their own right.
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LCBO Racks Up Another Big Win
The
Ontario Government, in response to a general outcry from both
the public and municipalities, has decided to "force"
the LCBO to take back its bottles … sort of.
For
years the government retailer has been stonewalling the issue,
claiming that a deposit system was unworkable because no one
would want the inconvenience. Well, convenient or not, the McGinty
liberals say it will be done.
Numerous
environmental advocates have cited the stellar success of the
Brewers Retail's take-back program. With a return rate of better
than 96% on glass, PET, and aluminum cans -- not to mention the
cardboard cartons they come in -- the Brewers Retail sets the
global standard on return programs. So it really is no surprise
that the government has asked the beer people to handle LCBO
glass.
Here's
how I think the program will play out.
1.
A lot of people won't bother. It's another trip, another stop,
and you have to go inside the beer store to get the refund. Beer
drinkers usually go back for more beer, so it's no inconvenience
to take back an empty case or two when they go to restock.
2.
The Government will pay the Brewers Retail to operate the program
rather than demand that the LCBO change their ways.
3.
The LCBO will charge a 'levy' to offset the cost of the program
(and, if given the option, they'll add the levy to the wholesale
price, thereby creating an additional markup).
4.
The LCBO will find a way to declare the levy as part of its already
fanciful income.
5.
The LCBO will argue that they need to keep all or most of the
new levy.
6.
The LCBO will continue to charge the old 'environmental levy',
which also is reported as income.
7.
The LCBO will then argue that they should no longer have to contribute
to the Blue Box coffers.
8.
The Government will end up financing at least some of the return
program out of taxpayers' pockets.
9.
All liquor and wine prices will go up.
10.
Alternatively packaged products will also cost more because the
levy will likely be applied there as well, even though they aren't
part of the program.
11.
The LCBO will continue to roll out non-recyclable tetrapaks while
arguing that the return levy applies across the board.
12.
The LCBO won't have to deal with bottle returns or childish arguments
about environmental responsibility.
The Winemaker Has No Clothes …
and No Oak!
Well,
my friend Larry is up to his old tricks. Having embarrassed a
lot of wine "experts" with his Canada
vs. Bordeaux tastings, Larry next set his sights on the Wine
Writers' Circle with a challenge tasting of wine additives.
A
little known fact of life is that winemakers use additives. Most
of us think -- or wish -- that winemaking is just a matter of
crushing the grapes, throwing the yeast, and bottling the results.
But it ain't always so, as Larry so capably demonstrated.
We
tasted 10 wines altogether, eight were lowly Seyval (vinted by
Larry, one of the AWO's
highest scoring winemakers) using a variety of additives. After
dividing his wine batch in two, Larry treated half to an enzyme
called Optiwhite. He then treated some of the samples to various
other additives. But it was the last sample that suggested that
the industry may in fact be pulling a fast one. Here are my rather
sparse notes.
Optiwhite
Challenge
Keep
in mind that the following are all the same wine. The only differences
are the additives and I think you'll agree that the results are
intriguing.
Group
1 - Optiwhite: Optiwhite
is a yeast nutrient that is engineered to "increase"
mouthfeel while optimizing freshness and aromas.
Wine
#1: Seyval Blanc 2005 unaltered
Yeasty, with aromas of damp wood. Good palate though somewhat
soapy.
Wine
#2: Seyval with Optiwhite
More vinous than #1, also soapy with citrus; fuller & rounder
with a bit of acid.
Group
2 - AR2000: This
enzyme additive is used to "improve aromas".
Wine
#3: Seyval with AR2000
Gewurz like with musk and dried orange. Quite good.
Wine
#4: Seyval with AR2000 plus Optiwhite
Somewhat rancid. Simple and sour with lingering O2.
Group
3 - Galalcool: This
additive is a tannin derived from oak "gall nuts" and
is intended to inhibit browning and oxidation.
Wine
#5: Seyval with Galalcool
Much like #4 plus talc, vanilla. Soft, almost bland on the palate.
Wine
#6: Seyval with Galalcool plus Optiwhite
More gurwuz on the nose. Subtle, with a slightly rancid note.
Overly soft.
Group
4 - Tannin Plus: This
tannin additive comes from toasted US oak along with a whopping
dose of vanilla.
Wine
#7: Seyval with Tannin Plus
Loaded with vanilla with a touch of orange peel. Quite good overall
with subtle fruit and substantial oakiness.
Wine
#8: Seyval with Tannin Plus plus Optiwhite
Subdued nose. Angular on the palate and slightly green tasting.
Silk
Purse from Vine's Ear
The
last comparison was the most disturbing. Larry took a modest
"Cellared in Canada" Merlot and subjected it to what
he felt was a typical Aussie treatment. The Merlot itself was
quite respectable, but Larry's manipulation shocked the entire
audience. He took a magnum of the Merlot and divided in half,
bottling one half and then playing with the other. And what did
he do? He added enough sugar to increase the sweetness to 1%.
He then added enough alcohol to increase it by 1%. Then he added
Tannin Plus at one-half the maximum dose.
This
is where it gets weird. The resulting wine was a dead ringer
for mass market Aussie Shiraz (e.g. Yellow Tail etc.). It had
weight, it had a soupcon of sweetness, and it had that lush oak/vanilla
nose of popular Shiraz, courtesy of the Tannin Plus.
So
the question is, are "confected" wines the way of the
future? As long as wine drinkers are uncritical, as long as buyers
pay no attention to wine, then they will be fooled by these manipulations.
Personally, I like the oakey, vanillary aromas that something
like Tannin Plus promises, but I can detect this particular additive's
heavy-hand far too easily, and I don't like it. I also think
that wine should taste of the land, not of the lab.
From "The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon
of Wine Tasting Terms"
Égrappage
(Fr.)
Partial
or complete removal of grape stalks prior to fermentation, usually
by machine. Results in reduced tannins making for softer, earlier
maturing red wines. Always done for white wines
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Inspirational Quote
If
a consumer is buying a wine because of a reputation of wine growing
county and they see the name on the label and are led to believe
that they're buying wine from that area, they shouldn't wind
up drinking wine that was made from somewhere else. - Wes Chesbro,
Democratic representative for Arcata CA
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