February 7, 2012

Aspler Uncorked

Top 2009 Wine Finds

by Tony Aspler



Wine, unlike its younger, brasher cousin beer, evolves with surprising speed. Our baron of the bottle, Tony Aspler, takes the time to share a dozen of his newest and most notable red and white discoveries
 

BEST WINE BAR DOWNTOWN

CRUSH, 455 King Street West, Toronto
You can sit at the bar and have flights of wine from their extensive list and dine in comfort at the back. They hold themed, stand-up tastings at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
 

ONTARIO’S BUSIEST WINEMAKER

ARTHUR HARDER
The name may not be on everybody’s lips, but his wines are on a lot of consumers’ palates. Grimsby-born Arthur Harder backpacked through Europe in 1978 and became enchanted with Champagne. After graduating from Ryerson with a degree in chemistry, he studied oenology and viticulture at the famed Geisenheim Institute in Germany. In the two decades that followed, he has worked with (the late) Barnes Wines, Inniskillin, Hillebrand Estates Winery and the Institute for Grape Breeding and Grafting (Geisenheim), Asbach- Kretschmar (Rüdesheim) and the Klostermühle Winery (Odernheim/Nahe) in Germany. Now a “flying winemaker” in Ontario, he consults with boutique wineries such as Calamus Estate, Cattail Creek Estate, Maleta Estate and Ridgepoint Wines.
 

BEST BREWPUB

THE GRANITE BREWERY AND RESTAURANT, 245 Eglinton Avenue East
A fine selection of eight beers from which to choose. I’m partial to the best bitter special (dry hopped) because it reminds me of real ale in London pubs. And it’s within walking distance from my new condo.
 

BEST NOSE SOUTH OF BLOOR

TAYLOR THOMPSON OF REDS, 77 Adelaide Street West
Thompson captured the privileged Grand Award at this year’s Wine Tasting Challenge. Held at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel in November 2008, the annual Wine Tasting Challenge results were recently announced. Capturing the Wine Tasting Challenge title is a major wine profession coup. Competitors must correctly identify the grape varietal, country, region of origin and vintage from a diverse range of world wines. Professionals attempt to identify seven wines and supplementary rounds, which feature three VQA wines and three spirits.
 

BEST NEW WINE INITIATIVE

WINECAMP, 439 King Street West
Not boot camp but bottle camp. WineCamp is an opportunity for “techies”’ to combine drinking wine, learning about all things wine and networking. The brainchild of Sandy Ward of bringmywine.ca, the site that tells you which restaurants in Ontario permit you to bring your own bottle and their corkage fees.
 

BEST WINE BOOK OF THE YEAR

THE BILLIONAIRE’S VINEGAR BY BENJAMIN WALLACE
Starting from the auction sale of the iconic 1787 Château Lafite that was bottled for Thomas Jefferson and sold for $156,000 US, Wallace investigates the rarified world of mega-tastings of rare wines and the wealthy men who collect them. The book reads like a mystery novel (“The bottler did it!”). Read it with a glass of wine at your elbow. Published by Crown, $27.95.
 

BEST BARGAIN RED WINE

DELOACH CABERNET SAUVIGNON CALIFORNIA SERIES 2006, $14.95
The wine is deep ruby in colour with an intriguing bouquet of cedar, blackcurrants and vanilla oak. The flavour is rich with well-extracted fruit. It’s powerful but elegant, well balanced with a firm finish and supple tannins. I tasted this wine at 9 a.m. to make my notes and had it with lamb chops for dinner. Delicious. BEST BARGAIN WHITE WINE CONO SUR VIOGNIER 2007, $9.95 A steal at the price it has a medium straw colour, intriguing bouquet of honey, honeysuckle, with a flavour of ripe peaches; full on the palate with lively acidity and a touch of residual sweetness. Chill it and match it with pineapple chicken or light curried dishes.
 

GOING ITALIAN IN THORNHILL

FERROVIA, 7355 Bayview Avenue
Intimate and tidy, not easy to find in a shopping mall, but well worth the effort. Great food matched with wines at affordable prices.
 

BEST OYSTERS AND CHAMPAGNE NORTH OF OPUS ONE

TERRA RESTAURANT, 8199 Yonge Street
Sit back in the Oyster and Tapas Bar- Lounge and order a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut if you’re alone. If you have a partner, make it a full bottle and double up on the oysters. They also have an incredible list.
 

BEST MALT WHISKY

EDRADOUR 10 YEAR OLD
Nosed (and consumed) at a Robbie Burns Night dinner, this “straight from the cask” is one of the finest Highland single malts I have tasted. It is produced in Scotland’s smallest distillery near Pitlochry in Perthshire and, according to its website, it’s “possibly the smallest legal distillery of any kind in the world.” Only 12 casks of whisky are produced a week so it’s devilishly hard to find — but you can order by phoning the distillery at 01796 472095.
 

BEST ORGANIC WINE LIST

FOUR, 187 Bay Street
Four is Toronto’s first healthy, upscale restaurant offering top quality, chefdriven dishes without all the calories normally associated with high-end cuisine. The menu focuses on the core principle of balance in dining, with each dish at 650 calories or less. The wines of Four reflect this as well. The international list of organic, sustainable and biodynamic wines has been designed to provide high quality wine options with minimum impact to the environment.
 

This article appears in the May 2009 issue of Post City Magazines

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