January 31 @ The Fine Wine Reserve
The latest release of BC heavyweight Osoyoos Larose (a Bordeaux blend , mainly cabernet sauvignon and merlot) coincided with the latest release of its French "parent", Chateau Gruaud Larose. It seemed like an ideal opportunity for a challenge.
I invited a number of writers and sommeliers to the Fine Wine Reserve and we tasted the wines blind. Both wines are from 2004, neither are really ready to drink yet, both are good. The Osoyoos-Larose, the product of a joint venture between Vincor and the company that owns Gruaud Larose, sells for $40 and the Gruaud sells for $60.
Our challenge was to guess which wine was the Bordeaux and I am pleased to report that half the tasters picked BC's Osoyoos-Larose. Words like “rich” and “suave” were thrown around. Winemaker Pascal Madevon, who will be in town on the 20th to promote the latest release, should be proud.
Here are my tasting notes (I did guess correctly).
Wine #1 [Gruaud Larose]
Medium ruby colour. Young looking. Bold nose of fresh dark red fruit, including blackberries and black cherries. Secondary woody notes and even some lavender/herbal notes. Smooth on palate. Acidity and tannins both high. Not over fruity in the middle, but nice confluence of flavours, including “woody cherries” (huh?). Needs to age more. 90 points.
Wine #2 [Osoyoos-Larose]
Medium ruby colour, but darker and with a hint of orange at the rim. Quite different nose of darker, more extracted red fruit. Slight mushroom note. Acidity high and tannins very high. Slightly rough on the palate, but a great line of rich red fruit. Shorter finish than the first, but a great hint of mint appears. Definitely needs to age more. 89 points.
