Andrew Hunter
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Andrew Hunter is a musician and composer. He abandoned his career in film and television to raise his kids, make music and drink wine.
My love of wine started with underage sips at the family dinner table. In college I fancied myself a sophisticate as I drank Chianti with pizza, back when Chianti still came in wicker 'fiasco' bottles. (I miss those, great candle holders.) I admit to still having a soft spot for Mateus. Cheap, sweet wine in a chubby bottle was just fine. Back then all I knew about wine was that there was red, white and pink (and girls really liked that white zinfandel!). It was years later, when I started to frequent some of Toronto's finer restaurants, that vinous epiphanies began to occur. Sips of wine that caused quiet pause and an exclamation of, "oh...wow."
I began to read everything I could about wine. I built a cellar and started collecting bottles. My taste evolved from sweet, easy-drinking, fruit-forward wines to the more old-world styles of France and Italy. I tend to prefer wines that are understated and complex over the super-extracted fruit-bombs which seem to be increasingly fashionable. I'll generally take Bordeaux over Napa and Tuscany over Australia. But there are always exceptions!
I'm a huge fan of sweet wines. I rarely meet an ice wine or Sauternes that I don't like. I also get along very well with Port.
Riesling is my favorite white, along with Viognier, Gerwurztraminer and Santorini Assyrtiko. Chardonnay is my least favorite. No matter how much I spend or how great the pedigree, I have yet to be blown away. Somewhere out there is a really delicious Chardonnay. I'm still looking for it.
My busy life leaves little time for blogging but at the very least I review every wine I taste.
There's nothing more subjective than art...Except perhaps wine. At our wine club I'm always pleased when someone prefers the $12 wine to the $50 wine (unfortunately it never seems to be me). For all it's pretentiousness and hype wine is a just a drink, either you like it or you don't. There is no right or wrong. It's all about discovering what you like!
In my wine reviews I try to describe the wine in a simple, unpretentious way. My aim is to help the reader decide if it's a wine they might like or want to avoid.
Of course, I'll tell you if I like it or not, but also, unlike many professional critics, I write with the clear assumption that what you like and what I like may very well be opposite. It doesn't matter. I'll tell you if a wine is sweet and fruit-forward and or dry, tannic and savory and let you decide.
http://torontowineguy.blogspot.com/
Reviews
Möet & Chandon Dom Pérignon Vintage Brut Champagne 2000
Champagne, France$219.95
This review is actually for the 1999 vintage.
When is comes Dom Perignon, you can't go wrong. Even "lesser" vintages are fantastic (provided you enjoy the general style to begin with).
The 1999 was probably one of the best Champagnes I've tasted. I wish I had bought more bottles. It was quite earthy (fresh mushrooms?) and biscuity with tangy, almost grapefruity notes. A slight metallic minerality and a fantastic warming, long finish.
(who's the heathen who thumb-downed this review? grrr.)
5.0 Stars
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Ornellaia 2007, Doc Bolgheri Superiore
Tuscany, Italy$195.95
Yeah this is a pretty great wine...
Super-ripe, very concentrated, uber-complex, endless finish.
Nose is still a bit tight; spicy, woody, coffee, a bit flowery and smoky, (almost like a a tar and roses Barolo thing!).
Full bodied....lots going on here, like a perfect after dinner course: cherries jubilee, espresso, cognac, cigar.
You can taste it the next day.
A tad hot at 14.5%., in Bordeaux this would be more like 13.5% (blame the Tuscan sun!) but that's nitpicking, the density of everything else holds it in check just fine.
A big wine but also quite subtle.
5.0 Stars
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Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Vintage Brut Champagne 2002
Champagne, France$95.95
Lovely bubbles here. Had this in the cellar for a few years, finally opened for my 10th anniversary (2002-2012!). Great nose: pear, mango, creme caramel, sweet, candied fruit. Delicious flavours; fruit salad, sweet and tangy citrus.
This is just starting to show some sweet, oxidizing flavours (which i personally love in a Champagne). This will keep for years.
I'm getting more.
4.5 Stars
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Altaïr Red 2004, Cachapoal Valley
Chile$49.00
A really unique blend (mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with some Syrah and a teensy bit of Carmenére). Nice dark purple with complex aromas of dark fruit, oak/vanilla, herbs. Still young, this is smooth, full bodied and quite delicious. Tons of fruit and plenty of oak and lots of smooth tannin but all in good balance. Long finish.
I found these on sale at Crossroads LCBO for around $54. A fair price for this quality. I wouldn't open another for a few more years.
The '05s are available now and should be equally good, if not better.
4.5 Stars
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Château De Beaucastel Châteauneuf Du Pape 2006
Rhône, France$89.95
This is a gorgeous wine. Spendy yes..but one sip and you understand that character has a price. Big, bold, fruit, earth, smoke and leather...just...wow.
I want a case to hide in the back of the cellar and "forget" about it for a decade or 2.
fantastic.
4.5 Stars
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De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2007, New South Wales, 25th Anniversary Vintage
Australia$31.95
I'm a lover of dessert wines and this is great one. An after-dinner crowd-pleaser this is beautiful golden-yellow with a tinge of amber. Outstanding nose: loads of apricot, fresh peaches, lemon, honey and earthy notes. Just great. Thick, but not quite as mouth-coating as some icewines and Sauternes can be. Loads of complex flavours. Very sweet but with acidity and tang so it's not cloying. Very well balanced. I'd love to taste this in 10 years. A good value for a sweet Semillon of this quality, especially when compared it to similarly styled Sauternes at triple the price.
4.5 Stars
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Domaine Du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf Du Pape 2007, Ac, La Crau
Rhône, France$99.00
92 (now) - 92+? (later)
Like many great wines this is deceptively great. A novice could easily dismiss this wine because it has clearly shut down. But you can sense it's potential. Loads of flavour buried in tannin. I found it almost a bit thin on the palate which is weird because it's not (a gustatory illusion?). I suspect it's because it's nose it so closed & subtle right now. But take a mouthful and swish it around for a while, you'll taste all sorts of complexities dying to get out. I wouldn't touch this for at least 5 years..though 10-20 would be better.
4.5 Stars
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Il Poggione Vigna Paganelli Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 2003
Tuscany, Italy$59.95
Finally pulled one of these from the cellar.
Dark cherries and herbs on the nose. Medium-full body. Tons of flavour and complexity; Dark berries, leather and tobacco, fresh herbs and a slight earthiness. Drinking great now even with plenty of fine tannin left. Outstanding balance, outstanding wine. Thank goodness I have more.
4.5 Stars
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Far Niente Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Oakville, Napa Valley
California, Usa$218.95
Well, as usual for these sorts of over-priced California Cabernet Sauvignons, the Emperor is only half clothed. Big, dense, super-extracted, lot's of flavour, plenty of tannin. An excellent wine, full of classic new world C.S. flavours. But none of this says "ahh...$130 WELL spent!". I've had plenty of wines that I would say that. But this ain't it. It will surely benefit from a few more years to integrate a bit more thought it's perfectly drinkable right now. This strikes me as being a "gift" wine. Something to buy someone rather than buy yourself. Nice label. Will make a cool candle holder
4.5 Stars
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