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
Henry Of Pelham Reserve Off Dry Riesling 2008, VQA Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula
Ontario, Canada$17.95
Slightly different than the '07. This has a bit more of a sour citrus, apple juicy tang and less honeyed sweetness.
A very good wine and a great value. I always have several of these on hand in my white wine fridge.
Great sipping on it's own and goes well with slightly spicy food.
3.5 Stars
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Corte Majoli Amarone Della Valpolicella 2006, Doc
Veneto, Italy$33.95
This Amarone was a mess. Already starting to brick on the rim it's "evolving" fast. I don't know if i tasted an off bottle (I doubt it) but this had a really odd, volatile nose (cabbage stewed in nail polish?) and a palate to match. This was somehow both over-ripe and under-concentrated. Too much alcohol and not enough flavour to balance it.
Overall: just weird.
In it's defense, the bottle I tasted had been open for a day (though properly re-corked). Still, a respectable Amarone should still taste great the next day even if left open on the kitchen counter.
Drinkable, but why bother?
3.5 Stars
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3 Rings Shiraz 2007, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Australia$18.95
Decent Shiraz, but overall I found it too sweet and too extracted. Fairly one dimensional. Nothing wrong with it as such, just not my style.
3.5 Stars
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Hardys Bankside Shiraz 2008, South Australia
Australia$14.65
88+
Another great value from Hardys. Medium-full bodied with plenty of Shiraz flavour without being over-extracted or having too much mass-produced sweetness as some inexpensive Aussie wines are prone. This was most excellent with prime rib on a bun.
3.5 Stars
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Rustenberg John X Merriman 2005, Wo Simonsberg Stellenbosch
South Africa$27.95
(opened aug/'11) Wow, this was worth waiting for.
Dark, full bodied. Fantastic nose of candy apple/confectionary (Nibs!) with some herbal, leather and ouzo-like anise overtones. Sweet on the palate but this is in no way cloying or candy-like (thank goodness!). It's extremely well balanced by a strong backbone of tannin, brisk acidity and plenty of savory flavours: Blackberries, sour raspberry, coffee, licorice and heady, alcoholic heat.
Old world meets new...I loved this wine.
Years of life left in it too.
Cautiously curious about the '07...
3.5 Stars
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Château Camensac 1995, Ac Haut Médoc, 5e Cru Classé
Bordeaux, France$54.95
I waited a bit too long here. A really good Bordeaux that's a bit past it's prime.
Lot's of sediment required careful decanting. Delicate nose typical of aged Bordeaux: Dark berries, slightly floral, cedar, pencil shavings. Bouquet dissipated quickly. Medium body, very well balanced, but the fruit has certainly thinned out. I think this peaked around '05-'08 and has been slowly fading since.
I would certainly buy this again.
3.5 Stars
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Château Le Caillou 1998, Ac Pomerol
Bordeaux, France$52.95
This wine didn't quite have what it takes to make it this far.
It has aged fairly well but it's past it's prime.
Brick-brown color. Some oxidative notes, woody, dusty stale-smoke nose. Fruit has dried out into leathery, earthy notes. Some fruitcake flavors. Interesting but average.
In my opinion a mediocre wine is best drunk young while it still has some life left.
This is an over-the-hill, totally drinkable, if mediocre, Bordeaux and not at all worth paying $50 for.
3.5 Stars
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