Andrew Hunter
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Following (8)
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Reviews (319)
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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
Antinori Pèppoli Chianti Classico 2009, Docg, Tuscany
Tuscany, Italy$19.95
I used to like this wine a lot but hadn't tried it in some time. I still like it!
Floral, fruity nose. Medium-full body. Sweet ripe fruit, sour cherries, a hint of chocolate and nice dry tannins. Overall a very well balanced wine and a good value.
3.0 Stars
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Travignoli Tegolaia Riserva Chianti Rufina 2007, Docg
Tuscany, Italy$21.95
Mature and complex nose of licorice, black cherry, mint, perfume and a touch of vinyl (new shower curtain).
Medium bodied, some dark cherry flavours but overall this is quite savoury and tannic with some damp woodiness.
The old-school earthiness may not be your thing but I found this to be a really interesting and enjoyable wine.
3.0 Stars
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Bolla Valpolicella 2011, Veneto
Veneto, Italy$10.95
Sweet, candied and commercial tasting. Medium bodied. Dark fruit flavours with some unripe greenness.
Perfectly drinkable and ok for the price.
3.0 Stars
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Belle Glos Las Alturas Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County
California, Usa$44.95
Opaque in the glass. This sure does not look or smell like pinot noir. Big, super extracted nose of cherries, almost smokey and tarry. Big palate, superextracted jammy wine. Totally overdone in my opinion. New world and fashionable i guess. Some might love this style but this sort of pinot noir is not for me.
3.0 Stars
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Angelo Negro Cascinotta Barbaresco 2007, Docg
Piedmont, Italy$32.95
Tasted this at an LCBO tasting bar. I wrote down: "Candy apple nose. Medium bodied. Sweet on the palate but also plenty of tannin. Interesting wine but not sure it's worth the price to evaluate further".
3.0 Stars
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Domaine Faiveley Mercurey 2010, Ac
Burgundy, France$22.95
Love this wine. This is about as good as Burgundy gets for $22 bucks. Great nose of cranberry, raspberry, sour cherry, mint and an earthy/mushroomy complexity. Medium bodied. Mouthwatering cranberry and sour cherry on the palate plus dry, slightly woody, savoury flavours. Some sweetness, nice slightly sour finish. Some smooth tannin. I stocked up.
3.0 Stars
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Pascual Toso Malbec Limited Edition 2011
Mendoza, Argentina$16.05
Much better than I expected. Often lower priced Malbec gets too big and sweet for my taste but this had quite good balance. Sweet nose of dark berries and some vanilla and anise. Medium-full body with plenty of fruit but a good lean backbone of acidity and tannin. I'd buy again.
3.0 Stars
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Salentein Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Uco Valley, Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina$17.95
Dark berries and a nice touch of tobacco and some delicate perfume on the nose. With air the oak gives a faint sense of vanilla flavoured cognac. Full bodied, flavours quite dense. Long dry finish. Some rustic tannin nicely balances the sweet ripe fruit. Good wine.
3.0 Stars
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Perrin Réserve 2007, Ac Côtes Du Rhône
Rhône, France$15.95
A good mix of sweet and savory, this Rhone blend was up my alley.
Sweet and fruity but with enough herbal notes and a slightly sour, tannic palate to keep it from being new world wine candy.
A good all-round drinker.
3.0 Stars
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Les Hauts De Lynch Moussas 2003, Ac Haut Médoc, 2nd Wine Of Château Lynch Moussas
Bordeaux, France$24.95
Unfortunately this bottle suffered from some cork taint and most went down the drain. Yet underneath the damp cardboard I could tell that the wine was unbalanced and a bit over the hill anyway. Plenty of hard tannin left, overpowering what little fruit remained. Fault notwithstanding, this would have been a decent, if old-school and rustic, Bordeaux to be drunk on the young side. I'd be curious to try different vintage.
3.0 Stars
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