As the years tick by and the tastings, dinners, lunches and meetings pile up, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no longer any meaningful relationship between the price of wine and its quality. When I ask the people who sell wine for a living about why prices seem to be constantly on the rise for everything from California cult wines and super-Tuscan reds to the latest from the Okanagan to fancy Bordeaux the answer is always the same — there is no “real” price for wine anymore.
If it’s true that making a great (in every sense of the word) wine for $10 or $20 is next to impossible, all that changes at $30 or $40. Anything is possible at plus-$30; the only trick is to sort out the pretenders from the players. For many consumers that task is next to impossible in a wine store and only slightly easier in the glass. For the best results my advice is to follow the passionate producers.
To that point, often while visiting what are considered some of the “best” wineries in the world, I spot photos of the owner standing with California icon Robert Mondavi. When I inquire as to how the photo came about, inevitably the story goes something like this: "We met Robert Mondavi years ago while he was touring our region and he (Mondavi) convinced us to pursue our passion and dreams to produce high quality wine."
For just as many years I marvelled at Mondavi’s ability to figure out which people in each region had the right piece of dirt and the potential to make great wine. Then the penny dropped.
It turns out Mondavi was always attracted to the driven, passionate people. He may not have known what the future held for any of these aspiring wine growers, but he was damned sure that great wine is always made by the most passionate people, and that’s how he sorted them out.
I’ve looked back over my notes from the last year in search of the most passionate people I’ve met and I’ve connected that to a specific wine, hoping to share with you bottles you can count on to deliver.
First up is Pascal Jolivet, a Frenchman from the Loire Valley with a burning desire to convert everyone he meets to a committed sauvignon blanc drinker. His regular Pouilly Fumé, and Attitude label are terrific choices but his passion is the mineral scented Pascal Jolivet 2006 Sancerre ($38). Buy it, cellar it, drink it and revel in Jolivet’s ability to produce delicious white wine with seamless acidity.
Paul Hobbs makes wine in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma when he’s not too busy making one of Argentina’s iconic reds, Cobos. Famous for crafting unfiltered and unfined wines, often fermented with native yeasts, Hobbs is crazy about single vineyard wines. He also consults at Toso, where his Magdalena 33 Barrels Selection Malbec ($90) reflects his fervour for red wine. This massive, rich, savoury, spicy, floral, black cherry, plum-flavoured red bleeds passion.
Winemaker Axel Heinz lives and breathes the terroir of his Italian amphitheatre hillsides at Bolgheri, which is home to his super expensive Tenuta Dell'Ornellaia Ornellaia and Masseto wines. But the trick with this passionate producer is to check out their entry wines such as Le Volte 2005 ($33). Heinz has blended sangiovese, merlot and cabernet sauvignon into what is a mini super-Tuscan, at a third of the price, packed with smoky, tobacco, eucalyptus, floral, meaty, black cherry notes throughout.
But passion need not mean expensive.
In a little over eight years, Jean Claude Mas has put together a fabulous lineup of labels under the umbrella Domaines Paul Mas in his home region of Languedoc. The brainchild behind Arrogant Frog, the studious Mas takes his winemaking a lot more seriously than he takes life and the result is a sort of New World mentality imposed on Old World vineyards. Check out the not so arrogant Arrogant Frog Ribet Red Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot 2005 ($13) with its snappy red screw cap and label. The 55/45 blend grows between the Mediterranean Sea and the Hérault Valley, lending it a fragrant, balanced, sensible character.
Italian maestro Piero Antinori continues to drive his family to reach for the Tuscan stars as he effectively revamps the entire family portfolio focusing more than ever on each wine’s origin. Case in point, Pèppoli 2004 Chianti Classico ($28) . Peppoli is a balanced wine with fragrant floral red fruit notes and a dash of syrah and merlot for spice and gloss. Never fat, it's built for the countless bird and/or meat dishes of the Tuscan kitchen.
The new king of Spain(ish) wine is Telmo Rodriguez. His passion is originality, his goal to explore traditional Spanish techniques and sites and somehow invent a true modern version of Spanish wine. His summer gift to B.C. is the Telmo Rodriguez Basa Rueda Blanco 2006 ($17) . The Rueda region remains undervalued as a producer of delicious white wine such as this fresh, crisp elegant sipper with lemon-lime, passion fruit, green melon, butter and quince flavours.
In the nearby Okanagan Valley, winemaker Pascal Madevon at Osoyoos Larose spells passion t-e-r-r-o-i-r. From the very first day he set foot in the Okanagan in 2001 he has worked to understand his magnificent bench over looking Osoyoos Lake. His signature wine is the Osoyoos Larose 2005 that often needs five to seven years to mature in the bottle. In the meantime, Madevon has released a second label that is made to drink earlier for those who can’t wait. Pétales d'Osoyoos 2004 ($25) , a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, cabernet franc and petit verdot, is a little softer and would easily work with some barbecued beef this summer.
Passion — it comes in many colours in the wine business, but you’ll find most of it inside the bottle, exactly where it should be.
Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer who makes his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more of his thoughts on wine log onto www.gismondionwine.com
