It’s starting to feel like that time of year again…

Camping at Goose Bay. 1955.

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This past Saturday night saw us partying with friends and family for the second night of Rosh Hashanah.  The meal started with the requisite tradition called simanim.  Simanim are a play on words and are a very basic Jewish tradition of using word play to bring out symbolism and actual changes or good tidings.  Our friends brought over two of the simanim, and we took care of  the rest.  The simanim are a yearly rite of passage, and one of my favorite Jewish traditions.  Many of the recipes have been changed to protect the innocent.  My ancestral recipes call for 4 basic ingredients, oil, oil, oil, and some vegetable or fruit and one cooking style – frying.  We decided that this tradition was awesome, but that it needed to be toned down such that it could be enjoyed for years to come, and not just for the few where we are vertical.  So it called for some baking and less oil.  We ordered the symbolic food in the order of Sephardic Jewry, and here they are:

1. Dates or Figs (Tamar in Hebrew)
   1. The symbolism here is that God should end our enemies
2. Broad Beans coated with a mixture of olive oil, cumin, and garlic (Rubya in Aramaic)
   1. The symbolism here is that God should increase our merits
3. Leeks – prepared masterfully by our friends, sautéed in oil and spiced Italian (Karti in Aramaic)
   1. The symbolism here is that God should cut down our enemies
4. Creamed Spinach – prepared masterfully by our friends, creamed with soy yogurt (Salka in Aramaic)
   1. The symbolism here is that God should remove our enemies
5. Sweet Butternut Squash – sliced butternut squash, sprayed with oil and covered with honey, then baked in an oven set to 400 degrees (Kra in Aramaic)
   1. The symbolism here is that God should tear up our evil decrees and read before him our merits
6. Pomegranate seeds (Rimon in Hebrew)
   1. The symbolism here is that our mitzvot (observance of the Jewish laws) be as plentiful as the pomegranate seeds
7. Sweet apples dipped in honey
   1. The symbolism here is that God should grant us a New Year as sweet as honey
8. Fish head – Rock Cod head baked at 350 degrees.
   1. The symbolism here is that in this New year we should be at the head of the class and not at the tail

We always joke that we should try to bring out a head of a lamb instead of a fish head and freak out everyone there.  It would be totally epic, but while it is the preferred manner of implementing the head symbolism, it would fly in the face of “behaving”.

After the fish head was eaten, we moved on to our patented baked herb fish loaf, which we sliced into three-quarter inch servings, and served with the accompanying baked onions, and guacamole.  We paired the dish with a 2006 Goose Bay Chardonnay and followed it with an N.V. Herzog Selection Blanc De Blanc Brut Champagne.  The Chardonnay was solid as good as I remember it from the last time I had.  The Champagne was a logical alcoholic beverage to share with the guys, but the deliver was flawed – maybe literally.  I am not sure, but the wine was clearly flat, fruitless, and acidic.  It’s only saving grace were the few bubbles that we left in the bottle, quite a shame.

The fish was followed by a menu of; Veal with orange peel and stuffed with mushroom and onions, Shoulder pot roast with festive vegetables on the side, spinach Soufflé/kugel, and fresh vegetable salad.  The festive vegetables were cooked with the roast, but at different stages of course.  The shoulder roast was initially seared on all sides and nicely caramelized and then removed.  Diced onions and garlic were then placed in the hot dutch oven and were caramelized until nice and brown.  The meat was returned to the pot, along with half a bottle of wine.  After the meat and wine turned into a nice piece of meat, the potatoes and carrots were added.  Twenty minutes later peas and green beans were added and cooked for a few minutes and then all of this was poured into a shallow pan to cool off and sleep overnight in the chill chest.  After some 24 hours, the meat was removed and sliced, and then placed back in the pan with all of the juice and vegetables, where it would lie until it was warmed up the next day.

To pair with the meats and vegetables we started with a 2005 Herzog Zinfandel – which was a failure, and pulled quickly from the table, but not before it was inflicted upon one of my guests – AHH!  It was followed by a 2005 Hagafen Zinfandel, which was not much better out of the bottle, but after many hours of airing, and long after the guys left the house, it became quite nice actually.  It was a shame as by now three bottles had fallen to the way side, and thankfully, I had a lovely bottle already opened and airing nicely.  This was the 2003 Barkan Cabernet Sauvignon Superieur, as I told the crowd that night, it was at its peak (the last time we had it, it was not nearly as good).  While it was now soft, it was still plush and lush with fruit and the wood and tannins had integrated quite nicely into an impressive presentation of wood, mouth coating tannins, rich fruit, tobacco smoke, and some really nice chocolate.

Two out of five wines, is not a record I am proud of, but the food was solid, and the two wines were enjoyable.  What can I say, you win some and you lose some.  If you grade the evening on the bottle hit count, clearly a subpar performance.  If however, you grade the evening based upon on the friends around the table, the Holy Day that it was, the camaraderie, and food, I think it was downright awesome.  We will always strive to make it better though – next time

The wine notes follow below (in the order they were consumed):

2006 Goose Bay Chardonnay – Score: B+
I must say that this chardonnay is not your run of the mill chard. The fruit on this chardonnay is almost perfumed because of its intensity and the wine is nicely balanced. The nose on this bright straw colored wine is perfumed with rich peach and tropical fruit. The mouth on this medium bodied wine carried the perfumed qualities from the nose along with apple, peach, and lemon. The mid palate is acidic with a touch of minerals. The finish is long with a hint of oak and more tropical fruit acidity. The oak helps to round out the mouth, while the acidity helps to brace the fruit defined mouth. The oak is showing more now and the fruit is slightly fading with the acidity still bracing. Based on my conversation with the wine maker; Philip Jones, the wines never lack from acidity, so this wine will last another year, but start drinking up.

2005 Baron Herzog Zinfandel – Score: B (maybe B-)
Close to undrinkable, at least that was the opinion of many on the table. The boysenberry, and crushed rose petals were over the top and demanded the drinker’s attention, which is a shame. The blackberry, pepper, and oak that lies in the back are nice, but not with that much noise in the foreground and on the lingering finish. The nose is nice with blackberry, boysenberry, rose petals, and oak. The mouth is wrecked with the over the top floral presentation that is followed by enough boysenberry to suffocate a horse. The mid palate is balanced with acidity and oak, but the finish is downhill with more of the same ills. This wine did not improve with time or air.  The wine was not corked or spoiled, but clearly either in a real dumb period or highly flawed.

N.V. Herzog Selection Blanc De Blanc Brut Champagne – Score: B-
Not really impressed. The nose was flat and was actually the best part, with toast, almonds, citrus, and a drop of yeast. That was all they wrote about this wine. The table barely drank it. The mouth was filled with nothing – which was the problem. The best thing that could be said was that it had some acidity, but almost no fruit, and the bubbles were almost flat. Man, a mostly flat Champagne! Anyway, a loser and one that should be drunk quickly. Thankfully there were other wines to take this failure off our minds!

2005 Hagafen Napa Zinfandel – Score: A-
WOW! this wine turned face SLOWLY! This opens in a dull mode, this wine is clearly in a dumb state right now. The nose was flat, the mouth was redolent with boysenberry and oak, but no black fruit to be found. However, after a fair amount of time, like a day or so, the wine opened up to show its true self. The tannins popped out of their coma, the mouth filled out, the nose became redolent with chocolate and tons of fun stuff. Please make sure to open this puppy early and try it every few hours, you will see it change in phases – until it reaches its climax, it was a fun experience, but unfortunate for my guests who never had the chance to taste the real Hagafen Zinfandel.

Once awake and free of its dumb and slumbering state – the nose on this purple to black colored wine is black with ripe fruit, blackberry, mounds of chocolate, spice, sweet oak, and vanilla. The mouth on this full bodied wine fills out with mouth coating tannins that are integrating, but still present. The absurd boysenberry flavors have finally faded and the wine shows a rich, black, and full mouth with blackberry, nice tannins, and semi-sweet oak with raisins. The mid palate shows more integrated tannins vanilla, rich and sweet oak, and balanced acidity. The finish is long and supports the wine’s full mouth with more rich oak, vanilla, and bright acid that carries the black fruit, acting like a bow around this lovely package. It is one crazy wine that is clearly in a dumb state and needs a bit more time to pop out of its state.

2003 Barkan Cabernet Sauvignon Superieur – Score: A
They are all gone, and that is about the only thing “bad” I can say about this wine. We drank it at its peak, and for that I am thankful. If you have one or more lying around — drink up and enjoy, it’s time has come and it is now – RIGHT now!

The nose on this almost pure black colored wine explodes with rich sweet oak, blackberry, plum, dates, and a fantastic impression of effervescent Belgian dark chocolate. The mouth on this full bodied wine is like those wonderful large chairs you see in the movies, plush, soft, enveloping, but still ever present and firm – quite a showing. This was the clear winner of the evening. The mouth follows the nose with blackberry and plum. The mid palate delivers a powerful presentation of rich and concentrated sweet oak, integrated but present tannins, and just enough acidity that plays with the enveloping tannins and fruit, almost like an orchestra. The finish is long and wonderful with more black fruit carried by the sweet oak and tannins, tobacco smoke, and a replay of the chocolate. This is not a beast or a wine that has a statement out loud. Rather this is a concentrated and plush wine, with a quiet demeanor rich black fruit, chocolate, tobacco, all wrapped up in a nice oak box. Quite a wine! I am torn in ways, I am sad I have no more, but happy that I tasted it at its peak, and not on its way down.

With our family still with us, I thought it would be cool to try a Veal Roast.  The roast was pretty simple, except that I decided to make it complex, which was kind of yummy and complex.  I whipped up a batch of caramelized thinly sliced white onions and browned mushrooms.  My mother-in-law peeled the veal roast apart and laid the onion and mushroom mixture into the cavity.  She then wrapped it and placed the roast’s netting back on it so that the roast stayed together.  We roasted it at 350 until it was done.  The roast was a hit and so were the baked gefilte fish, eggplant mixture, and roasted vegetables, the recipe for the rest of the stuff is here.

Veal roast is a light weight meat and so, I wanted to try it with a nice Viognier.  I have spoken a few times about how much I love the Goose Bay Viognier and I must say that the Viognier is still going strong.  I am so proud of myself for opening it a couple of hours ahead of time, and it could have still used more air – crazy.  It paired crazy well with the Veal roast, but could have been colder.  A friend brought over the Petit Castel, so we popped it open and it too was a joy.  The Red Fern Chardonnay and Galil Barbera wines were opened prior to the meal for a wine tasting, and were enjoyed with the meal.

The wine notes follow below:

2007 Goose Bay Viognier - Score: A (no change from previous notes)
The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality. The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors. The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way. I must say, that a nice perfumed nose and mouth while still dry, is great with heavy foods like roasted duck or turkey. But because it is so dry, it fails to stand up to spicy foods.

2006 Galil Mountain Barbera – Score: B+
The nose on this ruby to garnet-colored wine is hot out of the bottle, and has cranberry, cassis, plum, leather and oak.  The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine follows the nose, and is filled with cranberry, cassis, and plum.  The mid palate is mouth coating with soft tannins, bright acidity and nice rich oak.  The finish is long… with oak, leather, and chocolate.  The wine is quite enjoyable, and shows that Barbera can be made successfully in Israel.

2005 Red Fern Chardonnay – Score: B+
The nose on this light straw-colored wine is green with vegetal notes, along with citrus and apple.  The mouth on this medium bodied wine is green with bright acidity, citrus and apple.  The mid palate is creamy with oak, while staying crisp with nice acidity.  The finish is medium long, creamy, with custard and acidity.  The folks at Red Fern have done a good job of not trying to do more with the grapes than nature has given them

2004 Petit Castel – Score: A-
This wine was awesome and totally overpowered the poor veal roast.  Still, the wine was awesome.  The nose on this deep and dark garnet colored wine is popping with blackberry, cassis, currant, oak, and chocolate – lots of chocolate.  The mouth of this full bodied wine carries over from the nose with more black fruit and chocolate.  The mouth is full and velvety and complex with layers of fruit and chocolate.  The mid palate is balanced with just enough acidity to keep it all together.  The finish is long with fruit, pepper, and more chocolate.  Quite a nice wine, but drink up as it is at its peak.

Recently we went to a party and I brought along two bottles of wine.  The wine notes follow below:

2003 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve – Score: A-
This wine was really nice. The nose of this dark purple wine is screaming with blackberry, cassis, raspberry, and oak. The mouth on this full bodied wine is complex with layers of blackberry, cassis, chocolate, and oak. The mouth flows into the mid palate with nice acidity, oak, and nicely integrated tannins. The finish is long with more chocolate, oak, and black fruit flavors.

2006 Goose Bay Pinot Noir - Score: B-
This vintage is now gone It was nice before, but then poof it just died. I tasted this one two times within a short period of time, my bottle and a bottle during a wine tasting. The wine is over the hill and watered down. A real shame! That said the notes follow below:

The nose on the ruby colored Pinot is not as large as it once was; it starts off with coffee, cherry and a bit of raspberry. The mouth on this light bodied wine has cherry, and raspberry. The mid palate is almost bitter with earth and no oak to be found. The finish is acidic with flavors of cherry on the finish. Drink this up now if you can.

This past weekend found our family coming on by for a Friday Night dinner, and we were delighted to see them.  Of course, I had to ruin something, and that was managed by burning my Lentil Soup.  I was so angry, as I was cooking up the vegetables so nicely, they smelled like heaven and the lentils were nicely coated with oil slowly cooking up.  I guess, I did not watch them closely enough and they burned!  What a mess.  I switched pots, but there was no saving it!  At least the roasted herb encrusted chicken that my wife made, along with her famous whole wheat bread, was a hit.  It was great to see the gang again, and in the house to boot was a blast.  To pair with the chicken, we opened a Goose Bay Viognier that I should have opened earlier.  I have posted about this before and I did not follow my own advice – AHH!  Anyway, the conversation around the table was nice and paced, and that let the wine open up to where it was perfect, when we all had just a bit more in the glass

It was great seeing you guys and hope you swing by again soon!  The wine notes follow below:

Goose Bay Viognier 2007 – Score: A
This is an awesome and fun white. When we first opened it I was hoping for the perfume to overpower me and take control of my senses. However, the nose did not open up right away, instead the mouth was full of the perfumed fruit while the nose was hiding behind the mask of fruit and oak. The nose would open later on, the notes here are from an hour or two of air.

The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality. The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors. The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way. I must say, that a nice perfumed nose and mouth while still dry, is great with heavy foods like roasted duck or turkey. But because it is so dry, it fails to stand up to spicy foods.

Wer die Szenerie Goose Bay and Labrador Regional Airports installiert hat und ggf. Probleme mit CTD (crash to desktop) hatte, sollte sich unbedingt das Fix von Al Sibley installieren, welches das Problem behebt.

Aber auch allen anderen sei lt. Al die Installation empfohlen!

Das File gibt es bei FLIGHTSIM.COM unter goosefix.zip und kann problemlos via Installer eingefügt werden.

Al Sibley und Flight Ontario brachten ein sehr schönes Freeware-Paket vom Osten Kanadas rund um Goose Bay heraus. Die gesamte Szenerie steht auf einem 38-Meter-Mesh von Holger Sandmann.

Die Geschichte der Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay begann im Zweiten Weltkrieg mit dem Destroyers for Bases Agreement von 1940. Die USA überließen Großbritannien 50 Zerstörer und durften im Gegenzug Basen auf britischem Territorium einrichten.

So begann die Royal Canadian Airforce im Sommer mit der Suche nach einer passenden Gegend für eine Basis auf dem Plateau, wo der Churchill River in den Lake Melville fließt. Von diesem See leitet sich auch der Name der Basis ab, der westliche Teil heißt Goose Bay. Letztendlich wurde der Ort ausgewählt, da er, über den Hamilton Inlet mit dem Atlantik verbunden, eine günstige Lage für die Versorgung der Basis durch Frachtschiffe aufweist.

Die drei damals jeweils 2,1 km langen Start- und Landebahnen wurden am 16. November 1941 eröffnet, das erste Militärflugzeug landete dort am 9. Dezember. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt waren gut 3000 Soldaten der kanadischen Luftwaffe auf der Basis stationiert, ab dem Jahre 1942 begann die damalige US Army Air Force mit dem Bau eigener Anlagen im Süden der Basis, dafür wurden rund 1700 USAAF-Soldaten und 700 Zivilisten in die Region verlegt.
Der zivile Teil des Flughafens dient vor allem für Inlandsflüge, unter anderem fliegen Air Canada Jazz, Provincial Airlines und Air Labrador von dort. Es werden pro Jahr circa 85.000 Passagiere abgefertigt.

Nach der Schließung des Luftraumes der USA nach den Terroranschlägen am 11. September 2001 in den USA landeten sieben Transatlantikflüge auf dem Goose Bay Airport. Dies waren die ersten Flugzeuge, die nach der Umleitung in Kanada landeten.

Der Goose Bay Airport wird auch oft als Tankstopp von Überführungsflügen von Kleinmaschinen benutzt.

Neben dem wirklich schön umgesetzten Goose Bay Airport findet ihr noch weitere 13 Airfields in diesem Paket. Viele Stunden Flugspaß sind also garantiert!

Hier gibt es das  Freeware-Paket

Well, my nephew and friend are in town (as he studies towards his PhD) and they came on by for dinner.  We openly told them that we were in leftover mode still, but that the food was killer good (unbiased of course).  It was a great time we started off with some Four Gates Chardonnay 2002 (that I had chilling in the fridge), and continued on with the Tagine from Friday, along with a lovely Goose Bay Pinot Noir 2005.  I have strong feelings towards the 2005 version.  It has more pepper and life in it than the 2006 edition.  Of course that is still subjective.  However, the conversation and warmness was just great!  It was a night that we truly enjoyed.  We topped the night off with one of my favorite scotches; Lagavulin 16 Year and a few slices of chocolate cake!

The wine notes follow below:

2005 Goose Bay Pinot Noir – Score: A-
I really love this vintage. The nose on this light ruby colored wine is rushing with cherry, strawberry, and cloves. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is fresh and alive with raspberry, strawberry, and some cherry. The mid palate has hints of cloves while the finish is spicy and long. A real treat. I like this vintage more than the 2006, because of the spicy finish and the perceived fuller body. The wine opens up as it lies in your glass – the finish gets more pronounced as time goes on – very nice.

This past week some friends from out of town came by, as did some from around town.  It was a really nice time.  Dinner started with a dense black bean soup – from the classic Moosewood Cookbook from Mollie Katzen.  It has been modified to protect the innocent, but the core recipe stands strong.  Dinner was sweet roasted summer vegetables, succulent hot pepper lemon roasted chicken, and a mushroom and onion Quinoa side dish.

To keep the dinner within reach we stayed with some robust yet tasteful wines.  The first was a 2007 Goose Bay Viognier, followed by the 2004 Rothberg Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, and finally the 2004 Tzora Single Vineyard Shoresh (100% Merlot).  In case people are not so up on Viognier – I thought I would add would re-post a description and contrast of Viognier and other white wines:

Viognier is a white grape that it is closer in style to a Chardonnay than to a Sauvignon Blanc.   All wines can be operated on – but classically these are the styles that the white wines have:

1) The Sauvignon Blanc – can be as clean lined and crisp as a Sancerre and become fat and a bit ugly like in California, and everything in between. Still the classic lines of a Sauvignon Blanc are crisp clean lines, with intense fruit and floral flavors. If picked early there is more green, if picked too late there is more of a fruit bomb which winemakers turn into a fat wine because of all the sugars – or manipulate it by decreasing the alcohol. It is commonly high in acid and is not meant for a long shelf life – though many a Sancerre have lived long lives – mostly because of the crazy acid and mineral characteristics that come from the Terroir.

2) The Chardonnay is the wine that we all know and can have many different lines. It is a grape which by its nature is screaming to be modified. The grape loses its crispness early on as it ripeness but in its place comes the weight, fruit, and body. The more oak that is applied the more toast, espresso, smoke, and spice flavors get introduced. The grape has less acid as it ripeness but gains more fruit. This is the real quandary with Chardonnay – when do you pick it? When it sits on the vine for too long you get a ton of fruit, little or no acid and high alcohol. To counter act that wineries will dealcoholize the wine and add pH as well. Again – Chardonnay is a grape that is screaming to be managed. However, when done correct you can either get nice green and floral wine with less acidity than Sauv Blanc, but still enough to hold the wine up and enough fruit to carry the day. Or you can make it California style and lose the acid but gain nice weight and body (from the fruit, alcohol, and oak) – but pH added still tastes fake to me.

3) The Viognier grape/wine is a different beast. It is a wine that has distinct characteristics: perfume, floral notes and acidity, but it is a very picky grape. It is very easy to lose to mold and because of this wineries will plant roses next to the grape vines to act as a canary for detecting mildew early on. The grape needs to be picked late otherwise, it does not give the classic perfume that we get from the Muscat and Riesling grapes. Depending on if the wine maker puts the wine through malolactic fermentation (to give it a bit more weight) or let the wine lie in the must (to give it more perfume) or to let it have a bit of wood to give it roundness. In the end, the wine is not meant for long storage – hence the VERY early release dates on these wines and the wine should have the acidity, fruit, and perfume to make it a real winner.

Now back to the wines…

The unfortunate part is that my friends are not white wine drinkers – and this kills me!  As I am trying to grow my knowledge of wines and trying to be more open minded about white versus red wines – my friends are not following along for the ride!  So when I want to pop a white bottle to see what a Sancerre, Chardonnay, Chablis or a Viognier tastes like – I feel like a party pooper on my own table.  This is an issue that I hope to find a remedy to soon.

The thing is that to me the Viognier stole the show.  At first open it was nice – but the heady perfume that would soon be gracing our olfactory receptors was still closed up in the wines cold embrace.  However, as the wine opened up so did the oohs and ahs around the room.  They still did not appreciate the white wine, but they were able to discern that this was not just another white.  The Rotherberg Cellar was the red winner around the room.  It was heady with its own enveloping sensations.  The nose was just over the top.  The second we opened the bottle till some hours later the nose was still pumping and quite nicely as well.  Beyond the nose, the mouth was smooth, full, and round – like a California Cabernet.  The oak was NOT over the top, it accented the wine – it did not define it.  The ripe fruit was obvious and maybe too obvious – but still a very nice showing.  The Shoresh was raw, young and quite tannic.  It was a stark contrast to the smooth Viognier and Cabernet.  It was not a hit on the table and again – I disagree.  The wine is more like a tiger ready to pounce and one that I think has not yet hit its peak.  The Rothberg Cellar and Goose Bay are awesome specimens – but are in my eyes – at their peak.  When Shoresh reaches its peak – in a year or so, it will have its day in the sun.  Finally, I has tasted the Shoresh in Israel at the winery and the wine has made a clear shift from then.  It is still as tannic – but I swear I had a double take when I realized that it tasted a lot like a cab – except for the clear and present licorice in the mid palate.  The score is a bit lower, but one I am sure will return when it reaches its peak.

Tzora Single Vineyard Shoresh 2004 – Score A-
The nose on this garnet colored wine (100% Merlot) is laden with red berries, mineral aromas, cherry, and wood.  The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts with tight tannins – though integrating and  a strong and slightly complex attack of black cherry, and  blackberry.  The middle is filled with green, earth, and licorice.  The finish is long and woodsy.  This has changed since I last tasted it.  If tasting blindly – I would have thought this to be a Cabernet Sauvignon.  The licorice was a giveaway that it was not a cab – but still the earth, dense fruit, and cab like fruit – makes made do a double take.

Rothberg Cellars Winemakers Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 – Score: B+
The nose on this muddied reddish purple wine is crazy and may well be the wine’s best feature.  It is an enveloping nose and one that lasts all night.  The nose is filled with strong ripe fruit fragrance along with cranberry, pomegranate, and fig aromas.  The mouth on this very smooth and full bodied wine is fruit forward with ripe fruit, blackberry and black plum notes.  The mid palate is acidic in its core along with soft tannins and a hint of chocolate and tobacco.  The finish is long lasting with fig and cranberry.
Beyond the technical details the things that stand out to me when thinking about this wine are:

• its acidic core
• its smooth nature
• its soft and integrated tannins
• the lack of overpowering oak – this wine is assisted to by the oak, it does not define it
• the muddied color and over ripe fruit flavors throw me a bit and lower the score
• the wine is at or just over its peak – drink up and really enjoy.  This is not one to lay down for even a few more months.
• The wine felt like it was aged in French oak – no smoke or toasted spice just a nice and round fullness

Goose Bay Viognier 2007 - Score: A
This is an awesome and fun white.  When we first opened it I was hoping for the perfume to overpower me and take control of my senses.  However, the nose did not open up right away, instead the mouth was full of the perfumed fruit while the nose was hiding behind the mask of fruit and oak.  The  nose would open and so I will say that the notes here are from an hour or two in – with the difference being the deep and almost striking perfumed nose that showed itself later.
The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas.  The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality.  The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors.  The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way.  This in contrast to a previous post, where the acid was overpowering and not well integrated with the wine.

Beyond the technical details – this wine too has some nice take aways for me:

• The wine has oak but again in a supporting role – like it should be
• The wine is acidic to its core and here the acid truly integrates and lends a large assist to the wine
• The wine is perfumed in a way that also balances well with the oak and acid
• Finally, this too is a wine to enjoy now and for a few more months.

I know what you’re thinking. Another blog entry that has something to do with school vandalism or school threats or anything remotely linked to school? Yep. Again as I was browsing around CBC, I found a story that really made me click fast to get the details. The headline was “Threat leads to Goose Bay high school lockdown: RCMP”. Anyway, on to the story.

Mealy Mountain Collegiate in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador was locked down for approximately 20 minutes Monday (yesterday) after a student allegedly threatened a teacher. Students were kept inside their classrooms and doors were locked. A 17-year old male student was arrested and is expected to appear in court with charges of uttering threats.

Well, there’s a story to brighten up your Tuesday morning. The increased frequency of school-related incidents in the province is beginning to worry me… what about you? [via CBC]

Recently tasted these wines as part of a tasting and here are the notes:

Chateau Camplay Bordeaux Superieur 2003: A-
The nose on this mature claret colored wine is filled with floral aromas, blackberry, eucalyptus, and sweet oak.  The first thing you notice about the mouth on this medium – full bodied wine is that it is complex yet approachable.  The wine has many layers and facets to amaze you and to delight you with every sip.  The mouth starts with a complex mixture of blackberry, oak, soft tannins, and cassis.  It follows with notes of sweet wood and more black fruits.  The finish is long and satisfying.

Goose Bay Pinot Noir 2006: A
The nose on the almost claret colored Pinot is chuck full of coffee, oak, cherry and raspberry.  The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts with a cherry attack, followed by a large serving of oak and raspberry.  It culminates in a piercing symphony of red fruit and nice spicy wood.  This is definitely a wine that stands up well to almost any dish.