2013 Cave Spring Estate Bottled Gewurztraminer – Vintages 302059 – $17.95 – ****+ – Dear Gewurztraminer, Why do you insist on breaking my heart? I know there isn’t much left of you after a couple of very cold winters, but isn’t there some way we can compromise? Why do you have to go away. You keep teasing me with bottles like this delicious wine from Cave Spring. You bring me a bouquet of roses when I first pour you in my glass and then you take me on a tropical vacation somewhere warm with flavours of candied ginger and lychee. With your perfect acidity you leave my palate clean almost as if you were never there, but I will never forget you.
2014 Chateau des Charmes Gamay Droit – Vintages 346742 – $17.95 – ****+ – This is my favorite vintage of this wine is recent memory. This wine is meaty and frankly just a little big on the mid palate. You almost forget that you’re drinking what is supposed to be a lighter red wine. Gamay always brings a conundrum to the table — Do you drink the wine right now because it tastes good? or do you wait a few years to see how it matures in the cellar? There is no wrong answer to this question. That being said Gamay continues to be underrated as a wine that will age well in a cellar. This wine has the structure to go the distance. It should hold onto it’s youth with bright fruit for a few years in the cellar but will evolve into something interesting over the next decade. Pair this with virtually anything from Salmon to Chicken to Duck to Steak.
