InterWined.com

Liquid Refreshment

23

Jan

Weekly Whine & Cheese #3: Never Too Late to Say You’re Sorry

Sean Sellers  in White Wines, Viognier, Chenin Blanc , , ,

Despite British Invasion band The Zombies’ famous lyrics to the contrary, it’s never too late to say you’re sorry.

In fact, it’s about bloody time.

Take our first subject, Canada: We at InterWined.com have long suspected that it was the strange brew of jealousy and envy that drove the great majority of Canadians to settle within a few hundred kilometres of the US border, rather than the inhospitable weather conditions of the McKenzie brothers’ ‘Great White North’.

And, now, thanks to the pioneering Canadian journalist (and Colin Mochrie-lookalike) Anthony St. George of the CBC newsmagazine 22 Minutes, InterWined has proof.

Thank you Mr. St. George for your brave and heartfelt apology; thank you Canada for showing that it’s never too late to say you’re sorry. InterWined forgives you.

Now to subject number two: InterWined’s review of the 2007 Fairview Charles Back Chenin Blanc Viognier. Charles Back is one of the most well-regarded winemakers in South Africa and the man responsible for introducing the Viognier grape to the country. His wines, such as the popular Goats do Roam, regularly receive excellent reviews and the 2007 Chenin Blanc Viognier is no different.

Many reviewers have commented on its strong melon-fruit nose and full flavour. Well, InterWined isn’t most reviewers, and, in defiance of one of its guiding principals, must complain that the 2007 Chenin Blanc Viognier is one of the most disappointing wines it has tasted in a very long time.

The nose is pure grapefruit (one of InterWined’s least favourite fruits) and the mouth-pucker lingers on palate, where it is joined by hints of black pepper and an alcohol sting. At 14.5%, the 2007 is a whole percentage point higher than the 2006 — and you can taste it.

Alcohol creep, as it is sometimes called, is nothing new. Nor is it necessarily a bad thing, when winemakers can successfully balance the wine’s alcohol with its acidity, but it definitely isn’t a good thing, when the winemaker can’t, whether it’s the more common 12% or something much higher.

For InterWined.com, the 2007 Fairview Charles Back Chenin Blanc Viognier isn’t a good thing: it’s wine by the shot. And, for reviewing a wine it didn’t like, InterWined says, “Sorry”.

May Canada’s bravery and InterWined’s honesty prove an example to subject number three. At a recent event, InterWined met an aspiring journalist looking for a good wine recommendation and curious about copyright protection of InterWined.com’s content. (More of that on Friday’s ‘Blow the Bank’…) In the meantime, know that it’s never to late to say you’re sorry.

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