Two years and two months since we were last here at The Faculty Club in downtown Toronto. Then, we were tasting 2009 Montalcinos; today we're tasting 2013 Californian Cabernets. And one forgets just how pretty our event space is for tasting!
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And to be in the same room as we swirl, sniff and taste too!
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But onto the wines: eight wines from California's most fabled wine regions, Napa and Sonoma, from the 2013 vintage. In addition, Con-nois-seurs Wine Imports generously contributed a premium Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from their portfolio, 2019 Bucella Mica. Were you able to spot this younger wine amongst our 2013 vintage?
Our guest speaker: Brooke de Nobile is a Wine Specialist with Con-nois-seurs Wine Imports and she took us through these Napa and Sonoma Valley wines of California.
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Sonoma and Napa have a similar history going back to the 19th Century and there exists a 'sporting' rivalry between the two regions. They like to maintain their differences: Sonoma is a coastal region but with a farm mentality that is eager to develop more unique wines; Napa is unified in its ideology and creates more of a cult following around its wine. Both express a great deal of individuality whilst noting a certain amount of overlap. Napa is warmer creating a higher viscosity, whilst Sonoma is colder which creates more minerality. 2013 had a long and warm Summer making some good fruit in the glass and creating an approachable vintage to taste and compare today.
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And here's another plus for wine tasting at the Faculty Club: the appetizers to accompany these complex and deep wines! Delicious. The notes of stewed fruits, leather, vanilla and tobacco on these wines was an exceptional tasting experience - and in the presence of others too. We hope you enjoyed the evening!
Here's our lineup:
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And here are the full scores from the evening:
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Please see the original tasting notes for these outstanding nine wines (including our evening's Bonus Wine) below: