Bernie Visits Toronto--Actinolite: La Mouline, Brundlmayer, Carm, Arns, Others

I was able to join Tran, Jay and Bernie Schwartz for his third night here. Tim and Alissa Burnett were also in attendance, celebrating Tim’s 40th b-day. We were also joined by Tuesday night participant Elizabeth and by Tran’s friends from Judo, Julie and Darren—all were great company and we had lots of fun. Thanks to Merrin and Andrew for the usual excellent service!

The wines:

Bereche & Fils NV Brut Reserve

Salty nose. Some lemonseed, tingle of ginger ale. Really tart on the tongue, driving acidity and salinity, almost searing lemon dampens the mousse. This reacts much better with food, filling out some. Not perhaps my ideal style of champagne, but quite different and interesting nonetheless.

2014 Brundlmayer Kamptal Ries

Aroma has some slate and dab of flint, with tart apple and bosc pear. Solid Austrian—dry, with the peppery hint and lemon extract. The wine itself is pretty forceful to me—the 13 is longer and more elegant but this packs a very solid “something to say”

2013 Pearl Morissette Cuvee Metis Chard

Bits of sweet corn and/or creamed corn filter through the bouquet of florals and pear. Not too deep, actually, but fresh with pear and melon rind. Pleasant wine.

2010 Vincent Girardin Santenay 1er Cru Le Beauregard

Cocoa, underbrush and wild strawberry waft up from the glass. Tran brought this, and it’s better and further along than my nondescript first bottle tried about a year ago. Fruit and earth are both there to be sampled and although there remains a significant bitter thread, it now adds interest. Willing to watch for further development now.

2010 Carm Reserva

Out of mag. A different scent profile from previous incarnations, I get a sort-of anise, sort-of olive/tapenade thing to accent dark plum and ripe prune. Replays are there in the mouth and this is, unsurprisingly, still a bit of a wild thing. Give lots of time in this bottle format, another 5 years at least.

2001 Arns Cabernet

Everyone seemed to take to this. We popped and poured and it got better and more resolved with every minute in the glass. Woodsy and dusty glints accentuate boysenberry and blackberry fruit. This has lovely, lovely balance. Sweet dark red and purple fruit, yes, but also length and elegance and it all feels complete. Long and delicious

2013 Tedeschi Amarone

My nose picks up raisins, candied dates and dried cranberries for the bouquet. For me, it’s certainly bang-on for amarone with quite sweet red berry and red grape tastes. Has decent life to it, it’s just that amarone is not something that appeals to me in general.

2008 Guigal La Mouline

Tim brought this as his 40th b-day celebration wine. He’d never had one. I let out a happy sigh as I took my first sniff. As usual, smells like class. Loads of baking spices, plum pie, some strawberry and even glints of peach and citrus, I don’t really have to taste this. But I do, and the palate is unsurprisingly young and gangly, but with a crown hidden in its folds. All the elements are there for great wine in 8-10 years. A wonderful share, big thanks.

2011 Linne Calodo Nemesis

Slight sugar edge to very black cassis and plum aromatics. A real interesting example—it blasts you on the first sip, but then immediately backs off. And this has some subtlety to it, with neat balsam and light tobacco facets to aromatic replays. Very much concentrates its effort in the midpalate, drops off at the back. I liked this more than a bit.

2015 Austin Hope Cabernet

Bernie brought this. Faint whiff of motor oil to buttress loads of black fruit and a sort of sweetened black peppercorn aspect. Lots of replays in the mouth, crushed velvet feel, but thick velvet. Glad to try my first wine from here.

1974 Rivesaltes

Tran brought this “older-than-Tim” wine for us to share. Grapey nose and some real cantaloupe undertone here. Palate finds relatively pure melon and some coconut milk as well. Not authoritative but not bad at all.

We also had day-open Sauternes, a true rare bird. Bernie had somehow managed to source 3 bottles of the special Cuvee D’Yquem makes for its employees. It is in no way D’Yquem, which is quite interesting, but does have a readily accessible and delicious pineapple, vanilla and citrus character. Really thrilled to have had the chance to sample this.

What kind of a report is this? Barely any context at all for your notes. As usual, I will have to rectify this so people know what was actually going on here. The Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™ got together at Actinolite for its third In Honor of Hizzoner dinner in a row. Our large mixed group consisted of Canadians, American expats, Canadian expats living in the US, and a repatriated Canadian who used to live and study in the US and is now back home all bonding together over the common shared love of food and wine. And boy there was a lot of great food and wine. Let’s hit it:

Bereche et Fils NV Brut Réserve Champagne – A very acidic and crisp champagne with fresh green apple flavors just touched by a leesy accent. Made in the style I enjoy and similar to last night’s Gosset. A touch underripe in the fruit, however, which leaves the searing acidity a bit unbalanced.

Brundlmayer 2014 Heiligenstein Kamptal Riesling – Totally dry but very ripe lemon, lime and pineapple flavors with a medium body. Easily gives more expensive Grosses Gewachs a run for the money at half the price. Outstanding QPR Riesling.

Vincent Girardin 2010 Santenay Le Beauregard 1er Cru – Julie didn’t care for Pinot Noir in general as she finds it too sour. Mike was also apprehensive about this wine as he’d had a previous bottle he didn’t enjoy. It must’ve been off because this is our third high QPR level bottle in a row. Both of them were won over and voiced their approval. This sits perfectly above a too thin and acidic Burgundy and below a too rich Cali Pinot. Deep ruby purple color, medium body, rich ripe Bing cherry fruit flavors, decent acidity, and slight touches of smoke, black pepper and
tannin grit accent the wine. Punching above its weight and price and shows that Burgundy can do rich and big and do it right without going over the top. Glad I have one more bottle of this.

2010 CARM Douro Reserva – Oops, got the year wrong, it’s actually a 2010. That makes the smoothness more impressive because it actually didn’t have the long aging I thought it did and it’s loaded with sweet cocoa and black cherry flavors that were quite similar to the Amarone. What made this interesting was that it became quite creamy when paired with the snow crab which you would think would be a disaster together. Instead, the wine became sweeter and smoother.

2011 Linne Calodo Nemesis – Cali Rhone blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. As expected, it’s Cali big with rich red fruit flavors but it does have a bit of tannic grit for some character. There is notable sweetness, not as dry as the Aussie GSMs I’ve had before but also much more restrained and textured in comparison. Very enjoyable and unlike the Austin Hope was still very consumable with our savory food despite its sweetness.

Arns 2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – This was a more classic Cali Cab than the Austin Hope below in that it was very full and fruit-forward, but balanced out by oak and tobacco and cocoa spices which make it a little drier. Tannins are settled, texture is smooth with nary a hint of grit. Drinks to me like it’s at peak form right now.

E. Guigal 2008 La Mouline Cote Rotie – Who says the French can’t and don’t do big wine? This is all French Syrah and all power! Bear in mind that French Big does not equal Cali Big, this was still underneath that level. Like the Girardin above, it hits the perfect middle stride. Silky but medium-full body, rich red fruit aromas and flavors and a very smooth white pepper accent. Texture is easily as smooth as the Cali reds we had but it also had a decade of age on it. An extremely generous bring by Tim and by far the best Syrah I’ve ever had in my life, bar none. The
few Italian, French and Cali Syrahs in my collection have a lot to live up to now.

Tedeschi 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella – This is a standard in Amarone and has all the requisite characteristics. Cocoa, coffee bean and black cherry flavors mingle together with rich texture but a surprisingly light body. Bernie even guess it was less than the standard 16% ABV and was surprised to see on the label it wasn’t. It was that light-bodied. There was a slight green pepper note on the end that was a little distracting, though. Solid introductory Amarone.

Yquem(?) 2010 Mystery Sauternes – Our mystery Sauternes from the night before makes a return and has had MAJOR improvement over the one day period. Whereas I found it light-bodied the night before, it now has quite a bit more body and unctuousness. The tropical fruit flavors
have also magnified quite a bit. Once again, I vouch for it being actual Sauternes and nothing else.

1974 Vignerons Catalans Rivesaltes Ambré Hors d’Age – My second and last bottle of this outstanding complex sweet wine. I brought this specifically to help Tim celebrate his big 4-0, this was literally the only bottle of wine I had that was actually older than him. Burnt sugar, dried orange peel, raisins, honey, and lavender mix and intermingle on the palate coming and going. Could use a bit more acidity and a touch high on the heat despite being fortified relatively low at 16% ABV. Still, a pair of only minor quibbles. French fortified wines are very underrated and really should be looked at more by those of us who already love Port, Sherry and Madeira.

Austin Hope 2015 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon – This exquisitely fruit-forward juicy wine drank more like a dessert wine than a table wine… so much so that somm and general manager Merrin chose to reorder the wines and serve this with the chocolate sponge toffee mignardise to finish. Literally smells and tastes like fresh cherry pie. It is sweet but not sugary or oaky sweet, it tastes very natural. Smooth texture, no tannin grit at all. It’s big but extremely well balanced in all its elements with a very long finish. Quite elegant in that regard. I loved this. However, I also made the exact comment to the group that it was a fantastic dessert wine posing as a table wine. I’m totally okay with that. Someone who was expecting a dry table wine is not likely going to be.

OMFG. What a great lineup. A dozen different wines and not a corked bottle or a stinker among them. Every bottle was fantastic in its own way. And we haven’t even gotten to the amazing food yet. That’s next.

Dinner started with an amouse trio, starting with the house baked rye sourdough bread and cultured butter, a piece of cured and juniper wood smoked rainbow trout, and a bowl of preserved fermented berry medley.


Next amouse was layered beets and fermented plums topped with house made sour cream and whitefish roe.

Last was a grilled Beach Angel oyster topped with lobster fudge and served with a side of pickled day lillies.


Our mains began with the Rutabega course. Sliced rutabega was dressed with Black Trumpet mushrooms and walnut vinaigrette.

Next up was snow crab in koji rice sauce and dressed with dried edible foraged flowers and tiny foraged cucumbers.

Third up was a pan roasted beet with a fermented apple and spruce oil broth. This was simply one of the most spectacular single vegetable courses I have ever had in my life with a beautiful presentation.

Next was pan-wilted spinach dressed with warm kelp vinaigrette and shiitake mushrooms.

Our final main was a goat meat and dried grains porridge seasoned with fresh dill weed and crabapple powder.

For dessert, we were served red seaweed ice cream topped with foraged red currants with a side of potato beignets and dulce de leche for dipping. I thought the addition of potato to the beignets was brilliant.

The meal ended with a mignardise of Actinolite’s famous chocolate covered sponge tofee dusted with powdered mushroom. Not pictured, here have a look at the delicious beignets instead!

Another truly spectacular meal from Actinolite. TWEC ™ would like to thank Merrin and Andrew for their fabulous service and the entire kitchen staff for their great cooking. We shall return!

Beautiful notes and pictures Mike & Tran…sounds like a wonderful evening. I was very glad to read how well the Arns cabernet showed. They are dear friends and I feel they make one of the most under rated and under the radar cabernets in Napa. In addition, in this era of crazy Napa prices, the wine is a relative bargain!

Cheers!
Marshall

+1 on the Arns Cabernet. Great wines and great people!

Thanks,
Ed

I mentioned that you two were the people who twigged me onto Arns, Marshall. We did have much fun and always great to have Tran’s counterpoint notes, even if he can’t get the year right on the Carm

A bientot,

Mike

Oops. Fixed above.

And no note on the Pearl Morissette Chard?