Welcome to Carolyn’s Tasting Room, an event series here at Access Luxury where you can taste exciting wines with critic Carolyn Evans-Hammond. Join in and discover for yourself that you don’t need to spend a lot to get a great tasting wine. You just need to know which one to buy.
During this episode, we taste a flight of wines that could sell for more.
Here’s the program:
2022 Doppio Passo Grillo DOC Sicily, Italy
2021 Les Jamelles Cabernet Sauvignon Pays d’Oc, France
2020 Ricasoli Rocca Guiccarda Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, Tuscany, Italy
2020 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha, D.O. Campo de Borja, Spain
Pick up the wines and taste along. So you can drink better and learn how.
Check out this link to catch Carolyn talking the principal for Les Jamelles: https://youtu.be/Ai3JbsHKAzg?feature=shared
Hi I’m Carolyn Evans Hammond and welcome to my Tasting Room Carolyn’s tasting room is where you can taste exciting wines with me and tonight we taste a flight of wines that could sell for more than they do wine insiders know that prices often have more to do with Market forces
Then the liquids themselves a truth that’s easy to see when you taste broadly and comparatively so this segment is devoted to Best Buys really undervalued gems so the flight includes the 2022 dopo Paso Grio doc from sicy ity the 2021 leel cabern s from the south of France the 2020 rasoli Roa
Garda anti classical Reserva docg from tesany and the 2020 BAU tros garnacha from Spain let’s Taste so the first one in our flight is agrio g r i l l o it is a native grape variety from Italy and this wine comes from so it’s sunlit sundrenched and delicious and if you’re not familiar with gillo this is a great wine with which to get
Acquainted it is you know it sells for less than $14 in Canada and less than 15 in the US so it’s a great buy and I think you’ll like it so pour yourself a glass and taste with me first notice the color you know this is it’s pale straw
Sort of similar to the color you’d expect from aino ggio so you know it’s not deep in color this is stainless steel fermented so you know we’re not looking for any Oak here give it a swirl and a sniff Now isn’t that interesting so unlike pinio which is sort of all lemon
Lime this has that citrus note but it also has lots of stone fruit do you notice that sort of like really ripe Peach as well as white peach and apricot and do you notice a light smoke a light stroke of something green sort of a little bit of damp herb or something maybe
Basil that’s there too so what you notice with this wine is you get that you know variety of complexity on the nose and Palette and that’s where the value lies so let’s have a taste and see how it um expresses itself on the palette did you expect that I bet you
Didn’t looking at it you’d think it was a a bright crisp clean refresher it has that but it also has weight and breath doesn’t it I mean it blankets the palette and saturates it saturates it well maintaining the Poise and the lift of a good crisp white from Italy and
That’s the charm of this wiim notice that it ripples out everything we found on the on the nose echoing on the palette you’re getting the stone fruit all those Orchard fruit notes for sure but there’s lemon and a lemon zest note that emerges on the Finish as well as some salinity and some
Stoniness lending gravitas this is the kind of wine that’s fantastic with everything fish so baked fish broiled fish grilled fish yes poached prawns absolutely very easy very versatile it’s low in alcohol at around 12.5% and yet there’s a whisper of sweetness just enough to make it really friendly as a cocktail style Wine so the second one iner flight is one I really like it’s pure Cabernet s from the south of France and one of the things about the south of France is it can really deliver great value for money it’s not Bordeaux it’s not burgundy it’s not the rone it’s not champagne it’s
Doesn’t have quite quite the same cache if you like but it’s developing real cache among those in the know for the wines at pack value for money and this is one of those wines so pour yourself a glass it’s the Cabernet know we do know going in that small portions of this
Couvet spent some time in Barrel so we’ll be looking for a little bit of that influence but you’re probably thirsty so pour yourself a glass notice the color great depth of color sou the France is warm and sunny and you can can see the ripe fruit just in the glass so
Give it a nose isn’t that yummy so much going on but it’s beautifully sweet fruited this is not a sweet wine but there’s definitely a confected note to me it’s black forest cake that wonderful you know cherries po poached in liquor black dark sponge note of cream somewhere
As well as Savory notes of pepper corn hint of cinnamon so lovely Lots going on a Dusty note too sort of like dusting of cocoa powder delicious right boy I mean now this is a wine that’s not expensive it sells for less than 17 in Canada and
Less than 11 in the US so it’s not expensive but it drinks beautifully so have a sip and let’s parse it apart technically streams in Pallet drenching great typicity this is Cabernet sool so you’re getting that velvety plushness for sure there’s it’s full bodied but you’re not getting any
Alcoholic Heat at the back of the palette because there’s so much fruit stuffing and because it’s Cabernet you’re getting the ciss you’re getting that black curve note you’re getting as well poached Plum and a few of the spicy notes we found on the nose and what I
Love here is it lingers for ages on the finish with a final little note of you know Walnut or maybe um hazelnut or something like that again that’s the wood expression delicious this is the kind of wine suddenly I want to fire up that barbecue
And now we head to Tuscany Italy for a bottle of Cy Classico Reserva by Rick isoli a very trusted producer there very respected so pour yourself a glass you’ll immediately notice the color it’s lighter than the last wine now Cabernet so has depth of color this you know it’s
KY and KY Classico is sanio vasi which is a thinner skin grape with less color being imparted and we see that immediately there’s a transparency here that you didn’t find with the last wine and that’s the typical color of sand oesi this is 90% sand oesi with just a
Splash but 10% Mero to add complexity and that’s allowed in the docg regulations adds a little bit of something so give it a swirl and a sniff you see what I mean now this wine sells for around $25 in Canada and around 20 in the US and yet the nose
Alone smells like it’s a far more premium bottle it’s just so it’s Savory you know so we’re getting nuances of chuder salt truffle maybe an earth damp Earth and yes there’s the dusty cherries that are always associated with KY or sanio vasi but there’s so much more going on
And that right there is a mark of quality so have a sip and let’s see how it how it speaks to us isn’t that beautiful elegant swaave complex but understated absolutely koi the mark of sophistication is unmistakable this it’s not just wine this tastes like experiential art because you don’t want
To start talking about exactly what you’re tasting because it shifts so quickly and there’s so much going on and that is why I had to feature this wine in the flight it’s beautiful now let’s also talk about the structure do you notice that nothing sticks out no acidity acidity no
Sweetness no alcoholic heat No Tan it actually is polished tasting and sphere like that wholeness that seamlessness that Mark of impactable balance is absolutely quality and this is the kind of wine if you ever want to elevate a pizza night this is your Bottle the last one in our flight is pure garnacha which is a grape Variety in Spain that’s usually not considered as serious if you like as tempero but absolutely can be and I think this is a testament to that this is a wine that has 15% alcohol so we know going in it’s
Full bed and Rich but I don’t think it’s out of balance whatsoever it’s bone dry 2 gram per liter and it’s undervalued it sells for less than $22 in Canada and around 15 in the US so great by pour yourself a glass I can’t wait to taste
It with you first notice the color great depth of color now garnacha or granach in the in France tends to be very juicy very easy drinking that’s the approachability for which it’s known but I think we’ve got more than that going on so great depth of color which
Suggests again you know depth of fruit this is made from Old Vine garnacha and that’s one of the reasons we get such concentration and on the nose do you like that strawberry gam brown sugar this is a dry wine Cherry preserves raspberry koolis all of those wonderful red berry fruit for sure but
There’s also under underpinnings peppercorn sort of like red licorice as well as black lorish do you get that graphite so lots going on and every time you approach and give it a swirl it offers you something new again a mark of quality especially at this price point let’s have a
SI such a pleasure to drink the structure is smooth it’s bright it’s polish tasting nothing sticks out but do you notice how it sweeps in quenching refreshing all those charms of garnacha and then then it starts unraveling it starts you know spinning out all of these layers of flavor that you don’t
Expect it’s even still going on for me I’m getting Black Earth right now I’m getting roasted mushroom I’m getting grilled beef are you getting these things I love that now tasting is very personal it’s very experiential and it’s going to link to everything you find in your memory bank mine may be different
Than yours but the cool thing here is that there is so much going on so much to link to and that right there is a charm of Fine Wine this is the kind of wine that if you want you know if you want to impress your guests you can pour
It and they’ll love it I have poured this for friends and they’ve they’ve loved it it’s also a great reason for tapa Night so there you have it a flight of Wands that could certainly sell for more which one did you like best let me know and don’t forget to like And subscribe because I’m coming right back with another flight of delicious wines here on Carolyn’s tasting room so you can drink better and learn How