2012 1st Half Summary - Intro

At Anchor in English Bay, May 28 '12

The first half of 2012 added a blind tasting of chardonnays, a review of wines from South Africa, a selection from two wineries claiming allegiance to earth day practices, the styles of malbec wines from Argentina and France and sauvignon blancs from Pouilly-sur-Loire, France. Included was a potpourri of wines from General listings (21 reds, 21 whites+) and Vintages (47 reds, 51 whites+) shelves and other sources (4 reds, 6 whites+). In total there were 150 wines from eleven countries.  Click on REDS or WHITES+  for detail listings.

In January I started comparing changes resulting from aerating red and whites using the Vinturi aerator. Then in February I added Vintages' Wines of the Month (WOM) as a focus to determine if these are featured for their quality/value.

Narrowing to just the Reds and Whites, ie. excluding rosés, sparkling and other:

• Of the 72 Reds there were 14 from Argentina, 13 from Italy, 11 from France, 10 from the US, 9 were Canadian, 7 from Australia, 4 from Chile and the remaining from Portugal, Spain and South Africa. 
• Of the 59 Whites 18 were from Canada, 10 from France, 8 from the US, 5 from Italy, 4 each from Australia, Argentina and New Zealand with the rest from South Africa (3), Chile, Portugal and Germany.
• Of the 10 WOMs this period 6 reds were 90+ and good to exceptional values while 3 were below 85.  There were no white WOMs during the first half.

That's a long winded way of saying I've tried to mix things up.

• The Reds averaged $18.12 at bottle.  The Whites+ $17.92 and the Whites by themselves $18.38. Of the 150 wines except for 7 (4 whites and 3 reds) a ceiling of $25 was met and there were 41 good value reds and 25 good value+ whites.  Batting average of 44%.

More detail on Ratings - average bottle price in brackets:

• Of 59 Whites, 12 were rated 90+ ($20.16) and 35 at 85+ ($19.17) leaving 24
• Of 72 Reds, 24 were rated 90+ ($18.98) and 50 at 85+ ($18.03)  leaving 22

• Of 18 (avg $20.11) Canadian Whites, 3 were rated 90+ ($17.95) and 12 at 85+ ($20.78)
• Of 9 (avg $18.52) Canadian Reds, 1 was rated 90+ ($25.00) and 5 at 85+ ($18.17)
• Of 40 (avg $17.60) Imported Whites, 9 were rated 90+ ($20.90) and 23 at 85+ ($18.34)
• Of 63 (avg $18.07) Imported Reds, 23 were rated 90+ ($18.72) and 45 at 85+ ($17.92)

Cheers, Ww