eatvancouver.net

Fishman the Grape

Fishman the Grape pt. 2.1 – Taylorwood Cab/Merlot Tasting
a wine blog

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver writer
Friday, June 29th, 2007

As promised, here is the rest of Post #2, about Thursday’s tasting at Taylorwood Wines in Yaletown. Taylorwood offers free tasting almost every Thursday and Sunday, check them out here. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately to some, they sell only BC wines. This week it was Cab/Merlot blends. This is probably my favorite catagory of wine, though I don’t think BC’s generally stack up well against those from France or California. One reason for this may be that most of these wines are referring to Cabernet Franc as opposed to the expected Cabernet Sauvignon that is the principal grape in many (though certainly not all) Cab/Merlot blends.

Hester Creek Cab/Merlot 2004 $15

This one was surprisingly fruity for a cab/merlot. It was also fairly thin, medium bodied at best, with a fair amount mouth-drying tannin. A nice afternoon wine maybe, or for people who don’t generally like big Cabs.

Tinhorn Creek Cab/Merlot 2004 $17

A lot more body than the Hester Creek, and definitely more what I would expect from a cab/merlot, thanks to the fact that it is 67% Cab Franc. It was probably the closest to a California Cab/Merlot. Seemed like a pretty nice wine for the price; it was my favorite of the bunch.

Sumac Ridge Merlot/Cab 2005 $16

The only 2005 that we tasted, the Taylorwood pourer assured us that it needed at least another year in the bottle. We just thought it was kind of boring, not a lot going on flavor-wise. Maybe it will open up over the next year, though I doubt it is going up in price so there may not be much reason to go to the trouble of cellaring it yourself. I wouldn’t buy this one if you are looking for something for dinner tonight.

Hillside Cab/Merlot 2004 $20

The Hillside seemed to combine the fresh fruitiness of the Hester Creek with the body of the Tinhorn Creek. This wine is 49% Cab Franc and 49% Merlot (the rest Cab Sauvingon) so the Merlot comes through a lot more in this wine. Still a pretty nice wine, but I’m not sure that it justifies its higher price than the Tinhorn.