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!
And to be in the same room as we swirl, sniff and taste too!
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.
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.
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:
And here are the full scores from the evening:
Please see the original tasting notes for these outstanding nine wines (including our evening's Bonus Wine) below: