2 Merlots (end of Wine & Chocolate)

So it's early April and I'm finally finishing my coverage of February's Days of Wine and Chocolate.  It seems my pesky job and MA program are interfering with my drinking and blogging.  Our final two wineries of the festival both featured their merlots: Joseph's Estate Wines and Colaneri Estate Winery.  Chris and I actually agreed on everything about these two stops!

	Wine	Staff	Atmosphere	Chocolate	Passport Value
Chris' Choice	Joseph's	Joseph's	Joseph's	Colaneri	even
Jan's Choice	Joseph's	Joseph's	Joseph's	Colaneri	even

THE WINES AND THE CHOCOLATES

Joseph's offered its 2007 merlot reserve with dark chocolate mint.  Tasting the two flavours separately, we didn't think they would pair well, but they actually complimented each other quite nicely.  We will certainly explore other combinations of merlot and mint in the future; there might be lamb involved too.  As for the taste, the initial fruitiness was followed by a hint of licorice.  Perhaps the most noticeable feature of this wine, though, was its quick, dry, tingly finish, something Chris strongly prefers in any wine.  Joseph's doesn't distribute its wines in the LCBO.  The 2007 Merlot Reserve is available at the winery for $13.95 per bottle.

Colaneri combined its 2009 'pensieri' merlot with a very rich, moist tiramisu.  The wine itself had a big peppery nose but its initial taste was unpleasantly sour.  Once the cream in the tiramisu broke through the rather high alcohol content (13.9% vs Joseph's 12%), the taste changed dramatically, complementing the dessert's coffee flavour.  The overall flavour of the wine was of Christmas pudding: currant, cherry and spice.  It also had a much longer finish than the one we'd tasted earlier.  Although I can't say I disliked this wine, I certainly wouldn't pay the $30 / bottle that Colaneri charges.

THE STAFF AND THE ATMOSPHERE

It's difficult to compare the atmospheres of the two wineries because they're so very different.  Joseph's has the look and feel of a country general store: quaint and friendly with lots of natural sunlight and pine.  In addition to wine, it sells lots of accessories and interior decor but the store is very well organized to avoid feeling junky.  Colaneri, on the other hand, mimics an Italian villa.  Unfortunately, the faux finishes of stucco and brick on the exterior, together with the enormous size of the building, cross the line from glamorous to gaudy.  One nice feature of the interior is that the second story mezzanine overlooks the steel fermenting casks.  However, the mezzanine, which houses the two tasting bars, shares the overdone feeling of the exterior with an excessive amount of dark hardwood and granite counter-top.  A quick scan of its wine shelves revealed consistently high prices, similar to those at Tawse.  I suppose that's a positioning tactic, implying the wines are of similar quality, but I'm not convinced yet that they are.