Opimian Society – Offering C243

C243 – Washington, Oregon, California, Spain, Italy

The Opimian Society^# is “Canada’s wine club” and offers some 500 wines to 15,000 members across the country each year. All wines are selected by Master of Wine, Jane Masters, and sourced from suppliers from all the major wine regions of the world. Wines are ordered and delivered to members via the liquor boards or equivalent in each provincial and territorial jurisdiction (except Nunavut). As a long-time member of Opimian I have had some experience with many of the wines and suppliers, and even visited some of their wineries. Some current (or prospective) members might find my comments helpful in making their own selections – keeping in mind everyone has their own tastes and preferences!

California – Castoro Cellars

Castoro has been a long time supplier to Opimian and I have had the opportunity to sample many of their wines over the years. The Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon on this offer represent my two favourite varieties from this producer. The Cab will reward you with that big Cal Cab profile. The Zin is the real deal as a wine, and not the fruit bomb some of these can be.

California – Cambridge Cellars

Bruce Cunningham really gets Opimian and makes the extra effort we often need from our suppliers. He was even in St. John’s to showcase his selections back in 2006 when we hosted the national Area Reps meeting. The last wine we purchased was the Cambridge and Sunset Sauvignon Blanc 2011 which I can say did not last very long around our place! Unfortunately, that one’s not in this offering, but if any of these are as good as that one, they will be quite enjoyable.

California – Mountain View

Another long time Opimian supplier where the quality of the wine has been up and down over the years. The company has been in new hands for a little while now, and has stepped up their game. Many new Opimians got a start with the California White and Red, and I am no exception – but that was a long time ago now! Butterfly Ridge is another familiar label. I need to sample some of there recent efforts to see how they have progressed.

Spain – Vinoseleccion

Before Vinoseleccion started working with Opimian we had rather poor selections from Spain and Portugal.Since then we have enjoyed some wonderful selections from some great wineries. I am not familiar with any of the specific wines in their listings, although the Sanz label is quite familiar. I have regularly purchased the Sanz Verdejo which has been excellent, so I can imagine the Sauvignon is a quality product as well. If I want Verdejo the one offered might just do.

Spain – Bodegas Bentomiz

I’ve been to Bodegas Bentomiz, perched high up above the Mediterranean coast of southern Spain, along a narrow winding mountain road with plenty of blind corners! Their wines are a special discovery – not cheap, but you won’t find much anything else like them. Without much of a wine-making background they have managed to secure critical acclaim from various Masters of Wine, wine writers, and chefs. The intensity of the muscat fruit in their sweets is amazing, but in perfect balance with the rest of the wine components. One interesting note – they cool the wines to stop fermentation and retain some sugars. The dormant yeast are then removed by repeated filtration. All selections are highly recommended!

Spain – Perez Barquero

The Montilla-Moriles Denominación de Origen in Andalusia may not be familiar. The style of wines made here is very much like those from Jerez (sherry). The usual practices of aging, fortification, development of flor, and fractional blending in the solera system are all present. You will recognize specific types of wine including fino, amontillado, and oloroso.

The main difference is that the predominant grape variety is the Pedro Ximenes rather than the Palomino. It seems this variety works better in the hot interior of the region. As well, the natural fermentation for their fino goes to 15%, so no fortification is necessary. You get very similar characteristics to sherry, with all the fantastic food pairing possibilities.

Perez Barquero is located in Montilla, with extensive facilities, long history, and excellent reputation. Hidden somewhere in their extensive cellars (only the wine-maker and one of the owners knows where) is the single barrel of each of their Solera 1905 (Amontillado, Oloroso, and PX) label, which consistently earn 100 point scores from Robert Parker.

If you have a taste for sherry, you can’t go wrong with any of these selections. If you don’t have a taste for sherry, you need to get some of these are start developing one! (Seriously, these are great for food pairings.)

I’ve been a fan of Spanish brandies for quite some time, and am happy to see Opimian is finally able to offer one again. I have sampled some of Perez Barquero’s brandies and rum, and they are simply marvellous. I don’t recall tasting this particular one, but I am purchasing it from this offering.

# In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of Opimian, a former Area Representative, and currently serve on the Board of Directors of the Society.