Gold Medal Plates – St. John’s

Gold Medal Plates rolled into St. John’s on Friday past with its culinary and wine competition, entertainment, and fund-raising efforts. Proceeds from this and similar events across the country, and the national final, support the Own the Podium program for Canada’s Olympic athletes.

The focus of the evening was the dishes prepared by the seven local restaurants and chefs in the culinary competition. Each of these food preparations was paired by the chefs with a Canadian wine. The culinary judges award points to each dish based on how well the wine pairing works with the dish, as one of many factors. There were additional Canadian wine, beer, and spirits available during the reception and entertainment portions of the evening. Canadian wineries, brewers, and distillers generously support the Gold Medal Plates program, and their contributions are recognised by awarding a Best in Show at each event.

I was the chair of the wine-judging panel for the St. John’s event, which also included Tom Beckett, Andrew Facey, Jeremy Bonia, Jennifer Murray, and Martin Verhoeks. We judge the wines on their own merits, while the culinary judges consider the pairing with the chefs’ dishes in their determinations.

There were four wines from British Columbia, two from Ontario, and one from New Brunswick. The Okanagan Valley swept the wine competition wining all three top spots, beating out selections from Ontario and New Brunswick:

1. Tinhorn Creek, Oldfield, Cabernet Franc 2012 – medium red in colour; wonderful complexity in the nose with bramble fruit and wood; lovely balance with acidity and smooth tannins – My Score: 16.5/Very Good
2. Sandhill Small Lot Sangiovese 2011 – typical varietal colour; delicious fruit nose; a little more tart and lean than I would have preferred – My Score: 15.5/Very Good.
3. Tantalus Pinot Noir 2013 – lots of colour, tannin, and aroma for a pinot noir; a big wine – My Score: 15/Very Good.

The Tinhorn Creek was offered by Chinched Bistro and was well paired with a chicken-based dish. Although a cab franc might be an unusual choice for chicken, this combination worked well.

The other pairing wines included: Raven Wicked White Riesling/Gewurztraminer 2015, Niagara; Arrowleaf Cellars Gewurztraminer 2015, Okanagan; Cave Spring Pinot Noir 2014, Niagara; and Happy Knight Black Currant wine 2015, New Brunswick.

After the judging, we were able to taste the wines paired with the various dishes. The Tantalus Pinot Noir paired with Tavola’s moose terrine was my personal favourite as the best wine and food combination.

Wine Notes

The NLC’s Mount Pearl store next to Sobey’s offered a special public tasting on Sunday afternoon promoting a sale on four quality Bordeaux wines. The tasting included some bread and cheese and the wines were well worth trying.

Château Beau Soleil 2008, Pomerol (NLC Last Chance $31.55) – full fruit, tobacco and cedar aromas, gritty, forward tannins; this wine will take some time to come around – Score: 15/Very Good.

Château Tronquoy-Lalande 2009, Saint-Estèphe (NLC Last Chance $45.14) – black fruit aromas, juicy acidity, tannins resolving nicely, already approachable – Score: 15.5/Very Good.

Château Belgrave 2011, Haut-Médoc, 5^th Cru Classé (NLC Last Chance $36.22) – sweet juicy fruit and cedar, good acidity, tight tannins, still young – Score: 15.5/Very Good.

Chevalier de Lascombes 2010, Margaux (NLC Last Chance $36.14) – big cassis fruit in aroma and mouth, bright fruit in the mouth, deep purple red, juicy acidity, silky tannins still resolving but quite approachable already – Score: 17/Very Good. This is the second wine of Lascombes, the Château wine will be absolutely fabulous!

This tasting, tiny as it was, still showed that the 2009 and 2010 vintages are to be sought out and cellared for long term enjoyment.