Opimian Society – Offering C258

Here are some of my thoughts on the current Opimian offering, based on my past experience with some of these wines and suppliers, and of course, based on my own tastes!

Austria

Höpler

Wine from Höpler has always been a favourite Opimian offering for me. Their Grüner Veltliner is a revelation of the possibilities of the grape – this is not quaffing wine at an outdoor café. I usually buy a case like #9697 every second year. While the GV is great, I have found their Rieslings (represented by #9698 here) to be spectacular – I measure the quality of other Rieslings against their wine. They age very well, and develop those petrol aromatics which I find quite attractive – a great food match with anything flavoured with rosemary.

The #9699 Rosé Célestia and #9700 Zweigelt have always proved to be quality wines when I have enjoyed them at events and dinners. You may be surprised by the set of aromas and flavours in the red. The only wine from this selection that I have not tried in a previous vintage is the #9701 K7 Cuvée, but it looks interesting.

Höpler makes fantastic sweet wines which will rival anything you can get from Sauternes, Alsace, or Mosel – I have confidence #9702 Trockenbeerenauslese is no exception.

Germany

Stepp & Weingut Pflüger

White wine from Germany has seen extremes in popularity in our markets over the last few decades. These semi-sweet substitutes for soft drinks eventually fell in favour as people turned to more serious wines. The well-made whites of the country, whether sweet or dry, have always been delicious, especially Riesling, the king of whites (according to some).

Opimian has had many suppliers from Germany during my time. So I haven’t had much opportunity to try our current two suppliers, but I hope they will stay with us for a while – their offerings look special. Of special note are the several red wine selections. Red wine from Germany was practically unknown in Canada until recently, so these will be new territory for many.

The wines that caught my eye this time are #9686 Riesling vom Saumagen, #9687 Pinot Blanc, #9691 Pinot Noir “Buntsandstein” from Stepp, and #9695 Michelsberg Riesling from Pflüger.

Italy

In this offering we are seeing the fruits of Opimian’s efforts to diversity and expand its range of suppliers from Italy. Avenue, our long-time and top-notch supplier is represented along with a number of newer suppliers offering a wide range of interesting selections. Italy will now be featured in two offerings each year, so this is probably only half of the possibilities from the one of the top three wine producers in the world.

Avenue

I will start with Avenue, whose facilities in Alto Adige we visited in 2010. Besides their own products, Avenue has acted as an agent for small wineries across the country to make their products available to Opimian – so there have been very many selections over the years.

I am familiar with several selections in this offering. I have tasted #9726 Vitevecchia, Dolcetto d’Alba and #9732 Querceto at events and dinners, and both proved to be good value, quality wines with clearly Italian heritage. #9737 Falanghina may be a white grape variety unfamiliar to you – but this is well worth trying – delicious!

One of my favourite wine regions of all Italy is Ascoli Piceno with its Rosso Piceno wines made from blends of Montepulciano and Sangiovese. The fruit and power of the Montepulciano is accentuated by the acidity and aromatics of the Sangiovese. I buy the #9735 Pontemagno every year it is offered. Now if only they would include an Offida DOCG from the same region!

Two other wines from Avenue which interest me are #9734 Verdicchio and #9736 Montepulciano d’Abrruzo (almost as good as Rosso Piceno!).

Cinciano

Cinciano is not a new supplier, but has only recently joined the Opimian family. One of my first purchases from them was an unbelievable Vin Santo which many have mistaken for top-notch Sauternes and similar sweet wines – sadly it is not offered this year.

We bought #9739 Cinciano Bianco last year and it lives up to its description in the Offering – a well-made, tasty white wine. I look forward to the opportunity to taste their Chianti wines at some point, especially #9742 Chianti Classico Riserva.

The Wine People, Winetraders, La Vigne di Sammarco, Poggio Graffetta

These new suppliers have only been around for an Offering or two, so I have not had as much opportunity to taste their selections. When I was the local AR, and purchasing for a dozen events a year, I had access to a lot more wines than I do now!

But I have tried both Winetraders’ #9708 Macramé Primitivo, and The Wine People’s #9712 Sogatia Chianti Riserva. The Primitivo is every bit a juicy red wine, but is not one of those overwrought jammy versions. The Chianti is one of those that has recently restored my interest in the region, which I had often found to be too thin and sour for my taste, in the past – ripe fruit flavours!

I am always interested in new varietals (to me) such as #9709 Verso Sud Susumaniello, and #9716 Nero di Troia. I have heard good things about #9711 Dea del Mare Prosecco so I bought it last year, but have not had an opportunity to open one yet! #9720 Solemnis also has a good reputation, and I have enjoyed wines made from Grillo, such as #9721 Graffetta Grillo.

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). Disclosure: I am a former member of the board of directors of the Opimian Society and former area representative.