Opimian Society – Offering C254

C254 falls into the spot in the offering season once occupied by the annual “Special” offering – so-called because it included a lot of high-end and unique products. This offering contains similar selections such as champagne, cognac, calvados, and whisky from France and Scotland. My comments below are based on my experience with previous vintages/versions of these selections, according to my own taste preferences of course!

South Africa

I fell in love with South Africa and the wines of the country on a visit in 2008. I have dabbled with much of Opimian’s offerings, but there have been some new suppliers added recently. I have not yet had the opportunity to try anything from Marianne Wine Estate, but the description of #9446 Pinotage 2014 is hard to resist!

Warwick Wine Estate

Opimian offers a wonderful selection of South African wines, certainly better than you can find at the NLC, and I imagine probably anywhere in Canada. The flagship vendor is Warwick, and I have been buying their wines since first offered through the Society, usually two or three selections each year. My favourites over those years have been #9433 First Lady Unoaked Chardonnay 2017, and #9436 Old Bush Vines Pinotage 2016, and so it is no surprise these are also in the Member’s Choice category. I can also recommend #9435 Cape Lady Cape Blend, and #9437 Three Cape Ladies. Warwick has always impressed me with very well made wines, with excellent flavours and balance, and never a hint of anything not quite right.

A few years ago now I purchased the “M” equivalent of #9439 Vilafonté, Series C, 2015 which has shown itself to be the high-end product its price tag demands. I can imagine the “C” is even better, and understandably regularly earns awards as one of the top wines of the country.

Richard Kershaw

My only purchase of a Kershaw wine was the Clonal selection Chardonnay a few years ago. After a little cellaring, I recently tried a bottle in a blind tasting with a number of like-minded oenophiles. Everyone found the wine impressive, guessing it was a premier or, more likely, a grand cru quality white Burgundy. Keeping that in mind, the price of #9442 Kershaw Elgin Chardonnay Clonal Selection 2016 is not out of place.

Aristea Wines

Martin Krajewski is a very good friend of Opimian with offerings over the years including Songlines from Australia, and most notably, Château de Sours from Bordeaux. His passion for wine and pursuit of excellence has been obvious in the many selections I have purchased from him over the years. This is the first year his Aristea project has been offered through Opimian, and I am confident the wines will be excellent – I will report on at least one of them next year (with #9444 Chardonnay being most likely)!

Groote Post

Groote Post was new last year and I tried their Sauvignon Blanc, which proved to be top notch, and very good value. This year Jane has selected the premium version, #9454 Kapokberg Sauvignon Blanc 2017. Considering how good last year’s was, this one sounds very enticing.

Rhône – Bernard Perrin

Over the years Bernard Perrin has assembled a collection of small but quality suppliers of wines from the various appellations of the Rhône. The selection changes a little from year to year, but I recognize many old favourites in this year’s offering, starting with #9458 Domaine des Romarins 2016. #9459 Domaine Berthet-Rayne, Cairanne, Vielles Vignes 2016 is a wine I have found to be suberb especially after aging it maybe ten years or more (even though others would not recommend it!) #9461 Domaine La Ferme Saint-Martin “Les Terres Jaunes” 2016 falls into the same category.

In an offering from the Rhône you must include a CdP. #9462 Domaine des Cigalons 2016 has been Opimian’s long-standing selection, and it does not disappoint. I am not quite so familiar with the #9463 Domaine du Murinais, Vieilles Vignes, or #9464 Gilles Flacher, les Reines, Saint-Joseph 2016. I bought both of these last year, but have not yet opened a bottle!

Condrieu is a special drink and I suspect that Flacher’s #9465 Les Rouelles will show the appellation well. My previous Opimian Condrieu came from Stéphane Montez, and it was spectactular, so I suspect his #9466 Côte-Rôtie 2015 will be as well.

Alsace – Cave Vinicole de Hunawihr

Hunawihr has been with Opimian longer than I have! There aren’t many wines from them that I have not had in a previous vintage, so I could almost list every single one of their offerings for positive comments. The highlights of this year’s offering for me start with #9473 Pinot Gris Grand Cru, Rosacker, 2016. An Alsation Pinot Gris is nothing like the light (sometimes watery) versions of this grape we often see from other places. If you like dessert wines, or would like to discover how good they can be, then #9474 Riesling, Vendanges Tardives 2015 would be a good place to start.

And just like Pinot Gris, an Alsace Riesling is usually weightier and drier than a German one from just across the border in the nearby Mosel or Rhine regions. The #9475 Riesling Tasting Case looks like a great value purchase which will show you some of the variations terroir can make.

Paul Sapin

Paul Sapin has also been a long time supplier of Opimian, and they specialize in producing value wines with unexpected quality (unless you already know them!) You won’t go wrong with any of the offered selections, but the ones I know and would recommend are: #9476 Paulita Sauvignon Blanc 2017, #9481 Mount Vernon Sauvignon Blanc 2017, and #9482 Kloof-en-Berg Chenin Blanc 2017.

Champagne – Cognac – Calvados – Whisky

It’s unfortunate that Gardet has left the Opimian fold to pursue the Canadian market directly, but it looks like we have a promising replacement. It is especially interesting to see “vintage” champagne selections. I have not yet tried any of the wines of our new Champagne supplier Doyard-Mahé, but I have heard compliments from those who have.

Similarly I have not yet tried any of the Mirabelle whiskies or Domaine Elisabeth and Château Bellevue cognacs. I have had the opportunity of a sip of #9495 Marquis de Saint-Loup Calvados, and while it was quite enjoyable, I have little experience for comparisons.

Opimian’s supplier of Scotch whisky is a one of those little known houses which does not perform its own distillation. It buys select barrels from usually “secret” suppliers, and specializes in blending them to produce a desirable range of products. While single malts now command a large segment of the premium market, blending of whiskies has a long tradition in both Ireland and Scotland. In fact, the best Irish whiskies are blends. I have sipped on all of Opimian’s Pràban na Linne offerings with the possible exception of the #9498 Cùl na Cregan 21-Year-Old. If you are interested in whisky and whiskey, you deserve to try one of these.

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.