Of wine geeks and foreign affairs

Jake Richards’ lifelong passion for food and wine has been nurtured over the years by employment at pizza parlours, wine shoppes, luxury hotels, fine dining restaurants and an educational, multi-faceted stint at a winery for a season.

He is a graduate of the sommelier certification program from Niagara College as overseen by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers and is a member of the CAPS Ontario chapter based in Toronto.

For more information about Richards, visit Grape Expectations.

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When people discover that I’m a certified wine geek, the questions that get asked the most often are, “What’s your favourite wine?” and, “How did you get into the business?”

My answer to the first question I imagine will always be the same, and that is quite simply, it depends on my mood, and the food that might be involved.

The answer to the second question also varies greatly on my mood at the time it’s being asked and how comfortable I am with the person asking it. The short version is usually a whitewashed version of the long version which can go on for hours if anyone wanted the whole ugly truth of it all.

The end result is that after all of these years tasting thousands of wines and spending endless hours poring over hundreds of books, I am proud to admit that I have only scratched the surface in this quest for deeper wine knowledge and that I will always be searching for interesting finds.

The evolution of the wine industry is thrilling to observe, and I am immensely proud to support a vibrant wine-making community in Ontario—and one that grown so quickly in such a short time. While there are a number of wineries in our back yard that I am very familiar with, there are new ventures starting up and, with the occasional smaller experienced operation finding some rare shelf-space at the LCBO, I often need to get up to speed on some local wine tasting. That said, I’d like to invite you along with me with me, here on Waterloo Region Eats, so we can learn together.

At times these insights will involve detailed visits to wineries, interviews with the people responsible for getting those bottles onto our tables, random tasting notes, periodic rants, sometimes useless information, and fuzzy cell phone pictures.

So, here’s a little sample—and quite a tasty one too.

I first heard about The Foreign Affair Winery in the spring of 2008 and was instantly intrigued by how the relatively new addition to the Niagara Wine Route was creating their wines. Having planted 16 hectares in the Sub-Appellation of Beamsville Bench, owners Len Crispino and his wife Marisa had a clear vision for what they wanted to accomplish with their new venture, which was heavily influenced by a few years of eating and drinking in the splendour of Italy and an admiration for the wines of Giuseppe Quintarelli.

The appassimento winemaking method—an Amarone specialty of the Veneto in Northeastern Italy—is a very labour intensive and costly endeavor, though one that can be quite rewarding when all goes well.

Appassimento literally translates to the drying or “raisening” of the harvested grapes which reduces water content and concentrates sugars. In Italy the traditional grapes used include Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara.

In Canada? Well, with the exception of one other winery experimenting with the process at the time, no precedent had been set, so the Crispino’s were free to create their “Canadian stylistic interpretation with locally grown vinifera varietals.”

Finding The Foreign Affair at that time proved to be quite challenging. Being the early days of their newly constructed tasting room in a building on the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre property, there was little to no signage pointing the way. Had it not been for a few dozen blue plastic drying racks sitting out in the rain, I’d likely never have found the place.

Entering the building I was greeted by the sound of Gregorian chants and transported to the welcoming charm of an Italian Villa that served for the retail area. Len Crispino soon greeted me and we eventually found ourselves touring the various climate-controlled rooms that served for cellars and enjoying barrel samples of everything they were in the process of making.

My findings with the Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay (all made using a 20 percent blend of appassimento juice) was largely that they retained the typical acidic backbone of what one would expect of cool climate varietals, only softened and exhibiting a silky texture that provided to the wines a surprising amount of weight. The Chardonnay was as good as any high end white Burgundy at twice the price and the other two quite frankly need to be tasted to truly comprehend the concentration and long lasting finish involved.

The Pinot Noir and the Cabernet Sauvignon were eye openers as well. To this day, anyone that I feel needs to be convinced that Ontario red wine isn’t all flabby, diluted and tasteless swill usually gets a swift and hefty dose of the Foreign Affair Pinot Noir to help change his or her mind. Aged in new French oak barrels, coupled with firm tannins and a slightly higher than average alcohol level, these reds are made for longevity.

Tasting the 100% Amarone-style Cabernet Franc was an epiphany for me, which explains why, almost three years later that I still recall with precise clarity the impression the wine made on me that day. The seductive allure of dried fruit, berries, and herbs on the nose was followed by a smooth caress across the palate and a long rich finish that embraced me in a warm blanket from tip top to tippy toe. It is undoubtedly their flagship wine, and it has every right to be.

With the most recent addition to the team of winemaker Ilya Senchuk, and with this past near perfect growing season of 2010, it will be interesting to taste the wines from The Foreign Affair in a couple of years.