ottawa foodies

Has anyone come accross this wine (recently) in the Ottawa region? The SAQ on the QC side had some, keyword being had. Talked to all the guys and all of them sold out in less then 3 days. LCBO isn't carrying it anymore, although they do plan on introducing it into their classics line up. The 05 vintage is coming out in November, but really looking for whatever 04 I can get my hands on.

Clos Jordanne - Pinot Noir 2004
(Any of their 5 grades)

For those interested, Clos Jordanne in a Canadian winery, owned by Vincor and a big american company that also owns Inniskillin and Robert Mondavi. Made in classic burgundy style, it's getting absolutely rave reviews everywhere and having tasted their "entry level" wine, I think it deserves all the praises and then some.

www.leclosjordanne.com

Here's what a certain Mr Beckta answered to Where maganize:

Stephen Beckta, WHERE Magazine (Ottawa)

Do you have a favourite local or indigenous ingredient?

"Can I choose a wine? In that case, Le Clos Jordanne Pinot Noir from Niagara."

I think you're going to be out of luck, sadly. I went to pick up some of the 2004 the day it was released to Vintages, and by 1:00pm they were sold out! Luckily, they restocked a month or two later, so I was able to get a couple of bottles then. Stores seem to be really protective of their stock, too: I wasn't able to get them to do any inter-store transfers of it.

What I do now is just drink it at every restaurant I can, since I'm saving these bad boys for Christmas. It is really, truly delicious. Between Clos Jordanne and Flat Rock, we've got some wicked local Pinot Noir now.

Since I first posted this, I was able to buy some online at the SAQ. They were only selling the Village Reserve online, but that was good enough for me. Ordered a case of it, received it and drank it. It is AMAZING!!!! Sounds corny, but haunting is an appropriate word for it.

Sadly, when I checked again, they were no longer available through online purchase, must of went out of stock.

If you're going anywhere on the QC (not Gatineau), there's still a few SAQs that have some in stock (eg. Montreal, Quebec City, etc.).

www.saq.com

MinhD you might want to try Vintages since they may now carry this wine. I was reading this month's issue of Toronto Life last night specifically the feature article 100 things to eat before you die. (Incidentally I now have a long list of establishments to visit on my next trip to Toronto...) One of the items that made the list was Clos Jordanne's 2004 Pinot Noir and they mentioned that there would be a November release at Vintages. I did a quick search on their website but they only have the 2005 vintage listed. Might be worth keeping an eye on their new releases - you never know we might get it in Ottawa yet!

The 2004 vintage is long-gone (good thing I still have three bottles left), but the 2005 vintage is supposed to be fantastic, too. Happy hunting! This release is one of the few where my hunter-gatherer instinct kicks in, full-force. They don't sell bottles at the winery yet, even, and the product consultants at the LCBO who went to visit the vineyard said they only got to taste a grape or two.

The LCBO web site lists nine Clos Jordanne wines but is showing no stores holding stock of any of them at the moment:

www.lcbo.com

It's true! They were supposed to be filtering their way into stores this week, but there hasn't been any movement yet and they retracted the e-mail. I think they're going to be coming in on Saturday.

It's being quietly released this saturday.

Don't know why the little to no fanfare this time.

What's so special about Hawkesbury? They seem to have huge inventory of most of the 2005 Clos Jordannes right now (Friday PM). Maybe they got Saturday's release ahead of schedule. Other LCBOs have naught.

I tried to use Hawkesbury as my source of alcohol last vintage (so in March), and they stonewalled me by saying that "they were all on hold for customers." I may call them on Monday and see if I can arrange to have some set aside for me regardless.

Well that was fast. I was down at Vintages around 5 pm and they said they sold out in the morning (they still had some Chardonnay left, but no Pinot). I wasn't too surprised. Anybody grab any?

I was able to grab 6 of them... Hope to have more luck in Dec when it comes out to the SAQ, it's not as well known on the QC side.

I went to the LCBO on Rideau st. around mid afternoon last Saturday all to find out they sold out at 9:05 am! Apparently a line started forming at 8:30 am. They had the Chardonnay left but no Pinot. Actually the lady that served me told me it is sold out everywhere in Ontario! I guess I will have to try the Quebec side hopefully I'll have more luck...

Don't feel too bad about it, it's a great Pinot, but I think some of the hype is driven from local (Canadian) pride. Is it an awesome wine, but I find that when people say how good it is, they often follow that statement with... "for a Canadian Pinot Noir".

If you can still find it, Flat Rock's Gravity is at least as good as LCJ's Village Reserve or Vineyard line.

Bah! Those people are the enemy of fun. "Good for a Canadian Pinot." Bah.

I'll take my three bottles, and I'll like it. I'd much rather have three of this than a single $75 bottle of French stuff!

:)

Huzzah! Orders are now being filled for the 2006 vintage of Clos Jordanne wines.

You can order them here: www.vincorsecurepayment.com (I hope that link works. If it doesn't, just follow the store link by way of www.leclosjordanne.com)

The good? No need to storm every single LCBO in the region looking for a couple of bottles.

The bad? Prices on the Pinots have gone up $5 a bottle across the board.

The both good and bad side? If you order from the site you have to buy by the half-case, more-or-less forcing cheap winos like me to find friends. However, you can order the Grand Clos wines by single bottles if you go through the LCBO Classics Catalogue: www.vintages.com

Happy hunting!

It's good stuff, no doubt, but those prices and the requirement to buy a minimum of a six-pack certainly give one pause. As for storming the LCBO, don't bother - I just did a search, and there is no Clos Jordanne Pinot to be had anywhere in the province.

I wonder how the 2006's (a difficult vintage for reds) compare with the previous two vintages. I missed out on the 2005's, but I still have some of their 2004 Pinots, and the last time I tried one, it was drinking beautifully. I could be tempted, but there should be a bevy of excellent 2007 Ontario Pinots coming out next year, so maybe I'll hold on until then...

Aw geeze now I'm really wishing I could try this stuff. I'll have to save up my new wine cravings for the Wine and Food Show next month.

BDM - Although I'm sure that they will be released to Vintages eventually, I haven't heard anything about when. The 2005s are just as delicious as the 2004s were, meaning that you're either missing out or not missing out, depending on your outlook on life ;)

BakingBombshell - I think the best way to try them without having to go hunting for bottles (and assuming they're not at the Wine and Food Show) is to wait until they start showing up on restaurant wine lists. I know that both Beckta and the Wellington Gastropub had them last year. Surely there are more that I just don't know about.

Ahha...

Someone mentioned my favourite Foodie thing in Ottawa, Canada's BIGGEST, The Ottawa Food & Wine Show, happening this year at Lansdowne (Civic Centre) from Friday, November 7th thru Sunday, November 9th.

Just 19 more sleeps!
(We go on the Sunday... I can't wait).

F&T: Me too! The Wine & Food Show (or, Food & Wine Show, depending on your priorities :-) is always good fun, and I haven't missed one since... I don't know when! We accumulated so many tasting glasses from the event over the years that we ran out of room to put them, and in recent years we've given up on bringing them home.

We always go on the Friday... for me, it's been worthwhile to take time off work to beat the madding crowd. My one piece of advice for newbies: whichever day you choose to go, make sure you go early - plan to be there at noon, when the doors open.

With the show under new management and in a new venue this year, it'll be interesting to see how it goes...