Canucks Knock Out the Kings

Seeing as how I was at the Playhouse Wine Festival instead of sitting back with a bottle of La Frenz for Game 5 last Friday, I decided to try and make up for it with a double header of wine Sunday night. The fact that the Canucks were up two games to one and could close out the series left me thinking that I should bring out the big reds. The hope was that a bit of punch and body to the wine would provide that little extra to put away the Kings.

Looks like it worked. (Were it only that easy.)

429. 2004 La Frenz Reserve (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

430. 2005 La Frenz Reserve (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

Reserve is La Frenz's entry into the Bordeaux styled blends. The free thinker that he is, Jeff Martin doesn't cater to the marketing that is the "Meritage" name, but he delivers all the same.

I didn't see breakdowns of the varietals, but the labels say that Martin's Bordeaux blend is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot being the second most prominent component. It was interesting to try the two vintages side by side. I don't know that I would have recalled much of a difference had we tried them on separate occasions. While the overall profile was very similar, I think there was a touch more fruit on the nose and the palate with the 2005.

And, being the fruit-driven kind of guy that I am, I suppose it makes sense that I took a bit bigger pour of the '05 with the second glass.

Don't take me too literally on a more prominent fruit though. Neither of the bottles struck me as big, new world, fruit bomb kind of wines. They were more of smooth Sedin kind of pass than a big Alexander Edler hit (that'll test your hockey trivia).

The end result, however, was that the Canucks indeed won the game and the series. The series of La Frenz wines carried the day in their winning ways and Boo and I clearly won in that we had the chance to drink six of Jeff Martin's wines over the course of a week and a half. Seems to me that the only losers were the L.A. Kings.

Bring on the second round! Now to pick the series winery.