Last week I wrote about a new program for smartphones that will let you scan the labels on wine bottles in order to pull up instant wine reviews. The technology is there, but the infrastructure is still lacking: at this point, most wine bottles don’t have the proper kind of “2-D” barcode to allow this to happen. But you can get a sneak peek into the future at this weekend’s Wine and Cheese Show, where all the wines being poured will have these barcodes that will take you to a WineAlign review.
Hopefully more wineries will come online — some of our local ones are already moving in this direction allegro con brio. The wines of Chateau des Charmes are all coded for smart phones, and this storied Niagara property has created a helpful primer [PDF] on the topic. The rumour on the streets is that Jackson Triggs is planning a major label reboot in the near future, and this will also feature the proper 2-D barcode.
But the wineries may design these barcodes so that they only take your browser to the winery’s website, which is much less useful (for the consumer) than redirecting you to a neutral reviewing site. The situation is fluid. If you visit wineries in Ontario or abroad, I suggest you wave your BlackBerry in the winemaker’s face and tell her or him to get with the program. Is this polite? Perhaps not. But since when did a BlackBerry make anyone more polite?
To round off my discussion of WineAlign and its budding technology, I’ll leave you with a few of my reviews from that site:
Ortas 2008 Tradition Rasteau, Southern Rhone ($15.00 [Ed. note: No longer available], Vintages #998716)
This good-value red wine has the distinctive (and entrancing) nose of the Southern Rhone: oily black pepper, dried herbs and slightly baked fruit. It’s medium-bodied in the mouth and a little simple; the palate offers raspberries with a hint of more raspberries. Nevertheless, it’s got good structure and is an excellent candidate for short term aging. A couple years has brought out an excellent earthiness in other vintages. 87/100
2008 Candidato Oro ($7.75, LCBO #523811)
This is a decent, cheap Spanish red that follows the first moral precept that governs both men and wines: it does not harm. It is not complex or particular rich, but it offers a food-friendly structure supporting a pleasant raspberry character. Pizza or burgers are in order. 86/100
Baron De Ley 2008 Blanco ($12.95 [Ed. note: No longer available], Vintages #145995)
Green melon and a touch of spritz are the primary traits of this white Spanish Rioja. It is slightly sour character that doesn’t quite merit the adjective “dry.” Upon closer examination, it has the dubious virtue of offering the intrepid drinker of a number of complex flavours rarely encountered in a bottle of wine, including asparagus, aluminum and balsamic vinegar. 82/100
Matthew Sullivan is a civil litigator in Toronto. He blogs weekly here on lawandstyle.ca. The Short Cellar column also appears in the print edition of Precedent. Matthew can be reached at matthew@lawandstyle.beta-site.ca. Follow along on Twitter: @shortcellar.