Trialto Wine Group shows off its crown jewels

By John Schreiner

October 23, 2010

In July this year, the Trialto Wine Group Inc. was formed by the merger of three wine agencies to create what is said to be the largest independent wine import agency in Canada focussed just on premium wine.

“Wine is the bond that keeps us together,” the company declares on its web site. “There may be money to be made in beer, spirits, coffee or donuts but we don’t care: we are a wine company.  The company was formed on the founders’ passion for wine and our employees work with us because of this commitment to wine.”

The merger was really a corporate streamlining since the agencies had common ownership since 2002. The three were Altovin (formerly known as Winspear), Liquid Arts and Calibrium. The merger brought a staff of 45 under one corporate umbrella.

This staff includes some notable wine experts, among them David Scholefield. A former portfolio manager with the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch, he is legendary for his knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, fine wineries around the world.

The list of wineries represented by Trialto is long and notable. In the past week, the agency hosted tastings across Canada with 18 of its premium producers. It was an impressive show, firstly, because there were principals (owners, winemakers or export directors) behind each of the 18 tables.

This is the same approach that the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival requires, and for good reason. Principals talk about their wines with knowledge and passion that is rarely matched by the employees of the local agent. Yes, there were plenty of Trialto employees in the room who could have done justice to the wines. Even so, having principals made the tasting special.

Secondly, the wines in the room were good to outstanding, judging by the tables I was able to visit in the few hours I had available.

Two of the wineries were from the Okanagan: Kelowna’s Sperling Vineyards and Naramata Bench’s Poplar Grove Winery.

Owned by winemaker Ann Sperling and her family, Sperling Vineyards began selling its wines last year through restaurants and wine stores. A tasting room is planned on the family’s Kelowna vineyard, likely for next year.

Ann’s family has grown grapes in the Kelowna area since 1925. The family vineyard that supports this winery includes Riesling vines planted in the 1970s. One of the winery’s signature wines is its 2009 Old Vine Riesling ($29.99), one of the five best dry Rieslings in the Okanagan. The wine begins with aromas of lime and grapefruit which carry over into the flavour, along with hints of minerals and petrol. The wine has good weight on the palate, bright acidity and long finish (91 points).

The Sperling 2009 Market White ($16) is a delicious, aromatic white wine, a blend of Pinot Blanc, Bacchus and Riesling. It is a bowl of tropical fruit with just the right kiss of sweetness. The finish is wonderfully refreshing. (90).

Poplar Grove was one of the original cult wineries of the Okanagan, a small producer of high quality wines. A few years ago, founder Ian Sutherland took on a couple of partners who, with 100 acres of vineyards, are ramping up production. Poplar Grove finally has enough wine to sell across Canada, which is why Ian has just secured Trialto to represent the winery.

The wines he showed at the tasting included Poplar Grove’s 2007 Syrah ($29.90) which won a Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence this year. This is a classic Okanagan Syrah, with hints of pepper mingling with the aromas and flavours of plums and black cherries. (90).

Ian also showed to excellent 2006 reds. The Merlot 2006 ($29.90) is full but elegant, with aromas and flavours of blueberries and black currants and a luscious, ripe texture. (91).
The Legacy 2006 ($49.90), the winery’s flagship Bordeaux blend, is another wine of great elegance. The spicy berry aromas and plum and black currant flavours are framed subtly with oak and ripe tannins. Approachable now, it has plenty of ageability. (92).


The international vintners on the Trialto cavalcade include Sergio Reyes, the proprietor of Geo Wines of Chile and the former export director of Santa Rita. The strategy of this 10-year-old company is to represent wines from niche producers, including his own label, Chono. The wines he showed included Chono 2007 Elqui Valley Syrah ($17.99). This is a delicious, gamy red with spicy red fruit on the nose and flavours of cherry, plum, leather and earth. (90).

The price of that wine and of the flagship Chonos San Lorenzo Estate 2005 ($34.99) are a reminder of how competitive Chilean wine prices remain. A firm, complex red with notes of leather, cedar and black licorice, this wine is a blend of 50% Carmenère, 35% Syrah and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon (89-90).

The Australians in the cavalcade included Bruno Tait, the managing director and winemaker for Tait Wines of the Barossa Valley. He showed three reds, each with an astonishing 16% alcohol that was not evident because the wines are so packed with concentrated fruit. The 2008 Tait Ball Buster ($28.99) is, to speak Australian, bloody good. It is big and chewy, tasting of plums, prunes, leather, minerals (88-90).

New Zealand was represented by Matt Thomson, the winemaker at Delta Vineyards, a winery in Marlborough. He was showing not Sauvignon Blanc (which everyone knows this is well done in Marlborough) but Pinot Noir. The Delta 2007 Hatter’s Hill Pinot Noir ($34.99) is one of those pretty Pinots that one just falls in love with. It has lovely notes of strawberry and cherry and a seductive, silky palate (90).

From Portugal, there was Luisa Olazabal, managing director of Quinta Do Vale Meão, a Douro winery. She showed three reds, including a spectacular Quinta Do Vale Meão 2008 Douro ($99.99), a ripe and juicy red with the vanilla flavours of good oak and with a long, satisfying finish (90-92). Of course, she also poured the Quinta Do Vale Meão 2008 Vintage Port ($84.89) – big, rich, mouth-filling with earthy, plummy, licorice flavours (92). You are supposed to age vintage port but this is so delicious that, if I had a bottle, it would not make it past Christmas.

I think you get the message. Trialto’s wineries put on a great show.

goodgrog@shaw.ca

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