A New Season...That Doesn't Involve Hockey

It may not capture quite the same city-wide excitement of the Stanley Cup playoffs but, for many, the arrival of the spot prawn season hits all the same notes when it comes to the Vancouver food scene. There's an opening weekend festival, line-ups at the fishing docks, special menus at scores of restaurants and plenty of finger licking good shellfish.

Count me in!

As this post happens to hit another milestone in this Wine Odyssey, it's fitting that we enjoy our first spot prawns of the season with one of our favourites BC wines.

800. 2009 La Frenz Riesling (Naramata Bench - VQA Okanagan Valley)

After having tasted a whole array of BC wines, the La Frenz Riesling was one of the wines that Boo and I served at our wedding/tenth anniversary party a couple of summers back. (I know, how do you have a wedding and a 10-year anniversary at the same party - but that will have to remain a complicated story for another day.) So, it's not hard to understand that this wine has been a tasty treat for us for some time.

I'm glad to say that the 2009 vintage is still up to par - and is a worthy bottle to serve up as #800 on The List and as a pairing for the spot prawns Boo picked up at Granville Island earlier today. A little olive oil, garlic and a splash of Riesling - both in the pan and in the glass - and we were set.

One of the hallmarks of Jeff Martin's Riesling is that he leaves a touch of residual sugar to counterbalance the natural acidity that standardly shines through with the varietal. This slightly off-dry note can disagree with many but I particularly enjoy it and it came to good use with the sweetness of the spot prawns. Without that "touch of honey," the acidity might have been a bit much for the delicacy of the prawns.

A little more of both please...