2001 Bottles - A Wine Odyssey

I'm Still Here. Honestly.

2012-01-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

A couple of regular readers - yes, I guess there are at least one or two - have asked why I haven't posted anything since Wine Blogging Wednesday 73. Indeed, the wording was more like, "What, are you on the wagon? I'm tired of seeing nothing recent; why don't you get your act in gear and post something?" Well, actually, I have been posting away. It's just that all the entries had been started before my toast to WBW73 and, accordingly, they show up with an earlier "publishing date."

I just felt it was more important to participate in Wine Blogging Wednesday than it was to wait until I caught up with everything.

As a result, it means that, until I get around to posting a post-Jan. 18 wine, (and I still have about another 25-30 wines to go), you have to scroll down past WBW73 and its Spark recollections.

My next problem, of course, is going to be that a call has been put out for WBW74 and it's a neat topic as well: Sparkling Wines for Under $25. I better do some serious catching up or no one will ever thinking I'm posting anything new.

Best get to it, I guess. Later...

Wine Blogging Wednesday 73 - Spark

2012-01-18T05:13:00.001-08:00

I was a late arrival to Wine Blogging Wednesday. Indeed, my first post wasn't until WBW65 and the whole collective effort seemed to lose steam shortly thereafter. (I hope it wasn't something I said!) For those of you who aren't in the know, Wine Blogging Wednesday is an online wine gathering conceived over six years ago by a New York blogger, Lenn Thompson, as a monthly, virtual conclave. The concept is simple enough. It's been previously recapped as, "people interested in wine, the world over, would coalesce each month around a single theme." Each month, a different host blogger determines a topic for that month. Anyone interested submits their postings or e-mail comments to the coordinator. Those musings are then consolidated and shared.

After a hiatus of almost a year, The Corkdork has proposed a revival to get those juices flowing again. WBW73 was announced as "Spark" and The Corkdork urges us all to "revisit the wine that turned you on to the infinite wonder of the world of wine." One joy of Wine Blogging Wednesday is the variety of approaches that all the bloggers take. There may be one common topic, but the array of responses can astound. This time around, I'm breaking the mold myself.

I don't think I can "revisit the wine." I can, however, definitely connect with "Spark" as a theme.

Once people discover I'm a real wine fiend, I'm often asked, "What's you're favourite wine?" It can take some effort to convince them that I'm not avoiding the question when I reply that I don't really have a favourite wine. For me, the enjoyment found in a wine is more that just what's in the bottle. Rather, it's a mix of the story and romance behind the wine, the surroundings you find yourself in, the people you're sharing the wine and moment with and, of course, the liquid that's in the glass. That combination of factors is pretty much the raison d'être of my blog, but it's also the reason why I can't really pinpoint a specific wine.

As a means of answering that "What's your favourite wine" question, I'd been planning on posting a look back on five of my favourite memories where wine played a critical role in capturing the moment. My hope was that the post could show what a "favourite" wine might be for me. Today's WBW topic is a perfect opportunity. All five occasions happened before the start of this blog and, except for one exceedingly special wine, I can't even say what the specific wines were. They all show how wine plays an integral part in adding some "spark" to my life though.

Not surprisingly, one of our favourite drinking buddies, Miss Jaq, features prominently in this first reflection. Long before gay marriage was a reality in Canada, Boo and I had a commitment ceremony for friends and family. Miss Jaq was in Europe at the time and couldn't attend. She promised to make up for it with a special gift when we were scheduled to catch up with her in Amsterdam later that summer. Boy, did she deliver.

Miss Jaq treated us to an evening cruise of the Amsterdam canals. She was told that there was food and wine on the boat; so, we didn't have dinner beforehand. Little did we know that the food was a bit of processed cheese and crackers and that the wine was nothing to write home about. There was a red and a white on each table and that was all that was memorable about the wine. However, most of the tables weren't occupied and that made for a whole lot of opened wine that seemed to migrate from table to table.

We quickly got into the habit of kissing every time we passed under a bridge. If you've seen the Amsterdam canals, you know there's a bridge at the end of every block. That made for a lot of kissing - and all of those kisses were inevitably followed by a sip of wine. All the other tables quickly joined in on our bridge tradition and by the end of the cruise, we'd been drinking wine out of Miss Jaq's new designer shoes and there wasn't much wine left on any of the tables.

I guess it goes to show that you don't need a $50 bottle of wine to build a memory around.

On the other end to the scale though, there are some wines that can never be forgotten. I'd decided that my 50th birthday was going to be a low key affair - a few friends over to our place for cocktails in the garden and dinner at Pear Tree, our favourite restaurant in Vancouver. Another of our drinking buddies who's found throughout this blog, Tyrant, raided his substantial cellar to bring along his last bottle of 1982 Penfolds Grange, one of the icons of Australian wines. This wine I remember - not only because we don't often get the opportunity to drink a wine of this pedigree but because I still have the label as well. We tried a number of lovely wines that evening but the Grange stood out - even after close to 30 years in the bottle. It was as flavourful and sound as any wine you'd like to try and it still had a depth to it that very few wines can match. It's one wine that everyone at my birthday still reminisces about.

Australian Shiraz's have definitely played a big role in sparking my interest in wine, but while the next wine was enjoyed in Australia, if memory serves, it was a Tasmanian Pinot Noir. Back in 2002, Boo and I were lucky enough to fit in a short visit to Tasmania and perhaps our most memorable activity there was a day trip to Wineglass Bay. It was mid-week during the Australian spring and the Tassie tourist highlight wasn't all that busy - particularly once you got past the initial viewpoint. We only ran across one other pair of hikers that were willing to make the hour long trek from the viewpoint to the actual beach - and that was on our way back from the beach.

We took along a picnic lunch and had virtually the entire beach to ourselves. There was a small group of folks at the other end of the beach but they were still maybe a kilometre away from us. What more could you ask for? Your own private beach, a picnic and the aptly named Wineglass Bay. Any number of wines would have fit the occasion and provided a "spark."

Next up is another once in a lifetime sip with Miss Jaq. Boo and I visited her when she was working in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and we took a bit of weekend excursion with her to Liwa, an oasis town on the edge of the Saudi Arabian border, the Empty Quarter and the Arabian Desert. A little sparkling French Champagne (does it really matter which one?), endless dunes that hit heights of over 300 metres, a desert sunset and one of your best friends. That's what memories are made of.

My final "spark" involves twinkling lights as opposed to sparkling wine. Rome is the scene for this memory and, again, I couldn't hazard a guess as to the wine we enjoyed. I know it would have been Italian - after all, "When in Rome..." - but it could have been any red from anywhere in the country. Our hotel was located on the Aventine - one of the Seven Hills of Rome - and there was a deliciously named park, the Giardino deli Aranci (the Orange Garden) only a block or two away. The park offered a glorious panoramic view of the city centre and the Vatican, but it was decidedly quiet for Rome and we sat on the cliffside wall and toasted La Dolce Vita as the sun set and the city lights appeared.

And there you have it. No single "spark." I apologize for that, but life is, hopefully, full of memorable sparks - and, for me, there's often a glass of wine involved. I rather think it would be a little sad to only have "a favourite wine." After all, this blog is all about discovering the endless appeal of and approaches to wine. I might not have tried an actual bottle of wine to add to The List, but here's to having all sorts of favourite wines.

Hearty thanks to The Corkdork for coordinating another gathering of Wine Blogging Wednesday. I'm rather hyped about this potential start of a new run. To all the other bloggers and blog visitors out there, "May the spark be with you!" I hope to see you at WBW74.

Fortissimo

2012-01-07T08:33:00.001-08:00

One of the Okanagan wineries - or should I say two - that I've been wanting to learn more about are LaStella and Le Vieux Pin, sister wineries that started up around five years ago. Although I've tried some of their wines at various tastings, I've only added one bottle from either winery to The List so far (Le Vieux Pin's entry level white blend, Petit Blanc at #778). Until now.

Back in September, I finally joined up with the BC Wine Appreciation Society's annual Bus Tour and, during one of the extra days I managed to fit in, I made it a priority to drop in to the two wineries. Both LaStella and Le Vieux Pin are boutique operations - each producing only 3000 to 3500 cases of wine. The Salem family is the driving force behind both of the wineries and the wineries are located more-or-less just down the road from each other. Le Vieux Pin is on the Black Sage Road and LaStella is just below the Golden Mile on the shore of Lake Osoyoos.

One looks to produce wines in more of a French style, while the other looks to Italy for inspiration. I think you can determine which is which.

With their various vineyards being found on the northern tip of the Sonoran Desert, the annual rainfall averages around 8 inches a year. LaStella still chooses to primarily dry farm its established vines. This results in production levels that can be substantially less than those of the neighbouring vineyards. The yield for LaStella icon wine, Maestoso, is under one ton of grapes an acre. I generally think a winery is aiming for high quality, low cropped fruit when they look at two to three tons an acre. That's LaStella's average yield.

Intensely farmed grapes, not surprisingly, lend themselves to the creation of more powerful wines. But, fewer grapes also means a lower volume of finished wine which, itself, results in higher prices. Hence, the primary reason it's taken awhile to get around to adding some LaStella to The List. $35 for a "premium" wine is pretty standard for BC pricing, but it makes it a little more difficult to pop a cork on a Tuesday night - particularly when that premium wine is the winery's entry level red. No one says that passion comes cheap though.

1041. 2008 La Stella Fortissimo (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Intense Merlot wines are the stars at LaStella but the winery is capitalizing on the lure of La Dolce Vita with a homegrown version of a Super Tuscan. Equal portions of Merlot and Cab Sauv (at 42% each) are blended with 8% each of Cab Franc and Sangiovese Grosso. This is the first vintage that the Sangiovese is included as part of the blend - but that's simply because that most Tuscan of grapes was planted after the winery purchased its vineyards and the vines are only just starting to yield fruit that is ready to be made into wine.

Vintages of Fortissimo to come may see a higher percentage of Sangiovese as the vines mature; however, there are many who think that the viability of growing Sangiovese in the Okanagan is tenuous at best. The length of the Okanagan growing season is questioned when one considers the varietal's need for a later harvest date if it's going to fully ripen. Perhaps the folks at LaStella are thinking that a little more global warming might come in handy. The winery has stated that it isn't their intent to produce a 100% varietal Sangiovese wine though. Rather, the starting premise is to use the higher acidity and structure of the Sangiovese to frame the Merlot and to add another level of complexity to the wine.

On a different front, La Stella looks to engage the wine drinker with names that evoke the romance of the wine in the bottle. There are no simple "Merlot's" or "Meritage's;" the wines are named after Italian musical notes. Fortissimo was chosen to capture the boisterous nature of the Super Tuscan wine.

In my desire to try some LaStella, I might have opened this bottle a little bit early as it could easily handle some ageing. I think, with a year or two, all the components might integrate a little more cohesively, but that's where big, old meatballs and tomato sauce can assist the present day. And a boy can only wait so long.

As a definite tip of the hat to the wine and winery, Fortissimo was chosen as the "mystery wine" at the 2011 Canadian Culinary Championships for the opening night competition that saw the eight Gold Medal Plates winners from across the country be given an unlabelled, anonymous bottle of wine and $500 to shop and prepare a dish (for 350 folks) to pair up with the wine. Chef Jeremy Charles from Raymonds in St. John's, Newfoundland, won this challenge by assembling a "composition of creamy polenta, finely chopped bittersweet rapini with lemon, chili and garlic nuances, braised beef short rib, a potato ravioli topped with tomato concassé and a dab of a profound, almost offaly jus."

Thoughts of Tuscany, music, Okanagan sun, great food. What more can you ask of from a glass of wine? I'm going to look forward to some more LaStella down the road.

Picpoul de Pinet

2012-01-04T19:13:00.001-08:00

The last bottle to be added to The List resulted in a bit of chat on a classic French wine - even though the wine we drank hailed from the Okanagan Valley in BC. I don't know how "classic" this next wine is, but it is definitely a French wine that goes back centuries - even if most folks have likely never heard of it before.

Picpoul's novelty in the Vancouver market seemed to garner the wine a fair allocation of press when it first arrived at the provincial liquor stores last summer - particularly when it showed up with a reasonable $14 price tag. I know I grabbed it as a new addition to my assortment of Wine Century Club varietals, but I see that it's pleasing some palates as well. It was chosen as one of Vancouver Magazine's "Best Light White Wines" for the 2012 Wine Awards.

1040. 2010 Ormaine - Picpoul de Pinet (AOP Coteaux du Languedoc - France)

Picpoul Blanc is one of three Picpoul varietals - the other two being Picpoul Noir and Gris - and it is primarily grown in the Rhone and Languedoc regions. It is largely used for blending in the Rhone; however, the Pinet region of the Languedoc is known for producing a 100% wine like the one we're trying. Pinet is a small region located next to the Mediterranean Gulf of Lyon on the Thau Lagoon; yet, it's the largest white wine district in the largely "red zone" known as Languedoc.

More than a couple sites online say that "Picpoul" translates as "lip-stinger." I'm not so sure I see the literal connection there but the grape varietal is known for its high acidity, hence its "stinging" attribute. As mentioned, the grape has been grown for centuries in the Languedoc; however, it fell out of favour somewhat when the French had to pull out vast swaths of vines due to the country's famous phylloxera outbreak in the 19th Century - mostly because the wine wasn't seen as being as sophisticated as other white varietals and because it was more susceptible to fungal diseases than many other vines.

Indeed, wines made from Picpoul were so pedestrian in their profiles that, in more recent times, a good percentage of the region's fruit was destined to be used in the production of Vermouth. Well known Vermouth artisan, Noilly Prat, is located nearby and the herbal fortification of the wine meant that the basic quality of the wine wasn't nearly as important as it would be for a varietal wine. Demand for Vermouth has dropped in modern times however, and that drop has forced winemakers to improve the quality of their wines.

Ormarine is the largest grower cooperative in the region and it dominates production. One site even stated that the cooperative makes approximately 45% of the appellation's wine. Ormarine does make a number of wines but the black label - or Carte Noir - is the main brand.

I was somewhat taken aback when I saw this wine sported an AOP designation. I couldn't remember having seen it previously. AOP stands for Appellation d'Origine Protégée or the Europe-wide equivalent of the French national-level AOC system.

Marketed in a striking bottle, I could see this as an alternative to a tart Pinot Gris. Most sites particularly recommend serving it with oysters and shellfish. I don't know about drinking it with mermen, but this one one was still hanging around from the Christmas decorations. Should I run across a live version, I'll have to remember to offer him a little Picpoul.

In the mean time, I get to start off the new year with another new varietal. I can go with that.

O Joie! A PTG.

2012-01-02T22:04:00.001-08:00

For me, tonight's wine is quite an intriguing wine for having come out of the Okanagan. Not that you could never find it being made elsewhere. But it plays homage to a heritage that is actually a take on a classic Burgundian wine - and is a neat indication of a route that is eminently possible in the Okanagan.

1039. 2009 JoieFarm PTG (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

PTG is an abbreviation for the little known Burgundy blend, Passetoutgrain. Burgundy may best be known as the home of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but there are a couple of other wines that still fall under appellation dictates. The Passetoutgrain is an AOC of its own and, while most Burgundy wines are primarily produced from single varietals, the PTG must be a blend - although it can be a blend from fruit grown anywhere in the entire Burgundy region.

JoieFarm's version is 63% Pinot Noir blended with 37% Gamay Noir and the grapes are sourced from five different vineyards on the Naramata Bench. This version veers from the more traditional Burgundy wines in that it is heavy on the Pinot Noir. In Burgundy, the roles are usually reversed as the Gamay grape is less expensive and the PTG is produced primarily as an easy drinker, made for early, casual drinking. I would hardly call this PTG a "casual" wine though. It's a serious player that offers up some bright Okanagan fruit from the Pinot Noir and accents it with some spicier notes from the Gamay.

The Burgundy version is also allowed to contain Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris; however, those white varietals must encompass no more than 15% of the blend. Interestingly, JoieFarm has access to Chardonnay and Pinot Gris as well but the varietals haven't made it into the PTG - at least not yet.

We picked up this bottle after tasting the wine some months back at Chef Meets Grape. Both Boo and I marked it down as one of our favourites from the evening. Too bad it's not the easiest wine to find. Fewer than a thousand cases were made; so, I'm glad I happened upon a bottle when we were in the Okanagan for the Red Rooster Adopt-A-Row weekend.

Discussions have it that 2009 wasn't the kindest vintage for BC's big red wines. Finding a few more lighter reds might make up for the vintage - if they're anything like this. I rather think the bottle started us off on a great note for 2012.

Wine Boyz - A New Year's Eve Edition

2012-01-02T08:43:00.001-08:00

Poor Boo. He got scheduled to work New Year's Eve - after having to work Christmas Day as well. And for the second year running, I'd have work a little to find a means to a kiss at midnight. Luckily, Skipper stepped into the breach and suggested that he host a special edition of Wine Boyz - Ringing in the New Year. GQ was going to be in town and they needed an excuse to show off the new dining room light fixture.

Our concept for Wine Boyz is that everyone brings a wine according to a pre-announced theme but they keep the wine literally under wrap (in a paper bag) so that we can have an innocent bystander pour the wines into a carafe and no one knows what wine they're tasting. Some of our regular attendees were going to be out of town but it's been almost a year since our last Wine Boyz tasting, so we decided to go with it anyhow. To top it off, Skipper thought that New Year's Eve called for a lifting of the traditional $25 cap on the bottle price. A "big" night called for even bigger wines.

Seeing as how Skipper and GQ had a Italian treat hanging around from their visit a couple years back, he thought Tuscan Reds would make for a great theme. We ran into a bit of problem in that one of intended guests only drinks white wine. So, the compromise was five Tuscan reds and three BC whites.

N.V. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (AOC Champagne - France)

Is there any better way to start off New Year's Eve off than with a bit of bubble? Skipper wisely decided to open the real Champagne while we were still sober enough to truly enjoy it. The Veuve was non-vintage and it had already been added to The List (at #385) when we were celebrating the Canadian Men's Hockey Team's 2010 Olympic win; so. we started the evening off with a wine that doesn't even make The List. But, celebrations like gold medals and new years are few and far between, so I think this pointed us in the right direction for a pretty decent evening of our own.

After blind tasting each of the wines - with and without nibblies - the Wine Boyz (and Grrrlz) all rank the wines from favourite to least. Then we count up the points and low score wins. Although all three of our whites went in different directions, there was very little to choose between them. After one sip, you'd like #2. With another, you'd move on to #3. I think the fact that all three wines scored within 2 points of the others confirms that.

1031. 2010 Ganton & Larson Prospect Winery - Ogopogo's Lair Pinot Grigio (VQA Okanagan Valley)(13 points)

1032. 2010 Road 13 Stemwinder (VQA Okanagan Valley)(14 points)

1033. 2010 Orofino Riesling (Similkameen Valley - BC)(15 points)

Ganton & Larson walked away with the win, but I think it'd be easy to call this a statistical tie - given a margin of error for the number of glasses consumed. If memory serves (which might be a questionable issue), each of the three wines got at least one first place vote.

There's more of a variance in the scores for the red wines. I find myself at a bit of disadvantage when writing this entry. By the end of the evening's fun, it didn't even dawn on me to bring my tasting notes home with me. Skipper, being the fastidious cleaner that he is, had tossed the notes by the next morning. So, I can't elucidate on how I responded to each of the wines - except that I know my favourite of the evening went completely against the grain of all the other Wineboyz.

1034. 2008 Gianni Brunelli Rosso di Montalcino (DOC Rossi di Montalcino - Tuscany - Italy)(13 points)

1035. 2005 Fanti Tenuta San Filippo - Rosso di Montalcino (DOC Rosso di Montalcino - Tuscany - Italy)(14 points)

Another statistical tie if you ask me. One different vote and the order could be completely askew. I'd brought along the Fanti Tenuta so it's in my best interest to push that position - not that I knew anything about the wine or the producer beforehand, but bragging rights for the top pick go a long way with this crew.

I enjoyed the fact that there was a bit of variance in the type of wines that were tasted. All of the reds were Tuscan but there were four different styles and sub-regions represented. It's even more interesting to me that the two Rosso di Montalcino's - or Baby Brunello's - were the general favourites.

1036. 2007 Ruffino Riserva Ducale Riserva (DOC Chianti Classico - Tuscany - Italy)(18 points)

1037. 2008 Tenuta Sette Ponti - Crognolo (IGT - Tuscany - Italy)(21 points)

1038. 2007 Poliziano Mandrone di Lohsa Rosso (IGT Maremma - Tuscany - Italy)(26 points)

I also find it interesting that the two Super Tuscans were the gang's least favourite wines. The Tenuta Sette Ponti and the Poliziano were the two wines that made use of grapes that were not traditionally allowed in Tuscan wines (hence the IGT designation). The Crognolo is Sangiovese/Merlot blend and the Mandrone di Lohsa is predominantly Cab Sauv with additions of Alicante, Petit Verdot and Carignan.

My personal pick of the night was the Poliziano; however, every other person ranked it as their least favourite. I find that somewhat ironic that Skipper announced that it was the most expensive wine of the night (by at least $20). Just goes to show - no, not that I have the most sophisticated palate - that price doesn't mean everything when it comes to pleasing the masses. The good news for me was that I got to drink as much of the bottle as I liked. While the others scrambled for the other wines, I got to sip away on the big gun all to myself.

The fact that I get to add the Alicante varietal to my Wine Century Club list is an added bonus. Perhaps I subconsciously knew that the wine was blended with a new grape and, as a result, my pleasure zone was just tweaked into a higher gear.

NV. Bastianich Flor Prosecco (Veneto - Italy)

When midnight finally rolled around, the cork was popped on another bottle of bubbly. Again, it was a non-vintage bottle that has already been added to The List (#409). So, we ended the evening's wines like we started - with a bottle that doesn't help me get any further to my goal of 2001 different bottles.

That might have been the end of opening new bottles but it certainly wasn't an end to the evening's festivities. And, despite what you might think about the accompanying picture, things didn't get nearly as out of hand as it might appear. The picture was staged, honestly - whether you care to believe it or not - indeed, GQ doesn't even really like white wine that much. So, he'd never guzzle it like that.

Skipper's home has a sizeable deck with a lovely view of False Creek and the downtown Vancouver core - and it became an impromptu dancefloor that beckoned two different sets of neighbours. A bloody freezing dancefloor, no doubt, but a dancefloor all the same. And what's a little chill on New Year's Eve? I will point out that there were some pictures of the skyline without the squiggly lines. I just chose this shot for artistic merit - as we tried to determine how to get a shot without a tripod. It wasn't just the wine. Scout's honour.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable start to 2012. New Year's Day was perhaps a little more challenging, but I just have to face it that there are going to be a few occasions where I'll have to sacrifice myself a bit to ensure that this little Wine Odyssey reaches a conclusion. Big thanks to Skipper and GQ for playing such a big part in helping out with that quest.

I suppose it's a no-brainer that I should set a resolution to keep more up-to-date with my postings. I'll give that a whirl - but it's a good thing I don't actually make resolutions anymore.

Happy Happy for the upcoming year! Here's to an abundance of great wines in 2012!

Vintage J-T Merlot

2011-12-29T19:50:00.001-08:00

With Boo's Christmas wish to drink more of the bottles we already have in our place, I think there are going to be a lot more of these "older" BC vintages making it to The List. It's probably time that we open them in any event, but if this needs to be part and parcel of the Christmas "No Buy Leash," so be it.

1030. 2002 Jackson-Triggs Proprietor's Grand Reserve Merlot (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Bruce Nicholson, Jackson-Trigg's previous winemaker (who was still in charge for the 2002 vintage), has been quoted as saying that "Merlot is where we started to make our name for red wines." It wasn't clear to me whether he was just talking about J-T in particular or about the BC wine industry in general, but with the Proprietor's Grand Reserve being J-T's premium label, this bottle should provide some indication of expectations for ageing BC wines, especially since 2002 was seen as an excellent vintage for the Okanagan.

I don't know. The bottle didn't stand out for me as a fave. Don't get me wrong. The wine still exhibited a nice nose and the wine was still solid; but for a supposedly great vintage and a premium label, I'd rather hoped for more fruit to still be evident on the palate - particularly since I find that Jackson-Triggs is big on fruit forward wines.

I won't give up on the age-ability of BC reds, but maybe there's some legitimacy for Boo's desire to get on with drinking some of the older bottles that I'd been trying to hold on. Don't tell him that I said that though. I wouldn't want it to go to his head.

A Christmas Dinner Treat

2011-12-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

It was a bit of wine-centric Christmas around here. Not entirely surprising, but rather unexpected. Regular readers will know that Boo regularly tries to place me on a "No Buy Leash." For some reason, he feels that if the wine cabinet and wine rack is full, it's complete overkill to start storing boxes in our second bathtub. Me, I'm thinking we don't use it anyhow - especially since a leak has rendered it useless for awhile now.

In any event, the only gift he asked for this Christmas was my promise not to buy any wine for six months so that we could drink our way through some of the bottles we've already amassed. Feeling rather Santa-esque, I paid a visit to the pet store on The Drive and picked up a dog leash and collar, attached a "No Wine" graphic to it and left it wrapped under the tree for him.

With a proviso. I couldn't give him an outright promise for six months. Bugger that, we're going to Australia in April. But, I did promise not to buy any wine until we go to Oz - UNLESS he gives me pre-approval or it's during the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival.

So what has he done in return? Went out and bought six high end bottles of red - including a 2006 Grange and a 2005 Barossa Valley Estates E&E Black Pepper Shiraz. Those two bottles alone would cover more than a couple trips to and sprees at the liquor store for me.

As tradition would have it, Boo was working Christmas Day itself and wouldn't be able to join us until later in the evening. So the balance of the family met at my sister's home. She's got the kids; so, we've all deemed it most convenient to have Christmas dinner at her place. There were some thoughtful and much appreciated gifts - but, surprisingly, no more wine.

"No more wine" under the tree that is. I don't think there is such a thing as a family dinner around our homes that doesn't involve some wine in a glass. Indeed, we may have even stumbled on the first cocktail that my oldest niece, Stargirl, actually took a second - and third and fourth - sip of. Dubonnet. Works for me.

While Stargirl discovered that our bevy of cocktails weren't all ridiculous, the rest of us got to enjoy a treat that I'd been waiting an awfully long time for.

1028. 2007 Blue Mountain Brut Rosé (Okanagan Valley)

I've enjoyed Blue Mountain wines ever since they were among the first to arrive on the BC wine scene as a premium producer back in the early 1990's. Boo and I served their other sparkler, the Gold Label Brut, at our commitment ceremony in '96 and, then again, at our 10 year anniversary party. Their total production remains rather limited though - at around 13,000 cases annually - and general consensus has always been that their wines are hard to obtain.

I think the hardest of all Blue Mountain wines to find is the Brut Rosé though. This wine has been a favourite of mine at Blue Mountain's semi-annual charity event in Vancouver but I haven't been able to snag a bottle for myself - even though I've been on the winery mailing list for years. That is, until this year! I found out about the "double-secret Brut Rosé-only" mail list and finally secured some.

After all that waiting, it seemed like a no-brainer to me that we pop the cork for Christmas dinner.

The Brut Rosé is made in the Méthode Traditionelle, meaning that the wine is made in the same manner as true Champagne is. That procedure involves an initial, and separate, fermentation of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay components. Those wines are then blended (about 2/3's Pinot, 1/3 Chardy for the '07 vintage) and re-inoculated with yeast and bottled. The secondary fermentation in the bottle is the traditional means of giving sparkling wines their sparkle or bubbly nature. The fact that the wine is then aged for three years with that yeast - or aged sur-lie - is the reason many good sparklers are often accompanied by a biscuity or toasty flavour note.

The Brut Rosé exhibits slightly more fruit than the Gold Label Brut tends to show and I find that this undertone of red fruit and acidity makes for a thoroughly enjoyable blend of bubbly crispness with a lengthy finish. I didn't find the mousse - or sensation of bubbles in the mouth - to be as explosive as a few sparklers I've enjoyed, but I'm willing to let that slide.

At $35 a bottle, it's far more reasonably priced that a true Rosé Champagne, but for most of us, we might need a bit of a special occasion as a reason for the splurge. I think Christmas dinner qualifies handily.

1029. 2006 CedarCreek Estate Select Merlot (VQA Okanagan Valley)

CedarCreek wines may be somewhat easier to find on BC liquor shelves but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable. If memory serves correctly, the 2006 reds were being made about the time that CedarCreek was looking at trying to re-brand themselves a bit. Part of that re-branding was to take their three ranges of wines and combine them into two. The end result was that wines that were being sold at $30 a bottle were now being blended with the $20 wine - and all being sold at the $20 price tag. The Estate Select series was the end result of that consolidation and we consumers were the winners.

When I think CedarCreek wines, Merlot isn't likely the first varietal that comes to mind. After all, they've had some pretty stellar Pinot Noir's and Syrah's in the past. Not to mention their helping put Ehrenfelser on the BC wine map. But their Merlot is a good, reliable fruit forward wine that is the type of approachable wine that even Stargirl might eventually start with when she's ready to join her Mom's, Boo's and my love of the grape on a more regular basis.

With Christmas dinner now behind us, I'm not quite sure how this physical "No Buy Leash" is going to feel. Looks like 2012 is going to hold a few challenges for me. Not the least of which will be to find a storage place for that bottle Grange. I don't think the bathtub is quite the best choice.

Merry Merry All.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

Undoubtedly, one of the least enjoyable aspects of shift work is the fact that you're often found working the times you'd rather be at home with family. Boo's problem is that hospitals don't tend to close down for Christmas. At least he got home before Christmas Eve was completely done.

And what could be better than coming home on Christmas Eve, after a long day's work, than being greeted at the door with a kiss under the mistletoe and a martini? Well, I suppose following that up with a nice dinner and a special bottle of wine doesn't hurt. At my age, I tend to shy away from martinis and wine on the same evening - but Christmas Eve, like Santa, only comes once a year and I can, hopefully, sleep in and sleep off any ill effects Christmas morning.

1027. 2002 Peter Lehmann 8 Songs Shiraz (Barossa Valley - Australia)

This beauty of a bottle was a gift of Christmas past from my niece, Skeletor, (and my sis, Vixen, seeing as how Skeletor would have been ten at the time and wouldn't have had any money of her own). She was allowed to pick any bottle that she wanted and she liked this label. Little did she know that, from past experience, we knew that we were fans of the wine and that 2002 was an outstanding vintage Down Under.

Oh yeah, BTW, Skeletor is 13 now and says she's out-grown the Skeletor bit. As an early Christmas present, she will now - from here on out - be known as Melmo.

As mentioned, Boo and I knew this was a keeper of wine - we just didn't want to have to keep it forever. I was actually a tad surprised - and truly impressed - by the lovely balance of the wine. No fruit bomb, this Aussie Shiraz. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty o' fruit - deep, dark fruit at that - but it was balanced with a softness in the tannins and an overall roundness of mouthfeel. It was a perfect way to enjoy the balance of the evening in front of the fireplace.

Melmo - or anyone for that matter - is welcome to give us another bottle at any time. Santa?

A C&C Christmas

2011-12-23T18:33:00.001-08:00

1026. 2006 Luis Segundo Correas - Las Acequias Malbec Oak (Mendoza - Argentina)

As nice as the Inniskillin Malbec might have been at Elzee's last night, it was an entirely different wine from this Argentine Malbec that Boss brought along for the gang to finish off before everyone headed their different ways for the holidays. This is the kind of Malbec that Argentina has become famous for - big body, overwhelming fruit and not overly complicated. It was an easy sipper standing around after the last file had been closed for the day - but it met with unanimous approval from the boys (none of the gals stuck around - wine or not).

This isn't a producer that I was familiar with, but it would seem that I have the Boss somewhat trained. He actually told me that he took out his iPhone and searched the blog to make sure that I haven't had this bottle before. Such dedication. If I could only train everyone that brings a bottle by our place to do the same! I might reach 2001 Bottles a fair bit faster.

The Luis Segundo Correas vineyard and winery have been around for many a year - whether I know of them or not. The Correas family arrived in Argentina at the end of the 16th Century and their viticultural history began in 1860. They currently make wines under five brands and they do so exclusively from estate grown grapes. The Las Acequias brand appears to be a mid-range label, as the $20 price tag in the province's liquor stores would seem to indicate for an Argentine wine.

Not a bad way to end the final working day before Christmas. I think we'll need to work a few more of these week-cappers into the schedule.

Have Yourself a Very Elzee Christmas

2011-12-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

With recent and respective travels behind us, we haven't had the chance to catch up with Elzee lately. An invite to come by for some seasonal treats was a welcome surprise - particularly since her folks were visiting and she managed to find a night when a few other friends (whom we hadn't seen in years) were available as well.

She's yet to decide if it's a welcome side effect or a curse, but Elzee claims that hanging around with Boo and I as much as she does has resulted in her ever-increasing enjoyment of - and collection of - wine. We were more than willing to help her free up a bit of space in her overflowing wine rack. Through the evening, we also learned that she's even acting as a bit of an influence on her recently retired brother. Now that he's got some time on his hands, she's encouraging his attendance at some tastings and his taking of a few wine courses.

1023. 2009 Graceland Cabernet Sauvignon (W.O. Stellenbosch - South Africa)

We started the evening with the 2009 vintage of one of the very first wines that I added to The List. Back at #17, we polished off a bottle of the 2005 Graceland Cab. Hard to believe that we're now a thousand bottles on. Boo and I don't tend to drink much South African wine, but, if I had to suggest a South African wine to a friend looking for a good, consistent bottle from there, I'd immediately think of the Graceland.

A small, family-run winery - and, no, that family is the McNaughton's, not the Presley's - the farmlands, come vineyard, were purchased in 1990. The McNaughton's waited until 1998 to release their first vintage and they've concentrated on producing red wines only from that time.

At $30 a bottle, the wine has a bit of job fighting it out for attention with the mass market wines we tend to find from South Africa on Vancouver shelves. The fullness and refined integration of the wine, however, makes it a good choice for a special occasion like tonight's gathering.

With a bit of wine and endless appies quickly disappearing, some very entertaining stories started flowing from all of Elzee's family. Momma Elzee even announced that, from this point on, she would refer to me as "Roberto" since I was so thoroughly embracing the Italian "Dolce Vita." It wouldn't have hurt my case that I arrived, greeting her and Elzee, with a big "Buona Sera Bella" ("Good Evening Beautiful").

1024. 2008 Inniskillin - Discovery Series Malbec (VQA - Okanagan Valley)

The next bottle being added to The List is another label making sort of a reappearance. We haven't had an Inniskillin Malbec in recent memory but I have added two other wines from their Discovery Series - a Chenin Blanc and a Zinfandel. The Discovery Series features a handful of grape varietals that remain relatively unexplored in the Okanagan Valley. Still being produced more on an experimental basis, the winery is trying to determine how viable the production of those varietals might be.

Malbec is being sighted in the Okanagan on a far more regular basis nowadays, but it is used largely for blending in the Valley's Meritage wines. Straight Malbec varietal wines are still relatively rare - and, even when they are produced, the volume is quite low. Indeed, only 590 cases of this wine were made. Thankfully, we got to try the Inniskillin tonight. It wasn't as big as the Graceland Cab but it still matched up nicely with the various meats and cheeses.

1025. 2007 Therapy - Freud's Ego (VQA - Okanagan Valley)

I wasn't as hyped about the Freud's Ego. It's an entry level Meritage blend of Cab, Sauv, Cab Franc and Merlot but I found it to be rather light, acidic and green (where the bigger Cab grapes didn't fully ripen). I enjoy the marketing genius that is Therapy but this wasn't a favourite when it comes to the wine.

Our Therapy in the glass was followed by a spirited and therapeutic conversation about the joys of Grappa and its influence in the Elzee family history - and I mean spirited in the best of senses. With Momma and Poppa's encouragement, Elzee pulled out the cherries steeped in homemade Grappa and offered up Caffè Corretto - the latter being espresso "corrected" with a shot of Grappa. Knowing that any caffeine after 4 p.m. renders me unable to fall asleep, I had to pass on the Grappa, but I'm going to look into those cherries a little more after that initial taste.

As fun as the evening was, it was a school night for me and Boo actually got called into work as well, so we had to hug up and wish everyone "Buon Natale." There were some definite "resolutions" to do a little more wine-ing in the upcoming year. Great fun!

Solstice

2011-12-21T22:42:00.003-08:00

Throughout the ages, the Winter Solstice has been a central inspiration for cultural mythologies and traditions. We may not be able to regularly jet off for Stonehenge, Machu Picchu or any one of a number of mid-winter festivals, but our December calendar is inevitably set to celebrate the lengthening days to come at Tyrant's annual Solstice bash.

The inconsistency of December 21 or 22 to regularly align itself on a weekend can prove troublesome to my mornings after. The brilliant food, wine and company always makes it difficult for me to take an early leave in an attempt to remain bright and chipper for work in the morning - but I suppose we all have our crosses to bear.

Tyrant's swank Coal Harbour digs are the normal gathering place but a water leak put the kibosh on that plan. Luckily for Tyrant - and even luckier for us - Boo2 stepped up to the plate and offered his home for the traditional celebration. (Once again, for the record, Boo2 isn't the same as my Boo who's mentioned in every other blog post. I know it's confusing but how do you give someone a different nickname when you've called them one thing for over 30 years? What's up with twins and the nickname "Boo" anyhow?)

The home was awash with friends old and new. I can't often arrive at soirées nowadays and know the better part of the guests. Tyrant makes it easy to fit in a whole batch of seasonal greetings in a fell swoop. That's another bonus of the Solstice party - not to forget the great assortment of wines that Tyrant always serves.

There seemed to be a bigger than usual selection this year, but I centred in on just two wines. Tyrant was serving some high end BC wines but I was pretty familiar with the Marichel and Howling Bluff offerings and they've been added to The List already. Sometimes it's tough to pass up on a known - and tasty - sip, but a limited number of glasses on a Wednesday night (even if that limit is self-imposed) begs me to go with the bottles that can keep me moving on this Wine Odyssey.

1021. 2008 Brancaia Tre (IGT Tuscany - Italy)

Having passed on the BC wines, it might seem a little contradictory to gravitate to the Brancaia Tre - seeing as how this the third vintage of Tre to be added to The List. Seeing as how the '06 vintage was added at #213 and the '05 is found at #884, I won't go into the wine much here. I rambled on a bit about this blend of predominantly Sangiovese (80%), Merlot and Cab Sauv on those other posts. I'll still repeat that I think it's a bright concept to call the wine Tre (Italian for "three") since it incorporates the three varietals, is sourced from the winery's three estates and was the third wine that Brancaia produced. And here we are with a third addition of Tre to The List.

I mentioned in those other posts that I prefer this blended Sangiovese to most of the Chianti's I've tried in our market. It's an easy drink at a cocktail party - especially here where it matches up nicely with the abundant nibblies. The Merlot and Cab seem to add a little something more approachable in fruit to the wine.

I'm only showing the one plate of food but I figure it'll give you an idea of the range of goodies available. Tyrant's love of fishing guarantees an equally expansive seafood platter and the steady stream of hors d'oeuvres makes it easy to keep washing the food down with more wine.

I'm not entirely sure how I managed to get through the evening without a shot of the Tyrant himself, but you'll have to be satisfied with some of the regular suspects. Gotta give it to Matinder. Where does one find a brilliant Santa Hawaiian shirt? Everyone should have one! I suppose he and Jeaux are just getting into the mood before they run off to Antigua. They're doing their best to talk us into joining up with them there for some libations on the beach - wine, rum, whatever. "There's plenty to be had" they assure us.

For the moment though, we'll have to settle for the cool climes of Vancouver - as warmed up by a touch of Spain.

1022. 2009 Bodegas La Candaleria - Cubo Tempranillo Selección (VdT Castilla la Mancha - Spain)

Tyrant was one of the first wine lovers I know that gravitated to Spain and its new and improved position on the world wine stage. I always like to see what little treasures and bargains he might have uncovered. The Cubo Tempranillo is new to me and I quite enjoyed it.

I couldn't find out much about the winery but it appears to be a collaborative effort between four former members of a regional collective.

The VdT - or Vino de la Tierra - designation indicates a level of wine that is higher than basic table wine but hasn't been recognized by the more more stringent controls of the (supposedly) more premium, regional appellations (DOC or Denominación de Origen). I didn't find any site that explained the wine's VdT designation instead of a DOC label but Castilla La Mancha is the region located in the heart of Spain, largely surrounding Madrid.

Unfortunately, the time passed far too quickly. With the days starting to get longer now, it just meant that the morning was going to approach that much faster. But it was a wonderful celebration of the season. Many thanks to Tyrant and Boo2. Here's an early RSVP to next year's bash (hopefully).

Can't Act. Slightly Bald. Also Dances.

2011-12-21T22:42:00.001-08:00

Some might think that the owners of Foxtrot knew me. But, then again, no. I think I can act - otherwise how would I have gotten the role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady back in high school?!

Rather, the quote on the back label of our next bottle refers to casting notes taken for one Fred Astaire while auditioning for his first movie. But, more on that later.

This is the first Foxtrot wine to be added to The List; however, it might be the only wine that's been mentioned in this blog three or four times before I've even opened a bottle.

1020. 2007 Foxtrot Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley)

This isn't the first bottle of Foxtrot Pinot Noir that Boo and I have enjoyed. We had a bottle once while dining out at Whistler before I started this blog. We were rather taken by the bottle back then and would have loved to make it a regular at our dinner table. There's just that little hurdle of a $50-$60 price tag.

The Foxtrot vineyard has been a source of quality fruit on the Naramata Bench for some years, having been planted with Pinot Noir in the mid 1990's. Back then, the grapes were being sold and, indeed, we just had a bottle of Kettle Valley Foxtrot Pinot Noir a week or two ago. The vineyard was purchased by the Allender family in 2002; however, they took a couple of years to learn more about the wine industry before they produced their first vintage in 2004.

Production was extremely limited during the initial vintages - less than 400 cases in 2004. However, it took no time for the wine to be noticed and christened one of BC's premium Pinot Noirs. The limited production and near cult-like status makes it pretty hard to find - even you'd like to pay the asking price. I bought this bottle at a silent auction at the Hot Chefs Cool Jazz fundraiser in 2010.

And I've been itching to open it ever since.

The 2007 may only be the fourth vintage from Foxtrot but its vaunted presence on the BC wine scene was further cemented when the wine was awarded one of only eleven Lieutenant Governor's Wine Awards in 2010. Not hard to understand why once we'd opened the bottle. The rich smoothness of the wine, bright nose and focused fruit meant that our bottle disappeared far too quickly.

As for the promise to return to the label and to Fred Astaire, the story goes that the vineyard was named "Foxtrot" back in the early years because, during one the first harvests, a black bear was found eating the grapes for a number of days running. The bear had a habit of standing on its hind legs and shuffling, almost as if he was dancing. The workers took to calling the bear "Fred" - after Astaire - and, with the "original" Fred being celebrated most for his unparalleled abilities in the foxtrot - the biggest dance of its day - a name was born. A dancing Fred, the bear, now graces both the label and the name of the wine.

Finding some more for a special occasion may need to become a bit of a priority.

Pie & Wine

2011-12-18T10:17:00.001-08:00

Two neighbourhood holiday bashes in two weekends. What's with that? You might actually start thinking that we like our neighbours.

But, how can you not get excited about a "Pie & Wine Party?" OK, so I don't think I've ever been to one before, but I like pie and I love wine; so, what's not to like?

This time around, it's not a group affair but a more manageable house party being hosted by Nature Boy and Mr. Principled. There was a pie sale fundraiser at work and Mr. Principled did the right thing and bought a full selection of pies for the evening - even so far as to have a gluten-free crust and sugar-free filling available.

This was not necessarily an evening to attend if you're at all concerned about fitting that Christmas party dress or New Year's Eve tux - unless you have some serious self control. The pies were all made by a collective of grannies and stay-at-moms and you know that they had their pie crusts down and flaky. It was sort of like Lay's potato chips - you couldn't only eat just one piece.

N.V. Civ & Civ Lambrusco di Modena - Amabile (DOC Lambrusco di Modena - Italy)

There were plenty of wines to go with all the pies as well but, wouldn't you know it, I started with a non-vintage wine that I've already added to The List. They may have changed the label and the district may have received DOC appellation status since I added it as #590, but it's still the same wine and I can't (not even as a Christmas present to myself) add it to The List a second time.

I was rather rushed at the time I wrote about the earlier bottle though (note to self: when aren't you running behind with these posts?) and didn't say anything about the wine. Lambrusco is both a grape varietal and a type of wine that is made from the grape (and/or its many clones). The wine can often be found in a somewhat sweetened version, called amabile, that has some slight frizzante or sparkle to it. At one point in the 70's and 80's, Lambrusco was the biggest selling Italian import in the US. Not so much any more.

I don't recall going gaga over the bottle we'd previously tried and I can't say that this bottle did a whole lot for me either. If I'm thinking about a fizzy red, I'd definitely lean more to a Brachetto d'Acqui or a Sparkling Shiraz. The sparkle for the evening, therefore, needed to come from the conversation and with neighbours such as Nature Boy, Rock God and Shameless Hussy in attendance, you know there's going to be no shortage of things to talk about.

1019. The Fort Wine Company - Ghost of the Bogs White Cranberry 180 (Fraser Valley - BC)

Unfortunately, the second wine that I tried tonight didn't do anything more for me than the Lambrusco did. Mr. Principled said that this bottle was sold to him as a dessert wine. I don't know what kind of desserts the clerk likes to eat - but they sure can't involve sugar at all. At least the winery website refers to this as a "table wine" and not a "dessert wine." Although some might take it as a good thing that the wine truly reflected the base flavours of the fruit it was made from, if you want to imagine this wine, just imagine biting into a raw cranberry. Not my favourite flavour profile for a beverage (although I do like cranberries floating in my Metropolitan martinis).

The winery was started back in 2001 when tugboat captain and cranberry farmer, Wade Bauck, had an abundance of cranberries. He has since expanded into producing six table wines - from cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, pears and apples - and five dessert wines - again from cranberries, blueberries and apples and raspberries and blackberries as well. I didn't see a vintage on the wine label but I did not the number "180." I'm not sure if this is maybe the 180th bottling of the wine or something like that but I can't say as I'll be worried about rushing out for another vintage so that I can add that bottle to The List. Not so likely.

Al lin all, not the best night for new wine sensations. Good thing I like the neighbours.

A Kiwi Sauv Blanc? Really?

2011-12-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

I can't say as I know anything about Villa Maria, perhaps a little surprising in that the little medallion label says that it was "Wine Enthusiast" magazine's 2007 New World Winery of the Year. Guess I'll learn a little given this bottle's addition to The List.

1018. 2007 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough - New Zealand)

When you take a look at the glass in the picture, you'd think the deep colour belies the wine's Kiwi heritage. I saw that carmelized colour and immediately thought that the wine might have been oxidized - particularly since it was a 2007 vintage. But neither Boo nor I thought it was oxidized; the acidity was still up front and central and there was still fruit to be found. I doubt the wine was as fresh as it was likely meant to be. But, all the same, I'd be surprised if the wine started out nearly that deep in colour. What makes it even a little more mystifying though is that the bottle was under screwcap. If anything, that should have extended the life and freshness of the wine.

The wine didn't really have any of those trademark characteristics for Kiwi Sauv Blanc. I can tell you that there definitely wasn't any "cat pee" or passionfruit in this glass.

It was all rather surprising given that Villa Maria is apparently one of the leading producers in New Zealand and they, alone, make seven different Sauvignon Blancs. I could see some non-characteristic traits being present in the wine if it saw a non-traditional approach or was sourced from a very specific vineyard, but the Private Bin is pretty much an entry level wine and, as such, would normally be as true to the varietal as you'd expect.

I'd be interested in trying another bottle to see if we just had an uncharacteristic bottle or if this is really what the winery was aiming for. I suppose it should likely be opened a whole lot closer to the release date though.

A Playhouse Festival Favourite

2011-12-16T18:48:00.001-08:00

The brochures for the 2012 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival are available now and they're always good for some reading - not that I can take in nearly as many events as I'd like to. I figured I'd use the brochure's appearance as an excuse to pull out one of the wines that I picked up at a previous festival. I don't always remember the wines I grab at the Festival on-site store but there wasn't much question about this one. I don't know that I would have picked it up otherwise as the $30 price tag is a bit much for a Portugese white that otherwise would have been of unknown quality.

1017. 2008 Touquinheiras Alvarinho (DOC Vinho Verde - Portugal)

When I see a bottle of Vinho Verde, I generally think of the young, light, fresh wines that add a little summer pétillance to your glass. Although this wine is still from the Vinho Verde appellation in Portugal, it is from the sub-region of Monção in the very top of the north-west corner of the country near the border with Spain. In this region, a Vinho Verde known as Vinho Alvarinho is made as well. This wine is made from strictly Alvarinho grapes and is higher in alcohol and has none of the fizz.

This was one of my favourite white wines from the 2010 Playhouse Fesitval. I quite enjoy looking for the new dry wines coming out of Portugal as many producers are following in the footsteps of some of the New World wine regions and introducing some serious modernization into their winemaking. Quinta do Touquinheiras is part of the Wines and Winemakers by Saven group. Saven's concept is to identify "innovative craftspeople who are at the forefront of modern technology, while staying true to the unique flavours, characteristics and personalities of each region" and then working together to market and get the wines out into the world.

Touquinheiras only produces three wines, the Alvarinho, a Vinho Verde closer to the lighter wine I've come to know and a brandy. I haven't seen or tried the other two wines but the Alvarinho was big with fruit and citrus. I saw one writer proffer a tasting note of "lemon butter." I kinda like that.

And I definitely still liked the wine - even if it took almost two years for me to finally open it. So, here's to the finds that are still to be discovered at this year's upcoming Playhouse Festival. I can't wait.

Margaret River, Please

2011-12-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

It might be a tad early to start thinking 2012 - after all we've still got the better part of December 2011 to get through. I'm kind of okay, though, if you just want to whisk me through the next couple months and drop me off in April. That's when Boo and I are heading Down Under to tip back a few glasses with the likes of Merlot Boy, Sheila, Margarita and their assorted countrymen.

I'm hoping that one of the highlights of that upcoming trip is going to be our stint out to Perth and Western Australia. The plan is to make the time to head out into Margaret River wine country. I think I've mentioned more than a couple of times in the blog that I definitely have a "wine-on" for all things Margaret River. It started with a bottle back in '96 when I first visited Oz. Problem was that, when I got back home, there were no more than one or two wines to be found from that region in our stores. The availability of Margaret River wines in the Vancouver market has become a little easier with the passing years but I still wouldn't say that we have an overwhelming selection.

Maybe that's why the region still has such a cachet for me. That being said, I was quite looking forward to tonight's bottle.

1016. 2001 Sandalford Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River - Australia)

I don't rightly recall how we came about having this bottle in our wine racks. Sandalford isn't a winery that I'm familiar with at all. However, knowing my predilection for the region, I may have just seen Margaret River on the label and grabbed the bottle from the shelf. It turns out that Sandalford has quite the history in Western Australia. The winery was actually established back in 1840 when the original Sandalford lands were granted to the retiring Surveyor General who oversaw the establishment of the European colonization of Perth and Freemantle. The lands were quickly planted with vines and the birth of Western Australia's wine industry was under way.

That original vineyard is found on the Swan River which is just outside of Perth. It wasn't until 1970 that the owners of the day expanded into the Margaret River district, a couple hundred kilometres south of the city. Margaret River was clearly establishing itself as a region for growing premium grapes though and Sandalford felt that they needed a presence there.

The most recent change in ownership at Sandalford occurred in 1991 when the Prendiville family purchased the company and, since then, they have invested many bucks and hours to take the winery to a new level. The Prendiville's have extensive experience in the hotel and hospitality business and they've looked to capitalize on the wine tourism aspect of the industry. Indeed, they've won a number of tourism awards in Western Australia over the last decade.

As for the wine, for a 2001, we found it incredibly well-lived. Everything was still there - fruit, body, structure - we quite enjoyed it. It was definitely a cooler climate approach when it comes to an Aussie Cab's and it was much lighter in body than Cab's we're used to from Oz but, as mentioned, it did exactly what I hope for from my Margaret River wines - and that's to leave me wanting more when the bottle is done.

Looks like Boo and I might have identified a potential stop on our Margaret River sojourn.

The Neighbourhood Dine Around Comes Around

2011-12-11T09:10:00.001-08:00

Despite the fact that I was out last night for what was likely my first "last call" in I don't know how many years, the old "no rest for the wicked" proved itself true because I had to get right back on the social horse and wagon and get ready for our annual Neighbours' Dine Around. The players may have changed somewhat and those involved have expanded a bit over the years, but the basic premise of spending a short time eating and visiting with our neighbourhood gang during the holiday season remains the same.

The array of food and drink never ceases to amaze me and tonight was no exception - even if I wasn't fully participating in all the wines and cocktails that were available.

1013. 2008 Mon Ami Rascal GSM (VdP Meditterannée - France)

After a bit of jockeying for positions, this year's extravaganza started off with Cupcake and Haggis and, being the rascal she is with all things witty, Cupcake served up the cutest little olive, carrot and cream cheese penguins. The kids loved them and you can count me in as one big kid. Whether they went along with the GSM is irrelevant - they were too cute to care.

Mon Ami Rascal is the house blend made for the earls restaurant chain by the Perrin family in the south of France. GSM (or Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) is a traditional Rhone blend and, as you'd likely expect with a house red, it's an easy drinker with plenty of fruit and easy tannins. It's an easy way to start the evening avec nos amis rascals.

1014. 2010 Thornhaven Estates Gewürztraminer (VQA Okanagan Valley)

BabyMama and Arty400 offered a butter chicken as well as a vindaloo curry. I could have easily just chowed down on a couple heaping bowls of this and called it a night - but I had to show some restraint and limit myself to just a sample since there were another four homes to visit - and stop #2 is still considered appies in the greater scheme of things.

I always look forward to seeing what wines Arty400 serves up since he's a bit of wine fiend and he's always on top of the latest suggestions that Barb Philip, one of Vancouver's resident Wine Masters, is touting. I totally get serving the Gewurtz with the curries and the Thornhaven exhibited all the classic characteristics of a Gewurtz, but it wasn't my favourite wine of the night.

I didn't get to spend too much time with Nature Boy and Mr. Principled at their stop because I had to make a quick exit to get our place all set up, but I was able to hang around long enough to try their most delicious lamb stew. They matched it up with a very tasty red wine but I only had time for a quick sip and didn't even catch the name of the wine. I may have to try and follow up on that with them.

1015. 2009 Stoneboat Chorus (VQA Okanagan)

Boo and I teamed up to make a tourtiére seeing how it's a classic Québécois dish to serve up at Christmas. I'd never tried making it before but, if I do say so myself, it was pretty darned good. Boo made one of his best crusts ever and the filling was bang on tasty. When our tourtiére got the seal of approval from Marquis and Red, our resident Montréalers, I knew we'd pulled it off.

I offered up both a white and a red as the joy of tourtiére is that it'll match up with almost anything. An earlier vintage of the Chorus was added to The List a couple of years back, at #336, when the wine was still called "Nebbia." A blend of six white varietals, it's a summer sipper kind of wine that captures all the fruit of the Okanagan. I figured it would match nicely with the pork and crust.

Plus, the wine's a bit of Christmas present to myself because I'm going to add the Schoenburger varietal to my Wine Century Club list this time around. I didn't add the grape last time because it's only provides a small percentage of the blend, but I'm adding all the varietals I find in blends nowadays since I've finished off the initial century. Besides, I rather doubt that I'll run across many wines that feature Schönburger in anything more than a supporting role.

2006 LaFrenz Shiraz (Okanagan Valley)

I brought the LaFrenz out simply because it's a beautiful wine and it made sense to share LaFrenz with our friends. Actually, I didn't exactly have to foresight to think of that little witticism before I opened the bottle but I'll use it since somebody pointed out what a nice idea it was. Credit where no credit's due. Gotta like that. I found the wine to be a little more acidic that I recalled in the past, but that was likely a good thing with the flavours of the tourtiére.

I do know that everyone was asking about the LaFrenz. So, I guess I'll let that make me feel a bit better about the fact that I served a wine that's already on The List. I'm not supposed to do such a silly thing.

By now, I was starting to fade a bit, but there were still two homes to visit. I kind of made an executive decision to back off on the wine though when I started nodding off - martini in hand - in a cozy old couch at Shameless Hussy and Rock God's place. At least I didn't spill the martini at all or start to snore. I don't know that I'd be able to show my face in the neighbourhood after such a faux pas.

As if they haven't seen way worse.

A double dessert and quick massage in Widya's "alien attack" chair basically spelled the end of evening for me. No cigars or Port this time around but it was yet another great little affair for the crowd. Now it's time to diet before the rest of the Christmas dinners to come.

Deke Xmas Dinner

2011-12-10T10:22:00.001-08:00

A regular stop on the holiday party circuit is the Deke Alumni Christmas Dinner. It may have been over a couple decades ago that I was partying away all those university nights at the fraternity house, but it doesn't take much of an effort for some pretty crazy memories to surface and leave us laughing in stitches. And, there's always the bonus of having ready made nicknames for many of these guys. I don't have to come up with a "nom-de-ma-blog" when the boys have been known as Flounder, Bear, Army and Archie as long as any of can remember.

The organizers of this year's event changed up the standard old sit-down dinner buffet by booking Salt Cellar and creating a bit of mash up of a dinner and a beer/wine garden. I quite like the venue but the only events I've previously attended at Salt Cellar have been wine tastings since the restaurant only serves cold plates. That was hardly a damper on the evening - although I think more than a handful of the boys finished of the meat and cheese plates and wondered when dinner was coming. There was more than one suggestion that we see if it was possible to order in some pizza - just like old days at the Deke House.

It was a BYOB event - as in "buy your own booze" - so Beamer and I split a couple bottles of wine and caught up with some of the regulars and a few others that we haven't seen in what could be decades.

1011. 2008 Camelback Sangiovese Shiraz (Heathcote - Australia)

Salt is known as restaurant with a very well thought out wine list - many of the wines I knew but there were more than a couple of surprises. This Camelback was one of them. Not only was it from a producer I hadn't run across before but a blend of Sangiovese and Shiraz is hardly a classic - even for the Aussies. Seemed like as good

a place to start as any.

Camelback is a second label produced by the Galli family - along with Galli Estate. The operation is fairly new as it started up in 1997 and the family has vineyards in two regions of Victoria state in Australia, the Heathcote area being about 100 kilometres north of Melbourne. The innovative blend of 79% Sangiovese and 21% Shiraz stems from the family's transplanted Tuscan roots setting up shop Down Under. I quite liked it. I often find Sangiovese and Chianti wines to be a bit acidic and light bodied, but the Shiraz added some nice fullness and deeper fruit to the wine. I'll watch for more of their wines.

1012. 2008 Elderton Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa Valley - Australia)

I never did get a shot of Beamer's bottle but he continued with the Aussie theme on the wine. When Beamer checked in to see if I was copacetic with the choice, I told him that I invariably find Elderton wines to be well put together and good value. The Barossa Estate Range of wines is a mid-range label and is a nice example of Aussie, New World Cab - plenty of fruit but still showing enough restraint that you can appreciate the nuance of wine's levels.

Not that those nuances really mattered at all with this gang. The wine wasn't so much an accompaniment to fine dining as it was a lubricant to drag out some of those old stories of mud- and jello wrestling, of regrets from having passed out in common areas (luckily those weren't my stories) and party themes that we likely could never pull off nowadays. The slide show of times passed elicited some major "Did we really do that?" and "Whatever happened to him?" moments. Weren't times ever so much simpler back in the 80's?

As much as we'd barely tapped all the tales that were still there in the memory banks, folks started drifting off once the food had been finished off. There were groups headed for the aforementioned pizza, others to watch the girls at No. 5 Orange and still others headed off for a beer at one of the local gin joints in Gastown.

Beamer, Tyrant, Boo2 (he's "2" because he's not my Boo but he was "Boo" to us long before my Boo was even on the scene), Jake and I were counted among the latter group. We never did find the other gangs but I did finally get to Chill Winston, a Gastown pub that's looked interesting for years. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but time sure flew. I had to ask our waitress if I could give her a hug when she announced "last call." I told her that I can't remember the last time I heard those words while out at a bar and that it's like she was the fountain of youth.

The problem, however, with encountering "last call" on a Friday night during the holiday season is that getting home is hardly going to be a piece of cake - even though I only live three or four miles away. We ended up hiking the whole length of Gastown in search of a cab. We didn't find any cabs but we did find late night hot dog vendors on almost every other corner. I'm not sure what it says about your evening when you grab a dog at the first wiener wagon and then stop again two blocks later for another. I do know that I'll likely always have a fondness for a spicy Polish dog from now on. "Bring on the spicy Poles," I say. (Inside joke folks.)

As for the late night photo, you can tell I didn't have a tripod and there were no flat surfaces that could be used to stabilize the camera. Despite the fun of the evening, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Spanish for Gumbo

2011-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

The leftover turkey leg confit didn't last too long (lordy, I don't think I'll ever cook turkey by a different method ever again) but, luckily, we didn't finish off the gumbo at the Dinner Club either. Having accompanied the gumbo with a Pinot Noir the other night, I figured we could try it with a white. To our good fortune, there was another bottle still hanging around after the Dinner Club - not because we never got around to serving it, but rather because I'd used a cup of it in the gumbo and the rest of the bottle was simply a bystander until now.

1010. 2009 Castillo de Monséran - Viura (D.O. Cariñena - Spain)

The Viura comes in at under $10 and that's likely why it was never served at the Dinner Club - those wines tend to be a bit tonier and there might have been a few raised eyebrows. Don't be fooled though. This isn't your standard $10 wine. In the Vancouver market, Castillo de Monséran is best known for its Garnacha (or Grenache) wines. It's been a "go-to" bargain for years. Indeed, its premium wine only goes for $14 or $15 and both the premium and the entry level wines always seem to impress when folks find out how much they cost.

I'd grabbed the Viura because I knew the Monséran name and I thought I might gain another new varietal for the Wine Century Club. That new varietal part didn't pan out. Viura is another name for Macabeo and it's one of the primary grapes used in making Cava. Already on my list. But the Monséran label lived up to its reputation. The wine is obviously being made as an entry level wine; however, it had a freshness and pleasant acidity that belied its price point.

I couldn't find any references to the winery - other than sites shilling the wine - but my guess is that it might be a mass market brand, maybe produced by a cooperative of Spanish growers.

I should also admit that I made up the bit in the post title. Viura isn't Spanish for "gumbo," but it went fine as the wine in the gumbo and it went just as well while accompanying the soup. I've often heard that you shouldn't cook with a wine that you're not willing to drink on its own. I think we can work on both fronts here. Too bad that we're starting to run out of Dinner Club leftovers.

Leftovers Anyone?

2011-12-06T18:40:00.001-08:00

A side benefit from hosting the Dinner Club last night is the leftovers. We may not have finished cleaning and putting away all the dishes, glasses and pots yet, but we do get leftover turkey confit in a stir-fry and, to top it off, we get the bottle of Tinhorn Creek that barely got tried last night.

1009. 2008 Tinhorn Creek Pinot Noir (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Surprisingly, we didn't really need the extra bottle last night but we opened it because Jeaux wanted to give it whirl since she and Matinder brought it along and she'd never tried a Tinhorn Pinot before. That meant it was already opened, it only made sense, therefore, that Boo and I work on the bottle a little further tonight.

With Tinhorn Creek being located in the Southern Okanagan and having vineyards on the Golden Mile and Black Sage Road (home turf for many of BC's big reds), I don't generally think of Tinhorn immediately for their Pinot Noir. Sandra Oldfield and company do produce two Pinot Noirs though - a more general release under the Varietal Series (like this wine) and a reserve under the Oldfield Series label.

The release of this 2008 vintage was delayed when the Tinhorn folks discovered, during library tastings, that their Pinots "showed a much greater character after an additional year of aging." Rather than release the wine on a regular schedule, the winery actually went a year without having Pinot Noir available for sale because they wanted to age the Varietal Series wine for two years in the bottle before making it available to the masses (the Oldfield Series get three years in the bottle prior to release).

Personally, I think I like the bigger fruit of Tinhorn's other reds. But, if you consider the fact that this bottle sells for $20 - when some of the top BC Pinot Noir's are now hitting $50 and $60 and many others are north of $30 - it's not a poorly priced wine. It definitely showed some Pinot-esque earthiness to it but it also featured a high acidity that definitely rendered it more enjoyable while we were putting away the turkey than while it was being sipped on its own.

It might have seemed similar to the Californian Pinot we tried last night, but I don't know if it would have held up as much with the two Kettle Valley wines.

I'll still love Sandra and Tinhorn though. This bottle may not be my favourite but I'd still give the Oldfield Series bottle a try when it's released.

Cajun or Creole Christmas - Take Your Pick

2011-12-05T18:35:00.006-08:00

Months ago, when the gang kibitzed on setting up a date for our Dinner Club, everyone just happened to be available tonight - despite the December date. The concensus was, "wouldn't a Christmas Dinner be a nice thought" - even Boo and I felt all warm and fuzzy, despite the fact that we were going to be the ones hosting it.

Having just returned from our little Louisiana adventure, we figured it'd be neat to capture a little of the ample flavours that surround you in New Orleans and environs. During our visit, we asked around for tips on an authentic Louisiana Christmas dinner and all the answers were that "anything goes." If you like it - and so long as there's lots of it - it's authentic. But, if throwing a couple baby alligator heads in amongst the table decorations doesn't add a little Cajun authenticity, I don't know what possibly could.

If you've taken a look at some of the other posts that tell of our Dinner Club escapades, you'll know that I score all sorts of wines on The List after each of the dinners. Not so much this time - but it wasn't for a want of libations. Indeed, there was even wine left over at the end of the night and that's not a common occurrence.

It's possible, but I wonder if Boo's old family recipe for scratch eggnog had anything to do with it? That baby is pure rum, bourbon, cream, sugar and eggs and you know darned well that it packs a wallop. It's just so hard to stop sipping away! We started with the eggnog and that easily replaced our normal two or three bottles that accompany the hors d'oeuvres. Speaking of, I scoured some New Orleans catering sites and we decided on serving mini muffalettas, spiced pecans and crab-stuffed mushroom caps.

And then, it was on to dinner and a little wine.

N.V. Sumac Ridge Tribute Gold Brut (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Our first wine of the night isn't going to be a new addition to The List because it was already added back at #774. We wanted a little bubbly to start off the evening - not only because it suits the holidays season, but because there aren't many combinations that say extravagance more than bubbly and caviar.

A little caviar may not be the most common of Southern dishes but no one can tell me that this little delicacy hasn't graced more than a few plantation dining rooms on special occasions. Besides, I wanted to use the little ice bowl molds that we picked up. Dinner Club and shooters aren't probably the best of combinations; so, using them as serving dishes seemed like a grand use to me.

I'd put out some feelers for a bit of white wine as well, but none arrived. It was amusing that every single person brought along a Pinot Noir when lighter reds or bigger whites were requested.

1005. 2003 Hallcrest - Veranda Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains - California)

I'd rather envisioned serving a white with the gumbo but red Pinot works fine as well. I find that I generally don't get much of an opportunity to write about the wines during Dinner Club postings but there are a couple of interesting points I'd like to mention - at least for this wine. I'm not aware of Hallcrest (that old, whole "don't drink a lot of California thing" again) but the fact that this bottle was individually numbered prompted me to look a little further. After all, it's not too often that we open Bottle #1443 out of a total of 2340.

Hallcrest was established as a working vineyard and winery back in the 1940's; however, it's undergone a couple of changes in ownership since the Hall family got the ball rolling. As you might guess from the bottle numbering, the winery is noted for its small lot production. The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (or American style appellation region) is one of the largest; however, it also offers a multitude of microclimates. Hallcrest takes advantage of that diversity - are Americans quick to use "terroir?" - as it works with seven different vineyards and produces single vineyard wines.

Seeing as how the winery only produces about 5000 cases a year, I'm not entirely sure how this bottle made its way up to Vancouver. It certainly didn't come across as a big Californian red - as some Cali Pinots still manage to do; so, it was a refreshing start to dinner, but I don't think it lived up to some of the others we opened tonight.

1006. 2009 Joseph Chromy Pinot Noir (Tasmania - Australia)

Having the Joseph Chromy to serve up was a surprise as well. Boo and I discovered the winery during last year's Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival. I actually picked up a couple of different bottles at that time but they're still sitting in our wine racks. Guess we got a bit of preview tonight.

We opened the Tassie wine and quickly found that we needed to open the next bottles as well. It is now decided that Pinot Noir matches up nicely with turkey leg confit. I knew that I wanted to try the confit - whether it was true to N'Awlins or not - and duck fat is certainly tasty in any language or cuisine style. The gang were completely in agreement with me on that point. The cornbread stuffing, yams and brussel sprouts were as southr'nly authentic as it gets though.

1007. 2001 Kettle Valley - Hayman Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley)

2001 Kettle Valley - Foxtrot Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley)

Tyrant brought along a matched pair of Kettle Valley Pinots for us to try as a parallel tasting, but I guess you can tell he's a regular drinking bud of Boo's and mine because the 2001 Foxtrot has made two appearances in this blog already - and it was supplied by Tyrant on each occasion. It was added to The List at #310 and it would have been added again at #488 if a bottle hadn't already graced our table.

We had a number of takers when it came to trying the two wines side-by-side. Problem was - if you can even call it a "problem" - was that no one could pick an immediate favourite. We were all going back and forth in naming a "winner." There were distinct differences between the two wines and one sip would have you picking the Foxtrot, the next sip made you think twice about the Hayman's. Kettle Valley is known for producing a large number of small batch wines; so, it says a bit when co-owner and co-winemaker, Bob Ferguson, is quoted as saying that the Hayman Pinot Noir is one of the three wines that he's most proud of. I don't think there was anyone at the table that would have turned down any of the Foxtrot either though.

As if there hadn't been enough food to force us all into pre-Christmas diets, Boo and I each served up a dessert since both of our signature dessert specialties are Southern - Boo impressed with one of his best pecan pies ever and I went for a pumpkin bread pudding. Indeed, if Cajun/Creole is what you're looking for, mine's been adapted from a recipe I picked up with Jeaux at the New Orleans School of Cooking almost 20 years ago - and I'm still cooking it as a Christmas tradition all these years later.

1008. 1999 Graham's - Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port (Portugal)

Special desserts call for a special treat - and I think it's fair to say that Vintage Port fits the bill nicely. The Quinta dos Malvedos vineyard is acknowledged as one of the finest properties in the Upper Douro region and its fruit forms the backbone of Graham's declared vintages. The 1999 wasn't an overall "declared" vintage by Graham's though; that designation is reserved for exceptional years and those wines see fruit blended from five different Graham's quintas. In the years that aren't declared a general vintage; however, the winery will take the best fruit from the Malvedos vineyard and release a single vineyard Malvedos vintage port. This is one of those bottles. it might not have been as structured and layered as one of Graham's bigger Ports but few, if any of us, would have known and this bottle was more than worthy of our dinner table.

So, only adding four bottles to The List after a Dinner Club extravaganza is a far cry from the ten that I added after Tyrant's dinner back in the summer, but I think we still did okay.

On the other hand, I don't know if we truly captured either a Cajun or a Creole sensibility with the food and menu but, really, who cares? It was darned tasty.

A Christmas Work Out

2011-12-05T18:35:00.001-08:00

After a brief stint of vacation de-tox, we're now settling in for the holiday season and we're off to quite a first weekend in December. First up is my office party and that's going to be followed immediately by Boo's and my hosting of the Dinner Club. We won't even make it to Jeaux and Matinder's annual Christmas Bash this year since it's the same night as my office party.

It's become a bit of tradition for the C&C gang to head to one of two sister restaurants downtown. We're going French this year and, surprise, both of the wines that were being served were French. Go figure.

1003. 2009 Loron & Fils - Montvallon Chardonnay (AOC Bourgogne Blanc - France)

For a company that's been around for almost 200 years, there wasn't much to be found out about this Loron & Fils wine. They have a number of wines featured on their website, but this isn't one of them. I did see that Loron & Fils is now into its sixth generation of fils (or sons) though. Being wine merchants that specialize in Beaujolais and Mâconnais wines and the fact that this wine is produced under the general White Burgundy appellation, my guess is that this is an entry level wine for mass market export and that it is made from Chardonnay grapes that have been sourced from throughout the region.

It's pleasant enough as an easy drinker and it matched up nicely with the hors d'oeuvres that were offered - particularly the shrimp - but I don't know if it's a wine that I'd order off the menu for myself. It seems to get its fair share of glowing reviews in Canadian wine press though and a price tag of under $20 at the liquor store is pretty good for a white Burgundy.

1004. 2010 Domaine Gayda Three Winds Syrah (Vins de Pays d'Oc - France)

The evening's red was a Syrah from the south of France. In fact, it's the newer vintage of the same wine that we had last year at the holiday dinner. That vintage was blogged at #664; so it looks like we managed to get through 340 wines over the course of the year. Not exactly a bottle a day but pretty darn close (especially since we haven't had a bottle in a week or so).

With that post at #664, I discussed what constitutes a Vin de Pays wine and the overall French wine appellation system in a fair bit of detail; so, I won't repeat myself here but that post is still there for anyone wanting to read a little more.

I wasn't blown away by the Three Winds last year and I'm afraid it still didn't really do anything for me this time around either. I kept some on hand to accompany my steak au poivre, but I moved back to the Chardy for a last glass once the steak was done.

The return to white seemed to make a little more sense than moving on to the hard liquor or fortified sips. Boo and I had a busy day ahead of us and I didn't really need to end up kissing or punching any of my colleagues. The stuff staff party stories are made of tends to scare me nowadays - particularly when some of our crew are known to love tripping the light fantastic. The layout of the restaurant didn't allow us to create our own dance floor, but that didn't stop Betsy from doing her best to get a bit of a dance under way. Unfortunately, a number of folks had already made their way home before we managed to take command of the volume control and music choice. A full scale dance party never did break out this year.

That might have been a good thing for my morning after though. And, now the holiday season is officially under way.

A Half-Time Recount

2011-11-25T18:41:00.004-08:00

As much as I'd like to celebrate wildly as we hit the half way point of this 2001 Bottle Wine Odyssey, being able to pull off anything on the scale of Madonna performing the Super Bowl Half-Time show is a bit beyond my party throwing abilities - legion as they might be. I could try and get Boo to dance around shirtless in the living room to Lady Gaga, but that'd be a "nipple-gate" of a whole other scale.

Nah, I'm afraid this little half time break won't be much more than a brief look at just what those first thousand bottles have been that we've polished off.

I'd hoped to do this sort of a look back a little more regularly, but, as many of you know, I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with the bottles as we finish them. Indeed, I'm around a month behind as it is now. Pleasant little reminiscences only serve to slow me down even more. I figure this one is worth it though.

Out of those first 1000 bottles, just under 600 of them were red. I guess that's a bit of a tell tale sign of what we - and our drinking buddies - tend to grab first in our quest to quench our respective thirsts. The breakdown after that was white wine (265-ish), sparkling wines (57), rosé (35), dessert (18) and fortified (12). There were some fruit wines (9) and a couple rice wines (sake) as well.

It's no shock that we generally gravitate to red wines. It's pretty much always been that way. However, I actually find it to be a little surprising that we drink twice as much red wine as we do white. One of the most interesting things I've learned since I've become more serious about wine and matching it to our food is that, even though we generally "drink red," we tend to "eat white." That, in turn has seen a bit of gravitation to lighter reds. Instead of reaching for a big Shiraz or full bodied Cab blend, I have noticed that Pinot Noir's, Gamay's and Rosés have graced our table more frequently than they used to.

Taking on this Odyssey has definitely prompted a more adventuresome impulse when it comes to grabbing a bottle off the shelf. A new wine region or a previously unheard varietal now tend to give me a bit of tingle and urge to buy. Having been placed back on Boo's "No Buy Leash," seeing those new wines can be a bit of an exercise in self discipline though. After all, seeing a wine from Mexico, Montenegro or Brazil is not an every day occurrence.

Living in Vancouver, it's no surprise that we drink more BC wines than we do from any other region. Around 400 bottles of our first 1000 were from the home province. However, the remaining wines were spread out among 26 countries (including two additional provinces - Ontario and Nova Scotia - and seven US states). After BC, the remaining top 10 sources of our wines, so far, have been:

2. Australia - 115 bottles

3. Italy - 95

4. France - 80

5. Argentina - 60

6. Spain - 49

7. California - 38

8. Portugal and Chile (tie) - 22 and

10. New Zealand - 18

Some of the more exotic sources of a bottle or two have been Brazil, Peru, China and Cuba. I'm hoping that there are many more to come in the second half of this adventure.

I won't go into the most popular varietals. You can take a look at the category labels on the side of the blog and see that the expected varietals - like Shiraz and Cab - are featured in a whole whack of postings. One of the more exciting aspects of the blog, however, has been to chart the number of varietals that we've tried. A few months back, I managed to list the 100th varietal on my Wine Century Club application and I'm now working on taking it even higher. I may not drink a lot of Trajadura, Romorantin or Moschofilero but I certainly know of them now.

Lastly, I continue to get a kick in seeing where some of the visitors to the blog hail from. Most hits are from Canada and the States, but surprisingly, Russia has just passed Germany as the third most prolific source of hits. They are followed by the UK, India, Malaysia (both being big surprises), Australia, Brazil and Argentina. Indeed, I'm advised that folks from 78 different countries have landed on the blog for at least one visit. The blog may have taken much different directions than I originally expected, but I can't say that I'd expected readers from places such as Qatar, Nepal, Malta or Brunei. There haven't been many hits from the African continent but maybe that's something I'll have to work on in the second half of the Odyssey.

All in all, I have to say, again, that the blog has been more work than I ever expected. The good thing for me is that, putting aside the time writing and researching that could be better spent, it pretty much is a labour of love. Drinking the wine is a definite benefit and I truly enjoy learning as much as I am. Hopefully, if you're reading this, you're enjoying the blog and we'll continue to cross paths as we move on to that 2001st bottle.

Cheers.

An Unexpected Treat

2011-11-25T18:41:00.003-08:00

I knew, before we left for our little Southern Sojourn, that I was getting close to opening the 1000th bottle on this Wine Odyssey. Before it became apparent that this milestone was likely to happen, I'd rather envisioned reaching that point with a bit of a fanfare and some big bottles from our cellar. Naturally, the last thing I'd been worrying about on the vacation was what number bottle of wine we were opening. In the back of my mind, I was just hoping that the occasion and bottle would be fitting.

I think we met that hope.

Our day saw an early start, Desirée regaled us with her tale of frolicking dolphins as she watched the sun rise yesterday. We figured - no lounging in bed with a hefty sleep-in - we'd best join her this time since it was our final morning on the Outer Banks. Problem was, it's hard to watch the sun rise with an 80% cloud cover. All the same, we saw enough to justify the early rising. No dolphins but we did see a fisherman frolic if that's worth anything.

Following a quick clean and some hefty hugs goodbye, Desirée and Cruncher headed back to Virginia and Boo and I made a quick stop at the outlet mall. One never knows if you'll find the odd bargain prior to Black Friday or not. Never having been in the States for Black Friday, I wouldn't know if we were successful or not, but I doubt you can ever have enough Christmas-themed boxers.

We needed to make the long drive back to Raleigh/Durham in order to catch our flight back to Vancouver the next morning. Timing for flights was such that we needed the extra night in town. So, Boo and I decided to take a stab at Priceline for the first time. We both think we scored nicely with a room at the Carolina Inn - an historic hotel at the gates of UNC - Chapel Hill. A throwback to Southern Colonial living with modern day comfort, we were totally enthralled with our short stay at the "University's Living Room."

We settled into our room, opened one of the bottles of local wine that Desirée left for us and toasted our good fortune.

1000. 2009 Rag Apple Lassie - Pinot Gris (Yadkin Valley - North Carolina)

With a rather unique, flared bottle and a distinct, cartoon-esque label, we weren't expecting much from this wine. We were pleasantly surprised following our initial knock backs. The wine - named after the owner's childhood, state Grand Champion calf - was a bona fide sip. Many of our home turf Pinot Gris from the Okanagan are rated right up with some of the best. Rag Apple Lassie maybe didn't hit those heights but I think it could stack up with a good percentage of the wines we'd find back home.

Other than just finding a bovine gracing the label and alluding to the vineyard's past as a dairy farm, a little reading tells a history of the old dairy morphing into a tobacco farm after the Vietnam War. Soon afterward though, tobacco products largely fell out of favour with the public and that, in turn, saw the possibility of a comfortable livelihood fade sharply. It was a gamble but the Hobson family wasn't about to let three generations of working the farm disappear and they planted grapes in 2000 - one of the first to do so in modern times in the Yadkin Valley. They now produce around 6500 cases of mostly classical vinifera varietals - the ones you standardly see as varietal wines in your local bottle shop. You won't see the exotic Wine Century Club varietals for sale here that were omnipresent at the other North Carolina winery we tried, Stonefield Cellars.

Having perked up a touch, Boo and I made a quick tour of the campus, saw Occupy Chapel Hill's four tent camp and wandered a bit around a campus cemetery (right up Boo's alley). I can only imagine the Halloween activities that go on here.

We took the easy route for dinner and ate at the Crossroads Dining Room in the Carolina Inn and arrived to a welcome surprise. It was "No Whining Monday" and all bottles of wine were half price in the restaurant. Yippee! I didn't know at the time that our dinner choices were marking a monumental point in this blog, but the special did allows us a little guilt-free leeway in our wine budget for the evening.

1001. 2009 Four Graces - Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley - Oregon)

We went with our server's suggestion on this bottle. I figured a Pinot Noir would be versatile enough to match up with fish and duck we'd ordered and he said that he quite enjoyed this wine. The winery's website proclaims a New World approach to capturing its terroir and there's little doubt that this was New World. It was about as bold as I'm familiar with when it comes to Pinot Noir. I don't know much about Willamette Pinot's in general (other than that they're often considered world class) but this was as big as most reds of any varietal pedigree. It wasn't a bad thing. I'm a pretty big fan of fruit jumping out of my glass and we had no problem finishing the wine, but this almost as surprising in its boldness as the Pinot Gris was in its drinkability.

The food was bold enough for the wine though. In fact, this was one of our favourite meals of the trip. Boo joyously proclaimed his catfish and jambalaya to be as good as he could wish for - and that's after he tried to figure out exactly how he was going to duplicate the prosciutto wrapped dates stuffed with blue goat cheese that we had as a starter.

There was no need for dessert whatsoever, but there's never any harm in at least looking at the menu - particularly while on vacation. It wasn't the desserts that caught my eye so much, but the dessert wines. There was a bottle that immediately perked me up. When I asked our server about it, I told him that I was quite familiar with the winery but that I didn't know that they even produced a dessert wine. He didn't know much off hand either but he went back to ask the cellar manager about it. He returned to say that they couldn't tell us much because no one could recall having sold a bottle in over 10 years at the restaurant.

At $80 a half bottle, there might have been a reason that I'd never run across it before and no one else had splurged for it. But, after all, this was "No Whining Monday" and its reduced prices. I still wasn't so inclined to pay $40 for a bottle that I knew nothing about, was old and that we certainly didn't need. It'd be our third bottle of the day and I don't do hangovers on planes - at least not well. Our server went back to talk to the manager and see if he could work something out. When he returned and said that they'd pop the cork for $25, I still had to think about it but Boo said, "Go ahead. We can always take it back to the room with us."

1002. 1998 La Spinetta - Passito Oro (Piedmont - Italy)

Boo and I had visited one of La Spinetta's three wineries when we were in Italy a few years back (before I'd started this blog unfortunately) and we've been fans of Spinetta ever since. We tend to only see their high end Barbaresco's and Barolo's (and I do mean high end) back home in Vancouver. So, we don't get much opportunity to try their wines. This would be a special occasion - worthy of reaching the half way point on this Wine Odyssey - especially since I didn't know the wine even existed.

Oro is an interesting take on a dessert wine - at least for me. It's made in a method that I haven't run across before - at least not in this particular version. Once the 100% Moscato grapes have been picked, this Mosto Parzialmente Fermentato method sees the grapes racked to partially dry in the cellar for a couple of months - much in the way Amarone grapes are handled. The grapes are only crushed after certain levels of fermentation have already occurred during the partial dehydration. One of the results is a more concentrated juice with bigger flavours. That result sounds somewhat similar to the late harvest wines we find back home, but, to my knowledge, all our concentration of the grape is done while it is still on the vine and desiccation of the grape isn't the goal of the longer hang time.

The winery website says that the 1998 was the first vintage of this wine for La Spinetta and there isn't a lot produced - only around 4000 half bottles on average. Even with a decade of ageing, it was still a rich drink - reminiscent of apricots and sweet oranges but with still enough acidity to draw out a long finish. We took the bottle with us to the bar next door and had a relaxing finish to the evening and to our trip. Thanks to our server would seem in order for the gentle arm-twisting he performed to coax us into ordering the bottle after all. I think it was definitely worth it.

Our little trip South may be ending, but we still have half an Odyssey to go on the blog. There's no way that the occasion or the pedigree of the wine can be this extravagant for all 2001 Bottles, but it's fair to say that we're doing our best to take advantage of those occasions when they arise and that I'm certain we'll experience our fair share of great bottles and times over the thousand bottles still to come.

A Lazy Last Night

2011-11-25T18:41:00.001-08:00

It might have only been our second night here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but it was also our last. The good thing about November on the OBX is that things are pretty low key and mellow. From what little I saw, it looks like the area pretty much shuts down after sundown. This I can handle - particularly with a comfy couch and a glass of wine.

998. 2010 Montresor Il Veronese (Valpolicella DOC - Verona - Italy)

With last night's Amarone long gone, we opened one of that wine's little brothers - a Valpolicella. Made from the same grapes and in the same part of Italy, Valpolicella is a lighter version of the big Amarone's. And that lightness has been a bit of marketing problem for winemakers. Too often, bulk Valpolicella's were being shipped abroad and impressions have long been that the wine hasn't caught up with current day standards. As with many other Old World regions, steady and conscious efforts to modernize production has seen some marked improvement in the overall quality of Valpolicella.

Tonight's wine was no shrinking violet. If other wineries are stepping up their game like this, I could see trying another Valpolicella - as opposed to gravitating more to the bigger Ripasso's and Amarone's.

Montresor is a big player in Verona and the family's history is one filled with intrigue. I read on one site, The Wine News, that the family "fled the Touraine in the heart of the LoireValley in the 18th century after having been involved in a backroom plot to 'physically eliminate Cardinal Richelieu." The family is also mentioned in Edgar Allen Poe's tale, "The Amontillado Cask."

We spent the better part of the evening filling in the loose ends on all the intrigues surrounding Desirée's and our lives. There may not have been any plots to knock off religious leaders to tell of, but there was more than enough going on to drop the odd jaw and induce some heavy sighs and, of course, prompt a few good old belly laughs.

We were all fairly ready to make an early night of it, but I took a quick inventory of the wine we hadn't touched and there was no way that Boo and I were going to be able to bring that many bottles home with us. We knew that Desirée would offer the remaining bottles a good home - at least for a little while - but I did want to open at least one more of the locally produced bottles.

999. N.V. Stonefield Cellars - Vin de Narlé (Bottled in North Carolina)

Seeing as how this is the third Stonefield Cellars wine that I'm adding to The List, I suppose it's fair to say that I've found that there's at least a little something to North Carolina wines.

Regular readers will know that dessert wines and I are frequent friends. Finding a Port-styled wine from North Carolina just seemed like something that had to be tried.

Regardless of my being Canadian, my comprehension of la langue française is hardly what we'd call strong. Regardless of that fact, the word "Narlé" stumps me - even after a quick check in an English/French dictionary. I guess I didn't think to ask for the linguistic background when we visited the winery, but I didn't see any reference on the winery website either. I saw a couple of online comments that seem to point in the direction that owner and winemaker, Robert Wurz, was experimenting with a Port-like wine and there were early references to that "gnarly" wine. "Gnarly" became the sophisticated "Narlé" and the rest is marketing history. I'd like to know if that tale is true or merely tall but, in the meantime, we got to try something out of the ordinary for us here in Vancouver.

As far as Port-style wine go, this was fairly light bodied but there was still enough flavour in the glass that we didn't have a problem finishing the bottle. I don't know how quick I'd be to pay the asking price of $20 or so for another half bottle - but I certainly don't regret the purchase in the first place. As mentioned, I like "out of the ordinary" - almost as much as I like Port.

Water or Wine?

2011-11-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

One of Boo's biggest hopes for the trip would be that the November weather might be just warm enough for him to not completely freeze if he took a dip in the Atlantic Ocean. Anything less than tropical would be too cold for me to leave the comfort of the beach, but he figured the 68ºF./20ºC. we were enjoying would suit his purpose to make like a porpoise. He actually lasted a lot longer in the cold ocean waters than we imagined, but Desirée and I were completely content to take pictures in the warmth of our jackets and sweatshirts.

We did, however, have a glass of a deep, dark red to try and help warm him upon his return to shore.

997. 2007 Quinta de Ventozelo - Touriga Nacional (Douro DOC - Portugal)

I'm quite intrigued by the strides being made by Portugese winemakers in the last decade. Like many, I really only looked to Portugal for my beloved Port (and maybe the odd Vinho Verde), but more and more red table wines have been showing up on bottle shop shelves and, like the surge in new Spanish wines, they're being brought in because the wine industry in the old country is modernizing and trying to capture a share of the world market.

Portugese table wines generally didn't make it to North America because they were simple, cheap wines made for the home market, but a desire on the producers' part to sell globally and a distinct improvement in the wine being made has seen a big change. In general, Portugese table wines are still on the affordable side of the pricing scale and that fact, together with an increasing interest in the wine drinking public to try wines made from grapes they've never heard of, has helped lead to this ever increasing availability of wines.

I don't think I've seen Quinta de Ventozelo in the Vancouver market but it is a relatively new brand. Historical papers show that the quinta itself goes back to the early 1800's; however, up until a change in ownership in 1999, the quinta's grapes and wines were all sold in bulk to other producers - some of which played roles in award winning Ports. The new owners decided to draw on the quinta's tradition and success and start to market and sell Port and still wines under its own brand name.

I've had a few postings about wines that included Touriga Nacional but not many that feature a strictly varietal wine. The grape is one of the most prominent varietals used in making Port and is one of the best known grapes in Portugal as far as varietal wines go. Quinta de Ventozelo is located in the Douro region - perhaps the most famous wine region in Portugal as it is known as the home of Port production. The combination of Douro, table wine and Touriga Nacional is one that is bound to pique my interest currently. I doubt Joe Wine Buyer will ever recognize a Touriga Nacional before a Merlot, Cab Sauv or Shiraz, but I think we'll see a lot more attention given to wines like this in the years to come.

It doesn't hurt that the wine hits the mark with nice body, fruit and structure.

But, with Boo's swim all finished and our glasses now empty, it was time to head back to the beach house.

Kill Devil Hills, Sand & Bubbles

2011-11-24T19:22:00.001-08:00

I'm one of those guys that feel that celebrations and bubbles make a brilliant friendship. Our catching up with Desirée is certainly a celebration; so, it only made sense to bring along a bottle of sparkling fun.

Desirée has long loved bringing her kids down to the Outer Banks for family vacations and one of her favourite spots is Jockey's Ridge, the tallest natural sand dune on the East Coast. The acceptance of a suggested hike on the dunes was a no brainer. We might not have taken advantage of the possibility of sandboarding or handgliding, but then none of the folks that gravitated to those activities brought along a bottle of French fizz with them - at least not that we saw.

The concept of sipping bubbly on giant sand dunes is not a new one to Boo and I. One of my favourite wine memories is popping open a bottle of Champagne to watch the sun set from the top of a giant sand dune outside the oasis town of Liwa on the edge of the Arabian Desert. The dunes weren't quite as big here, but, at the same time, the penalties aren't probably as harsh if you're caught with your wine out in the sand in North Carolina as it would be in the Muslim, non-drinking world of Abu Dhabi.

996. N.V. Louis Bouillot - Perle d'Aurore Rosé Brut (Crèmant de Bourgogne AOC - France)

Many of you will know that it's illegal to call a sparkling wine "Champagne" if the wine isn't actually made in the small French region of Champagne - even if the wine is made using the same process called méthode traditionelle. That illegal bit even goes for sparkling wines made in other parts of France. Many other world regions have tried to overcome the inability to use the "C" word by creating their own sparkling wine brand. There's "Cava" in Spain, "Prosecco" in Italy and "Crémant" in much of the rest of France.

Louis Bouillot is a new producer to me; however, the company has been making sparkling wines since 1877. They currently produce 13 different Burgundy Crémants and 2 Cuvées de France (the difference being that the grapes for the latter designation can be sourced from regions outside of Burgundy).

This Brut Rosé is a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Gamay Noir, the two traditional red grapes of Burgundy. The winemakers allow a short maceration of the crushed juice on the skins to get the brilliant hue. Following that, the wine is made in the méthode traditionelle with additional ageing on the lees (or spent yeast cells produced as the wine ages) to impart a more complex and intense flavour.

In general, a really great thing about Crémant wines is that you can get Champagne quality wine at a fraction of the price. The wine was a great perk for having hiked through the sand for about a half hour or so. Sitting back in the sand, the early fruit, followed by bright acidity on the finish was a lot more refreshing than the bottled water we'd been drinking up to that point. I didn't find the mousse or degree of bubbles in the wine to be that exciting but the occasion was another one for the books.

Other than the seasonal hurricanes, sand dunes and a memorial for the Wright Brothers and their Kitty Hawk flights, the Outer Banks is maybe best known for its trademark lighthouses. We didn't have time for the hour's drive down to the largest of the lighthouses, Cape Hatteras, but the twenty minutes to the Bodie Island lighthouse seemed reasonable. Having already polished off a bottle of bubbles before noon (it is a vacation after all), it's probably just as well that we weren't able to climb the lighthouse.

We did, however, decide that a little lunch was in order and, after a bit of a nature walk through the lighthouse's surrounding marsh, we dropped in to catch crabs at Dirty Dick's. A touch on the naughty side - and totally touristy - but having some crab while visiting OBX was high on Boo's and my wish list.

A little more relaxing than traversing New Orleans or treading carefully with family, I could get use to this.

On To OBX

2011-11-24T19:21:00.005-08:00

When I found out that Boo and I would be spending a bit of time in North Carolina, I got in touch with an old family friend, Desirée, who had moved to Virginia from Canada almost twenty years ago. Her mom and mine went to high school together (a few years ago) in the Kootenays and the respective families have stayed in touch all that time. Boo and I finally got on the road from Greensboro and committed ourselves to five or so hours of freeway driving to the Outer Banks on the Atlantic coast where Desirée arranged for all of us to rent a beach house for the weekend.

The drive was pretty monotonous for about the first three-quarters. Nothing but highways and interchanges. But, as we started getting closer to the coast and through a more rural lifestyle, the scenery was far more bucolic. On the final stretches before we hit the Atlantic, I started seeing farmer's fields and a huge smile crossed my face when I realized I was seeing cotton fields for the first time. It must have been during, or just after, harvest time because most of the fields were pretty much barren as we drove by, but there was no mistaking those white puffball-laden stalks when we saw a field that hadn't been picked. I was certainly thrilled when an opportunity presented itself where we could stop on the highway and get a real shot.

Shortly after the cotton fields, we hit the causeways that took us out the Outer Banks and it wasn't much further until we arrived in the interestingly named township of Kill Devil Hills. Desirée and Cruncher had arrived earlier in the day and had already started to set up house. That meant there was a much appreciated glass of wine just waiting to be tasted as soon as we put down our bags.

994. 2010 Casa Sant'Orsola - Dolcetto D'Alba (Dolcetto D'Alba DOC - Piedmont - Italy)

Casa Sant'Orsola is one of the brands operated by Fratelli Martini and has been in operation since 1947 when two Martini brothers, Secondo and Luigi, started up in the Langhe region of Piedmont. Now making wine under six different brands in most regions of the country, the Dolcetto goes back to the brothers' origins - Dolcetto being one of the most widely grown grapes in Piedmont.

Dolcetto is generally seen as a varietal that most major producers treat as an "early to market" wine. While the big Barolo's and Barbaresco's are perhaps better known wines from the region, they require minimum ageing before they can be released for sale. Wineries can keep the cash flow moving with the Dolcetto as it is considered a light, easy drinking wine that is meant to be drunk within a year or two of being released.

An easy drinker was just what we needed. The beach was only two blocks away from our new home. So, we filled our glasses and moseyed on down for a bit of a hike before the sun went down. Boo and I had met up and visited briefly with Desirée in Virginia once before when we weren't far away in Washington DC. We'd made a quick drive through the Outer Banks on that trip on our way to Raleigh (before HDR3 had moved to the Carolinas), but we didn't get a real chance to take in the beach or stay at all. This was a treat.

Things got even better when Desirée announced that she'd gone grocery shopping and was fixin' up some short ribs for dinner. She figured the food would be better than the tourist trap restaurants; the wine would be cheaper; and we wouldn't have to worry about making it home to bed. I think she was remembering our last visit where we finished off lord only knows how many bottles of Sangre de Toro. We joked about cheap red wine and bull's blood for years after that.

995. 2007 Stonefield Cellars Barrel X (North Carolina)

We'd picked up another couple of bottles at Stonefield Cellars when Boo and I were in Greensboro. We figured they'd be good for the weekend. I'd asked Desirée to see if she could bring down a couple Virginia wines with her when she came and her response was, "Why would you want me to? I may not know much about wine, but I know I don't touch Virginia wines." Somehow it just seemed right to pay a little homage the local product. We might have been a long way from Rome, but I figured we should still make like locals.

The Barrel X is a small batch production for Stonefield - there's only a single puncheon (or barrel that generally holds a little over 300 litres) - of Syrah, Barbera and Mourvèdre. Those aren't exactly varietals that I'd expect from a somewhat cooler climate region and that may be why the wine seemed a little green and acidic compared to the other reds that we drank that night. It tasted bigger and better at the winery, but I suppose that might be because we'd been comparing it to a lot of whites and lighter reds in the tasting room.

After posting our earlier visit to Stonefield Cellars, I was asked about the number of wineries in North Carolina. I took another quick look and saw that there are now over 100 wineries in the state - a four-fold increase over the last decade. North Carolina, as a state, is now the 9th biggest producer in the US. The situation actually sounds quite similar to the size and growth that BC wineries are seeing back home - our's is a new industry in the greater scheme of things as well. So, it will be interesting to see how North Carolina fares in the coming years.

996. (?..ndo) Amarone (Amarone della Valpolicella DOC - Italy)

I guess I'd better not go on vacation while I'm still counting bottles. I thought I was doing really well taking notes and photos of the bottles we enjoyed but it appears that this is the only picture I took of this bottle and it doesn't show enough of the label to see the name of the producer. I can make out the letters "NDO" but I couldn't find any producers that have a name with a similar ending. Oh well, the picture's there, we did drink the wine with Desirée's short ribs and I'm counting it.

Too bad I can't look up anything further on the wine. I can't say that we splurge on Amarone's all that often. We picked up the bottle to bring along as a treat - as opposed to a bottle of Sangre de Toro (which would have been hilariously funny) - since Desirée has mentioned that Amarone is a favourite of Cruncher's. We hadn't met Cruncher before since he wasn't on the scene when we last saw Desirée back in the 90's. I kinda thought he'd be my sort of peeps - even before I met him - when she mentioned the Amarone though.

Looking forward to the rest of the weekend? You bet.

Churrascaria, You Don't Say

2011-11-24T19:21:00.003-08:00

So, it's our last night in Greensboro and we wanted to take Boo's brothers (plus 1 wife and 1 son - not each, just the only ones that were around) for dinner. HDR3, being the local bro, thought it would be fun to visit a Brazilian steakhouse - or churrascaria. None of us had been to one before - and we did have Carolina BBQ earlier. Game on.

The endless supply of red meat just cried out for a bit of red wine. I saw an Argentine blend on the wine list and thought "Argentina's right next to Brazil, this has got to go well." I'd never heard of Tikal before but it sounded like an easy blend.

992. 2009 Tikal Patriota (Mendoza - Argentina)

Turns out that Tikal is a project of Ernesto Catena - son of Nicolás Catena Zapata, one of the best known names in the world of Argentine wine. Tikal is the name of Ernesto's son and it is meant to be a bold, new world winery that plays to one's passions. The Patriota is a 60/40 blend of Bonarda and Malbec - the two red varietals that have been at the core of Argentina's wine tradition. The wine is meant to be a tribute to that tradition and to Catena's passion for Mendoza and Argentina.

With a steady supply of beef, pork, lamb and chicken, there was plenty of meat to wash the wine down with. The servers just kept a'coming and there was no way that I could even give every choice of meat a try - and I did try. HDR3 was the hands down winner on filling the plate but I think we all gave the restaurant a pretty good run for its money. With all that meat, however, our Tikal was finished early enough that the decision had to be made about a second bottle. As much as we liked the easy drinking Tikal, we decided to take a risk on a second bottle that I discovered on the wine list.

993. Miolo Lote 43 (Vale de Vinhedos - Brazil)

Yup, that's right - a Brazilian wine. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a Brazilian wine before - although I have heard that wine is made and is abundant. At $40, it was the most expensive South American wine on the list. That's got to be a bit of a cause for reflection. I asked our server what he knew about the wine and he couldn't say much at all. He offered to go ask the manager and came back to say that, understandably, they don't sell a lot because of the price point. However, he was able to say that, once ordered, people seemed to enjoy it and that no one had ever sent back a bottle. Sounded like a decent gamble to me.

Miolo is a large volume producer in Brazil and is apparently quite popular. I did a quick Google search on "best Brazilian wine" and Miolo showed up on each of the search results. The winery and vineyards are located in the south of Brazil, in the Vale de Vinhedos or the Valley of Vineyards - the only region that has a certificate of geographic designation for wine.

Most folks associate Brazil with Portugal when it comes to European tradition but the region in question saw a lot of Italian colonization. Indeed, I read that there are over 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent and that Brazil is home to the largest community of the Italian diaspora. The Miolo family started cultivating grapes in the valley as early as 1897; however, they only started making their own wines in 1990. They quickly grew to the point that they produce 4 million litres of red, white and sparkling wine annually.

The Lot 43 is the winery's icon wine and it's a Cab Sauv/Merlot 50/50 blend. We were pleasantly surprised that it tasted as good as it did. Most references to Brazilian wine say that the Brazilians should stick to Brahma beer and Caipirinhas, but the Miolo family has brought in world famous, French consultant Michel Rolland and it would appear that he's had some beneficial influence. Nice, up front fruit and structure to the wine but I'm not sure I'd lay it down for plenty of ageing. A Brazilian wine was a neat novelty though.

The evening's end came too quickly - even if we couldn't have eaten any more meat. It was soon time to start the goodbyes because Dan-o was back to Florida first thing in the morning and Boo and I had to make our way out to the Atlantic coast for a final weekend to the vacation. The three days that we did get with the family was lovely way to catch up with everything that was happening.

Cheers to that.

A Little Traminette with that Pulled Pork?

2011-11-24T19:21:00.001-08:00

It seemed like Boo and I had hardly arrived in Greensboro and here we were down to our last full day already. Talk about never having enough time.

Our timing dilemma meant that it was now or never for finding us a bit of BBQ before we had to move on. HDR3, the local bro', went through the various options that were available. Not being from the South, I certainly didn't realize that different regions have different BBQ styles. In fact, this part of North Carolina alone has two separate styles - Lexington and Eastern.

We decided upon Prissy Polly's Pig Pickin' Barbecue because it offers both styles at the same restaurant.

Boo asked his mom if she wanted to join us and she looked at him as if he were crazy. It took no further explanation to know that she was coming with us regardless of whether we were offering. Younger bro', Dan-o, joined in on the road trip as well. It took a bit of determination to make our way through the menu and all the options but we managed to come up with an assortment of plates that, not only covered the required pulled pork, but resulted in an array of sides that ranged from fried okra, hushpuppies and fried squash to slaw, baked beans and collards.

I think you might refer to this as being "mighty fine dining" as opposed to "fine dining." All the same, I know we all left fully sated.

We took Mom Mary home after lunch and the boys said some teary goodbyes after a bit of an extended visit.

Turns out we weren't far away from one of the wineries that have started to appear in the area; so, I managed to coax the boys into taking a bit of a side trip by offering to buy them a drink.

I'd read a tiny bit about the wine industry that was developing in North Carolina but I didn't think that we'd realistically get a chance to visit one. Time truly was that tight. With Stonefield Cellars being no more than 15 minutes away though, the opportunity suddenly presented itself.

During our lengthy visit with Tasting Room manager, Michelle, (lucky for us that no one else showed up while we were there) we were advised that Stonefield recently celebrated its 5th anniversary and it seems to be creating a bit of niche for itself in the area. The estate vineyard is only 1.5 acres but they make around 20 different grape wines and another couple fruit wines - production, however, is still limited to about 2000 cases. They grow a dozen varietals at their estate vineyard and they bring in grapes (maybe 50-60%) from other growers - all within 40 miles of their location. A few of the varietals included in that list are a godsend to someone wanting to build up their Wine Century Club tasting list. I can't say that I recall running across Canadice, Cayuga, Niagra or Symphony before. Most of those intriguing varietals go into blends and aren't made into single varietal wines though.

991. 2006 Stonefield Cellars - Traminette (Virginia - US)

One of the unexpected varietals is made into a varietal wine, however, and that's the one we asked Michelle to open for us out on the winery patio. The Traminette grapes must be one of the varietals that is sourced from another vineyard because I notice that the appellation area on the bottle is shown as Virginia. We weren't far from the state line, but I wouldn't have guessed that our first North Carolina wine on the trip was actually made from Virginia grapes. Oh well.

The Traminette grape is a relatively new varietal. It was created in 1965 at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign when the Gewurztraminer grape was crossed with an American/French hybrid grape called Johannes Seyve 23.416 by French biochemist, (you guessed it) Johannes Seyve. Seyve's intent was apparently to produce a large table grape that exhibited the flavours of a Gewurztraminer. There was a bonus, however, when the new cross was found to have qualities that were quite suitable to making a nice wine as well. Production of the grape seems to be limited primarily to the US, but its cold hardiness might make it a candidate for BC too. Who knows, we may well see BC Traminette down the road.

Stonefield's Traminette is made in an off-dry style but it was certainly a decent enough sip and I could see quaffing some down with a plate of pulled pork, especially if there's a bit of bite to the seasoning.

In the meantime, I'm a happy guy in that I not only got to visit a North Carolina winery but I get another varietal to add to my Wine Century Club list.

Sort of an American Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:20:00.004-08:00

Despite living our lives awash in American media, one of the things we get used to in Canada is that we celebrate Thanksgiving a month earlier than folks do in the US. Accordingly, it didn't feel like anything out of the ordinary for us to have a Thanksgiving dinner a week before everyone else in the States would be loading up on turkey. There was no way that Boo wanted to experience the airport chaos that is American Thanksgiving; so, our little, mini-family reunion was timed so that we'd be able to make our way back across the 49th Parallel just in time to beat the rush - although it also meant we'd miss Black Friday, but that's another story.

Cuzzin' K and Coke came over from Raleigh and Boo's younger brother, Dan-o, was able to make it up from Florida so that we could all share dinner with Mom Mary.

Mom Mary's move back to and transition to the States hasn't been the easiest of journeys and Boo was apprehensive of how everything would transpire as the whole gang gathered. Seems like he needn't have overly worried. Family, food and wine can help immensely.

If there was one problem encountered though, it was that Boo discovered that our iPad is the perfect vehicle for Angry Birds. Talk about distractions.

987. N.V. Conte Priola Rosso (Medium Sweet) (Italy)

This was a bottle that HDR3, the default ale-drinker, had picked up. I have to admit that the "Medium Sweet Red Wine" that was most notable on the label had me wondering a bit; being a non-vintage wine didn't help ease my concern either. There wasn't much else on the label and I can't find any mention of a winery online, but the label does refer to L.P. Fossalta di Piave which is a small town north of Venice. I'd expected some sugary pop-like drink reminiscent of the Rich Red's and Ruby Red's of yore. It wasn't half as sweet as I'd expected and we didn't have to secretly serve it to the unwitting. I'll likely remain wary of such labels down the road, but I suppose it shows you can't judge a wine solely by the label.

988. 2010 S. Andrea in Colle Il Rosso (IGT Rosso Tuscany - Italy)

Again, this isn't an easy wine to find information about online. There's a bit more on the label this time around though and it is both a vintage and a classified (IGT) wine. Again, the most telling information on the label was that the name S. Andrea in Colle seems to refer to another small town and area outside of Florence. I suspect the wine is produced by a collective of growers in the region. Unlike the last wine, at least this label confirmed that the wine is made of Sangiovese - which would make sense for Tuscany.

One additional note on the label is that the wine is an "Alfio Moriconi Selection." I might not have been able to find anything about the winery, but Mr. Moriconi is a consulting buyer of European wines for the Total Wine chain. Accordingly, the bottle might be one made specifically for sale by Total Wine in the US.

Again, the wine was more than suitable for our purposes. I think the wine was meant to be approachable as an introductory wine for the newer consumer that is willing to try varietals that aren't as well-known as Cabernet or Merlot. Boo and Mom Mary had both had a bit - and they're still smiling - so it couldn't have been that bad.

Turkey and all the trimmings turned to pumpkin pie and cherry cobbler and that brought even more smiles to all those gathered.

989. 2009 Radius Merlot (Washington State)

Who'd have thunk it, but I couldn't easily find out anything about this wine either. Being from Washington State, I figured there'd be a winery website - but not one that I could find and the Washington wine industry has some pretty extensive websites. That likely means that this is a consumer brand wine - much like the two Italians.

Good thing I wasn't expected to know anything about the wines at dinner. Folks were definitely more concerned with everyone else's news and with how Mom Mary's move was working out. Those conversations carried on for some time; so, naturally, we needed to pull out another bottle of wine.

990. 2010 Adolph Mueller Piesporter Michelsberg Riesling Spätlese (Prädikatswein - Mosel - Germany)

Surprise, I couldn't find a website for this producer either but, luckily, German wine labels can tell you a fair bit about the wine inside - if you can ever figure out how to read them. "Prädikatswein" is a qualification that the industry uses to identify wines of superior quality. "Piesporter Michelsberg" is the collective of vineyards forming the area from where the grapes were grown in the bigger Mosel region. "Spätlese" is often translated as meaning "late harvest;" so, it's not surprising to find a fair whack of residual sugar in this wine.

That being said, I can't say as I know anything else about the wine or winery. We were drinking it on its own but I think the sweetness might have been a little less prominent if we'd opened it to drink along with dessert. As it was, it was more like a dessert in itself - which isn't necessarily the worst thing that can happen while on vacation.

I must be away from home because it's not too often that I don't know something about any of the wineries or can't find out something about the wine since it's being sold in our market. Not so much today. But then, trying wines that I wouldn't normally see or try or know anything about is a central part of this Odyssey.

And who we're drinking the wine with is another primary tenet of the blog. So, this is a special entry seeing as how far everyone had travelled to get together. If that wasn't reason for giving some thanks, I don't know what is.

From N'Awlins to Tarheel Country

2011-11-24T19:20:00.003-08:00

It appears we're going to start off our visit to North Carolina much as we ended our stop in New Orleans - with a beer. I suppose it only makes sense - particularly in the South - that man does not live on wine alone. Even when that man writes a wine blog.

We didn't arrive in Greensboro until late afternoon but Boo's two brothers surprised us by greeting us at the airport (and directing me to the nearest shop with a decent wine selection). By the time we'd checked in and made our way to his brother's home, we learned that Boo's twin, HDR3, had stopped by one of his local faves, the Liberty Tap Room, to pick up a little brown jug of one of their ales to go. I know the jug had a particular name, but darned if I can remember it. I do remember, however, that you can just take the bottle back to the brew pub and they'll refill it for you. I like that kind of customer care.

One activity on my wish list for the trip was to take in some southern BBQ. I don't know that I'd expected it so quickly and to be home cooking but, being the good ol' boy that he is, HDR3 lit up the flames and started us off with some fine grilling. Slow smoked, pulled pork was still on the horizon, but you won't catch me saying, "No thanks," to a nice slab of beef.

And a big, red wine to go with it.

986. 2008 Edmeades Mendocino County Zinfandel (Mendocino County - California)

There's little doubt that, when I'm State-side, I'm going to take the opportunity to grab some California Zin since there aren't any of those nasty Canadian duties and taxes that magically appear as soon as the same wines cross the border into Canada. Edmeades isn't a winery that I'm familiar with - even with all the California Wine Fairs and tastings that come through Vancouver. Edmeades is apparently one of the first wineries to set up shop in the Anderson Valley, above Sonoma. When they started planting grapes in the early 1960's, they were the first modern-day grape growers in the Valley and most of their neighbours thought it was pure folly.

That folly seems to have proved viable and the winery is still going strong (although it changed hands in 1988). Edmeades now specializes in single vineyard Zinfandels; however, this Mendocino County wine is a blend of grapes from the collection of vineyards that the winery sources from. It also features small proportions of Syrah and Petit Syrah to round out the wine.

The brothers had plenty to catch up on and the talk continued for awhile but tomorrow was to be the big get together and they'd be bringing Mom Mary over for dinner - the first time that Boo has seen her since she moved away from the Kootenays and Canada a little over a year ago. That called for a relatively early wrap up to the evening and a good night's sleep.

I Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans

2011-11-24T19:20:00.001-08:00

Having said good-bye to Merlot Boy and Margarita this morning, it was now Boo's and my final night in the Big Easy. And our plan was to not worry so much about the "big," but to look to and accentuate the "easy."

Kelly, our Southern Belle of a hostess at the Royal Barracks Guest House, paid a final visit with Sugah and graciously helped us finish off what little wine and Grey Goose we hadn't succeeded in polishing off - either on our own or with MB and Marg. The girl has some capital "S" stories to tell and she gave us a tour of the guest rooms that we hadn't seen since each of them has a different decor and theme.

It won't be a hard sell for us to stay at Royal Barracks again should we be lucky enough to make it back to New Orleans again.

As mentioned, Boo and I were taking it easy on the evening's activities and we decided to try Coop's, one of the local haunts, since both Kelly and our Aussie pair highly recommended it. Its popularity certainly didn't come into question. There was healthy line-up to get in and the waitress seem to be in endless demand. The little shot of food porn was to document the most delicious jambalaya we'd run across on our journey. You can also see that we passed on the wine tonight - as the choice was pretty slim and we didn't really need a full bottle - but the photo accidentally shows a Guest Alcohol that we should grace on these pages.

There were more than a couple bottles and pints of beer quaffed back during the trip. After all, we were less than a block away from Bourbon Street where beer is just another word for breakfast, but we were travelling with Aussies as well. I needn't say more about that correlation to beer. I think that in almost all the circumstances where a beer was in order, it was inevitably an Abita - a local, small batch, craft brewer. The brewery offered up a comprehensive array of beers and ales that seemed to be readily available all around town - the choice was expansive enough that you were generally best served by trying to match a brew to your meal, same as you do with wine.

I don't know if Abita ever makes it across the border into BC but I'd definitely keep an eye open for it.

There was only one other stop we had to make time for and that was to take in a bit of old time N'Awlins jazz. It wasn't the old Preservation Hall but the Maison Bourbon Jazz Club is a stalwart of its own. Bourbon Street, itself, is more known for loud rock & roll, strip clubs and hi-jinx than jazz nowadays, but Maison Bourbon is a bit of throwback to music clubs of yore.

It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea (Boo's?) but it's a definitive face of what I think of when I remember New Orleans. Everyone should take in at least one set. But that set spelled the end of our stay.

God willing and the creek don't rise, we'll make it back for a little more Southern decadence and hospitality. Until that happens, I'll take a riff on an old jazz classic and continue to know what it means to miss New Orleans.

Voodoo Crypts, Muffuletta & Prosecco

2011-11-23T16:11:00.001-08:00

As sad as it was, we saw our Aussie travel mates, Merlot Boy and Margarita, jump in a cab to catch their flight back to NYC. There's little chance that our day to follow would be nearly as eventful as days spent with them - but we likely wouldn't have to drink as much.

One of the activities on our "must do list" was to take a tour of one of the New Orleans cemeteries. St. Louis #1, the Roman Catholic cemetery just outside of the French Quarter, was where our tour took us.

The tour actually started in the Quarter and we were given some interesting history of the city as we made our way up to the cemetery. However, before entering the cemetery, we stopped for a brief visit to one of the Catholic churches, the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, where we were regaled with a great little story about the legend of St. Expedite. Many stories revolve on the appearance of this "controversial" saint in New Orleans and how he arrived without any clear identification of who he actually was. The fact that the word "expédit" was apparently written on the outside of the box was good enough at the time and that's who he's been from that point on.

Despite having a rather sketchy standing with the Vatican, St. Expedite remains popular in New Orleans - particularly among computer geeks and those looking for speedy results. He is also understood, at times, to play a role in voodoo rites.

Many a cemetery has a famous crypt or two and I think it's fair to say that the uncontested star of St. Louis #1 is renowned Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau. Evidence of believers still asking her for assistance abounds. I also found it interesting to see tokens - like pawns and bishops and dice - from petitioners being left at the crypts of a former chess champion and a noted playboy famous for introducing the game of craps to New Orleans.

Almost all of the tombs are built above ground and are designed to house many generations by way of multiple, sequential interments. After a body has been buried, the vault can be re-opened after a year and a day, with the decomposed remains being pushed to the back or moved to a lower level where they would mix with their ancestors and family members. In earlier years, there was ofter much demand for ongoing use of the crypt as folks didn't live as long and an epidemic could easily play havoc with family health.

Being at the oldest remaining cemetery in New Orleans, Boo was in his element - although the variety, size and grandeur of the tombs here doesn't really compare to that of the Recoleta Cemetery we visited last year in Buenos Aires. Then again, Recoleta didn't have stories of voodoo priestesses, rogue film antics or vampires.

All in all, a very interesting tour. An opportunity to meet with a practicing voodoo priestess was also presented to us; however, we were partially warned that the priestess could be rather long-winded and pedantic. So, Boo and I opted to continue back to the French Quarter and grab a picnic lunch.

Boo's must-visit cemetery was followed by my "can't miss" visit to the Central Grocery to wait in the lunch line for a famous muffuletta sandwich - Italian bread stuffed with salami, ham and provolone that is finished off with a chopped olive, anchovy and garlic salad. With that and a bottle of wine in tow, Jackson Square, with the St. Louis Cathedral behind us, was a perfect lunch spot - particularly when a brass jazz band started playing away in the neighbouring plaza. The funny part of our choice of location was that our bench was immediately in front of a statue of Bacchus. How appropriate for another bottle to be added to The List.

985. N.V. Adami Garbèl Prosecco Brut (Prosecco DOC Treviso - Italy)

Given the heat of the day and our desire for something cool, I thought a Prosecco would be an easy drinking fit for our Italian sandwich. The number of Prosecco's available in the Vancouver market back home is forever expanding; however, I haven't seen Adami on any of our shelves yet. I see that the winery is a well-established producer in northern Italy and is three generations old in its making of Prosecco.

I was little surprised at the tartness of the wine. Despite being a Brut, I thought, being a Prosecco, it might have a little more residual sugar and a more active mousse (i.e. bubbles). Not making these comments as a bad thing. The taste profile was just a tad unexpected and we had no complaints as we finished off our lunch with a jazz concert playing away.

This is what vacations are meant to be like.

Cochon - A Final Bit of Pig

2011-11-23T16:10:00.001-08:00

After not nearly enough sleep, Boo rouses me out of bed and my head's about as foggy as it looks in the picture. Problem is it wasn't a foggy morning in New Orleans. The camera just seemed to sense that I wasn't at my best. There was no sign of life whatsoever in Merlot Boy and Margarita's room and we were scheduled for a 10 a.m. start across the French Quarter. So, Boo and I just had to make our way on our own and leave them a note as to how to catch up.

Not that I really expected to ever see them.

Another Big Easy treat that Jeaux had introduced me to years ago was the New Orleans School of Cooking. I tell every person that will listen that this is the best bang for your buck to be found in the city. It's a cooking class/comedy show, with food and drink, and I've made it a "Do Not Miss" event on my schedule whenever I've made it to town. Indeed, my family favourite bread pudding recipe is an adaption of the recipe I got at the School of Cooking a couple decades ago.

Admittedly, I wasn't at my best at the start of the class (and I don't even think that I finished my lunch) but it was a blast even through my haze.

Chef Kevin Belton is a giant of a man and I swear he could be a stand-up comic if he wanted to be. He was the chef all those years ago when Jeaux and I attended and I'd specifically timed our reservation so that we'd see him this time as well. It was as funny as all get out when Merlot Boy and Margarita showed up half an hour late. Kevin simply told them that it's a tradition that the last people to arrive are required to do all the dishes before they leave.

Kevin proceeded to cook his way through red beans & rice, cornbread, pecan pie and pralines and then, we ate our way through the results of his considerable talents. Many people have tried to one-up him on witty comebacks - but I've yet to see anyone succeed. And heaven help you if you pose a "less than scholarly" question. When one gal asked if she could substitute skim milk for whole, he simply replied "Yes," but asked her "Why would you want to? Do you like skim milk?" When she responded with "Yes, as a matter of fact I do," he quipped that she "no doubt likes margarine over butter as well" and added that she might keep her figure a bit slimmer that way but he'd be willing to guarantee that her guests would like her cooking a whole lot better if she stuck to the whole milk and butter.

Having been brave enough to attend class in my delicate condition, I figured I deserved a nap later in the afternoon before we went out for another big dinner.

I'd looked at Chowhound a bit for some suggestions and I saw a number of good comments for Cochon. There was a general consensus that an extravaganza of pork sounded like a plan. It didn't disappoint - particularly since both Aussies thought our waiter was a dead ringer for their favourite Aussie Rules Footy player. That in itself was good reason for a bit of flirting and an excessively generous tip.

984. 2009 Herdade do Esporão - Defesa - Touriga Nacional - Syrah (Vinho Regional Alentejano - Portugal)

Another new producer (I love being in a new city to see the different wineries and bottles that are available). It's not a combination of varietals that I recall seeing before - likely because there aren't that many wineries, outside of Portugal, that grow Touriga Nacional and not that many wineries that grow Syrah in Portugal. Portugese blends regularly feature varietals that most people have never heard of; so, this sounded like an interesting choice. Maybe the fact that the winery has an ex-pat Aussie winemaker on board plays a role in utilizing the Syrah.

A little online research, after the fact, shows that Herdade do Esporão is one of the largest producers in Portugal. The current winery for Defesa was only established in 1992, but the Herdade estate's boundaries go back to 1267. For a relatively new enterprise, the winery was making ten million litres of wine annually as of 2009. Herdade currently produces five brands and labels and Defesa appears to be primarily an entry level wine. It's certainly not the cheapest Portugese wine that you'll find, but I think that, at around $17 (in New Orleans, but not the restaurant), it's still a decent price.

The Defesa brand and packaging is definitely modern in scope and the website promotes the wine as having a personality that "enjoys a good time, going to parties, nightlife & is at ease wherever the place." The marketing is a little hokey for me, but I did enjoy the wine and I'd definitely give it another go if I ever see it in our market. And, if nothing else, the description seems appropriate for our little gang on vacation.

On the way home, we wandered past - of all things - an Aussie bar. There was next to no chance that Merlot Boy and Margarita were passing up on that opportunity - particularly not on their last night in town. There were even a couple of old ex-pats that Merlot Boy felt obliged to reminisce with. A giant-sized Fosters (or whatever it was) later, we left that little corner of Oz and made it back to our little corner of the Quarter. It was hard to believe that we'd have to part ways in a matter of hours. Even with booze aplenty, three days just isn't enough time to whet our whistle when it comes to Merlot Boy (and I'm even going to be nice and avoid the obvious and dirty little pun that could be inserted here - but you can always take a stab at it in the comments). It was a joy to meet our new Drinking Buddy, Margarita, as well. It's got to take a helluva woman to keep up with our Merlot Boy.

Good thing we're scheduled to catch up with them again Down Under in a matter of months!

Have Fun!

2011-11-23T07:33:00.003-08:00

In the greater scheme of things, I'm going to count this post as a good case of history repeating. There was definitely a price to be paid, but sometimes it's just hard to learn from the past.

In a former (much younger) lifetime, I can count at least two wildly memorable evenings at Pat O'Brien's during my various trips to The Big Easy. The first was during a DKE fraternity convention when we greeted by the early morning streetcleaners on our stumble back to the hotel. The second was with Jeaux when, after more than a couple attempts, she finally coaxed me into hitting the town for Mardi Gras.

With those memories in mind, I knew that no visit to NOLA is complete without an extended stay at Pat O's. After all, since 1933, their motto has been "Have Fun!" And that's what I told Boo, Merlot Boy and Margarita.

Anyone who's been to Pat O's Piano Bar knows that you don't go there for a quiet glass of wine and conversation. No siree Bob, the Piano Bar is all about singing your face off until your voice is hoarse and drinking Hurricanes. Hence, another Guest Alcohol appearance - and today's interloper is none other than our good friend, Rum - and a little more Rum and, finally, a bit of Rum. After all, a Hurricane is nothing more than four ounces of Rum and four ounces of fruity Hurricane punch mix.

I love the story that tells the history of the Hurricane. According to Pat O's website, "the fruity red concoction was created during World War II when liquor such as whiskey was in low supply. In order to purchase just one case of these liquors, liquor salesmen forced bar owners to purchase as much as 50 cases of rum, which was plentiful. In an effort to use the abundance of rum that Pat O'Brien's acquired, the recipe for the Hurricane evolved with the help of an eager liquor salesman."

Our plan was to stop in for one Hurricane and a set of the duelling pianists. Then again, "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men..." And stray - or was that stay - we did. After all, those drinks sure don't taste like there's much booze in them. The youthful Aussie wedding party didn't hurt to make Merlot Boy and Margarita feel right at home either - and who doesn't live to stick around for a rousing singalong of "American Pie?"

We wisely left before ordering a third Hurricane. The problem, however, was that it started raining on our way home to the guest house. That problem was compounded by the fact that we were on Bourbon Street when the rain started really coming down. Naturally, being on one of the most notorious party streets in the world, it only made sense to get out of the rain by popping into the nearest bar.

That was midnight.

Little did we know that it was the Bourbon Pub's Sing-Along to vintage video classics night. If we hadn't had enough of an opportunity to let our inner Lady Gaga out at Pat O'Brien's, we certainly did here, especially since there was way more choreography involved - and it was ever so much more campy. Piano bars just can't pull off a crowd of patrons recreating every move to a Grease medley on a giant screen the way a gay bar can.

There were no more Hurricanes hitting us, but I was starting to regret having introduced Merlot Boy to the Cape Cod. And, then, there's that damn Aussie tradition of the "shout." If your Aussie buddy is looking you in the eye and saying, "It's your shout," he means that you're being a bit slow on buying the next round - your next round by the way. Everything's done by shouts and it doesn't exactly let you fall behind gracefully. Damn that Margarita and her ability to keep up.

You might notice that there aren't any pictures of our Bourbon Pub visit. Indeed, there are pictures but they were Merlot Boy's and I wasn't given access to them for blog purposes - to protect the innocent of course.

Ultimately, with Boo long gone, I used an empty wallet as an excuse to head home. I won't say exactly how long our quick jump out of the rain lasted, but suffice it to say, I wasn't going to get a full night's sleep before the morning would come quickly calling.

The Great Unknown

2011-11-23T07:33:00.001-08:00

This will have to be a bit of brief post - and not because I simply don't have anything to say about the dinner or the wine. Rather, for whatever reason, none of the pictures that we took at dinner seem to have survived the transfer from chip to computer. Hence, I don't rightly remember what the wine is that I'm going to add to The List.

Following our respective daytime activities - whether they be trolley picnic or swamp tour - the four of us made our way out to dinner. We had a restaurant in mind - Mr. B's Bistro, a New Orleans tradition - but it was on the other side of the French Quarter and we might have been persuaded to dine elsewhere if the right opportunity presented itself. In the meantime, as we wandered in search of Mr. B's, we took in more of the wild window displays and signs that populate the Quarter. November is pretty tame time of year for The Big Easy, but you'd never guess that by the excitement that screams from the windows.

We did find Mr. B's eventually and, luckily, got in without a reservation. We had no idea how popular or big the restaurant was. The place was hopping when we arrived around 8.30, but we were totally surprised at how quickly it emptied out. By the time we'd finished our dessert, we were one of the last tables - and it wasn't like we over-stayed our welcome. Guess folks just like to finish their meals early so that they can carry on with their partying in the streets.

As mentioned, we only have a couple of pictures from the dinner and none of them are of the wine bottle. We have shots of the wine filled wine glass accompanying Boo's pork belly and we have a shot of the bacon-wrapped shrimp and grits - that had to be one of the culinary delights of the entire trip - but nothing of the bottle itself. I know we took a few pictures because I had to ask our server if he'd leave the bottle on the table so that I could take a better look. Those computer gremlins. What can I say?

983. some Washington State Syrah (Washington State)

I do remember that we ordered a Washington State Syrah because 1) I was surprised that a restaurant, the calibre of Mr. B's, only served American wines and 2) I found it ironic that we'd flown to the opposite corner of the continent to order a Washington wine that was basically made right next to our back door. I took a look at the restaurant website to see if they posted their wine list, but such was not the case. I suppose this wine will forever have to remain a mystery.

I'm still counting it though. I'm not about to let a dinner like this go buy unaccounted for.

A Streetcar Named St. Charles

2011-11-23T07:32:00.006-08:00

It was only our second full day in New Orleans and we were already realizing that time was running out. Merlot Boy and Margarita wanted to go on a swamp and gator tour while Boo and I wanted to take a streetcar ride down to the Garden District. We weren't going to be able to do both; so, our little gang decided to split up for the day.

But first, we had to wander a bit to get to our respective starting points. On the way, we passed yet another shop full of crazy goods and wares. The first things that attracted us to the shop in the accompanying picture were the garden ornaments and furniture that had been made from reclaimed flotsam and jetsam from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Five years on and you can still see something to remind you of the catastrophe without any effort whatsoever. The inside of the shop was even crazier though. It looked like the shop was also a bit of a warehouse for bits and pieces of Mardi Gras floats. If anyone wants an oversized puppet of George Dubya, I've got just the shop for you.

Once Boo and I were on our way riding the St. Charles streetcar, I realized that the other two probably weren't so desirous of our plan since Melbourne has a full blown trolley system as well. They can ride a streetcar any day they want to. Not so much the gators and swamp. It was novel for Boo and I though. We boarded our streetcar and rode it right to the other end, getting a decent look at the city en route.

The end of the line found us more than a little hungry. So, we located a bakery/restaurant that sold take-out as well and we put together a bit of picnic. At first we thought lunch on the levee of the Mississippi might be nice since we were right there. Not so scenic though. As an alternative, we wandered back along the streetcar track to a park we saw on the way out.

982. 2009 Apothic Red - William's Blend (California)

I'd never heard of this wine before but the label - and its take on wine lore with a mystical history - looked like it might fit in with the Garden District, home of Anne Rice and Lestat of Interview With A Vampire lore. The only information that I could gather from the bottle was that it was a California wine and it was a blend of Merlot, Zinfandel and Syrah. There wasn't a whole lot more information available online afterwards either, but I gather Apothic is a fairly new label from the Gallo folks as they continue to try and leave their jug wine past in the dust. It turns out the wine has even been introduced to the Vancouver market. Guess I wasn't invited to the launch.

The wine appears to be geared to newer red wine drinkers. Lots of fruit, a bit of residual sugar, it's primarily an easy drinker - and not out of place on a picnic.

Little did we know that our picnic spot was Audubon Park - turns out we were lunching al fresco in what was once a plantation in colonial days and has been a big part of New Orlean's history ever since. Boo loves live oaks - particularly when they're laden with Spanish Moss - as they remind him of his youth. So, our picnic spot couldn't have been better for him.

But, time passed quickly and we had to jump back onto the streetcar and make our way back to the Quarter. During our tour, I wanted to locate what was supposed to be a wine shop to beat all in NOLA. We found it alright. Closed. Seems not everything that's booze related in the city is open 24/7. Too bad. This whole selection of 30-40 bottles at the corner grocer is getting a little old.

Cossaks on Prozac - N'Awlins Style

2011-11-23T07:32:00.005-08:00

One of the perks of having those cocktails on the stoop of the Royal Barracks Guest House was that our hostess, Kelly, gave us some tips for restaurants and spots that are patronized more by locals than tourists. After all, there's hopefully more to N'Awlins than just Bourbon Street - at least, one needs to hope so when you hit our age.

We decided to have dinner at one of Kelly's suggestions, just outside of the French Quarter - the Marigny Brasserie on Frenchman Street. Just two blocks out of the eastern edge of the Quarter, Frenchman is known as a local haunt for jazz and music clubs. Some tunes, after throwing back a bit of Cajun or Creole fare, sounded like one heckuva plan.

981. 2010 Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (Margaret River - Australia)

The Cape Mentelle was a perfect choice for Margarita's hankering for Sauv Blanc and played to Merlot Boy's bent for Aussie wines. The fact that I have a serious jones for Margaret River didn't come into the equation at all - hardly. I fell hard for Margaret River wines the first time I toured Down Under in 1996. When I returned to Vancouver, it was next to impossible to find any wines from that region. Cape Mentelle was one of the few wineries that had any sort of a presence at all in our market.

It's a little easier to find wines from Western Australia but I still wouldn't say that we have a comprehensive assortment of wines to choose from. I'm quite looking forward to an upcoming visit to Perth (for the first time) next year. I want to try and immerse myself in all things Margaret River. But, for the moment, the Cape Mentelle will just have to be a bit of teaser of things to come.

The big surprise of the night wasn't the wine though. Rather, it was Boo's discovery of Red Velvet Cake. I'd heard of Red Velvet before but I don't think I've ever tried any. I'm a tad surprised that Boo had never had it before though - after all, I believe it's a Southern thing and the boy was raised in the South. All I know is that the cake was a hit and Boo is determined to recreate it at home. Lucky me.

I found the tunes to be an extraordinary find as well. We'd wandered down Frenchman Street and decided on Maison seeing as how Merlot Boy and Margarita had enjoyed a brief visit previously. The unfortunate thing was that our timing was a bit off. The band didn't start until about 45 minutes after we arrived. It was standing room only and our feet were pretty sore from walking all day.

When the show actually got under way, Maison was hopping! I think the band was rather well known in the city because folks were singing and dancing along - and they weren't exactly the easiest lyrics to learn, considering they were in Russian. The band was called Debauche (pronounced "de-bosh"), a.k.a. Russian Mafia Band, and they call their music Punk Rock Hooligan Russian Street Songs. "Cossaks on Prozac" wasn't what we'd expected wandering down a famous New Orleans jazz street. Hardly music to sip wine by - try swilling beer or downing vodka shots - it sure was great fun though.

The feet ultimately gave out for Boo and Margarita though. So, we headed off home at quite the decent hour.

Merlot Boy and I weren't quite ready to give up the ghost though - after all, it was Saturday night in The Big Easy. And Merlot Boy isn't anything if not "easy" - to have some fun on the town with that is. So, we dropped Boo and Margarita off at the guest house and the Boy and I wandered over to the Golden Lantern - the bar just around the corner. As luck wouldn't have it, we just missed the weekly drag show. But a couple of the gals were hanging around for a drink - and nothing seems to entice a drag queen more than an Aussie accent.

I didn't even ask if they had wine at the bar. Something told me that we were better off sticking to the vodka. Once our new friends moved on, Merlot finished his flirt with the "farm boy" of a bartender and we made our way home to get ready for the next day.

NOLA - Day 1 - Beignet, Done That

2011-11-23T07:32:00.003-08:00

Welcome to the morning after - New Orleans style. Surprisingly, everybody was in pretty good spirits - and I'm not referring to the ones that we drank our way through last night. I might not be saying that if Boo and I had arrived in town earlier than we did however. A couple of drinks after midnight was likely a safer way to acquaint oneself with the city.

The plan for the day was to just wander around and experience the scene that is New Orleans. But the first experience was to find a little something to nosh on - and what could be better than a hit of café-au-lait and beignets at Café du Monde. From my previous visits to the Big Easy, I knew that there were a couple city treasures that I didn't want to miss - and beignets and coffee was definitely on the list.

I mentioned in the previous post that Boo and I were meeting Merlot Boy's travel companion for the first time. As such, she didn't have a blog name as yet on this first morning. We brainstormed some possibilities last night but nothing seemed to hit the mark. The dilemma of needing a name was quickly resolved during our tour of the city though. As we passed one of the omnipresent bars, we noticed a post-Katrina sign in one of the windows - "Rebuilding New Orleans - One Margarita at a Time." Our new buddy was to be Margarita from that point on.

Our musings and ramblings through the French Quarter saw everything from the spectacular and fascinating to the tacky and tawdry. Of course, gobbling up the cuisine is one of the prime directives of visiting NOLA. Boo and I immediately opted for alligator bites and catfish tidbits for lunch - although the Aussies weren't quite as adventurous. As Merlot Boy pointed out, the Aussies might be the only nation that has no qualms at throwing their national animal - the kangaroo - on the barbee, but there are still some that prefer simple beef and beer.

Naturally, all the food, souvenirs, voodoo shops and touring was tempered with ubiquitous music and booze in the streets. Even our Aussie friends - and if Australia isn't known for its enjoyment of a good drink, I don't know what it is known for - were gobsmacked at the abundance and simplicity of the "go cup."

I think my favourite surprise of the day was to run across a wedding second line - where a brass band leads a parade of the wedding party and guests through the streets. Great fun!

I think I discovered one, unnerving fact about the city during our day's tour though - and that's that New Orleans isn't that much of a wine city. A consideration that doesn't play that well into the hands of a wine blogger. You name virtually any booze you'd like and a "go cup" is just a pour away. That may work for wine at times, but the selection isn't going to be quite as impressive. We didn't run across a single "wine shop" during the day - even after asking around a bit. Being equal opportunity drinkers, however, having to rely on a corner store bottle isn't going to deter us from our chosen mission.

979. 2010 Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio (Pinot Grigio della Venezie IGT - Italy)

A white for Margarita. I don't recall ever having seen or tried Ecco Domani before. She kinda wanted a Sauv Blanc, but this looked like the most intriguing of the wines in the Nelly Delly on Bourbon Street. From the north of Italy, the website seems to refer as much to the company's efforts in promoting fashion and young designers as it talks about wine.

However, their description of and background to the Pinot Grigio does have an interesting referance to a limited (4.5%) use of "surmaturo" grapes. I've never heard of the term before but they advise that these grapes are left on the vine longer to allow for greater concentration and complexity. Sounds like another term for what we generally call "late harvest" grapes in BC. When used in BC, it's generally for the production of a dessert wine. I didn't notice any perceptible sweetness on this palate though.

Margarita didn't seem to mind.

We'd brought the wine back to our great, little guest house to rest our feet and enjoy a couple cocktails before hitting the town for our big Saturday night in New Orleans. We luckily bumped into, Kelly, our hostess and off-site manager, who joined us for a drink on the front porch - along with her "baby," Sugah. This had to be one of my favourite moments during the vacation. Our digs were located on the eastern edge of the Quarter - away from the hustle and bustle that you normally associate with the French Quarter and that afforded us the opportunity to just sit out on the porch, watching the locals tend to their lives and being filled in on all sorts of information about the city - past and present.

What's more is that Kelly even brought along her own bottle of wine for the stoop. Now that's Southern Hospitality.

980. N.V. Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir (Valle Central - Chile)

Unlike the Ecco Domani, I've seen and tried Pepperwood previously. I took a quick look at the winery though because some of the labelling didn't quite make sense to me. I thought Pepperwood was a California label and, sure enough, the company is part of the Sebastiani wine family. However, the Pepperwood brand is used to produce wines, much under the négociant format, where they source grapes, from wherever in the world they might be found, to make an accessible wine at an approachable price. The Pinot Noir grapes were actually grown in Chile - and, hence, the Valle Central designation on the bottle. California has a Central Valley, but I've never seen it referred to as a "valle" before. Confusion resolved.

It was certainly easy to go through the wine quickly though. The banter was grand and Kelly provided us with a number of tips on activities to best enjoy our stay. But, as night started to fall, we needed to ready ourself for a night on the town.

Time For a Little Big Easy

2011-11-23T07:32:00.001-08:00

Since Boo's Mom had moved back to the US after decades in British Columbia, we decided to make our way down to see her and his brothers in North Carolina. We figured this would be a perfect opportunity to spend a long weekend in New Orleans as well. I've been a number of times - but those vacations were long before Katrina and long before meeting Boo. And you know that what happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans.

After we'd booked the flights, Merlot Boy gave us a call from Melbourne to see if we were interested in joining up with him in the Big Apple as he was going to run the NYC Marathon. We told him that we wouldn't be able to fit in the Apple, but wondered if he might be able to swing down to meet us in the Big Easy after his run. He'd never been before; so the details were ironed out for him and his gal pal, Margarita, to fly down for a little cross-continental catch-up. After all, everyone needs to experience New Orleans at least once.

Boo and I didn't arrive in town until midnight. So, by the time we were able to make it to our Guest House in the French Quarter, our Aussie friends had already discovered the excitement that is - and the perils of - Bourbon Street. Everyone was a tad pooped after a day of travel, but it didn't stop us from toasting the good times that were about to magically appear. Boo and I hadn't had any opportunity to find some wine, but Merlot Boy had that well in hand.

977. 2010 [yellow tail] Chardonnay (SE Australia)

978. 2009 Rosemount Merlot (SE Australia)

I'm not going to go into the two wines at all. If you know Australian wine in the least, you know these two stalwarts. I will mention though that, without fail, if MB is bringing the wine, it's going to be Aussie. The boy's a great ambassador for his homeland producers. He'll "reluctantly" drink wines from abroad but only if you're buying. The good news, however, was that the marathon training was over and done with and he was definitely drinking! The last time we crossed paths was during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and he was on the Merlot Boy No Merlot Diet. There was to be none of that this time around.

We'd never met the lovely and talented Margarita before. Turns out she's an old school chum of Merlot Boy - from the thriving metropolis of Warnambool - but we quickly learned that the girl likes her wine white and that she's more than capable of matching the boys glass for glass. Must be something about Aussie sheilas and their genes that gives them that super power - likely having had to put up with their menfolk for all these years.

As it turned out, Margarita has a bit of hankering for Grey Goose as well. Boo and I had picked up a bottle at the Duty Free when leaving Vancouver and it was a perfect way for us to introduce ourselves to the young lady - just as soon as I'd been able to make a quick jaunt to the local bar, half a block around the corner from the guest house, and pick up some olives and limes. The bartender was already well aware of Merlot Boy and Margarita; so, the take out martini makings were no problem. I'm not sure if this is the first Guest Appearance that Grey Goose has made to 2001 Bottles - but it certainly made a big splash. Enough of one that we didn't even take a picture of the wine bottles until the next day. Can't imagine why.

If this first night was any indication of the weekend that was to come, you might be well advised to stay tuned for some hefty blogging on the horizon.

Childress Red

2011-11-11T11:40:00.001-08:00

So, this is the last post before we head off on a bit of vacation. For our last couple nights, I grabbed a couple of wines that draw upon our recent weekend away to the Okanagan and allude to the trip about to unfold.

The Okanagan connection is from Boo's and my trip up to Lake Country for my cousin's wedding. As mentioned in those posts, we rarely get to Kelowna and the Northern Okanagan; so, I wanted to take advantage of our passing through and stop in at a couple of wineries for the first time. Grey Monk was one of them. It's not often that I get the chance to hold a bottle of wine that "came" from the very vines - while laden with grapes - that provided the fruit. Such was the case with this Grey Monk "rarity."

975. Gray Monk Rotberger (VQA Okanagan Valley)

This is a very interesting wine - not necessarily because it sells for thousands of dollars or is only made once a decade because of extraordinary conditions. Rather, I find it intriguing because the varietal is one that you're not going to run across very often. In fact, most readers likely wouldn't know that the wine is called "Rotberger" simply because that's the name of the grape and this is a 100% varietal wine.

I know the first thing that comes to mind - at least for me - is "Rotberger" or "Rotgut?" The varietal is actually pronounced "Rote-berger" and not "Rot" and you don't see it very often because hardly anyone grows it. Grey Monk may even be the only winery that grows Rotberger in North America - and, other than some wineries in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein (really?), you're not likely to find it. Even the limited wineries that grow the grape generally only use it for blending.

To make things even a little more difficult, Rotberger is not to be confused with Rotburger - the latter being another name for the red grape Zweigelt. No wonder most wine drinkers don't know their way past the standard, noble varietals like Cab, Merlot and so on.

The exact heritage of the grape isn't conclusively determined; however, standard understanding has it developed at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany during the late 1920's. It is generally thought to be a cross between the Trollinger and Riesling grapes and is known to produce a fruity, light red wine in cool climate regions. The fact that Rotberger, being a red grape, and Kerner, a white grape, are crosses of the same two parent grapes shows that the cross-breeding of grapes cannot be relied upon to consistently deliver the same result.

Grey Monk's proprietor, George Heiss, knew the characteristics of the Kerner varietal, however, so he decided to experiment with a few rows - six to be more precise - of Rotberger to see how the varietal might fare in the Okanagan. The result was positive enough that Grey Monk's plantings had increased to six acres at one point. Part os those plantings had to be given up to an expansion of the winery and the parking lot; however, Grey Monk's Rotberger has a bit of cult following and should be available for those wanting a fix.

As for the wine itself, the high acidity of the grape requires a bit of residual sugar to counter-balance the otherwise tart flavour. Grey Monk vinifies its Rotberger in a Rosé style that is often seen as having a profile of spice and cranberry. Hence, the winery recommends the wine as a great pairing with turkey and that's what we thought we try it with. "Trouble" was that there wasn't much wine being drunk at Thanksgiving dinner this year and we didn't need the extra bottle. Just meant that the bottle was still around and available for trying so many weeks later.

And, I naturally get to add another varietal to my Wine Century Club list. I doubt too many members will have Rotberger on their lists.

If the Rotberger was picked up on the recent Okanagan venture, the second bottle in this post was sent to us from North Carolina - where we just happen to be heading off to on a visit.

976. N.V. Childress Red (North Carolina - US)

This was one of the bottles that Boo's twin, HDR3, included in a Carolina wine care package. Now to be fair to HDR3, he did ask us, "Why in the world would you want any wine from around this neck of the woods?" My response was, "Well, because we can." That's part of the beauty of trying wines from every nook and cranny.

Winery owner, Richard Childress, is a NASCAR team owner who hails from the Tarheel State. During his years in auto racing, he'd often find himself on tracks that were near the Californian wineries. He developed a passion for wine and grape growing that he hoped to pursue in his native state.

There is a nascent wine industry on the mid-eastern seaboard and Childress has taken a position right in the forefront. "Go big or go home" seems to be a mantra upon the ex-racer's return home. The tasting room and facilities testify to the money being put into the effort. In 2008, Wine Enthusiast magazine named Childress as having one of the Top 25 tasting rooms in the country.

The winery's website boasts a wide selection of wines and styles - but I couldn't find out much on this bottle. The Classic Red is part of the house wine series and it's meant to be "easy, smooth, uncomplicated." I suppose I can give it that - but the simplicity of taste here didn't do a whole lot for me. I don't know what varietals of grape went into the wine - and there wasn't enough of profile to distinguish any sort of a profile to hazard a guess. The wine is non-vintage; so, it could easily be a blend of whatever grapes are available or left behind after the more premium wines have been made. At $10, most folks likely aren't that concerned.

I wouldn't mind visiting the winery if the opportunity arises when we hit Greensboro, but I'm going to have to agree with HDR3's assessment of the wine. As far as the entry level wines go, I won't hold out much excitement to try another.

A Return to Riesling

2011-11-11T11:05:00.001-08:00

Just because this is a short post doesn't mean that the bloom is off the rose as far as it goes between me and Nk'Mip Riesling. I've just fallen so far behind on my posts and I've written a fair bit about Nk'Mip before that I need to be short and sweet. Besides, I've already added previous vintages of the Riesling to The List as well.

974. 2008 Nk'Mip Riesling (VQA Okanagan Valley)

I've found that Nk'Mip's Riesling has had a pretty steady profile of being crisp and citrus-packed over the last couple of vintages. It may just be that the last couple of growing seasons have resulted in fruit with higher acidity levels, but I seem to recall a slight residual sugar on the early Rieslings that Nk'Mip produced.

I kind of miss that touch of sweet. If nothing else, it'd "permit" a little more spice or heat on the butter chicken. The higher acidity doesn't match up quite as well.

Not, of course, that we have to have butter chicken to accompany our Riesling. After all, there's no denying that Randy Picton and crew still deliver a distinctive and layered glass of wine. It sure is nice when that favourite pairing of our's does work though.

Fowl Wine for a Fowl Supper?

2011-11-07T22:20:00.001-08:00

At this time of year, if you're in Vancouver and you run into Linda Fillmore - especially dolled up like she is in this picture - it can likely mean only one thing: the Prairie Fairy Fowl Supper. The Fillmore Foundation has been hosting the Fowl Supper since 2000 and raising thousands of dollars for local charities like A Loving Spoonful, McLaren Housing Society and Out in Schools. Fashioned after the community fowl suppers that are ubiquitous across the prairies, the party started as a small event to bring a little bit of the prairies back for many of the fairies that had crossed the Rockies to land in Vancouver.

It's now one of the biggest events on the Vancouver gay calendar. Tickets always sell out and it's often the one time, every year, where you can run into old friends and acquaintances that you haven't seen since the last Fowl Supper.

We were joining up with some our regular gang, but we invited Miss Jaq over to our place for a cocktail before we mosied off to the Supper. Miss Jaq has always been half-way across the world every other time the supper has been held, but we corralled her to join us this time since she was actually going to be in town.

972. 2010 Focus Riesling (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Just as Miss Jaq was making a first appearance, this is a first time for me and Focus Riesling. Years ago, I remember reading Jurgen Gothe, in the Georgia Strait magazine, say that he thought that the 2002 Focus was the first Riesling to come out of Canada that could be taken seriously. Back then, Roger Wong was a young winemaker, working at Pinot Reach, and he put out a side-project label of one wine - a Riesling. After a review like Gothe's, what little Focus there was disappeared quickly and I anxiously waited for the next vintage.

Trouble is that there was no subsequent vintage that followed. 2003 saw the Okanagan wildfire that compromised many of the region's grapes and Wong didn't feel that he could get his hands on fruit that could meet his vision. Pinot Reach then got parcelled off (in large part into what is now Tantalus) and Wong found himself concentrating on a new winemaking position at Grey Monk.

Almost a decade later, Roger and his wife, Gillian, have teamed up with another couple, Ross and Geri Dean, to form Intrigue Wines. Wong still works for Grey Monk but he and Intrigue have started producing their own wines from the Lake Country region. This 2010 Focus is one of the wines that Intrigue has produced and it takes off where that original vintage started - making the odd headline here and there. There were only 89 cases made; so it still won't be the easiest wine to find. But it's worth it!

The name Focus comes from Wong's concept of making a regional wine that focuses on the one varietal that best suits that region's terroir. His thought is that Riesling is that grape when it comes to the North Okanagan If you're a regular reader, you already know that I'm partial to Rieslings. So, it shouldn't be any surprise that I'm going to focus on Roger's wines down the road.

Now, with the residual sugar that is fully evident in the Focus Riesling, some might be tempted to refer to the wine as "fruit salad in a cup." I wouldn't want you to confuse it with the actual jellied fruit salad in a Double D cup that showed up at the Fowl Supper in the annual jellied salad competition. As beautiful - and likely tasty - those cups might have been, the salad made by our friends, Will and Harry, wasn't even a finalist. I think they got bamboozled myself.

Unfortunately for the wine drinker in me, our earlier bottle was the primary focus of our evening's wine enjoyment. The wines available at the Fowl Supper were, by all accounts at our table, rather fowl. We bought a bottle of the only red and the only white. I didn't necessarily think they were as bad as the others but, suffice it to say, that most of our table moved on to beer - and that's saying something for a classy gal like Miss Jaq. As for Elzee, I think she decided to stick with water. Ouch.

973. 2010 Two Oceans Pinot Noir (W.O. Western Cape - South Africa)

2010 Two Oceans Sauvignon Blanc (W.O. Western Cape - South Africa)

Regardless of the calibre of the wine, I'm still adding the Pinot Noir to The List. After all, not every wine on a list of 2001 bottles can be a winner and we did manage to coax Miss Jaq and Nine-Juan-Juan to pose with the bottles - even if they weren't exactly her cup of wine.

In checking back on the blog, it looks like Two Oceans has been the winery of choice for the last three Fillmore Foundation events and I can't add the Sauv Blanc since I added the 2010 vintage after the Fillmore Family Reunion back in the summer. I don't know if the distributors have come on as a sponsor of the event, but I may have to talk to Linda. One never wants to limit one's wine sales - particularly at a charity event.

With no more wine to be had, we didn't last long as the supper moved on from dinner to dance. Turns out Boo, Miss Jaq, and Elzee thought as much about the evening's entertainment as they did about the wine - particularly as the crowd got restless with the floor show and took to launching paper airplanes. Personally, I could have stuck it out with a beer and dance, but 3-1 is a pretty tough vote to get past, especially when Boo was the designated driver.

Hopefully, Linda and gang will de-brief the Fowl Supper and rein in whatever might need it. I love the event and its history, but if stalwarts like Elzee and Boo and me are questioning the bloom on the rose, I have to wonder if others are thinking the same thing.

Or, maybe, we're just becoming old and cranky prairie fairies who complain a lot when the wine doesn't meet our high fallutin' tastes. Guess we'll see.

B.S., You Say?

2011-11-06T11:16:00.001-08:00

As established as the BC wine industry seems to be now, there's no getting over the fact that the industry is really still in its infancy. Whether you want to debate the merits of producers focusing on specific varietals or you want to bemoan the high costs of vineyard land and operations - or discuss any one of multiple other topics - it's clear that the industry scene of today is exponentially different than it was ten years ago and that it will likely look completely different in another decade.

With each passing vintage, a dizzying number of new wineries and new industry initiatives (or lack thereof) seem to appear. One new concept that arrived this year was the emergence of custom crush wineries in the Okanagan - a take on cooperative wine production facilities that can be found in other winemaking regions. I understand that two different options for custom winemaking are now available for Okanagan vintners who neither own nor have access to winery facilities. I've seen brief mention of Alto Wine Group, one of the new facilities, but I know nothing about them.

The second initiative is Okanagan Crush Pad and there's been no shortage of press and marketing to celebrate their arrival. There is a whole team of folks behind Crush Pad, but two of the driving forces are Michael Bartier and David Scholefield, the "B" and "S" that make up B-S wines.

971. 2010 B-S Rosé Table Wine (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Michael Bartier's name has appeared previously in this blog as I think it's fair to say that he's one of the better known winemakers in the Okanagan. A native-born son of the Okanagan, he's made wine at Hawthorne Mountain (now See Ya Later), Township 7, Stag's Hollow and, perhaps most notably, at Road 13.

David Scholefield, on the other hand, has played a completely different role in the development of the BC wine industry. A long time writer, speaker and competition judge, he was a senior wine buyer for the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch - one of the largest, single buyers of wine and alcohol in the world - for many a year. His experience has resulted in his travelling the world and meeting with wine icons from every region.

The two of them have joined forces to try and put a stronger face to Scholefield's long held belief that "BC is capable of producing distinctive wines that articulate their origin." Scholefield argues that the Okanagan environment can deliver a "natural style" that is "light, clean, juicy and refreshing." What's more is that he sees the wine-buying public as being ready for a distinctly BC wine.

This first vintage has only seen the release of two wines so far - a white blend and the Rosé that we've opened here. The Rosé is made from 100% Gamay Noir grapes and this first vintage is limited to a release of 792 cases. We're not likely to ever see big numbers coming B-S in the future either. Home base, Okanagan Crush Pad is dedicated to the production of small lot wines and currently only has the capacity of 25,000 cases for all of its customers.

Small release or not, the wine - and the partnership - has garnered a lot of buzz, with almost all of it being favourable. Almost everyone has commented on the ever so dry and brilliant acidity that dominates on the palate. There has also been plenty of comments on the deeply hued colour. For having soaked on the skins for only 24 hours, the wine was definitely on the darker range of Rosé. Boo and I thought we could have easily been sipping away on some beach in the South of France.

I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Rosé wines. I don't see there being a BC style of production yet, but this is definitely an interesting gambit for a first release. And I'll be interested in learning more about Crush Pad and the wines that get produced there down the road.

'Cuz It's a Thriller....

2011-11-04T19:44:00.001-07:00

Halloween is a much loved holiday in our neck of the woods. The Drive has been home to the Parade of Lost Souls on the preceding weekend for years now and our's is a neighbourhood that still seems to get a healthy share of trick or treating kiddies and the local park seems to have become a favourite spot for local fireworks displays. True, our neighbours do favour blasting Rob Zombie tunes to go with the zombie biker in their front yard while we go more for the dancing creatures à la thriller. But, all the same, it doesn't take much of an effort to entice a couple folks over to our place for treats and the little ghouls and goblins.

And a bit of wine, naturally. This year, I pulled a couple bottles where the labels seemed to accentuate the season.

969. 2006 Pacific Breeze Killer Cab (Bottled in Canada)

Lady Di had previously talked about having a tasting where everyone was to bring wines with crazy labels. Killer Cab was to be one of our wines, but the tasting never materialized. So, after a couple of years in the wine rack, I figured it was time to let the Killer out.

Seems like I've talked about Pacific Breeze in this blog more than I've drunk their wines and added them to The List. You can always search the blog to find out a bit more about this true garage winery's take on the whole "bottled in Canada" scene. I think it's fair to say that the winery isn't simply buying up cheap, excess grapes from world markets to make generic (dare I say critter wine). Although Pacific Breeze's grapes are all from California or Washington state, they're bringing in premium grapes and producing wines that have a lot more stature than the aforementioned critter wines - even if it means that they can't be sold as Premium BC or VQA wines.

The skull-crested martini glass may not have been the best way to taste this killer Cab, but sometimes the staging of the event has as much pertinence as the glass does (sorry all you Riedel folks). In retrospect though, I wish Lady Di had carried through with her tasting. I would have liked drinking this bottle a whole lot sooner than we did. Not because it was past its prime. Rather, because I likely would have picked up a few more bottles over the years.

Although he wasn't drinking the Killer Cab, we did have a killer scarecrow join us. It's pretty much a guarantee that Logan will be decked out in a super outfit if costumes are involved. Having come straight from work, his scarecrow this year was great. He was so realistic that he took to standing outside on our porch so that he could scare unsuspecting trick or treaters. I know he didn't mean to, but when he scared one little girl nearly to tears, we felt so badly that we made him abide by a rule that he couldn't scare anyone that was shorter than the fence.

After one little guy had come and gone (he was too short to be scared), his bigger sister came to the door. Logan gave her a good "Boo" and a good startle. Her scream was so convincing that her little bro' started laughing uncontrollably. He came back onto the porch and high-fived Logan, saying that scaring his sister was the "best and coolest thing all evening."

970. 2009 Moon Curser Border Vines (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Our second wine also has a label seemingly custom fit for Halloween. Thing is Moon Curser isn't a specialty market branding, it's a re-branding of Twisted Tree, the Osoyoos winery that came out of gate a couple of years back with guns blazing. Twisted Tree wines have been extremely well received since Day One and I've added more than a couple of their wines to The List. The name change - especially this one - and dramatic label change caught a whole lot of people by surprise.

The story goes that the folks behind Twisted Tree found that, despite their good reputation, they were being too easily confused with other wineries - Tangled Vines and Oliver Twist in BC and the California bulk brand, Twisted. Wanting to create a new, distinct image for the winery - one that was a little more "dynamic" and "radical" - they certainly appear to have achieved that goal. They looked to history in the Osoyoos region and identified with the stories from the 1860's and 1870's gold rush where smugglers used to ferry contraband into the U.S. in the dark of night. They used to curse the moon because the light of the moon made it tougher to evade border guards.

Border Vines is the new name for the old Six Vines. The wine incorporates all six Bordeaux varietals - Cab Sauv, Merlot, Malbec, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère. The primary facet of this wine that differentiates it from virtually any other BC Meritage blend is that the Carmenère component constitutes 23% of the blend. I doubt there are more than a handful of other BC wineries that even have access to Carmenère, let alone use it for a quarter of their wine. The winemaker posits that it's the high percentage of Carmenère that adds the spicey note on the palate.

Good thing the wine is still as good as it used to be. Despite the interesting story behind the name change, I'm one of those who still prefer the old name and labels. I won't stop buying the wine because of the new labels but there are only so many times a year that you can invoke Halloween. I might think twice about bringing one of the new labels to someone's house for dinner at other times of the year.

In the meantime, it was a bit of a thriller of an evening. Fun times and good wine for all.

Red Rooster Harvest Party

2011-11-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

Looks like this post is going to be more of a photo essay for a "day in the life of a wine lover." Despite spending the entire day immersed in wine-based activities, I'm not adding a single bottle to The List. There was pretty much endless Red Rooster wine to be had and enjoyed, but we didn't really have an entire bottle that we can say we polished off ourselves. Plenty o' wine - but it was more tastes of this and a glass of that. I could easily "bend the rules" and find a way to add a bottle, but most of the wines we were enjoying will make it to The List another time.

The occasion at hand was the Fall Harvest party at Red Rooster winery for the Adopt-a-Row gang. And for once, Boo was able to join in. We've been adoptive parents of a row of Malbec grapes at the vineyard for a good five or six years now but we can't always make it to the semi-annual parties - and rarely together.

The Fall party is an invitation to actually get our hands dirty and participate in a harvest - even if we are coddled and given a much easier ride than a real vineyard worker would see. The party actually started the night before when the winery hosted a reception with some marvelous nibblies and a full range of their wines for sample. Seeing as it was the start of Halloween weekend, there was a bit of a costume contest to boot to get everyone in the spirit of the event. Boo and I wore our robes from the UAE and pretended that we were rich oilmen visiting to look into investing in the winery. More than a couple people believed the ruse - to the point that they asked why we'd want to invest when they thought that Arabs didn't drink.

We ended up being chosen as having the best costumes; however, wouldn't you know it that Boo and I had been running behind and we forgot to bring the camera to the reception. Luckily, Tyrant and Taylor are adoptive parents as well and had joined us for the weekend. Tyrant had his camera handy and at least he got a shot of us.

My favourite part of the event is heading into the vineyards to pick the grapes. The timing of the weekend isn't always the easiest of tasks. The logistics of planning the event need time and advance notice; the grapes rarely cooperate by ripening on a set schedule however. 2011 wasn't the greatest of growing seasons either. Spring was late arriving and the vines and fruit never did get a real chance to catch up. The fruit we were to pick was still good but it was mostly because the vineyard workers were rather ruthless when it came to green harvesting - or culling out the grapes that weren't progressing enough. By reducing the overall amount of fruit on the vines, it allows the vines to concentrate its efforts on ripening the grapes that are still hanging.

There was a banner turnout for the harvest party this year and, as a result, there weren't enough grapes left in the vineyard immediately next to the winery. A group of us, therefore, made our way up to the other end of the Naramata Bench to pick the Merlot vines tended to by one of Red Rooster's regular growers. As mentioned, I love actually picking the grapes - there never seem to be enough for our quick little escapade - but, this year, the effort was even more fulfilling. Our hosts were a lovely couple who were still tending the vineyard even though they were in their early 80's. Being a small family operation, they don't have access to immediate and affordable labour; so they still pick the grapes themselves. We were told that we accomplished - in less than an hour and a half - what might normally take them a couple of full days' work. The genuineness of the thanks still warms me all over when I think back. Little did they know that they were making my day - not the other way around.

Following a big group lunch, we were also given the chance to see first hand what some of the initial steps in making the wine entail.

We'd asked about throwing the grapes into a vat, so that we could jump in feet first stomp away but the powers that be weren't quite ready to let us get that hands on in the process.

Our planned activities started with watching the grapes get loaded into and run through the crusher-destemmer. Anyone wanting the opportunity to participate was given the chance to transfer the grapes to hopper where they are crushed before the juice is transferred to the tank for fermentation.

In addition to the crush, various workers were explaining the different stages that the wine will initially go through before it is transferred to barrel for ageing or is actually bottled. It was intriguing to try some of the juice that had been fermenting for about a week. The sweetness and the fruit stood out so much. It was drastically different from the finished product - and not just because of the pulp and residue that is a good portion of the macerating juice. Tasting the predominant sugars - that are eventually going to be turned into alcohol - was a taste treat.

I'd have quite liked to try punching down the cap on the wine that was fermenting in the open top tanks. The cap is the solid mass of grape skins, stems and seeds that is still in the juice after crushing and it floats to the top of the tank during the fermentation process. Winemakers want to keep the juice in contact with this mass as much as possible as that continued contact helps increase richer colour, flavours and astringency (tannins). Punching down the cap also helps to mix the yeasts into the juice must, introduces oxygen to help promote the fermentation and helps prevent the cap from massing together such that conditions are more favourable for bacteria or moulds to form. Much of the fermentation procedure can all be mechanized nowadays - with rotating and pulsating tanks - but the romance of actual interaction with the wine can be lost a bit with all the mechanization. Easy for me to say though - never having punched down a single cap in my life. My guess is that it likely gets rather tiresome after the punching down the umpteenth tank for the second or third time that day. However, this was the first time I've actually had a chance to watch a punch down and it was all quite inspiring.

I think Karen and Blair - that's winemaker, Karen Gillis and manager, Blair Dufty, were prepared to let us get involved in the actual punch down process. The staff, however, weren't quite so enthusiastic. Perhaps, rightly so. I'd have hated becoming that person that fell off the skinny plank and plopped righ into the wine. I'm not so convinced that anything I left behind would add to the cachet of the wine. I can only imagine the tasting notes that might follow.

I did find it quite fascinating to see what happens to the grapes once picked though. After grabbing some bottles for the road, the boys and I made a couple quick stops to two of our other favourites on the Bench - La Frenz and Poplar Grove. But, then, it was time for a quick nap before the winemaker's dinner that followed at Bogner's.

The dinner could be an entire post on its own but, since the wines were all by the glass and I don't have a bottle to add to The List, I'll simply say that we had a thoroughly enjoyable meal - particularly the Moroccan-spiced tomato and saffron soup and the lamb shank entrée.

Naturally, I can't find the evening's menu but the wine's included two special treats. Karen and crew are currently ageing a limited amount of Red Rooster's first sparkling wine and they popped a few corks for us all to try upon our arrival. I'll definitely look forward to grabbing a bottle, when it's finished and available, so that I can add it to The List. The other special treat was that Blair managed to rustle up a late harvest from many vintages back. The winery hasn't produced a dessert wine for years, but he was contacted by a local wine shop that found a box of an old vintage in storage. He snapped them up and we were the beneficiaries.

It was a full and great day, but, rather than carrying on into the evening with even more personal tasting, Boo and I hustled back to the hotel for a reasonable bedtime. The unfortunate part of the weekend was that we had to be back in Vancouver to curl at noon. That meant hitting the road by about 6 a.m. the next morning. What kind of a holiday break is that?!

Thanks to the folks at Red Rooster for a special time. I hope we'll be able to visit our adopted row again next Spring.

Mexican Cooking Class

2011-10-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

A month ago or so, I blogged a couple of wines that we finished off at our neighbour, GatuBela's, Mexican Cat Dance - her annual fundraiser. It's taken us awhile but we finally worked out a night to make use of one of the silent auction items we won at last year's party. Our winning bid had garnered us an "at home" Mexican cooking class with one of her chef friends but we hadn't been able to queue it up yet. GatuBela was getting ready to head back to Mexico for the winter; so, it was now or potentially never.

We invited Mr. D. and Tyrant to come over and join up with us for a bit of fun and frivolity - and, naturally, wine and booze. Seeing as how it was to be a Mexican cooking class, GatuBela offered to mix up her trademark Margaritas to start off the evening. After a decade of annual pilgrimages, you get to be bit a bit of star when it comes to tequila. We'd have been fools not to take her up on her offer and I'm pleased to say that, as far as guest alcohols to this blog go, GatuBela's margaritas take second place to none. Her shaking and her squeezing arm was put to great use. Good thing she'd taken in a few Boot Camp classes prior to the dinner.

The plan was to put each of the guests to work in the kitchen to assist in the preparation of one of the dishes. Some of us got off easier than others in terms of the degree of difficulty in our skills that were called upon. Mr. D., indeed, had to mix things up, but not so much that he couldn't still pose and look pretty.

Despite the guest appearance by our frenemy, tequila, we still managed to throw a couple bottles of wine into the mix. Believe me, I don't do nights of endless tequila anymore. Some memories of university days haunt me to this day.

967. 2010 Luis Felipe Edwards Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc (Chile)

Both dinner guests arrived with wine in hand, but both admitted that they'd had no luck in locating a Mexican wine despite trying. Mr. D. brought along this Chilean bottle and because he thought that "at least the winemaker still speaks Spanish." Funny that we drank Chilean last night and I commented on how Boo and I don't pop too many Chilean corks.

True to Chile's and my relationship, I don't really know this producer but the Signature Series simply shows up on the winery website as a label that they produce for specific markets. The winery now has a capacity of up to 25 million litres; so, my guess is they can put out a number of labels if they want to. I did see that this particular label only shows up in private stores in the Vancouver market and that Marquis Cellars calls it a "perfect party wine."

It certainly went nicely with our ceviche. Maybe not so well with the watermelon cup that was fashioned but, then again, who chooses a wine to go with the dishes and cutlery?

I think we might have "put" Tyrant to the most work during the "class" portion of the evening - but then we knew we could trust him, if anyone, with the empanada filling. We continually trust his taste in wine; so, why not leave the main course in his hands. That was, so long as we kept a glass of wine in his hands at the same time (I mean when the recipe wasn't there).

968. 2004 L.A. Cetto Private Reserve Nebbiolo (Valle de Guadelupe - Baja California - Mexico)

There aren't a lot of Mexican wines in our market. Then again, are there many Mexican wines in any market outside of Mexico itself? I did, however, pick up this bottle a couple of years ago at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. At the time, I thought a Mexican Nebbiolo was about as wild of a find as there was - but, you know, it tasted good at the Festival and it still tasted good here. Everyone was downright shocked at just how tasty it was. If memory serves though, this was a pretty high end bottle for the winery and it clocked in at about $30 - not exactly a throwaway price for a wine you likely know nothing about from an unlikely source.

As difficult as it might be to find Mexican wine in our market though, if you're going to find one, there's a pretty good chance that it will be an L.A. Cetto bottle. I've previously added three Mexican wines to The List (some time ago at #'s 250 and 436) and two of them were from L.A. Cetto. I think on each of those earlier occasions, I'd specifically gone out looking for the bottles - because one was for Cinqo de Mayo and the other was for a Day of the Dead celebration.

Seems we don't tend to drink a lot of Mexican wine on an everyday basis. I can tell you that, if it was all as good as this Nebbiolo, I'd be inclined to drink a lot more.

It was probably a good thing that there was only one bottle of the Nebbiolo to be had tonight though. That wine would have kept going down easily, but it was a school night and an early morning wake up call after all. Between the tequila and the wine and the tasty food, we were all in fine spirits. The test is going to be to remember what the recipes were and all the little tips that were passed along and quickly forgotten.

Anakena Ona

2011-10-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

I suppose we don't really drink a whole lot of Chilean wines around here - and those that we do are usually one of the many "bargain" wines that have become rather prominent in the Vancouver market. I can't say that I have many premium wines from Chile waiting to be plucked our wine rack.

Admittedly, there are a few that we picked up last Fall when Boo and I stopped briefly in Santiago on our way to Argentina, but we're trying to let those age for a bit.

This all might change next Spring when the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is going to feature Chile in its regional spotlight, but that's still months away. In the meantime, we've had tonight's bottle waiting around for a little bit and it looked like a good choice for the evening.

966. 2005 Anakena Ona Syrah (Rapel Valley - Chile)

Anakena is a label that I don't know a whole lot about but I picked up this bottle when it was prominently displayed at Everything Wine a ways back. At $26, the price is a step above most of the Chilean wines on local shelves, but I think it's still entirely reasonable for a wine that's supposed to be from one of the most lauded producers in the country.

The winery was only established in 1999; however, it appears to have tried to bypass the bulk wine market and move directly into a more premium mode - and it quickly expanded to the point that it was producing 400,000 cases a decade later. The Ona label is supposed to be the winery's top label series and it is named after the indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, the island situated at the southernmost tip of South America. I'm fairly sure they don't actually grow any grapes (at least not for making wine) that far South and, indeed, the grapes used for this wine are grown in the Rapel Valley, one of Chile's best known growing regions.

Our market is starting to see more and more Syrah and Shiraz coming from Chile, but it still isn't as common as the Cab Sauv or Carmenère that our market was first introduced to. The wine was definitely more refined than the regular Chilean bargains, but there's no doubt that higher end Chilean wines are starting to make there presence known in Vancouver. I think I'll wait until I can do a more comprehensive comparison at the Wine Festival before I decide if the bottle is worth the extra bucks.

A Landmark for Beamer

2011-10-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, after my cousin's wedding, I mentioned that I generally attend way more landmark birthday parties than weddings nowadays. This is a prime example - as Beamer is the latest of my buds to hit 50.

Beamer and I had actually been out - starting the party early - last night. So, my goal was to behave myself as much as possible and be able to drive home. After all, I had to curl early the next morning. There were plenty of wines to choose from - and add to The List - but I stayed true to the plan and only tried a couple of the wines available.

964. 2009 Grandes Vinos y Viñedos - Beso de Vino Selección (Cariñena D.O. - Spain)

The first wine to be added was a Kiss of Wine. Beamer was told that this wine was full value for the price and he grabbed some to go along with his first alcoholic love - beer on tap. With the distinctive label that it has, I've seen the wine around but I've tended to view it as a Spanish "critter wine" - a take on all the animal-labeled, big, fruity, easy drinking, well priced wines that appeared after the success of [yellow tail].

I don't know that the critter wine description is that far off the mark, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing - and the Beso had enough "stuff" to make you think of it seriously. An 85%-15% blend of Syrah and Garnacha (Grenache), I don't think it'll become my "go to" Spanish sipper, but I won't turn my nose up at the label so easily next time I see it in a store or at a tasting.

There were plenty of old faces in the crowd during the evening. I hadn't seen some of the folks in attendance for well over a decade or more and it was fun having a chance to catch up a bit. I'm pretty sure the accompanying picture is possibly the first shot of Beamer and The Divine Miss M's wedding party since that fateful day over 15 years ago. I'm not so sure that I want to compare this photo to the ones from the wedding though. Something tells me that Miss M and Cher have aged far more gracefully than Beamer and me.

That thought, however, calls for another bottle of wine.

965. 2007 Desert Hills Syrah (VQA Okanagan Valley)

I gravitated to the Desert Hills bottle because I knew the winery had been having some recent success with their Syrah's at various competitions. I didn't find out - until I was writing this post - that the 2007 actually won the title of Top Red Wine at the 2010 BC Wine Awards. I'm not sure who threw this wine onto the bar for general consumption at the party, but they must like Beamer a lot.

I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of Desert Hills. I gravitated to them a whole lot more when I first ran across them a decade or so ago. Lately, I've found their big wines to be a bit too extracted in general. The Syrah was far more reserved; however, its herbaceousness and big acidity cried out more for a full meal than a stand up cocktail party. You don't win Best Red in BC without offering something for the palate though. Maybe I'll get a chance to try a bottle and appreciate it in a more appropriate setting.

There's nothing more appropriate at a birthday party than a rocking birthday cake though - and this one took the cake. Fashioned in the shape of a wine box and bottle, this vintage of Chateau "Beamer" had everyone in awe that the entire cake, including the box, was edible! It was almost a shame that the masterpiece had to be cut up. I think the bakers at The Willow Tree Cakery garnered a ton of fans that night. I know that I picked up a card for the next time we need a cake to impress.

It's kinda hard to believe that I've known Beamer for over 30 years now. I don't know that either one of us expected the friendship to last this long. Something tells me though that we'll share more than a couple new bottles to add to The List before either the friendship or this blog is finished - particularly if he's willing to open a few of all the wines that he received as presents. I took the liberty of looking in a handful of the gift bags and I know that I'll be more than willing to help out.

In the mean time, Happy Birthday and Welcome to 50.

Nepenthe

2011-10-19T19:06:00.001-07:00

I can't recall how we come about adding this bottle to our wine rack, but it appears the winery has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride of late. According to Aussie wine scribe, James Halliday, Nepenthe's founder and owner died unexpectedly in 2006. The winery was purchased the following year, only to close in 2009. The winery assets were sold, but the winery has since been re-opened and seems to have re-established itself in the Adelaide Hills region.

I certainly didn't know any of that information when I picked up the bottle.

963. 2007 Nepenthe - Tryst White (Adelaide Hills - Australia)

The 2007 vintage would have been assembled during those tumultuous years and was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc (68%), Semillon (27%) and Pinot Gris (5%). According to the website, the wine is made to be enjoyed young. Looks like we maybe waited a bit too long and I think maybe that was reflected in our rather lackadaisical response to the wine. The bottle was under screwcap; so, it theoretically should last a reasonable time, but it didn't come across as fresh as the whites we're more used to in BC. Then again, I drink way more Aussie reds than whites; so, it may just be that Aussie whites don't turn my crank quite as much.

The website also says that the name "Nepenthe" is "described by Homer in The Odyssey as an Egyptian herbal drink so powerful that it eases grief and banishes sorrow from the mind."

I'd be one of the last to categorize this little blog, "2001 Bottles - A Wine Odyssey," as a peer of the literary tome that is Homer's "Odyssey," but I think he was likely drinking something other than this particular bottle when he referred to Nepenthe. We didn't experience quite the same "power," however, the wine certainly didn't cause us any grief or sorrow either - and it did pique my interest to look for the circumstances surrounding Homer's quote.

A Farewell to Mexican Lou

2011-10-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Over the last so many years, one of Mr. D's best friends, Mexican Lou, has become a good friend of our's as well. It was with some sadness that we heard he'd decided to move back to Mexico City for the foreseeable future. We figured we had better fit in at least one last evening before he leaves on a jet plane.

Lou has quite the green thumb and he needed to find homes for a number of his plants as he cleaned house. He and Mr. D made a surprise visit to our place when Boo and I were both at work and they completed a little guerilla gardening. It seemed completely appropriate that we share a bit of a tipple as Lou led us on a tour of our own garden and he showed us the plants that he'd left behind.

961. 2009 Stoneboat - Duet (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Stoneboat is one of the extra-curricular wineries that I visited last month during the BCWAS Bus Tour and the Duet is one of the bottles I tried that was more than intriguing enough to pick up. The 2009 vintage is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Pinotage - rather a rare bird considering how little Pinotage is grown in the Okanagan.

It turns out that Lanny Martiniuk, patriarch of the family that owns and operates Stoneboat, comes across his use of Pinotage naturally. Lanny has been in the Valley for decades now and most of that time wasn't spent making wine but, rather, was spent growing grapes and propagating vines for others at his nursery. Lanny has propagated hundreds of thousands of vines at his nursery over the years, including many experimental varietals. He originally propagated the Pinotage vines for Lake Breeze winery when they wanted to introduce the varietal to the Okanagan. Lanny has kept some plants of every variety he has ever grown and he likes growing the Pinotage for its bold, distinctive characteristics.

It was an easy sipper, well suited for our garden tour.

It didn't take much time to finish off the Stoneboat; so, we made our way to Nicli Antica, the high end Neopolitan pizza joint that's been generating a culinary buzz in Gastown (and Vancouver as a whole) since it opened earlier in the year. I've wanted to make the trek there but just haven't been able to pull it off yet. It must be doing okay because there was a 45-minute wait on a Monday night and they don't take reservations.

I think we all thought it was worth the wait. Each of the four of us chose a different topping and we ended up swapping slices with each other so that we got to try each of the versions. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite but the Bianca was right up there.

962. 2009 Michele Chiarlo - Le Ormé (Barbera d'Asti DOCG Superiore - Italy)

The wine list was limited and was, for all intents and purposes, all Italian. (I think there was some French bubbly but we didn't go there.) I don't drink a lot of Barbera but I find that, in general, it's a tasty and reliable varietal when it comes to Italian wines. This one didn't let us down at all.

I don't know much about Michele Chiarlo; however, I did recognize the name because his Nivole Moscato d'Asti was one of the first wines that was added to The List - way back at #34. Apparently, the winery is a standard bearer for the Piedmont region. If this Barbera is one of the winery's more easily accessible wines, I'd like to try one of the higher end wines, particularly a Barolo.

As part of a fun evening with great pizza and wine, we got a bit of a celebrity treat in that Vancouver's other "Lou," Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo walked through the front door as we were waiting for our pizza. For a brief moment, we thought he might get seated at the empty table next to us. Turns out he was only picking up six pizzas to go. We were told that he's the only person in the city that is permitted to phone in for take out. We asked our waiter if we'd ordered one of Luongo's favourites. His reply was "Oh yeah, the Bobby Lou Special - it goes between your legs" - a rather cheeky riff on armchair commentary and some questionable outings during last year's playoff run.

If nothing else, we will put it out there that Roberto cleans up a whole lot better than you might expect from all those post-game interviews.

But that sighting quickly brought about a close to our evening. We'll miss Mexican Lou. Adios muchacho. Hopefully, we'll see him back sooner than later and we won't kill his plants off too quickly.

Big Trucker Day

2011-10-16T09:11:00.001-07:00

With all the years my cohorts and I have been adding up lately, we don't tend to worry much about forgetting birthdays. Vixen, my sis, wasn't about to let her man's b-day go unnoticed though. She put together a bit of a gathering for dinner at the local pub and followed it up with a bigger group back at her place.

Big Trucker wasn't aware of anything going down and was taken by surprise as to why so many folks had shown up at the pub. He was even more surprised when his Miami Dolphins ice cream cake arrived. Being a true fanatic about the team, he wasn't overly cooperative when it came time to cut the cake. His thoughts were that it made more sense to throw it back in the freezer and keep it for posterity. After all, getting a Dolphins cake in BC Lions country isn't likely to be a regular occurrence.

The wine list at the pub was rather lacking. So, the only bottle being added to The List was the one that I opened back at Vixen's place.

960. 2008 Terra Andina Merlot (Valle Central - Chile)

Known in our market as a good value label, I grabbed a bottle of the Terra Andina from the wine rack because I figured it would be a crowd pleaser among a mostly beer drinking crowd. And a beer drinking crowd it was. This might have been the only bottle of wine at the party and, yet, I was able to fill and re-fill my glass until it was time to head home.

Bright and fruity, it's an easy drinker and good for a stand-up affair. I'm not sure that it would have paired well with the second Dolphins birthday cake that appeared, but then I had to head off before that second cake was cut into. Two Dolphins cakes in one night. Who'd have ever figured?

Desert Hills and Snowy Tropics

2011-10-13T18:51:00.001-07:00

Regular readers might have noticed that the posts have been rather slow in coming lately. It's not a case of our not tipping back a glass or two. Indeed, as we used to say after finishing all those university years - "I don't drink anymore. Problem is, I don't drink any less either." Life just seems to have caught up a bit with me lately - and, since the day job has nothing to do with wine and doesn't give me the luxury of time to keep up to date with the blog, I'm falling rather behind. If nothing else, all the extra-curricular activities should make for some interesting posts.

In the mean time though, I'm going to have to try some "express posting" and this double post might be a good place to start.

958. 2009 Arrowleaf - Snow Tropics Vidal (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Naturally, the first wine to be added to The List actually deserves a bit of commentary. I have to say that I'm most familiar with the Vidal grape as a varietal that is most notably used for producing many of Canada's famous ice wines - and that's how the Vidal grape showed up earlier on The List and made my Wine Century Club application. I don't see it that often as a varietal table wine - and definitely don't buy it as a regular quaff at home.

I grabbed a bottle of the Snow Tropics, however, when I saw that it won a Gold medal at the 2010 Northwest Wine Summit, Double Gold at the 2010 All Canadian Wine Championships and Platinum at the 2010 Wine Press Northwest Platinum Judging. Those are some hefty additions for any resumé - let alone for a wine that costs $15 at the winery.

There's little doubt that the nose belied an off-dry sweetness, but the wine still packed a nice acidity that rounded out the taste. Vidal is a hybrid grape that is primarily grown in Ontario, New York and, to an extent, here in BC in the Okanagan, largely because its thick skin helps lengthen the hang time for the fruit and makes it more suitable for cooler climate regions. The high acidity and fruitiness also makes it particularly adaptable for dessert wines and ice wines.

This bottle doesn't go as far with "the sweet" as a dessert wine but the residual sugar definitely stands out. Think about pairing it with spicy foods or just sipping it on the patio on a hot day. It won't take a batch of similar awards to prompt me to buy another vintage.

959. 2001 Desert Hills Cabernet Sauvignon (VQA Okanagan Valley)

The Desert Hills Cab didn't fare as nicely. This was likely one time that we waited too long before we opened the bottle. The wine wasn't corked but it was definitely lacking in any "ooompf" and I was rather expecting a little - as I generally find Desert Hills wines to be big and boisterous. In fact, if memory serves, I actually remember visiting the winery for the first time and having one of the Toor brothers say that there weren't pouring samples of the Cab anymore because there just wasn't enough left. However, he was so sure that we'd like the wine that he guaranteed our approval. If the wine didn't meet our expectations, he said he'd replace the bottle.

It's likely too late to say that the bottle didn't quite grab our attention. Seven years after the fact would likely be taking things a little too literally.

I do wish that we'd tried the wine so many years back though. If an owner is so proud of his wine that he'd guarantee you'd like it, there has to be something behind it. This isn't the first Desert Hills wine to be added to The List. I'm pretty sure it won't be the last either.

But now, to try and catch up on some of the downed soldiers I've yet to wax on about. Wish me luck.

A Thanksgiving Invite - Out of Nothing

2011-10-12T22:10:00.001-07:00

Since Boo and I were up at my cousin's wedding over the Thanksgiving weekend, we figured that we'd just drive home from the Okanagan (like most of our family) on the holiday Monday and grab a simple bite to eat - and be thankful. Then, my sis, Vixen, says that she'd planned a turkey dinner anyhow for the kids and she proceeded to invite us to stop in on our way home from Vancouver.

Unexpected turkey dinner. Works for me.

In order to get to her place in time for dinner, we couldn't be overly leisurely in our drive time, but it didn't stop us from making a couple of drop-ins to wineries that we wouldn't normally get to. The Sparkling Hills Resort is located North of Kelowna and we don't generally even make it to Kelowna - let alone to any wineries to the North.

There were two wineries that I wanted to visit in Lake Country - Gray Monk and Ex Nihilo. The former is one of the first estate wineries in the province and was in the forefront of the establishment of what is now a thriving industry. The accompanying shot is of Ex Nihilo however. Where Gray Monk is an old timer by BC standards, Ex Nihilo is a relative newcomer - having only been established in 2008.

"Ex Nihilo" is Latin for "out of nothing" and the winery's initial foray into the BC wine scene seemed to create quite a stir, seemingly out of nothing. It didn't hurt their marketing efforts when they quickly became known for their connection to the Rolling Stones and their $125 sticker price for a 375ml icewine called "Sympathy For The Devil." I've yet to try that one.

As you can easily see in the photo, the winery's tasting room is very stylish and definitely enhances Ex Nihilo's marketing and brand image. Production is still limited and the number of varietals grown is reasonable as well. The winery currently offers two whites and two reds - not counting that famous icewine.

We grabbed a bottle that we thought would go nicely with Vixen's turkey and hurried back onto the highway.

957. 2010 Ex Nihilo Pinot Gris (VQA Okanagan Valley)

2010 wasn't the greatest vintage for BC wineries - at least in terms of the growing season - particularly for the red wines, but a number of the whites still seem to be coming through nicely. At $21, this wine is on the pricier end of the spectrum for Pinot Gris, but the grapes were grown in two locations (the estate vineyard in Lake Country and a more Southerly site), harvested about a month apart (mid-October vs. mid-November), inoculated with two different yeasts during fermentation and saw extended lees contact. The resulting bigger body, fruit and acidity also makes it stand out more than most BC Pinot Gris.

It worked just fine for dinner. However, as thankful as Boo and I were for dinner, we were almost as thankful for the fact that we were able to leave at a decent hour and make it home to collapse from a big weekend.

Such a Sparkling Event!

2011-10-11T18:17:00.001-07:00

A beautiful bride. Sparkling Hills Resort. What better nom-de-ma-plume could there be for my cousin, Centreman's, now legal squeeze than Sparkle?

I could go on about the stunning setting and lovely outdoor ceremony, the several "sap boy" moments or the abundance of hockey players, firemen and lively gal pals at the wedding, but this is a wine blog (at least, primarily a wine blog). So, I'll bypass all the wedding niceties and say that I was intrigued to find out what wines had been chosen for the reception and dinner. I know that we did a whole lot of tasting before we chose the wines for our reception. As such, I like to see what other folks decide upon for big events.

I was hoping to be able to add a couple of new wines to The List and hadn't counted on being lucky enough to add four new wines.

953. N.V. Yellowglen Pink (Australia)

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to get a shot of the bottle. The glasses kept coming out ready and filled - with nary a bottle in sight. But I did get a shot of Boo toasting his glass of Pink in the art piece that was a wooden "fur" coat.

I don't think I've ever tried this easy sipping, fruity sparkler prior to the wedding. I see that Yellowglen promotes itself as Australia's "#1 sparkling wine brand" and, as part of the omnipresent Aussie juggernaut, Fosters Group, I maybe see how Pink (and its mate, Yellow) are the biggest selling bubblies Down Under. It's definitely entry level - as opposed to vintage - bubbly but it's priced well and is made from the classic Champagne varietals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. An interesting choice, but I can see how it perfectly suited the reception and Sparkle's pink-themed wedding.

The dinner tables all featured red, white and rosé wines - so that all tastes could be covered - and so that I'd get three more bottles to add to The List.

954. 2010 Quails' Gate Rosé (VQA Okanagan Valley)

It was nice to see that a Rosé had been included in the wine choices. Rosé wines can be a tough enough sell in downtown Vancouver - let alone with the rough and tumble interior guys. Quails' Gate produces a nice, dry version though - made, largely, from Gamay Noir (90%) with some Pinot Noir filling in the balance. Nice and dry, the bottle was quickly emptied at our table.

The remaining two wines were special bottlings for the Sparkling Hills Resort by Bounty Cellars. The Resort had teamed up with Swarovski Crystal for the design of the resort and Swarovski is found throughout the hotel and spa. They've even connected with a local winemaker for a pair of house brand wines that are called Crystal. Naturally, all the labels sport small Swarovski crystals on them.

955. 2008 Bounty Cellars - Crystal Gewurztraminer (Okanagan Valley)

956. N.V. Bounty Cellars - Crystal Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (Okanagan Valley)

These are the first Bounty Cellars wines that I've added to The List. I have seen their products around but I've never actually had a bottle. Bounty's is an interesting story. They work much in the way of a French wine négociant where the company buys wines and grapes from other producers and growers from BC, Washington state and elsewhere and then puts out a finished product.

They also fill a particular niche in that they specialize in private labels for their wines - just as we see with the Crystal label. Most wineries won't get involved with private labels unless there is a large, minimum order; however, Bounty will apparently produce a wine for individual customers for as few as two cases of wine. John Schreiner has reported that the company created more than three hundred private labels in the winery's first three years of existence. He also states that the "private label niche accounted for about 60 percent of the revenues" in 2007.

To be honest, we were all far more caught up in the wedding to pay an inordinate amount of attention to tasting and thinking wine.

I've been to a great many weddings over the years, but Boo and I don't take in many nowadays. Most of our friends are long past married (or divorced). I certainly go to a lot more wine events than I do weddings. So, it was nice to see the younger folk kicking up their heels and having a great time.

I know that there have been more than a couple weddings that I've been to where the joy of the occasion was not only on the happy couple's face but more than matched by the guests. This one actually stands out for me though. I am sometimes reminded of my Mom raising her hands in the air to sing along with "It's Raining Men" and our reception, but I'm glad to say that there were some equally memorable moments here.

Cheers - and our very best wishes - to the happy couple.

A Much Welcomed Spa Day

2011-10-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

For me, one of the best parts of taking a bit of a break is that you can often just get up when you want to. No alarms. No deadlines. Just a case of getting up when it feels right.

This is the scene that I woke up to. I suppose having a fully windowed wall to the resort room can have its benefits.

There wasn't much chance that Boo was getting up any time soon. So, I took a bit of a tour of the spa facilities that were open prior to brunch - and happened upon my cousin, Centreman, our groom du jour, who was taking in the pool and hot tub with a couple of his groomsmen. I didn't get an immediate response when I asked if they ever made it to bed last night, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt (but hoped that he could at least take a nap before the ceremony).

Following brunch, Boo and I took a bit of tour on the trails surrounding the resort. We noted more than a couple of locations - with incredible views - that would be perfect for a picnic or for cocktails and a bottle of wine. The trouble was always going to be finding any time to take advantage of those great spots.

The wedding was an afternoon ceremony out on the resort deck and there was a bit of a break between the ceremony and the reception. Just enough time, as it turned out, to take in the series of steam and sauna rooms - and an extremely cold ice wall - to try and relax a bit. And, then, to grab a bit of wine.

We chose to just relax in our room - instead of heading outside to one of those wonderful viewpoints though. Sometimes, ease and comfort just make a little more sense.

952. 2009 Sandhill Pinot Blanc (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Part of the delay in arriving on time yesterday afternoon was a quick stop at the Sandhill tasting room. Despite all the Sandhill wines that have made in onto The List, I've never been to the Sandhill operation itself. The tasting room and wine shop are located in downtown Kelowna. So, there was no rural vineyard setting. It was, however, an upscale affair - befitting of one of the province's premier wineries.

I usually find that, with Sandhill, we gravitate to the Small Lots Program wines. The Pinot Blanc doesn't fall into the Small Lots category, but I quite enjoyed the sample we tried at the tasting room and grabbed a bottle for immediate consumption. There are BC wine savants, including Wine Master Barb Phillips, that think Pinot Blanc could be a signature varietal to help put BC on the global map. Howard Soon, Sandhill's winemaker, has certainly found a way to take the somewhat unheralded varietal and make the Pinot Blanc fruit shine through - even while exposing the wine to limited oak and lees aging.

As enjoyable as the wine and our break were, we needed to make haste and join back up with the wedding party. I was definitely interested in seeing what wines were going to be featured at the reception.