The Last Supper

As if it wasn't enough that the Olympics have left Vancouver, tonight's our final night with Merlot Boy before he genuflects to and jumps aboard the the almighty Qantas bird that will fly him home to Melbourne. Our last supper found MB, Boo, Daveyboi and I headed to Takis Taverna for a little bargain Greek on Davie Street.

OK, it may not be Mykonos, Santorini or even Mount Olympus, but we're celebrating the games that were Vancouver 2010. The Olympics had just ended and, after all, they did start in Greece. Well, maybe not the Winter ones, but we do love our calamari, tsatziki and lamb regardless.

I can't say that I regularly drink Greek wine - unless we're out chowing down on souvlaki - but I kind of like the simplicity of some of the Greek whites that we find in our market. Daveyboi and Boo will always pick red over white but they were talking martinis while we were looking at the menus. So, I went for a new wine (to me) that was neither Boutari nor Demestica.

388. Tsantali Blanc (Greece)

I'd have never known but Tsantali has been making wine and distilling ouzo for over 100 years and it is currently the largest wine producer in Greece. It's numerous wines are exported to 35 countries and the label refers to this bottle as a "Mediterranean Wine." Your guess may be better than mine as to what that means exactly, but I was expecting an everyday, white table wine and it delivered. If it's Greece's largest producer, it must make some higher end wines as well. This won't be one of them; but for $13 (at the BCLD) for a full litre, I don't have a problem with its simplicity.

The Blanc is a blend of two indigenous Greek varietals - Roditis and Zoumiatis. The former, I've heard of. The latter could have been the Greek god of fast sports cars for I know. It does mean, however, that I get to add another two varietals to my Wine Century Club application. That, in itself, makes this a fine wine.

Fine wine or not, Merlot Boy still played coy when it came to sipping back on the grape. I think even he was surprised that he's lasted the whole vacation without a drink - particularly with all the celebrating that was going on around him. It was a party of Olympic proportions but he stayed true to the NMMBD - No Merlot Merlot Boy Diet.

If he keeps this up for much longer, we may have to start calling him Twiggy the next time we see him. He's talking about meeting up with Boo and I when we head to Argentina this Fall. If he doesn't promise to join in for the full-deal Malbec Adventure; however, we may have to re-think our invitation.

It was a grand couple of weeks and having him just drop in, unexpectantly, like he did made it even more fun. Besides it's not too often that we get to, first-handedly, lord it over him that Canada is out-medalling the Aussies at the big games. That's worth giving up a spare bedroom any time.

Cheeky boy that he is though, he got his own back by leaving a Norway t-shirt and pennant for us as a parting gift. I believe that he'll be dreaming of Thomas Ulsrud and his Norwegian curling team pants for many nights to come. Til the next time...