Plumiscuous

I can't say that I know of many people who have homes "stately" enough to have their own names. It rings rather grandiose - think Tara, the White House, Rideau Hall. Mom Mary has named her property Sparrowhawk and I don't think she's over-stepped any level of audacity. It's a spectacular setting and a marvelous place to sit back and soak in the beauty while enjoying a glass or two.

Boo is going to stay on with his family for a bit longer than I can. So, I hope to make the best of the two days that I have here. The weather forecast hadn't been that favourable, but it couldn't have been much nicer than the day we woke up to on our first full day.

Rather than wax on about the property, I think I might just let some of the pictures speak for themselves. There were lots more where these came from.

Nelson is the closest city to Sparrowhawk and it's about 45 minutes away. Throughout the summer, they have a Farmer's Market and we decided that it'd be nice to take in the market while accomplishing a couple of chores in town. It's still a bit early for a lot of local produce up here, but there was plenty of tasty treats to be had. Unfortunately, I didn't bring along a bottle of wine with us but the market's location by a small waterfall would have made for a great picnic and addition to The List.

We made up for the lack of a bottle at the market by enjoying a sip upon our return to Sparrowhawk however. Mom Mary inherited a number of old fruit trees when she purchased the property and she still gets a good crop of plums and apples - if the bears and deer don't get them all first. It's still a bit early for the bears to be venturing onto her property, but we did see more than a couple of deer wandering around. I hadn't expected, however, to see a pair of alpacas on the opposite bank when I took a stroll down to the river.

Irrespective of the local fauna, it's still too early for plum season, but somehow it seemed appropriate to open a bottle from Forbidden Fruit to celebrate the whole garden-esque nature of Sparrowhawk - particularly since the winery plays with the whole Garden of Eden theme and Mom Mary does have her own little corner of paradise. This was one of the wineries that Boo and I had made a quick visit to on our drive up.

492. 2008 Forbidden Fruit Plumiscuous (Similkameen Valley)

Plumiscuous is a fortified red plum wine and it has been a consistent award winner for the winery since they started making it a few years back. In fact, Forbidden Fruit is playing a big part in opening folks' eyes to the attractiveness of fruit wines - particularly on the dessert wine front.

A bonus attraction to this bottle was owner, Steve Venables', confirmation that it would make a great addition to a birthday martini featuring a little Absolut and some muddled cherries from the neighbouring lands.

It was good for Boo and I that we didn't have any other takers on the martinis. With only a 375ml bottle, there wouldn't have been much of the wine left for sipping - and that would have been a sin.