Return of the Jets

It's a rare opportunity for me to actually make it to see a Canucks game live - other than watching it on the TV - but Blade, the newly-arrived Prairie Boy, invited me to join him to take in the first appearance of the Winnipeg Jets in Vancouver in sixteen years. It would be even rarer to be able to blog about a bottle of wine at the game itself; however, we grabbed a burger a before the puck dropped and had no trouble in gearing ourselves up for the show by ordering up a little pre-game lubrication.

Indeed, a bottle of The Show - before we took in the big show on ice - only seemed to make sense.

1079. 2010 Trinchero - Three Thieves - The Show Malbec (Mendoza - Argentina)

The Show is one of over two dozen different labels that Trinchero Family Estates Wines produces. The list includes some pretty big names in our market - Angove, Doña Paula, Ménage à Trois and Sutter Home. The Show appears to take a bit of unique approach, however, in that they currently make four varietal wines - Cab Sauv, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Garnacha (Grenache) - but each of them is made from grapes sourced from a different country. The Cab is from California, the Pinot from Chile, the Garnacha from Spain and tonight's Malbec is from Argentina.

I don't know if I've previously run across that concept in winemaking before.

Their label is eye-catching. The price is reasonable ($18 in the government stores). And the website states that they're looking to add a "breath of fresh air to the sometimes-stuffy world of wine" as "big, bold varietals meet big, bold labels." That might not be too unexpected. It's the type of big wine, with plenty of dark fruit, that I'd expect to find on a restaurant's wine list when the restaurant has to limit the number of wines that it can make available. It's an uncomplicated, easy drink of a full bodied wine. To bring the point home, I saw that the table next to us ordered it (by the glass) as well.

There was no wine to be had at the game though. Our one glass of beer cost $14 each. I'd hate to think how much a glass of good wine (in a plastic glass none-the-less) would cost. Live hockey needs beer anyhow. And I will admit that I was fascinated by the draft machine they had that filled the glass from the BOTTOM. The "bottom-less glass" had a magnet that closed up the hole where the beer came in and it was even way more fun than seeing wine served on tap - as is starting to happen.

The Canucks have been on a bit of slide lately but they managed to pull off a win 3-2 tonight - much to the dismay of all the Jets fans that appeared to all be sitting immediately around us. Every "Go Jets Go" chant - and there were a lot - seemed to start just behind us. If they hadn't been cheering for the wrong team, it perhaps would have been even more fun than it was. It's great to see another Canadian team in the NHL but I'm still holding out for the Canucks to bring home the Stanley Cup.

The Champagne will be flowing that night!! In the mean time, I'll take the win and the wine.