There's More to Miami Than South Beach

Indeed, there is more to Miami than just the hustle and bustle of South Beach - and, luckily for Boo and I, Esperanza and Cruncher offered to play tour guide and show us some of the sights.

As much as I might have liked to drop in to visit Gloria Estefan or Ricky Martin on one of the chi-chi gated island communities, that wasn't quite in the cards this time around. We did, however, head over to the chi-chi-esque Coconut Grove where we took in Barnacle Historic State Park and wandered by some of the more reasonably priced homes. Hell, you can find a townhome next to the park for a couple of million.  Who knows, Boo may want to move back to Florida after all.

Our primary destination of the day, however, was Key Biscayne - in part, to see how one heckuva lot of locals spend a sunny Sunday. Traffic out to the parks and beaches was bumper to bumper for a good portion of the way. No doubt, everything was busier than normal because the Sony Open tennis tournament was on to the fourth round and there were plenty of big names playing. Had we known in advance, we might have tried to pick up tickets since Milos Raonic was still playing and he likely could have used a bit of Canadian support.

Tennis may not have been in the cards. But, we did stumble upon a perfect picnic table, away from the teeming masses and the sand, while hiking the seawall that carried on beyond the end of the beach. A bit of shade, some gorgeous weather, a picnic lunch and a couple bottles of wine. Worked for me.

1572.  Candoni Pinot Grigio (Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie IGP - Italy)

Remembering the ins and outs of al fresco dining from Antigua, we went with a couple of whites that we figured would suit the occasion. I'd never seen the Candoni brand before but we quite enjoyed the 100% varietal wine. I'm not always the biggest fan of Italian whites. I often find them flabby and rather bland - at least when compared to the readily available BC whites at home - but this one had nice acidity and fruit. I don't know whether it's the fact that the grapes for this wine were organically grown, but I'd have no problem giving a Candoni wine another pour.

1573.  2011 Trimbach Riesling (Alsace AOC - France)

We don't tend to drink many Alsatian wines either but at least I recognized the Trimbach brand as being a wine available back home. As a Riesling aficionado, I may need to get a little more familiar with the brand. The wine was a great match to our day and to our sushi and panini picnic. Great citrus and acidity for a warm Florida afternoon.

As relaxing as the afternoon was proving to be, we realized that we had to contend with all the beach and tennis traffic, we took a final hike past the Cape Florida Lighthouse and made our way back to the car and the mainland.

I think my catch-of-the-day is a little more exciting

Upon our return to South Beach, we happened upon a street market - which was both a blessing and a bummer. I love taking in markets while on vacation but there was no real opportunity to buy any of the fresh produce or baked goods since we were leaving the next day.

Esperanza had also mentioned that there was a small Spanish/Latin-themed street that was known for restaurants. So, we made our way there and, as much as we hardly needed more food, a light snack quickly turned into a full dinner. Italian none-the-less. I was thinking that a few Cuban tapas might be nice. Next thing I know, we'd ordered Caesar salad for four, grilled calamari, pizza and pasta.

Good thing we had plenty of time - and another bottle of wine.

1574.  2010 Cascina Chicco - Granera Alta (Barbera d'Alba D.O.C. - Piedmont - Italy)

For me, one of the joys of travelling is to try wines that I don't recognize from home. The problem with trying those new wines is that, when you really enjoy one - like we did with this Barbera d'Alba - it can suck when you realize you'll likely never find it again at home. That just meant that we had to savour it for as long as we could. As much as we liked the wine and as tempted as we were to buy a second bottle, we concluded that, vacation or not, we probably didn't need any more.

And on that note, we made our way back to the B&B, thanked Esperanza and Cruncher for all their hospitality and started to get things in order to move on to the third stop of our journey - Mexico City. Miami certainly has its share of latin flair, but something told me my total lack of command of the Spanish language might just prove to be a bit of a test. (Besides speaking Spanish is what Boo and Mexican Lou were going to be there for. My job would be to order the wine.)

It might have been a short visit to Miami but it was an eventful one and I did manage to add another eight bottles to The List - and Esperanza promised to help me add a good number more if we make down to visit again. There's a standing offer.

An xtrèm Riesling & The Fish House

Boo and I had a certificate for the landmark Fish House restaurant in Stanley Park. So, we decided to take a bit of an evening walk along the Seawall and end it with dinner. Except for an Australian Wine Appreciation Society dinner that was held here a few years back (and that was in their banquet room), I haven't been here other than for brunch maybe 15 years ago. I didn't even know that Curtis Demyon had replaced Karen Barnaby as executive chef. She's been synonymous with the Fish House for so long, the thought of her not being there had never occurred to me. Obviously, it hasn't been my patronage that's kept them in business for over two decades.

1484.  2011 Pierre Sparr - extrèm Riesling (Alsace - France)

Surprise. Surprise. We went with a Riesling. I mean, come on, with "Fish" in the restaurant's name, and my being a bona fide Riesling buff, was there really any other choice?

I will admit that I'm more familiar with Pierre Sparr as a winery than I am with their wines. I think of them as one of the primary Alsatian producers that we see in the Vancouver market, but I can't say that I've had many of their wines. Indeed, it's even quite rare when we drink a bottle of Alsace wine. A quick search of the blog shows that this will only be the seventh Alsatian wine that I'm adding to The List as we almost hit the three-quarters way mark. It's not that I don't enjoy Alsace wines, I just don't really know them that well. I suppose that 1) they tend (at least to my knowledge) to be rather price-y in our market and that 2) the Alsatian varietal wines primarily feature the same grapes - like Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc - as our homegrown BC wineries do such a good job with. As such, it might just be easier to grab a BC bottle since we always have some on hand.

I'm willing to give anyone a chance if they're producing a tasty Riesling though - regardless of from whence it comes. And, this was one tasty sip of Riesling. Full of bright citrus and steely acidity, our bottle was disappearing far faster than our dinner was arriving. It took a great deal of will power to keep some wine in the glass so that we'd have something left for our mains of truffled prawns and pork cheek ragu. Unfortunately, the bottle was long finished by the time our passionfruit ganache with compressed pineapple arrived, but I think it would have been perfection.

Seeing as how this is the first Pierre Sparr wine that I'm adding to The List, I should mention that the Sparr family's origins in the wine industry were as early as 1680. The family vineyards were planted during the 18th century and Sparr has been selling wine commercially since the 1860's  The family's ninth generation is currently involved with winery operations. Something tells me they've had a little time to get this wine thing down.

This extrèm Riesling is one of a small range of wines where the winery is experimenting with modern labelling and offering a wine at a more economical price. In a move that is quite distanced from the traditional marketing of Alsatian wines, this line of wines is also under screwcap - something that is far from common among quality French producers.

If all Sparr - or Alsace - wines are like this one, I need to get me a few more. Whether we're having seafood or not.

World Cup of White Wine - Match 2

With the World Cup of White Wine now underway here on this little Wine Odyssey and New Zealand having knocked off the Aussies in our first continental challenge, it's time to turn our glasses towards Europe and the three countries that qualified and actually have white wine for sale in the Vancouver market - France and Germany. The other two European teams that qualified for the World Cup - England, Sweden and Norway - don't exactly have a wine presence in our market - if they even have much of one back at their respective homes.

There are obviously plenty of other European countries with white wines to send to this little competition; their women's soccer teams just couldn't quite pull it out during the qualifying rounds.

Tonight, we're opening bottles from two of the classic white wine regions though. France and Germany are clearly both big guns when it comes to white wine and soccer. Indeed, the German women are two time defending World Cup champions and the World Cup tournament is being held in Germany itself.

To top it off, both teams will be playing out of Group A - along with Canada and Nigeria - in what's being termed the "Group of Death."

839. 2009 Ernest Preiss Riesling (AOC Alsace - France)

840. 2009 Loosen Bros. Dr. L Riesling (Qba Mosel - Germany)

Keeping in mind, I have to face a budgetary reality when picking wines for this World Cup, I didn't exactly go to a First Growth Burgundy Chardonnay when choosing the French wine. The French might have put up a star wine like that in a real competition, but, unfortunately, that contest will have to take place in someone else's glass; not mine.

I don't know if all that many people think of Riesling as their initial thought of a white French wine, but this Alsace producer was about the same price as the Dr. L. and that's got to be a consideration. French vs. German Riesling. Same vintage. Price within a dollar of each other in our market. Sounds pretty fair to me.

Even if the Dr. L. is an acknowledged "star" in our market.

We rather surprised ourselves by preferring the Alsatian Riesling. I think there was just a bit too much residual sugar on the Loosen Bros. wine. Regular visitors to this blog will probably know that I'm not opposed to a sweet undertone on my wine, but the Dr. L. wasn't so much of an undertone as a visit to the dentist waiting to happen.

Following a brief search, I couldn't find anything out about the Ernest Preiss winery. I believe this Riesling is the only "general listing" in our provincial liquor stores. There might be another varietal from the winery on local shelves but I didn't find any reference to one.

Ernest Preiss just might be a winery to watch for. My first try of one of their wines was enough to move the French directly into our World Cup of White Wine semi-final. I'm sure that ladies on the actual soccer field would be thrilled with a similar result.

As mentioned, before the real World Cup hits the semi-finals, these two countries have a round robin encounter but the game these two play is still a little ways down the road. We'll have to see if the result on the pitch is the same as our little wine match here. I have a feeling a French win on the soccer field will cause a bigger stir and be seen as more of an upset than tonight's win in the glass would ever be.

A Solstice Affair

Boo and I received another unexpected Christmas present this year. The lovely and talented Miss Jaq was in town for a short visit during the holidays. It's a long way to travel from Abu Dhabi for such a whirlwind visit but she hadn't been here for Christmas in many, many years and thought she'd better jump at the chance when the opportunity arose. But, as I was getting ready to head out of town, this was going to be my one chance to meet up with her this time around. Trouble was we were eventually going to have to share her since this was also the evening for Tyrant's much anticipated, and not to be missed, Winter Solstice party.

Good thing that Tyrant also knows Miss Jaq and that he was happy to welcome her to join us. Despite being out of the country for over a decade, she still knew a number of the people at the soiree - many of whom were thrilled to be seeing her for the first time in all these years. We rather figured that would be the case thought and we surmised that we might not be able to monopolize her for the whole evening.

That's why we stopped by one the downtown lounges for a smart, but quick, cocktail.

680. N.V. Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace Rose (AOC Cremant d'Alsace - France)

A little bubble seemed to fit the occasion and this one's known as one of the best sparkling Roses in France - regardless of the fact that it doesn't hail from Champagne proper. It's made in the Methode Champenoise of 100% Pinot Noir grapes and at $25-$30 in the local market, it's considerably lighter on the pocketbook than Champagne. We likely could have done some heavy damage to a second bottle but there was a Solstice to celebrate.

Anyone who's a regular to this blog knows that Tyrant is one of our regular drinking buddies and that he's often close at hand when we're enjoying some of the more extravagant bottles that make The List. I always enjoy seeing what his latest and greatest finds are when he's pouring. I won't be able to go into the wines or wineries much this time around, but I do often find myself looking to re-stock some of our empties with wines that he's introduced us to.

681. 2008 Sportoletti Assisi Rosso (D.O.C. Assisi Rosso - Italy)

I'd never run into this winery before; no doubt because I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to Italian wines and Umbria is not a region that I pretend to know anything about. I did find it interesting that this wine is still produced under D.O.C. regulations when it's a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cab Sauv (50/30/20). It's like a Super Tuscan but under D.O.C. auspices. Apparently up to half of Assisi Rosso wines can be non-Sangiovese and 10-30% of the blend must be Merlot. That's got to be a fairly new direction.

The wine is Sportoletti's entry level red, but it has still been hailed as "one of the great values in Italian wines" by none other than wine god Robert Parker. It'd be nice to try another bottle on another occasion when I might focus a little more on the wine than on the party - particularly when there's so much reminiscing happening all around. When you get the likes of Archie, Burl or Desmond all asking Miss Jaq if she remembers when..., it's hard to think tasting notes while you're laughing so hard.

682. 2007 Bodega Sur de los Andes - Malbec Gran Reserve (Mendoza - Argentina)

After our recent stopover in Mendoza, Boo and I naturally gravitated to the Malbec. I've seen these wines around town over the last year or so. They aren't general listings with the provincial stores but some of the private stores have picked up on the label. I've seen that the winery produces three levels of Malbec but I don't think I've seen the Gran Reserve before. Trust Tyrant to have found it. The website says that the winemaker has added a touch of Cab to the wine to fill it out just that much more. Although the vineyards feature well-aged vines, the owner only started up the winery in 2005 after he left a career in banking to pursue his love of wine in 2002. Looks like he's making an early name for himself.

683. 2005 Bodegas J.A. Calvo Casajus - Antiguos Vinedos (D.O Ribera del Duero - Spain)

I particularly like to see what Tyrant uncovers when it comes to Spanish wines. He decided to leave the classified French wines and cross the Pyrenees to revel in Spanish bargains long before anyone else I knew. So, if he thinks a wine has some bang for the buck, I generally think it's worth a look.

This winery is a relative newcomer on the Spanish scene. Although owner and winemaker, Jose Alberto Calvo Casajus, grew up in a winemaking family, he only left the local wine cooperative to pursue his own, more artisanal, wines in 1993. He runs a one-man winery and he apparently still carries on with his other livelihood as his small village's baker. He shuts down the bakery as early as he can in the day to move over to the winery and vineyards. Made with grapes from 85 year old Tempranillo vines - that are among the oldest in the appellation - his wines generate a lot of hits on the net. It's just that they all seem to be en espagnol and, thereby, not a lot of use to a gringo like me.

We'll just let the wine speak for itself. Despite the fact that work was calling my name early in the morning, I felt it necessary to return for another glass.

There were actually some other wines being served as well, but there's only so much damage a guy can do in a night.

As was to be expected, it was a great evening. We love every chance we get to catch up with Miss Jaq and Tyrant's hospitality is legendary. Here's looking forward to next visit with her and to next year's Winter Solstice.

The Unknown Baumann Reisling

It would appear that there are times when I'm just not going to be able to find out much about a wine or winery. This may well be one of those occasions.

633. 2007 Domaine Baumann Riesling [ClassiQ] (AOC Alsace - France)

Not being someone who regularly gravitates to Alsatian wines, it would have been nice to learn a little bit about the origins of the evening's juice - particularly when this North-East part of France is probably best known by its producers than by particular villages or vineyards. Although Alsace does have vineyards that have been declared Grand Cru; not all of the wineries subscribe to that system (including even some of the best known producers). So, it helps to know something about who's bottle you're buying. I thought trying and finding out about a previously unknown winery might provide a new twist. Guess it wasn't to be.

Alsatian appellation rules permit the planting of nine different varietals; however, most of the production is white and the majority of that wine is Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat or Pinot Blanc. Perhaps because of that leeway, Alsace is, interestingly, the one region in France that has labeled its wine varietally for over a century now.

Domaine Baumaunn certainly appears to be marketing this wine to a more modern market. The label doesn't look anything like the traditional, Old World label of the big producers in the region. Even the extra twists in naming the wine [ClassiQ] are a little out there and reminiscent of [yellow tail]'s marketing. If it is modernity the winery is striving for, they might want to ensure that their website is working. The bottle refers to a website address but I got nothing when I hit it on more than a couple of occasions.

Ah well, for all the attempt that was made to find out about the wine, I don't know that finding more would have made much difference down the line. Riesling is a varietal that is adaptable to all sorts of styles and I'm definitely a big fan - but I can't say that this was a bottle that I'd look to visit again. The label referred to "scents of lime and ripe flavours of apple and quince" but the wine in my glass didn't seem to deliver any of that. Rather, there was plenty of acidity (also mentioned on the label) but there was no discernible fruit - or any other enjoyable note - to my palate.

Baumann may just remain an unexplored mystery in our house.

A Vintage Dinner Club

For the time being, this is going to be an abbreviated posting. I'm somewhat pressed for time and this entry is going to be one that will take both time and thought. Add, to that, the fact that I still have to make arrangements to get a more extensive array of photos since Boo's camera battery ran out of juice five shots into the evening.

I did, in the mean time, however, want to at least add the wines from this big night to The List. It's a grand assortment - unlike almost any evening I think I've had the pleasure of participating in.

It all started with Tyrant sending out a request for wines to be brought to the next instalment of our Dinner Club. It was his turn to host - but all he asked of the four couples joining in was two Champagnes and two "interesting French whites." Knowing that four bottles wouldn't suffice with this crowd, he confided that he had the reds covered. What we didn't know was that he was using our dinner as an opportunity to open a number of his old Bordeaux bottles that were starting to hit their "best before" dates.

Lucky us.

I'll hopefully get some pictures and expand on the evening shortly, but suffice it to say that Tyrant was channelling his "inner Julia Child" for the faithful. And the wines lived up to the occasion.

416. NV Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Brut Cuis 1er Cru (AOC Champagne - France)

417. NV Duval-Leroy Brut - Collection Paris (AOC Champagne - France)

418. 2005 Domaine Weinbach Reserve Muscat (AOC Alsace - France)

419. 2007 Domaine Christian Moreau - Cuvee Buy Moreau (AOC Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon - France)

420. 1982 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillon (AOC St. Julien - France)

421. 1982 Chateau Gruaud Larose Grand Cru Classe (AOC St. Julien - France)

422. 1986 Chateau Gruaud Larose Grand Cru Classe (AOC St. Julien - France)

423. 1986 Chateau Cos d'Estournel Grand Cru Classe (AOC St. Estephe - France)

424. 1977 Dow's Silver Jubilee Vintage Port (Portugal)

Considering that the Canucks were playing Game 2 of their playoff series with LA, Boo and I should have been simply sipping away on a bottle of LaFrenz. I think even die-hard Canuck fans would have a difficult time passing up this line-up though. I do have to admit that one of the other guests, Axel, and I had to excuse ourselves from the table on a number of occasions to "go to the bathroom." The phrase didn't fool anyone, but it was code for "I'm going to go and check on the score" since, coincidentally, you had to pass the television room while headed to a bathroom.

The Canucks lost in overtime, but our team certainly won with this evening. For now, I'll simply say that Julia would have been proud of Tyrant. And I got to add some pretty stellar wines to The List - although you can see just how exhausting all this hard work is on an old-timer like me.

A Pinot Blanc Comparison

335. 2006 Hugel & Fils "Hugel" Pinot Blanc (Alsace AOC - France)

This post was meant to be one of those down & dirty, let's get it over and done with, speed entries. Problem is that Hugel & Fils have one of the most comprehensive winery websites that I've seen and there's plenty of interesting information that I could pass on. I'm still going to try and keep it short though because you can always go and visit the site if any of this piques your interest.

We don't drink a lot of Alsatian wines in our household even though we usually enjoy them. That could be because there aren't an awful lot of them sold in the provincial stores. That might be changing somewhat though as the region has seen big and steady changes to its winemaking throughout the 20th century. Thinking further about it, the most likely reason for that is that 80% of all wine produced in the Alsace is white and the traditional varietals grown there largely correspond to some of the best grapes to be found in our BC wines.

Indeed, I grabbed this bottle as a comparison to some of the BC Pinot Blancs that we've tried. I've mentioned previously that it's been argued, by as notable a source as Barb Phillips - BC own Wine Master, that Pinot Blanc could be the grape to put BC winemaking on the map from a global perspective. I won't go into that much more now, but Alsace is one of the few other global regions that produces Pinot Blanc on a large scale, varietal basis.

Pinot Blanc still isn't really seen as one of the star attractions on the white varietal scene. So,we often find BC Pinot Blanc wines blended with other varietals. An Alsatian Pinot Blanc is required by law, however, to be 100% straight varietal wine. That may be why this wine seemed to have a bit more acidity and a little less fruit than I often see with those BC wines. If the BC Pinot Blanc is blended, the additional grapes could flesh out the wine and make it seem a little fuller on the palate.

I digress.

The Hugel site calls this Pinot Blanc an "all purpose dry white wine" and it certainly worked for us. The Hugel brand is more of an entry level for the winery; but, entry level or not, the wine comes in at $20 and that's not exactly bargain pricing for Pinot Blanc in our market.

The wine is made exclusively from grapes that are purchased from long term, contract growers. While Hugel & Fils has their own vineyards, those grapes are used for the winery's higher end labels. The family has had a lot of time to make those contacts with growers and to hone their production as the family's wine roots in Alsace go back to 1639.

I also found it interesting that, as an indication of its prominence in the wine world, Hugel & Fils was elected to the "Primum Familiae Vini" - an association of top family owned wine companies in major world wine producing regions. The wineries forming the group are chosen by their peers and the membership is limited to no more than twelve wineries at any one time - and that's for the entire world. Pretty high praise.

My guess is that we'll see Hugel on The List again before we're done here.

Wine Boyz Go Gris

Mr. D. offered up his apartment for a Wine Boyz (and Grrrl) night and, given the heat wave Van City has been experiencing, he decided that the theme would be cool and white. As the refresher du jour, he asked us all to bring along a Pinot Gris - or for the more Italian of us, Pinot Grigio.

Most of the gang in attendance were avowed red wine aficionados and, in fact, most Wine Boyz nights are red-based affairs. We didn't know quite what to expect but we were looking forward to the reactions.

With five folks in attendance, we have five new wines to add to The List:

113. 2006 Domaine Mersiol Pinot Gris (Alsace - France)

114. 2007 Kim Crawford Boyszone Pinot Gris (Marlborough - New Zealand)

115. 2008 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (DOC Valdadige - Trentino-Alte Adige - Italy)

116. 2008 Tinhorn Creek Pinot Gris (Golden Mile - VQA Okanagan)

117. 2008 [yellow tail] Pinot Grigio (South Eastern Australia)

At a couple of the most recent tastings, we've had duplicate bottles brought by chance - when the themes were much broader. So it was a surprise that we had five different nations represented this evening. Quite the wide spectrum for comparison.

Even more surprising was the fact that our reactions were quite similar across the board. Although all five bottles would be gone in a heartbeat at a patio party, the top two faves and the least popular of the night were very clear.

The Domaine Mersiol Alsace was the clear "winner" with 4 of 5 first place votes (with the remaining vote being a second place). Although it's not always the case, this winner was also the most expensive of the lot. Elzee actually broke the under $25 rule. This was a $29 bottle that she found on sale for $27. When the clerk heard the reason for the purchase, she discounted the price a bit more because she thought we needed to try it. Elzee can "cheat" whenever she wants if we get to enjoy the wine as much as we did. The wine had a touch of residual sweetness and that might have been the winning factor. Rather expensive for a summer patio sipper, but I can think of any number of other reasons to grab a bottle.

Almost as clear cut was the Kim Crawford Boyszone. Wine Boyz. Boyszone. It just made sense to bring this bottle along. I guess the fact that it was a solid second choice proves the point.

Unfortunately for Davey Boi, his [yellow tail] took all five last place votes. This was a bit intriguing considering the amount of slagging [yellow tail] wines seem to take in the wine world nowadays. It should be pointed out that it was the cheapest wine by probably a good $5 though.

Maybe this was an evening of you get what you pay for.