The 2001st Bottle - Quite the Odyssey

Six and a half years later and here we are: time to add the 2001st - and, therefore, final - wine to The List. As the journey behind this blog has always been to celebrate the places and the people that we sipped away at and with, I think it's fitting that we reach our goal with a very special gathering of our Dinner Club.

I've personally been in a dinner club of one sort or another since university days - and that's over 30 years ago. However, our current gang (with a few changes along the way as significant others appeared and one couple retired from the club) is coming up on twenty years. Indeed, one of my earliest posts on this Odyssey was at a Dinner Club gathering at Chez Tyrant.

And the memory of that dinner and others makes tonight's feast and post all the more special. Not only am I able to pull the cork on the "last" bottle but I get to share it with friends who have been with me all along the journey. Further, we all got to raise our glasses in a heartfelt toast to Tyrant - our dear friend who passed away a couple of weeks ago. I know Tyrant was looking forward to the 2001st bottle almost as much I was because we'd been talking about pulling a few special treats from his cellar. And I do mean "cellar" in Tyrant's case. As a little example, he'd generously brought along a bottle of 1982 Grange to my 50th birthday party and it remains one of the most memorable wines I've been fortunate enough to enjoy. Unfortunately, that bottle was before I'd started the blog and, therefore, not on The List.

I'll never know the wine Tyrant had tentatively earmarked for tonight's dinner but we all managed to find a few noteworthy bottles for the occasion to knock back with him in mind.

N.V. Lanson Black Label Brut (Champagne AOC - France)

2014 Domaine L'Ostal Cazes Rosé (Pays d'Oc IGP - France)

It turns out that we had more than enough wines this evening to reach bottle number 2001. So, it was of no concern that our first two wines were ones that had already been added to The List. One of the "rules" that I had set out for myself at the start of the blog was that I couldn't add the same vintage of the same bottle more than once to The List. Lanson Black is one of my favourite Champagnes and, being a non-vintage wine, the first bottle of this baby made it to the blog long ago.

The Rosé was a recent discovery but a pleasant one all the same. The wine had been recommended at a local government liquor store when I was picking up wines for this year's Giro di Burnaby viewing party. It was a hit then and I'm more than happy to join in on a glass whenever it shows up. I often tried to avoid revisiting a bottle that I'd previously enjoyed simply because I wouldn't be able to add it to The List. Guess that won't be so much of a concern anymore.

Tonight's Dinner Club was being hosted by Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed and the menu was classically inspired as Lady Di was looking to put some of the skills she'd been picking up at various cooking classes to good use.

On any normal evening, I could have easily been sated with the bubbly, the Rosé and the fresh burata served with the tastiest of heirloom tomatoes. As if that was ever going to be the full extent of a Dinner Club though.

1997.  2013 William Fevre - Petit Chablis (Petit Chablis AOC - Burgundy - France)

Unoaked Chardonnay and Oysters Motoyaki. I don't think anything else needs to be said. Seafood, acidity, cream.

I mentioned Lady Di was going after some classic dishes and pairings tonight. Two for two so far in my book.

1998.  2007 Rolf Binder - Heinrich Shiraz Mataro Grenache (Barossa Valley - Australia)

1999.  2008 Langmeil Orphan Bank Shiraz (Barossa Valley - Australia)

It turned out that our wine choices were a little more red-centric than the menu was but that can happen when we all take such pleasure in not disclosing the Dinner Club's bill of fare in advance. The Gazpacho wouldn't normally scream big, juicy reds, but there wasn't a single complaint to be heard until there was no more wine to be poured. I suppose it goes to show that sometimes an unforeseen pairing can work out far more favourably than you might expect.

Then again, it's entirely possible that these two wines could have been paired with a slice of toast and some Vegemite and we still would have raved. Langmeil is another favourite of mine - although we don't usually splurge on the more premium Orphan Bank Shiraz. If I had to pick an Aussie house wine (and was only allowed to spend $30), the Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz would very likely be my first choice. The Orphan Bank is just that much more layered and nuanced.

I don't think I'd tried the Heinrich before but this is a GSM (or SMG) blend that brother and sister winemakers, Rolf and Christa Binder, named in memory of their father. I don't know if Jeaux and Matinder were aware of that fact when they chose this wine but it seems uniquely appropriate for a Dinner club in Tyrant's memory.

With these two wines, there was no doubt that we were partying like it was 1999 - because, indeed, this course served up bottle #1999 on The List.

2000.  2003 Baron Philippe de Rothschild - Cabernet Sauvignon (Vin de Pays d'Oc - France)

The next step to happiness was beef tenderloin - cooked to order - served with baked kale and mushrooms in a wine reduction. The girls definitely had a challenging go of it with the timing on the cook of the beef since they had to juggle Jeaux and Matinder's penchant for blue steak through to Boo's more pedestrian medium cook.  But, of course, they were more than up to the task and my rare-medium-rare arrived spot on.

The tenderloin was paired (by happenstance) with two Rothschild wines - albeit from slightly different ends of the spectrum. It's a rare occasion that I get to try a $15 bottle side-by-side with its more well-heeled "cousin."  While Tyrant likely had some actual Mouton Rothschild in his cellar, a bottle of Le Petit Mouton was the best that I could come up with for the occasion.

2001.  2006 Mouton Rothschild - Le Petit Mouton (Pauillac AOC - Bordeaux - France)

As I knew this bottle would officially be number 2001 on The List, I was hoping for a bit of "knock 'em out of the park" sip. The Wine Advocate declared that "the 2006 Le Petit Mouton is the finest example of this cuvée I have tasted." The winemaker noted, "Aromas of berry fruit, vanilla and spice reflect its great complexity. Round, lush, full-bodied and supported by fine tannins, it is long and ample on the palate."

Not too bad as far as pedigrees and reviews go. Amen to that. Sounds like just the wine to hit the blog's final target and goal with.

Funny thing is that, the Petit Mouton didn't really speak to anyone at our table - even when paired with the tenderloin. The wine might be right on point for the pros but, as much as we might have wanted it to, it didn't titillate our palates - at least not to the extent that many of the other wines gracing our table did.

I suppose that's part of the joy of trying wines of every stripe. The best way to discover a wine that moves you is the try as many as you can.

2001+  2012 Tenuta Sette Ponti - Crognolo Toscana (Toscana IGT -Tuscany - Italy)

2001+  2010 Fontanafredda - Serralunga D'Alba Barolo (Barolo DOCG - Piedmont - Italy)

As previously mentioned in this post, some of the night's pairings weren't what you'd call classic. By the time our dessert of Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta with chocolate pebbles arrived, we were down to a couple of big Italian reds - a Supertuscan and a Barolo. I suppose that the unorthodox pairing was of no concern though. By now, we were simply taking in the evening and these beauties were bonus wines for The List anyhow.

Noticing that the wines had been poured as a trio of national pairings, we held a little poll of the table. The Aussies came out on top as our favourite wines of the evening, followed by the Italians and then the French. Not that there was any grand international tasting or bragging rights at stake. After all, there were (surprisingly) no Okanagan wines poured with dinner.

So, the latest round of the Dinner Club came to a close - as has the formal task of this blog. Having added the 2001st wine to The List, I now get to take some time and decide the direction the blog might take in the future. It's been quite the Odyssey. No doubt about it.

The wines. The people. The events.

It's made for an incredible adventure and, to be honest, a whole lot more work than I'd ever envisioned when I decided to upload that very first post. Drinking the wine was easy. No doubt about that. Writing the posts was a whole other exercise. Boo has called himself a "blog widow" for years - and there's a lot a truth to that.

And so, as I happily brace myself to hit the "Publish" and finish The List and my formal Wine Odyssey, I figure this won't be the end of the blog. It will definitely take a different - and not so demanding - structure but I'm hardly done with my love of wine. And that indulgence and amusement is something that will still drive me to put finger to keyboard now and then.

In the meantime, I need to send out big bouquets of gratitude to everyone who's encouraged, commented on, participated in - and endured (right Boo?) - my indulgence. It's been the most extraordinary learning experience.

I toast all of you.

And, as a final act of appreciation, I raise my glass to Tyrant. Having shared his humour, his generousity, his friendship and many a fine wine, it's a joy to share the 2001st bottle with you in mind. I wish you'd been there in person but you were definitely there in our hearts and minds. Skoal, dear friend.

Dinner Club - Vancouver Meets Bretagne

Due to member travels, our Dinner Club takes an annual winter break until our snow birds have returned to roost - except, of course, unless the gang all heads off together like we did last year to Antigua when Jeaux and Matinder hosting a once-in-a-lifetime St. Patrick's Day dinner.

J&M were hosting this time as well and, once again, they took us "on the road." However, their theme for this round wasn't Caribbean based. Rather they focused on all things Bretagne since they had just returned from a sailing regatta in that northern province of France. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day and we were able to start dinner up on Jeaux and Mutineer's rooftop deck. It was if we'd been transported off to a sunny après-midi en France.

1942.  N.V. Henriot Rosé (Reims - Champagne - France)

As is only befitting a culinary trip to France, we started off with a little bubbly. Although Bretagne isn't exactly next door to the Champagne region of France, it's certainly a lot closer than Vancouver is.

Henriot refers to themselves as one of the last independent and family owned houses in Champagne and they've been making Champagne for over two centuries, having been established in 1808. Their Brut is made with all three classic Champagne grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and their hint of rosé colour is achieved by adding a bit of the Pinot Noir wine prior to the final bottling.

Along with our bubble, Matinder and Jeaux served up a cider spritzer along with a bevy of hors d'oeuvres as we lounged on the roof. The spritzer is common to the apple growing region and we also had a quartet of mousse/pâtés that Jeaux proclaimed were omnipresent throughout the region. She'd also made some savoury pâte à choux, blood sausage tarts and filled crisps. We probably could have filled up on just the nibblies but, bien sûr, there was plenty more to come.

Our first step to happiness, once we'd arrive at the dinner table was an assortment of salads - particularly featuring beets and noodles. The course was accompanied by a duo of boutique wines with a similar heritage.

1943.  2014 Mike B. Riesling Cabinett (Okanagan Valley)

2011 Kurtis Wild Ferment Semillon (Okanagan Valley)

Both of the wines were made at Okanagan Crush Pad under the mentorship program that was introduced as part of the Vancouver International Wine Festival's Sommelier of the Year award. The winner of the annual prize is provided the opportunity to make a small batch wine of their choice. The sommelier, cum winemaker, gets to choose the grape and the style of wine they'd like to tackle - and the limited production can sometimes be found on the local shelves.

Kurtis Kolt was the first sommelier to make a wine as part of the Wine Campus series and I'd hunted down a bottle some years back when it was originally released. Accordingly, it has already been added to The List as #1248 and, therefore, doesn't get another number this time around.

The second bottle was made by Mike Bernardo, of Vij's restaurant, as he was named Sommelier of the Year in 2014. He opted to make a wine along the lines of wines that he'd regularly pair with menu items served at Vij's. I hadn't seen this wine yet. So, I was particularly pleased to give it a whirl - both because of its provenance and because he'd chosen Riesling. Bright with acidity, I can see its versatility with a number of dishes.

1944.  2012 Barton & Guestier - Lobster & Shrimp Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine (Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine AOC - Loire - France)

I remember B&G as one of the few French labels that I'd recognize many years ago when I first started to grab the odd bottle of wine now and then. They certainly didn't go in for this mass market kind of label back in the day but, then again, there were no critter wines back in the 70's and 80's - unless you counted Baby Duck and its ilk as critter wines. This bottling is part of collection of wines that are meant to give the consumer a (none-too-subtle) hint about what meal might pair nicely with the wine. A definite bonus - I should think - considering that I very much doubt that there are many folks in our Vancouver market who would have the slightest idea what to expect from a bottle of wine made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.

The label certainly came in handy when it came to our trying to pair the wines, brought by all of the dinner guests, with an appropriate dinner course. We might not have been dining on lobster but I think mussels weren't too far off.

1945.  2006 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC - Rhône - France)

We normally would have served up a C-du-P with a heartier course but we seemed to have hit the dessert course before we had need to pull the cork. Unfortunately, I can't claim to have had the pleasure of knocking back many bottles of Domaine la Barroche but I can certainly say that I haven't met a bottle of their's that I haven't enjoyed. The small estate's production is difficult to find and one of their flagship wines, Pure, is generally found only on an allocation basis.

Their signature Châteauneuf-du-Pape is standardly a Grenache-driven wine and the winery, 2003 having been their first vintage, definitely steers to a more modern, fruit-laden product. I figured it could pair up to Jeaux' trio of typical Bretagne desserts. Besides, if no one else wanted to go the route of a red with dessert, that would just mean more for me.

Thinking a bit of a stretch and a flight of stairs might do us all some good, we once again retired to the roof deck to chat away the balance of the evening. Funnily enough, there were still some wines that had yet to be touched. Tyrant pointed out that we truly must be getting long in the tooth because he couldn't recall a previous dinner club where there was still this much wine left by the end of dinner. He followed that statement up with his offer to give it the old college try and drink some of the remaining juice - particularly since he'd spirited a couple of Burgundy's out of the cellar in honour of the fact that I was in my final 100 wines for the blog.

1946.  2012 Joseph Drouhin Saint-Véran (Saint-Véran AOC - Burgundy - France)

1947.  2003 Moillard Mercurey (Mercurey AOC - Burgundy - France)

Going to Burgundy and pulling out a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir certainly added to the Gallic fare of the evening. I think Tyrant might have been right when he thought we should have been better pikers during dinner so that we'd have opened these with the benefit of food but the wines seemed to go down well enough on their own.

Then again, it was late, and the time for constructive tasting had long passed. These were simply good for propelling the conversation forward on one of the first long nights of summer.

Kremmig Crème du Plessis (À L'Eau de Vie de Cidre de Bretagne)

Our hosts trotted out one final treat as well. They'd brought back a bottle of Kremmig from their adventures in Bretagne. Kremmig is a specialty of the du Plessis distillery - a cream based, eau de vie made with Lambig. Lambig, itself, is a Bretagne specialty liquor made by distilling hard cider.

There was no going back to wine after the Kremmig. All that creaminess just coated the mouth and said "you're stuck with me now kid." Not that we needed more wine.

Jeaux and Matinder may have transported us to a corner of France for the evening but reality of needing to return to our Vancouver beds had us all bidding "au revoir" and "à bientôt" and heading off into the night. The Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed are next up on the hosting schedule. Just a little something to look forward to.

Pinot Envy

I don't always take the opportunity to add a bottle to The List when it comes to the various tastings hosted by the BC Wine Appreciation Society - primarily because I don't finish an entire bottle with the folks I'm immediately next too. But how could I not add a bottle after another stop on the series of BCWAS 10th Anniversary tastings. After all, this time around it was a double blind Pinot Noir tasting.

This is the third blind tasting that BCWAS has thrown to feature popular varietal wines that are regularly produced and well received in BC, the first two being Cabernet Franc and Syrah. This Pinot tasting was exciting because the province's wine regions are becoming particularly well known for their Pinot Noirs. Growing conditions in the province can be quite similar to those classic Pinot regions: Burgundy, Oregon and New Zealand. So, it was time to see how BC's Pinots measured up - against both some international wines and amongst our own producers.

The plan was to hold a double blind tasting of twelve wines - nine from BC and three international. Attendees (almost all members of BCWAS) were to taste all twelve wines and identify their top five choices in order. A grand compilation of those picks was then tallied and the big reveal was made.

In choosing the evening's wines, the Society (and, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was named Cellarmaster last year) tried to pick wines that both represented a variety of BC's wine regions and were wines that could boast a pedigree amongst their peers. As such, we included wines from Lake Country, Kelowna, Okanagan Falls, Summerland, Osoyoos (all in the Okanagan Valley) and the Similkameen Valley. Choosing the three international wines was a little more difficult in that there were a lot to choose from and we were trying to keep the price points in a similar range - and, funnily, nice Burgundy, Central Otago and Oregon's Willamette Valley wines tend to skew a tad higher than a lot of the local wines.

Society members were both pleased, if not a little surprised, to see how the results flowed. The Burgundy (2009 Louis Jadot Santenay) - which was incidentally the most expensive wine of the night at $45 - and the Willamette Valley (2013 Evesham Wood) both finished in the bottom four, as did Blue Mountain's 2011 Reserve. Those familiar with Okanagan wines know that Blue Mountain was one of the first BC wineries to become known for producing wines worth searching out - and their Pinot Noir has always been at the forefront. I think there were a number of folks surprised by the "poor" placing. Rather than recap all of the wines that evening and elaborate on the final results, I'll just refer everyone to Russell Ball's comprehensive Adventures in BC Wine post. Russell has put together a great recap of the wines and how they were received.

As reported by Russ, four of the wines stood out in the choices made by the attendees at large. I think it will suffice to say that my tastes weren't necessarily in sync with the rest of those in attendance. Only one of my five picks was included in the evening's top four - where it finished third. Even though I'd ranked my fifth choice, I think I'll make that the bottle that I add to The List.

1881.  2012 Meyer Family Vineyards - Reimer Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley VQA)

I'm hardly taken aback by seeing a Meyer wine near the top of our highly sophisticated poll/tasting. After all, the winery's proprietors, JAK Meyer and Janice Stevens, set up shop to explore their passion for premium, single vineyard Pinots and Chardonnays. Quite the fave of BCWAS, this bodes well for a dinner that the society is going to host with Meyer Family Vineyards in late May.

I was drawn to the full body the Reimer displayed in comparison with the other wines but I found it displayed a more earthy, minerality profile than some of the more fruit forward wines that were poured. Regular readers will know that I can be a sucker for big fruit.

The tasting's top two picks of the night - the 2013 Eau Vivre (the only wine from the Similkameen Valley) and the 2012 Kim Crawford Rise and Shine Central Otago didn't break out of the pack for me. The fact that my faves for the evening were revealed as Haywire's 2011 Canyonview, the aforementioned Blue Mountain Reserve and Cedar Creek's 2012 Platinum Block 2 served to re-inforce the fact that I've gravitated to those wines and wineries on many occasion when given a choice. It would seem that I like those wines whether I know what's in my glass - or not. The biggest surprise for me was that I'd ranked the 2012 50th Parallel Pinot as my third pick and I was only recently introduced to them - in fact, it was on last year's BCWAS Bus Tour. Guess they'll be yet another winery to watch for down the road.

All in all, I think the Society was more than pleased by the evening. Some of the participating wineries may not be so thrilled with their placing but it's interesting to note that every one of the twelve wines received an assortment of votes. Indeed, every wine - save one - received at least one first place vote.

I'm already looking forward to the next varietal blind tasting that BCWAS is going to host. The early contender is Riesling - and you know I loves my Riesling.

Dreaming of a White (Wine) Christmas

I don't think that it was the result of an over-abundance of Bing Crosby's or Michael Bublé's crooning, but my holiday dinner turned out to be an all-white wine Christmas. As is our family tradition, my sis, Vixen, hosted Christmas dinner for the gang. Other than to spoil the nieces and nephew, my job is to bring along the wine. Funny that.

1833.  N.V. Bailly Lapierre Réserve Brut (AOC Crémant de Bourgogne - France)

I was tipped off to this bottle following a bubbly tasting held at Marquis Wine Cellars awhile back. I wasn't able to make the tasting but this Crémant was apparently one of the hits of the tasting. Crémant wines, simply put, are Champagne-style wines that can't be called Champagne because they don't come from the Champagne region. The Crémant de Bourgogne (or Burgundy bubbly) was the first Crémant appellation to be authorized - along with Crémant d'Alsace - in 1975.

Bailly Lapierre is a cooperative of 70 families growing fruit around the town of Bailly in the northern part of Burgundy. Their sparkling wine is made from the region's permitted grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay Noir and Aligoté. in reading about the cooperative, I was intrigued that the wines are aged in the old, underground quarries for the town, especially since the quarry work extracted from Bailly provided stone for some of France's best known architectural triumphs - Notre-Dame de Paris, Chartres Cathedral and the Pantheon Paris.

The limestone-based soils lend themselves to a minerality that the bubbles cut through and elevate. A nice balance between subtle tree fruit and the biscuit-y notes so typical of Champagne doesn't hurt either.

And to add to the celebration, with the bucks you save by buying Crémant instead of Champagne (generally a half to a third of the price), you can spend more on presents for the family. This is a particularly enjoyable aspect of this wine to the young'uns who don't care to join in with the toasting and sipping.

1834.  2013 Sea Star Siegerrebe (Gulf Islands - BC)

When picking the turkey wine, I thought I'd forego the classic Gewürztraminer and take one of the wines I was lucky enough to pick up during our Thanksgiving visit to Axel and English Doc on Pender Island. I say, "lucky" because all of Sea Star's wine have been totally sold out for some time now. Quite the feat for a first vintage release, especially when you produce varietal wines like Siegerrebe and Ortega - grapes that most folks have never heard of before.

As it was, I didn't stray too far from the "tried and true" since Siegerrebe is a cross of the Madeleine Angevine and Gewürztraminer grapes. I also knew there's wasn't much risk - even for the family Christmas dinner - since the wine was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2014 Northwest Wine Summit - one of the wine competitions I actually pay some attention to. Plenty of aromatics, with great acidity and some nice soft fruit, along with that bit of Gew spice, coming through on the palate.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for some more of this in vintages down the road.

1835.  2012 Red Rooster Riesling Icewine (VQA Okanagan Valley)

To close out the dinner, I grabbed a bit of a treat - for both those gathered and for me. Admittedly, it might have been a tad selfish, but knowing my family's inclinations for various wines, I was pretty sure that only Vixen and I would think about seconds. Choosing an icewine was also a conscious choice though to try and build on the nieces' introduction to wine. As newbies to the wine scene, a little - or in this case a lot of - sweet never hurts.

I think this is the first icewine that Red Rooster has released and, even then, this was a limited production of 547 half bottle cases. Boo and I grabbed some bottles during our last visit to the winery for an Adopt-A-Row event. As one of the treats the winery pulled out for the adoptive parents, we tried a barrel sample of the Riesling Icewine. Nabbing a couple of bottles was a no brainer.

I also figured that, since it was once again my responsible to bring bread pudding, the Icewine would be a grand match to the dessert - especially since I remembered to add the sugar to the pudding this year. The Icewine likely would have still paired nicely with last year's more savoury bread pudding but I think the match was a little more traditional this year.

An interesting note on the wine was that the folks at Red Rooster started picking the grapes around 2 a.m. on January 1, 2013. You've got to wonder about being out in the vineyard in -8 to -14°C weather to pick frozen grapes on the first day of the year. That's either one helluva way to finish your New Year's Eve celebration or quite the start to the year to come - a 2 a.m. wake-up call.

I'm glad they bit the bullet for us though - because that Icewine was a far nicer "end" to the dinner than the end the girls were subjected to once the table was cleared. I'm not entirely sure what prompted this display but it was hardly in tune with the joy of Christmas and suiting up in your onesie to watch Mama Mia.

Except to say that it was one "mother" of a way to end the dinner.

A Christmas Work Out

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.

Kill Devil Hills, Sand & Bubbles

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.

BBQ - Vixen Style

The sis, Vixen, tossed us an invite to drop in for a long weekend BBQ. Little soirées like this used to be regular events in her past, pre-kiddie life. They're not so consistent anymore - or maybe, Boo and I just never seem to make it (or aren't being invited). In any event, we made it this time and I think it's the first dinner at her place in years (for this blog anyhow) that hasn't involved Easter bonnets, Thanksgiving turkeys or Christmas gifts.

She'd planned to use an stalwart from my old Dacquiri Bash days - speed croquet - to get folks in the mood. Turned out, however, that either we're too old or it was just too hot to go running around the backyard and chugging the drink o' the day after hitting the end posts. Particularly when you could choose to just sit back in the shade and have a glass of wine or a beer.

It was a good opportunity to add some neat bottles to The List though, especially when The Guru and his Bride of Frank'n'Wine showed up, after the recent European trip, with a couple of treats from Guru's well-endowed cellar.

910. 2010 Young & Wyse - Amber (VQA Okanagan Valley)

This is the second time a bottle of Young & Wyse bottle is being added to The List. The first was a Merlot that we quaffed during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The relatively new winery was much anticipated seeing as how the Wyse part of the team is a member of the family that pioneered the growth of Burrowing Owl - one of the few wineries in the province that actually achieved something of a cult following.

As each year goes by, more BC wineries seem to be introducing a blended white. This second Young & Wyse addition to The List is a rather unconventional blend of Viognier, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer (47%, 38% and 15% respectively) and it's named after Stephen Wyse and Michelle Young's daughter. In general, I'm partial to these blends as they seem to confirm that the strengths of each of the varietals can help bring out the best in the resulting wine. This wine is no exception. The winery doesn't produce varietal white wines yet, but my guess is that they wouldn't match the complexity of Amber. It was bigger than a lot of summer sippers, but I didn't notice any complaints in the back yard.

As mentioned, Guru and Bride recently returned from a bit of a field trip in Burgundy and Italy and they definitely had some fun wine stories to tell, but they also brought along a couple of bottles that I likely wouldn't have seen otherwise.

911. 2005 Domaine Philippe Girard - Premier Cru - Les Peuillets Vielles Vignes (AOC Savigney-Les-Beaune - Burgundy - France)

The (still) happy couple - maybe that's why Bride-y hasn't changed her blog name yet - are self-proclaimed Burg-hounds. They love their Burgundy wines and they brought along a bottle not only from the notable Côte de Beaune district, but also from the heralded 2005 vintage. I was rather glad when the Guru said that he wasn't overly enthralled with this bottle, because it didn't do a lot for me and I didn't want to offend him by saying so. Not that he would have cared - but he might have decided to rescind my invite to tour his cellar.

For those not totally fluent in winespeak, a red wine from Burgundy is invariably going to be a Pinot Noir. There are exceptions, but we won't concern ourselves with that because this was definitely a Pinot. The label indicates that the grapes are from old vines ("vielles vignes") and the website states that those vines are 60 years old. And, then, the winery, itself, has seen the winemaking tradition passed down from father to son for over five centuries.

At $50 a bottle in our market, I don't think it's a wine that I'd run out to buy for a future occasion.

Pretty nice offering for a backyard BBQ though.

912. 2008 Ricasoli Brolio (DOCG Chianti Classico - Tuscany - Italy)

The Chianti was more successful on the palate than the Burgundy - and I'm not always the biggest fan of Chianti. Maybe, in this case, the Italians had just had a little more practice than the French. Dme. Philippe Girard may have been around for five centuries, but Barone Ricasoli claims to be the "fourth longest-lived company in the world and the second in the wine sector." It is the oldest winery in Italy and "the name, Ricasoli, has been linked to wine since 1141, when Brolio Castle passed into the hands of the Ricasoli family."

Now, thatsa pedigree. Our BBQ offerings weren't exactly classic Tuscan cuisine, but the Sangiovese matched up well enough to "beat" the French. And what true blooded Italian wouldn't revel in that feat.

I'll freely admit that Boo and I were among the early departees from the BBQ. In my defence though, most of her other guests live closer and I WAS DRIVING. So, it's not as if I'd be able to drink and blog another bottle.

To top that off, if my time and efforts aren't related to this blog, there's not a whole lot of reason to stick around. Is there? (Just kidding Vixen)

Time to Start Planning

Boo and I have had plane tickets booked - for probably ten or eleven months - to head South of the Equator this October. That's the good news. The flip side, though, is that we have a flight into Lima, Peru, and seats leaving Buenos Aires, Argentina, a couple of weeks later and nothing booked in between. I'm definitely long past the "let's wing it when we get there" travelling mode; so, it's likely time that we started some actual planning.

As luck would have it, one of my co-workers, Juan de Luca, has a good friend that just returned from virtually the same trip. He suggested that we get together, have a couple glasses of wine and let his personal Evita regale us with stories from and pictures of her adventures. Scott and Stephanie Jaeger, of The Pear Tree restaurant, were gracious enough to let us set up shop, with laptop, in their lounge area and Evita got our juices going good.

And that was even without the wine, but, as usual at this site, it always comes back to a bottle or two.

525. 2007 Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne (AOC Bourgogne - France)

Domaine Faively is a well-known and well-established producer in Burgundy. In fact they've been making Pinot Noir for seven generations now. Tonight's wine doesn't make claims to be one of the winery's Premier Cru or Grand Cru wines, but, if it were, we likely wouldn't have been able to afford it. Juan de Luca favours the French and he picked this out as he thought that it would go great with a bite to eat - if we could leave some in our glass long enough to get past the pictures and trip tips.

Evita was great about helping us set some realistic goals for our little voyage. The best news was that she confirmed that it's definitely possible to fit the two countries into our plans - despite the short time and long distances. We might need to sleep on the odd plane, train or bus, but she's pretty sure that we should be able to slow down long enough to try a tango or check out the llama wool sweaters.

526. Bodegas Norton Privada (Mendoza - Argentina)

I actually wasn't familiar with this winery - although I now read that they're one of the most prominent producers in Argentina. I just figured that we should give a "local" wine a taste while we took at peak at Evita's B.A. shots. Not a 100% Malbec varietal wine, it's a Bordeaux blend of Malbec, Cab and Merlot - but, as might be expected, the Malbec percentage is substantially higher than you'd expect to find in a French blend.

This was a nice wine. Rich, with lots of dark fruit flavours - and it is likely better-priced than most wines of this quality due to its Argentinian roots. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for more Norton wines down the road.

And I now I have a winery to watch for while on the road to boot.

Evita has promised us a Top 10 List of her favourite stops on her trip. I could easily spend more nights gabbing with her - all in the effort of planning our trip naturally.

Battle of the Pinots

France

vs.

Germany

Now, if this were the World Cup of Soccer instead of Wine, France and Germany would be a real hum-dinger of a first round game. I'm not so sure that the same level of competitiveness exists in the vineyard when it comes to red wine though. In fact, I wasn't even sure that there was any German red wine available in the Vancouver market.

Lo and behold, one of the best-known (if not entirely most-loved) brands from years past offers up a German red just for the occasion. Does the wizardry that is German engineering and Riesling carry on across the dancefloor for its reds? That is our question for today.

Not to give away the answer too early - but, no.

496. 2007 Black Tower Dornfelder Pinot Noir (Germany)

497. 2006 Louis Latour Pinot Noir (AOC Bourgogne - France)

There weren't any real surprises coming out of this taste off. Although both wines were Pinot Noirs, neither wine was from a higher quality appellation. The Black Tower was simply German (Red Wine) and, while it was labeled a Qualitatswein from Pfalz, at $12, it wasn't going to pretend to be a quality German Pinot. As mentioned though, I considered myself "lucky" to have found a bottle so that Germany could even enter the competition.

Similarly, the Latour was a simple Vin de Bourgogne which basically means that the grapes can come from anywhere in Burgundy. It's not going to rival any of the high end Pinots that cause grown soccer players to weep in joy.

However, there wasn't a whole lot of decision making needed for our choice of a winner. The Black Tower wasn't terrible, but we found it to be more on the lines of glorified pop than being comparable to a fine wine. Not that the Latour was a wine that we would run back to the liquor store to buy again. We've actually had a bottle of the 2005 vintage (#79) and I think it went over a tad better than this bottle did.

Unlike on the soccer field, beating Germany tonight probably doesn't mean a whole lot. Hopefully, the next French wine we line up will have a little more fight in it. France goes up against Argentina next and another wine like this likely won't score nearly enough.

Score it 1-0 for the French. Hardly a thriller of a match.