Tasty Treats & Big Reds

I can pretty much be guaranteed that the holiday season is officially under way as soon as I've nibbled my way through Jeaux and Matinder's Christmas Cookie Extravaganza. The event's formal moniker might well be more generically seasonal but no one's kidding anyone - this shindig is all about the baking.

Months of planning go into the annual bake-fest and regular guests were treated to a new array of cookies this year as Matinder wanted to try out some new concoctions in addition to his regular faves. He and Jeaux even added my all-time favourite - their 2010 Olympic red mitten cookies. Knowing that their guests can't simply gorge themselves on nothing but sugar all night, they not only have an assortment of savoury munchies but the bake-happy couple are well prepped for the real fun of the night - choosing a full slate of take-out treats. No one's "allowed" to leave without a doggie bag - or more appropriately, a goodie bag - filled with one's faves from the neverending buffet.

Boo had to work nights and missed the live munching but Matinder made sure that Boo was the recipient of an extra large "to go" care package - loaded with Boo's fave espresso bean shortbread cookies.

With Boo not able to make it, I "coaxed" Mr. D. to join me. I didn't really want to play "fat boy" and nibble all on my own; so, I figured Mr. D. could handle the extra calories - and help add a couple of bottles to The List.

1481.  2009 Bodegas Ochoa - Garnacha & Tempranillo (Navarra D.O. - Spain)

Yet another Spanish producer that I don't recall having run across before. I'm not exactly sure why since Bodegas Ochoa was founded in 1370 and was the "personal winemaker for the King of Navarra and his royal court for nearly 500 years." Not having personally spent much time around Spanish royalty, maybe I don't know them because the winery's only been exporting their wines for 150 years. Okay, maybe not.

The winery is family owned and uses all estate-grown grapes from the family's Navarra vineyards. The Navarra region is in Northern Spain in the foothills of the Pyrenees and is home to a large range of grape varieties. This wine is more of an entry level blend of Tempranillo (70%) and Garnacha (Grenache)(30%). A bit big for the occasion at hand, I think it might have made a bigger impression if I'd been sipping it along with more traditional Spanish tapas.

The winery sounds interesting and worth a little more looking into though. Bodegas Ochoa is slowly seeing a transition into the next generation as patriarch, Javier Ochoa, is turning over winemaking and other operational responsibilities to his daughter, Adriana. She, in turn, (according to one of their importers) has been named "Best Young Female Winemaker in Spain" on more than one occasion.

1482.  2011 Bodegas Carchelo - C (Jumilla D.O. - Spain)

The second wine that Mr. D. and I tried was the third vintage (to be added to The List) of a rather unique 40/40/20 blend of Monastrell (a.k.a. Mourvèdre), Tempranillo and Cab Sauv. I'm guessing that Mr. D. brought this wine along because he was party to the 2009 vintage that was added way back at #630 as well.

Unlike Bodegas Ochoa, Carchelo is a fairly new winery - having been established in early 1980's. Once founded, it was one of the pioneers in working to modernize winemaking in Jumilla - a previously nondescript, if not backward, wine region in Southern Spain.

Jumilla is generally hot and arid - even by Spanish standards - and, understandably, the wine is bold and full flavoured with plenty of fruit and spice dominating. Like the Ochoa wine, this was a bit over the top for the occasion but its abundance of fruit helped out on the sipping, cocktail front.

There was enough chocolate among all the tasty treats that guests didn't need to worry about a bit of red wine though - intense or not. And, speaking of tasty treats, Matinder's addition of "nipple" cookies to the menu led to a bit of extra-curricular fun as well - especially after a few glasses of big wines had been enjoyed - that is, if this shot of Jeaux and Fifi is any indication.

I can only imagine what might happen if these treats were left next to the fireplace for Santa. I'll need a special order of Matinder's cookies if I'm ever going to find out though. I'm certain that the ones I took home in Boo's doggie bag will never last until Christmas Eve.

Poor Santa.

The Seasonal Neighbours' Dine Around

It's now been almost ten years since Boo and I moved into the neighbourhood and one of the constant joys of living where we do is the Neighbourhood Dine Around.  The back story is that six new homes were built at the same time and all six were moved into within a few months of each other.  There was obviously some common ground between all the new neighbours and we were ever so lucky that we all enjoyed each other's company.

We started up the first dine around after we'd all had a year to both settle in and to start adding those individual touches to our homes. All the homes started out pretty much as carbon copies of the same plan.  So, a 45-minute visit to each home for drinks and nibblies allowed for a bit of a snoop as well as some seasonal cheer.

Well that original six-some has seen some changes.  After last summer, we were down to two of the original six couples; however, the replacements have continued to fit right in.  Indeed, we saw two new couples move into the hood this year.  And, then, there's been a bit of an expansion to the guest list to boot.  It started with the addition of Big Red and The Marquis and their house as it shared a fence line with Rock God and Shameless Hussy.  Then Mr. Principled and Nature Boy moved in across the lane and we figured it wasn't too much of a trek to include them as well.  Finally, this is the first year that we're including Irish John - even though he's been one of the chattiest neighbours on the street for years.

Our little seasonal mingler even made it into the Globe and Mail newspaper last month as an article on neighbourhoods.

With a diverse array of foods and cocktails, we're just a little concerned that we've outgrown the coziness of the original event.  Nine homes in one night takes some concerted effort.  And some self-pacing.  That's why I don't have nine different wines to add to The List after the evening - even though there was an assortment of bottles well in excess of what I managed to sip away on.

We started with an oyster bar at one of the new couples on the block.  They went all out on the menu and "obviously" didn't check the blog first to make sure that they were serving a wine that hadn't made it to The List already.  Their Adriano Adami Dei Casel Extra Dry Prosecco (Valdobbiandene Prosecco Superiore DOCG - Veneto - Italy) was a lovely match to the oysters but it's a non-vintage and was added back at #1185 at another neighbourhood party.  I'll have to fill them in a little more before next year's event.

1300.  2010 Les Vins Bonhomme - el petit bonhomme (Jumilla D.O. - Spain)

So, the first wine of the night to be added to The List also has the distinction of hitting another landmark century mark on this Odyssey - #1300!  The wine is getting all sorts of good press locally as a marvellously valued and tasty wine. It's made by ex-Montréal native Nathalie Bonhomme in collaboration with well known, Spanish winery Bodegas Juan Gil.  It's a take on a Spanish GSM, likely explaining heavier use of the M - being Monastrell (the local name for Mourvèdre) - and lighter take on the Garnacha (Grenache) and Syrah.

I don't think that K-Pop and Baby Mama had necessarily intended on matching it with the latkes and applesauce but I could have cared less.  I was only disappointed in the fact that I had to check my sipping on the easy sipper since we still had more six stops to take in.

Those stops kept up the varied approach to the treats.  I tried a bitters and soda for the first time with Cupcake and Haggis, tried a comparison to Boo's homemade eggnog and quite enjoyed the pulled pork sandwiches and great cheese spreads that were served up at those stops.  Of course, there was the milk stout and multitude of brews being poured as we paid a first visit Irish John's place and his "man cave."  I think it was a common conclusion amongst the gang that Irish John has the best view of the city of all our places.  And we're holding him to his offer to host a man cave party in the near future.  I was quite intrigued to hear that the milk stout is made just down the road from us at 49th Parallel brewery.  The hood continues to grow more interesting.

1301.  2007 Hillside Estate Reserve Merlot (Okanagan Valley)

1302.  2008 Hillside Estate Reserve Merlot (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

I don't know how interesting most folks found the mini-library pouring of the Hillside Merlot but it seemed like a fun thing to try since we happened to have both the '07 and '08 vintages handy.  Hillside has been around for some years now but it's not a winery that we patronize all that much.  They did a tasting with the BC Wine Appreciation Society this year and we really enjoyed a couple of their small lot Merlots.

I didn't get my hands on any of the small lot wines but it was nice to serve up the two rather distinctly different takes on the "same" wine.  The 2007 was made from grapes grown in the warmer Oliver region of the Okanagan while the 2008 wine only used grapes from the Naramata Bench - where the winery is located.  I'm not sure about the 2008 wine, but only 400 cases were made of the 2007.  We don't try these comparison tastings very often but it just went to show how common vintage variations can be with smaller, non-brand producers.

It seemed that the slightly fruitier profile on the 2008 was a bit more popular though - if you're taking notes.

1303.  N.V. See Ya Later Ranch - SYL Brut (VQA Okanagan Valley)

We even had a bit of participation from one of our former neighbours.  The Marquis wasn't able to attend our gathering this year, but he sent a couple bottles of the SYL Brut all the same.  This is a BC bubbly that I'm not that familiar with.  It's a very traditional take on bubbly though with toasty brioche notes that are very reminiscent of real deal Champagne.  It was even just named as one of local writer, Anthony Gismondi's, top choices for reasonably priced sparklers for the holiday season.

Our final stop of the night was a bona fide tawny-fest.  Rock God and Shameless Hussy served up an early Christmas present with three different fortified tawny ports.  This is my kind of nightcap; however, you have to remember that, by now, we'd been at the Dine Around for five hours-plus.  Accordingly, I did a quick tasting of each of the wines but I chose to play the good boy and only fully partake in two of the bottles.

1304.  Niepoort Colheita 1995 (Douro - Portugal)

1305.  N.V. Buller Fine Old Muscat (Rutherglen - Victoria - Australia)

Again, I found it interesting to try different approaches to very similar wines.  Both wines are considered tawnies - as opposed to ruby ports.  Tawnies are standardly aged for many years (10+ years in both of these instances) in oak casks unlike the rubies that are bottled much earlier in the ageing process to preserve the deeper colouring and fruitier profile on the wine.  One of differences in the approaches in the two wines at hand is that the Colheita is a more rare-ish, vintage dated tawny port.  Most tawnies are wines that blend in new vintages to end up with a consistent non-vintage profile but the Colheita features fruit just from the 1995 vintage.  Another difference is that the Aussie wine is made from 100% Muscat but the Portugese wine, like most Ports, features a variety of grapes including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Francisca, Tinta Amarela, Sousão and Tinta Roriz (and some unnamed others).

I love the fact that two of the named varietals in the Colheita have yet to be added to my tally for the Wine Century Club.  So, that early present from the Hussy was all the more special.  Tinta Francisca and Sousão become grapes #145 and 146.  Season's greetings to that!

As for the third tawny served up, I'll just have to go back to the Taylor Fladgate on another occasion.  As you might easily imagine, we had long become rather tired neighbours and our numbers were diminishing with every passing stop.  For the hardy stalwarts, every oversized couch or chair just seemed to call out as a practical - if not entirely comfy - resting spot.  And you have to know that overflowing chair capacity often leads to unexpected consequences - like spilled drinks - and those consequences are best avoided because you know we'll be doing it all over again next year.  And you don't necessarily want to be the neighbourhood story during the intervening months - especially with the looming possibility of being written up in the papers.

Good thing we have such accommodating and good-drinking neighbours.  I'm pretty much guaranteed a grand entry for the blog every holiday season.  Merry Merry!

2012 AIDS Walk

It's 27 years later and I'm still taking in the annual Vancouver AIDS Walk in memory of my little brother & lost friends and for those currently living with HIV/AIDS.  I've lost track of just how much money has been raised by the generousity of my family, friends and colleagues but, together, we raised just shy of $3000 this year.  I think that's the most we've ever raised.  As one of the top individual walkers (in terms of donations), I received a nice thank you card from the Positive Living Society advising me that our efforts will help over 80 HIV+ individuals access the proper medical care that they require for one month.

Boo had to work and was unable to walk with me this year, but Mr. D. was a more-than-willing replacement walker - particularly when the day's weather turned out to be gorgeous after a cloudy start.  It's become a tradition of mine to pop a cork on the Walk and toast my bro and those lost friends.  This year, the Walk proceeded around Lost Lagoon and right past Ronnie's memorial bench.  It seemed like a natural rest stop for Mr. D. and I - especially since the Out In Harmony Choir was performing no more than 100 feet from the bench.

1250.  2010 Banrock Station Shiraz Mataro (Australia)

The Banrock Station may not be the most premium of wines that you'll find on The List but I thought it was appropriate for the Walk as it was one of the wines that we served at my Mom's recent memorial and reception.  The winery, itself, says that they're aiming to produce "flavoursome, easy drinking wines" and that's exactly what it is.

I couldn't find out much about the wine itself but Banrock Station is one of the many brands falling under the Constellation banner.  Banrock Station is obviously a large, commercial producer of value for money wines.  They make a large assortment of wines and they export throughout the world.  Their website stresses the winery's commitment to the environment as much as it talks about its wines.

A small donation is made from the sale of every bottle to conservation projects around the world.  Those contributions have assisted works in 60 countries - including a project to save salmon in Canada's Great Lakes.  Their biggest project relates to the winery's properties themselves.  The majority of Banrock's lands are now part of a wetland restoration where they attempt to produce wines while demonstrating a greater respect for the land and the climate.  Their efforts include the introduction of Mediterranean varietals that grow "more sustainably in the South Australian climate" - particularly in that they are proving to result in greater savings in water and the need for irrigation.  This last point may play a part in the addition of the Mataro to this blend.  I saw no reference to the varietal on the website but Mataro is simply Aussie for Mourvèdre (French) and Monastrell (Spanish). I tend to like a bit of blending when a winery is going for cheap and cheerful.  It just seems to add a bit of depth or complexity to an admittedly simple wine.

The Shiraz Mataro was a fine choice for the Walk.  I like the charitable aspect of the winery's business plan and the wine was an easy one to enjoy without needing a meal to match up with it.  The toughest aspect of the wine was being able to take a sip while walking - without spilling.  It was also grand to have a bit of the bottle left when we grabbed pulled pork buns and beet fries from one of the food trucks that had set up shop at the end of the Walk.

A glorious day.  A great way to add a bottle to The List.  And two chances to make a small contribution to the community and world at large.

Canada Day & Euro Cup final

What can I say except that I'm completed confounded by the new interface that Blogspot has forced upon us!!  For the life of me, I can't figure out how to match up any of the writing to the sides of the pictures!  It's taken me an hour to try and figure out where to put anything here and I have to admit that I haven't got the slightest idea how any of the writing has actually shown up where it did.  

Something tells me that my catching up with the blog posts is going to be even more of a time-consuming task than I thought it might be. AAAAAAARRRRRGH!

1185.  N.V. Adriano Adami Dei Casel Extra Dry Prosecco (Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG - Veneto - Italy)

1186.  2009 Castaño Hécula Monastrell (Yecla D.O. - Spain)



1187.  2004 Burrowing Owl Cabernet Sauvignon (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Red For A Snowy Day

All in all, it's been a pretty tame winter in these parts. There hasn't been much of the white stuff that makes "The Great White North" white - at least not in Vancouver proper. But we got a bit of a dusting today and, to me, that cries out for a bowl of hot French onion soup and a nice red from the south of France to go with it. The snow likely won't stay that long but one should never look past an excuse to turn on the fireplace and let the food and wine take you away for a bit.

I don't recall how we came about tonight's bottle but I probably should have Googled it a bit before we'd finished it off. For once, it was actually rather easy to find a variety of sources of information about a foreign winery. Indeed, I thought the winery had a pretty cutting edge website itself. I rather enjoyed some of their takes on the wines they produce - like, "rough and ready, unretouched, perhaps a bit shocking - sums up in its way our philosophy of wine: southern, languedocien, free"- and about the region they call home: "a land of vines, rocks and rugby, where you don't put on airs and graces."

With a site like that, it probably makes sense that the man behind the winery, Marc Valette, has been called "indisputably the leader of the avant-garde in Saint Chinian." Valette participated in his first vintage in 1992 and he set out on his own with Canet-Valette in 1999, but family members have been winemakers for at least three generations.

1047. 2007 Canet-Valette - Antonyme (AOC Saint-Chinian - France)

Saint-Chinian is a subregion in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the south of France along the Mediterranean. The winery produces four wines that feature different blends of the classical grapes in the region. A certified organic wine that is neither filtered nor fined, it had a big, enticing nose but I didn't find that the wine was quite as expressive in the mouth. There was a New World bent to the palate but the flavours were still reined in enough that there wouldn't be any confusing it for a fruit bomb. I suppose that could actually be a good thing, but the wine's delivery in taste didn't quite live up to the expectations of the nose.

The label didn't say what varietals were in the wine; so, Boo and I simply knew that it was from Saint-Chinian - not a region I'm familiar with, although I rather thought that it was in the south. Boo thought the wine reminded him of Cab Sauv. I thought it more likely involved Grenache. Turns out that neither one of was right in that it was an equal blend of Mourvèdre and Cinsault.

Another interesting point that popped up while I was Googling the wine was that I saw the 2005 vintage didn't fare too well at the Olympic Wine Challenge that was hosted by four of the wine societies in Vancouver just before the 2010 Olympics. Each of the BC, Aussie, American and French groups entered three red wines for a blind tasting by a joint meeting of their members - the Canet-Valette finished 11th of 12 wines. Check out the full results of that tasting for an interesting read. We were actually at that tasting but I don't recall my reaction at the time. I might have some notes and my rankings for the evening somewhere but Lord only knows where they might be.

I likely won't be so quick to make a quick return to this wine the next time that we encounter a snowy day, but I'd still be willing to try another of the Canet-Valette's wines. As mentioned, they seem to be at the forefront of a new wave of southern French wines. That's got to be worth keeping tabs on.

Bubbles, Biceps & Beads

It's time for yet another Pride Parade and this year's edition just goes to shows that, even when the basic show remains the same, there are always new and exciting aspects to the party. Firstly, we were lucky in that Boo didn't have to work this year! We were doubly lucky in that Miss Jaq joined us for the third year running.

Last year, we had a great little time setting up shop outside Lady Di's and She Who Must Be Obeyed's home. Despite the fact that the gals were away partying in Chicago for the weekend (poor timing if you ask me), they let us use their place as home base. I don't think they knew, however, that we'd be moving a healthy selection of garden furniture down to the street to set up a more festive and comfortable viewing station.

It certainly gained the respect of neighbours and passers-by. Plus, the primary bonus was that we were more prepared this year and we were able to bring along some vinous libations and go cups to make our party juice not so noticeable - a far cry from last year when we were limited to pre-Parade Mimosas and a bottle of wind-down wine. There is a certain cachet in toasting the better floats and costumes.

880. NV Voga Italia Sparkling (Trentino - Italy)

I figured it's a festive celebration, why not start off with some bubbles. From the time I saw the first stylish bottle of Voga Italia's product on the local shelves, I thought they've perfectly captured a marketing tool that could serve them well if the wine's any good. Their original bottles stood out enough on their own, but the Sparkling bottle kicked it up another notch.

What more could you ask for at a gay extravaganza - bubbles with style?! The wine's a simple Chardonnay & Pinot Grigio blend made by the Charmat method (a simple injection of carbon dioxide into the finished wine) which is the same method used for Prosecco. Knowing that, I'd pretty much expected a Prosecco-like wine and that's what it was - although perhaps somewhat drier than most of the Prosecco's found in our market. It certainly served the purpose of getting us primed for the main event.

881. NV Segura Viudas Brut Rosé (D.O. Cava - Spain)

As for the second bottle, it might not have been as stylin' as the Voga, but it was bubbly and it was pink. So, I figured it's Parade-worthy as well. By the time I was able to slip away and open it, the parade was well under way (after all I didn't want to draw even more attention to ourselves than our little suite had already managed). Just down the street from us, the cutest little fairy was enjoying herself almost as much as the big fairies were. So, I had one of our more colourful neighbours pose for a picture with her. This is a simple example of how wonderful the Parade can be.

Then again, the floats packed with dancing boys are another kind of wonderful all together. Part of our exterior design was a BBQ which allowed us to grill up lunch for our happy crew. This particular float just left me wondering how their wieners compared to our's. Nasty? You bet, but if you can't laugh at the Pride Parade, when can you?

As was to be expected, the colour and the colourful just kept coming and coming. There were plenty more pictures to add to this post - but I suppose the blog is as much about wine as it is about the events we drink it at and the people we drink it with. So, I'll move on to our third bottle and, by now, all the beef sausage at lunch (and beefcake in the Parade) had us thinking red wine.

882. 2006 St. Hallett Faith Shiraz (Barossa Valley - Australia)

Big and bold, we all needed a little Faith to keep our collective energy up. By now, our neighbour Red and her gal pal, Venus - two ladies that could challenge any of the dancing queens that I know had joined up with us, as had my niece, Stargirl, and some of her friends. A couple hours of dancing, clapping and catching beads can tucker an old guy out you know. Well, okay, maybe not really, but man does not live on bubbles alone. At least not this man.

As things wound down and we started getting close to the end of the parade, we finished off the last of the Faith and started working on the dismantling of our little sidewalk suite. We had at least two other groups say that they wanted to join with us next year in creating an even more festive party zone. In fact, I think they were more akin to challenges being issued. You know - same time, next year - but anything you can do, we can do better. Sounds like fun. Hopefully, Lady Di and SWMBO are still game. Maybe a few mirror balls and lasers?

Once we had everything back in the garden where it belonged, we hiked on down to the Pride Festival to check out the crowds and enjoy a final bottle of wine.

883. 2008 Puerto Bonita - Vinos Sin Ley - G5 (Vinos de Madrid - Spain)

Another appropriately named wine for the day - "Vinos Sin Ley" translates as "Wines Without Law." Naturally, all of this sipping on the street and at the Festival's beach parkside is completely frowned upon by the state. But, sometimes, a guy's just gotta do what a guy's gotta do. I've added at least one other Vinos Sin Ley wine to The List and I'm bound to do so again because I'm quite enthralled with their take on "creative innovation using nonconventional methods of harvesting, fermenting, blending, ageing and labelling." With Spain taking on an ever-increasing presence in global recognition for its wines, new takes on old methods can be invigorating.

Their G series of wines are all based of Garnacha (or Grenache) - just as the M series features Monastrell (or Mourvèdre wines). On the hillside, the girls weren't enjoying the G5 as much I was, but that might have been because Red and Venus had a dinner party they had to rush off to and they still hadn't been able to find the Trojan boys that were out and about. Venus was sure that at least one of them had to be straight because he was pointing his big sword at her during the parade and smiling.

We can all dream, can't we?

What do you say? Same time, next year? I, for one, can't wait.

Playhouse Primer

The 2011 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival kicks into action today and I've got a fair bit of my week planned out with tastings and events - but not tonight. Boo doesn't get nearly as wound up as I do for the Festival. Indeed, I figure I've been pretty successful in drawing him out if I can get him to one or two events in any given year. To try and key him up - and give myself a bit of a start to to the week and to this year's theme region - I've picked out a Spanish wine that I haven't seen in the market before.

762. 2006 Bodegas del Rosario - Lorca Monastrell (D.O. Bullas - Spain)

I'm quite looking forward to finding out more about Spain and its wines. For a couple years now, Spanish wines have been getting quite a bit of attention in the Vancouver market (and everywhere else I assume) as the country's producers have been improving the quality of their wines and have been actively marketing the region as providing great bang for your buck - basically taking on Argentina and Chile in the current market and positioning itself as this decade's answer to the Australia of years past. With all those efforts, our household has certainly seen an increasing Spanish presence, but I still don't know a great deal about the great variety of wines that the country has to offer.

Lorca is located in the Bullas region. Never heard of it before - and maybe that's not too surprising. Bullas is a coastal Mediterranean area located in the South-East corner of Spain - along with Jumilla and Yecla, two other appellations that I recognize a little more. This is Monastrell (or Mourvedre) country and the official recognition as a Designation of Origin appellation was only granted in 1994. So far, it seems to have been a fairly slow transition for Bullas wineries to take a big step into the modernization and marketing of their wines internationally.

I didn't find a whole lot of information out there about Bodegas del Rosario but it looks like they produce four or five labels and they represent about 95% of the region's exports. I can't say that I found much in this wine that made me go "Wow" though. It still seemed pretty rustic, with only muted fruit. I'd expected a bigger start to the week.

All the same, it looks like there's going to be plenty of opportunity to get some Spanish exposure this week. I'm looking forward to identifying a few more wines that might strike my fancy a little more.

A Wine-Fueled Culture Crawl

The last thing that Boo said to Mr. D. as he headed off to work was, "Don't let him buy anything." And, for once, Boo wasn't even talking about wine. Mr. D. and I were going to wander around some and take in part of the East Side Culture Crawl. The Crawl is in its 14th year and has become a highly anticipated weekend for the Vancouver's often sombre Novembers.

The Crawl is a three-day event that sees upwards of 300 artists - of all types - open their studio space to the thousands of visitors that take in the painting, jewelry, sculpture, woodwork, photography or any other type of medium that one of the East Side artists has decided to dabble in.

I don't know what Boo was afraid of. It's not like I buy art like I buy wine. Turns out, however, that he might have known a little of which he spoke.

Mr. D. and I were going to be wandering buildings and studio on a wet Friday night; so, we took a little encouragement along with us. It wouldn't have been possible to wander around with wine glass in hand, but taking along a couple of travel coffee mugs is a whole other thing.

653. 2009 Edgebaston The Pepper Pot (W.O. Stellenbosch - South Africa)

I haven't added many South African wines to The List; so, it'd be nice to spend a little more time on this wine, but that might have to wait. I see Edgebaston has a "Honey Pot" as well. Maybe a further look at the winery can be completed should we open a bottle of that. In the meantime, winemaker, David Finlayson, refers to this as a "fun, funky blend" of Rhone varietals. It's meant to be all about bringing out the pepper, spice and primary fruit in this Syrah, Mourvedre and Tannat blend (65/28/7). I've never associated the Tannat grape with the Rhone, but Finlayson is also quoted as saying, "Don't think about it. Just drink it." I can go with that.

I do find it interesting that the wine has made it to the Vancouver market when only 1000 cases were made. We're a long ways from South Africa - especially when we're only talking a thousand cases.

There wasn't much opportunity to talk wine with our busy schedule at hand. There was even less chance that three hours or one bottle of wine would be enough to visit all of the artists - but we did manage to fit in just enough on our tour to get into a bit of trouble. Through his association with the Board of Friends For Life and the fundraising Art For Life, Mr. D. has come to know a couple of the artists who's studios we visited. I love the bright colours that Carla Tak includes in her palate and when I saw a small piece for a reasonable price, I felt I needed to pick it up. I was pretty sure that Boo would understand - and, after all, I could always blame it on the wine.

There was a second piece, however, that was a little grander in scope. I have been intrigued by Eve Leader's distinctive paintings for a number of years - ever since she had a piece that caused a bit of a bidding war at Art For Life. Her art definitely isn't for everyone, but I find it compelling and have wanted a piece ever since that first night. Mr. D. and I did find one painting that fit my sentiments nicely - but even I knew better than to spend the more-elevated sticker price on this piece without a bit of consultation at home. Blaming a purchase on the wine wouldn't quite cut it in this instance.

As you can see by the photo accompanying this posting, I got the "go-ahead" to go back the next day and pick up the piece. Not that the painting will ever be a particular favourite of Boo's. The issue now is just to find some wall space for it.

Secret Souls Walk

Let me start by publicly declaring my love for the Public Dreams Society. For those of you that don't know the society, I'll let their "Vision" statement tell you what they're all about - "To nurture the magical heart and creative whimsy of each community by unleashing audacious artistic expressions." That pretty much captures, for me, the excitement that is Public Dreams.

They've just celebrated 25 years of passion and, although we've tried to attend as many of their events over the years as we can, we've never been closer. When the incredible people behind the organization have been able to hold their Parade of Lost Souls, it's always been an amazing part of Halloween celebrations along and around The Drive. This year the regular route wasn't available due to park renovations, and, lo and behold, our house was actually on the substitute route for this year's alternative - the Secret Souls Walk. How great is that?!

The only unfortunately part of the event being in our neighbourhood was that the route was kept a secret until the last moment and we didn't even know about the Walk until we returned from our vacation. That didn't really leave us any time to get fully caught up in the excitement and doll up our house and yard for the thousands of folks parading by. We managed some lights and our monster eyes but it barely scratched the creative surface that was our neighbourhood that night.

There was no way, however, that I could let the occasion pass by without adding another bottle to The List.

630. 2009 Bodega Carchelo - C (Jumilla DO - Spain)

This is the second vintage of Carchelo C on The List. The first was back in the summer (#517) when a 2008 helped propel Spain into the finals of our World Cup of Wine. Mr. D. is a big fan and he brought the '09 along for the night. OK, so Spanish wine might not be the most thematically consistent juice to serve up with Venetian masks and outfits - but most people thought we were pirates anyhow. So, maybe we just needed to forget playing with Casanova's passion and put a bit of a Spanish accent onto a guttural "ARRRRRGH!"

I do want to further discuss the winery and Jumilla region but that might have to wait for another bottle - I'm just a tad strapped for time since the whole Argentina/Peru trip has put me quite a bit behind on my postings. At least I know that there'll be one. For the time being, I'll just mention that C is a blend of 40% Monastrell (or Mourvedre), 40% Tempranillo and 20% Cab Sauv and is a prime example of the new generation of wines coming out of Spain.

If I'd been smart during the night, I might have stuck to quaffing back a bit of wine but the Vixen and some others came by to take in the evening and we quickly moved on to martinis. After all, we have these cool black, skull and crossbones embossed martini glasses and there aren't exactly a lot of opportunities to use them. While the martinis weren't exactly the death of me, it was a little too easy to stand in the raised backyard garden bed, watch the parade of costume after costume and raise our little black glass to all the "lost souls." in fact, we were enjoying that aspect of the evening so much that we lost track of time and we didn't even get to go on the Walk through the lanes ourselves.

By the time we'd reached the end of our own lane around 9.30 - having finished playing Dexter in a neighbour's garage and dancing to a zombie band - we were told that the Walk was now officially closed and that we couldn't proceed any further on the route. Whoa!! Bummer man. I guess it kept the hood well-behaved, but I was so "saddened" that I just went home and called it a night when everyone had moved on. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I think I've also determined that sticking to wine - over martinis - is going to be a smart plan down the road. I'll certainly remember that approach should Public Dreams visit our neighbourhood again next year.

Dr. Dirt Ages Gracefully

So, Dr. Dirt has become the latest of our gang of friends that has taken out membership at Club 50. Seems like, lately, the exclusivity of this club is being thrown out with the thrash - much like many of the bottles that we've emptied in getting this far on The List.

Well, if what they say is true and age is simply a state of mind, Club 50 or not, our Dr. has got it going on. And, these milestones do make for marvelous opportunities for grand get-togethers. Known to have enjoyed the odd bottle of wine (and many not so odd bottles) in her day, this little b-day bash had the potential of helping add to The List rather dramatically. All things considered, however, we were pretty well behaved. A few too many chores on all our respective To Do Lists kept the number of bottles down and allowed for a reasonable start the next morning.

That bottles that were opened, however, included some nice surprises. The first bottle I'm mentioning doesn't get added to The List since it's already there at #372. With a winery name such as it has though, I thought it was a no-brainer to bring along a bottle of:

2008 Young & Wyse Merlot (VQA Okanagan Valley) Being young at heart and wise beyond her years, this bottle was simply calling out Dr. Dirt's name.

543. 2006 Chateau du Cedre (AOC Cahors - France)

The first new wine for The List was a pleasant surprise. With new Argentinean Malbec hitting local shelves all the time nowadays, it was nice to see a French Malbec. The Malbec varietal is also known as Cot in Cahors.

I didn't find out an awful lot about this wine or the winery. The website is rather limited and only en francais. The site didn't go into any detail about this particular label, however, I did find one wine purveyor that stated that, at least in one prior vintage, this label was a blend of 80% Malbec and 20% Merlot. That might make a bit of sense with this bottle as well, since the appellation allows its Malbec wines to be blended with up to 30% of either Merlot or Tannat. This bottle didn't seem to be nearly as tannic or austere as what little I remember of other Cahors wines that I've tried.

It probably doesn't hurt either that a few sites have referred to Chateau du Cedre as being one of the notable wineries in the region. I think we all thought this was a producer to try again.

544. 2009 Bodegas Olivares (DO Jumilla - Spain)

Being a summer for plenty of Rose and plenty of Spain, I definitely wanted to try this bottle. Jumilla is one of those regions in Spain that is becoming synonymous with value and quality. It hasn't got the reputation of Rioja or Priorat, as it was largely seen as producing bulk wine. However, it is now capitalizing on its potential and realizing that more can be done with the fact that it was one of the few regions in Europe that was not devastated by phylloxera in the last century. As a result, Cahors has some of the world's oldest vines and has a large percentage of ungrafted vines. The region's primary varietal, Mourvedre or Monastrell, are still grown on its own rootstock instead of having been grafted onto imported American rootstock that was more immune to the phylloxera insect. The result is a potential for a varietal flavour that is more pronounced and truer to the distinctiveness of that varietal.

Once again, not a whole lot of information seemed to be available with an online search, but this Rose is primarily Monastrell with some Syrah added as well. At $14, however, its brightness and acidity (without crossing into off-dry) makes it a lovely wine for a BBQ on the deck.

545. 2008 Klinker Brick Farrah Syrah (Lodi - California)

Never having heard of this winery before either, this was yet another pleasant surprise. I don't know a ton about Californian wines. This is mostly because, as mentioned before in this blog, as soon as American wines cross the 49th Parallel and the Canadian border, I find that the price of the intriguing or noteworthy ones leaves me mostly uninterested. I think one of the girls brought this bottle back from the US though. So, I don't know if it's even available up here or at what price.

I'd definitely keep an eye open for it though. If it's not up here, it should be.

When it comes to the Lodi region, however, I would normally think of Zinfandel and, sure enough, Klinker Brick is particularly known for its Zin's. They produce this single-vineyard Syrah, named after the winery owners' daughter, and it delivers rich colour, flavours and finish - but in a nicely integrated way - without going over the top in a "bigger is better" manner.

It was a fun crowd and a completely satisfying evening of wine, whimsy and song. Knowing Dr. Dirt's predilection for certain cultural imports from Colombia, the salsa gang was out in full force - and I'm not talking just about chips and dips. "Annoying" the neighbours with Latin rhythms until the early hours was a bit of a concern, but it couldn't - and didn't - prevent all attempts at teaching some of the gringos a little something about how shaking the hips is talent held by more Colombians than just Shakira.

I'd be remiss in not giving a shout out to Isotopos and the birthday cakes that she masterminded in the kitchen. She can come and bake for me any day of the week. I doubt I could ever suffer too many birthdays to tire of her rum cake or dulce de leche.

Happy Happy there Doctor.

Semi-Final # 2 - Spain vs. Italy

Spain

vs.

Italy

Another big showdown in our World Cup of Wine - if Spain and Italy don't count as heavy hitters in the world of red wine, who does?

Spain, of course, is simply mirroring its successful run in the "real" World Cup in South Africa, but can it take out the Italians after they suffered so on the soccer pitch?Knowing that Italian wine might now have to take a back seat to upstarts Spain may just irreparably damage the nation's collective psyche.

If any grape is capable of taking on the weight of a nation, it may well be the Nebbiolo varietal, but the Spanish are on a real roll. We'll only know following a couple glasses.

517. 2008 Bodegas Carchelo - C (D.O. Jumilla - Spain)

518. 2004 Gianluca Viberti Nebbiolo (DOC Langhe - Italy)

Spain. Italy. Blend. Baby Barolo. Too bad we have to pick a winner.

I can't say that I know much about either of these producers. The Carchelo is a very popular wine at Marquis Cellars and the Gianluca Viberti received some good local press a couple of years ago (when I bought this bottle). Both are excellent examples of how labelling has become such an intricate part of trying to sell a bottle of wine - even in the Old World. The Carchelo is striking and eye-catching, while the shot of Gianluca (or whomever) in a vat of grapes to be crushed is intriguing. From a quick look at the Italian website, I dare say the North American label is not the same as the one sported in Italy.

We are, however, about the wine and not the labelling and, once again, Boo and I both chose the same wine as our "winner." This time around wasn't any different from the last couple of taste-offs - both wines were happily consumed, but we both had to admit that the Spanish blend was just more enjoyable than the Nebbiolo. The Carchelo is a blend of Monastrell (Mourvedre), Tempranillo and Cab Sauv (40/40/20) and it may just be an indication that a sum is stronger than individual parts. It may just have been that the blend allowed more complexity and layers than a single varietal could do on its own.

All the same, La Furia Roja ("The Red Fury") seems an appropriate name for the Spanish side because this red takes the day and propels Spain into our Grand Final with its Aussie counterpart - and infuriates one or two Italians at the same time.

Score - 3-1.