Iconic Friends Deserve Iconic Wines

From the start of this blog and Odyssey, a major focus was always going to be who we drank our wines with and the occasions where we drank the bottles. It's definitely fitting that we were able to schedule a dinner with Elzee this close to hitting the 2001st bottle. We know very well that it's almost inevitable that, every time we get together with the lovely and talented Elzee, there's likely going to be great food and equally fine wine.

I'm happy to say that this occasion was no different - even though this was a simple, spur-of-the-moment invite to our place.

1993.  2014 Orofino Moscato Frizzante (Similkameen Valley)

When I look back on all the wines that have made up the 2001 bottles, I'm sure there will be more Orofino wines on The List than all but a handful of wineries. Boo and I have been fans of the "straw-bale winery" pretty much since Day 1. We were lucky to discover Orofino very early in its existence as its owners, growers, winemakers, proprietors (and likely everything else needed), John and Virginia Weber, presented some of their first vintage at a BC Wine Appreciation Society tasting of wines from the, at that time, new on the scene Similkameen Valley.

Although its now been around for a handful of vintages, Moscato Frizzante is one of Orofino's newest wines. It is also a very popular one as it arrived as a playful, easy drinking Moscato with a splash of Riesling and Pinot Gris that brings out an acidity to counter the fruity and floral base of Moscato. In a region that really only started to make a name for itself in the last decade, t's a bit of a surprise that much of the fruit for the wine comes from Muscat vines are over 25 years old now. The fruit from those established vines, planted on Orofino's home vineyard, is augmented with grapes from the neighbouring Hendsbee vineyard, those vines having been more recently planted around 2009.

The carbonation is measured; there isn't an abundance of fizz or mousse but the slightly off-dry palate makes the wine an excellent start to an evening. As it did for us.

I think the Okanagan Valley has established itself as a premium region for producing more serious, traditional even, Champenoise-styled sparkling wines (just look at Blue Mountain, Stellars Jay, Tantalus and Summerhill) but there's a new breed of bubbly that's starting to emerge and Orofino's Moscato is definitely helping to lead the way.

1994.  2008 Clarendon Hills - Astralis (McLaren Vale - Australia)

As I journey along this Odyssey and learn more and more about wine, one of the most valuable lessons has been about the pairing of food and wine - to bring out the best attributes of both simultaneously. One of the biggest discoveries I encountered was that we "drank red but ate white." I now try much harder to match whites, rosés and lighter reds with many of our dinners while saving our beloved big reds for meatier occasions. That re-adjustment of my pairing habits over the years has definitely increased our pleasure of the wine we're drinking.

That being said, tonight's pairing does not follow any of that logic. An Aussie Shiraz isn't likely the best sip to pair with mussels - even if there are yam frites and chipotle mayo alongside - but I wanted to dip into the cellar for one of our landmark wines for this near "List-ending" bottle with Elzee.

I decided on a bottle of Astralis - although I can't say that I've tried it before or knew much about the winery. Astralis has been called an Aussie cult wine - particularly after wine critic, Robert Parker (love him or hate him) wrote in 1996, "This is the hottest wine in Australian wine circles, as it came out ahead of two great vintages of Henschke and Penfolds' Grange in a recent tasting. If readers can believe it, it is a bigger denser, more concentrated wine than the Grange." The bottle was another extravagance of one of Boo's border crossing jaunts and it seemed appropriate for the occasion.

 Clarendon Hills is a small (by Australian standards), family run winery and Astralis is the flagship wine of the Clarendon Hills portfolio. Roman Bratasiuk founded winery in 1990, 40 miles south of Adelaide in the McLaren Vale district and he immediately imprinted himself with a reputation as a bit of a maverick, starting with the fact that he calls his Astralis a Syrah instead of the ubiquitous Shiraz that is so associated with Aussie wine. Bratasiuk is one of the original pioneers of single vineyard wines in Australia. His first vintage of wines were single vineyard and that was rather unheard of in Aussie winemaking circles at the time. The winery now produces up to 19 single vineyard cuvées in its portfolio and his goal has been to express the varied terroir of McLaren Vale as opposed to gunning for the biggest, baddest fruit bomb possible. Indeed, the winery produces as many as seven single vineyard Syrahs annually.

The 1994 vintage was the first Australian wine to sell for $100 a bottle and, unfortunately, it hasn't gotten any cheaper. However, it is still substantially cheaper than a bottle of Grange - if you can even find it in our Vancouver market - and any bottle like this is going to be a special occasion in our household. Like when you're breaking bread with a dear friend and drinking one of the last bottles to be added to your List of 2001.

I'll have to admit that the wine wasn't nearly as fruit forward as I would have expected for an iconic Aussie Shiraz - but I guess that was the point. It is an Aussie Syrah after all. We might have opened it a tad early as Parker's Wine Advocate originally reported that this "Astralis is very young and primary promising much more to come! Consider drinking it from 2015 to 2025+" but I definitely lean towards fruit on the palate with my wines. So, drinking it a bit earlier in its lifetime is not out of the question for me as the fruit profile of a wine tends to diminish as it ages. Besides, waiting seven years for a bottle of wine is a tough task and we were within the suggested window.

Dinner was concluded with one of Boo's homemade apple pies; however, we didn't need to worry about overpowering the pie by the wine. The Astralis was long gone by the time the pie appeared. I'd blame it on Elzee scarfing all the wine but that's about as likely as me jumping into Another 2001 Bottles - The Sequel. Hopefully, there will be plenty more dinners with Elzee and multiple iconic wines but I'm guessing they won't be documented so regularly in a blog - at least not mine.

A New Wine to Hug

A short time back, the BC Wine Appreciation Association celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a Gala Tasting that featured just shy of 50 BC wineries from around the province. I'm told it was one of the (if not THE) biggest gatherings of BC wineries ever held. With that many participating wineries - and with most of them pouring four wines - there were far too many wines to taste them all.

I did my darnedest to hit as many tables as I could, but even a seasoned piker like me barely scratched the surface. Rather than simply concentrate on producers and wines that I'm very familiar with, I made a conscious effort to try some wines and regions that I didn't know so well. One hitherto unknown winery that particularly caught my attention was a new producer coming out of the Similkameen Valley: Hugging Tree. I had an interesting chat with two of the winery principals about their location and organic approach to viticulture.

I ended up ordering three of the wines that they served up.

1928.  2013 Hugging Tree Rosé (Similkameen Valley)

Now that I have the wines in hand, I opted to go with the Rosé as the first to knock back. Made from Merlot and Cab Sauv juice, there's a good shot of fruit on the palate, with strawberry and tree fruit up front and evident. That profile might not be too surprising since half of the Makepeace family's 60-acre property had already been planted with apples and peaches when they purchased it. The balance of the lands were raw and were planted with grapes - largely red Bordeaux varieties.

With summer just around the corner, I suspect I'll be pouring a healthy number of Rosés. I'll need to keep this one in mind. Too bad, there wasn't a lot of this vintage to go around - around 235 cases or so only.

It's a good thing that Boo and I like to drive along the Hope-Princeton Highway and through the Similkameen whenever we travel to the Okanagan. We'll likely be able to fit in a visit to the new tasting room on one of those forays. Hopefully, it will be sooner than later.

A Chardonnay Even an ABC Drinker Should Love

Tight schedule or not, we made some time for another quick stop on the road home from the Half-Corked Marathon. Driving through the Similkameen Valley is one of my favourite parts of any trip to southern interior of the province and, more often than not, I'll plan for a visit at Orofino.

Tonight's bottle wasn't one that I picked up this time around but it appears that our holding onto the bottle did it absolutely no harm.

1927.  2010 Orofino Chardonnay (Similkameen Valley)

I'm hardly an ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) drinker but I don't pull the cork on many Chardy's - at least not compared to other white wines like Riesling or blends. If all Chardonnays tasted like this one though, I'd be bona fide Chardophile.

The quick note that I made on Delectable went "Whoa, a Chardy to re-pour over and over again. Bottle just up and vanished. Rich, full and luscious."

I don't know that I can add a whole lot more than that. I've waxed eloquently   (or at least tried to) about Orofino many a time on this blog. John and Virginia Weber's take on their place in both the winemaking community - and the general community at large - is refreshing and, inevitably, tasty. From straw bale construction and sustainable practices to single vineyard wines and innovative winemaking approaches, I'm a fan.

I can't say that Orofino's Chardonnay is one that immediately pops into my head when I'm reflecting on their wines. That may have to change though because I definitely want more of this.

Landmarks, Playoffs & the Final Stretch

I suppose it's only fitting that I should hit another landmark number on The List during this latest Canucks playoff run. Of course, regular readers know that the premise behind this blog is to drink 2001 unique wines and tell some of the tales behind the wine or behind the occasion at which they were consumed - and by whom.

Well, we're hitting the last century mark before reaching those magical final numbers. Hitting numbers 1900 and 1901 tonight means that there's only another hundred bottles to go. I think that qualifies as a "final stretch."

Our own playoff run, if you will.

Knowing that tonight was a big one for both the Canucks and the blog, Boo and I asked Shelback and Chewbacca to come over and watch the second Canucks - Flames game. And, of course, to knock back a little BC Shiraz seeing as how that's the blog's wine theme for this playoff series.

Much to everyone's dismay, the Canucks suffered a last minute loss in the first game. So, both the girls and I brought out some heavy hitters for tonight's game. Chewbacca also brought along her blow-up Johnny Canuck punching bag. That way, if we didn't like either the wine or the way the game was progressing, we could take our frustrations on something other than each other.

1900.  2009 Orofino Syrah (Similkameen Valley)

1901.  2011 Black Hills Syrah (Okanagan Valley VQA)

Orofino is one of my favourite wineries in the province and, of course, Black Hills is the winery behind Nota Bene, one of the most iconic wines produced in the Okanagan. I wouldn't go so far as to say the Syrah is the best known focus or even the varietal that either winery wants to hang its hat on but you can pretty well bet that any wine from either winery is going to be a well-made, good sip.

Luckily, the wines lived up to their billing and - even more so to our liking - the Canucks put together a far more convincing game against Calgary. It was a 4-1 win for the Canucks over the Flames and the series is back to being tied - at one game apiece.

The problem (if you want to call it that) was that we were so caught up in the excitement of the game that we neglected to make any tasting notes or take any other pictures of the wine or the evening. We did take a quick straw poll of the four us though and the Orofino was a consensus favourite over the Black Hills. Naturally, that order could change on any given evening or given different vintages - particularly if we were tasting similar vintages. The '09 vintage was warmer than the '11 in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. So, it could make a lot of sense that the '09 was the bigger wine with more fruit on it.

I'm simply glad that we had the chance to try both wines, that the Canucks won and, of course, that I'm now into the final 100 wines on this little wine Odyssey. The big goal is in sight. See you at Game 3.

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.

Cherysh the Thought

1854.  2010 Forbidden Fruit Cherysh Cherry Rosé (Similkameen Valley)

I'm at the stage of the blog where I always check previous posts to see if I've already added a particular bottle to The List. Since I'll often pick up more than one bottle of a wine's single vintage, those second bottles are cropping up (or the corks are popping out) more and more often. I didn't think there'd already be a bottle of the 2010 Cherysh on The List because we don't drink a lot of fruit wines - and it wasn't but I was a little surprised to see that I had previously added a bottle of the 2009 vintage at #1155.

As much of what I'd write this time around was written on the previous post and other posts on Forbidden Fruit wines, I'll just leave the link as opposed to re-hashing my earlier notes.

I will add, however, that the 2010 vintage was a very successful one for Cherysh. The wine won Gold at the All Canadian Wine Championship, Silver at the Northwest Wine Summit Competition and was a Finalist in the Spring Okanagan Wine Festival. Not a bad haul.

As with the 2009, I likely waited too long to open the bottle. I think we would have found more cherry notes on the wine if we'd opened it a couple of years ago. I just seem to hesitate on fruit wines when it comes to picking something for dinner. I generally don't see fruit wines going with a red wine dinner, but then it seems just as hard to pair (no pun intended) them with our standard white wine dinners. I simply opened this one, finally, as I would a Rosé and we did just fine (although it would seem I neglected to take a picture of the accompanying meal this time around). We had it accompanying duck with a pomegranate gelée - not quite a cherry sauce but close enough for government work (as they say).

I'm going to have to keep an eye open for a newer vintage and try sipping back on it a bit earlier, without the aging, because this could easily fit into our rotation of Rosé wines.

Some Forbidden Apricots

The definition of "mistelle" is grape (or other fruit) juice that has been fortified by the addition of alcohol prior to fermentation of the juice. The process preserves the intensity of the fruit and that was certainly the case with Forbidden Fruit's Apricot Mistelle.

1819.  N.V. Forbidden Fruit - Caught - Apricot Mistelle (Similkameen Valley)

I opened the Mistelle as I figured it would pair nicely with a cheese plate we were going to dive into after we'd made a visit to the Mircea Cantor show at the Rennie Collection. Good thing I know my way around wine pairing just a tad better than I know my way around contemporary art.

If you like the flavour of apricots, this is about as good as it gets. The label says that three varieties of tree ripened, organically grown apricots were crushed to make the nectar that resulted in the intensely sweet (with a hint of spice) wine.

I could sip away on the Mistelle by itself and be fully sated but I remembered the folks at Elephant Island - one of BC's other acclaimed fruit wineries - advised that one of the most popular uses for their apricot dessert wine was to use it in a vodka martini. I can highly recommend that using this Mistelle in that manner results in one fine - if not a favourite - sip as well. I'd be a very happy Bob if ever given the chance to enjoy the Rennie garden rooftop - or a future gallery show - with such an apricot martini in hand. Whichever route you go, we can just look at this as a flexible, as well as tasty, sip.

I know folks that can sit down and finish off a big bowl of cherries in a single sitting. If all apricots tasted like this, I'd be sitting down with bowls of them as well.

Touring and Tasting

It appears that Boo and I may need to come up with a whole new wardrobe this fall. The Canucks traded Ryan Kesler and Jason Garrison and, wouldn't you know, those are the two current player jerseys that we sport.

The Garrison trade was a bit of a surprise and, since he didn't leave Vancouver while in everyone's bad books, Boo can probably get away with still wearing the #5 jersey. I'm not so sure I want to keep going with my Kesler jersey though. Sure enough, I got three or four good years out of it - and the city loved Kesler during the 2011 playoff run. He might still be able to make the odd Aussie smile, but I think all the locals got the impression that Ryan was all about himself and cared nothing for the Canucks, his teammates or the city. Too bad. But good riddance, I suppose. Makes me want to find out if you can get jersey numbers changed after the fact.

Putting aside the trades, we moved on to happier activities with our #TwoKangaroos. We couldn't entice Merlot Boy out of bed with a trip to the Trout Lake Farmers Market but Margarita and I completed a tasty tour in the morning. Then Boo and Merlot Boy joined us and we all spent the afternoon touring Gastown.

When you consider how many of the shops seemed new to Boo and me, it was clear that we don't get down to this part of VanCity very often. We passed some "new" restaurants that looked pretty tasty and Boo and I clearly need to make it back to the carpet shop because we barely poked our heads into the store and saw two gorgeous silks that may need to add some colour to our household.

As we were finishing off our tour, we discovered that we'd parked right next to Bambudda, a new-ish entry to the Gastown scene serving up modern Chinese and inventive cocktails. They were just opening the doors as we sauntered by and the empty bar seats right at street level were just too inviting for four tired wanderers to pass up.

I'd seen a few tweets recently that raved about the cocktails at Bambudda. So, it seemed like a no-brainer for us to do a little research of our own. The drinks arrived both pretty and pretty tasty. There's definitely potential to do a whole lot of damage as you sip your way through the drink menu. Despite the tawdry comments that flew from Merlot Boy's lips, I went for the Sum Yung Gai - a concoction of gin, Cava, lemon, maraschino and lavender syrup. merlot Boy himself went ordered the Bubble Tea and it, with Gin, Blue Curaçao and hibiscus bubbles, was sure a looker. Boo and Margarita opted for "classics": Satan's Whiskers and Mother-in-Law which Bambudda says are both cocktails from circa 1890.

Something tells me, wine blogger or not, we'll be back.

The possibility of heading out on the town was proffered but our Aussies opted to stick around the home front. With Cher behind them, a day's worth of walking just completed and a wedding on the morrow's agenda, a night of adding bottles to The List and a binge-viewing of Archer episodes seemed as adventurous as our buds wanted to be.

1650.  2013 Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough - New Zealand)

Despite her nom de blog, Margarita's sip of choice is probably Sauv Blanc and this Stoneleigh is one of her "go-to's." Offering up classic Kiwi notes, it was still easy to see why this is a pleaser for Margarita. It was determined that, despite the classic notes, the wine was "neither overly acidic nor cat pee-y." Seems appealing enough to me on a summer's eve.

Then, the reds kicked in. Merlot Boy had picked up a couple bottles of Aussie Shiraz at the local shop. Funny, guy travels half way around the world to drink his home country drops.

1651.  2011 Vinaceous Wines - Snake Charmer Shiraz (McLaren Vale - Australia)

I can't say that I know much about Vinaceous Wines. Given the labels, my guess is that it's a commercial venture along the lines of critter wines - without the critters on the label. Or, maybe, just critters of a different sort. Their website states that "the Vinaceous concept is to produce seven distinctive wines representing seven personalities - men, women, angels, demons, mermaids...and other creatures of mythology!" Their wines are sourced from "the best regions suited to the chosen varietals." So, we're definitely talking about a Down Under négociant concept.

Commercial enterprise or not, we still found it tasty enough. I believe the collective response to my "what do you think?" was "a tad stronger than 'charming' but a charmer all the same."

1652.  2012 The Black Chook Shiraz Viognier (McLaren Vale - Australia)

Roos, snakes, chooks (Aussie for chicken). What is it with Aussies, animals and wine? My learned guess is that they all just drink like fish. Then, with so many big, tasty sips within easy reach, who could blame them? The Black Chook is a project that brought in noted South Australian winemaker/consultant, Ben Riggs, to shepherd this Aussie take on the northern Rhone co-ferment of Shiraz with Viognier.

Hardly a critter wine. I likely wouldn't have gravitated to this bottle because of the name and label. I guess it just goes to show that, if you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, the same can be said about judging a wine by its label.

2005 Orofino Merlot Cabernet (Similkameen Valley)

With all the antipodean bottles hitting our glasses, I thought I'd serve up a bit of curveball. I didn't tell our guests what it was that I'd opened and they thought this wine was even bigger than the Aussie Shiraz we'd been sipping. They were pleasantly surprised when I told them it was another Orofino wine from the Similkameen. We'd completed our Orofino Riesling trio the other night; so, I figured it couldn't hurt to try a red as well. The two Roos didn't think BC wines were supposed to be a full as this.

Unfortunately, I don't get to add the bottle to The List this time around. With Orofino being one of my favourite wineries, I suppose I should be surprised that the '05 Merlot Cab was added to The List all the way back at #433. Still drinking good though.

1653.  2005 Pisano - EtXe Oneko Licor de Tannat (Uruguay)

The final bottle of the night was a surprise and a treat. Since Merlot Boy and Margarita arrived, I haven't been playing up World Cup entries to the blog much. This bottle was a tip of the cap to Uruguay's run at the 2014 Cup. They lost their Round of 16 playoff game to Colombia earlier in the day but their show was still worthy of a nightcap of a bottle.

This was a bottle that I'd been given at the Wine Blogger's conference last year in Penticton. Luckily, the Uruguayan producers had some bottles left at the end of the conference and I managed to score this rarity (at least to me) as they didn't (or couldn't) take everything with them.

Made from 100% Tannat grapes, the wine combines techniques from both Amarone and Port. The grapes are left to desiccate on the vine for an extra month before pressing. They were then fermented to a desired level of residual sugar and topped off with grape alcohol to stop the fermentation. A second batch of grapes that had been left even longer on the vine were then added to the fermentation tanks in whole clusters. After approximately six weeks, the wine was pressed off and barrel-aged for another six months. Rich, tasty, fruity, dark. Right up my alley.

And, again, that's from Tannat grapes. Not going to find many wines using this production method.

Hardly the equivalent of an Aussie sticky, we were all taking a big bite out of this Luis Suarez of a wine.

And on that happy note, we bid "good night" to Archer and each other. Wedding prep and bells were calling on the horizon.

Aussies in the House

We've been anticipated their arrival for months now but Merlot Boy and Margarita have finally arrived on our doorstep - and I'm thinking there's going to be a wee bit of booze playing a role in our lives as long as the Two Kangaroos are gracing our Vancouver shores.

Since neither wine nor I was involved in their initial day touring the town, I was lucky enough to arrive home with both dinner and thirsty tourists front and centre when I arrived home from work. Boo had made that most Canadian of dishes for dinner: butter chicken. So, we took advantage of the good weather and our guests and dined al fresco in the garden. A simple luxury that we don't do nearly enough.

I'd been waiting for an opportunity to open a trio of 2012 Orofino Rieslings for some time now - and, yes, that was "trio." John and Virginia Weber of Orofino decided, with their 2012 vintage, that they'd highlight the different terroirs of the three vineyards where their Riesling grapes are grown and take a slightly different approach to the production of each of the three wines.

I pointed out to Merlot Boy (who, despite his name, will drink other types of wine - or beer or vodka or whatever else you're serving) and Margarita (same side note for her drinking habits as well) that three different versions of the same varietal from a boutique, BC producer is extremely rare. Indeed, I can't think of any other similar production.

It also didn't hurt that Orofino is one of my favourite local wineries.

Normally, I'd tell a few tales about the winery and the folks behind it, but I've already added enough Orofino wines to The List that I can just point you to the post I wrote leading up to the 2013 Wine Bloggers Conference. I think it's safe to say that it's as comprehensive as I get in the blog and there's no need in repeating myself here.

1645.  2012 Orofino Home Vineyard Riesling (VQA Similkameen Valley)

1646.  2012 Orofino Scout Vineyard Riesling (VQA Similkameen Valley)

1647.  2012 Orofino Hendesbee Vineyard Riesling (VQA Similkameen Valley)

Regular visitors to the blog know that Riesling and I are the fondest of friends. So, the opportunity to see how a favourite producer ventured to take three different approaches is a godsend. It's the rare occasion where Boo and I open three bottles of wine for one dinner; so, I'll admit that waiting for an occasion such as this was quite the task to hold off on pulling the cork on at least one of the bottles. Thankfully, that occasion arrived with our two antipodeans.

In talking with John at the winery, he emphasized that he's looking more and more to emphasize the single vineyard aspect of his production. Previously, Orofino's Rieslings were blended to make a single wine - and, even then, there wasn't a whole lot of it. John's practice had always been to ferment the different vineyard fruit separately but he found himself short of space with the three Rieslings; so, he aged the home vineyard fruit in used French oak (and one acacia barrel) while the other two Rieslings remained in stainless steel. He found that the three wines were different enough from each other that they warranted separate bottlings - even though that meant there'd only be 300 cases of Hendsbee, 250 cases of Scout and 100 cases of the Home Vineyard wine.

We found those different profiles to be telling as well. I often find that it's hard enough to differentiate between varietal wines from different producers, let alone wines from the same producer, but that wasn't the case here. Each wine had a telltale profile. The Hendsbee jumped out of the glass with its racy acidity, while John had left a bit of residual sugar on the Scout Riesling - not that this was a sweet wine in any sense of the word. Interestingly enough, it was the Home Vineyard that proved to be a slight favourite at the dinner table and that was the wine that saw some barrel ageing. John has talked about this wine seeing a fair bit of lees stirring (lees being the spent yeast cells and the stirring of those lees often resulting in a richer, fuller feel to the wine) and maybe it was that extra note of complexity - that cut the acidity just a touch - that made the difference.

It was no surprise that all three wines disappeared without problem, however - and I can only hope that we sip on a whole whack of other treats while the Aussies are gracing us with their presence.

Dinner With A View

Ever since we got the chance to spend a short time with our old neighbour, Red, at Dîner en Blanc back in the summer, she's wanted to try and put together a dinner at her place.  After a couple of false starts, we finally pulled it off following her return from a vacation in Sweden to visit her new squeeze. As much as we miss Red as a neighbour, I don't know if I'd even second guess a move from our old hood - if you could end up with a view like this. I'm rather fond of our view of the tennis court and park, but this is something else.

On top of the view, the girl knows how to cook!

1476.  2012 Cono Sur - Bicicleta Viognier (Chile)

Red's always on a hunt for a tasty, well-priced "house" wine. The Cono Sur Viognier is her current choice.

I heartily concur with her reasoning. This Chilean Viognier has quite a different profile from the Viogniers we see from our Okanagan Valley but there's not really much surprise in that. It's a fuller body with less acidity but the fruit is still prominent and at $11 - in OUR market - that's quite the bargain.

As we took in the view - while sipping on our Viognier - Red played double duty as hostess with the most-est and chef in the kitchen. We knew from dinners in the hood, that the girl's got plenty of kitchen and dining experience to draw from. Her years in Italy are enough to make any pasta-loving guy - such as me - salivate at the thought of dining at her table.

Red's other dinner guests were just as appetizing as the first course of linguine with clams. We'd met La Gondoliera previously and, whenever she and Red get together, there's bound to be fun times. I'll leave it at that (for now). We hadn't met the other couple joining us but something tells me they're never going to think of traffic cones as they did before the evening's conversation.

2009 Church & State Chardonnay

No number for the Church & State since I've already added the 2009 to The List back at #1182. We liked it then and we liked it tonight. Richer than the Viognier, it paired nicely with the oil and butter of the pasta. The Viognier had a bit more acidity since the Chadonnay did see some oak, but we certainly finished off the bottle before all of the pasta seconds were finished.

1477.  2008 Orofino Pinot Noir (Similkameen Valley)

The Pinot Noir isn't generally the first wine I grab for when it comes to Orofino wines, but Red had asked for a lighter red to go with a fish course and I figured Pinot is about as classic a red as it can go when it comes to West Coast fish and BC reds. I definitely could have gone for a Gamay Noir - and Orofino has one of those as well - but I have way more Pinots in our "cellar" than I do Gamay's. And, I'm hardly one to pass on an Orofino wine if the occasion arises - as you might gather by the number of Orofino wines that have been added to The List thus far.

By now, the wines had us all in a boisterous mood. So, sing along with me..."Fish Heads. Fish Heads. Roly Poly Fish Heads. Eat them up. Yum." (Certainly some of the most interesting song lyrics you'll ever run across, I dare say.)

OK. So, we weren't really singing that (although the song does exist) and Red did serve the whole fish, but the heads were there if anyone was looking for a cheek or an eye to match up with the Pinot. Despite the wine's deep colour, this was far from an over-the-top, big Pinot. It still showed a subtle body and a profile that certainly didn't overpower the garlic roasted fish.

Admittedly, there may have been another wine or two over the evening that I didn't get to (and don't rightly remember) but, in my defence, I pretty much stuck to these three as I knew I had a big day ahead of me and that Boo needed to leave early because of his need to get up for work at 5.30 in the morning. The evening ended with some big hugs and the promise of more good times to come. Red's off to Venice in the new year for a conference and we're bound to do a little celebrating after that.

Beyond Venice, there's still plenty more to learn about this little (or not so little) story revolving around Mr. Sweden and about some new opportunities for adventure in Whistler that have come up. I'm happy to bring the wine if she brings the stories. Enquiring minds want to know.

Orofino's Sagebrush Merlot

1451.  2006 Orofino - Sagebrush Series Merlot (Similkameen Valley - BC)

Regular readers of this blog will know that I've added more than a couple Orofino wines to The List. John and Virginia have yet to hit their 10th vintage but I've been a fan pretty much since day one. I was lucky enough to try some of their first wines when they were part of a Similkameen tasting hosted by the BC Wine Appreciation Society back when the Okanagan's neighbouring valley was trying to raise its profile as a premium wine producing region.

The Sagebrush Series was a short-lived label for Orofino. I think it might have only been around for one vintage and I've only ever seen a Pinot Noir (added to The List at #1156) in addition to this Merlot.

I think the concept behind the second label was that the Webers were using Sagebrush as a vehicle to incorporate easier drinking wines made from non-estate grapes into their portfolio. Nowadays, Orofino openly uses non-estate grapes under the main Orofino label but those grapes are often vinified and sold as single vineyard wines - with those vineyards prominently incorporated into the labels.

I don't know the vineyard that these grapes were sourced from but the wine was a simpler sip than Orofino's Red Bridge Red Merlot - which is much bigger and more complex and is, incidentally, one of my BC faves. As such, I'm thinking that the Sagebrush was a decent accompaniment for a simple mid-week dinner of borscht, but I'm going to look more forward to my next bottle of Red Bridge Red.

Thanksgiving Pie and Birthday Cake

My sis, Vixen, is now fully into the whole Brady Bunch blended family with her man, Big Trucker. Vixen's kiddies still live at home but B.T.'s three chillun's is all grown and moved out. As such, it can be difficult to try and gather the combined clan for family dinners - particularly when the Big Trucker kids traditionally spend Canadian Thanksgiving with their mom. As a result, Vixen thought she'd have everyone over for an early Thanksgiving dinner and combine it with Big Trucker's birthday.

I get to be truly thankful for the fact that she does all the cooking. my job is simply to bring wine for dinner.

1446.  N.V. Rosenblum Cellars - Stark Raving Red (Sonoma - California)

Boo and I arrived to an already opened bottle of this Stark Raving Red. I'm not sure if it was Vixen or one of the girls that picked up the bottle but they clearly succumbed to label's allure and knew nothing about the wine. Neither did I before looking into it a little further. My first thought was that, if this is a Rosenblum wine, what's going on? I've never known much about Rosenblum but I always recall the fact that I was told many years ago that it was one of the "R" wineries in California that make a mean, premium Zinfandel. The Stark Raving Red is a non-vintage, entry level wine that is an unlikely blend of Tannat, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab Sauv and Petit Sirah. It didn't sound much like a Rosenblum wine.

One website promoting the wine says that it is "made for the man who likes his wines big, bold, jammy and luscious." Reading that, it's pretty easy to conclude that this brand is as much about marketing as it is about wine. While the winery website doesn't talk much about the wine itself, it didn't take much of a Google search to lead me to a video that takes you to a behind the scenes look at a photo shoot as the powers that be work on wine label images. Some wineries promote videos touring the vineyard and facilities. Others, I suppose, take you to fashion shoots worthy of America's Next Top Model.

It was much later that I learned that the Rosenblum family actually sold the winery (and name) to drinks conglomerate, Diageo, back in 2008 and the winery's old take on Zin is being largely usurped by new directions.

The wine wasn't bad but it's hardly the best commercial wine that I've tried either. The $15 price tag in our local market may well help the label stick around for some time to come though.

1447.  2009 Talbott - Logan Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands - Central Coast - California)

Another California red was up next but this was just a tad more upscale - read "just a tad" as a polite "head and shoulders above...." We'd picked it up awhile back during a visit South of the 49th Parallel. But, like the Stark Raving Red, I didn't really know anything about this bottle.  A little searching revealed that Talbott Vineyards has been making Pinots and Chardonnays for three decades now, releasing largely single vineyard wines.

The grapes for the Logan Pinot were all estate grown fruit from the home Sleepy Hollow Vineyard. While the wine is definitely on the lush, fruit-driven side of Pinot Noir, it was a popular pour. It's probably a bit big for turkey but no one seemed to care much about that.

1448.  2010 Robin Ridge Gewürztraminer (Similkameen Valley)

We don't tend to drink a whole lot of Gewürztraminer in our household. Boo doesn't have much time for it and it's not my favourite for a white varietal wine. I tend to appreciate the grape's floral and mouthfeel more when its characteristics show through on a white blend than I do when it's served up as a varietal wine. All the same, we usually have at least a couple nice Okanagan bottles that we've stumbled upon just for occasions like this - you know, ones generally involving turkey.

Not exactly an Okanagan wine, Robin Ridge hails from the neighbouring Similkameen, but it still reflects that BC tree fruit and spice-driven profile. Not the easiest of sells with this crowd but, hey, traditional pairings are traditional pairings.

Another pair of traditional pairings are cake with birthdays and Boo's pecan pie with Thanksgiving. Vixen even managed to coax an extra apple pie out of Boo as well.  Let's just say there was plenty of dessert to go around. There might have been no worries about getting enough dessert but Big Trucker had barely blown out the candles and the forks dove directly into the cake. No need to cut slices with this crowd apparently. Thankfully, folks gave Boo's pies a little more respect than they gave that chocolate cake. If they'd tried pulling that stunt with his toiled over crusts, it might have been the last pies they'd get to taste.

Whew.

Turkey. Pie. Chocolate Cake. Tasty Pinot. The fact that it's Big Trucker - and not me - getting another year older. I'd say there were a couple decent things to be thankful for - early or not.

The Long Road Home

It would seem that, no sooner than the 2013 BCWAS Bus Tour had started, it was over. It was one jam-packed weekend - plenty of laughs, wine and food. But regular life - read, "work" - was calling and, as much as I would have liked to keep on keeping on, I needed to hit the long road back to Vancouver.

But not without a couple of quick stops along the way.

For some time now, I've been looking forward to checking out Painted Rock's brand spanking new - and spectacular, I might add - tasting room. We actually timed it (almost) perfectly because the "ribbon" hadn't been cut on the grand opening for even a week. I say "almost" perfect timing because, unfortunately, owner John Skinner was back in Vancouver and we couldn't enjoy the new digs with its "proud papa." In retrospect, it might be a good thing that John wasn't there because there's no way we would have been able to fully take in everything there'd be to tell in the short time that we had. A group of us had booked one last "side" tour and tasting and we were definitely cutting our time short if we were going to arrive in time.

Painted Rock may have the newest showcase showroom but everything about Culmina Family Estate is brand new. After six years of preparation, Don and Elaine Triggs (Don being the Triggs of Jackson Triggs - one of Canada's best known and lauded wineries - before he sold his interest) threw open the doors to Culmina. Quite the character, Don took our little gang for a quick visit into the vineyard where he relayed all the decision making that went into the site selection and planting for his dream of producing a Bordeaux wine to hopefully rank up with the best that BC - and the world for that matter - has to offer.

Don was very generous with both his time and his take on the BC wine industry. We'd seen some pretty crazy machinery over the last couple of days - some of the "toys" (that are anything but) at Mission Hill and Poplar Grove were of sorts I'd never seen before - but Don has spared no expense in pulling together some of the sharpest equipment to be found. That dedication is even more inspiring when you consider that Culmina is currently producing a fraction of what the big boys are producing.

The culmination of Don's years of experience in the wine industry, I'll be sure to open one of his wines soon so that I can give a fuller recount of our visit.

Culmina was my last stop before heading home and, since Culmina is on the Golden Mile below Oliver, it made sense to continue down to Osoyoos, connect with Hwy 3 and take in the views of the Similkameen Valley - one of my favourite driving routes. I wasn't stopping at any of the top notch Similkameen wineries this time (say "hey" Orofino) but with vistas like the one below, can there be any wonder why the valley and the Hope-Princeton hit countless "top scenic driving routes?"

As entertaining as this long weekend might have been, it certainly kept me away from the computer. And that, unfortunately, just compounded the number of wines I still have to blog.

Heavy sigh.

PS. Just for those who know that I was on Boo's "No Buy Leash," personally, I think I was pretty well behaved. I only bought a total of four cases of wine. Not bad, I figure, for 13 wineries and what's likely one of the biggest VQA bottles shops in the entire province. (Well, four cases if you don't count the one that was pre-ordered at Red Rooster that I was just picking up - and I don't.)

An Intimidating Dinner Date

As much as Boo might tell you otherwise, we don't dine out all that much. Lack of time and expanding waistlines see to that. All the same, we do have a couple of favourite restaurants that we try to make it to at least once or twice a year.

One series of successive dinners has resulted in our striking up a casual friendship with one of Vancouver's - indeed, one of Canada's - top chefs and his wife, who just happens to manage the front of the house (and no doubt a whole lot more). We've tossed around the idea of having Perry and Molly's Mother over to our place for dinner for a couple of years - but we'd been unable to coordinate schedules.

That is, until now.

Not that the thought of serving a home cooked meal to a celebrated chef was intimidating at all. Nah - not in the least (especially since I was leaving a couple of the more important dishes up to Boo to pull off).

I figured our task was to come up with a menu that was sophisticated enough to be interesting - and seem like we have a smidgeon of culinary talent - but basic enough to make it seem like we weren't pulling out every ounce of kitchen witchery that might be in our bodies. Molly's Mom had told me that most people don't like to have them over because they feel that they have to cook restaurant quality food and go all out to impress them. She then confirmed that Perry (like most chefs) is simply thrilled to have someone else cook. She advised that he'd be happy if we served up Kraft Dinner.

It was almost as daunting trying to come up with additional guests - since we didn't have any friends in common with Perry and M-Squared. Given the foodie nature of our initial guests, I kinda stuck with the theme and invited Mr. Technicolour and Haley. Mr. T. teaches WSET courses and runs the wine program at one of Vancouver's culinary schools - and is as outrageously entertaining as his name (and socks) might indicate. Haley is long suffering - but for the most part, highly amused.

1405.  2011 Haywire The Bub (VQA Okanagan Valley)

1406.  2012 Orofino Moscato Frizzante (Similkameen Valley)

Ever since, Molly's Mom and I had started talking about dinner, I'd hoped to take advantage of the garden and try a little al fresco dining for at least part of the evening. Luckily, the weather held out and we had the chance to enjoy a couple of the newer entries on the burgeoning BC bubbles scene.

The bottle of The Bub is Haywire's first release of their classically aged sparkler, made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. We sipped away on it with warmed, spiced olives but I see that The Bub won the sparkling category at the inaugural Canadian Oyster Wine Competition held this Spring in the Okanagan.

I believe that the 2012 Moscato Frizzante is the second vintage of the beautifully packaged Orofino bubbly. The wine is primarily Muscat Bianco grapes but a touch of Riesling is blended in for additional acidity, as is a shot of Pinot Gris. Orofino's website notes that the three grapes are picked with special consideration for "acidity and aromatics" and that "they are fermented separately and then blended at filtration." The wine is a bit drier than might be expected from the name and the packaging but it certainly disappeared quickly with our Arabic cheesy bread.

1407.  2011 Fairview Cellars Sauvignon Blanc (VQA Okanagan Valley)

The sit down portion of our dinner started with a mussel and saffron soup that we paired with Bill Eggert's Sauvignon Blanc - his "oyster wine" as he calls it. We might not have served up the oysters but, from past experience, I knew that the rich soup - that is nothing but wine, mussels and a few vegetables and spices - would match up just as nicely. This is the only white wine that Fairview produces but, even at that, only 600 cases were produced in the 2011 vintage (triple the 2010 count). It's not the easiest wine to find on the shelf but I inevitably grab a bottle when I do see one by chance.

I've noted, in an earlier post, that Boo and I splurged on a new BBQ. It features a rotisserie - that we have yet to try - and I thought it might be a perfect opportunity to try our new toy with a leg of lamb. I'd sent everyone an e-mail for wine suggestions and mentioned the lamb plan. Perry got back to me and mentioned that there are only two items that Molly's Mom doesn't particularly like - lamb and olives. Naturally, our plans had involved both.

Boo and I switched up on the lamb and decided to smoke some pork but, when everyone arrived, I let Perry and M-Squared know that I'd received the message and changed the menu. I told them that because of the last minute change in plans, we needed to take Molly's Mom at her word though and that we were serving KD (packaged mac and cheese for those of you that didn't grow up with it). We proudly announced that we had made a really special version though and that we'd added wieners to the mix. Was that going to be special or what?!

2010 Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz (South Australia)

It's a good thing we went with the smoked pork though because I doubt that Perry and Molly's Mom's bottle of Blue Eyed Boy would have gone as well with the KD. It was totally appropriate of them to bring along the Mollydooker because they had hooked us up for a visit to the winery when Boo and I visited McLaren Vale a couple last year. What they didn't know was that Boo and I had tasted the 2010 Blue Eyed Boy during that visit and the winery was kind enough to give us the bottle (that had barely been cracked) as a souvenir. Accordingly, I don't get to add this bottle to The List because Boo and I promptly finished off that earlier bottle in Australia - and added it to The List as #1118.

When wines are as tasty as this Shiraz is though, I don't mind drinking another bottle of a wine already on The List. I'm also thrilled to say that Boo enjoyed this bottle far more than he enjoyed the one in Oz. He's not as big on fruit bombs as I can be and he's had a bit of dislike for Mollydooker's total commitment to that style of wine.

1408.  2004 Spinifex Indigene (Barossa Valley - Australia)

1409.  2006 Ghost Pines Merlot (Napa and Sonoma Counties - California) 

We followed up the Mollydooker with another big Aussie. The Spinifex Indigene is from the McLaren Vale's wine producing neighbour, the Barossa Valley. Spinifex is a boutique winery that was started up in 2001 and has garnered up some big points with the wine critics for this blend of 2/3's Mataro (Aussie for Mourvèdre) and 1/3 Shiraz. With only 600 cases having been made, I'm a little surprised that any of it made it up here to Vancouver. I think that might be a testament to the understanding that Vancouver was one of the first foreign markets to cotton onto Aussie exports. Because some higher end Aussie producers found Vancouver to be an early adopter of their production styles, we're still rewarded sometimes with wines that don't often make it to North American markets.

The last of the big reds was a treat that Mr. Technicolour and Haley brought. Mr. T. had done some consulting work with the American Consulate and, in thanks, he was given a case of wine. While choosing the wines from the Consulate cellar, he was tipped off to grab a bottle of the Ghost Pines Merlot. A blend of grapes from both Napa and Sonoma, the '06 Merlot saw an addition of 7% Zinfnadel as the winemaker looked to "exhibit the best of both appellations."

We likely could have kept going with the reds but dessert beckoned and we moved on to a couple BC treats.

1410.  2009 Stoneboat Verglas (Okanagan Valley)

Dessert was peach pie with peach gelato and, if I do say so myself, was matched beautifully with the Stoneboat Verglas - for all intents and purposes, an Icewine, even though it isn't called one. Made from the largely unknown variety Oraniensteiner and Pinot Blanc, I'm just going to quote John Schreiner and his review: "Charming and seductive. It has a fabulous aroma of peaches and ripe pineapples and it tastes like a bowl of tropical fruits. The bright acidity gives the wine perfect balance, giving it a clean and focussed finish without any cloying sweetness." Darn right!

I almost regretted serving it at dinner because there were six of us and the bottle's 200ml didn't go nearly as far as it would have if I'd opened the bottle and kept it all to myself.

As a consolation, this is the first wine featuring the Oraniensteiner grape to be added to The List and I have a new variety to add to my Wine Century Club tally (#154 I do believe). Now, that's always an added bonus to a bottle of wine.

N.V. La Frenz Tawny (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

The 200ml didn't go too far though; so, that was followed with the La Frenz Tawny. Since the Tawny isn't vintage dated - and I've enjoyed a number of bottles over the years - it isn't being added to The List either. It was earmarked for a cheese course but, by now, we'd concluded that we didn't need another course. "Simple fare" or not, we were done and the rich, multi-award winning fortified wine was a fine finish to the evening.

Despite, the palpable anxiety, I think it's safe to say that Boo and I weathered the storm. I haven't been ballsy enough to ask for any commentary on the food from our guests but I think I might just be brave enough to ask these folks over for dinner again all the same. i may have to resort to that KD and wieners, but I'm sure we can make up for it with the wines.