A Star for the Gulf Islands

Here we are down to the final ten wines before we reach the titular 2001st bottle. To kick off these "last" wines, I'm going to the Gulf Islands and to Sea Star - a new(ish) venture of owner, David Goudge, and winemaker, Ian Baker. I was excited to see that Sea Star's initial vintage from 2013 was as well received as it was. The winery entered the 2014 Northwest Wine Summit competition and came away with two gold medals, a silver medal and a "Winery of Distinction" accolade as one of only 16 wineries to win two gold medals.

Some of my initial attraction to Sea Star stems from the fact that, off and on, I've known David for many a year, crossing paths at various community and fundraising events and even the odd party or so. To see an acquaintance "burst" onto the local wine is great thrill.

The fact that the winery is located on Pender Island was equally exciting because it means we might be able to fit in a visit every so often seeing as how Axel and The English Doc have set up house not far from the Sea Star's home vineyard. Indeed, spending Thanksgiving with the boys last year was how we managed to pick up some Sea Star wines. The winery was virtually sold out of its initial vintage but David managed to find a couple of wines for us to buy.

1991.  2013 Sea Star Stella Maris (Gulf Islands)

It's not much of a surprise that the bulk of Sea Star's limited production is white wine. Pender Island is a cool, coastal climate and - until the warming effects of global climate change have run their full course - there won't be much in the way of big, international reds. Indeed, "coastal" is as apt a descriptor as you'll find. As far as David knew at the time of our visit, Sea Star is the only winery in Canada where the vineyard actually runs down to and touches the ocean. The winery has sections of Pinot Noir planted in the warmest parts of the vineyard but the first vintage of a varietal Pinot Noir is still some time away as the vines were still maturing to a point where the fruit is deemed good enough to result in a fully representative Pinot.

Stella Maris, which is Latin for "Star of the Sea," is a blend of Gewürztraminer and (that young) Pinot Noir "with a splash of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Ortega and Schönberger" (as the winery describes the wine). Nicely dry but with plenty of tree fruit and a bit of spice, it's a wine that easily disappears from your glass and matches nicely to full array of foods.

With the "final" bottle of this Odyssey so quickly approaching, I have no idea about where the blog might head or what might be in store. I am, however, sure that I'll be making effort to pay another - and longer - visit to Sea Star.

Some Intensity With That Port?

As long as Boo has been working in the same job, he's still not high enough up in the seniority rankings to rate extended vacation time during the summer. Consequently, we weren't able to join in with some of the family as they cruised to Alaska. We did get to hear some of the tales over dinner upon their return, however, and that led to a couple bottles of wine at our place afterwards.

1985.  2013 Mistaken Identity - Intensity (BC VQA - Okanagan Valley)

Mistaken Identity is an organic vineyard and winery that set up shop on Salt Spring Island and released its first wines in 2009. Although perhaps not "mistaken," the identity of this Cab Franc is a little mysterious. Boo and I visited the winery once (when cavorting with Tyrant on Salt Spring) and I know that they grow largely white grapes there. They certainly weren't trying to grow Cab Franc. Indeed, I rather doubt that any of the Gulf Islands are able to fully ripen any of the big red varieties; hence, the grapes for this wine were sourced from the southern Okanagan Valley. The wine was still produced in a manner to comply with VQA rules and the label advises that the grapes were also grown organically (so as to stay in sync with the balance of the home vineyard grapes), but the wine doesn't have much more of a connection with the Gulf Islands.

A simple search online didn't reveal much more about the wine either.  I did discover, however, that the winery has since been listed for sale and may well have been sold by now. So, we may not run across any Mistaken Identity down the road.

1986.  1997 Broadbent Port (Portugal)

Like Mistaken identity, Broadbent is also a relatively new producer - although "relatively new" in the world of Port can still be decades. There's no mistaking the identity of this wine though as the Broadbent name comes from the father and son team of Michael and Bartholomew Broadbent. The former has been the Chairman of Christie's International Wine Department and his son has made a name for himself as one of the "world's top authorities on Port and Madeira."

The first Broadbent Port was produced in 1994 and the pedigree of the Broadbent name was solidified when they asked winemaker Dirk Niepoort to do the honours for them. The Niepoort family has been in the wine business since 1842 and knows a thing or two about making wine, particularly Port.

The 1997 was only the second declared vintage for Broadbent and their overall production is limited as they only make about 500 cases a year.

We came across this bottle when a client was downsizing his home and he needed to divest himself of some of his home assets because his new house wouldn't have enough space for everything. I refer to the bottle as being part of the "Carpet Collection" because Boo wanted to buy a couple of the Persian carpets that the client was selling. That meant, however, given the nature of tit-for-tat, that I got to buy some of the Port that was up for sale. Two carpets. Twelve bottles of Port. I think I let Boo off easy - and we all get to enjoy both the carpets and the Port for many days to come.

I think it particularly comes in handy when the family just pops in for a bit a tongue-wag session. Even if we didn't get to go on the cruise, we can enjoy a little vintage time of our own.

A Valentine's Day Treat

Valentine's Day. Saturday night. How often does that come along? Thing is, Boo won't get home from work until about 8pm; so, we decided to just stay at home and take it easy. Guess we've seen enough Valentine's Days over the years that simplicity can work just as well as a big night on the town - particularly if I spend a good portion of the day prepping things in the kitchen and make sure that the martini was ready to pour as soon as my sweetie walks through the door with his standard, "Honey, I'm home."

Finding some heart-shaped pasta at Cioffi's was a great start. Adding in some fresh scallops, asparagus and vodka cream sauce would certainly be a way straight to my heart. The hope was that it'd work on Boo as well.

1862.  2013 Sea Star Blanc de Noir Rosé (Pender Island - BC)

Thinking a Rosé would suit the occasion, I grabbed a bottle of Sea Star's Blanc de Noir. Seeing as how 2013 was the first vintage of wines produced by Pender Island's Sea Star, I'm thinking it must say something that this is the third bottle that I've added to The List - especially when I believe they've only released five wines for a grand total of 1400 cases (only 312 cases of this Rosé). Luckily, we visited the winery last Thanksgiving and managed to coax some wines out of owner, David Goudge, even though the winery was sold out of almost everything except the Ortega. I guess those years of bumping into David at various fundraising events paid off big time.

I know that David and winemaker, Ian Baker, were justifiably proud of the Rosé. It was made entirely from island grown Pinot Noir and it was awarded a "Best Rosé in Show" at last year's Northwest Wine Summit. Perhaps reminiscent of Southern France more than what we'd associate with South Pender, there was a lovely acidity that balanced out the tart fruit on the palate.

I can't wait to get my hands on some of the vintages to come. I can just see making those bottles a bit of Valentine's present to myself.

1863.  2008 Sonoran Estate Ehrenfelser Icewine (Okanagan Valley VQA)

No Valentine's Day is complete without some sweets as well and - for my money - a crème brûlée paired with Icewine is about as good as things can get. I'm not all that familiar with Sonoran Estate's wines. It's been around a decade longer than Sea Star but I just don't seem to find my way to many of the so-called Bottleneck Drive wineries outside Summerland. I picked up this bottle at the winery during a visit with the BC Wine Appreciation Society on its annual Bus Tour a couple of years back.

Made from Ehrenfelser grapes, this bottle had a bit of a pedigree of its own in that it won a Silver medal at the 2012 Northwest Wine Summit. With tropical fruits abounding, it truly was a marvellous pairing with the creme brûlée.

Even if the menu plan might have been totally in sync with some of my favourite tastes, I think it's fair to say that it hit the mark for Boo as well - but decency mandates that I defer on discussing how he showed his appreciation. Suffice it to say that he can be pretty sweet in his own way.

Dreaming of a White (Wine) Christmas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finding One's Muse

1805.  2007 Muse Syrah (Vancouver Island)

I'm thinking this is probably one of the last bottles of Muse - or Chalet Estate - wines that we have around home. Boo and I no doubt picked this up at the winery the last time we visited Bella Jianna and Flyboy B at their Vancouver Island abode. Unfortunately, that was some years ago and it's pretty much a given that we won't be doing it again - at least not from our friends' happy home in Sidney. As we learned back in the summer, Jianna and B no longer live on the island. So, we likely won't be sitting on any sunny decks sipping Saanich Peninsula wines with them anymore.

I guess that fact will just make this bottle a little more memorable.

Just as Bella Jianna and Flyboy are transitioning from Vancouver Island to the Okanagan, their old neighbourhood winery was in transition when we visited and bought this wine. The old winery, Chalet Estate had been purchased and re-named as Muse in 2008. This '07 vintage would, therefore, still have been started under the watchful eye of the old owners.

Without some major changes in weather due to global warming, Vancouver Island isn't likely to become a hotbed of locally grown Syrah. It just doesn't get hot enough. Island climate is far more conducive to whites and it can be a challenge to ripen even a few of the lighter reds or hybrid grapes. Understandably, this Syrah is made from Okanagan grapes and such purchases allows Island wineries to offer a fuller portfolio of wines that can include some big reds. I'm not sure that I fully endorse that idea. I might be more inclined to focus on the capabilities of the local terroir. That being said, Chalet had produced some award winning Syrah over the years. So, regardless of the provenance, when the wine's good, it only makes sense to buy it.

I think the years of ageing may have diminished some of the brighter fruit that would have been evident earlier in this bottle's life, but the wine still had a lovely nose and it paired quite nicely with some lamb meat pies that we picked up from the Aussie Pie Guy food truck.

With Bella Jianna and Flyboy B's departure from the Island, our visits to Island wineries will no doubt be limited in the future but something tells me there'll still be a Syrah or two to be had from their new home in the Okanagan.

Island Ortega

1672.  2011 Starling Lane Ortega (Vancouver Island)

I don't see many Vancouver Island wines here in the Vancouver - let alone Ortega varietal wines. Too bad. This one hit all the right notes with tree fruit and acidity.

One New Grape Just Screams for Another

I'll readily admit that I'm a sucker for a wine that features intriguing grapes - particularly ones that I haven't tallied yet for the Wine Century Club. I added another last night and I'm about to add #173 now - but I gotta say "It's not getting any easier to find new varieties." Luckily, with BC being a cool climate wine region, we can see the odd experimental attempt to try a new variety - ones that are noted as being particularly suitable for those regions on the edge of being viable wine regions.

Valentin Blattner, a Swiss grape geneticist, breeder and winemaker, has been working in the field (literally and figuratively) since the 1980's to develop disease resistant grapes for cooler climate regions. His hybrids are now grown in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, BC, Ontario and the Canadian Maritime provinces. In the last decade or so, he has collaborated directly with a handful of BC winemakers and growers to look at varieties that might work well on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

That means he's also helped increase my Wine Century Club tally a bit here and there. There aren't exactly a lot of wines available in the BC market that feature Blattner hybrids. Not many growers are willing to take a chance on unproven grapes with names that no one will recognize. Further, those growers that are willing don't necessarily produce large quantities of wine - with very little of it, if any, making it to the Vancouver market.  Every once in awhile, though, I'll run across one.

1626.  2009 Salt Spring Vineyards Cabernet Libre (Gulf Islands - BC)

I've previously added three of the Blattner hybrids to my Wine Century Club count - Petite Milo, Epicure, Cabernet Foch - and all of them hailed from Vancouver Island of the Gulf Islands. While the whites might find an easier way into the market, I am fascinated by the thought of "bigger" reds being produced on the costal islands. The couple I've tasted - this Cabernet Libre included - don't exactly match up to the traditional Merlot, Cab, Syrah palate though.

Local wine writer, John Schreiner, finds that Blattner's Cabernet Foch and Cabernet Libre "have retained little of the flavour of the Cabernet Sauvignon in their ancestry. Typically, the wines are leaner, with spicy, earthy flavours." Boo and I found the wine surprisingly big bodied while still maintaining big acidity. Both of us agreed that the wine tasted much more balanced with food than when drinking it on its own. As such, serving it with a group of folks while dining might be more appropriate than just drinking a bottle on our own.

I suppose we could also look at making the bottle last over two nights - but how likely is that going to be around here?

In any event, there's another little wine adventure under the belt. And, with two new grape additions to the wine Century Club in two nights, I might just be able to hit the doppel Century Club membership before I hit my goal of 2001 bottles on The List.

Another Round of Turkey Wines

Christmas Day has arrived. So, as tradition dictates, it's off to my sister, Vixen's, home for present opening and dinner. Unfortunately, Boo had to work this year. So, that left me as the designated driver - and left me having to limit the number of wines I dove into. We still managed to go through a few given the length of the day.

1502.  N.V. Bodegas Escorihuela Gascón - 1884 Extra Brut (Argentina)

Not to play into vinous stereotypes, but we started things off with a little bubbly. I can't say that I'm aware of many Argentine sparklers in our market but I'd been waiting to try this since Boo and I splurged for dinner at the 1884 Francis Malman restaurant while we were in Mendoza a few years back. I'm not certain but I think we might have had a cocktail featuring the Brut while waiting for dinner then, but this is the first bottle that I'm adding to The List.

Ironically, while we dined at the 1884 restaurant - which is situated in the urban winery - we didn't actually visit the winery as part of our itinerary. As such, I don't really know all that much about the winery. I did see that the Extra Brut is made from 70% Chardonnay, with the remaining 30% being Pinot Noir. Knowing that the rest of my kin hardly embrace plenty o' bubbles, I thought the reasonably priced (around $20) bottle might be a nice what to introduce the nieces to sparkling wines. Even though, there was a touch of sweetness to the wine, I think we may need a little more time before the girls are ready to jump on the bubbly bandwagon. For the time being, that just leaves more for Vixen and me.

We're always fêted with a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings at Vixen's. She does the kitchen duties and I tend to the bar. As such, I thought I'd bring along a white and a red from the ubiquitous lists of classic wines for pairing with bird - a Gewürztraminer and a Pinot Noir. Little did I know - until I started thinking to myself that the Gew was sure un-Gew-like - that I'd grabbed a Riesling instead of a Gewürztraminer. Same winery, same box of wine - just a different varietal wine. The good news was that the Riesling was just as tasty.

1503.  2012 Synchromesh - Amelia Block Storm Haven Riesling (Okanagan Valley)

Synchromesh was perhaps my favourite discovery from last summer's Wine Bloggers Conference. I took part in an excursion with the Okanagan Falls Winery Association where we hiked one of the local mountains and, when we reached the apex of the group's climb, the association had set out what must have been one of the most scenic tastings ever. That's where I immediately fell for Synchromesh Riesling and I arranged for a visit after WBC13 had ended. This was one of the bottles that I picked up.

And I can't think of a better occasion to have opened the wine for. I know I'm certainly going to look forward to opening more Synchromesh wines as well.

1504.  2008 Salt Spring Pinot Noir (Gulf Islands)

Once again, knowing that I wasn't playing to a Pinot sort of crowd, I went with the Salt Spring Pinot - which is on the more reasonably priced end of the scale. Seeing as how this wine is made from fruit grown on Salt Spring Island, I fully expected it to lighter bodied and, indeed, it was but it also had some nice red fruit coming through. I rather enjoyed it with the turkey and stuffing but it was a harder sell to the rest of the table.

I can't say that I had much luck selling the virtues of wine to familial non-believers but I've come to accept that I just need to bring along beer and/or Scotch to this tribe. There are worse things in life than having to finish off the wine on your own.

Merry Merry.

A Different Blanc de Noir?

Time to add yet another new BC winery to The List. I'll readily admit that I don't have a great handle on Vancouver Island's wineries. The Island may only be a short cruise over the Georgia Strait but, for the most part, the wineries are fairly small and only a small fraction of their wines tend to make it to Vancouver and the BC mainland. As such, it doesn't surprise me much that I knew nothing about Unsworth Vineyards when I saw this bottle.

1411.  Unsworth Vineyards Allegro (Vancouver Island - BC)

What intrigued me most about this white blend was that the back label states that it incorporates Petit Milo, Pinot Gris and Blanc de Noir. I knew that Petit Milo is one of the Blattner grape varieties that is seeing some introduction on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands but I wondered what the Blanc de Noir was. Now, even I know that, in winespeak, blanc de noir means white wine from red grapes. However, I was hoping that the manner in which the capitalized "Blanc de Noir" was set out might just be a reference to another, new-fangled grape. Turns out that the Blanc de Noir isn't a new variety but is a reference to the process that the winemaker, Daniel Cosman, had utilized in adding juice from Pinot Noir into his white blend.

So much for my hopes of adding another grape to my Wine Century Club tally. That would have made for a very happy two new grapes in two days result.

Although Blanc de Noir may not have been a new variety, Unsworth has planted a number of the Blattner grapes - two whites and three reds - as they look to "the common thread with these varieties...that they have been developed in the coastal region, for the coastal region. They are disease tolerant and early ripening allowing for an environmentally friendly approach to vineyard management." When Tim and Colleen Turyk purchased the Cowichan Valley vineyard in 2009, there were 6 acres of planted grapes - the Marechal Foch planting being the oldest vines (2007). The Turyk's added the Blattner varieties when they expanded the plantings in the vineyard.

The full potential of those new plantings has yet to be realized and local wine scribe, Terry David Mulligan, has referred to Unsworth as a "work in progress" - even as he lauded their Rosé as maybe the best he'd tasted all year. TDM also pointed out that the Rosé can be found on Vikram Vij's limited, but well-perceived, wine list - quite the accomplishment in itself.

Obviously, I'll have to keep an eye open for the Rosé but that will be for another post. As for the wine at hand, the Allegro has garnered a few fans of its own in that it won a bronze at the 2013 North West Wine Summit - one of the few competitions that I pay some mind to. Boo and I found the wine to have a very intriguing citrus-y - almost sour - finish. I don't know if it was a note particular to the winery's Island location or to the profile of the Petit Milo grape but it was quite distinguishing. It might not have been the note that pushes me to run out and buy another bottle, but it did make for an interesting pairing with our dinner.

It also makes me think that Boo and I need to plan a journey over to the Island and check out some of the wineries in the Cowichan and surrounds.

Some Island Aromata

1292.  2009 Salt Spring Vineyards - Aromata (Vancouver/Gulf Islands)

When I grabbed this bottle, I thought it might be one of the Salt Spring Vineyards wines that feature the new Swiss-engineered Blattner grapes - particularly since this bottle featured a little Silver Medal sticker from the 2010 Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards. I knew Salt Spring's white Blattner wine had picked up an award on the national stage and I thought that might have been the reason I picked up the bottle. Looks like Salt Spring picked a second medal from Wine Access because there are no Blattner grapes to be found in this bottle.

There may be none of that new breed of grape evident in this glass but Aromata is still a blend of largely unknown grapes - try Auxerrois, Sylvaner and Bacchus. I wouldn't bet too much on your average wine drinker being able to tell you much about any of those grapes. That is, if your average wine drinker could even identify them as grapes.

On the other hand, while I know of all three grapes, I have yet to add Sylvaner to my tally of grape varieties for my Wine Century Club list. I took a quick look back on my blog posts and I've referred to Sylvaner on a handful of occasions, but those mentions have mostly revolved around its having been a parent (or grandparent) in the creation of grapes like Bacchus and Ehrenfelser. I know that Sylvaner has been used in some white blends that I added to The List. I guess I just missed adding it to the Wine Century Club list.

Adding it now works for me. Particularly when the wine didn't exactly jump out of the glass for either Boo or I.  Being an aromatic, light blend, I might have waited a bit long to open it (seeing as how it's a 2009 vintage) because it didn't really have the bright nose and sharp acidity that I was expecting. The bottle was under screw cap but I was rather hoping that it would cut through the cream sauce on our pasta a bit more than it did.

Oh well, I get to add #153 on my way to a second century and that's a pretty good replacement for a little lost acidity.

Belated Birthday Wishes

We seem to have been experiencing a bit of difficulty when it comes to catching up with Elzee. I know that Boo's and my schedules can be difficult to coordinate because of his forever shifting shift work but, goodness, Elzee has been crazy busy. As such, we all looked to the skies in disbelief when we finally figured out a night where we could get together.

There was a bonus for Boo and me as well. Elzee had been feeling "guilty" - for some strange reason - about not seeing us lately; so, she offered to cook dinner as a birthday treat.

Now, Elzee is one helluva cook. So, the dinner invite is something in itself but she served up a bit of a trump card as well.  She popped the cork on our first bottle of the night - one she'd been holding on to for a special occasion. Luckily for us, we qualified.

1287.  1998 Duval-Leroy Authentis de Champagne Trépail Brut (AOC Champagne - France)

We actually have a bit of history with this bottle. A couple of years back, Elzee ran into one of those landmark birthdays and she managed to forget about all the drama of entering a new decade by celebrating in Paris with very good friends, Toolin and Q. We knew that her travelling cohorts would have a bit of time in the City of Lights before Elzee arrived. So, we arranged for Q to find a special bottle of Champagne to present to Elzee for her b-day. The expectation was that they'd pop the cork while in Gai Paris but, lo and behold, Elzee brought the bottle home with her.

And she decided to finally pop the cork for an entirely different b-day.

We'd given Q free rein when it came to choosing the bottle and I certainly don't know much about his ultimate pick. I have run across one Duval-Leroy Champagne previously - and it too was a special bottle (see #417 on The List) - but it was a non-vintage house cuvée. The Authentis label appears to a premium release from the winery and the Trépail is a vintage blanc de blancs made from organically grown Chardonnay grapes from a single Premier Cru vineyard in Trépail. If Wikipedia is to be believed, however, the Trépail Authentis is no longer being produced.

The aging on the wine showed through in the deeper colour and dominant biscuit notes. Fully dry, with little evidence of fruit on the palate, I was hoping for an explosive mousse for a bit of birthday surprise but, alas, this was a rather unbubbly bubbly.

I think it still qualifies as a treat though.

1288.  2001 Tahbilk Shiraz (Nagambie Lakes - Victoria - Australia)

Our second bottle for the evening is an Aussie producer making another appearance on The List and in our glasses. I added the 1999 Shiraz way back at #323 and wrote more about Tahbilk than I'm going to repeat here. Suffice it to say that, while I don't see or taste a lot of Tahbilk wines, they always seem to impress. We are starting to see more and more Victorian wines in the Vancouver market. So, I suppose I should keep my eye open for some more.

Being located in Victoria (north of Melbourne), this is a cooler climate Shiraz for Australia. That is if any Aussie wine regions can really be thought of as cool climate from a Canadian perspective. I tend to find the hallmark, calling card of Victorian Shiraz is that it isn't as ballsy or big as Barossan or South Australian Shiraz. That said, nowadays, there seems to be a general trend of pulling back on the over-the-top nature of premium Barossan Shiraz. Victorian Shiraz just seemed to start from that point a little more naturally.

This is one bottle that definitely disappeared a little too quickly for my liking.

1289.  2010 Alderlea Vineyards Bacchus (Vancouver Island)

Because the Shiraz vanished as quickly as it did, we sacrificed ourselves to the chore of opening a third bottle. There was a little bit of self-justification in that we were moving into a white with a "much lower" alcohol content. After all, how strong could a Vancouver Island white be?

I was actually quite surprised to see the Alderlea bottle in Elzee's stash. Their wines don't tend to appear much on this side of the Georgia Strait. Elzee wasn't positive about the bottle's provenance but she thought it might have been a gift from a colleague on the Island.

I've said on many an occasion, and definitely in this blog, that Alderlea is a fave of mine from Vancouver Island. I don't think, however, that I've tried their Bacchus before. Light and bright with tree fruit, it matched beautifully with Elzee's signature apple and pine nut tart (which I'll take practically any day over a birthday cake).

I understand that we may see even less Alderlea Bacchus in the future. Owner Roger Dosman is known for his striving to determine what grape varieties are best suited for his vineyard and for the challenging Island climate. Accordingly, he has replanted a good portion of his Bacchus with more disease-resistant vines such as the Blattner varietals. Good thing we got to enjoy this one when we did.

Not that we needed a night cap but Elzee recently vacationed a bit in Mexico and she wanted to pour a little high end Tequila that she'd picked up. The Clase Azul Reposado Tequila was definitely a sipping tequila - as opposed to a simple margarita mix bottle - although I would never have expected the ceramic bottle to contain tequila. As a night cap, Elzee could have easily used this as a Mexican replacement for Grappa in the cafe corretto we tried on a previous visit when Mama and Papa Elzee were visiting as well.

Maybe we can try that next time we're visiting and the folks join us. In the mean time, we just need to find more occasion to get together with this gal!

An Easter Bonnet Failure

Time to get some catch up blogging done. The whole 2013 Wine Bloggers' Conference and Boo's and my California Road Trip threw for me a bit of a loop. I wish this were an April Fool's heading and post but it's true. Even though this has an April 1 publishing date, it is actually being posted in July. Unfortunately, I'm still writing about adding bottles to The List back in March. My sister, Vixen, is convinced that my schedule isn't preventing me from publishing this post. Rather, she's announcing to all that I'm simply afraid to announce that her Easter Bonnet was a runaway "best" at this year's annual paper plate Easter Bonnet extravaganza and family dinner. On the other hand, it's true.  My stab at creating a winning bonnet this year was a bust. After last year's birthday cake-inspired winner and the year before's playoff hockey inspired piece, the juices just weren't flowing this Easter.

Good thing there was still plenty of wine to soothe my battered ego.

1276. N.V. Stoneboat Piano Brut (VQA Okanagan Valley)

I was introduced to this bubbly at the recent Vancouver International Wine Festival. It was nice to taste the wine shortly after I'd heard about Stoneboat receiving a loan from the Federal Government to assist in the purchase and installation of equipment that has resulted in the re-introduction of Charmat method production in Canada. Sparkling wines produced in Charmat style undergo secondary fermentation and carbonation in stainless steel tanks. It is the same production method used to make Prosecco in Italy. Member of Parliament Dan Albas announced the federal involvement as a mean of promoting innovation and new Canadian products into the market. There are plenty of bubbly Canadian wines made but they largely use the traditional méthode champenoise where the second fermentation takes place in the bottle that the consumer ultimately buys. Piano is the first modern Canadian wine made in the Charmat manner and the hope is that it will be well received in the local market as an alternative to imported Prosecco, as well as result in an entry point to international markets - particularly China.

John Schreiner has written a nice post - and a thorough one to boot - on Stoneboat and the story behind the production method's history in Canada. So, I'll just refer you there rather than go into everything all over again.

Piano is blend that pairs mostly Pinot Blanc with a bit of Müller-Thurgau. It was a pleasant sip with a slightly off-dry taste that showcases Okanagan fruit and is definitely a contrast to the more "serious" bubbles that we generally see from the Okanagan. Too bad it's currently a non-vintage wine. As such, I'm only able to add the one bottle to The List. That likely won't stop us from buying another bottle though.

1277. 2010 Meyer Family Vineyards - Tribute Series - Sonia Gaudet Chardonnay (Okanagan Valley)

Each vintage, the Meyer family releases a Chardonnay as part of its "Tribute Series" whereby the wine is a "dedication to a Canadian for an outstanding achievement in their field." The 2010 wine is dedicated to Sonja Gaudet, a Canadian, world and two-time Paralympic champion in wheelchair curling (it looks like the spelling of "Sonja" on the label was a typo). Reading up a bit about Ms. Gaudet, I was intrigued even more by the wine when I realized that I was actually in the crowd cheering her on in the Gold Medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.

As part of the Tribute Series, the Meyer family also donates $5,000 to a non-profit foundation, endowment or scholarship to "encourage" and "honour" the legacies of the outstanding Canadians chosen for the label. Ms. Gaudet requested that this vintage's donation be awarded to a student graduating from her hometown, Vernon's, high schools "who, regardless of the challenges in their own life, continues to strive for excellence and role models that giving up is not an option."

Thankfully, the wine not only has a great background story but it also tastes mighty fine. It stood out for Boo and I while we were on the 2012 BC Wine Appreciation Society Bus Tour. During our group's tasting at Meyer, we were advised that the winery strives for a Burgundian style that is crisp with flavour. The grapes are sourced from their Old Main Road Vineyard on the Naramata Bench - a vineyard that is unique for the Naramata in that it slopes up the hill and then dips back to the north-east, providing more shelter than many of the Bench's vineyards. Little did we know when we picked up this bottle that it would later be chosen as the Number One BC Wine in the 2012 Wine Access Magazine Canadian Wine Awards.

Note to self. If I'd read up more on this wine before I started designing my bonnet, Maybe I'd have found a little more inspiration for this year's design.

1278. 2006 Alderlea - Fusion (Vancouver Island)

Our final wine of the dinner held some surprises of its own. Alderlea is perhaps our favourite Vancouver Island winery. I have to say "perhaps" because we don't get a lot of opportunity to try their wines over on the Mainland. Alderlea doesn't send any wine over to the Vancouver market and we have to be content to bump into it on the rare occasions that we make it to the Island or, if by chance, we run across it in one of the wine shops on Salt Spring Island if we're visiting Tyrant.

This is the only bottle of Fusion that I've run across. I don't know how much of it is produced but it is rather unique in that it is varietal wine made from Cabernet Foch - one of the Valentin Blattner grapes that were developed in Switzerland as heartier alternative varieties for colder climate vineyards. I've written about Blattner varieties somewhat in other posts; so, I won't go on here, but I have to note that this is the first time that I've tried the Cabernet Foch and, as such, that means I get to add another grape to my Wine Century Club tally. This is a bit of benchmark grape as well since I'm hitting the 150 mark with this grape - and that has to make up a bit for a lacklustre bonnet this year.

As you might guess, Cabernet Foch is a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Maréchal Foch. No sane winemaker would try to grow Cab Sauv on Vancouver Island and expect it to fully ripen. That's enough of a challenge for the Okanagan. On the other hand, no one is going to make a name for themselves in today's market basing much of their marketing on Maréchal Foch. Granted, there are some cult classics out there for Foch lovers but, realistically, being able to incorporate "Cabernet" into your wine is going to be a much savvier route to go.

Alderlea's 2005 vintage of Fusion was the first commercial release in BC of a Blattner wine. This 2006 bottle, however, was the last year that the wine was labeled as Fusion. The Argentine producers of mass market FuZion purchased Alderlea's trademark for the name in Canada and, from 2007 on, Alderlea's Cabernet Foch varietal wine has been released as Matrix.

After this initial tasting, I'm not convinced that Cab Foch is going to gain a foothold in the Canadian (or world) market but it will be interesting to see how the vines are producing with a bit of age on them. I'll also look forward to an opportunity to maybe try a tasting that compares Cab Sauv, Cab Foch and Maréchal Foch. Indeed, it sounds like a good idea for a future blog post.

So, you see, my creative juices haven't completely abandoned me. I might not have had the best of bonnets this year but there's still the odd idea left to be processed by this old mind of mine. Alternatively, next year, I could just drink a little more wine prior to starting my bonnet to get those idea flowing. Just hope I never become quite as creative as Boo's new Papal Celebration Bonnet or Big Trucker's Easter Fountain. Some things - as creative as they might be - should just never see the light of day.

A Last Chalet Syrah

With the BC Wine Appreciation Society's Great Syrah Taste Off just around the corner, I thought I would pull out our last of an older BC Syrah that - as I recalled - pulled in a bit of hardware of its own in the day. If memory serves, we picked up this bottle some years back when we were visiting Bella Jianna and Flyboy B on Vancouver Island.

Chalet Estate, as it was then known, was just down the road from our favourite Island couple's abode and the four of us managed to fit in a bit of a tour.

1245. 2004 Chalet Estate Syrah (Okanagan Valley)

Okay, when considering this wine, the first thing you might have to do is wrap your mind around and reconcile "award winning Syrah" and "Vancouver Island." And you'd be correct in wondering. As the label notes, these grapes weren't Island grown but were sourced from the Okanagan Valley. Indeed, I'm not aware of anyone who's tried to commercially produce Syrah on Vancouver Island - where even the "cool climate" Okanagan seems downright tropical. But, that doesn't mean that this Island winery didn't still offer up one tasty red.

Chalet Estate is found near the top of the Saanich Peninsula, not far from Victoria and it was one of the first wineries to set up shop in the region. The winery was established in 2001 after Michael Betts and Linda Plimley had laid the groundwork and planted grapevines in 1998. As alluring as the thought of producing big reds might have been, they planted grapes much better suited to the regional climate - Ortega, Bacchus and Pinot Gris.

Their outlook from the start was to ride the early wave of producing wines that could take on as many organic aspects as would be viable. Even when the grapes were being sourced from the Okanagan - as was the case with this Syrah - all those grapes were grown pesticide-free. It's often said that you can't make good wine without good grapes - but you still have to be able to take those good grapes and turn them into a good wine. Chalet managed to do just that with the '04 vintage. The Syrah won Silver medals at both the 2006 Northwest Wine Summit competition and the All Canadian Wine Championships.

I kind of remember trying a bottle some time back and what memory I have of that bottle was bigger than the one we opened tonight. It might be that our bottle was a bit past its prime but it was still entirely drinkable. I just don't think it had the fruit or structure to stand up to the best of today's BC Syrahs.

Peter and Jane Ellman purchased the winery in 2008 and the winery's name was changed to Muse after the purchase. They have looked to maintain the standards exhibited by Michael and Linda as they look to expand on the winery's production. We've only made one subsequent visit to Muse since that time; so, I guess it's time we tried to organize another island road trip. Hopefully, Bella Jianna and the Flyboy are up for it.

A Final Gathering for the Season

The Christmas tree was destined to come down this weekend. That left us one final opportunity to entertain with a bit of seasonal cheer in the air. Luckily, Elzee and Daveyboi were both free to pay a visit. We didn't have a chance to see either of them over the holidays; so, we counted ourselves particularly lucky to get both of them on the same night.

1338. 2007 Venturi Schulze - Brut Naturel (Vancouver Island)

Elzee hails from Vancouver Island. So, I thought it would be the perfect time to pop the cork on an Island bubbly made in the traditional Champagne method (even if it doesn't feature traditional Champagne grapes). Venturi Schulze is one of those names that I've heard about far more than I've ever been exposed to or had an opportunity to try. Being an Island winery - that produces fewer than 2000 cases (of all their wines) a year - we don't tend to see their wines in Vancouver very often.

If the Brut is representative of the quality all of their wines, I really need to try and find some more. This sparkler is made from Pinot Auxerrois, Pinot Gris and Kerner grapes and shows those baked bread notes reminiscent of classic Champagne - the notes coming from time spent ageing on yeast lees (or dead yeast cells).  The wine isn't finished with a sweetened dosage - and is, therefore, bright with acidity - but it matched up nicely with the occasion at hand.  I don't often serve a bubbly as a primary wine with dinner but I thought it might just work tonight.  And it did.

Boo and I decided to serve raclette for dinner. The variety of foods and the emphasis on cheese throughout the dinner seemed to lend itself to a sparkling wine. Raclette's a novel way to sit and eat - and chat - for hours and the bubbles just added to the festive atmosphere.

I should point out that Venturi Schulze is also known for its traditional balsamic vinegar - where a 250ml bottle starts at $50. The vinegar is made from estate grown grapes as well and is aged for years in oak before it is bottled.  The owners figure they have over $1 million worth of balsamic currently in barrel. I've yet to try the balsamic, but I'm dying to get a bottle as a gift. If not mistaken, I even read about one year when they produced an icewine balsamic.  That went for a pretty penny I'm sure, but I doubt you could get much more "one-of-a-kind" than that.

1339. 2011 Woodbridge Merlot (California)

Daveyboi brought along the Woodbridge and it was a good thing since we definitely needed that second bottle of wine during dinner. Woodbridge is a second label and winery for Robert Mondavi. According to the website, after he had established his famous Napa Valley winery, Mondavi "pursued his second vision of creating delicious wines for everyday enjoyment." The region around his childhood home in Lodi fit the bill for growing grapes that could produce quality wines at more affordable price points. Coming in at under $15 in the BC government stores, "affordable" is a definite catch-word.

Mixing Elzee and Daveyboi with Merlot, talk ultimately drifted to our mutual - and much beloved - Aussie bud, Merlot Boy. We worked it out to be early afternoon in Melbourne. So, out came the phone and 20 minutes later, we needed another bottle of wine. And some dessert.

1340. N.V. Lang Vineyards - Canadian Maple Wine (BC)

Boo had made a pecan pie for the kids. So, I pulled out a dessert wine that we'd picked up some years back. Being a bit of a "novelty," we hadn't quite happened on the opportunity to open it previously. A maple syrup infused dessert wine seemed as natural a fit as there might be for pecan pie though.

Gunther Lang and his namesake Lang Vineyards was one of the first wineries to locate on the Naramata Bench and he was the first in North America to make a wine with maple syrup. Novelty or not, this is a serious wine and, at the time we visited the winery, they were making both a red and a white version of this wine. It's difficult to find exact information about our white but the best notes I could find suggest that it is a blend of Pinot Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Riesling.

This wine was largely exported to overseas markets and was often seen front and centre in touristy souvenir shops at the Vancouver Airport. The difficulty in finding information about this older version of the wine stems primarily from the somewhat tumultuous ownership the winery has seen over the last decade. The Lang family initially sold the winery to Keith Holman in 2005 and it played a central part in the rather short-lived Holman Lang empire of seven Okanagan wineries. The Holman Lang group was placed in receivership in November 2010 and the Lang Vineyard assets were purchased by Chinese interests. In an attempt to rebuild the Lang brand, Gunther Lang was hired as a consultant and his nephew, Mike Lang, came on board as General Manager. I'll be interested to see how the winery is viewed in the years to come.

I'm sure that many a purist would turn their nose up at a wine infused with maple syrup but it suited our pie nicely. It won't become a regular tipple at our table but there could always be a suitable occasion - like the next time Merlot Boy visits from Down Under and Boo makes him a pie.

All in all, a grand evening. Quite the mix of laughs, food groups and wines. But now I need to make time to put away all the decorations. I have to admit that I'd rather sit back and open up another bottle though.

Splash!

A couple of posts ago, I touched on the fact that we'd made a quick visit to Salt Spring Vineyards when we ventured over to the Gulf Islands for an all-too-short of a stay with Tyrant.  As previously mentioned in the blog, this tasting room visit was largely to talk about the Blattner varietals that the winery was working with.

During our tasting, we were told about a new wine that Salt Spring was releasing - a sparkling wine, styled somewhat after Prosecco and made with another uncommon varietal.  Sold - and that's where we're headed tonight.

1270.  2010 Salt Spring Vineyards - Splash! (Gulf Islands - BC)

The primary subject of my visit may have been the work that Salt Spring Vineyards and their winemaker, Paul Troop, were pioneering with Blattner varietals, but Splash was a whole different bit of "new."  It's not produced from a Blattner varietal.  Rather, the grape used is Léon Millot - another varietal that very few folks will have heard about.

Some years back, Salt Spring owners Dev and Joanne McIntyre had been visiting L'Acadie - a winery clear across the country on the Canadian East Coast in Nova Scotia  - where the McIntyre's discovered that Léon Millot was quite commonplace in the region.  It's another varietal that is particularly suitable for cooler, coastal climates.  They loved the wines that they tried and thought that they'd give it a try out on the West Coast.  Ironically, Boo and I had visited L'Acadie when we made a short trip to my namesake city, Halifax, back in 2006.  I'd encountered Léon Millot for the first time back then and wondered why no one was growing the grape on Vancouver Island or on the Gulf Islands.  It sounded like a natural fit to me.

There are a couple of wineries giving the varietal a go out West now but it's still not a grape that will strike a memory chord with many a wine drinker.  The varietal doesn't even rate a mention in Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine.  Hardly a traditional grape, it is a hybrid (a cross of two or more species of grapes) from a classic vitis vinifera grape, Goldriesling, and another hybrid grape with the attractive and memorable name of Millardet et Grasset 101-14 O.P.  As such, it is the type of grape that is generally passed over when growers are determining what grapes they want to plant in their vineyards.  After all, do you really want to risk your investment planting something that no one's ever heard of or ever tasted?

Well, the McIntyre's did.  In part, to take advantage of the early ripening tendencies and the fact that the varietal is largely resistant to fungus diseases - both qualities that lend themselves to growers in cooler climates.  All the same, most references to the grape (that I could easily find) still seem to be limited to small amounts being grown in Switzerland, Alsace, Canada and New York.

I had only seen the grape used previously to make still wines, but Salt Spring thought they'd make partial use of their crop in the production of a sparkling wine.  The winery was already making a traditional Champenoise style bubble.  So, this second sparkler was made to be more at an introductory level.  The base wine sees forced carbonation - along the lines of Prosecco and more "discount" bubbles - rather than the traditional double fermentation in the bottle method of Champenoise and classic sparkling wines.

I was rather excited to try the wine, but I'm afraid to say that it's not going to be a fave.  For having seen forced carbonation, I didn't find much, if any, in the glass and there wasn't any noticeable mousse in the mouth either.  To be honest, as much as I love an explosive mousse, I can live with an absence of same - provided I enjoy the taste and the palate.  Not so much there, unfortunately.

I don't think it was the fact that Léon Millot just doesn't match up as a viable grape - because I remember enjoying some of those Nova Scotian wines - the wine just didn't result in my hurrying to refill my glass or in having to force myself to slow down between sips.  For me, the wine offered little in the way of fruit or excitement.  My sad.

On the glass half full side, it was an intriguing wine to discover and to try.  AND I haven't added Léon Millot to my Wine Century Club tally either; so, I get to add a new varietal for the second post in a row!  That brings me to 139.  And on that happy note...

Gangnam Style Gourmet

It's taken awhile, but the gang has finally managed to assemble for the latest edition of our Dinner Club.  We were scheduled to gather at Tyrant's island hideaway back in August but life got in the way and we had to postpone.

Tyrant had planned his original menu to use as much local and seasonal produce as possible.  Given the extended delay, his garden choices needed a thorough revision - but, as guests, we certainly didn't suffer any.  Dinner was extravagant and tasty.  Having been the lucky recipient of many a Tyranical treat over the years, I wouldn't have expected anything less though.

Hors d'oeuvres included black cherry tomatoes (straight from the garden) with goat cheese and a rhubarb grapefruit compote, panko crusted tofu and wild mushrooms in brandy cream.  And that was just to start!  Tyrant chose to start off the evening with a cocktail based around a Vancouver Island cider - as a a "guest liquor," it's not a bottle that I can add to The List, but it was tasty all the same.

The Sea Cider Kings & Spies is a traditional sparkling cider that uses a blend of local heritage apples - predominantly Kings and Northern Spies.  I love the fact that the proceeds from this cider help "support Lifecycles, a Victoria organization that promotes local food security."

1261. 2011 Calliope Viognier (VQA British Columbia)

2007 Alderlea Clarinet (Vancouver Island)

Our first course of homegrown carrot and ginger soup was accompanied by something familiar and something new.  I'd added the 2007 Clarinet - a Vancouver Island Maréchal Foch - to The List all the way back at #216.

I knew that the Calliope brand is a newish, second entry level label for BC fave, Burrowing Owl, but I hadn't tried the Viognier at all.  The varietal can be a bit of hit or miss for me, but Lady Di is a big fan and she brought along the Calliope as a new discovery.  I think it's safe to say that the Viognier was a hit - which shouldn't be a surprise considering it was named as one of the Top 25 Wines under $25 by Wine Access magazine.

1262.  2011 Fabulous Ant Pinot Noir (Hungary)

When Tyrant announced that the next course was a Five Spice Rubbed Duck Breast with Julienned Root Veggies, we went straight for a bottle that I'd heard mentioned in the Vancouver wine press lately.  It's not often that I hear of or see a Hungarian wine in our market - let alone a value priced Pinot Noir - but Fabulous Ant seems to be making a bit of name for itself.

I can't say that the Fabulous Ant rocked my world but, then again, I tend to like a little more heft and body on my reds.  Even Pinots.  This was a lighter bodied, fruity version that will likely find lots of fans - especially at the $14 price point.

Tyrant gave us a bit of a break before the next course and, somehow, the dinner turned to all things Gangnam.  Half of the gang had never heard of the latest cultural sensation, but there was no stopping the commentary and dance moves once we pulled up a couple of videos on the net.  There were more than a couple of attempts to master the dance steps, but Lady Di was the unlucky one to have been captured best on film as she showed us her happening Gangnam Style.

Everything Gangnam just built up everyone's thirst and the next couple of bottles ended up being a couple favourites of the evening.

1263.  2008 Foxtrot Pinot Noir (Okanagan Valley)

1264.  2010 Nagging Doubt - The Pull (Okanagan Valley)

I'm in debt to whoever brought the Foxtrot because it was my fave for the evening.  A perennial favourite of local wine critics as well, it's one of the few wines that I'm willing to pay $60+ for vintage after vintage.  It's just that it's not a wine that I run across very often as there isn't  much of it made.

While talking of limited productions, there were only 100 cases of The Pull produced.  That may be why I'd never heard of Nagging Doubt - even though it's an Okanagan wine.  Once again, it was the Lady Di who found this one.  She's a bit of star when it comes to bringing wine to our Dinner Club events.  She regularly checks the blog to see if I've added a bottle to The List before she picks one for the evening. (Actually, you know, I think everyone in the Dinner Club is pretty good on that front nowadays.)

The Pull is a new-ish project of Vancouverites, Rob and Abbey Westbury, and is made at the production facilities of Alto Wine Group, a boutique winery and "wine incubator" (as writer John Schreiner calls them).  The wine is a bold Bordeaux blend or Meritage that leans heavily on the Merlot component (43%) and is completed with Cab Sauv (25%), Cab Franc (15%), Petit Verdot and Malbec (at 8% each).

I don't think there's much doubt that Nagging Doubt will end up on our dinner table again.

I'd be remiss in not mentioning that the mains joining these wines on the dinner table were Grilled Veal Chops stuffed with wild rice, pine nuts, dried cranberries and goat cheese - but don't forget the Calvados demi-glace with poached pears and figs.  And, oh yeah, since Tyrant grew the potatoes as well, I have to mention the blue potato patties filled with a Moonstruck "Baby Blue" cheese centre.  Having spent just shy of $100 on Moonstruck cheeses myself in the afternoon, I welcome any course that features any of their fabulous Island cheeses.

1265.  2003 Burrowing Owl Meritage (VQA Okanagan Valley)

1266.  2005 Del Dotto Caves Merlot (Napa Valley - California)

There was enough food on those plates to keep us occupied for more than a couple bottles of wine.  So, corks were popped on another couple big boys.  It was nice to see that the '03 Burrowing Owl had weathered the years.  The Del Dotto Caves was another new label for me.  Tyrant had pulled the latter from his cellar and, perhaps unfortunately, it might have been enjoyed more as a featured wine at a somewhat more intimate occasion - rather than being the seventh wine of the evening.

Don't get me wrong though.  I'm more than willing to partake in one of Tyrant's cellar wines at any time.  Having known him for over three decades now, I know darned well that a lot of wines don't see the light of day until late in the night.  The good thing is that the big Napa fruit was a nice foil to the season's last wild blackberries that adorned Tyrant's Almond Crusted Custard Flan with Chambord Yogurt.  After all the work and effort that Tyrant put into the dinner, it was grant to see our chef and host still standing and smiling as we dove into the dessert.  I'm not quite sure how we fit in all that food.  Guess it's a testament as to how tasty it all was.

1267.  2010 Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon (California)

Our last wine of the night was an interesting nightcap - a bottle of Two Buck Chuck.  Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed picked up a bottle on one of their shopping trips to Trader Joe's south of the border.  They'd actually brought it with them to Tyrant's for the Dinner Club last year but we never got around to drinking it.  I'd mentioned, at that time, that I was disappointed that we never got around to the bottle because it's unlikely that I'd run across another bottle in order to blog it.  Lo and behold, Tyrant just put it aside, knowing that we'd all be back eventually.

I'm not sure that many folks ever toss back a bottle of Two Buck Chuck that's actually seen a year's ageing.  Another special treat for the Dinner Club.  Okay, not really, but I am glad to be able to finally blog a bottle of the California phenomenon.  I doubt we'll ever see a similarly priced wine-for-the-masses on Vancouver liquor shelves, but I might be able to live with that fact.  Indeed, the wine wasn't quite enough to keep my attention going for long - as I'm told that I fell asleep in the living room while balancing a glass of Chuck on my chest.  If nothing else, I must have thought enough of it to not let it spill.

All told, it was a grand evening- and Tyrant has raised the bar yet another level for fellow Dinner Clubbers.  Good thing it's Lady Di and SWMBO that get to host our next get together.  In the mean time, I have some blogging to catch up with - and some Gangnam dance moves to practice.

Turkey Talk

After last night's duck dinner and our initial take on this year's adventure in Thanksgiving poultry, it was time to talk turkey.  It's long been a family tradition to have these dinners at Vixen, my sister's, place.  This year's version was going to be somewhat different though.  There was going to be some of that whole "circle of life" bit. 

This would be our first family dinner since Mom passed away this summer.  An additional twist stemmed from the fact that Vixen and her man, Big Trucker, got engaged this summer as well - and this was would be the first full gathering of both clans.  Nothing new about Vixen and her three chilluns but all of Big Trucker's three kids have never joined in before. His girls have gotten used to our clan but BT's son was joining in for the first time.

I'm not sure he knew what his dad had gotten him into.  Hopefully, we didn't scare him off too badly.

It did make it clear that we're about to experience the Brady Bunch first hand though.

1257.  2008 Mistaken Identity Gewürztraminer (British Columbia)

Our new family members are more of a beer and football crowd but Vixen and I were there; so, you have to know that there'd be some wine being added to The List as well.  When talking turkey wines, Gewürztraminer is usually one of the first suggestions that comes out and I figured I'd grab a bottle that we'd picked up last year on Salt Spring Island.

Mistaken Identity is the third - and newest - winery to open on Salt Spring and 2008 was the first year that they had a winery licence and an actual vintage.  Turns out, though, that the vineyards weren't actually planted with any Gewurtz; so, enough grapes were sourced from the Okanagan to produce 500 cases.

It takes a pretty special Gewürztraminer to win me over.  The varietal's trademark floral tones often overwhelm me.  That wasn't an issue with this bottle.  While there wasn't much of a floral kick to it, the wine also seemed to be missing the spicy note that I do like to look for with Gewurtz.  This one was pretty much all soft fruit - and, while I might have been called a "soft fruit" myself, now and then, over the years, it's usually not my favourite drop of wine.

Mistaken Identity also grows an interesting assortment of varietals at the estate vineyards than the standard grapes we hear about - ones that are considered more suitable for the mild coastal climes.  I think I might be more inclined to try one of their wines made with Madeleine Angevine, Reichensteiner or Agria next time around.

An added bonus to the Thanksgiving dinner was that it was Big Trucker's birthday.  He might favour beer over wine, but he does like his chocolate - and that might be reason enough to welcome him with open arms into the family ranks.  I'm sure that Vixen can elaborate on a few more endearing traits - but that'd be different blog.  You'll have to reach her directly for further goodies.

Two nights.  Two birds.  Two wines.  Things are good.