Wine Blogging Wednesday 80 - Rebounding With Rosé

I think it's safe to say that the wine world is as prone to trends as any other topic or product with a high public profile. Whether it be skinny jeans or Viognier, molecular cuisine or indigenous Italian grapes, nouveau alternative folk or restrained Aussie Shiraz, you pretty well know that there's going to be something new and exciting right just around the corner.

From all the internet and traditional print buzz about Rosé wines, you could easily conclude that Rosé is the new "it" in the wine world. Maybe that's the reasoning behind this most recent resurrection of Wine Blogging Wednesday. Is there a more topical taste in the wine world than Rosé right now? Maybe we'll find out by the participation levels in WBW80.

A year on the internet can seem like an eternity - and this is the first Wine Blogging Wednesday to be attempted since this time last year - so, maybe a bit of a re-introduction is apropos. WBW was conceived over nine years ago by New York blogger, Lenn Tompson, as a monthly, virtual event. I was rather late to join to game. My first participation was with WBW65, but the concept is simple enough. It's been described as "people interested in wine, the world over, would coalesce each month around a single theme." Anyone intrigued by the month's topic submits their post or e-mail comments to the coordinator - or nowadays, their Twitter, Tumblr or Google+ witticisms (not that I know what the last two are) - which are then coordinated and shared. This round is the the 80th such outing.

This month's host, Tim Elliot from Winecast announced WBW80 with: "Good dry rosé is one of the most versatile wines in summer matching with light to heavy fare. But like some other wines, Rosé (here in America anyway) doesn't get the respect it deserves. So I'd like to see everyone explore beyond their regular summer Rosés and try something new. it might be an obscure varietal or a region you haven't tried before. Or maybe just kicking it old-school and picking up a Rosé from Bandol, Tavel or Provence from a new producer."

It's a topic that I can heartily support - and NOT just because of the whole "gay" affiliation with the colour pink (as I raise I my eyebrows in mild exasperation). We tend to drink a healthy share of Rosé wines at our household as, on the whole, we tend to like reds over whites but find that a Rosé can give you some extra body and profile than a white while still matching up nicely with the summer's lighter fare and warmer temperatures. In fact, I've taken to drinking Rosé throughout the year. Why limit it to summer?

For WBW80, we invited the beautiful and talented Elzee over for a dinner of moules frites - thinking that a little quasi Provençal fare would be a grand accompaniment to a trio of wines. The Rosés I had in the cellar are all Okanagan wines and I wanted to mix things up a bit. Elzee was going to bring a surprise bottle; so, I thought I'd hit a couple of bottle shops (government and private) to see what they had. The thought was to serve a BC, a French and one other region.

Talk about being disappointed. Despite all of the media hype on Rosé, each of the shops had a small assortment of BC wines and precious little else. The government shop had a few commercial, mass market bottles from a couple of regions and one Spanish Rosado (which I'd already added to The List). At least the private shop (Liberty) had a choice of four French wines. I grabbed one of those to go with my bottle of BC at home.

Turned out that Elzee ran into the same problem. Of all things, she managed to choose the same French wine that I did. Rather than just drink two BC wines along with our French bottle, we made a quick run to another small shop not too far away. They had a total of three Rosés in stock. We grabbed the one Washington state bottle they had as it would offer us a bit of a contrast.

Our lack of choice begs the old chicken and egg question: do these stores not carry Rosé because no one really buys that wine style or does no one tend to buy Rosé because there's so little of it to choose from?

In any event, we had our three bottles and they were very different from each other - and it's interesting in that Boo's, Elzee's and my takes on the wines all changed over the course of the evening.

1391.  2012 Clean Slate - Gamay Rosé (Okanagan Valley)

As a simple sipper, this new entry on the BC wine scene impressed all three of us. Clean Slate has only been around for a couple of vintages and it is a partnership between Ross Hackworth of Nichol Vineyard, Matthew Sherlock from Nichol and previously of Vancouver's wine and restaurant scene and Gitta Pederson of Poplar Grove Cheese fame. She's provided the vineyards and the shared tasting/sales room, while the men look after the wine production.

Clean Slate's total production is only 650 cases and that includes a white and a couple of reds on top of the Rosé. Needless to say, there isn't a whole lot of this Rosé around. I managed to grab a bottle when I stopped in, during the recent Wine Bloggers' Conference, to pick up some of our fave Tiger Blue cheese. The bottle of Clean Slate was a side benefit.

The lightest of the three wines in colour, there was a vibrant acidity that just made you forget the heat of the day. Rosé wines can be made from pretty much any grape the winemaker wants and there are a couple of Gamay-based versions coming out of the Okanagan. The Clean Slate didn't pair quite as memorably with the strong flavours and heat of the mussels but I was still very glad to get a chance to try one of their wines for the first time.

1392.  2011 Château Calissanne (AOC Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence - France)

Rosé is the primary wine of note in Provence and the Château Calissanne is about as classic as Provençal Rosés get. It's a blend of the traditional Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvèdre grapes, with just a touch of Syrah added to round out the wine. We found that it was subtler in its flavour profile than the two North American wines - with most of its soft fruit not appearing until the mid-palate and finish, but the body and acidity was certainly well balanced.

All three of thought that we enjoyed this wine more and more as the evening continued - and all three of us reached for it first when it came to refilling our glass while munching on mussels.

If mussels and Rosé are staples of Provence, I need to get me there!

1393.  2012 Charles & Charles Rosé (Columbia Valley - Washington State)

I had neither seen nor heard of our third wine of the night before but I saw, after the fact, that it was recently picked as a Best Value by Wine Spectator. This Rosé is a collaboration that started in 2008 between Charles Smith of K Vintners and Charles Bieler who started producing Rosé at family-owned Château Routas in Provence until they sold the estate in 2005. The Bieler family then invested in Bieler Père et Fils, a winery also in Couteaux d'Aix-en-Provence. Finally, Charles B. approached Charles S. to consider taking a stab at producing a quality Rosé in the US as the former saw a definite opportunity to fill a perceived void in the American market.

They started with a batch of Syrah grapes that Smith didn't think were ripe enough or big enough for his trademark K Syrah and they now produce 20,000 cases.

Interestingly enough, the Washington Rosé uses the same classic grapes used in Provençal wines - and as in the Calissanne - but the percentages are turned on their head. Instead of playing a small part - as it did in the French wine - here the Syrah takes a dominant position at 81%. The balance of the blend is Mourvèdre (16%), Cinsault (2%) and Grenache (1%). It seemed that, of the three, this was the wine with the most noticeable fruit. It wasn't, however, necessarily overwhelming, or even alluring, with its fruitiness on an initial taste. The C&C grew on us once it was paired with food though. Indeed, it particularly seemed to come alive after it had warmed up a bit and was paired with the tomato and bocconcini salad we started out with.

In the end, all three wines had their moments - which, I suppose, is just how you'd like an evening's selection to go. Despite all three being quite different from the others in their takes on Rosé, I think it's a joy to see that North American wineries are beginning to pay as much attention to making Rosé as the French and Provençal wineries have for a very long time.

I'm also quite enthralled with the return of Wine Blogging Wednesday. Tim and the WBW powers that be deserve kudos for taking another stab. Hopefully, the concept will strike a chord with plenty of other wine loving bloggers out there and we can make a more regular go of the event. Here's to having WBW81 next month as opposed to next year. See you then.

Wine Blogging Wednesday 79 - What Would Miss Chatelaine Take a Tipple Of?

(sung to the tune of k.d. lang's Miss Chatelaine - with profound apologies)

Just a sip. Just two sips.

Lift the glass up to my lips.

I can't explain how much I love my Champagne.

Every time, I drink more wine,

I start to spin in rays of bubbly sunshine....

OK. OK. I realize you're likely wondering what the heck I'm going on about. Believe it or not, that was not a just discovered, long lost verse of a Canadian classic. It's Wine Blogging Wednesday 79 and the Brix Chicks, as hostesses of this month's confab, have invited everyone to imagine what wine they see their favourite literary characters sip away on.

As much as I love to read, I have to admit that I don't seem to make much time for it nowadays. I don't run out and grab the latest Oprah pick and my old book clubs definitely disbanded eons ago.

Luckily for me though, the Brix Chicks are taking a very liberal view on what constitutes a literary character - "any genre, any timeline, any story." They all count.

Seeing as how we just saw the lovely and talented miss kathy dawn lang in concert a couple weekends ago, I figured I could take my constant cravings for the gal and channel one of her classic characters - and most beloved songs.

Once transformed into Miss Chatelaine, you just know that the scene has to be awash in Lawrence Welk bubbles. (Am I dating myself? I swear it was my Mom that watched him, not me.) And the colour scheme is pink, pink, pink. The only problem is that our heroine can't afford to grace her escape with real Champagne on a regular basis. I fear she lives more in a reality where Baby Duck and Lonesome Charlie are the handiest bubbles of choice for the masses.

Tonight, however, our Miss C. is exploring new shores and celebrating with a sparkler that doesn't sport a capital letter "C," but does hail from an exotic land from across the globe.

1205.  N.V. De Bortoli - Emeri Pink Moscato (Australia)

Now, a Pink Moscato is about as far a cry from vintage Champagne as it gets, but let's face it, most unsophisticated palates love the thought of Champagne far more than they enjoy the taste. This De Bortoli, however, is perfect for gals like Miss Chatelaine, for easy sipping on the patio or for waltzing around the living room like a love-sick beauty queen. With a alcohol content of only 8%, it'll allow an awful lot of waltzing and sipping too.

Our Miss Chatelaine will see the persistent bead (or bubbles) and automatically think romance and Champagne. She's going to be swept away with the heady bouquet of roses. She'll think she's in heaven with the sweetness and ripe strawberries that will race through her mouth and she'll know that no one can accessorize like she can when they see that vivid pinky, salmon colour in her glass while wearing her pink tulle and feathers.

And she'll be right.

If it's not obvious to you, this is light and sweet, but it's also very tasty and would likely disappear quickly at any brunch or as an apéritif at a grand soirée - and you get all that at a price point that might allow you three bottles for the price of a real bottle of Champagne.

Think Sex and The City in a bottle and I think you might catch my drift. As much as I love a serious bit of bubble, the Emeri Pink Moscato will be an easy go-to for any of a number of events.

Miss Chatelaine would definitely approve. As for k.d., you'll have to ask her.

And, on that bubbly note, my thanks to the Brix Chicks for taking on this month's WBW. I see that they're scheduled to attend next month's Wine Blogging Conference in Portland, Oregon. With any luck, I'll meet up with them there and discuss a few literary favourites - or, better yet, a few favourite wines.

Wine Blogging Wednesday 78 - Get Yo Viggy On

Goodness. Here it is, time for another wine Blogging Wednesday and I've found myself in a bit of quandary. It's WBW78. It's June. And I'm still trying to finish up all my blog entries from our trip Down Under - a trip that was back in April. Should I carry on - in a sensible sequence - and work my back to present times or do I throw all sense of order to the wind and join in with Frank Morgan, of Drink What You Like blog, and get my viggy on?

For reasons that perhaps defy logic, I'm going with this 78th instalment of Wine Blogging Wednesday.

Based in Virginia - where Viognier has made a thriving home for itself - Frank has proffered the traditional Rhône grape as this month's WBW topic and he's invited everyone to virtually weigh in on its varietal virtues.

Every wine geek has likely heard the story about how - after having been grown in the Northern Rhône for approximately 2000 years - the Viognier varietal was almost extinct by the 1960's. In 1965, there were only eight acres or so of the grape planted in its traditional home and total production levels were down to about 10,000 litres of wine or about 1100 cases. Known as a difficult grape to grow because of unpredictably low yields, the need for long growing seasons and its susceptibility to mildew, Viognier wasn't exactly an "it" grape in a world awash in Chardonnay.

As the wine world of the 1980's started to develop a greater enthusiasm for varietal wines, marginal varietals - like Viognier - began to enjoy a bit of revival. No longer isolated to production in the Rhône, the grape is now being grown worldwide - the village of Condrieu in the northern Rhône may still be home to Viognier's most notable vineyards, but the grape can also be found in North America, South America, South Africa and Australia and it's used to make both straight varietal wines and blended wines. Co-fermenting Viognier with Shiraz or Syrah has even become a common occurrence in wineries from every corner of the globe.

With that worldwide emergence, I decided to open three Viogniers from three distinct regions and see how they compare. The grape has definitely gained a foothold in Okanagan Valley vineyards. Production is hardly on a level of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris or Riesling, but I can easily think of a dozen or more wineries making a varietal wine off the top of my head. Since I'm blogging these three wines out of sequence, I don't rightly know where they are going to end up on The List but they'll get a number eventually.

1176. 2010 Marichel - Raisin d'être Viognier (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

I'll kick off with the home grown bottle. Richard and Elisabeth Roskell have been throwing their hearts and souls into capturing the taste and terroir of their little corner of the Naramata Bench in BC's Okanagan Valley for just over a decade now. They grow only two grapes - Syrah and Viognier - but they don't look to deliver Viogniers reminiscent of Condrieu or a Syrah styled on the Côte Rôtie. Rather, they practice low impact, sustainable farming and unapologetically make wines that they hope deliver the flavours of the Naramata Bench.

They don't make much of it though. The Roskells have realized that they will likely never even reach a total production of a thousand cases, in any given vintage, with the fruit from their vineyard (and some neighbouring vineyard grapes that they source). They do, however, still produce up to four different Viogniers. Marichel's standard estate label, the non-interventionist, wild yeast inoculated Wild Thing, a Split Rock label in particularly hot vintages (in honour of the summer of '03 when temperatures were so hot and so sustained that a boulder at the entry to the vineyard split from the heat) and tonight's bottle of Raisin d'être (named after the single vineyard where the grapes are grown).

As much as I like the Roskells and Marichel wines, in general, the Raisin d'être was our least favourite of the evening. That's not to say that it was a bad wine. Not in the least. When compared to the other two wines, it was just lighter in body and fruit. There was a nice little minerality on the palate but the wine didn't seem to quite capture Viognier's characteristically floral nose. Viognier needs to reach full ripeness in order to fully exhibit its trademark notes and maybe these grapes didn't quite hit that level of ripeness.

1177. 2010 Le Paradou Viognier (Vins de Pays d'Oc - France)

I'm not nearly as familiar with our second producer. Choices for French Viognier are rather limited in our neighbourhood stores, but I did think this exercise called for a wine from the varietal's home turf - even if I didn't go all the way for a top-notch Condrieu. Le Paradou is a secondary label for Château Pesquié, a well known Rhône producer in our market. Le Paradou is the combined effort of the two Chaudière brothers. In 2005, they decided to work outside of the constraints of French appellation rules and make a Vins de Pays wine where they could work with whatever grapes they wanted and try for a more straight forward expression of the fruit.

With vineyards in the Languedoc region, north-east of Montpellier, Le Paradou isn't quite the Rhône but it is situated near-by, where Provence meets the southern Rhône. The vineyards are located more on the higher altitudes of the mountainside than on the valley floor and, as such, the wine has a brighter acidity than might otherwise be expected. Like the Marichel, this is another Viognier that is neither overly big or oily, nor abundant in floral notes on the nose, but it did feature a somewhat more fragrant nose. With that, it got a bit of a nod over the BC wine. Boo was particularly fond of it.

1178. Yalumba Y Series Viognier (South Australia - Australia)

I thought it was particularly fitting to open a Yalumba Viognier as well. The South Australian winery is often credited with single-handedly reviving the fortunes of Viognier. Their interest in the varietal all stemmed from a visit to the Rhône in the 1970's and a suspicion that the grape might do well Down Under. In 1980, Yalumba started with a 3 acres of vines - Australia's first commercial plantings of the varietal. They now have the "largest mature Viognier resource and oldest commercial vines in the Southern Hemisphere" - with access to over 70 acres from a variety of districts.

Current Yalumba winemaker, Louisa Rose, has taken a particular liking to the grape and that small experiment - and the resulting years of trial and error - have led Yalumba to believe they've got a pretty good handle on the varietal. They actually offer four different Viognier wines - the basic Y Series, a more regional Eden Valley label, the flagship Virgilius, and a botrytis affected dessert wine. Winemaker emiritus and natural born story-teller, Jane Ferrari, travels the globe, preaching the Yalumba gospel, and she's told many a tale about Viognier's re-emergence on the wine scene. Indeed, a few years back at the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival, she kept folks enraptured with her appropriately titled, "Viognier Monologues."

This was our fave of the three - and we did taste them blind. Like the other two, the Yalumba didn't take us to that lanolin-like, oily bodied, florally perfume-laden Viognier that is often poured to the unexpectant - and, for that, I'm eternally grateful - but it definitely had both a bigger nose and more noticeable fruit on the palate. This was the glass that I looked to re-fill immediately and repeatedly.

Enjoying the Yalumba so also highlighted my regret that we didn't capitalize on the opportunity to visit Yalumba when we were recently in the Barossa. Yalumba was no more than four or five kilometres down the road from where we were staying at Wroxton Grange. Indeed, the grapes going into Yalumba's Eden Valley Viognier might well have been grown on a vineyard within spitting distance of some of Wroxton's plantings. Unfortunately, the right timing just didn't present itself. I guess this tasting just gives us even more incentive to make our way back to Australia.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by the three wines. I'd rather expected at least one of them to be overly florally or downright oily, but they weren't. Thanks to Frank and Drink What You Like for hosting. I'm looking forward to seeing what paths other participants have taken.

With any luck, I might even have caught up with my own postings by the time Wine Blogging Wednesday 79 rolls around. (Editor's Note - not quite so lucky with the catch up by WBW79. It's only taken three months to finally be able to number these wines in sequence. Yikes)

Return of the Barossa Boomerang - Wine Blogging Wednesday 76

Well, slap me silly and call me Mary.

Gobsmacked I am.

As I sit here, half way around the world, waiting for our plane at the Adelaide Airport, imagine my surprise when I discovered that Adam Japko, of Winezag blog and the host of Wine Blogging Wednesday 76, announced that this month's topic would be The Return of the Barossa Boomerang. Boo and I have just finished a seven day tour - and drink-fest - through three of Australia's iconic wine regions - the Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley.I can't think of a more timely lead up to a classic post.

I'll be up front and admit that I'm a long time Aussie-phile - country, footy, wine, people, you name it, I'm likely a fan. This, however, was my first visit to the Barossa - after all, I think I can safely be forgiven for not counting that one-day bus tour out of Adelaide, 16 years ago, that included one or maybe two mass tasting room visits - and our three days still only allowed us to scratch the surface. Our little face-to-face visit with this winemaking Mecca finds me leaving with a whole new appreciation of what makes up the Barossa but we sure could have easily filled another three days - or longer.

Adam's prompt for today's confab didn't call for an entire travelogue on the region though. Rather, we're talking about a re-emergence of Aussie wines in today's mid-price (and even high end) market and about introducing everyone to (hopefully) a star of the Barossa that checks in at under $30. We're lucky in Vancouver in that we've long been the recipients of far more than [yellow tail] and the mass market brands from Down Under. Don't get me wrong, cheap and cheerful definitely has its place. In fact, my folks picked [yellow tail] to serve at a recent family landmark birthday. But, I never really abandoned Aussie wines like much of North America. I just cottoned on to the higher end wines a tad sooner than many others.

After our local BC wines, I've added more Aussie wines to The List than those of any other country - and that list includes a number of wines from Barossa producer, Langmeil.A long time favourite of mine, I figured a look at Langmeil's 2009 Valley Floor Shiraz is a perfect fit with WBW76 - especially since Boo and I enjoyed a wonderful tour of the vineyard and a full tasting of the winery's offerings. Our visit only cemented my admiration for Langmeil and I'm choosing one of their wines even though we didn't drink a full bottle of it while on the trip and can't, therefore add a bottle to The List. Not at this time anyhow.

The Barossa actually includes both the Barossa Valley and the neighbouring Eden Valley and there are well over a hundred wineries in the region. A good majority of the wines produced in the Barossa are made by a few big producers though. Langmeil is not one of them. The Valley Floor Shiraz sees the largest production of any of Langmeil's wines, but even it only sees a normal production of between 5,000 and 8,000 cases. The good news for us North Americans is that around half of that production is currently earmarked for global export.The even better news is that, if this wine can hit the shelves for under $30 in tax-riddled British Columbia (which it does), it's likely a bargain in other jurisdictions.

The Valley Floor part of the name refers to the fact that the grapes can be sourced from vineyards in any of five villages found on the floor of the Barossa Valley - predominantly the hottest sub-regions of the valley. As such, the wine is also part of Langmeil's aptly named Village Series - its introductory level for reds. As a regional blend, the winery sees this as a true expression of Barossa Shiraz.

And Langmeil should know its Shiraz. The winery is thought to contain what is believed to be the oldest surviving block of Shiraz vines in the world. Planted in 1843 and phylloxera-free for all those years, A lot of care and attention have gone, and continues to go into, the nurturing of the vines. At nearly 170 years of age, the vines don't produce a heck of a lot fruit - maybe enough for one bottle of wine per vine - and almost all of it is destined for the winery's flagship The Freedom Shiraz; however, it's not inconceivable that some of that fruit makes it into the Valey Floor as well. Not many wines can lay claim to be contain any grapes with such a pedigree. The fruit making it into the Valley Floor Shiraz holds up perfectly well on its own though - whether there's any of the 1843 fruit or not. The wine is deep in colour and the fruit on the nose and the palate matches that dark intensity. This is still a fruit forward, bold Barossa wine, but it serves up a smooth integration of flavor and structure. Ready to drink as is, we were told that it could easily age for ten years or longer.

The most unfortunate aspect of writing this post while on vacation is that I haven't got the foggiest notion of how to add any photos while working on the iPad - and we have some doozies. I assume there must be a way but it's well beyond my capabilities. I can always add some at a later date but it's not quite the same. You'll just have to treat this post as a trailer for the blockbuster movie still to come. (Note: OK I'm home now and finally able to retreat to my tried and true means of posting. Accordingly, I've touched up this post and it's not quite as bad as I made it out to be. It sure was a pain working on an iPad though. I've obviously got some learning to do.)

In the mean time, our plane, after an hour's delay, has finally been announced for boarding. One more Aussie wine region to come - Margaret River on the West coast - and I'm salivating at the thought. Thanks to Adam for a WBW topic that's near and dear to my wine-loving heart. I'll definitely look forward to seeing what everyone else writes about.

Wine Blogging Wednesday 75 - Single's Night

It's that time of the month again. It's the third Wednesday of month - time for Wine Blogging Wednesday - and I get to discover that, yet again, I'm still lagging behind in my posts. Do I add another bottle to The List even though I'll be out of sync - after all that's the raison d'être of the blog - or do I skip a month of WBW? As tempting as "skipping class" might be, I'm hoping that WBW can get on a roll again and build on its participation rate. If I really want that to happen, I pretty much have to play my part and get that post in.

There's that - and then there's the fact that this month's host, 1WineDude, has proposed a great theme for WBW75: "Single's Night." As Joe Roberts, our host, points out the theme "does not mean that you should be drinking alone (not that there's anything necessarily wrong if you do...we're not judging you here) {Editor's note - "phew!"}; it means we're going to taste and talk about wines that come from single vineyards."

My choice of wineries for this post was a bit of a no-brainer. When it comes to BC wines, I think it's safe to say that single vineyard designations start and end with Sandhill. I don't think anyone in the BC wine industry could be more passionate about single vineyard wines than Howard Soon - Sandhill's Master Winemaker and all-around great guy. Heck, the headplate on the home page of their website proclaims "Single Vineyard Wines - One Distinct Vineyard. One Distinct Wine Experience."

Indeed, my problem was going to be what wine would I actually choose to write about. I took a quick look back on The List and I've added just over 20 Sandhill bottles to The List since I started. That may be the most wines added from any one winery. I think it clearly speaks to the quality of the wines Howard and company continuously produce at Sandhill. We wouldn't keep going back for more if he didn't keep delivering.

A native son of Vancouver, Howard actually started out as a brewmaster at Labatt's, one of Canada's big two national breweries. Apparently, it was a wine appreciation class - and cold Prairie winters - that prompted his crossing the dancefloor to the wine cellar. That was back in 1980 when Howard started with Calona Wines. During those 30-plus intervening years, Howard has seen a cataclysmic change in the BC wine industry - from the days of Canadian jug wine to one where a bottle of his 1994 Chardonnay became the first BC wine to win Gold at the Chardonnay du Monde competition in Paris.

Since Sandhill's first release in 1997, when Howard was the first BC winemaker to release a series of single vineyard wines, he has offered nothing but single vineyard wines. He has been quoted as stating that his goal has been to capture the "unique combination of geography, microclimate and human touch" and that the "commitment to purity of place is more difficult than blending." That "commitment" has resulted in a fine collection of awards and medals for his wines. Indeed, Howard and Sandhill experienced a banner year in 2009 when Wine Access magazine named Sandhill Winery of the Year at the Canadian Wine Awards - and, oh yeah, Sandhill also won Red Wine of the Year with its Small Lots Syrah and White Wine of the Year for its Viognier - both single vineyard wines, naturally.

The Sandhill estate vineyard was only planted between 1993 and 1994. Accordingly, winemakers and growers alike are still striving to detect specific vineyard expressions of terroir but Howard and his viticulturists have tweaked growing practices enough - from more water here and less water there to canopy maintenance and the yield of fruit - that they now feel that they have enough of an understanding of the vineyard subtleties to venture into single block wines. And that's where I transition to today's wine...

(# on The List to be determined) 2009 Sandhill Block C8 Merlot (VQA - Okanagan Valley)

Since the 2007 vintage, Howard and Sandhill have released a Merlot and a Chardonnay - as part of their Small Lots Program - sourced from single blocks in the estate's home vineyard that Howard has consistently identified as being notable for rich, concentrated and intensely flavoured grapes. Limited to a production of only five barrels, I was lucky enough to nab a couple of bottles at the recent Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival. Howard was serving the Single Block Merlot as one of his wines and it immediately grabbed my attention with its intense nose and incredible integration of young tannins and bright fruit. The Merlot was a definite standout among the 800 some-odd wines that were available for tasting from around the world.

The Playhouse Festival is rather unique in that a winery is not invited to participate unless it is prepared to send along one of the winery principals - be it owner, winemaker or head of sales - to interact with Joe and Jane Public. Accordingly, I had an opportunity to chat briefly with Howard. I told him that I was befuddled as to how winemakers are able to differentiate one grape from another in order to determine which fruit should be destined for the more premium wines. Despite facing a small crowd of folks anxiously awaiting a pour of wine at the Sandhill table, he took time to explain that he separately vinifies the grapes from each block from each vineyard and that, as they age, he can identify particular barrels of wine - from particular blocks - that are just that much more intense. He added that, over the years, you notice that certain sections of many vineyards tend to consistently deliver premium fruit - and, in some instances, those unique profiles merit a unique bottling of their own.

All this goodness can come with a price though. At $40 a bottle, the Block C8 Merlot is the most expensive wine released by Sandhill (along with the Small Lots Syrah). However, when you compare that to the $85 charged by La Stella, one of Sandhill's neighbours down the road, for its icon Merlot - Maestoso - the price seems a whole lot more palatable. Particularly when I believe this is truly one of the best expressions of Okanagan Valley Merlot you can find. That is, if you can find it.

With this 2009 vintage being a new release, I've probably opened it earlier than is optimal but I simply thought that this was the perfect choice for Single's Night at Wine Blogging Wednesday. Having tried it only a couple of weeks ago, however, I knew it was already drinking beautifully. I'm certainly glad we've still got one more bottle. I only wish we had even more.

I'll end with a big shout out to Joe and 1WineDude and for the effort he's put into hosting WBW75. I look forward to checking out the wines and stories that are being posted simultaneously - and to a rocking topic for Wine Blogging Wednesday 76.

Wine Blogging Wednesday 74 - Budget Bubbles

Despite the fact that my regular postings still haven't caught up to January's entry for Wine Blogging Wednesday 73, here it is the third Wednesday of the month and it's time for a WBW74 contribution. This month's confab for wine bloggers is being hosted by Tim Elliott at Winecast. His chosen topic du jour beckons everyone to look to the growing trend of consumers taking a shine to all wines bubbly and sparkly. The public is speaking and we're no longer limiting our bubble consumption to celebrations at weddings, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day.

As Tim points out, "sparkling wine is one of the most versatile at the table with styles to pair with nearly every dish. From bone dry to sweet, single variety to blend, sparkling wine is something we should all drink more of." Everyone has been asked to "pick a sparkling wine from any appellation, made from any grape but make sure it sells for $25 or less a bottle."

I don't think there's a wine that has branded itself as successfully as Champagne. When it comes to luxury and wine, not everyone will know what a First Growth Bordeaux is, but I'll bet you a bottle of Dom Perignon that almost everyone is aware of the allure of Champagne.

The thing is most people also understand that true Champagne generally costs a pretty penny. In the Vancouver market, Champagne seems to start at the $50-$60 mark. What those same people likely don't know is that, in order to be marketed as big "C" Champagne, a wine must be made in a traditional method and made in the small region of France that is actually called Champagne. The good news is that the world of bubble has expanded such that you can find sparkling wines, being made in both traditional and/or more mechanized and economical methods, from virtually all wine regions in the world.

And many of those wines can be as special as Champagne at a fraction of the price.

I have no doubt that WBW74's contributors will explore Spanish Cavas, French Crémants or Californian sparkling wines. I've even tried wines from South Africa and Hungary that use the méthode traditionelle - meaning that, after an initial period of ageing is complete, additional yeast is added and a secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle itself. That's how all those bubbles get in the bottle.

I'm going a slightly different route however. Neither of the bottles we popped the cork on were made in the traditional method. In fact, neither bottle actually even had a traditional cork. It just goes to show the variety of sparkling wines that are available nowadays.

1061. N.V. Evans & Tate - Zamphire (Margaret River - Australia)

Traditional Champagne must be made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes. Margaret River is often touted as the be all and end all of Australian Chardonnay regions and Evans & Tate is one of the foremost producers in the region. Accordingly, I had great hopes for this bottle when I saw it on our local wine shelves. I didn't find a whole lot of information about the wine but I did see that it is a non-vintage blend of around 60% Chardonnay and 40% Chenin Blanc. While Chenin Blanc could never be used in making Champagne, it is commonly used to make sparkling wines in the Loire region of France and also in South Africa. So, once again, there's good reason to hope for good things to flow from the bottle.

1062. 2010 8th Generation - Confidence (VQA Okanagan Valley)

On the other hand - or should I say, in the other glass - given BC's Northern climes, the Okanagan Valley and the bracing acidity commonly associated with our fruit is well suited to the making of sparkling wines. Indeed, a few of the early stars in the province's new wave of wine producers were maybe best known, at first, for their sparkling wines. Summerhill, Sumac Ridge and Blue Mountain were - and are still - celebrated for their bubbles.

It would have been easy to grab a bottle from one of those producers - especially since all of them still produce a sparkling wine for under $25 - but I decided to give 8th Generation and its take on producing a Prosecco-styled frizzanté wine a try, particularly since I was lucky enough to get a bottle when there were only 480 cases produced. Besides, I'd rather intended to open this bottle as a treat for Valentine's Day anyhow.

Both bottles are attractively - and novelly - packaged, but other than that, there isn't too much in common between them. As already mentioned, the Zamphire is a Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc blanc wine; the Confidence is a bright rosé made from mostly Pinot Noir (85% - I couldn't find reference to the remaining varietals but 8th Generation does make a Pinot Meunier Rosé as well). Zamphire is completely dry orbrut - with a noticeable toastiness or yeastiness showing - while the Confidence is all about strawberries with a healthy hint of sweetness showing through.

Naturally, two hallmarks of sparkling wines are the effervescence captured in the bottle and glass and the mousse or explosion of bubbles in the mouth. Although neither winery advertised the fact, it appears that both wines utilized a charmant method of production. That's where the wine is primarily aged in stainless steel fermentation tanks that are pressurized and where the wine sees a method of carbon injection much in the way that soda pop is made fizzy. As such, neither wine was particularly exciting as far as long lasting bubbles or overwhelming mouthfeel. If I had to pick, I'd give a bit of an edge to the Confidence on that front but I'll take a full on explosion in my mouth any day and I missed that with both wines.

I did read one online comment about the Zamphire that referred to the fact that there was a great deal of discussion about the innovative Zork resealable cork that was being used and very little talk about the wine in the bottle. As much as I'm a fan of Margaret River wines and of Evans & Tate, I have to admit that I likely wouldn't be quick to grab another bottle at its $20+ price tag.

I might be a little more generous when it comes to the 8th Generation though - despite the fact it costs an extra couple of bucks. I doubt it would ever replace my enjoyment of a good méthode traditionelle wine, but I could see it being a crowd pleaser with all its fruitiness. Too bad I likely wouldn't be able to find any when I wanted to buy it.

Having thought my way through this entry, I realized just how much there is to the vast topic that is sparkling wine. I certainly know that I barely scratched the surface. I'm hoping for a good turn out for today's WBW and I'm quite excited to see the different approaches taken to multitude of wines that are out their for discussion. Falling in sync, as it did, with Valentine's Day, Budget Bubbles is entirely appropriate. There are definite brownie points to be garnered by applying the money saved on the wine on chocolates and/or flowers.

Thanks to Tim and Winecast for hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday 74. Great topic. Cheers until we, hopefully, meet again next month.

Uncommon Denominators - Aligoté and Niagra

Time for another addition to my Wine Century Club list of varietals. Aligoté is a French varietal that, while well established, isn't seen all that much nowadays. What's interesting to me about this wine is that it's an Ontario wine that's being opened. Despite the fact that, the last time I checked, Ontario was still part of the same country as BC, we don't see many Ontario wines out west. As of 2011, there were 147 wineries in Ontario but there are only 21 wines from the province currently listed in the provincial BC liquor branch - and half of those listings are icewines.

British Columbians, on the whole, may not be in love with all things Ontario - especially not the Maple Leafs - but I'd personally be in favour of seeing more of their wines out here.

1049. 2007 Château des Charmes Aligoté (VQA Niagra-on-the-Lake - Ontario)

If you think that there's a paucity of Ontario wines in the BC liquor system, you might also consider the fact that there are only two Aligoté varietal wines available. Château des Charmes' version is no longer one of them. Accordingly, we weren't quite sure what to make of this wine but it exceeded any expectations that we might have had.

Aligoté is actually one of the two traditional white varietals grown in Burgundy. You might have heard of that other white grape, Chardonnay, and, as a result, Aligoté - like a poor cousin or understudy - tends to find itself hidden in the background. The varietal is commonly used in making the sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne and the varietal still wine is the customary wine that is mixed with Cassis liquer in French bistros to make Kir - certainly a summertime favourite of mine.

Known for its higher acidity and slightly herbal hint on the palate, Aligoté is clearly a secondary grape in Burgundy. Its plantings constitute only about 1/8th of the traditional white varietals planted in the region. It isn't seen all that regularly out of France either - although it apparently has a presence in Eastern Europe. And at least a bit of one in Ontario as well.

The back label on our bottle says that Château des Charmes' Aligoté is the only one produced in Canada. The winery, however, has been growing the grape since 1978. Back when the Canadian wine industry was just starting to grow out of its Baby Duck days, Château des Charmes was one of the first to establish itself on the estate winery model. It also started experimenting with classic Vinifera varietals that might be able to weather the Canadian winters. Château des Charmes felt that it found a winner with the Aligoté and they've stuck with it ever since. Winemaker, Paul Bosc, finds that "Aligoté can be a chameleon by exuberantly expressing its terroir."

Bosc played an integral part in those early experiments and he has an interesting past as well. His family has winemaking roots in France and Algeria and, prior to his arrival in Canada, he was the general manager of one of the largest and most successful wineries in Algeria. Bosc, like most Frenchmen, evacuated Algeria after a seven-year civil war resulted in France giving the country its independence in 1962. Following his arrival in Canada, he had a varied career in what comprised the Canadian wine industry of the day - until he help found Château des Charmes.

The winery is now one of the largest producers in Ontario, making around 70,000 cases of wine a year. It is particularly well known for its white wines which are perennial winners in various competitions. They were also on the cutting edge when they became one of the first wineries in Ontario to design and build a winery with visitors clearly in mind. Back in 1994, when the new winery was built, there was no Ontario Wine Road or wine tourism in place. They've played a major role in helping establish the industry that is in full swing today.

As for the Aligoté, I mentioned that we were pleasantly surprised. The wine expressed qualities similar to unoaked Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Canadian magazine, Wine Access, has gone as far to say that this Aligoté is "one of the most overlooked whites in Niagra." Both Boo and I thought it matched particularly well with our salmon.

All in all, I've got to be pretty pleased with this bottle. I get another wine for the Wine Century Club (I think I'm now around 115 or so); we have a rare opportunity to try an Ontario wine - and we got to thoroughly enjoy our wine for the evening.

Wine Blogging Wednesday 73 - Spark

I was a late arrival to Wine Blogging Wednesday. Indeed, my first post wasn't until WBW65 and the whole collective effort seemed to lose steam shortly thereafter. (I hope it wasn't something I said!) For those of you who aren't in the know, Wine Blogging Wednesday is an online wine gathering conceived over six years ago by a New York blogger, Lenn Thompson, as a monthly, virtual conclave. The concept is simple enough. It's been previously recapped as, "people interested in wine, the world over, would coalesce each month around a single theme." Each month, a different host blogger determines a topic for that month. Anyone interested submits their postings or e-mail comments to the coordinator. Those musings are then consolidated and shared.

After a hiatus of almost a year, The Corkdork has proposed a revival to get those juices flowing again. WBW73 was announced as "Spark" and The Corkdork urges us all to "revisit the wine that turned you on to the infinite wonder of the world of wine." One joy of Wine Blogging Wednesday is the variety of approaches that all the bloggers take. There may be one common topic, but the array of responses can astound. This time around, I'm breaking the mold myself.

I don't think I can "revisit the wine." I can, however, definitely connect with "Spark" as a theme.

Once people discover I'm a real wine fiend, I'm often asked, "What's you're favourite wine?" It can take some effort to convince them that I'm not avoiding the question when I reply that I don't really have a favourite wine. For me, the enjoyment found in a wine is more that just what's in the bottle. Rather, it's a mix of the story and romance behind the wine, the surroundings you find yourself in, the people you're sharing the wine and moment with and, of course, the liquid that's in the glass. That combination of factors is pretty much the raison d'être of my blog, but it's also the reason why I can't really pinpoint a specific wine.

As a means of answering that "What's your favourite wine" question, I'd been planning on posting a look back on five of my favourite memories where wine played a critical role in capturing the moment. My hope was that the post could show what a "favourite" wine might be for me. Today's WBW topic is a perfect opportunity. All five occasions happened before the start of this blog and, except for one exceedingly special wine, I can't even say what the specific wines were. They all show how wine plays an integral part in adding some "spark" to my life though.

Not surprisingly, one of our favourite drinking buddies, Miss Jaq, features prominently in this first reflection. Long before gay marriage was a reality in Canada, Boo and I had a commitment ceremony for friends and family. Miss Jaq was in Europe at the time and couldn't attend. She promised to make up for it with a special gift when we were scheduled to catch up with her in Amsterdam later that summer. Boy, did she deliver.

Miss Jaq treated us to an evening cruise of the Amsterdam canals. She was told that there was food and wine on the boat; so, we didn't have dinner beforehand. Little did we know that the food was a bit of processed cheese and crackers and that the wine was nothing to write home about. There was a red and a white on each table and that was all that was memorable about the wine. However, most of the tables weren't occupied and that made for a whole lot of opened wine that seemed to migrate from table to table.

We quickly got into the habit of kissing every time we passed under a bridge. If you've seen the Amsterdam canals, you know there's a bridge at the end of every block. That made for a lot of kissing - and all of those kisses were inevitably followed by a sip of wine. All the other tables quickly joined in on our bridge tradition and by the end of the cruise, we'd been drinking wine out of Miss Jaq's new designer shoes and there wasn't much wine left on any of the tables.

I guess it goes to show that you don't need a $50 bottle of wine to build a memory around.

On the other end to the scale though, there are some wines that can never be forgotten. I'd decided that my 50th birthday was going to be a low key affair - a few friends over to our place for cocktails in the garden and dinner at Pear Tree, our favourite restaurant in Vancouver. Another of our drinking buddies who's found throughout this blog, Tyrant, raided his substantial cellar to bring along his last bottle of 1982 Penfolds Grange, one of the icons of Australian wines. This wine I remember - not only because we don't often get the opportunity to drink a wine of this pedigree but because I still have the label as well. We tried a number of lovely wines that evening but the Grange stood out - even after close to 30 years in the bottle. It was as flavourful and sound as any wine you'd like to try and it still had a depth to it that very few wines can match. It's one wine that everyone at my birthday still reminisces about.

Australian Shiraz's have definitely played a big role in sparking my interest in wine, but while the next wine was enjoyed in Australia, if memory serves, it was a Tasmanian Pinot Noir. Back in 2002, Boo and I were lucky enough to fit in a short visit to Tasmania and perhaps our most memorable activity there was a day trip to Wineglass Bay. It was mid-week during the Australian spring and the Tassie tourist highlight wasn't all that busy - particularly once you got past the initial viewpoint. We only ran across one other pair of hikers that were willing to make the hour long trek from the viewpoint to the actual beach - and that was on our way back from the beach.

We took along a picnic lunch and had virtually the entire beach to ourselves. There was a small group of folks at the other end of the beach but they were still maybe a kilometre away from us. What more could you ask for? Your own private beach, a picnic and the aptly named Wineglass Bay. Any number of wines would have fit the occasion and provided a "spark."

Next up is another once in a lifetime sip with Miss Jaq. Boo and I visited her when she was working in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and we took a bit of weekend excursion with her to Liwa, an oasis town on the edge of the Saudi Arabian border, the Empty Quarter and the Arabian Desert. A little sparkling French Champagne (does it really matter which one?), endless dunes that hit heights of over 300 metres, a desert sunset and one of your best friends. That's what memories are made of.

My final "spark" involves twinkling lights as opposed to sparkling wine. Rome is the scene for this memory and, again, I couldn't hazard a guess as to the wine we enjoyed. I know it would have been Italian - after all, "When in Rome..." - but it could have been any red from anywhere in the country. Our hotel was located on the Aventine - one of the Seven Hills of Rome - and there was a deliciously named park, the Giardino deli Aranci (the Orange Garden) only a block or two away. The park offered a glorious panoramic view of the city centre and the Vatican, but it was decidedly quiet for Rome and we sat on the cliffside wall and toasted La Dolce Vita as the sun set and the city lights appeared.

And there you have it. No single "spark." I apologize for that, but life is, hopefully, full of memorable sparks - and, for me, there's often a glass of wine involved. I rather think it would be a little sad to only have "a favourite wine." After all, this blog is all about discovering the endless appeal of and approaches to wine. I might not have tried an actual bottle of wine to add to The List, but here's to having all sorts of favourite wines.

Hearty thanks to The Corkdork for coordinating another gathering of Wine Blogging Wednesday. I'm rather hyped about this potential start of a new run. To all the other bloggers and blog visitors out there, "May the spark be with you!" I hope to see you at WBW74.

WBW72- Cherry Blossoms & Earthquakes

In any given March, most thoughts of Japan popping into the minds of Vancouverites relate to cherry blossoms. Historically, the Japanese have had a wonderful influence in our city by the sea with the introduction of flowering cherry trees. Our Springs are dictated, to a large expense, by the arrival of these pretty pink flowers throughout the city.

Although the blossoms have arrived on schedule, almost all thoughts of Japan in Vancouver this Spring - like in the rest of the world - are related to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the Japanese coast and all the ongoing catastrophic events and stories that have followed.

I would never have foreseen working the Japanese tragedy into this blog; however, I see that a special request has been made by the gang at Wine Blogging Wednesday. Richard Auffrey at The Passionate Foodie is coordinating our next adventure and has charged us with Wine Blogging Wednesday 72 - Helping Japan. To be honest, I'm still rather behind in my own wine postings and have only just caught up to WBW70. I was thinking I might need to take a break from this next instalment before folks think I'm posting nothing but Wine Blogging Wednesday's. Guess April's topic put the kaibosh on that. The lucky thing for me was that Boo and I just happened to have enjoyed a Japanese meal the other night; so I had a ready-made posting.

Now, be forewarned, I know diddley squat about Sake - other than having enjoyed my fair share of it over the years with sushi. So, I won't pretend to go into any details about this particular style or any specifics about what might make this brand particular. I wouldn't know. I'm simply taking a few notes from the company's website and from a quick Google search. Indeed, "Sake" doesn't even show up in The Oxford Companion to Wine. The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (which coincidentally happens this week) always includes a couple producers, however. So, I'll go with them, count it as a "wine" and give the bottle a number on The List. (Well, at least I will when I catch up with my other postings.)

761. N.V. Momokawa Organic Ginjo Junmai Sake (* Japan - OOOOPS! NOT Japan - it's Oregon, OW! See Note at bottom of post.)

The origins of rice wine aren't clear; however, there has been literary reference of the drink for centuries in Japan. In many ways its production is more similar to the brewing of beer than it is to the making of wine. With wine, alcohol is produced by the fermentation of the natural sugars in the grape juice. With Sake and beer, however, the sugars to be converted into alcohol must first be generated by the conversion of starches - whether that starch be rice or grains. That being said, the making of Sake differs from beer in that the conversion of rice starches into sugar and sugar into alcohol happens in one single step instead of two separate procedures.

Although Sake has been traditionally Japanese, the production of Sake has actually been declining in Japan since the 1970's - just as production in other global areas (including one producer in Vancouver) has been growing and as production methods have been steadily improving.

The Momokawa is indicative of some forward thinking in that the production of this Sake is certified organic all the way from the rice paddies through the brewing process - moving the product along with the green revolution, just as many wines are currently being branded as organic and biodynamic.

Regulars to this blog know that I don't dwell on tasting notes of the wines that we drink. So, I'm certainly not going to try that with the this Sake. I know that there are varying styles of Sake now available; however, suffice it to say that it seemed pretty much like most of the Sake I've knocked down in the past. There was enough of a fruitiness and slight sweetness that I had no problem finishing off my little bottle. I am glad, however, that I limited it to one bottle because, at 14.5% alcohol, she packs a bit of a punch.

Boo, on the other hand, just doesn't care for Sake. Even in restaurants, he'll always order some alternative beverage. I offered him a glass and, not surprisingly, he declined. I'd rather expected that, so I pulled out another little Japanese treat that I know he's enjoyed in the past - Shochu.

Tanaka Moonlight Premium Shochu

Seen by many as a cross between Sake and Vodka, Shochu also has a long history in Japan. Being a distilled alcohol, I'd never expected or planned to give this bottle a number and add it to The List. But, I do have a slight "problem" with this bottle - and this being a posting on Japan - in that, despite the brand name "Tanaka," this Shochu is distilled in Vietnam. I hadn't noticed the tiny print on the back label - until I took a look at it for this blog entry. I'd just assumed, back in the store, that it was Japanese.

Oh well, the drink is still native to Japan and promotional materials for the product online refer to it as a "Japanese-style" drink. Typically distilled from barley, sweet potato or rice, the Moonlight uses a grain base and has a clean, fragrant taste that has a mild hint of sweetness. Served on the rocks, it's a different take on a vodka martini. The only other time we'd tried it, it was served neat in a sushi restaurant in NYC. I believe that bottle was distilled from sweet potato because it had that distinct flavour and prompted me to look for an elusive bottle back home here.

Once seen as the Japanese equivalent of moonshine, Shochu has seen a big boost in popularity in the last decade - both in Japan and abroad - and it has even led to a shortage of sweet potatoes. Apparently, the drink has become trendy among young, hip Japanese drinkers, particularly women, as it is seen as stronger than wine or beer but weaker than spirits. Its resurgence in popularity is sometimes seen as stemming from a claim by Japan's oldest living man, allegedly 120 years of age at the time, whereby he proclaimed the healthy benefits of Shochu and revealed that he made it a part of his daily dietary regime.

We won't be drinking either Shochu or Sake on such a regular basis; however, there's little doubt that they pair up nicely with Japanese inspired cuisine.

As a final request to this month's WBW bloggers, Richard has requested that we add a link to the Canadian Red Cross (or American Red Cross as the case may be) as an easy prompt for all of our readers to make a donation - large or small - to help out with the humanitarian aid efforts continuing in Japan. If every one of us donates even the costs of one bottle of wine - or Sake - to the cause, it's bound to make some difference.

My thanks to everyone participating in WBW72's aid drive and to The Passionate Foodie for hosting this month's theme. Here's hoping that next year's cherry blossoms will find Japan in much safer, happier and healthier state of being.

* Editor's Note - After I'd finished my entry for WBW72, this month's host, Richard Auffrey, wrote me back and politely let me know that this Sake is made in Oregon. Sure enough, when I actually looked at the bottle, my face went a brighter shade of pink/red than the cherry blossoms. Such embarrassment - an American Sake and a Vietnamese Shochu. I suppose I am going to have to read all labels like I read wine labels. I shall now retreat to atone for my shame and contemplate hari kiri.

A Different Take on Northern Rhones - WBW71

It would seem that I had a jones for Rhone varietals - particularly the reds - long before I ever knew what they were. Even thirty some odd years ago when I'd just started buying wine (I started at a very young age), I remember thinking that $5 Cotes du Rhone was the wine to grab if I wanted to look for a special event wine.

Many years later, when I'd graduated from homebrew to decent wines, the primary wine of choice was inevitably an Aussie Shiraz.

Even today, despite the fact that I lead a far more balanced life of wine, I still find myself reaching for Rhone varietals - be they called Syrah, Shiraz, Grenache, Garnacha, Mourvedre, Monastrell, even Mataro - or blends thereof. Accordingly, I was pleased to see this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday topic as suggested by Tim Elliott at Winecast. "Rhones Not From the Rhone" is something that I can really wrap my tongue around - despite the fact that participating in WBW71 is going to confuse the addition of wines to The List (the raison d'etre for this blog) even more, seeing as how I haven't even caught up to the wines we've finished prior to WBW70.

It will be worth it though as Boo and I probably have more Shiraz and/or Syrah in our "cellar" than any other single varietal and, if you add in all the new Mourvedre or Grenache wines showing up on the shelves - not to mention the blends - I could stay a happy man for some time on a desert island.

I figured we'd invite the lovely and talented Elzee over for dinner and pop a couple corks. It's particularly nice that I can work another two Okanagan Valley wines into WBW.

Most people probably think hot climate when they muse about Rhone varietals and I doubt many of those folks think Canada's Great White North as being up to that climate call. It's with great personal pleasure, however, that I can say the Okanagan is proving to be a fine source of Syrah. Our weather may not push quite enough heat units to ever be a force when it comes to Grenache or Mourvedre - although just this weekend I did try a pre-release sample of the first GSM to ever be produced in BC (Red Rooster's Golden Egg - watch for it in postings to come) - but Syrah is another thing. Indeed, it is now the fourth most planted red varietal in BC.

The Okanagan's ability to produce a fine Syrah was likely best advertised by the fact that, back in 2006, it was the region's Jackson-Triggs 2004 Proprietor's Grand Reserve that won the Rosemount Estate Trophy for the best Shiraz/Syrah at the prestigious London International Wine & Spirits Competition. It was the first time that a North American Syrah won the trophy that had previously been monopolized by Australian and South African wineries. The rumour around these parts was that the judges had gone into the competition thinking they'd award an Aussie producer that was pulling back on some of the aggressive, big fruit that the Aussies had made their name on. Funny thing was that the wine they picked as displaying that blend of Old and New World was actually from Canada.

Unfortunately, I don't have any of that wine hanging around. As soon as the trophy was awarded, that vintage disappeared from any shelves I ever perused. I do, however, have the following:

754. 2006 Church & State - Coyote Bowl Syrah (VQA Okanagan Valley)

This wine may not have won the Rosemount Trophy but it didn't do too badly on its own. In 2009, it won Double Gold at the Wine Press NorthWest annual competition and was awarded an elusive Lieutenant Governor's Wine Award - one of only twelve wines to be chosen in any given year out of all the wine produced in BC. Both dense and intense, with a gorgeous bouquet, it was nicely balanced, without being over the top on any front.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by the pedigree of the wine. Bill Dyer, the ex-Napa and long time Okanagan winemaker and consultant, had joined up with the team at Church & State in 2004 and he was now showing his firm hand in the rebuilding of the winery. Anyone familiar with BC wine will recognize his name as being the winemaker that helped establish Burrowing Owl as one of the early cult wineries (such as we may have them) in the province.

As is the case with many other wine regions, Viognier is becoming a bit of a favourite in the Okanagan. It is now the seventh most planted white varietal in the province and production is increasing with every passing year. There were a couple of BC prize-winning Viogniers that I could have opened, but I thought I'd go in a different direction and try the only Okanagan wine that I know of that features two of the other stalwart white Rhone varietals.

755. 2009 Twisted Tree Rousanne/Marsanne (VQA Okanagan Valley)

When Twisted Tree replanted the old tree fruit farm with vines, they wanted to take a stab at growing varietals that weren't so common in the Valley. In addition to Tempranillo and Tannat, they planted the three principal white Rhone grapes - despite the fact that very few of their future customers would have ever heard of Rousanne or Marsanne. Indeed, even though I've heard of the two grapes, I can't say as I have much of an experience with or knowledge of them. None of our dinner gang knew what to expect. So, I actually pulled out Jancis Robinson and the Oxford Companion to Wine and read aloud during our initial sips.

We were all pleasantly surprised with the wine. The vines are still young - only in their fifth leaf for this vintage - but they were already producing a nice full wine with plenty of stone fruit and minerality. I saw that 12% of the wine was aged for four months in American oak and, although you could notice the oak, it was nicely integrated. Thankfully, for my taste, there was no hint of an overpowering oak monster making an appearance.

The only problem with the wine is that there were only 387 cases of it made. Good thing no one knows what to make of it because I think there is still some available if you look hard enough.

Thanks to Tim for a fun topic. I'll look forward to seeing where everyone else gets their Rhone on.

I'm Still Here. Honestly.

A couple of regular readers - yes, I guess there are at least one or two - have asked why I haven't posted anything since Wine Blogging Wednesday 70. Indeed, the wording was more like, "What, are you on the wagon? I'm tired of seeing nothing recent; why don't you get your act in gear and post something?" Well, actually, I have been posting away. It's just that all the entries had been started before my toast to WBW70 and, accordingly, they show up with an earlier "publishing date."

I just felt it was more important to participate in Wine Blogging Wednesday than it was to wait until I caught up with everything.

As a result, it means that, until I get around to posting a post-Feb. 16 wine, (and I still have about another 25-30 wines to go), you have to scroll down past WBW70 and its Spanish tribute.

If it's any consolation, I think WBW70 turned out to be a triumphant re-appearance of an old friend. 45 bloggers participated - from 11 different countries - and 62 wines were tasted and reported on. I highly recommend anyone, who is interested in Spanish wines, check out the fine recap prepared by the host blog, Catavino, and the various postings for the participating bloggers.

My next problem, of course, is going to be that a call has been put out for WBW71 and it's a neat topic as well: Rhone Varietals, But Not From the Rhone. I better do some serious catching up or no one will ever thinking I'm posting anything new.

Best get to it, I guess. Later...

Ole! Wine Blogging Wednesday is Back!

I was late discovering Wine Blogging Wednesday - the online wine gathering conceived over six years ago by a New York blogger, Lenn Thompson, as a monthly, virtual conclave. The concept is simple enough. It's been previously recapped as, "people interested in wine, the world over, would coalesce each month around a single theme." Each month, a different host blogger determines a topic for that month. Anyone interested submits their postings or e-mail comments to the coordinator. Those musings are then consolidated and shared.

WBW had already been around for five years before I stumbled across it while surfing. I'd only participated a whopping three times before WBW seemed to lose its steam. WBW69 saw everyone revel in the Grenache varietal. Then it simply disappeared.

So, it was with great enthusiasm that I discovered that Gabriella and Ryan Opaz, of the Catavino blog, after liaising with Lenn, announced that they were going to host WBW70 and take a chance that there'd be enough interest to resurrect one of the web's longest running online wine events. They've called upon everyone to "seek out Spanish wines that you've never had before," to be creative and to "hunt for unique styles" and "unheard of regions."

My only "problem" is that I am way behind on my postings for the bottles that we've already emptied but that I haven't added to The List - that List more-or-less being the raison d'etre of this blog. Oh well. I'll just have to take a bit of a leap over those three or four dozen wines that are patiently waiting to be posted and work my way up to giving these bottles an actual number on The List. Unfortunately, it's not the first time that's happened. (Editor's Note: I've finally caught up with those earlier wines and I'm now amended this post to give the WBW wines their numbers on The List. Phew!)

As for Spain and the task at hand, you can't seem to pick a more topical theme than that for a wine-lover nowadays. I'm not sure that I'd say the Vancouver market is flush with unique styles and unheard regions, but we are seeing more and more Spanish offerings on the local shelves - and everyone's biggest drawing point is that there's plenty of bang for buck. Indeed, we had some fun trying some of the local offerings when Spain won our World Cup of Wine last summer.

In a way, though, WBW70's Spanish adventure may be a tad early for us Vancouver types. At the end of March, the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is happening and this year's featured region is Spain. We'll be awash with dozens of Spanish wineries and hundreds of their wines. But, that'll be then, this is now.

I decided to go with three wines for this posting and ended up trying wines from three different regions. Not normally being one for three bottles in one night, we needed to make a bit of an event to accomplish this feat. Boo and I managed to coerce Mr. D. to join us for dinner and we opened a different bottle for each course.

725. 2006 Marques de Gelida Brut Exclusive Reserva (D.O. Cava - Spain)

Paired up with some Manchego and Gran Capitan cheeses, assorted olives and serrano ham, we started the evening off with some bubble. I wanted to try something other than the Freixinet or Cordoniu Cava's that tend to dominate our bottle shop shelves, but I'd always shied away from this particular wine previously because I thought the bottle was maybe a little too gimmicky - what with the shrink wrap and all. I needn't have been wary.

Marques de Gelida is found in Penedes, part of the Catalonia region in North-East Spain and the traditional home of Cava production. Although the Cava denomination is a little quirky in that it is the only Spanish D.O. that isn't necessarily tied to one region. So long as the D.O. regulations are followed - in particular, that the traditional method of making sparkling wines (Methode Champenoise) and the permitted grapes are used - Cava can be made in a number of regions in the country. That being said, 95% of all Cava is still made in Penedes.

This Marques de Gelida Cava (they have a number of them) uses the three original varietals - Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada - but it also adds some Chardonnay, now that the latter varietal has been allowed since 1986. Aged 3 years in order to merit the "Reserva" label, the wine didn't have the most exciting of mousses or endless bubbles, but it did have a much brighter palate of lively fruit than we'd expected. Boo is not one for yeasty, biscuity sparklers. So, this was more up his alley and all three of thought it'd be worth grabbing another bottle down the road.

726. 2005 Bodegas Abadia Retuerta Rivola Sardon de Duero (Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon - Spain)

I figured we'd try making paella for the first time. Having made my fair share of jambalaya over the years, I thought what the heck. Our main course red was one Mr. D and I picked up the other night on the recommendation of one of the sommeliers at an Everything Wine tasting. There was no doubt here; we had another hit in our glasses. I'd never run across the winery before but it appears to be making quite a name for itself as an up and comer among Spanish producers.

Only founded in 1996, the winery consists of 1700 acres in the North central part of Spain - spaced out over 54 separate blocks - it's also the home of a 12th Century Romanesque monastery. Indeed, local records from the 1600's show that the resident monks of the day produced 125,000 litres of wine and monopolized the regional market. The estate is located just outside the boundaries of the prestigious D.O. Ribera del Duero and, therefore, is required to produce all of its wine under the "Vino de la Tierra" denomination - much like Vins de Pays wines in France or IGT wines in Italy. Regardless of the denomination - or lack thereof - Abadia Retuerta is located on the region's "Golden Mile," a strip of influential wine estates along the Duero River. The winery is happy to point out that Spanish superstar, Vega Sicilia, is only two miles or so down the road.

The Rivola is a 60/40 blend of Tempranillo and Cab Sauv and we were pleasantly surprised by the heft and structure we found for a Spanish Tempranillo. We figured that it could easily pass for a Bordeaux blend of nice pedigree. At $33 in our market (high I know), it still comes across as a good value.

727. N.V. Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 (D.O. Montilla Moriles - Spain) (375ml)

I'm not so sure that we needed the creme brulee because this fortified wine could easily have been dessert by itself. With this bottle, we've moved down to the South and to Andulucia. Not for everyone, it's thick and unctuous but this PX (as it's also known) hits the spot for a "sticky" lover like me. Once again, I didn't know what I was buying when I picked up this half-bottle some time ago while in Seattle. It turns out that Alvear is the oldest producer of wines and sherries in Montilla Moriles.

The wine is made from 100% Pedro Jimenez and the dark amber colour belies the white grape varietal that is its origin. The varietal is an early ripener that likes the heat of Andalucia and the grapes are very high in sugars. Once harvested, the grapes are left to dry in the sun until they're raisined. The juice that is pressed, therefore, starts concentrated and rich and the winemaker needs to add grape alcohol during fermentation to preserve sweetness and prevent too much conversion of the sugars into even higher alcohol levels.

The wine is then added into a solera system - the production method that is generally reserved for sherry. The key concept of a solera is fractional blending - a solera being the collection of barrels used in the process and it sees a mixing of the barrels such that a portion of the wines produced over each of the years makes it into the finished product. The "1927" contained in this wine's name refers to the year in which the solera was initially started. There won't be much of that vintage left in the solera, but there will be some and the longevity of the blend can't help but add to the complexity of the wine.

You don't need a lot of it, but, if you like some pure sweetness at the end of a meal, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything sweeter. I'd say we were three for three on our bottles - and I celebrated a further benefit. I get to add the Pedro Jimenez varietal to my application for the Wine Century Club. I'm getting up there now.

All in all, a good night. So, welcome back WBW. Here's my hope that you stick around for another 70 (or more) editions. Now, if only I can get caught up on The List before WBW71 comes around.