'Twas the Night Before Bloggers

While Boo needed to trundle home to Vancouver, I shuffled off (kinda close) to Buffalo. The 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference was about to get underway in the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. Needing to be in Corning by mid-day Wednesday, I made my way from NYC - by bus none-the-less (no planes or trains and I didn't have an automobile) - and spent the balance of Tuesday getting acclimated to Corning with a night on the town.

No sooner had I settled into the Conference hotel then I ran into blogging buddies from past Conferences, Peter and Nancy Bourget - better known as the bons vivant behind the Pull That Cork blog. Feeling the need for some nourishment - and, of all things - a glass of wine, we toured Corning's main drag and happened upon the delightful restaurant/bar, Hand + Foot. Not only did the vibe call out to us but the cozy hideaway was made all the more enticing by the little poster in the window announcing that they were featuring wines especially for visiting wine bloggers. How could we pass them by?

After striking up a full-out wine nerd conversation with one of the owners and the bartender du jour, we took them up on one of the bar's current faves.

1972.  2014 Getariako Txakolina Ameztoi (Getariako Txakolina D.O. - Spain)

So the story goes, this wine is called Txakoli and the additional letters on Txakolina translate to "the Txakoli." Ameztoi is the producer and is one of the biggest fish in a small pond when it comes to Txakoli. The wine has been largely made for home consumption, in the Basque region of Spain, until the 1980's when a few districts and varieties achieved Denominación de Origen (or appellation) status. Txakoli wines are primarily produced as white wines but there are also red versions and, as we discovered here, a few Rosés as well.

Txakoli whites are made from the Hondarribi Zuri grape and they are known to exhibit a slightly chalky, minerally with citrus notes and a noticeable spritz or light fizz to them. They are made to be drunk while young and fresh. This Ameztoi Rosé is similar in profile but is a bit bolder with a 50/50 blend of Hondarribi Zuri and its red counterpart, Hondarribi Beltza.

I was particularly gung ho to try the wine, thinking that I was going to add two new grapes to my Wine Century Club tally. After all, Hondarribi anything was as foreign a sounding grape as I could remember running across. Hondarrabi Zuri is apparently also known as Crouchen and learning that surprised the hell out of me because we actually drank a bottle of Crouchen (blended with Riesling) a couple of years back when Boo and I were touring wine country in Australia. I'd have never guessed that I'd already added Hondarribi Zuri to my tally as Crouchen. Go figure.

Luckily, I still get to add the red grape, Hondarribi Beltza to my tally as grape #196. While the white grape seems to have travelled a bit - if only to Australia in small amounts - Jancis Robinson reports, in her tome Wine Grapes, that the red Beltza is extremely rare and isn't found in many vineyards outside of Basque country. She notes that it reminds some of Cabernet Franc when made into a full red.

Eric Asimov wrote in the New York Times that "the vast proportion of Txakolina is consumed in Basque country. You find it virtually nowhere else in Spain, except in Basque restaurants, and very little is exported around he world, with one major exception: the United States." Mr. Asimov also reported that the Ameztoi family only started making the Rosé in the last decade but they find that the local population has no affinity for this different take on the wine and almost all of the winery's Rosé is shipped to New York.

Txakoli traditionally accompanies Basque snacks like anchovies and preserved tuna. I'm not so sure it was the best of fits for my incredibly rich pulled pork, grilled cheese sandwich. But the sandwich was so good, I likely could have drunk the bar's dishwater and still been sated.

1973.  2012 Királyudvar Tokaji Furmint Sec (Hungary)

Being the experienced drinkers that we were, we decided - after a little bit of discussion - that we just might be able to handle a second bottle before calling it a night. We stayed on the wine trail less travelled and ordered a dry Tokaj. I'm not all that familiar with Tokaj wines - primarily because they aren't that common in our Vancouver market but also because they're often found only as high end dessert wines that come in at a pretty penny - but, unlike the Txakoli, at least I knew of them.

Királyudvar is an historic estate in Hungary. The name translates to "Kings Court" but the estate had lost much of its glory until an American businessman, Tony Kwang, purchased it in 1997. The tale goes that Mr. Kwang was visiting Budapest and tried a "6 puttonyos" Tokaji Aszú dessert wine that made such an impression that he travelled 200 kilometres the next day where he discovered Királyudvar, purchasing it a couple of months later. He has since embarked on a modernization of the winery that also included the introduction of biodynamic farming to the estate.

As mentioned, Tokaj wines are probably best known as dessert wines, in large part because the local Furmint and Hárslevelu grapes are susceptible to the botrytis rot, as are the world renowned Sauternes wines of Bordeaux. As such, the promise of a dry Furmint was an intriguing option.

Similarly to the recent introduction of the Ameztoi Rosé, this dry version of a Tokaj was only proposed as a new innovation for the winery in 2005. Indeed, it is still sees a relatively limited production in that only 2000 cases made in 2012.

A blend of 85% Furmint and 15% Hárslevelu, I found the Királyudvar to be more enjoyable to my palate that the Txakoli. And, more than that, these actually are two new grapes to add to my Wine Century Club tally - numbers 197 and 198. I'm getting so achingly close to 200 that I might even reach my Doppel membership before we knock back the 2001st wine on The List. Furmint and its offspring, Hárslevelu, are grown mostly in Hungary where they are believed to have originated from; however, they have travelled somewhat around Central Europe, to neighbouring countries like Austria, Slovakia, Croatia and Romania. The two even found their way, as a pair, to South Africa.

This little venture on the town in Corning certainly proved that there's a whole world of wine out there to be discovered.

I've since read that Txakoli is often "poured in an exuberant arc from a bottle held high above the shoulder into tumblers to create a bust of bubbles in the glass." Such an experience was not our's but I think my excitement at getting another three grape varieties to add to my Wine Century Club tally more than made up for the lost opportunity for a show. Besides I think there'll be plenty of show to come with Mr. and Ms. Pull That Cork - and all the other bloggers - over the next couple of days.

A Virtual Visit to the Veneto

As I've written previously in a couple of posts, I've come to know some of the wines Monte del Frá at the last so many Vancouver International Wine Festivals. If you attend the Festival Tasting Room (and its hundreds of wineries and wines), you may very well catch me this winery table as I inevitably check in to catch up with the winery's local reps, Ricardo and Lucila, and the winery's gracious owner, Marica Bonomo.

1959.  2012 Monte del Frá - Cà del Magro (Custoza Superiore DOC - Italy)

The Cà del Magro has found particular favour with local palates in that, in some ways, the wine mirrors some of BC's white blends. A blend of eight grapes, to my palate, this is definitely a case where the sum of the blends is far more interesting than the individual varietal wines. There's a richness that might be enhanced by the fact that some of the base wine is aged sûr lie (on its spent yeast cells that often adds depth and creaminess); yet, there's a freshness and fruitiness that I often don't find with the more commercial Italian whites I see in our market.

Different region. Different grapes. Similar refreshing - but with substance and flavour - sip.

While eight different grapes go into the final blend, Garanega provides the backbone of the blend at 40%. The balance is made from Trebbiano Toscano, Tocai Friulano, Cortese, Chardonnay, Riesling Italico, Malvasia and Incrocio Manzoni. This last grape seems to have escaped my Wine Century Club tally thus far. So I get to add this rare-ish variety in my stretch drive run to hit 200 different grapes. Incrocio Manzoni is apparently grown only in the province of Treviso in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The grape is primarily used in blends and is generally found to add a slight herbaceous tint to the wine. It can also add an aroma that is reminiscent of red and black fruit as the Cab Sauv grape is one of its parents (the Prosecco grape is the other component to the cross). There may have only been 418 acres of the grape planted in Italy in the 2000 agricultural census (according to Jancis Robinson's Wine Grapes tome) but I'm glad to be able to add #195.

After this tasty sip, I'm thinking we'd best start working on a visit to the Veneto. Boo and I were lucky enough to spend an extended weekend in Venice some years back but we didn't get a chance to roam around the neighbouring areas and take in some of the wineries. That needs to be remedied.

Wandering Whistler

I think I'll blame our early demise last night on a busy week and the altitude here in the mountains. I couldn't possibly fathom any other reason for why we all headed off to bed around 10 pm. After all, no one else - other than old people - goes to bed at 10 pm while spending a weekend in a resort noted for après ski and always-ready-to-party Aussies?

I'm afraid our basic demeanour didn't automatically jump into a higher gear come the morning either. We did, however, take a grand walking tour around the resort, noting of course that Boo fit right in with the whole bear country vibe.

Our little tour - and our major stop and pig out at Pure Bread Whistler (can there possibly be a tastier bakery in BC?) - required a little side trip to the liquor store. We'd brought along a good selection of wine for the weekend, but I'd discovered, during some morning surfing, that it was Internation Gin Day.

How could we pass on that?! This may be a wine blog but Boo and I are equal opportunity drinkers and martinis are very much a part of our neighbourhood diet.

While perusing the Gin selection in the Whistler bottle shop, I ran across Boodles Gin - one that I've never seen before and I've seen a fair share of Gin in my life. We hunted down some olives and a lime and thanked our lucky stars that I happened to have a set of olive picks in my knapsack.

I guess those "Always Be Prepared" days as a Scout may just have paid off.

Cocktails morphed into wine and cheese and our little balcony proved to be quite handy.

1935.  2011 Familia Zuccardi - Tito (Uco Valley - Mendoza - Argentina)

Little did we know when we grabbed this bottle for the weekend that it was going to be as darn right tasty as it was. Big and juicy, the Tito is a blend of two-thirds Malbec with the balance pretty much split between Cab Sauv and Ancellotta. The last of the three is a grape that originated in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy where its deep, dark colour is popularly used to add colour to lighter blends. I didn't find any information online talking about what the winery believes the Ancellotta brings to the table, but I'm going to keep my eye open for more wines with Ancellotta if they all taste like this one. If you're one for dark, rich fruit with soft tannins, this may just just the wine for you.

It might not be too much of a surprise that we all liked this wine as much as we did. The Zuccardi family - now in its third generation at the winery - makes the wine, as part of its Icon range, to honour the winery's patriarch, Alberto (known to everyone as Tito). I tend to find that, when a winemaker names a wine after a grandparent, there's usually something special to that wine.

We were glad to have the opportunity to enjoy it as much as we did with Miss Jaq - because she's about as tasty a friend as we have.

Unfortunately, that bottle of Tito disappeared far too quickly. The mood was set though. The four of us headed over to one of Boo's and my favourite spots in Whistler - The Mallard Bar at the Chateau Whistler - and we all lounged over the view and our cocktails long enough that we rather forgot about dinner until Miss Jaq and Tanta Luce decided they were too far past needing anything further.

There just happened to be some bakery treats still leftover from Pure Bread back in the suite and they were just as delicious as they looked when we couldn't decide which items to buy over the others.

We may well have still been tired and maybe went to bed almost as early as last night but, at least, we'd put a good day of drinking behind us today.

And, to top things off, I get to add another grape variety to my Wine Century Club tally. Ancellota takes me up to #194. And that'll bring a smile to any day for me.

Now to find some another couple bottles of Tito.

Big Finish For a Wild & Wacky Week

It would seem that this bottle will our last stop on this Wild & Wacky Wine Week that I had going. It's been quite the ride with introductions to Jacquère, Grechetto, Drupeggio, Malvasia Bianco, Verdello, Mavrud, Teroldego, Callet and Manto Negro but they say "all good things must come to an end" and tonight's grapes will likely be the last stop on this train for awhile.

And where else would you stop to find some offbeat and intriguing grapes but Portugal? With over 250 different indigenous varieties in its vast array of grapes, Portugal is a helluva place to start if you're looking to join the Wine Century Club.

1917.  2011 Niepoort Diálogo - Douro Branco Snow (Portugal)

When I picked up this bottle, I hadn't realized what a find it was on the new grape front. Notes for the wine, however, says that grape varieties used in making the Branco Snow include Rabigato, Côdega do Larinho, Gouveio, Dona Branca, Viosinho, Bical and others. That bodes well for a hefty score on the Wine Century Club tally as I try to complete my second century of grapes. The only thing with some of these more indigenous varieties is that they're often found by more than one name. So, it takes a bit of workout to make my way through Jancis Robinson, et al's, encyclopedic Wine Grapes and check all the various names against my own list.

I'm tickled to say that I get to add another five new varieties. Out of the six grapes listed, I had previously sipped on and added Gouveio under another of its names, Godello. In my books, five for six isn't so bad though.

There wasn't much to find on the five new grapes but Jancis and friends pointed out a few facts that I've latched on to:

• Rabigato - almost exclusively found in the Douro in northern Portugal and is rarely used to make a varietal wine.  Rabigato is favoured for blending particularly because of propensity for high acid levels.

• Côdega do Larinho - primarily noted for intense aromas of tropical fruit but, opposite to the Rabigato, can be rather low in acidity.

• Dona Branca - or "White Lady" in Portuguese - has, confusingly, been used for a number of distinct varieties in Portugal but there is a genetically distinct grape grown under this name in the northern part of the country where it produces "soft, fruity wines without any great distinction."

• Viosinho - is a relatively rare variety. It is also found almost exclusively in the Douro region; however, unlike some of the other grapes mentioned, Viosinho is well thought of as a quality grape that has good potential for quality wines - even so far as to having been referred to as the Portuguese Sauvignon Blanc. The biggest issues limiting that undeveloped potential is that it the grape is known for low yields and for being susceptible to oxidation.

• Bical - is found perhaps a bit more extensively in Portugal as it is recognized in a number of appellations and is known mostly as an aromatic, early-ripening grape.

Being a blend, I can't really comment on the individuality of the different grapes employed. I don't even know if the characteristics of one grape stood out more than another's, but I presume this should be a case of the whole tasting better than any of the component parts. The winery has prepared a great little tech sheet on the wine and it points out that 25% of the wine sees some aging in French oak and that all of the wine - whether aged in oak or stainless steel - has contact with fine lees (or spent yeast cells). I'm inclined to associate oak and lees to fullness in body and to some longevity in the wine's life but I think this one is better drunk when fresh. We just opened the 2011 vintage - and I see that it's still the current vintage in our government stores - but I wouldn't say that I found much in the way of fruit or acidity on the palate.

On the flip-side, the winery tasting notes talk of a "very long and salty aftertaste." I didn't notice that either but I think I'm just as glad to have missed the salt.

Diálogo sports a whimsical label that, according to an article of Jancis Robinson, is different in every country to which the wine is exported. That's got to take some dedication by the marketing department.

I see that Niepoort produces a red Diálogo as well.  I may need to source some out should I find myself in the throws of another Wild & Wacky Wine Week. In the mean time though, Wine Grapes goes back on the shelf. I celebrate five new grapes for the Wine Century Club (taking me to 193) and I get to put some thought into the final 80 some odd wines I need to reach #2001.

A Bulgarian "Amarone"

Next stop on this Wild & Wacky Wine Week: Eastern Europe and an indigenous grape being vinified in not-so-local way.

1916.  2011 Zagreus - Vinica (Bulgaria)

There definitely isn't much in the way of Bulgarian wine in the Vancouver market. So, this was a very intriguing find when I ran across Vinica at one of the local, government wineshops. Just the premise of this wine was enough to get me to throw down some cash. I did, however, have to hit the net to find out anything about the wine than the fact that the back label states that the wine is made from semi-dried grapes.

Although wine has been made in the region since Thracian times, the Zagreus winery only made its appearance on the scene recently. It's first sales were only date from 2007 but the winery is setting up its corporate structure so that it can try to expand the national wine scene on an international scale. A trade article I ran across reports that Zagreus has already ventured into foreign markets such as Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Slovakia, Japan, the UK, China and Canada and that it has committed to a "persistent exploration of the traditional Bulgarian Mavrud variety and its possibilities."

I didn't come across a whole lot of writing about the Mavrud grape - even the entry in Jancis Robinson (et al)'s Wine Grapes was rather limited. It is the oldest indigenous variety of grape found in Bulgaria but it doesn't appear that the grape is grown anywhere except in Bulgaria and, even at that, it is now largely blended with more international grapes like Cab Sauv or Merlot. Part of that limited production is likely related to the fact that Mavrud can be a difficult grape to work with as it is late to ripen and the vines can suffer from cold winters.

The winery, however, has introduced six varietal wines all made from the red Mavrud grape: a white wine, a rosé, three 100% varietal wines made in different ways and the wine I ran into. Vinica is also made from 100% Mavrud.  I find that interesting on its own - especially since I get to add #188 to my Wine Century Club tally - but, on top of that, the wine is made in an Amarone style and I do love my Amarone.

In the Amarone tradition, the grapes are dried outdoors for two to three months on racks before fermentation in order to allow about a third of the the grape's weight to evaporate, thereby concentrating the flavours and softening the sugars. The wine is then aged in new Bulgarian oak.

Boo and I rather enjoyed it. I found it to be more substantial than a Ripasso-styled wine but the $25 price tag was certainly more in line with a Ripasso than with its big brother Amarone.

It was also surprising to me that finding information on the winery - while not extensive - was relatively easy. Indeed, an article by none other than Jancis Robinson was a great little introduction to Zagreus in itself.

One of the interesting tidbits I read stated that the name comes from Greek mythology and the fact that Zagreus was identified with Dionysus or Bacchus, the god of wine. Apparently, there is a cave, found near to the winery, that was dedicated to the wine god. The naming of the winery was a tip of the hat to that part of winemaking history in the region.

I figure any connection to Dionysus or Bacchus is a gimme if you're talking "wild & wacky wine" as well. It doesn't get much wilder or wackier than a full out Bacchanal (not that I'd know from direct experience).

Teroldego - Grape? Region? Huh?

After a brief visit Down Under, it's time to return to our Wild & Wacky Wine Week. This time around I'm going for a varietal wine out of the Italian Alps.

1915.  2006 Mezzacorona Teroldego Rotaliano Riserva (Teroldego Rotaliano DOC - Italy)

I do admit that I get a kick out of running across a label in a wine shop when I have no idea if the label is talking about a grape, a region, a proprietary brand name or something else altogether. Sometimes the label provides a bit of elucidation but that wasn't the case here. I thought that this might be a blend of Rotaliano and Teroldego - two grapes that I couldn't recall having run across before. Luckily, the cell phone and Mr. Google came to the rescue.

A quick search revealed that my guess was at least partially correct - Teroldego is an Italian grape, grown primarily in north-east Italy in the Trentino region. I later learned that Teroldego Rotaliano is the one DOC or approved appellation where the grape is approved for varietal Teroldego wines.

Although Teroldego is not grown in great quantities around the world, it has been around for centuries with written references to it dating back to the 15th Century. There are apparently small plantings of the grape in California, Australia, Brazil (of all places) and I know of one Okanagan producer who has just started producing some Teroldego as well.

Mezzacorona's website states that the grape is indigenous to Trentino and that this Riserva is only made in "remarkable vintages." For a regional, cooperative producer and a little known variety, the winery babies this Riserva with controlled temperature fermentation and two years of aging with twelve months of that time being spent in French oak. Indeed, the Canadian wine site, Wine Align, says that Mezzacorona's Riserva is an ideal wine to introduce one's self to the "charms of Teroldego" (although, they did say it en français).

While looking up the grape in my much loved, Wine Grapes (Jancis Robinson et al's tome on the subject), there was some totally wine-geeky notes on Teroldego's parentage - which is all up in the air because the grape's parents are now thought to be extinct. Genetic testing, however, has linked Teroldego to Syrah with the most viable hypothesis seeing the former being an uncle or aunt to the latter. I know, that's definitely geeky (but obviously interesting if you've read this far).

As for the wine itself, Boo and I found it to be big enough to live up to grilled steak, with enough earthiness to keep him happy and a good dose of fruit for my palate. I think Wine Align got it right. It was a nice introduction to a new grape - and I get to add it as #187 to my Wine Century Club tally. I'm liking that.

Wild, Wacky & Abboccato

Some wines just require too much effort. Not so much in terms of quaffing them or finishing off the bottle but, definitely, in terms of finding out about the actual wine or winery. I spent far too long looking up this wine and the grape varieties. Admittedly, a healthy chunk of that time was trying to work my way through all the synonyms and different names that a single grape can have in Italy but, in the end, it appears that I get to add four new grape varieties to my Wine Century Club tally.

And, as part of this Wile & Wacky Wine Week, I'm going to count that as a win.

1913.  2012 Barbi Abboccato Orvieto Classico (Orvieto Classico DOC - Umbria - Italy)

I didn't find a whole lot written about the Barbi winery - either on their own website or by others - but I did learn that Barbi is a family owned winery that has been operating in Umbria since 1932. The company's "philosophy leans towards the use of indigenous varietals of central Italy, even though lately, in a couple of wines, two international varietals have been employed." The wine we opened is Italian all the way and is made from Grechetto (40%), Procanico (30%) with Verdello, Drupreggio and Malvasia Bianca filling out the balance.

After multitudinous trips back and forth between my Wine Century Club tally and Jancis Robinson (et al)'s Wine Grapes, I've determined that the only grape that's already represented on my tally is the Procanico - not that I'd have known that. It would appear that Procanico is the local name for Trebbiano Toscano or Ugni Blanc and I added that grape in my original century's worth of grapes.

Grechetto is grown in a number of Italian regions but particularly in Umbria where it is mostly used in blending white wines like this Orvieto Classico. As it is a thick-skinned grape, it tends to be harvested later in the season, allowing higher sugar levels and is often used in the making of dessert wines and Vin Santo. Grechetto tends to be a lower yielding vine as well which can result in more concentrated flavours. Accordingly, the grape is also starting to be seen as having potential for use as a varietal wine and for blending with Chardonnay.

The other three grapes that I can now add to my tally aren't as notable. There are a number of different Malvasia Bianco varieties and I can't confirm which one is used in this blend but it is likely Malvasia Bianca di Candia or Malvasia Bianca Lunga as both are permitted in the regional DOC blends. Both grapes are used almost exclusively for blending though as they are generally found to be quite neutral in flavour profile.

Verdello is, indeed, different from the Portuguese Verdelho grape, and is primarily found in Umbria with only small pockets of plantings elsewhere in the country. The grape is favoured for its high acidity; however, the number of plantings seem to be diminishing and Jancis and team state that "the lack of varietal examples suggest it is less successful on its own," outside of blended wines.

Similarly, Drupreggio is grown primarily as a blending grape. Also grown in Tuscany where it is known as Canaiolo Bianco, other than being a new grape for my list, it doesn't appear have much of a following or be much of winemaker's grape of choice.

The name "Abboccato," as seen on the label, apparently means that the wine is meant to be slightly off-dry. We didn't really notice much in the way of residual sugar however.

As a whole, Italian whites don't generally knock my socks off. For the most part, I find them rather bland and often flabby in their lack of acidity. While this wasn't totally lacking in flavour profile, it's not one to turn my head and make me say, "I should really be on the lookout for more Italian whites."

It is good to be able to add grapes 183 through 186 to my tally though and I'm happy with that.

Getting Wild & Wacky on Mallorca

The third stop on my Wild & Wacky Wine Week is in Spain - to the Spanish island of Mallorca to be exact. I was rather surprised to find a bottle of Mallorcan wine in our Vancouver market. On top of that, it turns out that this baby gets me another two grape varieties for my Wine Century Club tally (#s 181 and 182); so, I'm happy it made its way here.

1912.  2010 Muac! (Mallorca IGP - Spain)

Like many parts of Spain (and the rest of the world for that matter), Mallorca is seeing a resurgence and modernization of its wine industry. Although Pliny the Elder wrote of Mallorcan wine back in the first century and the island's wines have been hailed as some of the best in days past, the industry was largely concentrated on producing solely for local consumption during the 20th century. Most of Mallorca's production is still sold locally - largely to the hordes of tourists that flock to the island each summer - however, some of the wineries are introducing new equipment and increased use of stainless steel fermentation tanks and oak barrels and the improved wines are starting to find a bit of an export market.

The modernization of the island's winemaking often sees a marriage of local, distinct grapes and popular international grapes. This bottle of Muac! is one such union. I opened a 2010 vintage but I see on the winery website that the 2011 vintage is made with roughly equal thirds of Callet, Manto Negro and Cab Sauv. Various search results state that the blend was much the same for 2010. Unfortunately, I didn't find a whole lot of other information about the winery or the wine.

Naturally, I headed to my copy of Jancis Robinson (et al)'s Wine Grapes to look up Callet and Manto Negro. Both grapes are unique to Mallorca and are half-siblings as the two grapes are crosses of other obscure indigenous varieties. Both are known for delivering lighter bodied, red-fruited wines but older vines and reduced production levels are seeing wines with finer tannins, more depth and darker fruit on the palate. Adding the Cab Sauv to the blend only serves to increase that intensity.

We found the wine to be a nice fit - in terms of body and fruit - to our grilled pork chop. It was an easy drinking sip and a welcome introduction to this Mediterranean island.

If you're jonesing for more information on the Mallorcan wine scene as a whole, take a look at this post by the folks at Catavino. They know Spanish and Portuguese wines way more than I could ever hope to.

In the mean time, I have another new grape variety to write about.

A Tasty Croatian Sip

Another bottle. Another grape for my little "Wild & Wacky Wine Week." As mentioned in my last post, I figured I might as well use this final hundred bottles on The List to try and make a run at my tally to become a doppel member of the Wine Century Club.

I was a little surprised that I haven't added tonight's grape to my tally previously because I've definitely had it before. Indeed, the wine at the time was added to The List at #401. It would seem that I simply forgot to add it to my Wine Century Club tally. I'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again.

So, getting on to the grape in question, it's Plavac Mali and it hails from the island of Brac on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia.

1911.  2010 Stina - Plavac Mali Barrique (Croatia)

The Stina winery created quite a stir at this year's Vancouver International Wine Festival. It was the first time that a Croatian winery had participated in the Festival - despite the gathering now being in its 37th year - and word definitely got out the folks from Stina had brought along some very tasty wines. There was a perpetual gathering around the Stina table - a sure sign that there was wine of note at a table.

It's quite possible that the winery may not have previously attended the Vancouver Festival because it only started in 2009. Stina has quickly established itself as a quality producer of modern wines, however. Indeed, its wines have to show a fair bit of substance to command between $45 and $100 in the local market - and the interest was clearly evident.

The Plavac Mali grape is the most economically valuable grape grown in Croatia and is often compared to Zinfandel. A little wine-geek sleuthing in Jancis Robinson (et al)'s tome, Wine Grapes, explains the validity to that comparison. Zinfandel - or as it was originally known in Croatia as Tribidrag - has been shown to be one of the genetic parents of Plavac Mali. Although the origin of Zinfandel has been the subject of great study and discussion (amusingly referred to as "The Zinquest"), many see Croatia as the birthplace of Zin.

Photo from winery website

Not that you'd get any of this information from the front label of this bottle. There's no printing on the label - just a bit of embossing in the upper corner. Otherwise, it's a pure white label. The winery website states that the winery and the "label was inspired by the world-famous white Brac stone" called Stina and the wine is marketed as inspiration for artists whether carving virgin stone or applying paint to a blank canvas.

All said and done though, this was a thoroughly rich, full bodied and fruit forward sip and, on top of that, I get to add the #180 grape to my Wine Century Club tally. Got to like that.

A Fine Start to a Wild & Wacky Wine Week

I've been mentioning recently that I'm into my last 100 wines before I open that celebratory 2001st bottle. Having just knocked off a bottle of Mencia the other night, I figure why not try and hit my 200th grape variety for the Wine Century Club before #2001 as well. Accordingly, a "Wild & Wacky Wine Week" seems to be in order. I've been grabbing a few bottles that feature uncommon grape varieties; so, move over Merlot and shuffle off Chardonnay, it's time to try something a little less recognizable.

1910.  2013 Domaine La Rosière - Jongieux (Vin de Savoie AOC - France)

Can't say that I knew anything about this region, the winery, Domaine la Rosière, or the grape used to make this white from the lower parts of the French Alps. Savoie - or Savoy - is found east of Beaujolais and on the border with Switzerland and, as such, most of the vineyards are planted on "very steep, southwest facing slopes created by ancient glaciers."

Jongieux is one of the villages found in the heart of the region and its name is given to one of the winemaking communes. The Jongieux white is made entirely from the Jacquère grape and this rare-ish baby definitely hits my Wine Century Club  tally as one that I haven't tried before. Jacquère is the most important white grape grown in the Savoie but, according to Jancis Robinson's Wine Grapes, there is not much grown elsewhere in the world - perhaps a bit in the northern Rhône and some in pockets of Portugal.

I was pleasantly surprised by the wine. It had a nice full body that was matched by good acidity and bright citrus notes. I can't say that this is indicative of all Jacquère wines, but I see that the winery's vineyards are graced with warm microclimate for the region and the wine is aged on its lees (or spent yeast cells), the former helping to ripen the fruit and the latter fleshing out the body of the wine.

In any event, I was fairly taken by the wine. I'd have been happy enough to simply add Jacquère as #179 to my tally, but it's always nice to get that added bonus of liking the wine to boot. This is an encouraging start for the other "wild & wacky" wines to come this week.

Keep Calm and Eat the Cookies

I'm not entirely sure how many years it takes for something to become a tradition but I'm darned sure that Jeaux and Matinder's annual Christmas Cookie Extravaganza has long passed into the "tradition" category. I can't remember how many years we've been kicking off the holiday season with shortbreads and gingerbread and squares and savouries but I do know that, thanks to Jeaux and Matinder, I've eaten enough calories over the years to keep an entire dieting industry in business.

The cookie fest is also a nice chance to catch up with some mutual friends that we might not bump into if not for the sweet smorgasbord - and, of course, an opportunity to add another couple bottles to The List.

1809.  2010 Daniel Lenko Chardonngay - Unoaked Chardonnay (VQA Niagra Peninsula - Ontario)

Mr. D was joining us tonight as he and Jeaux go all the way back to the 70's and high school on Vancouver Island. It was definitely a case of "small world" when we all found out that both of them had, independently, become great friends of mine. Mr. D popped by our place for a cocktail beforehand; so, I figured it only made sense to open the bottle of Chardonngay that D had given Boo back in the summer.

With the lively, rainbow label that the Daniel Lemko Chardonnay sported, we'd planned on opening it during this year's Pride weekend but the opportunity didn't arise. So, a holiday celebration is almost as good of an occasion. We don't see many Ontario wines out here in BC. Go figure. Same country but we're far more likely to run into a wine from half way around the world than we are to run into one from half way across the country.

As such, I didn't know anything about Daniel Lenko wines. Turns out that, while the winery was established in 1999, the Lenko family has been growing grapes for three generations. When Daniel Lenko's father planted some Chardonnay vines in the Niagra region, they were among the first Chardonnay vines planted in Canada. The vineyard's microclimate has allowed the vines to thrive and, according to the winery website, their vineyard is the "oldest Chardonnay planting" in the country.

I don't know what the connection between the winery and the gay community is but there's no mistaking who this wine is being marketed to. Not only does the label declare that the wine is "vinified in celebration of Canada's diverse Gay culture," but it also announces that $1 from every bottle sold will be donated to AIDS research. I may not think the wine was as fruity as the "gobs" of pineapple, lemon and peach promised on the label but i won't disagree with anything else about the wine.

1810.  2011 Lovico Suhindol Gamza (Bulgaria)

I knew even less about the second bottle that we opened. I grabbed it as it promised the addition of another grape to my Wine Century Club tally.

Once again, I had to rely on the winery website for some information on the wine and people behind it. Lovico Suhindol is apparently "the direct successor to the oldest vine-growing and winemaking cooperative on the Balkans, founded in 1909, ... and one of the leading driving forces of Bulgarian winemaking."

The winery notes that Gamza is an indigenous grape variety to the Suhindol region of Bulgaria; however, the origin of the grape isn't quite so hard and fast. Jancis Robinson's Wine Grapes bible actually lists the variety under Kadarka - the grape's name in Hungary where it has been a variety long used in the well known Bull's Blood blend - and the birth place of the grape is claimed by a number of regions in that part of the world. Hungarian plantings have declined in recent years, however, and the grape is far more commonly planted in Bulgaria now.

It's characterization as a lighter bodied red (and its name) made me think of Gamay but there's no other indication that the two grapes have any relationship whatsoever. Cookies and a plastic cup may have not been the best accompaniments for discovering a new grape variety but I figure I'd best grab the bull by the horn when the opportunity arises - particularly when I can celebrate #175 on my tally. The wine was definitely bigger than most Gamay's I've tried and there was a good bit of spice on the palate. Being from Bulgaria, you'd be right if you thought you'd be able to find this bottle in the bargain section of the wine shop. Red wine at $13 (or less when on sale) is a bit of rarity in our market.

1811.  2011 Edge Cabernet Sauvignon (North Coast - California)

Although it clocks in at closer to $30 a bottle, Edge Cab Sauv is one of the more popular - and well known - Napa Cabs in Vancouver. The folks behind Edge have always made it their goal to produce a "premium Cabernet Sauvignon without the premium price." The winery press kit lauds the wine as "the most reasonable Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that one will find on the shelf which does not compromise on quality."

Personally, I don't drink enough California Cab to take an informed stance but I know a number of people who agree with those statements. I also know that the predominant Cab Sauv is fleshed out with 12% Merlot and 11% Syrah in this 2011 vintage and that, from my tastings over the years, it's a consistent drop of bold wine.

Perhaps a bit big for Christmas cookies, but there definitely comes a time when a guy has to give up on the cookies and just settle for the wine. Edge was up to the task and we bid our adieus once the bottle was done.

All in all, a pretty successful night of wine AND start to the holiday season.

Unusually Rare

For me, one of the most interesting parts of this Wine Odyssey has been the discovery of new varieties of grape. The world is not all Chardonnay or Cab - nor should it be. I think the fact I'm inching closer to my 200th variety on my Wine Century Club tally is a teensy indicator of my enthusiasm for discovering new grapes and wines.

Sometimes, that discovery just leads to more questions. Case in hand - or at least bottle in hand - I quickly grabbed for this bottle of Albillo varietal wine from Spain when I happened upon it. Little did I know that I still wouldn't be sure of which grape was actually used in making the wine.

1807.  2012 Bodegas Valduero - Garcia Viadero - Blanco de Albillo (Castilla y León VDT - Spain)

Although winemaking in this part of northern Spain dates back hundreds of years (if not centuries), in 1984, this family run winery was one of the first to be established in the heart of the newly created Ribera del Duero D.O. (or quality wine region). At the time, there were only about a half dozen wineries in the region; however, the region exploded on the wine scene and has played a big part of the renaissance of Spanish wine. There are now over 200 wineries in Ribero del Duero.

The regional D.O. is best known for its reds and does not, in general, permit white wines to be produced under its auspices. Most white wine produced is destined for local consumption - without D.O. designation. Ribera del Duero does have one exception and that is the indigenous Albillo grape. Even then, only Bodegas Valduero and (regional star winery) Vega Sicilia, have been given special permission to grow the grape and the wines still need to be labeled as Vino de la Terra (a lower, table wine designation) from the larger Castilla y León region.

Problem is the grape is quite rare and has never really been a highly-identified cultivar. Over the years, there have apparently been a collection of grapes with the word Albillo forming part of the name, but almost all of them have been referred to simply as Albillo. Many of those grapes no longer even appear to be in production. According to Jancis Robinson (et al)'s tome, Wine Grapes, both Albillo Mayor and Albillo Real still see limited production, are both grown in the Castilla y León region and are seemingly referred to, interchangeably, as Albillo.

Neither the label, nor the winery website, expand any further on the grape than to say that the wine is 100% Albillo. It would seem that this can be a common occurrence. In addition to Wine Grapes, I often refer to the Fringe Wine blog when it comes to unusual grape varieties and even Rob's entry on Albillo left him uncertain as to which grape he'd actually partaken in with the wine he'd sampled.

I'm counting it in my Wine Century Club tally regardless of the fact that the grape could be more accurately identified. The odds of my running into another Albillo wine are probably pretty slim. I see that only slightly more than 26,000 bottles were made of this vintage. I think I'm good to go with just calling the grape, Albillo.

As far as Spanish whites go, this was richer with bigger tree fruit and citrus coming through than I'm used to tasting. If this is what I might expect from Albillo, I suppose I should keep my eyes open for another.

The Azzurri Have Been Ripassed Over For the Playoff Rounds

I figure I'd best fit another soccer themed wine in as I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to spend on the World Cup once our visiting Aussies arrive tomorrow. Merlot Boy may be a sports fanatic but I think his tastes gravitate more to Aussie Rules footy, swimming and tennis. You know, sports that Australians can generally beat Canadians at on the field. Plus, I have a feeling he and Margarita will be  more inclined to tour our fair city than to sit around watching soccer.

Whether Merlot Boy wants to watch the World Cup or not, we won't be watching the Italians play anymore. The Azzurri lost 1-0 to Uruguay today and are now out of this World Cup. There were no celebrations today on Vancouver's Commercial Drive. Like us, Little Italy will have to drown its sorrows in wine.

Since this was the last Italian appearance in Brazil, I grabbed an Italian wine. That and the fact that I don't exactly have a large array of Uruguayan wines at my fingertips.

1644.  2011 Cantina di Negrar - Le Roselle Ripasso Classico Superiore (Valpolicella D.O.C. - Italy)

Just as Canada is always on the look out for a World Cup bound men's soccer team (the women do us quite proud thank you very much), I'm always on the look out for a nice Ripasso wine. I haven't seen this particular Ripasso before but I've since found out that Cantina di Negrar is a label range that is advertised as the "soul" of Cantina Valpolicella Negrar, a co-operative near Verona that has been producing wine since 1933. The co-operative consists of 230 members and their collective vineyards cover 600 hectares of diverse landscape in the Valpolicella region.

Since I've previously written about the wine style in the blog, I'll just briefly repeat that Ripasso wines are Valpolicella wines that have been "repassed" over the skins and spent yeasts from the region's bigger, more premium Amarone wines. The additional step adds some extra body and flavour profiles to the standard Valpolicella wines. I quite like the additional effort because - as much as I love them - we rarely shell out for the more expensive Amarones. On the other hand, I find most of the Valpolicellas in our market to be a bit light and nondescript for my tastes.

The Le Roselle Ripasso uses both the traditional Corvina and Rondinella grapes in its blend but the wine also contains 15% Corvinone. I don't have any recollection of that grape and I immediately thought it might just be another name for Corvina but Jancis Robinson (and crew), in their tome Wine Grapes, includes Corvinone as a distinct, although somewhat rare, variety of its own. Traditionally used for blending in Valpolicella, Amarone and Recioto, it would be rare to find Corvinone made into a varietal wine but, all the same, I've got me another grape to add to my Wine Century Club tally.

I believe this addition takes me to #173. Slowly, but surely, I'm making my way to that magical #200 grape when I can apply for my Doppel membership with the Wine Century Club.

While this wasn't most intense Ripasso I've had, it acquitted itself quite nicely in the glass. I'm thinking that this Italian wine collective faired a tad better than the soccer collective did on the pitch today.

Next up....Aussies in the House.

Azzuri Win Calls For New Italian Fave

If nothing else, you know that the 2014 World Cup is going to provide a few intriguing games - both from the teams involved and from the location of the venues. We're still in the opening weekend and fans from around the world were transported to Manaus and the middle of the Amazon jungle for England versus Italy. Whether you're barracking for England or the Azzurri, this was a big game by any standards.

Picking a wine to represent these teams is somewhat pre-determined in the Vancouver market. We have plenty of Italian wines to choose from. Not so with English wines. I know that there are English wines out there - particularly bubblies - because I've actually added one to The List (at #1325) but that bottle was a gift from visiting Brits. I'd be surprised to see anything on any local shelves.

As such I picked a unique wine to toast the Italian 2-1 win.

1630.  2008 Falesco - Ferentano (Lazio IGT - Italy)

If memory serves, I read something about this wine being made from an extremely rare grape. Forever on the lookout for grapes to add to my Wine Century Club tally, I figured this would be as good a time as any to open it. Pasta with our first spot prawns of the season called out for Italian white.

Turns out this is a winner - just like the Azzurri were on the day. And it would seem that calling this a "rare" grape is barely setting the stage. Ferentano is a 100% varietal wine featuring the Roscetto grape and the winery, Falesco, may be the only winery in the world that grows and markets it.

Roscetto is enough of a rarity that it doesn't even merit a reference in Jancis Robinson's tome, Wine Grapes, although 1368 other grapes did.

Robinson's website, Purple Pages, however, has written a bit about the grape when they reviewed an earlier vintage of this wine. The grape is apparently indigenous to Lazio province in central Italy and it was close to extinction in the 1960's. Rob Tebeau, on his Fringe Wine blog, reported that Roscetto is so rare that it is grown in a single location and made by a single producer - Falesco.

Falesco, itself, was only established in 1979 and it set the promotion of indigenous grapes as a pillar of its business plan. At first, they used Roscetto as part of the winery's Est! Est! Est! blend, but they decided to produce a full varietal wine in 1998.

The grape gets its name from the fact that it turns pinkish red when fully ripe. The primary reason it fell into disfavour with growers appears to be the fact it has a low yield of fruit.

The winery acknowledges that it utilizes cyromaceration - a flash freezing of the grapes - followed by a cold soak to accentuate the varietal characteristics. Our wine was rich bodied and creamy - on the lines of a lightly oaked Chardonnay - with plenty of ripe tree fruit coming through. With Falesco being the only producer of Roscetto, it's hard to tell if all Roscetto wines would have this sort of profile. Who knows what the grape would taste like if grown in different conditions? I'd certainly be game to sip back on a couple additional versions - whether they hailed from Lazio or not.

In the mean time, I'll have to see what other World Cup wines I can come up with for the tournament's games. They might not all be as memorable or unique as this one but, then again, not all the games to follow will be as entertaining or important as this one was. Plus, as an added bonus, I get to add the #174 grape to my Wine Century Club tally.

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.

La Dolce Vita on The Drive

It's true, The Drive and surrounds might not be as homogeneously Italian as it was years ago when it was known as Little Italy. All the same, there's still plenty of pasta, pizza, Chianti, gelato and espresso to be found - all well within walking distance. Furthermore, you can still throw out a "Ciao Bella" (or "Bello") here and there and be completely understood.

Particularly on this one Sunday of the year.

After a decades long hiatus, Italian Day returned to The Drive in 2010 and it's quickly become one of the biggest community/cultural events happening in Vancouver. Naturally, we joined in with up to 300,000 of our closest friends for a stroll amongst all the regular shops as they extend out into the street and vie for attention with all the merchants that have set up kiosks just for the day.

After all, can you ever really have enough things Italian in your life?

1625.  2011 Cesconi - Prabi Bianco (Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT - Italy)

As much as we nibbled our way along The Drive, we still opted for dinner at home - keeping it Italian, of course. A little pasta and an adventurous white from the north-eastern part of that country. The adventure in this bottle is that it features yet another grape that I can add to my Wine Century Club tally. Being a blend of Manzoni Bianco, Riesling and Pinot Bianco, you probably don't have to guess too hard to figure out which grape gets to be added as #172.

Manzoni Bianco is a cross of Riesling and Pinot Bianco created in the 1930's and has been called the "most famous among the clones created by Professor Luigi Manzoni." It is known as an early ripening grape and one that is adaptable to a variety of soils and climates. Although primarily grown in the north of Italy, it is grown throughout the country and can be found in blends - such as the bottle at hand - as a dry varietal wine or, sometimes, as a sweeter, late harvest wine or even in bubblies.

For anyone interested in reading a bit more about the grape, head off to a Fringe Wine post on Manzoni. As is often the case, Fringe Wine is a great source for material on grapes that might be a little fringier than Chardonnay or Cab.

The Cesconi winery and website can also give you a bit more information about their story and philosophy on wine. Each of the three varieties used in the blend is fermented separately in stainless steel tanks and then aged on its lees for with months. There isn't a whole lot of the Prabi Bianco produced. One source said around 5000 bottles were produced of this 2011 vintage while the website says that around 10,000 bottles were produced of the 2012 vintage.

Located in the Dolomite Mountains, the family has been working the vineyards from the early 1800's. Being as north as it is, the region primarily produces white wines.  Over the years, all of the winery's vineyards have been converted to organic farming practices and, in more recent years, biodynamic principles have started to be introduced into the vineyard.

I've said many a time in my posts that Italian whites aren't generally among my favourites (not when compared to our home grown whites), but this one was pleasantly full and flavourful. A nice end to one of my favourite days in our neighbourhood.

Frappato

Regular readers will know that I get quite a kick in trying wines made from obscure grapes. I surpassed my first 100 grape varieties some time ago to become a card carrying member of the Wine Century Club. I'm slowly inching my way up to reaching 200 but it does get harder and harder to find those new grapes. Indeed, I now find that I often have to Google part of a wine label to see if it's a grape or a brand name for a winery. Accordingly, it was fortuitous that I stumbled across this Italian red a while ago.

1619.  2012 Caruso & Minini - Terre di Giumara - Frappato Nerello Mascalese (Terre Siciliane IGT - Sicily - Italy)

Caruso & Minini is one of a new breed of smaller wineries that have started production as part of a renaissance of winemaking in Sicily. Part of this renaissance involves a strong interest in the potential of Sicily's native grapes and Caruso & Minini are certainly party to that approach. Much of the winery's production highlights such native Sicilian grapes as Perricone, Inzolia, Nero d'Avola and Grecanico. This particular wine blends two of region's local grapes: Frappato and Nerello Mascalese.

Unfortunately, I don't get to add both grapes to my Wine Century Club list. Perhaps a little surprisingly so, Nerello Mascalese has already been added to that tally. So, rather than repeat my earlier notes on that variety of grape, I'll just include a link to my earlier post. I think that earlier bottle was even a single varietal wine - which isn't all that common to find on our West Coast shelves. I am adding Frappato as #171 to my list though and I'm all the happier for it.

The Caruso & Minini winery is located in the heart of the traditional production area for Marsala; however, only Nerello Mascalese is traditionally used (although only to a small extent) in making Marsala. Rather, after a new wine denomination or appellation was approved for Sicily - Terre Sicilane IGT - the winery looked at using Frappato in producing a new blended wine under its Terre di Giumara line. Terre di Giumara is the name of the Caruso family's country estate and the brand was first used to produce the family's varietal wines. The new IGT denomination allowed the introduction of Frappato into a wider range of Sicilian wines and the winery capitalized on it.

Don't let the deep colour of the wine fool you into thinking that this is a big, boisterous wine. I was quite surprised by the lightness and fruitiness of the juice.  Frappato is apparently known for its lighter tannins and acidity - perhaps stemming from the fact that, like Nerello Mascalese, the grape is related to Sangiovese. Indeed, the winery notes highlight the lighter tannins and recommend matching the wine with both meat and fish.

Something tells me that I'll be looking for more smaller, regional wines like this to fill those last 29 spots in order to hit 200 varieties. Count on it.

From Baton Rouge to Antigua

Our last night in Antigua is upon us and, following our epic afternoon at Jacquie O's Love Beach, we've opted for a light dinner at Jeaux and Matinder's. Jeaux offered to make "conch water" - which is apparently Caribbean for conch soup. Jeaux advises that if the dish were called "conch soup," it would really be more of a stew. Regardless of the name, it was tasty enough that she could have served it up as part of the Dinner Club Road Trip menu. After all what's 5700 miles when there's conch water involved.

Our pre-dinner task was to finish off the last of the duty free gin and engage the hummingbirds on the deck. There was a steady barrage of the little guys. They sure loved that sugar water (and that's real "sugar water," not sugar soup). Some of them were even brave enough to come up to the feeder while I was holding it out at arm's length. Luckily for me, they preferred the sugar water to my gin.

Jeaux's mom was our additional guest for dinner. Having visited J&M during one of their winter migrations to Antigua, Maman decided to forego the standard Quebec snowbird destination of Florida and rent a villa of her own at Jolly Beach. Many years have past since the last time I'd seen Maman and we were certainly much tamer than we were the first time I'd met her over two decades ago. At the time, she was teaching French in Baton Rouge and she'd graciously (read "foolishly") offered up her couch to a gang of four that had descended on Louisiana for Mardi Gras. Jeaux and Matinder can weave some riveting travel stories, but Maman is no slouch of a storyteller herself and it was lovely to reconnect after all those years.

Admittedly, our shots of the wine bottles being added to The List with this post weren't quite as lovely as the event. I will point out, however, that despite our day touring the island, it wasn't an inability of the photographer to focus. Somehow, we managed to hit a wrong button on the camera and we hadn't noticed that it wasn't focusing until we went to review a couple of shots later on.

Luckily there was a picture or two of the bottles on my phone so that I'd have close ups of the label.

1565.  N.V. Torresella Prosecco (Prosecco DOC - Italy)

A final visit to Epicure - our resort wine source - led to yet another Prosecco that didn't seem familiar from our own Vancouver market. A little crisp, bubbly action was a fitting way to toast the end of our brief stay in the Caribbean. It was a definite feat - and fête - to shepherd four couples to the far corner of the continent for a dinner party but J&M pulled it off.

I figure that if you can't raise a glass to that, I don't know what is toast-worthy.

1566.  2009 Cederberg - Bukettraube (W.O. Cederberg - South Africa)

I definitely didn't know what I'd grabbed when I picked this one - our final bottle in Antigua. Cederberg is apparently South Africa's highest vineyard (at 3200 feet above sea level) and it is currently celebrating the fifth generation of the Nieuwoudt family on the land's rocky, high-altitude terrain. But, more than that, it turns out that Bukettraube isn't just a proprietary name for the wine, it is a rather rare variety. A cultivar of German and Alsatian history, there are apparently less than 77 hectares of the grape remaining in the world.

Score another addition to my Wine Century club tally!

Given its German/Alsatian heritage, it might not be too surprising to find that the grape is part of muscat family. It had a definite residual sweetness - such that Boo didn't want anything to do with it - but I found that the more hot sauce you added to the conch water, the better the wine went with it. The sweetness of the wine also matched up with the Antiguan Black pineapple (that we finally managed to find at a reasonable price after a number of roadside stops during the day) and coconut ice cream.

Some bubbles with Maman, a new Wine Century Club grape and a final night dining harbour-side with  wonderful friends. It doesn't get much better than that. But on that happy note, it was time to head back to our place and pack. We had one last island adventure planned for the morning but that meant we had to be ready bright and early to allow enough time to tackle our quest and make it to the airport.