White Jerseys, White Wine

Canucks 3 - Blackhawks 1

Since the series has shifted to Chicago, the Canucks are wearing the white jerseys.  So, (unintentionally) we pulled out the one white Burrowing Owl that we have.  

47.  2006 Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris (VQA Okanagan)

Boy, did we like it!!  That was a bit of a surprise since we don't really drink a lot of pinot gris.  I took a bit of a Google and saw that this is considered by some to be Burrowing Owl's flagship white and the wine won a silver medal at the Canadian Wine Awards and a gold at the Okanagan Fall Festival.  

Turns out that pinot gris is the second most planted white varietal in BC and at least one commentator thinks that Burrowing Owl is the provincial benchmark for pinot gris.  If it's all like this bottle, I might have to agree - and try more.

I'm a little surprised that the Burrowing Owl vineyard is seen as a great location for pinot gris.  I think of pinot gris as being a tad more suited to the cooler vineyards further up the Okanagan Valley.  Burrowing Owl is almost as far south as grape-growing goes in the Okanagan.  Its vineyards are found at the northernmost tip of the Sonora Desert and that's a good part of why the winery is so well known for its red varietals - ones needing a good long growing season.  I don't mind them giving up so many rows of the red if the result is as good as this.

What's more, the wine not only worked for us, but it worked for the team as well.  If the pinot gris was a pleasant surprise, the win IN Chicago was awesome.

What's a Squinzano?

The theme country/region of the 2008 Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival was Italy and, in amongst all the big gun Barolos and Amarones, I found this little pleaser - although nothing about the wine itself is "little."  Well, maybe the name causes a little bit of "what the hey?"  I had to wonder what's a "Squinzano?"  As for the wine though, it's big, concentrated and ripe and very approachable - with or without food - which is something I like.

46.  2001 Apollonio Squinzano Rosso (Squinzano DOC - Italy)

Hailing from Puglia, it turns out that Squinzano is one of the growing areas in the heel of the Italian boot.  Apollonio, the winery, is a smaller, family run venture - now in its fourth generation of sons running the operation.  This bottle is a blend of mostly negroamaro (70%), sangiovese (19%) and two malavasia varietals - malavasia nera di Lecce and malavasia nera di Brindisi.  I know next to nothing about the area or these grapes (okay, maybe sangiovese isn't all that new to me but it's only 19%).  But isn't that part of the fun in trying and discovering new wines.

The Wine Festival brought a number of new Italian wineries to the Vancouver area last year.  I know that our personal exposure to and adventures in Italian wine have certainly expanded over the last couple of years.  Apollonio appears to have gained a bit of a foothold in Vancouver.  I have seen some of the winery's product in the government liquor stores - although not this particular wine.  Hopefully, we'll see more of it.

Latin Left-Overs

Despite the impression that might have been left with the last post - that those nurses were a wild and crazy bunch - I found wine on the counter the next morning. What's more, it was still in the bottle. So, there was a sort of left-over (rather than a hangover) effect. We had two semi-started bottles waiting to be tried the evening after.

Being from Chile and Spain, both wines might have been better with the Latin Quarter tapas the other night, but I don't see myself running out to grab either one as must-have down the road.

44. 2007 Emiliana Etnico Reserva Syrah-Merlot-Malbec-Mourvedre (Valle Central - Chile)

45. 2006 Valcarlos Fortius Tempranillo (Navarra DOC - Spain)

Both are entry level wines and are priced accordingly, but I don't think either one of them really called out to us. The Fortius Tempranillo just missed the mark altogether. While the Etnico started off nicely on the nose and is organically grown, the palate (and particularly the finish) left me wanting.

A Fiery Farewell

One of Boo's co-workers just retired and the gang from his ward were going to bid her adieu with a dinner at the Latin Quarter, a venerable restaurant on the Commercial Drive scene.  Since it's not that far from where we live, Boo invited them by our place for cocktails before the dinner.

To me, "cocktails" means drinks and "drinks" regularly involves wine.  However, once again, this isn't a posting where I get to add an abundance of bottles to The List.  With Boo playing host and me designated cater-waiter, it wasn't a real "sit down and enjoy a bottle" scenario - which appears to be the determining factor for making The List.  

I wasn't about to let the whole affair go without some credit though.  So, when one of the guests brought along a celebratory bottle for the evening, it wasn't much of a tough choice to decide to count it - if only because I made sure that this waiter became a full participant.  We don't get the chance to pop the cork on a true Champagne all that often.

43.  N.V. Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Brut (Champagne - France)

Piper Heidsieck was a participating winery at this year's Vancouver Playhouse Festival and the program notes stated that this is the world's third largest Champagne house and it dates back to the reign of Louis XVI - apparently being the preferred Champagne of his Queen, Marie Antoinette.  Another icon of her time, Marilyn Monroe, is quoted as saying that she woke up every morning with Piper Heidsieck.   Our retiree was obviously being feted with a bit of class.

Marie Antoinette may have "let them eat cake," but this gang was eating tapas.  And to me, tapas cry out for margaritas or sangria - neither of which are topics for The List. 

By the time the after-party arrived back at our house, it was bed time for this boy - it being a "school night" and all.  So, I packed it in upstairs.  That didn't mean that I was oblivious to the shenanigans that were continuing downstairs - even the neighbours were asking about some rather raucous activities.  Knowing that the mild and demure reputations of certain participants may be at stake, I'll leave it for other media to recount the on-goings.  Far be it from me to go into tales of belly dancing, grass skirts and flaming matches.  

I remember, back in university days, that the nurses could always be counted on for partying.  I guess some things never change.  

Two Wines for Game 2

For me, one of the best part of a Canucks playoff game is when Mark Donnelly sings the Canadian national anthem.  For the last so many seasons, his trademark has been to stop singing during the second verse of "O Canada" and he just lets the crowd sing their hearts out.  And they do!!  Just hearing the sold out stadium singing away gives me goose bumps!  (In fact, you can even You Tube it.)

So, this entry features me as I am standing at attention, with our wines for the night, and Lou (the Canucks' goalie and captain for the non-Vancouverites) in the background, while thousands of our neighbours and friends warble "with glowing hearts, we see thee rise..." and so on.  

Elzee came over for dinner and the game, so we knew one bottle wouldn't be enough - particularly when drinking Burrowing Owl.  I figured it might be best to feature two vintages of the same wine and chose:

41.  2001 Burrowing Owl Meritage (Okanagan) and

42.  2005 Burrowing Owl Meritage (Okanagan)

We thought that, if one bottle of Meritage was going to be good, two were going to be great.  Burrowing Owl has been producing a Meritage, Bordeaux-style blend, since 2001.  I couldn't find the exact blend of the 2001, but I did see a reference that the early years actually had a heavy lean towards the cab franc.  As the winery expanded its plantings and added some malbec and petit verdot, the 2005 saw all five of the traditional Bordeaux grapes being blended - with 64% merlot, 25% cab franc, 10% cab sauv and a smidgen of the malbec and petit verdot.  Both vintages saw a bit of hardware coming their way - including bronze medals at both the '04 and the '08 Canadian Wine Awards.

It likely goes without saying that we enjoyed both wines; however, it was nice to drink the two vintages side-by-side to see what some aging might do to a wine.  All three of us had a bit of a preference for the 2005 as it had a bit more fruit on both the nose and the palate.  Although the '01 definitely opened up a bit more on the nose by the time the second period had rolled around.

Two wines, a quick 2-0 lead for the Canucks.  We were sitting happy.  Unfortunately, the wine ran out, as did the Canucks' control of the game.  The Hawks just kept on coming and really out-played our boys, smacking them with 5 straight goals and, ultimately, a 6-3 loss.

Now, I don't think anyone realistically expected the Canucks to sweep Chicago, but this was a devastating loss.  If we're going to be superstitious about this, Boo and I may not be able to watch another game with Elzee - or drink another vintage of Meritage.

A Roogle You Say

40. 2004 Marquis Philips Sarah's Blend (South Eastern Australia)

Reliable. I'll sum up this wine with that one word. This is a blend of (predominantly) shiraz, cab sauv and merlot and is a collaborative effort between Australian winemakers and American importers that hits all the right notes. Big, new world flavours. Decently priced at just over $20.

I wouldn't exactly call it a critter wine, but I like the marketing nod to the cross-border effort by gracing the label with a mythical creature called the "roogle" - part kangaroo, part eagle.

We were introduced to Marquis Philips when we were given one of their higher end wines as a present a number of years back. We'd never heard of it and then, immediately thereafter, a couple of their wines started showing up on the provincial liquor store shelves. It's an easy grab come BBQ party season.

Round 2 - Canucks vs. Blackhawks

OK, so the second round of the playoffs has kicked off and our boys have drawn the Chicago Blackhawks as their opponents.  Using my Hockey and the Quest for the Stanley Cup along the Golden Mile, a new series calls for a new BC winery to be featured.  I decided this is a perfect excuse to open up some of the Burrowing Owl wines that we've been hoarding in wait for a special occasion.

Some might question putting a burrowing owl up against a black hawk but, remember, the concept is that these wines are going to top anything that Illinois can put up against them.

39.  2005 Burrowing Owl Syrah (Okanagan)

Go big or go home, they say, and this wine delivers on that front.  As with much of the wine world, 2005 is generally seen as being a year of good growing conditions in the Okanagan.  This syrah has garnered its fair share of praise - winning local, national and international awards.  A worthy wine to put up against Chicago.

The wine ran out long before the game was over - maybe that's why the Hawks made up a 3-0 deficit; however, our boys in blue, ultimately came through to take the first game.  A huge sigh of relief could be heard throughout the city.

The 9-day lay off between this series and Round 1 left me counting the hours to opening the Burrowing Owl.  As much as I'm looking forward to drinking the wines, I think I'd still prefer the Canucks to make short order of the Hawks.  Seven games would lead to some nice wines but it might also lead to my needing something stronger to drink than wine as a coping mechanism.

The Man From Margaret River

38.  2004 Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (Margaret River - Western Australia)

I've always found the selection of Margaret River wines to be rather scarce in BC liquor stores.  As mentioned previously, I'd picked up a bit of a jones for the region while visiting down under back in 1996 - not that I made it as far as Perth and the West Coast.  Upon returning to Vancouver, I made a bee-line for one of the specialty shops but there were only a couple of wines available.  I remember that Cape Mentelle was one of them and it was affordable, being in the $20-$30 range - a bit of a splurge for a Tuesday night, but it wouldn't break the bank.  I continued to keep an eye out for it.

The winery doesn't seem to be on the shelves regularly nowadays though - which is too bad because it's garnering a lot of attention back in Oz as one of the premier producers in the Margaret River area and in the country.  I like my sauvignon blanc this way - not quite as grassy and acidic as is commonly found while so many strive to be New Zealand all over again.  However, that "restraint" might relate a bit to the fact that this was the 2004 vintage and the winemaker recommends that the wine be opened in the first couple of years.  The back label recounts that there is a bit of oak treatment, but it must be limited because it certainly didn't overpower the still noticeable fruit.

I hope to see more of Cape Mentelle.

Just for the Halibut

Having the last name "Halifax," it was only a matter of time before I actually took the time to visit the city.  I figured being Mr. Halifax had to be worth a beer or two in the bars.  Things didn't quite work out that way.  However, when we made it there a couple of summers ago, we did find out that Nova Scotia actually has a wine industry happening.

We weren't exactly thrilled to find out that there wasn't a single car to be rented for the four days that we were there.  Believe it or not.  So, we were rather stuck to foot and cab.  But we did fit in an arranged tour of some the wine districts - not only allowing us to see a bit of the province that we couldn't drive to but teaching us about an area that I'd never thought of as wine producing.

Our current addition to the list is nice example of what is regularly announced as Nova Scotia's quintessential grape - a hybrid that was developed in Ontario, but deemed not suitable to the Ontario growing season.  It did take nicely to Nova Scotia though.

37.  2005 Domaine de Grand Pre L'Acadie Blanc Reserve (Nova Scotia)

Boo and I were both pleasantly surprised that it was still fresh and very drinkable.  This bottle reminded me mostly of pinot gris, but it's often compared to and referred to as "Nova Scotia's Chardonnay" because it takes to a number of different treatments - oak, malolactic, sur lees, or straight fruit.   The Haligonians repeatedly said that it goes extremely well with lobster.  I'd been holding out on the off chance that lobster might hit our dinner plates, but it's been almost three years and  I don't think I've had a whiff of lobster since being in Halifax.    There may be the old adage, "no wine before its time," but this L'Acadie's time had come and it was just fine with halibut.  

I don't think I've ever seen any area other than Nova Scotia grow the varietal and you've gotta know that you'd never seen a Nova Scotian wine for sale in BC.  Heaven forbid that.  Based on this wine, too bad.

"For All the Right Rieslings"

36.  2005 Tangled Vines Riesling (Okanagan)

The bottle says, "For all the right Rieslings."   The only problem this time around was that it seems it took us too long to open the bottle.  The fruit and the lemon and lime that the bottle also talked about just wasn't there any more.  The bottle wasn't corked; it had just lost its freshness.  

It's a good thing that I've previously had the wine on a couple of occasions and I know the style that winemaker, Craig McKenzie, is going for - largely stemming from his years in Australia's Clare Valley - because I might not have thought much of the wine if this were my only try.

Tangled Vines is a small BC winery that I really want to see succeed.  I love the fact that they prominently feature pinot blanc as a varietal, but even more-so because I used to bump into the winemaker back in university days (just like the host in the last post) - and I like seeing contemporaries score big.  Craig was in our neighbour and rival fraternity and even though we weren't exactly drinking buddies, we knew who the other one was.  

A couple of years back, some friends and Boo and I went up for the Okanagan Spring Wine Festival and Craig was serving at the big festival tasting.  It didn't click at the moment (because it had been a number of years after all), but I mentioned to the others that I was pretty sure I recognized him at the winery's table.  As chance would have it, we were doing a bit of a tasting tour the next day and we drove right by Tangled Vines and decided to stop in.  Over this same riesling, Craig and I figured out where it was that we knew each other from.  I've tried keeping an eye out for them ever since.

We'll see more Tangled Vines on The List.  I'm just mad at myself for not being able to sing the praises of Craig and his wines this time around.  My bad.