A-Muse-ing Pinot Gris

Considering how far behind I am with my posting at the moment - there are consequences other than Visa bills following vacations - I could use a little muse to get my posting mojo flowing a little more smoothly.

639. 2008 Muse Winery Estate - legally blonde Pinot Gris (Vancouver Island - BC)

This was one of the bottles that we picked up during our '09 visit to Vancouver Island to see Bella Jianna and Flyboy B. Muse is the new name for Chalet Estate, the winery having changed hands a couple of years ago. Boo and I have made a number of visits to the winery when it was still Chalet and I thought that there would have been at least a couple of the old bottles on The List but I took a quick look and it seems that we haven't sipped at the Chalet since I started up the blog. We had a bottle of Muse with Bella Jianna's paella last year (#227), but we haven't actually had a bottle of Chalet. I'll have to see if we still have a bottle in the "cellar."

Peter and Jane Ellman, the new owners of Muse, are both veterans of wine and hospitality businesses and they fell in love with the Saanich Peninsula while they were looking at the possibility of investing in a winery. They took over while Chalet was still very much a boutique winery. In those couple of years, however, the Ellman's have almost doubled the production - from 1800 to around 3800 cases. Like the previous owners, they've realized that the Saanich area is never likely going to allow them to grow the fruit needed to produce the big reds that Peter was used to when he was working in the California wine scene. Those grapes will have to come down from the Okanagan.

However, the Peninsula can produce Pinot Gris and this one won a Gold medal at All Canadian Wine Championships last year. It never hurts to be able to add that sticker to the outside of a bottle, but Muse hasn't stopped at just that. The change of label has also seen a spritely approach to advertising the wines. Not only have all the wines been given names - like this Pinot Gris' "Legally Blonde" - but there are snappy bons mots on each of the back labels to give a bit of identity to the wine for the consumer.

The wine at hand is "a festive giddy gal with lots of snappy one-liners. A crisp wit and a tart approach to life...she plays well with others." I recently heard a radio commentator refer to Pinot Gris as the "Pamela Anderson of the wine world." Looks like Muse doesn't disagree.

Neither Boo, nor I, seemed to think that this Pam lived up to the billing though. It might have been that the crisp acidity was a bit overwhelming for the hot and sour soup that we paired it with, but my guess is that I still don't think she had the "curves" needed to make this a regular in our home.

We'll be back though. I have a feeling there'll be something more that can keep us a-Mused.

Twisted Tree Gamay Noir

Although you can actually find a bottle of Twisted Tree on The List already (#182), I didn't really know anything about the winery at that time. I knew it was one of the more recent additions to the world of BC wine and that the winery was located in the Osoyoos area - about as South as you can get in the Okanagan Valley before you hit the American border - but that was about it.

When heading up to Kootenays in the Eastern part of the province to visit Boo's mom at Sparrowhawk, we drove right by Twisted Tree's entrance as we climbed the hill to the East of Osoyoos. Boo was fast asleep as he'd had to work the night before, but I figured I needed to make the stop for a quick visit - and, as it turned out, a quick purchase of some of their wines (the "No Buy Leash" referred to in my last post was considerably slackened back then).

As tonight's dinner could handle a lighter red, we opted to give one those purchases a try.

638. 2008 Twisted Tree Gamay Noir (Okanagan Valley)

If last night's bottle of Mission Hill was an example of drinking with the big guys, we're definitely going the other route tonight. A family designed and run operation, the winery and vineyards were only started in 2004 - after the last cherry crop was harvested from the old "twisted trees" that were planted throughout the property. Total production is still limited to just over 4000 cases.

Since it isn't too realistic to expect to be able to produce decent, commercial wines from vines that are only a year or two old, owners Chris and Beata Tolley actually sourced their grapes for the first couple of vintages from other growers in the valley. Indeed, they still rely on relationships that they developed with those growers for some of the valley's more recognizable varietals. Those relationships have remained important because, one of the first things you notice about Twisted Tree's wines is that they produce varietals that will likely be seen only rarely - if at all - anywhere else in BC. The Tolley's decided to plant varietals that would differentiate them from the other wineries in the valley and, with grapes like Carmenere, Tannat, Tempranillo, Roussanne, Marsanne and Corvino, they definitely succeeded.

Gamay Noir may not be as exotic or uncommon to BC vineyards; however, it still isn't found as regularly as Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah or any of the white varietals. The grapes for this wine weren't actually grown on the benchlands where the winery is located. They were sourced from just North of Osoyoos; however, that area is still one of the warmest regions in the valley and the result is a bigger and richer Gamay than might be expected for that varietal.

I doubt that I'm likely to become one of Gamay Noir's biggest fans (whether from Twisted Tree or otherwise), but I am looking forward to trying some of the other bottles that we picked up to see what the future might hold for Twisted Tree's alternative varietals. Until then...

A Mission to Drink What We Have

I've received a bit of a dictate (although this isn't the first time it's been issued) where I'm being strongly encouraged not to buy any new wine until we've gone through some of the wine currently in our "cellar." I suppose part of the issue is that we don't have a wine cellar - rather we have a wine fridge that's full and a collection of boxes found here and there throughout our home.

The dictate is jokingly referred to as the "No Buy Leash" and, like a Phoenix, it's arising yet again and being tightened - even though I'm quite sure that I still have some leeway based on a bit of a "luxury purchase" of Boo's earlier in the year. All the same, I suppose we'll see a bit of a run on BC wines over the next little while (since a good percentage of our cellar is from BC) - particularly ones like tonight's bottle that are starting to see a bit of age on them.

637. 2002 Mission Hill S.L.C. Merlot (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Considering what some might call a pre-eminent position that Mission Hill holds in the world of BC wine, we don't drink a lot of their wine in our household. If you search the blog site, you'll find more than passing mention of Mission Hill wines on The List, but those additions are often at friends' places or in passing mention of a wine project linked to Mission Hill. There aren't too many bottles that, like tonight, were simply opened for an evening at home.

That might be because I figure that you can always count on a bottle of Mission Hill being available at virtually any wine shop that you could go into in the city. There's no urgency in buying a bottle because you may never see it again. As such, most of the Mission Hill bottles that we have at home are from their premium lines - not exactly mid-week wines around here.

In any event, back in 2002 (the vintage at hand), Mission Hill was just finishing off their spectacular re-modelling of the winery - a huge step in owner, Anthony von Mandl's, long-time goal of turning Mission Hill into one of the top wineries in the world - let alone in BC. The S.L.C. line - or Select Lot Collection - of wines was to follow. Introduced as a premium line (just below the iconic Oculus blend), these wines were made only from vineyard blocks or even rows that had been identified as the finest in the winery's estate throughout the Okanagan Valley.

I'm glad to say that Boo and I thought the bottle had aged well. I'm not sure that with this being the first vintage that it was meant to age for a decade. The original notes for the wine referred to concentrated fruits and supple tannins." The fruit had definitely fallen off - particularly on the nose - but, as should be hoped, we had no problem finishing off the bottle.

We'll just have to see how many more Mission bottles get opened during this round of the "No Buy Leash" dictate.

Crete, the Mediterranean and Me

I'll admit it. My eyes brighten and my ears perk up when I see or hear of another wine that features a not-so-common or an unfamiliar, indigenous grape varietal. After all, I'm in the 70's with my Wine Century Club application. With less than 30 varietals to go, you can't blame a guy for reaching for a bottle that may not be on Vancouver's best wine lists.

Besides, affordability and an easy-drinking wine are characteristics that play a larger part in the drinking habits of most folks anyhow. Complex wines with fine pedigrees and, more likely than not, a correspondingly big price have their place - but for a mid-week soup and sandwich kind of night at home, how can you go wrong with the former?

We've got one here.

636. 2008 Boutari Kretikos (Crete - Greece)

The name Boutari may be synonymous with Greek wine - after all, it does produce around 15 million bottles and exports a great many of those millions to 38 countries (and counting) - but I don't tend to consider drinking a lot of it unless we're out having souvlaki and tzatsiki at one of the Greek restaurants in town.

I think I'll need to re-think that a bit since the Boutari wines available nowadays aren't just the large bottle format white or red. There appears to be much more to the winery than I might have thought and this bottle is one of the new breed available.

One of the most powerful names in Greek winemaking, the Boutari family has been making wine since 1879 and, while their home base has always been in and remains in Naousa in the Northern part of the country, their continued business sense has culminated in the creation of a network of wineries throughout nearly every winemaking region in Greece.

The Kretikos line is based in the country's Southern-most island of Crete and they refer to the wine as a "country wine of Crete" or "Vin-de-pays." Although Greek winemaking (and even Boutari) has seen an inclination to start producing better known international varietals, this wine features grapes that are strictly indigenous to the island and to Greece. A blend of 70% Vilana and other grapes that are likely to raise a collective "huh?" when mentioned - try Thrapsathiri and Athiri - it's meant to be a fresh, simple sipper that matches up well with the island's cuisine.

Boo and I were surprised at how nice the wine actually was. Makes me want to pack my back and head off to the Mediterranean even more than I already did. Adding another varietal to my Century Club list is just an added bonus.

Prairie Fairies Fowl Supper

There are a couple of annual events that are perennial dates on our calendar and their stories are inevitably going to be posted here - even when they might not be best known for for their contribution to the enjoyment of wine.

The Prairie Fairies Fowl Supper is one of them. This year's Supper was the 11th annual and wouldn't you know it - I forgot to bring along the camera. Luckily Tyrant was attending the event with us and he had his camera in tow.

The Fowl Supper is a take off on the prairie tradition of town dinners throughout the fall to celebrate the harvest and the community. Our's simply has a bit of twist - that would be the "Prairie Fairies" part. What started as a church basement dinner for a group of Prairie transplants in the late 90's has morphed into one of the most anticipated events on Vancouver's gay calendar. In a town that is famous for its party people waiting until the last moment to commit to an event, the Fowl Supper has now has a tradition of selling out its 600 tickets within minutes of them going on sale. I know of no other event on the gay calendar that can come close to making that claim.

A whole charitable organization, the Fillmore Family Foundation, has been formed as an umbrella group to shepherd the dinner and the over $370,000 that has been raised for local charities.

It's one of the most unique events in town - bringing together club kids, curlers, cowboys and a whole swack of Saskatchewan trucker caps - and that doesn't include some of the mothers, grandmothers and great aunts that come along for the night. In addition, I think you can be pretty much guaranteed that this is the only event in Vancouver that features a jellied salad contest that sets all those Martha Stewart-y genes a-twitter. I quite loved this year's winning goldfish bowl.

Primarily focusing on turkey, hostess Doreen Fillmore's drag entertainment and an eclectic mix of dance tunes, fine wine isn't necessarily a priority for the event. Now based in a community centre hall, there's a rather limited choice in wine - a red and a white. We worked our way through one of each.

634. 2009 Two Oceans Pinot Noir (South Africa)

635. 2009 Two Oceans Sauvignon Blanc (South Africa)

Although I know these wines are pure entry level, I thought I'd take a quick look at them online. Turns out that Two Oceans claims to be the top selling South African wine in Canada and one of the top 10 selling wine brands overall in the country. I don't know if that's the same for BC as well. Regardless, they're styled for easy drinking with an emphasis on bringing forward the fruit - indeed, I suppose an emphasis on being fruit forward is a good thing at a big old gay event like this. You'll just have to pardon the pun.

I'm not going to go on about the wines or winery since they weren't the highlight of the evening. For many, I'm sure that highlight was gameshow host, Barb Snelgrove's, admiration of and banter about Mayor Gregor Robertson's tight fitting jeans. I've gotta say that, whether you like the man's politics or not, he was one helluva great sport - and when he joked about gerbils, well, I thought I'd fall out of my seat laughing.

It will be a hard laugh to follow up with next year. If we're in town, we'll no doubt be there though. In fact, I'm working on a couple jellied salad ideas of my own.

The Unknown Baumann Reisling

It would appear that there are times when I'm just not going to be able to find out much about a wine or winery. This may well be one of those occasions.

633. 2007 Domaine Baumann Riesling [ClassiQ] (AOC Alsace - France)

Not being someone who regularly gravitates to Alsatian wines, it would have been nice to learn a little bit about the origins of the evening's juice - particularly when this North-East part of France is probably best known by its producers than by particular villages or vineyards. Although Alsace does have vineyards that have been declared Grand Cru; not all of the wineries subscribe to that system (including even some of the best known producers). So, it helps to know something about who's bottle you're buying. I thought trying and finding out about a previously unknown winery might provide a new twist. Guess it wasn't to be.

Alsatian appellation rules permit the planting of nine different varietals; however, most of the production is white and the majority of that wine is Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat or Pinot Blanc. Perhaps because of that leeway, Alsace is, interestingly, the one region in France that has labeled its wine varietally for over a century now.

Domaine Baumaunn certainly appears to be marketing this wine to a more modern market. The label doesn't look anything like the traditional, Old World label of the big producers in the region. Even the extra twists in naming the wine [ClassiQ] are a little out there and reminiscent of [yellow tail]'s marketing. If it is modernity the winery is striving for, they might want to ensure that their website is working. The bottle refers to a website address but I got nothing when I hit it on more than a couple of occasions.

Ah well, for all the attempt that was made to find out about the wine, I don't know that finding more would have made much difference down the line. Riesling is a varietal that is adaptable to all sorts of styles and I'm definitely a big fan - but I can't say that this was a bottle that I'd look to visit again. The label referred to "scents of lime and ripe flavours of apple and quince" but the wine in my glass didn't seem to deliver any of that. Rather, there was plenty of acidity (also mentioned on the label) but there was no discernible fruit - or any other enjoyable note - to my palate.

Baumann may just remain an unexplored mystery in our house.

A Return to Burrowing Owl

Now that the vacation is over and we're getting back into a semblance of normality (such as "that" is), a little comfort food and recognizable wine seems nice.

632. 2004 Burrowing Owl Merlot (Okanagan Valley)

Chicken livers and I are actually very good friends. So, when I took a quick look and saw that we haven't opened a bottle of Burrowing Owl since last February - just before the Olympics - I figure one good friend deserves another. Considering how much Burrowing Owl we have in our "cellar" and how much of it is coming of age, we may need to open a few more bottles on a more regular basis.

I've never thought of Merlot as being a varietal that garners Burrowing Owl a lot of attention - that seems to sit more with Cab Franc, Syrah, their Meritage and a couple of whites. That may simply be due to the fact that Merlot is the most widely planted red varietal in the province. If everyone does it, the press may look more to the more unique wines that are produced - especially when they're made as well as Burrowing Owl's wines are.

That being said, this vintage still won a couple bronze medals at the Okanagan and All-Canadian wine competitions. That wouldn't have played any part in our picking up the bottles, but it's interesting to note as a benchmark for where BC and Canadian wines were and are as far as production levels go.

For those in the know with BC wines, Burrowing Owl was one of the early star wineries. California transplant and consultant winemaker, Bill Dyer, joined up with the Dyer family and introduced a bold style of wine that quickly gained cult-like status in the newly emerging industry. By the '04, vintage Dyer had moved on from B.O.W. but, Steve Wyse, the replacement winemaker (and son of owner Jim Wyse), was staying true to the style of wine that had earned all the praise in the beginning.

We haven't been filling the "cellar" lately with as much Burrowing Owl as we had been. So, it was nice to see that the wines we'd previously worked to get were holding up. After all, back at the turn of the century, folks still weren't sure that BC wines had the capability of aging gracefully. I think it's clearly apparent that the well-made ones can age just fine - thank you very much.

This bodes well for the Burrowing Owl still gracing the "cellar."

Halloween

The recovery from last night's Secret Souls Walk was a tad harsher than I might have liked, but there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to shut out the world. The parade of costumes was rather different from last night - and the treats were definitely tamer - but there's not much chance that we'd stop greeting the little devils and princesses at the door. After all, you never know when you might need Harry Potter or Hermione's help in getting tickets to their next blockbuster. I'd have to say that Hermione's kitty, Cruikshanks is certainly growing faster than the other characters. Give it another year and he'll be more the size of Winnie the Pooh.

No martinis tonight - that was a bit too scary of a thought for this boy. So, despite the fact that Mr. D and a couple others came by (since they don't get any kids in their neighbourhood), the best I was up for was adding one more bottle to The List.

631. 2008 Wolf Blass Yellow Label Merlot (South Australia)

When it comes to Australia and Merlot, this household naturally thinks of Merlot Boy himself. But, unlike during the Olympic Games, MB did not make a surprise visit for Halloween. So, alternatively, a fitting replacement for a party and for Merlot has to be Wolf Blass.

With Merlot being perhaps BC's most popular, homegrown red wine, we don't tend to drink a lot of Aussie Merlot. This bottle, however, is certainly representative of the New World, fruit-driven juice that made Down Under wines so popular in our market in the first place. After we'd opened it, I was a bit spooked that we might have already added this wine to The List. Indeed, four or five Wolf Blass wines have previously popped their corks (or screwcaps as the case may be) on our Odyssey, but not the '08 Merlot.

Seeing as how recognizable Wolf Blass is in our market, I'm sure we'll see him and his wines hit The List yet again. Accordingly, I don't think I'll spend any more time going into the myth behind the man this time around.

Besides, Halloween is all about the kids - particularly the headless and ghoulish ones. When they're as amusing as that, there's an extra bag of cheesies at our place.

Secret Souls Walk

Let me start by publicly declaring my love for the Public Dreams Society. For those of you that don't know the society, I'll let their "Vision" statement tell you what they're all about - "To nurture the magical heart and creative whimsy of each community by unleashing audacious artistic expressions." That pretty much captures, for me, the excitement that is Public Dreams.

They've just celebrated 25 years of passion and, although we've tried to attend as many of their events over the years as we can, we've never been closer. When the incredible people behind the organization have been able to hold their Parade of Lost Souls, it's always been an amazing part of Halloween celebrations along and around The Drive. This year the regular route wasn't available due to park renovations, and, lo and behold, our house was actually on the substitute route for this year's alternative - the Secret Souls Walk. How great is that?!

The only unfortunately part of the event being in our neighbourhood was that the route was kept a secret until the last moment and we didn't even know about the Walk until we returned from our vacation. That didn't really leave us any time to get fully caught up in the excitement and doll up our house and yard for the thousands of folks parading by. We managed some lights and our monster eyes but it barely scratched the creative surface that was our neighbourhood that night.

There was no way, however, that I could let the occasion pass by without adding another bottle to The List.

630. 2009 Bodega Carchelo - C (Jumilla DO - Spain)

This is the second vintage of Carchelo C on The List. The first was back in the summer (#517) when a 2008 helped propel Spain into the finals of our World Cup of Wine. Mr. D. is a big fan and he brought the '09 along for the night. OK, so Spanish wine might not be the most thematically consistent juice to serve up with Venetian masks and outfits - but most people thought we were pirates anyhow. So, maybe we just needed to forget playing with Casanova's passion and put a bit of a Spanish accent onto a guttural "ARRRRRGH!"

I do want to further discuss the winery and Jumilla region but that might have to wait for another bottle - I'm just a tad strapped for time since the whole Argentina/Peru trip has put me quite a bit behind on my postings. At least I know that there'll be one. For the time being, I'll just mention that C is a blend of 40% Monastrell (or Mourvedre), 40% Tempranillo and 20% Cab Sauv and is a prime example of the new generation of wines coming out of Spain.

If I'd been smart during the night, I might have stuck to quaffing back a bit of wine but the Vixen and some others came by to take in the evening and we quickly moved on to martinis. After all, we have these cool black, skull and crossbones embossed martini glasses and there aren't exactly a lot of opportunities to use them. While the martinis weren't exactly the death of me, it was a little too easy to stand in the raised backyard garden bed, watch the parade of costume after costume and raise our little black glass to all the "lost souls." in fact, we were enjoying that aspect of the evening so much that we lost track of time and we didn't even get to go on the Walk through the lanes ourselves.

By the time we'd reached the end of our own lane around 9.30 - having finished playing Dexter in a neighbour's garage and dancing to a zombie band - we were told that the Walk was now officially closed and that we couldn't proceed any further on the route. Whoa!! Bummer man. I guess it kept the hood well-behaved, but I was so "saddened" that I just went home and called it a night when everyone had moved on. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I think I've also determined that sticking to wine - over martinis - is going to be a smart plan down the road. I'll certainly remember that approach should Public Dreams visit our neighbourhood again next year.

Gryff Says Farewell

OK, as much as I'd love to spend even more time off gallivanting through exotic locales and drinking all sorts of wines that I'll never find at home, I have yet to win the lottery. So, it's back to day-to-day life in the Northern hemisphere.

Luckily, I don't have to give up altogether on the wine. After all, I may have been able to add another 21 bottles to The List during our recent trip, but we've still got quite a ways to go to reach 2001.

I'm not completely back into the swing of things yet though. We were having a bit of a drinks after work/farewell party for Gryff - as he's taking off for an extended (as in four or five months) trip to the Indian subcontinent. But, I didn't even bring along my camera. I may be able to get a shot from someone else at work, but, for the mean time, the bottle I get to add to The List shall remain photo-less.

629. Bodega y Vinedos Renacer - Punta Final Malbec (Mendoza - Argentina)

Boo and I might be back from South America but that doesn't mean that we've completely got that world out of our system. Since the work crowd would be asking as much about our recent adventures as they would about Gryff's impending trip, I figured I'd bring along a little taste of what we experienced - especially since I don't think there are any Indian wines to be found in our market. India Pale Ale - yes. Indian Merlot or Chardonnay - not so likely.

Renacer was another of the Argentine wineries that I was particularly fond of after the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival earlier in the year - and I'd hoped to visit it while we were in Mendoza. That on-site visit was not to be, however, as the winery was closed to visitors during the short time that we were there. And here I'd travelled all that way to see them. The nerve.

I guess it'll just have to be a case of the mountain coming to Mohammed after all.

As for Gryff, it looks like this will be the last bottle that I'll be sharing with him for awhile. In fact, we don't even know if he's ever coming back to the office - he might just retire outright. I look forward to that next bottle though. I know he'll have some stories to tell after all the mountains that he'll have gone to.