A Clare Riesling to Enjoy

1343.  2010 Mitchell - Watervale Riesling (Clare Valley - Australia)

Unfortunately, the timing of our little Aussie Wine Adventure last year didn't give Boo and I a chance to jaunt up to the Clare Valley. If we had have been able to fit in a short visit, Mitchell definitely would have been one of our "can't miss" wineries. Mitchell isn't all that well known in the Vancouver market but I discovered it a couple of years back when the Australian Wine Appreciation Society (AWAS) had an impromptu tasting with winery owners and proprietors, Jane and Andrew Mitchell.

The Clare Valley is a narrow, 40 kilometre valley located a couple of hours above Adelaide (and beyond the Barossa Valley). It's home to over 40 wineries and is probably best known for dry, crisp Rieslings. While our tasting also featured some of Mitchell's red wines, I was lucky enough to grab one of the last bottles of Riesling that remained at Everything Wine.

Regular readers will know that I'm a bit of a Riesling fiend. That being said, the Clare Valley Rieslings that tend to make it to our markets aren't generally faves of mine. I can find the trademark acidity to be somewhat overbearing at times. While there was no missing the bracing acidity with the Mitchell wine, there was a nice touch of tree fruit on the palate in addition to the expected lime notes - this is definitely along the style lines I favour.

The Mitchells established the winery in 1975 and are consistently lauded by Aussie critics - notably, they hold a five-star rating from James Halliday (his highest). Part of the Mitchell story that I particularly enjoyed hearing was their transition to dry farming and to organic and/or biodynamic vineyard management. While discussing the idiosyncracies of biodynamics, Jane confessed that when she started life as a winery owner, she never envisioned spending a good part of her Sunday's "shovelling cowshit to make compost sprays." That statement - coming from this pleasant, well-mannered woman - caught everyone by surprise and resulted in some big laughs.

I don't know how good the wine would have been without the Mitchell's particular farming regime and Jane's regular shovel action, but I do know that Boo was a happy as a pig in sh*t with his calamari and I was just as happy with my Riesling. I think we need to do this more often.

The Fat Lady Sings! End of Hockey Lock Out Finally Arrives!

After an annoying 113-day lockout, we finally have news that an agreement between the players and the NHL is at hand. We were waiting for the fat lady to sing and it would seem she's come to the stage to belt out her tune. Good thing it was her and NOT Gary Bettman because he'd have been "boo'ed" off whatever stage he wanted to stand on.

In honour of the (shortened) hockey season to come, I looked for something of an "operatic" bottle. The choice was a new wine and a new winery on the scene but I figured Figaro fits that bill.

1342.  2010 Terravista Vineyards - Figaro (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Terravista may be new to BC wine drinkers but the folks behind it should be immediately recognizable to anyone truly familiar with BC wine. Black Hills and its Nota Bene and Alibi wines have been front and centre when it comes to buzz on the BC wine scene ever since Senka and Bob Tennant opened the winery back in 2001. The Tennants sold Black Hills in 2007 and it was with great interest that I saw they had a new presence in the Okanagan.

The Tennants decided to dive back into grape growing and winemaking and relocated from the Black Sage Road to the Naramata Bench. In 2009, they began planting their new four-acre vineyard on the Bench, but they went about it with a whole new view to the region. They started by planting two white Spanish grapes - Albariño and Verdejo - varieties never seen before in the Valley (and quite possibly in the entire country).

Neither of those grapes are found in Figaro though. Terravista's - and Senka's - first release is a blend of classic Rhône grapes: Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. As their own vines weren't producing yet, the grapes for Figaro were purchased. BC consumers are becoming familiar with homegrown Viognier but there still isn't much in the way of Roussanne or Marsanne being grown in the Valley. Accordingly, there were only 220 cases of Figaro produced.

Senka turned heads when she produced her white blend, Alibi, at Black Hills. A Semillon/Sauv Blanc may be standard in other countries but it was bit of a rarity for BC. I remember an early review of Alibi, however, and the author (John Schreiner, maybe) said he thought it was one of the best white wines ever produced in Canada. Senka appears to be turning some heads again.

Rhône-style white wines aren't necessarily my favourite tasting profile but you can't fault Senka on her actual winemaking. The wine has bright acidity and a stoney-ness to it, all the while keeping a good body and allowing the aromatics to come through.

The Tennants have finished their new winery and it was constructed to blend with the site topography. Word is that, even when their vineyard is in full production, the Tennants only plan to make a maximum of 2000 cases and the winery won't feature a tasting room or wine shop. I've read that they intend to commit their wine to restaurant sales, featured bottle shops and some direct sales.

As such, finding Terravista isn't likely going to always be that easy of a find. Indeed, I'm a little late in finding this bottle. The 2011 vintage has apparently been released - as has a first vintage of the Albariño/Verdejo blend called Fandango.

I can't wait to find a bottle of Fandango to give it a try. That thought is almost as exciting as the start of the hockey season will be.

La Frenz Shiraz

Pulling the cork on any La Frenz wine can be a bit of a test for my blog. La Frenz is one of our favourite BC wineries and, justifiably so, I've already added a good number of Jeff and Niva Martin's wines to The List. Since one of my primary ground rules for adding a wine to The List is that I can't add the same bottle twice, I always have to check the blog to see if I've previously added a particular La Frenz wine. The good part of my rule is that I can add different vintages of the same wine to The List.

As luck would have it, I've yet to add this '05 vintage to The List. The '02 and '06 versions can be found respectively at #668 and #426 but that still leaves a spot for tonight's bottle.

1341.  2005 La Frenz Shiraz (Naramata Bench - Okanagan Valley)

As transplanted Aussies, it's not surprising to find the Martins on top of making a Shiraz varietal wine - especially since the Okanagan, as a region, is continually proving that it has the potential to produce wonderful cool climate Shiraz or Syrah. La Frenz has opted to call its varietal wine a Shiraz - while most BC producers are producing Syrah. I think it's fair to say that the nomenclature has less to do with New World vs. Old World stylings and more to do with Jeff Martin's Aussie roots - where, of course, Shiraz reigns supreme.

Regardless of his styling bents, this is another La Frenz winner. Indeed, the 2005 bottling won silver at both the Northwest Wine Summit and the All Canadian Wine Championships in 2008. On the La Frenz website, Jeff has suggested that the Shiraz is best opened within five years of release. We're at that five year spread now and were pleasantly surprised by the largesse of dark fruit that was still evident on the nose and palate.

With the long awaited BC Wine Appreciation Society's Great Syrah/Shiraz Taste-Off just around the corner, this is a nice start to getting our palates prepped for some of the Okanagan wines to come. I can't wait.

A Final Gathering for the Season

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

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

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

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

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

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

1339. 2011 Woodbridge Merlot (California)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jancis and "Wine Grapes" to the Rescue

Being the wine geek that I am, I suppose it's only natural that the tome that is Wine Grapes would show up under our Christmas tree this year. The 1200 page - and very heavy - resource was published last year by authors Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz. The book is billed as a quick guide to 1368 grape varieties found in the world today - from the most important to the nearly extinct. Want to discover what's the story behind that grape you've never heard of or from where the heck it originates? The hope is that Wine Grapes will turn out to be as good of a starting point as any.

Tonight's bottle was chosen as a test case. I certainly didn't know anything about Vranac at the start of the evening - except that I assumed it was going to score me another grape for my Wine Century Club tally.

Lo and behold, Vranac was there - right between Voskeat and Vugava. Hey, hey.

1337. 2007 Plantaze - Crnogorski Vranac (Montenegro)

I'm kinda behind on my posts; so, I think I'll just crib an example of what you'll find in the book. "Vranac, meaning 'strong black' or 'black stallion,' is the most important indigenous variety of the region that includes today's Montenegro, part of Serbia and southern Croatia, where it has allegedly been cultivated since the Middle Ages."

The book continues with varietal wines are "deeply coloured, full-bodied, tannic, high in alcohol and become more complex with age."

It was interesting to note that Plantaze is one of the producers named by the authors in this entry.  The winery saw its start as a part of an "agricultural-industrial plant" in 1963. The plant was the pre-cursor for the winery and was transformed over 60's, 70's and early 80's. The winery's website states that, by 2009, it was operating the "largest vineyard in Europe" and it was producing 4 million bottles of wine - including a sparkling wine and an award winning Chardonnay.

I never know what to anticipate when I open one of these "unknown" wines. Admittedly, I pick them off the shelf largely for the novelty aspect. It's an added bonus when they're surprisingly tasty - as this one was. I doubt I'll buy it by the case or serve it at a business function or cocktail party but, for an introduction to the grape and to Montenegran wines, it was a decent quaff.

As an added note - and thanks to Wine Grapes - I certainly never would have know that Vranac is common mistaken with Tribidrag. I'm going to have to try and remember that fact should I ever run across a wine made with Tribidrag (which Wine Grapes tells me is also known as Zinfandel). That's for sure.

All in all, I say this is a Christmas present that might see some regular use in the years to come.

New Year's Eve

We haven't been so lucky with Boo's work schedules the last so many years when it comes to days off during the holiday season. When we knew that he wasn't going to have to work this New Year's Eve, we decided to invite some folks over for a little low-key celebration - and, naturally, more than enough wine to end 2012 and get a good start on the year to come.

With a dozen or so folks in attendance, there was a grand selection of bottles open for the tasting. Not wanting to start 2013 with a troubled head, I tried my best to behave - and limited myself to celebratory sips of wines that were particularly new and interesting.

1333.  2011 Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups - Dix Arpents (Montlouis-sur-Loire AOC - Touraine - France)

Fist up was the Dix Arpents that K-Pop and Baby Mama brought. I'd never heard of the producer and asked them what prompted them to bring it along. They hadn't ever tried it before either but they thought it looked like an interesting new find when browsing through local bottle shop shelves.  It turns out that they uncovered a producer with quite the story. Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups is a relatively young winery by French standards as it was only established in 1988; however, it is seen as helping lead the way of securing a higher profile for the Montlouis region. Indeed, the principal force behind the winery is Jacky Blot. He's been called a "Loire Superstar" and has enough of a profile that his name is featured on the bottle's front label.

The winery's properties straddle a couple of appellations in the Loire Valley - Vouvray and Montlouis.  - although the majority of the estate's vineyards are located in Montlouis. Being a newcomer to the region, those properties are scattered through the region and Dix Arpents is a blend of fruit from a full assortment of vineyards that can number over 30 different parcels. All of those vineyards are planted solely with Chenin Blanc though.

I'm not that familiar with Chenin Blanc wines.  It's not a varietal that I run across all that often or one that I tend to buy regularly. Despite being the estate's entry level wine, the wine is still considered an intense introduction to Chenin Blanc. Vineyard cultivation sees extensive picking practices. The grapes are harvested in tries (or separate passes through the vines) - where individual grapes are picked, as opposed to entire bunches, to help ensure that each grape on a bunch is fully ripe before it is harvested.

It was an interesting way to start off the evening. There was some substance and weight to the wine - possibly due to the oaking that wine sees during ageing - and it didn't have as much fruit on palate as the few Chenin's I've tried from BC or South Africa. For a more extensive discussion of the Jacky Blot and Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups, you need only visit the informative entry on the Wine Doctor. That post was like a one-stop info source during my looking around the internet to hunt down the wine.

1334.  2009 Red Rooster Golden Egg (VQA Okanagan Valley)

New Year's Eve seemed like an event that's worthy of an icon wine from one of our favourite producers.  Karen Gillis, winemaker at Red Rooster, states that she's had a long time "fascination with 'Rhône-style' reds." Syrah now has a firm footing in the Okanagan but this is the first GSM that I've seen from a BC producer.  The blend is 59% Mourvèdre, 24% Syrah and 17% Grenache and there was a very limited production of 186 cases.

The small production stems from the fact that there is very little Mourvèdre or Grenache grown in the province. Karen worked with some of their long time growers and coaxed them into planting the two new varietals.  This was the first release of the Golden Egg as a GSM. (There was a previous Golden Egg wine but that was a Bordeaux blend - Merlot, Cab Sauv and Cab Franc and I believe it was last produced in 2003 under the previous ownership regime.)

The Golden Egg was medium bodied - with bigger acidity and a lighter fruit profile than most of the Rhône or Aussie GSM blends that I'm familiar with (surprise, surprise). The profile was more sour cherry or cranberry than dark fruit. The wine did win a Silver medal winner at the Wine Access 2011 Canadian Wine Awards but the $50 price tag might leave most consumers wanting a bigger profile. My guess is that the wine is better suited to the dinner table than it is for a cocktail party.

As midnight and the new year approached, I thought it'd be neat to try and sabre the bottle of bubbly that I'd picked up. After all, my earlier attempt back in the Fall with the BC Wine Appreciation Society bus tour was both successful and great fun and that experience made it seem easy-peasy. Boo pulled out a selection of sabre-esque knives to choose from and we were ready for the countdown. 5-4-3-2-1...nothing. A couple whacks and no bubbles. Ahhhh. Good thing no damage was done to the bottle and I could still pop the cork in the old fashioned way.

1335.  N.V. Chanoine Frères - Tsarine Rosé Brut (Champagne AOC - France)

I was drawn to this bottle - not so much because of the unique bottle design but - by the fact that I saw a advert stating that it was a Lanson product. Not that I get the opportunity to drink a lot of true Champagne but, when I do, Lanson is probably my favourite and as regular a "go to" Champagne as I have. I'd never seen anything that tied Tsarine to Lanson previously, but I was told at the wine shop that Lanson had recently purchased the producer, Chanoine Frères. The plan remained to produce Tsarine under the old name however.  Chanoine Frères is apparently the second oldest house in Champagne, the family having established a trading house in 1730. In the same year, they were permitted to excavate the very first champagne cellars in the town of Epernay.

The striking bottle design is meant to evoke the swirling spires of Russian architecture. In the 19th Century, Imperial Russia was the largest export market for Champagne and Chanoine Frères created the Cuvée Tsarine to honour that relationship.

The wine is equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir - all three of the classic Champagne grapes. The Chanoine Frères website states that "The Pinot Noir grape provides the back-bone of our wine, the Pinot Meunier lending softness and fruit aromas, while the Chardonnay grape imparts delicacy and elegance."

I think it's fair to say that our little gang found the Tsarine to be quite imperial. Easily my favourite tipple of the night. I'm hoping to run across more Tsarine long before another year has passed by.

1336.  N.V. Joan Raventós Rosell Cava Brut (D.O. Cava - Spain)

Continuing with our theme of bubbles, Red had brought along a bottle of Cava. This was a new Cava - or Spanish bubble - for me. Raventós Rosell is no slouch in historical pedigree either. Although the actual company only dates from 1985, the Raventós family has roots in winemaking and the Penedès region that date back to the 1870's. Penedès is the traditional region for the production of Cava - the Spanish equivalent of Champagne.

Raventós Rosell considers itself a smaller, family run producer, having approximately 250 acres of vineyards. Together with related producer, Heretat Vall-Ventós, they produce 18 different sparkling Cavas - as well as a number of still, table wines. The Cava Brut is a blend of Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo and Chardonnay and while it didn't offer quite the same bubbly mousse or flavour profile as the Tsarine, it was less than half the price. Accordingly, we could drink twice as much - and likely end up just as happy as a result.

Not that we did that. At least, not that we're copping to "that."

Behaving myself - and limiting my wining to these four bottles - might have meant that I didn't get to add nearly as many bottles to The List as I might have liked to but it did help my morning after and my start to 2013 and, for that, I'm celebrating my foresight.

For the moment that was though, I figure we saw 2012 out with a fitting celebration of good friends and good wines. Hopefully, the new year will see plenty of new, exciting bottles of wine to add to The List and maybe even see me stay a little more current with my posts.  One can always hope!

Happy New Year!

Next of Kin Cab

1332.  2007 Xanadu - Next of Kin Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River - Australia)

No turkey leftovers around this year; so, we're right back into some bigger reds. Since Margaret River is particularly well known for its Cab Sauv's, I grabbed this bottle of Next of Kin. Xanadu releases a range of premium Cab wines under its namesake label. Unfortunately, for us tonight, I didn't have a bottle of Xanadu.  Rather, I had a Next of Kin wine and that range is made and priced more for early consumption. Sometimes, you just have to go with what you have though. Admittedly, love of all things Margaret River aside, the Next of Kin didn't exactly fill our glasses with anything that whisked us off with marvellous memories of Western Australia.

Xanadu was established in 1977 but, as James Halliday has noted, it has recently seen some restructuring as "over-ambitious expansion and...increasingly tight trading conditions" led to a takeover in 2005 by the Rathbone family - the crew that controls well known wineries Yering Station, Mount Langi Ghiran and Parker Estate.  Those wineries are located, respectively, in the Yarra Valley, Grampians and Coonawarra. Accordingly, the family saw an expansion into Margaret River as a natural fit in terms of adding a new region to their stable.

All in, Xanadu produces approximately 70,000 cases annually. I'd quite like to try the main label but I might pass on the Next of Kin next time around. Nothing wrong with the wine. It just didn't inspire and that's - perhaps unrealistically - something I've come to expect from Margaret River wines.

Our market hasn't traditionally seen much in the way of Margaret River wines, especially not commercial, introductory level wines from the region. The few wines we see have generally been good ambassadors for the region and, as such, I've tended to grab a bottle or two whenever I've seen them. I may just need to exercise a little more caution in the future and keep more of an eye open for the wine's provenance before I grab it now.

A Mickey Rooney Christmas

Boo and I consider ourselves lucky boys to have Mickey and Rooney as friends. We can always count on Rooney to call us up and say, "It's been too long. It's time we got together again." Whether the occasion calls for a wander around her incredible garden or it's to dress up for one of her famous Halloween parties, fun times and great chats are guaranteed with the two of them.

Rooney wanted to try and figure out an evening where we could get together over the holidays - but finding a common evening was a lot more difficult than we might have hoped. Between previously booked engagements and Boo's tasking work schedule, we found that there was only one night that might work - even then, we could only get started after 8pm since Boo was working days at the hospital. With a promise of decorations, a real fire and homemade bread, Rooney didn't have to coax us too much despite the late start on a school night.

I know from past get togethers that Rooney likes her white wines. So, I thought I'd bring along something a little different for us - an Okanagan Chardonnay.

1330.  2010 La Stella Leggiero (VQA Okanagan Valley)

Anyone who regularly visits the blog will know that it's obvious that we drink a heckuva lot of Okanagan wine. So, what's so different about tonight's bottle? Simple. It's Chardonnay. I'm far from being a member of the ABC Club ("Anything But Chardonnay") but the BC whites in our glasses just tend to be more on the lines of Riesling, Pinot Gris or blends. I'd run across this unoaked Chardy from La Stella while visiting the winery just prior to the 2011 BC Wine Appreciation Wine Tour and it definitely struck my fancy.

In line with the winery's inspiration to bring a little dolce vita to the Okanagan, the wine is stylized after the Italian cool climate Chardonnays of the Alto Adige in the North. Most of La Stella's wines are named after musical expressions as a means of capturing the wine's personality and, as a musical term, "Leggiero" means "light and delicate." Accordingly, the Chardy sees no oak in a bid to accentuate the fruit and minerality of the source vineyard.

The grapes for Leggiero are purchased from neighbouring vineyards as the winery's vineyards do not have any Chardonnay planted currently. Only 330 cases of the 2010 vintage were made - which is a bit of shame since this is the only bottle that I have. Rooney and I would both eagerly fill our glasses over and over again.

1331.  2005 Domaine  de la Charbonnière - Vacqueyras (Vacqueyras AOC - Rhône - France)

The second wine was chosen as a red to match up with Rooney's promised Ribolitta soup. The soup might be Tuscan influenced, whereas the wine is from the Rhône Valley in France, but I figured there wouldn't be any complaints about the approachable Grenache/Syrah profile - and there weren't.

The winery's website is "under construction;" so, I couldn't find much information about them from them. However, I did see one webcast interview with their "new" winemaker, Veronique Maret. A different site stated that the domaine has been in the Maret family since 1912. Veronique and her sister will be the fourth generation of the family to be involved with the winery.

Vacqueyras is one of the Côtes du Rhône villages that was elevated from that general classification to its own appellation because of consistent quality.  The family's holdings span Châteauneuf du Pape, Vacqueyras and the general Côtes du Rhône designation. Accordingly, they produce a range of wines  under the banner of the respective appellations, with the Vacqueyras falling in the middle of the range price-wise.  We picked this one up for $30; whereas the CdP cuvée runs closer to $45 in our market.

Being a 2005, the Vacqueyras was produced by Maret père, prior to Veronique's return to the winery as winemaker, but the wine still had a youthful, fruit forward profile - one that might be more associated with younger winemakers than with the previous generation. Like the Leggiero, it's a profile that I'd be more than willing to return to though.

So, two good friends and two good wines. What more can you ask for as a little seasonal activity? Mickey and Rooney can call us up to put on a neighbourhood "show" anytime.

Turkey Wines

Of course, the title "Turkey Wines" refers to the wine we drank with our Christmas turkey - not wines that were made in Turkey, although I would like to try some of those one day.  But, I digress.

Forgetting one's camera at home on a big family event day like Christmas isn't supposed to happen.  But, I suppose sh*t really does happen - at least it did to us today.  Hence, there won't be any "idyllic family by the tree" shots or extravagant "Grampa slicing the roast turkey" photos this year.  Just a couple of blurry iPhone clicks that are hardly worth the effort.

Ah well, we shall persevere.

As tradition would have it, my sis, Vixen, hosted dinner.  She's got the kids; so, the day's largely about them anyhow - even though those kids are rather grown up now.  The oldest, Stargirl, is 18 and our start to dinner was delayed this year because she was the one working during the day.  Generally, it's Boo's hospital shifts that mess us up but he actually had the day off this year and. luckily so, because it turned out he was particularly happy to be there to open his presents from Vixen and the kids.  It's funny how much they've come to know his little sic-fi leanings, but he was tickled pink with his VIP pass to The Hobbit and his USS Enterprise pizza cutter.  To the extent that he quickly announced that the Enterprise was so special, it was never going to cut an actual pizza.

Sci-Fi geek or not, I suppose I have to allow him his Star Trek nerdiness.  After all, he lets me obsess about wine, as much as I do, without complaint - that is, except when he goes on about how I regularly get carried away with the purchasing of said wine.

I just have to be quick to respond to any of his whines by pointing out that all that purchasing helps put us in a position of always having bottles ready to bring along for dinner when needed.

1327.  2008 Red Rooster Reserve Gewürztraminer (VQA Okanagan Valley)

I'm not generally the biggest Gewurz fan around but I have no problem wrapping my tongue around Red Rooster's Reserve - particularly with pre-dinner cheeses and with Christmas turkey and its myriad of trimmings.  We got to enjoy the wine with food, but this has been a palate pleaser with or without an accompanying nibble.  I doubt that the Vancouver Magazine judges were enjoying it with roast gobbler and they still named this Gewurz as one of 2010's Best BC Wines.

Beyond Gewurz, I always think of Pinot Noir as another "go to" wine for matching with turkey and fond memories forced me to grab this next bottle when I saw it on a local shelf.  Only problem is that I forgot to take a picture of the bottle during dinner.  Too much seasonal excitement I suppose.

1328.  2009 Del Fin del Mundo Reserva Pinot Noir (Patagonia - Argentina)

I was quite pleased to find the Del Fin del Mundo Pinot locally because Boo and I quite enjoyed quaffing some back on our final night in Buenos Aires a few years back.  I'd discovered the winery during the 2010 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (as it then was) but we weren't going to be able to make our way down to Patagonia to visit the winery.  Del Fin del Mundo, however, had opened a happening restaurant in B.A. to highlight their wines and the region's cuisine. The folks at Experiencia Del Fin del Mundo treated us royally and we had one of our most enjoyable meals during the whole trip. Unfortunately, we were well past being able to fit a couple more bottles into our luggage for the trip home.  So we couldn't bring any more of their wines home with us.  This was the first time I'd run across the Pinot Noir in Vancouver.

Patagonia is hardly the wine region that immediately pops into most people's heads when they think of Argentine wines, but Del Fin del Mundo is one of the wineries leading the way to try and make just those thoughts more de rigeur.  Being located much more to the cooler climes of the South, Patagonia is gaining a particular reputation for Pinot Noir.  It's definitely on the New World end of the Pinot scale - bigger and bolder than many Pinots in our market, but the bottle quickly disappeared into glass after glass.

Turned out that we had an extra Christmas "treat" and a Guest Alcohol to the blog when Big Trucker brought out a specialty cask of Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey that he and Vixen had run across during their wanderings in Washington State.  That "beautiful" golden bottle is one of Jim Beam's specialty decanters that were first introduced in 1955.  This particular beauty was purchased by the original buyer (and was recently discovered as part of an estate) in 1972 for $21.  These liquor decanters became an popular limited edition item for Jim Beam and the concept actually became quite popular with other liquor producers as well.  By the 70's, up to 20 distillers were producing similar decanters.  Jim Beam was one of the few companies that owned their own china factory however.  All in all, over a thousand different decanters have been made over the years in all styles - from classic cars and wildlife to sport and politics - and there are all sorts of web pages and sales dedicated to them.

Big Trucker's bottle featured 172-month old bourbon back in '72; so, add the 40 years since then and this was some fairly well-aged hooch.  Not my regular cuppa, but I figured I'd best take advantage of a pretty rare opportunity.

1329.  2008 Rustic Roots Iced Orin (Similkameen Valley)

Our last bottle of the evening was served up with Boo's pies.  He'd made his Mom's trademark pecan pie, as well as an apple pie (for the benefit of the kids).  As Southern' as it may sound, bourbon and pecan pie isn't necessarily everyone's first choice for dessert; so, I'd planned ahead and brought along the Iced Orin apple wine, thinking it would be a perfect match to Boo's apple pie.

Having had the Forbidden Fruit Bliss fortified white cherry last night, we figured why not continue with a Similkameen fruit wines and moved on to a wine from just a few miles down Hwy 3.

Now operating a fifth generation farm, the Harker family helped settle the Similkameen Valley back in 1888 and the family has been selling produce from their 30 acres of organic farmland for many a year.  Finally Troy and Sara Harker decided it was time to make some wine with some of all that fruit they'd been growing and had at their disposal.  The Iced Orin has turned out to be a highly commended wine for them.  Indeed, Radio & TV personality and wine show host, Terry David Mulligan, has sung the wine's praises many a time over the air.

Made from certified organic Sweet Orin apples, there isn't a lot of it.  Only 200 cases was made of the 2008 vintage and I was happy to see some of it in Rustic Roots' tasting room awhile back when I had stopped in on the way back from the Okanagan.  There was no doubt that it was about the best match imaginable for homemade apple pie.

After a day of prepping and fussing, it was also a sweet and tasty way to bring a close to another Christmas.  Hopefully, here's to many more.

Christmas Eve Treats

As busy as I've been over this holiday season, this Christmas was destined to be different.  With Mom's passing over the summer, this would be our first without her sharing the good times.  Christmas day has traditionally been spent at Vixen's place; so, I figured it'd be nice to have Christmas Eve at our place.

This was just the sort of gathering I'd been waiting for so that I could pop the cork on a bottle of - of all things - English bubble.  Dad's cousin and his wife - Phil and Liz - had come to visit back in the summer and I'd asked them to find and bring along a bottle.  I've read a few stories about English sparkling wines and how they're becoming surprisingly good and I figured I'd never run across a bottle in our market.  We would have popped the cork while Phil and Liz were in town but we were rather occupied with Mom's illness at the time.

Christmas would be the perfect time to toast both Mom and our English benefactors.

1325.  N.V. Chapel Down Reserve Vintage Brut (England)

I'm sure that many, if not most, North American wine drinkers' first reaction to hearing of an English wine is that it must be just a novelty item.  That's probably not that much different of a reaction from what many American or Australian consumers would think if you were to bring up the topic of Canadian wine.  Just as Canadian producers have made amazing strides over the last couple decades, there are now over 400 commercial vineyards and 124 wineries in the UK and some of those wines are garnering some serious buzz.

Like Canada, England's weather is stereotypically seen as being too cold and wet to grow grapes capable of becoming a decent wine. While that might be a somewhat realistic starting point, that doesn't mean that some regions in the South of England aren't suitable for growing grapes that prefer cooler climates.  Global climate change is certainly seen as a possible influence for the years to come as well.  English farmers may not be able to grow -  or at least not consistently ripen - some of the bigger and better known grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz or Merlot, but other (and perhaps less recognizable) varietals can make a decent go of it.

Indeed, the limestone soils found in the South of England are seen as being similar in terroir to France's Champagne region itself.  Accordingly, much of English winemaking has tended towards the production of sparkling wines since achieving full ripeness may not be quite as critical to the success of a wine as it is with still, table wines.

One bottle of English bubble and a little online research certainly isn't going to render me an expert in English wines; so, I'll leave my recap at that but there still is the wine.

I gather that Chapel Hill is a well known - and respected - brand in England.  Their website mentions that the Vintage Reserve Brut was awarded a Silver Medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 2012.  The site doesn't go into much detail about the wine itself.  It does, however, confirm that the wine is made using the same méthode traditionelle as is used in making true Champagne.  The wine sees second fermentation in the bottle and, according to the site, the "house style" sees extended ageing of the wine on its lees (or spent yeast cells) to promote that classic toasty note to the wine.  I'll attest to their success on that note.  There was a definite, and pleasant, yeastiness to the nose.

A hallmark of English bubble is supposed to be a higher note of fruit on the palate than a traditional Champagne will see.  While there was a bit of green apple or similar tree fruit, I wouldn't say that it was prominent.  What was noticeable was the high acidity.  That might recede a bit with a little more ageing but it actually helped out our cause as it was served with a rich tourtière and the acid cut through the fat in the ground meat and the crust.

I tried searching a little bit to find out what grapes were used in making the Chapel Down Brut but I only saw some general reference to grapes that the estate vineyards grow.  I did find one reference to the wine's provenance when Jamie Goode - the noted English writer behind jamie goode's wine blog and Wine Anorak - stated that the Vintage Reserve Brut was a blend of Rivaner, Reichensteiner and Pinot Noir.  That post was written back in 2008 though; so, it's possible that the make-up of the wine has changed over the years.  I'd like to confirm that blend though because, if it's correct, I believe I get to add two new varietals to my Wine Century Club tally.  (Editor's Note:  I heard from the good folks at Chapel Down and they advise that the varieties used are Pinot Noir 49%, Chardonnay 33%, Pinot blanc 10% and Pinot Meunier 8% - no Rivaner or Reichensteiner this time around for the Wine Century Club, I guess.)

Previously untried varietals or not, popping the cork on the Chapel Down was a nice way to help celebrate the season and to toast Mom's memory.  While Dad and Big Trucker moved on to beer, Vixen, Boo and I stuck with the bubble while watching a little Christmas cinema.  There was a bit of discussion as to which movie to watch but Team Love Actually won out over Team It's A Wonderful Life.  Surprisingly, even Dad was chuckling throughout the movie.

I made bread pudding to finish off our evening as it's become a bit of seasonal tradition around here and we wouldn't need any for Christmas dinner since Vixen had talked Boo into make a couple pies.

1326.  N.V. Forbidden Fruit - Bliss - Fortified White Cherry (Similkameen Valley)

Being a special evening, I figured I'd pull out a special wine to accompany the bread pudding.  It was going to need some sweetness to it to match up with the pudding; so, I thought we could try a fortified wine from Forbidden Fruit.  The English bubble might be rare in our market but this bottle of Bliss is rare in any market.  Being a fortified white cherry fruit wine that isn't made every year and is only made in small batches when it is made, you're not going to run across it easily.  Indeed, owner/winemaker, Steve Venables, says that he doesn't know of any other winery that even tries to make a similar wine.

Bliss is made from 100 percent estate grown, organic Rainer white cherries.  The Rainer cherry apparently has a unique taste for a cherry and that uniqueness carries through to the wine.  Interestingly, the wine sees some young oak and Steve likens the final taste to brandy or cognac.  Admittedly, the taste wasn't entirely expected but it easily met acceptance as even the oldest niece, Stargirl, finished off a small glass and she's only just starting to experiment with wine when we get together.

At just under $30 for 200ml, Bliss is pretty much as expensive as icewine - but then again, there is that whole "rare" aspect to this bottle as well.  I couldn't pass it up when I saw it for sale at the winery and I'm glad we got to try it.

As Bliss-ful as the evening might have been, everyone needed to get home to bed before Santa was set to come.  There was a busy day in store and we'd managed to fit in a couple of interesting bottles as it was.  Can't say that there was any wine left to go with Santa's cookies though.  I wasn't too concerned though.  Knowing how naughty I've been with staying current with the blog this year, I'm not so sure Santa was going to be leaving me any wine anyhow.