Departure Lounging

Despite a luxurious day on the water, the return to our villas was hastened by the fact that Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed were flying off to Spain that night. They pretty much did fly down to Antigua, join in for the Dinner Club and then take off for another adventure. In my eyes, that's true dedication to the Dinner Club.

As the girls finished packing, English Doc miraculously pulled off some Hurry Up Jerk Chicken. He faced a time constraint worthy of a Top Chef or Master Chef trial but, luckily, the timing was such that the girls could join up with us and have a quick dinner - and some last minute cocktails - before they had to leave for the airport.

Guess I was too busy mixing and prepping to take any pictures during dinner, but things mellowed out completely once the girls were safely en route to their plane. So, at I least there shots of the wine that we opened as the evening progressed.

1556.  N.V. Bodega Dante Robino - Novecento Rosado (Mendoza - Argentina)

If there was a wine meant to epitomize the old Molly Ringwald movie, "Pretty in Pink," this might be the bottle to do it. As the lovely and talented Jeaux modelled the wine, we realized that the wine itself is on the lighter side of serious - much like a teen romance flick. A definite sweetness on the palate - but that's not necessarily a bad thing when eating spicy chicken. I think I'd likely stick with a preference for my bubbles to be served a bit drier. The wine was interesting, however, in that I don't run across Argentine bubblies very often and I doubt you'd regularly find a sparkling blend of Ugni Blanc, Chenin and Bonarda from anywhere other than Argentina.

1557.  2012 Saint Roch Les Vignes Côtes de Provence (Côtes de Provence AOC - France)

You might not find a lot of jerk chicken for dinner on the Mediterranean coast but there's no doubt that we're finding that a lot of Mediterranean wines are well-matched to our meals in the Caribbean. The parade of fresh whites and rosés continued this evening as well and I'm definitely finding some producers that I hadn't been aware of previously. Saint Roch Les Vignes isn't a single domain but is a cooperative production consortium of family growers around the Provençal village of Cuers. The cooperative started out in 1911 and the modern facilities now handle the winemaking for over 200 local vignerons.

The production of this Côtes de Provence Rosé is interesting in that it is a combination of two methods for making Rosé wines. Part of the wine is directly pressed from grapes dedicated to the Rosé and that juice is combined with further saignée juice that is "bled" off the cooperative's red wine production. I usually think of Rosé as being made by one method or the other, but not both. Typical of Provençal wines, this is a blend of Cinsault and Grenache.

1558.  2013 Vesevo - Beneventano Falanghina (Beneventano IGT - Italy)

Our final wine was another from the Mediterranean - close to Naples and Mount Vesuvius to be more precise. This was an example of me grabbing another bottle with a hope of potentially adding another grape to my Wine Century Club tally. Having tried over 160 grapes now, I more-or-less have to find grapes that I've never heard of before. I knew I'd already added Falanghina but there was always a chance that Beneventano - so prominently displayed on the label - was yet another grape that was new to me. Unfortunately, it's a region and not a grape but I can live with that - especially since I can't say as I've tried Falanghina more than a handful of times.

I doubt that Falanghina will ever replace my penchant for Riesling but, you know, sometimes, when you're in "Rome" you have to live like the Romans do. There wasn't much in the way of Riesling wines in the local market. So, we adapt - and we had a refreshing sip as the evening progressed. No harm. No foul.

After our day on the water, this was a simple relaxing evening and, on that note, we put our glasses aside and called it a day.

Sail Away

The underlying reason for our adventure in Antigua may have been to join Jeaux and Matinder for a Dinner Club Road Trip extravaganza but there was a definite added bonus in that the underlying reason for their being here is that they sail as often as they can. And to our joy and delight, they arranged a day out on the water for us. The whole gang tried out their sea legs as we got to experience Matinder and Jeaux's passion for the water.

Although there was talk of making me try to catch a ride on the Old Bob - one of the first boats we sailed past - we continued with our plan to set out down the coast and lay anchor at one of the resort beaches, all the while taking in the endless blue and beauty of the moment. And, boy, did we accomplish that. I think it's safe to say that the six of us (besides Jeaux and Matinder) were the epitome of landlubbers - not knowing whether to scream in fear or pure joy as the boat took numerous leans abeam to port or starboard. Admittedly, there were a couple times where one or two us would have been overboard had it not been for ropes and wires to hang onto. Fun? You bet.

Once we'd reached our destination bay, we made our way to shore and the beach. We'd been keeping our eyes open for some celebrity house action - after all, Oprah, Giorgio Armani and Eric Clapton have homes on the island - but we neither saw any shenanigans nor garnered any invites. Luckily, there was a beachside restaurant and bar where we were able to grab some rum punch.

Boo, Matinder and I then took a short hike up the side of the bay to take a peak at the old fort that use to guard the bay - and take in the incredible panorama (the pic at the bottom of the post is just one side) from on high. The rest of the gang was more interested in making their way back to the boat and starting to snack.

Our return to the boat and eventual snacking called for some wine. Knowing that I'd need to include a post about our sailing trip, I was sure to bring a bottle along. It obviously had nothing to do with the fact that having a drink while cruising the Caribbean seems like a normal thing to do. No. For me, it's always "think about the blog first." Ahem.

1555.  Montagnac - M (Picpoul de Pinet AOC - Languedoc - France)

I'd seen this bottle in the local market and figured it'd be a great pour while at sea. After all, the wine hails from the coast of the Mediterranean and it's recommended that Picpoul de Pinet be served with seafood or grilled fish. We might not have be eating it with dinner but I suppose you couldn't have been much closer to the sea. I hadn't been aware that the "grape" has its own appellation or AOC designation in the Languedoc region. The appellation isn't the only region where the grape is grown but it is a primary one - along with the near-by Rhône.

I also love that the name "piquepoul" apparently means "lip-stinger" and it stems from the high acidity of the grapes.

There was nothing stinging about this sip as we leisurely sailed our way back to Jolly Harbour though. The wine hit the mark and helped make this definitely day to remember.

A Dinner Club Like No Other

Of course, the primary reason for our visit to Antigua was the Dinner Club Road Trip and dinner was set for tonight. Despite the anticipation - after all the road trip was over a year in the planning - we needed to give our hosts some time to prep their Antiguan morcels. As Jeaux and Matt diced and sliced, the rest of us took in some of what the island had to offer. Axel and English Doc went for a scuba dive while Lady Di, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Boo and I decided to wander around the thriving metropolis of St. John's.

Antigua's capital and biggest city, St. John's still only has a population of around 24,000 to 25,000 and it's abundantly evident that the city and country is dependent on tourism - with cruise ships and their day visitors being a primary focus of the city centre. Most of the shops and market stalls are geared to cruising tourists who meander in the shadow of the huge ships that tower over local buildings.

We started our visit off with what was to be a quick bite at a local lunch spot. Unfortunately, that proved to be our undoing as SWMBO's purse and camera were stolen right out from under our noses as we were sitting in the street-side, public dining area. We still have no idea as to who might have pulled off the dastardly deed but it certainly put a damper on our plans as the girls had to return to the resort to cancel credit cards and deal with the issues that arose. The one good thing was that their passports weren't in the purse.

At the girls' insistence, Boo and I continued to amble around St. John's - not that there was an awful lot to take in. We hiked up to St. John's Cathedral but the old Anglican cathedral was undergoing extensive renovations and wasn't even open for viewing. We continued our walkabout and made our way to the local food market but, it was Monday and that's not one of the big market days. As such, there was no real buzz around the place.

Once we'd had our fill of town, we made our way back to our villa and started prepping for Dinner Club. As circumstance saw fit, it was St. Patrick's Day and, unbeknownst to us, St. Paddy's is quite the going concern throughout the Caribbean. It must be all the drinking associated with the day! Forever the consummate hostess, Jeaux was well prepared for the day with a parade of Irish accoutrements - as well as an array of libations. She even started off the evening with green cocktails - a Midori Pineapple concoction that set the tone for a dockside evening.

If Jeaux hadn't written down the menu, I'd have had a hard time recounting it because the names of and many ingredients of the dishes were certainly foreign to this Canuck. Jeaux and Matinder strived to feature local ingredients and whip up some of the most popular national dishes. Appies on the deck started with Keshi Yena - cheese stuffed with spiced meat - that is believed to have originated with the slaves from the Dutch Empire who stuffed the rinds of Gouda or Edam cheese with meat table scraps. These were followed by Fiery Shrimp and Potato Cakes (made with "hairy potatoes") and Conch Fritters.

Prior to our arrival, I likely mentioned to Jeaux (but no more than a dozen times) that, if she only served dish at Dinner Club, I hoped it would involve conch. Girl came through - even though she pointed out that conch is not the most delectable of seafoods and isn't even all that easy to find on local shelves. No matter. Conch is what I think of when I think Caribbean cuisine and I got to go home and say that I'd had some.

I've also always thought of Caribbean foods as having an underlying heat. So, when Boo and I saw a bottle of off-dry bubbly in the Toronto Airport Duty Free, I grabbed it - figuring it'd be a nice way to start off the evening's wines.

1551.  N.V. Peller Estates - Signature Series Ice Cuvée Rosé (VQA Niagara Peninsula - Ontario)

Made in the traditional method (read Champenoise), the Ice Cuvée Rosé is a sparkling wine made from primarily Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes; however, in a bit of a detour from traditional Champagne grapes, 10% of the wine is Cabernet Franc. I was also intrigued to see that, for this sparkler, Peller Estate added a dosage that is a combination of Cab Franc Icewine and Vidal Icewine. The intended result is off-dry notes on the palate but with a dry finish resulting from the tannins in the Cab Franc that forms part of the base wine.

Of course, bubbles just naturally hint that a celebration is at hand as well and I think travelling over 5700 miles, one way, for "a dinner" is a bit of an occasion. Bubbles also lead to toasts and we heartily toasted our missing comrades-in-arms. Tyrant and Panda Guy were all arranged to make Dinner Club with us but they had to back out shortly before we left when a family health issue arose.

Truly disappointed that they couldn't join us, that just meant that we had to eat and drink enough for them as well.

1552.  2012 Pedroncelli - Signature Selection Chardonnay (Dry Creek Valley - Sonoma County - California)

1553.  2012 Chemin des Sables - Savion (Rosé d'Anjou AOC - Loire - France)

If you check out my posts on previous Dinner Clubs, there's often a preponderance of big reds through the evening. Jeaux knew better and her request for wines this time around were for whites or rosés. We also had to rely on the selection of wines available down at the Epicure grocery and, while I have seen worse, the array of wines was rather limited and included a lot of globally commercial brands. Bright, light and cheerful was obviously the route to take.

Turns out that there was a bit of bonus for the blog when I saw that the Rosé d'Anjou was made from Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir, Pineau d'Aunis and Grolleau. I was a little surprised to see that I hadn't added Grolleau to my Wine Century Club tally yet but, sure enough, it wasn't there. So, this little road trip had an unexpected addition to that list - in addition to the (much expected) fine dinner.

And, speaking of that fine dinner, Jeaux and Matinder started the sit down portion of the meal with callaloo soup. Another well-known staple of the islands, Jeaux made her's with fresh callaloo greens which were, again like the conch, not the easiest of ingredients to find. In keeping with the secondary St. Paddy's Day notes, the soup arrived with a green Irish soda bread. Is there no end to this gal's creativity?

1554.  N.V. Sartori - Pinot Grigio Blush (Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie I.G.T. - Italy)

The Blush was paired with yet another trio of traditional Caribbean dishes:
Salt Fish and Ackee, Green Papaya and Breadfruit Salad (with its potato-like flavour). The first dish is considered to be Jamaica's national dish but it has migrated throughout the Caribbean. The salt cod is sautéed with boiled ackee (a treefruit brought to the islands from West Africa centuries ago), onions, hot peppers, tomatoes and spices. I don't know if Jeaux cooked fresh ackee or not but I have since learned that it can be poisonous if the fruit is unripe and TIME magazine named it one of the world's "10 Most Dangerous Foods." Somehow I missed this fact during dinner - if it was even mentioned.

We all lived to tell though. And, thankfully, all lived for dessert.

Capturing the tropical nature of the dinner - and with a tip o' the cap to St. Patrick - we finished off the evening with a Pineapple Carpaccio doused in a Ginger/Lime dressing and a dollop Coconut Ice Cream.

Of no assistance to my speedy conclusion of reaching 2001 Bottles, we did not pop the cork on another bottle of wine. Rather, Matinder twisted our arms and served up a nightcap of Bushwhackers - coconut cream, Kahlua, Dark Rum, milk and Crème de Cacao. Another popular drink that he's picked up on the sailing circuit, those Bushwhackers had us all ready to call it a night.

As if the five hours of dining and drinking wouldn't have been enough to leave us knackered as is.

I can't say as I've ever travelled this far for a dinner party before. Conch. Ackee. Breadfruit. Callaloo. There's little doubt that Jeaux and Matinder came through with a Dinner Club menu and location for the ages. They might have a hard time equalling this one when it's their next turn to serve it up in Vancouver. I can't wait to see how they try though.

Antiguan Arrival

A First Beer - Vacation's Officially Under Way

Suffice it to say that there are no direct flights from Vancouver to Antigua. I'm not blessed with the ability to sleep on planes; so, by the time we'd finished off our red eye to Toronto and arrived at our Caribbean destination, we were more inclined to take a nap than hit the beach. That wasn't really an option though.

We'd arrived to an empty villa. The other travelling Dinner Club members had landed the day before us and our roomies, Axel and English Doc, were out touring with Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed. Our resident hosts, Jeaux and Matinder were playing tour guide to some other friends of their's who'd sailed into port on one of the ubiquitous cruise ships. So, Boo and I threw our duty free Gin into the freezer and decided to take in a bit of a tour of Jolly Beach and the resort environs.

Antigua isn't a particularly large island. One of the Leeward Islands and found on the Eastern end of the Caribbean, its circumference is roughly 87 km and the population is only around 80,000. It does, however, boast the fact that it has 364 beaches - basically a different beach for every day of the year. We took a stroll on one of the beaches embracing Jolly Harbour and knew that the vacation had officially commenced when we quickly wandered across a little beach stand and bought our first Wadadli - the local Antiguan beer.

You know a country can't be all bad when you're allowed to cruise the beach beer in hand.

After getting a little sand on our feet, we hit the local Epicure market on the way back to the villa in order to stock up on a few essentials - like wine. As we wandered the aisles, we kept thinking Antigua is one very pricey country when it comes to groceries - everything was way more expensive than it was at home - even tropical fruit. I definitely thought we'd be taking it easy on the booze when I saw that Guado al Tasso was $193 and Tignanello was $253. I thought wine was expensive back home - with Tig going for $100 - but this was hefty with a capital "H." Luckily, I quickly found out that the prices shown were in EC$ and that the exchange for the Caribbean dollar is basically 3 to 1. Phew!

Not That Bad A View, I'd Say.

We returned just in time to find that our roomies were back at the villa and that they were prepping cocktails for the arrival of our other travel mates. Jeaux and Matinder were still entertaining their cruise pals but Lady Di and She Who Must Be Obeyed were joining us for the evening. Unfortunately, we had to start our evening with a toast to Tyrant and Panda Guy - our missing Dinner Club mates - because they had to cancel their reservation for the Dinner Club when a family medical emergency happened.

We promised to do our best to drink what would have been their share though. It was the least we could do.

After some Caribbean-styled B&T's, we all hiked down to the resort village for a late dinner.

1550. 2012 Montagnac Cinsault (Pays d'Oc IGP - France)

By now, I'd realized that we likely wouldn't be drinking a lot of big reds while in Antigua. The heat and humidity - not to mention the local cuisine - just cry out for chilled whites and rosés. So be it.

Our curried lobster and goat roti might have been more representative of a resort than the local roadside food stops and our Cinsault Rosé might have been more acclimatized to the Mediterranean than the Caribbean - but, for a first night in town, they suited me just fine.

By the time that first bottle was finished, all the travel was hitting me with a vengeance. Some island touring and our long-awaited Dinner Club were now only hours away; so, we succumbed to the pillows calling our names and we didn't wait around to see if the restaurant bar started jumping to the island beats and deejay. There was still plenty of time for that.

Antigua Bound

The scheme of taking our Dinner Club on the road materialized after many bottles of wine and a more modest road trip to Tyrant's new digs on Salt Spring Island a couple of years back. Since we'd managed a weekend jaunt across the water to Tyrant's, I threw out the idea of everyone traipsing down to Jeaux and Matinder's winter home in Antigua since they now spend four to five months of the year there now - thus causing a major hiatus in our dinner plans.

Well, it was finally time to catch our flight to the Caribbean and Elzee agreed to take us out to the airport. In return for her graciousness, we figured we could take her out for dinner first since we didn't have to be at the airport until about 9 pm. With a couple of options on the table, we ultimately chose Campagnolo Roma as Elzee hadn't been before.

With this essentially being the start of our vacation, I reckoned we might as well start it off with a bit of a bang. Angelo Gaja may be acknowledged as one of Italy's (if not the world's) greatest winemakers  and Boo and I may have strolled by the Gaja winery years ago (we didn't have an appointment to actually visit) but I've never had one of his wines.

Tonight seemed as good a time as any to start.

1549.  2005 Dagromis Barolo (Barolo DOCG - Piedmont - Italy)

Angelo Gaja is a fourth generation Piedmontese winemaker and he's grabbed huge scores for his wines. Indeed, in October 2011, Wine Spectator published a feature article about him and stated that "he has helped change the global image of Italian wine." As a result, Gaja has garnered prices upwards of $400 a bottle for his premium wines. (BTW, this isn't one of those "premium" wines. It was only $70 in the liquor store. We went BYO tonight.)

Since he started taking a larger role in the family business, Gaja has been an innovator in Piedmont. Examples of his handiwork involve the pioneering of single vineyard wines in the region and the introduction of French barriques (225-litre oak barrels) for aging his wines. He also raised eyebrows of contemporaries - and even his father - when he planted the region's first Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauv Blanc. Despite the introduction of international grape varieties, Gaja has continued to emphasize traditional grapes - particularly Nebbiolo.

Gaja's Barbaresco's may garner higher prices, but the winery still produces this Barolo, made, as required by appellation laws, from 100% Nebbiolo. This is a modern man's Barolo however. The wine is marketed as being approachable as a young wine and, it's true, the wine is aromatic and the fruit isn't overshadowed by tannins. In an attempt to make the wine more accessible without years of aging, it is initially vinified in stainless steel, then matured in barriques for 12 months and finished off for another 18 months in the bigger and more traditional oak botti.

We were quite surprised - and very pleasantly at that - by how easy drinking the wine was with our salumi, antipasti and pizza. I'm used to regularly scraping the tannins off my teeth after every sip of a Barolo but not tonight - and this bottle was still relatively young. Well, at least until we'd finished off the pizza and had a bit of wine left to finish off on its own, without food. It was as if we'd opened an entirely different bottle and the tannins jumped to the front and centre.

If there was ever evidence of how different a wine can be with and without food, this was it. We might not have been nearly as effusive had we finished off the bottle without food. Luckily, that wasn't the case and we had a superb start to the vacation.

And a plane to catch.

Here's to the good times to come.

Let's Do The Time Warp Again

♬  ♪♫  It's just a jump to left and then a step to the right.... ♬  ♪♫

I don't know whether this revisiting of past "mea culpa" posts should channel Frank-n-Furter or Dr. Who but I'm definitely going to have to do the Time Warp or do a little time travel and jump over a whole lot of bottles as I try to catch up. Currently, my last published post is talking New Year's Day and we're decidedly past that now. So, once again, I am - quite fairly - catching grief for the lack of currency in my writing.

Not that it was a new year's resolution or anything but I think I have to be realistic and embrace the fact that I'm not going to be catching up on my posts any time soon.

As such, I shall tuck away all those bottles that we've enjoyed over the last so many months and jump ahead to more current sips. That's going to leave approximately 45 bottles unchronicled for the time being. You may rest assured, however, that they've been carefully stored for posterity on the Tardis (or my equivalent thereof) and that future posting is still the goal. After all, there's not to be any cheating on this 2001 Bottles Odyssey. Hopefully, I'll just fill in more and more of the "gaps" as time progresses - because there truly were some interesting wines that are to be added to The List.

I suppose that - even at this late date - filling those gaps and catching up on the blog should be my real resolution for the "new year." I realize the time for new year's resolution is long past and that most resolutions have been long discarded by now but at least it sounds good that I want to make the effort. The proof will be in the writing.

In the meantime?

♬  ♪♫ ... with your hands on your hips, you bring your knees in tight... ♬  ♪♫

Black Eyed Peas and Merlot - A Match Made in Heaven?

Boo may have lived North of the 49th Parallel for decades now but, deep down, he's still got some Southern blood flowing through his veins. For years now, it's been a tradition at our home - much like it was in his in his youth - to start the year with black eyed peas and corn bread.

There was a slight problem to 2014's start, however. Boo had to work New Year's Day and that meant that it was left to me to prepare the traditional vittles.

That's some heavy pressure. So, to be on the safe side, I figured I should open a big bottle of wine that might distract Boo's attention if my black eyed peas didn't quite meet expectations.

1511.  2007  Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot (Napa Valley - California)

Duckhorn is one of those brands that I've known about for many a year. It's just not one that's graced my glass much through those years - much to my dismay I found out as we quickly worked our way through this bottle.

Established in 1976, Duckhorn made an early decision to focus on the production of Merlot despite Napa's primary emphasis on Cab Sauv.  At the time, Merlot was primarily seen as a blending grape but co-founders Dan and Margaret Duckhorn thought that valley producers under appreciated Merlot as a varietal wine. The Duckhorns were big fans of wines from St. Emilion and Pomerol and, like the right bank wineries in Bordeaux, they stayed with an emphasis on Merlot. I'm a fan of their viewpoint.

The estate has seven vineyards throughout Napa and, when added to the fruit that the winery buys from independent growers in the Valley, the winery has an abundance of different flavour profiles to work with. Duckhorn produces a number of single vineyard Merlots but this Napa Valley Merlot is a blend of grapes from throughout the valley and is the winery's take on what the valley, as a whole, can do with the Merlot grape. The wine also sees some Cab Sauv (10%) and a touch of Petit Verdot (1%) added to emphasize the depth and structure of the wine.

We certainly see a lot of Merlot emanating from our home vineyards in the Okanagan Valley, but there's no doubt that this was big in comparison - and tasty a one at that. The winery touts "signature flavours of black cherry, plum and spice." I'll just let things rest with that.

Now, I'm far from regretting my choice in wine tonight, but it turns out that I never should have been worried about needing to distract Boo with the wine in the first place. Turns out I could have easily opened a bottle of Two Buck Chuck for dinner and survived any meal proclamations - because even I agreed that these were some damned fine peas.

Now, should the same scenario arise next year, re-creating my peas might be a bit of an issue since I don't know what I did that made them so tasty - but I'm going to take it as a great start to the new year. Fine Peas. Fine wine. Works for me. Here's hoping the rest of 2014 follows suit.

One Delicious New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve this year was slated to be a simple stay-at-home affair. Boo had to work until 8pm and we figured he'd barely have enough energy for dinner - much less last until midnight for any celebratory treats. When the idea of joining up with Scott and Stephanie Jaeger and The Pear Tree surfaced, we decided to go for it. Why not get pampered by the gang at our favourite restaurant? Turned out that Elzee, Shelback and Chewbacca thought it was a damned fine idea as well - plus Elzee hoped that her cousin, Swiss Miss, could join in. Luckily Scott and Stephanie were able to stretch our reservation for two into six and the night was set.

The ladies came over for a cocktail as we waited for Boo to get home from work and I figured we might as well kick off the evening in the same manner as it would likely end - with bubbles.

1506.  N.V. Bisol - Crede Spumante Brut (Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG - Italy)

I must have been unconsciously saving this bottle for a special occasion because I wouldn't normally have a bottle of Prosecco lying around for a couple of years but I picked up this "rarity" (at least in our market) a couple of years back at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Bisol was one of the participating wineries in 2012 and their Crede (named after the marine sandstone subsoil found in the nearby countryside) made the cut for bottles that I needed to slip into the "cellar" without Boo noticing.

The good news was that I'd identified a winner back at the Festival. The bad news was that Boo was delayed at work (New Year's Eve or not) and, by the time he'd made it home, we'd needed to head off to the restaurant without him and the Prosecco had long been polished off. Luckily, Boo was able to join us at The Pear Tree before they needed to start serving the fixed menu.

1507.  1999 Pol Roger Brut Extra Cuvée de Réserve (Champagne AOC - France)

Vintage Champagne doesn't often make it into my drinking glass but I'd been given this bottle as a gift and, again, I figured there are only so many special occasions on our calendar, so why not pop the cork with great friends during a gourmet dinner. Boo and I like to take advantage of BYO options when they're available but I figure we should only pull out some of the big guns if we're going to do so. I think vintage Champagne counts. I was aware of the Pol Roger name and brand but I don't recall ever having had a bottle before.

We toasted the evening with the classic biscuit-y wine with our first two courses for the evening: Roasted Celeriac Foam Soup and Cured Rainbow Trout.

1508.  2011 Belle Glos - Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley - Santa Barbara County - California)

We'd matched the Belle Glos Pinot with our next course of Duck Confit with Baby Pea Risotto. I've got a few favourite dishes - that I can never get enough of - coming out of Scott's kitchen and this combination is right up with the best of them. Every bite was sublime and the Pinot, while rich and expansive by local standards, was a marvellous accompaniment.

Scott could have delivered three servings of this dish and I'd have left wanting more. Here's hoping that the dish doesn't remain a one-off special for New Year's Eve.

1509.  2004 Chateau Kirwan Grand Cru Classé (Margaux AOC - Bordeaux - France)

Keeping up with our theme of top notch wines, we brought out the Kirwan - one of the fourteen wineries categorized as Troisième Crus or Third Growth in the historic Bordeaux Classification of 1855. With only five First Growth and fourteen Second Growth wineries "ahead" of them, I think it's fair to consider the Kirwan to be a little more than a standard Tuesday night wine. Pairing it with Roasted Ribeye, Braised Short Rib and Caramelized Scallops didn't hurt either.

The evening just flew by and we were barely into our cheese course before we needed to pull out the celebratory accoutrements for midnight. We'd somehow managed to polish off the Bordeaux and figured we'd need a little something bubbly to ring in the new year. You might have thought that we should pop the cork on a big gun come midnight but we figured that we were already well into our cups (and our wine budget) and that we might as well grab a simple bottle since we were likely beyond the nuances of fine Champagne.

1510.  N.V. Chandon Brut Classic (California)

Turned out that the restaurant served up a rather nice alternative to Champagne. Domaine Chandon is the California branch of iconic French producer Moët et Chandon and it's certainly fit the bill as a good value bubble to toast the new year.

Some Valrhona Chocolate infused with Earl Grey Tea wasn't the shabbiest of ways to kick in a new year either.

Somehow Boo's and my simple New Year's Eve at home had morphed into a wonderful evening of great friends, laughs and tasty bites. One heckuva fine way to finish off one year and to start another. I can only hope that the rest of 2014 is full of similar good times.

And I need to resolve to get me some more of that duck confit and pea risotto!

Cheers!

One Blue Mountain Leads to Another

What the hey. Last week's celebratory wine with Sacred Drop and W2 was a Blue Mountain bubbly; so, why not open a Blue Mountain still wine tonight? After all, doesn't the phrase go "one good wine leads to another?"

1505.  2009 Blue Mountain Chardonnay (Okanagan Valley)

Not that there was really any doubt beforehand, but our choice turned out to be particularly pleasing. Being a bit of a Riesling man myself, I don't tend to gravitate to Chardonnay when picking white wines - particularly when they're oaked - but this one definitely hit the spot.

Blue Mountain offers both an estate Chardonnay and a Reserve (what is now the "old" striped label). From what I can tell, the primary differences between the two (other than that the Reserve picks the best barrels from the fermenting wine) is that the "entry level" Chardy only sees ageing in older oak barrels, sees less time in those barrels and sees less battonage (or stirring of the wine while it ages on its lees or spent yeast cells). As this is the estate bottling, I expected a more subdued oak presence and it was, indeed, nicely integrated - blending subtly with the acidity and tree fruit that still showed through.

I may have to forego a few Rieslings and see what other Chardonnays we have stored away. There may be a few more gems like this one.

Another Round of Turkey Wines

Christmas Day has arrived. So, as tradition dictates, it's off to my sister, Vixen's, home for present opening and dinner. Unfortunately, Boo had to work this year. So, that left me as the designated driver - and left me having to limit the number of wines I dove into. We still managed to go through a few given the length of the day.

1502.  N.V. Bodegas Escorihuela Gascón - 1884 Extra Brut (Argentina)

Not to play into vinous stereotypes, but we started things off with a little bubbly. I can't say that I'm aware of many Argentine sparklers in our market but I'd been waiting to try this since Boo and I splurged for dinner at the 1884 Francis Malman restaurant while we were in Mendoza a few years back. I'm not certain but I think we might have had a cocktail featuring the Brut while waiting for dinner then, but this is the first bottle that I'm adding to The List.

Ironically, while we dined at the 1884 restaurant - which is situated in the urban winery - we didn't actually visit the winery as part of our itinerary. As such, I don't really know all that much about the winery. I did see that the Extra Brut is made from 70% Chardonnay, with the remaining 30% being Pinot Noir. Knowing that the rest of my kin hardly embrace plenty o' bubbles, I thought the reasonably priced (around $20) bottle might be a nice what to introduce the nieces to sparkling wines. Even though, there was a touch of sweetness to the wine, I think we may need a little more time before the girls are ready to jump on the bubbly bandwagon. For the time being, that just leaves more for Vixen and me.

We're always fêted with a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings at Vixen's. She does the kitchen duties and I tend to the bar. As such, I thought I'd bring along a white and a red from the ubiquitous lists of classic wines for pairing with bird - a Gewürztraminer and a Pinot Noir. Little did I know - until I started thinking to myself that the Gew was sure un-Gew-like - that I'd grabbed a Riesling instead of a Gewürztraminer. Same winery, same box of wine - just a different varietal wine. The good news was that the Riesling was just as tasty.

1503.  2012 Synchromesh - Amelia Block Storm Haven Riesling (Okanagan Valley)

Synchromesh was perhaps my favourite discovery from last summer's Wine Bloggers Conference. I took part in an excursion with the Okanagan Falls Winery Association where we hiked one of the local mountains and, when we reached the apex of the group's climb, the association had set out what must have been one of the most scenic tastings ever. That's where I immediately fell for Synchromesh Riesling and I arranged for a visit after WBC13 had ended. This was one of the bottles that I picked up.

And I can't think of a better occasion to have opened the wine for. I know I'm certainly going to look forward to opening more Synchromesh wines as well.

1504.  2008 Salt Spring Pinot Noir (Gulf Islands)

Once again, knowing that I wasn't playing to a Pinot sort of crowd, I went with the Salt Spring Pinot - which is on the more reasonably priced end of the scale. Seeing as how this wine is made from fruit grown on Salt Spring Island, I fully expected it to lighter bodied and, indeed, it was but it also had some nice red fruit coming through. I rather enjoyed it with the turkey and stuffing but it was a harder sell to the rest of the table.

I can't say that I had much luck selling the virtues of wine to familial non-believers but I've come to accept that I just need to bring along beer and/or Scotch to this tribe. There are worse things in life than having to finish off the wine on your own.

Merry Merry.