My Birthday with Beringer

Laurie Hook and myself

I recently celebrated my birthday and what better way than to spend it tasting Beringer wines with the head winemaker herself! Happy birthday to me!  Hosted by Wine Align, the event was located at the trendy Yorkville restaurant Sassafraz. The event was featuring wine with tapas-style food. Ok, tapas it was not. It was like a five-course dinner! The food was delicious and there was a lot of it. Good thing my dress was stretchy.

Love the place setting

The chief winemaker for Beringer is Laurie Hook. She made the tasting very casual and really gave us a sense of Napa throughout the ages. She's a real history buff so she described what the Napa Valley looked like millions of years ago geologically speaking and what makes it so unique. She discussed everything from the growing of the grapes to the wine making methods at Beringer. After the tutored tasting, she made sure to go to every table to talk to people. She was super. No attitude and very approachable. :)

Fancy Shmancy!

Wines Tasted:

2009 Nappy Valley Chardonnay
2008 Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay

2009 Napa Valley Pinot Noir

2008 Napa Valley Merlot

2008 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

A surprise on the menu: 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon

Some examples of what treats were on the menu:

* Spice rubbed lamb chops with olive jus

* Buffalo mozzarella and aged asiago ravioli, tomato basil broth and chiffonade of Swiss chard

* Seared beef tenderloin with shallot confit pommes royale, sauteed shitake and asparagus fricasse, lobster butter

Lobster butter?! I love these two on their own...and now, combined! 

Delicious Food...yum

It was such a great way to spend my birthday. At the end of the tasting, Executive chef, Bradley Macdonald, came upstairs to see how we liked the food. Of course, we all clapped. The food was delicious. We asked him how he liked the wine. When he said that he wasn't allowed to try any on the job, we made sure that the situation was rectified. He joined us for a glass. What really topped off the night was the celebrity sighting downstairs in the restaurant: Collin Ferrel, Bruce Willis, Jessica Biel and Ethan Hawk sitting at a table. They were in Toronto filming Total Recall. I heard that the Beringer winemaker, Laurie, gave the table  signed bottles of wine. 

Beringer Website:
www.beringer.com

I strongly urge you to join Wine Align. It's an online community where you can get tasting notes on what's in the LCBO and read both reviews of professional critics and regular people.
www.winealign.com

I love the NightLife

Last week, I attended a wine event (I know, shocking!) brought to you by the iYellow Wine Club (a free wine social club in Toronto so sign up!). This event featured wines from Napa, California. The night started off with a bang as I acquired a head injury even before entering the event. My head made friends with a large metal door. A perfect way to soothe a head bump is wine of course and I certainly was on my way to the right place. The event took place in the historic Great Hall, on Queen Street West. I love this area of Queen Street. There are so many galleries and interesting stores...not to mention good restaurants.

http://www.thegreathall.ca

I love the way the Great Hall was decorated for the evening. Dj Dinamo and Dj Sam EfSharp Flemming were playing some good tunes (as usual, I busted a move on the dancefloor after a few...um...samples). There were 20 wineries sampling their wines at this event. I have to say that the wines that stood out for me this night were the Syrahs and the Sauvignon Blancs. Of course, there was plenty of Cabernet Sauvignon to go around! No California wine show would be complete without the great King Cabernet Sauvignon.

The setup for the evening was one which had all the wineries along the perimeter of the hall, allowing people to freely mix and mingle. There were tables in the center, along with tasty bites to eat. Angela, the lovely lady behind the iYellow Wine Club was sporting some great boots. I love her sense of style. Great taste in wine and fashion go a long way in my books.

The picture to the left is one of Angela and myself showing off our boots at the end of the event. Below is yours truly taking a break from dancing. This time I had some fellow wine tasters join me!


For myself, the wines that stood out were:

Chimney Rock Elevage Bordeaux Blend
This wine is made in the tradition of wines from the right-bank of the Bordeaux region.
www.chimneyrock.com

Peju Sauvignon Blanc Persephone Vineyard 2008
Interesting fact about this wine is that the grapes are harvested in three stages of ripeness to create a complex blended wine.

Peju Cabernet Sauvignon Persephone Vineyard 2005
www.peju.com

Cuvaison Pinot Noir 2007 Los Carneros
One of the only few Pinot Noirs of the night, but always a pleaser.
www.cuvaison.com

Frias Syrah 2006
I have a bottle of the 2005 in my wine rack. I can't wait to drink it. The 2006 was also super.
www.friasfamilyvineyard.com

John Anthony Syrah 2006
The winemaker himself was pouring the wines and I enjoyed tasting each of them!
www.javwine.com

Toronto is fortunate to have dedicated organizations like the iYellow Wine Club to bring these types of events to the city. I love California wines and the NightLife event provided a way to showcase the region.

For more information on Napa Valley:
www.napavitners.com

Maybe one day I'll be blogging from Napa! I can't wait.

Event Alert!
The Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is coming up in a few weeks here in Toronto. It's always a lot of fun. Sadly, I won't be pouring wines this year. I'll be on the floor tasting! :)
For more information: http://www.foodandwineexpo.ca

Purchase VIP tickets with the iYellow Wine Club and save money on the VIP evening:
http://www.iyellowwineclub.com/2009/10/gfwe-iyellow-vip-green-room.html

This year, the wines of Portugal will be featured. See you there!