Thanksgiving is around the corner and I know that I'll be thankful for that wonderful bottle of wine, of which I have yet to choose! Whether you're having a quiet thanksgiving at home, celebrating with friends or looking for some magic elixir to make family time a happy time, there certainly is a wine for the occasion. I have to admit that I'm not a foodie. I mean, I love to eat and I love great food but I often prefer to focus more on the wine than the actual pairing of it with food. I bet a few of you just gasped at that! Hopefully not. :)
Really, any wine that you enjoy would probably be a good choice. Here are some typical varieties that are often suggested for a turkey dinner...then lunch...lunch again....sick of turkey yet? You will be!
Sparkling wine from Burgundy
Made from Pinot Noir and Gamay
$18.95
Elk Cove Pinot Noir
Oregon
$36.95
Pinot Noir : Always a classic pairing with turkey. Try something from Oregon or Burgundy.
Sparkling Wine: Better yet, have a sparkling Rose!
Beaujolais: Made from the Gamay grape. Try a "Cru" wine (eg. Brouilly, Morgon) and serve slightly chilled. Ontario also has some fabulous Gamay.
Beaujolais Wine $18.95
A lovely Syrah
E. Guigal
Crozes Hermitage
$24.95
Have a blended white!
Henry of Pelham
Family Tree White
$17.95
Syrah: Try a Syrah from the Northern Rhone region of France.
Riesling: Great with food. Try an Ontario Riesling! If you want a slightly off-dry style (but not too sweet, save that for dessert), then try a German "Kabinett" Riesling.
Tawse Sketches of Niagara
Chardonnay $19.95
Gewurtztraminer: The spiciness of this grape variety should go nicely with gravy. Mmm...gravy.
If you want some other whites, try an Albarino, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris or a Viognier. Why not try a Rose wine? There is so much that you can do to pair your wine with the holiday bird. Whichever wine you decide on, just make sure to enjoy it with great company. Happy Thanksgiving!
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.
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
This past March, I attended the annual Vintages Burgundy Taste & Buy event. I look forward to this event every year. It's like Christmas for me. Every delicious glass I smell and taste is like a gift from Santa himself. I was curious to see what this year would bring. The event is normally held at the King Edward Hotel but this year the venue had been moved to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Although the venue this year was more modern and spacious, I missed the catered food from the King Edward. The wine agents were all very nice and once we proved that we were serious wine tasters, they were quite eager to talk to us about their wines. So with the coiled wine list booklet, I was off to do some tasting!
I love Burgundy
If you're a lover of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, then look no further than the region of Burgundy France. It's amazing to taste the differences in wines that the region offers. Two wines from across the road can taste completely different from one another. This is the nature of Burgundy - diversity between wines made with the same grape.
Whenever I attend a wine tasting, I know that I'm not going to make it through all the wines. Even with all that spitting. After I taste, I jot down a few brief points that are of interest and then I give it my own personal score. I use a five point scoring system so when I refer back to my notes, it's easy to see what wines really stood out. Three and above is what I give a wine that I consider to be good. Three usually means "decent for the price". Four and above is for a wine that I really enjoyed. I rarely give a five. A five would mean that the wine is soooo good, I'd be an idiot not to just run out of the room with the bottle - opened or closed. Wouldn't matter. :)
Stephane Charreyron
The winemaker, Stephane Charreyron, from Domaine D'Ardhuy and myself. He was so much fun to talk to! He had a passion and enthusiasm for wine that just made me smile. His wines were absolutely delicious. This table was one of the highlights of my night.
Burgundian wines can be quite confusing. The region has over a thousand years of history and with some time, you'll begin to taste the differences between the villages and producers. You'll then find the ones that suit your taste. Here are some key facts that should get you going:
The main grapes used for winemaking are Pinot Noir for red and Chardonnay for white.
Burgundy wines are all about expressing the land from which the grapes originate.
There are five sub-regions in Burgundy to know: Chablis, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise and Maconnais - each of these regions have key villages and vineyards
Wine from the Chablis region will generally be white (Chardonnay) and un-oaked.
If the wine has a designation of AC Bourgogne (Appellation Bourgogne Controllee) then the fruit sourced to make the wine could have come from anywhere within the Burgundy region. These wines are often a good introduction to the area for not very much money.
Enjoy your next bottle of Burgundy! I know I will. :)
I recently made a trip out to California for work. I know, lucky me! I am fortunate to have a job that allows me to get to sunny Santa Monica a few times a year. I left just at the right time as Toronto was calling for a snow storm. Being in Santa Monica in late February was a real treat. It was sunny and warm with flowers beginning to bloom. I could get used to that kind of winter. For a few years now, I've always wanted to visit the Santa Barbara wine country. This region was featured in the movie Sideways. Every time I was in the LA area, my plan of visiting the wine region was put on hold due to fires around the Santa Barbara. It seemed that California was always burning when I was there! This past trip, it seemed that luck (and nature) were on my side. Santa Barbara is about 2 hours or so from Santa Monica and then another half hour inland to wine country. The drive up to Santa Barbara is really gorgeous. You will go through the Malibu Canyon where windy roads and steep cliffs await you. Then you'll find yourself driving along the ocean coast where on one side, you'll see the snow covered mountains and on the other side, restless waves crashing against the beaches. The most beautiful of all the wine trails in the Santa Barbara wine region is the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail (Foxen Canyon Road). It's one of the more scenic routes and has some great wineries along the way.
We started our journey at the small town of Los Olivos. Note that when coming to this area, make sure that you have enough gas as finding a gas station around here can be challenging. Los Olivos is a cute town full with tasting rooms and cafes. All the wineries of the area have tasting rooms here in the town just in case you can't get out to the wineries themselves.
Driving along the Foxen Canyon wine road, my eyes opened wide as I took in this picturesque area. It was pretty spectacular. There were rolling hills with sharp contrast between the green of the grass and the blue sky. The landscape was barren with funny looking trees and cattle grazing. The pictures attached to the end of this post really don't do this region justice. It felt like my husband and I were the only two people in the whole area as it was so quiet. We took the top down on our red Mustang convertible and soaked in the sunlight. We had such a relaxed, slow-paced day. Driving along the road, we really took our time to take in the sunshine and enjoy the scenery. At each winery visited, the people were laid back and cheerful. They were eager to share the history of the area and the wines with us. The tastings were usually no more than $10 plus you could keep the glass as a souvenir. The tasting fee was usually waived if you purchased a bottle. This region is well known for Rhone-style wines as well as for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It would have been great to have continued driving all the way out to the Paso Robles region. That will be for the next trip!
"We specialize in Syrah, Grenache, Viognier and other artisan Rhône-style wines from Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley. Here, we put down roots as one of California’s first wineries dedicated exclusively to Rhône-style wines. Since then, nothing has changed. We still live for Rhônes." - Curtis website
I liked everything I tried! Since this was my first stop, I had to be conservative in my purchases. I ended buying the 2005 Mouvedre from grapes grown in the Santa Ynez Valley.
"If you don’t know FOXEN,
you don’t know Dick . . . or Bill." - Foxen Vineyard website
Haha! I just love that quote above. I love it as much as I love the wines coming out of this winery! This winery actually has two locations. One location is the new solar-powered winery and tasting room. Here, Burgundian-style wines are featured such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The other location is located up the road and is now called Foxen 7200 (because the address is 7200 Foxen Canyon Road). This is where the famous Foxen "shack" is located. I remember seeing the tasting bar in "Sideways". I can't believe that I was there! It really is a shack! This location has wine for tasting that focuses more on their "Bordeaux and Cal-Ital-style" wines. We were given some snazzy anchor temporary tattoos too. :)
Located in the Santa Maria Valley, this winery is creating some lovely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I purchased the 2007 Estate Chardonnay. I preferred the Estate to the Reserve. A week later, I was enjoying the bottle with a few friends and it was a great success.
"Riverbench Vineyard was established in 1973, when its first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes were planted on the property. For years since then, some of the most renowned wineries in Santa Barbara County have purchased our fruit for their own wines. Over time Riverbench has become a prominent name for high quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Santa Maria Valley." - Riverbench Winery website
"At Kenneth Volk Vineyards, our main focus is on vineyard designate wines from Santa Barbara. We understand the importance of terroir, unique soil, and the sea influence in this region, which is gaining renown for its cool climate and ideal growing conditions.
Our second focus is on Bordeaux varietals from Paso Robles. These quality wines boast ripe fruit flavors and are suitable with a variety of cuisine." - Kenneth Volk website
I purchased the Kennth Volk 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon made from some of their vineyards in the Paso Robles region. What was interesting about this winery is that they had a wine made from the Tempranillo grape variety which is normally seen only in Spanish wines. It was delicious.
"You are on the eastern edge of the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County. The temperature is mild, the wind is steady and the terrain is gentle and rounded. In the winter these hills are tinted gold and raw sienna. In the summer they are all shades of green. Our wines are a reflection of their surroundings. Every time you taste one of Byron’s wines you are surrounded by the flavors, textures and scents that can only come from here the Santa Maria Valley." - Byron Wines website
We ended our day back in Los Olivos at the Byron tasting room. Wines from another winery called IO were also available here for sampling and purchase. I believe that the founder of Byron started IO. We ended up buying the IO Nielson Vineyard Viognier 2007. It was delicious! I'm really into Viognier right now. My wine rack is seeing an increase in the number of bottles filled with this yummy grape.
I think 5 wineries in one day is a great effort! I am definitely planning another trip out to this region. It was visually breathtaking and mouthwatering delicious. These are the wineries that I hope to visit on that next trip:
Yes that's right! You can tour every location from the film "Sideways". I have to do that next time I'm in the area.
In my honest opinion, I found the geography of the Santa Barbara wine country to be more beautiful than both Sonoma and Napa. Maybe I'm just a more rustic-kind-of-gal. Sure, you don't see the grand estates like you do in Napa but this region is breathtaking in a different way with fantastic wines to back it up. Sadly, I didn't run into Miles...maybe next time! I also drank some wonderful Merlot. Shhh.
Hello wine lovers! Things have been quiet on the blog lately as I've been preoccupied with my new hobby of figure skating! My attention to wine has been a bit diminished but don't worry, I'm still tasting as often as I can...after skating that is. I should try a tasting before I skate, maybe I'll get in some good jumps!
Caves des Vignerons de Buxy Montagny Les Chaniots 1er Cru 2007 $23.95
This is a Chardonnay from Montagny in Burgundy. The picture here is from the 2004 vintage. I tried the 2007 vintage and it was lovely. This wine is crisp with great minerality and citrus flavour and aroma. The tasting note says that this wine will only improve within 2-3 years. As we're now in 2010, this wine should be coming close to its prime! Yum yum give me some! Actually, just give me the entire bottle. :)
Louis Max Beaucharme Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2007 $19.95
When I first saw this bottle on display, I thought "how cute"! I just love the label design. It's definitely not your typical Burgundian label. When I tried this wine I thought, "mmm mushroom risotto". It has a wonderful aroma filled with red berry and earthy notes. It's a simple wine, offering great flavour and value. I think for a wine just under $20, this is a wonderful find.
So much for updating on a regular basis. Ok, this week I vow to update more!! I'm still having too much fun. :P I have some posts to upload of some fantastic things I've been doing lately (wine-related of course). I'm sitting at Starbucks in my home town as I write this, thinking about all the interest my family has in the future would-be squatters of my uterus. The thought of giving up wine for so long to have children makes me want to shed a tear. But I'm not there yet so let's begin.
Here are some wines that I've had recently and enjoyed:
Ferraton Père & Fils "La Matinière" Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 2007 $21.95 This wine is made from 100% Marsanne grapes. This wine is from the Northen part of the Rhone, in France. Crozes-Hermitage is a largest region in the Northern Rhone. Most of the wine in this region is red made from the Syrah grape. This is a white wine which is fruity with good minerality and stone fruit on the palate. Serve it just slightly chilled and you have yourself a nice sipper!
Babich Pinot Noir 2007 $19.95 Not my favourite Pinot Noir from New Zealand but this one was enjoyable and the price is good for the quality. This wine is from the Marlborough region of New Zealand which is located on the North-East part of the south island. This Pinot Noir is fruity with some lovely spice both on the nose and on the palate. I did enjoy this wine and isn't that the final verdict that we're all looking for?
If you're looking for a special bottle to pick up that's more on the expensive side (you deserve it right?) :
Delas Haute Pierre Chateauneuf-Du-Pape 2007 $35.95 Loved it. Loved it more and more as I continued to drink it. Of course, this is one of my favourite regions in the world for both beauty and wine production. This wine hails from the Southern Rhone region of France, in a town called Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. This wine is a blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah. In the Southern Rhone, the wines are almost always blends. This wine is very smooth, with a wonderful aftertaste. The tannins are present but not over powering. There's delicious black fruit with licorice and spice on the palate. It's full bodied and jam-packed with flavour. 2007 was a great year because it was so hot. This wine will also keep for over a decade. I bought two bottles - both for me and I'm not sharing. :)
Ironstone Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 $37.95 This is a typical good California Cabernet Sauvignon. Big, bold and beautiful. This Cab is full bodied with dark fruit, cassis and vanilla. It was smooth going down and left a really nice aftertaste. I did indeed help myself to more than one glass of this pleasant wine.
