Category Archives: Tastings

15/08/2012
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Blush, Food Pairings, Red, Sparkling, Tastings, White

Summer Wines


The sunshine is finally out in Vancouver and with it comes some great opportunities to drink. Wine is welcome at summertime BBQ’s, brunches, and on the patio for happy hour so it got me to thinking about which wines pair well with this hot, hot heat.

White Wine

Let’s start with a light, crisp wine. I recommend a nice Pinot Gris for a refreshing afternoon sip. Let’s not forget that white wine is served chilled, so it offers the benefits of cooling you down and also satisfying your taste buds. A great wine to have over lunch with poultry or fish, this can also be enjoyed with fresh fruit and veggies.

Next on my list to try: Gray Monk Pinot Gris

Sparkling Wine

If there’s one thing I love, it’s brunch. I’ll admit I’m a foodie when it comes to every meal, but there’s something about brunch that makes my heart sing. My favourite thing to have with eggs benny or an omelette? A mimosa. And in the summer? Score. Although mixed together, the champagne is a great compliment to the orange juice and creates a sparkly, heavenly drink. The type of champagne you use matters too! I would love to say I’ve tried a mimosa with Dom Perignon, but alas, I haven’t. I guess I’ll just have to stick with the under $20 varietals. Not so crazy on mixing your champagne with juice? Try enjoying a glass with a few strawberries thrown in. It tastes great and looks pretty too!

Next on my list to try: Baby Canadian Champagne

Rosé

Rosé is the type of wine that I drink most infrequently, which is a shame because it really is delicious and delightful. This would be a great hostessing gift to bring to a summer get together and can be easily paired with dishes ranging from appies to entrées. It’s not too light or too heavy and puts a smile on everyone’s faces because it’s pink! Ok, well, it at least puts a smile on my face because it’s pink.

Next on my list to try: Sawmill Creek White Zinfandel 

Red

I used to think that I would shy away from red wines in the summer. I would hear words like “full-bodied” and “heavy” and they would make me think about the exact opposite of summer, so…winter. Truth is, there are a lot of great reds out there that can definitely hold their own at this time of year. Just think about all the barbecued steaks and hamburgers that are so often-enjoyed right now and how good a nice glass of red would pair with them .

Next on my list to try: Fetish the Watcher Shiraz

Hope you get to try some of these and please suggest some others for me to try! Happy summer!

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26/07/2012
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Food Pairings, Fun Facts, Labels, Personal, Quotes, Red, Tastings, Wineries Quote

I went to Victoria with my family a couple of months ago to visit some good friends. Was there wine involved? Definitely.

Although I wasn’t able to go, my dad visited Muse Winery. Their motto is, “Love what you do. Laugh often. Work hard. Make great wine. Have fun doing it.” Sounds like a pretty good one to me. And the best part? The owner of the vineyard named it after his wife…his muse. Now that’s love.

Needless to say, a few bottles were purchased and shared at the dinner table later that evening. The highlight for me was Muse’s Cabernet Sauvignon.

Name: Muse (Gallant, Valiant Grape)

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Vintage: 2011

Producer: Muse

Country/Region: North Saanich, BC

Where Sampled: At the dinner table with family and friends

Date: May 27, 2012

Price: I don’t know

Notes:

  • Peppery, but not spicy
  • Full-bodied
  • A hint of buttery sweetness
  • Paired deliciously with steak and vegetables and didn’t overpower any of the flavours

As a little anecdote, this wine also made for great table conversation. Each label comes with a unique story and description about the “muse” who inspired the wine. Here reads the one for their Cabernet Sauvignon:

“Our heroine is courageous and bold with lustrous skin the colour of crème brulée, eyes of purple plum and dark-red tresses of soft silk. Round and full-bodied, to nuzzle her neck is to smell vanilla, black currant and peppery spice. Her noble heritage is French and you will never get Bordeaux her tales of a glorious past. Well-balanced, she stands tall as an oak. At her table you will dine well on blackened grilled salmon, maple syrup glazed pork tenderloin and chocolate & raspberry soufflé.”

If you’re ever on Vancouver Island, be sure to grab a bottle. Mmm…happy drinking!

Something to Muse Over

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13/06/2012
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Food Pairings, Personal, Red, Tastings

Più Vino Per Piacere

I went to a little place called Cioppino’s in Yaletown last weekend. Ever heard of it? If not, go. NOW. Although, I don’t know how you haven’t heard of it because it’s continually voted Vancouver’s Best Upscale Italian by Vancouver Magazine and is a mecca for foodies on the hunt for the perfect Italian our little city has to offer.

And it does not disappoint! Me and the boyfriend went with his sister and her husband for dinner and I was blown away. Not only was the food amazing, the service was impeccable (I felt like everyone knew who we were), and the wine list came in its own binder! That wasn’t a typo…binder. The website boasts that their wine list is currently 62 pages long, so that will give you an idea as to how detailed they are, yet also inform you how frustrating it is to pick a wine while dining! Good thing it wasn’t my job – I think I would have gone cross-eyed on the first page.

So, we settled on a beautiful red wine, and here’s where my wine blogger mind goes to mush…I didn’t write down any info or take a photo :( I know…I should be ashamed, but I was enjoying myself too much and eating all of the delicious food without paying attention. I was thinking I would look it up online later, but they don’t post the wine list because it’s too long! Go figure. The only info I was able to take away was that it was a Valpolicella wine. And it was heaven.

Between the four of us, we had two bottles. It was great by itself and transitioned nicely between all of our dishes (appetizers, entrées, and dessert)! I remember it being a medium-bodied red with hints of cherry and a bit of spice. The colour was stunning, as well.

It was a night to remember and one I would like to replicate soon, if it wasn’t for the price tag. Be warned that this is a high end restaurant…one that is reserved for special occasions and celebrations and not one that can be frequented every weekend unless you’ve got the moola. Every dish was memorable and to prove it to you I’ll just say this: I still dream about Cioppino’s every night. 

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26/04/2012
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Products, Tastings

Size Matters

Before moving into my apartment last summer, I was on a hunt for wine glasses. They seriously come in all shapes and sizes. I didn’t really think it mattered (as long as I was drinking, who cared what the glass looked like), but it turns out that when it comes to these glasses, like everything else wine, IT MATTERS. 

The anatomy of each wine glass is similar. There’s a base, a stem, and a bowl. The base is the easy one and does the hard work: it keeps the glass from falling over! The stem is pretty important because it prevents the heat from your hands from transferring to the bowl and altering the temperature of the wine. And then the bowl…this is where the differences occur: there are pretty much 4 basic shapes…

1. RED WINE GLASS: This glass has a large bowl and big mouth opening. The full shape allows air to get into the wine when you’re swirling it and tasting it, and also lets you stick your nose down deep inside so that you can get a big whiff of it when smelling the bouquet.

2. WHITE WINE GLASS: The shape of this glass is much narrower than a red wine glass and has more of a “U” shape. As noted in a previous post, white wine is served colder than red, and this glass keeps the temperature cooler by containing the wine in a smaller area.

3. SPARKLING WINE GLASS: These are the dainty, pretty ones! They have a very narrow, long shape so that the carbonation is contained within the flute.

4. DESSERT WINE GLASS: Dessert wines have a higher alcohol content than most other wines, so you need to drink them in smaller quantities (well, you don’t need to, but you should). Hence, the dessert wine glass is smaller than other wine glasses.

Be sure to pick the right one when serving to guests, because the taste and temperature can alter greatly if served in the wrong glass.

On a side note, stemless wine glasses have become popularized recently by companies like Reidel. I, personally, use these in my home and appreciate their casualness and quirkiness. I’ve learned my lesson though, because my wine’s temperature is altered relatively quickly while holding the bowl directly. 

Happy drinking!

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24/04/2012
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Food Pairings, Tastings, White

Birthday Dinner

Every year on my birthday, I have to get together with my family. And no, it’s not an obligation, I do it because I want to! This year, I chose Marcello’s as the destination for my birthday extravaganza! It’s a quaint little Italian restaurant on Commercial Drive and makes some of the best pasta I’ve ever had — and no, it’s not better than yours mom ;)

On this occasion, I asked the server to mix me up a little something special in the kitchen. I got an order of linguine with an extra spicy tomato cream sauce topped with prawns. It was to die for! I’m a big believer in going big on your birthday and that’s exactly what I did. I ate that pasta with gusto and washed it down with a delicious, smooth Pinot Grigio.

Name: Zonin “Primo amore” Pinot Grigio

Variety: Pinot Grigio

Producer: Zonin

Country/Region: The Veneto

Where Sampled: Marcello’s

Date: Apr. 12/2012

Price: $7/5 oz. glass

Comments: 

  • Crisp taste
  • Hints of apple, apricot, lemon
  • Citrus flavours coming off of the apples in a subtle manner
  • Smooth taste, with a bit of tanginess
  • Legs were not very long, low alcohol content
The wine paired very nicely with my dish and with everyone else’s in my party. Everyone ordered pasta and agreed that the wine complimented each and every dish – from a seafood cream sauce, to a Bolognese. Cheers! 
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21/03/2012
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Fun Facts, Random, Tastings

Let It Breathe

A thought suddenly occurred to me today…I should be allowing my wine to breathe before I drink it, shouldn’t I? I don’t really know what it does, but I’ve heard a lot of hoo haa about this so-called “breathing” and the benefits it brings to the flavour of wine. Now, as I was thinking this I realized that I don’t know what these benefits are or how breathing enhances the wine, but I’ve heard enough about it over the years to realize that it must be quite important and beneficial.

After a few Google searches and Perez Hilton distractions, I found a couple of answers. First of all, there’s a certain way to allow the wine to breathe and secondly, the benefits are good, but can quickly take a turn for the worse.

OK, so, how to let your wine breathe. Let me tell you that just opening the bottle and letting it sit there is not enough. There isn’t a big enough opening in the wine bottle to allow a sufficient amount of air in in order for the benefits to take effect. You’re gonna want to use a decanter, jug sort of thing. Or your wine glass’ll work too. This way you have a nice wide opening and lots of awesome air can get mixed into the wine. 

What does the air do you might ask? It mingles with your wine and allows it to warm up a bit. When it warms up, the flavours are unleashed and open up to their fullest yumminess. Now, like I said, you can let your wine breathe for too long which causes a little bit of oxidation and alters the chemicals and make-up of the wine. This is why you should drink a bottle of wine within a few days of opening it (unless you have a device that pumps the air out). But, honestly, who ever needed a reason to drink a bottle of wine within a few days of opening it? I certainly don’t these days :)

So, next time you’re at a restaurant or having a nice dinner at home, remember to decant your wine and let it breathe for about 15-20 minutes before you drink it. You can even do a little test and taste it just after opening and then re-taste it after it’s opened up and see if you can notice a difference. That’s what I’m gonna do! A little wine experiment is good for everyone, if you ask me.

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19/03/2012
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Food Pairings, Personal, Recipe, Tastings, White

Curry and Wine

A couple of weeks ago, Tomi and I were invited to go for dinner at my friend Holly’s house. Her and her boyfriend, Ali, were gonna have us over for homemade Indian food. Mmm! Every time we get together is because of a love of food. Like, a serious love of food. Holly and I work together and we’ve definitely spent a good solid couple of hours talking  just about restaurants. So, it was a nice change when we were invited over to their place for some home cooking! They did not disappoint. Holly made us Vij’s Family Chicken Curry and paired it with a really good Sauvignon Blanc. The curry was incredible, as was the wine. 

Name: Oyster Bay Marlborough

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Vintage: 2010

Producer: Oyster Bay

Country/Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Where Sampled: Holly and Ali’s Apartment

Date: March 3, 2012

Price: $19.99/bottle

Notes:

  • Crisp wine with a clean, refreshing taste
  • Sweet and fruity
  • Hints of pineapple, citrus, grapes (lol. duh! But I really did taste grapes)
  • Not very complex, a very pleasing wine
  • Pairs very well with the strong flavours of Indian food
This wine was a really good choice for the Indian food. It didn’t over power the complexity of the dish, it only heightened the flavours. I was really impressed with this wine and will definitely be picking up a bottle to enjoy again soon.
And back to the curry! This was honestly the best curry that I’ve ever had – even better than a restaurant. I still haven’t tried Vij’s restaurant, but if his food is this good when I cook it (I made the dish last week), I can only imagine how good his dishes will be when prepared by him. I will definitely be going soon. 
Ali also found a great link for pairing wine with Indian food. There’s a lot to take into consideration when you’re dealing with such fragrant spices and this article definitely brings this to light. I would’ve assumed that a light, white wine would always be best, but, of course, I was proved wrong. Reds work really well too and I will definitely be pairing this dish with a red next time. 
P.S. Let me tell you…I have been sick lately. First, I got the stomach flu and then I thought I was fine, but, of course, I got a horrible cold. All in all it’s been about two weeks of hell, but I am finally feeling better and I’m happy to be back and blogging :)


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05/03/2012
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How-To, Tastings

Wine Tasting 101

I think it’s time I nailed my technique for tasting wine. It really does make a difference when you have the proper form and you know what you’re looking for. Fortunately, I learned quite a while ago although I didn’t 

appreciate it then as much as I do now.

Now, don’t be jealous, but I was taught how to taste wine in Bordeaux in the summer of 2009. I went on a road trip around France with my parents for about a month. Please note: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. We were all ready to kill each other at the end of the trip. You do not want to be trapped in a car with your parents for three weeks straight. We had a lot of issues. No offense mom and dad but, I think there’s a reason we have not gone on a road trip together since.

We were with my best friend’s family as well, who had their own car, and I think it was even worse for them. I don’t know if they even talked civilly to each other for at least a week once they got home.

Hopefully, we’ve all learned from that trip even though there were some deep scars left behind.

Moving on…I can’t remember what winery we were at because we went to so many (woe is me), but it was in the Bordeaux region that the wine makers taught us the proper technique. I remember it so well, too, because my best friend and I were making fun of our parents as it was happening. They were taking it soo seriously and we were getting a kick out of it because our parents are lame.

Anyway, here’s what I learned (with a little extra help from my dad):

  1. LOOK
  • Hold your glass up to eye level and tilt it up to a light source so that you can look into the wine. Hopefully, you can see through it, showing the clarity of the wine, its colour, and when you level the glass back down, the residual wine on the side of the glass. When you see the wine draining back down the side of the glass, its “legs” are exposed (Ooh, scandalous!). The legs of the wine give you a clear idea of the alcohol content. The more legs, the higher the alcohol content.
  1. SMELL
  • Now, stick your nose as far into your glass as possible. Not only will you look really cool, you’ll also be able to smell the wine much better. What are the scents that you notice right away? Does anything hit you right off the bat, or are the smells more subtle? To narrow it down, try using your wine aroma wheel.
  1. SWIRL
  • Next, hold the stem of your glass and swirl your wine around. This allows air to enter the wine and opens up the bouquet.
  1. SMELL (AGAIN)
  • Now that air has been introduced into your wine glass, it should open the scents you previously experienced. They should be a bit stronger and easier to pinpoint. Use your wine wheel again, maybe you’ll smell something completely different.
  1. TASTE
  • And last, but not least, you actually get to taste the wine! Take a small sip, hold it on your tongue, and suck air slowly through your mouth and over your tongue. See what flavours you’re tasting and compare them to the ones you sensed while smelling the wines. (Side note: my dad always chokes when he does this and starts coughing like a maniac. Don’t let it happen to you :) )

Using these simple steps should make tastings wine a whole lot easier and more educational. Pretty soon you’ll be exciting your palate as much as I have been!

 

 

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25/02/2012
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Products, Tastings Image

Wine Aroma Wheel

Now that I’ve got a couple of tastings under my belt, I think that I need to better articulate the way that I describe the wines. Not only will it be more beneficial to me as a future wine connoisseur, but also to my readers who need more descriptors to visualize the flavours I’m tasting. Welcome, the wine aroma wheel. 

This tool was created by a chemist and former professor, Ann C. Noble, who has helped lots of people pinpoint and elaborate on what they are tasting when drinking wine. I think it may be my new best friend. 

http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=wine+aroma+wheel&hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=NjM_1O686ZAPyM:&imgrefurl=http://winingways.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/wine-aroma-wheel/&docid=bY4z5va4u7YSZM&imgurl=http://winingways.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/wine_tasting_wheel_sans_calories.jpg&w=682&h=667&ei=tFlJT9-SDaKPigK7kvnaDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=335&vpy=139&dur=396&hovh=222&hovw=227&tx=96&ty=94&sig=111210162113818283115&page=1&tbnh=142&tbnw=145&start=0&ndsp=52&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&biw=1916&bih=964

 

It seems super easy which is always something that I appreciate. All you do is smell and taste your wine and find a descriptor in the middle of the wheel. Once you’ve narrowed down your initial flavour, you continue towards to outside of the wheel and highlight your flavours as you go.

Look for it during my next tasting – I hope it’ll help.  

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21/02/2012
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Food Pairings, Sparkling, Tastings, White

A Shelter from the Storm

As you may know, I went to Tofino for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was so beautiful that I don’t even know how to describe it. I’m blessed to live in a city as stunning as Vancouver where I get to see the ocean all the time, but when I travelled to Tofino it was like I was seeing an entirely different ocean for the first time. It was absolutely breathtaking to be there during storm season and on the weekend before Valentine’s Day…can you say romantic? I had such a wonderful time and I can’t wait to travel back again soon. But, enough about the lovely ocean and on to the important stuff…the wine I had while I was there!

The boyfriend and I celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday night with a lovely meal out. He planned it all as a surprise so I was very excited and a little skeptical. OK, maybe skeptical is the wrong word…let’s use anxious. Just anxious to see where we were going, what time we would get there, what to wear, etc. I just like to be organized. Geez.

It all worked out perfectly, though. We went to this restaurant called Shelter and it was absolutely beautiful! It had a rustic, west coast feel (go figure!), with a huge, romantic fireplace in the middle of the dining room. And luckily, we got to sit near the fire because I decided to wear a sleeveless shirt. Hey, a girl has to look good when she’s celebrating Valentine’s Day. And don’t worry, I made sure it was pink. Continue reading →

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