Find an old picture frame and save your wine corks. Just glue them to the glass with a hot glue gun, and voila…you have your very own cork board! A beautiful new addition to your home.

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!

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

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. 

Check out Well Hung Vineyards. It’s owned by three genius women!

Today I did a bit of Spring cleaning while I had the house to myself – things get done a bit better when the boy’s not home The floors have been swept, the laundry’s done and the dishwasher is on. I need some wine!!

I have a leftover bottle of Pinot Grigio in my fridge that has quickly become a favourite. (Of course I’m drinking it in a red wine glass because all of my white wine glasses are being cleaned. Big no no, but I couldn’t resist!) It’s a crisp, Canadian wine that I keep coming back to because it’s so refreshing and light.

Name: Naked Grape 

Variety: Unoaked Pinot Grigio

Vintage: Don’t know

Producer: Naked Grape

Country/Region: Niagara Falls, Ontario – The wine is cellared in Canada but uses both domestic and imported wines.

Where Sampled: At home, by myself

Date: June 3, 2012

Price: $9.49/bottle

Notes:

• Notes of melon, apricot, and citrus upon smelling
• Crisp, light taste that is very refreshing
• Tastes great with no food accompaniment, but would pair well with poultry, seafood, or pasta
• Great value for the deliciousness it produces.

Ahhh, I’m definitely relaxed now…and the house is clean!

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!

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

Thanks for the laughter Kate, and the good talks over drinks all these years!