Hmmm ... once I started this blog, it seems to have started the reintroduction of drinking wine back into my life. Strange how that is.
Recently, my wife and I went to my good friend Rob's place in Salmon Arm with the intention of some R&R ... in the form of either floating down the river in Enderby or golfing. Unfortunately, the weather was a titch coolish for Sarah to endure 4 hours in a raft in a bathing suit. A shame since I was looking forward to the rope swing ... oh well ... next summer I guess.
Of course this trip resulted in a bit of wine drinking. The Red Rooster Bantam, a blended white consisting of various proportions of Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Riesling if I remember correctly. Don't quote me on this however.
Very similar to an Alsatian Noble blend in some respects but fruitier and less minerally or weighty on the palate. The nose gives some pineapple and rose petal with a somewhat vegetal or floral undercurrent. A hard one to nail down but often blends are just that. Anyway, this is a dry but fruity wine with a nice spark of acidity, creamy complexion and well rounded nature that makes for an easy quaff.
The Stuffed Salmon and new potatoes that Rob made for dinner was a great pairing with this. I chose this on a whim since our wine rack currently holds a Riesling, a Gewurztraminer, a Cab Franc and a Merlot so it seems the stars aligned for this pairing. Neither of the reds would have been good since they would likely overpowered the fish, the Gewurztraminer likely not acidic enough to match the lemon in the stuffing. The Riesling could have gone well but I am not sure it would have been weighty enough for the fat of the fish.
Anyway, it was a delicious dinner which we enjoyed fully and finished off by watching TV until lethargy settled in and attempted to watch "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" but only managed to get past the initial excesses of Johnny Depp's and Benicio del Toro's characters before crashing.
The next night we returned to our digs and then ventured to find dinner at a little eatery down the road in Peachland called "The Blind Angler Grill". A very nice place with a beautiful location right on the edge of both water and Peachland. The wine I chose from the wine list was and Australian Grenache from Maclaren Vale by Sorrento. The wine label specifically calls it Sorrento Dry Grown Grenache. However, the Dry Grown labelling is a bit confusing. Does that mean it was grown without irrigation? There is no answer on the back label.
The wine was very nice except for it being too warm so I asked for an ice bucket to cool it down. Room temp does not sit well with most reds but 30Celsius+ is practically baking it. The Grenache normally oxidizes easily but showed well once it was chilled. The hint of white pepper on the nose declared grenache and the jammy fruit with firm tannin were great with our food. I was surprised by how light the color of the wine was, it being an Ozzie red after all. I have seen Spanish Grenaches get much better depth of color. Maybe this was due to some oxidation after all. I tend to think it was just how the grapes turned out for that vintage, great flavor but the color just kind of fell away. From what I remember this can happen with Pinot Noir alot also.
The food was well prepared and we had a very nice dinner but a couple of niggling things on top of warm wine led to disappointment. The entrees were a NY with peppercorn sauce and "Thai Ribs". The peppercorn sauce was very salty and the Thai Ribs, though said to come with red Thai curry sauce, were dry and were not even close to showing the flavorful red curry. There were some indistinct red dots on the outside of the ribs that may have been a marinade but really your guess is as good as mine. Other than that the service was fair, the food arrived in a timely fashion and the preparation was very well done but we were left wanting with those two details that need fixing. The appetizer and dessert were excellent and we will go back to try the place again. Everything else was good enough that they at least warrant a second try. Or maybe we are just too picky. HMMMM???
Anyway, we will be going on vacation soon so the blogs will not appear for a couple of weeks at least. Next blog I will go over the Sonoran Winery tasting I had with their rep as well as any onthers we have indulged in .
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Staff tasting
For the last 5 years, I have been working at a local Italian eatery called Agostino's. For most of those, I have been a part-time server for them. The owners, Agostino and Julie, are truly wonderful people to work for.
This last winter they moved from downtown Kelowna to the Shannon Lake Golf Course in Westbank and I along with them. This makes for a much easier commute since I live with my wife Sarah in Glenrosa about a 10 minute drive from the golf course.
With the larger location and higher traffic that the venue of a golf course provides, comes new and more staff. At the 2nd staff meeting (1st I was able to attend), I wanted to try and raise the staff interest in promoting wines.
Anyway, BLAH BLAH de BLAH. Long story short ... I held a wine tasting at the end of the meeting. The feature wine was Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc from NZ.
If I recall, this wine is one of the principle reasons that NZ whites, most especially Sauv Blanc, are known worldwide. It was at the forefront of the quality exports from that country.
I had suggested Villa Maria for the wine list but I could not find any at the closest LDB outlet so I went with this to give the staff some idea of the style and taste of the wine. I have never tried the Villa Maria but have heard many great things about this producer.
The nose of citrus zest, gooseberry and sage were almost like an awakening of old and forgotten muscles. A satisfying reminescence of love and longing. Heady, to be sure. To be able to smell and explore that for the longest stretch of diaphragm possible, exhale and do it all over again. I love white wine!! To me, most reds can be great to drink but a lot of it is so bloated and overabundant that it is overwhelming. I guess that is what makes red more food friendly, or maybe more main course friendly, in my eye. The food can tame many of the elements of red where whites are best when austere, fragrant, demure and drunk without food. The palate showed sparkling acidity with lemongrass and pink grapefruit notes; exactly as I had hoped the wine would show. It is easy to see why this wine was probably the showcase export from NZ back in the 90s and is good to great value at $18 at the LDB here.
The plan for the tasting was to do a red and a white but I felt it necessary to go over tasting technique and proper service of wine before the tasting. So we only got through the white. Which left me with the bottle of red.
The red was the Finca Flichman Syrah, a wine I recall had been rated as one of the top values reds in the world by either Decanter or Wine Spectator back when I used to subscribe to both. A wine that I finally convinced Agostino could replace the Yellowtail Shiraz. Not a hard sell since he hates Yellowtail. A couple of nights later and 2 ribeye steaks thawed. I made a mushroom and red bell pepper risotto to go with the steaks that I marinated in a little truffle oil, garlic and S&P. I had everything timed for the return of my wife Sarah from her commute. She walks in the door the risotto finished, wine decanted with Riedel stemless waiting and the steaks just about to go on our oh so high tech grill.
The wine showed extremely well in my mind. The luscious fruit of the Shiraz style was not there. I find this masks the finesse of the grape. The Syrah had nice blackberry and cherry fruit, peppery smoke notes, subtle but present tannin and good balance. A very good match for the Ribeye and Risotto. I think a heavier more full bodied or even more tannic wine might have shown better since the Risotto is very rich. At $10 a great value ... and made me glad that I had chosen it for the wine list.
This last winter they moved from downtown Kelowna to the Shannon Lake Golf Course in Westbank and I along with them. This makes for a much easier commute since I live with my wife Sarah in Glenrosa about a 10 minute drive from the golf course.
With the larger location and higher traffic that the venue of a golf course provides, comes new and more staff. At the 2nd staff meeting (1st I was able to attend), I wanted to try and raise the staff interest in promoting wines.
Anyway, BLAH BLAH de BLAH. Long story short ... I held a wine tasting at the end of the meeting. The feature wine was Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc from NZ.
If I recall, this wine is one of the principle reasons that NZ whites, most especially Sauv Blanc, are known worldwide. It was at the forefront of the quality exports from that country.
I had suggested Villa Maria for the wine list but I could not find any at the closest LDB outlet so I went with this to give the staff some idea of the style and taste of the wine. I have never tried the Villa Maria but have heard many great things about this producer.
The nose of citrus zest, gooseberry and sage were almost like an awakening of old and forgotten muscles. A satisfying reminescence of love and longing. Heady, to be sure. To be able to smell and explore that for the longest stretch of diaphragm possible, exhale and do it all over again. I love white wine!! To me, most reds can be great to drink but a lot of it is so bloated and overabundant that it is overwhelming. I guess that is what makes red more food friendly, or maybe more main course friendly, in my eye. The food can tame many of the elements of red where whites are best when austere, fragrant, demure and drunk without food. The palate showed sparkling acidity with lemongrass and pink grapefruit notes; exactly as I had hoped the wine would show. It is easy to see why this wine was probably the showcase export from NZ back in the 90s and is good to great value at $18 at the LDB here.
The plan for the tasting was to do a red and a white but I felt it necessary to go over tasting technique and proper service of wine before the tasting. So we only got through the white. Which left me with the bottle of red.
The red was the Finca Flichman Syrah, a wine I recall had been rated as one of the top values reds in the world by either Decanter or Wine Spectator back when I used to subscribe to both. A wine that I finally convinced Agostino could replace the Yellowtail Shiraz. Not a hard sell since he hates Yellowtail. A couple of nights later and 2 ribeye steaks thawed. I made a mushroom and red bell pepper risotto to go with the steaks that I marinated in a little truffle oil, garlic and S&P. I had everything timed for the return of my wife Sarah from her commute. She walks in the door the risotto finished, wine decanted with Riedel stemless waiting and the steaks just about to go on our oh so high tech grill.
The wine showed extremely well in my mind. The luscious fruit of the Shiraz style was not there. I find this masks the finesse of the grape. The Syrah had nice blackberry and cherry fruit, peppery smoke notes, subtle but present tannin and good balance. A very good match for the Ribeye and Risotto. I think a heavier more full bodied or even more tannic wine might have shown better since the Risotto is very rich. At $10 a great value ... and made me glad that I had chosen it for the wine list.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
My how time flies ...
Yes indeed ... hard to believe it is over a month since I last, or I should say, first posted. I have been in the process of deciding which wines should first be reviewed. I decided that the wines which I chose for my wedding reception would be good ones to start with since they are both good value and stand up fairly well to laying down for a while. I made the effort to have fresh bottles bought not long ago to see any differences that may have occured in the aging.
The wines I speak of are the Langenbach Kabinett Riesling and the Farnese Primitivo. We saved one of each of these bottles from our reception and enjoyed them on our first anniversary. At $9.99 for each, they are very affordable and carried widely by the BCLDB.
The Riesling exhibits typical lemony notes with nice balancing acidity for the off dry wine. There is a creamy finish to this wine that I find reminiscent of a Viognier or Pinot Gris. Beyond that there is not much to this wine but it is very enjoyable and showed good character with slight petrolly notes typical again of riesling after the year of aging.
The Primitivo is, in my opinion, better value though I am a big fan of Riesling. This shows a rich plummy fruit with cedary spice notes. The tannin is not harsh but there is a bit of astringency and hotness from alcohol in the finish. Neither is expressed as to make the wine less than what it is ... a good value drinking red. By and large, the Farnese wines seem to be good value with the Sangiovese lauded by my Sommelier instructor as a very good value. That being said these are also relatively consistent wines giving the buyer enjoyment each time they are bought year in year out. I have not, however, tried the Trebbiano or any others that may be available.
The year later it still showed relatively good fruit structure if a bit oxidized. There were hints of tar, tobacco and leather in the aged wine and the tanin had not dulled appreciably. All in all, I am very pleased with these choices and I hope that you will enjoy them too.
The wines I speak of are the Langenbach Kabinett Riesling and the Farnese Primitivo. We saved one of each of these bottles from our reception and enjoyed them on our first anniversary. At $9.99 for each, they are very affordable and carried widely by the BCLDB.
The Riesling exhibits typical lemony notes with nice balancing acidity for the off dry wine. There is a creamy finish to this wine that I find reminiscent of a Viognier or Pinot Gris. Beyond that there is not much to this wine but it is very enjoyable and showed good character with slight petrolly notes typical again of riesling after the year of aging.
The Primitivo is, in my opinion, better value though I am a big fan of Riesling. This shows a rich plummy fruit with cedary spice notes. The tannin is not harsh but there is a bit of astringency and hotness from alcohol in the finish. Neither is expressed as to make the wine less than what it is ... a good value drinking red. By and large, the Farnese wines seem to be good value with the Sangiovese lauded by my Sommelier instructor as a very good value. That being said these are also relatively consistent wines giving the buyer enjoyment each time they are bought year in year out. I have not, however, tried the Trebbiano or any others that may be available.
The year later it still showed relatively good fruit structure if a bit oxidized. There were hints of tar, tobacco and leather in the aged wine and the tanin had not dulled appreciably. All in all, I am very pleased with these choices and I hope that you will enjoy them too.
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