Yet more wine ...

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 .