Las Vegas!

February 18, 2009 09:36:51
Posted By Wine With Karl

So you probably wondered why I have not posted lately. The answer is I took a short vacation to Las Vegas. Visited a few new casinos, played some table games, and of course kept my eye out for wine.

If you are looking for a nice wine bar, and nearby wine shop, I'd suggest that you visit the Palazzo. This is the new twin tower for the Venetian casino. It is a really beautiful casino. One of the things I found in the Palazzo is a very nice wine bar called "Double Helix Bar" and beside it is the "Double Helix Boutique". In the boutique you can buy the wines that you tried in the bar.

From the Double Helix website:

"...Double Helix's nearly 2,100-square-foot space is located within the heart of the shopping center and includes a circular bar featuring more than 50 wines by the glass, available in either 2 oz. taste portions or 5 oz. glass servings. An adjacent boutique offers nearly 300 bottles of rare and hard-to-find labels from all over the world.

Featured wines include: Ken Wright Pinot Noir (Oregon), Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1999, Sonoma-Cutrer Les Pierres Chardonnay, Gaja Ca'Marcanda Promis (Italy), Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand), and Dom Perignon Champagne (France) to name just a few...."

So if you are going to Las Vegas, and need a wine fix, please visit the Double Helix. Enjoy!

5 Nations Cup Results

February 2, 2009 07:43:25
Posted By Wine With Karl

A little over 2 weeks ago the South World Wine Society had their annual 5 Nations Cup. This is a blind tasting, where a white and red wine is tasted from each of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa. The members and guests of the event rate the wines without knowing which country each wine is from.

Everyone loves Australian wines. They have been #2 in sales after BC VQA wine lately, but they were #1 in BC for quite a while before that. People on the other hand have viewed Chilean and Argentinean wines as being somehow cheap and cheerful wines. This tasting proved to people the exact opposite. The favourite WHITE and RED wine for the evening was from Chile. Argentina's red wine came in second place. The Aussie red and white wines ended up in last place!

So, if you haven't tried a Chilean wine, maybe now is the time to go to your favorite bottle shop and picking up one or two? If you want to see which wines were tasted and their rankings, go to www.southworldwine.com and scroll down to the middle of the page.

And lastly a few Chilean wines you may want to buy and try:

- Novas Organic Carmenere Cabernet, Chile, 2004, $16.99
- Montes Alpha Chardonnay, Chile, 2006, $26.85
- Viu Manent Malbec Reserva, Chile, 2005 (private stores)
- Matetic “EQ” Sauvignon Blanc, Chile, 2005 (private stores)

Enjoy!

Celebrate Australia!

January 26, 2009 08:01:04
Posted By Wine With Karl

G'Day Mate and Happy Australia Day! On Saturday I was invited to the Celebrate Australia wine tasting, which was held in downtown Vancouver. 43 wineries were present, along with lots of food, and music. Each of the wineries offered 3-5 wines, so there were about 200 wines to sample this evening. I didn't make it through all of the wines, but found some very nice wines.

Australian wines over 10 years ago were in the sub $20 category and were predominantly full bodied, full fruited red wines. Now countries like Chile and Argentina are filling that price range. Australia is now into the $20 and up category, and rightly so, as they have some premium wine makers and wine regions.

Western Australia, particularly around Margaret River, are known for their Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines. More Old World in style and restrained, compared to the rest of Australia and the other New World countries. The Barossa Valley and Coonawarra are still producing big cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, but there tends to be more structure than in the past. The Yarra Valley is becoming more well known around the world for their cool climate pinot noir and chardonnay.

So you are probably hoping for a few wine picks from me, and here they are:

- Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon 2007, $26.99. If you have never tried Semillon (a white varietal), you have to try this one. It has a citrusy, apple, tarry nose. Excellent acidity with citrus/lime flavours.

- d'Arenberg The Custodian McLaren Vale Grenache 2005, $24.99. Wonderful toffee, tar, raspberry and strawberry fruit with sweet, ripe tannins.

- Heggies Eden Valley Chardonnay 2006, $27.99. This wine has nice acidity and minerality. Don't look for an overly oaked, buttery chardonnay here.

Enjoy!

What a difference a day, or two or more makes.

January 18, 2009 05:23:49
Posted By Wine With Karl

Keeping on the pinot noir topic from the last few blogs, last week I opened a bottle of Peller Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, 2006 vintage. The wine had an overpowering candied strawberry and violet aroma. It was way out of balance with the flavour of the wine. I put the cork back in the bottle and let it air out for a while. I tried it again two days later. The aroma was much less pronounced. There was still the violets, but now a bit of rustic/earthiness was present plus some dustiness. I then tried it again today (1 week after opening the bottle). The wine softened up nicely. The violet aroma was still there but again, much less than the last time I tried it. Even nicer flavour and finish than the previous day.

So the moral of my little story is if you have problems with the flavour or aroma of a wine, give it some time to breathe. Even a day or more. Oxygen can be a wine's best friend. Enjoy!

Thinking about Pinot Noir

January 11, 2009 09:06:52
Posted By Wine With Karl

The movie Sideways popularized the Pinot Noir varietal. It is the classic red grape of Burgundy, but is getting competition from around the world, particularly from Oregon and New Zealand. Other countries, such as Canada and Chile are producing some nice Pinots as well. This is a cross over grape, I'd say, for people that primarily drink white wine because they don't like the tannins from red wines. Pinot Noir grapes have low tannins, and depending on how the wines are produced can be very light, with wonderful red fruit (e.g. strawberries and raspberries) and violet aromas and flavours. There can also be the more "Burgundian" versions of pinot noir that have more of the earthy, barnyard aromas and flavours that some people enjoy.

So if you have someone you want to introduce to red wines, may I suggest a New World pinot noir. It is hard to go wrong with one from New Zealand. Matua, Tohu (aboriginal run), Cloudy Bay, and Villa Maria are some producers you may want to check out. Chile also makes some nice Pinot Noir. Two that I can recommend are: Cremaschi Furlotti and Casa del Bosque. If you prefer to try Canadian Pinot Noir, Mission Hill, Cedar Creek (try the Platinum Series if you can) and Quails Gate produce good examples.

With a lighter style Pinot Noir, you can pair these wines with fish or chicken. Try a roast salmon with pinot noir.

Enjoy.

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival in March 23-29/09

January 4, 2009 06:48:17
Posted By Wine With Karl

Yes I know it is still a few months away, but I thought I'd let you know as there are early bird tickets available now. For those that are new to the wine scene in Vancouver, BC, every year around Feb-March there is this wine fest, held at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre downtown, plus numerous smaller tastings/dinners at restaurants around the lower mainland. This is THE wine event of the year for the wine trade, and for anyone that enjoys wine. Each year there is a theme country/region, and a theme varietal. This year the theme is "British Columbia" and the theme varietal is "Pinots", which means any pinot based grape (e.g. pinot noir, pinot gris). This will be a great time to try out smaller BC-based wineries which don't typically go to the wine festival. It is usual that the country/region that is the theme for that year sends a large delegation for the main tasting room. Here is a partial list of the BC wineries that will be participating (including one of my favorites. If you don't remember which one, check a few blogs back :-)

Deep Creek Wine Estate & Hainle Vineyards Estate Winery
Averill Creek Vineyard / Salt Spring Winery
Arrowleaf Cellars
Artisan Sake Maker
Black Hills Estate Winery
Blasted Church
Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars
Burrowing Owl Estate Winery
CedarCreek Estate Winery
Cherry Point Vineyards
Church & State Wines
Desert Hills Estate Winery /Dunham & Froese Estate Winery
Domaine de Chaberton
Elephant Island Orchard Winery
Fairview Cellars / Garry Oaks
Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery
Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery
Gray Monk Estate Winery
Herder Winery & Vineyards
Hester Creek Estate Winery
Hillside Estate Winery
Thornhaven Estates Winery
Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan
Joie Farm
Kettle Valley Winery
La Frenz Winery
Lake Breeze Vineyards
Laughing Stock Vineyards
Mission Hill Family Estate
Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery
Nk’Mip Cellars
Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery
Osoyoos Larose
Peller Estates
Pentâge Winery
Poplar Grove Winery
Quails' Gate
Red Rooster Winery
Road 13 Vineyards
Sandhill
See Ya Later Ranch
St Hubertus
Estate Winery
Stoneboat Vineyards
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery
Summerhill Pyramid Winery
Tantalus Vineyards
Therapy Vineyards
Tinhorn Creek Vineyards
Township 7 Vineyards and Winery
Twisted Tree Vineyards & Winery
Wild Goose Vineyards & Winery

The other benefit of attending the main tasting room, is that there is a special wine store at the back of the tasting room, where you can buy many of the wines you were tasting. MANY of the wines are specialty wines brought in ONLY for this event so these are the wines to buy!

Besides BC, there will be wines from USA, Australia, France, Italy, Chile and many other countries. If you are curious about French wine, but don't want to spend lots of money buying bottles in the liquor store without knowing anything about it, you can sample it at the wine festival. Another bonus is that a winery principal MUST attend the tasting room so you may have a chance to chat with the wine maker from another part of the world. That is really exciting.

The event this year is March 23-29/09.

ENJOY!

A Good Time for Ice Wine

December 21, 2008 03:23:37
Posted By Wine With Karl

With snow falling here in Vancouver, I thought I'd talk a bit about Ice Wine. Ice wine's origin is in Germany where it is called Eiswein. Eiswein production began in the late 1700s and more fully in the 1800s in Germany. The first Canadian ice wine was made in BC by Walter Hainle in 1973 at the Hainle Vineyards.

How is ice wine made? The short answer is the wine is made from frozen grapes, but of course there is more to it than that. The grapes are typically a white varietal, such as Riesling or Vidal, but you can now find some red ice wines, from Pinot Noir and other grapes. Riesling is the traditional grape for ice wine due to its high level of acidity. This high level of acidity is important to balance the high sugar content from the concentrated grape juice. The high acidity made the ice wine refreshing instead of cloyingly sweet (imagine drinking maple syrup).

There are rules for when a grape can be picked for ice wine. As I mentioned the grapes have to be frozen before being picked, but the temperature at the time of picking has to be at least -8 degrees Celsius. Any warmer and you legally cannot call the wine, ice wine. Grapes harvested at say -6 degrees Celsius can be called Late Harvest. Late Harvest wine tastes very much like ice wine, but is less aromatic and sweet. Some people prefer Late Harvest, plus the price of Late Harvest is usually half the price of the same size of Ice Wine.

Ice Wine and Late Harvest are more expensive than a traditional bottle of still wine, but it takes many more grapes to produce these wines. Whereas it could take one bunch of grapes for a bottle of wine, it may take 8-10 bunches of grapes for one bottle of ice wine or late harvest wine. Imagine how hard these grapes are when they are being pressed. As the water in the grape is frozen, just a small amount of concentrated grape syrup is left. I think of it like someone trying to squeeze water from marbles. Very hard!

Some wineries in the BC Okanagan that produce ice wine:
- Mission Hill (their 2006 Reserve Riesling Ice Wine won the International Wine Challenge in London in Sept 08 as the Worlds Top Ice Wine)
- Quail's Gate (their 2006 Reisling Ice Wine won a Bronze Medal - Canadian Wine Awards 2007)
- Gray Monk Estate Winery (Kerner ice wine - a white grape)
- Summerhill Estate Winery (Pinot noir, zweigelt, chardonnay, and riesling ice wines)

And last but not least, every January, there is an Ice Wine Festival at Sun Peaks Resort in the Okanagan! The next festival will be January 13 - 18, 2009. You can try a wide range of ice wines, together with learning about ice wines, join in some wine dinners, and if you have any energy left, go skiing. You can contact Sun Peaks Resort at 1-800-807-3257 about the Ice Wine Festival, or go to the Ice Wine Festival website http://www.owfs.com/festivals/winter_festival.html

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

An abbreviated list of wines for the holidays

December 8, 2008 07:56:58
Posted By Wine With Karl

Isn't technology lovely? Sometimes you spend a long time writing a long blog about wines for the holidays and it doesn't get saved! Well that just happened to me, so please enjoy this very short version of my wine recommendations.

Wines to take to a host/hostess. Try a wine they would not normally buy but would enjoy. Try a champagne (from France. Try Bollinger, Lanson, Krug, or Taittinger), or a sparkling wine (e.g. a cremant from France, a prosecco from Italy, Cava from Spain, or a New World sparkling, such as Gloria Ferrer from Napa Valley, or Lindauer from New Zealand).

An ice wine could also be a nice gift. Riesling ice wines are the best in my opinion as the high acidity of this grape complements the sweetness from the grape. Mission Hill and Quails Gate in the BC Okanagan have nice ice wines.

With dinner, assuming you have a turkey feast, try a lightly oaked chardonnay, or a lighter bodied pinot noir. On the chardonnay side try a wine from Deloach in California, Mission Hill Reserve from the Okanagan, or Evans and Tate from Australia. For a pinot noir, try Quails Gate or Mission Hill from the Okanagan, or Villa Maria or Kim Crawford from New Zealand.

People also like fortified / dessert wines. Buller makes a nice Muscat (Australia). You may try a port from Portugal, such as from Quinta do Portal. A full bodied Oloroso Sherry from Spain from Gonzalez Byass.

Enjoy the wines and enjoy the holidays!

Thornhaven Winery - A small gem

November 30, 2008 11:07:00
Posted By Wine With Karl

I enjoy discoverng small wineries that are producing quality wines, then letting other people know about them. Thornhaven winery in Summerland, BC is one of those wineries. I came across this winery two years ago doing an Okanagan tasting weekend. Each wine in their portfolio was very well made, full of fruit, but with structure. Two wines stood out for me at the time. The first was their pinot grigio. Most grigios have a variety of citrus, peach, mango flavour with soft acidity, not as much as you would get on a Sauvignon Blanc. Thornhaven's pinot grigio tasted like a juicy red grapefruit. It was so refreshing and would have been a great pairing with grilled seafood. The other wine I really enjoyed was their Pinot Meunier. This is a red grape, that is used in the Champagne region, in the blend with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce Champange. It is fruiter than pinot noir. Thornhaven's pinot meunier had a nice cherry and red fruit aromas and flavours. There was also some coffee flavour. This wine is hard to find, outside of going to the Thornhaven winery.

The last wine of note, which I have not yet tasted, is their 2006, Gewurztraimer, as it won double gold at the Canadian Wine Awards. I was able to buy a bottle, but am waiting for the right occasion, to open it with friends. For those that haven't tried Gewurztraimer, think of lychee fruit with some sweet spices. This is known as the spicy grape in Germany. Try pairing it with a light blue cheese, chicken satay, pate, or chinese food. Enjoy!

Pinotage anyone?

November 21, 2008 07:41:57
Posted By Wine With Karl

You have probably heard of chardonnay and merlot, but have you ever heard of Pinotage? It is not a well known grape, but sometimes lesser known varietals can be fun to try. Pinotage is a red grape that is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, both French grapes. Pinot Noir being the signature red grape from Burgundy and Cinsault from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. A South African Professor of Viticulture crossed the 2 grapes in 1925.

The grape does well in warmer areas, such as South Africa, but you can also find some growing in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia (and a few other regions around the world). A wine made from Pinotage has been said to have aromas of banana and tropical fruit. Sometimes it has a bit of a nailpolish remover aroma that turns off some people. Two South African winemakers that make a very good pinotage are Fairview (Primo Pinotage) and Saxenburg (Pinotage Private Collection). In the Okanagan, two wineries that produce pinotage are Stoneboat and Lake Breeze. Try it and see what you think. Nico van der Merwe of Saxenburg said at a tasting that I attended that Pinotage is very flexible and recommended trying it with Chinese food. So go ahead and experiment. Sometimes you will get amazing pairings.

Once you enjoy the thrill of trying new grape varietals, you may want to try:
- falanghina
- viognier
- roussane
- nebbiolo
- negroamaro (one of my favorites. red and full of flavour from Italy)

Enjoy! Feel free to contact me at contact@mywinepal.com with wines you enjoy or would like me to talk about.

Wines from Mendoza, Argentina

November 12, 2008 08:26:08
Posted By Wine With Karl

Most people probably don't know about the Mendoza area, but enjoy the big Malbec wines that come from that part of Argentina. Mendoza is located in mid-west of the Argentine Republic and at the feet of the Andes. Mendoza is the center of Argentina’s wine industry and accounts for approximately 70% of the country’s total output. Nearly all the major wineries are concentrated in this province. Its signature grape is the Malbec. The climate and terroir in Mendoza are the ideal setting for the full expression of this grape variety. Being high altitude, it gets nice warm sunny weather during the day, and cool night time temperatures, which prolongs the grape ripening season and keeping acidity in the grapes.

Argentina is the 5th largest wine producer in the world. Mendoza has over 140,000 hectares of vineyards. Mendoza exports approximately 90% of Argentina's wines.

Mendoza produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Barbera, Riesling, Chenin, Ungi Blanc, and Semillon and others, in its over 1220 vineyards. 79% of vineyards are planted with red varietals and 21% with white varietals.

Malbec is the most popular varietal for international markets. With typical black cherry, blackberry and spice aromas, this wine is usually produced in a Bordeaux style, often aged in oak, for a result that is soft, deep, and velvety.

Besides being a great place to produce full bodied wines, the town of Mendoza has a large artist base. So lots of great artwork as well.

Going to a wine tasting

October 28, 2008 09:00:37

Posted By Wine With Karl

You might be apprehensive, but do it. Going to a wine tasting is a great way to learn about wines. You will get the chance to try several wines in a row. The speaker will typically describe something about each wine before you try it, and give his/her opinion on what flavours they tasted and aromas they smelled. Practice makes perfect.

When you are trying wines at home, you may have one, maybe two wines. This is OK, but you can only compare one against the other. This can be a problem if you have one red and one white wine, as the two will likely be very different. What you want to do, if you do open two wines, is to pick two of the same varietal, e.g. two cabernet sauvignon. What you should also do is open wines from two different price points. Try a sub $20 and a $30-$40 Cabernet Sauvignon for example. Can you taste a different at the higher price point? Usually the higher price point wines use riper grapes, have more concentrated flavours and are aged in oak barrels for an extended period. The lower price point wine, may use lesser quality grapes (maybe picked before they reached thier full ripeness and may have some green grapes mixed in) and if there is oak, it could be from oak chips added to the fermenting tank. You will get a less expressive, thinner wine, with maybe a very oaky flavour, for example. It may not happen and you get a very nice inexpensive wine. There are many around. But usually you should be able to taste and smell the difference.

So wherever you are reading this blog from, go to google or yahoo and try to search for wine societies near to where you live. In Vancouver, BC, there is the South World Wine Society, BC Wine Appreciation Society, Australian Wine Appreciation Society, and a few more. At these societies they usually show wines from different price points and usually follow a theme, such as Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world, or compare Australian to South African wine. These wines have been picked specifically to show their differences.

If you are shy, you can get MyWinePal to host a wine tasting at your home. Here is the link: http://www.mywinepal.com/education.html Enjoy!

Oak barrels

October 16, 2008 07:39:25

Posted By Wine With Karl

Did you know that oak barrels tend to be the second biggest expense for a winery, after the cost of the grapes? Oak barrels from France are the most expensive, with the price being US$1000 and up. Less expensive barrels from the USA go for between US$300 - $500 a barrel. Eastern Europe also makes oak barrels, at a price between the USA and France barrel prices.

In France, there are several different forests where the oak trees are harvested: Allier, Limousin, Nevers, Trancais and Vosges. It has been said that barrels produced in France have less influence on the flavours of a wine, compared to American barrels. This is due in part to the tighter grain of French oak compared to American oak. There is also the differences in barrel production.

In France, the coopers let the wood air dry for 24 months, while in the United States the wood is kiln dried in a shorter time period. The French coopers split the wood along the grain of the wood to make the staves, while in the United States the staves are produced by sawing the wood. It has been determined that splitting the staves causes the wood to impart less flavour in the wine. Some American coopers are now using the traditional French approach to cooperage and producing more subtle barrels.

Some of the flavour from the barrels comes from "toasting" the barrels. A winemaker can order a Light, Medium, or Heavy toast for a barrel. The decision regarding amount of charring is made based on the grape variety used and the style of wine desired.

For less expensive wines, buying new French or American oak barrels is out of the question. So what can a winemaker do? During the fermention, the winemaker can add oak chips, or have oak staves in the tank. This gives a big whack of oak flavour, but doesn't integrate as nicely as barrel aging.

Also barrel aging allows a slow interaction between the wine and air from the outside, softening the wine. So through a one year period, a barrel will lose a few bottles of wine to evaporation. This lost amount is called the "Angels share". Every few months the winemaker will top up his/her barrel with wine to prevent too much air in the barrel. That's all for now on oak barrels. Something to think about when you open a bottle of oaked California chardonnay. Enjoy!

Finishing dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 11, 2008 04:19:01

Posted By Wine With Karl

In my previous blog I took you through the reception, first and second course. To wind up this dinner at Saltaire with Aurelio Montes, we have the third and final course. Our third course was a slow braised lamb shank, with rosemary tomato jus, chatrelle, fresh tyme risotto and pattypans (a kind of squash). As you can excpect a slow braised lamb shank is going to be full of flavour and needing some big red wines to complement it. The two Montes wines we had were the2005 Alpha M and the 2005 Purple Angel. The Alpha M is 95 point WIne Spectator rated. This is a Bordeaux blend, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. Deep purple in the glass, with a round mouthfeel. Lots of dark fruit and spice, with a dry oak finish. The second wine was the Purple Angel. Aurelio Montes has many angels drawn on different wine labels for the winery. The angels take care of the winery. This one is primarily carmenere (Chile's signature grape) with a small amount of petit verdot for extra colour and tannin. Carmenere typically has a capsicum aroma/flavour and it was evident in this wine. But it also had cherry oak and vanilla. Both are big wines, but I think the Alpha M paired slightly better with the lamb shank.

The final course, is of course, dessert. Our dessert was everything to do with chocolate. There was a cocoa tulle, a dark chocolate truffle, pot du creme, and a peanut butter cup. What to pair with these chocolates? The Montes Folly. This is a 100% syrah. The story behind the folly has a few versions, with one being people telling Aurelio that syrah cannot ripen in Chile and that it would be a folly to try. Again this wine is deep ruby in the glass like the other big reds from Montes. Aromas of cassis, vanilla oak and licorice. Yet the tannins were very supple, which again is a trademark for Aurelio's reds. Red wine and chocolate are a great pairing and this worked very well with the dark chocolate.

Please take a chance and try one of the wines from Montes. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 7, 2008 05:23:26

Posted By Wine With Karl

Yesterday evening was exceptional. Through the South World Wine Society and Whitehall Agencies, I and 55 other people sat down to dinner at Saltaire in West Vancouver and enjoy the wines from Aurelio Montes. Mr. Montes' winery is the 4th largest winery in Chile. He bought to us:

- Montes Leyda Sauvignon Blanc
- Montes Classic Cabernet Sauvignon
- Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Carmenere
- Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alpha Chardonnay
- Alpha M cabernet sauvignon blend
- Folly 100% Syrah
- Purple Angel Carmenere Petit Verdot

The Alpha, Folly, and Purple Angel wines are all Premium wines from Montes. Aurelio is a tall imposing man, but when you talk to him, he is very nice and down to earth. He told us of his experience of starting the Montes winery and growing it to the point where he was able to open a winery in Argentina in 2002, and another winery in Napa Valley in 2006! All the Montes' red wines have silky smooth tannins. Aurelio says it is because he likes to let their red grapes hang on the vine as long as possible. His Sauvignon Blanc was very much in the New World, New Zealand style. It had good acidity and a wonderful herbal nose (and paired very nicely with the chilled black tiger prawns with garlic aioli appetizer).

Our first course was a sweet curry creamed orzo which was paired with the Alpha Chardonnay. The Chardonnay comes from the Casablanca valley. It is oak fermented and aged in the barrel for one year. The lees (the dead yeast cells) are stirred in the barrel regularly to add a creamy texture/flavour to this wine. It had a wonderful pear and vanilla aroma. The creaminess of the wine and the full pear/apple/spice flavour paired nicely with the orzo.

The second course was a smoked black cod. It was paired with the Cabernet Carmenere blend and with the Alpha Cabernet blend. I thought the Alpha Cab with fuller body and firmer tannins help up well with the strong smoky flavour from the cod.

More to come for the third course and final course in my next blog.

You can visit the Montes website for more info.

A new wine and cheese experience

September 27, 2008 12:15:03

Posted By Wine With Karl

Every region of France has it's own unique cheese. In Burgundy, one of those cheeses is the Epoisses de Bourgogne. This cheese has a cream cheese type texture and an orangey, wrinkled rind. The rind is washed with the marc de Bourgogne as it ripens. Marc is the left over juices after squeezing out the fermented grape skins and then distilling these juices. The cheese was semi-firm with a woody / nutty aroma. The aroma was not as strong as the previous cheeses. It had a cottage cheese flavour, with nutty flavoured rind, and a hint of saltiness. Quite nice.

The wine I paired with it was from the Rhone valley. It was the Chateau de Beaulieu, La Chatelaine, 2007, Cotes de Rhone. The blend was 60% grenache, and the remainder unknown amounts of Syrah, Cinsault, Mouvedre and Carignan. This wine was the Medaille de Bronze award from the Concours des Grands Vins de France 2008. It was a deep purple colour in the glass. There were intense aromas of meat, pepper, red and black fruits. The red and black fruit flavours continued on the palette. It was very peppery and had a long finish. Very full bodied, low tannins and good acidity. The fruit and black pepper flavours of the wine complemented the creaminess and nuttiness of the cheese. It was a great pairing. Salut!

Marche aux Vins in Beaune

September 27, 2008 12:11:00

Posted By Wine With Karl

There is a lot of wine to taste in Burgundy. Besides driving through the wonderful vineyards and stopping and wine makers' doors, there are wine merchants. One is the Marche Aux Vins, which is across the street from the amazing Hospices de Beaune, Hotel Dieu, a hospital built in the mid 1400's to take care of the sick people regardless of their wealth. At the Marche aux Vins you get to travel through their underground cellars and try wines from 16 crus. Covering Chablis to the Maconnais, through Cote de Beaune, Cote de Nuits and the Cote Chalonnaise. Upon entering and paying your 10 Euro entrance fee, you are given your own tastivin (little metal cup you sometimes see on tv shows with very erudite people pontificating about wine) to sample the wines. The wines ranged in price from 14 – 39 Euros. There were 3 white wines to taste. There was a Marsannay, Pouilly-Fuisse, and a Mersault. All were light bodied with citrus, oak, and apple flavours. The red wines were more exciting. A lower priced red I enjoyed was the Beaune Hospices de Dijon, 1999, for 22 Euros. It had a nice vanilla, cherry nose. It was very fruity, with low tannins. A bit more expensive bottle as from Pommard. Pommard is traditionally a more firm (masculine) wine than from other parts of Burgundy. It had meaty, earthy aromas. Good red fruit flavours with low-medium tannins. The top end red wine of the tasting was the Corton Les Languettes Grand Cru 2000 for 39 Euros. It had cherry and sausage aromas. The cherry and sausage continued on the palate. It had medium tannins, good acidity and a long finish. Very impressive. That is all from Burgundy. Salut!

Domaine Klipfel

September 20, 2008 07:13:10

Posted By Wine With Karl

Just south of Strausbourg is the city of Barr and the Domaine Klipfel. This winery produces Alsatian style white wines as well a eaux-de-vie (fruit infused distilled spirits). My guide in this tasting was a wonderful lady, but spoke no English, and my French is not too extensive. we both spoke enough wine terms that we both understood and so enjoyed the tasting. I tried both the entry level riesling / pinot gris / muscat / gewurztraminer as well as the Grand Cru versions. The entry level wines were quite light and off-dry. They showed some of their grape character. All were very refreshing. The riesling though was my favorite of this group. The Grand Cru wines were all fantastic, being more intense in fruit flavour and more full bodied. The riesling was again my favourite. This one was starting to show some of the petrol aromas you get from an aged riesling. I was told that their Grand Cru wines can age for 10 years in the bottle. As a special treat, I was offered to taste a Vendage Tardive (late harvest) gewurztraminer. It was of course much sweeter due to the concentration of sugar in these late harvested grapes. There was the typical lychee aroma, but also honey and orange, which I believe came from Noble Rot from some of the grapes. Truly a wonderful wine as an aperitif on it's own or with some cheese. Salut!

Another wine and cheese experience

September 20, 2008 07:13:10

Posted By Wine With Karl

While in Colmar in Alsace, ii thought I should pair a cheese with an Alsatian style Pinot gris. The wine for this pairing is the Ruhl Mann Pinot Gris 2007, tete de cuvee. To this with the help of a local cheese merchant I selected a Peladron de chevre au lait cru cevenol, a soft goat milk based cheese. The pinot gris was light bodied, straw coloured. It was off-dry, apple flavour and good acidity. The cheese was an adventure. Cheese should be taken out of the fridge and let warm up. Most people recommend waiting a few hours before eating the cheese to bring out the full flavour. There is no harm in leaving it out longer, so it stayed in my room for 24 hrs before I opened the wrapper. It was VERY aromatic. It smelled very much like the durian fruit you can get in asian supermarkets. The interior of the cheese was white and creamy and very runny. The flavour was of durian candy, which is not as intense as the aroma, and has a sweetness to it. To this very big, aromatic, creamy cheese, the acidity of the pinot gris was a great counterpoint, and made the pairing work. That being said, my next wine and cheese pairing will be with a hard cheese. Salut!

A Beaune to pick

September 20, 2008 07:13:10

Posted By Wine With Karl

On Thursday and Friday this week, I spent driving the Route des Grand Vins in search of a bottle of Burgundian pinot noir to bring back to Canada. On Thursday, we did the Cote de Nuits and Friday, the Cote de Beaune. In Cote de Nuits, our primary stop was in Gevrey-Chambertin. The pinot noir wines of this area are viewed as being feminine in style, while those from Pommard as being very masculine in style. In Gevrey-Chambertin, I visited several small producers, in particular Gerard Quivy and Philippe Leclerc. I particularly enjoyed the wines from Philippe Leclerc. I was able to enjoy the 2003 and 2005 vintage of the Premier Cru les Cazetiers, and the 2003 vintage of the Premier Cru la Combe aux Moines. The 2003 les Cazetiers came from a very hot year making a wine with exceptionally ripe fruit flavours. The 2005 les Cazetiers was not yet ready for drinking, but amazingly had the same flavour characteristics, which Leclerc attributes to the soil / terroir of the vineyard plot used for this wine. The la Combe aux Moines had a leather and cherry nose. It had good black fruit flavour and medium tannins. The finish was very long. I'd say this wine needs 2-3 years more aging before drinking to smooth out the tannins a bit.

Friday was the drive through the Cote de Beaune. Most visits were to some wine shops that offered several wines from the region for tasting. To walk into these shops and see the famous names, such as Montrachet, Pommard, Mersault, surrounding you is truly inspiring and humbling. Thinking how long these wines have been produced and how they have refined the production to small plots of land with it's particular terroir, and how far we have yet to go in Canada. To avoid boring you with all the wines I tried i thought I would just tell you about my favorite wine for this day. The wine of the day was the 2006 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “les Champs Gains” from Michel Bouzereau. This wine was straw coloured with a light oak and stone fruit aromas. The oak continued on the palette along with apple flavour. It had light acidity and was light bodied. If you want to purchase it, one bottle costs 47 Euros, plus shipping and taxes of course. Salut!

What am I drinking today?

August 25, 2008 04:54:55

Posted By Wine With Karl

Well it is summer, so you would think a nice, crisp white wine, or maybe i'm a contrarian and would go for a big red (maybe with some BBQ), but you would be wrong on both counts. Today I am sipping on the 2007 Mission Hill 5 Vineyards Rose from Westbank in the BC Okanagan. Rose is becoming more fashionable. I have seen greater numbers of roses on store shelves and in restaurant lists over the past 2 years here in Vancouver. Rose is actually produced from red grapes, the only difference between a rose and a red wine is the length of time that the skins stay in contact with the juice during ferementation. Depending on the winemaker this could be 16-22-24 hrs or more. But the longer the skins are in the fermentation vessel, the more colour comes out, plus tannin (the stuff that makes your mouth feel dry).

The rose I am drinking today is a blend of varietals: pinot noir and merlot. This wine has a nice strawberry aroma with a tinge of orange on the palate. Not too heavy. Would be nice with some grilled salmon, or a lightly flavoured cheese. Enjoy.

Welcome to my Wine World!

August 20, 2008 07:02:48

Well, it is said that a journey starts with the first step. I hope this first step is the many of steps that I will be taking with you in the future. I have always be interested in wine and it has led me to be the president of the South World Wine Society here in Vancouver, BC. I have also sought out wineries wherever I have travelled around the world. Some places I have visited wineries are:

- BC Okanagan

- Washington, Oregon, and California State

- South Australia (Adelaide, Barossa Valley)

- Nova Scotia

- Argentina

I will of course be visiting more wineries in the future and I will post my travels here in the blog. Over the next year I plan to visit:

- France (Champagne region, Burgundy, Alsace, and Provence)

- Argentina (hopefully make it to Mendoza)

- Chile

Other things you might read in my blog are wine events that I recently attended, what wine I'm currently drinking, and other specials I hear that are wine related. I want to provide you with information that is of interest to you, so please feel free to email me with your ideas!