MyWinePal visits Mistral French Bistro

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so I decided to have lunch at Mistral French Bistro in Kitsilano. I'd never been there before but have heard that the food is very good. I checked through their website to see that they have 4 Fixed Price menus for lunch. All around the $20 mark, that includes appetizer, main course and dessert. A very good deal in my opinion.

So my selection was the "Provence" lunch ($20). My selections for my lunch were:

Appetizer: Assortment of traditional Provencal appetizers - Mediterranean black olive spread with croutons, Puree of creamed Cod, Anchovy and garlic dipping sauce with crisp celery

Main: Braised lamb shoulder stew with olives Nicoise and seasonal vegetables, house French Fries

Dessert: Dark Chocolate mousse

To the appetizer and Main course, I enjoyed a glass of L’ORANGERAIE Rose 2009. This wine is from Vin de Pays d’Oc, France and is a mixture of 60% Cinsault, 20% Grenache, 20% Syrah. The wine had nice light cherry flavour, nice acidity, and low tannins. This rose went very nice with the Provencal appetizers and balanced the heaviness of the stew.

The appetizers were quite nice. In particular I enjoyed the black olive spread (tapenade) together with the radish. The saltiness of the tapenade and the pepperiness of the radish cancelled each other out, letting more fully enjoy the olive flavour and the crunchiness of the radish.

The braised lamb shoulder stew was quite amazing. Many different flavours merged together. The stew sauce had the herbes de Provence. There were fresh baby carrots and beans as well and turnip that exploded with flavour. The vegetables still had a nice amount of crispness to them and provided nice texture to the lamb.

The chocolate mousse for dessert was fantastic. I enjoyed it with a cup of coffee. A truly enjoyable lunch.

To check out their other fixed price menus, you can click on this link to the Mistral French Bistro. Enjoy!

A Sparkling Wine Tasting!

Today was a special Trade tasting day for me. This is typically the Trade tasting where the sparkling wines are brought out by agents in preparation for wine buyers, to pick up these sparkling wines for their hotel, restaurant, etc and offer them over the Christmas and New Year season. So i'd like to share some of these sparkling wines with you. One of the nice things I saw this year is more rose coloured sparkling wines. Very festive!

Some terms you may see in a liquor store for sparkling wine are: Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, Frizzante, Cap Classique, and of course Sparkling. There are other terms, but these are a few common ones. Champagne is from the Champagne region of France, Cava is from Spain, Prosecco from Italy, Frizzante from Italy, Cap Classique from South Africa, and Sparkling, which can be from anywhere.

I think my overall favourite sparkling wine today was the Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut ($107.99). Pale salmon in colour. Oak and black currants on the nose. Light bubble with raspberries and currant flavours.

If you can't afford a case of Laurent-Pierrier, I have a few less expensive choices for you:
- Cantina Breganze Prosecco Extra Dry ($21.99) (Italy). Pale lemon in colour with a tinge of green. Lemon and juicy orchard fruit on the nose. Orange, lemon, and rose petal flavours. Recommended.
- Cantina Breganze Blanquette de Limoux Demi-Sec ($26.99) (Italy). This is a semi-sweet, organic sparkling wine. This one has a nice white flower nose. Bright lemony colour. Flowery, light spice, and orangy flavours. Nice.
- Codorniu Pinot Noir Sparkling Brut ($19.99) (Spain). Light orangy pink in colour. Light strawberry aroma. Very bracing in your mouth, with strawberry and raspberry flavours.
- Hungaria Grand Cuvee ($13.90) (Hungary). Quite a deal for this sparkler. Light lemon in colour, with lemon/lime aromas. Light bubble with lemon flavour.
- Cuillier Pere et Fils, Brut Selection ($58) (France). Fine bubble with green apple and pear aromas. Fine bubble with lemon and pear flavour. This wine was like enjoying a fresh pear. Very tasty!

Also at this Trade tasting, was red and white still wines. A few I liked:
- Pampas del Sur Reserve Malbec 2007 (#13.98) (Argentina). Deep purple colour. Very aromatic. Black currant and cherry flavours. Medium body and very smooth.
- Eikendal Stellenbosch Classique Reserve ($35.99) (South Africa). This is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Medium garnet in colour. Oak, tobacco, mint and cherry aromas. Chocolate, tobacco and cherry flavours. Smooth with a long length.

Enjoy some bubbles for the upcoming holiday season. And if you are interested in some nice Chilean wine, please check out my website, www.MyWinePal.com.

Small wineries in Kelowna

Everyone visits the big wineries in Kelowna, like Mission Hill and Quail's Gate, but there are other small wineries worth a visit. This past week I had the pleasure of visiting:
- Rollingdale Winery
- Kalala Organic Estate Winery
- Camelot Vineyards Estate Winery

Rollingdale Winery is located in Westbank very near to the other big wineries in the area. Rollingdale is certified organic, which I think is getting to be more common in the Okanagan. There was a wide range of wines to taste, from whites to reds to dessert wines. This winery started in 2004, with most of the vineyard area in Okanagan Falls and a few acres around the winery in Westbank. An interesting white was their 2007 Chardonnay / Semillon. This is a wild ferment. Vanilla on the nose. Very tart with green apple flavours. Would be good chilled with shellfish. Their red selection was quite large, with the winery making a 2007 "La Droite" and a 2006/07 "La Gauche" wine following the blends that are used in the Right and Left banks in Bordeaux. The "La Droite" was primary Merlot, with smaller amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. This wine was deep purple in the glass. Sweet cherry / plum nose. Round mouth feel, cherry flavour and firm but not overpowering tannins. For those with a sweet tooth a nice wine was the 2007 Pinot Noir Icewine. Pear coloured. Apple, pear, and burnt matches aroma and flavours. Good acidity to balance the sweetness.

Another certified organic winery I visited on this trip was Kalala Organic Estate Winery, also located in Westbank. I was impressed with all the wines they let me try. As it is now officially summer, I welcomed the Pinot Noir Rose 2007. This wine is light salmon / orangy in colour. Strawberry and cranberry nose. Strawberry flavour with good acidity. A great choice for a patio sipper. An unusual wine that I tried (and bought a few bottles) was their Kalala Cuvee Noir 2007. What made it unusual? The 3 varietals that they used to make this wine: Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch, and Michurinetz. I've tried two of the 3 varietals before, but not all 3, and not all 3 blended together! This wine was a deep, bright purple colour. Red fruit, plummy nose. Sweet candy, red fruit, ripe cherry flavours with low tannins. This wine should hold up to full bodied grilled meats. The prices for Kalala's wines are also excellent. The Cuvee is $14.95 and the Rose is $17.95. Only their Zweigelt icewine broke the $20 mark with a price of $75. They want to keep the prices reasonable to show people that organic wines need not be expensive and can be quite tasty. The Zweigelt icewine 2006 if you are curious, had honey, orange, butterscotch aromas and flavours.

The last winery I visited was Camelot Vineyards Estate Winery. I do not know if this is an organic winery, but I do know that it just opened to the public 2 weeks ago. They produce both red and white wines, but at the moment, only their white wines are bottled and ready for tasting. The reds I saw were still in barrels (both French and American oak) waiting for bottling next year I believe. The 2 whites I tried were a Pinot Gris and a Gewurztraminer. I enjoyed the Gewurztraimer. It was light bodied, with lychee and spice aromas and flavours. I have tasted many very nice Gewurztraimers from the Okanagan the last few years. If you have not had a chance to try a BC Gewurztraimer, you should give it a try.

Vinho Verde tasting at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival

March 31, 2009 05:05:33
Posted By Wine With Karl

This was my last official tasting of the wine festival, and I would say it was a very interesting and tasty tasting! Our speaker was DJ Kerney a wine educator, caterer, chef, sommelier and more. DJ talked to us about Vinho Verde, "Green Wine" from the northwest corner of Portugal. These wines were all very refreshing, good acidity and fruit. If you like Sauvignon Blanc, but want something slightly different with a bit of bubble then try Vinho Verde.

The wines were tried on their own first, and then with some excellent appetizers, skillfully produced by Blair Rasmussen, the executive chef for the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Our wines were:
1. Vinho Verde Gatao N/V ($10.99 in BC)
2. Arca Nova Rose 2007
3. Arca Nova Loureiro 2007
4. Quinta de Simaens 2007
5. Quinta de Linhares Avesso 2007
6. Alvarinho Quinta do Regueiro 2007

Our appetizers were:
1. Sake Braised Japanese Eggplant Salad, with Crispy Garlic and Handmade Fresh Wasabi
2. Steamed Island Scallop with Portuguese Chorizo Piperade and Scallop Roe
3. Lemon Grass Chicken with Wild Prawn Sate and Thai Red Curry Sauce
4. Salt Cod "Bolinhos", Roma Tomato and White Truffle Oil

The first wine was a non-vintage wine, but was quite refreshing and a great deal at $10.99. A great patio wine and one that went well with the eggplant, scallop and lemon grass chicken. The Vinho Verde Gatao had lemon, orange, yeast and some sweetness on the nose. Good acidity with more bright orange and lemon flavour.

The Arca Nova Rose is a "rose". Most people think of white wine from this region but it also produces red and rose wines. This rose had citrus, strawberry and raspberry aromas. Good acid as well, with apple and citrus flavours.

Also from Arca was the Lureiro (Lureiro is a native grape variety. Portugal has LOTS of native grape varieties with hard to pronounce names). I enjoyed this one as it had a tangerine and lime aromas, which continued on the palate, and good acidity. No flabby wines anywhere in this lineup. This paired nicely with the lemon grass chicken and the eggplant.

The Quinta de Simaens was a blend of a few white grapes; arinto, avesso, and trajadura. Pale lemon green colour. Flowery, apple, and citrus aromas. Less acid than the others, but nicely smooth, with apple and citrus flavours. This wine paired best with the eggplant as the eggplant was very smooth and this wine was smooth. Similar with the Salt Cod Bolinhos.

The Quinta de Linhares Avesso had a light aroma, bright acidity with apple and flower flavours.

Our final wine was the Alvarinho Quinta do Regueiro. If you like sauvignon blanc, this one smells and tastes very similar. On the nose you get lots of gooseberry and lemon aroma. On the palate, good acid, some smoothness and oiliness. I thougt it went well with the scallop and the salt cod.

The nice thing about Vinho Verde not being too well known as you can buy them for all probably under $20 according to the people speaking at the event. Enjoy!

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.