I love driving through the Okanagan Valley at this time of year; everywhere you go things are changing color. The grapes are going through veraison, the apples are tumbling all over the orchards in a bountiful frenzy. I love it! Even the air smells ripe. The fruit stands can hardly be seen for all of the signs in front advertising all of the fantastic local produce on offer. Some of the signs are even funny (although I was taken aback by a sign along the highway the other day advertising fresh Russ Berries – frankly I’d rather not know!).
I’m lucky enough to work at a luxurious new resort in Osoyoos, and I must say, the vibe in the air at this time of year is great! Every morning when I go to work, someone is at the desk sharing all of the wonderful things they discovered the day before, or the fabulous plans they have for that day.

Yesterday, I got to take a little time out to do one of the things I’m always telling my guests that they should do.  I set out on  a mission to Vernon; my end goal being a bottle of Taboo Absinthe from Okanagan Spirits.

It was well worth the drive on a sun-dappled afternoon.  I got to see the still in action, which was pretty cool…

We sampled the full range of products, with an eye on the absinthe the entire time.  The poor beleaguered gentleman in the tasting room had to keep telling us to wait; just wait for the right moment.  I was diverted from my mission momentarily by the liqueurs….as the raspberry liqueur is absolutely the ghosts of raspberries past!  The cherry liqueur was totally enchanting, with an amazingly almond-y nose; kind of like amaretto, but not quite.  The Aquavit was an a revelation as well; I had no idea a spirit could be so very smooth and soothing.  It is flavored with caraway and cumin and it would make a stunning Caesar.  It would go just as easily the other way and be a cracker jack addition to a gingerbread latte too!

Finally, we got down to what we came for……the absinthe!  Absinthe is a spirit that I have never tried before, despite longing for it for many years. It is the stuff of legend; banned in some countries for it’s apparently psychoactive properties.  I asked the question while at the counter, did the absinthe drive Vincent Van Gogh insane, or would the mental illness and lead paint have done that without any assistance at all?  This was quite an educational visit!  As it turns out, absinthe was an innocent victim of a conspiracy between the temperance movement and the (gasp!  Dare I say it…) wineries!  Anyway, enough said about evil empires and dire plots….  Rodney poured a little absinthe in a special tasting glass.  It was a clear green liquid that exhibited lively odors of fennel and anise.  We smelled, we tasted and then Rodney did a magic trick!  As he slowly added plain old water to the spirit in the glass, it began to swirl and look a little menacing, then it clouded over and turned white.  Hey presto!  It tasted like a different drink!

Needless to say I bought a bottle.  I have to try that little magic trick at my next dinner party for the amazement and amusement of my friends and family.  Next time that Aquavit is coming home with me too!  And maybe some of those liqueurs….Oh it’s a good thing that Vernon is kind of a long drive from my house!

OWFS 4 Red Rooster Syrah

Here we are on the cusp of fall.  Summer is always so lovely, and it’s tough to let it go, but it’s time to say goodbye.  The kids are back at school, the days are getting shorter and you can feel the bite in the air when you get up in the morning.  For some reason, the approach of fall always makes me feel like I really should be getting up early and running for miles.  Weird.

Luke and I tasted the Red Rooster Syrah together recently and I couldn’t decide which way to go with this wine.  It is so lush and tasty that it really demands a really meaty dish with some substance to it.  So I got to thinking about various meats and methods on the BBQ, since I’m still trying with all my might to hang on to summer.  That line of thought led me directly to my favorite happy accident made out of leftover BBQ’d meats.

The next time you find yourself the lucky owner of some leftover pork and beef steaks, and a bottle of Red Rooster Syrah, try this recipe on for size:

Chop up your leftover steaks, along with some mushrooms, shallots, garlic and onions.  In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat a combination of butter and oil and toss in your meat, shallots, garlic, mushrooms and onions.  Allow your ingredients to slowly caramelize and break down.  Toss in a little truffle salt and fresh ground pepper.  As the meat and other components cook, alternately add splashes of red wine and beef or veal stock.  Your end game goal is to use up an entire bottle of red wine and 2 to 3 cups of stock reduce down to a rich, flavorful, thick gravy.

As the meat/broth/wine mixture is cooking down to a delicious, tender mess, peel and chop up some potatoes and turnips.  Boil those until tender and make a rough mash.  Remember that everything is better with butter!

Once your stew/gravy is ready, serve over the root mash and enjoy.  I won’t post a picture of it, because it ain’t pretty.  But believe me, it tastes just like heaven.  The last bowl of this stuff is something your family will fight over and it is so easy to make.  As long as you don’t burn it, you really can’t mess it up.

This week, we’re chatting about the Snow Tropics Vidal 2009, a medium sweet (just a little over off-dry, or maybe off-off-dry) white wine from Arrowleaf, a winery north of Kelowna near Lake Country.

Vidal is a hybrid grape variety mostly grown in Ontario, New York State and here in the Okanagan where it is usually made into icewine. It has very thick skins and the vines can withstand very cold temperatures making it suitable to northern vineyards. Vidal icewines can also represent good value for the money when compared with those made from Riesling.

Here is our take on the Arrowleaf’s Snow Tropics Vidal:

Luke: This wine smells like fall. When each season changes there’s a different smell in the air and this one totally reminded me of fall for some reason. Like standing in an old woolen sweater on a calm, cloudy day near an old lakeside cottage with dry leaves on the ground holding a jar of honey. (It’s so cliché, I know, but that’s what I get from this wine.

Courtney:  I was struck by how immediately this wine brought Christmas to my mind.  There was an immediate spritz of mandarin orange zest on the nose followed by a fresh, crisp clean aroma that made me think of snow covered landscapes.  It took me quite a while to get around to actually drinking it.  No poetry though; just the implied sappiness of the Yuletide season.

Luke: Drinking this wine was a bit mysterious, but in a good way. I’ve been finding that drinking the ‘normal’ grape varieties (Cabs, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Merlot, Chard, etc.) more often has made me approach ‘different’ grape varieties like this with a little trepidation – I’m just not sure what to expect. This was a pleasant surprise.

Courtney:  I too tend to be a tad “grape-ist” when it comes to varieties off the beaten track.  It’s important to taste with an open mind though.  If you don’t, you might miss out on a great wine.

Luke: The wine was light on the palate with a medium finish and I didn’t really get a whole lot of acidity to balance it with the sugar. It was noticeably sweet, not cloying or over the top, but I was missing that zing of acidity which I normally enjoy. For me, it didn’t seem to have a single dominating fruit flavor the way that Riesling has apples or Merlot has plums. It was just a bowl of mixed fruits.

Courtney:  Fruit cocktail.  On the palate it made me think of Dole fruit cocktail (without the tinny flavor).  It was definitely a soft and unassuming sort of a wine.  The nose sort of had me thinking that it was going to be a little more assertive on the palate.

Luke: I found this wine really difficult to match with food other than the obvious thing that it had to go with something spicy. Would it go with Mexican spice? Thai? Vietnamese? Southern barbeque spicy? I’ll just have to try it again next time I have any of those spices.

Courtney:  There is a great way to solve the food pairing conundrum: just drink it by itself.  To me, this was definitely a wine that I would classify as a summer patio sipper.  Uncork with friends and enjoy!

BC can make sweet wines. We have good amount of icewines and iced  available but sometimes those are just, well, too sweet. There is a middle ground and the next two posts will feature 2 of them. One has been around for a while and the other is a new label on the block.

The first wine we’ll try is the Fort Berens Late Harvest Riesling 2009. For this post, I thought that Courtney and I should trade off our impressions of what we thought of each of these wines. So here goes.

Luke: To be honest, I was kind of looking forward to this one. It’s from a new winery in a new, untested wine growing region in BC – Lilloet. Technically the Fraser Valley, which is the VQA region to which I hear they are going to be tied. Yet the heat and climate north of the Fraser Canyon bears no resemblance to the placid farmland of Langley, where wineries like Township 7 and Domaine de Chaberton have been operating for over a decade. The grapes from this particular bottle were grown in the Okanagan Valley since Fort Berens’ own vineyards are too young for production.

Courtney:  When I think about wine country, Lilloet doesn’t leap to mind, exactly; which is not surprising, considering that it is a brand new wine growing region in BC.  The climate resembles that of the Okanagan with it’s hot, dry summers and it has a flourishing tree fruit industry as well.  The British Columbia Grape Growers Association has been conducting tests there for a number of years.  After researching the winery online, I find myself very intrigued and eager to try more of their wines in the future.  They seem to have assembled a bit of a BC wine industry dream team.

Luke: I always wondered what to do with this particular wine. It comes in a 500ml bottle – not a full 750ml table wine meant for a meal nor a 375ml bottle meant for dessert. What did it mean? Should I be pouring it in a small wine glass with a fruit salad and cream or a full glass with a spicy entrée? As it happens, curry and coconut butter chicken were on the table that night and I was inspired.

Courtney:  The bottle size didn’t confound me; but to be honest, I really didn’t put that much thought into it.  I was kind of looking at it like a split: something that I didn’t have to feel wasteful about opening because sometimes a 750ml bottle is too much wine.  I immediately thought of pairing it with a spicy and exotic dish, rather than dessert.

Luke: This wine went superb with a spice that I think can decapitate a wine with one bite. The extra bit of sweetness (not a lot like an icewine or most late harvest wines, but more than a typical off-dry or medium table wine) really helped keep its composure and enhanced the flavors of the food without any serious conflicts.

Courtney:  The sweetness did help to preserve the character of this wine against some pretty assertive spice.  I think that I opened this at the right time though.  I couldn’t find the structure, the bones, that would help it stand up to much aging.  I found it quite soft and passive, albeit pleasant and tasty.  Usually, when I’m looking for a riesling, I’m looking for a pretty architecturally defined wine with a lot of refreshing crispness and a soucon of the industrial.  This is a different animal though.

Luke: I almost felt like I was opening this bottle too soon. It seemed to be a little hidden and could be truly showing its potential perhaps in a few years. I will be following future vintages of this wine, especially when it gets produced from Lilloet fruit. Until then, use this wine when the spice hits the fan and you won’t be disappointed.

Courtney:  I enjoy my spicy food, so for me this wine is a really cool find.  It also gave me something else really neat, a reason to look into Lillooet.  I think I might have to take a trip out there because it looks like a beautiful place.  Sweet wines have their place in this world, even the really sweet ones (from time to time).  So many wines, so little time!