Jan 27 2011

summer in january

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 3:35 pm

It’s on: white wine night in January. Time to bring some sunshine to my glass and a smile to the faces of my friends. Or so I hope.

Hosting a wine night doesn’t have to be complicated – especially if you don’t really play by the ‘rules’. As you know, I’m all about having fun with wine. That means experimenting and making things easy rather than difficult… and throwing out the rule book.

The easiest way to enjoy a wine night is to stop fretting about the food. (I’m sure foodies everywhere collectively cringed when I say this) It’s true. Nothing spices things up quite like a potluck. Yes, the food pairing element may be a bit whacked, but if you inform guests ahead of time as to what will be served (read: booze), you’ll find your guests are more inventive than you may have given them credit for.

Last wine night I hosted I picked wine by varietal and went a la brown bag style – a blind tasting. This round, we’re throwing it all out the window; the only consistency here is that they’re white wines. The only common denominator is that they’re all BC wines – which means there will be a little something for everyone.

This variety means guests can have fun with foods. I’ve left no instructions, other than to bring something to eat. Some may pair their contribution with a particular wine, others may throw caution to the wind. Whatever happens, it’ll be fun – and that (to me) is what wine nights are all about.

The list for our January White Wine Night includes, in no particular order:

  • Sumac Ridge 2007 Pinnacle
  • Jackson-Triggs ‘Esprit’ 2007 Chardonnay
  • Gehringer Brothers 2009 Pinot Blanc
  • Peller Estates 2009 Pinot Gris
  • St. Hubertus 2008 Pinot Blanc
  • Peller Estates Reserve 2007 Riesling
  • Hijas Bonitas 2008 Casabella
  • Le Vieux Pin 2008 7 Blanc
  • Red Rooster 2009 Reserve Pinot Gris
  • Jackson-Triggs 2007 Sunrock Vineyards Chardonnay
  • (plus a few special guests…TBA)

I have a feeling this will be one unforgettable way to un*wine*d on a Saturday in January. Some of us will be live-tweeting from the night, so feel free to play along – just follow the #bcwine hashtag on Twitter, sometime after 7pm.

Cheers!

~ Jeannette

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Nov 23 2010

‘best of’ pinot party 2010

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 3:14 am

I have a very, very sweet gig – taste wine, maybe invite some friends to join… and write about it. That’s a whole lot of fabulous right there.

Earlier I announced that I’d be having a pinot party to taste my way through a number of BC wines. Turns out a few of my friends decided to join me on my dangerously yummy mission. You know who you are, and I’m grateful.

I haven’t been part of a varietal-specific evening before, and it was an absolute blast. Made food choices easy because people didn’t have to ask me what they could bring – I simply informed them of the 12 bottles of pinot noir we were to consume, and attendees brought everything from salmon, spinach and mascarpone stuffed baked goodness to cheese and chocolate. We were covered.

The lineup was varied in production and age with small lots going head-to-head with larger production contenders. But considering this is BC, production at many wineries is usually capped at something reasonable. We’re just not that big. Yet.

We started out tasting, but ended up drinking. In my books that’s a successful wine night. We had a few professional wine-o types (a viticulturist, a marketer and a winemaker), some non-professional wine-o types (let’s just call them happy consumers) and a few in between (yours truly, and a chemical engineer who spends far too much time around wine). It’s always good to have a mixed crowd when tasting – way more interesting.

We brown-bagged the bottles so as to have as close to a blind tasting as possible. A few guests tweeted (hashtag #pinotparty, not to be confused with #pintoparty); take a peek and see a bit of the play-by-play. (remember: we were socializing, and that significantly impedes my ability to tweet, drink and chat)

One party-goer said that after ranking the top three, the rest were are fairly close – BC wine tends to do that. Our folks make pretty good booze.

Without further ado, here’s the breakdown in popular vote:

  1. Arrowleaf 2006 (picture perfect pinot noir, classic taste with wet stone and fresh berries)
  2. Stoneboat 2007 (heftier, bricks and mortar meets end of season strawberries – you know, the small and real intense kind)
  3. Tinhorn Creek 2007 (strawberries and clay – delicate) / Gehringer Brothers 2008 (pale beauty, softer and quieter)

The rest fell somewhere around 4th place, give or take an “ooh” or an “aah” moment. In case you’ve forgotten what else was on the pinot menu, here goes:

  • D’Angelo 2006 (tied for someone’s 2nd choice)
  • Mount Boucherie 2007
  • Stag’s Hollow 2006 (tied for someone’s 2nd choice)
  • Robin Ridge 2007 (someone’s 1st choice)
  • Eagle Bluff 2008
  • Le Vieux Pin 2006
  • Inniskillin 2006
  • Silkscarf 2006

Our surprise for the evening was a contribution by the Oldfields from Tinhorn Creek: a 2003 and 2005. All I can say about the 2003 is wow – drink it if you’ve got it, because it’s absolutely stellar. By far my favourite of the night, even though it wasn’t in the original lineup. There’s much to be said for late entries.

What I learned from this night was that you can’t judge a wine by its bottle – I’m the first to admit that I have packaging bias. Often it’s unintentional, but it’s there. I get caught up in the pretty font (oh, I love me a good font) and nice labels (texture is everything). Taking it beyond the marketing and straight to the booze was definitely the way to go. Turns out I liked some way better than others I thought for sure I’d be swooning over.

Ultimately, the best way to un*wine*d is with friends, food and fun. After all, isn’t that what the whole wine thing’s about?

Cheers!

~ Jeannette

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Nov 06 2010

all pinot, all night

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 4:33 am

I have a staggering amount of Pinot Noir to drink. It’s a heavy burden, and one that I choose not to carry alone. I’ll be asking some of my favourite wine drinkers to join me in tackling this mountain. Don’t worry – many of them are trained professionals. The rest are groupies – like me.

Yes, I’m fortunate to live in the heart of BC wine country and have made friends with some of the locals. Considering many of the locals are wine folks, I’m not the only one who has an affection for the boozey stuff. Here’s a little known secret: many winemakers start making wine so they can drink what they like.

I’m more of a refreshing, crisp white wine gal in the heat of the summer – so that means my cellar can get a little backlogged by fall. You see, just because I don’t drink as much red wine in the summer doesn’t mean I refrain from acquiring bottles of it during that time. Hell no. With our BC wineries at limited production, you gotta grab what you can when you can.

My cellar isn’t well documented. In fact, it’s not a “wine cellar” per se; it’s more of a slightly creepy basement where the temperature stays cool so we pack as much wine onto dilapidated shelves as we can without causing breakage. Told you I wasn’t a wine snob.

However, the cellar is somewhat organized into areas: sleeping imports, ready-to-drink imports, sleeping BC wines, can-sleep-but-can-drink-now-if-we-really-want-to BC wines, need-to-drink-now BC wines, fortified…and a special shelf for bubble. (I finally have a bubble shelf – three sleeping bottles, but I have a bubble shelf!)

Somehow, I managed to gather 11 bottles of BC Pinot Noir that’s ready to drink.

What’s a gal to do with so much good booze? Have a pinot party.

In no particular order, here’s what my friends and I will be tasting. Notes will follow – but anticipation is everything. Drool now, drink later.

  • Arrowleaf 2006
  • Eagle Bluff ‘Crooked Post’ 2008
  • Inniskillin Dark Horse Vineyard 2006
  • Stag’s Hollow 2006
  • Gehringer Brothers 2008
  • Tinhorn Creek 2007
  • Robin Ridge 2007
  • Stoneboat 2007 (!)
  • D’Angelo 2006
  • Silkscarf 2006
  • Le Vieux Pin ‘Belle’ 2006

To say I’m stoked for this night is beyond an understatement. A good pinot noir is worth so very, very much to me. I want it to take me into the memory bank: to picking wild strawberries on the elementary school lawn at recess in the fourth grade; to riding in the back seat of a car without air conditioning on a hot summer day after collecting rocks at the edge of the lake; to that first cold drink out of the hose on a Saturday in July – after squishing potato bugs in my mom’s garden. It was a big garden.

The stakes are high – after all, these grapes are competing against some of my most fond memories. Even the potato bug one. But I have faith in our BC winemakers, our burgeoning viticulturists and our dirt. We make great booze.

Some of you may be wondering whether we’ll be tasting or drinking. If you’ve gleaned anything about me from this gig, you’ll be able to sort that out for yourself. If not – just be aware that I know a thing or two about how to un*wine*d.

Cheers!

~ Jeannette

PS: Pinot Noir night wine sampling is November 20 – we’ll be live tweeting via my Twitter handle @okanaganwriting, hashtag #bcwine (with special guests!)

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Sep 10 2010

to cellar or not to cellar…

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 1:43 am

Where the hell did the summer disappear to? Don’t get me wrong – I love fall. Warm (supposedly) days meet cooler (allegedly) nights, vineyards (reportedly) start harvesting their ripening (hopefully) fruit while parents (understandably) rejoice. (it’s an adjective-y type of day)

The best part of fall is the annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival – and I’m not just saying that because I blog for them. Okay, part of my joy stems from attending events as “work”. How could I not love that? 

My tickets arrived today, and I’m pretty stoked. First, there’s the WestJet Wine Tasting on Friday October 1 at the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna. That’s always a great shin-dig, especially because the wineries often bring new fall releases. Next, I’m heading to Cabana Grille in Kelowna on Sunday October 3 for the Gourmet and Grapes event featuring a battle of the chefs. That’s win-win. Then it’s off to the Culinary Arts Centre at the KLO Campus of Okanagan College for Alexis de Portneuf’s Young Chefs competition on Tuesday October 5. Anything having to do with cheese ranks pretty high on my list. 

I’ll wrap things up at the Valley First Grand Finale Consumer Tastings at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre on Friday October 8. Word has it that this is going to be the event of all events, so that’s a gimme. There are over 150 events happening around the Okanagan valley at different restaurants, wineries and miscellaneous spots where folks can gather and indulge. Nice.

Speaking of indulging…I’ve got some great wine to share with you.

Friends stopped by this weekend (being a long weekend and us living in vacationland), and we enjoyed a bottle or two. A couple of these bottles had been cellared, and that topic comes up quite often in the Okanagan. So here’s a bit of what we tasted:

  • La Frenz 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon: if you’ve got it, drink this baby now. Holy snappin’ turtles, this is good booze. Smooth as velvet, deep plum-black in colour and layer after layer of tasty goodness.
  • Burrowing Owl 2005 Syrah: oxidized, sadly. Based on this, I wouldn’t take a chance on recommending you sit on your bottle for long. If you’re saving yours for a “special occasion”, make that occasion be right now.
  • Jackson-Triggs SunRock Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: always enjoyable, ready to drink now.
  • Gehringer Brothers 2008 Auxerois: held up fairly well over a year in; my suggestion is to drink the vintage when it’s current as is intended when they make their wine. This is buy-now-drink-now wine. I like that.
  • Mission Hill Five Vineyards Rose: a pretty little number, indeed. And it’s listed as one of the Judges Choices in Wine Access‘ International Value Wine Awards (IVWA) for best wines from around the world available in Canada for $25 or less. Not bad at all.

Maybe we drank a few more bottles than that. Remember – it was a long weekend so there’s an extra day in there for consumption. Discover your favourite wines to un*wine*d with, whether it be over a long weekend or simply on a Tuesday night. When you’ve got great BC wine in the house, any day of the week can be a special occasion. 

Cheers!

Jeannette

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