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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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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Feb 26 2010

summer in a glass, some sushi…and a big red

Category: Wine tasting — admin @ 10:08 pm

I rarely run out of wine, but a few weekends ago I realized the stash was getting dangerously low. Yeah, I know – I live in the heart of British Columbia wine country, minutes from great wineries. How could I get close to running out of wine here? Shame on me.

There’s one snag to dashing out to a local winery right now: it’s winter. Not all of our wineries stay awake during the off-season; some close, some stay open and some open by appointment. So, what’s a girl to do? Go wine shopping anyway. Maybe even call on a winery – just for good measure.

First, a visit to the Penticton Visitor’s Centre was in order. It’s a fantastic place to grab some BC wine because it’s got a VQA store on site. This one has a huge variety of wines from the Okanagan, you don’t have to travel far and they’re open all winter. Bonus.

The staff is friendly and will happily show you some remarkable BC wines. And so I met Aaron, a wine enthusiast who knows his grapes. He’d set aside a few bottles of the 2004 Hester Creek Cabernet Sauvignon for me – I had to book it there because there aren’t many bottles left. Their 2005 is on shelves soon, though. Yummy in a bottle.

Oh, but that’s not all. I also left with a couple of white wines: a White Meritage from Jackson-Triggs (white blends are less common) and two bottles from Larch Hills – a Siegerrebe and an Ortega. Each of these white wines is under $20. (by the way, it’s taken me ages to pronounce it: pretty sure it’s see-ger-RAY-bee, baby)

Up the hill from Penticton you’ll find Naramata, and the Township7 winery. Winemaker Bradley Cooper made time for me while I was in the area, even though the winery wasn’t open. They’re nice that way, like lots of our local wineries are. Good news! Township7 is open again as of this weekend: Friday through Sunday from 12:00pm – 5:00pm.

It’s amazing how much time I can waste – er, spend – when buying wine. But dinner doesn’t make itself, so I had to head home. We were making sushi for some friends and I could think of nothing better to go with it than a dee-lish BC wine. White wine? Sure.

If you’re missing summer, this wine’s for you. The Siegerrebe from Larch Hills is like tasting a little bit of summertime in a glass. It’s a sit-on-a-patio-out-of-the-summer-sun-and-gab-with-friends kind of wine. And it went well with the sushi, too. Nice.

Did we stop there? Of course not. After dinner we opened up that 2004 Cab Sauv from Hester Creek. This is hang-out-with-good-friends-and-tell-stories wine, the stuff you want to linger with. I think we were all sad when we saw the decanter was empty. (Yeah, I drained the bottle into a decanter for about an hour that time – but go ahead and pour it straight into your glass. I do both.)

Sleeping vines doesn’t mean you can’t explore BC wine country. And all of our little wineries are just starting to wake up again, which makes it a perfect time to un*wine*d with an Okanagan wine. Think I’ll go and do just that.

Cheers!
Jeannette

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