Oct 26 2010

an apple a day – what about wine?

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 10:26 pm

It’s cold and flu season, and I’ve been hit by the germ wave something fierce. As illness seriously impedes my ability to drink wine, let’s just say I’m not a happy camper about it. But it got me thinking about the old adage of ‘a glass of wine a day’ as being good for one’s health.

So what did I do? After I returned home from the doctor’s office, I let my fingers do the walking – and Googled it. Not surprisingly, there’s a ton of information floating about on the interwebs about booze and germ fighting.  Some wine folks have chimed in on the subject, too. Someone asked our friends at Wine Spectator about the merits of drinking wine while affected by a cold; internet news in the UK is talking wine and cold prevention; a fun site called the New Scientist dishes the dirt on wine’s cold-fighting possibilities as well as busts the myths about colds (some of the reading is rather, um, yucky – proceed with caution).

However, many seem to be using data from research in Spain – a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology; that drinking red wine may indeed be beneficial in fighting the germ fight. Good news for us wine lovers. Yet despite my rather regular intake of the good stuff, I still managed to get sick. I blame wine-resistant germs.

Now that I’m learning about the glass-of-wine-a-day theory (or more, depending on how you dice the stats), I’m inclined to get a little more specific – say, which wine. Remember, the study said red wine appeared to have more effect. This means it’s time for a new list: the Top Five Glass-A-Day Red Wines list. There’s no criteria for the list, other than these are some of my favourite reds to be found in the Okanagan. And since it’s my list, makes sense it would be my faves.

The Top Five Glass-A-Day Red Wines List

Disclaimer: there is no proof that drinking any of these wines will help you reduce your chance of catching a cold. But that’s not the point, is it? Give it a go and see if you manage to keep those germs at bay, because although staying home from work to sleep on the sofa sounds like fun – it’s really not how I like to un*wine*d.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some germ fighting to get back to.

Cheers!

Jeannette

PS: That guy on the intro page for Poplar Grove? It’s John Clerides from Marquis Wine Cellars, sticking his nose in a glass of great BC wine. After 25 years in the wine biz, he knows his stuff. I’ll drink with him again any day.

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Aug 06 2010

read this, drink that: CanLit & BC wine

Category: Wine tasting — winepost @ 12:51 am

 

Yes, I’m about to inundate you with wine-and-reading selections. But I’m not very traditional; you should know that by now, dear reader. So what does that mean when it comes to a reading and wine-ing list presented by yours truly? Allow me to explain.

I’m dragging out the hasn’t-been-published-in-ages books; ones you need to hunt down in your local used book store treasure trove or thrift store. And I’m choosing some newer releases – those published in the last ten years. Maybe there will be something in here that you’ve never heard of.

Good reads should challenge us and our expectations – kind of like good wine does. Both are sensory and seductive, and both can take you a world away.

Enjoy.

Read: Robertson Davies, Leaven of Malice. This guy shoves us into a world of academics, tenure and compound sentences. His characters drink wine. I like that. This is one dude who doesn’t lead you around by the nose: he’s got witty, layered characters that keep surprising you, and he has an expectation you’ve a decent head on your shoulders. 

Drink: This says bubble all over it. Try Blue Mountain, Sumac Ridge’s Stellar’s Jay (after sleeping for a couple of years, it’s one mighty good bottle) or Gray Monk Odyssey White Brut. Not a bubble fan? Shame. But you can play along – with a bottle of Twisted Tree Syrah, or a Pinot Noir from Meyer Family Vineyards.

Read: Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman. Ahead of her time in so many ways. This is foodie Can-lit for foodies before there were foodies. Of course, there’s a glass or two of wine in here. I read this only recently, having put it off in a covet kind of way. I’m glad I did.

Drink: Margaret says unusual yet beautiful structure, and so must the wine. Think Mount Boucherie Ehrenfelser,  Inniskillin Dark Horse Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc or Road 13 Vineyards Jackpot Pinot Noir.

Read: Douglas Coupland, J Pod. I love him; he’s magnificent at loading a sentence with so much stuff. Plus, I want to meet Ethan’s mom. Think easy street meets the wrong side of the tracks, in a very Rice-Krispie-square kind of way.

Drink: More than meets the eye, this one. Makes me want Rollingdale’s Cabernet Sauvignon “La Gauche”, Township 7’s Chardonnay (not the reserve, but not the un-oaked for this one), Cedar Creek’s Platinum Reserve Chardonnay or Tinhorn Creek’s Oldfield Series Merlot – because there’s more going on than you would expect.

Read: Mordecai Richler, Barney’s Version. The guy writes a good story, hands down. These are characters that I not only want to drink with, but also want to go to Europe with. That’s good character development.

Drink: I recall the protagonist as a scotch drinker, but also one who enjoyed a bottle of wine. That being said – try something from Osoyoos Larose, or maybe Laughing Stock’s Portfolio. Perhaps followed by a nice fortified, like Sumac Ridge Pipe or Granite Creek Merlot.

Read: Zoe Whittall, Bottle Rocket Hearts. Maybe it’s because I met her brother in the parking lot of an Okanagan winery (true story), or maybe it’s because I had a summer of unemployed drunken fun in Montreal in the early 90’s (slightly hazy true story). It could be both, but also because this is one brilliant author. Storytelling stream-of-consciousness. I miss Eve.

Drink: Memories of misspent youth, character-building events that at the time are rip-your-heart-out experiences you don’t think you’ll ever recover from and the unmistakable sweetness of firsts. Try La Frenz Cabernet Sauvignon, Orofino Pinot Noir, Cassini Cellars Reserve Chardonnay or Desert Hills Gamay. 

The point is this: wine, like literature, is highly dependent on situation. I truly believe that. Reading the same book at different points in your life will bring out different qualities of that book – just like drinking wine with different people, or in different situations, will show you something new.

Mix it up. Experiment. Un*wine*d a little. Now excuse me while I go back to Timothy Findley’s Spadework and my glass of…well, I’m not going to tell you all my secrets – read it and tell me what you’d drink with it.

Cheers!

Jeannette

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Apr 26 2010

me, wine judge? okay…

Category: Wine tasting — admin @ 9:00 pm

 

I always knew that if I made regular deposits into the Karma Pool, one day the dividends would pay off. That day was Thursday, April 22 2010 at around 9:30am. It was the day I played – er, sat – as a judge on a panel for the Okanagan Spring Wine Festival. Hot damn.

Wine judging is work. Yes, actual work. And while they might not always look it, wearing their cargo shorts and Blundstones, these judges are pros. There were 28 judges including winemakers, 4 sponsor judges and me.

As for quantity, well, there were around 350 submissions to the Spring Wine Festival awards and each table of 7 judges sampled around 80 wines per person. (that’s 560 glasses to cross each table – and I thought my party clean up was bad)

I was seated between a sponsor (whose scores didn’t really count, but they joined the fun because they help keep things like this well-funded) and a VQA panel judge (the folks who make sure the VQA wines aren’t flawed and are within guidelines). On one side, my table mate was studying the judging sheet like someone who hadn’t crammed enough for his grade 12 statistics final. On the other side, the VQA panel judge swirled and spat like a pro. As for me? Well…

I’m pretty sure I didn’t look like an under-prepared stats test taker, but I certainly wasn’t contemplating anything other than not making a fool out of myself while spitting into those little plastic cups. At 9:30am, with 80+ wines to taste, I most certainly wasn’t about to swallow anything. Yet.

Our table started with the mixed reds category. I’d love to tell you what my top three were for this category, but I’ve got no clue: it was a blind tasting. That means all we knew was what the organizers put on the scoring sheets – which wasn’t much. We were lucky to know the year.

I made my way through the first flight by covertly copying the VQA judge. Step 1: swirl and sniff a few entries together. Step 2: line ‘em up in front of you. Step 3: swirl, sniff and taste said few samples. Step 4: look contemplative (I tried). Step 5: pull your favourites forward, move the others away and keep thinning until you have a dozen “good” ones to really compete for the top three.

By the second round I had a fairly good groove on. That’s when the syrah/shiraz group came rolling in. I smelled everything from wet, woolly mittens to smoked meat – yes, smoked meat. That was the best one: smokey, cured meat and hickory bacon with fruit compote. I hope it wins, whatever it was.

Miscellaneous whites followed. I know, I know – you’re thinking it’s taste-white-before-red in the tasting room. That’s true. But those crisp, clean white wines were just what was needed to de-fuzz things. I couldn’t brush my teeth, so I swirled. Not quite the same, but it got most of the fuzz out.

We ended with an ice / dessert / fortified wine grouping. You may recall from a previous post that ice and dessert wines aren’t my favourite, but there was a pretty little surprise in there for me. I savoured that one. I might have even taken a swallow, too. Maybe.

After hours of swirling, tasting, spitting and wiping the drool off my chin (I’m still not good at the spitting thing), we retired to the neighbouring pub for some food. I often wonder what winemakers talk about when they get together. Now I know. Here are some snippets, in no particular order. These aren’t verbatim – remember, it was after a morning of wine judging and a glass (or so) of beer.

Township7: Hey, what’s that stuff that builds up around the (insert technical name of something I didn’t really pay attention to)?

Dunham & Froese: Oh, you mean the (insert other technical name of something else I didn’t pay attention to)? I don’t know.

(food arrives; interrupted by calls of “You got ribs? We just got dip!” and “Hey, they got pizza.”)

Road 13: Your kid goes to karate? Where? Mine’s in mixed martial arts.

Township7: Yeah, my son’s in karate over at (insert name of school that I didn’t pay attention to).

(Dunham & Froese makes golf swing movements in the direction of Meyer Family Vineyards)

Meyer Family Vineyards: Golf? I don’t know…okay, maybe just a 9 round (or whatever golf thing makes sense – again, I didn’t entirely pay attention).

At one point there was a brief discussion of movies (someone had recently watched Snatch again) and mention of the attractive male qualities of Brad Pitt. Then it was on to technology, a story of their kid kicking them in the jewels while showing off with a martial arts/karate move, and various pubs in Victoria with interesting wall decorations. And yes, I’m going to leave it at that – interesting wall decorations. 

It was a great opportunity, and I met some great people. I’d like to say thanks to the judges who put up with me, the Okanagan Wine Festivals for allowing me to participate, and the ridiculously friendly winemakers who enjoyed a pint with me.

My take-away is this: our Okanagan winemakers love what they do, and they’re damn good at it.

They like to have fun and they don’t take themselves too seriously. Most of all, they’re good people to have a pint with. Or a glass of wine – so yes, I’ll be taking several of them up on their offers to stop by for a taste. Just not right yet. My taste buds are still recovering.

Cheers,

Jeannette

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