Welcome to Second Ferment! Wine pairs well with life ... and food, travel, people, work and play. Grab a glass and join me as I explore the wine scene in Ottawa, Canada, and beyond. Love hearing from my readers, so please leave a comment. Cheers! - Bethany

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Feed a fever, starve a cold ... and drown the flu

After a fun trip to the ER this morning, I'm bedridden with a nasty case of the flu. On top of feeling positively crummy, I'm missing out on two great wine events: Hinterland Estate Wines was at the Wellington Gastropub this afternoon showing off their line of exceptional Prince Edward County sparklers; and a good friend of mine is hosting the aforementioned wine swap at her house tonight.

(By the way, Creekside Sauvignon Blanc was the obvious winner in my poll, with 28 votes. If I was going to the swap, I would have had a case of that to share with folks. Never mind, I plan on hosting my own sometime in the near future.)

At least being sick affords me some time to catch up on my blogging. Then I plan on burning off those germs in my throat with some sherry and going back to bed.

Taste in the Glebe was this Thursday; Hubby and I joined another couple to speed-snack our way through the two-dozen eateries, wineries and breweries at the Glebe Community Centre. The shorter time frame (reduced by an hour this year) set me in hyper drive, in which I tried to get in as many new things as possible. Let me tell you, that plan of attack does not work, as we rolled ourselves out of there around 7:30, wishing for yoga pants and Tums.

Aside from the overdose of self-indulgence, it was a marvy occasion. Highlight of the night was The Red Apron's pumpkin bisque with marscapone cream: thick, creamy and nutty with just the right amount of spice, giving the pumpkin a more savoury flavour than sweet.

Honourable mentions included dark chocolate-Grand Marnier-infused cake pops from Epicuria; heavenly cheese topped with pear-and-vanilla jam from michaelsdolce; skinny-crust, earthy-delicious Fancy Mushroom pizza (drizzled with truffle oil, if you please!) from Ion Aimers' ZaZaZa; slow-cooked beef brisket so tender you don't even have to chew from Annie & Clyde's; and a mountain of desserts from Second Avenue Sweets (OMG, their red velvet whoopie pies made with sweet cream cheese was orgasmic.) 

And wine, of course. John Squair, from Sandbanks, gave me a hearty welcome right off the bat and a good dollop of Love (the pink-hued apĂ©ro they launched last year at Absinthe). Rosehall Run's 'Liberated', a chardonnay released from the confines of oak aging, was full of bright, zippy fruit in a light-weight quaff that brings summer days on the deck to mind. And I simply couldn't pass up a (rather generous) offering of Kichesippi's Wuchak Black, their seasonal stout I fell in love with at last year's event.

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