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

Thursday, September 02, 2010

... and then a couple more

And the hits just keep on coming. Still wondering what part of "don't drink the bathwater" is so difficult for an almost-five-year-old to understand. Time for another glass.

Opened up a Chakana 2007 Bonarda (Mendoza, Argentina) earlier this week, one that I first tried waaaay back in my Sommelier Advanced class. I had a distinct feeling it was past due, but after reading a post by my good friend Carmen Danner over at Grape Aspirations, I figured it might still have a chance. It had a wicked pile of sediment and nitrate crystals glued to the side it was resting on in the rack, but other than that, it was just dandy: smooth, with mellowed tannins, and this gushing flood of blueberries. I decided to give it a whirl with steak salad - a lovely match. Also tasted great on its own, beside my computer, over the last two nights ...

Today, while making the seafood lover in me wanna barf at Red Lobster, I tried a Henry of Pelham 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Niagara, Ontario). Re-donk-u-lous markup ($9 a glass!!) but a nice quaff. You can definitely tell it's a Niagara wine, it's got that cool mineral / early morning fog smell and taste to it. Not as gooseberry-ish as your classic s.blanc, and the mouthfeel was slightly more viscous than usual. Served far too cold, but that wasn't a problem - by the time I had fed the Smurf, changed her and snarfed down a couple of cheese buns, the glass had warmed up to its proper temperature. So the pre-frozen bay scallops may have  been less than appealing, but at least the wine was decent.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...