Fyne Wyne at the Yawt Club

Selections from Nova Scotia's
Benjamin Bridge

Me: So, you wanna come with me to a wine tasting?
Hubby: Sure. Where's it going to be?
Me: At the Britannia Yacht Club.
Hubby: Oh ... (delivered in his best Thurston Howell the Third voice) The Yawt Club? Bryllyant, lovey, simply smashing. Do have a lovely time, will you?

You have to admit, telling someone you're going to a wine tasting at a yacht club sounds a little high-brow, n'est-ce pas? But this tasting was far from being pretentious. The west- and east-coast hospitality of Ann Sperling and Peter Gamble just doesn't work that way.

Banishing the November blues

If it weren't for BoJo day, I'm not entirely sure how I would get through November. It's the worst month for me. Daylight savings time ends. No snow yet, just rainy, cold, blah. Not quite ready to embrace the gaudy glitz of Christmas, but realizing that I really should start on my shopping. Sigh ...

Wine Wednesday: Leap Year

It's Leap Year Day, it's Wine Wednesday, it's the end of February and it's time I actually posted something.

Fuzion Alta 2010 Reserva Malbec (Argentina) - I don't care what anyone says about Fuzion, their wines are YUMMY! This one went exquisitely well with the BRIX 80+ per cent dark chocolate sitting in the background. At $9.95 a bottle, you simply can't go wrong. (The word 'reserva' on the pretty gold label, with all that cursive writing, makes it look like you spent more than you actually did!) And look - it's a screwtop!

It took me a while before I actually had a taste, I was so in love with the exquisite nose of cigar box, smoked meat and raspberry syrup. It was juicy and fruity, but still showed restraint and maintained its elegant posture through the long finish.

Inniskillin Tenacity Red and White (Niagara) - This was a total impulse buy. Those guys at the Loblaws' Wine Rack must have seen me coming a mile away: tired, irritable, overextended mom trying to get the last of the groceries done before her toddler completely melts down. Would you like to try a sample? Why YES, YES I WOULD.

The white is a blend of chardonnay, riesling, moscato and gewurztraminer, with the moscato featuring prominently with its succulent sweetness. Like Sandbanks Shoreline, this will make for a perfect sub-in until Obsession gets back into stores. Fragrant, with loads of exotic fruit and sharp acidity slicing through the medium-bodied feel all the way to the finish.

The red is an interesting blend of cabernet franc, pinot noir and merlot. Not as much of a fan of this as I was of the white, but it's a good mid-range crowd pleaser, with plenty going for it as a match with pizza, burgers, spaghetti night or a simple steak. Plenty of fruit with a dry feel and a mere hint of oak.

The best part about all this wonderful wine was that it was shared with a pair of fabulous women, over lengthy conversations about editing techniques, books and music (who knew Etta James, Korn and Stevie Wonder could ever sound so good together?) and current events. Oh, and a rather interesting chat about Robert Downey Jr, Hugh Jackman and superhero movies in general (swoon!). Hey, it can't all be business ...

Review: The Brigadoon

I can't recall the last time I had a dinner out with six (or more) people around the table who all enjoyed every dish, every morsel, and every bit of the culinary experience set before them.

I did last night. At the Brigadoon, in Oxford Mills.

Unquenchable makes its debut

When Natalie Maclean came out with Red, White and Drunk all over, I was still a naive noob in the world of wine. I read it, and then read it again, loving her picturesque descriptions of vineyards and interviews with the eccentric and lively folks behind some of the most iconic wines in the world.

I promptly put her up on a pedestal and aimed to be a "real wine writer" like her some day.

Make-or-break pairings

There are times with the planets align and a marriage between a sip of wine and a morsel of food opens the door to the mysteries of the universe. And then there are days when that door gets rudely slammed in one's face.

... 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.

Grad night

Wow. It's official. It's really, really real. I'm a sommelier. Tonight was the grad dinner at Algonquin, and what a fantastic night it was. Everyone looked dapper in their spiffy threads as we talked and ate and laughed and drank in the company of our significant others, parents and other proud-as-punch guests.

An impromptu reception was held in the lobby of Restaurant International as folks trickled in. A lovely Tawse Sketches of Niagara 2008 Rosé accompanied a parade of canapes (tandoori shrimp, Chinese pork on won tons, smoked salmon on potato blintzes, to name a few). The meal that followed would make the culinary instructors proud: smoked duck carpaccio with poached pears, and panko-crusted sea scallops to start; then beef striploin medallions in a wild mushroom and pearl onion ragout; followed by bocca negra cakes with a spicy strawberry and cashew mixture for dessert.

Naturally, there were wines with each course, what with it being a sommelier dinner and all: a crisp André Blanck Rosenbourg 2007 Pinot Blanc (Alsace); a silky-soft Yalumba 'Y' Series 2007 Shiraz Viognier (South Australia); an aggressive, fruit-forward Calafate 2007 Reserva Malbec (Argentina); and an Angrove 2005 Fortified Shiraz (Australia). General consensus at our table was in favour of the Yalumba over the malbec for the main course; we thought the fortified shiraz was a bit bland, though, and not nearly sweet enough to match the intensity of the chocolate. (Whereupon we all chimed out the important rule on dessert wines needing to be sweeter than that which they are paired. Bunch of keeners, the lot of us.)

And I even got to deliver the valedictorian address, something that inspired both pride and panic-fuelled misery in me. Nothing a couple of glasses of wine couldn't fix; it ended up going swimmingly. So did the rest of the evening, as each of us accepted our pins from Madame Paradis (of CA Paradis, the culinary shop sponsoring the evening) to deafening cheers and applause.

I promised everyone that I would post my speech, so without further ado, here it is. (PS - I have no problems if you want to share it with others, but please cite the reference or link to my blog. Thanks!)

When I first tried wine, I wondered how they got all those fruits and vegetables in there. Did they crush green peppers, coffee beans, and blackberries in with the grapes? Did they top up the tanks with gasoline before pouring it over a sweaty horse saddle and straining it through a dirty hay bale on the barn floor?

I’ve never had a problem with asking questions, so I brought that up in my first class. Paul (Carriere - Wine Tasting) kinda looked at me funny, but still took the time to explain that no, wine isn’t made that way. It just tastes that way sometimes.

After four years of study in the sommelier program, I’ve learned a lot more about wine. Two things in particular stand out for me, two things that make wine truly memorable. And they’re two things I’ll never go without, ever again: a Stelvin closure and a Rabbit (wine lever). Suffice to say, you should all be thankful I was only asked to give a speech and not open the bottles for tonight’s dinner!

Actually, I’ve learned more about wine than just how to get into it, although I’m sure we can all agree that’s a crucial first step.

I’ve learned that if it smells like cat’s pee, pencil shavings, or manure, it must be good.

That the tannins in a cabernet sauvignon might feel shanked to some, but caressed to others.

That there are no wrong answers when it comes to describing wine. Unless it’s not the answer Natale (Lofaro - Grape Varieties) wants to hear.

That getting up at 6 am, in the middle of winter, for a day-long Saturday course on vinification is less a test of knowledge and more a test of stamina.

That we can sing the praises of Chateau Pétrus till the cows come home, but it won’t change the fact that a little eight-dollar shiraz-malbec from Argentina keeps selling out at the LCBO.

That when your olfactory senses fail you, a brown nose will work just as well to get by.

That when the instructor says “don’t bring red to your service exam”, there’s a really good reason for it.

And, most importantly, that “you can never tell someone what they like”. (Thanks for that, Sugarbuns … I mean, Randy!)


Some of us signed up for this program on a whim, as a nice way to spend an evening with friends. Then maybe it became a hobby, perhaps even an obsession. For others, it was the first step on a new career path. But there’s one thing we all have in common: we love wine.

We love wine so much it wasn’t enough to simply drink it. We had to know where it came from: what row, in what clos, in what vineyard, on what bank of what river. We had to talk at great length on whether the colour of the wine was deep gold, white gold, pale straw, grassy straw, fresh straw or half-full catheter. We forced our friends and loved ones to endure our pompous diatribes on malolactic fermentation, indigenous varietals and tertiary aromas during a trip to the liquor store.

Now, here we are, with pins on our lapels and a slightly enhanced ability to read labels. Now what?

Thankfully, wine is a lifelong tutor. In every bottle, with every vintage, there will always be something new to discover, something more to love. This program has not only given us the means to enjoy wine on another level, but also to share that knowledge with others, to make wine enjoyable for everyone, whether they can pronounce “gewurztraminer” or not. Because wine isn’t just a collector’s item or status symbol or an unsolved mystery. It isn’t just for the super-elite or the intellectuals anymore.

Wine is the sun setting on your back patio while you fire up the barbeque.

Wine is a flurry of bubbles as you count down to midnight.

Wine is a winter’s afternoon spent curled up by the fire with your favourite book.

Wine is that balcony overlooking the ocean, that little bistro in Paris, or that gently rolling hill outside Siena.

Wine is that perfect dining companion at the chef’s table of a five-star restaurant. Or at the pizza joint down the street.

Wine is the laughter shared by family at the annual reunion picnic.

Wine is a long chat with a dear friend or a silent moment with your soul mate.

Wine goes so well with life. No wonder we all love it so much.

Quaff this: La Mascota 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Lenko 2004 Meritage, Les Jonqueyres 2004 Bordeaux

This was one of my purchases from my first Vintages release experience. After a long and fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend, Hubby and I celebrated the gorgeous weather (over 20 degrees Celsius) with steak on the Q and a fat Cab Sauv in our glasses. All about the fruit, big, jammy, bold, bordering on shiraz. With a bit of time to rest in the glass, notes of coffee and chocolate came out, but the fruit was consistent (cherries, blackberries, raspberries). The tannins were moderate to low, making it very easy to drink, and went great with our steak.

Over the weekend, I entertained my parents and mother-in-law with a Canada vs. the World tasting, mimicking something I found online about such a competition held by the Ontario Wine Society in 2006, which was widely covered by the Little Fat Wino, Tony Aspler and other notable oenophiles, and which reflected the Judgement of Paris (another great thing about 1976!) in that Canada totally whupped some French ass.

So I brought that Battle of the Brands home, and lo and behold, Ontario won out again: Daniel Lenko 2004 Meritage was preferred by all present over the Chateau Les Jonqueyres 2004 Bordeaux. (Everyone was very quick to add that it wasn't that the French was bad; the empty, dried-out bottle showed that clearly enough.) The Meritage had a bit more weight for our meal (lamb chops done in a lemon juice, thyme and honey marinade) but the French was and equally delightful wine to drink.

Quaff this: Argento Pinot Grigio 2007 (Mendoza, Argentina)

Liked the Malbec so much, thought I'd give the pinot G a try. Refreshing, palate-cleansing, with a deep straw colour and lots of firm peach and apple flavours. The finish was sweet honey, but not cloying; the acid kept it in check quite well. We had it with baked chicken and mashed potatoes, but I find Pinot Grigio to be one of those good, all-purpose wines, whether it's with appies, pasta, chicken, pizza ... it all tastes good together. Definitely a summertime wine.

Quaff this: Argento Malbec 2006 (Mendoza, Argentina)

Deep ruby colour, almost opaque, purple rim. Right out of the bottle it smelled like Concord grape jelly, but after opening up, lovely subtle aromas of cherry, plums, bell pepper and a bit of tobacco came through. Smooth, medium bodied, well-balanced acid and tannins, with cherry coming back on the palate along with pepper and alcohol. Short, but pleasant, fruity/smoky finish. We had ours with gourmet smokehouse hamburgers (while the Doodle dipped clementine wedges into her ketchup. There's no accounting for some people's tastes ...)

PS - If you can get your hands on any, Le Clos Jordanne 2005 Chardonnay and Tawse "Robyn's Block" 2004 Chardonnay were just released in Vintages at the LCBO this past Saturday. Two really exceptional chards well worth their cost. Sadly, I totally dropped the ball and missed out on getting some. Generous donations are more than welcome, should you come across extras ...