Review from the Gourmet Wine and Food show

Posted on November 21, 2008 by John Galea

I went to the Gourmet Food and Wine Show last night which is running for the rest of the weekend. As in the past this is a great event. Plenty of different wines to tastes, a little bit of beer and a little bit of food. I recommend you eat before you go, and I recommend you plan to take public transit. This is a pay as you go event with the cost of tastings usually being related to the cost of the wine. We went through about $30 each worth of tasting tickets. Last night was the VIP event and the crowds were quite reasonable. Not all tables have tasting cards so make sure you take something along to write on and with. I spent way too much time in the French booth. If they were pouring anything stellar, I missed it  Not for lack of looking I must add …

Here are a list of the wines that stuck out for me:

A lovely Merlot all though not totally varietal.
BERINGER FOUNDERS ESTATE MERLOT
LCBO 534255 | 750 mL bottle Check Stock

Price: $ 19.95
Wine, Red Wine, 13.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: California/Californie, United States By: Beringer Vineyards

Tasting Note
Ruby garnet colour; red berry aromas with light oak notes; dry, medium-bodied palate with fine tannins on the finish

A lovely slightly buttery classic California Chard. Yummy.
BERINGER FOUNDERS ESTATE CHARDONNAY
LCBO 534230 | 750 mL bottle Check Stock

Price: $ 18.95
Wine, White Wine, 13.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: California/Californie, United States By: Beringer Vineyards

Tasting Note
Bright gold colour; spicy, toasty vanilla and tropical notes on the nose; full-bodied on the palate with forward apple citrus fruit and vanilla notes; well-balanced with a long finish.

A lovely Classic Californian Cab Sauv! A little on the price side. I am starting to sound like a sales person for Beringer!
BERINGER CABERNET SAUVIGNON (V) Check stock
VINTAGES 352583 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 36.95
Limited Time Offer
Was: $ 39.95 Now: $ 36.95 Save: $ 3.00 Until Nov 30, 2008

Wine, Red Wine, 13.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: California/Californie, United States By: Beringer Vineyards

Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description
Grown in Sonoma County’s Knights Valley appellation, the concentrated grapes have produced sensual aromas of black plum purée, cocoa, blackcurrant, sweet cherry and cedar. Silky textured, the palate is loaded with sweet fruit and toasted oak flavours that are nicely offset by a lively acidity. It is medium full-bodied with a long, fruity and firm finish. An excellent companion to roasted leg of lamb with roasted figs or beef carpaccio.

This one is from just outside Prince Edward County. It is an inexpensive wine with a slightly tart flavour. I quite enjoyed it. A bargain for the price!
OAK HEIGHTS COVERT HILL WHITE VQA>
LCBO 104885 | 750 mL bottle Check stock

Price: $ 9.95
Wine, 11.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Oak Heights Estate Winery

This one was a lovely crisp very Pinot Grigio like wine for my tastes. For the price it is a bargain. It is apparently the number one Spanish White in Ontario.
RENE BARBIER CLASSIC WHITE Check stock
LCBO 332767 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 9.75
Wine, White Wine, 11.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 1

Made in: Penedes, Spain By: Rene Barbier S.A.

Tasting Note
Pale straw yellow with a green tin; floral with citrus aroma; light body, crisp acidity, medium length finish, good quality wine

I don’t think this is the exact wine we tasted, but it was one of our favourites of the evening. This one is the reserve, the one we tasted was not. A lovely wine:
FALCOARIA RESERVA 2005
VINTAGES 80390 | 750 mL bottle Check stock

Price: $ 23.95
Wine, Red Wine, 14.6% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: Ribatejo, Portugal By: Casal Branco

Release Date: Sep 27, 2008

Tasting Note
Soft and rich, this is powerful stuff. The texture is velvety smooth, the dark tannins very much second fiddle to the superripe fruit. Raisins and red fruits bring in some acidity, but even this fruit flavor is almost sweet in its richness. Drink now. Score – 89. (Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, April 1, 2008)

This one was also good but frankly the one above was better, more complex, longer finish.
ESPORÃO RESERVE RED (V) Check stock
VINTAGES 606590 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 24.95
Wine, Red Wine, 14.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: Alentejo, Portugal By: Finagra

Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description
Since 1973 Herdade do Esporão has made several major investments in its winery and vineyards to become one of the the most infuential estates in the region. Made from a blend of Aragonês (a.k.a. Tempranillo), Cabernet Sauvignon and Trincadeira, this dense, fruity, and charmingly rustic red is a great companion to any stewed, braised or roasted red meat dishes.

My most expensive wine of the evening was a Franco Conterno 2004 Barolo that was lovely. Deep, rich, classic Barolo. A lovely wine for $54.95. I didn’t get an LCBO number and can’t find it.

This one was lovely, but I wouldn’t pay the price:
SIGALAS SANTORINI 2006 Check stock
VINTAGES 74781 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 21.95
Wine, White Wine,
14.4% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: Is. Of Santorini, Greece
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Tasting Note
Paris Sigalas’s wines could be compared to Corton for their intensity and structure, and, like great Corton, need lots of air. Give this several hours in a decanter and it begins to reveal hints of orange and chamomile, gentle notes on a powerful base of chalky minerality. If you open it now, pair it with rich foods, like monkfish with brown butter; better yet, put it in the cellar for a decade. Score – 91. (www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com, Aug. 2007)

Karen quite liked this one.
STERLING VINTNER’S MERLOT
LCBO 622837 | 750 mL bottle Check stock

Price: $ 16.05
Wine, Red Wine 13.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: California/Californie, United States By: Sterling Vineyards

Tasting Note
Deep ruby colour; ripe blackberry fruit aromas; medium-full bodied with supple fruit and integrated tannins. Well balanced. Ample fruit throughout

For the price this one was quite good, but don’t expect it to taste like a Merlot:
CATALANS RAFALE MERLOT VDP Check stock
LCBO 526897 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 8.90
Wine, Red Wine, 12.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: Roussillon, France By: Vignerons Catalans

Tasting Note
Deep ruby; black berries, sweet red peppers and spice aromas; red berry flavours, soft tannins, long finish

This one is featured this month. Parker gave it a 91, I would say more like an 89 but it was good. Had more of a fruit forward slightly raisin favor.
JUAN GIL MONASTRELL 2006 Check stock
VINTAGES 13656 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 16.95
Wine, Red Wine,
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Made in: Jumilla, Spain By: Hijos De Juan Gil

Release Date: Nov 22, 2008

Tasting Note
The 2006 Juan Gil is also 100% Monastrell but aged for 12 months in French and American oak. It was sourced from an estate vineyard with 45 years of age. This purple-colored wine offers superb aromatics of wood smoke, damp earth, violets, and blueberry pie. Layered, succulent, and long, it will evolve for another 2-3 years and be at its best from 2010 to 2018. Score – 91. (Jay Miller, www.erobertparker.com, Aug. 2008)

That’s about it for today!

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Blue Cheese Risotto Recipe

Posted on November 20, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Here is a nice risotto recipe that pairs well with burgundy style red or a nice dry chardonnay. The key to any risotto is really patience and attention to the moisture levels as you add the stock.

Ingredients (will keep things imperial on this):

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of butter (unsalted)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
3 shallots (chopped fine)
1 cup of white wine (chardonnay or sauvignon blanc)
5 cups of chicken stock
6-8 slices of thick bacon, cooked and shredded
4 oz of blue cheese (crumbled)
1/4 cup of walnuts (roasted and chopped)
1/2 cup of spinach leaves
1.5 cups of Carnaroli or Arborio rice
*optional* cherry tomatoes if in season, halved

Heat up the chicken stock and put aside. In a large saucepan combine butter and oil over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic and shallots and cook until the shallots are near translucent. Add the rice and mix well with shallots and oils, when mixed well add wine. At this point stirring consistently is a must, nice consistent stirs will even out the moisture distribution and make the risotto nice and creamy. As the liquid is absorbed start adding the hot stock about a half cup at a time, do this consistently until all but the last half cup of stock is absorbed. As you put in the last half a cup of chicken stock and it is half absorbed add in the spinach, blue cheese, bacon and walnuts (and cherry tomatoes if you have decided on adding them) mixing them in well. Serve immediately.

Blue Cheese Risotto near the serving point!

Blue Cheese Risotto near the serving point!

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Gourmet Food and Wine show

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John Galea

It’s that time again, Gourmet Food and Wine show.

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KENDALL-JACKSON VINTNER’S RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2006

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John Galea

(John Galea) Just finished off one of these. Yummy. It is a classic slightly buttery Californian Chard. Not too over the top. I had this one with a lovely peice of Sea Bass with a Chocolate Brownie (one of my favorites) for dessert. It paired well with the dish. This was featured on the Oct 11th release. A little pricey but worth it!

 

KENDALL-JACKSON VINTNER’S RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2006
California  

TASTING NOTE: The 2006 Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay is certainly one of the best Chardonnays for the money. This wine, which all comes from coastal vineyards owned by Jackson, is 90% barrel-fermented and put through 100% malolactic, which is remarkable given the quantity of wine made … Crisp orange marmalade and lemon oil notes as well as some tropical fruits always characterize this wine, which seems to show very little evidence of oak, with gorgeously lush fruit, and zesty acidity in a fresh, lively style. It’s a remarkable value … Drink 2007-2008. Score – 89. (Robert Parker Jr.,www.erobertparker.com, Dec. 2007) 

  http://www.lcbo.ca/lcbo-ear/ProductResultsController?&ITEM_NUMBER=369686   (D)            750 mL    $19.95

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CAVE SPRING CELLARS ESTATE CABERNET FRANC 2005

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John Galea

I (John Galea) tried this wine the other night. Out of the bottle without breathing it was a big wine, but the tannins are under control. This wine is approachable now with lots of deep layers and flavors. There was no bitterness at all even out of the bottle. It will benefit from some additional aging/breathing. A great first attempt by Cave Springs who are doing wonderful things. I love their Reisling and thoroughly enjoyed my time in their tasting room that included a trip down to the cellar and a free seminar! A little pricey but heh, Niagara ain’t a cheap place to make wine. 

CAVE SPRING CELLARS ESTATE CABERNET FRANC 2005 
VINTAGES 72751 | 750 mL bottle   

Price: $ 29.95 
Wine, Red Wine, 
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : XD
This is a VQA wine

Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Cave Spring Cellars Ltd

Release Date: Nov 8, 2008 

Tasting Note
Cave Spring’s first cabernet franc joins the growing number of Niagara cab francs with elegance, nuance and lovely raspberry ripeness, a welcome evolution from the region’s tendency to produce overly green, alcoholic and oaked examples. Cellar until 2010, then enjoy with herbed roast poultry or pork. Score – 89. (David Lawrason, www.torontolife.com, 2007)
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Trius Dry Reisling 2007

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John Galea

I enjoyed the Trius Dry Reisling  2007 at Fazooli’s before the Society for American wine Zin in the city event. It was a lovely crisp Resiling with a lovely bit of complexity. A bargain for $13.95. It went well with a Alfredo Linguine with Seafood.

I will be sending out a detailed review of the Zin event which was awesome to my distribution list. For those of you that don’t know I have a biweekly wine distribution list of the latest Vintage releases. Let me know if you would like to be added to the list: Mail me John Galea

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Contributor on the way

Posted on November 18, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Just a fast note to say that CWG will get a new contributor to the site. John Galea will be adding his thoughts/views/tastings when he can.

Welcome aboards John!

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Kitchen Done!

Posted on November 14, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Well after two plus months we have finally been able to use unpack and move back into our kitchen. The whole process was relatively painless with a three week house/dog sitting and the three week vacation keeping us away from the bulk of the work. Only the past two weeks had been difficult as we saw the end but simply could not reach it without a few last things to be done. Since words cannot describe the changes, here are before and after pictures:

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Wine Database

Posted on November 12, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

After having seen a friend’s (thanks John) wine database I approached the coding genius Loren Bandiera to help me get something similar for the small collection we have. So since we have no news (almost ready to take pictures and blog about our Kitchen/Floor renos, almost…) here is the database!

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Australian Wine Purchases

Posted on November 5, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Well we have been back for a few days and all in all we are doing well, 15 hour time difference became 16 on Sunday but none the less the adjustment to Eastern Time is over.

During our trip that took us from Sydney to Melbourne to Adelaide and then to Brisbane (with many stops in between) we got to take advantage of the wine regions we drove through. Geelong, Coonawarra, Adelaide Hills and Barossa. While this trip was not about wine, life is, so we spent good amounts of time coifing, sipping and buying. Below is a list of the wines we brought home (3 seperate planes trips too, well 4 if you count the deboard/customs/re-board in Vancouver on the way home) none of which got damaged or stolen in their travels. We will not talk about the brutally dishonest duties on the importation of wine beyond the personal exemption level other then to say it is a corrupt system. A few notes about our choices first off. With so many wineries in Coonawarra and Barossa in particular we made the logical choice of asking everyone and anyone that seemed tuned into wine where they would go in those areas, for the most part we got the same 4 for Coonawarra and for Barossa we generally had a consensus as well. On top of that Pettavel in Geelong and Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills were also mentioned (actually so was Ashton Hills Vineyard but their Cellar Door was closed everyday but weekends). The list for Coonawarra was: Zema Estates, Majella, Wynns and Balnaves. For Barossa the list was: Two Hands, Torbeck, Bethany, Rockford, Turkey Flat and Penfolds. At each cellar door we tried anything that was recommended, unique only to cellar door sales and/or tasted outstanding, we tried to limit ourselves to just 2 bottles per vineyard and only failed twice (4 at Petaluma and only 1 at Penfolds). The Petaluma decision was easy, we could have actually brought home 24 of the “Tiers” as it was simply outstanding, but their Bordeaux style Coonawarra was outstanding and their single vineyard Project-Co was both unique and delicious. As for Penfolds’ we simply felt that the price on the Magill Estate Shiraz (original Penfolds’ vineyards) warranted nothing further, plus we can get Granges at home. So below are the list, I do not want to discuss dollar figures as I may leave that for another day or post, but needless to say nothing was cheap…

2006 Two Hands’ Bella’s Garden Barossa Valley Shiraz
2006 Two Hands’ Lily’s Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz
2007 Petaluma “Project -Co.-” Chardonnay
2005 Petaluma Tiers Chardonnay
2005 Petaluma Tiers Chardonnay
2005 Petaluma Coonawarra (unfiltered), Bordeaux Blend
2006 Torbreck The Factor, Shiraz
2006 Torbreck The Struie, Shiraz
2005 Majella The Malleea, Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz Blend
2005 Majella Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Messenger, Cabernet Sauvignon (single vineyard)
2006 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Coonawarra, Cabernet Sauvignon (vintage release)
2006 Balnaves Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Balnaves Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz
2005 Pettavel Southern Émigré, Shiraz – Viognier
2004 Pettavel Platina, Cabernet Sauvignon – Cabernet Franc
2004 Zema Estate Family Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Zema Estate Family Selection Shiraz
2006 Turkey Flat Barossa Valley Shiraz
NV Turkey Flat Pedro Ximénez
2001 Rockford Shiraz VP
NV Rockford P.S. Marion Tawny
2004 Bethany GR9 Reserve Shiraz
NV Bethany Old Quarry Tawny
NV Bethany Old Quarry Fronti
wines_800

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Home Sweet Unfinished Home

Posted on November 1, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Internet time in the land down under was limited and typing out anything adventuresome on the iphone was painful. I will do an update on what we bought and brought home wine wise later, once we recover from the 22.5 hours of airport/airplane and 15 hour time difference. Till then here was the grand trip (by car unless otherwise noted):

Toronto to Sydney
Syndey to Nowra
Nowra to Eden
Eden to Lakes Entrance
Lakes Entrance to Melbourne via Phillip Island
Melbourne to Geelong (Petaval winery)
Geelong to Portland via the Great Ocean Road
Portland to Hahndorf (via Coonwarra)
Hahndorf to Adelaide (via Adelaide Hills)
Adelaide to Barossa and back
Adelaide to Brisbane (via aeroplane)
Brisbane to Mooloolaba and back (with 3 days on the beach)
Brisbane to Sydney (aeroplane again)
Sydney to Toronto

3100 kms later I can honestly say it was a brilliant trip, with much wine sipped, drank and purchased!

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Adelaide

Posted on October 23, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Spent the night in Hahndorf, in the Adelaide Hills, at a coverted stables called (fittingly) The Stables. For $80aus a night in the “spa” room (whirlpool tub you would not dare use) we got a great nights sleep after our feast at the German Tavern.

This left us rested to hit the first of our two planned vineyard stops. Up first was Petaluma, the great Chardonnay producer. After much rejoicing we found the “cellar door” nicely done inside an old Mill. We were treated brilliantly by a young gent, who’s name escapes me, who led us through the whole range of wines, history and logic of Petaluma. Unlike the past few stops in Coonawarra we simply could not keep ourselves to two bottles only, landing a total of four bottles, their outstanding Coonawarra red, a single vineyard Chardonnay and their flagship Tiers (2005 vintage). To say we are excited is an understatement.

Our second leg was unsuccessful as we made it to “cellar door” of Ashton Hills only to find out they opened only on weekends…

Cellar doors are the tasting/selling rooms, only one of many odd names the Aussies give to normal things…

By the way I am using the wordpress application for my iPhone to write these blogs and for some reason pictures posted from here do not show up correctly, they require me to go in through the web to get it right.

Off to Amalfi for dinner with our ’06 Taylor’s Cab Sauv, more on that later.

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Time Flies With No Internet

Posted on October 22, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Dinner at La Citta was outstanding from the service, the fried calamari to the ribeye. Our wine was robust and enjoyable despite being opened a tad too early (3-5 years).

From Melbourne we travelled southwest, first to a recommened vineyard just outside of Geelong (Pettavel) where we grabbed a few bottles. We left there to embark on the Great Ocean Road (gor) a twisting, turning sensary overload. Cliffs, sand,waves and dramatic views fill your eyes at every bend. Our goal was to get at least to the Bay of Islands despite the warnings that it would be at least eight hours to the Twelve Apostles, some 20 kms before the bay. Weather was distictively not Australian, cold, windy and wet, regardless we had a blast and actually made it to Portland before expiring. Of note beyond the regular GOR sights, we went to Otway Lighthouse, a good hour detour (there and back) where we not only witnesses the stunning view upon the old lighthouse but also got to see 18+ Koalas in their natural habitat (aka not a zoo).

Today was spent driving and sipping. We hit the Coonwarra wine region and spent time drinking and buying great reds from recommended winearies: Wynn’s, Zema, Mejalla and Balnaves. With cellaring in mind we snagged primarily big Cabs from the four estates.

With Adelaide in our sights we drove (still live kangaroo-less) to the Adelaide Hills where we will continue our wine tasting tomorrow.


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Wow so much, so little

Posted on October 20, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

No internet for past few days so no blogs, that means a fast summary since tonnes has happened:

– drove from Sydney to Nowra via the Royal National Park, stopped at Garrie beach and enjoyed almost pure solitude despite being only 60 minutes outside of Sydney

– grab a few bottles of red and spent the night in the great company of my aunt Sandy and uncle Rob in Nowra. The reds were lovely (one Hunter Valley blend that was trenmendous) and the pork tenderloin scrumptious.

– left the next morning for the start of our journey to Melbourne, a wee bit worse for wear… Jervis Bay ended up making up for the early start. The beach at Hyams may have the whitest sand in the world.

– from there we decided to forgo the advice of family and went for Eden instead of the Snowy mountain route. Happy we did, great route, no traffic, interesting scenary! We made Eden, had an interesting stay with a great morning start at the wharf watching fishermen unload and pelicans fly.

– spent Sunday driving from Eden to Melbourne via the coastal route with a side treck to Phillip Island. Despite 1300 kms over 2 days we managed to see some amazing things despite no live ‘Roos or Koalas (outside of the zoo of course). We arrived in Melbourne to have great Italian and a solid “house red”, restaurant and red names escape me.

– Tonight we are off to La Citta for dinner thanks to our Melbourne native/ Toronto living friend David Colebatch, we will get back to you on the results.

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Sydney Musings

Posted on October 15, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

So much in so little time, Wednesday afternoon here we are coifing pints so time for a summary.

For breakfasts we hit The Bourke Street Bakery Cafe which is a zoo. Good cafe pulls and good pastries/breads. For Sydney it seems a real hit, for Toronto it would be doubly so, for Paris it would be pedestrian. Good but not fantastic.

Today we hit Cafe Zoe (apologies for no accents I cannot find them on my mobile) which was no more then adequate. The muesli was good, cafe passable and the sausage egg muffins over-priced. Service took a decent experience and made it less so…

Since it was raining on Tuesday we stuck to the CBD (central business district) and ended up at the Strand Cafe for lunch. In 2002 I had lunch at the same location (though different establishment) and had fond memories, unfortunately it did not live up to those. We had turkey in honour of the day back home, but it was only ‘good’, seems the change was not for the better. In the afternoon we hit the Three Wise Monkeys pub for pints and people watching, a good spot if you are on George St.

Dinner came down to Vietnemese on Oxford St. near King’s Cross. Saigon Bay was outstanding (the full house at 9pm a good indication). As this is Sydney we went BYO and picked up a 2006 Cockfighter’s Chardonnay. For the price we expected much more. Crisp, citrusy with a soft finish. No chance we’d have another sadly.

For today’s lunch we hit the famous Sydney Fish Market. We both had some excellent fish fare before wandering to Darling Harbour for a break and pint. Jamie Squire’s Amber Ale at The Watershed is a great beer that rivals the Mill St. Brewery Tankhouse Ale!

Well that is the update, Mrs CWG is darn near walked to death!

Any suggestions for Melbourne or Adelaide wine/food/drink email me at cwg@canadianwineguy.com

cheers

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Happy Gobble Gobble

Posted on October 13, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Long day of walking, people, animals and other critters. Started the day off with a fantastic breaky at The Book Kitchen then went straight off to Circular Quai to catch the ferry to the zoo. The Toranga Zoo is one of the worlds best, but six hours of walking later the feeling was we may have overdone it. Even the stunning ferry ride back into downtown Sydney could not seem to bring the life back into us.

As we sat at a local Thai place tonight I realized that we had not had a single glass of wine since our arrival. Tomorrow we shall change that as I think we will have completed our adjustment and should be back to normal.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those back home!

cheers

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Frames Cafe, Surrey Hills

Posted on October 12, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

After a nice day at the Sydney beaches it was time to have a late lunch. Stopped at Frames Cafe on Bourke at Cleveland St. Such a nice surprise as we both had fantastic food, a mediteranean melt for me and a Cuban sandwich for the Missus. Hard to believe both meals came with a great rocket salad (think arugula) and came to $23aus after tip and tax.

I forgot how great Sydney was for food.

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Sydney, Oct 12th

Posted on October 11, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Large time changes do weird things, like make me wake up on vacation before 6 am! It is Sunday morning here in Sydney and Mrs. CWG and I have strolled to a local cafe recommended by our dear friend Ingrid. The First Drop, located at Baptist Telopea in Redfern, makes not only a fine espresso but my better half is in love with the Chai latte. Breakfast was a true treat, my Mediterranean Brunch had even me eating all my eggs. Corizo sausage, prosciutto, eggs, toast, mushrooms and a fresh mixed greens were brilliant. Mrs CWG had ricotta pancakes that was more desert then breakfast!

Weather is spectacular so we will head to the city beaches later and check in with more food and wine updates!

-cwg

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Hello from 10,000 Meters!

Posted on April 19, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Hello from 10,000 Meters!

On my way to Khabarovsk, Russia on an Asiana Airlines Airbus 320. Left Seoul on a remarkably warm 20 degree day (68 F for those stuck in the 19th century!) which is well above seasonable temperatures. Despite the warm temperatures Seoul was unusually pollution free, the yellow sand alert was low. Khabarovsk is suppose to be in the mid to high 20s for the next few days, which needless to say, is “wow”.

I decided to write this entry to talk about the two wines I have had on board this flight. First off is a 2004 Givry 1er Cru, Celliers aux Moines. This Southern Burgundy was outstanding, good nose, nice balance and solid finish. With a solid bouquet of red fruit (cherry, plum and a hint of strawberry) as well as underlying spice this Pinot was beyond enjoyable, if not for the next wine I’d have attempted to polish off a bottle or three (2h40 minutes does not lead itself to “polishing” anything!). The wine is ready to drink now and I’d imagine if you can find it the price would hover in the 40 to 60$ range. I will know more when i have the lovely web to guide me!

After such a nice Burgundy I decided to try the 20 year old Tawny Port. The Port Sandeman led to a complete meal, it has/had a solid balance with solid vanilla and light spices that went very well with the poor selection of cheeses. Note on that, Asiana has excellent meals but they could use some guidance on their “cheese” & port plate, Air Canada amazingly enough did a near perfect job on their cheese plate with a 10 year old Tawny to compliment it. This port is ready to drink now and will not improve with age, if you enjoy port then this is probably a good choice as I will guess at the price range (35 to 50$).

Overall this has been a nice short and delicious flight, yak at you all in short time.

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South Korea – New Incheon City

Posted on April 18, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

A quick update to say that I am currently in Seoul-Incheon and then on my way to Khabarosk then Yakutsk Russia. Had Korean BBQ last night in a little place in New Incheon City where half the food was unrecognizable. Kimchi was excellent and the marinated grilled pork over the hot coals were dynamite. I had a few Hite’s (a beer from the Korean Brewery Hite Brewing Company) which is not that bad of a lager!

Anyways, off to Khabarosk in a few hours, will send a note on dinner and bevies from there, cheers to all!

CWG

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Hello Again

Posted on March 17, 2008 by CanadianWineGuy

Well since it appears I will be forever in some sort of travel, I guess
this blog will move forward as a wine & food review from the road.

Stay tuned for more updates as I get use to blogging from the road.

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2003 Trius Red

Posted on August 17, 2007 by CanadianWineGuy

This will be my first attempt at blogging via my blackberry as the only method (aka write and post from berry). Simply put, I am traveling so much these days that doing reviews has become nearly impossible. So when I have wine I will do my best to blog it, and I will fill in the blanks (pictures, LCBO info) at a later date. As well, I will do my best to check spelling, but if my accuracy stinks from time to time, just be sure to chalk it up to excess wine!

On to the tasting!

The Trius reds have been on my must drink list for awhile. A good blend of the principle Bordeaux grapes, this specialty-winery of the Canadian giant Hillebrand already produces several great wines (Trius Brut (nv) for one). Inky red in colour with an excellent bouquet of cinnamon, cherry and oak this wine from an average vintage started off well. With the solid start, the wine was a nice and chewy but not overly tanniny. For an ’03 this was surprisingly ready to drink now. A nice even finish with a good hint of pepper.

Of the Canadian reds I have had recently, this is up there. I am giving it a well deserved 87
Mrs.CWG says

“I am glad we have a few bottles of this left”

LCBO info to follow.

Ps: you will end up seeing a dspam message, ignore it!

EDIT: LCBO # is: 303800, $19.95 (they do not state a vintage year, which means ’03 may no longer be available, unsure why there is no year attached to their listing)

Trius Red

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Chili Recipe

Posted on August 7, 2007 by CanadianWineGuy

While the reviews are about to come back (now that I am at home and not running around like a chicken sans head) I thought I’d start off with a lovely recipe that is sure to get the fire in the belly roaring:

3 onions diced
2 green peppers diced
2 field red peppers diced
2 hot banana peppers diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 lbs of ground beef
2 tins of diced tomatoes (786ml)
3 tins of kidney beans (540ml)
3/4rds of a spice container of chili powder
1 tablespoon of crushed dried chili peppers

1.Sauté onions on high heat with olive oil, add in garlic then peppers. Sauté for a few minutes then add to pot,
2.Brown ground beef in same pan and lightly spice with chili powder, add beef to pot
3.Add kidney beans and tomatoes to the pot and stir
4.add chili powder and crushed chili’s to the pot, stir
5.put pot on low heat and simmer for 6 hours

CWG’s Chili

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David Brubeck Quartet

Posted on June 26, 2007 by CanadianWineGuy

Since it has been crazy busy here (will not let up till next week so the reviews will be scarce) I will do a quick update on the concert we went to last night at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts.

First off the venue: Lovely architecturally with a beautiful use of wood design, well thought out stairs/levels that allow for great views of the surrounding area inside and out. Refreshment bars are well located on each level and were serving Canadian wines (highlights were 2004 Trius Red and NV Trius Brut, both solid). The sight lines inside the hall are tremendous, we had front row center of the second balcony which was a perfect spot for a concert. Everything about this venue is nice except for the sound. The sound simply does no justice to the hall, when a trumpeter starts to wail it should be forceful, not subtle. While trying to make the sound perfect they seemed to have almost toned it down too much.

The people: David Brubeck is one of the few remaining Jazz Legends. He has been a force in the Jazz industry for over 60 years both as a composer and a jazz pianist. Heck he has won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. With all that said, you would expect the venue to be packed and the people a hopping, right? The hall was only about 80% full (unlike closing ceremonies at the Montreal jazz Festival last year where it was packed). Now maybe I am a bit old fashion but on top of the low turn out, I could not get over the cut off shorts, Birkenstocks, and the general attire of the average patron. It use to be that for a concert of this nature it was minimum semi-formal, non? Well dress code aside the most disturbing event happened as the Quartet plus two guests wrapped up the iconic “Take Five” which Brubeck has closed most of his recent shows with, no sooner were they standing for applause but a good 10% of the people in the seats got up and made it to the exits as fast as they could. It may be the first time I have ever seen concert fans not stand for an encore after a brilliant performance. Amazing, shocking and embarrassing.

The concert: The Laila Biali Trio opened the show. A Canadian composer, pianist and singer Laila has an outstanding voice and performed well opening for such an icon. While she performed as a trio, it is best to be said that she could have performed with only her bassist as most of the songs performed had her drummer as more of accessory, just my two cents. Still a good performance and it was great to see a Canadian open the first Jazz concert in the Four Seasons Center. The Dave Brubeck Quartet needs little comment, they simply play outstanding jazz and time in time out show incredible range and talent. All of the band members are past retirement age yet they have the energy of 20 somethings when they get going. At 86 years old Brubeck does not have a spring in his step but he has amazing dexterity still in those marvelous fingers, he tickled the ivories last night a few times that had everyone in awe. As for the rest of the band, Bobby Milatello on sax and flute, Michael Moore on bass and Randy Jones on drums are the long-time members of this great quartet. While Milatello is generally what most people “wow” at as he demonstrates incredible range and power, for me it is Randy Jones that remains the most remarkable of the remaining three. Last night, as well as last year’s closing at the Montreal Jazz festival, Jones had a solo on drums that brought the house down. He is worth the price of admission alone.

To close out, if you have not had a chance to see the Brubeck Quartet I highly recommend it. As Dave continues to get up there in age the performances will get fewer and fewer and you will miss your chance to see one of the few Greats still with us. It is not often you can say you witnessed live someone who is mentioned in the same breath as Ella, Duke and Louis and at the same time be completely entertained.

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Wives are to be Appreciated

Posted on June 21, 2007 by CanadianWineGuy

This picture says it all:

Bulgarian Wine

After her long trip away Mrs.CWG brought back a sheer bounty for me. She of course tried most but not all, and there are no guarantees to their quality but over the next few weeks we will review a wine here and there.

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