Monthly Archives: June 2012

The Personalities of Wine Part 5

Robert Mondavi said it best “Wine, Food & Art – incorporating these three things will enhance your life”. 

I am going to talk about 2 wines today – 2 Pinot Noir’s…. 2 very different Pinot Noirs.

Inniskillin Varietal Series Pinot Noir 2010, VQA Niagara Peninsula Bottle
The first is one of my new favorite finds.  I have tried this wine with several friends and they all love it.  And at $15.99 at the Newfoundland Liquor Stores, this is one of my best deals on the shelf.
Pinot Noir is an extremely food friendly wine.  It’s a great opportunity to experiment with different foods.  It’s great ruby-red color has aromas of cherry fruit and earthy tones, and it doesn’t disappoint on the palate.  I have never been one for Canadian wine, but the cool climate of Canada does a good Pinot Noir grow.   Like me, it loves barbecued foods and it’s great for all those red drinkers who think they should be drinking white with chicken.  Try this one instead.  Move over France, Canada has come with a great Pinot Noir.  I love it.
Domaine Faiveley Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2007
This is the wine I had last night.  If you are a true French Pinot drinker, you’ll enjoy this one.  It was a 2007 Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne Pinot Noir.  Joseph Faiveley founded this vineyard in 1825 and the Faiveley family still own and operate it.  They have built a vineyard of quality wines in the Burgundy region of France.  When you first pour this wine with its light color, you may think it’s wimpy.  But light on taste, it is not.  Given ratings from an 88 to a 91, this wine is again very food friendly.  I had a BBQ last night and it went very well with the stuffed pork.  One critic said this wine is best served between 2012 and 2015.  You’re in luck, it’s on sale at the Newfoundland Liquor stores right now for $19.99, $5 off its original price of $24.99.  It’s a good bargain, will make a great gift, and a great addition to any meal.

The $156,000 Bottle of Vinegar!

** I published this piece 3 years ago and I thought it was worth sharing again.  Enjoy!  Darlene

             The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

I love this story!  As most of you are aware, I am a red wine drinker.  I love wine, and I love all the nuances that go along with a particular bottle of wine.  I love to know when and where the grapes were picked, how it was aged, etc.   A few years back, I even took a vacation to the Napa Valley in California, and spent a week visiting vinyards and asking lots of questions.  By far my best vacation, and I plan to go back one day.

One evening as I was enjoying a particular good glass of wine, I wondered about the ‘Most Expensive Wine’ ever sold.  I come to find out it was in 1985, when Malcome Forbes paid $156,000 for a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafitte Bordeaux,  believed to have been in the wine cellar of Thomas Jefferson.  (The 3rd President of the United States and the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence).   The sale of this bottle of wine was the subject of a book by Benjamin Wallace called ‘The Billionaire’s Vinegar”.  You see, the wine is undrinkable.  It is basically vinegar in a bottle.  But still, it is believed to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson at one point.

The discoverer of the bottle was Hardy Rodenstock, a pop-band manager turned wine collector with a knack for finding extremely old and exquisite wines. But rumors about the bottle soon arose. Why wouldn’t Rodenstock reveal the exact location where it had been found? Was it part of a smuggled Nazi hoard? Or did his reticence conceal an even darker secret?  This is what the book is about, and I will definitely be adding it to my collection.

Enjoy the fermented grape!

Darlene

The Personalities of Wine & People, Part 4

This is the wine I’m having tonight

It’s the Sirius 2008 Bordeaux, a Merlot and Cabernet blend from the Bordeaux region of France.  Silver Medal Winner of the 2010 Bordeaux Competition, but that’s not why it’s going to be the wine in my glass tonight.

I’m going to have a BBQ!  I am grilling Ribs & Wings.  So I needed to find a wine that was going to go great with both grilled pork and grilled chicken.  The ribs are going to have a marinade, and I haven’t decided how I’m going to do my wings yet, so I had to pick a versatile wine.   This wine goes great with grilled food.  It’s a dry, medium bodied wine aged in oak.   I love the spice in this wine, and because the wine has a hint of spice it goes well with a wide range of foods.   It’s aged perfectly, and the winemaker, Maison Sichel, says this wine will drink perfectly between 2011 and 2015.  I love it.

Like I said, this wine is very versatile, and I like that characteristic in wine and people.  This wine sells for $19.48 in the Newfoundland Liquor Stores and worth it.