Monthly Archives: August 2014

It’s the Labor Day long weekend, and it got me thinking of how much love goes into making a bottle of wine.   When we enjoy our favorite red, white or sparkling beverage this weekend, let’s take a moment to salute the labors of multitudes of hard-working people.  From grape growers, viticulturists, vintners,  field workers, to  bottlers, distributors, and of course retailers just to name a very few.

Right here in Nova Scotia, there are 22 grape growers and almost two dozen wineries.  They contribute 196 million dollars to the Nova Scotia economy and we have an Atlantic Wine Institute based at Acadia University.  On a national level, the wine industry contributes 6.8 billion dollars to the national economy.  I bet you never realized how much you were helping the local, provincial and national economy by opening a bottle of wine, did you?  Well now you can feel even better about enjoying your favorite beverage.

Canada is one of the premier producers of ice wine, getting renowned for ice wine internationally.   Ice wine is made from grapes that have frozen on the trees, and harvest is usually done in late fall, or even as late as January, when temperatures have dropped below -10 degrees.  And then the grapes are pressed while frozen to produce a sweet concentrated piece of heaven.  One of my absolute favorites is an ice wine from right here in Nova Scotia.  The Borealis by Benjamin Bridge is a little piece of heaven.  Gorgeous amber color in the class and rich sweet flavors of apricots and peaches.  It’s elegant and I would rather have this for dessert than any chocolate convection.  I’m not kidding.  And for this Labor Day weekend, I am thrilled and super excited to be visiting this vineyard and meeting the winemaker.  That’s  how I’m celebrating Labor Day and I couldn’t be happier.

Before I move on, I have to salute another local wine, that I tried yesterday for the first time.  It’s from Avondale Sky winery, and it was their 2013 Tidal Bay.   For those of you that don’t know what Tidal Bay is, it is Nova Scotia’s signature wine.  Tidal Bay reflects the terroir, coastal breezes and cooler climate of its birthplace.  And each one is different.  The wineries have guidelines that they have to follow, and a list of grapes they can use, but essentially each one is different.  Each Tidal Bay is also a signature of the winemaker from each winery.  My friend Dan told me he recently tried a Tidal Bay and loved it and then the next night tried a different one, and didn’t like it.  I love the fact each one is different.  This one from Avondale Sky was rich in the mouth and crisp and bright all at the same time.  Beautiful flavors of apple and peach and some warm toastiness.  I loved it.   Here’s what the winemaker had to say and you get to appreciate how each Tidal Bay is unique:

“This wine is a blend of nine separate ferments. A complex combination of different yeast, different fermentation vessels (96% Stainless, 4% Barrel fermented), different levels of natural sweetness, different terroirs, and of course different grapes were used to build as much complex character into this wine as possible.”

Here’s what I have on my menu this weekend

And this is the wine I’m going to be having with it

You know how much I love discovering new wines.  Especially great wines with great price tags that don’t break the bank.  The Pierre Amadieu Cote du Rhone is a fantastic blend of Syrah and Grenache.  One of the surprising things I learned on my journey to becoming a Sommelier, was that the poorer the soil, the richer the wine.  And the grapes for this wine were grown in soil that was poor and stony.  Well it produced a great wine, and at $17.99, (yep, under $20) makes me love it all the more.  Rich plums and blackberries with a hint of oak.  No matter what you plan to throw on the grill this weekend, this could be your wine.  Pierre Amadieu is a family owned and worked winery in the Cote du Rhone region of France, and have produced a wonderful wine.  Hats off to them this Labor Day weekend.

Long weekends and wine go hand in hand together.  And this long weekend, stay safe and drink responsibly.  But do take a moment to enjoy your favorite beverage as we say goodbye to Summer.  (sniff sniff!)  And salute all the people who were responsible for bringing that beverage to you.

Till next weekend, Cheers

Darlene

I have a confession to make!  I have a shameful confession to make…. Before I started my journey into becoming a Sommelier, I only drank red wine.   I didn’t start tasting and enjoying white wines until I started this journey 3 years ago.  And now, I hear friends saying the same thing ‘I only drink red wine’.  Recently, I had two great friends, Sue and Jayme Lynn, who I had the pleasure of introducing to Riesling.  On separate occasions, we went out to lunch, had Chicken Pad Thai and Sushi, and they let order the wine.  I ordered Riesling.  I love Riesling.   And Chicken Pad Thai is just one of the reasons.

One of my instructors and President of the Atlantic Division of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers, loves Riesling.  And he brought this love affair to class and shared it with us, and now I’m on the Riesling bandwagon.  And even if you have tried Riesling and didn’t like it for some reason, try a different one.  It comes in dry and sweet, (personally I like a little sweetness to off-set spicy food), it’s light, fruity and floral.  Some aging Rieslings have that petrol aroma, which I’m not overly fond of, so I like the newer fresh fruity Rieslings.  Here are some I’ve had lately that I loved.

I know you’ve seen this picture of me enjoying Riesling before.  Look at the pure joy on my face, and why wouldn’t you think ‘I want me some of that joy’.   Here’s the Riesling I was enjoying that day.. the J. Lohr Riesling from California.  Yummy.

Here’s a picture of my friend Sue discovering Riesling for the first time… Look at that joy

Here’s a Riesling that I’ve enjoyed recently and it was fabulous!  Kung Fu Girl Riesling is reasonably priced at around the $20 price range, has gorgeous stone fruit flavors like apricot and peach, is perfectly balanced in my opinion, between sweetness and acidity and an overall a great value.  Kung Pao shrimp or Kung Pao chicken, this is your wine.  All Asian, Indian and spicy fare.  And you know, the food doesn’t have to be spicy.  I love Riesling all by itself, and with chicken.  This is a very versatile white wine.  Here’s a local beauty from Nova Scotia and Gaspereau Vineyards.

I love love love this Riesling.  Gaspereau Vineyards does an awesome job of balanced Riesling and at $17.99, this vibrant Riesling is one you should try if it’s available to you.  It’s made right here in Nova Scotia, and I love the fact I can get this wine.

I know this week’s blog is short and sweet… I have the folks in town… but I’m begging you… please please please try a Riesling… especially with food.  You’ll love it

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene

There’s rarely a day goes by that I don’t get asked an opinion about wine and I always feel honored and a little humbled that people respect my opinion about wine that much.  Recently a very good friend of mine said she would love to take a wine course to learn some basics about wine, but she couldn’t afford it right now.  So from that, I decided to pass along some basic wine knowledge – free of charge!

Let’s Call it Boot Camp for Wine!  And let’s start with a basic wine tasting.

The first step in wine tasting is to identify color and clarity.  The color is the easy part.  It’s either red, white or rose!   However, different grapes tend to be different shades of red, white etc.  For example, is your red wine maroon, purple, ruby, garnet, red, brick or even brownish?   Is your white wine pale yellow, straw-like, light green, golden, amber or brown in appearance?   Next… look at the clarity.  I find this step very important.  I like a wine clear, without cloudiness, especially in my whites.  Is the wine dull or brilliant?  If it’s a white wine that you drink on a regular basis, and you find this particular bottle cloudy… it’s probably been compromised.   Certain reds can have sediment, not every winemaker filters the wines.  These wines should be decanted, gently, leaving a bit of the wine along with the sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

Then comes the best part… the tasting!  Most people will swirl it around in their mouth because it allows you to take in all the components of the wine.  The tannins, that which makes the mouth water, acidity, alcohol content and residual sugar.  If one is out of whack for you (not exactly a wine term) then you may not find the wine balanced.  One of most desirous traits in a wine, is that it is balanced, and that term can mean different things for different people.   My definition of a balanced wine is where the concentration of fruit, the tannins,  and the acidity are all working together to make a wine delicious.   Balanced wines are symmetrical and tend to age gracefully.  It’s important to me one does not over power the other, unless, it’s what I want.  For example, if I’m eating a big juicy steak, or pasta with lots of cream sauce, I want a wine that is a little heavy on the tannic side.  See what I mean?  I am personally not a fan of wines where the alcohol is over-powering.  Other people love the burny taste in their throat.  Everyone has different things they love about wine, and that’s the beauty of wine.  We all like different things.

And last but not least, it’s the finish.  And what I mean by a ‘finish’ is how long the flavor of the wine lingers after you’ve swallowed it.  You may have read wine reviews or heard people say ‘nice lingering finish’.   This is a very important trait to many people.  You want the beauty of the wine to stay with you for seconds after you swallow it, to continue to enjoy it.   In some wines, as soon as you swallow the wine, a second later the flavor is gone.  And that’s OK too.  It doesn’t mean you don’t like the wine.

Here’s what I always say when someone asks me if something is a ‘good wine’!  If you like it, it’s a good wine.  I’ve had people say in the comments section of this blog that I need to improve my taste in wine.  But really, if I like it, I think it’s a good wine.  And the truth of the matter is, I could write about expensive wines all day long, but I like to write my blogs about wines we drink every day.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene