April….Flurries?

Although the weather is a little chilly for this time of the year, here in  Halifax, on the bright side, we don’t live in Newfoundland Canada!  A big apology to all my friends and family over n Newfoundland, but 110 cms of snow in the first couple of days for central Newfoundland and snow everywhere else… I’m really sorry, but I’m glad we were left unscathed.  On another bright note, you got to stay inside and drink wine!  I’ve had a few more new wines this past week, and the price tags on these great wines will bring a smile to your face.  Frostbite and all…

The first wine of the week is for my white wine drinking friends.  I absolutely loved this Chardonnay and almost made it my wine of the week.  It is a Chardonnay from the southwestern part of France and the French know how to make a wonderful white wine that sees oak, but unless you knew, you’d never know.  It is so subtle and so well done, with lovely nut and pineapple flavors, and it’s under $20 a bottle.  A great French white wine at a great price.

My next two wines are from the latest feature at my NSLC, Old World 90+ point wines.  The first is the Vitiano Rosso from Italy, made by the winemaking brothers Riccardo and Renzo Cotarella.  They are from the famed winery Falesco and first introduced Vitiano in 1995.  Made from equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese, this is a great blend and a great price.  Another fabulous wine under $20 that goes great with pizza or any meat dish you may be serving.

For my next wine, we head to the Tuscany region of Italy.  And yes, I may be guilty of buying more Tuscan wines than normal, since I really want to get a feel for the wines of the region before I head there next month.  This wine is primarily Sangiovese and features gorgeous cherry flavors, good tannins and notes of toasted oak.   I personally thought the finish was really well done on this wine and I can’t remember the exact price, but I’m pretty confident it was around the $21 mark.

And now my wine of the week…

So on the week I found out I had passed all my CAPS Sommelier courses and I would be graduating and getting my Sommelier pin and diploma on April 9th (tomorrow), I wanted to have a special bottle to celebrate.  My friend Judy came over and we opened this wonderful French wine I bought specifically for the occassion. It is a Right Bank Bordeaux from the Fronsac region and we enjoyed the 2010 vintage.   Right Bank Bordeaux means its Merlot dominant with some Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  The wood was quite evident when we first opened the bottle, so we let it sit for about 45 minutes.  We slowly enjoyed the first glass, but the second glass was so much better after it had a chance to breathe.  It was a lovely enjoyable treat, and this wines sells for $30 here in Nova Scotia.

I laughed when I first read this.  Anyway, tomorrow is the big day, I graduate as a Sommelier with the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers.  I also have a Master Class tomorrow on wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, and I will tell you all about it next week.  And I’ll share pictures of my graduation.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene