Monthly Archives: July 2018

There is a lot of truth in the abovce cartoon.  Lets face it, drinking wine is always more fun than exercising!  I am in the process of training for a half marathon, my very first one.  Last year I ran my first 16.2K when I ran the Tely 10 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.  I started running, very slowly, 4 years ago, and it’s the one exercise I continue to love.  It will never replace my love of wine, but it’s up there.  And the best part, there are more and more studies that show drinking wine and exercise are both very good for you.

We all know cardio is good for your heart, said to strengthen the heart and blood vessels and contributes to a healthy blood flow.  It also lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.  I always knew wine was good for the soul.  However, the Mayo Clinic has come forward and said red wine and something in red wine called Resveratrol might be heart healthy.  Wine also contains another antioxidant called Proanthocyanidins that is said to be good for the heart.  ** Please keep in mind, everything in moderation, including wine.

So raise a glass my wine-loving friends, and Cheers to a healthy heart.    Here’s a few new wines that got my heart beating faster in the past couple of weeks.

My work colleague, Marc, told me he and his wife have been really enjoying this wine out of Spain, so I decided to try it.  The Liberado Espana has a beautifully colorful label celebrating the movida madrilena, a cultural movement that allowed the Spanish community to express themselves through art, music, food, and more!  It’s a blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon and it’s on sale right now here in Nova Scotia.  It’s delicious and easy to drink, with notes of spice and medium-bodied fruit.  This wine is under $13 right now and is a steal of a deal.  Go grab some, before the price goes up to $15 again.  And it’s a good deal at $15.  I love finding tasty wines at great prices that allows you to enjoy a glass of wine on a Tuesday guilt-free!

This was a treat when I tried it, because it was a 2012 vintage, and it’s a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano.  Graciano is only grown in Spain, in the Rioja region, and is harvested in late October.  The grape is known for its deep red color and the ability to age very well.  This is a treat wine at $33 a bottle, and if you are not a big fan of oak, you may want to stay away from this wine.  Personally I liked the oak and cedar notes, and it’s full-bodied and it would made a great pairing with a hearty beef stew.

And now for my wine of the week…

Straight out of Paso Robles California and Secret Cellars comes a new Cabernet Sauvignon that I just loved.  It is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Petite Verdot, grown in an area with warm days and cool nights, which is optimum for growing grapes.  Then it is aged very subtly in a combination of French and American oak, and the American oak only accounts for 15%.  This produces a very smooth wine where the fruit shines through and not the oak.  It comes in at around the $26 price mark, which is excellent, and if you’re going to treat yourself to a good cut of meat like steak, pair it with an exceptional wine.  I suggest this particular wine.  It’s a 10 in my opinion!

I saw this yesterday and it made me chuckle, so I thought I would share it.

Have a great weekend, and till next week, Cheers

Darlene

 

The wine industry is always changing.  2017 saw some frightening changes with the massive wildfires in the Napa region of California, and what that will mean for California wine.  2018 saw massive frost hit late in some Nova Scotia vineyards which saw a loss of 50% of the crop.  Sometimes only the ‘bad’ news is reported in the wine world.  I’m going to focus this blog on the positive changes.

1.  Magnums and boxed wine sales are growing! 

People are buying wine and more of it.  The sale of Magnums, which is equivalent to two bottles of wine, are on the rise, as is boxed wine, which contain up to 4 bottles of wine.  Champagne has been selling magnums (2 bottles), Jereboams (4 bottles), all the way up to the Nabuchadnezzar (20 bottles).  It only makes sense both socially and economically.  Buying wine in bigger formats tends to mean savings at the cash register.  And who wants to run out of wine?  Not me, that’s for sure.

2.  Rose wines are on the rise.

All I can say about this news is…. YAY!  It doesn’t come as much of a surprise for us rose wine lovers, but it’s good news to hear it’s on the rise.  Rose is perfect with appetizers, or for just sitting on your patio, and this local rose from Benjamin Bridge, is a winner.  It’s their Cabernet Franc rose and its dry and crisp with lovely grapefruit flavors.  I encourage my blog readers to give rose a chance, if you are one of the few that hasn’t yet.  When I bring one to a wine tasting, it surprises when I hear people say “I didn’t think I would like rose”.

3.  Massive growth will be in sparkling wines like Prosecco

Again, this doesn’t come as a real surprise to me.  And although Champagne style wines will see growth, the big growth will come in the sparkling wines like Prosecco and Spanish Cava’s, like this one.

This is one of my favorites right now.  The Villa di Conchi Cava from Spain is so easy to drink and has no bitter aftertaste.  It comes in a beautiful blue box, which makes it wonderful for gift giving, and is just $17.99.  This is going to be my favorite gift to give this year.

And now for my wine of the week…

I had this wine this past week after trying it in the tasting station at my local store… Not to be confused with the Orca wines out of Washington State, this hails from the Rhone region in France, and it is 90% Grenache with 10% Syrah for a super smooth easy to drink red.  I’m not sure if you are aware, but the longer a grape stays on the vine, the smoother the wine, tends to be the rule of thumb. These grapes didn’t get harvested until late October, which is unusually late, but makes for an unusually smooth wine. A great buy at just $22.99, and a great barbecue wine as well.

I always laugh when people ask me how long they can keep a certain type of wine.  My response tends to be ‘Not sure, I’ve never really had the problem of leftover wine”!

Have a great weekend, till next week Cheers.

Darlene

This man is Eduardo Chadwick, and was recently named Decanter Magazine’s Wine Man of the Year.  He is one of the reason’s Chilean wine has hit the world stage.  The reason I’m telling you this, is that we can get some of his magnificent wines here in Canada.  An Industrial Engineer by trade, and learning about wine from both his father and studying in Bordeaux, this pioneer of wine set out to prove that wines coming out of Chile were of the finest quality and feels the best is yet to come.  Let’s take a look at some of the wines Eduardo Chadwick is involved in.

Errazuriz is one of the labels he is involved in, and Errazuriz, back in the mid-1990’s,  was a joint venture between Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi.  Robert Mondavi was all about quality and so is Eduardo Chardwick.

Errazuriz has a full line of wines here in Canada, I counted 15 at my local wine store.  They range from the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon which is affordable for everyone at $16 a bottle…

To the award winning Don Maximiano which Mr. Chadwick has put up against some of the great French Bordeaux wines in the world.  He is a descendant of Don Maximiano, who founded the winery.  This beauty sells for $85 here in Canada, but he thinks it’s as good as a good French Bordeaux selling for triple the price.  Although this wine is 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, there are other varietals involved.  15% Carmenere, 8% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc make up this fantastic Bordeaux style blend. The Errazuriz wines come from the Aconcagua Valley in Chile, just north of Santiago.  I love Errazuriz wines, I think they are great wines at great prices.

Another name associated with Eduardo Chadwick is Arboleda.  We have two of the Arboleda wines here locally, and one is the Carmenere with the other being the Cabernet Sauvignon.  These wines also come from the Aconcagua Valley and Eduardo Chadwick, along with Robert Mondavi, started Arboleda in 1999. The Carmenere is less than $22 here in Nova Scotia and is a great silky wine with balsamic notes and very well-balanced.   This vineyard was one of the  first wineries in Chile to be certified under Chile’s National Sustainability Code that guarantees environmentally friendly production, social responsibility towards the community and economic viability.

And for my wine of the week, although it’s not made by Eduardo Chadwick, Decanter Magazine did give this wine 96 points.

 

I think this is the first time I have seen a wine that has been given 96 Points, that costs less than $20.  It was a fantastic wine.  I just love Valpolicella Ripasso, because the wine from the Valpolicella grape is passed over the Amarone skins and the must and soaks up all that great intense Amarone flavor.  The grapes are also hand-picked, which is almost unheard of in a bottle of wine less than $20, and only the best are used.  This medium-bodied wine with hints of spice is a great accompaniment to just about anything you put on the dinner table.  I enjoyed it while barbecuing while listening to a few tunes.  Perfect!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene

 

 

 

Much of Canada is experiencing a crazy heat wave this week.  I feel for my fellow Canadians in Ontario and Quebec as they have experienced temperatures in the 40’s.  So far, in Atlantic Canada, it hit 38-degrees on Wednesday, and I’m hoping it doesn’t get any hotter than that.  I like Summer as much as the next person, but extreme heat, like extreme Winter weather is no fun.  There’s not a lot you can do outside when it’s that hot.  Solution:  Stay inside with the fans and the AC and enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beverage of any kind.

I know the blog is called ‘Wine – In My Opinion’, but this wine lover also likes to enjoy an ice cold beer every once in a while.  Nova Scotia has exploded with some fantastic craft beers and sales in craft beer in my province grew by 50% last year.  Well this item is made in Moncton, New Brunswick, but is sold here in Halifax.  I’m going to start this week’s wine blog off with an icy cold Crafty Radler from Pumphouse Brewery in New Brunswick.  This Radler, flavored with grapefruit and tangerine is beyond delicious and the hops and malt are very balanced.  I tried this beer this past week, and even if you don’t think you like beer, you’ll probably like this one.  And if this particular Radler isn’t available, there is a wide assortment of refreshing Radler beers available.

Now let’s get back to the reason you’re here… the wine!

All around the office I’ve heard people say they are not cooking, except for the BBQ, as it’s too warm to put on the oven.  BBQ?  Here’s your wine.  It’s not often you see Cabernet Franc on its own, it’s usually part of a Bordeaux blend, or a Bordeaux-style blend.  If done right, it can be delicious on its own, like this one from Chile.  As a matter of fact, the wine maker is from Bordeaux France, François Lurton, who happens to be a 5th Generation winemaker.  You know he is making good wine. This is another fine example of excellent wine being produced in the Colchagua Valley in Chile, and this fine wine sells for under $17.  The Araucano Reserve Cabernet Franc, try it!

And now for my wine of the week….

The Four Vines Biker Zinfandel hails from Paso Robles in California and is a gem, in my opinion.  Burgers, ribs, padta… there isn’t too much you can’t pair with this wine. Full-bodied with hints of pepper,  after 30 years of research and DNA testing, it has been confirmed that Zinfandel is identical to Italy’s Primitivo.  Which means the grape variety is even older than originally thought because Primitivo originally cane to Italy from Croatia.  Whatever the history, this is a great wine that comes in under $30!

That’s it for this week, stay safe out there!  And remember to keep your pets cool.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene