Monthly Archives: September 2021

The Reds of Last Week’s Wine Tasting

Last week I told you I did my first wine-tasting in 19 months, and we had such a great time. We did 8 wines at this particular tasting, so last week I covered the first 5 wines, which were the sparkling, the rose and the whites. This week I’m going to share the red wines.

We had 3 red wines, and started the evening with a Pinot Noir

MacMurray Pinot Noir

From the Russian River Valley in California, I love this Pinot Noir. One of the ladies who didn’t think they liked Pinot Noir, because their experience in the past was a ‘wimpy’ one, like this. This is not a full-bodied wine, it’s medium bodied, but lots of flavor. I found how they used the oak was very interesting. It spent 8months in both French and American oak, but the really interesting part was 20% new barrels and 80% used barrels. The used barrels imparts less oak flavor onto the wine, but ages it smoothly.

Septima Gran Reserva from Argentina

This wine is a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat. When I opened this wine during the wine tasting, the cork crumbled in my hand. I was very concerned. I tried the wine, and although it hadn’t gone skunky yet, you knew it wouldn’t be much longer before the wine was tainted. This is a big bold full-bodied red, great for red meat. All the ladies agreed it wasn’t their favorite wine to sip on, but would compliment food, and I had to agree. Even though it was breathing for about 90 minutes, it didn’t soften the wine. This wine comes in at $42.50 a bottle.

And last but not least, my personal favorite of the evening

Casella 2010 Cabernet

I don’t usually take Australian wines to a wine-tasting, but on a leap of faith from Alex at the NSLC, I took this wine and it was my favorite. Many lesser priced Australian wines can have manipulated oaky flavors, and be a little too oaky for me. Not all, but many. This was not the case with the 2010 Casella Cabernet Sauvignon. It was spectacular. Full-bodied but the oak didn’t overpower, and the 2010 vintage has won awards all over the world. This wine was $50 a bottle, and I have to say it was totally worth it. This is a wine you can sip on its own, or enjoy with food.

Relaxing weekends

If you are interested in having a wine tasting in your home, reach out to me at darlenemyers@hotmail.com. I can do a wine tasting that fits your budget. Next week, I have a Champagne to share with you, a pork tenderloin that changed my mind on pork tenderloin and a new red.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene

Wine Tastings Are Back

Last Friday I did my very first wine tasting in 18 months. Ask me if I was excited. It was so great to start them again, and what a way to kick off another wine-tasting season. We had so much fun and so many great wines.

Such a fun group

A very big thank you to Barb for hosting and to Donna for passing along my name, and to all the ladies who made it such fun. I hope the rest of your weekend was just as fun. We had some great laughs, tried some good wines, and some great wines. And the higher priced wines weren’t necessarily the best ones. We did 8 wines, and I’m going to start with the whites this week, and I’ll cover the reds next week.

We actually started with a Rose wine

Gerard Bertrand Rose

I absolutely loved this wine, and some of the ladies had had it before. This should become a new classic. It’s an excellent price at just $19.99 and a vibrant non-sweet rose wine that’s a blend of 3 grapes, Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. I think it’s my new favorite rose. I’ll definitely be buying it againn.

Then we tried an amazing sparkling wine from award winning winemaker Jean Benoit Deslauriers at Benjamin Bridge here in Nova Scotia.

The hand-crafted small lot 2015 Brut from Benjamin Bridge was spectacular. Normally when I do wine tastings, I bring a great sparkling wine at a great price, like a Prosecco. However, when it’s a limited edition, small lot, and there was literally only 2 bottles left, you had to have one. Once this is gone, it’s gone, so what a wonderful treat for the ladies to share this wine. I have also bought the non-vintage Brut which is about $28. This beauty was $50, but it was a spectacular example of a traditional made sparkling wine, and we enjoyed every sip.

The true temperature of ‘room temperature’ red wine is always an interesting discussion at wine tastings.

The next white was a bit of a surprise to us, as it was the most expensive but no one picked it as their favorite.

Rose Rock Chardonnay

Oregon is one of my favorite Pinot Noir producing areas. And I thought that since Oregon is so similar in terroir to Burgundy France that the Chardonnay would be exceptional as well. This wine was $52 a bottle, and sadly, I don’t feel it was worth the money. The slogan is ‘French Soul, Oregon Soil’, and although I didn’t find the Chardonnay overly oaky, one of the ladies couldn’t drink it because she found it oaky. Everyone has a different palate. It was tasty, but I’ve tasted better for less money.

And now for the wine of the week, and the hands down favorite white from last week….

Picpoul De PInet

This is always an interesting wine to bring to wine-tastings. No one has heard of the ‘Picpoul’ grape. Picpoul, also known as Folle Blanche, is originally from the south of France, and was used initially in making Cognac and Vermouth. This was a fantastic wine and most everyone was shocked to learn of the $17.50 price tag. It had subtle citrus flavors and just the right amount of acidity. This is a wonderful food wine. The ladies had a charcuterie board which paired very well, and it would also be great for appetizers and salads.

Thank you again ladies, next week I’ll cover the red wines we did.

So our wine tour to the Niagara region of Ontario didn’t go on October 2nd. The rising number of cases were concerning, so we played it safe. I do, however, have a Nova Scotia wine tour to tell you about, a day trip.

Myself and my friend Richard Arnold from Atlantic Wine Tours are doing a day trip to the Annapolis Valley on Tuesday, October 12th. We are going to visit 3 wineries and do tastings, and have a lovely lunch. All the details can be found right here!

The Annapolis Valley

The colors are just gorgeous in the Fall of the year in the Annapolis Valley, and Richard is from there, so he doesn’t an awesome tour. I hope you’ll come join us for a fabulous day in Nova Scotia.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene

The Fruits of Their Labour

I love long weekends

This weekend is Labour Day weekend, and I’d like to dedicate this blog to all the workers involved in making our favourite beverage…Wine! A hats off to the workers that we do not see or meet. There are so many people involved in the making of your favorite wine. From the people who plant the vines, cultivate and harvest the grapes, and to those that are involved in the wine-making process, Cheers to you this Labour Day weekend. I’d also like to say a big thank you to the people who stock the shelves and help bring this awesome beverage into our lives.

On another note, I was double-checking to see how to spell Labour Day, and our American friends spell it ‘Labor’, while the British spell it ‘Labour’. And since Canada is still a British colony, I’ll go with Labour. But I digress, let’s talk some wine.

Yes, yes it is!

My friends Fred and Arla are leaving today for Alberta. They have a grandson Sage that’s almost 2, and another one on the way. So they are going up to take care of Sage while their son & daughter-in-law have baby #2. So we had a little get together last night, to have a farewell sip. Fred and Arla are both drinking whites at the moment. This is one my friend Angie bought for the occasion.

Ruffino Pinot Grigio

Ruffino has been making wine for 140 years, so they are pretty darn good at it. This is a bright and lively white wine with great acidity and gorgeous herbal and lemon flavors. It’s a great deal normally under $16, and it’s even reduced further right now. It’s also super food-friendly. Yes, it’s totally acceptable to drink white after Labour Day 🥂

Before I tell you about a great new value red, let’s talk ribs.

It’s not officially a long weekend until I do some baby back ribs. My hometown of Corner Brook Newfoundland had its first Ribfest this year, and I missed it by one weekend. I had recognized one of the participants from Ribfest in Halifax.

Rule #1. Take off that fatty membrane layer at the back of your ribs. It keeps fat in and flavor out.

In my baggie, I put brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, BBQ sauce and then orange juice. That’s going to marinate all day, and then I’ll slow cook them in my oven for about 2 hours, and finish them off on the grill. I’ll put some grill marks on the ribs but then I’ll move them to indirect heat to finish cooking.

I’ll let you know how they turn out. In the mean time, I love red wine with baby back ribs. My favorite is probably Zinfandel. And here’s one that won’t break the bank. The Pepperwood Grove Zinfandel is rich and juicy and priced under $18. It’s more of a medium bodied wine, compared to those in the $30-$40 price range that are much more full-bodied!

if you’re up for a treat this weekend, you might want to try this Zinfandel.

I presented this wine and one of my last winetasting before Covid.

1000 Stories

Here’s a very interesting and complex Zinfandel wine, 1000 Stories bourbon barrel aged Zinfandel. I’ve had positive and negative experiences with bourbon barrel aged wine. I have had wines where the bourbon overpowers the flavour of the wine, and it’s boozy in the back of your throat. This one doesn’t do that, the bourbon is quite mild, and the price point is about $38 a bottle.

Meanwhile, here’s a great value wine I had this past week.

Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon

This is available everywhere, and in Newfoundland Nova Scotia, it’s on sale right now. From one of the top wine-producing regions in Chile, the Maipo Valley is producing some fine tasting wine at extraordinary decent prices. It’s rich and dark in the glass with beautiful flavors of plum, cassis, oak and mint. It’s a fantastic value, and worth the try.

I’m so excited, I have a wine-tasting coming up this Friday night. I’ll tell you all about it next weekend. Till next week, Cheers

Darlene