Spring Has Finally Arrived

I don’t want to jinx anything, but I’m sitting here on this Saturday with my patio door open, and birds have been chirping since 6:30 this morning. It would appear Spring has finally arrived. It’s soon time for drinking outside.

I hope to do some of that when I head to France later this month. But in the meantime, let’s look at some affordable wines for Spring.

If you walk into your favorite wine store, you’ll probably see a display for Rose wine. It’s that time.

Rose is a favorite of mine, especially for food pairings. It’s perfect for a lunch / brunch wine or to have with your salad or appetizer of choice.

I like a dry Rose wine, and this is my favorite Rose wine that I discovered last Summer. Gerard Bertrand Cote des Roses is made with mostly red grapes, with limited skin contact. Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah sounds like a favorite Cote du Rhone, and this rose version does not disappoint. It’s round $22 and just a gorgeous rose wine, in a gorgeous bottle, that also makes it a wonderful gift.

Food wise I don’t have much for you this week. I made burgers for my work colleagues, and one of the condiments I bought were these tomatoes. One of my work peeps called it the best condiment he’s ever tasted, and started naming other foods these could be used with. They are grape tomatoes, sliced thin, with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, balsamic glaze and fresh basil. I have a basil plant that is doing very well this Spring. Then I cooked it down a bit, just put it in the corner of my BBQ. I have to say, it was pretty tasty.

And now I’m going to tell you about the wine I had last night, that is one of my new favorites.

I have to be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time in the Australian section of the wine store. I find many of the wines over-oaked. However, I took a stroll down that lane because I wanted to try a new wine and I didn’t know what I wanted.

My love affair with Angus the Bull wines started with this one.

My first experience with this vineyard was Angus the Bull Cabernet Sauvignon. Marketed as ‘red meat’s perfect partner’, it really is. A great steak wine, priced around the $26 mark here.

Then I got introduced to Wee Angus.

Back when I was living in Newfoundland, I was introduced to Wee Angus Cabernet Merlot. Loved it. Priced around the $20 mark.

And now there is Wee Angus Merlot

Love love love this wine. I’m going back to buy more today. Priced around $20, this yummy delicious Merlot tastes like a much more expensive wine. Not overly oaky, it’s smooth and juicy and I just loved it. I had it with my supper (pork) and I can’t wait to have it with ribs, or a steak.

That’s it for me for this week. Stay safe. Till next week, Cheers