Re-entering society

I'm Back!

Wine Exam - Complete 
   WSET - Advanced - 15 week course - Complete

I am back amongst the living;  my Advanced WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) is complete. It was an intense 15 week journey through the history, geography, soils, climate, and of course the different grapes of the world. This was a way more intense then the Level 2 I did in the fall. During the 15 weeks we tasted over $5000 in wine and spirits, and it really was a great adventure for my nose and palate.

The exam was 3 sections; a blind tasting of a white and red wine, 50 multiple choice, and several pages of written short answer questions. You do the blind taste first and you have 30 mins to do complete tasting notes for both wines, about a page each. The white was a 2013 New Zealand Sauvignon  Blanc, and the red was a 2004 Spanish Grand Reserve Rioja. Both showed really well and were a treat to taste.

I won't get the exam results for 8-10 weeks; as it is off to England to be marked but the governing body. I didn't do as well as I wanted because of a lot of questions were about fortified wines like Sherry, Port, and Madeira; which are not my strong point, or much to my liking. I do believe I have passed, and can start considering the next step.

First up, I can start drinking BC wine again. It isn't well know on the international scale, so no need to study it for the exam. The last couple of months I have only been drinking classic wines from the world's classic wine regions. It is nice to just sit and enjoy a glass again with out fretting over the characteristics and what soil it may have been planted on.

 I look forward to sharing some of these wines and more that I will be enjoying this summer, so stay tuned for future posts. Thanks for reading!

Devon

Okanagan Wine weekend

Wine of the Week

May 24 - Okanagan Wine Trip

This week I am here to talk about my recent weekend wine tasting trip to the Okanagan. This was the usual camp on Okanagan lake, wine taste for a few hours starting in late morning, and finish with a fatigued palate with some beer by the lake. I took the Friday off to beat the usually mass migration away from the city, and didn't hit as many wineries; as I am supposed to be drinking old world classic wines for my current course.

I decided to start my tasting weekend by going a little out of my way into downtown Kelowna to go to Sandhill Estates. I have enjoyed their wines but never made it to their tasting room. It is a large, beautiful and modern building; and their staff were knowledgeable about their great wines.The whites were fresh and crisp, but I really enjoyed their two Italian greats Sangiovese and Barbera. They also have some great red blends, and I found most of their wines quite nice. Ended up leaving with their Barbera and the newly released untasted Petit Verdot.

After a beautiful night enjoying either taking pictures on the beach or sitting by the campfire; I got up early enough for my day off and headed to Osoyoos. As always when I go that far south my day starts at Moon Curser. This is by far my favorite winery and they have one of the most diverse grape selections. If anyone needs to get me a gift..., wink wink, nudge nudge. Unfortunately a lot of their wine was sold out, and the next vintage is not released yet. I did get to sample their Touriga Nacional, a Portuguese grape mainly used for Port production, and it was most wonderful mmyum..... I left with a a bottle of their dry Rose "Nothing to Declare"; which is made with Syrah grapes from bleeding off some juice from their red wine vats. I also bought their highly regarded 50% Tannat & 50% Syrah blend, "Dead of the Night" for a special night, and "Border Vines" their Bordeaux style blend, for our cat sitter.

My next stop was Young & Wyse near the border. I was not a fan of their reds as they seemed to be a little off, maybe with a bit of Brett undertones. The whites were bright a floral, and I bought the fruity and floral Viognier, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris blend "Amber".

Before going home a took a detour looking for Vinegar Works which is no longer in business, and is now a B&B; ....so I ended up at Dirty Laundry Winery. That is always a fun free tasting and they had 9-10 wines open. Good atmosphere and good vistas too. It was then back to the campsite to study my wine books instead of bottles, and drink some beer.

After freak heavy rain storm that destroyed my pop tent Saturday night. I left camp early to go to Timmies for breakfast. My stove was way to wet to start, and I had no where dry to go. After breakfast I meandered my way to the Naramata Bench to check out two new to me wineries. First up was Serendipity. The wine was being poured by the owner/winemaker and she spoke with such passion and enthusiasm you could taste her dedication in the glass. Both reds and whites were delicious and I wish I could of brought more home. I did leave with her dry Alsatian style Rose which is a blend of her 5 red grapes, and the nice full body oaked Pinot Noir. Definitely worth the visit. Next up was Deep Roots; 4th generational Naramata fruit growers. Again the whole line up was well made and delicious. I bought their un-oaked Chardonnay and their Gamay Noir, but the Malbec and Syrah were a close contest as well for purchase. Both wineries I would visit again.

Great quick solo trip camping and tasting wine!

 

Petit Verdot

Wine of the Week

Petit Verdot

Sorry for the gap in posts. My time has been engulfed in my level #3 wine course; .....way more intense then I had anticipated.

So tonight I am taking a break to tell you about Petit Verdot; which is one of my favourite wines when you can find them as a single variety. It is a french grape that calls Bordeaux home. Although it rarely ever gets more than 10% of the blend, and usually less than 5%.

It is a dark think skinned grape that ripens even later than Cab Sauv. When it does ripen fully it produces a rich concentrated full body tannic wine. It usually produces wines that have dark fruit flavours, earthy notes, and some exotic spice. It has done well down it the warmer temperatures regions of Australia where it can ripen fully. Several producers in the new world will grow small percentages for their Meritage blends (Meritage - are Bordeaux style blends, made outside of Bordeaux). There are also a few wineries in the Okanagan also growing this little gem.

Moon Curser in Osoyoos is one of my favorites; and I liked the Pirramimma's Petit Verdot from Australia. It is best if you decant it at least 1-2 hours before drinking to let it open up a bit, and release it's flavours. If you don't have a decanter; pour it into a ceramic mixing bowl, and funnel it back into your bottle when you are ready!

So if in your travels you come across a single variety Petit Verdot; I would suggest to explore something new.

                                                

Spicy Dessert Wine

Wine of the Week - Bonus

The Flame - SILVER SAGE  -2013 - Okanagan, BC 
Winery Price- $24.99

Last week my friend Wayne brought me a wine to try from his favourite winery in the Okanagan, Silver Sage. This is no ordinary wine; the first thing that tipped my off was the large chilly pepper inside the bottle. This is a late harvest sweet dessert wine; meaning the grapes are picked later than normal so the sugars concentrate in the grapes. These are usually served chilled and is made from 100% Gewürztraminer , and I would recommend it for this hot little number. The sweetness and high acidity helps cut through the heat

I will give you the same advice Wayne gave me, "You have to have a least 3 sips"
On the nose you get ripe apricots and fuzzy peaches, with a hint of something interesting, perhaps the hot pepper spice.

On the first sip in the mouth you get the same sweet fruity flavours,  and is quite refreshing, then you swallow,

....OH GOD DAMN, too hot in the Hot Tub.

Second sip, nice, fruity, and pleasant well balanced good acidity, then you swallow, ....wait for it, WOW TOO HOT, makes me sweat.

Finally the third sip, not as much fruit since your taste buds are seared and cringing in pain, but you do get more complex spicy hot pepper flavours, ...the swallow, not so bad, I can live with this, 4th sip, 5th sip, 6th sip.....

Try it if you dare!

Syrah vs. Shiraz

Wine of the Week

Syrah or Shiraz - What's the difference?

This week I am going to bring some clarity into the difference between Syrah and Shiraz. As I would say "Same shit, different pile", but this isn't shit it is one of the great noble grapes, so up Shiraz!

Syrah/Shiraz are the same grape with different regional spelling. Syrah is originally from France, and has been grown in the Rhone Valley there ever since Roman times. Shiraz is actually just Syrah pronounced with a thick Aussie accent.....()  It has small black berries with dark coloured skins. Syrah does not fully ripen in cool climates, but varies greatly depending on where it is planted. There are a few decent versions coming out of the Okanagan now too.

Winemakers outside of France and Australia will use either spelling with no any real standards. Most of the time it's Syrah, but sometimes if they are making an Aussie style wine, they will label it Shiraz.

Classic French Syrahs are big, age worthy classic wines usually with a some spice and a hint of herbaceousness. The best are from the northern Rhone, but they won't say Syrah on the bottle. They will be labeled with the appellation; the best being Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage,  but these are expensive. Try to get your hands on a Crozes-Hermitage a much larger appellation that is more accessible. These will have black pepper spice, some dark fruit, clove, leather, perhaps earthy notes, and chocolate.

The best Aussie Shiraz comes from their hot climate wine region's, Barossa Valley, Hunter Valley, and McLaren Vale. These are big and powerful wines, fuller bodied with riper fruit than the France; with notes of blueberry, eucalyptus, sweet spices, and dark chocolate . With more noticeable oak notes like vanilla, smoke and coconut.

A great Barossa Shiraz that I enjoy is TSCHARKE Barossa Gold 2011-
      -  $19.99 BC Liquor



Thanks for reading, Enjoy!

Wine of the Week

Bairrada Frei Joao Reserva -2001 Caves Sao Joao - Beiras, Portugal
BC Liquor - $24.99
Kits Wine Cellar - $29.99
My Vivino Score: 4 star

This week I bring you one of the best values I have found for a 14yr old wine! If you want to see if you like older wines, because they tend to be too expensive and offer a different flavour spectrum. Not all people are into the dusty cigar box, figs, leathery, tar, and what not that some old wines can taste like. Give this a try, good value, plus the label's made of cork, and it has a hand drawn number on it! Radbad!

This wine hails from the Bairrada wine region in Portugal. A country once known only for their fortified Port wines; Portugal has had a resurgence and now also makes some really nice big powerful wines. I have been exploring a few Portuguese wines lately and I have been pleasantly surprised with their character.

The more popular regions of Douro and Dao both offer really great value and are usually a blend of native grapes. Touriga Nacional tends to be the main grape and also one of my favorites. This grape can offer some of the biggest chewiest tannins out there, and is rarely found outside of Portugal. The wines from Bairrada are mostly made from the Baga grape; which has really high acidity and tannins that can make it harsh and tough. Traditionally this grape needed 20yrs cellaring to soften it, but modern wine making techniques have helped them get it out to us quicker.

If you really feel like splurging and exploring older wines, I saw Kits Wine Cellar has the 1995 and 1989 vintages of this same wine. I would be more than happy to help you drink them, and tell you how great they are, and how great you are for buying the wines and how great it is you're sharing them with me. I have shared, gifted, and drank this wine; plus today I guiltily bought another bottle to go into the cellar (wine fridge) to age for a few more years. So go get it now, before I end up buying them all :)

  
Tasting Note:

This wine gave me; ripe black cherry, raisins, fig, some baking spice, vanilla oak notes,
and maybe a hint of liquorice. A rustic but vibrant wine with lots of little nuances gripping your tongue as they dance by. Improves with an 1hr+ decanting, and would go well with food.


Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Wine of the Week

Q - Pinot Noir - 2009 - QUINTAY. -Casablanca Valley, Chile
Everything Wine - $21.99 - ON SALE ($29.99)
My Vivino Score: 4 star

This week I bring you a cool climate Pinot Noir from the Casablanca Valley in Chile. This was a nice wine that was showing a little more garnet in colour as it has aged a bit. It doesn't seem like 2009 was 6yrs ago, but this Decanter World Wine Award Bronze winner from 2011 is ready for drinking now, and by now I mean last Saturday. It is probably on sale to make way for the next vintage coming in, but it still has some wonderful health benefits and life in it.

The back of the bottle mentions that "This fruit driven, aromatically intense Pinot Noir was aged for 8 months in French oak and bottled unfiltered." Inside the bottle it mentions things more like mmmm, delicious, oooh, as your savour the lingering finish. Don't let the screw top fool you this is good vino! I would buy this wine again.

Since I am ramping up to start my next wine course in just over a week. I thought I would share with you my detailed wine notes that I made for this wine. This is what I systematically have to go over for every wine in class, and what I try to do in my head with every wine I taste. My next course will add more categories and more detail on top of these points.

I decanted the wine for 1 hour before tasting.

Appearance: (judged over top of white paper)
Clarity - Clear
Intensity - Medium
Colour - Garnet

Nose:
Condition - Clean
Intensity - Medium
Aromas - Ripe strawberry, red cherry, plum, some mint, new leather, and toasted caramel.

Palate:
Sweetness - Dry
Acidity - High
Tannin - Medium
Body - Medium minus
Flavor - Ripe strawberry, red fruits, over baked caramel, some spice, clove, bit of minerality.
Finish - Medium plus

Conclusions:
Quality  - Good to Very Good


Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!

 

Wine of the Week

Reserva Tannat 2013 - Finca Las Moras. -San Juan Argentina
BC Liquor Store - $12.99 - ON SALE ($14.99)
My Vivino Score: 4 star (for good value)


This week I bring you a Tannat from Argentina. Tannat is a grape originally from France, but can thrive and can fully ripen in Argentina. It is also the national grape in Uruguay, where it is called Harriague. It definitely got it's french name from it's hard stringent tannins. If you like big reds and are looking for something new to try; this grape may do the trick. It is usually aged in oak to try and soften it's distinct hardness, and those mouth biting tannins.

This one had nice hints of cherries, some spice, and a hint of tar. There's also some nice black currant notes, and a hint of some eucalyptus. The tannins are well integrated for a Tannat, and I would call this pretty good value. If you were going to pair it with food; try it with some roasted meats, or have it with something that has a BBQ sauce.  Enjoy!