Vintage Musts - Wine Blog

Food to Get Excited About

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:15:00 GMT

I’m back! The writing has been put on the back burner for the last few months. Things have been busy…

Food Inc. is growing, as is our portfolio of available food products! We started this venture with the idea of bringing together great food and great wine. It made sense to begin importing the foods that our wineries produce, as well as fantastic products that we just can’t make here in our Northern climate.

With these thoughts in mind, I began sourcing product from afar… Very far. B&W Wines began business in the 90’s by importing fine Australian wine at a time when Australian wine was not believed to be fine at all. How things have changed! Food Inc. has begun in much the same manner. We are working with a group of amazing producers from across Australia to bring their efforts to Canada.

A few things I have learned about Australian food producers:

•    quality of their product is exceptional
•    sustainable agriculture is the norm in Australia
•    product packaging is revolutionary
•    they are very nice people
•    they are very passionate about what they do
•    they like Canadians

Primo Estate is no exception. A well established and much lauded winery in McLaren Vale, Primo Estate is known for producing superb wines from traditional Italian varietals such as Nebbiolo, Pinot Grigio and Sangiovese. Joseph (son of Primo) and his wife Dina also produce exceptional olive oil. Yes, there is fantastic olive oil to be had from Australia!

Joe and Dina began producing olive oil in 1989, when very few in Australia had even considered the potential for olive oil production. In this, the 20th harvest and vintage of their olive oil, they have won the prestigious 2008 Vogue Australia Produce Award.

The 2008 Primo Estate ‘Joseph’ Extra Virgin Olive Oil is incredible. Blended using Frantoio (Italian cultivar), Koroneiki (Greek cultivar) and Verdale (French cultivar), this oil offers many of the flavours I associate with Australian olive oils. Green banana, green almond, fresh cut grass… The Italian heritage is evident on the finish of the ‘Joseph’, with the characteristic ‘kick’ at the back of the throat.

I pour this oil freely over grilled asparagus, warm pasta, steaming potatoes with fresh chives, salad greens and chilled gazpacho. In short, I pour this over everything.

Affordable Indulgences

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:56:00 GMT

There are a few things in life that contribute to my personal happiness: my family, my work, good wine, good food… and cheese. For me, cheese is a food group in and of itself. I have friends who share this need. They are favourite mealtime companions.

I grew up among cheese lovers. My parents lived in Switzerland for a time. I blame that living experience for the beginning of my slide. Cheese fondue was a bi-weekly winter staple in our house and remains our Christmas Eve tradition; good chevre a pantry essential and great blue with port a common weekend treat.

I then spent a year living in Switzerland. This time spent in a tiny village, living among cows and ski bums alike sealed my fate as a cheese addict.

I seem to go through phases with my addiction. Maybe it has to do with the seasons, maybe it has to do with which new wines we are currently importing. I’m not really sure… I went through a chevre phase most recently. I ate my way through Chevre Noir, Crottin de Chavignol, Valençay, Chabichou, Bleu Juliette… The list goes on. It may have been that I was tasting a lot of Sauvignon Blanc these last few weeks. The best of the bunch was the 2007 Nautilus from Marlborough New Zealand ($24.95). Mmmm.

Last week I had a minute to spare while downtown, so I ran into the St. Lawrence Market to pick up a couple of cheeses for dinner. Just to be clear, not for after dinner. For dinner.
A huge round of a burnt-orange hue caught my eye as the cheese guy was wrapping up a piece of Cantal for me. Sometimes a cheese slips off my radar, and I am overjoyed to discover it once again. Such was the case with this massive wheel of aged Beemster XO, a Gouda type cheese. It is produced in North Holland, by a cooperative of 550 farmers, established in 1901. It is a hard cheese, with a consistency like Parmesan Reggiano, aged for 26 months. Its flavour is full, but not pungent. It has a sweet nuttiness, a little crunch from the naturally occurring protein crystals, a rich mouthfeel and a buttery caramel finish. One can consume a LOT of this cheese. I bought a huge chunk of it, knowing it would not go to waste at my house.

Next question was what to drink with it…
We have just begun importing some of the best sherries and sherry vinegars I have ever tasted from a renowned producer in Spain, Toro Albalá. Luckily I had sampled some of the Pedro Ximinez (Don PX) the previous day, had a little leftover and knew it would be perfect. Another option would have been a dark beer with nutty caramel flavours or an Oloroso sherry.

The Don PX sherry was pretty perfect. A tiny bit sweet for the cheese, but a very good match nonetheless. The caramel and nutty flavours in the cheese were mirrored by those same aromas and notes in the wine. The acidity was just high enough to lift the flavours of the cheese, cut through a little of the fat, but the wine was still soft enough to allow the creaminess of the cheese linger. So good…
Best of all, both are affordable indulgences. The Toro Albalá Don PX sherry is coming in at under $35 a 750ml bottle (100% Pedro Ximinez grapes), and the cheese costs about the same as Parmigiano Reggiano. The sherry can be found through B&W Wines (www.bwwines.com) or you can contact me (Kristin@foodincorporated.ca). The aged Beemster at any great cheese shop in the GTA. I recommend either the Cheese Boutique or About Cheese for serious cheese shopping. If downtown however, Alex Farms and Chris’ Cheese in the St. Lawrence will do just fine.

Cheers,

Kristin

My Top 5 Wines Almost Under $25 for February

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:42:00 GMT

We are smack dab in the middle of winter. Far enough into the cold and snow to forget the glorious crisp days of fall, the smell of falling leaves and the novelty of wearing cosy new sweaters. We are far enough from spring and summer that the idea of ever being warm outside again seems impossible.

Yet I know that the warm days will come, the days will get longer and the sun will melt the snow. In the meantime, I find that a good cozy red wine helps a lot on these cold dark evenings!

Here is a list of my current 5 faves at close to under 25 bucks. These wines are delicious, comforting and gentle on the newly reduced budgets that so many of us are struggling to maintain. Best of all, they can be delivered by the case to your front door.

#1) 2004 Bodega y Cavas de Weinert Malbec, Mendoza Argentina
Price: $18.95 Availability: CONSIGNMENT/case of 12
• This is a very well structured Malbec, remniscent of an Old World wine, but with the big, deep, bountiful fruit that one would expect of an Argentinian Malbec. It offers huge value in the quality of the oak treatment, the balanced acidity and the generous dark fruit flavour. Drink this one with a big steak dinner. Also delicious on its own.

#2) 2005 Organic Vignerons Australia Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia
Price: $19.95 Availability: VINTAGES (31/01/09)
• Here is a great wine for the price. Not only is it organic, but it has about 1/3 the usual sulfur levels of a red wine. Translation: you can drink a lot of this wine and not feel anything more than dehydrated in the morning!
The 2005 vintage yields a wine filled with big, delicious fresh dark fruit, soft,pliable tannins and a decent, gentle finish. Get it while it lasts.

#3)       2005 Penley ‘Hyland’ Shiraz (WS 90, JH 93, IWC 91), Coonawarra Australia
            Price: $24.95 Availability: CONSIGNMENT/case of 12
• The 2005 Hyland is a no-brainer. For under $25, you get a big Aussie Shiraz full of black plum, dark berry, toasty oak, light smoke, hints of pepper and    warming 14.5% alcohol. Enough said.

#4) 2006 Domaine Les Aphillantes ‘Cuvée des Galets’ GSM (RP 89), Côtes-du- Rhône Villages France
Price: $27.95 Availability: CONSIGNMENT/case of 12
• The varietal breakdown of this biodynamic wine (see note on benefits of organic wine consumption with #2 above) from esteemed producer Daniel Boulle is 55% Grenache, with the rest evenly split between Syrah and Mourvèdre. I love this wine. With lots of dark black/blueberry fruit and pepper spice, a fine tannic structure, medium/full body, warming alcohol, and just enough acidity, this is a sophisticated little wine.

#5)       2004 Bodegas Piedemonte Crianza Merlot/Tempranillo/Cab. Sauvignon,
            Navarra Spain
            Price: $21.50 Availability: CONSIGNMENT/case of 12
• Silky. Soft. Lush. Easy. I’m talking about the wine.
This is a delectable little fruit bomb. Bright red and dark fruits abound. Generous amounts of vanilla, warm spice and soft tannin also. This is a New World styled Spanish Crianza. Drink this with braised, saucy dishes especially. This wine definitely belongs in the ‘yummy’ category.

To order any of these wines, please contact myself or Jarrod at: 416.531.5553

You can also order online at www.bwwines.com

Cheers to braving the endless winter (with the help of some good vino),

Kristin

Over the Hill

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:58:00 GMT

I don’t know if it’s because 2008 finished with such a resounding THUD, but I can’t help feeling that things have got to get better all around.
At least the holidays were a wonderful beginning to the New Year, with lots of family time and laughter. I spent a few days on my own with my parents, which I have not done for some time. We enjoyed much good food together, as well as some ‘interesting’ wines of my dad’s.
My father is a very intelligent, learned man. He is an intense professional who is strongly identified by his career. He takes the passions in his life very seriously: his work, his wife, his children, his skiing and those ‘finer things in life’. My dad’s favourite expression when enjoying himself over dinner with the family, or while on the ski lift is “the rest is all bull@!?#!”

About ten years ago, he developed a mild obsession with fine wine, which has led to his own small cellar in the basement (built by him). His first buying instincts were determined by those little red dots you might have seen in the Vintages section of your local LCBO. These were indicators of ‘staff favourites’. In defense of these suggestive little stickers, my father was rarely steered in the wrong direction…

His interest in wine has led him over the years to venture beyond the red dots. He now discusses major wine regions with excitement and ease, and buys according to vintage reports and reputed wine reviews (yes, Robert Parker Jr. has a strong hold on my dad).

Having now established his own small cache of wine, my father has fallen into the trap of so many wine collectors: holding onto wines for FAR TOO LONG. The fact is that much of the wine produced today has a maximum shelflife of 5 years. Most wine is made to be drunk within 12-18 months of bottling.

We had a prime example of this issue one evening together. In fact, it was a hilarious example of holding onto something that just wasn’t worth it in the first place. My father had confessed rather sheepishly to having some really old wines he’d been hanging onto for fear that they would now be vinegar.

On our second evening at the cottage, my dad proudly brought out a rare wine indeed. A 1978 Ernest & Julio Gallo Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Keep in mind this bottle was produced back in the day that Gallo was known only for jug wine. With good reason!

I don’t know what my dad would have paid for the wine in 1978, maybe $10, which surely would have been a splurge back then. I don’t know what possessed him to hold onto the wine for 30 years either. I was laughing as he opened the wine, certain that it was going to be absolutely awful.

It was awful, but not as terrible as I had feared. The wine was sound, just 26 years over the hill! The nose was remniscent of nail polish remover, stewed unidentifiable red (read brown) fruits, fungal undergrowth and maybe a titch of spice. The levels of volatile acidity in the wine led me to wonder just what kind of fertilizers/pesticides might have been employed in Californian viticulture in the late ‘70’s…

On the palate, amazingly enough, the wine had held onto its acidity, with some evidence of tannin also. Flavours mirrored the nose, featuring the stewed fruit/fungal undergrowth notes. If we had had a big barbecued piece of steak, I might have even tried to drink it. Grinning as my father exclaimed: ‘hey, it’s not that bad!’, I had a few evaluative sips, decided there was no way I could finish it, and covertly tipped the contents of my glass into the sink behind my back. My mom was less discreet. She pronounced the wine ‘godawful’ and asked that my father please open a different bottle, of a more recent vintage! I remained quiet, but was silently thanking my mom for her candor.

This singular wine experience has led to some real progress. My father and I have had a good talk about wine cellaring. He has also finally agreed to let me inventory his wine. No doubt I will find more ‘treasures’ buried deep in my parents’ basement! I’ll be sure to follow up post inventory…

Things are looking better for 2009 already.

Cheers,

Kristin

A Wine Still on My Mind…

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:01:00 GMT

Fortunately for me, I get to taste (read: drink) a lot of good wine. Most of what I get to taste is wine that the agency is bringing in to the province for sale to restaurant and private clients. It is usually above my everyday drinking snack bracket, so is always a welcome addition to my glass!
A couple of weeks ago, my colleague & buddy Mark Cuff came into the office bearing an incredible gift. Mark gets as excited about good wine as I do… Great wine sparks great discussion. I for one am tough to shut up once I get going…

So, in walks Mark, glint in his eye, bottle under arm. He’s carrying the famed Domaine du Coulet, from Cornas in the Northern Côte du Rhône. I have read of this wine in passing, and have heard Mark speak of it. The winemaker is Matthieu Barret, who is maybe 35 years old. The Domaine holds 4.5 hectares of prime old vines in Cornas. The yields are exceptionally low (approximately 8hl/ha for his top bottling) and production is tiny. The entire property is farmed biodynamically. The wines start at $90 CAD.
The wine we tasted was the 2006 Les Billes Noires, Domaine du Coulet’s top bottling. The colour of the wine was inky purple black. Matthieu does not filter or fine his wines. As the aspect of his vines receive much of the daily sun’s rays, his grapes have longer hang time. This means that the grapes are able to develop fully phenolically. Translation: his wines have great colour and flavour extract. They are dark, almost opaque.

The nose was exactly what you would hope for in a Syrah from the Northern Rhone, and so much more… Deep, dark berry fruit (think blackberry puree), fresh whole fragrant peppercorns, bruised floral notes (pungent ripe violet) and an almost overriding salty quality. From the description I’ve just penned, you might think the wine over the top. Not at all… Just very accomplished.
On first taste, the wine was overwhelmingly full… viscous. The mineral saltiness first detected on the nose seemed to slide over the wine in the mouth, almost coating it in mineral flavour. Once through that barrier, the fruit opened up. Tons of dark, rich berry flavour, as well as layers of subtle spice, including notes of pepper. My overwhelming impression was of how alive this wine was… The finish evolved through the fruit, leaving light spice fragrance and iodine flavours for long minutes on the palate. This is an excellent wine. Unlike any Cornas I’ve experienced.
I tasted the Domaine Coulet ‘Les Billes Noires’ two weeks ago. I wrote the above note this morning. Can’t wait to taste it again, the next time with pen in hand.
Where to find this wine?

It is currently housed at Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, 9 Church Street, Toronto. (www.jamiekennedy.ca)The whole Canadian allocation is there.

Cheers,
Kristin

More fun stuff that comes with the new job…

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:51:00 GMT

This past week I competed in the 4th Annual Wine Tasting Challenge. This is a crazy contest that attracts all of the local wine talent in the Toronto area. It is put on by CCOVI at Brock University (Cool Climate Oenology & Viticulture Institute) and takes place at the Four Seasons Hotel. Big sponsors include yours truly, B&W Wines.

The way it works:

You have 50 minutes to taste 7 wines blind, 3 VQA wines blind, and 3 spirits blind. At the end of this, you hazard a guess at varietal, country of origin, region, as well as vintage.

Prize values total over 100 grand, plus bragging rights. It goes without saying that all of the city’s top winos show up. During my exam alone, I recognized Zoltan Szabo, Paul Decampo from Henry of Pelham, Marlise Ponzo from Crush, Corey Ladouceur from the Granite Club, as well as three PhD students from CCOVI. That was just in the first hour time slot.

The wines tasted were released on the website www.winechallenge.com
How did I do? Well, I had high hopes going in, as those prizes were looking pretty sweet… However, I don’t think I’ll be bragging any time soon.

There’s always next year!

Cheers,
Kristin

New Beginnings

Kristin@thelivingvine.ca — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:51:00 GMT

I’m sitting at home in the peace (finally) and quiet (sigh) of the evening. The kids are sound asleep and I have a glass of wine at my side as I sit here and write. Life is good.

These last few months have been unsteady, uncertain, petrifying and exciting. I’m not talking about the stock market or the US election, I’m talking about my life!

I left the life of a restaurant cook/chef in July to venture into the world of wine, sales and a brand new food business. To say the transition has been smooth would be a bit of a fib. I’ve been studying wine with food for the last ten years, but have been finishing a diploma in wine for the last three. This was a logical (?) next step, though I realize now just what an enormous leap it has been!

The gang here has embraced me as a bonafide member of the family which has been a lifesaver. I have had to be a quick study in things like Excel (don’t laugh), wine orders, licensee sales, LCBO tastings, not to mention studying Canadian Import Legislation, Labelling Requirements, International Freight and Shipping, and drafting letters in Spanish and Italian (I speak no Italian and have passable Spanish abilities). In a nutshell, pretty kooky for a girl whose days used to be spent hustling around a kitchen, cooking like a banshee through a busy service, chatting with patrons and studying wine. Night and day.

After 2 months here at B&W, I can definitely say that different is good and that change leads to progress…
We are launching our new food company FOOD INC. in January, and I’ll be here to offer thoughts and ideas on the passions in my life: great food and great wine. I look forward to sharing wine notes (BIG perk of the job), food news, recipes and wine pairings.

This is going to be good.

Cheers,
Kristin