Pre-Hallowe'en!

He was so tiny! 

This was a pretty quiet week for us. The kids were over for the weekend, and I celebrated my 6th anniversary with Tyson. I remember bringing him home, an adorable 6 pound bundle of fur, skin and energy. He's now a handsome 95 pound bundle of cuddles and laziness. Ah, how times change as we age. 

We have a belated Thanksgiving dinner coming up this weekend, and so we've been preparing the turkey, defrosting, soaking him in his brine bath, getting ready to smoke... yum yum. He's going to be delicious. 

Back to the point. 

October 29, 2015

Happy lil' dragon

Being the Thursday before Hallowe'en, we decided it was most fitting for Tyson to wear his costume. He's a dragon this year (not to be confused with the dinosaur costume that he wore last year... which looks very similar... so similar in fact that some could be confused...). 

We celebrated with a bottle of Desiderius's Pongrácz, from South Africa. It had a very tart and dry aroma on the nose. A lovely straw colour, and lots of big bubbles in the glass. 

On first taste it was close your eyes tart-sour. Like you'd just had a super sour candy. Both Shane and I were a bit taken aback by how tart it was. No real flavours came through at first because of this. After a few sips, and a bit of air, the tartness subsided a touch. The main flavour was, well, white wine. There wasn't much in the way of fruit or outside flavours. It was nice, clean and well rounded, but nothing special. 

I think he was tired of
the photo shoot

Verdict: It was okay. The first sips might be off-putting for someone who doesn't drink much bubbly, but overall, nothing special. With all the other options out there, we probably wouldn't get this one again... This would not be suitable for someone who likes sweeter bubblies. 

~S

• Brand: Desiderius, South Africa
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 9g/L
• Price: $16.95
• Tasting Notes: Very tart, nicely dry, white wine flavour. Would go nicely with a creamy pasta. 

The Lonely Week is Over

I always knew I was meant to
be a pillow... 

And thank goodness for that! Shane was away on business from Sunday to Wednesday. Normally I'm the one who has left, and so it felt very strange to be in the house with just me, my thoughts and Tyson (at least he was there, couch snuggles are the best!). 

Before Shane left, we had a nice weekend: mom and I went for brunch while dad and Shane cleaned his closet. In a sense... a very loose sense... They built shelves. When we moved in, I picked the closet in our bedroom that had shelves and a bit of room for hanging, which meant that Shane got the closet with just a bar for hanging clothes. Unfortunately, that hasn't been working so well for t-shirts which seemed to be consumed by the growing pile of clothes on the floor. So, when our weekend cleared up, we decided that it was time to fix that. And then we ate wings. Yum. 

Fast forward to Thursday. 

October 22, 2015

Nope, he hasn't moved from that
spot all week

This was a great week for bubbly. Really great. It was an Ontario wine from the Niagara region, Vieni Estate's 2013 Momenti. We had to stop by the LCBO this week to pick up a bottle of Bailey's for a new dessert we're going to try, and saw this beauty in the Vintages section. It was new, the label was pretty, and the price, well, it was outstanding. 

In the glass it's a very pale yellow, but with more colour than the past couple we've had. Very pretty, lots of bubbles. On the nose it has a fruity, hard pear scent. On the palate, it doesn't have the expected pear taste, but Shane identified passion fruit with a bit of banana, which I thought was oddly specific. I didn't get that specific with my tastings but did notice it was heavy in tropical flavours. Shane said it reminded him of the Tropical Citrus Blend of the Five Alive juice. 

It was really good. Really good. Shane must have said "This is really tasty" about 17 times. It's not a super sweet bubbly, the label actually says "extra dry" which I disagree with. We do think though that with the level of tropical fruity flavours, it is one that even someone who prefers the sweet champagnes (like my mom) would enjoy. It's got so much fruity essence that it almost comes across as a fruit wine. 

Verdict: as if it wasn't obvious, yes, we will be getting this again. Heck, we may go pick up a couple bottles to have on hand because we expect it will sell out. 

~S

• Brand: Vieni Estates
• Type of Grape: Vidal & Pinot Grigio
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $13.95
• Tasting Notes: Very tropical flavours, light and fruity. Would pair well with eggs benedict and salty home fries. 

Hashtag: Thankful

This past weekend was Thanksgiving. A time to join together with friends and family, to celebrate the little things, to be thankful for all that you have. And to eat WAY too much. So, based on those criteria, our Thanksgiving was a huge success. We ate too much ham and potatoes on Saturday with the kids, on Sunday we enjoyed the Packers football game (big win!), and then enjoyed the outside tossing the ball around ourselves. After the kids went back to their mom's, Shane and I had dinner with my parents, where we ate too much turkey, stuffing, cranberries (me, not Shane), potatoes, everything, and then topped it all off with Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. On Monday, we were all ready to do a major houseclean... until we both ran out of steam by about 1:30, so we went and voted, then went on a nice motorcycle ride by the water, sat in the sunshine with a beer, then finished watching Suits (we've been addicted, so it's good to be done!). 


The short work week has certainly felt long enough though, and we're both looking forward to the weekend. 

October 15, 2015

This Thursday was celebrated after we watched the boys' high school football team smoke their competition.

We had been given a bottle of [Yellow tail] Bubbles. This is a nice simple bubbly, easy to drink and enjoy, we've had it a few times in the past (as recently as September). 

In the glass, it's very pale, almost colourless; it has a dry smell, but a sweeter taste. I'm getting a bit of a cold, so my taste and smell is a little off, but in my first sip I got a whack of vitamin taste. Shane did a bit as well, but he said it was more minerally than vitamin-y, which sounds way better :). Although I usually don't like minerally wines, I still enjoyed this one. 

We also noted that it was less sweet than we remembered it being, which, for us, was a good thing. We thought it was very sweet last time, but that didn't come through this time. There's a chance that's because we've had a few sweeter bubbles lately, but maybe just because we had it built up in our heads. Who knows. 

Verdict: Yup, we enjoy it each time we have it. 

~S

• Brand: [yellow tail]
• Type of Grape: Unknown
• Sweetness: 24g/L
• Price: $13.95
• Tasting Notes: Dry nose, sweeter on tongue, minerally flavours. Would pair nicely with a creamy rich pasta. 

Post-Head of the Trent

A lot has happened since my last post. So much so that this is late. Again. Maybe someday I'll learn, but I doubt it. 

Last weekend was my university homecoming, Head of the Trent. Unlike most homecomings, it isn't a football game, but a rowing regatta. But similar to most homecomings, it is usually a drunken fest, followed by more drinking. It was Shane's first time partaking in the shenanigans, but he fit right in. We made a vegetarian chili to have in the crock pot at the hotel for when it was supper time, which was a huge hit. We made it a little atypical in that we roasted squash and sweet potatoes and used cinnamon and nutmeg and harvest-y spices along with the traditional chili flavours. Yum. 

October 8, 2015

This week's Champagne Thursday was celebrated with a bottle from a friend from my university, seems fitting. Jenna got us a bottle of Yellowglen Pink. 

It was quite nice. It was dry on the nose, and wasn't as pink as some other blush bubblies we have had. It was more a rose gold colour, very pretty. 

The bubbles were great, small and plentiful and soft on the tongue. It has a sweet berry flavour, but it isn't a super sweet sparkling wine. (After note: I looked the sweetness level up after finishing the post for the short notes below and was surprised by the sugar content. It certainly has more than it would lead you to believe. Interesting. It comes across much more dry than it is.)

We noted that it had a pleasing yet unidentifiable scent. Later on we decided that it was like smelling a bag of Swedish Berries, yummy! Overall it was quite nice, nothing over the top, and an easy drinker. 

Verdict, sure, we'd get it again. 

~S

• Brand: Yellowglen
• Type of Grape: Variety of different grapes, not mentioned
• Sweetness: 26g/L (sweeter than I expected)
• Price: $11.95
• Tasting Notes: Sweet berry nose, dry on the tongue, nice bubbles, easy to drink. Would pair nicely with salty chips or grilled salmon.

Writer's Block

Another Champagne Thursday is in the books. I'm suffering from a bit of writer's block, so this week we're just going to get down to the nitty-gritty. 

October 1, 2015


This week we enjoyed a nice bottle of bubbly from our friends Lee and Ken: the Michelle Brut Sparkling Wine.  

In the glass it has a very very pale straw colour. It has a dry nose and smells a bit yeasty. Shane said he smelled field berries, but I didn't. 

Upon first sip, it tasted a bit dry, after a glass it mellowed out. It developed a sweet fruity taste, but we couldn't identify which fruit. It had plenty of bubbles, although it didn't have that creamy texture that we like. 

We did notice that we were a bit burpy after this one :)

Verdict: Yes, it's good. It's pretty safe. It doesn't taste dry, but it's not sweet either. 

Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm in this post, it's been a long, exhausting week. 

~S

• Brand: Domaine Ste Michelle
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $16.95
• Tasting notes: Nice bubbles, berry essence, neither sweet nor dry. Would go nicely with poutine or salty fries.