Stars aligned?

So, my deepest apologies about the mix up last week. As I said in my post (that you weren't able to read until now...), I was going away with my mom for the weekend. Shane had wanted to read the post before we put it up, and so I left it in his hands to publish it after editing... Yeah, well, that didn't happen... 

Anyways, I went away with my mom for the weekend, a sewing retreat full of inspiring women making extraordinary quilts and projects. Just beautiful work. It was lovely to catch up with everyone, and get some time dedicated to my own projects that have fallen by the wayside this year. I got some stuff done, but as it's a surprise for a friend, I can't post anything. Remind me after I've given it away and I'll post a picture. 

Shane and my dad had been busy while we were away also, they got a new cupboard put up over our stove, new (to us) tools in the shop, and some other playing. Shane's boys also won their football championship game. 

Phew! Busy busy. 

Onto Champagne Thursday. We decided to repeat the Momenti from the other week, to see if was really as good as we thought the first time, or if all the stars had aligned just right to create this epic, lovely, bubbly week. 


November 19, 2015

So we got the Vieni Estates' Momenti again. On corking the bottle, Shane got a strong puff of berries. It has sweet field berries on the nose in the glass, along with some Granny Smith apples. It's a very pale yellow in the glass. Shane got an exotic fruit aroma when he sniffed. 

This one has lots of lovely bubbles, and still was strong in the tropical fruit Five-Alive juice flavours. There isn't much in the way of a boozy-burn (I'm pretty sure that's the technical term for it?) from this one, which is great. 

This week it didn't spend as much time in the fridge before we got into it, so it wasn't as cold as last time. This led to a more "wine-y" taste and less "fruit juice-y" taste. This isn't a criticism, just an observation. If you're new to the bubblies, I would recommend having this one well chilled to take some of the edge off. We, however, liked it perhaps a bit better this time around, as when it's less chilled it gives the wine flavours a chance to open up. It is certainly a lovely flavoured wine. 

Verdict: Yuppers. Absolutely like this one. It wasn't a fluke the first time brought on by a lonely week, cool house, and tired bodies. 

~S

• Brand: Vieni Estates
• Type of grape: Vidal and Pinot Grigio
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $13.95
• Tasting Notes: Lovely fruity flavours including field berries, apples, and exotic fruits. Would pair well with brunch or a cheese platter on a hot afternoon. 

Strawberries and Scream

We did it! We made it through another week. Thank goodness it's almost over. Not that it was a bad week, more because Mom and I are going away this weekend, and I'm a touch excited! Not about leaving Shane alone for the weekend, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, I'm sure he'll survive. 

This week's pre-Champagne Thursday was slightly less lavish than last week's mock-charcuterie platter, but the actual Champagne Thursday piece was significantly more successful. Thank heavens. 

November 12, 2015

We were a little more careful with our selection this week. We were leery about straying too far from our comfort zone, so we stuck with a new version of an old favourite. We have tried the Tierra Sur Sparkling Wine before, but this time we opted for their new Rosé. It's a lovely brut from Chile, and since I've been in a pink mood lately (just found out a friend is having a baby girl in the spring!), it seemed quite fitting. 


Popping the cork unleashed a lovely strawberries and cream aroma (well, strawberries and "scream" which was quickly corrected to "cream", silly Shane, it's not Hallowe'en anymore!). When you put your nose in the glass and take a whiff (are you picturing it? Bubbles up the nose!!), it doesn't have the same strawberries and cream scent,  it has a lovely dry, bready scent that has a slightly floral undertone. 

It's a very pretty pink colour in the glass, with lots of little bubbles. It's got a fruity flavour, like hard almost ripe apples, with a nice crisp mouth feel. The dry and crisp flavour leads into a lovely berry finish. 

This is a nice, safe (for us) bottle of bubbly. It is quite dry though, so it wouldn't work for people who prefer the sweeter bottles. 

Verdict: yuppers. The pink is as nice as the blue topped bottle (which we picked up because of the colour of the foil, shh don't tell anyone!). 

~S
PS: Sorry this is so late, I left this to Shane to publish, and he did not... grr.)

• Brand: Santa Alicia
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $17.95
• Tasting Notes: Lovely dry bubbly, floral fruity aroma, crisp hard apple flavour with a berry finish (would pair nicely with cheesy popcorn, or a dark chocolate mousse - yes, I realize how different those two foods are... I guess that makes this bubble well rounded?)

Beef Stew

Two of our Hallowe'en pumpkins were stolen! STOLEN! Who steals pumpkins nowadays? It wasn't even the witty pumpkin (mine). We looked everywhere as it was quite windy on Hallowe'en night, so we thought maybe they just blew away. But they were not to be found on our lawn, on our neighbours' lawn, across the road... Not even smashed anywhere. Someone really liked our pumpkins, and decided they wanted to own them for the couple hours left on Hallowe'en. Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

We've had a few dinners out at friends over the past week. We went over to my godmother's on Friday, and then over to the Puddy's on Tuesday. Delicious food, and good times at both. It was also "Bring your grade 9 to work day" this week, so Nick joined us at work. 

We had a fantastic nibbly dinner last night, we got some cold meats, cheeses, sliced an apple, a glass (or two) of riesling, mmmm. It was awesome. And pretty! 

Unfortunately, the champagne part of Champagne Thursday was significantly less successful. 

November 5, 2015

This week we suffered through a bottle with a very pretty label. It was a bottle from Mexico, and I know what you're thinking: Mexico? World renowned bubblies come from Mexico! Well, I'm not sure that is true, but if it is, this was not one of those bubbles. 

Even Tyson was unimpressed...

Sala Vive is a sparkling from Mexico, made by a branch of the Freixenet estate in Spain. I didn't know this until doing a bit of research this morning. We quite like the Freixenet black bottle, so don't think that this is a review of all their wines. Some are quite lovely. To us, however, this was not one of them. 

It is advertised as an extra dry sparkling wine, which totally appealed to us. In the glass it's a beautiful straw colour with lots of bubbles making their way to the surface. We were excited about it. 

This is where it all started to go sideways. Well, "how did it smell?" you ask? It smelled delicious. But not wine delicious... Irish Beef Stew delicious... Pardon me? Yes. A lovely beefy stew. Specifically the gravy from a tin of beef stew. I got an essence of canned peas mixed in, but for Shane it was strictly stew gravy. It brought back childhood memories for him of his dad opening the tin for lunch... 

Now, I didn't want to write that in the book. I made us drink the whole glass, sniffing and swirling and bubbling before admitting defeat, yup, that's it. I can't put anything else in the book, because that's all it was. 

After we got accustomed to the taste and smell, we didn't hate it... I mean, we didn't like it, but we didn't hate it... it was just very very strange. Something just wasn't quite right... Hahaha, yes, of course we finished it. It would have been wasteful to pour it out. It was similar to the green pepper pizza bubbly we had a while back, we finished that one too, and that was a bigger struggle than the beef stew was.  

Verdict: No. Never again. If I want a beef stew, I'll make one, or open a can. Can't do this one again. But beautiful label. 

~S

• Brand: Freixenet de Mexico 
• Type of Grape: Not advertised
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $18.95 (Looking at the LCBO website, it was released on our wedding day! How lovely!)
• Tasting Notes: A strong essence of Beef Stew, with canned peas on the nose.