Apple Cider is not Champagne. Fact.

Tys is exhausted from all
the pre-Christmas
festivities... 

Well, with only two sleeps until Christmas, (I think) I am officially done all my shopping. Just this morning. But at least it's done now. Tomorrow can just be a relaxing day, maybe with a sleep in. 

This week we did some holiday baking (or rather, Shane did), and we had The Puddys over for a pre-Christmas visit. It was a fun evening, although I don't think the next morning was as fun for anyone... Oops. 

Looking very dapper in
Shane's bowtie

December 22, 2016

It's going to be a short review this week, and you'll see why in a moment. This week we tried Domaine de Vaugondy's Brut Vouvray. On popping the top, Shane immediately said "dry apple cider". 

It had a lovely golden colour in the glass, not unlike a cider (are you sensing a trend?)... It had great sharp bubbles. The first couple sips were very dry, but it did seem to lighten up a bit. In the first few sips we both got heavy apple flavours, the yellow apples. We got notes of "cider". And made a point to re-check the label to ensure it wasn't a cider... In a good way, I mean, we enjoy cider, but not when it's supposed to be sparkling wine... 

All in all, it was good, but it tasted like cider. The end. Short review as it was very one dimensional. Apples. Apples and undertones of apples... 

~S

• Brand: Domaine de Vaugondy
• Type of Grape: Chenin Blanc
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $17.95
• Tasting Notes: Nice bubbly, but very apple forward, not much in the way of other flavours. Would be nice with fruit salad or brunch.

Let the festivities begin!

What a festive week is has been. We started off by getting the kids for a few hours and cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating it; obviously while enjoying some eggnog. My folks came over, and seemed to enjoy the festive spirit. 

The before and after of our lil' tree

Sunday Shane and I went to Merrickville for our 6th Annual Christmas Shopping Extravaganza (self titled). Six years. Wow. That was a great day, and certainly kicked off the Christmas shopping. Well worth the drive in the blizzard.  It was nice to finally feel like we'd taken a chunk out of the shopping, and it relieved the pressure a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot to do, but at least I got started... 

The rest of the week was low key, but nice. The weather has been cold though, which is less nice. I love winter, but -25C is a little much. We can have a nice winter around -10C if you ask me. Tyson has been enjoying the snuggles by the fire though, so that's an upside of cold weather. 

December 15, 2016

This week we went for a fancy-looking bottle. Not quite sure how I'm going to get the "label" into my book but I'll figure something out... 

So this was Segura Viudas's Brut Reserva Heredad Cava. The bottle was super fancy with a metal emblem and base stuck on it. We have had a bottle of Segura before. That one certainly didn't feel this fancy, but was very tasty. Also note-worthy, the Segura Viudas brand falls under the giant umbrella of the Freixenet S.A. brand, of which we've had many many types (here, here, and -unfortunately- here)

Shane didn't get much on popping the top. In the glass, I thought it smelled of something very distinct and familiar, but I couldn't identify what it was. Shane couldn't either. So we were at a loss. Now, something to keep in mind, is this bottle was super cold. It had been in the freezer chilling, but also our living room was cold, so it didn't really get a chance to warm up after opening. 

It had a nice mouth feel, lots of sharp, crisp bubbles. It was okay overall, predictable, but boring. It was wine-y, with hints of white grape (which I think is different than winey...). We do have a special review this week from Tyson, who was enjoying licking it off our fingers. He seemed to think it had hints of salted, cured meats, but we think maybe that was because we had just eaten a prosciutto platter... but who knows... 

Near the end I thought it had a bit of a liquory after taste, but Shane wrote down liquorice... not sure if that's because he tasted liquorice, or if it's just what he thought I said... 

So I guess no, we wouldn't get this again. It wasn't worth the extra money for the fancy bottle. If you want this brand, try their regular brut cava.

~S

• Brand: Segura Viudas
• Type of Grape: Not mentioned
• Sweetness: 8g/L
• Price: $29.95
• Tasting Notes:  Mild flavoured bubbly, winey and grapey. Would go nicely with food with mild flavours so it isn't overtaken, like a fruit tray. 

You Won't Believe Me

(Edit: Would you believe me if I said that I actually did start this post last Friday? No, I wouldn't either, but it's true...) 

I can't believe we're done the second Champagne Thursday of December. I also can't believe that there are only 3 more Champagne Thursdays in 2016. Time flies, eh? 

Last weekend we had a lovely baby shower for Baby Ozzy. Afterwards I got to snuggle with him for almost 2 hours, pure delight. Although, all the baby bouncing did remind me how out of shape my legs are... gotta get on that before I go skiing... yikes!

I've just realized how close Christmas is... Should start shopping soon...

December 8, 2016


This week Shane went rogue and went to the LCBO without me! I'm pretty sure he chose this bottle based on the colour alone. It was a beautiful dark rosé. Juvé y Camps' Pinot Noir Cava. It had a super loud pop, but not much scent off the top. 

In the glass, I got a strong, tart cranberry scent right away. I thought it was dry at first, but it seemed to mellow out after a few sips. Shane said that the first thing he thought of after swallowing it was "Baby Duck", in that he found it sweet, but not in a bad way that you'd maybe think with the baby duck comment (Baby Duck has 51g/L of sugar, compared to the low teens we try to stick to)... 

After a glass, it seemed to open up a bit more, and gave way to some raspberry scents along with the cranberries. It had the essence of a sweeter wine, while still being quite dry (if that makes sense?). I did notice a bit of a boozy or liquory aftertaste, but nothing too offensive. 

It had a really nice mouth feel, with lots of sharp bubbles. And, like I said before, has a beautiful colour. Overall, yes, we liked it, and wouldn't hesitate to get it again. 

Til next time (aka tomorrow, hopefully), 
~S

• Brand: Juvé y Camps
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $21.95
• Tasting Notes: CRANBERRIES with a touch of raspberries. Would pair nicely with a baked brie in puff pastry. 

Playing Catchup

 So a bit of catch up: 2 weekends ago, mom and I had a Christmas dinner to go to in Peterborough. It was nice to see a bunch of our motorcycling lady friends and reconnect and listen to their stories about where they'd ridden to this summer. There are some incredible ladies, my mom included, riding all across Canada and the USA.

Last weekend we took a couple days off and enjoyed the American Thanksgiving/Football Day. We also got all our Christmas decorations out, and made the eggnog to have with the Grey Cup game (not that we watched it, but that's beside the point...). So I think we are about ready to go. We've watched a couple Christmas movies, and will be putting up our tree next weekend with the kids. Now we just have to get our list-making and Christmas shopping on... That's the hard part...


We also had the absolute pleasure of meeting little baby Ozzy. He's just a delight. Going to be so much fun watching him grow.

Anyways, since we have a couple bottles to review, let's get to it.





November 24, 2016

This week we celebrated earlier in the day, as we were having a few beers while watching football and we wanted to be able to give a honest and accurate review. We got Wolfberger's Crémant d'Alsace Brut.

On popping the top, there wasn't much in the way of scents coming off the bottle. In the glass I thought it had a bit of white peach and a dry nose, but Shane said he didn't. The first couple sips I got a dry apple cider, or maybe an under-ripe pineapple. Shane said that it wasn't unlike any other sparkling, and that it tasted and smelled familiar (which makes sense if it is similar to many others). But he liked that about it, it felt like home.

Using the most technical of technical terms, I thought it was a bit Winey. It had a creamy mouth-feel, which is common for a crémant, although it did have some sharper bubbles. It started to lead into some tart crab apples by the end. Shane said he liked it, he said it was nice and dry. I thought it seemed to get sweeter with each sip, but overall it was a nice, simple, dry bubbly.

Shane would get this one again.

December 1, 2016

This time we tried Fantinel's One and Only Single Vineyard Brut Prosecco. We didn't get much aromas on popping the top (but it certainly had a, perhaps overly, dramatic popping). In the glass, it had a yeasty, bready scent. It was ridiculously pale in colour in the glass, almost colourless, but not quite. It had a tart first sip, but that may have been because we just enjoyed a glass of a dry cider (which may have also been why we tasted a bit of apples off the top).

I thought it had a slightly bitter aftertaste. Shane found it had a bit of a boozy taste, with not much going on. I still tasted some apples even into the next couple glasses.

It was the least favourite thing we drank that night (did you know you can get apple pie in a can?? That's right, this is the new Thornbury's Spiced Apple Cider, yum.)

That's all for this round. Sorry about the delay!

~S

November 24, 2016

• Brand: Wolfberger
• Type of Grape: Not sure
• Sweetness: 5g/L
• Price: $18.95
• Tasting Notes: Nice, simple bubbly, white peach and under-ripe pineapple flavours. Would pair well with a chicken cacciatore over pasta.

December 1, 2016

• Brand: Fantinel
• Type of Grape: Glera
• Sweetness: 6g/L
• Price: $18.95
• Tasting Notes: Mediocre bubbly, boozy taste with not much going on. Slight apple flavours, bready scents. Would go well with a fish dish with a creamy sauce.

Adult Pharmacy

I'm just going to skip over the fact that this is so late, and pretend like I hadn't promised myself a million times that I'd get better at this... 

Last week was pretty lovely. I had a quilting and sewing retreat with my mom, which resulted in my new living room quilt top being about half done (and it's looking glorious, if I do say so myself!). It is always so inspiring to see what everyone is working on, and it's such a great opportunity to dedicate some time to my own work and projects. Last year I worked on a baby quilt for one of my dear friends, and the year before that, another friend's baby, so this year it was quite refreshing to work on something that will be for my own home. It's a pattern that I've had for a few years now, and actually I've had most of the fabric that long too, so I was happy to finally get started. 

The rest of the week was pretty low key, I made some cupcakes for a bake sale, and we took a quick run to the states for turkeys. The only other very exciting part was that our wing friends D&S had their baby! A beautiful, healthy and bright looking baby boy they've named Ozzy. Yay! Our hearts are very full of love for this little guy already. 

Seriously, doesn't it look like it's from the 70s?

November 17, 2016

So, this week's "champagne" has a bit of a back story. Not long after we started the blog, our friend Kate said that we should try and find the cheapest bottle of champagne (or sparkling wine) we could, and review it. We all agreed it would be quite entertaining, and probably pretty awful. Anyways, so this week when we were in the States, we went back to the Rite Aid (we had found a bottle called "Flip Flop" there a couple years ago for $5) and went on a hunt. 

Yup, those are cinder block walls,
with the section painted on...
So you won't get lost!

First of all, Rite Aid: does that not make you think of a pharmacy? Yes, us too. Which we decided was kind of fitting, in that it's sort of a pharmacy for those who wish to self medicate. Second: really, this place looks super sketchy. Both inside and out. It looks like the bargain basement of booze. Which, when put like that, doesn't sound all that bad. But despite all its quirks, it actually has an enormous selection of everything. Sure it's got some waaaaay bottom shelf, far off the beaten path stuff, but it's also got some very high end stuff. Like Johnny Blue ($300 CAD) and other bottles well over the $100 USD mark. Impressive stuff. 

Why, yes, that is a $5.99 price tag...

So, this is how we found André. There were a few varieties in the André line up, and we chose the brut rosé (I know, shocking, we don't usually like it pink bubbly... except that we do...). The hilarious and disturbing thing about this one, is we don't know anything about it. It's not even on their website... So, yeah, that's just great... The other hilarious thing about these guys is their label (and very prominently boasted on their website), specifically the "California Champagne" that they call these bad boys... Direct quote. It's awesome. 

Okay, so onto the nitty gritty. What we're all dying to know... How was it? 

Weeeellllll, disappointingly, it wasn't terrible. I mean, don't get me wrong, it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. And that's without taking the $5.99 price tag into account. (Although, with the dollar the way it is, $6US is like $97CAN...)

That's quality right there... 

Okay, so on twisting the top (yes, that's right, it wasn't a pop the top night, it was a twist the top night) it smelled sweet for a "brut". Like, very sweet. The first few sips were an adjustment. This was not a brut. This was not a dry bubbly. It tasted like candied fruit. 

Around the mid-glass mark, when I started getting my bearings among the sweetness, I started getting some fruity flavours, strawberries or raspberries maybe, sweet with a touch of sour... The bubbles were nice, they helped to cut the sweetness as they had a very sharp mouthfeel. 

Yeah, he wanted to wear his Christmas
sweater... a touch early, but who
am I to say no? 

Into the second glass, in my notes I have: "tasty enough, but pretty effing sweet"... now, keep in mind, we know nothing about this guy. Maybe the alcohol content was ridiculously high and messing with our brains... It's possible. We were starting to get some peach flavours (or at least I was, Shane still claimed fake candy strawberries, like the gummy candies that are supposed to be "strawberry flavour" but are really just "red flavour"). It also seemed to get sweeter the further into it we got. 

All in all, it (shockingly) wasn't the worst we've had. I found that surprising, and Shane even said "I'd try some of the others in the André line up, mostly as a lark though". It wasn't particularly our taste, being so sweet, and when we tried to let Tyson try a bit, he sniffed and then snubbed it (that boy has expensive taste). 

But there you have it... I guess. The review that will disappoint the world as it wasn't as bad as we had all hoped. Don't kid yourself, you were hoping it was awful, and that we'd be regaling you with stories of us spitting it out in a comical, cartoonish manner, and then trying again and gagging and choking and whatnot... don't worry, we all were... 

Better luck next time...
~S

• Brand: André California Champagne
• Type of Grape: Who knows...
• Sweetness: Not sure, we guessed it around a 20-25g/L?
• Price: $5.99USD
• Tasting Notes:  Well, not as bad as we expected. There were strawberry and peach notes, very sweet, and nice bubbles. Would probably go nicely with something salty, like bacon (but then again, what wouldn't??)

Gotta Get Back on Track

It's late, yeah, yeah, I know, I was away over the weekend, so this is the first chance I've really had to work on it. 

It was a pretty full week, even if it didn't feel like it at the time. The kids were over on the weekend, insert running from friend's house to friend's house, work around the house, a brunch, and daylight savings time (ahhh, love the fall), it certainly felt busy enough.

I also went up with my mom to a friend's house to our annual Christmas Card Create-a-thon (self titled). This woman has stamps, and cutters, and punches, and glitter, and gadgets galore, so each year for the past 4-5 years we take a day to go up and visit her. We bring lunch, she provides the tools, and we all get our craft on. It's evolved from just Christmas cards to a bunch of different cards to have on hand, like thank you cards. It's fun, and a lovely kick-off to the holiday season. While I did that, Shane painted the living room! It's now a nice charcoal grey, and looks fresh and modern and lovely.

Also, while buying our Champagne this week, I had the honour of being full on IDed at the LCBO. Not just a quick scan of the ID, but a full-on break-out-the-UV-light-and-examine-that-puppy IDed. I didn't even know that there was a trillium emblem on our Driver's Licences that glowed under UV light... I thought there was just that kind of shiny little trillium on there, but no! There's a full UV light enabled circled logo hidden in there. 

November 10, 2016

This week we enjoyed a lovely bottle from Ca'Momi Winery in California: Ca'Secco. There wasn't too much going on with the popping of the top, although the bubbles were very loud in the bottle. 

In the glass, it had a dry, tart scent, kind of like granny smith apples. The first thing I got when I tasted it was crab apples. Shane agreed, and added that it had a bit of cranberries going on also, so basically tart and dry, with maybe a touch of sweet. 

It had a very creamy mouth feel with was nice. Shane thought it tasted very sweet, I didn't at first, but after a few sips, it did gain a sweet momentum, and seemed to keep getting sweeter. When we were pouring it, it appeared colourless, like bubbly water. In the glass though you could see a very pale yellow, but not much. 

Overall, we did like it, but it did end a touch sweet. So we would drink it again, but maybe not buy it again, for us alone. But we wouldn't hesitate to serve it to friends or to bring it to a friend's house. 

~S

• Brand: Ca'Momi Winery
• Type of Grape: Not noted 
• Sweetness: 13g/L
• Price: $17.95
• Tasting Notes: Dry apple and cranberry flavours, nice mouthfeel, would pair nicely with apple pie. 

Hectic weekend... delicious Champagne!

October is done and dusted (well, not really, hopefully November lends itself more to free time to dust...). Months of effort, planning and hard work all culminated in a frantic couple of days. 

Don't mind me in the mirror there...
Ooops, clearly not paying attention

We started the weekend off with a Blind Whisky Tasting. Shane, Drew and my dad all participated by purchasing 2 bottles of whisky, and I organized the blind tasting. Shane made fancy flight boards and placemats with fun facts. I made tasting note sheets, and we ordered some brandy snifters so everyone had the same glass. Not to forget my mom, who doesn't drink straight whisky, we set up 4 cream-based liqueurs for her to play along!

The evening resulted in some hilarious revelations (more expensive is not always better), and some great conversations. It was well worth the efforts, and definitely going to happen again. Next time, maybe we could focus on a particular region, or move away from whisky all together, and do beer or wine... It was a lot of fun. 

The next night was another big one for us. My sister is pregnant, and Shane and I have known for about a month what the gender of the baby is (no one else, not even my sister knew). So when Jake and Daryl came down, we organized a small gender reveal party. I even wore equal amounts of blue and pink to throw them off the scent. We had pink and blue chocolates and cupcakes, and old wives tales that we worked our way through to "predict" the gender. The wives tales ended up being split, if we take out what Jake and Daryl thought it was going to be, it was 8 "girl" results and 6 "boy" results. (If you're curious of the wives tales we used, let me know and I'll upload a better picture)

The only result that mattered though was in this box. 

Yup, that's right, we're getting a
NEPHEW!!

The rest of the week was full, but certainly less hectic than we had been. 


November 3, 2016

Can you tell that Shane took this picture?
Priorities are all wrong: Tyson is out of focus
and the bubbly is in focus... Almost like we
were making a Champagne blog... Silly man. 

This week we were on our own, our Champagne Guy is vacationing in the Dominican (JEALOUS!!). We saw a really cool bottle that we wanted to try, Blue Nun or something, which had little flecks of gold in it, but after an exhaustive search online and then eventually in the LCBO Employee's database, we found out it had 40g/L of sugar. I'm feeling the cavities followed by the sugar coma just thinking about it... 

We ended up with a bottle from France: Simonnet-Febvre's Crémant de Bourgogne Brut. It was a very bubbly bottle, when we popped the top, it sounded like fireworks were exploding in the bottle, and had a sweet-yeasty smell. 

In the glass, it was a lovely pale yellow. It was very fruit forward, with a sweet-tart flavour. We got hints of peach, with a citrusy thing going on, more lime than lemon... With that being said, it had a very nice acid balance, even with the citrus flavours, it didn't have an acidic mouth feel. It had lots of sharp bubbles (as we would have guessed by the bottle noises), but also resulted in a creamy mouth feel... maybe just because there were so many bubbles? Not sure. Usually sharp bubbles do not equal a creamy mouth feel... 

Ahh, that's better. Look at those
gorgeous eyes... :)

Shane said that his mouth was watering for quite a while after taking a few sips, so it was drier than it tasted. It was really good. A bit later on, we thought we got notes of pears? Or a hard stone fruit, like white peach?

We would definitely get this one again, it was quite nice. 

~S

• Brand: Simonnet-Febvre
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 8g/L
• Price: $23.95
• Tasting Notes: Sweet fruity flavours lead to a nicely dry finish. Notes of stone fruit, pears, and lime. Would pair nicely with a spicy chicken or fish taco.

"Dry" doesn't mean "Tart"

Late. Late. Late. It's just been crazy. This past weekend was... well, just wow. But that's for this week's post. 

Lil' Sweetheart

Last week, let's see... The kids were over, and we forgot to carve pumpkins... oops. It was busy with preparations for last weekend (next post). As was the week, really. Everything for the past month had been leading up to last weekend. 

Celebrating our anniversary
with a glass of wine

Except Monday. Tyson and I had our 7th anniversary together on Monday. I find it hard to believe that we've been together for 7 years. We've come a long way (both literally and figuratively). And a lot has happened. One of my goals for this year is to find all his little puppy pictures... I'm not sure where they've gone, but I've only got a few left on Facebook. They must be saved on an external hard drive somewhere, it's just a matter of finding them... Now that I've put it out there (here), I'll have to do it! Right? Accountability? Or something like that... 

 Anyways, enough chit chat. Onto the good stuff. 

October 27, 2016

This week we splurged. We saw a Megalomaniac bottle that we had tried in May on our tour, and loved it, but it seemed so pricey at the time... Anyways, it's now available at the LCBO, and didn't seem quite so pricey, so we got it. Megalomaniac's Bubblehead. Its bottle is so sparkling and beautiful that Tyson felt he had to get dressed up. Fancy-pants. (I tried to link directly to the Bubblehead's page, but it kept coming up at "not found" so... you're SOL.)

Handsome devil.

Anyways, on popping the top, I got a bread-dough scent. Shane said it was a little yeasty, but also sweet and tart... In the glass it has a sugary start, but with a nice and smooth finish. Shane thought that after its sweet start, it quickly moved to a tart after taste. 

There was a fruit flavour going on in there that wasn't of the normal varieties we quote (apple, raspberry, pears, etc.). This one, after a bit of thinking, I decided was plums. Shane jumped in with "Sugar plums", I asked him what that was, and he very confidently, and a little mockingly said "sweet plums". After a bit of research, we discovered this was not true at all. Sugar plums are expensive old candy treats that - depending on the size - could take days to prepare. Apparently very tedious, time consuming and finicky... Moving on. 

After a glass, I noted that I didn't really get sour, nor tart like Shane, but I got dry. Sometimes we're not great at differentiating but, obviously, dry doesn't always mean tart. This was one of those times. Shane later amended his "tart" to "liquor-y": It goes from sweet to almost like drinking a liqueur. 

We quite like this one. We'll probably get it again sometime. We have yet to decide if it's $10 better than our normal stuff.  

~S

• Brand: Megalomaniac
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 13g/L
• Price: $29.95
• Tasting Notes: Sweet plums at start, very smooth finish. Nicely dry and balanced. Would pair nicely with a Christmas-y baked brie with a cranberry chutney. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Koo Koo

Wow, well, another busy week is ending, thank goodness. It's been a flurry ever since we posted the previous entry! The weekend went from the best time ever to the worst time ever: we went up to Burlington for a Thanksgiving get-together at my cousin and his wife's house. It was fantastic, we had a few too many drinks, caught up a lot, and spent the night there, getting to bed very late. The following morning, we were hungover (or maybe it was just me?). So we ate breakfast and hit the road. For about 10 minutes. And then the car died. The dash went all wonky, the air didn't work, the windows didn't work, the engine kept revving and turning the skid control feature on and off, and then the speedometer didn't work. Yikes. So we limp off the highway and call CAA for a tow. So now we're all (my folks too) sitting in the back of a tow truck for the looooooong ride home. And then CAA didn't cover the full tow. And tow trucks are EXPENSIVE. Holy smokes. So yeah, that wasn't the best time ever. Boots (the car) seems to be fine now though, got his alternator replaced and we're back in business. 

Meeting the band!

Monday, was ah-mazing! After work, we went with the Puddys to Ottawa to catch the Koo Koo Kanga Roo concert. Oh my goodness, hilarious and quite the dance work out. We got to see them in Boston a few years back when they opened for Frank Turner. It was an adult show, and this band was described to us as "kids songs but for adults"... We were skeptical, but were absolutely hooked after hearing them. The crowd was crazy pumped up, and dancing and laughing and just having a blast. It's contagious. 

We got our shirts signed! Scandalous!

We introduced the Puddys to their music when we got back. They loved it, hyper, catchy dancy music? What's not to love?? So yeah, when we found out they were going to be in Ottawa we knew we had to be there. It was an all ages show, and probably half the audience was under 7, but it was so worth it!

Anyways, the rest of the week seemed tame compared to Monday. The kids came over on Tuesday, and we went out to the farm to watch Survivor with my folks on Wednesday. Enter Thursday!

October 20, 2016

This week, Shane is sick, so he wasn't a heck of a lot of help for the tasting notes. We opted for Tenuta S. Anna's Processo Superiore di Valdobbiadene (I'm having trouble finding the winery's website, but on the back of the bottle was their Canadian Distributer's website). 

We didn't get much on the nose when we first popped the top (prior to pouring). That might be because it's usually Shane who makes those notes, as he's the popper... and he's sick. In the glass though, I got a dry, tart apple scent. It smelled really nice, and had a very clean appearance. It was a very pale straw colour. 

In the first couple sips, I wasn't sure that I liked it. It had a weird fruit flavour going on in there, and I couldn't identify it. Shane got it too, but he liked it right away. I got like a honey thing? And Shane said maybe appley-pears? We never really did identify it... 

It has lots of sharp bubbles, giving it a full mouth feel. I did notice a bit of a liquory after taste hiding in the background. I wasn't a fan of that at first, but it seemed to dissipate as the bubbly became less chilled (We didn't forget it in the freezer this week, huzzah! But it was still very cold...).

It had a bit of a "winey" flavour (technical term). Which was okay, not off-putting. Shane said that it had a very clean taste and mouth feel. This was a good thing, since his "skull had too much gunk in it already", lovely... 

All in all, it was a nice bottle. Shane liked it more than I did, but it did grow on me. Other than it being burpy, I wouldn't have any problems recommending this one. 

Til next time, 
~S

• Brand: Tenuta S. Anna
• Type of Grape: Glera
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $19.95
• Tasting Notes: Clean tasting, dry and tart bubbly, with some essences of apples and pears. Would go nicely with a brie and fruit dish. 

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Well, it was a busy week in beautiful, downtown Morven. The kids had a big football game Friday night, their Friday Night Lights moment against their rivals, and then we hosted Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. We smoked a turkey (yum), did all the fixin's, made pumpkin pies and butter tarts. Shane made an especially yummy stuffing (in the crockpot) by adding a couple honey garlic sausages into the mix. They added a lovely pop of meaty sweetness to the bite. Because really, when you think of a Thanksgiving dinner, you really need extra meat thrown in there. 

Sunday saw a relaxed day, we played hide and seek on the dog with the kids and watched the Green Bay game after they went home. Which brings us to Monday, ahhh, glorious Monday. Since it was a holiday, we took full advantage. I slept in quite late (it had been a late night after all, what with the football game), and then we took Tyson for a glorious walk, about 5km, in the crisp fall weather that we got. Beautiful colours, and just generally nice to be outside. After we got home, we enjoyed a gargantuan leftover Thanksgiving dinner made into a sandwich. Seriously huge. We sat outside with a cold beer, and enjoyed the sunshine. Then we went inside and watched movies for the rest of the day. Like I said, ahhh, glorious Monday. 

The rest of the week was pretty low key, dinner out with the Puddys, and a quick trip to the states to pick up whiskey glasses. Enter Champagne Thursday. 

October 13, 2016

This week we were on our own. Our Champagne Guy was busy with another client, so we were left to our own devices to make our pick. So, we did what we always do when on our own: choose based on label. This week we picked Louis Bouillot's Perle d'Aurore Brut Rosé. We have recently had another bottle from the Louis Bouillot's collection: the Perle D'Or.

Tyson was looking extra regal for his picture

First things first, we put this one in the freezer when we got home (which we normally do) and proceeded to forget about it (which we normally don't do)... so it was very very cold, even had frost on the bottle. Brr. That being said, the first glass still had lots of flavour going on. 

On popping the top we got a sweet yeasty smell, it smelled really nice. The first couple sips, although very cold, had a beautiful tart raspberry flavour. It was nicely dry. I poured some into a wine glass to let it warm up a touch. It also let me really get my nose in there to search for aromas. 

It's very berry forward, and really yummy. We also thought it had a nice crisp bubble. It didn't feel sharp like a prosecco, but not creamy like a typical crémant... Shane said it had a "nice bubble balance", I think that's the technical term for it... We also thought it had a nicely acidic bite, which may have been why the bubbles seemed crisper? 

All through the bottle, it had a nice and fresh scent, not like a bottled up wine smell. Shane thought it tasted like a breakfast cereal with marshmallows, maybe like Lucky Charms. We attributed it to the berry forward flavours presenting as marshmallows, and the sweet, yeasty scent being the cereal pieces. 

In conclusion, we really enjoyed this bottle. It was fruity, dry, tart, and bubbly. Very refreshing. Absolutely would recommend it. 

~S

• Brand: Louis Bouillot
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gamay
• Sweetness: 14g/L
• Price: $21.95
• Tasting Notes: Raspberry flavours, sweet and yeasty scent, would pair nicely with a hot and sunny afternoon in a beach chair!

#JenkinsDoA2

Why, yes, that is Shane sporting his Champagne
Thursday shirt on a Sunday!

Well, we did it! We made it to Ann Arbor and back again. We had a fantastic time. There was food, shenanigans, and so much laughter my abs hurt after. We tailgated for a University of Michigan football game, we hiked alongside the Huron River, wandered through Kerrytown, and ate and drank to our hearts' content (although not our livers'). It was a wonderful weekend, albeit much, much too short. 

Crazy Jim's Blimpy Burger,
and Shane had to
get the Quint, with,
obviously, 5 patties!!

The rest of the week was pretty mundane, but felt busy as we didn't get home from A2 (apparently that's what the kids call "Ann Arbor") until Monday evening. So then there was the kids night, then over to my folks for wings and Survivor, and then Champagne Thursday on a grocery shopping day. We certainly packed a lot into this short week!

October 6, 2016

This week we were all alone in the Vintages section of the LCBO, we arrived a bit later than normal, and so our Champagne Guy must have already gone home. We ended up picking a bottle from the Loire region of France. You may remember we had another one just recently from there. The region seems to be known for their crémants.

Tyson was not thrilled to be participating this week...
Seriously, that face though

This week was from Domaine Amirault, Les Quarterons (I think that's the link, but I'm having issues with it loading properly). On popping the top, Shane got a bready, sweet scent (very different from a sweetbreads scent...). I thought it smelled a bit dry... so we were quite divided. We both quite liked it, and I found it less dry after a couple sips. There were lots of creamy bubbles, typical of a crémant.

Shane said it seemed to have a sweet-tart thing going on, but then proceeded to say it was tart about 14 times... It seemed like it was dry, while seeming sweet at the same time. Very conflicted bubbly. 

I thought it had a bit of a yeast-y scent going on, and I had "liquor-ish" written down. I couldn't decide if it was a bit liquory, or if it had a touch of a licorice flavour in there... Shane thought there might be a green apple flavour in the background? Needless to say, this one was a bit tricky to nail down. 

It was really good, a touch sweeter than we normally like, without being outside our "sweet umbrella". We decided that we would get this one again. 

Until next time!

~S

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• Brand: Domaine Amirault
• Type of Grape: Cabernet-Franc, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $22.95
• Tasting Notes: A solid, and predictable bubbly, with hints of sweet-tart apples, and lots of nice creamy bubbles. Would pair nicely with gourmet burgers or wood fired pizza.