Twofer

It's been a crazy week, hence the missing post from last week. I had meant to do last week's post on the weekend, but it fell by the wayside. Then I was away for work and just got back last night.

So I hope you'll forgive me! 

Anyways, I guess I'll get right to the meat of it.

February 18, 2016 - International Drink Wine Day

We celebrated this week with a lovely bottle of Château Moncontour Cuvée Prédilection Brut Vouvray from 2012. On popping the top, we got a couple difference scents... I got a raw pizza dough, where Shane got vanilla... Quite different... 

This was a very bubbly bubbly. It was a beautiful medium straw colour. It had a nice sweet flavour, but a dry mouth feel, which is a bit odd. It had a nice acid balance as well. As far as flavours go, aside from sweet, it had an earthy taste, which we have had trouble describing to each other. It isn't grassy, and it isn't like dirt or rocks... It has a bit of a minerally taste, but not like vitamins, and it's quite nice. Almost like a mineral water I guess.

Onto glass two, we were getting a few more flavours, I though maybe peaches, Shane thought maybe apples or pears. Nothing too overwhelming, which probably caused the split decision. In any case, we both quite liked it, but it was a little burpy... :)

We would definitely get this one again.

February 15, 2016

As I was away, Shane picked out this one. He was working from home, and so this is one from the Napanee LCBO (a lovely store, but the selection is pretty tame...). We have had this brand in the past, and quite enjoy it usually (did you catch that? Usually...).

This week we got the Freixenet Gold bottle: Carta Nevada Brut. We've had their black bottle before, and it's quite lovely. 

This might have been my own fault, I may have primed us for disliking this bottle accidentally. I was silly, and mentioned to Shane that Freixenet is a sister company connected with the Beef Stew bubbly we had a while back... I should have just kept that little tidbit to myself... 

Anyways, I didn't. I told Shane, and thus the night began... Right off the get go, it smelled a little off. We tried to ignore this. The taste was okay at first, light, refreshing, not super tart and not much as an aftertaste. But we couldn't ignore the slightly off smell, and we were starting to be able to identify the scent as the beef stew that we loved so much... (sarcasm).

I tried to ignore it some more, getting some positive notes in our journal: it's got lots of nice bubbles, it has a nice mouth feel and it's not too acidic. But try as I might, the scent was seeping into the taste, and it was starting to taste a bit beefy... And once it started a little, it started a lot, and soon it was like drinking a savoury bubbly. 

Needless to say, we wouldn't get this one again.

~S

Feb 18/16

• Brand: Château Moncontour
• Type of Grape: Chenin Blanc (I think, I'm having trouble accessing the website)
• Sweetness: 13g/L
• Price: $19.95
• Tasting Notes: Sweeter flavour with a drier mouth feel, hints of hard fruits, and earthy tones. Would pair nicely with a baked brie or another creamy cheese. 

Feb 25/16

• Brand: Freixenet
• Type of Grape: Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada
• Sweetness: 10g/L
• Price: $12.95
• Tasting Notes: Light and refreshing, lots of bubbles. A meaty/savoury flavour. Would pair nightly with fresh bread or savoury pastries. 

Chocolate... For dinner?

Holy smokes it's felt like a busy week. Last Friday we went out to my parents' house for a Fondue Dinner. Oh my goodness, it was amazing. There was cheese and meat and bread and veggies. Then there was oodles of creamy chocolate with fruit and pretzels. There was fancy rye for the boys (Crown Royal's Northern Harvest), and some very tasty beers and wines for the rest of us. Shane and I both had very productive weekends, him working in the shop on his work bench, and me in the house on a couple surprise projects. 

Then we had a Rib Eat-Off at Montana's with The Puddys. Dave and Shane stuffed themselves silly eating probably 10 pounds of ribs, while Cristin and I were much more civilized but still very full after. We had a quick Champagne Campaign on Saturday with them afterwards. This one, Petale Il Vino dell' Amour, is very very sweet. Dave (who hates wine) loved it, called it sugar water. 97g/L. So not my favourite. But it was a nice change, and would be good for someone who isn't accustomed to the drier bubblies yet (but it should be a goal for those people, hahah).

Then (oh yes, there's more) it was the Super Bowl!!! We fell a bit behind (making the wings and nachos, yum!), so skipped the half time show (but watched the commercials, of course), but we watched the whole game. Shane might have been starting to fall asleep by the end of it (still fighting his cold/man flu), but we powered through. We were thrilled with the out come. I quite like Peyton Manning, and so was happy that wisdom, professionalism, and experience won out over showmanship, cockiness and youth. Next year though, Packers! 

Okay, let's get on with it. 

February 11, 2016

This week we did a bit of a pre-Valentine's Day celebration. We have Shane's kids this weekend and will be doing heart pancakes and pizzas with them. So we wanted something a bit special for us. We did a charcuterie platter for supper with some fig jam and goat cheese, and we had a little chocolate fondue for dessert. It was lovely. We picked a bottle from France to join the celebration: Pierre Sparr's Brut Rosé (this label doesn't match what we had, so maybe a different vintage?). 

On popping the top, Shane didn't get much in the way of aromas right away. After it was poured, we both got hints of dry berries. There were lots of lovely little bubbles, and it was a beautiful pink. The first few sips I got a very tart green apple, with maybe a bit of peach? Shane didn't get much more than tart and dry. He decided later that he could give me peach. 

We quite liked this one at first, it had a nice fruity flavour, and was nicely dry. It had a sour candies type flavour going on. By the end of the bottle though, I had had enough. I was getting an acidic after-taste that wasn't really sitting nicely. 

Verdict: Yeah, we'd get this again, but we'd get it when we had people to share it with. 

~S

• Brand: Pierre Sparr
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $18.95
• Tasting Notes: Tart and dry fruity flavours, hints of apples and peaches. Would pair nicely with a light fruity dessert or brunch.

Gerard Bertrand Man Flu

Well, quite the week. Shane's got the Man Flu, so you can imagine how my week has been... just lovely. He's snored through a couple marathon evenings where I powered through several episodes of The Office. He says he was listening, but I must admit I find that hard to believe. Especially when I had to recap everything from after dinner to bedtime... Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a sore throat... which was exactly how Shane's started... *cue ominous music*

Anyhow, I guess I should get started with the real reason we're all here. 


February 4, 2016

This week I had to go to the LCBO alone, and our Champagne Guy was busy with a real customer, so I picked this one solo... It was from the south of France, by Gerard Bertrand: Cremant de Limoux Brut, 2013 (the linked info sheet is for their 2012, I couldn't find their 2013). 

Shane thought this one was going to pop everywhere, so he insisted that the glasses be closer than normal. This didn't happen but at least we were prepared. Shane's dad thinks that this is how you know if it's a good bubbly, that it foams over the top on corking... 

(Note: With Shane having the Man Flu, his nose isn't working, so he is NOT very helpful this time)

On corking it smelled like stale vitamin C tablets, mixed with a dry white wine. It had a lovely straw colour, and appeared to have lots of bubbles. 

On the first sip, I got a huge amount of fruit flavours. There were strong notes of green apples and pears. I noticed a bit of a peachy aftertaste, but that might be reaching... There were lots and lots of bubbles, right through to the end of the bottle. It had a nicely mild acidy aftertaste, which is in fact nicer than it sounds.

We both did notice that we were a little burpy with this one... Not one to be shared on a first date. 

Verdict: It was okay, I liked the fruit and we might try it again, but it's not one to start your Champagne Thursday adventure on.

~S

• Brand: Gerard Bertrand
• Type of Grape: Not 100% sure about 2013, but the 2012 was Chardonnay, Chenin, Pinot Noir, and Mauzac 
• Sweetness: 6g/L
• Price: $19.95
• Tasting Notes: Fruity flavours, notes of pears, apples and peaches. Would pair well with a creamy cheese, maybe a baked brie.