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.