Guest Author!

SPECIAL BLOG POST BY "GUEST" BLOGGER, Shane!!

Well, another week has come to pass. We settled in quite nicely after the busy weekend we had (I'll appologize now for the extra photos this week, but we've got LOTS to share!)

 Like Sam said before, we did a wine tour in Niagara. Day One we did a few wineries around the Grimsby area: Forty Creek (not a winery of course, but there was no way we weren't stopping by), Vieni (because they have some of our favourite bubblies), Flat Rock Cellars, and Megalomaniac (highly recommend going, very impressive building and delicious wines).

Us on the balcony of Megalomaniac holding a
bottle of "Selfie"  Very apropos!

Day two saw us spending time in Niagara-on-the-Lake and visiting Small Talk Vineyards (fun labels, seriously!), Big Head (GLORIOUS whites), Between the Lines (a fun bubbly that will make an appearance in this blog in the coming weeks) and Silversmith Brewing.  


All told, over the two days, we visited about 15 wineries, distilleries and/or breweries.  Needless to say while it was a super-fun weekend, we were really excited to finally be back home with the Tyson on Sunday evening - especially when you factor in the visit to, not one, BUT TWO Ikea stores in the Greater Toronto Area to get lamps for our night stands...  I was about ready to shoot someone... 






Before we move on to this week's Champagne Thursday selection & review, here are a few photos of our Adventure in the Niagara Area!




And of course... here's the haul!!!

Scary, eh?  Everything was just so damn tasty!

May 19, 2016

So on to this week's bubbly (finally, right?).  For the first time in Champagne Thursday history we decided to celebrate in our workshop!!!

Last Thursday we saw a bottle of sparkling wine from 13th Street Winery that was an amazing deep red colour.  It was totally calling our names, but because we were visiting the Niagara area that weekend we decided to skip it and give it a try when we got there. So we held off buying it and got the Fumees Blanches instead. 

The work bench/wine tasting bar was
a touch too tall for Tysie's liking!

We visited 13th Street Winery on the first day of our tour, and really enjoyed their Cuvee Rose Brut.  In fact we enjoyed it enough that we made it the first Champagne Thursday selection after our return from "Wine Country". (As a side note, they also have an excellent "Burger Blend" red (also available at our LCBO), with some really interesting flavours and as the name would suggest, I expect we'll be picking some up to have with a BBQ). 


When we opened the bottle this week it didn't disappoint.  I got strong aromas of tart strawberries on the cork.  Sam thought it smelled nicely dry-sweet.  The experience of the first sip was very similar for both of us - very tart (in a good way) with strawberry and green apple.  It was had a slight bread/yeast taste, reminiscent of toasted crusty bread.  The finish was nicely acidic - which we both love in a good sparkling wine!




Verdict?  While we have had equally as good or better sparking wines in the past at a lower price point, this didn't disappoint.  It was a solid, above average bottle that we would most certainly consider again!

Cheers

~Shane

• Brand: 13th Street Winery
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Gamay
• Sweetness: 13g/L
• Price: $24.95
• Tasting Notes: High in strawberry and green apple aromas, nicely acidic and dry. Would pair well with fish or brunch. 

Attention

So Sam totally thought she was going to get away with me writing the blog and not mentioning that Tuesday was her BIRTHDAY!!!!  That's not happening, so I hijacked the page!  :)

Because we went away to Niagara for the weekend (her birthday celebration) we kept things pretty low key for her actual birthday.  We had a nice dinner with the kids and, of course, a cake!

OMG this cake is SOOOOO Good!
Raspberry-Lemonade Cake!!!

Emma LOVES birthdays... As far as she is concerned everyday should be a birthday party!  As soon as she walked in the door she started saying "Happy Birthday Sam", gave her a hug and wanted her to open her present right away! 

We had to put the brakes on that and get dinner into her first.  But after dinner was finished and it was cake time.  Happy Birthday was sung (led by Emma, of course) and cake was consumed.  Emma was bouncing off the walls with excitement (and sugar, I think).

After the kids went back to their mother's house, Sam and I enjoyed a lovely bottle of Pinot Gris from Stanners Vineyard in Prince Edward County... because, hey, the only way to cap off a weekend wine-country getaway is with yet another bottle of wine!

Happy birthday to my gorgeous, funny, smart and selfless wife.

I love you.  Lotsa.  xo