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.