Spring is here???

So much has happened since the last post. There's been St Paddy's Day, skiing, a craft night, churos, a mini-wing night, movie night, and there's been TWO Champagne Thursdays! 

We didn't go too hard core on St Paddy's Day this year, as we were driving up to Tremblant with the Puddys the next day. We did consume green beer while decked out in our green as a family, and we had our corned beef and potatoes. Mmmm. 

We went up to Mont Tremblant with the Puddys. We weren't able to get up there with them last season, so we made up for it this year. Mrs. Puddy skied both days with us, and ROCKED it. She was doing fabulously. Mr Puddy enjoyed his naps and beaver tails (flat donuts with cinnamon and sugar topping). We had the odd drink (understatement), played games, and generally just relaxed. Tremblant is so excellent for that. 

Insert Champagne Thursday #1 into the mix. (Review below). 

Then it was a kids weekend: We made churos (which are remarkably similar to beaver tails...) from scratch (recipe was decent, but they turned out a bit dense, I think it was our fault though, what we used to pipe the dough into the oil had a very small tip...). We had a little wing night with the kids. We even made little boneless "wings" for Emma so they'd be easier to eat, and they were a huge hit. 

Insert Champagne Thursday #2 in here. (Review below).

March 23, 2017

All snuggled in after being at camp
for a few days. He was asleep within
seconds  of this pic being taken.

As I mentioned last week, the selection at the LCBO has been lacking lately. But they did have a new vintage of an old favourite that you normally have to go to the winery for, so we picked that one up.  Hinterland's 2016 Whitecap. The last vintage we had of this was their 2013. 

On the pop Shane said that it smelled like a semi-sweet bubbly wine. I know, strange, right? Groundbreaking. Incredible. The nose on that man is just something else! In the glass, I thought it almost had a minty scent, Shane disagreed, but conceded when I said maybe less mint and more herb. 

The first couple sips were nicely dry, but they did have a slightly liquor-y aftertaste. There wasn't much going on at first. We both liked it, and would serve it to guests happily, but there wasn't much to rave about (although, nothing to complain about either). 

Into the second glass (or was it the third? Oh who's counting??), I was picking up a bit of a sweet fruity flavour. Shane said he thought berries, and then immediately took it back. Clearly not berries... It was more like an under ripe pineapple... 

In the previous vintage, there was an underlying hint of minerals, which isn't uncommon with Prince Edward County wines. I'm not a super fan of heavy minerals in wines, in the same sense that I'm not a super fan of licking rocks... In any case, this vintage didn't seem to have the same minerally flavours, so that was great!

Anyways, yes, we'd continue to get this one. We love Hinterland. 

March 30, 2017

"Spring needs to stand up to winter
and kick it in the snowballs" Agreed Tyson. 

This week, we skipped the LCBO and went to our bar fridge down in the workshop where we've stockpiled a few bubblies that we've pick up along the way. We landed on a bottle from Vieni Estates that we picked up during our wine tour last May. We love love love Vieni Estates (this is actually our 5th time reviewing them since we started the blog, see previous reviews here). It seems that every single bottle we've had from them has been ah-mazing. In fact, we are thinking we might stop by there on the way home from a wedding in June, it's only an hour and a bit out of the way during a 6 hour drive. No biggie. 

This week we tried (or I guess re-tried because we did have it when we bought it) their Momenti Rosé Extra Dry. On popping the top, Shane said "boozy raspberries", so we knew right away we were going to love it. In the glass, I thought it smelled a bit dry and fruity. 

Check out that rosy colour! So springy!

We were swooning over it within the first sips. I thought it was creamy and a touch sweet, kind of what I'd think cream soda would taste like (I've never had cream soda, so please don't get this expecting it to taste like cream soda!). 

We both got notes of strawberries and raspberries. We both really liked it. There were lots of bubbles (actually, Shane used the word "plentiful"), and they were nice and little. They weren't sharp, but Shane didn't think they were creamy either (I agreed later on, it seemed to lose its creaminess). Shane then declared it to be "a beautiful balance of bubbles". Such a statement!

We loved it. We'd get it again and again. I actually have little hearts drawn all over my note page. The page looks like I was in elementary school crushing over a boy and doodling on my math assignment. The only thing I'd note is that by the end of the bottle, it didn't seem to have as many bubbles as before. It wasn't "flat" by any stretch, but it certainly didn't seem to hold the bubbles as well as some others. 

Til next time! 
~S&S

March 23, 2017

• Brand: Hinterland Wine Company
• Type of Grape: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Vidal and Muscat
• Sweetness: Previous version was 17g/L, couldn't find the info for this one.
• Price: $22.00 (this link is to the previous LCBO hosting of the 2013 vintage)
• Tasting Notes: A nice, solid bubbly, pineapple notes with herb-y undertones. Would pair nicely with a creamy chicken and rice dish.

March 30, 2017

• Brand: Vieni Estates
• Type of Grape: Not found, but I'd guess Vidal and Pinot Grigio as that's what the other Momenti is.
• Sweetness: Not found, but I'd guess between 15-20g/L as that's what their others are
• Price: $16.95 from the winery (not currently available at the LCBO)
• Tasting Notes: Berry filled sparkling with lots of bubbles and love. Would pair well with anything. That might be just me though. I just want to drink it all the time.