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. 

Vacation and Back

I'm certain that it is shocking to you that I fell behind yet again. It's been a bit hectic since our last post. We had a week in Quebec with my parents, which was amazing: we skied, ate and drank! Perfection. Then the day after we got back, I had to go to Toronto for 3 days for work. I barely even got to snuggle with Tyson before I left!!! Tragic. He was exhausted though from his week at camp, and was taking any opportunity to nap. I was able to catch this picture before I left, and it sustained me for a bit. Shane still had to send me some pictures while I was gone though. 

Anyways, on with the show. As we were away, we brought 2 bottles for last week, so we've got 3 to catch up on. 

January 21, 2016 (take 1)

The first bottle we picked up from Prince Edward County on one of our day trips there. It was our first time at this particular stop, Clafeld Fruit Winery, which opened in 2014, a partner of Waupoos Winery. This bottle was Almond Cielo from 2013. It is a sparkling blend of Vidal, Riesling and Seyval grapes that has been flavoured with natural almond extract. Very interesting. 

When we popped the top, I got a strong amaretto scent, very distinct for me because it brought university memories rushing back. My darling friend Eli and I used to put amaretto in our hot chocolates (her idea, she's older and wiser than me), and so when I smelled this bubbly, I smelled Eli. My dad jumped right into the tasting, saying that he got chocolate from it. Shane needed to one up him I guess and said that he tasted chocolate covered cherries. I didn't get the chocolate covered cherries on tasting (which is a good thing for me, I am not a fan), but it also didn't taste like amaretto. I got more of a tart fruit, and I'm claiming apples again, although I couldn't really be sure. The back of the bottle suggests almond cookie, green apple, and pear with hints of peach and nutmeg...

Mom didn't get much scent or flavour, and the bubbles were a little too burny for her to enjoy it. Shame, guess we should have got the Veuve again... 

In the end, it was finished. It was tasty enough, nice for a change. I could see us getting this again, but not for a while, because it is so different.

January 21, 2016 (take 2)

Up next, the zucchini bubbly. That's not actually what it was called, obviously, but sometimes when Shane and I are in the liquor store and are looking at the labels initially, we choose words that are close-ish to the name to make them easy to remember. We've had a debauchery, a Fixident, and now a zucchini.  

It's actually Zuccardi, from Argentina, named: Blanc de Blancs (2008). Mom didn't try this one, and that's probably a good thing (too many burny bubbles). It smelled quite dry on corking. Dad described it as exploding in his mouth, which he later clarified as tiny bubbles, and was dry. The bubbles were very nice, it was almost foamy with the volume of bubbles. It was very pale in colour. 

In the end we all kind of felt the same about this one: dry white wine flavoured sparkling wine. It didn't hold much in the way of extra undertones or outside flavours. It was fine, but we probably wouldn't get this again. 

January 28, 2016

Ahhh, that's better. Seeing that disgruntled little face in the background, as if to ask "Why did you make me wake up for this?", it makes everything right again. I think we can all agree, last week just didn't feel right without him. 

This week we enjoyed Dr L Sparkling Riesling by the Loosen Brothers from Germany. We loved the look of the beautiful, swirly lettered label, and the extra bright green of the bottle. Yup, another one we bought because of the label... Against our other instincts as the sweetness level on this one was higher than we normally choose. 

When we popped the top on this one there was a lot of the "champagne smoke", that kind of mist that follows the cork out of the bottle at first. So much that we were able to pour it into the glass before the bubbly. It was a neat thing to see (although not captured by the camera). In the glass it was very pale in colour, with a lot of big bubbles clinging to the sides. It smelled dry to me, and Shane (once again) smelled sugar cookies at first. 

The first couple sips were a bit sweet, Shane described it as tasting like the bottom of a Fruit Bottom Mixed Berry yogurt. I experienced a liquor-y aftertaste in the back of my throat. I thought it was maybe black licorice, but I didn't not like it (you follow, two negatives?), so it couldn't have been that... Shane said that it was kind of like the aftertaste of a sambuca shot. There was sugar and liquor lingering in our throats, but didn't taste like black licorice, but it certainly wasn't another liqueur... I know, we're weird.

It was nice enough, but we probably didn't like it enough to get it again. 

There. We did it!! We're all caught up again... until the next time...

~S

Jan 21/16 (1)

• Brand: Clafeld Fruit Winery, Waupoos Winery
• Type of Grape: Vidal, Riesling, Seyval
• Sweetness: Unknown
• Price: Can't remember, probably around $25
• Tasting Notes: Hints at amaretto, chocolate covered cherries and hard fruits. Would pair nicely with a chocolate fondue. 

Jan 21/16 (2)

• Brand: Zuccardi
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay
• Sweetness: 8g/L
• Price: $19.95
• Tasting Notes: Predictable dry white wine flavour, would pair nicely with a mild cheese.

Jan 28/16

• Brand: Loosen Brothers
• Type of Grape: Riesling
• Sweetness: 27g/L
• Price: $14.95
• Tasting Notes: Sugar cookie dough scent, fruity, with a liqueur-y aftertaste. Would pair nicely with a lightly charred cheeseburger with a toasted bun. 

Big Turk vs. Swedish Berries...

Thank goodness this week is almost over. Unfortunately the weekend will be no picnic either. Packing and rushing and more packing and more rushing! You see, we're going on vacation next week. We are very excited but it is also a kids weekend, so it will be busy enough without all the pre-vacation prep that is bound to come... I guess I shouldn't complain, it's certainly a happy, good busy. 

Tyson has to go to the kennel, which I think he secretly he likes. Although he's not a dog-person (that's right, he's pretty sure he's a "person", and I can't really disagree with him), he does love the staff there and they at least pretend to love him too. We've been told that he escorts them on yard duties (poop-patrol) and gets extra snuggles.

January 14, 2016

This week we enjoyed a bottle from Italy's Alfredo Bertolani. It was a gorgeous Rosé, with a very pretty label.  

We were shocked when we poured it, it was a very dark rosé, it appeared more like a light red than a rosé. On the nose, to me it came across as the Swedish Berry gummy candies, where Shane thought it was more the inside of a Big Turk chocolate bar... as I've never had a Big Turk, I'm not sure what the difference is, but apparently there is one.

On the first sip it struck us as very dry, and quite tart. It also seemed to be very fruity in flavours, in particular it had a field berry feel. After a glass, the tartness seemed to dissipate, and the fruitiness of it really shone through. We made the comment that it felt more like a bubbly juice than a wine: a tart, bubbly fruit juice.

We later had a sparkling pomegranate soda (President's Choice) and vodka, and after a few sips, we thought it tasted very similar to the sparkling wine we had just had, albeit a touch sweeter. Strange, eh?

Anyways, yes, we'd have this again, Shane wrote "Delicious" in the book, but maybe not for Champagne Thursday. It feels more like a brunch bubbly as it's very mimosa- or sparkling sangria-esque.

~S

• Brand: Alfredo Bertolani
• Type of Grape: Unknown
• Sweetness: 11g/L
• Price: $15.95
• Tasting Notes: Very fruity, aromas of field berries. Would pair nicely with a light brunch, like pancakes and fruit. 

"First" Post of 2016

I've got the "first" in quotes because we all know it's not really the "first" post of 2016... It SHOULD have been the first post, but since I finally got around to finishing the previous post (extra long, I might add), they are both going up in 2016. Oops. I'm afraid my timing is going to get worse before it gets better... Maybe this week's post will be on time, but next week's won't be. Shane and I are going away of a family vacation and so... well, you know the drill. 

Shane and I had a relatively quiet week, really. My parents came over for a planning meeting for the ski week (organizing meals and whatnot) and we used Shane's new meat grinder to make them fresh hamburgers. 

January 7, 2016

This week we picked out a bottle from Chile. Cordillera by Miguel Torres. Shane was a bit secretive with this one when he popped the cork. He said he smelled something right away, but didn't want to influence my take on it. It smelled dry to me, and hints of tart granny smith apples. Turns out, he smelled stale vitamins. Once he said it, I did understand where he got it from, but it didn't ruin it for me (thank goodness!). 

It was a lovely pale straw colour, with great bubbles. It came across as very dry, drier than the Sidonio from a couple weeks ago. It was nice enough. Not much more than wine flavour came through though. It turned out to be quite a burpy bubbly though... 

Shane had a bit of a break through while we were drinking it though. A hilarious one at that. We were watching Prison Break on Netflix, talking about how it's already several years old. He then says "We are watching TV over a thing called the INTERNET!". He was feeling a bit old, I guess, remembering a time when it wouldn't have been possible, making the sound effects from dial up internet (which was quite accurate, btw). I don't think this should be a reflection of the bubbly though... Just his silliness. 

Verdict: Probably wouldn't get this one again. There's better bang for our buck out there. 

~S

• Brand: Miguel Torres
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 8g/L
• Price: $21.75
• Tasting Notes: Smells of minerals, and granny smith apples. Would pair nicely with a rich meal, like a heavy afredo pasta.

3 for the Price of 1!

Well, well, well. The holidays kicked my ass, blog-wise. It's just been so crazy in this Morvenian household, with days off work, and vacations and Christmases that I've slipped from grace. Okay, maybe not just slipped... more like plunged from grace. Not that I was overly graceful to begin with, I've had issues with blog timings from the get-go... I'll keep this quick, and skip all the pleasantries since there's three (THREE?!?!) bottles to discuss. 

December 17, 2015

Tyson looking very dapper in his
Christmas Bow Tie

We celebrated this Champagne Thursday with a quite lovely bottle of Trius Brut Rosé. This snappy rosé had a sweet raw dough scent, a little yeasty. This was the first time that Tyson has ever tried to actually eat the cork. I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I'll admit that he even succeeded a bit before I noticed. Yes, I know, I'm a terrible mom. 

The first few sips tasted mostly of sour raspberry candy. Like the gummy candy, you know? We figured once we got used to it, we'd notice other flavours come forward... this was not the case. In my notebook I have at the bottom of the page, and I quote "Seriously. Just sour raspberry candy."

Don't get me wrong, I could drink a bucket of this stuff. It was awesome, but not the typical champagne-y flavours. I grew up on sour candies, I'd eat them until my mouth went white (betcha didn't know that would happen if you ate too much sour candy). And Shane and I are both big raspberry fans. He got a raspberry pie for Christmas from a colleague... I think he shared about 3 pieces, and wasn't happy about it. 

So, yes, it was delicious, but if you're looking for a traditional champagne or wine taste, this probably isn't it. But we would get it again, although maybe not for Champagne Thursday.

December 24, 2015

I swear, he loves his Christmas Pyjamas.
On the bum there's a patch that says
"I party with Santa!"

*sigh* I love Christmas so much, but one of my favourite parts is Christmas Eve. We have usually over-extended ourselves throughout the week prior, I think it's my optimism setting in that we'll totally be done and ready this year so I make plans with friends to do things, and then we end up scrambling to get gifts bought and wrapped between the events and get-togethers that were booked... oops. Next year will be different... she said ominously. Yeah right, he said realistically. Anyways, so when Christmas Eve rolls around, we have our little traditions. Usually we are freed from work early, around noon. So we have the afternoon to finish last minute wrapping, tidying or whatnot, and then we get Shane's kids and bring them out to Shane's dad's for a visit. There's usually a few visitors, and munchies and a drink or two (for me, not Shane, he's driving), and then when it's all over, we drop the kids off at their mom's and we go home. We put the presents under the tree, and sit down to enjoy a bottle of wine. We turn the TV to the fireplace channel on the TV, and listen to Stuart McLean (Vinyl Cafe) tell us a Christmas story. We start with the "Dave Cooks the Turkey" story, and then we move on to something new. 

We are an Ugly Christmas Sweater type family.
Aren't they lovely?

So this year, instead of wine we popped a bottle of bubbly, it was Thursday after all. We broke out a very special bottle that we bought on one of our honeymoon day-trips right after the wedding. We got this bottle from Hinterland Estates, we have had one of their bottles before, and we quite enjoyed it. This week it was the Rosé, it was quite lovely. When we popped the top we noticed a strong blackberry scent. 

Turns out, this is the perfect Christmas Eve champagne. It has flavours of tart berries which we associated with cranberries. It was delicious, and festive, and perfect for the evening. The colour was pretty, a lovely pale pink. It wasn't super dry (in our opinions), but it also didn't come across as sweet. It was interesting though how it differed from the previous Hinterland we had tried (Whitecap). We found that one a touch on the minerally side, because of the area that the grapes were grown. This one though didn't have a hint of it. Which is great, as often the idea of licking a rock can turn me right off a wine. It was really good. 

We'd definitely get this one again.

December 31, 2015

Enter New Years Eve. A little crazy, a little relaxy, a lot of food, and a lot of drinks... So a couple days before, we noticed that Tyson's electric fence was beeping, which meant that the wire had broken somewhere. Unfortunately, we had an inkling of an idea of where it might be... under water. We have a (normally) little creek that runs along the back of the property.  However, with the unseasonably warm weather, and the ridiculous amounts of rain we've had, it is less of a "little creek" and more of a "fast moving, high water, river wannabe". Anyways, we found the break in the wire the day before (or at least one end of it), and enlisted the help of my dad and mom on NYE to use an old canoe that washed up in our yard after the spring flooding in 2014 (no idea if it was going to be sea-worthy, btw) to get across the creek to find the other end of the wire and fix it. No paddles. Just a very long stick (that Tyson thought should be his and kept trying to take). There was a hole in the canoe, but my dad and Shane ended up finding the wire and fixing it. 

We celebrated the fix with a truckload of Chinese food. Yum. 

And then we celebrated the New Year with a bottle of Cuvée Catharine by Henry of Pelham. On popping the top Shane immediately got a strong "raw sugar cookie dough" scent, later simplified to sweet dough. I simply got dry. It smelled tart and dry. 

On tasting, it was did leave a dry taste in our mouths. It's a nice crisp, dry white wine. The bubbles are lovely. The other weird description that Shane came up with (that I totally agreed with) is that it tasted like swallowed orange juice... I know, how can we possibly agree on that?? But picture it: you've just swallowed your orange juice, there is a kind of OJ aftertaste that lingers, a kind of funky acidic taste. That's it! That's the taste! Which, as strange as it sounds as a description, wasn't too bad!

We quite liked this one too. (We've had good luck lately!)

Thanks for your patience!!

~S&S

Dec 17/15: 

• Brand: Truis Brut Rosé
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 9g/L
• Price: $29.95 (I think we must have gotten it on sale... I don't remember spending that much on it...)
• Tasting Notes: Sour Raspberry Candy. Would be nice with popcorn, or salty chips.

Dec 14/15: 

• Brand: Hinterland
• Type of Grape: unsure, it's not on their website anymore
• Sweetness: not sure
• Price: I believe we got it around $39?
• Tasting Notes: Festive holiday flavours, cranberries and tart, not minerally. Would go nicely with turkey.

Dec 31/15: 

• Brand: Henry of Pelham
• Type of Grape: Not listed
• Sweetness: 8g/L
• Price: $29.95 (I do remember this, it was NYE after all, special night.)
• Tasting Notes: Nicely balanced acid, sweet dough scent, dry sparkling wine.