Home again and back to normal... Finally!

So, after a very busy vacation, we're starting to get back in the groove of things. We went out with the Puddys on their boat on Sunday, which lovely. It was very hot and sunny out and I got a bit of a burn, even though I had sunscreen on. Shane looked pretty red also. We had them back to our place for dinner, wings and nachos, yum!


The week has been pretty low key for us, we took Tyson for a long walk around the "block" (it was about 5km) one evening. He was a happy, pooped, hot puppy after. It was a wonder he didn't trip on his tongue because he was panting so hard. Poor guy, I'm not sure if he will want to come with us ever again. 

August 11, 2016

Welcome back, Tyson!

This week we made a quick stop at the LCBO before heading out to the farm to help mom set up her new phone, so no vintages this week. We picked a rosé from Spain, Codorniu by Aveniu Brands. 

This brightly coloured bubbly had a slightly bready aroma on popping the cork, with strawberry-esque undertones. The first sip was nicely balanced and dry. It didn't pucker up our cheeks or dry out the back of our mouths. 

After it opened up a bit, it had a field berry nose, with some green apples in there. Shane thought it might have had a slightly minerally scent, but I didn't pick up on that. It had very nice bubbles, and they didn't dissipate throughout the course of the bottle, which was great. 

This was a nice, simple bubbly (albeit a bit burpy) for a decent price. 

~S

• Brand: Aveniu Brands
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 13g/L
• Price: $17.10
• Tasting Notes: Light and fruity, field berry and apple tones. Would pair nicely a spicy grilled chicken and alfredo pasta. 

V-A-C-A-TION!

Vacation was the first word I learned how to spell when I was little. Mom and dad used to sing it to us when we were all loading into the RV (and a lot of the 2 day drive) for our annual trip to the east coast. It impressed my teachers, seemed like such a big word at the time, so many letters. Now it's a big word for other reasons, it has so many different meanings that it must be big. It means family time. It means alone time. It means travel time. It means adventures, walks, hikes, food and drink. It means a journey and a destination. It means fun and laughter and love. How a word with just 8 letters can mean so much is beyond me. I'm just thankful we got one. 

On one of our hikes, we had a visitor!
She was not bashful at all.

Shane and I spent last week up at Mont Tremblant. We were hiking, walking, sipping, eating, and generally enjoying. It was his birthday also, so we enjoyed a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. We enjoyed snacks on the mountain side, snacks by the river (did I mention that we ate a lot?), we did the tree top obstacle course (Shane is afraid of heights, but he rocked it! So proud!), walked quite a bit, wandered a little, and worked our way through the TV series, Entourage (one of Shane's favs, we should have enjoyed the Entourage bottle this week...). 

This is actually a very full post, as we were on vacation and got a little silly... We had some on the mountain, you'll see, it's fun. Then we had some in the evening, a special bottle from Hinterland, and THEN, we decided we weren't done, so we went up to the SAQ in the village and got another bottle... Oh my, so let's get started.

August 1, 2016

This was a spur of the moment decision. We weren't planning on having bubbly on Shane's birthday, but Facebook reminded us of a photo we did a few years ago and then recreated last year, so we thought "what the heck, let's go for it!". So up we walked to the SAQ and we chose this bottle because of the name. There is a ski run at Tremblant that shares the same name, so we thought it was quite fitting. 

On popping the top on C'est La Vie's Petit Bonheur, we thought it smelled fruity and dry. The first couple sips were dry-ish, not too much, but not too bad either. We noticed that there was an underlying fruity tone, but we struggled to identify which fruit it was reminding us of... We ended up giving up that fight, it wasn't happening... maybe peach?

This one isn't a "dry your mouth out" bubbly, but it tastes and smells dry. It would be a good one for someone trying to venture into the drier bubbles. Overall, we liked this one, but we weren't sure why. It's not offensive, but there's also not much going on. It's dry, but not too dry. It's fruity, but not specific. It's got nice bubbles, and a gorgeous colour. It would be better extra cold, ours didn't have much time in the fridge. It was not as good nearing the end of the bottle when it was a bit flat and warm... But most aren't, so we won't hold it against them. 

August 4, 2016: Take 1

We picked up this bubbly on our Niagara tour in May. We went to the winery specifically for this bubbly. We knew we had to bring it on a hike, on Champagne Thursday, up at Tremblant. 

This fun bubbly is from Between The Lines in Niagara on the Lake: a fun little winery that is becoming more main stream because it's producing sparkling wine IN A CAN! So great!

Anyways, the notes on this are a little lacking, because they were taken mountainside on my phone. Also because it was in a can, so the bubbly didn't get a chance to really open up for us. 

We did note right away that it was sweeter than we would normally get. Not fruity sweet, either, just sweet wine sweet. It doesn't have a syrupy mouth feel though, which does help to mask the sweetness. It's got nice bubbles, and (remembering from the winery) a nice golden colour. It's very reminiscent of a moscato style wine. It's nice, it's fun, and we'd get it again for this type of thing, but not for a full on Champagne Thursday. It's a fun novelty bubbly, but a bit sweet for an everyday (or every week) bubbly for us.

Yes, this has a slight filter, but it's a realistic
demonstration of the colour of the wine

August 4, 2016: Take 2

We brought this one specifically for Champagne Thursday. We wanted to have something a little special, and this one is near and dear to our hearts. We have had a couple bubblies from Hinterland before (they're right around the corner from us - sort of - in Prince Edward County). We had their Whitecap for Champagne Thursday Night Football, and their Rosé on Christmas Eve last year. 

This week it was their Borealis. This one is a tart, tart bubbly. Very "suck your cheeks in, dry your tongue out" tart. It has a fruity scent, perhaps strawberries? We put a light filter on the picture, only to make the colour of the wine pop. It was a gorgeous rosé, with lots of little sharp bubbles. Shane felt it important to note though "if you get a bubble in your eye, it stings a lot". Thanks for that. 

It's got a distinct smell, but we weren't quite sure what it was reminding us of. Shane thought roses, a touch floral, and I thought maybe cranberries, very ripe and sweet-tart. Shane wrote down a quote from me: "I'm really liking this!". 

This was the bottle that led to the next, as we were enjoying it so much. So yes, definitely would get this sucker again. Yum yum. 

August 4, 2016: Take 3

Oh my. Yup, so that happened. Our third, and final sparkling wine for the day, was Sieur D'Arques Première Bulle . I'm glad that we did this one though, because it made for a very neat picture. Ahh what a couple glasses of wine will do for our amateur photography skills, right? 

On popping the top on this one, we got a nicely dry, appley smell coming out. The first couple sips were a touch sweet, but that might have been just based on the backdrop that the tart Borealis gave us. It became a lovely light and fruity, but slightly dry bubbly. 

Tyson wasn't able to join us this week,
but we know y'all need your puppy
fix, so here he is, happy with my
parents after being picked up from
camp.

At first there was lots of bubbles, and they were nice and big, creating a nice and sharp mouth feel. They mellowed out and tapered off later on, and finished with a smoother, slightly heavier feeling. It is a very fun bottle though, although it had "headache" written all over it (not actually, and not because of the wine, but because of our -at the time- current and future drinking habits of the evening...). We'd probably get it again if we could find it in Ontario. 

Needless to say, August 5th was a bit rough. 

~S

August 1, 2016: Petit Bonheur

• Brand: C'est La Vie
• Type of Grape: Syrah
• Sweetness: 11g/L
• Price: $15.05
• Tasting Notes: Fruity, bubbly, a moderately okay rose made better with bubbles. Would go nicely with some popcorn on a hot afternoon. Or made into a slushie!! Why didn't we do that??!

August 4, 2016: Origin

• Brand: Between the Lines
• Type of Grape: Vidal
• Sweetness: 67g/L (no wonder we thought it was sweet! Holy smokes!)
• Price: $17.95 for 4x 250mL cans
• Tasting Notes: Sweet, nice flavours, remeniscent of a moscato. Would be great pool or beach (or mountain!) side on a hot sunny day.

August 4, 2016: Hinterland Borealis

• Brand: Hinterland
• Type of Grape: Gamay Noir
• Sweetness: 18g/L (at least, their 2014 was, not sure about the 2015...)
• Price: $23.00
• Tasting Notes: Fruity and tart, floral scents mixed with berries. Would be lovely by the fire, or on a hot summer's day. Very versatile. Very delicious. Best paired with another bottle of Borealis *wink*

August 4, 2016: Première Bulle

• Brand: Sieur D'Arques
• Type of Grape: Not noted
• Sweetness: 7.3 g/L
• Price: $19.30
• Tasting Notes: Nicely sweet and tart, light and fruity bubbly. Would pair nicely with a dark chocolate dessert - something that's not too sweet, but rich and creamy. 

Not everything is a competition... Okay, yes it is...

Wow, it felt like a busy week. Although, I suppose it was a bit. We were in Toronto again on the weekend for Beerfest, which was amazing!! We had a fantastic time, and tried a lot of great brews. We also spent some time in the gourmet food tent enjoying some chef demonstrations and eating new things (everything from mini-bison-venison burgers to oysters three different ways - including RAW!!! There's a first time for everything.). 

When we got back, we played a half round of golf on Sunday at the Napanee Golf Course. If you ever get the chance, it is a great little course. It was challenging for us (we're pretty cruddy golfers, or at least, I am), but we definitely recommend getting a cart. It is ALL up hill, and I'm not even sure how that's possible. 

We went fishing with The Puddys on Wednesday. It was ridiculously hot when we left Kingston for the lake, then when we got there, it was super windy and cloudy, then we went through some rain and then it evened out for a lovely night. Lots of fish in the boat, but nothing we ended up taking home.

We also had an appointment at the eye doctor. My first eye exam ever... I'm not a fan. We got our eyes dilated, which sucked. We both felt headachy and nauseated after. It was not fun. Shane needs to get glasses for reading and for distances (but not for all the time... I'm not exactly sure how that works), and I'm perfect (shocked?) and don't need glasses. If we were keeping score (which, of course, we were), I totally beat Shane at the exam. Winner winner chicken dinner! I even won at the dilation, the doctor lady even said "Wow, you're REALLY dilated!". But we both felt crappy for the rest of the night, so we both kind of lost too... 

July 28, 2016

*Take this review with a grain of salt as we were still not 100% from the exam. *

This week we got La Marca Prosecco. In the glass, it was a very pale straw colour. We realized we must have been out of sorts at the store, because we didn't even look at the sugar content until we got home and poured the first glass. It had a very sweet scent, which concerned us a bit. Shane looked it up, and it was a bit sweeter than we normally go for. 

My first sip though had a tart back of the throat pucker up feel. The second sip though was a bit smoother, and a bit sweeter. It had a very creamy mouth feel. 

It smelled really good, sweet and fruity - apples and pineapples. Shane thought it was reminiscent of a semi-dry cider, high in apple content. It left me a bit burpy though... Shane didn't seem to get that way, so who knows. 

Overall, yeah, we quite liked this one, even though it was a bit sweeter than we'd normally choose. I was glad we didn't look at the sugar content until we got home, because we probably wouldn't have ended up with it if we had. It's only about 4-6g/L higher than our usual range, but that would probably have been enough to scare us off. 

Have a great week, we're off for vacation next week, so I may be late posting... 

~S

• Brand: La Marca
• Type of Grape: Glera
• Sweetness: 20g/L
• Price: $17.95
• Tasting Notes: Light and fruity, apples with hints of pineapple. Would pair nicely with a creamy brunch, like our Hangover Misery Breakfast Bowl: tater tots, poached egg, cheese, bacon, Holandaise sauce, and hot sauce... oh yum! (*adapted from Wayne Gretzky's Toronto Breakfast Poutine)

A warm welcome home to Mom... and a cool reception from Tyson.

Late again, I know, I know. These things happen, sometimes, life just gets in the way. I'll get back on track at some point... maybe... 

Last week was a nice one, my mom got home from her month long motorcycle journey down to Santa Fe New Mexico, so we got to visit with her when she arrived. Also, my uncle was down from Halifax, so we did a special wing night with him and his grand-daughter. 

Next, mom and I made a quick trip up to Ottawa to visit with Diamond and her beautiful baby girl one last time before they flew back home, not to be seen for another year. That was extra special, not only because of the baby and Diamond, but also because it meant that mom and I got some one-on-one time in the car for a few hours. 

Lastly, Shane and I had some training in Toronto, so we got to have a nice dinner out in the big city. That did mean that Tyson was at a new camp for a couple days... He came back Thursday morning, exhausted from the efforts he had to expel trying to get the new people trained on how he like to be treated at camp. I was told he played with a couple Shelties on the second day he was there... And that he was highly communicative with his facial expressions (he has one of the greatest WTF faces I've ever seen)... I'm sure he'll get them all in line lickity split. He was, however, a little stand off-ish with me and Shane (he barely participated in the Champagne Thursday photo!) He doesn't like training new people.  It's so frustrating to be treated like a common dog!  In early August he'll be spending a full week at the new kennel, so that should be interesting for them.

July 21, 2016

Tysie is still not pleased we sent him to a
kennel that treated him like a... dog.

This week we reached for a brand we know: Bailly Lapierre. They had a new bottle out, a brut chardonnay. (We had one of theirs last year around this time: Celebrante with Bailly Lapierre). 

On popping the top, Shane said that he got strawberries, and clarified further saying "not fake ones either". In the glass, the strawberries seemed to disappear. It is an extremely pale straw colour, with an abundance of small bubbles. It had a dry scent. 

The first sip we had felt dry, with sharp bubbles, like soda. We both said that it was very nice. It should be noted though, that this one was extremely cold. We had it in the fridge for a while, and then wanted it cooler than it was before we drank it, so we stuck it in the freezer and proceeded for forget about it... Oops. 

Although it didn't have much in the way of different flavours going on, we both really enjoyed it. It is a solid, winey (which, as we've discovered, is in fact an appropriate descriptor for wine...), bubbly chardonnay. 

Although, I do have one rambling note in my book. This was from Shane: "SUBTLE/Unconfirmed: *almost* at the point of swallowing (leaving the mouth to go to the throat), ALMOST a hint, or essence if you will, of grape Freshie, from the 80s... but there has been extra water added to fill the pitcher". So there you have it folks, in case you were confused by the term "point of swallowing", he's described that also... And also what grape Freshie is (a kool-aid-esque juice mix from the 80s). I asked him later if we could confirm that note as it was still sitting at "unconfirmed" he said no... so I don't know how we'll ever actually confirm it... Oh well. 

The LCBO suggests leaving this in the bottle until late 2016 early 2017, so we may pick up an extra bottle to let age for a bit... I wonder if the grape Freshie flavour will develop further???

Hope you all have a lovely week! 

~S

• Brand: Bailly Lapierre
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay
• Sweetness: 8g/L
• Price: $24.95
• Tasting Notes: Strawberries on the nose, dry bubbles. Would pair nicely with a creamy pasta alfredo. 

Secret Beach and Green Apples

Welcome back! Seems like just a day or two ago since we were here together. *wink*

Shane and Alex enjoying the water

Okay, what to update... Well, this weekend we had a lovely time with my darling Kate and her hubby Alex. We did a wine, beer, and booze tour in Prince Edward County (ended up hitting 7 spots, not bad at all). We stopped for a delicious picnic lunch of smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, and dips at a beautiful secret beach that we heard about. (Sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy, so I can't give directions.). 

On Monday, one of my best friends from out west came to visit with her 3 month old baby girl. Oh my word. My heart almost burst for this little muffin. A lil' ginger baby, with all those beautiful, pudgy baby rolls. So adorable. I just wanted to stick her in my pocket. Unfortunately, Tyson was a bit too excited about the tiny person, and licked her right across the face... She didn't like that so much... *insert screaming baby here* Oops. 

July 14, 2016

This week we celebrated with a bottle of bubbly from Chile, Emiliana's Organic Brut. When Shane popped the top he made a bit of a face and hesitated before telling me what he smelled. Turns out it was a mix of breakfasts: Carnation Strawberry Instant Breakfast... or was it Frankenberry Cereal? I don't really know, I've never had either. 

In the glass, it was a very pale yellow colour, with lots of bubbles. It had a dry, sour-tart smell. The first couple sips were intense. Very dry, very sour, under ripe, green apples. Pretty sure my whole mouth dried out and puckered in on itself. It had a very fizzy mouth feel which was lovely. 

After a few glasses, nothing had changed. It was still very tart and dry, and green appley... We really wanted to like it. But we couldn't decide if we did or not. It was just so intensely one dimensional, almost sour for the sake of being sour, dry for the sake of being dry. Usually after a glass or two, dry bubblies mellow out, or you get used to the flavour and start getting different notes, but that wasn't the case with this guy. 

So yeah, we didn't not like it, but we didn't particularly like it either... Not sure what to tell you... We tried to like it, we really did. It should've been something we were over the moon in love with, but, alas, we weren't. 

~S

• Brand: Emiliana Organic Vineyards, Chile
• Type of Grapes: 77% Chardonnay, 23% Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 9g/L (not as dry as it seemed, that's for sure)
• Price: $15.95
• Tasting Notes: Very tart, very bubbly. Lots of green apple flavours. Would pair nicely with something creamy, like a baked brie.

Bouncing and Babies

Summers are tough. There's so much going on on the weekends, it makes the weekly routine kind of fly out the window... Not to mention taking long weekends makes the Friday post tricky... So yeah, I'm off track a bit. Maybe this coming Champagne Thursday I'll do better? One can hope anyways (that "one", being me)... 

Water slides to the left and right of the
bounce pad, and a wading pool at the bottom!
And yes, I am an EXCELLENT jumper.

It was a bit of a busy week, Emma's birthday was on the 2nd, so we had a bouncy castle crossed with a water slide thing in the yard... it was awesome. I want to get one for keeps. Super duper fun. We also had friends coming over last weekend, so we tidied the house and yard some. And then Wednesday we did a quick trip up to Peterborough to visit my friend and her new baby (2 weeks old!!!). So, busy busy. 

July 7, 2016

This week we went back to our regular price point, in the $20 range. We decided to give Mr Beck another shot (after the disaster earlier this year, it's a wonder why, although we did have luck once before with their Blanc des Blancs...).

This week it was Graham Beck's 2010 Brut Rosé. In the glass, it was a beautiful rose gold colour, and had lots of big bubbles. The scent coming from the bottle on popping the top was kind of a sweet dry smell (which yeah, I know, doesn't really make sense...). But in the glass it was a sort of tart dry smell, not yeasty or bready like some. 

It was waaaaay too hot for Tyson to participate this week,
sorry all :(

The first couples sips we noticed that it had a sweet tongue, but (and I quote Shane) "a close your throat kind of dry finish, in a good way". It's got a creamy mouth feel, and it made our mouths water because of the tartness. It kind of had strawberry essences going on... and by the end I was tasting sour candies, like those raspberry sour candies... 

This one was as good as the first Graham Beck we had (the Blanc des Blancs), and infinitely better than the "shit zero" (again, Shane Quote) we have had from them. 

Overall, yes, we'd get this one again, it redeemed the winery from their Zero mistake. 

Chat soon (actually very soon, two days!)!
~S

• Brand: Graham Beck
• Type of Grape: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay
• Sweetness: 7g/L
• Price: $19.95
• Tasting Notes: Tart strawberries, sour raspberries, nicely dry and balanced bubbly. Would go nicely with chips and dip, or hummus.

Full Circle

Although it may not be the date for a blog-birthday (looking back, it would be July 7th - which is a Thursday!), it would certainly be the birthday post, as it's the 53rd Champagne Thursday since we started. Seems like just yesterday we posted our first post. 

And, in saying that, it would seem we've come full circle. Not by our choosing, but by a happy accident/generous gift from one of my oldest friends (in length of time we've been friends, not by age).

June 30, 2016

Sparkle sparkle! Plus new glasses
that ring!

This week, by what I called a happy coincidence, and what Kate said "great minds (with a little bit of research) think alike", we celebrated the first Champagne Thursday of the Second Year of Marriage with bottle that came in a beautiful shiny, sparkly box... Can you see where this is going? Well, if you can't, fret not. We celebrated with a real fancy-pants champagne, Louis Roederer's Brut Premier. We kicked off a married life of Champagne Thursdays with this very champagne last year. 

To make the most of it, we didn't look at our previous notes. We went into it blind (although not blindfolded...), and started fresh. 

On popping the top, we got a quite dry scent. Shane accidentally inhaled some of the CO2, and it "burned his face" he said. Big ol' baby if you ask me... The first couple sips were also quite dry, but had hints of tart green apples. 

This champagne had lots of bubbles, similar to the volume of bubbles on our anniversary, but larger in size, making them sharper and giving the champagne a less creamy mouth feel. More similar to a soda pop, very refreshing. We also were using new glasses, and I'm not sure what it was about them, but the bubbles in the glasses made them sound like the glasses were ringing. It was really neat... once I realized what it was and stopped looking for whatever might have been making that sound... 

After a few sips (*ahem* glasses *ahem*), the dryness subsided, and subtle fruit flavours showed up a bit more. It still didn't have many underlying notes, but it is certainly a nicely balanced champagne. Very traditional tasting (we would think, in our limited experience), a nice, yummy (yup, technical term) champagne that tastes like you (or we) would expect a dry champagne to taste. 

Verdict: Absolutely give this one a shot if you can. It's lovely. Thanks Kate and Alex!

Following this, we read back through some of our notes in the Champagne Journal from this past year. It's been fun sharing our experiences, and actually documenting what we like, what we don't, and how we feel about various bottles. This blog is mainly for us, for our reference and enjoyment, but if it's been read by anyone, or helped anyone pick a bottle, well, that's kind of neat also. 

~S

• Brand: Louis Roederer
• Type of Grape: 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier (I guess I didn't know where to look last year... oops!)
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $71.95 (it's gone up in  price!!)
• Tasting Notes: Nicely balanced, dry champagne with crisp bubbles. Hints of tart green apples. Would pair nicely with cold smoked salmon and a happy hour. 

Okay, also, I have to point out the quote that is at the top of the Louis Roederer's website page for this particular bottle, I just love it so much: 

« The freshness, finesse, and brightness of Brut Premier make it the perfect wine for festive occasions. Its structured texture, richness, and length are distinctly winey. It is a full, complex wine that is both rich and powerful, whilst remaining a great classic. »

It totally makes me feel validated every time we've ever said: "well... it tastes like wine...".  But now, if I use that description, or the term "winey", in the future, which I totally will, take note that it is a valid descriptor, and is used by high end professionals. So there. :)