#JenkinsDoA2

Why, yes, that is Shane sporting his Champagne
Thursday shirt on a Sunday!

Well, we did it! We made it to Ann Arbor and back again. We had a fantastic time. There was food, shenanigans, and so much laughter my abs hurt after. We tailgated for a University of Michigan football game, we hiked alongside the Huron River, wandered through Kerrytown, and ate and drank to our hearts' content (although not our livers'). It was a wonderful weekend, albeit much, much too short. 

Crazy Jim's Blimpy Burger,
and Shane had to
get the Quint, with,
obviously, 5 patties!!

The rest of the week was pretty mundane, but felt busy as we didn't get home from A2 (apparently that's what the kids call "Ann Arbor") until Monday evening. So then there was the kids night, then over to my folks for wings and Survivor, and then Champagne Thursday on a grocery shopping day. We certainly packed a lot into this short week!

October 6, 2016

This week we were all alone in the Vintages section of the LCBO, we arrived a bit later than normal, and so our Champagne Guy must have already gone home. We ended up picking a bottle from the Loire region of France. You may remember we had another one just recently from there. The region seems to be known for their crémants.

Tyson was not thrilled to be participating this week...
Seriously, that face though

This week was from Domaine Amirault, Les Quarterons (I think that's the link, but I'm having issues with it loading properly). On popping the top, Shane got a bready, sweet scent (very different from a sweetbreads scent...). I thought it smelled a bit dry... so we were quite divided. We both quite liked it, and I found it less dry after a couple sips. There were lots of creamy bubbles, typical of a crémant.

Shane said it seemed to have a sweet-tart thing going on, but then proceeded to say it was tart about 14 times... It seemed like it was dry, while seeming sweet at the same time. Very conflicted bubbly. 

I thought it had a bit of a yeast-y scent going on, and I had "liquor-ish" written down. I couldn't decide if it was a bit liquory, or if it had a touch of a licorice flavour in there... Shane thought there might be a green apple flavour in the background? Needless to say, this one was a bit tricky to nail down. 

It was really good, a touch sweeter than we normally like, without being outside our "sweet umbrella". We decided that we would get this one again. 

Until next time!

~S

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• Brand: Domaine Amirault
• Type of Grape: Cabernet-Franc, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $22.95
• Tasting Notes: A solid, and predictable bubbly, with hints of sweet-tart apples, and lots of nice creamy bubbles. Would pair nicely with gourmet burgers or wood fired pizza. 

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go!

What a flurry of a week it has been! Partly (okay, entirely) our own fault. In a mead soaked evening (thanks Tallgrass Mead! ), Shane and I decided that we absolutely needed to visit our friends who had just moved to Michigan. The texting commenced, and plans were confirmed. Until everything came to a screeching halt with a devastating realization: we were making plans for a weekend less than 2 weeks away, but Shane's passport had expired a couple months ago and we hadn't gotten around to renewing it yet! 

Let the scrambling begin. We went to the Service Canada office the next day, who told us they couldn't process it that quickly and we'd have to go directly to a Passport Canada Office to get it done. The best one is in Scarborough, about 2 hours away. So Shane went up the next day, got the application in and was told it would be ready the following Wednesday (2 days before the trip). But of course, he's not able to go that day, so I went up and got it for him. This is all amidst kids soccer games, football games, meetings, work fun days, and regular life! Anyways, all is set. We will be on the road this afternoon, driving the 7 hours right after work. And we're very excited!! 

But seriously, check out Tallgrass Mead, it's Elaine's meadery, and they have some absolutely amazing products! Their flagship product, Honey Pops, is her take on a mead wine cooler, and is bubbly and delish. If you're ever in the London area, some of their products are available at a few restaurants. 

September 29, 2016

This week we were both feeling like something pink. Not sure what brought that on, but when things like that happen, you just have to go with it. We went a bit above our normal price range because none of the other pinks were calling our names. So Chandon Rosé it was. 

There was a strong strawberry scent on the popping of the top, along with a yeasty, sour scent. I thought it might have almost been a sour dough bready type deal, but Shane wasn't sure. In the glass there were oodles of bubbles, and they lasted the length of the bottle. Shane thought it had a dry finish, and I thought it had a dry start, so I guess it was dry. 

It had a bit of a bready flavour going on, along with something we couldn't quite id at first... The second glass brought notes of cranberries, and FrankenBerry Cereal (whatever that is... Shane gets that flavour every now and then, most recently back in July). 

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if I liked this one right off the get-go. I didn't get much more than dry, and a flavour that was driving me crazy because I couldn't quite reach it. It would have been something that if someone said "it's _____" I would have known right away that they were right (or wrong), and it was very frustrating. By the third glass, I was quite enjoying it though, and I swear it's not because I'd been through two glasses already. Maybe it's because it was starting to warm up a bit? Anyways. By the end of it, we decided we liked it (or I did by the end of it, Shane liked it the whole time). 

I asked him if he liked it $15 more than our usual price range stuff and he said "I like it $15 more than our regular price range stuff lately". I guess we haven't been finding the spectacular ones lately. In any case, we're a bit divided on this one. I thought it was good, but not $35 good, he did. 

Have a great weekend! I know we will!!

~S

• Brand: Chandon
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 9g/L
• Price: $33.95
• Tasting Notes: Dry, bready scent, cranberry forward flavours. Would pair nicely slightly chilled with pumpkin pie, a fire and a blanket. 

Oops, we didn't do it again!

I'm behind, I know, I appologize... Things just kind of got in the way, and unfortunately (for me) my writer's block has continued. Okay, so recap of the last two weeks: there was a rootin'-tootin'-gun shootin' day for Shane and the boys with my dad, Shane was in Toronto for a couple days, there was golf and dinner with Gord and Donna, an impromptu trip to Elginfield (which is close-ish to London, Ontario) to celebrate an engagement, Survivor started, and here we land, with only one week left in September. Seriously 2016, can we slow down a bit? 


Also, Shane got me a new Champagne Thursday hat. I love it, but it can't be part of the uniform, because Shane looks funny in most hats. Anyways, onto the two weeks of bubbly. 

Tyson is looking very stoic here

September 15, 2016

This was after a couple drinks on a patio, so we just used one that we had at home. We picked our bottle of Bottega: Vino dei Poeti Prosecco. We have had this one before, and quite liked it. 

It's got a lovely nose, it smells sweet, but tasty, a fruitiness going on that we couldn't identify. It's got a dry-sweet flavour, in that it dried out the mouth a bit, but was still reminiscent of a sweet bubbly. It made me think of a winery we visited in the Niagara region, Megalomaniac, but I couldn't tell you why. Something about the smell and sweet flavour... Not sure. 

As far as flavour goes, it's got something of a honeysuckle, or a sweet nectar-y fruit thing going on... With a touch of minerality. 

Overall, it's a lovely, predictable bubbly that maintains its flavours through the full course of the bottle. 

September 22, 2016

This week we were feeling a crémant vibe at the LCBO, and our wine guy steered us to the Crémant du Loire, by Château d'Avrillé. 

On popping the top, Shane immediately got "Strawberry Carnation Instant Breakfast". Luckily, this didn't transcend into the actual wine. As we've found in the past with crémants, this bubbly had a very creamy mouth feel. Lots of soft bubbles, not like a soda pop's sharp bubbles. 

This one has an essence of sweet while still being dry. After it warmed up a bit, it was giving off a very tart flavour, I marked it down as "cranberries?". Shane said that he was getting citrus notes, but not sweet citrus like oranges, but not sour citrus like lemons or limes... so I'm not sure which magical citruses he's been tasting without me, but there you go. Again, there was no strawberry flavour in the glass. 

Overall, it's a nice bottle, we'd probably get it again. It's a solid bottle at this price point. 

Until next time!

~S


September 15, 2106

• Brand: Bottega
• Type of Grapes: Glera
• Sweetness: 14g/L
• Price: $14.95
• Tasting notes: Sweet scented, light mineral flavour, honeysuckle or nectar notes. Would pair nicely with salty popcorn. 

September 22, 2016

• Brand: Château d'Avrillé
• Type of Grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Grolleau Gris, Chenin
• Sweetness: 11g/L
• Price: $17.95
• Tasting notes: Sweet essence but dry flavours, cranberries or citrus fruits, tart aftertaste. Would pair nicely with a baked brie and crackers.

A VERY long weekend, and a very happy birthday!

Where should I begin this week???  I suppose I should start by saying that Sam has suffered a touch of writer's blog so this week's blog has a guest author once again... although, "once again" might suggest that I do this often when in reality out of 58 posts this is only the second one that I have written, hence the "Guest Author". (Thanks Sammy!)

Protocol would suggest that I begin the post with a quick update on our week before jumping into our very professional assessment of the bottle of bubbly from last night.  So here we go:






Friday

On the way home from work Friday afternoon of the long weekend we decided to take a quick drive by a brand new brewery in Napanee, aptly called The Napanee Brewing Company.  I had read some good things about the place online so we thought it would be fun to give it a shot.

The beer was fantastic and the owner/brewmaster was very welcoming.  We loved almost everything (Sam thought their Black Lager was a little too heavy - even after detecting a slight hint of fire-toasted marshmallow in the taste), and wound up taking a dozen cans home to enjoy.  We spent the rest of the evening sitting in our Muskoka chairs watching Tyson run after bunnies and squirrels.


Saturday

Our original plans for Saturday fell through so Sam and I found ourselves with a very unusual free Saturday.  So after a very short discussion of our options we wound up getting ready for a quick trip over to Prince Edward County.  A colleague of mine had been there the day before and from her Facebook post it seemed that The County Cider Company had their amazingly delicious feral cider on tap again, so that was the primary target!

If you haven't had the feral cider before you really should.  Think tart raspberries, cranberries and apples all mixed together in one glorious pint of fall sunshine!  That's what you get.  It's fantastic.  But you better hurry - it's only available at the end of the summer and early fall and in very limited quantities...  But if you get some I'm sure you won't be disappointed.  If you are, then call me and I'll drive out to the county and drink it for you.


Sunday

Sunday started out very relaxing.  Sam was working on various projects around the house and I cut the lawn.  After that I got out the chainsaw and cut down a tree that was dying.  We can use it for firewood this winter - and even though it's been crazy hot and humid lately, this winter is supposed to be cold and snowy!

Around 2:30 or so I was quite hot and tired so I decided I'd grab a quick pint of beer from the keg machine.  I texted Sam who was still up in the house and asked if she was interested.  To my surprise and delight, she said she was and would be right down.  Long story short, after countless pints from the keg and not one but two bottles of bubbly (left over from our wedding), we finally shut things down around 3:30am!  13 hours later.  Ugh. 

Monday morning was a bit rough to say the least.  When I took shop class in high school we learned just how dangerous a workshop can be... but even that didn't prepare me for shop night in Morven!  Anyone who has visited our shop for one of these nights knows exactly how dangerous it is... right, Cristin??? :)

Wednesday

Wednesday we celebrated Tyson's 7th birthday with Emma.  They boys were stuck at  
Football practice so it was just the 4 of us, but it was nice.  There were carrot cupcakes, presents and of course the obligatory singing of "Happy Birthday"  Tyson loved it.  Emma did too.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

I realized that I talk (type) WAY more than Sam usually does in these posts, so I figure it's time to get on to the real business of the blog.  Champagne Thursday.

We worked very hard at getting home on time this Thursday.  The day usually consists of a big grocery shop at Costco, Loblaws and of course the LCBO, which often means getting home late, starting dinner late, sitting to watch TV late.  But this week we couldn't be late.  This week was the start of the new NFL Football Season!!!  We knew we wanted to be seated in front of the TV for the kickoff and we made it happen. 

Our wine guy at the LCBO suggested a couple different bottles from the vintage section this week, but he leaned towards a cremant that was there.  We've had a couple cremants lately so we chose the other bottle.  This weeks selection turned out to be a nice prosecco from Italy, Tenuta Degli Ultimi Rive di Collalto Prosecco Valdobbiadene 2013.

I say it was nice because that's what it was, nice.  In fact that's about all it was.  Nothing particularly special, but not bad either.  To us it had a lot of nice sharp bubbles and a tart green apple-forward flavour. On Sam's notes page, the word "Tart" is written three times.  So quite tart.  Her final note read "nothing special but based on price alone would not get again... but yummy enough."

So there you have it.  A very, very long and full week.  I hope yours was fun too.

Cheers

Shane

• Brand: Tenuta Degli Ultimi
• Type of Grape: Not noted
• Sweetness: 10g/L
• Price: $21.95
• Tasting Notes:  Nice apple foward flavours with crisp bubbles. Would pair nicely with a scallop appetizer

A Full Week, Bubbles and... Disappointment???

Or from one Champagne Thursday to the next.

Would you believe it's September already? I'm blown away. The summers always tend to fly by, but this one feels like it moved exceptionally fast... Looking at some of the previous blog titles, even without reading the posts again, brings back sunny memories of laughing and friends. BUT! It's not over yet, and I plan to juice every last drop out of this season. 

Not that I don't love the upcoming seasons: pumpkin season through turkey season, sweater weather through red wine nights. There's just something so refreshing about the lazy (hah, yeah right) days of summer. 

It was a quiet week in Morven. The kids were out for the weekend, we went out to my parents' place on Monday, and then out to Shane's dad's on Thursday (pre-Champagne). Now that I write it out like that, it doesn't seem like a quiet week, but it felt like it at the time. We took the dog for a couple long walks too, so that helped us slow things down a bit. 

September 1, 2016

This week we chose our bottle solely on the label and the sugar content. It was a pretty blue label, with a fancy design, and the tag said the sugar content was low, around 7g/L. So we got the bottle of Mercat's NV Brut Nature from Spain (I'm not sure if that's their real website or an affiliate, but it's the best I could find...). 

Wearing my Champagne Thursday uniform, we popped the top on this bottle. It had a bit of a liquory scent, I got notes of sambuca, Shane agreed once it was verbalized. The first sip was very tart. I actually have "Tart AF" written in my book, but despite the topic of the blog, we are keeping it PG, so no swearing :). 

After the tartness subsided, or at least we were getting used to it, we got notes of fruit in the flavour. But not necessarily in a good way... like of like rotten or moldy apples? But it's strange, because we didn't hate this one, not like Beef Stew, but we didn't care for it. 

Nearing the end of the second glass, I asked Shane if he was getting anything else, and he replied "Yup, notes of disappointment." So... yeah... Not exactly sure how else to describe that flavour, but it was definitely in there. 

Needless to say we wouldn't recommend this one, and we won't be getting it again. 

Hopefully next week is better. We don't usually stay in a slump for long. 

~S

• Brand: Mercat out of Barcelona Spain
• Grape: Xarel.lo, Macabeo and Parellada
• Sweetness: 7g/L
• Price: $21.95
• Tasting Notes: Notes of apples, and a liquor undertone with a nice acidity. Would pair nicely with a warm, pull-apart garlic bread. 

 

Tragically Hip, Sushi and Champagne!

Wow, what a week! On Saturday we hosted a Tragically Hip concert viewing party, we had a projector pointed at the shop door, and had a few people over to enjoy it with us. And what a concert it was, they certainly didn't disappoint with their final show. 

This was the part of the Olympic coverage just before 
the concert started

But needless to say, Sunday was rough. For some more than others (I'm looking at you, Cristin), so a lazy, lazy day was had. Naps and movies on the couch with the puppy. If we didn't feel so cruddy, it might have been nice!

During the week we had a quick run up to Burlington, a nice dinner out, and a sushi lunch. Yum! And now we're home again, preparing for the weekend with the kids. Busy busy. 

Puppy isn't happy with us, no cork, beer cap
style bottle... Poor Tyson.

August 25, 2016

This week we finally made it back to our Champagne Guy's store. I think it was the first time this month! Yikes! He suggested getting a local bottle (from Prince Edward County): Lighthall's 2014 Progression. I know we've had this once before, but likely a different vintage, but I couldn't remember anything about it other than the label - it's difficult to forget. 

We were a bit nervous at first. The first couple sniffs smelled a little funky. Shane didn't like it, said it reminded him of fruit that had just gone off. I said it smelled like the sugar from a sour candy, he thought I though it was a nice smell, but I wasn't quite sure. Overall the first impressions were not great... 

When we finally settled in and tasted it, Shane right away said it tasted like grape jelly. I'm quoted as saying "I don't mind it" (firmly planted on the fence) where  Shane jumped in and said "It's tasty!". Once we got a few sips in, we decided that the smell was starting to match the taste, and lost a lot of its funkiness. That was a good thing. 

By the end of the first glass, I was getting a grape sour candy flavour. Shane was getting on board with that description, but instead of the sugared candies that I was thinking, he was thinking the grape flavoured Fizz candies from the 80s and 90s. That might be because of the bubbles? Speaking of which, the bubbles were nice, a very creamy mouth-feel. It was a nice colour, a nice pale straw colour. 

Overall, yes, it was quite nice once we got past the first impressions. BUT, and this is a biggie: if you get this, be careful pouring it. Because of its bottle shape (beer cap style, not corked), it was pouring like shit for Shane. I didn't have too much trouble with it, but be warned. 

~S

• Brand: Lighthall Vineyards
• Type of Grape: Vidal
• Sweetness: 14g/L
• Price: $20.00
• Tasting Notes: Nice and light, strong sweet-sour grape candy flavours. Would pair nicely with a bacon sandwich (really, what wouldn't?) because of the sweet and salty contrast.

And now there's a logo!

Have I mentioned lately how amazing my hubby is? Well, he's pretty great. I saw a picture on Pinterest (I'm not going to get into my love-hate relationship with Pinterest) last week, similar to the Thursday image to the left, but with Sunday. I asked if he could make it for "Thursday", and low and behold, we now have a Champagne Thursday logo of our very own, on our team uniforms, and soon to be on a baseball cap for me! I just love it. It's my favourite thing. Ever. Except for Tyson, obviously. 

This has been quite the week. It was Nick's birthday (Shane's middle child... teenager? *shrug* whatever you call them when they get to that age...? Offspring?) over the weekend. My folks came over for Nick's birthday dinner of pulled pork (smoked for 13hrs the day before), and then Shane took him out fishing with Mr Puddy on his boat on Wednesday. They had a marvelous time, and now Nick is convinced we need to get our own boat so they can go fishing all the time. The real problem is, he's not wrong. We do need our own boat. Someday, maybe. 

August 18, 2016

Poor puppy was too tired and too hot to
participate this week... sorry :(

This week we chose a bubbly from France: Louis Bouillot's Perle d'Or Brut Cremant (I couldn't get much out of that link, but there is a tech sheet at this link). Unfortunately, we discovered a bit too late that it wasn't chilled enough. We should have popped it in the freezer for a bit to get it down a bit more. 

Either way, on popping the top we got a bit of a tart-sour smell, with a hint of fruit. The first sip was dry: "involuntarily close one eye and pucker up" kinda dry. It did mellow out, it was just a bit surprising at first. 

It had a fruity essence behind the bready-yeasty smell, but it wasn't prevalent enough for us to accurately pin down which fruit it was we were getting. It had a creamy mouth-feel, so lots of little soft bubbles. The colour was a pale gold. 

Champagne Thursday team
uniforms! Gotta find
something for Tyson!

It was nice and light, we think it would've been even better extra cold... It had nicely acidic balance. It was tart but had a sweet feeling finish. One thing we noted was it did make us both a bit burpy. Not sure if that's got anything to do with the different methods of carbonating or fermenting, but we have noticed some are worse for that than others... 

We would get it again and either get it a day or two early and keep it in the fridge for the extra time, or stick it in the freezer for an hour or so before drinking it. We found with the temperature it was, there was a bit of a liquory undertone. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week, and enjoy the Hip concert on Saturday!

~S

• Brand: Louis Bouillot
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
• Sweetness: 6g/L
• Price: $24.95
• Tasting Notes: Sour fruity essence, dry bready nose, with a tart but sweet finish. Would pair nicely with a bruschetta toast.