Stars aligned?

So, my deepest apologies about the mix up last week. As I said in my post (that you weren't able to read until now...), I was going away with my mom for the weekend. Shane had wanted to read the post before we put it up, and so I left it in his hands to publish it after editing... Yeah, well, that didn't happen... 

Anyways, I went away with my mom for the weekend, a sewing retreat full of inspiring women making extraordinary quilts and projects. Just beautiful work. It was lovely to catch up with everyone, and get some time dedicated to my own projects that have fallen by the wayside this year. I got some stuff done, but as it's a surprise for a friend, I can't post anything. Remind me after I've given it away and I'll post a picture. 

Shane and my dad had been busy while we were away also, they got a new cupboard put up over our stove, new (to us) tools in the shop, and some other playing. Shane's boys also won their football championship game. 

Phew! Busy busy. 

Onto Champagne Thursday. We decided to repeat the Momenti from the other week, to see if was really as good as we thought the first time, or if all the stars had aligned just right to create this epic, lovely, bubbly week. 


November 19, 2015

So we got the Vieni Estates' Momenti again. On corking the bottle, Shane got a strong puff of berries. It has sweet field berries on the nose in the glass, along with some Granny Smith apples. It's a very pale yellow in the glass. Shane got an exotic fruit aroma when he sniffed. 

This one has lots of lovely bubbles, and still was strong in the tropical fruit Five-Alive juice flavours. There isn't much in the way of a boozy-burn (I'm pretty sure that's the technical term for it?) from this one, which is great. 

This week it didn't spend as much time in the fridge before we got into it, so it wasn't as cold as last time. This led to a more "wine-y" taste and less "fruit juice-y" taste. This isn't a criticism, just an observation. If you're new to the bubblies, I would recommend having this one well chilled to take some of the edge off. We, however, liked it perhaps a bit better this time around, as when it's less chilled it gives the wine flavours a chance to open up. It is certainly a lovely flavoured wine. 

Verdict: Yuppers. Absolutely like this one. It wasn't a fluke the first time brought on by a lonely week, cool house, and tired bodies. 

~S

• Brand: Vieni Estates
• Type of grape: Vidal and Pinot Grigio
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $13.95
• Tasting Notes: Lovely fruity flavours including field berries, apples, and exotic fruits. Would pair well with brunch or a cheese platter on a hot afternoon. 

Strawberries and Scream

We did it! We made it through another week. Thank goodness it's almost over. Not that it was a bad week, more because Mom and I are going away this weekend, and I'm a touch excited! Not about leaving Shane alone for the weekend, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, I'm sure he'll survive. 

This week's pre-Champagne Thursday was slightly less lavish than last week's mock-charcuterie platter, but the actual Champagne Thursday piece was significantly more successful. Thank heavens. 

November 12, 2015

We were a little more careful with our selection this week. We were leery about straying too far from our comfort zone, so we stuck with a new version of an old favourite. We have tried the Tierra Sur Sparkling Wine before, but this time we opted for their new Rosé. It's a lovely brut from Chile, and since I've been in a pink mood lately (just found out a friend is having a baby girl in the spring!), it seemed quite fitting. 


Popping the cork unleashed a lovely strawberries and cream aroma (well, strawberries and "scream" which was quickly corrected to "cream", silly Shane, it's not Hallowe'en anymore!). When you put your nose in the glass and take a whiff (are you picturing it? Bubbles up the nose!!), it doesn't have the same strawberries and cream scent,  it has a lovely dry, bready scent that has a slightly floral undertone. 

It's a very pretty pink colour in the glass, with lots of little bubbles. It's got a fruity flavour, like hard almost ripe apples, with a nice crisp mouth feel. The dry and crisp flavour leads into a lovely berry finish. 

This is a nice, safe (for us) bottle of bubbly. It is quite dry though, so it wouldn't work for people who prefer the sweeter bottles. 

Verdict: yuppers. The pink is as nice as the blue topped bottle (which we picked up because of the colour of the foil, shh don't tell anyone!). 

~S
PS: Sorry this is so late, I left this to Shane to publish, and he did not... grr.)

• Brand: Santa Alicia
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $17.95
• Tasting Notes: Lovely dry bubbly, floral fruity aroma, crisp hard apple flavour with a berry finish (would pair nicely with cheesy popcorn, or a dark chocolate mousse - yes, I realize how different those two foods are... I guess that makes this bubble well rounded?)

Beef Stew

Two of our Hallowe'en pumpkins were stolen! STOLEN! Who steals pumpkins nowadays? It wasn't even the witty pumpkin (mine). We looked everywhere as it was quite windy on Hallowe'en night, so we thought maybe they just blew away. But they were not to be found on our lawn, on our neighbours' lawn, across the road... Not even smashed anywhere. Someone really liked our pumpkins, and decided they wanted to own them for the couple hours left on Hallowe'en. Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

We've had a few dinners out at friends over the past week. We went over to my godmother's on Friday, and then over to the Puddy's on Tuesday. Delicious food, and good times at both. It was also "Bring your grade 9 to work day" this week, so Nick joined us at work. 

We had a fantastic nibbly dinner last night, we got some cold meats, cheeses, sliced an apple, a glass (or two) of riesling, mmmm. It was awesome. And pretty! 

Unfortunately, the champagne part of Champagne Thursday was significantly less successful. 

November 5, 2015

This week we suffered through a bottle with a very pretty label. It was a bottle from Mexico, and I know what you're thinking: Mexico? World renowned bubblies come from Mexico! Well, I'm not sure that is true, but if it is, this was not one of those bubbles. 

Even Tyson was unimpressed...

Sala Vive is a sparkling from Mexico, made by a branch of the Freixenet estate in Spain. I didn't know this until doing a bit of research this morning. We quite like the Freixenet black bottle, so don't think that this is a review of all their wines. Some are quite lovely. To us, however, this was not one of them. 

It is advertised as an extra dry sparkling wine, which totally appealed to us. In the glass it's a beautiful straw colour with lots of bubbles making their way to the surface. We were excited about it. 

This is where it all started to go sideways. Well, "how did it smell?" you ask? It smelled delicious. But not wine delicious... Irish Beef Stew delicious... Pardon me? Yes. A lovely beefy stew. Specifically the gravy from a tin of beef stew. I got an essence of canned peas mixed in, but for Shane it was strictly stew gravy. It brought back childhood memories for him of his dad opening the tin for lunch... 

Now, I didn't want to write that in the book. I made us drink the whole glass, sniffing and swirling and bubbling before admitting defeat, yup, that's it. I can't put anything else in the book, because that's all it was. 

After we got accustomed to the taste and smell, we didn't hate it... I mean, we didn't like it, but we didn't hate it... it was just very very strange. Something just wasn't quite right... Hahaha, yes, of course we finished it. It would have been wasteful to pour it out. It was similar to the green pepper pizza bubbly we had a while back, we finished that one too, and that was a bigger struggle than the beef stew was.  

Verdict: No. Never again. If I want a beef stew, I'll make one, or open a can. Can't do this one again. But beautiful label. 

~S

• Brand: Freixenet de Mexico 
• Type of Grape: Not advertised
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $18.95 (Looking at the LCBO website, it was released on our wedding day! How lovely!)
• Tasting Notes: A strong essence of Beef Stew, with canned peas on the nose.

Pre-Hallowe'en!

He was so tiny! 

This was a pretty quiet week for us. The kids were over for the weekend, and I celebrated my 6th anniversary with Tyson. I remember bringing him home, an adorable 6 pound bundle of fur, skin and energy. He's now a handsome 95 pound bundle of cuddles and laziness. Ah, how times change as we age. 

We have a belated Thanksgiving dinner coming up this weekend, and so we've been preparing the turkey, defrosting, soaking him in his brine bath, getting ready to smoke... yum yum. He's going to be delicious. 

Back to the point. 

October 29, 2015

Happy lil' dragon

Being the Thursday before Hallowe'en, we decided it was most fitting for Tyson to wear his costume. He's a dragon this year (not to be confused with the dinosaur costume that he wore last year... which looks very similar... so similar in fact that some could be confused...). 

We celebrated with a bottle of Desiderius's Pongrácz, from South Africa. It had a very tart and dry aroma on the nose. A lovely straw colour, and lots of big bubbles in the glass. 

On first taste it was close your eyes tart-sour. Like you'd just had a super sour candy. Both Shane and I were a bit taken aback by how tart it was. No real flavours came through at first because of this. After a few sips, and a bit of air, the tartness subsided a touch. The main flavour was, well, white wine. There wasn't much in the way of fruit or outside flavours. It was nice, clean and well rounded, but nothing special. 

I think he was tired of
the photo shoot

Verdict: It was okay. The first sips might be off-putting for someone who doesn't drink much bubbly, but overall, nothing special. With all the other options out there, we probably wouldn't get this one again... This would not be suitable for someone who likes sweeter bubblies. 

~S

• Brand: Desiderius, South Africa
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 9g/L
• Price: $16.95
• Tasting Notes: Very tart, nicely dry, white wine flavour. Would go nicely with a creamy pasta. 

The Lonely Week is Over

I always knew I was meant to
be a pillow... 

And thank goodness for that! Shane was away on business from Sunday to Wednesday. Normally I'm the one who has left, and so it felt very strange to be in the house with just me, my thoughts and Tyson (at least he was there, couch snuggles are the best!). 

Before Shane left, we had a nice weekend: mom and I went for brunch while dad and Shane cleaned his closet. In a sense... a very loose sense... They built shelves. When we moved in, I picked the closet in our bedroom that had shelves and a bit of room for hanging, which meant that Shane got the closet with just a bar for hanging clothes. Unfortunately, that hasn't been working so well for t-shirts which seemed to be consumed by the growing pile of clothes on the floor. So, when our weekend cleared up, we decided that it was time to fix that. And then we ate wings. Yum. 

Fast forward to Thursday. 

October 22, 2015

Nope, he hasn't moved from that
spot all week

This was a great week for bubbly. Really great. It was an Ontario wine from the Niagara region, Vieni Estate's 2013 Momenti. We had to stop by the LCBO this week to pick up a bottle of Bailey's for a new dessert we're going to try, and saw this beauty in the Vintages section. It was new, the label was pretty, and the price, well, it was outstanding. 

In the glass it's a very pale yellow, but with more colour than the past couple we've had. Very pretty, lots of bubbles. On the nose it has a fruity, hard pear scent. On the palate, it doesn't have the expected pear taste, but Shane identified passion fruit with a bit of banana, which I thought was oddly specific. I didn't get that specific with my tastings but did notice it was heavy in tropical flavours. Shane said it reminded him of the Tropical Citrus Blend of the Five Alive juice. 

It was really good. Really good. Shane must have said "This is really tasty" about 17 times. It's not a super sweet bubbly, the label actually says "extra dry" which I disagree with. We do think though that with the level of tropical fruity flavours, it is one that even someone who prefers the sweet champagnes (like my mom) would enjoy. It's got so much fruity essence that it almost comes across as a fruit wine. 

Verdict: as if it wasn't obvious, yes, we will be getting this again. Heck, we may go pick up a couple bottles to have on hand because we expect it will sell out. 

~S

• Brand: Vieni Estates
• Type of Grape: Vidal & Pinot Grigio
• Sweetness: 15g/L
• Price: $13.95
• Tasting Notes: Very tropical flavours, light and fruity. Would pair well with eggs benedict and salty home fries. 

Hashtag: Thankful

This past weekend was Thanksgiving. A time to join together with friends and family, to celebrate the little things, to be thankful for all that you have. And to eat WAY too much. So, based on those criteria, our Thanksgiving was a huge success. We ate too much ham and potatoes on Saturday with the kids, on Sunday we enjoyed the Packers football game (big win!), and then enjoyed the outside tossing the ball around ourselves. After the kids went back to their mom's, Shane and I had dinner with my parents, where we ate too much turkey, stuffing, cranberries (me, not Shane), potatoes, everything, and then topped it all off with Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. On Monday, we were all ready to do a major houseclean... until we both ran out of steam by about 1:30, so we went and voted, then went on a nice motorcycle ride by the water, sat in the sunshine with a beer, then finished watching Suits (we've been addicted, so it's good to be done!). 


The short work week has certainly felt long enough though, and we're both looking forward to the weekend. 

October 15, 2015

This Thursday was celebrated after we watched the boys' high school football team smoke their competition.

We had been given a bottle of [Yellow tail] Bubbles. This is a nice simple bubbly, easy to drink and enjoy, we've had it a few times in the past (as recently as September). 

In the glass, it's very pale, almost colourless; it has a dry smell, but a sweeter taste. I'm getting a bit of a cold, so my taste and smell is a little off, but in my first sip I got a whack of vitamin taste. Shane did a bit as well, but he said it was more minerally than vitamin-y, which sounds way better :). Although I usually don't like minerally wines, I still enjoyed this one. 

We also noted that it was less sweet than we remembered it being, which, for us, was a good thing. We thought it was very sweet last time, but that didn't come through this time. There's a chance that's because we've had a few sweeter bubbles lately, but maybe just because we had it built up in our heads. Who knows. 

Verdict: Yup, we enjoy it each time we have it. 

~S

• Brand: [yellow tail]
• Type of Grape: Unknown
• Sweetness: 24g/L
• Price: $13.95
• Tasting Notes: Dry nose, sweeter on tongue, minerally flavours. Would pair nicely with a creamy rich pasta. 

Post-Head of the Trent

A lot has happened since my last post. So much so that this is late. Again. Maybe someday I'll learn, but I doubt it. 

Last weekend was my university homecoming, Head of the Trent. Unlike most homecomings, it isn't a football game, but a rowing regatta. But similar to most homecomings, it is usually a drunken fest, followed by more drinking. It was Shane's first time partaking in the shenanigans, but he fit right in. We made a vegetarian chili to have in the crock pot at the hotel for when it was supper time, which was a huge hit. We made it a little atypical in that we roasted squash and sweet potatoes and used cinnamon and nutmeg and harvest-y spices along with the traditional chili flavours. Yum. 

October 8, 2015

This week's Champagne Thursday was celebrated with a bottle from a friend from my university, seems fitting. Jenna got us a bottle of Yellowglen Pink. 

It was quite nice. It was dry on the nose, and wasn't as pink as some other blush bubblies we have had. It was more a rose gold colour, very pretty. 

The bubbles were great, small and plentiful and soft on the tongue. It has a sweet berry flavour, but it isn't a super sweet sparkling wine. (After note: I looked the sweetness level up after finishing the post for the short notes below and was surprised by the sugar content. It certainly has more than it would lead you to believe. Interesting. It comes across much more dry than it is.)

We noted that it had a pleasing yet unidentifiable scent. Later on we decided that it was like smelling a bag of Swedish Berries, yummy! Overall it was quite nice, nothing over the top, and an easy drinker. 

Verdict, sure, we'd get it again. 

~S

• Brand: Yellowglen
• Type of Grape: Variety of different grapes, not mentioned
• Sweetness: 26g/L (sweeter than I expected)
• Price: $11.95
• Tasting Notes: Sweet berry nose, dry on the tongue, nice bubbles, easy to drink. Would pair nicely with salty chips or grilled salmon.