Grids, Gardens and the Entourage

The raised beds, squash patch and
of course, wine glasses.

We have been busy little bees this week. The weekend was gloriously productive, even with the kids around! We got a load of dirt delivered and we filled our raised bed garden boxes on Saturday. It was a sweaty, dirty day that ended in a nice chilled glass of wine. We planted plants and seeds on Sunday, and watered everything down. 

This is our first year with a veggie garden, and we didn't want to get too overwhelmed with weeding and everything, so we decided to go with the raised bed, square-foot garden. We have read some great things about the yield of veg and the ease of the actual gardening. 

The spoons have sprouted nicely! :)

The premise is pretty straight forward. You build a box, fill it with dirt, and make a grid of square feet (hence the strings on ours), and then each square gets a plant allotment based on their requirements. For example, peppers and tomatoes get one plant per square, where lettuce plants get 4 and carrots get 16. I made some markers out of plastic spoons so we knew what was where and now we wait. If you look reeeeeeeally closely in this next picture, you can see that I've given my thumbs up to the teeny tiny lil' sprouts we're getting... yay! This picture was taken on Thursday, so they've had about  four days to grow. 

Anyways, keep your fingers crossed for us, we're nervous-excited about it, and really hopeful that we get a good crop. 

Sorry to bother you, Tysie.

May 26, 2016

This week we saw a new bottle in the LCBO, called Entourage by Jackson Triggs (the bottle we had was the 2011, this link is for the 2013). Please note: one of Shane's favourite shows of all time is Entourage, so we couldn't have skipped it even if we had wanted to. Luckily, it came highly recommended by our Champagne Guy. 

This one had a very aggressive cork pop. It was a good thing that Shane had a good hold of it, otherwise who knows where it would've ended up, perhaps upstairs.

On the nose, it has a slightly sweet, bready smell. The first few sips were very tart, very dry and a little acidic (in  a good way). It has a very creamy mouth feel. After a glass, the tart gave way to a sour candy taste, a little sweet and a little sour-tart mixed together. The dryness was pretty much gone. 

There wasn't much in the way of different flavours, but it was really good. It is a solid, straightforward bubbly. Now, this one was a bit more expensive than we tend to go for - about $5 more. We don't regret spending the extra money on it, because it was very good. That being said, we aren't sure that it's worth the extra $5 on a regular basis. But it's quite lovely, and we would probably get it again sometime, maybe for a medium-special occasion (not a very special occasion, like an anniversary, but a medium special occasion, like a birthday or promotion... you get it). 

~S

• Brand: Jackson Triggs
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 12g/L
• Price: $24.95
• Tasting Notes: Clean, dry bubbly, nicely tart and acidic notes. Would pair nicely with sushi, or an Asian noodle dish. 

Guest Author!

SPECIAL BLOG POST BY "GUEST" BLOGGER, Shane!!

Well, another week has come to pass. We settled in quite nicely after the busy weekend we had (I'll appologize now for the extra photos this week, but we've got LOTS to share!)

 Like Sam said before, we did a wine tour in Niagara. Day One we did a few wineries around the Grimsby area: Forty Creek (not a winery of course, but there was no way we weren't stopping by), Vieni (because they have some of our favourite bubblies), Flat Rock Cellars, and Megalomaniac (highly recommend going, very impressive building and delicious wines).

Us on the balcony of Megalomaniac holding a
bottle of "Selfie"  Very apropos!

Day two saw us spending time in Niagara-on-the-Lake and visiting Small Talk Vineyards (fun labels, seriously!), Big Head (GLORIOUS whites), Between the Lines (a fun bubbly that will make an appearance in this blog in the coming weeks) and Silversmith Brewing.  


All told, over the two days, we visited about 15 wineries, distilleries and/or breweries.  Needless to say while it was a super-fun weekend, we were really excited to finally be back home with the Tyson on Sunday evening - especially when you factor in the visit to, not one, BUT TWO Ikea stores in the Greater Toronto Area to get lamps for our night stands...  I was about ready to shoot someone... 






Before we move on to this week's Champagne Thursday selection & review, here are a few photos of our Adventure in the Niagara Area!




And of course... here's the haul!!!

Scary, eh?  Everything was just so damn tasty!

May 19, 2016

So on to this week's bubbly (finally, right?).  For the first time in Champagne Thursday history we decided to celebrate in our workshop!!!

Last Thursday we saw a bottle of sparkling wine from 13th Street Winery that was an amazing deep red colour.  It was totally calling our names, but because we were visiting the Niagara area that weekend we decided to skip it and give it a try when we got there. So we held off buying it and got the Fumees Blanches instead. 

The work bench/wine tasting bar was
a touch too tall for Tysie's liking!

We visited 13th Street Winery on the first day of our tour, and really enjoyed their Cuvee Rose Brut.  In fact we enjoyed it enough that we made it the first Champagne Thursday selection after our return from "Wine Country". (As a side note, they also have an excellent "Burger Blend" red (also available at our LCBO), with some really interesting flavours and as the name would suggest, I expect we'll be picking some up to have with a BBQ). 


When we opened the bottle this week it didn't disappoint.  I got strong aromas of tart strawberries on the cork.  Sam thought it smelled nicely dry-sweet.  The experience of the first sip was very similar for both of us - very tart (in a good way) with strawberry and green apple.  It was had a slight bread/yeast taste, reminiscent of toasted crusty bread.  The finish was nicely acidic - which we both love in a good sparkling wine!




Verdict?  While we have had equally as good or better sparking wines in the past at a lower price point, this didn't disappoint.  It was a solid, above average bottle that we would most certainly consider again!

Cheers

~Shane

• Brand: 13th Street Winery
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Gamay
• Sweetness: 13g/L
• Price: $24.95
• Tasting Notes: High in strawberry and green apple aromas, nicely acidic and dry. Would pair well with fish or brunch. 

Attention

So Sam totally thought she was going to get away with me writing the blog and not mentioning that Tuesday was her BIRTHDAY!!!!  That's not happening, so I hijacked the page!  :)

Because we went away to Niagara for the weekend (her birthday celebration) we kept things pretty low key for her actual birthday.  We had a nice dinner with the kids and, of course, a cake!

OMG this cake is SOOOOO Good!
Raspberry-Lemonade Cake!!!

Emma LOVES birthdays... As far as she is concerned everyday should be a birthday party!  As soon as she walked in the door she started saying "Happy Birthday Sam", gave her a hug and wanted her to open her present right away! 

We had to put the brakes on that and get dinner into her first.  But after dinner was finished and it was cake time.  Happy Birthday was sung (led by Emma, of course) and cake was consumed.  Emma was bouncing off the walls with excitement (and sugar, I think).

After the kids went back to their mother's house, Sam and I enjoyed a lovely bottle of Pinot Gris from Stanners Vineyard in Prince Edward County... because, hey, the only way to cap off a weekend wine-country getaway is with yet another bottle of wine!

Happy birthday to my gorgeous, funny, smart and selfless wife.

I love you.  Lotsa.  xo 

Pineapple vs. Pine Tree...

So there is a very good excuse for this tardy post: Shane and I went on a wine tour (or two) over the weekend in the Niagara Region (which doesn't feel much different than the Price Edward County Region). It was two days of wine tasting, good food, and relaxation. It was very lovely. I'll post some pictures of the tour on this week's post (that is, this coming week's, not to be confused with last week's a.k.a. this current post). 

Last weekend (May 7-8) was Mother's Day here. Shane's kids were over for a bit, but they went home to their mom's a bit earlier than normal. I went for a motorcycle ride with my mom, and we went out to the farm on Sunday for a visit with my folks. 

May 12, 2016

This week Shane had to take the notes, because I finally got a chance to chat with Diamond on the phone. So there was mucho baby talk (she had her lil' bun in April), and very little note taking on my part. Oops! But I think Shane did a great job. 

We got this one because of the bottle. It's a frosted glass, and nice enough label. Francois Lurton's Les Fumees Blanches, 2015 Sparkling Sauvignon (this link isn't for this particular year's, I couldn't find it...). I still think it's a pretty bottle. 

It started out with a pretty weak cork pop. According to Shane, it had a very strong pineapple aroma from the bottle. In the glass there were big bubbles, but it wasn't overly fizzy on the tongue. It was very pale in colour. 

Shane wrote that it had a crisp taste with a clean finish, there wasn't a lingering aftertaste. It wasn't super dry, but it wasn't sweet either. It wouldn't be a choice for someone trying to transition to drier bubblies. 

In the midst of his writing and my baby talking with Diamond, I told him it smells like pine trees. I didn't get much other flavours, but I didn't think that I liked it. Which makes sense, if he's smelling pineapple and I'm smelling pine trees we are having very, VERY different sparkling wine experiences this week. 

So we were split. He would get it again, I wouldn't... which I guess means we won't. Poor Shane. 

Chat in a few days! 
~S

• Brand: Francois Lurton
• Type of Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
• Sweetness: 14g/L
• Price: $13.90
• Tasting Notes: Pineapple scent, crisp taste, with a clean finish. Would pair nicely with a warm brie and baguette. 

Licking Some Old Rocks

Look at those shoulders burning...

What a weekend we had here. The weather was all over the map, Saturday was gorgeous, so Shane and I were busy little bees outside, working in the gardens, on the lawn, and general tidy-up. Then we enjoyed the sunshine, and ended up getting a sunburn. Sunday was a dreary day, so it was building new bedroom furniture and then watching movies on the couch. Quite opposite days. But both productive. 

Tyson was less protective of our Garbage God Offering this week, so that was good, except that it means the Garbage God snuck up on him... he didn't like that so much. 

May 5, 2016 

This week we celebrated with Graham Beck's Zero. This was the bottle we had wanted to get last week but were steered away. So we snuck into the LCBO and were in and out so quickly our Champagne Guy didn't see us. Very sneaky. Not a good thing. Maybe if he had seen us, we wouldn't have ended up with this one... Which would have been a good thing. A piece of advice: If you ever get a Champagne Guy, use him and listen to him. We should have done that. We did not. 

In any case: Graham Beck's 2009 Brut Zero. On first sniff, it was quite dry (as the name would suggest), and quite minerally. There were lots of nice bubbles, and the colour was very pale. At first, it reminded me of our 30-40 wedding bubbly that we had made. I can't remember if I've written a post about that one... 

Anyways, I didn't really like this one right from the get-go. I don't like big mineral flavours, but I am trying to adjust my palate so I stuck with it. I'm trying to train it to like different flavours. Shane didn't find the minerality of it offensive... at first. Unfortunately, there was nothing else to taste in the wine, and so it became offensive to both of us. 

I wanted to like it, I tried to like it, but I just couldn't. I liked the previous Graham Beck we had a couple weeks ago, and wanted to like it's drier cousin, but I couldn't. And Shane couldn't either. I mean we finished it. It wasn't as bad as Sala Vive (which isn't saying much for it), but we wouldn't get it again, and in fact, we would try and steer others away from it. Just wasn't working for us. 

~S

• Brand: Graham Beck
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
• Sweetness: 4g/L
• Price: $22.95
• Tasting Notes: High in bubbles, high in minerals, not sure what it would pair with... Old cheese perhaps? 

Offerings to the Gods

So, our dog is quite an interesting character. He's not a dog, he's a person, and he's not a dog-person at that. He's a people-person. In any case, he has some interesting tendencies. The most recent one we have noticed is that he guards our offering to the garbage man gods until the garbage man gods come to collect it. Seriously, he sits on the couch, staring out the window and watches the garbage we have set out for collection. He waits and waits for the garbage man to come. If another car goes by slowly, he'll huff and grumble. When the garbage man comes, he watches him take the offering, and when he leaves he gets off the couch and carries on with his day. He never barks at the garbage man gods, as that would be rude and disrespectful, but he has no problem barking at anyone else who happens to go by. 

April 28, 2016

He's thrilled, I swear. 

This week we had a bottle in our hot little hands, but it was suggested by our Champagne Guy that we try a different bottle. So that's how we ended up on Foss Marai Roös Brut Spumante Rosé. It came highly recommended. 

Let me start though by describing a drink we had earlier in the night to make you aware of how our palates were (or weren't) working. We had picked up a can of Captain Morgan's Spiked Iced Tea and Shane got a very distinct flavour of vanilla... now, I'm not sure, but I don't think that vanilla normally goes in iced tea... Anyways, now you know, we both still had our colds and we're not exactly sure that we were up to snuff... in fact, we're fairly certain we weren't. 

On popping the cork, Shane told me he got a strong scent of chap stick, yup, from the 80s/90s or like the Katie Perry Cherry Chap Stick. I didn't get that, but I don't normally get a scent from the cork popping as he's the one doing the popping. On the first tastes we got a bit of a fruit punch thing going on, it seemed quite sweet at first, but had a tart and dry finish. 

A bit later on, it reminded me of a fruit liquor, a bit boozy, a bit burny, kind of strawberry-esque? It had quite a creamy mouth feel. It had a dry-sweet flavour, kind of like Thorn Berry Fruit Cider. We came to the conclusion that the fruit flavour we were getting must have been cranberries: dry, tart but sweet also. 

The bottle was fun, you can see in the photo that it is textured. There were lots of bubbles and it was a nice colour. 

Overall, it was nice enough. I don't know if we'd get it again though, not because it wasn't good because it was. If we didn't get it again, it would just be because it wasn't good enough. We drink a lot of bubbly, and there is so much out there still to try that it wasn't good enough for a do-over. That being said, we did mention that we had wondered if it would've been better if we weren't so congested... 

~S

• Brand: Foss Marai
• Type of Grape: Not noted
• Sweetness: 10g/L
• Price: $19.95
• Tasting Notes: A nice bubbly, high in fruit flavours, sweet start with a tart dry finish. Would pair nicely with white fish and salad. 

Not again...

Wow. To think I was doing so well, and now I've completely fallen off the wagon. Not entirely my fault, I asked dear hubby to help and do a post and he forgot. Can you see my eyes rolling? Oh well. 

April is mostly over, and it has come with some crappy weather and a touch of nice weather. We've had days where we had a fire going and days when the windows were open. Last weekend was particularly lovely, I actually got a sunburn! Spring is springing in Morven! Finally. 

There are 4 bottles to reviews (wait, four you ask? When there's only been three weeks? Yes, we were naughty one week...), so I'll get right to it. The rest is just jibber-jabber anyways.

April 7, 2016

Apparently Tyson didn't want to play along... 

This week we got a dry bottle from South Africa: Graham Beck's Brut, Blanc de Blancs. Shane got a bready scent, and to me it smelled dry and appley. The first sips were very tart, a dry sour. It has a beautiful colour and lots of bubbles. It's quite dry, with an abundance of apple and pear flavours. 

It really reminded us of a cider, like a Strongbow. In my notes I've got "cider-esque" and I later scratched out the "esque". We quite liked it and would get it again. 

April 14, 2016 Bottle #1

This was our naughty week. Shane didn't want me to put them both up here, but because we took notes on both, I figured we should. 

Anyways, first bubblies first: Grande Cuvée, Brut Rosé, by Vueve Ambal. This one smelled like you'd expect a white zinfandel to smell, light, a bit fruity and a bit sweet. The first few sips were quite tart, like granny smith apples that were too young to eat.It was quite dry on the back of the throat and tongue. There was a smell that we couldn't quite identify at first, but we decided that we thought it was peaches, hard, white peaches. 

It was a lovely colour, and had lots of bubbles. It had a lovely smooth mouthfeel, not creamy like some crémants can be. It was really nice and we could easily drink this one again. 

April 14, 2016 Bottle #2

Next up was the Italian Bottega Prosecco. Right off the top it smelled quite sweet, I said Swedish Berries, and Shane was adamant that it was candy necklaces. It was a very light bubbly, light on bubbles, light on colour (almost colourless), a light sweet flavour. It was nicely thin, had a very clean mouth-feel: when you swallowed it, it was gone from your mouth, nothing lingered. 

It was quite a nice, easy sipper. And we would (and will) have it again, half because it's lovely, and half because we have another bottle in our fridge from Shane's dad. This has the potential to be a good transitional bubbly. One to try if you like the sweeter side of the sparkling wines, but are trying to get your palate to steer to the drier side of things. This is dry, but it does come across as semi-sweet.

April 21, 2016

Last but not least, this past week. This week was picked because of the label. It looked like fun. We had Contraband's Brut (pink label on the website). Their website isn't great at this point, and there isn't really any information on their wines, so that's too bad. 

Keep in mind, both Shane and I are sick this week, so our noses and palates aren't working so well... On the nose, there was an unidentified scent, all through the bottle, I couldn't place it. It smelled a little off to me, like something had gone sour... It didn't take away from the flavour though. There was an abundance of strawberries in the first few sips. Shane said fresh strawberries, but not overly sweet. I thought it smelled dry but tasted sweet. 

The mouth feel on this one was a bit odd. It had a boozy burn, like you were drinking a rye or a liquor, but again, this didn't take away from the bubbly. It was nice, I've quoted Shane as saying "I like it" a couple times. The bubbles were great, lots of small ones. The colour is fun, a beauty of a pink. The bottle says that it's "extra dry"... it's not. It's got a sweeter mouth-feel. Near the end of this one, I was getting a kind of burnt taste, like burnt sugar or something, a little bitter sweet. 

Long story short, we'd probably get it again, just to try and see if our un-sick selves notice much of a difference. It was okay. 

That's it for this post, have a great week! I'll try to stay on top of things better next week!

~S

April 7, 2016

• Brand: Graham Beck
• Type of Grape: Chardonnay
• Sweetness: 6g/L
• Price: $23.95
• Tasting Notes: Nicely dry, tart apple flavours. Would pair well with a curry apple soup.

April 14, 2016: Bottle 1

• Brand: Veuve Ambal
• Type of Grape: Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chardonnay
• Sweetness: 10g/L
• Price: $20.95
• Tasting Notes: Nice smooth bubbly, tart apples and white peach flavours. Would pair nicely with a baked brie.

April 14, 2016: Bottle 2

• Brand: Bottega
• Type of Grape: Glera
• Sweetness: 14g/L
• Price: $14.95
• Tasting Notes: A nice sweet feeling bubbly, fruity flavours, clean mouth-feel. Would pair well with a fruit salad or ice cream.

April 21, 2016

• Brand: Contraband
• Type of Grape: Not noted
• Sweetness: 17g/L
• Price: $20.95
• Tasting Notes: Sweeter bubbly, lots of fruity flavours like strawberries. Would pair nicely with a light fish dish. 

So Pretty

Oh my what a week! The extra long weekend was a glorious one filled with sunshine, laughter, food, sausages, and a bonfire! The kids were over for a couple days, we had a bonfire on Saturday and an egg hunt and brunch at my parents' house on Sunday. On Monday, Shane and I made sausages and my parents came out for supper, where we ate... wait for it... FOURTEEN sausages... between the 4 of us... It's a little embarrassing and a little unnerving and a little impressive all rolled up into a big ball of deliciousness. 

The rest of the week has been pretty low key, which was good. Why is it that the short weeks at work always feel like the longest?? It's strange. Shane and I do count ourselves lucky that we have the 9-5 weekday jobs though, no shift work, no weekends, stats off... It's a pretty sweet gig. 

Anyways, onto Thursday! 

March 31, 2016

This week our selection practically jumped off the shelves at us. Front and center at the LCBO we saw a beautiful bright label, a name we know and love, a price point we could get excited about... it was fate. So we hugged our new-found bottle tight and made our way home. Vieni Estates' Bruce Trail Rosé. 

Even Tyson was excited for this one!

After we popped the top and poured into the glasses, we were taken aback by how lovely and springy the colour was. It was a glorious pink, much brighter than traditional rosés. On the nose it had a sweet, bready aroma, with a hint of berries in the background. 

The first few sips we just basked in the loveliness that was this bubbly. It was flavourful, it was sweet and dry, it was complex, and it was pretty! Finally we got down to business and started taking notes. There is a strong sweet raspberry flavour, with a nicely dry finish. It had a good volume of bubbles, and a nice acidic bite. After a glass I was starting to get almost a woody flavour, a kind of burnt sugar that I initially placed as maple, but Shane and I later decided on a "toasted caramel". 

But who cares because it was delicious! Seriously. 

~S

• Brand: Vieni Estates
• Type of Grape: Not specified
• Sweetness: 20g/L
• Price: $15.95
• Tasting Notes: Light, lovely, and fruity with a dry finish. Would pair nicely with brunch or a girls night out!