Wine and cheese revisited
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A little over a year ago I wrote a short post about my inability to pair wines with cheese. Since then I have experienced more success and and now relate to those you following my struggle that I have successfully overcome by inability to pair wine with Brie. I think I was simply being too fussy. Many wines pair well with Brie (Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Gewurztraminer for example). Perhaps it is just that no wine pairs spectacularly with Brie unlike, say, Cabernet Sauvignon with a big, fat, juicy peppered strip loin. Anyway, moving on.

I mention the cheese thing because our trip oaround the World of Wine seems to be evolving. At first it was a simple crusty roll and a slab of gouda but yesterday Derrick brought in three cheeses and a fresh baguette, while Jesse unveiled a package of Margaret's Date and Walnut Crisps which were quite delicious. It appears that my simple wine tasting has been usurped and transformed into a full blown social event. It is now practically a meal which, despite some initial misgivings, I find myself enjoyiong more and more. So, starting next week, the cheese selection will become part of the regular experience and subsequent write up.

In another evolution, Melinda selected yesterday's wine allowing me to join the others in having a crack at identifying it. Being a kind-hearted soul, she went easy on us and presented a very pleasant dry German Riesling which we were able to identify as such. So, from now on we will rotate the wine selection duties and include comments on the cheeses and other dishes presented.

For the record yesterday's cheese bopard contained the following;

Port Salut
Cantenaar
Oka

It was generally felt that all three cheeses paired reasonably well with the riesling.

Winery: Kendermanns
Country: Germany
Vintage: 2004
Varietal: Riesling
Price: CAN$15.00



 

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Wines that don't taste the way they should
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In his blog today, Steve Heimoff wrote a piece entitled "Oops! When famous wine writers get it wrong". The piece references a few examples of wine experts mistaking the one wine for another, whether in terms of varietal or region of production. He goes on to suggest that "wine writers not only have to review to the best of their ability, they also have to be great historians, students of popular culture, with an aptitude for science and geology and — above all — transcendent writers."

At first I thought this was just the usual back-handed complimenting that goes on all the time - "Oh yes, I can be such a buffoon. I'll neve forget the time I mistook an '86 Duckstuffer Lot34 Pinot for a Lot 26! Ha Ha" - but on further investigation with the aid of Mr. Dictionary, I realized that Steve is on to something here. Miriam Webster suggests four possible definitions for the word 'transcendent'.

The first is 'exceeding usual limits' and generally speaking, I think most wine writers do indeed exceed the usual limits when it comes to wine...consumption that is. I suspect this is why much that is written about wine, and I include my own incoherent ramblings in this assessment, is such utter crap.

The second is 'being beyond comprehension'. Need I say more?

Anyway, that's not why I mentioned Steve's piece. The reason I did so is that our Around the World of Wine Tour moved back to Eastern Europe yesterday and stopped in the Czech Republic to sample a wine that nobody would be able to recognize, not even Steve. It was, so the label claimed, a Pinot Gris but I refuse to believe it. If they had claimed it was a Chardonnay, I might have been able to accept it, but this wine was like no Pinot Gris I have ever tasted. It had a very weak nose with barely a hint of vanilla and the taste was equally bland.

Having said all that, the wine received 3 out 5 'I Like It's" which just goes to prove that wine reviews are purely subjective as Steve suggests and, equally, completely pointless.

My recommendation to you is this; try as many different wines as you possibly can, ignore all wine reviews, and stock up on the wine YOU like, not the ones Robert Parker or James Suckling or Alice Feiring or Steve Heimoff or Jancis Robinson or anybody else says you should like.

Winery: Znovin Znojmo Winery
Region: Znojmo
Country: Czech Republic
Vintage: 2005
Varietal: Pinot Gris
Price: CAN$11.88
 

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China Revisited
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After a brief (thankfully) stop in Hungary, we whipped back to China this week to sample another bottle of Great Wall 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. The last time we did this, the wine had corked, turned, soured, whatever...it sucked. But THIS time, things were different. The wine showed the same Bordeaux-like qualities I had experienced previously and was generally well received.

Jamie noted the wine's redness (i think he was kidding), Derrick appreciated its intensely fruity nose, I found a little leather, and the everyone recognized the somewhat dry, astringent mouthfeel. Nobody guessed it was a Cabernet though but that is not really surprising as this wine tastes like a blend. And given the lack of regulation in China, it probably is. The question is, what is it blended with? Merlot? Cabernet Franc? Pineapple juice? Overall, the group appreciated the wine with 4 out of 5 liking it.

As a follow up, we headed south to Galilee in Israel where we sampled a Yarden 2006 Muscat from Golan Heights Winery which is one of the most interesting wines I've tasted recently. While all of us recognized the wine's overwhelming aroma, none of us could put a name to it. The best we could come up with was something like a honey peach and grapefruit smoothie. I know that sounds disgusting but I actually liked it, although most of the others unfortunately failed to recognize its unique charms. Other than that the wine was really sweet, as you might expect from a Muscat, although it did not overwhelm the wine. Overall, 2 out of 5 "I Like It"s.

At the end of the tasting, I corked the remains of both bottles and left them overnight. And today, after a very cold round of golf, a buddy and I cracked them open and finished them off with interesting results.

The Great Wall Cabernet had softened measurably, losing much of its initial astringency. Now, my experience of wines is generally limited to those designed for immediate consumption and priced accordingly so I know very little about wines designed for aging. However, my impression is that this wine, already 6 years old, would possibly improve with even more aging. I could be, and probably am, wrong. The Muscat had not changed a bit which is not really a surprise I guess for such a sweet wine.

The Wines

Winery: COFCO Huaxia Great Wall Wine Co., Ltd.
Region: ChinaChangli, Hebei?
Country: China
Wine: Greatwall
Vintage: 2003
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: CAN$14.00

Winery: Golan Heights Winery
Region: Galilee
Country: China
Wine: Yarden
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Muscat
Price: CAN$25.00

Next, it's back to Eastern Europe...wwhheeeeee

 

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Hungary and thirsty
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Firstly, let me apologize for the terrible pun - I beileve it was Jesse who came up with it but, in his defence, if we had not been half way through our second bottle at the time, he would probably have kept his mouth shut. At Stoney Creek, when we do a wine tasting, there is none of this sip and spit nonsense, we taste wine the same way you do at home; by the bottle.

Last week we were in China, and experienced the disappointment of a bottle gone bad. I have, thus far, failed in my attempt to find a replacement, so we ventured across the Himalayas, carefully avoided Afghanistan, dipped our toes in the Caspian and Black (which is not black by the way) Seas, trudged through the Carpathians (a little grim at this time of year) and stumbled into Hungary. Hungary is a country I would like to visit one day. Why, I cannot say. My sister returned from a school trip there, 10 pounds lighter, and complaing bitterly about the food; battered curds being one of several dishes to have traumatized her during the visit. However, I suspect there is much more to this fabled country whose capital city, Budapest, is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in Europe. And that's not the same as being one of the most beautiful cities in say, Africa. Not the same at all.

It was an inexpensive or, more accurately, cheap Pinot Gris that brought us to this land but, based on our tasting results, it will not bring us back. Firstly, it had a strange color, like a yellow that has lost its lust for life. Its aroma was nondescript and its taste somewhat sweet for a Pinot Gris and lacking any distinction whatsoever. It fact, the only thing of note about this wine was that it created a slight tingly feeling on the tongue; in the same way that champagne does if you leave a half-finished glass on the coffee table overnight and then polish it off the following morning for breakfast - not that I've ever done that of course. In fact, the theory that the wine could, in fact, have been an old, flat sparkling wine would explian both the taste and the color. But then, surely, the makers would not be so brazen as to claim the wine came from their 'Connoisseur Collection', would they?

Fortunately, I also had a bottle of Kalala Organic Pinot Gris which was as good as the other was bad. A strong (and identified as such by all of the tasters), yet far from unpleasant, grapefruit taste softened significantly as the wine was left to breathe. It was, as all the wines I have tasted from Kalala have been, delicious. Now, I know that some among you will point out that Kalala is in Kelowna, British Columbia, far from Eastern Europe but, as I had a bottle in my backpack, it still counts.

I suspect that there are far superior wines to be found in Hungary so, perhaps, after all, we will stay a while and see what we can find. Until next time, bon voyage.

Winery: Count Karolyi Private Cellars
Country: Hungary
Vintage: 2007
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Price: CAN$9.95


 

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Across the Pacific
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For this weeks installment of AWW, we had a choice. North, East, South or West. North was obviously a poor choice - 50º is the accepted northern limit for wine grapes and, with Mission Hill parked at 49º 57.32', north seemed unlikely to yield much bounty. East would eventually lead us to Ontario with, perhaps, the hope of finding something along the way but we were looking for adventure. South was the logical choice with over 3500 wineries between us and Mexico. But then, what of adventure, what of our dream of exploring the World of Wine? South was safe but West called out to our sense of adventure.

In a tiny liquor store in the village of Clinton, BC (Population: Approx 740) I stumbled across that rarest of things, a bottle of Chinese wine. It was like discovering a pyramid in Wales or a tanned Scotsman. I grabbed a couple of bottles of Great Wall 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and hurried home with my precious oriental nectar. At this point, I must confess, I cheated. My honest intent was to bring a bottle back to the office for tasting before trying one at home. But, overwhelmed by curiosity, Sherry and I cracked open a bottle. Our initial impressions were disappointing. The foil was the thin, plasticky kind and the agglomerate cork beneath further dampened my enthusiasm. But from there things got better, much better. The wine was good, really good; European in its styling, if I had tasted the wine blind I would have confidently identified it as a Bordeaux, and not an inexpensive one. To make sure we had judged the wine correctly, we polished off the second bottle and, strangely enough, it tasted even better than the first. Later, as we sat on the couch, glassy eyed and slurring at each other, I realized that I would need to pick up another bottle for the office - which i did.

So, yesterday, I gleefully poured six glasses and invited the rest of the gang to sample the amazing qualities of Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon. I could barely contain myself as I hopped from foot to foot waiting for them to express their awe and admiration. But, as noses hovered over glasses, frowns appeared. And, when tentative sips were finally taken, my worst fears were confirmed. The wine had turned, corked, gone bad. So, now I must locate another bottle or three of this luscious liquid, resist the temptation to quaff it all myself, and force a somewhat reluctant group of co-workers to visit the Great Wall of China again. In the meantime, if you can find it, try it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Winery: COFCO Huaxia Great Wall Wine Co., Ltd.
Region: ChinaChangli, Hebei?
Country: China
Wine: Greatwall
Vintage: 2003
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: CAN$14.00

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Tasting No.1
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At Corked headquarters we are nothing if not enthusiastic about wine. Our wine knowledge may be sketchy, our palates insensitve, and our ability to tell a great wine from a poor one no more refined than that of a rhinocerous. But these are trivial matters, tiny details, insignificant minutae, best swept under the carpet of eloquent prose. It is our enthusiam that matters and armed with this mighty weapon, we - all of us here at Stoney Creek -  have embarked on a journey of discovery, a journey that will take us around the World of wine. A bi-weekly wine tasting will be held, beginning in beautiful BC and ending, well, in beautiful BC. On the way, we will take in wines from around the globe and report back to you, our avid reader(s), on our explorations. On the way, we hope to discover new ways to define and describe our findings so that you may reap some benefit from our endeavors. Bear with me here; this may not be the most conventional collection of wine reviews.

Number One

Winery: Mission Hill (See my winery reveiew here)
Region: Okanagan, British Columbia
Country: Canada
Wine: Quatrain
Vintage: 2005
Varietal: Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon blend
Price: CAN$48.00

Tasting Notes

For our first adventure we selected a wine from our native British Columbia. As a general rule, we will restrict ourselves to wines under $20.00 as our goal is to discover affordable gems and discount wonders. But, as this wine is from a local winery and was a gift from our friends at Vin65, we thought it an appropriate starting point for our voyage.

"This bottle weighs a tonne. It must be good!" was something that we could all agree on, for indeed, the bottle is damnably heavy. "Perhaps that explains the cost", was another common refrain. This is, by far, the heaviest 750ml bottle I have ever hefted and I must confess, it raised my expectations. I suspect this may have a similar effect to a high price which, if the neuromarketing guys are right, should make the wine taste better. We shall see.

We opened, we waited, we poured, we waited, we swilled (actually, we were generally quite adept at this), we sipped, we slurped, we nearly choked, we definitely swallowed (because at $48.00 a bottle who would spit?), and finally, we considered....and then...we discussed.

"It reminds me of a black panther" exclaimed Melinda. The rest of us glanced nervously at each other as a communal thought formed into a question; "Does she mean the melanistic jaguar or the African American political group formed in the late sixties?" A startling beginning to our experiment, yet more was to come. Non-plussed by this comparison, I asked the question " If this wine WAS an animal, what would it be?" While nobody else uncovered a fearsome feline lurking in the bottle, someone, who shall remain anonymous, discovered the "Easter Bunny". I checked the alcohol content (13.5%), made a mental note not to use animal analogies as a way to describe wine, and moved on.

Derrick picked up on the wine's chocolate notes, while Jesse unearthed the aroma of plums. They fervently denied having previously read the winery's own tasting notes, so perhaps we have some talent in the group after all. The rest of us found "cherry", "vanilla", and a hint of "lemon".  While these are all flavors associated with a well known soda, this is surely just coincidence.

The strange thing is that, while we all found the wine to have different characteristics, we all liked it.

Recommendation: If you have the budget, try it.

 

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2005 Quadriga earns Wine Enthusiast Editor's Choice
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On my recent trip to Prince Michel, while browsing a recent Wine Enthusiast, I was delighted to see that our friends at Brutocao Cellars had earned the distinction of an Editor's Choice award for their 2005 Quadriga. I will let Wine Enthusiast talk to the qualities of the wine but wish to express my heartfelt congratulations to the team at Brutocao and in particular to winemaker Fred Nickel. Job well done.




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Part 2 - Wine Tasting
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TO DRINK: Tilt glass and swallow.

Easy, anyone can do it!! I happen to consider myself a pro. See?!

Although TO TASTE the wine is quite different, it’s a skill that must be keenly learned and strategically implemented (that’s the fun part), and the more you do it the better at it you become. Of this, I’m not such a pro.


SET AND SETTING

“Through a concentrated application of all the senses, and by comparison of the immediate sense data with memories of other wines tasted, the serious taster can decipher a wine's biography to an amazing extent, including…

    • the growing season that produced it
    • the approach of the winemaker who created it
    • and its relation to other wines of similar type or origin

"Every bottle of wine is a message, the physical embodiment of a specific place and time captured and transmitted for the pleasure of the taster." - Wine Spectator

Apparently, the best ambiance to taste wine is with friends in a warm comfortable setting.  (What?!? Share my wine? No way! Ahem…I mean… yes, of course, with friends.)

Ok, back to the learning.

Tasting is not an exact science. Everyone has different levels of sensitivities, so it is possible that different opinions can be held the same glass of wine.

Check out this statement, it totally conflicts what I’ve been doing for the last___ years. (No way, not going to reveal how long I’ve been drinking.)

“The goal in tasting wine is not to "find" the same aromas and flavors some other taster is describing. If you hone your own perceptual abilities and develop your own vocabulary to articulate them, you'll not only derive more pleasure from the wine itself, but also stimulate better communication between you and the friends who are sharing the bottle.” - Wine Spectator

LOOKING AT WINE

If you’re like me, you’d look at a glass of wine and say it’s either Red, White or Blush. Not the case…

1. Fill wine glass one-third full. (and supposedly not a coffee cup or
regular glass...)
2. Pick it up by the stem.
3. You are looking for….
    a. Hue - true color - Tilt Glass; look inside and see the variations
        from the deepest part to the edges. (there are many hues...too many to list)
    b. Intensity - gauged by looking straight down at the wine
    c. Clarity - is the wine brilliant or cloudy with particles?
        - best seen when light is shining sideways through the glass.
4. Swirling - careful not to spill on your favorite t-shirt…I mean blouse or dress shirt. Easiest way is to rest the glass on a table, hold the stem with your thumb and forefinger and gently rotate the wrist. Move the glass until the wine is ‘dancing’, climbing nearly to the rim. Stop. A film appears on the sides, falling slowly down in ‘tears’ or ‘legs’, the more ‘tears’ the more alcohol. This also prepares the wine for the next step.
(We’re getting closer and closer to my favorite step…)

SMELLING WINE

When the tears are falling it’s time to sniff. Agitating the wine vaporizes some of the liquid intensifiying the aromas. The smaller the rim, the more intense the aroma.
   
1. Stick nose in glass…inhale.

That’s it!! Sounds simple, ah ah, now comes the hard part…WHAT are you smelling?! This could be a whole new Blog series…and actually Richard has already tapped into this area bit, see his blog of March 10th, 2008

The average person can identify approximately 10,000 different aromas. WOW!! How many of those are inherent in wine?! Many, many…

“Serious wine tasters love to identify smells. ‘Chocolate!’ cries one. ‘Burnt matches!’ insists another. ‘Tea, tobacco, mushrooms and a bit of the old barnyard,’ intones a third...some normal aromas may be rose, iris, cherry, peach, honey and vanilla.” - Wine Spectator

(ALRIGHT! My favorite step…)

TASTING WINE

Once again, technique is the key to ‘truly tasting’.

1. With the aromas still in your senses, take a mouthful, not too much and not too little. You don’t want too much to have to swallow right away.

2. Swirl for at least 10-15 seconds, rolling the wine around your mouth bringing it in contact with every little nook and cranny.
    a. Tannin astringency is most noticeable on the inner cheeks.
    b. Alcohol burns the back of the throat.
3. Accentuate the tastes by inhaling gently through pursed lips.
4. Chew the wine vigorously to draw every flavor out. (sounds weird, I know)
5. Finish…swallow…exhale gently through both your nose and your mouth. The better the wine the more complex the aromas will be.

(See how Richard 'tastes' with ease...)

---

“With great wines, sensitive tasters and minimal distractions, the finish can last a minute or more. It's a moment of meditation and communion that no other beverage can create.” - Wine Spectator

---

This is great…I’m going to start ‘tasting’ my wine from now on. Although, I think that after each ‘taste’, I’ll take a few ‘drinks’; Tilt glass and swallow.

---

'Til next time...

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An original Richard Smith creation that is actually pretty good.
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Once in a while my experimental style of cooking throws up something edible, something I would be willing to place in front of Gordon Ramsey and say "Okay matey, bollock me for this you twit!" Last Saturday was one of those occasions.

I spent the afternoon fishing with my lovely wife and we succeeded in landing a couple of very nice Rainbow Trout, both just shy of 2lbs. So, obviously, it was going to be trout again for supper but I decided to try something a little different. I have always loved crab cakes and thought I'd try to create something  similar with a trout. Here is what I came up with. And it rocks!

Recipe for Trout Cakes

Ingredients

One fresh rainbow trout (about 1Lb of meat?) I suppose you could use salmon too.
5 medium potatoes
1/2 cup of chopped chives
1/2 cup of finely chopped celery
3 tbsps of mayonnaise
2 tbsps of whole grain mustard
1 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of salt or seasoning salt
1/2 tsp of ground red cayenne pepper
Cornflake crumbs
Olive Oil

Preparation

1. Season the trout and barbecue, poach, fry or broil it until cooked. De-bone and leave to cool.
2. Peel and boil potatoes until cooked. Mash and leave to cool.
3. Once trout and potato have cooled sufficiently to handle, flake trout (removing any remaining bones) and mix with mashed potato.
4. Add chives, celery, mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, salt, and cayenne, and mix thoroughly.
5. Shape mixture into "cakes" about 3 inches in diameter and 1-1/2 inches thick and coat well with cornflake crumbs.
6. Fry gently in olive oil until hot and golden brown.

Serve hot with red chili jelly, or other preferred condiment, and side salad. Yum!

This recipe should yield about eight cakes, enough to serve four people (or two greedy people who have drunk too much wine and will regret it later)

Wine Pairing

This spicy fish dish is excellent with a dry sparkling wine - Cava perhaps - or with your favorite crisp summer white - Sauvignon Blanc would be my choice. Vinho Verde would also work very well.

Enjoy.
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Using wine to predict a football match
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For those of you not interested in football (soccer to many of you) I apologize in advance for the somewhat frivolous nature of this post. However, the European Championships are in full flow and so far have been exceptional. If you missed the Turkey vs Czechoslovakia match yesterday you missed one of the greatest comebacks in football history. Amazing.

Today, World Cup finalists Italy and France play with both needing a win to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter finals. It should be a real cracker and I thought I would use wine to predict the result. Although it would be more fun to adopt some kind of blind tasting based method this would fail to provide you, the reader, with much educational value and would, almost certainly, lead to a miserable hangover tomorrow. So, I am going to predict the result by comparing wine stats from the two countries.

For each of the following stats, the country with largest value will score a goal.

Total Annual Wine Consumption per Capita

Italy: 48.16 litres
France: 55.85 litres

Result: Goal to France
Score: France 1 - 0 Italy

Source: http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/PerCapitaWineConsumptionCountries.pdf

Total Acres Under Vines as a Percentage of Land Mass

Italy: 2,120,000/74,435,554 = 2.8%
France: 2,162,000/135,174,056 = 1.6%

Result: Goal to Italy
Score: France 1 - 1 Italy

Source: http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/WorldVineyardAcreagebyCountry.pdf

Total Annual Wine Production per Capita

Italy: 5,300,000,000/58,133.509 = 91.2 Liters
France: 5,738,600,000/60,876,136 = 94.3 Liters

Result: Goal to France
Score: France 2 - 1 Italy

Source: http://www.wineinstitute.org/files/WorldWineProductionbyCountry.pdf

Wine Exports as a Percentage of Global Market

Italy: 21%
France: 19%

Result: Goal to Italy
Score: France 2 - 2 Italy

Source: http://internationaltrade.suite101.com/blog.cfm/worlds_top_wine_countries

Number of Top Ranking Wines (Based on Wine Spectators Top 100 for 2007)

Italy: 13
France: 24

Result: Goal to France
Score: France 3-2 Italy

Source: http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Newsletters/PDF/Top100-2007charts.pdf

So, there you have it. My prediction for today's match is a 3-2 victory for France.

Enjoy the game.

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