deVine Thoughts

Author: Ed Fong

According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, and some of my friends and colleagues, I am a Rat.  I share this distinction with people like Idi Amin, Heinrich Himmler and Alexander the Great.   However, I’m from the 1960 edition, which I take great comfort in as it helps to separate myself from this villainous bunch.  2008 also happens to be the Year of the Rat, and the year I chose to find the perfect pig.  I consulted a Chinese calendar and found that I was not compatible with Horses, but should seek out Monkeys, Dragons and Oxen.  My journey was therefore safe, though unendorsed.  And so my search begins.

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Author: Dirk Chan

As Thanksgiving approaches, we get numerous request for suggested wine pairings for the traditional turkey dinner. We worked with Nick Lees of the Edmonton Journal and came up with a Baker’s Dozen wines that would be appropriate. Our choices are actually not for the roasted turkey but rather the focus is on the fixings (candied yams, sweet potato, cranberries, honeyed ham etc), all of which have some degree of sweetness. A dry white is not the best since the sweet fixings will strip the fruit and make the wine taste more dry. Thus, an off-dry white wine with some sweetness is best.

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Author: Ed Fong

I grew up hearing about Cognac from my father.  I saw him enjoy it at the dinner table, I saw the beautiful decanters displayed on his bar, I went to the liquor store to pick it up with him before I was of age and I heard him talk about it, constantly.  For many Orientals, it was spirits, and not wine, that brought people together when they broke rice at the dinner table.  I learned to appreciation Cognac at a relatively young age because of my father, so when I had a chance to visit the city that gave its name to this special elixir, I jumped at the chance. This summer, I had the great pleasure of visiting two cognac houses on the same day, François Voyer and Camus.

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Author: Dirk Chan

It is not every day that one of the world’s great winemakers visit your store, but that happened this past Saturday as we were thrilled to have David Powell of Torbreck Vintners based out of Barossa here to do a sit-down tasting with us.  For a winery that was established in the mid 1990’s, Torbreck (named after a forest in Scotland where David worked as a lumberjack) has had a fast track to super stardom in the Australian wine scene. A favourite of the influential American wine critic Robert Parker, the flagship wines are highly collectible cult wines that are sought the world over.

What a stellar lineup it was! Fascinating stories about how the names of the wines were derived: Woodcutter’s from David’s days as a lumberjack, Juveniles and Les Amis from famous restaurants, The Steading based on barns, stables and outbuildings, The Struie from a hill that rises from the Glenmorangie Distillery, The Pict from a tribe of Scottish warriors, Descendant build from rooting planted from the RunRig plots, and finally RunRig from the famous and legendary Scottish Gaelic Rock Band by the same name.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Hard to believe it has only been since 1986 that Portugal broke the monopoly of the British shippers to start their own export of estate-bottled ports and the Quinta do Infantado (the Portuguese word for ‘prince’) was the first grower to take advantage of the new laws and start shipping to North America. The high altitude (150km) winery is located in Pinhão, on the north bank of the Duro River in the subdistrict of Gontelho with its ‘Class A’ vineyards, where the best port houses are found. Ran by the dynamic João Roseira, vineyard manager and winemaker, along with his sister Catherine Roseira, Chief Executive Officer.

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Author: Dirk Chan

I find as I’m getting older that time moves relentlessly onward faster and faster. The times spent with family, friends and loved ones have to be scheduled well in advance for it to come off at all. However, once in awhile, spontaneity works as last Saturday, my friend Richard Beeken hosted an event at his place in celebration of the return of our friends Macmoud and Jody, who had been travelling the world for more than 3 years. Friends Dean, Wayne, Paulette and myself joined. This came off in short notice, and without much fanfare but what a treat to spend one of the last warm days of summer outdoors.

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Author: Melissa Priestley

Lately I’ve been a wee bit obsessed with wine language – perhaps unsurprising, given my penchant for both subjects.  What set me off this time was reading a tasting note in which the critic described the wine’s aroma as “tannic.” I felt an irrepressible urge to clarify this, as it is totally incorrect.

You can’t smell tannins. Or acid. Or sugar. Or alcohol. Using any of these words to describe a wine’s aroma is wrong, plain and simple (and it marks you as an amateur). These components are only detectable on the palate, as a sensation in your mouth. Certain aromas can make you anticipate a wine to be tannic (concentrated fruit, dark chocolate) or acidic (citrus fruit, vinegar) or sweet (candied fruit, butterscotch), but it is important to note that you aren’t actually smelling these components.

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Authors:

Annabelle Evaristo, Dirk Chan

Our tour in Champagne continued from Bollinger to the equally famous Veuve Cliquot, the Champagne house with the instantly recognizable orange labels. Veuve is located in Reims (pronounced as Ranz instead of Reems) and was founded by the young widow (Veuve) of Francois Clicquot when she was only in her late twenties back in the late 1790’s – the flagship Champagne ‘La Grande Dame’ is of course named in her honor. . She was also the inventor of the famed riddling table which is used to make the wines clear. Our tour was extensive, but in discussions, much to our surprise, we learnt that the ‘La Grande Dame’ only takes a few days to blend (as the fruit all comes from the 8 Grand Cru vineyards) whereas the NV blends will take the numerous winemakers months to find the perfect blend.

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Author: Melissa Priestley

Bottle Shock is a crowd pleaser, and like all crowd pleasers it is mildly entertaining but doesn’t have a lot going on under the surface. It is certainly more akin to an average Gallo Chardonnay than an ethereal Chateau Montelena.

The movie succeeds in maintaining a very broad appeal – oenophiles get to enjoy wine references (including an homage to Sideways with the declaration that the ’47 Cheval Blanc is the “best wine ever made”), while non-enthusiasts get an aesthetically appealing story about 1970’s Californian culture. (more…)

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