deVine Thoughts

Author: Dirk Chan

More and more, consumers are looking for something unusual to liven up the wine experience. Thus, the trend is a noticeable demand on indigenous grapes, varietals that are grown only in certain specific wine regions. I’ll talk about two whites and two red grapes, all deserving your attention. The Cabernet Sauvignons, Shirazes, Merlots, Pinot Noirs and Tempranillos still hold their pride of place, but they are getting challenges.

For example, the Torrontes hails only from Argentina – this fragrant, perfumy varietal reminds of Gewurztraminer, quite exotic and floral with rose water, lychee nuts and honey aromatically, but is tart and quite dry on the palate. Smells sweet but tastes dry, quite bipolar that way, but has been the rage at deVine for a year now.  Try one the next time you serve a salad, fish or chicken dish that has some fresh fruit on the side as accompaniment.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Hard to believe but Easter is already coming up this weekend. Here are our recommendations for Easter dinner wine pairings:

Sparkling Wines are a great way to start off your festive evening, great as a reception or aperitif drink and to pair with appetizers. If you want the ultimate and money is no object, then the 2002 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Brut – $349.99 will certainly impress any guest.  A less expensive Growers Champagne like the NV Bruno Gobillard Brut – $54.99 will do very nicely as well.

If you’re on a budget then I recommend the bargain that is the NV Seppelt Great Western Brut  – $11.99  from Australia – lots of citrus notes and a crisp dry finish. The Italian Prosecco from Veneto has been a popular favourite at the store for more than a year now – I like the NV Val d’Oca Prosecco – $22.99, a lemony and dry sparkler with nice citrus notes and refined texture and lasting bubbles. At the mid-price level from Alsace, France – try the NV Rolet Cremant du Jura Brut Rosé  – $24.99, which represents stunning quality from the Jura (famous for their yellow wine) made from the indigenous Poulsard grape.

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Author: Dirk Chan

I’ve been harping on the greatness of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage for over a year now, and even I am getting tired of writing about it, but a tasting with friends a couple of sundays ago really hit home that in great vintages, there are great wines across the board, and diving in and buying will reward you down the road. Our friend Richard Beeken hosted a Bordeaux afternoon for Ed Fong, Peter Robertson, Wayne Logus, Ivan Ivankovich and myself that featured a flight of 1982 Bordeaux.

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Author: Dirk Chan

I’ve been asked many times about Tasting Room Etiquette, so here are some random thoughts to consider:

– if the event is an instructor led event, please be on time, nothing worse than having 30 people wait on you. If it is a drop-in free format style event, better to show up early rather than later – this way you get to sample all the wine before they run out. If sampling expensive wine, usually only one bottle will be opened.

– forego the cell phone or blackberry for an hour or two.

– these events are sampling events, so don’t expect a full glass. If you ask for a second pour of something, you should consider purchasing a bottle.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Have you tired of hand washing your crystal wine glasses after a night of entertaining? Have you cried over a broken Riedel stem? Well, here is a viable alternative from the legendary German glass producer Schott Zwiesel. After long years of intensive research and development, their new patented Tritan Crystal technology that uses Titanium and an unique tempering processes that has resulted in a crystal glass that is clear,  lead-free, durable, dish-water safe and break resistant while still is functional for the wine enthusiast.

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Author: Dirk Chan

The annual 2009 California Wine Fair in support of the Citadel Theatre is fast upon us. Please join us again at the Shaw Conference Centre on Thursday, March 5, 2009 from 7pm to 9:30pm. This is a grand tasting featuring over 350 wines from one hundred wineries in the California winemaking region. Paired with delectable appetizers, this is a must for any California wine lover. As usual, a silent auction will be held highlighted by a two night stay at the Fairmont San Francisco and a tour and dinner at Beringer Winery.

Location of Event: Shaw Conference Center

Date of Event: Thursday, March 5, 2009

Time of Event: 7-9:30pm

Cost of Event: $60

Tickets:  at deVine’s or phone 780-425-1820 or online here.

For more information on the California Wine Fair, click here

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Author: Dirk Chan

As per other years, deVine will be hosting at the store a California wine tasting as a warm-up precursor to this year’s California Wine Fair at the Shaw Conference Centre in support of the Citadel Theatre slated for Thursday, March 5, 2009.

We will be tasting over seventy wines this coming Saturday, February 21 from 11am to 5pm, all of them different than what will be served at the main event – it is a great way to wet your appetite for the main event.

The $10 entry fee will be donated to the Zebra Society of Edmonton in support of abused children in our city. This is a drop-in stand-up event, but if you want to pre-register, you can do so online.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching next weekend. If you’re planning that stay at home special evening,  here are some interesting wines to share with that someone special in your life from reception wine to white to red to dessert wines, and in all price ranges. If you have more specific needs, please feel free to drop in the store and one of us will gladly help you pick the right wines for this special occasion.

‘Bubbly’ Champagne – a must and French Champagne is the ultimate! A dozen roses and a rosé make a great pair! The de Sousa is part of the wave that is the Grower’s Champagne, growers that use to sell their grapes to the higher profile producers – well now, they are making a name for themselves. The Bollinger is the Champagne that James Bond drinks, and this is this prodigious house’s first ever non-vintage Rosé. Finally, the famous Dom Perignon is for those that want the best!

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Author: Dirk Chan

They say wine enjoyment is 50% olfactory, well if that’s the case, you should be looking for some aged wines.  I’m always thrilled when that special wine that has me sniffing from the glass over and over again seamingly never needing to taste the wine. That ‘wow’ nose is when there’s flowers, tar, earth, minerals, tea,  chocolate, spice, barnyard etc.. – all those great descriptors of scents are what is known as secondary characteristics that develop with time in the bottle,  usually close to a decade of cellaring time.  Unfortunately, to get wines that have vintages starting with ’19’ nowadays means either you would have had to purchase them on release and kept it yourself for all this time, or you purchase from a retailer who has kept the wine in their storage facilities or sometimes the winery releases what’s known as library releases directly from the winery cellars.

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Author: Dirk Chan

I’ve had many requests for information from customers about what it takes to start their own wine cellars. There are several key items to address to see whether the intended storage space you have is suitable or not:

1) temperature – this is the key item to address, the ideal cellaring temperature is 13C (55F) which is the defacto standard because it mirrors the temperature of the caves in Champagne in France. If you’ve purchased wines that are in the hundreds of dollars and have a history of cellaring potential, then something that is steady around this temperature is a must.  For short term cellaring (up to 10 years), a little higher 16C is ok. The key point here is you’d rather have a stable and constant higher ambient temperature (16 or 17) then have the yo-yo effect where it is 22C during the day and 14C at night. If you have yo-yoing temperatures, then forget about cellaring, and buy your wines for current drinking.

  
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