deVine Thoughts

Author: Dirk Chan

Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, June 21st. Here are some suggestions for appropriate gift ideas for the occasion.Single Malts are always popular, and the Isle of Arran selected finishes are wonderfully unique and adds that extra dimension to the dram. Try the Moscatel de Setubal Cask Finish ($84.99) that adds some fig and date like textures similar to those of the sweet fortified dessert wine from the Setubal Peninsula region south of Lisbon, Portugal. The Isle of Arran series is unique and well-priced.  Also worthy of your consideration is the 1987 Glenrothes ($94.99) from Speyside with its unique bottling given off apricot, honey and delicated sherried character finishing with toffee, heather and minerals, there is also the 1991 and 1994 available.

For Bourbon lovers, can’t get better than the Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year Old ($169.99), aged for such a long time has great character and so smooth and rich. Has an impeccable reputation to be amongst the best Bourbon Whiskey in the world and heralded in blind tastings.

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Author: Nick Tooke

deVine Wines organizes first annual “Al Fresco 104th St.” block party to benefit the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS), Satuday, June 13th.

The team at deVine’s has garnered approval from the City of Edmonton to close 104th Street between Jasper Avenue and 102nd Avenue the night of Saturday, June 13th in order to stage an everyone welcome block party culminating with a two-and-a-half storey outdoor movie screen showing of “Big Night” with Stanley Tucci and Minnie Driver. The movie begins at 10pm and is free of charge to the public. Please bring your own chair.  Events throughout the day will involve the majority of the businesses on our street.

We have also set up an on-line silent auction fundraiser for ACWS with some very exciting items to bid on, check it out here.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Famed American wine critic Robert Parker calls the 2008 Bordeaux vintage “excellent, with a number of superb wines that are close to, if not equal to the prodigious 2005 or 2000 vintages”. He cites the long hang-time and late harvest, cooler and sunnier than normal growing season, and drier than normal fall as contributors to the success of the vintage. “There is also no question that Pomerol seems to be the epicenter of many extraordinary wines.”

deVine has purchased some of the highest scoring wines of the vintage, most of them from the Merlot dominant right bank appellation of Pomerol, where production is tiny.

Check out the 2008 Offering here.

Note that quantities are extremely limited, and the price is valid only on what we’ve already purchased. Wines will be allocated in a first-come, first served basis.

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Authors: Nick Tooke, Ed Fong

deVine Wines organizes first annual “Al Fresco 104th St.” block party to benefit the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, Satuday, June 13th.

The team at deVine’s has garnered approval from the City of Edmonton to close 104th St. between Jasper ave. and 102nd Avenue the night of Saturday, June 13th in order to stage an everyone welcome block party culminating with a two-and-a-half storey outdoor movie screen showing of “Big Night” with Stanley Tucci and Minnie Driver. The movie begins at 10pm and is free of charge to the public. Please bring your own chair.  Events throughout the day will involve the majority of the businesses on our street. We have also set up an on-line silent auction fundraiser with some very exciting items to bid on, check it out here.

From the very beginning, “Al Fresco 104th St.” was conceived as a community event. The businesses and residents along 104th believe that downtown Edmonton is a vibrant and growing community and want to share their enthusiasm in the name of a worthy cause. Please mark your calendars and come out and enjoy the festivities.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Spring is upon us and this year, we’ve gotten a head start on the Pink Drinking season. deVine has receive many of our special orders of Rosé already. The rage in Europe, it is catching on in North America as well. Edmonton, being a progressive city has been on the bandwagon for a couple of years already (and men are buying as much as the women!). While France is a prolific producer, diversity is apparent as we’ve got offerings from Australia, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Spain and Portugal. Its not only the pink color that’s attractive, but the excellent cherry, strawberry fruit and that laser beam of acidity that makes it a fabulous summer sipper.

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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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