deVine Thoughts

Author: Ed Fong

Al Fresco is cancelled, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a block party! Come out and celebrate the centennial year of many of the heritage buildings that line our special street. Happy 100 years with many more to come!

The Centennial Block Party will take place on “Super Saturday”, the weekend where Downtown Edmonton comes alive with the Pride Parade. This year, Super Saturday falls on June 8th, so save the date!

Super Saturday gets started at 8:30 AM with the Downtown Edmonton Community League’s Annual Pancake Breakfast. This event is held in conjunction with the Downtown Farmer’s Market which runs from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The Pride Parade runs down 102 Ave starting at noon. Once again, deVine Wines will enter a float. We’re hoping to be graced with Marlene Dietrich’s presence and fabulous fishnets this year.

deVine Wines will be pouring wines at the store throughout the day beginning at 12:00 PM. In keeping with the celebratory mood, samples of bubbles will be served. In addition, we will be pouring our own Promenade Red. The label’s artwork was designed by Daniel Chmielewski, who many of you know from his exquisite large scale monochromatic stencil works that he has donated in support of the Al Fresco silent auctions. deVine Wines is donating $1 from the sale of each bottle in support of the Centennial Block Party. To learn more about the Promenade Red, please follow this link here..

The Block Party gets swinging at 4:30 with a BBQ, street performers, salsa lessons, a live band and MORE! Make your way down the Promenade to learn about the history of our Heritage buildings. At 6 PM there will be a balloon release and official celebration. At 8 PM, the party moves indoors to Mercer Tavern with live music from Russ Dawson throughout the evening and Josh Johnson starting at 9 PM! Mercer will also have special centennial food and drink specials throughout the day!

At time of writing, some of the restaurants are making plans to extend their patios. Stay tuned for updates by checking out the deVine Wines blog at www.devinewines.ca or by following us on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/deVineWinesEDM

Our street community is very fortunate in so many ways. To help those who are struggling with trying to meet the very basic necessities of life, we are assisting the Edmonton Food Bank. Please don’t forget to bring a food donation when you head down to the party! Food donations can be dropped off at deVine Wines at your convenience.

Hope to see you all there on the June 8th Super Saturday!!!

Author: Dirk Chan

deVine and International Cellars present 4th generation winemaker and proprietor of the Vietti Estate, Luca Currado for an evening of Piedmonte wines at the store on Thursday, May 30th at 7pm. Currado is a most interesting speaker, an avid spokesman for the Piedmonte region with a vast opinion that he is willing to share with all who will listen. His opinions on biodynamics is intriguing, and so is the history of his custom designed labels – this promises to be a night to remember.

The Vietti estate was founded in 1919 in the quaint town of Castiglione Falletto. In the last decade or so, Luca has raised the quality to a completely new level where it competes now with the best in this relatively small region.

We will taste their Arneis, a white grape that was nearly lost in the late sixties that Vietti is responsible for bringing back into prominence and in fact thriving and taking over from Gavi as the preferred white grape. The Dolcetto and Barbera d’Alba Tre Vigne will also be sampled, alongside the Barbaresco Masseria and what Vietti is most known for, their Barolo’s. This is a sit-down event with a duck confit food pairing. We’ll end with another Vietti favourite, their aromatic sparkling dessert wine – the Moscato d’Asti. Here is a rare opportunity to speak with a great winemaker, an alumnus of California’s Opus One, and of Bordeaux’s Mouton-Rothschild. Only 18 seats available, and advance registration is required.

Complete tasting information and registration here..

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Author: Dirk Chan

deVine’s first ever custom wine has arrived! A year in the making, it is named the “Promenade Red”, in the spirit of the 104th Street Promenade. We’re thrilled to have it in the store and are throwing a special launch party for this Spanish red on Saturday, May 18th coinciding with the opening day of the City Market. Please join us from 11am to 3pm

The label for the “2011 Promenade Red” is the product of local self-taught stencil artist Daniel Chmielewski, whom many of you know from his exquisite large scale monochromatic stencil works that he has donated in many Al Fresco auctions. Daniel will be on hand at the launch party to autograph bottles and we will be sampling the wine in this free, drop-in event.

The wine is made by Nathalie Bonhomme of Les Vins Bonhomme, whose Spanish red “Le Petit Bonhomme” has adorned our shelves over the last two years. She had one barrel (only 56 cases) of a special cuvée and thus the birth of our custom wine. The wine is a blend of 50% Monastrell (Mourvedre) and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Valencia region in the Eastern coast of Spain.

Dark cherry in color with a nose of assorted red and black berries, plums and noble wood. Clean and precise on the palate, this serious red has lovely minerality, is medium-bodied mouthfeel with juicy ripe fruit flavors, fine acid balance and structured yet with soft tannins that makes it eminently enjoyable with a short decant now. Pair with roasted meats.

Visit the market and then come in for the special Promenade Red Launch Party on Saturday, May 18th from 11am to 3pm with artist signing and the sampling of the wine. We look forward to seeing you!

Our sincere thanks to International Cellars for brokering this wine for us!

Purchase the wine here..

Info on the Launch Party..

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Author: Dirk Chan

You are invited for a free drop in tasting of Portuguese wines on Tuesday, May 7th with Mariana Rocha Ferreira, Export Director of Vinihold, one of the biggest suppliers of deVine’s Portuguese portfolio.

Mariana was born within a noble port family of the Tabuaço region where her great-great
grandfather was Mayor back in the old days. Her mother’s family – the Macedo Pinto’s, were the owners of Quinta de São Pedro das Águias where they produced both port and olive oil.

Mariana has a Bachelor of Business Administration and worked for a multinational dairy company in Porto. After a few years, she took a Master’s degree in Hospitality Management in Spain, where she graduated with honors and top of the class. At this time she was already in a relationship with Fernando van Zeller, whom she knew since she was in elementary school and whose family was very dear and well known to her own. Mariana is a fascinating lady so we hope you can drop by and visit with her this Tuesday.

Houses represented include Barao de Vilar, Quinta de Maritavora, Quinta de Mimosa, Quinta da Lixa and Casa Ermelinda. Please visit with Mariana from 5:30pm to 7pm to talk and sample wine. Note this is a drop-in tasting, no advance registration is required.

More details on this event here..

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Author: Dirk Chan

Amidst the hoopla of VinItaly, through agent Serge Levesque of Longo & Sincini,
Annabelle and I were invited to a special dinner at the Tedeschi Winery in Veneto.
The Tedeschi family has owned land in the Valpolicella region going back to 1630
with winemaking since 1824. Since then five generations have continued the stellar work.

Today, this medium sized estate is ran by Riccardo, Winemaker and Export Director along with his sisters Antoinette and Sabrina (who graciously drove Annabelle and
myself to their winery home – I must say she is a great driver to successful negotiate the traffic
out of Verona).

The multi course dinner for 45 invited guests was wonderful, set right next to the cellars (that’s me
queuing for the self served cheese course amidst the huge wood barrels). We sampled numerous wines from the portfolio – I was surprised how well the San Rocco and Amarone went with beef, while the Monte Olmi was great with cheese. The dessert course was paired with the very unique Vin de l Fabriseria, a Vino Passito, made from Garganega and Saorin white grapes done in the same raisin-dried style – delicious and hopefully to arrive in our market soon. The consistent theme of the wines was clearly indicated from the winery motto – “be as good as possible, but also as personal as it can be, while letting nature lead the way.”

Riccardo is once again coming to Edmonton in the summertime, and we look forward to his visit. We’ve carried the Tedeschi line ever since the store opened, and in stock currently for your consideration are:

2010 Tedeschi Soave Classico – $17.99

2010 Tedeschi Valpolicella Superiore – $18.99

2007 Tedeschi Ripasso Superiore Capitel San Rocco – $25.99

2007 Tedeschi Amarone della Valpolicella – $49.99

2005 Tedeschi Capitel Monte Olmi Amarone della Valpolicella – $84.99. The 2007 Olmi just received 94 points from the Wine Spectator, we await its arrival in the fall.

You can visit the Tedeschi website here..

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