deVine Thoughts

January 29, 2021

Weekly Online Offer for Week of Jan 29

Filed under: deVine's Daily Blog Article — Dirk @ 6:42 pm

weekly_domina_small

deVine’s Online Weekly Special program works like this – we will reveal the wine selection on Fridays early afternoon. The feature will only be available for online ordering until the following Monday at noon. The wines purchased during this period will be available for pickup or delivery on the following Wednesday afternoon.

From the cooperative Winzer Sommerach, located an hour and 40 minutes drive southeast of Frankfurt in the Franken wine region, comes our weekly online special, the Valentin Domina Trocken 2017 – $20.00 (regularly $24.99). The cooperative is located in the village of Sommerach and consists of 90 families with an uncompromising grape growing philosophy – they produce grapes for great wines in their small plots and leave nothing to chance. Their craftsmanship, the experience handed down over generations and the tirelessness of each individual make the cooperative one of the best wine producers in all of Germany.

Their St. Valentin line of wine is named after the patron saint of the Sommerach winemakers, Valentin. The Domina grape is a dark-skinned grape created by German viticulturalist Peter Morio at the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding in the Palatinate in 1927 by crossing the varieties Blauer Portugieser and Pinot Noir. It produces a fruity and lively red, harvested earlier in order to maintain the fresh and invigorating character of the wines.

The refreshing glass in the garden, the aromatic accompaniment to fine cuisine or to drink leisurely, that is the joie de vivre that comes from Sommerach. Medium-bodied, fruity and elegant wines, the limestone soil gives it terroir chracter, there is cherry jam, wild berry jam and dark plum in the wine. Ripe tannins add the necessary structure for pairing the wines with food like braised beef, pizza or pasta, but also with ham and hearty cheese.

Enjoy!

2017 Winzer Sommerach Valentin Domina Rotwein Trocken (Franken, Germany) – $20.00

Return to devinewines.ca

January 16, 2021

Canadian Winter Survival Zoom Tasting – Pearl Morissette with Charcuterie from The Butchery by RGE RD

Filed under: deVine's Daily Blog Article — Dirk @ 1:42 pm

pearl_morissette_butchery_tasting_small
Author: Dirk Chan

On Friday, February 12th at 7pm, please join us for a Zoom virtual evening featuring two wines from renowned Niagara vineyards, Pearl Morissette, paired with light charcuterie from the brand new localvore destination, The Butchery by RGE RD. This exciting virtual tasting will be hosted by import agent Joe Gurba of Vino al Vino Vino al Vino with special guests Svetlana Atcheva, assistant winemaker and winery ambassador at Pearl Morissette and Blair Lebsack and Caitlin Fulton, owners of The Butchery by RGE RD. The cost is $100/package. Surprise your love with an early Valentine’s gift or sip and snack away the isolation blues with likeminded vinophiles.

We are hoping to develop more partnerships with other small businesses going forward in 2021, and in the spirit of all things local, this is the first of several events we’re hoping to do this year. We hope you can partake.

The wines of Pearl Morissette feature on more Michelin starred wine lists than any other Canadian producer. Burgundy-trained vigneron François Morissette sculpts true wines of terroir in that narrow strip of Canada that approaches the Niagara Falls, a region that is equal parts bucolic and temperamental. François & Svetlana’s wines are as fascinating and idiosyncratic as their yearly swings in weather and their uncompromising vision that values the traditional non-interventionalist approach to wine. Svetlana will guide us through the background on the region, the winery, and the two wines we’ll be tasting: the 2017 Irrévérence White Blend and the 2017 Métis Rouge Red Blend.

The Butchery is RGE RD’s newest venture, a shop for all things carnivore meets localvore. For this tasting, included in the $100 package will be onePersonal size Charcuterie Box ($25). You will have the option of purchasing extra Personal size ($25) or Family Size Box ($60) when you register for the event. For more, read Joe Gurba’s article in this month’s issue of Modern Luxuria.

How will the tasting work? Advance Registration only for this event, deadline to register is Thursday, Feb 11 at 6pm. We need the time to coordinate and get the charcuterie ready. Delivery will be on the day of the tasting – Friday, Feb 12, the white will be pre-chilled when we deliver the package. Please ensure there is an adult to receive the wines and the charcuterie package. Alternatively, you can pick up at the store after 12pm on Friday as well if you so wish. Joe will be sending a Zoom invite to all attendees on Friday, Feb 12 at noon time. You sign on using the Zoom link on Friday, Sep 12 at 7pm with the wines pre-opened. Note there is no cancellation or refunds after the Thursday Feb 6th end of day cutoff. Estimated time of the event – 45-50 min.

Register for the event…

Return to devinewines.ca

January 11, 2021

This Week’s Online Special

Filed under: deVine's Daily Blog Article — Dirk @ 6:21 pm

maggio_weekly_special_small

deVine’s Online Weekly Special program resumes for the New Year with two wines from Maggio Family Vineyards, situated in Lodi, California. For five generations, the Maggio family has been growing grapes for sale but only in 2002 did they try their hand at winemaking. Since then, they have been showcasing great wines from their family to your families with wines that are reasonably priced and varietally correct with dedication and love. Not many vineyards offer this kind of quality for their asking price.

The Maggio Chardonnay offers bright citrus and green apple notes with some buttery notes. There is also a Mediterranean feel to this wine from the slightly cooler climate and coastal evening breezes. Some nice butterscotch notes lead to a fairly full-bodied finish. Pair with Greek inspired roast chicken. A fine, inexpensive American chard.

The Maggio Petite Sirah has been a store favorite for quite some time now. Petite Sirah (sometimes also called Durif) is the offspring of Syrah or Shiraz and almost extinct Peloursin grape. I love its white peppery, plum and licorice notes that comes with some spiciness too, its a wine to pair with bbq meats.

The online weekly special works like this – we will reveal the wine selection on Fridays early afternoon. The feature will only be available for online ordering until the following Monday at noon. The wines purchased during this period will be available for pickup or delivery on the following Wednesday afternoon.

Pictured left to right:

2019 Maggio Family Vineyards Chardonnay (California – Lodi, United States) – $15.99

2017 Maggio Family Vineyards Petite Sirah (California – Lodi, United States) – $15.99

Return to devinewines.ca

January 1, 2021

Discovering Some New Whites

Filed under: deVine's Daily Blog Article — Dirk @ 11:49 am

interesting_whites_small
Author: Dirk Chan

Happy New Year everyone! Bring in the New Year by discovering some white wine varietals you’ve probably not had before.

Catarratto is one of the classic traditional white grape varieties of Sicily, and is considered to be one of the most antique. Medium structure, a mild acidity and a moderate alcohol level. Their aromatic profile is typically associated with citrus fruit and flowers (lemon zest, wild oranges and citrus blossoms), tropical fruit such as grapefruit and passionflower with a touch of fine herbs and sweet spices.

The Roter Veltliner from Austria is not related to the more popular Gruner Veltliner. Believed to be a very primitive variety the actual parentage of Roter Veltliner has not yet been correctly found out. It was previously believed that Roter Veltliner could be a grandparent to Grüner Veltliner, but that hypothesis seems to have lost credibility with later studies. Fruity and citrusy multi-faceted aromas of peaches, pears, apricots, green apple, with a tad bit of mango mingled with the fresh and crisp overtones of herbs. An excellent food wine.

The Robola grape from Greece grown mainly on the island of Cephalonia, with some smaller plantings on Corfu, and a couple other of the Ionian Islands. It was long thought to be the same grape called Ribolla Gialla from Northern Italy, but modern DNA analysis has proved them to be two quite distinct varieties. Wines from Robola are usually un-oaked and almost always single varietal. Does particularly well paired with food and they are considered ideal next to seafood and grilled or baked fish. Their high acidity can keep up easily with lemon dishes. Can age a bit too.

Finally, the Roussette grape (also known by the Altesse name) is known in the Savoie wine region (have long been simply known as ski chalet wines as it is found in the alpine ski routes in Eastern France but, today, the situation is changing). These dry white wines typically have a nose of violets and mountain herbs with flavors of minerals, bergamot, peach, honey and hazelnuts. The palate offers slight salinity and minerals with a slightly bitter edge. Their high acidity grape gives this wine great potential to improve with age.

Expand your palate and give these four whites a try!

Pictured above from left to right:

2016 Saltram Baglio Normanno Catarratto (Sicily, Italy) – $20.99

2018 Weingut Josef Fritz Roter Veltliner Wagramterrassen (Wagram, Austria) – $27.99

2019 Gentilini Robola of Cephalonia (Ionian Islands, Greece) – $31.99

2018 Les Cortis Teraxe (Savoie, France) – $35.99

Enjoy this exploration!

Return to devinewines.ca

Powered by WordPress