deVine Thoughts

Author: Dirk Chan

Many of us pair food and wine together, and I often find that the most stunning pairing of the evening can be the last course: dessert. Stickies, or sweet dessert wines are often relegated or dismissed when it comes to food & wine pairing and that is an opportunity lost for discovery. I have a sweet tooth myself, and often this is the first thing I pair up when planning a dinner menu. You don’t have to go to great lengths with this, sometimes a dessert wine like French Sauterne can be dessert all by itself, to be sipped with some blue cheese. There are the usual pairings: Ruby Port and Stilton and assorted nuts, Tawny Port and Creme Brulee but here a few of my true and tried favourites: Sauterne and a ripe Phillipino mango, Callibaut chocolate fondue and Tannat, Chenin Blanc and fruit flan or fruit salad,

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Author: Dirk Chan

It’s hard to believe summer took its sweet time arriving. I’ve hardly drank any reds the past month – instead whites, rosés and especially sparkling wines all seem to hit the spot for sitting out on the deck, or hosting a backyard party with friends and relatives. When the ambient temperature is hig,  a big bold red can taste alcoholic, meanderingly big and overblown whereas a sparkling wine tastes refreshing and light, gentle and enticing. Not surprisingly, they can pair with any course of food you care to throw at it: certainly for appetizers, but amazing versatile with light meats like fish, chicken and even pork. While Champagne is getting very expensive and more and more left for major celebrations, there are many great values in sparkling wines from all over the world that allow us to enjoy a sparkler without breaking the bank. Here are a few recommendations: (more…)

Author: Dirk Chan

It’s not often you have a chance to meet a wine label designer, yet alone one from Edmonton. It is our great pleasure to welcome our friend and local artist Ramsey Dziubiak to deVines for an afternoon of Art and Wine this coming Saturday between noon and 4pm. Ramsey is a well-known artist whose works has been on prominent display at our store since its inception.

Ramsey paints with brilliant coloured oils on fine Belgian linen and his pieces are unique in that they may be displayed in both traditional and modern décor – timeless motifs are carried throughout his works which has garnered international attention. The pieces reflect his life; the triumphs and failures, the excitement and ennui. Currently, his works hang in the houses of many private art collectors in Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton.

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Author: Dirk Chan

The hottest wine gadget of late has been a class of accessories called ‘wine aerators’, the selling point being it will make your wines taste better. The concept is not new, it is exactly the same as a decanter, premature aging of the wine via oxygenation. The difference is in the packaging. The decanter process involves slow pouring of the wine into the vessel taking care not to mix in any sediment and using the large surface area to expose the wine to air thus (hopefully) leading to a better aromatic profile for the wine due to the ‘opening up’ process.

These ‘wine aerators’ do the same thing except in a smaller package. They aerate as you pour the wine into your glass or decanter thus fulfilling our society’s current fad for immediate gratification. There is a vessel or bowl like surface area to pour the wine into, there is the gurgling nose as it throws the wine around in this reservoir to aerate it before being letting it into your wine glass or decanter. All this happens in a matter of a few seconds (as opposed to twenty minutes in a decanter alone) and voila you have a wine that is ‘ready-to-go’ and ‘singing’.

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Author: Ed Fong

A big THANKS! to all who came out to enjoy Al Fresco and bid on our silent auction items.  Your support and generosity helped us raise nearly $21,000 for the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.  This tripled our projected goal, so hats off to all who participated.

What started out as a deVine fundraiser and a celebration of our 4^th year anniversary quickly evolved into a 104^th-St. community event.  I want to take this opportunity to thank the various groups involved who made this event the success it was.

Event Sponsors

Thank you to Jim Taylor and the Downtown Business Association for their enthusiastic support.  Your team was truly amazing.  Special mention goes out to Kathleen Ong, Victoria Boutilier and the Core Crew for helping spread the news about the event.

Thank you to Ralph Young and his team at Melcor Developments.  Special mention goes to Catherine Bergamo for her logistical support and Lloyd Diggins Sr. and Jr. for their on-site assistance.

Thank you to Kristina Owen of Fosters Wine Group for your support and assistance.  Your help in liaising with Edmonton Police Services is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to Dirk Chan, my partner and friend who donated the great collection of 2000 Bordeaux from his cellar to host an amazing retrospective tasting.  Your generosity speaks volumes.

The 104^th-Street Participants

The involvement of so many businesses on 104^th-St. truly made Al Fresco a community event.  Your enthusiasm in pulling together to support a common cause was truly impressive.

Thank you to Brett Cuthbertson of Sobeys for providing popcorn and refreshments to the moviegoers and logistical support to our outdoor Portuguese BBQ.  Your presence on the street and willingness to help out was tremendous.  Thank you also to Thomas Rose of Sobeys for all his support.  Thomas played double duty for organizing a very successful pancake breakfast on behalf of the Downtown Edmonton Community League.  The breakfast was a great way to kick-start the day.

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Author: Dirk Chan

Many thanks for all of you who attended the Canadian Wine Festival saturday, it was a successful day and raised more money for the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS). Many attendees added new bids to our on-line and in-store auction. Note that this auction will end at midnight Tuesday, June 30th –  in store bidding ends at 8pm while on-line bidding ends promptly at midnight. Winners will be contacted on July 1st, Canada Day. The response of so far has been exceptional and inspirational, and we hope the final days of this auction will push us over the top.

Please visit the auction page here: http://www.devinewines.ca/alfresco_auction.htm

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Author: Dirk Chan

In celebration of Canada Day, deVine will hold its annual Canadian Wine Festival this coming saturday at the store from noon to 4pm. A $15 admission fee (all in support of the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters – ACWS) will allow you the opportunity to sample more than 50 Canadian wines ranging from sparkling, white, reds and dessert wines.  No pre-registration is required as this is a drop-in event.  While you’re in the store, don’t forget to bid on the over fifty auction items, all on display for your perusing.

Canadian wines have come a long way in the last few years, with dramatic improvements. The whites are excellent values while the reds are distinctive albeit not cheap. As usual, our agent friends will be on hand to chat and answer any questions you may have about the wines. Some of the wineries sampled include…

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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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