deVine Thoughts

Author: Dirk Chan

For what seems like an eternity, Vintage Port declarations from Portugal has been three per decade. The 2007 then follows the 2000 and 2003 vintages since the new millenium and has been well received by Port lovers despite the down turn in the economy. The 2007 is the largest declared year ever, with many new and tiny houses joining the established estates.

The style of the 2007’s though are not the tannic, warm weather brutish style of 2000 and 2003. It is more akin to the more fruit forward and legendary 1994’s with perhaps slightly less extraction than that spectacular vintage. It does have so much fruit though that the structure may be hidden from view right now. It is a very approachable vintage with tremendous elegance and lightness of being and a super velvety palate that makes it hard to judge its longevity, but I think it is all there for the long haul. Many – the Fonseca, Taylor and Vesuvio surprised us with its approachability, perhaps a shift in the style paradigm to make the ports more accessible sooner?

For those that love the lively, fruity blueberry and kirsh in their young ports, then by all means open these now and enjoy for the rest of this year before they close down. Restaurants will sell a lot of the 2007’s if they take advantage now. Try the Quinta do Noval Silval now, it is exquisite!

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Author: Dirk Chan

It is time for the 7th Annual Downtown Dining Week, which will run from March 5 to March 14. Organized by the Downtown Business Association, this year features the largest participation yet, 29 Edmonton restaurants are featured, all of which will offer special discounted rates and set menus. $15, $25 and $50 menu offerings (excluding beverages, tax and gratuity) give maximum choice to fit every budget. Experience
innovative menus for both lunch and dinner offerings at bargain-ish prices. The downtown core has been on the big upswing, and here is a great opportunity to experience high quality restaurants that you might not necessarily try out, have some fun and support local eateries at the same time. Best to call in advance and make a reservation as restaurants fill up quickly during this event.

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Author: Dirk Chan

deVine and David Gordon of Saverio Schiralli Agencies proudly present an evening of Quinta of Portal wines with export managers Pedro Almeida Santos and Paulo Marques on Tuesday, March 2 at 7pm.

Portal is one of the increasing number of family owned wineries (or quintas) spouting up in Portugal and in just a dozen years or so as shippers has been on a fast track to success with world wide recognition for their ports and red wines. We will sample a white, several reds and ports from this rapidly rising and award winning (Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Winery of the Year for 2009) Portuguese house located in the heart of the Douro Valley. Portuguese wines offer the best bang for the buck in the old world, and you will see why in this rare tuesday night sit-down tasting.

Much press has been heaped on this house: Forbes Magazine recented elected Portal as one of the ten great international wine destinations with its great guest house and beautiful views.

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Author: Ed Fong

“Street Hockey Downtown Style”……Catch the Olympic Spirit!

This Family Day, on Monday, February 15, 104-Street merchants will be participating in the Family Day Festival sponsored by the Downtown Business Association. Kids can come play table hockey in front of the following businesses on 104-St between noon and 4:00 PM:

The Blue Plate Diner
Carbon Environmental Boutique
Credo Coffee
deVine Wines & Spirits – sponsored by
The Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel

The first 100 children will be given a free table hockey stick to play their game and keep as a souvenir. Players of the fun match can then go into the sponsoring business and obtain their prize, a brand new shiny Olympic quarter featuring Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen.

City of Edmonton staff will be on hand at each table to supervise children and provide directions.

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Author: Dirk Chan

deVine held its first ever top Wines of the Year tasting this past thursday. Attended by 80 people, it was quite a night. Ed, Annabelle, Dirk and Nick collectively chose the wines tasted after much deliberation. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men. What would have been our first and only white wine of the evening would have been the 2005 Domaine d’Ardhuy’s Corton Charlemagne, a $159.99 chardonnay from Burgundy, but all four bottles were oxidized and we had to quickly switch to plan B with the tasting just a few hours away. We needed something costing about the same price, yet reflect the same outstanding quality. The result was the 2004 Quinta do Crasto Quinta da Ponte – $159.99 (a stunner with blueberries, blackberries, kirsch and a lovely, lingering mouthfeel with a finish that went on for minutes).

But I’m jumping ahead. Without a white, we had changed the menu to include the Val d’Oca Punta Rosa, a lovely rosé from Veneto with lovely mousse, a touch of earth and plenty of strawberry and cherry fruit. We moved onto our selections after that with a string of 5 reds: The Chateau Princé Brissac (CabFranc) with its wild flowers, the unusual Pares P3 from Bierzo from Spain screamed violets and elegance, made from the indigenous Mencia grape. In sucession, the Crasto Ponte was extremely well received – what incredible class and sneaky length, the Achavel Ferrer Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina was a full-bodied, wonderful wine for the money, the Purple Angel Carmenere from Montes in Chile had layers of spicy velvety fruit yet full of finesse, the J.C. Cellars Frediani Vineyard Petite Sirah appealed with its earthy, mushroom, meaty nose accentuated with huge extraction.

Two exquisite dessert wines ended the evening, the 2001 Willi Haag Riesling Auslese (every bottle available was purchased at the tasting) and to end, the stellar 2007 Quinta do Noval Silval Vintage Port, spectacular liveliness and full of blueberries, kirsch and exotic brambly fruit.

Fun was had by all, we are already looking forward to next year’s edition. We thank you for the opportunity to share an evening of great company, fine wines and immense conversation.

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Author: Dirk Chan

It’s hard to believe its time to do the annual prediction blog for the year in the world of wine. The trend towards value driven wines will continue where consumers expect better quality wines in the $15-25 range. The wine public is becoming better educated and the onus is on retailers to continue to discover more and more best bang bucks.

After a relatively slow year at the high-end spectrum, you will see pockets softening and a moderate rebound to more luxury purchases as the fear of recession weakens. Having said that, at the high end, the prices will continue to rise due to supply and demand for the best. China and Russia were considered emerging markets a few years ago, but they’re here now and are beginning to challenge the Americans for global market share and in the process driving prices way up for the premium wines. Rising price is one thing, but availability is the other – some ultra-premiums are coming in two or three cases for the entire province so buyers will have to be vigilant and keeping on top of their wish lists and working with their favourite retailers in advance of their arrival.

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Author: Annabelle Evaristo

deVine will be supporting the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Wine Tasting Fundraiser and Auction entitled ‘Flavours of Portugal’, scheduled for Wednesday, February 10 at the Winspear Centre. Tickets are $125 per person (a tax receipt will be issued for a portion of the ticket price).

There will be a catered menu matched with Portuguese wines that will be served from 7pm to 10pm, with a silent auction throughout the evening featuring numerous items for the wine and food connoiseurs. Towards the end of the evening, a live auction will take place featuring three trips to Portugual. A highlight auction item will be donated by deVine that features a five course Portugese dinner with matching high-end wines for 8 to be held at TZiN Wine & Tapas.

Purchase tickets online here…

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Author: Ed Fong

deVine Wines is very excited to host a tasting and fundraiser on Thursday, December 10, 2009. The tasting will take place between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Tickets are $20.00 each and can be purchased on-line or at the door. There are twenty two wines available for sampling. Light snacks and appetizers will be served courtesy of Sobey’s. There is an online silent auction starting November 30th. Bidding ends at 7pm, Saturday, December 19th. There are some wonderful items for your consideration.

Check out the auction items at devinewines.ca/104st_auction.htm…

Bookmark this auction page and come back from now till the event date to see additional items as they become available for bidding.

More information or to register for the tasting: here..

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Author: Dirk Chan

Every year, Wine Spectator, the influential American Wine publication releases their Top 100 Wines of the year. This year was no exception, although the criteria for making the list appears to have changed from
previous years. The focus this year is value driven wines as very noticeable that only a handful of wines on this list is over $100 while the majority are less than $25. Besides value, availability and the ‘X’ factor are the other criteria. However, given that the top two wines of the year have been unavailable for some time now, it almost defeats the purpose of naming the Wine of the Year that no one can get any of. Nevertheless, every wine connoisseur watches with interest to see they can acquire any of the wines..deVine has sixteen wines that made the grade for your attention.

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Author: Ed Fong

deVine Wines is very excited to host a portfolio tasting and fundraiser on Thursday, December 10, 2009. Our store is partnering with Natasha Susylinski of Summit Fine Wines to showcase her portfolio and raise funds for the improvement of our beloved downtown street.

The portfolio tasting will take place between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Tickets are $20.00 each and can be purchased on-line or at the door. Over twenty wines and a selection of single malt scotch whiskey will be available for sampling. Light snacks will also be available.

Four wine tasting stations will be set up to help guide you through Natasha’s portfolio. You can begin at the “No Skins” white wine station, meander to the “With Skins” medium-bodied and full-bodied red wine stations, and finally over to the “Dessert” port wine station. For a complete listing of wines available for sampling that evening, please visit the “Events and Tastings” link on our homepage.

Last but not least, deVine Wines will be pleased to pour you a few drams at the single malt scotch whiskey station.

All proceeds from the event will be turned over to the newly formed 104-Street Steering Committee. The committee is made up of 104-Street business owners, residents, representatives from the City of Edmonton, the Downtown Farmer’s Market, and the University of Alberta at Enterprise Square, the Downtown Business Association and both Ward 4 City Councilors.

The committee’s goal is to promote the cleanliness, safety, security and marketability of 104-Street.

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