Walter Moar

Eric Asimov has a recent article about the Mysteries of Beaujolais: http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/0...s-of-beaujolais

Another option is corn-based containers (or "corntainers"). These containers are clear and look like traditional plastic, but they are not oil-based, and they can be composted.

Does your corkscrew have a double hinge? The ones in the photos posted by DCP do not; I find the double-hinged ones much easier to use. The double hinge gives you better leverage using the middle "platform" when you first start pulling the cork out, then you use the end "platform" to finish extracting the cork. Hopefully that's easier to visualize than the adequately describe. Another important thing is that the worm or "screw" is of the helix type, rather than auger. The auger style has a solid shaft (if that makes any sense). I've always used waiter's corkscrews, and I'm useless with those butterfly contraptions or (even worse) any of these fancy things that cost more than $10 and don't fit in my pocket! If nothing else, open bottles more often

I'd also recommend the Culinaria series of books (France, Italy, Spain). They discuss regional food, wine, cheese, etc. Knowing the foods of the world is just as important as knowing the wines.

I've never noticed this in Victoria -- I always use beer for my dough

Herald Street Caffé is closed. When I walked in after they first re-opened, and the lounge had been turned into a sports bar... not a good sign.

I think this is a great idea. If the vast majority of wine is consumed within hours of purchase, why on earth do we put it into heavy, breakable, hard-to-transport bottles? When it's $13 a liter, using a bottle versus tetra pak isn't going to make it taste any better. And nobody's going to be laying down this White Rabbit for their grandchildren to enjoy. As mentioned, they're also great for hiking, or taking to the beach. Consume contents, don't worry about dropping and breaking it, squish it up when you pack it out -- easy! By the way, Ontario is also using tetra bricks, and will soon be getting wine in 750ml PET (plastic) bottles. It's part of their effort to reduce the shipping expense of bringing in and recycling the containers. Wishing I had a can of Chablis...

For the letter 'C' I chose Château Coutet, a first growth from Barsac. Barsac is in Bordeaux, and lies to the north of the Ciron river from Sauternes. Barsac produces wine like Sauternes -- sweet, rich, ideally botrytis-affected, and made primarily from Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. The 2003 Château Coutet has recently appeared on our market, and I couldn't resist trying it young to see how it is -- wonderful! A deep yellow-gold, the nose carries honey, big botrytis character, caramel, dried apricot, obvious oak treatment, and rich butter. It tastes sweet with solid but not bright acid, and has flavours of honey and orange zest, with a huge finish that's all about the oak: caramel; vanilla; browned butter. It's 14% (minimum for Sauternes is 13%) and goes for CAD$35 for a half bottle.

Whaaa? Jeez, I REALLY need to get out more often. So what's the scoop with them? ← Scoop here. ← Huh, it's strange that Starbucks HQ would sell those off rather than convert them to (even more) Starbucks locations.

A friend of mine received a gift of ice wine, which... she prompty put in the freezer. I tried not to scream or think about how much it cost (she likes the sweet stuff so it was an easy gift) but when it was finally thawed and opened, it tasted just fine. In fact, I imagine it was better off than if it had spent a few months in the cupboard over the stove!

For my "B" I chose a wine by Gérard Bertrand. I was trying to find something and didn't know anything about the producer, but lucky for me there is a website with plenty of information. From the site: Gérard Bertrand is, like his father before him, a winemaker in Languedoc -- although also an accomplished rugby player. His current aim is to bring winemakers together to "prove that the Languedoc itself produces great wines." He owns four properties, Château l'Hospitalet near the La Clape Massif being the headquarters, showcase, and main winery. The wine I picked up is the Gérard Bertrand "Classic" Carignan Vieilles Vignes (Vins de Pays de l'Aube), and it appears to be the bottom rung label in the portfolio (CAD$15). Although the much-maligned Carignan isn't exactly something that I seek out as a varietal wine, I couldn't resist as I wanted to try something different, and it starts with B! The wine has good depth of colour and presents big smells of jammy stewed fruit, some spice and black pepper, and a little woodsmoke -- rich, ripe, and fruity. The website says that it undergoes long-term carbonic maceration, but I found only a hint of typical candy aromas, what I really noticed is the supple ripe tannins and well-balanced acid. For a young, fairly low priced (it is in my market) wine, I'm calling it a winner. P.S. Nathan P: I'm curious about your Morgon producer. I have some Lapierre that I'm running low on and couldn't bring myself to open (quite yet... we'll see how the week goes!). He's the only "Gang of Four" that I can find here, so I'd love to hear about what you have!

If I can sneak in another "A" that I've been tardy in posting: Alsace is a wine growing region in the northeast of France, bordering on Germany. Although it is in the northern reaches of France, Alsace is in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, and is one of the driest areas of France. The result is a long, dry growing season that helps ensure ripeness of the Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Muscat that the region is known for. The "Alsatian Style" wines made from these grapes tend to have more richness and weight than others grown in colder climates. The wine I chose is the 2004 Pfaffenheim Riesling, CAD$17 and 12.5%. A simple, everyday wine it showed plenty of minerals, wet rock, citrus, and pineapple on the nose, and just a little bit of the characteristic Riesling petrol. It is dry with tangy acid, medium-to-full bodied with plenty of lemon-lime and citrus, and a nice clean finish. It was everything I wanted in a simple patio wine.

Ooh, this sounds like it's going to be plenty of fun, I hope we run through the entire alphabet. For the letter 'A' I chose Anjou. Anjou is one of the subregions of France's Loire Valley, located upstream of Nantes (home of muscadet), and downstream of Saumur, Touraine, Pouilly-Fumé, and Sancerre. Located north of Bordeaux, the climate is somewhat marginal, although there is some moderation from the Atlantic. Much of the wine produced is rosé from Grolleau and Cabernet Franc, as well as sparkling wine that makes good use of the acidic and occasionally underripe fruit. Anjou's primary claim to fame, however, is still wine produced from Chenin Blanc, running from dry to sweet to botrytis-affected. The most famous Chenin Blanc areas are Bonnezeaux, Quarts-de-Chaume, and Savennières. The wine I chose is the 2002 Château de Fesles "La Chapelle" AOC Anjou, made from Chenin Blanc. The wine is light gold, and on the nose has rich aromas of honey, dried apricot, baked apple, and clove, as well as bright smells like passionfruit, quince, and a crisp minerality. The wine is dry with tangy acid, and the flavours are very crisp: pineapple, lemon zest, and lime. It is medium-to-full bodied and has a long finish that starts off acidic but moves into rich earthiness and toasty caramel flavours. It is a well balanced 14% and went for $39, well worth the money but unfortunately not in my "everyday drinker" category (Price note: I live in BC and our liquor tax is somewhat excessive).

Regarding the bacon and egger: Is it possible to infuse Advocaat with bacon? If not, I think that pickled egg garnishing a martini that uses vodka infused with crispy fried bacon could possibly do the trick. Make it dirty by including a dash of truffle gin? What about a foie-tini?

I prefer stems on my stemware, but I received a pair of O-series Chardonnay / Viognier glasses as a gift. They haven't seen a drop of wine, but I love them for whiskey, as the thin glass allows you to easily warm the contents. They also get used for vinous belgian beers, as beer in something with a stem feels as "unnatural" to me as wine in something stemless.

You'd have to drink 11/8 (1.375) as much of an 8% wine to equal the alcohol in an 11% wine. So if you have 100ml of 11% wine, the same amount of alcohol would be found in 137.5ml of 8% wine. For the metric impaired, it of course works the same: 10oz of 11% wine would be the same alcohol as 13.75oz of 8% wine.

Oh, yum, I like this game! Let's see: 1. Duchesse de Bourgogne 2. Rodenbach Grand Cru (yes, I like the acetic ones!) 3. Rochefort 8 4. Petrus Oud Bruin 5. Chimay Red

This past week, I've been thinking about the distance my food travels to get to me, and it's rather disturbing. It's easy to get used to eating cantaloupe year round. Or asparagus and spinach out of season. Or nectarines at Christmas. Actually, eating nectarines anytime. Or mangoes, lemons, bananas, or anything else that will not grow here. For me, a modified diet that is for the most part limited to the islands and the Fraser Valley isn't all that drastic, other than the lack of tropical fruit. It's over 100 miles, but it's much more "local" than how I currently eat. The biggest change would be the time required to store foods like berries and vegetables for out of season eating. Although I have fond memories of canned Saskatoon berries at grandma's house in the winter, I don't spend the majority of my time at home, as she did. Farmer's markets and roadside stands are great, but if I can walk ten minutes to the grocery store, does it make sense to spend a couple of hours driving to pick up local food? I guess my personal conclusions are that it's very important to eat locally, both to limit the resources expended to ship food, and to provide a market for locally produced food. Hopefully some day we'll see a "local" section in the supermarkets, the way we see an "organic" one today. In the meantime, at least in Victoria, we have vegetable delivery services that emphasize both local and organic produce. (When I say "for the most part limited to the islands...", it's because life without Ardbeg and European wine isn't worth living!)

WSET offers courses in Belgium and France. Their web site lists a few schools where the courses are offered -- these schools may also offer other courses.

One thing to consider is the route you take from Kelowna to Vancouver, assuming that you are driving. The quick, sanitized, and dull route is via the Coquihalla to Hope, and then onwards to Vancouver. The more interesting, longer, and slower route travels south along Okanagan Lake to Osoyoos, and then west to Hope. Where the Coquihalla is a new highway for efficient travel in and out of Vancouver, the southerly route travels through orchards, wineries, and beautiful lake scenery. Many people have described the wondrous things between Kelowna and Osoyoos, so I'll leave their descriptions to tempt you. From Osoyoos it is a beautiful mountain drive to Hope, although at the price of a narrow, winding highway as opposed to the Coquihalla's divided highway. I personally prefer the southerly route, although I typically use the Coquihalla because I'm travelling between destinations, rather than travelling for the sake of seeing what's there. If you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary while on Vancouver Island, you might look into Soule Creek Lodge in Port Renfrew. It's approximately two hours west of Victoria, along the west coast of the Island. I don't know if they can offer fly fishing, but they're big on big salmon! If you make it out that way, don't miss the tide pools at Botanical Beach during low tide, it's a great place to spy on unsuspecting sea critters. Most importantly (and prematurely), welcome to BC!

If you're looking for a book, in my opinion Jancis Robinson's How to Taste is a great start. Another good one is Kevin Zraly's Complete Wine Course. Books are great references and full of information, but tasting is of course the most important part of learning. I agree that tasting "a bunch of wines" is the way to go -- that is, tasting a bunch of wines at the same time -- comparing, contrasting, looking for similarities. Tasting as part of a group is also good, I've found that either leading a group of novices, or tasting with people at roughly the same level really helps with learning. Of course if you could get one of your wine-knowledgeable friends to lead the occasional tasting, it will be even more educational. I've also found that taking notes has helped, by forcing me to think and write as much as possible about what I'm smelling and tasting. By the way, I think Gruner is a marvelous place to be "stuck"!

I wholeheartedly agree about the 15, it's certainly one of my favourite Bowmore whiskies. I'm currently enjoying a glass of the "Cask" you mentioned, its warm smokiness is a great match for a cold rainy day.

The article mentions Neil Edgar, who won the naming contest by coming up with the word "Meritage". Some interesting trivia about Mr. Edgar is that his prize is one bottle of each Meritage-branded wine, for the first ten vintages. I hope he really likes Bordeaux blends!

The prices I quoted are from our provincial government liquor board site, and they are a little lax about keeping the vintage information up to date. The Niagara is listed as 1999 and 2001, the Okanagan is 2002 and 2003. I, too, am unfamiliar with vintage differences for Icewines.

Just for comparison, the current retail price for Inniskillin Niagara Vidal Icewine in British Columbia (west coast) is CAD$50 for the 375ml bottle. The price for the Inniskillin Okanagan Vidal Icewine (grown out west rather than in Ontario) is CAD$53. We're talking around £25, but of course you have to take into consideration taxes and duties when alcohol moves across borders. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it! The thing that sets quality dessert wine apart is that it needs a healthy amount of acidity to prevent it from being cloying -- the "citrus" you spoke of is a pretty good indication of good acid. The Inniskillin web site lists Liberty Wines and Western Wines as UK importers. Good luck!