Some of you may recall that I went to the California Wine Fair last Friday which, as it turns out, was a somewhat disappointing experience.
For one thing, my wine count went down from the 42 wines tasted at the Taste Ontario event to somewhere between 30-35. And since I always seem to be in some sort of internally-driven competition, this felt like a loss of some sort, even though the competition was against myself and myself alone (which would make me a winner as well, no?).
This was partly due to the fact that at 5 p.m., 2 hours after my arrival, the lights flickered on and off, indicating the end of the trade tasting. At this point the pourers began promptly removing bottles from the table, and the panic among tasters was palpable. What? That’s it? It’s over already? But we were just getting started!
Last week I went to Taste Ontario, my very first trade tasting! In Part 1 I talked about the atmosphere and a few of my discoveries in the typical-Ontario-grapes category. Let’s continue, shall we? I know you’re all excited to hear about more of my Ontario favourites.
Vineland Estates Cabernet Franc 2014: I can always recognize a cab franc because for some reason, it makes me think of green apple Mentos. They don’t sell those here in Canada sadly, but every time I am in Europe or in the States, I pick up a few packs, because they remind me of my childhood summers in France.
In reality, these mentos taste very little like green apple. There is no acidity or sourness to them, they just have a mildly sweet flavour that is perhaps closer to pear than apple. In any case, every time I smell or taste cab franc, that is the flavour that comes to mind. It drove me crazy in wine classes because no one knew what the heck I was going on about with my green apple mentos flavours. Eventually I learned that in the wine tasting world, my green apple is everyone else’s “vegetal” or “green pepper”. Just goes to show how subjective wine tasting is!
Now back to the wine! Vineland offers a typical cab franc: cherry, dark fruit/berries, red apple, with a hint of that nice green apple mentos vegetal component. One of the flavours typically associated with cab franc is pencil shavings (I know, weird right?). But I didn’t get much of that on this wine.
This is a lovely oaked chardonnay from Prince Edward County. Lots of tropical fruit, banana, pineapple, butterscotch and a hint of minerality. I’m really hoping this will be available at the LCBO this year. Otherwise we’ll have to stop in PEC on our way to Niagara!
Honourable mention: Château des Charmes Equuleus blend, made of cab sauv, cab franc and merlot. This wine had a wonderful fruity aroma. On the palate, there were dark berries and dark cherry, as well as pepper and alcohol. All very nicely balanced. Beware of the sticker shock though ($40).
The “other” guys
So those are the wines based on grapes that tend to do really well in our cold Ontario climate. But there were a few “outsiders”—i.e. grapes other than riesling, chardonnay, pinot noir and cab franc—that caught my attention. In fact, it was the viogniers that won me over.
Nyarai Viognier 2015: I wrote about my conversation with Nyarai winemaker Steve Byfield in Part 1. There is nothing to be humble about with this wine. I looooved it. Had I not had 41 more wines to taste, I would have treated myself to at least 3 sips. But it looks like I am going to have to order this wine directly from this virtual winery (once it’s updated with the most recent vintage, that is). That’s right, while Nyarai sources its grapes from a couple of conscientious vineyards in the Niagara area, there is no physical winery to speak of and the bottles are only available online (and at the LCBO if we’re lucky). Definitely grab this one if you ever see it on the shelves.
Creekside Reserve Viognier Queenston Road Vineyard 2013: Only 150 cases were made of this beautiful, smooth viognier that was aged in French oak. I got notes of stone fruit with a bit of pear and light citrus. This is not your typical Ontario wine, and it blew my mind a bit that Ontario could make such startlingly different wine styles. Very few bottles left at the LCBO.
Honourable mention: Closson Chase Pinot Gris 2015: This is a light, refreshing summer sipper with nice peach, melon and honey notes. Not available online but can by purchased individually at the PEC winery or by the case online using the link above.
Other discoveries
Westcott Vineyards – This was one of the last wineries whose table I visited at the event. At this point, the hotel was kicking people out, but the Westcotts were kind enough to let me linger at their table a while so we could chat about their wines (and so I could taste them, of course). I love that each of their wines is named after iconic women of the 1920s (though I couldn’t tell you which ones). I particularly enjoyed the Delphine rosé 2013, a Burgundian-influenced pinot noir/chardonnay-based rosé that will be available at the LCBO this fall (yay!). I also really liked their Estate Chardonnay 2013. This full-bodied white was aged on its lees for a year in French oak, which comes across in toasted notes and tropical fruit. It had really nice body and balanced structure.
Sandbanks Winery: Sandbanks is an expert in choosing local indigenous grapes that shine in Ontario. I have yet to try one of their wines I didn’t like. Try the French Kiss 2013 or the Mouton Noir 2014.
To close, a lesson learned: never leave your glass by the spitoon at a wine tasting.
I’m heading to the California Wine Fair on Friday, so get your glasses ready—I’m going to have lots of recommendations for you this weekend!
I have another confession to make: I really do not enjoy showers. Be it the wedding or baby variety, there is nothing I would like to do less than sit around for an afternoon surrounded by squealing women playing ridiculous games like Guess the Mess in the Diaper or The Toilet Paper Bride. And God help you if it is a dry event. I don’t care if the guest of honour is pregnant, the rest of us should still be able to indulge so the poor girl can drink vicariously through us.
All this to say, when I was in the horrible throes of planning my own wedding, I made it clear that there were to be NO SHOWERS. However, knowing my penchant for wine, one sneaky friend managed to convince me by suggesting a novel concept: the wine shower.
How It Works
Each guest is invited to bring two bottles of wine:
one for immediate consumption at the shower
one for the couple to cellar as a souvenir of their year of marriage
You can see why I was so easily convinced. It’s a FANTASTIC idea for any wine-loving couple. First of all, you get to taste lots of different wines at the actual event, then you get to keep as many bottles as guests for your collection!
As a nice touch, my friend brought a lovely little “guestbook” where each guest wrote the name of the wine they brought and drank, and the one that they left for us.
Our friends are the best
It has now been three years since our wine shower, and we still have a few bottles left. Last weekend we decided to open one, and we were not disappointed!
Domaine St-Pierre Vacqueyras 2009
Vacqueyras is an appellation in the Côtes du Rhône region. Located in the south of France, it is just north of the city of Avignon (famous for being the papal seat starting in the 14th century) and west of Orange. It is a region where you can still feel the influence of the ancient Romans, and it has lots of beautiful (and in some cases still used) ruins to show for it. It is an amazing area, with some of my favourite wines.
The amphitheatre in Orange dates back to the 1st century and is still used as an outdoor music venue in the summer
A brilliant Rhône Valley map c/o WineFolly (http://winefolly.com/review/cotes-du-rhone-wine-with-maps/)
This Vacqueyras was a blend of grenache (one of my favourite grapes) and syrah. The colour was a deep, rich ruby red that was practically opaque. On the nose, a fruit explosion. We pulled out the large Riedel glasses for this one, and the fruit aromas just filled the bowl. It was heavenly: dark fruit, plum, cherry, fig, sweet spices, cassis and mint/cedar/eucalyptus. When I finally got over sniffing my wine and tasted it, the flavour was just a continuation of all the lovely aromas, with the addition of more dried fruit like raisin and prune (a result of aging), plus some leather, sweet spice and smoke, due to the 6-12 months this wine spent aging in oak barrels. It was still a medium-full bodied wine, with medium acidity, and after 7 years in the bottle, the tannins had softened right out. This wine was incredibly drinkable and I’m glad we didn’t leave it in the cellar any longer! If you still have a bottle of this lingering in your cellar, now is the time to drink it.
The first thing I did after drinking a glass of this wine was email Erica to thank her!
So the wine shower…great idea, right? Who’s with me?
Today I am very excited to be sharing one of my favourite wines styles with you. I often forget about ripasso, but today’s bottle has served as a delicious reminder.
Ripasso wines are made in the Veneto region, which is in northeastern Italy between Verona and Venice.
The ripasso process
The first step in making ripasso wines is making a Valpolicella. This table wine is made from three Italian grapes: corvina, rondinella and molinara.
The second step involves another wine called amarone. Amarone is made with the same grapes, however these grapes have been dried in a process called apassimento, whereby they are dried in the heat of the end of the summer, traditionally on straw mats.
Appassimento racks c/o Masi
This apassimento process dries out the water and concentrates the amount of sugar in the grapes, which then yields a higher alcohol content during fermentation. Amarone is the wine created using these dried grapes, and is the crème de la crème of Italian wines. However, these bottles start at $30 and up, so are not always the most affordable choice.
Ripassos (meaning re-passed), on the other hand, are a happy medium between the everyday Valpolicella wines and the higher-end amarones.
Ripasso is made by running Valpolicella wines through the rich amarone skins. This process adds body, texture and rich flavours to the Valpolicella and makes for a consistently beautiful wine.
Breakdown of Valpolicella wines c/o Wine Folly
Mel’s dairy-free lasagna
Last Saturday night I made my special lasagna. It is special because I’ve adapted the recipe over time to meet my husband’s non-dairy needs, i.e. no cow milk products. If I can’t find sheep or buffalo ricotta, I make my own out of tofu. I also replace regular mozzarella with President’s Choice goat mozzarella. It’s pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. The recipe is at the bottom of this post.
Farina Valpolicella Ripasso with Mel’s dairy-free lasagna
This medium ruby red-coloured wine has aromas of cherry, blackberry, raisin (from the amarone skins), cocoa, vanilla, cedar, tobacco and a touch of menthol. On the palate, the first thing I noticed was a juicy, mouthwatering acidity that makes you want to drink more! This wine is medium bodied, dry, and has nicely integrated, subtle tannins. It’s got gorgeous fruit flavours like fresh raspberry, blackberry and black cherry, and is also heavy on the dried fruit (raisin, date and fig) with undertones of chocolate, cigar box and leather. It finishes off with a lovely medium-long black cherry finish.
Ripasso food pairings
A standard rule of thumb is pairing food and wines from the same geographical region, so it would stand to reason that this wine would go perfectly with lasagna (or pizza, or grilled meats, or cheeses, for that matter).
This particular ripasso, although much lighter than the benchmark ripasso, went extremely well with my lasagna. Sometimes goat cheese does funny things with red wines, particularly tannic ones, but the Farina ripasso’s medium body and fruit-forward character, not to mention high acidity, made it a perfect match. Don’t forget, wines with high acidity are great food wines, so this is a great food-friendly candidate that would make a great contribution to dinner parties.
Happy weekend and happy wining!
Mel’s delicious dairy-free lasagna recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 lb of ground Italian sausage meat
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 jars of high-quality tomato sauce
1 tsp basil and oregano
Oven-ready lasagna noodles (I use brown rice noodles so it’s even gluten-free)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or just oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary)
4 cups of shredded goat mozzarella
1/2 of grated pecorino romano (hard sheep cheese in place of Parmesan)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until nearly browned. Add onion and garlic until cooked (3-5 minutes).
Add pasta sauce, and basil and oregano. Let simmer.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ricotta and Italian seasoning.
Put a bit of sauce at the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with 3 noodles. Cover noodles with 1/3 of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella and 1 cup of sauce.
Repeat layers two more times.
Add top layer of noodles. Top with remaining sauce and cover with remaining mozzarella. Sprinkle pecorino over mozzarella.
Cover and bake about 45 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and noodles are tender. Uncover and bake an extra 5 minutes to brown edges.
Remove from oven and let settle for 10-15 minutes before serving.
N.B. I find that the smaller the baking dish, the further the sauce goes. Go with the smallest dish that your lasagna noodles will fit in!
Bon appétit! Let me know how it goes in the comments below!
As you will recall, a few weeks ago I blogged about an LCBO article listing its 2015 Customer Favourites. I ran out and bought 3 of the 4 most-bought wines to see what all the fuss was about. In the blog post I reviewed the Beronia Tempranillo, and last weekend I brought the 2 remaining customer favourites to dinner at my sister-in-law’s place. All in all, I think Ontario and I have different tastes, but I can see the appeal of both the wines I tried.
I can always recognize a cab franc because for some reason, it makes me think of green apple Mentos. They don’t sell those here in Canada sadly, but every time I am in Europe or in the States, I pick up a few packs, because they remind me of my childhood summers in France.
I wrote about my conversation with Nyarai winemaker Steve Byfield in 
Only 150 cases were made of this beautiful, smooth viognier that was aged in French oak. I got notes of stone fruit with a bit of pear and light citrus. This is not your typical Ontario wine, and it blew my mind a bit that Ontario could make such startlingly different wine styles. Very few bottles left at the LCBO.
Honourable mention: 
nt. At this point, the hotel was kicking people out, but the Westcotts were kind enough to let me linger at their table a while so we could chat about their wines (and so I could taste them, of course). I love that each of their wines is named after iconic women of the 1920s (though I couldn’t tell you which ones). I particularly enjoyed the Delphine rosé 2013, a Burgundian-influenced pinot noir/chardonnay-based rosé that will be available at the LCBO this fall (yay!). I also really liked their 
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