Georgian Hills Vineyards, 2011 Seyval Blanc VQA

This wine was bought by my friend An. Recently returned from abroad, she has made the best of her summer exploring Ontario and got this wine while camping near Georgian Bay (thus the name). The grapes grow on the shores there, which is fairly north and a cold climate for grape growing and so there are only 2 wineries in the region. The bottle says it should be fresh and fragrant and we should taste pears, apples, stone fruits, and citrus, which makes sense because this is a region that is famous for apple and pear growing, not grape growing. The winery in fact also makes hard pear and apple ciders. This wine was quite tasty, but also comes with a cautionary tale about wine tasting. If you taste too many, you may not end up with what you remember when you get home, so while An generally doesn’t drink sweet wines, that’s what we got! Thankfully I, A, enjoy sweet wines, so cheers to An and welcome home! This wine is available at the LCBO for $15.95 a bottle, so is a great way to try wine from a colder climate.

K – This wine is a little on the sweet side for me. I bet it has a sugar content of around 2, which is sweet for me since I usually drink 0s or drier wines.

An – This wine is much lighter smelling than red wines, and isn’t as grapey. It is a little bit citrusy. It is sweet, but also not sweet, because it has a bit of a tart aftertaste. It is sweet when it hits your tongue, but not sweet when you swallow it. I liked it with cheese, and it smoothed some of the tartness.

A – This is a very clear wine and the fruity sweet smell was so strong I could smell it across the tables. It is a very light tasting wine that has a bit of a tart aftertaste. It tastes good on its own or with cheese. But I would not drink it with something too heavy, like a roast or a curry, because it is quite light and I think strong foods would overwhelm it. It is great cold on a hot day and is mostly citrusy with a bit of apple as well. Good if you like fruitier wines like a Riesling or a gewürztraminer.

GUEST REVIEW! PC gives us the good, the bad, and the “You actually bought that?”

Hi folks, I’m PC and A and M have kindly turned their blog over to me for this post. I am a former grad student who is now in law school, and while that may imply that my means and tastes have risen, fear not – $25 bottles of wine are still reserved for special occasions. A few weekends ago, I sat down with two friends and drank just enough wine to have a few good debates. Along the way, we had a chance to try three bottles in particular – my favourite bottle, one I despise, and one that I’m almost ashamed to admit I buy regularly.

The good: Folonari Ripasso Valpolicella Classico 2011 ($18.95)  

I am man who enjoys dry wines; however, my favourite is this bottle, which is actually quite fruity (with just a hint of smokey). It is an easy drink that doesn’t really need much of a pairing (ie we drank it well after dinner was over).  The price tag is a little steep, so not exactly a “Hey, I just had a (explicative) day at school/work, let’s drink!” If instead you’re looking for a nice bottle to bring somewhere that you can drink without complaint (or if you just want to treat yourself), this is a good choice.

The bad: Jackson Triggs Sauvignon Blanc 2011 ($8.95)

You’ll note the Windex in the bottom right of this photo. It would have made a better choice for drinking than this swill. We drank this wine (I use the term VERY loosely) as a second bottle of the night, and my friends and I still arrived at such comments as:

“It smells bad, but it doesn’t taste much.”

“This is the wine they put at every cheap wedding that’s trying to be posh.”

“I’m not sure I’d use it for cooking.”

Or my favourite:

“They suggest pairing it with turkey. I suggest rye and ginger. Or straight vodka.”

This wine barely deserves the title. It’s just plain offensive. The best part of this bottle for me was the few drops of water left in my glass that diluted it. It’s hard to describe just what was so wrong about this bottle. It is a little fruity, but a little musky as well – like it was left in a sock drawer. Just don’t go there. If you’re ever given a bottle, turn it into sangria.

The “You actually bought that?”: Pelee Island Gewürztraminer 2011 ($11.75)

I think of this wine as the sort of thing you give your mother if she doesn’t like wine. It’s very fruity and very sweet – almost an ice wine. When asked to describe it prior to consumption, I tell people that it is kind of like an alcoholic fruit juice. Make sure you drink it well chilled, the sweetness can be a bit much otherwise.

This wine is very unpretentious. Wine snobs and connoisseurs will turn up their nose at this bottle. Even I’m not a huge fan. However, the best bottles are ones enjoyed with friends. And if you’ve got friends who’re not fans of wine, this is a good bottle to start them out with. It’s like dancing to Britney Spears at the bar – you might not want to broadcast that you do it publically, but damn if it isn’t fun to do sometimes anyways. [Editor's Aside: A also enjoys this wine for party fun times, and it makes a frequent appearance on the family party table!]

2012 Sandbanks Baco Noir, VQA

We in this house love the Sandbanks Baco. While I love the Ridge Road most of all, for an LCBO accessible wine this one is tops for me! At $14.95 it is a pretty good price, especially for the quality of wine that it is. Also, if you order 2 or more bottles from the winery, they will deliver right to your house! You can't beat that really. Tonight K's book club met and I made them join us in reviewing this wine. Overall I would say since 5 out of 6 of us loved this wine, it is a safe buy, and would go will with dinner or on its own. A good patio wine or campfire chug.

L - This wine has a very velvety nose. It is earthy with a musky aroma. It is fruity, smokey and bright, with high high notes and a light floral finish. This went well with the potato latkes we ate, because it was so rich and full-bodied. 

C - I like my wine to taste like licking the bottom of an ashtray, so the smokey-ness of this wine is definitely for me. I normally don't like bacos because I find them to be too fruity and simple, but that is not the case with this one. It smells salty. It definitely tastes fruity and is ridiculously smooth, like black cherry ice cream, but is also quite acidic. I like this wine.

M - I don't like it and would not purchase it again. Though it is notable that it is at least not a flavourless and boring wine. It is bright at the end but is too smokey and heavy at the finish, which is something I do not like in a wine. I prefer fruitier Shirazs.

E - This wine is really fruity. It is not as dense as a Shiraz though. I could chug it down like a wino on the streets.

A - This wine smells like a man's library. It is slightly fizzy tasting. It has a very fruity start with an equally oaky finish. It tastes like cherries, plums, or cranberries. I don't love it as much as I did the 2011, but that is setting a high bar. I think the fact that it was bottled this month makes it a pretty young wine, maybe accounting for the fizzyness and lightness and makes it less complex than the 2011. It has a dry finish but also is a litle nutty. The more I drink it the more I have come to like it on its own, not comparing it to wines past.

Kim Crawford + Populance=Ew?

How can two of my absolute favourite things come together and have such a disgusting sounding love child?! Now this isn't a real review because I haven't got my hands on this wine-infused popcorn yet but I promise there is one to come. In the meantime check out these descriptions of the vino-corn:

"The lemony Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Lemon is bright and zesty, bursting with flavour and pairing beautifully with the wine, while the indulgent Kim Crawford Pinot Noir Chocolate Drizzle uses the classic pairing of wine and chocolate to harness the wine’s flavours into an indulgent treat.”

Now I admit that I'm not a fan of sweet popcorn (that's more A's department) but even the Sauv Blanc is suspect to me. It should also be noted that there isn't any actual alcohol in this snack, which might mean a key ingredient has been left out.

Has anyone had a chance to try these? Would you?


In case you want more info:
http://dsmfoodlimited.com/wine-flavoured-popcorn-launched/

GUEST REVIEW!!! Finagra Alandra Red, Italy

We here at Red, White and Rose love wine. But sometimes, you need a vacation. Yes, even from reviewing wine. To supplement our summer posts we will be featuring guest reviews! Our first guest reviewer is S, a fellow PhD student. If there had been a prize for smartest sounding reviewer at our blog launch, S would have won. She knows her wines cork to funny-dimple-at-the-bottom-of-the-bottle. So without any further ado, I hand it over to S!

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Ever wandered the LCBO aisles aimlessly searching for a red wine to accompany dinner?  Specifically a cheap red because the wine rack at home is actually full and you recently blew $250 on books and shoes?

No?  Me neither.

If you were, hypothetically of course, in that situation, the Finagra Alandra red may be the wine for you!  A dear friend introduced me to the Alandra last year and I still remember her somewhat embarrassed whisper, “it’s less than 8 bucks.”  

Going cheap does not mean giving up class. This winery operates out of a 13th century fort, represented on the bottle's cork.  

I’m generally rather suspicious of wines that transcend inexpensive and venture into the realms of cheap.  No one wants to buy a bottle of wine that turns out to be vinegar.  Luckily for me, it seems to be a rule of thumb that inexpensive reds are almost always better – or at least a safer buy – than inexpensive whites.  Alandra, by the Portuguese vineyard Finagra based at the Herdade do Esporão, is firmly in the “better” category and available at LCBOs for a whopping $7.95.  The 2011 bottle consumed for this review was actually on sale for $6.95.  If you’re in Europe it’s less than €2.50.

Alandra is a blended red using moreto, castelão, and trincadeira grapes (to be honest this has no meaning or significance to me) and comes traditionally corked in a dark bottle with a relatively nondescript label featuring 15 red balls organized to look like a cluster of grapes. 

The wine is a lovely dark ruby red colour and has strong dark cherry and cedar notes.  It actually reminds me of my mother’s cedar linen chest.  My husband – the white wine drinker – thinks the scent is too overwhelming.  Alandra is a medium-bodied, simple, and dry wine that I could probably use as an evening sipper.  It’s is a young red that has only a slight tannin-y finish; I think it has just enough tannin to balance out its fruitiness. This is not a wine I’d really recommend decanting – if at all – for very long.  It’s already a simple, noncomplex wine that’s fairly light on the tongue with minimal lingering finish.  Decanting, I feel, just makes it flat and boring. 

For those inexperienced with, or don’t prefer, very dry reds, I’d recommend pairing it with food.  Tonight it paired beautifully with lamb chops in a rosemary-shallot-balsamic reduction accompanied with roasted veggies and a dark, flourless chocolate cake for dessert.  Alandra also goes well with BBQ, pizza, roasted chicken, ribs, stews, spicy curries of the Indian or Thai variety…pretty much any strongly flavoured foods that can stand up to it.  At less than 8 bucks, the Alandra is a win.  It even makes a great boeuf bourguignon (Europe is small; Burgundy is close enough to Portugal) and even red wine vinegar if you add vinegar mother (purchased from your local winemaking place) and wait for a couple months.

So if a cheap red table wine is in your future, head down to your local store, grab a bottle of Alandra, pour a glass, and, as the Portuguese say, Saúde!

Night 3 of 3 of the challenge! Nicolas Laloux, Chardonnay (no year!)

The third night of our challenge is brought to you by Nicolas Laloux's Chardonnay. This whimsical bottle featured a bicyclist and a lovely peachy colour. Declared to be the wine for "the Travelling Gentleman," this wine was chosen by bottle alone. It cost $8.95 a bottle and was the middle-priced wine of the three. Overall, I would say this challenge was what we expected in some ways, in terms of an experiment in random wine picking. One wine was good, one was ok, and one was awful, which I think is perhaps only a bit worse than most people's experiences. I don't think anyone has ever had a 100% success rate from random wine buying. It certainly got us to try wines we may not otherwise have bought. It also taught us that price isn't everything, as our most expensive was easily the worst.

A -  The wine smelled promising, kind of lemony and buttery. Alas, smell did not meet taste in this case. I thought it tasted like bananas to start with but I got a dusty, flowery aftertaste, similar to rose petals or potpourri. I would not buy this wine and usually have better success at this price point.

K - It tasted like water to start with and alcohol to finish. It smelled light but good, but I'm not in love with the taste of it, which was like citrus and beer. I would not turn it down but would not buy it either, especially not at this price point.

L - I thought that it smelled delicate. It had a fresh taste at the start but I was left with a funny, lingering taste in my mouth.

M - To cap off a review of a wine none of us were mad for I think that this wine has a strong lemon taste to start and a metallic, coppery penny taste to finish. I would not buy it, and definitely would not do so at this price.