Breaking news: Cliff Richard, a UK pop singer turned vintner, has created a sparkling rosé named Celebration in honour of the birth of Prince George and the 10 year anniversary of his ownership of Adega do Cantor vineyard in Portugal. As big fans of the Royals, A & M would love to give this rosé a try, but we won't lie at £19 ($32.53 Canadian at current exchange rates) this royal vino is too rich for our grad school bloods.
If you want to read more about Richards and his Celebration rosé you can here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2512870/Cliff-Richard-launches-sparkling-ros-wine-honour-birth-Prince-George.html
If you want to check out slightly bizarre predictions of what Prince George will look like as a teenager you can here:
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/snippets/30-Jul-2013/prince-george-as-a-teenager
Sunday 24 November 2013
2011 Gamay Noir, Ridge Road Estate Winery - Grey Cup Half-time live blog
A sad game, but a happy wine choice! Tonight I am drinking Ridge Road Estate Winery's Gamay Noir. A more forceful grape than the Baco, this proved to be the right choice, not just because it was made in Hamilton but also because it is an excellent manly wine, appropriate for watching a football game. Available for $15.95 from the winery, it was delicious!
My half-time game face
This wine is oaked in French and American oak, unlike most bacos, and is a less juicy wine overall. It tastes peppery with a bit of a dry finish without being a particularly dry wine. You can taste that it has aged in wood without being overwhelmed by it. It is quite tasty, and is more like a cocoa-y, peppery wine than a juicy fruity wine. It is a good choice for winter nights, but is pretty sophisticated, and is probably not for everyone. You'd have to be up for a drier, spicier wine, maybe not those who drink Bacos but those who drink oaky whites or heavier Shirazs. It is easy to drink if that's your kind of wine and I finished a glass pretty quickly. Important for this scenario, it is also not too sweet so you can drink it for the whole game without getting gross lingering wine headahces. It would go well with a roast or cayenne pepper spicy food (Mexican or Italian spice, not Thai or Chinese spicy). It is very tannin-y, it tastes thicker, and is more of a mouthful than some. It's a deep burgundy, nearly brown in colour.
In terms of what to eat with this wine, we ate it with our dinner of a slightly spicy homemade mac and cheese, and a simple salad with a light honey dijon dressing. It overpowers the simple salad but it pairs well with a slightly spicy homemade mac and cheese. Will it go with donuts or poutine flavoured chips? Only time will tell!
My half-time game face
This wine is oaked in French and American oak, unlike most bacos, and is a less juicy wine overall. It tastes peppery with a bit of a dry finish without being a particularly dry wine. You can taste that it has aged in wood without being overwhelmed by it. It is quite tasty, and is more like a cocoa-y, peppery wine than a juicy fruity wine. It is a good choice for winter nights, but is pretty sophisticated, and is probably not for everyone. You'd have to be up for a drier, spicier wine, maybe not those who drink Bacos but those who drink oaky whites or heavier Shirazs. It is easy to drink if that's your kind of wine and I finished a glass pretty quickly. Important for this scenario, it is also not too sweet so you can drink it for the whole game without getting gross lingering wine headahces. It would go well with a roast or cayenne pepper spicy food (Mexican or Italian spice, not Thai or Chinese spicy). It is very tannin-y, it tastes thicker, and is more of a mouthful than some. It's a deep burgundy, nearly brown in colour.
In terms of what to eat with this wine, we ate it with our dinner of a slightly spicy homemade mac and cheese, and a simple salad with a light honey dijon dressing. It overpowers the simple salad but it pairs well with a slightly spicy homemade mac and cheese. Will it go with donuts or poutine flavoured chips? Only time will tell!
Saturday 23 November 2013
OSKEE WEE WEE! OSKEE WAA WAA! Grey Cup wine tips for Tiger Cat fans
Dear readers, A loves Hamilton more than anything else in the world. A also loves the Hamilton Tiger Cats, seeing at least one game a year live for as long as she can remember. And so tomorrow, A will be watching the Grey Cup, with a Tiger Cats shirt and a Tiger Cats manicure, and Hamilton wine. I will live blog my wine pick for tomorrow, possibly a 2011 Gamay Noir from Hamilton's only winery, Ridge Road Estates. But if you are feeling in the mood for Grey Cup wine serving RWR reccomends...
Ridge Road Estate Winery's 2011 Baco Noir
Hamilton has no craft brewery's but it technically has one winery, so if you are going to go strictly local we suggest this perennial favourite! Baco's are good for football games because they are fruity without being sweet, smoky without tasting like an ashtray, and have good body. This means they are good for drinking on their own, but easy to pair with snacks as well. As a more widely available Baco, we also suggest this year's Sandbanks's Baco Noir. Since Prince Edward County is my wine home away from home, and is widely available, it is a second only because it isn't from Hamilton's only winery.
Konzelmann Four Generations Fresco
Since Hamilton will definitely win, you will want some champagne on hand, and this one is universally drinkable. Non-wine drinkers and wine drinkers alike enjoy this affordable choice. And hey, the price is right! This fruity wine would mix well into spritzers to last you through the whole game too.
A good rosé!
Cattail Creek's Serendipity Rosé was a classic, and has now been joined by the Catastrophe Rosé (a different blend available only at the winery). Rosés are good for parties because they are well-liked and easily drinkable. It is something you can sip the whole game and serve to all your friends at your Grey Cup party. If you are cheap, the Fuzion Shiraz Rosé is an easy drinker at a great price. While not complex, I doubt your football friends are going to be looking for hints of vanilla in between plays.
If you must serve beers, serve a craft beer! The University of Guelph has been gracious enough to host the Tiger Cats during their stadium renovations, and since Hamilton has no craft brewery of its own it is only fair to pay tribute to that generosity by reccomending Wellington Brewery Beers. I particularily like the Imperial Russian Stout, since I like my beer dark and chocolatey. But they have 5 beers available at the LCBO, so take your pick. But one thing I hope you pick is to enjoy the game and cheer for the best team. TIGERS! Eat 'em raw!
Ridge Road Estate Winery's 2011 Baco Noir
Hamilton has no craft brewery's but it technically has one winery, so if you are going to go strictly local we suggest this perennial favourite! Baco's are good for football games because they are fruity without being sweet, smoky without tasting like an ashtray, and have good body. This means they are good for drinking on their own, but easy to pair with snacks as well. As a more widely available Baco, we also suggest this year's Sandbanks's Baco Noir. Since Prince Edward County is my wine home away from home, and is widely available, it is a second only because it isn't from Hamilton's only winery.
Konzelmann Four Generations Fresco
Since Hamilton will definitely win, you will want some champagne on hand, and this one is universally drinkable. Non-wine drinkers and wine drinkers alike enjoy this affordable choice. And hey, the price is right! This fruity wine would mix well into spritzers to last you through the whole game too.
A good rosé!
Cattail Creek's Serendipity Rosé was a classic, and has now been joined by the Catastrophe Rosé (a different blend available only at the winery). Rosés are good for parties because they are well-liked and easily drinkable. It is something you can sip the whole game and serve to all your friends at your Grey Cup party. If you are cheap, the Fuzion Shiraz Rosé is an easy drinker at a great price. While not complex, I doubt your football friends are going to be looking for hints of vanilla in between plays.
If you must serve beers, serve a craft beer! The University of Guelph has been gracious enough to host the Tiger Cats during their stadium renovations, and since Hamilton has no craft brewery of its own it is only fair to pay tribute to that generosity by reccomending Wellington Brewery Beers. I particularily like the Imperial Russian Stout, since I like my beer dark and chocolatey. But they have 5 beers available at the LCBO, so take your pick. But one thing I hope you pick is to enjoy the game and cheer for the best team. TIGERS! Eat 'em raw!
Thursday 21 November 2013
MYSTERY BROWN BAG WINE TIME! (Wine #1, Peninsula Ridge Equinox, 2002)
Revenge is sweet in this case.
After putting my parents to the test with the brown bag challenge, they got An
and A back two fold, with two blind wines. I don’t mind saying that I did
pretty well, guessing that both had the same grape in them almost immediately.
Here are our blind impressions though. I found blind tasting to be fun, because
I had less bias and was forced to work like a scientist and observe with all my
senses. Enjoy! (My parent’s reviews are shorter because they chose them).This wine is on sale at the winery at $16.95 a bottle.
An – Alright, I will say it. This
wine is the colour of pee. It smells like white wine, a little sweet, but more
tart than sweet. It is really fruity, like stone fruits like peaches and
nectarines, not citrusy fruits. It is definitely not a dry wine and doesn’t
have a strong aftertaste. It does leave a strong first impression. I like it
and would buy it if it were on the cheaper side, because I am generally easy to
please so go for cheaper wines. I agree that it tastes good with spinach dip
and also would taste good with hard cheeses.
A – This wine is a very distinct
yellow. It smells like apples and tastes a little like strongly brewed black
tea, a little bit bitter and yet fruity and sweet. I like that it isn’t too
dry. It tastes good with spinach dip and probably would go well with other
snacky foods. I would eat it with a lighter meal, but not with a steak, or a
roast, or souvlaki, I might drink it with fruitier pork chops. I like it a lot.
It tastes like pears and vanilla (I have a tea with these flavours, which is
probably why I thought it tasted like that too). I would buy this wine again.
D – This wine tastes like a
lightly oaked chardonnay (this was my mom’s pick so he wasn’t cheating). It had
a nice body to it and a really good aftertaste. I really liked it.
M – I think this wine tastes
oaked. I find it to be a full mouthed wine with lots of flavours and it has a
very distinct, strong aftertaste I just could not put my finger on, but I liked
it.
Sunday 10 November 2013
Non-Alcoholic Special - Paul Brassac Sparkling Apple Juice, Peach and Pomegranate, from Costco
All the M has ever wanted in life was a surprise party. So E and I threw her a surprise baby shower. M has been lamenting the grossness of most non-alcoholic fancy drink substitutes (reviews to come!) for most of her pregnancy and so I wanted to give her something more special than Sprite to sip at her shower. So while at my local Costco I found these babies, packaged in a three pack. This is Paul Brassac sparkling juice, packaged like champagne (cork and
all) and sold in a three pack for $6.99. The three pack we got included
one apple-peach and two apple-pomegranate, for red and white drinkers!
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SURPRISE!!! I accidentally chose a good one! I mean of course I hoped it was good, but according to M, in addition to tasting good, this juice has no added sugar, which is hard to find in non-alcoholic fancy drinks much mostly load on the sugar in place of the booze. Since M is trying to stay healthy, this non-added sugar appealed to her. It is also only 90 calories for a cup, which is another added bonus for people who want to have fun but be healthy too! It is also organic, which is good if you go for that kind of thing. And if you don't care about sugar, calories, or organic fruits, this is still a great non-wine option for parties! It set the beverage tone for M's special night.
M - I thought it was a really fancy drink and was surprised it was so affordable. I was also surprised it was so relatively not bad for you, given my past experiences with non-alcoholic special occasion drinks. The bottle was also pretty, which makes it well-suited to serving at occasions where presentation matters, like baby showers or wedding showers (especially the pink bottle). In a good way, this is not the best drink to serve to children, since it felt too sophisticated. So I would say overall that this is a good non-alcoholic fancy drink. It has a nice fizz, a nice bottle, and it tastes like it is fancy, not every-day. I liked the peach better than the pomegranate.
E - This juice tastes like Rekorderlig Pear Cider. I liked both the Peach and the Pomegranate. It's good and has a nice aftertaste. I would buy this again.
A - I like that this juice is not overwhelmingly sweet or dry, which is sometimes the case with sparkling juices. It was good with our festive party foods because it balanced the sweetness of the cupcakes and cookies, but also matched well with hot hamburgers, a Northern classic. I would serve this at dinners to friends or family, like at Thanksgiving, weddings, Christmas or New Years. You could even add peach schnapps to make a tasty cocktail, if you aren't abstaining. I think I preferred the pom to the peach.
.JPG)
SURPRISE!!! I accidentally chose a good one! I mean of course I hoped it was good, but according to M, in addition to tasting good, this juice has no added sugar, which is hard to find in non-alcoholic fancy drinks much mostly load on the sugar in place of the booze. Since M is trying to stay healthy, this non-added sugar appealed to her. It is also only 90 calories for a cup, which is another added bonus for people who want to have fun but be healthy too! It is also organic, which is good if you go for that kind of thing. And if you don't care about sugar, calories, or organic fruits, this is still a great non-wine option for parties! It set the beverage tone for M's special night.
M - I thought it was a really fancy drink and was surprised it was so affordable. I was also surprised it was so relatively not bad for you, given my past experiences with non-alcoholic special occasion drinks. The bottle was also pretty, which makes it well-suited to serving at occasions where presentation matters, like baby showers or wedding showers (especially the pink bottle). In a good way, this is not the best drink to serve to children, since it felt too sophisticated. So I would say overall that this is a good non-alcoholic fancy drink. It has a nice fizz, a nice bottle, and it tastes like it is fancy, not every-day. I liked the peach better than the pomegranate.
E - This juice tastes like Rekorderlig Pear Cider. I liked both the Peach and the Pomegranate. It's good and has a nice aftertaste. I would buy this again.
A - I like that this juice is not overwhelmingly sweet or dry, which is sometimes the case with sparkling juices. It was good with our festive party foods because it balanced the sweetness of the cupcakes and cookies, but also matched well with hot hamburgers, a Northern classic. I would serve this at dinners to friends or family, like at Thanksgiving, weddings, Christmas or New Years. You could even add peach schnapps to make a tasty cocktail, if you aren't abstaining. I think I preferred the pom to the peach.
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