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!