trying to get home for xmas. New traffic extension for Google Chrome: https://t.co/MXy7N9dU
| 02 November 2011
It had been a rather hectic week of wining and dining with events every evening for the past five days. But since we are not ones to sit still for very long (or say “no” to yet another dinner tasting), so it was down to Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Reif Estate Winery on October the 22nd to attend its “Bountiful Days of Harvest” evening hosted by winemaker Roberto DiDomenico and catered by local chef Robin Howe.
The idea behind gatherings like this (typically referred to as “winemaker dinners”) is to allow guests to enjoy the ultimate in wine and food pairings in the company of the person (or persons) responsible for creating the good stuff in the glass. Rief holds these events (open to the public) four times a year to celebrate the goings on in the field and in the winery during each season. And being that this was harvest time we were treated not only to some seasonal local fare, but also a couple fresh-out-of-the-fermenter 2011 “nouveau” wines to kick things off.While the whole nouveau thing may be getting a bit tired for some of us, Reif added a bit of a twist to things by producing both a traditional red Gamay nouveau as well as a white nouveau(a novel nouveau?) under the tarot-themed "The Fool" and "The Hanging Man" labels respectively. The Kerner-based white (available at the winery only in limited quantities) with its fruity/floral aroma and delicately off-dry palate paired nicely with the raw oysters on the half-shell, pancetta and Thai basil wrapped shrimp skewers, and seared sea scallops on a bed of cauliflower chantily topped with a fig, lemon and caper chutney that were circulated around the tasting bar prior to dinner getting underway.
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| 13 September 2011
Don't ever say that we here at the Tidings Wine Tasting Club don't challenge you every once in a while. This month's wine comes from England, and has been appreciated worldwide for 120 years. Anyone who's heard of Wincarnis, let alone tried it, deserves a gold star. This is one of those love it or hate it things. It's absolutely huge across much of the world, including Jamaica, Singapore and the US.
Wincarnis, taken from the Latin meaning "meat wine"… Wait, meat? That's because it's a good wine to pair with meat, right? No. At one time, it contained meat extract (a concentrated beef stock, actually). Kerry Allan of Ian MacLeod Distillers says that meat extract hasn't been used in the production of Wincarnis supplied to Canada for many years. In any case, Wincarnis is a British tonic wine. A tonic is anything that's good for what ails you. As to why meat extract was even included in the list of ingredients in the first place probably has something to do with the fact that it's food that helps one maintain good health. Allan agrees: "The original Wincarnis recipe is very old, so we don't know exactly why meat extract was used. However we believe it was to provide medicinal properties due to high iron content." The combination of ingredients in the wine was meant to heal and strengthen. It was consumed by anyone suffering any kind of malady. It was even enjoyed by new mothers as a way to regain their energy and lose weight! Nowadays, it's a popular aperitif or digestif enjoyed simply for its flavour. It tastes like sweet sherry.
| 26 July 2011
Negroamaro is a red grape variety found in Southern Italy, Puglia in particular. Puglia is situated on the heel of the boot. The climate there is typically hot in the summer with temperatures reaching as high as 30°C and winter lows in the 6°C range. They also see upwards of 300 days of pure sunshine. If you could be a grape, isn't this where you'd hope to be growing? Puglia boasts the ideal grape-growing conditions. The grape's name is a compound word: negro is Spanish for black, and amaro is Italian for bitter. Nero is actually the Italian word for black. Given the extensive back-and-forth trade that Southern Italy has seen over its millennial lifespan, I wonder if the the Negroamaro grape was, at some point in time, an import from Spain. Then there's the theory that negro is derived from the Latin nigra and amaro from the Greek, both words meaning "dark".
Negroamaro produces wine that's dark and full-bodied, and is perfect for cellar ageing. It's actually produced some tasty rosés as well. Throughout its history, though, it's been mostly used as a blending wine adding its aromas and flavours of blackberries and plum Malvasia Nera.