JJRousseau

I'm just digesting a great dinner, drinking a lovely bottle of wine, doing a little surfing. And I got wondering if any of you were serious wine geeks.

If so, what do you drink? Do you cellar? Been to any Canadian wineries? Been to any foreign ones?

JJRousseau

Oh man, I can't believe I got no replies but "what's yer brew" got 105.

Ya bunch of heathens.

Ace_O_Spades

It's not my fault my taste buds kick me in the face when i try to drink wine

__________________
Feh.

kulrblind

Haha... well, I'll be the first wine-related response in that case. I do love the grape, (the red varietals), but sadly the only winery I've visited is the Pelee Island Winery in Ontario. Some nice, middle of the road wines there. Particularly nice is the Baco Noir, and it's just now becoming easier to purchase in East Coast liquor stores.
I think I'd become a serious drinker if I tried to cellar or collect. My line is more of appreciation than stockpiling.

Favourite vintnors include: Lindemans, Yellowtail (cheap but yum!), Masi, Hardy's, Wolf Blass (of course!)... I'll add more when I can think a little more clearly about this.

What are your faves or recommendations, JJRousseau? Maybe we should start a "forced drinking" thread, not unlike the forced listening thread in Tilted Music!

the_marq

I have been to quite a few wineries in the Kelowna area of B.C.

My favourite one there is Summerhill Estates, they make a great champange via the old methods that I really enjoy. That reminds me, I have to order a few cases for my wedding coming up.

I think my favourite still wine that is produced in Canada comes from the Grey Monk.

More on this later, it's too early in the day to talk about wine as I have not even had my first cup of coffee today. Cheers

__________________
The Truth:

Johnny Cash could have kicked Bruce Lee's ass if he wanted to.

#3 in a series

JJRousseau

Wow! Two wine drinkers. There's hope!

Kulr, I've gotten in to the cellaring thing (big mistake) so now I find I'm having to pry my wallet open a little wider when I buy. For value tho', I am turning more and more to BC. There are a few gems and because of the liquor tax system out here, BC are basically subsidized - so the good ones are a good value.

Masi is great too. Have you tried their Amarone?

Forced drinking? Of wine? Not a bad idea... I belong to a small wine forum based in Vancouver that does a wine of the month. We all try it and give our thoughts. Kind of the same idea.

Marq, Summerhill makes the best bubble! I'd put their limited release "Millionaire" against some very good French Champagne. Mr Cipes, the owner, is really in to the whole Organic, sustainable agriculture, mystic blessing, pyramid power thing. maybe it helps.

Antikarma

My wife and I just moved back from the Arctic to the Okanagan and are making a concerted effort to become wine geeks. Now, I'll admit, I'm a beer fan, and always have been. Christmas for me comes with Fest of Ale in April. But I'm going along with it, as ignorant as I may be. Much surfing of the net is to commence.

I like wine, I just don't know the finer, hell even the basic facts about it. I know some are white and some are red. However there are times when friends have served wine and its done to an evening what no beer can do, so trudge on I must.

Course, it's still gonna be beer on Hockey Nights, and there's no way I'm missing Fest of Ale

__________________

"Whoever you are, go out into the evening,
leaving your room, of which you know each bit;
your house is the last before the infinite,
whoever you are."

JJRousseau

There's just no substitute for drinkin' the stuff. (Maybe start with a beer to put yourself in the right frame of mind...)

Which part of the Okanagan?

Antikarma

I'm in Penticton. Wife originally from Summerland so she SHOULD know the drill. I'm originally from Yellowknife, so uh, yeah. The fanciest kinda wine I've seen folks drink up north is Boones

__________________

"Whoever you are, go out into the evening,
leaving your room, of which you know each bit;
your house is the last before the infinite,
whoever you are."

JJRousseau

Pentiction, eh? Ever get down to the Cock & Bull in Oliver. Great coffee! A friend and I do a trip to Penticton every year to rock climb. We usually do three days of climbing and one day of wine tasting - which often starts with coffee at the C&B.

Antikarma

Can't say I've been to Oliver much but I keep planning. The kids want the Tickleberries on the way, and some of our good friends are down there. Have to make it a weekend trip once the highways clear up.

This trip, you'll have to make sure your trip coincides with the Fest of Ale

__________________

"Whoever you are, go out into the evening,
leaving your room, of which you know each bit;
your house is the last before the infinite,
whoever you are."

kulrblind

I'll consider that my first bottle to seek out and demolish. I'll get back to you with my thoughts, and with my first bottle to recommend.

JJRousseau

The Amarone is about $42 in BC (the land of taxes). If that shocks your budget, try the Zenato Ripasso. It's a "baby Amarone" and is $33 here.

[edit]

I'm assuming you are in Ontario so I hought I'd check the LCBO site. Yikes! You guys are getting ripped off on the Italian stuff! The Amarone is $80 and the Zenato isn't available. You might try the Tommasi Ripasso. ??

WillyPete

As a visitor to BC last year, we took a snowboard road trip through the Kelowna/Fernie area and sampled some of the good wines.

You guys are going to start appearing in European shops soon from what my mouth told me.
We sampled some amazing Merlots and Syrahs. Castle springs to mind as a label.
Include the fact that you make the world's cheapest ice-wine, you have some good stuff there.

kulrblind

Actually, I'm a lot further east than that. I'll check out the prices and likely get the lesser priced of the two. In the future, I'd personally like to aim below the $25 mark whenever possible. So, if the recommendation fits that, I'll seek it out!

Charlatan

I drink a lot of wine but am by no means a geek when it comes to choosing what I drink...

I am more fond of Red wines than white and have been keen on much of what comes out of Australia in the Shiraz, Cabernets and Merlots (or blends of these types).

I also like drinking a good rose in the summer but, not to sound too pretentious, is usually when I am in France. Bandol is a provencal vinyard that makes competent and not to pricy wines.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

JJRousseau

Pete. yes even my friends from NY who HATE Canadian wines had to admit that the Jackson Triggs Reserve Icewine was amazing.

Kulr, try to find the Tommasi. $25 should get you a good Ripasso.

Charlatan. Good on you for drinking Bandol. Not well known even in the wine geek circles. Oz makes (some) good rose too - and some red bubble made from She-raz.

Charlatan

I've never seen Bandol at the LCBO.

Speaking of Ice Wine... I just recieved two bottles of the stuff for Chirstmas... I don't even know which ones we have. I will check when I get home tonight.

I like Ice Wine but I prefer a good Port.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

JJRousseau

On the port and Italy theme, have you ever tried a Recioto? It a sweet fortified red (It can also be a white) made made in the same area as Amarone. Tastes like port but a little less fruity and a little more "earthy". A nice change. Goes great with Stilton.

WineDrinker

There are some great wines from the Okanagan, but generally they're almost impossible to find. The really top wineries make so little wine that they're pretty much cult sorts of things. If you ever find stuff from Black Hills, Poplar Grove, La Frenz or Fairview Cellars, give them a try. Plus there's the Joint venture with Gruaud Larose (a Bordeaux estate) that's making a red Bordeaux style wine called Osoyoos Larose.

JJRousseau

Winedrinker, like you online name!

It's all about mailing lists... Luckily, in BC it isn't yet hard to get on them.; Once you do, you have have all the Black Hills et al you want. But my BC favourite wine of the last vintage is still available. Cedar Creek Platinum Meritage 2002. At $40, it's not flying off the shelves but it is delicious. So was the 2001.

Charlatan

JJR... I've never tried a Recioto... but will keep an eye out for it... Cheers

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

WineDrinker

JJRousseau, the mailing lists work great (I opened an email account specifically for the wine emails... The only one i've never had success with is the Osoyoos Larose. Vincor is a total pain, especially since they're based in Ontario so they can't by law ship wine. I managed to get lots, but only by being on the reserve list at a private wine shop.

JJRousseau

WD, Have you tried the Larose? It's not my bag but I know others love it.

I sent you a PM on a related subject.

WineDrinker

I've had both vintages of the Larose. Earls restaurants had the '01 on the wine list for like 44 dollars at one point (retail it was 35) so that was a good place to try it. I was disapointed in the '02, I thought it was pretty closed up and I am not convinced it has the tannin to give it life through the years to open it up. But all in all it's a different style of wine than we're used to seeing in BC. Very much more of an old-world style than the fruit-forward wines we're used to seeing.

kulrblind

JJR: I managed to find a Tommasi, but it was a 'val, not the ripasso
I found it a little harsh until I let it breathe a good, long while. After that, it was reasonably enjoyable, but to my palate, not worth the extra money.

Also tried something else this past weekend, but can't come up with the name at the moment. I'll get back to ya.

JJRousseau

wf, God bless Earl's for their meagre wine mark-up, and their selection.

kb, if you ever see a fire sale, try again. I can't remember the Tommassi Val but it isn't probably the greatest example. Just glad it didn't do any serious harm.

WineDrinker

I was in earls for lunch yesterday, they've upped the price a bit now, up to 55, still a good deal though.
Has anyone attended the playhouse wine fest?

JJRousseau

wd, I've attended many times. Even worked the spit buckets once (shudder). This year looks like a bit of a flop. It's always fun to go anyway but I don't know if I will be able to fit this one in.

You?

__________________
Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

WineDrinker

I've never been before, went to Cornucopia and had a good time at a couple of the seminars and the big tasting. So far i have tickets to one of the seminars (A Barolo tasting) and i'll probably go to the big tasting event at least one night. I find that the winemaker dinners and lunches are just too expensive, but i've never been to one.

JJRousseau

wd, for the big tasting, the Thursday night is a bit less frantic. (If you are single, of course, there is merit to fFriday or Saturday...)

__________________
Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

mokle

I love the Ice Wine from Paradise Ranch in Naramata, BC.

I've never had the Jackson Triggs variety, but I'll be sure to check it out. Any specific vintage?

And oh yeah, I hit the Fest of Ale every year in Penticton. A good friend of mine started it, actually.

__________________
Mokle
"Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see" -Ali

WineDrinker

I'm not a huge icewine fan, i find they're so sweet they kind of blow away the flavour of the wine. that being said, I tend to find the red ones to be really nice, Mt. Bourcherie does a Merlot icewine, but the one i liked the best is the Merlot icewine from Fairview Cellars, it has a different label, but it's the Fairview license. A VQA store will know it's label.

JJRousseau

A good icewine will have high acidity that will mask the perception of sweetness. It's a real trick when it's don't properly.

m0k13, I can't recommend any vintages of the Jackson Trigg's. They can only make it when the weather conditions are right and you can usually only find the latest release, so it isn't really an issue. It's full label is Proprietor's Reserve Okanagan Valley Riesling Icewine

__________________
Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

mokle

JJ, yeah, It's quite hard to find past years on the shelves when it comes to ice wines, which is too bad. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Penticton, so I know all about getting proper weather conditions. They had a mild winter this year so I'm not keeping my hopes up. I'll keep an eye out though, thanks for the tip.

__________________
Mokle
"Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see" -Ali

Janey

My current fav i s portuguese wine called Pedro de Montes, castalano grapes i think. this tastes like a Wolf Blass cab, butat only $8 something a bottle, is a far better deal.

My current canadian fav is a shiraz i think from Ancient Coast

JJRousseau

Never heard of Ancient Coast. Ontario?

__________________
Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

Janey

Yes it is an Ontario wine:


http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/ProductResultsController

ANCIENT COAST CABERNET SAUVIGNON V.Q.A.
LCBO 619965 | 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 10.45
Wine, Still Table Wine, Red Still Table Wine
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 1
This is a VQA wine

Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: VINCOR INTERNATIONAL INC.


Tasting Note
Medium ruby red; aromas of green leaf, black currant, bell pepper and spice; dry, light medium bodied, crisp, with light berry fruit and a spicy finish.

Serving Suggestion
Bisson burger.

WineDrinker

I'm sorry to see this thread kind of coming to an end... So i'll try and jump start it. Has anyone else had much exposure to Washington State wines? I was at a tasting of high end (40-80 dollar range) wines last week and it seems that the Rhone style blends (Grenache/Syrah) were the most notable of the tasting. Two from Zefina and from McRea tasted beautifully. Anyone else had many wines from Washington?

Janey

no i haven't. never thought, but then again If BC wines are good, then so must be washington state. Are they carried in LCBO?

I'll certainly check it out...