Between the Vines: One woman's wine-soaked musings

Canuck-inspired luau serves up great food, fun in Honoka‛a, Hawai‛i

2012-01-26T18:41:54-08:00

We hosted a luau for all our Hawai‛ian friends.

We greeted our guests with lilikoi margaritas—yes, we made sure they included those fun little umbrellas—and presented a menu that included poke, laulau, BC-style salmon, kalua pig, chicken in coconut milk, baked beans, and an Asian-inspired coleslaw. We finished with cheesecake, mango-rum pie, and an Island favourite, haupia.

Watch a very quick video menu recap here:

Cheers, all!

John makes poke in Honoka‛a, Hawai‛i

2012-01-21T13:05:16-08:00

This time it's our friend and fellow vacationer John R. Laing who shares his fun foodie-ness as he makes poke for our Sunday lu‛au.

Scroll down a bit to view a very short video featuring our very own poke man and then scroll down just a little bit further to see a snapshot of John's finished poke.

Here is a snapshot of John's finished poke:

Cheers, all!

Chile invades Vancouver: Fraser Valley benefits from good value, full flavour

2012-01-20T13:19:35-08:00

Here is my column as it appeared in the January 19 issue of My City, a monthly magazine in the Abbotsford News.

“The Chileans are coming,” is the call of this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival running Feb. 27 – Mar. 4 at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. And this means a spotlight on some value-packed,flavour-filled wines. Many of the... read more.

Click here or on the image below to read the whole column.

Cheers, all!

A passion for liliko‛i in Honoka‛a, Hawai‛i

2012-01-19T20:03:44-08:00

During December, 2011, good friend and co-vacationer Karen Laing mastered the art of making liliko'i jam. In January, I followed her lead and helped make some more.

Inside the lilikoi (passion fruit)

In addition, we've made guava jam and grapefruit marmalade, all from fruit on our winter-house-sitting property or picked and gleaned from friends' properties.

I haven't even started on all the fresh papaya and avacado...

Cheers, all!

Tasting three kinds of fresh oysters and three white wines

2011-12-29T01:16:48-08:00

My son, Steven, and I had a fun evening tasting three white wines and three kinds of fresh oysters (Kumomoto, Effingham, Kusshi) from 1Fish 2Fish in Langley.

The Cuvée du Haut-Censy Muscadet was my favourite wine with the oysters, while Steven really enjoyed the Silver Chardonnay. The Prospect Winery Sauvignon Blanc was pleasant and worked nicely with the oysters but didn't come in as number one with either of us.

From your left, here are the wines we enjoyed tonight:

Cuvée du Haut-Censy Muscadet Sèvre & Maine Sur Lie 2009
Mer Soleil Silver Unoaked Chardonnay 2009
Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery Council's Punch Bowl Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Cheers, all!

Christmas Eve at our house: Prime rib roast, family, friends and more red wine please

2011-12-24T11:23:09-08:00

Red meat. Lots of it. Family and friends. Lots of them.

Oh, and the red wine. Let if flow, please.

That's Christmas Eve at our house.

Behold the 3.776 kg (roughly 8.325 lbs) Lepp Farm Market prime rib roast we'll serve tonight. Sides will include roasted asparagus, braised red cabbage, grilled Roma tomatoes topped with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil, half-as-bad garlic smashed potatoes, and a rosemary-shallot red-wine sauce.

Wines will represent the old and new worlds: 2008 Twisted Tree Six Vines and 2009 Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (B.C.), 2007 Château de Beaucastel (France), and 2010 Castillo de Monséran (Spain).

Merry Christmas!

Lepp Farm Market and Mt. Lehman Winery: Pork and wine from Abbotsford producers tonight

2011-12-18T20:45:41-08:00

We had Mt. Lehman Winery's 2009 Pinot Gris with dinner tonight.

The wine was cheery and refreshing, with green apples, pears, chalk, and just a hint of roses and tarragon on the nose and palate.

For dinner, we enjoyed the pork tenderloin I had picked up from Lepp Farm Market earlier in the day while in Abbotsford.

I made a rub from the herbs I had grown, dried, crushed, and stored earlier in the season (rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley, garlic, plus added sea salt and black pepper), a little olive oil, and some grainy Dijon mustard, and then roasted the meat until it reached just a light pink in the middle.

I'm always shouting how pork and Pinot are made to go together...this time, though, it's Gris rather than Noir.

Cheers, all!

Tasting Ata Rangi 2009 Crimson Pinot Noir two weeks before Christmas 2011

2011-12-11T15:19:10-08:00

Here, very briefly, is my take on the 2009 Ata Rangi 2009 Crimson Pinot Noir. Scroll down further for more detail.

A little more detail...

On the nose, this wine shares aromas of bright, ripe red and black cherries, carnations, sweet spice, a sense of something meaty, and the forest floor (I called it wood in the video, but what I meant was the woods...sorry for any confusion).

On the palate, the Crimson bursts with bright cherries, floral qualities, a hint of licorice, a little bit o' tobacco, and the earthiness I happen to love. It is silky, with great acidity and a very nice, long-lasting finish.

The 2009 Crimson clocks in at 14% ABV and around $17 for the half bottle (375ml) at Whatcom Wine & Spirits and $28 for the full bottle (750ml) at Signature Liquor Store.

The half bottle is a nice size for trying a new wine or for sharing in a gift basket or Christmas goody bag. In addition, it's handy to have the small bottles around (with their screw-cap closures) to use when you want to save other wine you didn't happen to finish. Storing left-over wine (apparently, there really IS such a thing as left-over wine) in a smaller bottle helps to keep it fresher, longer. Really.

While I am happy to sip this solo, it really is a good food wine--one I am happy to buy again. I'll serve the rest of this small bottle with our roasted chicken at supper tonight.

Sales of this wine help support the Project Crimson charitable trust in its effort to protect and enhance New Zealand’s pohutukawa and rata trees.

Cheers, all!

Conundrum, Meiomi Pinot Noir, Mer Soleil Silver and Riedel: The right size and shape of glass can bring out the best in a wine

2011-12-10T13:49:09-08:00

Here is my column as it appeared in the December 8 issue of My City, a monthly magazine in the Abbotsford News.

Click here or on the image below to read the whole column, or scroll down to read it here on this blog.

Have you ever been to a Riedel glassware wine tasting? I was a guest at one in November while at Whistler’s Cornucopia and it was both fun and enlightening.

We tasted a number of Wagner Family wines from a variety of glasses and experienced how size and shape really do matter. In fact, it’s almost a Goldilocks type of situation where one glass is too big, another too small, and one is just right for the aromas and flavours to present their best.

Particularly surprising for me were two of the wines: Conundrum 2010 (~$25) and Meiomi Pinot Noir 2009 (~$25).

The Conundrum, a fruity, aromatic white wine blended from five grape varieties, had no aroma and was flat on the palate with one wrong glass and presented an almost-bitter aftertaste with another. In the right glass, however, the wine’s fruity, floral and spicy qualities came forward to delight both my nose and palate. This wine will pair well with spicy and fully flavoured Asian-inspired dishes.

The Meiomi Pinot Noir lost its classic Pinot Noir-ness, if you will, in the wrong glasses. In the right glass, however, cherries, red berries, vanilla, and earthy notes greeted my senses. While the oak on this wine is fairly prominent, it is tamed with the right food. Serve the Meiomi with slowly barbequed pork or grilled Portobello mushrooms stuffed with a savoury mixture that includes bacon or a salty, smoky sausage.

One Wagner Family wine we did not have at the Riedel tasting is the Mer Soleil Silver 2009 (~$30), an unoaked Chardonnay that is fermented in stainless steel and concrete. You can buy this wine by the bottle at Whatcom Wine & Spirits or order it by the case at the Signature Liquor Store in Abbotsford.

The Silver has bright, crisp citrus fruits and a focussed minerality (think of a summertime rain on the hot pavement) on both the nose and palate. It will be the perfect pal for the oysters on half-shell my son Steve and I will enjoy when he comes home for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, and just so I haven’t left you wondering about what wine to serve with your turkey dinner, reach for one with good acidity and juicy fruit—Riesling, Pinot Noir or rosé will fit that bill.

Cheers, all!

How do you know if a wine is ready to open and drink?

2011-12-05T10:19:29-08:00

"So, really. How do you know if a wine is ready to open and drink?" is a question I am often asked.

My stock answer is, "Well, it depends."

I am not trying to be evasive or guard some state secret; it really does depend.

It depends on the region, sub-region, vintage, grape variety, producer, age of the vines, and so on, and so on, and so on...

That's not to say there aren't some broad and general guidelines, because there are. A vintage chart is one of the tools that can help you—generally.

Several high-profile wine-scene people provide vintage charts, but the one I like is Natalie MacLean's because it includes Canada's wine regions.

So, take a look at the chart but remember to heed Natalie's advice and let your own palate guide you.

Cheers, all!