Jules and I invited some friends over to share some wine along with some snacks like camembert and dark chocolate. Jules had created fancy invitations with her Mac, and decided to include the blog's address. I sure took a ribbing from some of our guests, especially Steve, who has only really known me in an inebriated state at the bar. He said he could virtually hear my voice in a Thurston Howell III style accent. Alex checked out the blog too, and said we are real nerds. But hey, I bet they'll keep reading the blog, and may even buy a recommended bottle.
The beauty of having a party like this is that we get to try a bunch of different wines. Everyone brought a different type; the wines ranged from Chardonnay to Merlot to Blackberry dessert wine. For the event, Jules bought a bottle of
Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush Sauvignon Blanc 2006, Coopers Creek Vineyard, New Zealand. I had recently read that New Zealand has an ideal geography and climate for growing Sauvignon Blanc, so I was quite eager to try it despite the name. I was pleased with this wine because of its full body and nice balance. I don't really know what gooseberry tastes like, but I did detect lemon and grapefruit. I would definitely recommend this wine.
Score: 86
SKU #353938 / UPC #09403112300203
Jeff and Emily arrived and presented a bottle of
Qwam Qwmt Merlot 2004, Nk'Mip
Cellars, Okanagan Valley. Delicious! It had a very full body with deep, complex flavours, and a smokey finish from being aged 18 months in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels. Jeff told us that some Okanagan vintages had been affected by the
2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire, but I'm not sure if this was one of them. Regardless, it was a really popular wine amongst our guests.
Score: 89
SKU #206672 / UPC #00836909911426
Steve and Amanda arrived with a bottle of "1er Cru" home brew red (I forget which variety) and a
Jackson-Triggs Proprietors' Selection Pinot Grigio. Steve's red was quite tasty, and apparently was free of sulphates which may have affected the taste. By the time I got around to the J-T Pinot Grigio I was admittedly not in a state to properly evaluate it, but from what I remember it was quite good.
Trevor, a self-professed "cork dork", arrived with a bottle of
Blue Mountain Pinot Noir 2002, Okanagan Valley. I had never heard of Blue Mountain before, but if their other wines are anywhere close to this one, they are a pretty darned good winery. Trevor said he had kept this bottle for a couple of years, so I felt quite honoured that he would share it with us. Emily was the first to remark that it had mushroom flavours. I suggested she call it "hints of truffle" to make it sound like one of the wine critics I've been reading. (I don't even know what truffle tastes like). It was a delicious Pinot Noir.
Score: 89
Available direct from winery.
We got to try the
Wild Horse Canyon Chardonnay, 2005, West Coast Appellation courtesy of Jamie and Gordana. This wine has been highlighted by Wine Access as an excellent value. I enjoyed its balanced acidity and fruit flavours.
Score: 86
SKU #916502 / UPC #00776545999184
A real treat was the
Starling Lane Wild Blackberry Dessert Wine 2006, brought over by Derek and Zoe. From what I remember of the conversation, Derek's mom had visited the winery in Saanich and brought this back (along with a few bottles for herself I'm sure). According to the Starling Lane website, "this wine was produced from wild blackberries picked in Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsula," and won a Gold medal at the 2006 All Canadian Wine Championships. It was delicious.
We also got to try a home brew bottle of ice wine that Alex brought. It was also very delicious, and went well with the cheese and chocolate we were serving. Thanks for the great wine glasses Alex!
For fun, Julia and I decided to set up a little contest that would test the taster's ability to discern varieties of wine. For one red and one white, the taster would try to guess the variety from five
choices. The white varieties were Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and Semillon. The reds were Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Sangiovese. The results were tallied at the end of the night and only two people got one right: Derek and Gordana both guess Shiraz. Neither guessed the white, so they were asked to guess again. Neither guessed right the second time! Julia and I were left scrambling to find another tie breaker, and finally asked both contestants whether they thought Gewürztraminer was red or white. Gordana answered white and won a carafe and glass set. The red turned out to be the
Wally's Hut Nugan Estate Shiraz, 2006, Australia. I really liked its spiciness. I didn't like the white very much though. It was a
Painted Turtle Pinot Grigio. Perhaps no one could guess what it was because it was tasteless!
All in all it was a great evening. Unfortunately I wasn't able to properly rate all of the wines but I definitely enjoyed them!
The beauty of having a party like this is that we get to try a bunch of different wines. Everyone brought a different type; the wines ranged from Chardonnay to Merlot to Blackberry dessert wine. For the event, Jules bought a bottle of Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush Sauvignon Blanc 2006, Coopers Creek Vineyard, New Zealand. I had recently read that New Zealand has an ideal geography and climate for growing Sauvignon Blanc, so I was quite eager to try it despite the name. I was pleased with this wine because of its full body and nice balance. I don't really know what gooseberry tastes like, but I did detect lemon and grapefruit. I would definitely recommend this wine.
Cellars, Okanagan Valley. Delicious! It had a very full body with deep, complex flavours, and a smokey finish from being aged 18 months in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels. Jeff told us that some Okanagan vintages had been affected by the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire, but I'm not sure if this was one of them. Regardless, it was a really popular wine amongst our guests.
Trevor, a self-professed "cork dork", arrived with a bottle of Blue Mountain Pinot Noir 2002, Okanagan Valley. I had never heard of Blue Mountain before, but if their other wines are anywhere close to this one, they are a pretty darned good winery. Trevor said he had kept this bottle for a couple of years, so I felt quite honoured that he would share it with us. Emily was the first to remark that it had mushroom flavours. I suggested she call it "hints of truffle" to make it sound like one of the wine critics I've been reading. (I don't even know what truffle tastes like). It was a delicious Pinot Noir.
We got to try the Wild Horse Canyon Chardonnay, 2005, West Coast Appellation courtesy of Jamie and Gordana. This wine has been highlighted by Wine Access as an excellent value. I enjoyed its balanced acidity and fruit flavours.
A real treat was the Starling Lane Wild Blackberry Dessert Wine 2006, brought over by Derek and Zoe. From what I remember of the conversation, Derek's mom had visited the winery in Saanich and brought this back (along with a few bottles for herself I'm sure). According to the Starling Lane website, "this wine was produced from wild blackberries picked in Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsula," and won a Gold medal at the 2006 All Canadian Wine Championships. It was delicious.
We also got to try a home brew bottle of ice wine that Alex brought. It was also very delicious, and went well with the cheese and chocolate we were serving. Thanks for the great wine glasses Alex!
For fun, Julia and I decided to set up a little contest that would test the taster's ability to discern varieties of wine. For one red and one white, the taster would try to guess the variety from five
choices. The white varieties were Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and Semillon. The reds were Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Sangiovese. The results were tallied at the end of the night and only two people got one right: Derek and Gordana both guess Shiraz. Neither guessed the white, so they were asked to guess again. Neither guessed right the second time! Julia and I were left scrambling to find another tie breaker, and finally asked both contestants whether they thought Gewürztraminer was red or white. Gordana answered white and won a carafe and glass set. The red turned out to be the Wally's Hut Nugan Estate Shiraz, 2006, Australia. I really liked its spiciness. I didn't like the white very much though. It was a Painted Turtle Pinot Grigio. Perhaps no one could guess what it was because it was tasteless!
