the 5R's of wine

You are probaly wondering what the 5R's of wine are.

Simply put my 5R's are:
(d)rinking
(a)rithmetic
(r)eading
(w)riting
(t)ravel.
Over the next few months; in between my wine review posts I plan on fleshing out the 5R's and their importance to growth in personal wine appreciation. Don't worry - I have not missed Food & Wine, it factors into every one of my 5R's.

For dinner tonight we are having organic ribeye steaks with a crumbly blue cheese sauce (yum). We are debating between 2 wines on the rack - a Costieres de Nimes & an Aussie Shiraz, though I may grab a Pinot Noir on the way home. I'll let you know how the debate ends and how the wine paired with the meal.

the price of wine

What is it that attracts people to wine?

For me it was simple, wine always changes, each bottle is an enigma. Will it be good? Will it be as good as everyone says it is? Is it corked? Will it go with my Sushi take-away? Will my friends enjoy it? Or will it be plonk I buy for the occasional Spaghetti sauce?

The endless combinations. Grape, Soil, Climate, Treatment, Winemaker, Barrel, Closure. All of the factors that make up a bottle of wine remind me of the constant growth of wine. Even if you read everything printed on wine you would never know it all. Even if you tasted every wine you would never know it all, as each bottle, each wine changes with every moment in time. There is that constant knowledge that no matter how much you think you know you will never know it all, wine is humbling.

Wine enchants, not just people but food. Magical combinations abound and secrets pour out. Whether it is Sauvignon Blanc and goat cheese or Merlot and gossip something happens. With all these possibilities why is generality winning the popularity race? With all that there is to learn, from the wine, the people and the food we seem to be directed to the price tag & package.

Can we afford to buy a wine where the marketing campaign costs as much as the juice?

Yes. Remember the first wine you bought and why you bought it, the label probably played a factor but you kept buying more and eventually you were hooked. So the package led to the purchase, the purchase led to the experience and the experience led to the thirst for knowledge and those magical combinations but eventually we go back. This step back can lead down a new path and new discoveries of grape or region. And sometimes they don't.

And No. Wine is the one area where we can afford to 'play the field', the only thing you might catch is a bad hang-over. Diversity of region and grape keeps innovation happening. It also keeps the market competitive and growing. By overly supporting and promoting formulated, packaged wines do we contribute to the demise of vino diversity? Personally I do not want to drink what the critics and marketers made for me, the consumer. I think I can use my limited wine budget to explore new regions, to go where no wine dictator has gone before, to not buy a wine made for the masses. I've never been a sheep, or a penguin for that matter.

Many of the local wine writers have an enthusiasm for inexpensive wines, inexpensive wines with animals on the label, inexpensive wines plugged over and over and over again. One even suggests you can make Piesporter by mixing (cheap) apple juice and a shot of Vodka. This one has never experienced the magic of a Piesporter Goldtropfchen Spatlese. Wine is not juice and alcohol, wine is alchemy.

Wine review...I decided to try a new wine with EcoCert on the label, I have seen a lot of these lately. No fancy label, a tree and a sun. What an enjoyable little wine, bright nectarine and lime flavours balanced by a honied texture and a splash of acidity.
So to sum it up...
Domaine de L'Olivette Blanc
Grape(s): listed as Grenache & Marsanne. I think the Grenache is Grenache Rose or Grenache Gris.
Vintage: 2003
Appellation: Vin de Pays des Coteaux de Cabrerisse , (Southern) France
Closure: Trad. Cork
Price: Under $15 but more than $12; I misplaced the receipt.
Had With: light meal - mushroom & spinach frittata; we had this and it worked well but the wine also made me think of cold roasted chicken salad.
Recommend: Buy & try.

www woops

With CBC being down I was craving information and surfing the web. Alas, when I tried linking off of this blog and I discovered I am less computer savvy than I thought. My links didn't work, my apologies. Don't worry I fixed them & decided to add a 'Winery Links' section to my blog. I will do my best to add the winery links of the wines I try and blog on a semi-regular basis.

I did have some fun surfing the web and decided the following sites are worth a peak, if you have a chance.
Site#1: Bonny Doon Vineyard Bonny Doon
Thoughts: Big House Pink? Flamingos. Dooniversity - check out the Screwcap section.
Recommend: If you have a lot of time. Speaking of Cap: Screw...

Site#2: Stelvin Stelvin
Thoughts: I love this website! Shows a bit about aging and differentiates between Stelvin & Stelvin+. It also tells you some of the wineries using this closure, including Inniskillin.
Recommend: Looking for good info on a new closure you have encountered?

Well, onto Site#3: Rock Rabbit Winery
I recently purchased the Sauvignon Blanc but have not had opportunity to try it so I checked out the website Rock Rabbit Winery.
Thoughts: Load is slow..the ORANGE is blinding.
Recommend: Let you know after I try the wine.

Site#4: Don Sebastiani & Sons Don&Sons
It is no secret I started blogging after reading other wpg. bloggers. One of these bloggers winnipeg wine blog recommended the Smoking Loon Viognier and I thought before I try the wine I will try the website (Damn you CBC, I am reading about wine and not drinking it!)
Thoughts: Kinda fun, easy to find information.
Recommend: Yes & more on their other wines later.

Site#5: Freixenet (pronounced fresh-a-net?) Freixenet
I have been known to enjoy a bit of Carta Nevada while playing Poker.
Thoughts: Pick Great Britain - the commercials are fun. Pick Russia - if only I could read Russian as well as my computer screen displays it. Pick Germany - Ausgezeichnet, you can log in and 'flirt' with other Freixenet lovers! Pick Canada - does all of Spain find us this boring?
Recommend: Yes, but only after you have had a bit too musch bubbly on a Tooshday.

Site#6: The Little Penguin tlp
Thoughts: just go to 'the penguin zone' and do the 2 quizzes. Quiz#1 aka Personality Test 'If you were a wine what would you be'. Apparently I am Chardonnay but that is only because they don't make Riesling! Quiz#2 - Blush Quiz. I am rarely rose.
Recommend: Fun, relax at work (say 4:45pm on Friday) and just play with this site.

pickerel pickings

Over the last couple weeks some fine filleted Manitoba fish has been enjoyed with some fine wines purchased at various locations through the city. I made some notes and are posting those thoughts in the 'So to sum it up...' format.

Combination: Pickerel in a Green Curry Sauce with Fetzer 'Valley Oaks' Gewurztraminer
Grape(s): Gewurztraminer
Vintage: 2004
Appellation: Listed on bottle as California but website boasts Monterey, Santa Barbara & Mendocino
Closure: Cork
Price: $14 plus tax
Recommend: Yum. Buy but needs flavourful food, is a bit much on its own. This is an old stand 'buy' for spicy fare at our house.
Fetzer

Combination: Corn Flake Crusted Pickerel with Concha y Toro 'Casillero del Diablo' Sauvignon Blanc
Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2004
Appellation: Listed on Bottle as Central Valley, Chile but website lists Maule, Maipo & Casablanca with %
Closure: Cork
Price: $11.5 plus tax
Recommend: Good to buy and leave in fridge for any occasion. Decent with pickerel but probably should be paired with a different crusting or style, was more enjoyable solo.
Concha y Toro


Combination: Pickerel lightly floured and cast-iron fried with butter, served with lemon wedges. Wine with was Cave Spring' Off-Dry' Riesling
Grape(s): Riesling
Vintage: 2004
Appellation: VQA Niagara Peninsula (Beamsville Bench, Creek Shores, Jordan Bench)
Closure: Cork
Price: $13 plus tax
Recommend: Very, very tasty. The acidity was refreshing and cut through the butter.
Cave Spring

grab the bull by the horns

You can read the paragraph or skip to 'So to sum it up...'

Yet another Fedora has been thrown into the proverbial ring, or so I thought. Priced to compete in the 'animal-on-the-label' category is Bleasedale's Langhorne Crossing Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz. Yes, there is an animal (looks Angus) on the label but it is understated and has history to it. What I liked about this number was the ripe berry-fruit and a hint of caramel toast, but not over fruity and sticky sweet. Very yummy, very drinkable while we were cooking and very tasty with the salmon burgers we prepared. My favourite part is this little number is 100% single appellation fruit (Langhorne Creek), no generic 'South Australia' here and the winery also lists the oak - French & American.

So to sum it up...
Bleasedale Langhorne Crossing Red
Grape(s): Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
Vintage: 2003
Appellation: Langhorne Creek, Australia
Closure: Stelvin
Price: $11.5 (before tax)
Recommend: good on own or with comfort fare. Definite Buy.
Bleasdale