WINE!!

[phorbesie]

thanks!

and i'll just happen to be in PEI next week with a free afternoon/eve....perhaps a wine tour needs to happen!

[phorbesie]

Prince Edward County. .

or not! doh...

[phorbesie]

The Hess Estates vineyard that was mentioned a few posts up has been getting rave reviews for it's riesling.

help a blind gal out? i can't see this above...

[jaybone]

Sorry, I meant to say Huff Estates. Jaimoe mentioned it a few posts back.

[bradm]

http://huffestates.ca

Aloha,

Brad

[phorbesie]

The Hess Estates vineyard that was mentioned a few posts up has been getting rave reviews for it's riesling.

thanks, just ordered some!

[Davey Boy 2.0]

BEPPI CROSARIOL decanter@globeandmail.com Much of what passes for wisdom in food-and-wine pairing has always struck me as fishy. I'm talking such classic matchups as red Burgundy with creamy cheese (ghastly), strawberries with Champagne (a waste of the latter) and Thai food with beer (a surefire way to ruin two good things). To question entrenched standards is to invite scorn.

Then I found a breath of fresh sommelier air in Francois Chartier.

Mr. Chartier, a Quebecker, is the author of Taste Buds and Molecules: The Art and Science of Food with Wine , published last year in French and just released in English by McClelland & Stewart. I wrote about him last summer as his book, the culmination of two decades of chemistry research and experimentation, began causing a stir in culinary circles.

He's a practitioner of so-called molecular gastronomy, the movement pioneered by Spanish chef Ferran Adria. Occasionally found collaborating with Mr. Adria, the 45-year-old ex-sommelier has extended that scientific approach to the world of drink.

Rather than relying on the cue of regional association - Epoisses cheese from the Burgundy region with red Burgundy, say - he looks to aromatic compounds found in foods and beverages to come up with what he believes are far more harmonious pairings.

Like me, he finds the Epoisses-Burgundy marriage "terrible." Try it yourself if you don't mind wasting an expensive Chambolle-Musigny.

Pay attention to the way the stinky, creamy cheese annihilates the delicate pinot noir with its mouldy flavour and pasty texture. Mr.

Chartier lived in Burgundy in the 1990s and would recoil when the two were served together. "Each time I would say, 'The red wine is finished, it's dead with the cheese,'" he told me over the phone.

Mr. Chartier theorizes that the time-honoured combination was the spawn of historical necessity rather than attention to flavour synergy. Most Burgundians, after all, had no access to - and likely had too much regional pride to entertain - more suitable beverages, such as Belgian beer.

After garnering best innovative food book prize at the 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris this year, Taste Buds and Molecules now is rocking a wider audience of English readers. I asked Mr.

Chartier for a few iconoclastic alternatives to standard Western food-and-beverage pairings. I plan to clip this article and paste it on my fridge, where I keep my Epoisses stored safely away from my red Burgundy.

*** Bloomy cheeses Conventional pairing: red Burgundy. New pairing: oak-aged chardonnay from the New World. Reason: Diacetyl, found in the cheese, helps give butter and cheese its flavour, and oaky chardonnays taste buttery.

Blue cheeses Conventional pairing: vintage port. New pairings: Sauternes, late-harvest gewurztraminer, fino or manzanilla sherry, or New World oaky chardonnay. Reason: a host of aromatic molecules and fatty acids that resonate with the wines. Port remains a good alternative, but try a relatively young, 15-year-old vintage.

Roast pork Conventional pairing: light-bodied red. New pairing: white wine aged on its lees (yeast sediment left over from fermentation), such as a roussanne from southern France, or an oak-aged white, such as a full-bodied California chardonnay. Reason: Pork is rich in lactones and so are the wines.

Braised beef Conventional pairings: Barolo (a tannic, high-acid red from Italy) or, in the case of boeuf bourguignon , red Burgundy. New pairing: rich, voluptuous reds, such as grenache-syrah-mourvedre blends from Australia, or an Italian Amarone. Reason: The wines' velvety texture will harmonize with the rich, saucy meat.

Lamb Conventional pairing: cabernet sauvignon. New pairing: grenache-syrah-mourvedre blends from the Languedoc-Roussillon or Rhone Valley regions of southern France. Reason: Lamb shares aromatic compounds found in thyme; many southern French reds display notes of herbs. If the lamb is cooked with rosemary, try riesling; the pine-scented herb and wine both contain terpenes.

Sushi Conventional pairing: sake. New pairing: semi-sweet riesling, such as a German spatlese. Reason: "Sushi is complex," Mr. Chartier said. "There are a lot of different things in a sushi dinner - pickled ginger, wasabi, soy sauce. The best wine to manage all of that is a sweet wine, but not too sweet." Alternative: wheat beer.

Smoked salmon Conventional pairings: Champagne or whisky. New pairing: oak-aged whites, especially oloroso or amontillado sherry. Reason: Smoked fish develops aromatic compounds found in charred wood barrels.

Curries Conventional pairing (at least in Britain): lager. New pairing: aged white wine, such as a vin jaune from the Jura region of France or a Sauternes from Bordeaux or tokay from Hungary. Reason: As whites age in bottle (after, say, five years), they begin to develop the flavour of sotolon, a highly aromatic compound found in curry.

Spicy food Conventional pairing: beer or cold water. New pairing: sweet or high-alcohol whites, such as California viognier or riesling.Reason: Carbonation fuels the fire, while sugar and alcohol (though ideally not over 14.5 per cent) tame it. "You can't drink water, you cannot drink an acidic beverage, you cannot drink carbonated beverages," Mr. Chartier said.

Alternative: sweet Nigori sake.

Pizza Conventional pairing: Italian red such as Chianti. New pairing: Depends on the toppings, but if you like green peppers, a cabernet franc such as a Chinon or Bourgueil from France's Loire Valley.

Reason: The bell pepper and the wine are high in herbal compounds known as pyrazines.

[jaybone]

Cool article DB. I heard this guy on the CBC and I may pick up his book. Thanks for the info and the reminder to keep my eye open for it.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

BEPPI CROSARIOL decanter@globeandmail.com Champagne - it's as synonymous with New Year's Eve as Auld Lang Syne and cringingly tacky live-television specials. But why put off the festive bubbles till midnight whenguests are half in the bag and fretting about the drive home or babysitter overtime? Sparkling wine makes for a far better aperitif than a nightcap after wine, beer, sweet cocktails and dessert.

While you may fear upstaging the cork-popping ceremony with early-evening bubbles, there's an elegant way around the problem: sparkling wine cocktails. Often neglected by the home bartender, sparkling wine can add sophistication to the cocktail hour. And because wine lovers and fans of the harder stuff tend to enjoy them equally, sparkling cocktails are a good way to kick-start the party.

"Bubbles are fun. People like bubbles," says Colin Turner, bar manager at CinCin Ristorante + Bar in Vancouver. "You blew bubbles as a kid. And if you've got some good alcohol in there, it's even better." Bubbly cocktails are also blissfully easy to make. They can be as basic as floating a few berries on the surface of the wine or mixing in a little fruit juice, as in a Bellini (peach juice) or mimosa (orange juice).

The best versions for evening, as opposed to brunch, however, usually involve a liqueur or hard spirit. That's the case with the archetypal drink known simply as the champagne cocktail, a blend of brandy, sugar, angostura bitters and bubbly. Drop a sugar cube into a champagne glass, soak it with two or three dashes of bitters and crush it with a spoon. Then add in 3/4-ounce brandy and slowly top up the glass with the wine.

I like to use chilled glasses and pour the wine in gently with the glass at an angle, beer-style, to preserve as much effervescence as possible. Always add the wine last. Never stir or shake. What ever you do, don't channel Tom Cruise in that dreaded movie.

Because you're flavouring the wine, there's no need to invest in bona fide Champagne, the expensive, exceptionally nuanced sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France. A $14 cava from Spain or prosecco from Italy, or a slightly more expensive sparkler from elsewhere, will do just fine.

The resurgence in Italian bitters - liqueurs with a sweet-sour flavour profile - has prompted experimentation behind the bar at places like CinCin. It's an inspired trend, I think. Bitters, such as Campari, Averna, Ramazotti and Aperol, are infusions based mainly on herbs and plant roots, and they blend in nicely with the wine, their savoury flavours imparting an aromatic lift that's carried by the effervescence.

At CinCin, Mr. Turner recently came up with something called Love the Bubbles, named for the favourite line of a prosecco-loving friend of his. Cut a mandarin orange into segments and place all but one segment into a regular water glass or cocktail shaker and squash them with a muddling tool or spoon into a pulp. Add in 1 ounce Aperol, 1 ounce Ramazzotti and three drops Fee Brothers Orange Bitters.

Fill the mixing glass with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a flute. Slowly topup with prosecco and float the remaining mandarin segment on the surface.

Aperol's bitter-orange essence and bright orange colour play especially well with sparkling wine. So does its exceptionally low alcohol content, 11 per cent. The Aperol company promotes a drink it calls the Aperol spritz, involving 11/2 ounces of Aperol, 2 ounces of prosecco, ice cubes, a slice of orange and splash of soda. I prefer not to water down the wine, especially at New Year's, so I like to skip the club soda and add two extra ounces of prosecco. The orange slice also should be replaced with a sliver of rind, which fits neatly into a champagne flute.

That's another nice thing about bubbly cocktails - experimentation is easy. Just be sure to keep the other alcoholic flavourings to a discreet quantity, usually no more than 3/4 of an ounce, especially if using hard spirits.

Bright-red Campari, often mixed with soda on the rocks, makes for another easy cocktail. Add half an ounce of the liqueur to a flute, then top up with bubbly. It's a play on the kir royale, the famous aperitif of Burgundy, named after the former mayor of Dijon (Felix Kir), which uses blackcurrant-flavoured creme de cassis.

Campari is more bracing and less sweet, better as a palate stimulator for food than cassis.

I've experimented with a similar formula, substituting red-hued cabernet franc ice wine from Canada for the cassis in a drink I dubbed the Trudeau. With a subtler and more complex taste, I think it's superior to the kir royale, though that may be my Canadian bias showing through.

Another classic that has seen a renaissance is the French 75, created in 1915 in Paris. Named after the 75-millimetre French gun, it has a fierce attack. Combine 2 ounces dry gin, plus 1 teaspoon sugar, 3/4 ounce of fresh lemon juice and several ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain into a tall, highball glass, half-filled with ice, and top up with about 5 ounces of sparkling wine.

Elderflower syrup, available at Ikea and through online gourmet retailers, ranks high on the list of trendy cocktail flavourings.

Michael Steele, bar manager at the Rooftop Lounge at Toronto's new Thompson Hotel, uses it as the secret ingredient in a drink called Flashing Lights. Add a 1/4 ounce each of Belvedere Intense overproof vodka, elderflower syrup and fresh lemon juice to a flute and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a short strip of lemon zest. "It's almost like a fancy vodka Red Bull in flavour," he says.

Mr. Steele, who just added Flashing Lights and two other sparkling-wine cocktails to his bar menu, says bubbly libations tend to be contagious.

Mix one for somebody and the rest of the crowd will find it hard to resist. "It's definitely a party starter."

[Ms.Huxtable]

This is how bouche and I enjoyed our New Year's champagne.

Wild hibiscus flowers in syrup.

[Cosmic ChrisC]

So pretty...did you buy that from the website included in your post?

[Ms.Huxtable]

I did buy them online CCC.

[phishtaper]

i just enjoyed this pinot grigio with cheese and crackers with lime. mmmmmmmmmm. a few bottles left in ottawa on rideau and that's it. get one, or two.

[bouche]

i'm going to make a cocktail this weekend with the hibiscus thingy.

[phishtaper]

ever had a wine with a brett (brettanomyces) infection?

opened a 2008 Fontanafreda briccotonda barbera last week and immediately got hit with the smell of barnyard and bandaids. so, of course, i drank some. i looked it up and saw that others had the same thing happen with the wine.

brett is considered a flaw by many, and an added complexity by others who insist its still quite drinkable.

i had never encountered it before. have any of you wine junkies had this before?

[Rossolee]

I have never had wine with Brettanomyces, but I have had beers with it. Russian River brews several wild yeast strain beers. Tasty stuff.

http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/pages/brews/barrel.html

[phishtaper]

thats a really cool website. definately supports the camp that says brett enhances. so, u have had some of that beer, Rossolee? did u notice it having a really distinctive taste?

[Davey Boy 2.0]

BEPPI CROSARIOL wine@globeandmail.com Before you instinctively reach for that bottle of $60 French Champagne this frantic holiday period, ask yourself this: Is it all just about the pop and fizz? If so, you might want to save the expensive stuff for a quieter occasion that will allow you to savour its subtle complexity and opt for something simpler to kick off a Christmas gathering or the commotion of the New Year's countdown.

Effervescence comes in a variety of styles. Two of the best-value Champagne alternatives conveniently also begin with the letter C: cremant and cava. Cremants are made in the same exacting way as Champagne - refermented with yeast and sugar in individual bottles to produce graciously fine bubbles. But they come from outside the Champagne region, including such places as Alsace, Burgundy, Limoux and the Loire Valley, often made with grapes other than the big two of Champagne, pinot noir and chardonnay. One variant of cremant in the south is called blanquette de Limoux, made with enticingly apple-like mauzac.

Cavas, from Spain, are made in the same way too, though usually with local grape varieties macabeo, parellada and xarello that often manage to deliver the earthy-mineral backbone for which Champagne is known.

I generally prefer these styles to fashionable prosecco, the cheap-and-cheerful Italian sparkler made from the fruity prosecco grape. Most proseccos form their effervescence quickly, in bulk tanks prior to bottling, a more industrial method that tends to yield frothier foam and simpler, often slightly sweeter flavour.

"Prosecco is the sassy darling, but cava's the real deal," says Leslie Sbrocco, the California-based founder of Thirstygirl.com.

Also an author and the host of San Francisco's Check Please!, which has earned three Emmy Awards, Ms. Sbrocco loves sparkling wine as much as anyone I know. She even recently acquired a tattoo on her calf depicting a flute-style glass of pink champagne, with bubbles floating up her leg. "People say, 'Why didn't you get your husband tattooed?' and I say, 'Listen, things can change, but I will always love bubbles,'" she jokes.

Like me, she's a fan of Seguria Viudas Brut Reserva Cava ($14.55 in Ontario): "I think that's just such a killer deal." Codorniu is another of her favourite cava brands and Mionetto prosecco ($11.95 in Ontario) ranks among her top Italian bargains.

Then there's the catch-all category simply labelled sparkling wine. Standards are all over the map, but it's fair to say some of the best are made in Canada as well as California and New Zealand.

Look for those designated "traditional method" or "methode traditionelle," which tend to cost $20 to $35. They may not be bona fide Champagnes, but if anyone brands you a miser, tell them Charles Dickens based Scrooge on a real-life vintner from Edinburgh named Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie. Cheapness and wine - it's a holiday tradition.

Summerhill Pyramid Cipes Brut, British ColumbiaScore: 92 Price: $24.95 in B.C.

Summerhill's pyramid-shaped cellar, which proprietor Stephen Cipes believes has the "sacred geometry" to clarify and enhance the qualities of good wine, is a Kelowna landmark. I'll say this much: The sparkling wines are pharaoh-worthy, all organic and among the best made on this continent. The turbulent effervescence in this blend of riesling, chardonnay and pinot blanc creates a festive Jacuzzi in the glass and the texture is creamy, offering up lemon meringue and rich doughy flavours. www.summerhill.bc.ca.

Carles Andreu Brut Nature Cava, SpainScore: 91 Price: $15.95 Bubbles get no drier than this, a wine that received no "dosage," the sugar customarily added for balance. I love the bracing style, and it's rendered beautifully here, offering up green-apple flavour and a texture that puts me in mind of tiny pebbles I once accidentally chewed as a boy. Available in Ontario.

Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad Cava, SpainScore: 90 Price: $29.95 This high-end Spanish cuvee offers up impressive depth, with juicy lemon and tangy minerals leading the way. It's $31.99 in B.C. and $37.99 in Nova Scotia.

13th Street Cuvee 13 Sparkling Brut Rose, NiagaraScore: 90 Price: $24.95 Attractively salmon-pink in colour, this offering from a Niagara fizz leader suggests flowers and chalk on the nose. Bone-dry, it starts with berries and lively effervescence, then the chalk returns along with razor-crisp acidity on the long finish.

Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut, CaliforniaScore: 90 Price: $21.95 Round and concentrated with pear, apple, lime and a rich, yeasty quality, it's lively, showing a prized touch of biscuit common to sparkling wines aged on the lees. It's $27.99 in B.C. and $21.65 in Quebec.

Laurens Blanquette de Limouxle Moulin, FranceScore: 90 Price: $17.95 Lore has it that France's first sparkling wines were crafted in the 1500s in the city of Limoux. This is a beauty, with pinpoint-fine bubbles and nuances of lemon curd, bread dough and mineral. Available in Ontario.

Piera Martellozzo Blu Giovello Prosecco, ItalyScore: 89 Price: $14.95 The telltale hint of prosecco sweetness is kept in check by refreshing acidity, and a less-characteristic but very welcome nuance of bread dough that mingles with pear and lemon. Good value. Available in Ontario at a sale price of $13.95 till Jan. 1.

Freixenet Cordon Rosado Brut, SpainScore: 88 Price: $12.95 This cherry-pink offering from the world's largest sparkling-wine maker delivers more than the price might suggest, with hints of cherry, strawberry and herbs on a deliciously dry, chalky frame.

The price is $13.97 in B.C. and $15.99 in Nova Scotia.

Codorniu Cava Classico, SpainScore: 87 Price: $12.75 Bone-dry, with lively effervescence, it coats the gums with chalky texture while delivering bright citrus and a hint of roasted nuts.

Also available in a three-pack of 200-millilitre bottles ($10.95 in Ontario).

Hungaria Grande Cuvee Brut, HungaryScore: 87 Price: $11.95 The complexity is impressive for the money, with sweet apple, fresh bread, lemon and honey flavours culminating in a dry finish.

The price is $12.60 in Quebec and $13.45 in B.C. Also available in cute 200-millilitre bottles.

Santa Julia Uno, ArgentinaScore: 85 Price: $14.95/4 pack of 187-ml bottles The single-serving, nightclub-friendly bottles join a trend led by Pommery and Piper-Heidsieck Champagne. Lightly frothy, silky and big on lemon pie, the wine starts suggestively sweet but finishes dry and balanced. The twist-open cap barely hisses. You could sip it secretly during your child's Christmas choir recital. Newly available to Ontario.

[phishtaper]

i actually gave my boss a bottle of prosecco this year. (his wife is italian) fun bubbly.

nice article. i like the globe's wine writers and often get stuff they recommend.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I liked the "The twist-open cap barely hisses. You could sip it secretly during your child's Christmas choir recital" part

[jaybone]

I love most sparkling wine but I think champagne is one of those cases where you get what you pay for.

Prosecco is fun and cava is a close imitation but real champagne has so much more going on then the other sparklers. I just wish I could afford it more often.

[phishtaper]

im enjoying a nice chilean sauv blanc right now. aresti reserva 2009 $13 cheap and tasty. be warned, i may post sometime inappropriate seeing as its too cold to go streaking.

[jaybone]

Chile has some of the best values out there right now! Very good quality sauv blancs. I love Chilean Carmenere as well!

[phorbesie]

i really enjoyed the sparkling wine we had this NYE...it's called Seaview, from Australia

[Davey Boy 2.0]

"French cows are enjoying up to two bottles of high quality wine every day as farmers attempt to produce the best beef in Europe," reports The Daily Telegraph. "The extraordinary development has seen a 'Vinbovin' label of meat established which is already being championed by some of the best restaurants in Paris. It follows an experiment in Lunel-Viel, in the southern Herault region of France, which saw three cows fed local wine for four months. Jean-Charles Tastavy, who came up with the idea, said the two Angus and one Camargue were initially fed the wine in a mix of barley, hay and grapes.

It soon became clear that they were 'happy cows' who ended up producing an exceptionally succulent meat. Outlining how he encouraged the cows to enjoy a tipple, Mr. Tastavy said: 'For each animal, alcohol intake should be equivalent to the amount recommended by health authorities for a man - namely two or three glasses of wine a day. In the case of cows, this amounts to between a litre and a litre-and-a-half a day.'"