Wine

Delicious (and gluten free) Sorrento

/ Greg / 2 Comments

After being in bustling Rome and Naples, spending five nights in Sorrento was like a vacation within a vacation.   Even with the day trips we were taking, the pace of life slowed down significantly, especially in the evenings once we returned back to Sorrento.   And evenings in Sorrento meant dinner and wine in Sorrento.  On a couple of those evenings, we decided on a picnic like meal in the inner courtyard garden of our apartment, just off Piazza Sant’Antonino.  Not a bad place for a meal!

Apartment courtyard in Sorrento

On Canadian Thanksgiving evening, we stopped by the grocery store and picked up a nice spread of smoked cheeses, some cured meats, gluten free cookies, bread (for me), paprika chips (a European tradition for us) and a bottle of prosecco.   We’ve now had a few of these al fresco Thanksgiving dinners in Europe over the years.  There’s something special about eating under the stars…

Thanksgiving in Sorrento

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Pasta on my mind

/ Greg / 2 Comments

Without firm dinner plans on our third night in Rome, we looked at a list of interesting restaurants we had compiled that were nearby in the Monti neighbourhood, our home away from home for four nights.  With the help of our hotel staff, we booked 8:30pm reservations, unaware of the deliciousness that was ahead.  Who knew that the most delicious pasta in the world would be mere steps around the corner from our hotel in Rome?

La Carbonara was definitely a locals place.  A few visitors like us had found our way here, but there were a lot of regulars jammed in around us ordering without menus.  Everyone was ordering the pasta and as plate after plate went past to other tables there was no doubt I would be indulging in a pasta course on this night.  With a “when in Rome” mentality, we ordered a bottle of local Lazio wine (Santa Felicita, Cesanese del Piglio 2011).  It was a robust and rustic red… a little rough around the edges until it opened up a bit.  It ended up fitting perfectly with both the food and the ambiance of the restaurant.

Lazio wine

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30 hours in Vienna: Sunday

/ Greg / 1 Comment

Nothing focuses your energy quite like having only a bit more than one day in a city you’ve always wanted to see.  When we booked our trip to the Czech Republic, we decided to stay in place in Prague and do a few day trips rather than being repeatedly on the move like our last few big trips.  When we took a closer look at a map and saw Vienna a mere four hours away, we knew we had to do a quick trip into Austria to spend one night in the city of music.  So what did 30 hours in Vienna look like?  Here’s how we spent the first 12 hours after arriving just before lunch on the first Sunday in September.

12:30 Before going anywhere, we were in desperate need of a caffeine jolt.  Across from our hotel was a coffee shop whose double espresso and lovely pastry got me ready to start exploring.  With caffeine hitting our respective blood streams, we took a streetcar ride around half of the Ringstraße (ring road).  If you envision the Ringstraße as a clock, we took a trip from 12 to 6 to get near the Vienna State Opera.

13:30 On my list of things to try in Vienna was the famous Sachertorte.  Looking up from the map when we got off the streetcar, Hotel Sacher was right in front of us meaning it was time for the rich chocolate cake (with brandy!) and another double espresso.

The Sachertorte
Sachertorte & me

I loved this cake.  The chocolate icing was almost fudge-like.  I could have had a second piece, but I was well into a deep caffeine and sugar buzz.  Plus, my understanding wife who can’t eat gluten may not have been so eager to sit and watch me wolf down a second slice.

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My Port of Wines Festival picks

/ Greg / 1 Comment

The annual Port of Wines grand tastings are quite the event.  Getting to one of them is akin to Christmas for me with the chance to sample an unmentionable number of wines over a three hour period.  There were some really strong wines at this year’s show that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Among them: Lan Edicion Limitada (Spain, 2008, tempranillo, $55.29), Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (2009, $46.99), Two Hands Barney’s Block Shiraz (Austrailia, 2010, $89.79), Farnese Montepulciano D’Abruzzo (2008, Italy, $34.49).

With a focus on wines that we thought were particularly good value and worth a spot in the collection for home, here was what we picked up:

Port of Wines 2013

From left to right:

Mumm Napa Prestige Brut – This was the festival award winner for top sparkling wine.  Made in the traditional method, it was fresh and creamy.  I thought it was good value at $33.99 for a traditional method sparkling.  It also brings back great memories of a visit to the winery in 2008.

Luna Argenta Prosecco – Didn’t actually taste this wine, but you got the bottle free if you bought at least one other bottle.  Needless to say, my wife and I split up our purchase to get two off these.  Who doesn’t love free prosecco?

Hahn Pinot Noir – A 2012 from the hills above Napa Valley, we both found this to be an outstanding value wine at $22.29.  A bit fuller bodied than a traditional pinot, it too brings back memories for us.  We visited this winery during our wine tour of Sonoma and Napa back in 2008.  A bonus was speaking with a lovely lady pouring on Saturday who works at the winery.

Marin Old Vine Garnacha, 2012 – This was an almost accidental tasting that went very right.  On a second visit to the table for Spain, I picked this for a sample blindly.  Rich and full bodied, it is probably one of the best value for money wines ($16.29) I’ve tasted in recent years at the festival.

Chateau Senailhac Bordeaux Superieur, 2006 – This one was on everyone’s list as it was the top scoring  French table wine and $21.99.  It tastes like a bottle that could be priced around $35.  It is a real shame this wine was an exclusive to the festival or I’d be backing up a truck at the nearest NSLC to buy a case or two.

Trinchero Napa Cellar Zinfandel – Perhaps not a true value buy, but I can’t resist a wonderful zinfandel.  It was the award winner for the festival, was under $34, and is a truly great wine.  A very light hint of oak really set off the bold fruit flavours and spice in this one.

The first rule of wine club

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Ok, so it’s not that drastic.  I can speak of Wine Club.

No summary of my recent trip to Toronto would be complete without at least a mention of the time I spent with my sister at her wine club and cellar.   Shortly after arriving in town on Thursday, we made our way to the club nestled away on a side street in downtown for a light lunch and a beautiful bottle of Ontario red.  My sister isn’t a big red drinker, but had stashed a few bottles away for when someone like me comes along with her.  The Thirty Bench Cab Sauvignon was lovely – nice cherry and vanilla flavours – it went really well the chorizo and a few other items making up a light lunch:

Perfect lunch for a Thursday

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Tasting Notes from the Port of Wines

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The annual NSLC Port of Wines Festival is eagerly awaited each year.  With three hours and more than 300 wines to try, the challenge is to develop a strategy to ensure you get to sample the wines you don’t want to miss.  This year we started with a few sparkling wines of interest, then old world wine countries, then new world (all with a focus on the award winners, Wine Spectator scores and wines that had the potential to be good value wines)

Here are my three favourites from this year’s festival:

1. (Italy) 2007 Ottoventi Nerello Mascalese:  This was the award winner for top Italian table wine at the festival.  I found it had a pleasant woody finish.

2. (South Africa) 2008 Beyerskloof Faith.  Simply the smoothest wine I tasted.  Nice smokiness to this one that wasn’t as overpowering as you can sometimes get from South African wines.  This was probably my favourite of the show.

3. (France) 2007 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Estournelles St. Jacques.  A wonderfully smooth French wine.   Not a festival award winner, but is a 91pt Wine Spectator selection.  Tried this one very early in the show (mind was clean, but wasn’t taking notes so well then)

Of course, many (many, many) more wines were tried.  Some loved, some liked, a few didn’t get a second sip.   Here are the wines we purchased to take home:

Left to right:

Mumm Napa Rose (sparkling, California) – 93pt Wine Spectator and from a winery we visited (and loved) in ‘08

2009 Trivento Amado Sur Malbec (Argentina) – A $17 90pt wine.  Great value.

2007 Nino Negri Mazer Valtellina Superiore DOCG (Italy) – A very nice Italian, a bit pricier than what we’d normally pick up, but one that will suit a Saturday night of trip thinking sometime over the fall/winter.

Beyerskloof Synergy (South African) – Similar enough to one of my 3 favourites, but about $55 less.  This will be a nice, unique bottle for a cold winter night ahead.

2009 Dama de Toro (Spain) – Exceptional quality for under $16

2009 Pascual Toso Merlot (Argentina) – The top scoring Merlot at the festival for $18.  Chocolate and coffee like, this is a great value wine.

The last bottle is a free Australian Cab being given away for each purchase.  Two of these now sit in our wine rack.