From the Cellar

Just because I started a website called OntarioWineReview.com doesn't mean it's All-Ontario-All-the-Time. When I kick back at night my mood (and sometimes my curiosity) decides my wine of choice. And the title should read, "Uncorked and Un-Screwed Tonight" ... but that just sounds wrong.

Osoyoos Larose 2005 Petales d'Osoyoos (British Columbia)

25 Nov 2014

(September 18, 2014) ... Dad cut the cheese while I was opening the wine ... Wait, that doesn't sound right ... Let me start from the beginning.  We were visiting my in-laws in Michigan, my father-in-law had recently completed one of the things on his "gotta smoke it" bucket list ... Wow, does that sound even worse ... It would seem the more I write the more convoluted this story gets.  Let's take it from the top.

My father-in-law has a smoker and over the years he has smoked everything from ribs to brisket, but he's never cold smoked cheese.  Sometime in the past month he finally did one of the things on his smoker-bucket-list ... Smoked cheese.  He did four different kinds including a sharp cheddar, Havarti, Gouda and something else that had a funny name to it.  Anyway when we arrived for a visit in mid-August he was excited to let us taste his creation and I was more than happy to provide the wine:  a bottle of Osoyoos Larose 2005 Petales d'Osoyoos, the "second wine" from an excellent British Columbia producer.

It was truly a wonderful pairing with the smoked cheeses (especially the cheddar), the wine had developed its own smokiness along with some raspberry and cassis notes that hung around pleasantly, plus a pretty pepperiness on the finish.  I was impressed to see that for a "second wine" the bottle had some life left to it and proved to be a perfect pairing with the smoked sharp cheddar.  The bottle of Larose dad and I finished together, everyone else dug into the cheese sans vin (that means without wine) ... They have no idea what they were missing - so glad I got to share this experience with him and what made it even more special is that we each brought our "specialty" to the table ... Next step is ribs or brisket (hey, dad, I have wines to match those too, just let me know when you fire up the smoker).

 

Ravenswood 2004 Vintners Blend Zinfandel (California)

19 Nov 2014

(September 7, 2014) ... When you open a wine for cooking it is important to also want to drink the wine.  The first time I made beef shanks I used a Michael Smith recipe that called for a full bottle of Zinfandel ... We found the results too boozy, and so this time we used a half bottle and the other half of the liquid, beef stock (more on that in a minute).  The shanks had to cook 8 hours, so I had to preserve this old bottle of Zin for longer than that, and without it turning.  I had recently been sent something called VinEdge, which is a contraption that has a bag that is attached to a pouring spout and the bag inflates in the bottle as you pour out the wine to take up that space left by the vacating wine.  Because I poured out half the bottle before attaching the spout it didn't do what it was suppose to (my bad) ... But I did learn you could inflate the bag by blowing into the air hole at the top of the spout.  So now it looked like it should.  When I had the wine some 8 and a half hours later I can say that the wine tasted pretty much the same as it did that morning (yes I did try a bit).  There was a fair bit of plum still involved in both the nose and taste, but there was also a whole lotta smoky and spicy notes to contend with.  As for the shanks, they were better than the first batch but I think next time we'll go with a cup of Zin and the rest beef broth ... Too boozy is never good in a food; too boozy in your glass is the makings of a good night or a bad hangover, depends what you make of it.

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