02
Dec
2009
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
When you are invited to a place named Biff’s for lunch you really don’t expect a whole lotta great high-end food; burgers, ribs, basket of fries and potato skins come to mind. So wouldn’t you be surprised at being served a fabulous Seared Arctic Char, delicious Smoked Salmon and a wonderful Classic Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee. Biff’s is a French Bistro on Front with a funny name but obviously, from my description, delicious food. It also seemed (at first) an odd place to be drinking fine French Chardonnay, though my host would correct me on that statement: “In the north of France we don’t make Chardonnay, we make Chablis.” The winery, or better yet, the co-operative to which I am referring today is “La Chablisienne”, who represents close to 300 growers and controls approximately 25% of the Chablis region; their history dates back to 1923. La Chablisienne produces some thirty different wines every year from all regions of the appellation, including 6 Grands Crus and 11 Premier Crus. You might think that’s a lot of Chablis and that many probably taste the same (after all, it is still Chardonnay), but each wine is distinctive from the next: “We are not just here to make wine. We are here to put a piece of the land into the bottle.” One of the distinct qualities of Chablis is the mineralness that comes in these bottles; and each plot of land brings something different to the wine … true terroir in action. Which brings me round to another quote from our newfound Chablisienne friend: “Chablis without minerality is not Chablis,” says our host, “it’s Chardonnay.”
In 2003, La Chablisienne turned a major corner in its evolutionary history with the purchase of Chateau Grenouilles, “a celebrated Grands Crus and the only Chateau of the Chablis appellations.” Today, we tried five of the wines released by La Chablisienne with along with a delicious Chablis-inspired lunch. All wines scored at least 4-stars (very good) but two scored a little higher and really deserve some attention here:
Stunning Chablis …(read about the wine highlights of lunch and see the pictures)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
20
Nov
2009
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
This year’s Taste the Season event in Niagara-on-the-Lake was like all the others: each winery puts forth a food and wine pairing for passport holders; its’a winning formula that has been working for years, so why screw with it. Taste the Season is by far my favourite event, matched only by the Wine & Herb Festival and, the more recently introduced, Days of Wine & Chocolate, also events staged by the wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The wineries within this union now number 21, so there is plenty to keep you busy and an event like this, to be done right, must be spread out over the entire weekend; so I would suggest booking some accommodations. But if you only have one day to take in the wines and foods here is my guide of where you should go and who you can skip – this year, next year, next event, it’s a whole new ballgame.
The Best Pairings …
Taste the Season is all about the wine and food pairing, some wineries brought out some great wines to showcase, others had wonderful food to pair them with, but the winners here were the wineries who’s pairing was more than the sum of its parts:
The Top 3 Pairings Not to Miss …
Palatine Hills Estate Winery took two seemingly incongruous things and made them work, pairing a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine with either a pork or veggie spring roll (it was your choice) topped with plum sauce. Not sure how this one worked together, or who in the organization came up with the idea, but together these two worked wonderfully together; the wine made the pork pop and the veggie zing – proves that thinking outside the box pays off (but not all the time – you’ll see what I mean, keep reading).
Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery; picture a hunk of what they are calling “Decadent Chocolate Brownie” served next to an Iced Cherry wine. Apart these two are just okay, but together they worked quite the surprise effect in the mouth. The wine brought out the chocolate, making it taste more decadent than it was on it’s own … these two need each other, otherwise it’s just not the same experience.
Cattail Creek Estate Winery; after a messy fish dish at the last event Cattail was determined to “redeem itself”, remarked Roselyn (owner). This time they had sausages infused with their new 2008 Gamay Noir, they served it up on a thin slice of special grape skin baguette topped with sautéed wild mushrooms … now the world knows I am not a mushroom fan, so I had to rely on my counterpart and traveling partner Erica on this one. She reported that the combination really brought out the earthiness in the ‘shrooms (I’m told that’s a good thing). I could tell she liked it cause her eyes popped open. They paired it with the most obvious of wines here, the 2008 Gamay Noir.
Other Don’t Miss Wineries (for their food especially) …
Coyote’s Run Estate Winery, a winery known for pulling out all the stops when it comes to their food and wine pairings. They paired a 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay with a sweet roasted pepper, charizo sausage and lobster ragu … nice combianation that was surprising how well it went together. But the ragu was the most memorable … gotta get me that recipe.
Jackson-Triggs paired a 2007 Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon with a delicious Cabernet-Braised Pork Belly Casoulet; Erica said that had they served this with a slice of bread it would have garnered five stars (out of five), but instead she coughed up a rare 4½ star rating, they also provided the recipe. I was impressed with the wine, whilst the $12.75 price tag made it a real bargain (look for my review in an upcoming newsletter). The only drawback here was the surly nature of the staff, nobody seemed to be having a good time. Hope you have better luck when you visit.
Pillitteri Estates Winery: presentation was everything here, a hearty beef stew served in a puff pastry shell, or mini-bowl would have been more like it (“vol au vent”) paired up with a 2007 Cabernet Franc. The smell wafting from the room upstairs (where the tasting took place) was enough to make your tummy gurgle with happiness, the taste did the same thing … the wine also delivered.
More Pairings, in Short …(see the rest of what the wineries were offering, some pictures and the bottom of the barrel)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
