Vinifico! The Original Vancouver Wine Blog

With all the whites and rosés I’ve been drinking, it’s nice to pop open a bottle of spicy red Zin and be pleasantly surprised. From the look of the (unfortunately) poorly designed label I wasn’t expecting much… just another generic Cali Lodi Zin.

Fortunately, this one is more substance over style. The nose is all ripe dark berry fruit and spice. The taste is super-ripe brambly blackberry and, in a word, yummy… downright seductive. It’s nice to grab a wine that surpasses my expectations. This is really striking me as one of those “pudding wines”. I want to take small sips to make it last.

I’ll be grabbing more of this for sure.

I picked this up at Kitsilano Wine Cellars for $24.99.

Today I watched what I will argue was the single greatest stage win in the history of the Tour de France.

Being a road cyclist, I am far too familiar with the “bonk”. Last year I hit the wall in the final kilometres of a ride that included Horseshoe Bay, Cypress Mountain and Mount Seymour… I almost ended up in an ambulance coming down Mount Seymour.

Yesterday, the leader of the TdF, Floyd Landis, hit the wall on the final climb of the most brutal stage of this year’s TdF and not only lost the “yellow jersey”, but seemingly lost any chance of winning the 2006 TdF. He dropped right out of the top 10, finishing 10 minutes behind the winner of the stage.

Today, over 5 mountain passes, in a sport that can sometimes measured in seconds, he took back 5 – 7 minutes out of his closest rivals. It was, in a word spectacular… even legendary. One of the greatest rides ever. He took off from the main pack in the first 45 kilometres and decimated the field over what amounted to a smokin’ 160 kilometre time trial. It was a ride of pride and anger. It was unbelievable.

He now stands 30 seconds out of the yellow jersey… and is favoured to take minutes more in the final time trial on Saturday. After today, he deserves it. He has defined this year’s Tour.

In cycling terms, this was beyond a 5 star performance.

OK, so when it comes to IPA’s I get a little testy. In Canada, we have a REALLY WEAK IPA (Alexander Keith’s), which most people associate with India Pale Ales.

Over the last 10 years or so, the guy who has been responsible for some of the tastiest beers I’ve had has been Gary Lohin. At first it was when he was the brewmaster at Vancouver’s first brewpub, Sailor Hagar’s. When they gave up their brewpub license he moved on… eventually landing at Central City Brewing Company out in Surrey, of all places.

My good friend Graham picked up a Growler of the new IPA this week. I paid him and his lovely wife, Leah a visit last night and we gulped this on his patio.

Along with Spinnaker’s Cask Conditoned IPA, this is, bar none, the BEST IPA I have ever tasted. It’s intensely fruity and has that great bitter finish from the extra hops used during the brewing process. This is a FANTASTIC BEER. One of the best I’ve ever had. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that it is perfect.

Unfortunately, at the moment, you have to visit the brewpub to get a taste of this masterpiece of a beer. More please.

After getting through the nineties and hearing about the rebuilding of Lebanon, things were looking great for Lebanese wineries such as my beloved Château Musar. Therefore, I was shocked to open my paper this morning to read that basically full-out war was being waged by the Isrealis against Lebanon because of Hezbollah strongholds around Beirut. My God, can’t we all just get along and enjoy a good glass of wine. I know this sounds rather simplistic, but really… what is it? Why does religion cause all this strife?

OK, I really don’t have the credentials to wade into political confrontations, so let’s get to the wine here.

Château Musar makes a few other wines, one of which is Hochar Père et Fils. This label produces a red, a white and a rosé. I picked up a bottle of the red the other night because I really have a thing for Château Musar and think they can do no wrong as far as my palate is concerned.

According to their web site, the Hochar is “A mix of cabernet sauvignon, of carignan with a dominance of cinsault and a hint of grenache, the HPF is partially aged in oak vats from 6 to 9 months.”

Its colour is much lighter than I’m used to from any red wine other than one made by Musar. Despite the lighter colour, it’s still pretty full-bodied and carries the distinctive Musar-like nose. I don’t really know how to accurately desribe the nose. If you’ve had a Château Musar red, you know what I’m talking about. It’s light-berry-like with touches of tar and leather, but in a really unique way… like it’s been run through a ripe cranberry patch on the way to the tasting. It’s really unique and tasty. I could definitely pick these wines out in a brown-bag tasting.

The label recommends decanting and I’d definitely stick with that… about an hour’s worth. After that, strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. It’s unlike many wines out there at the moment and that’s a GOOD thing. I really like this. So tasty.

Let’s hope that the political situation sorts itself out tout de suite and that the resurgent wine operations in Lebanon aren’t affected by this latest round of mad bombings. Wine is good. Bombs are bombs.

The price here in BC at the LDB is an odd $29.73.

I’m a big riesling fan. Everyone should drink more of the stuff. It’s one of the more versatile varietals when it comes to food pairings. It goes exceptionally well with everything from salads, sushi, chicken and pork to Chinese and Thai food.

I picked this up at Kitsilano Wine Cellars earlier this week and decided to give it a try tonight. I can’t say I’m pairing it with any food though. I got it nice and cold and now I’m just sitting and sipping while watching the Tour de France.

Flinty. That’s the word that comes to mind at first when I take a whiff. That and a touch of lemon.

The first taste has an effervescence to it. The acidity adds an almost bubbly edge, but in a light refreshing way. There’s a definite honeyed-citrus quality, with a slight diesel edge that many better German Rieslings have. This is good stuff. It has a nice finish and definitely makes me want to grab another bottle to enjoy sometime soon.

~ $18 CDN.

I’m a bit excited. We have a cool new place opening up in the neighbourhood – Salt Tasting Room. Salt is being opened by Sean Heather of the Irish Heather and Limerick Junction and is slated to open this Wednesday, July 12th down in the ghoulishly named Blood Alley. Whee!

According to their opening soon blog, the restaurant’s concept is, “… to take the growing popularity of cured meats and artisan cheese and to marry it to a great selection of wines. When presented in a specific way, the customer can experiment by picking their own combinations, of wine, meat, cheese & condiments and then taste them in a comfortable space.” They’ve hired a sommelier to put together the list and tweak the wines as they go along.

Sounds good to me. See you there.

OK, I love a great view while dining in a restaurant as much, or more, than the next person…. but this site/idea Dinner in the Sky looks pretty ridiculous. Really, what if you have to visit the washroom after your 3rd glass of wine or beer?

[via the cool hunter]

Holy crap. I have a new favourite BC Gewurztraminer. The 2004 was Canada’s white wine of the year, so I figured it was worth a try. I bought it at Taylorwood Wines the other day and when I took my first sip it grabbed my taste buds and knocked them around the room.

This wine has a slightly dry finish with Intense (yes, I meant to use the capital “I”) spice, lots of rose petal, lychee and even a hint of white pepper. This wine would be a little slice of heaven here on earth matched with some green Thai curry… or hell, a warm night and some good company.

Now to me, one of the signs of a good wine is how long the finish lasts… and this one sticks around for a while. It was right there leading into the next sip. This is good stuff.

Goddamn!

~$18.95 here in BC.

You know what I really hate?.. Hummers. Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking the vehicles. Unless you’re in desert warfare or run an eco-tourism company far from paved roads, there’s just no excuse to drive those pretentious, gas-guzzling pieces of crap. Either that, or you were born with an extremely small sexual appendage.

In that line of thought, I give you FUH2. ‘Nuff said.

I thought this altered road sign was hilarious.

Break it down!