An Inverted Cocktail Hour

Another great night has past within The Tasting Room agenda. This month we invited a good friend and bartender to create a few cocktails the dinner. The idea came about that we would use the cocktail hour to taste wines and dinner paired with cocktails.

We chose French wines because we could and we had a few thins cellared that we "had" to open. Pairing 3 reds and 3 whites with an assortement of charcuterie and cheeses from local shops was fantastic. Ratineau French Cuisine provided the dinner with goose prosuito, duck prosuitto, rabbit rillette, dried beef and chorizo. All of them were not only delicious and well made, but had a great impact on the wines. The cheeses were provided by Les Goumands Fine Foods which paired with the wines as well.

The 6 wines were poured for all the guests to discover for themselves what paired well together. A great way to stir up conversation as well as. A Champagne Cocktail refresher was serveed in between the courses to cleanse the palate and transition between wine and spirit.

The meal was prepared according to the cocktails created, having the cocktails as the main narrative. The Kalamata Martini was a little thougher to pair than expected due to he high salt content, but the pine tree mojito and the carrot and ginger martini showed very well with the dishes.

Another great night with great people! Can't wait till the next one

An Inverted Cocktail Hour

Reception

 Marnier Pineau Des Charentes

 

Wine Hour

Santenay 1er Cru Gravieres Pinot Noir 2006, bougogne

Chinon Domaine Bernard Baudry Cabernet Franc 2009, Vallee Loire

Bouchard Pere et Fils Chassagne Montrachet Chardonnay 2009, Bourgogne

Le Moulin Blanquette de Limoux, Limoux

Rolly Gassman Riesling 2009, Alsace

Chateau Villemaurine Grand Cru 2000, St Emilion

 

Ratineau charcuterie and Les Gourmands cheeses

A la Table

Champagne Cocktail

                                                                     Dinner

Kalamata Olive Martini

Parmesan Ravioli with Frantoio Olive Oil

 

Pine Tree Mojito

Seared Black Cod

With Citrus Zest Glaze, mango Salsa and quinoa salad

 

Carrot and Ginger Martini

Braised Beef Shoulder

With Root Puree and Gingered Green Beans

 

 

Dereks Dirty 30

Another dinner has come and past! Just wanted to let you know what we did for a good friend of mines 30th birthday. Myself and his finance coluded to make this a great surprise for him with close friends. She wanted a "man" meal for him, so I chose to slow cook every course to maximise flavor and to produce intensely flavored, savoury dishes.

Reception

Vieille Provision Saison Dupont Belgium Strong Beer

Jacobs Creek Pinot Noir Chardonnay Sparkling, Australia

Tomato Tartar

On Seared Baguette

Tawse Sketches Chardonnay 2009, Ontario

Foie Gras and Mushroom Ragout

On Open Ravioli

J Lhor Chardonnay 2010, California

Guinness Braised Ribs

With Frites

Old Engine Oil Porter, Scotland

Bone in Rib Eye

With Blackberry Reduction

Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico Riserva 2008, Italy

Au Jus Beef Chuck

With Brie Whipped Potatoes and Beet Demi Glace

McMannis Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, California

Mascarpone Cheesecake

With Dolce di Lichee Sauce

Badia a Coltibuono Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico 2005, Italy

 

 

 

 

The parings worked beautifully and even the lovely ladies that attended enjoyed the Porter with the ribs which was a delightful surprise.

 

All in all a great night with great people!

The Tasting Room

After having repeated wine tastings with friends ad having different themes every now and again, it dawned on me that perhaps it would be even better to start a supper club of sorts. Dubbed The Tasting Room, for the simple fact that tasting is what we would do, had its first debut mid January with a small groupd of friends.

Going for the theme of Canadian Whites and Italin Reds, we chose the wines first and paired the foods afterwards alway concentrating the wine as the primary profile. Concentrating on the wines profile allows the taster to have the whole experience of the wine while having the food enhance the tastes.

Below is the menu that we enjoyed that night which coupled with a room full of great conversations made it a memorable evening.

Reception

Peller Estate Ice Cuvee Methode Classic VQA, Ontario

 

Benjamin Bridge Small Plot Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Nova Scotia

Scallop Ceviche

Thirty Bench Riesling VQA 2011, Ontario

Pork Dumplings with Spicy Citrus Hoisin Sauce

Tawse Sketches Chardonnay 2011, Ontario

Duo of Oyster on the Half Shell and Green Apple Oyster Rockafeller

Sartori Colli Berci Merlot 2010, Veneto

Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2008, Tuscany

Venison with Dark Cherry Wine Reduction

Vigna Spuntali Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2004, Tuscany

Butter Seared Baguette topped with Compte

Querciabella Camarotino Toscano IGT 2007, Tuscany

Bone in Rib Eye with Brandy and Plum Reduction

Antinori Guado al Tasso 2007, Tuscany

Beef Bourguignon

Sartori Rerum Recioto Della Valpolicella 2005, Veneto

Almond Chocolate Chip with Oak Aged Maple syrup and Caramel Covered Raspberrie

 

Looking foward to the next tasting

Cheers

Nova Scotia Wineries

Coupled as a romantic getaway for me and my lovely lady, visiting the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia was one of discovery and wonder. Being an Atlantic Canadian, wines were never one of our most famous products and even if we love our wine, beer and spirits, local wines were never on our to drink lists.

But as we discovered, the Valley has taken on an identity of wine making and excellence in their craft. As a cool climate growing region, their whites are flavorful, floral, acidic and delightful. Great food wines all around and just to see the various wineries produce wines on different levels is fantastic.

Gaspereau's Muscat, Luckett's Ortega, and Blomidon's Tidal Bay (the only NS Appelation) were some of my favorites.  Full flavor, great balance in all of these wines, and some of them could fool international judges in thinking thy were top Old World whites!!

One vineyard we didn't have the chance to visit, but I had the priviledge to taste their 04' Brut sparkling wine against a 04' Crystal Champagne, was Benjamin Bridges, in which most people preferred. A almight pricey tasting, by appointment only, but worthwhile visit and personnel guided tour.

All around the Annapolis Valley has great things to offer. It has great wine, great food, great people and a beautiful country side.

Charton Hobbs Wine Dinner

I had the pleasure of preparing a 9 course wine dinner with Troy Gould, the representative for Charlton Hobbs. A dinner that spanned 9 food courses paired with 9 fantastic wines. We were 16 at a small gathering at his home and the night flowed with wine from Chile and Italy. Great heavy hitters like Barolo, Amarone and Brunello came out and I think I scored on the food!

Carmen Viognier

Seared Scallop w Curry Crème Fraiche

Carmen Sauvignon Blanc

Shrimp Ceviche

Batisiolo Barolo

Spaghetti Bolognese

Batisiolo Dolcetto

Meat balls with Sweet Tomato Sauce

Banfi Brunello

BBQ Back Ribs with Balsamic Caramel

Banfi Cum Laude

Sliders with Creamy Blue Cheese and Blackberry Compote

Masi Costasera Amarone

Raspberry and Espresso Parmesan Chips on Baguette

Masi Serego Aligheri Amarone

BBQ Rib Eye with Red Wine Marinated Mushrooms

Rose Regale

Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries

 

These types of events are defenitly my passion! Great wine, great food (in my opinion anyways) and a great way to spend a night!

Wine Festival - Alliance Loire Lunch

Finally the time of year has come when everything wine and food hits Moncton! The World Wine and Food Expo (wineexpo.ca) which is its 22nd year, brings along wine, food, knowledge, learning and lots of fun for everyone. From the beginner to the expert, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

From the Prestige Dinner, held this past Saturday at the Tate House in Shediac that kicks of the festival every year, to the lunches throughout the week at the Moncton Market, to the final Grand Tastings on November 9th and 10th. There is something to learn almost everyday.

I started the week by attending the Alliance Loire Luncheon at the Moncton Market. At 30$ a ticket, it was more than worth the price. A great tasting of 7 wines from the Loire Valley in France as well as having 3 courses prepared by Chef Emmanuel Charretier from L'Idylle in Dieppe.

 Loire, in the west side of France, has a particular interests for Atlantic Canada. It has roots for many Acadians as well as being home to great seafood, similar climate conditions, and great access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Since the climate is cooler, it makes for the perfect place to grow white grapes, in particular Sauvignon Blanc. This is one of their best known grape varieties. Crisp, refreshing, and light, the Loire Valley has great wines to offer. With the Alliance Loire heading our way, a co-op of wine producers and makers, we will hopefully be able to have access to more and more of their products.

I have to say that not knowing too much about this region going into the lunch, I came out with a great wealth of knowledge and appreciating the wines far more than if I wouldv'e tasted them on my own. One of the great things about these lunches is that the price of the tickets are pretty much the same as a lunch and a drink anywheres downtown.

Great value, learning new things, drinking wine at noon, tasting great food, in my eyes nothing is wrong and everything is right at anyone of these events.

A Little French experience

A friend of mine recently invited me to a French wine tasting. Finding French wines complicated, and being in a part of the world that doesn't always represent French wines very well and are usually on the pricey side, I welcomed the invitation with open arms.

Starting with a whites, the Chateaux Lamoth de Haut from Bordeau was a fun little wine. We followed this one with two Chardonnays from Burgundy, both browned bagged. In doing this, we got to not only not discuss the wine in depth without having the knowledge of the cost of the wine, but got our minds going on how a producer could affect a wine even if in the same region. There was a Bourgogne and  a Pouilly Fuisse, same grapes, but one had a more pronounced vanilla oak flavor and the other although lighter, had more of an acidic freshness to it.

The reds were what interested me! Starting with a Beaujolais, a wine that I learnt celebrates the harvest and can also determine the price of the future crop, was a very light red and had a light smell of purple. The challenge of the two others which were blind, was to try to uncover which one was a Gamay or a Pinot Noir. One was light, dry and had no sense of its ability to age. The second, a bold, darker hue and slightly heavier red, had to sense that it could hold age as well as complexe notes. My first extinct was to say the the light was the Gamay, since Beaujolais usually dont't  age well, but the interesting thing was the nose of the lightest and the heaviest was very similar. As well as the purple hue that surrounded the glass on a slight angle. And after discussing, it was unveiled that the light and the heavy was one in the same.

And that's why I love wine so much, one grape from the same region made in a different manner can taste and react so differently but at the base of the wine, their soul is the same.