Champagne Dreams for the New Year! Bollinger Special Cuvée

Happy holidays to you!  I trust it has been a wonderful season with family and friends...  This Christmas has gone down in my memory as the best one ever!

The completion of my sparkling wine category this month ends with the ohhh so incredible and delicious Bollinger champagne.  This is the real deal.  Made in the Champagne region of France - I understand why there is a premium price on these sparkling bottles of joy.

The history of champagne is astounding.  The romance around the 'tiny bubbles' is one of folklore.  Dom Pérignon did NOT, in fact, discover champagne.  It is a pure stroke of marketing genius that told the story of a lonely monk working hard on perfecting his sparkling wine.  It was, shockingly, the British that invented sparkling wine and worked hard to perfect the beautiful bubbles.  Dom Pérignon, a decade later, was trying desperately to stop the bubbles from appearing in his wine - he called it 'the devil's wine'.  This is just one tiny fact on the history of champagne - the subject of sparkling wine is fascinating and I could write many, many, many posts on my favourite beverage and I hope too!

My final review of 2012 is on the beautiful Bollinger Special Cuvée champagne.  It is a non-vintage champagne but is made only from the Grand and Premier Cru grapes which equals phenomenal.   This champagne is made up of 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier - the primary grape varietals that are allowed in Champagne. (Legally, there is a total of 7 grape varietals allowed.)  I picked up this beauty at Everything Wine in North Vancouver, with some great advice and assistance from Chris in the Vintage Room.  It is also available at the BC Liquor Stores and retails for $74.99 a bottle.  Yes, this is a steep price to pay for a bottle of bubbles, however, once a year - treat yourself! (This Special Cuvée can also be aged for more than 8 years in the cellar).  You will not be disappointed - I promise you!

The lovely bottle with my new, beautifully designed business card!
Thank you David and Tanya Van!

Bollinger champagne is a clear, pale lemon colour with small and continuous bubbles.  It has a pronounced intensity on the nose and smelled of red apple, lemon and lime zest, green grapes and a delicious autolytic note of biscuit and toast.  On the palate, this beauty was dry with high acid and medium body.  Again I tasted green grapes, apples, a bit of stone fruit (nectarine) and this time the autolytic note was more like pastry in the mouth.  It had a gloriously long finish that kept my mouth and tongue discovering this champagne's complexities and balance.

I have gone along with a rock and roll metaphor for my sparkling wine category - Bollinger's Special Cuvée is without a doubt the amazing lead singer of the band who just radiates sheer charisma and confidence while strutting across the stage. The late Freddie Mercury of Queen comes to mind - an absolute one of a kind performer who will never be replaced or forgotten.  Bollinger's champagne is exceptional, just like Freddie, and is a glass of sparkling wine that you will never forget.  This is my most emphatic 'Hell Yes!'  If you can do it, go out and treat yourself to a bottle of Bollinger's for New Year's Eve!

Never before have I been so incredibly moved by a glass of sparkles.  There is a reason that Bollinger is  James Bond's champagne of choice. There is a reason that for almost 200 years, this champagne house is celebrated, respected and admired throughout the world.

On that note, may I wish you a beautiful 2013.  My wish it that your everyday moments are spectacular in their simplicity.

XO
C

The Ever So Lovely Oyster Bay Cuvée Rosé

(My review this week is dedicated to the memory of Lalaine Liston who passed away early Sunday morning after a valiant several year battle with cancer.)

I hope your week was a good one...The snow is falling and it is beginning to look A LOT like Christmas up in the Grouse Mountain area!

My review this week features a cuvée from New Zealand - Oyster Bay's Cuvée Rosé.  This peach colour lovely knocked my socks off.  It is the first tasting I have done not in the comfort of my home but instead I chose to bring this bottle to a great new restaurant in the West End called Forage.  They allow guests to bring in bottles of wine for a corkage fee.  I was celebrating the annual 'Elements' Christmas evening with 3 of my dearest friends.

Oyster Bay really has good reason to have the popularity they have...their wines never disappoint and they taste absolutely like a very good quality New Zealand wine should.  At the BC Liquor stores, this peach/pink lovely retails for $24.99.  It is worth every penny and is made with excellent quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.

The bottle itself if very pretty with pink foil wrapping on the top.  The sparkling wine was clear with a pale peach/pink colour and had a moderate amount of bubbles.  On the nose, I smelled strawberry, a bit of citrus fruit and a touch of the secondary fermentation autolytic notes of bread and toast.  On the palate, this cuvée rosé was dry and deliciously so...quite mouth watering but not austere.  I tasted again the strawberry and citrus fruit but also some nice fresh red cherry flavour.  It had a medium long finish and I would consider this a very good sparkling wine.

Yes, it is a 'Hell Yes' bottle for me!  I am so glad I shared this with a few girl friends...the colour and the flavour just seemed perfect.  In keeping with my rock band approach to the sparkling wine reviews this month - I am going to give Oyster Bay's Cuvée Rosé the position of kick ass female drummer.  This lovely lady has a host of loyal followers as she never skips a beat and keeps everyone up dancing throughout the concert!  She is an inspiration to every female rock musician out there.

I was reading on the Oyster Bay winery's website that they were a founding member of the Sustainable Winegrowing Programme in New Zealand.  Here is a link to their amazing winegrowing efforts and their sustainable 'best practices' page on their website.  Link to Oyster Bay's sustainability efforts.

It was quite a lovely pairing with forage, located in the Listel Hotel in Vancouver's West End (who is a leader is green tourism practices), as food items are sourced locally and organically wherever possible and conservation is a key part of the menu.  http://www.foragevancouver.com

We are on the countdown to Christmas and I wish you all a wonderful and memorable Christmas season with your family and friends.  Be good to one another...

Enjoy!
XO
C

B.C. Sparkling Wine - SYL Brut

Is it just me or does the month of December come at you like a freight train?  I find a lot of pressure this month that comes in the form of get togethers', visits, holiday parties, etc.  This is by no means a complaint - it just adds a bit of intensity to the month.

That being said, I LOVE December.  Both of my parents were born in December as was my maternal Grandmother.  I have beautiful friends who celebrate their birthday this month as well.  It is a month of getting together and counting our blessings.  It really is a month to celebrate and I am down with that!

Now, what goes well with celebrating?  Hmmmm - sparkling wine!  Yes!

My review this week is on See Ya Later Ranch's Brut.  It is a B.C. sparkling wine from the Okanagan Falls, B.C.  I had such high hopes for this as it was the only B.C. pick I put into my '5 weeks of sparkles' for the lead up to New Year's Eve...

It is the 2008 vintage and costs $20.99 at the B.C. liquor stores.  See Ya Later website

This Brut is a pale lemon colour with continuous bubbles.  On the nose, there was an abundance of red apple and a hint of baked bread.  I found it had a mild intensity and nothing really pronounced.  On the palate, I tasted more red apple and some citrus notes.  The SYL Brut is easy to drink but it is not complex or really even that interesting.

The rock bank theme for this sparkling category has confused me with this bottle.  I think it would be the opening acts' back up singer.  It just is not a show stealer.  This wine certainly is not bad or unpalatable in any way, shape, or form.  It just doesn't really rock my world in a way that I had hoped it would.  It is a bit simple and I wish it was able to deliver more of a punch so it goes into the "If you are in the mood" category.  It is good but not very good or great.

On a personal note - I want to give a shout out to my classmates as we have all completed our Level 2 WSET exam.  Thank you all for making the last 3 months a fantastic journey!  The social hour with a wine and cheese 'after party' was indeed wonderful.  Our instructor, Iain Philip's quote of the evening was "Wine is the new golf."  Love it!

Here's to Level 3.
Enjoy!
XO
C

French Sparkle - oooh la la!

My oh my...I think I may have stumbled upon what just may be my new passion - all things that are French, sparkle and are made with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir!

This week, I had the pleasure of opening my first ever bottle of French Cre´mant.  This is a French sparkling wine that is made in the traditional Champagne way, but because the grapes are grown and the wine is made outside of the Champagne region - it is called Cre´mant.

Cremant de Bourgogne is the appellation for the white and rose sparkling wines of Burgundy, made predominantly from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes in the methode traditionelle. Created in October 1975 to complement Bourgogne Mousseux (the title for sparkling red wines), the appellation is now applied to more than 13 million bottles of wine every vintage.The terroirs of Cremant de Bourgogne vary considerably, as the appellation covers nearly 400 parishes throughout Burgundy. Wines from the cool, chalky soils around Chablis in the north are perceptibly different from those produced in the warmer climes and granitic soils of the south.

The beauty of the week is Cre´mant de Bourgogne 2008 from the Appellation Cre´mant de Bourgogne Controleé specifically from Cave De Lugny.

I anticipated nothing but elegant perfection and I was not disappointed.  This lovely is made with only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - the traditional Champagne blend.  This sparkling wine had a nice pale lemon colour with continuous tiny bubbles (insert song here...).  I have learnt that for a sparkling wine to be judged well, its bubbles should be small and continuous.  Check.

The aromas were bright with green grape, red apple and lemon juice.  It was labelled BRUT but there was a hint of sweetness on the palate.  The taste reflected the nose and it was enhanced with autolytic notes of biscuit and toast.  It was a sheer pleasure to drink and enjoy.  The finish was just long enough and tasted incredibly well balanced.

I have started down a rock band theme with these sparkling wines.  Cava is the lead guitarist and I am suggesting that Champagne is the lead singer.  Cre´mant is absolutely the elegant and mysterious keyboardist of the band providing grace and harmony to the performance!

You guessed it - my selection of the week falls into the 'Hell Ya' category.  Priced right at $26.99 at all Everything Wine locations, it is a lovely and unique bottle of sparkling wine to give to a good friend over the holidays or open up for yourself on a well deserved celebratory evening!

Enjoy!
XO
C

The Bubble Season is Upon Us!!!

Seriously - I cannot tell you how much I love all things 'bubble'!  I personally think that any occasion is a bubble occasion and I love that as we enter into the month of December, more people purchase a bottle or 10 of sparkles to add some zing to their holiday celebrations.

Over the next 5 weeks, starting today, I will review 5 bottles of sparkling wine from Spanish cava to French champagne.  Ohhh, how I love the subject of sparkling wine and how it came to be and all the stories that a bottle can tell you...

The history of champagne is fascinating and most believe that the French invented it, specifically the famed Benedictine monk, Dom Pe´rignon.  This is simply not true although it has been an amazing marketing campaign!!!  I will be writing about the history of champagne in more detail on my fifth week as we have a few bottles and types of sparkling wines to get to first!

One thing I would like to say first off is that for a sparkling wine to be called champagne, it MUST be made in the Champagne region of France in a way called 'me´thode champenoise'.  Champagne only uses three grape varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.  Champagne really is the rock star of the sparkling wine category for good reason.  However, the lovely and affordable Spanish cava would be the amazing lead guitarist on stage getting the crowd up on their feet!

My review this week is on Segura Viudas Brut Rose´.

Note the "Me´todo Tradicional" - this tells the buyer that it is made in the champagne style.

This pink charmer will turn any ones grey, cold day into one filled with a little sunshine.  Cava is, in my opinion, one of the BEST values in the wine market today.  The reason?  Other than its' amazing taste, it is made exactly the same way as champagne but uses Spanish varietals.  Segura Viudas website When you compare this Rose´'s cost of $15.99 at the B.C. liquor stores to a $65+ bottle of champagne, it tastes even better and you can get a few bottles at this price!

Segura Viudas stole my heart about a decade ago.  And, the Rose´has stolen it again!  This cava is a lovely pink/salmon colour with a glorious amount tiny bubbles that don't seem to end.  On the nose, I smelled strawberries and grapefruit.  On the palate, the taste matched what I smelt with the strawberries and grapefruit but had a bit of a toasty overtone that I loved.  It was dry with high acidity but light in body with a medium short finish.  YUM!

This little pink number was truly delightful.  My husband and I opened it up on Tuesday night and we decorated our Christmas tree while sharing a glass of pink sparkling cava.  I think a new tradition was born!  Segura Viudas's Brut Rose´goes into my 'Hell Yes' category.  You cannot beat the colour, the uniqueness and the price of this pink glass of love!

Enjoy!
XO
C

A Margaret River Beauty

Hello and happy Wednesday.  I hope your week has been wonderful.

I have decided to post my new reviews on Wednesday - wine Wednesday - as there is no better day of the week to indulge in a lovely glass of wine and anticipate what the weekend will bring!  As the weather has really turned grey on us here in Van City, I have tended to lean towards the black grape variety as there is something about a full bodied glass of red wine to snuggle up with. 

My review this week is on ring.bolt's Cabernet Sauvignon.  ring.bolt is a winery from Margaret River, Australia, which has been described as having conditions very similar to Bordeaux, France in dry vintage years.  I have learnt quite a bit on the Margaret River region and its grape growing bragging rights! 

 The climate is amazing and perfectly suited for both black and white grapes which does not always happen, specifically in Australia.  Margaret River has over 500,000 visitors a year just coming to check out the wineries and countryside.  Yes, it is now on my list of places to see!

ring.bolt winery takes its name from a famous ship-wreck off the coast of Western Australia.  Defined by the oceans, the Margaret River region enjoys a temperate, maritime climate with high winter rainfall and pristine, robust sea breezes to cool the precious fruit – wonderful conditions for growing superior Cabernet Sauvignon.  ring bolt wineries website

The wine is a deep ruby colour and with pronounced aromas of plums, violet, chocolate and vanilla.  This Cabernet Sauvignon is dry with medium + acidity and medium tannins.  It is a full bodied wine with flavours that mirror the nose - plum, violet, chocolate but I also taste a bit of pepper and black cherry.  This wine has a nice long finish but I felt that it needed to open up for about 45 minutes before it mellowed.  This wine would pair beautifully with a lamb or beef dish.

Priced at $19.99 in the B.C. liquor stores - it is a great deal and, again, tastes like a more expensive wine.  Wines from the Margaret River region of Australia are popular for a reason - they make excellent wine!  This winery is so dedicated to the Cabernet Sauvignon grape that it only produces this one variety of wine, which is another unique aspect to this little number and is why it definitely falls into my "Hell Yes" category!

Thank you for reading.  For the month of December, I am going to review some champagnes and sparkling wines for the upcoming holiday season.

If there is anything you would like me to review - please do leave me a comment!
XO
C

Cornucopia's Winners at every Price Point Seminar

Hi all.  I trust you are keeping well and had a few moments of reflection over the Remembrance Day long weekend.  Something about the sound of bagpipes and seeing the expressions on Veteran's faces truly makes my heart melt...

My family and I headed up to Whistler on Saturday so that I could attend one of Whistler's Cornucopia events.  This annual event brings both B.C. and international wineries to Whistler as well as showcasing an amazing  'foodie' component with local chefs, suppliers and restaurants taking part.

I selected "Winners at Every Price Point" as the seminar to attend.  It was run by Barbara and Iain Philip from Barbarian Wine Consulting. http://barbarianwine.com  This husband and wife team are quite the dynamic wine duo as Barbara is the head purchaser for the European portfolio for B.C. liquor stores and Iain is an educator at the Art Institutes' Wine College.

The room smelled delicious as I walked in along with the other 70+ attendees.  In front of us was a tasting circle of 5 whites and 5 reds.  The seminar was set up as a blind tasting so that we could not judge how much we liked a wine based on its name, brand or price.  Brendan, a fellow wine enthusiast,  sat beside me.  He was passionate about wine and we had a fun time trying to guess each wines' value before it was revealed.

The lovely wines in a circle!

Barbara and Iain spent about 30 minutes educating us on why wine prices vary from $6.99 up to $25,000 for the most expensive bottle of wine you can buy (which is Romanee Conti from Burgundy, France.)  Good grief $25,000 for a bottle of wine?  Holy Dinah...that is pricey!  There are so many factors to consider: land, labour, laws, yield, grape growing techniques - just to name a few!

We had about 7 minutes with the whites and then the results were revealed.  The 5 whites ranged in price from $9.99 to $49.99.  My favourite was Schloss Reinhartshausen Riesling.  At $19.99 this beauty is a wine to stock up on! It is from the Rheingau region in Germany.  The wine was dry and crisp and balanced.  I am still in shock at how fantastic this Riesling tasted at under $20.  I will be heading to the liquor store to stock up!

The champagne we tasted was the $49.99 entry and a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc was the $9.99 entry.  (Send me an email or leave a comment if you would like me to send you a list of all the wines from the seminar).

Next up were the reds.  I consider myself to be more of a white wine drinker, in general, so I felt quite 'blind' in the red tastings.  I did discern correctly that there was a French Rhone blend in the flight but that was as far I got.  I chose the most expensive entry this time as my favourite.  It was Masi 2007 Amarone Valpolicella for $49.99.  Here is a PDF of the label and tasting notes from the winery.

It was outstanding and tasted like a $100+ bottle of wine.  This, again, is one I will happily buy a few of and would be great for a 40th or 50th birthday present to a dear friend or family member.  My second favourite, and close behind the Masi was Chateau Labrande Cahors Malbec for $19.99 from France.

Malbec has become the red 'go-to' wine of late.  Most people think it is an Argentinian varietal but its' origin is in France.  This selection was really tasty and, again, for under $20, it is a great deal.  (When I went to buy this at the Park Royal Signature store, they were sold out on the shelves but the manager nicely went into the back and brought 2 bottles to me to have.  A restaurant had put the rest of the stock on hold.  Always ask the store managers - if they can help you - they will.  Thank you, Mike!)

"Winners at Every Price Point" seminar was fantastic and I am thrilled to have attended.  It was $40 for the ticket and the value and knowledge I left the room with was perfect.  Next year, I hope to get a group of people to go up and attend together.  Let me know if you are interested!

Enjoy the week!
xo
C