#30- Pinotage

There is nothing more rewarding than having an accomplished day and coming home to a great bottle of wine. Whether it's a great day at work, a wonderful afternoon with your kids or a surprise evening with friends, a great bottle of wine can just be the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae (I have my metaphor mixed up here but you get it...)

Craig and I had an amazing day of climbing, no make that a weekend of climbing and we were ready to just relax for the rest of the night. Craig wasn't feeling the greatest (why would he when he has bronchitis and I'm making him climb steep climbs with me?) so we were eager to get some food into us. Always the chef, Craig kicked the fire back up and immediately started to prep the steak (Montreal steak spice anyone?) and I started prepping the potatoes. I sliced the potatoes and stuffed in some onion slices and some butter, wrapped them in tin foil and set them on the fire to cook.

The food was delicious and was nicely paired with our last wine for the weekend- the Pinotage. It is also known as South Africa's red grape. And this was one an excellent bottle of wine. Not too acidic but with a nice kick to it, it was a nice balance to the red meat on the plate. It had a smoky taste to it, a similar taste to a Malbec. This almost had a smoky taste to it (or was it the campfire?). This South African wine was definitely a great wine to have with dinner and I and indulge in a couple of glasses before hanging out at the fire for the rest of the evening before turning in.

The bottle of wine was bought a while ago but if I remember correctly it was around the $24.00 mark. The winery is Graham Beck and this year alone they have won quite a few awards for their wines. They have a ton of information about the history of their wineries and the wine making process on their website so definitely check it out.

By the end of the evening Craig and I were exhausted and when I say end of the night, I mean 9 pm (which in reality was really 8 pm as we forgot to set our clocks back the hour for the time difference). But it was probably a good thing we check out early as it started to rain just as we had tucked ourselves into bed.

The next morning we packed up and headed back to Alberta and home. Craig complained we hadn't seen any wildlife all weekend other than rodents. That was until we were just about to leave Jasper National Park when this guy decided to step out in front of us! The next wine: tempranillo.