#89- Seyval Blanc

Another great Canadian find and my second review to come from the Jost Winery in Nova Scotia. I just recently reviewed their Marachel Foch wine and loved it and now I am reviewing their Seyval Blanc wine and...am loving this wine too. Go Nova Scotia!

It's a shame that we Canadians don't support our local wine industry as the Americans support theirs, the French and Italian and the Portugese and Australia....you get the idea- we don't support the industry as much as we should. Some if it's not our fault. Often the wine from our very own backyard so to speak is just as expensive if not more expensive than some of the wines we import. For goodness sake the French sip on 3 euro wines every night that here would run us $30 or more at least. But they know their biggest consumer is right there in front of them. Wineries here should be doing the same here- cheaper, more readily available wine. Case in point- it is very hard to get Nova Scotia wine in Alberta. Why is that?

We're just a frigid country. Scared of wine. We've made it taboo and mostly illegal for anyone under the age of 18 or 19 depending what province you're in to even touch the stuff to their lips. That's just stupid and outdated thinking. I can be 17 years and 364 days old and not be responsible or mature enough to drink wine but on my 18th birthday I suddenly am? Really? Just like that? And we wonder why we are a nation of binge drinkers and alcoholics...

To me, wine should be shared by everyone. It's often drank with meals, so why not let the 14 year old have a small glass? Why not take away the mystery of alcohol and show them at a young, supervised age how to drink responsibly? Am I just a naive thinker?

In any event and my rant aside, the Seyval Blanc wine from Jost is just a fabulous drink. And the description of the wine actually matches what you taste and smell (have you ever read some wine description? There's sometimes more fiction written about a wine than there is in a Jackie Collins novel). But this description of the wine fits the bill.

It has a very aromatic citrus aroma with a hint of pear. I immediately taste the citrus notes on my palate but get a hint of apricots. There is a blackberry taste to it (a little unusual for a white wine). But it is just a fabulous wine. It is off dry and quite acidic. It's quite balanced in it structure and full bodied.

I really enjoyed this wine and I am having my second glass of wine as I write this. I paired this wine with a chicken dish mixed with shrimp and vegetables. I thought it was an extraordinary food pairing.

I would definitely suggest this wine to anyone who is looking for a good Canadian wine that isn't from our better known regions of Niagara and Okanagan and especially a grape that isn't as well known as others.

Who's paying for my trip to the East coast for a wine tour? I think I asked this already but I'll ask again....anyone?

#85- Pinot Auxerrois

I am a proud Canadian so it always gives me a bit of a thrill to find a wine that I love and can't wait to brag about. Plus, I have a cool connection to the winery.

The grape is the Pinot Auxerrois and goes by several names depending on where it's grown. In Alsace for example it's known as Auxerrois Blanc. But in Canada it's known as the former. It's not a grape that is commonly grown in North America. There is one winery that is known for their Pinot Auxerrois and that is Gray Monk in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

Way back in 1996 I lived in Kelowna for my radio practicum. My two classmates- Karen and Leanne and I packed up and moved to the Okanagan Valley for 4 months to work at three separate radio stations for our last semester of college. We were working for free so we figured we'd go someplace warm to do it. So Kelowna was our chosen destination. Just to give a nice point of fact here- Kelowna had one of the coldest and snowiest winters they'd had in 20 years that winter. It's almost as if we brought winter with us! Can't win em all I guess.

In any event, in late April, we got to do a wine tour and the very first stop on our wine tour was Gray Monk Winery. At the time there were very few wineries in the region (not compared to the 200 + now that call BC home) so we became familiar with the local wineries. Gray Monk has always stayed in my memory as one of my favourites.

Back to the grape. The parents of the Pinot Auxerrois is the Gouais Blanc and Pinot Noir. Wine fact- it is a full sibling to the Chardonnay grape as they both have the same parents! (I'm taking a good whiff of it now and I can certainly see how it relates to its sibling. Its character does indeed remind me of a chardonnay on the nose).

But it doesn't taste anything like the chardonnay grape at all. This one is buttery and creamy with great notes of peach and other orchard fruits (in Canada, many of our fruits come from this valley). On the tongue, I capture honey before any of the fruits such as lime and a tinge of apple. It is a very delicious combination. I am very reluctant to keep any for Craig though I bet he'd very much like this wine. It's not very acidic and moderate in alcohol, this is a wine that is great to drink on its own or to pair with white meats. I had barbequed chicken and side vegetables with the wine and found it to be a perfect pairing.

I do recommend this wine and am a huge fan of it for summer barbeques. It's also a reasonably priced wine and you can find it in most stores for under $20.

#71- Silvaner

Also known as Sylvaner D'Alsace which is what I picked up for the third and final wine of the camping trip. The winery is Dopff & Irion in France.

I found the Silanver very similar to the Inzolia wine though I found the Inzolia easier to drink. My mom however liked this wine a bit better. It was a great pairing with the barbequed chicken and salad that had been made on the open fire. Mom did a great job with them. The wine was chilled and ready to go and again, a nice way to end our day of hiking. We did a shorter hike but it was much more beautiful and in an area of Jasper that none of us had explored before. It was a great day, the day before I set off and they took off for their camping trip down to Yellowstone.

The silvaner grape is a grape that's often blended to make more "famous" wines- such as the Liebfraumilch. On its own, it's a bit bland and that's how I'd describe this wine. It didn't really stand out to me at all. It had a herbal taste to it and was quite earthy in taste but with  refreshing twist. I know, weird combo huh?

I think this is a wine I'd like to try again and compare it to some of the other whites that I like. Because it's been so similar to many of the wines I've tried in the last while, I'm not sure if I'm actually properly analyzing the wine or simply comparing it to the most recent wine I've just drunk.

This past weekend I gave Craig half a dozen wines that he has to try and give his opinion on. Hopefully he does this sooner than later...

#57- Semillon

Mendoza, Argentina wine- you are a sweet one. And we like you (though not everyone tasting you had an easy time drinking you- you are that sweet).

Let me introduce you to a wine that could easily be disguised as an expensive ice wine or dessert wine for an affordable price. The grape is Semillon and the winery is Lancatay Huarpe Wines. They make a huge variety of wines and I encourage you to check out their website.

I enjoyed this wine and I didn't even pair it with dessert (though we did have it with birthday cake on Sunday- happy birthday dad!) and it was almost too sweet. I ended up having it with a simple dinner I had thrown together one evening- chicken and broccoli. I appreciated that I wasn't overwhelmed by sweetness and the broccoli really paired well with it in my humble opinion.

The Semillon grape is made for sweet wines, the wine a beautiful golden honey brown. It is fruity in taste (this one in particular had hints of apples) and other aromas such as fruits and florals (this one had a rose aroma).  it is a heavy and dry wine and one describes it perfectly when the wine is described as having an oily texture. It's not light on the tongue and it has a "fullness" to the wine. That is if you can get over how sweet this wine is. Kristin had a hard time drinking it. I did not. Craig seemed to enjoy the wine as well. But I should note that Kris, Craig and my mom drank this wine after trying two other reds so their pallettes were not perfect (always hard to follow a red with a white).

I would definitely recommend this wine for a nice summer sipping wine (and yes, it should be sipped, the bottle itself was not a 750ml bottle- maybe half that).

#44- Malvasia

The makers of the wine describe her initial impression on you as- bony dry, crystalline and clear. And boy, they couldn't be more right. This is a very dry wine that leaves a "dry" impression upon you that lasts for days and days. An American wine, the Malvasia grape is used in the Birichino Malvasia Bianca wine from the Birichino Amici winery in King City, California. It is a grape originally from Greece. It's also known as Malmsey. I'd link to the website listed on the page, but it doesn't seem to work. Nice.

I didn't like this wine. The dryness of the wine was just too overwhelming for me. It had almost tasted as if the wine was dehydrated and concentrated. The alcohol taste was just a tad much. I did drink a couple of glasses to be sure but I just didn't catch on to the wine at all. I had a lot of trouble pulling any scent or taste from this wine and reading the back of the label, I now see why.

The tastes are your typical tastes or really any that I've managed to describe over the last year. Maybe if I was actually more than an amateur wine connoisseur, I'd have been able to pull out the hints of jasmine, lime blossom and elderflower (honestly, I can tell you I know what Jasmine smells like and perhaps lime blossom- wild guess- is lime but elderflower? For real? Anyone?).

I paired this wine with a lovely homemade meal of Swiss Chalet! I went with the two white meats to go along with the white wine- chicken and pork. The sauce is nice and tangy but it seemed to compete with the intense flavours of the wine.

 

Overall, I wasn't impressed by this wine and if I had a choice, I'd take a pass on it if it were offered to me again. Actually let me revise that, I'll try another Malvasia but I'd certainly look for a different flavouring- let's say coffee and caramel. Now that's more my style...!

#15- Bombino Bianco (Trebbiano D'Abruzzo)

Living in Edmonton, you learn to appreciate the very short summers we had here. This past weekend was a beautiful weekend, with temperatures in the mid to late twenties, perfect weather for a nice crisp white wine. I picked up two bottles of white wine at Liquor On McLeod in Spruce Grove prepared to drink my weekend away in the bright shining sun!

Craig picked the first wine to drink with our mish mash of a dinner on Saturday. A combination of coleslaw, chicken fingers, Spanish rice and Italian bread, Craig chose the Trebbiano D'Abruzzo wine (the label said it went well with white meat). It is also known as Bombino Bianco and not much is available on the grape itself. The Vermentino would just have to wait until tomorrow. While the dinner wasn't a typical Stevenson feast, the meal would do just fine. Besides, it was the weather we were enjoying, not necessarily the food.
A light coloured wine, the Trebbiano D'Abruzzo is from the Citra Winery in Abruzzi (hence the name) was purchased for about $17. This bottle of wine was also a screw top, a trend I've noticed more and more. I know years ago there was a rumour the world was running out of cork (since been debunked) but I do wonder why we are moving away from corks versus the screw top. Is it about aaccessibility? Being able to take it on picnics and not worrying about a corkscrew? It is because it is more mainstream now to drink wine? Did this happen to beer bottles and the bottle cap? I digress...

This bottle (which by the way was a one litre bottle and not the customary 750ml), was a hit! We all commented on how smooth the wine went down. It didn't leave an aftertaste and was very very easy to drink. A sweeter wine, this complimented the chicken very nicely. We all agreed that this wine was definitely a good pick for a hot summer's day. There was no aftertaste as the wine is quite dry and it didn't linger long in your mouth. No bad aftertaste!! With hints of citrus, the wine was just perfect.

If you're not looking to do your regular wines like a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay but want a wine that is easy enough to find, then the Trebbiano is the way to go. The next wine to try, as mentioned earlier, is a little harder to find, the Vermentino grape!