#34- Petite Sirah

Maybe it was the high he was on. Or maybe he just didn't like it. Craig gives a thumbs down to the Petite Sirah. You can't win em all.

And it's unfair to say this was a losing wine. Instead we have a split decision. Kristin and Erin give it a thumbs up while mom and Craig give it a thumbs down. Take a chance and make your own decision for sure.

Our parents had the kids over for a nice roast beef dinner, gravy, side vegetables and desserts of turtle cheesecake and lemon meringue pie. The point of this dinner was to draw names for Christmas. Our family is growing bigger every year (case in point: two new little additions in May and a new sister in law Sharon so that's three more than last year). Instead of each of us buying little Christmas gifts for everyone, we draw names and only buy a larger gift for that one person. Of course the little ones still get gifts from each of us.

Guess who I drew?

Back to the task, the review of the wine. The wine is an Australian wine and the winery is De Bortoli. The grape is a 2008 Petite Sirah. The Petite Sirah is also known as the Durif grape. The wine is very spicy and has a very rich undertone to it. It reminded me of a Malbec (and Kristin and I are fans of most Malbecs, so maybe it's why we liked the wine). It is so spicy actually that I can taste the pepper in the wine after it's gone down. The wine pairs well with meats and I thought it was an excellent companion to the roast beef and gravy. It also goes very well with cheddar cheese (that's what I'm doing right now, drinking the last glass of it and eating a block of cheese. A small small block in case you're worried I've developed an odd habit).

And while I would like to put this wine in the win column, I can't absolutely. It's a wine I like, but I don't know if I'd actually go out and buy it again. With so many good Malbecs out there, I think I'd rather take my chances on that. It has just too much spicy kick to it and I like my wine, but I don't want to taste lingering in my mouth for very long at all. Like I said, you can't win em all.

If I attempt to drink two wines a week til the end of the year, I will actually have caught up with getting this blog back on track for its supposed weekly basis. I have 10 wines in my cabinet waiting to go; 8 more to find. Wish me luck!

#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.

#20- Tinta Barocca

Drinking wine in Edmonton lately hasn't exactly been fun, unless you're a Vancouverite and you're used to rainy weather. We have had the most bizarre weather this year and what we're experiencing has some people on edge. If you've been a longtime Edmonton resident, green clouds make you think of one thing- tornadoes! So to get a sunny break is few and far between this summer (though I hear a rumour from CTV weatherman Josh Classen that we're in for a hot spell)

Anyway, my point is, wine drinking hasn't been as enjoyable as it should be outside so I went to the store with the intention of buying some reds that can be drank in less than stellar weather. Interesting enough, I went to Crestwood Wines in West Edmonton and managed to pick up not one but four new wines!! Add that to the three wines my sister found for me in Washington and we are good for 19 through 26! The best part though was when I went to the register to pay for my wine, the cashier noticed the unusual wines and said to me "interesting, all very rare grape varietals!" Ha!! Finally someone noticed that I've been picking odd wines! So I told him what I was doing and he found it very interesting. Not interesting enough for him to become a follower of this blog, but enough for a two minute conversation.

So with four wines in hand, I headed home and took out one of the reds (three reds and one white) and put it in the fridge for a quick chill. The wine is a Tinta Barocca wine and my first wine from South Africa! A product of Swartland, the winery is Allesverloren, a winery about 100 miles from Cape Town. The Tinta Barocca grape is very rare and was originally a portugese port varietal. It is very smooth and oaky and has just a touch of fruit flavours. If you like a malbec wine (of which I'm a huge fan) you will really like a Tinta Barocca as they are very similar in taste.

I very much enjoyed this wine and took advantage that I knew this wine would likely go well with steak. The sun decided to peak from the clouds so I decided to whip up a quick cucumber, steak and onion salad with just a simple vinegar dressing. Outside I went to enjoy the five minutes of brief sun, listen to the birds chirp, the jack rabbit hop by and the wine hit my taste buds just right as I sat back and enjoyed my evening before I had to pack for my weekend trip to the mountains (and yes, I brought wine with me!)

After packing up the car and heading to the parents to stay the night (I was borrowing their trailer and it made sense just to stay over for my 6am wake up call. Alright, too much information and moving on...) Craig got to try the wine later that evening and he did enjoy it though he is a fan of fruitier reds. While he enjoyed it (and almost broke the cork trying to get at the wine) it wouldn't be on his top 10 list. But he didn't like the Malbec either so it made sense that he wasn't a huge fan of the Tinta Barocca.

So it was a quick hot tub and then off to bed. Twenty wines down, 165 to go! The next few weeks are going to so much fun as we've decided we have to double up on our wine tasting to two a week to make up for my trips...alright...if we have to....

Our next wine is another red- the Petit Verdot!

#11- Malbec

"You can't judge a wine by its label." Because if that were the case, this Malbec would have been the best wine ever. Unfortunately, it was far from it. And we do have some differing opinions here on the wine itself.

I was looking forward to the Malbec. I've drank several different bottles of Malbec and have always enjoyed them so I was really expecting the same thing here. I picked up a bottle of LoTengo Malbec, a 2008 wine from Argentina and bottled by Bodega Norton.

Let's start with the cool part of this wine and why I picked it up. It was for no other reason that the coolest label I've seen to date. It's what I believe they call a holographic foil. The label is of two people doing the tango (LoTengo...okay you get it) and when you move the bottle, the dancers legs move so it actually looks like they're doing the tango. Freakin' cool! Yes, this is how I chose this wine. Rather than going with a recommendation or a previous Malbec that I loved, I chose this bottle because I wanted the cool label. Learn people from this- never pick up a bottle because of its label. Or if you do, pick up a second bottle of the grape for comparison.

I should also point out I'm battling a heck of a sinus cold so my taste buds may be a little off. Excuses. In any case, dinner was prepared by Craig (here's the deal- Craig got gift cards to go out and buy chicken but he'd like to let you all know he "cooked" dinner. To be fair, he did make the St. Hubert sauce...). So we had roast chicken, fries and sauce with some slaw. Not exactly a perfect red wine pairing but I'm not complaining. I didn't have to cook.
So,the wine. I was prepared for the acidic taste but didn't bother to let Craig know. He took a gulp of the wine and immediately made his decision that the wine was no good. His first words were "tastes like balsamic vinegar." The first couple of mouthfuls were hard to get down. It is a very acidic wine and you can very much taste the tannins in the wine. The tannins relaxed a bit as the wine breathed (so if you try a Malbec, make sure to either decanter it or let the wine breathe in the bottle for a good hour) and I found the wine to be at least drinkable. I even had a second glass. My mother took a whiff of the wine and couldn't get any closer than that to trying it. Craig didn't even finish his glass but the effort was there. He just couldn't get past the acidic taste. "So much for me liking all the reds" he said. And he would like to point out that this was by far the worst wine we've had to date.

So it's not a rave review for this Malbec but let me assure you that there are some amazing Malbecs out there. My sister and I all last summer enjoyed a bottle (or six) of Malbec wines and loved them all. Apparently this one wasn't on my list. I'll be on the look out for a better bottle of wine and as soon as I find it, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'll make a valient effort today to finish the bottle, even with my taste buds out of whack. Maybe it'll taste great with a side of cold medicine.

And the rumour is true. Next week the wine is a dessert wine and we're trying the very delicious Muscat. Let's hope we're not in for two bad weeks in a row.

#10- Viognier

The Viognier is indeed a winner. And all of the wine tasters (mother included) agree that the wine is simply delicious.

This wine was bought on a wine buying mission by yours truly. I'm heading out in a couple of weeks for a vacation so I thought it best to go and buy weeks worth of wine in one shot so I purchased four bottle of wine and at a grant total of $51. Liquor on McLeod (in Spruce Grove) is quickly becoming a favourite haunt of mine. Not only are they extremely helpful (they often look up various wines for me to provide me with additional information on a bottle of wine I'm considering), but they have an amazing variety of wines that competes with nearly any store out there. I especially love their discount rack where I found 3 of my 4 wine purchases (funnily enough, the Viognier was not one of them) and come with a 20 per cent discount.

My advice here is to become familiar with your local wine store, get to know the owners, don't be afraid to ask questions and see what discounts they do offer. Join their mailing list and find out when they have wine tastings. It's a great way to sample a variety of wines without forking over the cash. The Viognier I picked up is a French wine from Domaine de Mont-Auriol near the Mediterranean Sea.

With my wines in tow, I headed over to Maison du Parents for dinner. Pork was on the menu with a side of vegetables- a perfect combination for this white wine. And only in name. This wine is very rich and a dark yellow colour, a very nice contrast to the Gewurztraminer.

How do I describe this wine? I felt it immediately filled my mouth with wonderful goodness. Definitely a full bodied wine. My mother described how the taste hit her (in a good way) towards the back of her mouth that left you wanting more. Indeed this wine aims to please and doesn't miss.

It's fruity content paired well with the pork and left very little in terms of aftertaste. Craig quickly poured himself a glass and he too picked out the fruit flavours of the wine. It's too bad this grape in particular has become rare (it used to be quite plentiful in the Rhone Valley) because this grape makes for absolutely delicious wine.

If you want to impress at a dinner party or need a wine idea for a gift, impress them with the Viognier. It'll be sure to delight.

Next week it's back to the a red and a sister (Kristin) favourite, the Malbec! And rumour has it that an dessert wine is on top in the next couple of weeks. I'm busy researching the perfect dessert. But it's only rumour...