#67- Tocai Fruilano

As soon as I got back from my two and half month journey, I jumped right back into the drinking (the writing part is a different story). I hadn't had much wine at all as wine seems to be very expensive in Asia. When I was in Indonesia (Bali to be specific), we ordered two bottles of Australian wine and the bill came to $80! And this is a country that is not at all far from Australia. So we stuck to beer mostly.

So as you can tell by the next couple of pictures, I got pretty tan! The Same Same shirt is from Thailand and if you've ever been there or Cambodia (which I also visited), you know exactly what that shirt means!

I didn't feel much like cooking so it was some home cooked meals and the parents house. The first meal I paired the white wine- Tocai Fruilano with was salmon cakes with swiss chard as the side. The meal was absolutely delicious. The wine- I'm neutral.

There is nothing about this wine that sticks out in particular except how bright yellow it is (interesting to note that two other whites I tried are very similar in colour to the Tocai and they appear very closely together on the Wine Grape Varietal table...). The wine is very fruity and super easy to drink. It's got a little kick to it- almost spicy. And pressed for it, I could taste the pears.

Tocai Fruilano . And today, you can't actually get a Tocai Fruilano any longer as the name has changed because of recent rulings by the wine police (I'm just kidding) but there have been name changes and an interesting article gives more details on why and when. Today it is now known as Sauvignon Vert (green) and if looked at in proper light, some have a green streak. When the wine is from Italy it's known now as just Fruilano. This wine is from Slovenia so I'm guessing they're still allowed to call it a Tocai Fruilano. Confused yet? I am because reading about Sauvignon Vert, it says that the Hungarian version is the Furmint but to me that's an entirely different grape. Can anyone sort this for me?

 I couldn't find a website for the Movia Winery but did confirm through some other blogs that it is indeed in Slovenia.

Next!

#54- Macabeo (Viura)

The first white wine of 2011 and we have- a split decision, bordering on thumbs down.  I was neutral to the wine (and had a couple of glasses as it was neither good nor bad in my opinion) but Craig didn't like the wine at all.

The Viura or Macabeo grape is a Spanish grape grown in the northern region of Rioja and southern regions such as Barcelona. It is pale yellow in colour and has some fruity aromas. This bottle was from the Castillo de Manseran Winery in Spain. You could taste the pear and some mineral to it which made it slightly less sweet that a wine typical of fruit like flavours. The pear was not at all overpowering, just light hints of it.  I found it sweet enough and pleasant enough to drink quite easily.

The wine was fairly cheap, $11.99 picked up at Aligra Wine and Spirits at West Edmonton Mall. They have a great range of wines there and Craig and I were quickly able to find the selection of wines we were looking for.

I drank this wine while I was on my week of salad dinners- I had different salads each night of the week and that night, I paired the wine with a cold steak and spinach salad (with onion and feta and black olives- a cross between a spinach salad and greek salad). As a side note, did you know that a Greek salad can be considered a fruit salad? All the "vegetables" found in a Greek salad are in fact fruit (they all have seeds) so the next time you bring a fruit salad to a party, bring a Greek. Okay, I digress. but the salad I had was absolutely delicious!

Overall, I woulndn't run out and get this wine again as I've had better Spanish wines but I can't quite give it the the thumbs down Craig gives it. He didn't like it and found it bitter. My mom found it to have a terrible aftertaste. I don't remember that part so maybe that occurs after the bottle's been open for a couple of days.

If you're looking to try a new white and like it, take a pass on this one.

#33- Kerner

Well well well. We have ourselves a winner! And not just a winner. Craig has officially declared this wine his favourite to date. I'm not even exaggerating when I say Craig and our mother went on and on about how good this wine was! Liquid goodness.

So what wine is this? Amazingly it's a Canadian wine and from a winery that I've actually been to. The grape however, is new to me. I'd never heard of the Kerner grape before but I do like the Gray Monk Estate Winery in Kelowna, British Columbia (that's our western most province in case you're not from around here). The Kerner grape is very aromatic, very acidic and is a lightweight wine. The colour of the wine was straw, but very blonde.

Like I said, I am familiar with this winery. I lived in Kelowna in 1996 for my radio practicum and we were lucky enough to get a winery tour and drink some fabulous wine. I bought my very first ice wine from them! Being in a cold Canadian climate, ice wine is a great wine to buy from here.

I chose the wine based on its pairing with my dinner. Now, looking at the picture of my dinner, I wouldn't want to eat it. But trust me- this dinner is delicious! (if I could serve this at my wedding without being laughed at I would). The dinner is Creamed Turkey on Toast, a meal that uses your left over turkey. It is so good. Made with mushroom soup and vegetables, you pour it over a bed of rice or pieces of toast. To die for. The Kerner wine mentioned it went well with white meat.

So I was pretty excited to try the Gray Monk Kerner wine. Nicely chilled, I poured myself a glass.I immediately liked it and thought it paired well with the turkey. While I was able to pull out the fruity flavour, Craig was immediately able to taste the pear (maybe because the bottle had been open for a while, the flavour became more pronounced). The wine did remind me a bit of a Riesling and looking at the varietal table, it is the most similar grape I've tried to date (though it is very different in overall taste, there is definite hints of riesling). 

The wine is also quite sweet but not overbearing. I definitely wouldn't serve it on its own. Craig would disagree and so would my mom. I'm pretty sure if I plopped a couple of wine bottles of this in front of them, they'd down them! Maybe an experiment is in order...

Anyway, the wine is fabulous and I had two glasses before putting the cork in it to take over for others to taste. I would definitely stay with a lighter food or supper with this wine and the high acidity was nicely neutralized with the mushroom sauce. Overall-  a great dinner and wine!

The next wine on the list is a red wine- the Petite Syrah!