#26- Chenin Blanc

And so began the weekend of five! I was very much looking forward to this weekend, not only because we get to drink a crap load of wine (all for research purposes of course) but that I was again going on some amazing hikes in the Rocky Mountains. We are so lucky that we have such a wonder like the Rockies in our backyard, just an few hours drive away from the chaos and into some peaceful awe and wonder. And with glasses of wine to boot!

Now, Craig wasn't feeling well at all for this trip but total trooper that he is, he joined me on the camping weekend anyway (turns out he has bronchitis and should not have been doing what he was doing all weekend)- but turns out all of us Stevenson's have a stubborn streak (pneumonia ring a bell for anyone? oh what? right-- that was me...)

So Friday night we kicked off our weekend with a more common wine available here in Canada- the grape being a Chenin Blanc. The winery is from South Africa called the Winery of Good Hope and the wine itself has some interesting information on it. The wine was purchases at the Cellar (amazing store by the way) in Calgary Alberta for $21.95.

Craig was really sick that evening and wasn't able to try it that evening but took a nice swig of it after our crazy weekend. Instead, my mother joined me in drinking this wine and let's just put it this way-- before I knew it, my mother was refilling our wine glasses! A fan of white wine, it would be safe to say that it's mom approved! I too really enjoyed this wine and it actually didn't go too badly with our steak and pan fries. This would be a great wine to pair with a tastier dish such as Thai food or anything Asian or Mexican or Spanish.
With a slice of tomato from the back garden (before the blight arrives!), I was ready to enjoy a nice glass of white to put me to sleep. I had two glasses and could have had more but we did have to keep some for Craig to try a little later.

This wine was so light and crisp, easily a wine to drink on its own. You could definitely taste the citrus flavours and when told, the cinnamon could be tasted on the back of your taste buds. It left no aftertaste whatsoever. This wine would also be a good starter wine for someone looking to try wine further. It's quite acidic and on the sweet side (but not too sweet, again a great wine to drink all on its own).

The label itself is awesome- too bad I can't keep it. It's right on the bottle itself so the bottle may now become a funky new vase of sorts.

Craig and I packed two reds and two whites for the two full days of camping we had ahead of us. What a weekend to look forward to. (I also don't have pictures of Craig and I drinking the Chenin Blanc so I'll have to come back and replace the filler pics).

#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!