#31- Tempranillo

I would have thought the Tempranillo grape would have tasted similar to the Bonarda grape. Both are very similar in terms of acidity and are both considered middleweight wines. Both are usually flavoured with hints of strawberries or raspeberries. Both are spanish wines. But they didn't taste at all the same.

Kristin tasted both wines as well and like the Bonarda better but quickly wondered if it was because the wine had been open longer and had time to breathe. Perhaps. I keep making a mental note to myself to decant my reds from now on. The tempranillo did have a slight oaky taste to it so that could be it (as Kris is not a fan)

TheTempranillo wine was a celebration of sorts. This night was a special one. My brother was coming home with his baby boy Liam and his girlfriend Sharon. Born four months ago in Ontario we had only seen Liam through pictures. To say the family was excited to meet Liam was an understatement. So of course being the family that we are, we celebrated with wine!! On another note, I am happy to report that Sharon likes wine so she'll fit into this family just fine.

With hearts full of love, we turned to our other love and opened the wine. The great thing was that I had six (yes, six) bottles of wine for us to drink. Craig and I had been nice enough to leave enough wine in the bottles for people to try out the wines. So we dug in.

But Kris, Craig and I tried the tempranillo along with our turkey dinner. I know I know, a red with white meat is a huge no no but do I look like someone who cares? It was the only wine I had left in my cellar (ha, cellar...) and I wasn't about to go and buy a white wine for dinner when I had to rush there before they arrived home. So red wine and turkey it is! Mom made the dinner as she had to serve 10 of us at least. It's a quick and easy dinner to make and it was delicious!

The tempranillo wine was purchased at the Cellar in Calgary for $18.95, a great deal for this wine. The winery is Bordegas Ercavio Mas Que Vinos in Spain. I'll definitely want to try this wine again (maybe tomorrow night if there's some left) and see if the taste has changed at all. I still liked it.


So who knows what wines are next for me? I am still behind on my once a week deal so I have some catching up to do! I'm about to leave on a three week European vacation with stops in some of the most amazing wine countries in the world (France, Italy, Germany, Austria) so I'm hoping I remember and am sober enough to pick up some bottles of wine I can't pick up here! So this is it for me for a few weeks.

#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.