For those in Search of a Summer Wine

This week I made my wine choice based solely on looks. The liquor store on the weekend was stocked with loads of new wines just in time for summer. It seems the trend in wine for the last little while as been strange names: Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush, Goats Do Roam In Villages, Ten Minutes By Tractor, Cleavage Creek and Mad Housewife to name a few. I was having a hard time deciding on a wine and almost left without one until a teal label(my favourite colour)caught my eye. As I looked at the label, I knew I had to buy this wine.

From the hand writing on the label; to the twist cap with the rock, paper, scissors hands; to the name, I knew this would be a great wine. My ever so sophisticate checklist has never steered my wrong. It was called Sibling Rivalry from Henry of Pelhem and it was a blend of Riesling, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer. The caption said it all: "Sibling Rivalry is greater then the sum of all parts."

When it came time to open the wine and have my first glass, I became a little nervous. I was so excited about this wine based on the great name and label, but what if it tasted like cat's pee on a gooseberry bush? Thankfully the wine was delicious. The sweetness of the Riesling and Gewurztraminer it mellowed out by the Chardonnay and what you are left with is a tart, fruity, refreshing wine. I think I may have found my new summer wine. And my love only grew when I checked out their website. So have a look and then get yourself a bottle of Sibling Rivalry!

If you need a little more than a review based on a great label check out what theGlobe and Mail said. If you prefer to watch rather then read, check out this episode of the Naked Wine Show .

Can I Offer you a Glass of Fortified Wine?

One of the greatest things about visiting friends is that they often have wines that you normally won't buy. So when I was recently offered a glass of fortified red wine, how could I say no?

Unfortunately my wine knowledge up to this point does not include fortified wine. And even more unfortunate was the fact that my host had little experience with fortified wines also. We spent sometime speculating about what it could be. Before we plunged into the unknown wine, we decided to run a quick Google search to find out what we were getting into.

A wine that is fortified has a distilled alcohol added to it, usually brandy. The alcohol is added before the end of the fermentation process which kills the yeast and leaves the sugar. And voila you are left with a sweet dessert wine.

Upon this discovery, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. I am not that crazy about dessert wine and the the atmosphere wasn't really really calling for a dessert wine, but in the name of the blog I tried it.

It was a beautiful deep maroon and I loved the tears of wine a.k.a the wine legs a.k.a the church curtains a.k.a the the way the wine coats the glass. All wines will do this but a dessert wine does it best.

In the end, the fortified wine had a really nice rich fruity taste but after about an ounce I was happy to switch to some homemade Gewurztraminer. It may not have the legs, but the lower sugar content won't leave in me tears the next morning.

Tears of Wine

Sunday Night Dancing is the Best

Most of my Sunday evenings are spent preparing for the new week: doing laundry, finishing homework and overall dreading the end of the weekend. So when my fabulous ladies suggested we check out a funk band and put on our Sunday night dancing shoes, I decide that wine and a funk show would make for a great first blog post.

Upon arriving at my friends I was faced with the decision of red or white. This is not a choice that I make lightly. Wine snobs would discuss "the pairing of a wine with a dish so that the full aroma and body of the wine can be felt on the palate," or thing like that. I don't do that. When considering red or white, I like to make the decision based on situation. In front of a fire: red wine. A picnic in the park: white wine. So now you ask, what goes best with a funk band? The answer is obvious. Funk music is fun, lively, light and makes you want to dance; therefore one needs a fun, lively, light white wine.

With a glass of Gewurztraminer in my hand I was ready to dance.
And danced I did. LMT Connection was the perfect fix for my need to dance. If I ever doubted my conclusion that white wine and funk go hand-in-hand my theory was proven correct shortly after arriving at the show. I watched a lady drink a glass of red wine and not even bob her head a band belted out one great funk song after another. Needless to say, the lady left and the glass of red wine was left on the table. If only she new that red wine belongs at an acoustic show not at a funk show.

What a great idea, Sunday night funk dancing. My Sunday night became a great way to start a week rather than a depressing end to the weekend.

The Unpretentious Wine Drinker

I love wine. This love is fairly new for me. It's only been about four years since I really considered wine a drink of choice. Before that time, most of my wine experience had been with "table" wine: the generic, usually mouth puckering, dry wine found at weddings. This turned me off the drink for a number of years.

When I first started drinking wine, I only drank white wine. As my palate become more "sophisticated" I switched to red and felt I was too good for the Riesling and Chardonnays of world and left them behind. Over the past year, I have discovered there is plenty of room in my life for Merlots, Cabernet Sauvignons, Pinot Grigios and Gewurztraminers.

At this point it should be stated that I do not consider myself a wine expert. I am just a girl who enjoys a glass of wine and the socializing that goes along with that glass. I will recommend a wine to try and something fun to do while drinking that wine. Not pretentious, just fun. Maybe one day, if I try really hard, I can be a pretentious wine connoisseur.

Wait, who am I kidding?