Southbrook Winery Tour

Recently I tried some of Southbrook’s biodynamic wine. It was so yummy we decided to check out the winery! 

The winery is situated on a 150-acre vineyard in the heart of the Niagara On The Lake wine region. They are very unique as they produce only organic and biodynamic wines. This winery was so cool to see as it is different from any winery I have been to in Niagara on the Lake. It was very modern and the architecture was so interesting to look at. Also, more importantly, their wines are becoming very well known by wine critics and consumers for the unique way they are made and the great quality of the wine. 

(tasting the wine)

(tasting the wine)

(a tour of the vineyards from Graeme)

(a tour of the vineyards from Graeme)

Southbrook was the first winery in Canada to earn both organic and biodynamic certification for its vineyard and winery. The winery prides itself on their LEED Gold Certified status. Check out the diagram below that shows some of the Green initiatives that they have.

My favourite of the Green initiatives is number 11, the native meadow. The winery even has a tea sommelier, Jennifer Commins, who uses the herbs grown in the native meadow to make unique teas for the customers. Click here to read more about Jennifer Commins.

I totally recommend visiting Southbrook. If you go, you should visit when The Yellow Pear is there. The Yellow Pear is Ontario’s first solar powered gourmet food truck. The are usually around for brunch on Saturdays from 12:00 – 16:30!

 

 

 

Southbrook’s Biodynamic Wine

Southbrook winery is located in Niagara on the Lake. They have a huge  focus on biodynamic and organic wine.

Recently a friend brought over this bottle of Southbrook’s Triumphe wine. It is a cabernet sauvignon grape varietal and is organic and biodynamic. To find out more about the biodynamic wine making process click here to read a previous blog of mine.

Due to the complicated nature of biodynamic wine making, I was really interested to try this wine! This wine was delicious! It is medium bodied and fruity.

 

Tasting Notes

Deep, dark aromas of blackcurrant jelly, dark cherry, smoked meat and spice. Generously fruity, fresh and pure. Nicely expressed Cabernet character and a fruity, lightly spiced finish. Enjoy with beef stews. 

Price

You can get this wine at the LCBO for $22.95! This is a great deal for a biodynamic wine, as biodynamic wines are usually more pricey than this.  Next, I have to visit Southbrook’s winery! 

 

Greek Wine – Agiorgitiko

This week I tried an interesting Greek grape varietal called Agiorgitiko at my boyfriend Nick’s house!

This grape varietal is one of the most commercially important indigenous Greek varieties. This grape is typically made on it’s own but can also be blended with Cabernet Sauvignon.

 (Nick’s sister’s boyfriend Louie)

This grape makes wines that are known for their high level of fruitiness but tend to lack some acidity and body. For this reason it can be blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to give it some body and depth. The red wine produced from this grape is characteristically spicy with notes of plum.

Agiorgitiko is a very versatile grape variety that is similar to the French wines made in the Beaujolais region in France. These wines are usually tannic wines with spicy, red fruit aromas and have the potential to age. Agiorgitiko needs very little time aging or what wine makers call maceration time, which is also similar to Beaujolais wine.

(Nemea is near #6 on the map above)

According to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), the best examples of Agiorgitiko tend to come from vineyards planted in the middle range of the hillside slopes around Nemea. For this reason, Agiorgitiko is the only red grape permitted in that area. The wine experts at WSET note that the Agiorgitiko-based wines of Nemea tend to have a more “international style” which may enhance the potential of Greek wines on the international market.

We loved this wine and the label is a terrific conversation piece! The 2008 Lantides Estates Agiorgitiko has some wonderfully contemporary and eye-catching packaging for a Greek wine. The problem is that there is no name on the front causing people to come up with their own names such as the “G Red”.

Tasting Note
This wine is filled with blackberry, plum, sweet cherry, and pomegranate aromas and flavours. It is a dry red wine, which is fairly rich due to moderate to low acidity. It is good to pair with beef teriyaki, home made meatballs, or of course classic lamb souvlaki!

Price

You can buy this at the LCBO in the vintages section for $ 21.95 

 

The Prisoner Wine from Napa Valley

Our friend Becca came to visit us in Toronto and we opened a wine called The Prisoner from Napa Valley.

(Becca and Kikka)

This wine is made by a company called The Prisoner. This wine is an interesting blend of red grapes:  46% Zinfandel, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Petite Sirah, 12% Syrah, and a small amount of Charbono.

This wine is great all year around because it has a  fruity aspect to it, but it has enough substance to please those who prefer their California reds a bit more structured. It’s not just a cocktail wine, this hefty red pairs very well with braised meats and barbecue. 

Tasting Notes

Its deep ruby or purple color is followed by a big, peppery, meaty bouquet. You can smell hints of bay leaf, unsmoked cigar tobacco, black currants and sweet jammy cherries. This wine is medium to full-bodied and explosively fruity. This 2012 red is a lovely wine that you can drink now or age over the next 3-4 years.

Recent Press

Score – 90. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, Oct. 2013)

Also, Vanessa Hudgens loves this wine…

Price

This wine can be found in the vintages section at the LCBO for $ 49.95. 

A Romantic Weekend in Burgundy with Winemakers Colleen and Nick Harbour

Our weekend in Burgundy with winemakers Colleen and Nick was amazing. The spring weather was unseasonably warm. All the wine makers were worried about the grapes! Warm weather too soon in the season means that if it gets cold again the grapes could suffer. In the spring the vines awaken from their dormant period over the winter. As the spring sunshine increases, the buds begin to burst. The biggest weather related danger at this time is frost. If it gets cold again the frost can burn the leaves, or more severely the buds too. This can mean that the entire stem and that season’s crop is lost.

(picture of the vines)

Colleen and Nick are my friends who moved to Burgundy to start their own winery called Maison Harbour.

(Colleen & Nick)

The first day in Burgundy Colleen and Nick organized a picnic in the vineyards with some friends at Domaine de Blagny.

The Blagny winery is located in the Côte de Beaune area. They make premier cru wines that come from Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault villages.

(picnic food)

The picnic was delicious, we ate some amazing pork that was from a local farm.

We sampled some local pinot noir that has a special story. The wine is over 20 years old. Nick’s friend was given this wine by his father-in-law to use as a cooking wine. While he was cooking with the wine he took a sip and realized it had aged spectacularly!

(the bbq at the picnic)

The next day we went to the local farmers market. We bought some fresh duck to prepare for dinner…

(Colleen and I at the market)

Before dinner we went downstairs into Colleen and Nick’s wine cellar for an aperitif.  Here we drank some cremant (sparkling wine) made by Colleen and Nick’s neighbour.

(all of us in Colleen & Nick’s wine cellar)

(Colleen & Nick’s wine cellar)

(Colleen’s coq au vin…so yummy)

The next day we went next door to their neighbours house, where they actually make the cremant. We tried 6 different cremants during the tasting. We tried an unusual red cremant made with pinot noir as well as their special cremant made with gold flakes inside!

(picture of me at the cremant tasting)

On our last day in burgundy, Colleen and Nick took us on a bicycle tour on the Route des Grand Crus.

(Nick and I on the bicycle tour)

We had an amazing time and we can’t wait to go back and visit soon!

 

An Introduction to Maison Harbour Winery

Maison Harbour winery is located in Burgundy, France. Winemakers Nick and Colleen Harbour started the winery in 2012. Their story is romantic and I will tell you all about it… but first I want to tell you how I met Colleen…

I met Colleen in University and we quickly became best friends. Colleen always had a passion for wine. We spent many nights sharing tasting notes…

 

(picture of Colleen and I)

After University Colleen moved home to Luxembourg and married her high school sweet heart Nick Harbour.  Nick and Colleen began their careers working in finance but in 2012 they decided to quit their jobs and follow their dream. So they moved to France to start their own winery and that is how Maison Harbour came to fruition!

Click here to read more about their story.

(picture of Colleen and Nick)

They now live in Savigny-lès-Beaune, a village in the heart of the Côte-d’Or.

To find out more about  Mwinery called Maison Harbour!

Their 2013 production will be just over 300 cases and include two Chardonnays and four Pinot Noirs. Click here to find out more about their wines.

 

 

 

 

What is Corked Wine?

Corked wine is the term used to refer to wine that has gone bad. It is usually characterized by a set of undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine.

You can only determine if a wine is corked after you open it. This means the wine has been bottled, aged, and then opened before you find out. This can be extremely annoying if you have aged a wine for years before opening it just to find out it has gone bad!

Other factors can be responsible for cork taint besides just the cork itself – including wooden barrels, storage conditions, and the transport of the corks and the wine. But the cork stopper itself is normally considered to be the main factor, and a wine found to be tainted on opening is said to be “corked“.

The term “corked” refers to what happens when a substance known as TCA is produced when chlorine solutions used to sterilize corks contact mold in the cork. Corked wine has a characteristic odor, variously described as resembling a moldy newspaper, wet dog, damp cloth, or damp basement.

 

In almost all cases of corked wine the wine’s original aroma is reduced significantly, and a very tainted wine is quite unpalatable, although harmless.

Calamus Winery Futures Tasting

We went to a ‘futures wine tasting’ held at the Vintage Conservatory last month. Calamus Winery gave us an exclusive tasting of their wine that is still in the barrel but will be ready to bottle in the fall. Calamus is located in the Niagara Region near Vineland.

 

 

Calamus is a small winery owned by a nice couple, Derek and Pat, who used to have corporate jobs in Toronto and moved to Niagara to pursue their dream. They bought some property in Vineland and when the land was being prepared for the planting of the vineyards they found small arrow fragments. The name Calamus is Latin for the word arrow.

We tasted wine that was made in 2012 which was a hot, dry year in Niagara. Consequently the wine is a great quality wine but there was not much made that year. Due to the hot, dry climate a small amount of grapes grew on the vines and they were more acidic. It was hard to imagine what the wine will taste like after aging for 6 more months so the owners also brought some wine from 2007. They said the finished 2012 wine will be very similar to the 2007 wine we tried.

This winery is unique as they offer an interesting wine club called the Cosmic Wine Club. If you join the Cosmic Wine Club you are invited to come to the winery on special nights to look through their 16 inch telescope. So you can enjoy some wine while watching the stars! This was irresistible for my boyfriend Nick who loves astronomy. We are so excited to be a part of a wine club and even more excited to look at the stars!

 

 

Crémant de Loire

My friend Jess and I recently drank some Crémant de Loire to celebrate her 29th Birthday.

Crémant de Loire is sparkling wine made in the Loire wine region in France. It cannot be called Champagne as it is not made in the Champagne region. Yet, usually wine makers use the same traditional method that is used in making Champagne.

A wonderful addition to a sparkling wine is a little Cassis (shown in the picture above). The cassis liqueur adds colour and a bit of sweet flavour.

Crémant de Loire is often light and fruity. It tastes similar to champagne and is often less than half the price. This specific Crémant de Loire we drank was made by Chateau de Montgueret.

Tasting Note

Pale lemon-green colour.  Has a classic aromas of mineral, lime, apple and yeast. This wine is medium-bodied with orchard fruit, lime and mineral flavours. 

Serving Suggestion

Serve chilled with savoury appetizers, soft cheeses, or seafood.

Price

You can get this at the LCBO for $ 19.95!!!

 

 

Amaro Montenegro – Italian Liqueur

An Amaro (Italian for “bitter”) is an Italian herbal liqueur that is commonly drunk after-dinner as a digestif. It usually has a bitter-sweet flavor, sometimes syrupy, and has an alcohol content between 16% and 40%.

My Italian roommate’s favorite Amaro is called Amaro Montenegro.

Amaro Montenegro, was created over a hundred years ago in 1885 by a famous distiller and herbalist, Stanislao Cobianchi.

The name “Montenegro” is a dedication to the beautiful princess Elena of Montenegro, who was engaged to the Italian prince Victor Emanuel III. She left Serbia to marry the prince despite her mother’s disapproval. Her mother was so distressed with the fact that Elena had changed her religion to Catholicism that she refused to come to the wedding ceremony in Rome. Elena became eventually became the Queen of Italy from 1900 until 1946. She was quite philanthropic and financed many charitable institutions for the injured during the 1st world war.

Elena of Montenegro

Amaro Montenegro is made from a blend of over 40 different herbs from all over the world.

Tasting Notes

Displays botanical scents of orange peel, fresh coriander, red cherry, pekoe tea cucumber. This liqueur tastes sweet at first then it quickly turns mildly bitter and botanical. There’s a slight sweetness of tangerine or mandarin peel. Aftertaste is moderately bittersweet and citrusy. 

Where to buy it

You can get this at the LCBO for $ 25.30.