We spent last weekend with family celebrating our son’s 10th
birthday. The celebration started with a
scavenger hunt for the gifts followed by a feast of spice-rub ribs and
lemon-pepper chicken with salads and grilled vegetables. We enjoyed a bottle of off dry Ontario rosé
and a crisp Italian white with lunch, though the highlight of the meal was the
birthday cake which Jac created in the form of a giant cupcake – delicious!
This edition of wine for the weekend takes a slight
deviation from conventional wine styles to focus on one of the more fragrant white
varieties, that being Muscat from Alsace.
With cooler weather in the forecast I also thought we’d try a bottle of
tawny port, though this example is displaced by over 18,000 km from its place
of origin.
This week’s WineSpot comes to us from Dan Trcka a good
friend from Wine Align and author of the brand new website
GrapeSelections.com
Enjoy!
White
2008 François Schwach
Muscat – Alsace
This is a highly fragrant variety known for its combination
of floral and citrus aromas. Winemakers
in Alsace seem to have a knack for capturing the
potential of Muscat . Slightly off dry to taste and delicate in a
word. Expect a perfumed nose that
precedes a clean, fresh and slightly sweet taste to a combination of
orange/peach and spice on the finish. Quite good on its own or paired with
Asian cuisine. $13.65 (261644) Vintages
off-dry
Fortified
R.L. Buller & Son,
Victoria Tawny – Victoria , Australia
Wood aging softens the tannic structure of port wine leaving
it with a slight nutty character combined with hints of orange rind, raisin,
and figs. Traditionally port is served
slightly chilled, though I prefer mine at room temperature – try it both ways and
see which you like best. Either way,
make sure you have a chocolate dessert on hand to savour with this sweet treat. $18.95 (271403) sweet
$20.05 | 750mL bottle
Dan recalls that Sandhill’s 2009 Cab/Merlot is a medium bodied,
integrated wine, with intense aromas of black cherry, blackberry, sweet
vanilla, cedar and very faint green notes. Slightly on the acidic side
though the tannins are refined (decant for 1+ hours) and the finish is
long. He suggests that you can drink it now or cellar a few bottles for
up to 5 years. This wine can be enjoyed with food (perhaps homemade
spaghetti and meatballs at the dinner table or with burgers hot off the grill
while camping). Incidentally Dan has
just published an interesting article via GrapeSelections.com detailing how to
best enjoy your vino while camping – please take a moment to visit him.
Thanks for the WineSpot Dan!
~> I’d love to hear your thoughts on a food & wine
pairing: What is your favourite
dish? And which wine highlights the
flavours of the food? Send me a quick note with your thoughts and I’ll publish it in a future edition of Wine for the
Weekend.
