Tagged : wine pairing

in Wine & Food

Pentage Pentage

2004 Vintage
Tasted: March 2010

The Pentage Pentage is a rather interesting mix of Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Syrah, and Gamay Noir. We picked up this bottle of the ’04 at The Hooded Merganser for a reasonable for restaurant price $68. I’m a bit conflicted as to what it actually tastes like, but I’ll go with blackberry, leather, a bit of a ripe berry blast, and a bit of oak. All around it’s a nice drinking wine and well paired with a nice filet steak.

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic. It was really dark.

in Wine & Food

Nichol Vineyard Gewürztraminer

2008 Vintage
Tasted: August 2010

The Nichol Gewürztraminer is a little different than the other ones on the Naramata Bench. This particular vintage shows some good acid and notes of melon — particularly honeydew. It’s nice and tart, but not too sweet and is a nice Gewürtz if you’re more into dryer more acidic wines.

I’d pair it up with Indian food like curries, or even a vegetarian meal. The melon undertones oddly compliment garlic, but in a nice way of course. If you’re a Gewürtz fan definitely give it a taste.

in Wine & Food

Meyer Family Micro Cuvee Chardonnay

2007 Vintage
Tasted: July 2010

This is without a doubt the most expensive chardonnay in the Okanagan Valley and I had to know what it was like. At $65 for the 2007 vintage it is far far from cheap, and to top it off, the new 2008 vintage is only available as a magnum 1.5L bottle, making it roughly $130 — for an Okanagan white wine that’s expensive.

Knowing the price I saw it fitting to pair this up with something decent, so I cooked up an amateur foodie feast consisting of a pan cooked halibut with roasted yellow pepper puree and Okanagan apricot salsa.

I was on the mark with the pairing, but how was the wine?

Without any prejudice I will say that this chard is fantastic. It’s got nice acid, a bit of malolactic fermentation butteriness without it being too much, and a wild cacophony of other flavours. All in all this might be one of my favourite chardonnays from the Okanagan, and it is certainly a nice blend of sweet and tart.

On the winery end they give it a cellar life of 3-5 years, and in terms of process this chardonnay is blended from the best 6 barrels in the batch that all came from the same cooper with the wooden staves all coming from The Troncais Forest.

The wine itself is nicely structured with butter and honey on the nose while the palate brings a mix of granny smith caramel apple and kettle corn. The finish brings a nice lingering toasted oak with some citrus notes and acidity. All in all this is a great chard, but the real question is whether or not it’s worth it for the price.

At the end of the day I think this is a wine for chardonnay aficionados. At $65 it is at least $30 more than the La Frenz Reserve or Blue Mountain Reserve Chardonnays which are both excellent. While this one could arguably be worth the money I feel that the extra money spent brings slightly diminishing returns. In short, at almost twice the price you are not getting twice the quality of wine; however, if you are a die-hard “chardie” then you will definitely want to try this one.

At the end of the day this is a great wine for chard fans with some extra digits in the pocket book, but if you’re not big on chardonnay or are experimenting it may be best to buy two bottles of something else.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this wine, but know what you’re getting yourself into!

in Wine & Food

Stoneboat Vineyards Nebbia

Stoneboat Nebbia 2007 on the patio at the Hooded Merganser in Penticton

2007 Vintage
Tasted: July 2010
Stoneboat is fast becoming one of my favourite wineries in the Okanagan Valley. The winery itself is quaint and almost Cape Cod-esque inside the tasting room. The wines are subtle and just plain good. I want to say that Stoneboat Vineyards is the dark horse of the Black Sage Bench in Oliver, BC. It’s a little off the beaten path and feels like a well kept secret.

I’m a big fan of their Pinotage and Pinotage Solo (reserve), so when my usual watering hole (The Hooded Merganser) offered me some of the 2007 Nebbia by the glass I jumped at the chance.

It’s a lively wine perfect for summer sippin’. The dominant characteristic to me was a Granny Smith apple with a hint of honey. It’s subtly sweet, but tart and crisp, making it a nice food wine. I paired it with red snapper, rice, and asparagus, but it went equally well with the halibut with olive tapenade that I stole off of my friend’s plate.

I didn’t get to spend much time with the bottle, but the Stoneboat winery website tells me that this is a blend of Pinot Gris & Pinot Blanc, with Müller Thurgau, Kerner, and Schönburger grapes. Apparently it is also a botrytis affected wine. I love how fungus can turn into such a great thing!

I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like for the current vintage Nebbia has had a name change to Chorus. The blend appears the same.

Stoneboat Nebbia
Stoneboat Chorus

in Misc Bin

Quinta Ferreira Syrah

2007
The Quinta Ferreira Syrah is something that I picked up after my first trip to the winery in Oliver, BC. I didn’t actually taste this one, but after liking some of their other wines I figured it was a gamble I was willing to make.

This is a fairly easy drinking, punchy Syrah with somewhat fruity characteristics, and not so much on the dark earthy notes. Honestly, it’s not my favourite Syrah, but it’s slightly jammy taste makes it approachable. I would say it was a medium body type wine with smooth tannins. Nothing too complex here, but nice in its own right.

I would likely open this bottle with someone who preferred fruitier wines and was looking to make an attempt at bigger red wines. In terms of pairing I would probably go with a good old fashioned BBQ burger.

For $25 CAD it’s on par with others in it’s value range and would stack up next to something like the Jackson Triggs Proprietor’s Grand Reserve which edges in at a slightly higher $28 CAD.

in Wine & Food

Abadia Retuerta Sardon De Duero Tempranillo



2004 Vintage
I like this one! It’s a nice blend of mostly Tempranillo with a little Cab Sauv thrown in the mix. I’d say overall it’s a big red, and an excellent wine. It’s full bodied with good tannins and a dark brooding flavour.

Who I’d Drink This With
I’d probably drink this wine with Javier Bardem or Benicio Del Toro. There’s some intensity to it, so intense company works.

What I’d Eat With It
For this I’d go lamb. I’m not sure why, but something about this wine screams lamb chop. Basically something gamey. On the vegetable side thing meaty like eggplant.