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California Wine

Upkeep Updates

Upkeep Updates: Whisky, Vodka and Wine Edition

April 17, 2017
Collingwood whisky maple cocktail

It’s been a busy few weeks for me, as I’ve been actively training for my first 10K race (I completed the Spring Run Off 8K just last weekend), continuing my year-long yoga challenge (I’ve hit my mat every single day in 2017 so far), working on my novel and more. But while I have less time to update the blog these days, I’m still doing my best to make time for wine and spirits adventures. Below is a re-cap of a few of those that I wanted to share with you!

Collingwood whisky maple cocktailCollingwood Whisky

If I’m not drinking wine, I’m probably drinking whisky. I gravitate towards Irish whiskey, but there are some pretty great Canadian options too and Collingwood is one of those. I recently attended an event at the iYellow Wine Club to check out some Collingwood cocktails and food pairings and I was quite impressed. This Ontario whisky is smooth and drinkable on its own and it works very well in a cocktail. My personal favourite was the French Canadian, which highlights the maple flavours in this spirit. We also worked our way through a few interesting pairings—shortbread, almonds and maple syrup—all of which brought out different flavours in the whisky. In general, I don’t pair shortbread and whisky, but given how it improved upon that buttery goodness, I might just start.

Social Lite Vodka Pineapple Mango Vodka Soda drinkSocial Lite Pineapple Mango

Because I don’t enjoy sugar-sweetened beverages, vodka soda is my jam when I’m out at a bar with a bad wine list (a sadly frequent occurrence in this city where Barefoot and Yellow Tail are acceptable house wines). I’ve tried Social Lite’s product before and I like them – they’re a great option for cottage and patio sipping if you’re not wanting the sugar kick of a cooler. We got a sample of the new pineapple mango flavour and I enjoyed it. Shawn prefers their cucumber flavour and I have to admit I like their lime ginger a little better than this one (but lime is also my go-to in vodka soda), but this has a sweet kick that might be a little easier on those transitioning from traditionally sweetened coolers. Whatever your flavour preference, I love seeing a company making healthy cooler options easily available.

Ca'Momi MerlotThe California Wine Fair and Cali Wine Jam

For one week in April, the good folks of the California wine world descend on Toronto to promote their wines. For those in the wine trade, there are lots of different opportunities to taste and for the general public there are two very different and equally good events. The California Wine Fair at The Fairmont Royal York Hotel is a lovely evening that allows potential buyers to taste and try some of the best that California has to offer. For many, this is an opportunity to try high-end wines that might be out of their typical price range and to discover new favourites that are available only via agent. I was disappointed that Bonny Doon and Birichino were not at the event, as I’m always eager for opportunities to taste their wines, but other perennial favourites like Jordan Wines and Stags’ Leap made up for that. I also discovered new wines to love, like Pine Ridge’s excellent Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend, Vermention’s Seghesio and Malene’s 2015 rosé. Other finds? Hope Family Vineyards, one of the producers I most enjoy, is finally bringing their Treana line to Ontario, which I’ve been eagerly awaiting, and the Ca’Momi 2015 Merlot is just about the best Merlot I’ve had in ages. Shawn’s pick of the night? The Game of Thrones wine. Not because he liked it (he much preferred the Jordan 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon), but because he just loves everything GOT.

Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc and ViognierOn the other side of the spectrum, iYellow’s Cali Wine Jam is a fun and friendly afternoon of California wine that’s perfect for the entry-level buyer or wine newbie. This event was held in a sun-dappled venue with a DJ spinning dance-friendly beats. The wines are more easily available and easy-drinking, so this is the type of event for those who might feel intimidated by a typical tasting evening. I was happy to see Hope Family’s Troublemaker available here (please make this general list, LCBO!) along with their very good 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. Troublemaker is a red blend that’s not overly sweet, but yet still wonderfully drinkable.  I also really enjoyed the Ravenswood 2014 Old Vines Zinfandel, which is a go-to in our house when I want a big, bold and not overly hot Zin.

So that’s just a quick update on a few of the fun wine and spirits adventures I’ve had over the last month or so. Let me know what you’ve been up to in the comment or on social!

*We were guests at the events where we tried these wines and the Social Lite was a sample. All opinions are my own.

Best of

Red, Red Wines for Winter

February 20, 2017
Chateau des Charmes 2015 Cabernet Franc

It’s been a red, red wine season at my place with big, spicy reds sounding pretty perfect on cold winter nights. I’ve been lucky to have a few sample bottles on hand that ensured there was always something new to try. Here are a few of my recent favourites.

Southbrook 2015 Triomphe Pinot NoirChateau des Charmes 2015 Cabernet Franc – Cabernet Franc is a grape that Ontario does extremely well and this 2015 from Niagara’s Chateau des Charmes is an excellent example. We cracked this one open for Shawn’s birthday and it was bursting with big, bold flavours. Lots of ripe red fruit, well-balanced spice and a hint of black pepper on the finish. This was one of the best Ontario wines I’ve had in the last few months. I highly recommend.

Southbrook Vineyards 2015 Pinot Noir – With cherry, raspberry, plum, vanilla and root beer on the nose and lots of red fruit on the palate, this Niagara sipper has a longish finish with lots of fruit. A pleasant and very drinkable wine from one of Ontario’s most reliable wineries.

Louis M. Martini 2014 Cabernet SauvignonLouis M. Martini 2014 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon – This wine is available for just a little while longer at the LCBO and it’s well worth seeking out. A value-priced California Cab Sauv, this has smoked meat, cassis and big red berries on the nose. The palate is smoky and earth with nice fruit on the finish. A nice wine to pair with dinner.

What do you have in your glass this month? Share your suggestions in the comments or on social.

*These three wines were samples–opinions are most definitely my own.

Food & Wine

Three Red Wines To Kick-off September

September 5, 2016
Chateau des Charmes 2014 Gamay Noir “Droit” is a lighter red for Autumn sipping.

The other day, I sent out a tweet saying that it felt like red wine weather was here. And in Toronto over the Labour Day weekend, that certainly feels true. I’ve heard that the heat and humidity, which has felt like a heavy blanket over the city all summer, will return. But right now I’m taking the opportunity to run through cool breezes, sit on the patio sipping big cups of tea and curl up on the couch with my hubby drinking big glasses of red wine.

I unrepentantly love autumn and its perfect running weather, chunky sweater cuddles and humidity-clearing breezes. It makes me want to drink the boldest, spiciest wines. I don’t do pumpkin spice lattes (protein smoothies, maybe), but give me a wine with a kick of black pepper, deep earthy notes or a touch of anise and I’m all in.

Granted, I drink red wine (and white) all year long, but this summer heatwave had me reaching for rosé or very light whites more often. In anticipation of the fall season, Shawn and I tested out a few lighter-bodied reds that had arrived as samples and I wanted to share our thoughts below. These are great transitions from summer into fall drinking, as you ease your way towards Cabernet Sauvignon.

I hope you’ll share what you’re drinking this fall in the comments or on social.

Chateau des Charmes – 2014 Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir is a great light red wine for fall.Chateau des Charmes – 2014 Paul Bosc Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir

Like much of the country, Shawn and I watched the last Tragically Hip concert on CBC in August. We weren’t enormous fans growing up, but like for many Canadians the Hip was just always there, woven into the fabric of our lives. Given that we weren’t super fans, I didn’t anticipate that this night would be so emotionally charged. I had chosen this wine because I wanted something Canadian for the evening and it paired nicely with dinner (chicken breasts done with a light tandoori glaze). We had tried to get a bottle of the Tragically Hip wine, but that was sold out province-wide (we had a bottle from the previous vintage that we had opened a few months earlier, it was OK wine, nothing special, but I kind of wish I’d held onto it a little longer so we had it for this night).

This CDC wine was a nice selection, it has notes of root beer, dark cherry and hints of milk chocolate on the nose. It’s earthy and balanced on the palate with dark red fruit and some cherry chocolate notes. It’s very food-friendly and very well-made (most CDC wines are), but I’ll always remember it as the wine in my glass during one of the most memorable nights I’ve had. When I broke down sobbing, watching a man with brain cancer scream and cry while giving the last performance of a lifetime, I didn’t really need wine, but I did raise a glass more than three hours into the show to toast one of the most brilliant, heart-breaking, powerful performances I’ve ever seen. And, like many of the important things in life, this wine will always be part of that memory.

La Crema 2014 Monterey Pinot Noir is a good option for cool weather sipping.

La Crema – 2014 Monterey Pinot Noir

OK, I don’t have anything half as memorable as the story above to tell you about drinking the La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir. We received it as a sample and it’s available via Vintages right now (September 3, 2016 is the release date). I like La Crema wines – they have a Canadian winemaker and I find that they’re well-made and very drinkable. I got smoke, root beer, dark cherry and wet soil on the nose and lots of earthy notes and a bit of anise on the palate (fellow blogger Jason Solanki said it had lots of notes of tea and I can see that too), as well as some black pepper and clove on the finish. I liked it and Shawn did too.  It paired well with pizza and was a nice addition to our movie night. If you like California Pinot Noir, this is very much worth picking up.

Chateau des Charmes 2014 Gamay Noir “Droit” is a flavourful red wine for fall.Chateau des Charmes – 2014 Gamay Noir “Droit”

As a general rule, I don’t like to include two wines from the same winery in a wrap-up post like this, but I like Chateau des Charmes wines a lot and this one is very different than the Pinot Noir (plus, my review is a lot more standard for this one).

First, a confession, I struggle with Gamay. It’s just not my grape. I have many a wine-loving friend who absolutely loves Gamay and they are always telling me I will find one that just blows me away. So far, that hasn’t  happened, but I think of it the way I think about not liking watermelon – I get that everyone else likes it and it’s just me, so please don’t let me colour your thinking on this grape.

This is especially true here because this CDC wine is a very good Ontario Gamay. It won gold at the Ontario Wine Awards and the National Wine Awards, it’s extremely well made and the nose is just lovely – wet grass, black pepper, red current, stewed plums and a wonderful spiciness. It’s got black pepper and dark red fruit on the palate and has a tart, spicy freshness that just screams fall sipping.

This was another pizza and a movie night wine in our house and it paired well with both our Mediterranean chicken pizza and Johnny Depp’s Black Mass.  While Gamay is not my ‘go-to’ wine, I hope you’ll try this one because there’s a good chance it will be yours.

Coming up in the fall, I’ll return to my monthly wine round-ups and there will be lots more wine travel posts, as Shawn and I want to share more about our trips to Germany and Lake Erie North Shore. Shawn will also be covering Toronto Beer Week (he’s scheduled to do his level 2 Prud’homme Beer Specialist in October!) and I’m working on a whole bunch of new winemaker profiles to share with you! It should be a fun few months here at Upkeep.

*We received all three of these wines as samples, but all opinions (especially my long, rambling ones about The Tragically Hip) are our own.

Book Reviews

Nose: A Novel

June 20, 2016
A review of Nose, a novel by James Conaway

I recently finished another novel set in the wine world, as I play catch-up on my backlog of wine reading. Nose is a novel by wine critic James Conaway that has been sitting on my shelf for about a year. It tells the story of a mystery wine that blows away a pompous, old school wine critic and leads him on a quest to find out who made this incredible wine.

The story starts out with wine critic Clyde Craven-Jones, but CJ is far from the only character whose perspective is shared—there’s Les, a young journalist turned wine obsessive and makeshift PI, Claire, CJ’s long-suffering wife, Sara, a medical technician and the daughter of a California wine scion struggling under debt, Cotton, an environmentally conscious winemaker devastated by the loss of his great love and seething over the role of Sara’s father in that tragedy and Sam, the owner of Glass Works, the wine bar where everything comes together at some point or another.

All these characters (and a few others of less import) weave in and out of the narrative, as we piece together the complex story of this wine and the people in its orbit. There’s also Nose, the gossipy wine blog that bedevils CJ (an old school wine critic annoyed by a blogger – that would never happen, right?), as his own publication struggles.

There’s a lot going on in this book. I might argue that there’s actually way too much going on, since I often found myself losing the plot threads. But I would say the biggest flaw with this book is that you stay with the characters for such a short time that you don’t really understand (or even like) them. Les seems like the central character, and is something of an anti-hero, but I found myself mostly confused and annoyed by his behaviour. C.J. flits back and forth between pompous fop and misunderstood genius and Claire, who is the most likable character in the beginning, drifts off in a very weird direction by the end.

The mystery of the wine isn’t terribly mysterious (it’s fairly obvious where this part of the plot is going from early on), but there were a few surprising twists and turns along the way. Conaway clearly knows and understands the California wine industry and I suspect some of the characters are based on the people he’s met along the way. Unlike real life, though, sometimes it’s better to try and tell the story from fewer perspectives to have the most impact.

I have a few more Conaway books on my list for 2016 and I’m excited to see how I feel about his non-fiction. Novels are a personal thing, so I’d be interested in hearing from others who have read Nose and their thoughts on the book! Share your reviews of Nose in the comments or on social.