Syrah vs Shiraz... potato, patato?

Okay, what's the difference between shiraz and syrah? You probably know, right? If not, here's your nutshell. Same grape, different styles of wine. Syrah is the French style, usually, more austere, earthy, bacon, peppery notes. Shiraz is the Auz version, fruit forward, big, bold, in your face with a mace dealio. What they both have in common usually is the peppery, spicy notes, cassis or blackberry leaning fruit characters, high(ish) acid, easy tannins, medium to full body in weight, a lovely magenta colour at medium+ intensity (you can read text through your wine glass).

Here are some notes from a fun tasting we did the other day, all the wines can be purchased at Everything Wine in North Vancouver. We tasted all the wines without food first, then paired them with a black truffle salami, zucchini, tomato, fontina pizza - yum.

1. Paul Jaboulet Aine, Domaine de Thalabert, Crozes Hermitage, France, 2005 - $47.99
Winner! I loved this wine, though it didn't stand up to the pizza. Notes: Anise, caramel, plum, black cherry, pepper, cinnamon.
2. Young & Wyse, Okanagan Valley, BC, 2008 - $27.99
A good quality BC shiraz, really surprised me but didn't stand up to the Kangarilla for quality vs value. Notes: Tobacco, cassis, spice
3. Kangarilla Road, McLaren Vale, Australia, 2007 - $24.99
Winner! And look at that price! Notes: Big anise, candy, cassis, dill nose with a dusty, dark fruits palate. Paired well with bacon pizza.
4. Katnook, Founders Block, Coonawarra, 2006 - $19.99
Paled in comparison, but still a good shiraz. Notes: Earthy, vegetal, plum, mint nose. Blackberry, pencil shavings on the palate.
5. Sheridan Vineyard, Yakima Valley, Washington, 2005 - $62.99
You know when you suck it up and spend the wad on something and then it spits in your eye. This one spat in my eye. $60! Are you kidding me? I'd pay $25 for it. A real disappointment as I usually love Washington shiraz. Notes: Big blackberry almost port-esque leanings, slight smokey finish.

Ever tasted Muskox Prosciutto paired with Pinot?

BC Wilds & Wine Blind Tasting - Vancouver
Friday, March 26

Come out and taste the best of BC's exotic ingredients tamed and paired with an exclusive BC wine & libations boutique selection. These wines are only available at restaurants, usually, if at all.

Experience Chef Robin's creations with Wild Mushrooms, Sea Asparagus, Muskox & the mythical Chocolate Beast to name a few.

It's Lark's 5th year anniversary, so come check out the finest of fine clothing. Sip and Shop the latest fashions.


Tickets - $46
Email info@swallowtail.ca for tickets or pick them up at Lark Clothing Store - 2315 Main St, 604-879-5275

Cash to Charity - Proceeds go to Mount Pleasant Elementary School through Growing Chefs, local chefs promoting a love of urban agriculture in our children.



Our lovely Sponsors:
Le Vieux Pin Winery
Sea Cider
Hills Foods Ltd.
Skookum Harvest Wild Foods
Daniel Le Chocolat Belge
Van Westen Vineyards
Clos du Soleil Winery
Twisted Tree Vineyards

Silent Auction will be held of local offerings from Trips to Dinner out.

Taste - A Celebration of BC Wine & Cuisine

Press Release – Vancouver Wine Event

TASTE
A Celebration of BC Cuisine & Wine

The Food & Wine
The event is called Taste and it aims to pair local farmers, grocers, cheesemakers up with BC's boutique wineries to create an evening of sensory harmony. It's a blind wine tasting to encourage you to step away from the baggage of your preconceptions of grape and producer and simply experience the wine. Food pairings will seek to enhance each category of wine; crisp, elegant, aromatic, smooth or spicy. From sherry, huckleberry truffles to chantrelle mushroom ravioli to lovely handmade cheese by BC Foodies; you will be treated to the bounty of BC ingredients.

BC wineries involved include Blue Mountain, Wild Goose, Le Vieux Pin, La Stella with more to come.

BC ingredients will be provided by Skookum Harvest Wild Foods, BC Foodie(cheese) and Now BC Organic Food Co-op with more to come. BC Foodies will pair their specialty cheeses with each of the wine categories.

Our Charity
All proceeds from the event are going to support a very worthy cause. Mount Pleasant Elementery School has had it's funding cut, Taste is being organized to fill in some of the financial gap left after these cuts. Colleen Browning is our representative from the school and can tell you more about the specifics if you would like.

Date – Friday, Dec 4, 2009
Time – 7pm to 12pm
Location – Lark Clothing Store, 2315 Main Street, Vancouver
Tickets - $40 - RSVP
Charity Beneficiary – Mount Pleasant Elementary School
Contact – email TasteEvent@gmail.com Tel @ Lark 604-879-9965

Associated Businesses
Swallow Tail Culinary Tours
The Garden ParTy Catering
Lark Clothing Store
Browning & Co
The Flower Factory
Foodie BC - Cheesemakers
Skookum Harvest Wild Foods
Now BC Organic Co-op

To purchase tickets contact TasteEvent@gmail.com or visit Lark Clothing Store or The Flower Factory

For more information contact Lark 604-879-9965

Robin Kort
Owner
Swallow Tail Tours

Southern Okanagan Wine snuggles up to Burgundy

Here are my tasting notes for my recent Southern Okanagan wine trip. It blew me away as usual, one of my favourite wine regions in the world and cheaper than most BC wines by a few bucks. The region is similar to Burgundy in it's focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but with much more diversity due to the hot microclimates this desert region affords. Excellent merlot, pinot gris, meritgae and syrah are produced with gusto. A few stand out bottles of Gewurztraminer and a stunning sauvingnon blanc by Le Vieux Pin amazed me. Generally, I would say that they should leave the riesling to the Northern Okanagans cooler climate.

Below is a list of the shining stars of my collection from this trip. If you are going on a trip to this region (and I would recommend you do), hit these wineries for sure, especially, as you can't buy most of them anywhere except at the winery.

A note on 'facing' and soil- wineries gather grapes from different plots throughout the Okanagan, but their 'house grapes' would follow the facing I have listed. Soil types listed are general, specific sites will vary.

The Golden Mile Region
Soil - underlain by glacial fluvial sand and gravel, and alluvial fan deposits
Slope Facing - East
-Road 13-
2008 Chardonnay - Solid fruit, very fresh with a nice spicy finish from the finessed oak aging $20
2007 Jackpot Chardonnay - This is a big chardonnay, buttery as hell with balanced acidity, minerality and spice finish $35
2007 Pinot Noir - Cherry pie nose with characteristic pencil shavings, mouth full of delicate currents $23 great buy
2007 Jackson Pinot Noir - Same as above but bigger, more spicy and smooth. $35
2006 Fifth Element - Fine Bordeaux style wine, excellent value for the complexity. $36 & worth it
Syrah - generally high quality syrah with an earthy old world complexity
-Fairview Cellars- - sold out and closed, darn it

The Black Sage Bench
Soil - underlain by glacial fluvial sand and gravel, and alluvial fan deposits
Slope Facing - West
-Burrowing Owl-
2008 Pinot Gris - Light patio sipper with full fruit flavours; apple, pear with honeysuckle to boot. $25
2007 Merlot - A mouthful of earth and spice balanced on a handful of blackberries, caramel finish and light spice makes this one ready to drink. $30
-Le Vieux Pin-
2008 Sauvignon Blanc - Stunningly bold lychee & rose petal nose is reminiscent of a gewurtztraminer. Palette displays a balanced acidity delivering tropical fruit and a surprising minerality. Definitely stood apart from the rest in the valley. $35
2008 Petit Sigma Syrah Rose - A truly unique rose. Strawberries and spice dominates this lovely dry wine. $20

Osoyoos Lake Region
Soil - underlain by glacial fluvial sand and gravel, and alluvial fan deposits
Slope Facing - West, except for LaStella which is East facing
-Twisted Tree-
One of the most interesting South Okanagan Wineries, they edge their wines towards Spain and the Rhone Valley in France.
2008 Viognier Roussanne - Floral nose followed by a mineral grapefruit finish, really well done Rhone style wine. $20
Syrah - Bouquet of cinnamon, mild pepper, spice and a distinctive Okanagan sage note. Very buttery palette of current, spice and bitter lemon. Tannins are greenish and present, body is medium.
2007 Six Vines - Cassis, blackberry, cherry and dried herb aromas. The palate is broad and sweet showing cherry and cocoa flavors. The tannins are well integrated and fairly soft. The finish is long and smooth.
-Nk Mip- (pronounced Inkimip)
Very affordable, good quality wines in general, lacked the finish of the other wineries in the region.
2007 Pinot Noir - Black pepper, current and earth on the nose. Palette finds light cedar and cherry. Short finish, med+ acid. Amazing value. $20
2006 Merlot - Big fruity wine. Caramel, white pepper and strawberry nose. Green med+ tannins coat the mouth with a cedar brush. Plum and bitter lemon finish.
2006 Syrah - Full red berry, plum and jam notes with cedar box and cracked pepper to create an intriguing balance. Chewy tannins linger on the palate and harmonize with a soft, vanilla finish.
-La Stella-
This was a new find (only a year old) and the sister winery to Le Vieux Pin, showcasing more Italian style wines. They were bit high price straight out of the gate, but good quality and worth a try.
2008 Vivace, Pinot Grigio - Full nose of grapefruit and lychee; apple, flinty, lemon on the palette. A fine wine, but not worth $25
2008 Lastellina Merlot Rosato - Strawberries with a nice mineral bite to the finish. Again, a fine wine, but should be a few dollars cheaper. $25
2006 Allegreto Merlot - Smooth vanilla, blackberry and a dash of cloves on the nose. Mouth of current, cedar and a calming vanilla finish. Slightly green tannins give the wine a nice edge. $38 and worth it

Okanagan Falls Region - I think I'm in love.
Soil - underlain primarily by glacial lake silt
Slope Facing - Mostly West
-Blue Mountain-
This is the pinnacle winery of the Southern Okanagan in my book, and they are very affordable for the quality level. They baby their grapes from start to finish; all vines are solely from their own property. If you love French style wines; gorgeous pinot noir, lovely traditional method sparkling wine, make an appointment and go for a tasting at Blue Mountain.
Brut - Finessed, characteristic pear, almond nose, slight brioche. Palette is tart and refreshing with a lovely toasty finish. $24 !!! This is an amazing price.
2007 Pinot Gris - Light nose of pear followed by a subtle palette of pears and lemons. Lovely minerality, great patio wine. $21
2007 Pinot Noir - This is a classic Pinot. Berry fruit like currents and new strawberries are balanced wisely with notes like pencil shavings, vanilla and a good bout of earth. Excellent value Pinot Noir at $25
-Wild Goose-
If you want a good, dry riesling in the Southern Okanagan, this is your place. This winery is solid across the board, pinot gris to merlot to port style.
2008 Autumn gold - Great fresh and fruity sip some on their licensed patio.$19
2008 Gewurztraminer - Classic dry gewurztraminer with its intense lychee nose with a honeysuckle, apple palette. $19
2008 Pinot Gris - Fruit forward peach, great summer wine. $19
2007 Merlot - Nose of light spice and full berries with an interesting nutty note. Take a sip and you are met with black currents and vanilla, balanced acidity. Loved it at $20
2007 Merlot Reserve - Same as above merlot but more finessed and more plum like fruit. $25
2008 Black Brant - Mouthful of cassis, deep chocolate nose and a smokey finish. We have a WINNER! Especially at $20
-Noble Ridge-
Another favourite winery, you couldn't go wrong with buying any of their wines.
2007 Chardonnay - Siver medal winner in Burgundy, France for the Chardonnay du Monde competition, and rightly so. Crisp and fine with a strong minerality. Amazingly priced at $21
Kings Ransom - This one gave my head a shake; it was almost Spanish in style. Earth and spice dominated with lovely cherry, plum fruit. Smokey, tobacco, current finish, med+ tannins. Outstanding and very age worthy (5yrs min). $65

What I bought on the Bench.... Naramata, BC wines

The Naramata Bench August 2009
Zipping along the winding Naramata Bench Road in the Okanagan with the desert, summer sun on your face and a commanding view of Lake Okanagan is good enough on it's own. Add to that stopping by one of the many fabulous wineries of this distinctive grape growing region and you have a perfect afternoon of sipping and zipping.

Best picks at the wineries...

Poplar Grove:
Expensive but well worth the cost...
Was so excited about the Merlot 2007 that I bought a case, this is an ager with distinctive Okanagan blackberry & sage grass notes. The Cab Franc is stunning, but prohibitively expensive.
Merlot 2005 - $29
Merlot 2007 - $25
Cab Franc 2005 - $39

Nichol Vineyard:
Excellent value but there were only 12 bottles left, grab the next vintage sight unseen. Tobacco, pencil shaving, very fruit forward, full of cherries, solid acidity.
Pinot Noir - $27

Laughing Stock:
Good quality, Chardonnay is a great value. Portfolio is overpriced, but yummy as heaven.
Chardonnay -$23
Portfolio(Meritage) - $34

Black Widow:
A nice light summer sipper; good acidity, floral notes on the nose and a flinty mouthful to follow.
Didn't like anything else in their tasting room, but this one was a great find.
Pinot Gris 2008 - $20

Therapy:
If you want a big, bold red for a treat, this is it. Predominantly, Cabernet Sauvignon, you are greeted by cherry, clove, butter, vanilla and pepper notes.
Amazing and worth the price. If you're at the bench, buy a bottle, because in Vancouver you can only buy this at Firefly winery for $49, ouch.
Super Ego (Meritage) 2007 - $37

Lang Vineyards:
Great buy, stunning acidity, great fruit and pungent minerality.
Riesling Farm Reserve - $17