Between the Vines

Bradley Cooper and Juliana Hayes blog live from WEST event

This just in...

 

The B.C. Wine Museum & VQA Wine Shop presents:

Wine Industry Trends- Blogging and Social Media

Thursday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m.

 

The B.C. Wine Museum & VQA Wine Shop presents wine tastings with a twist at The Wine Education Series of Tastings, or WEST. Explore British Columbia wines and meet some of the winemakers and producers from wineries across the Okanagan Valley while you learn about current trends in the wine industry.

 

All WEST events are hosted by Julianna Hayes, who is the editor of the Official Wine Tour Handbook to B.C. Wine Country.

 

Growing trends among those in the wine business include blogging and participation in social networking sites such as Twitter. Hayes publishes her own blog and is well aware of these rising trends. "Many winemakers are out there publishing and writing their own blogs," she comments. "Blogging is an immediate means of communication and one that anybody can try, making it very accessible and effective."

 

On Thursday, May 7, WEST welcomes guest winemaker Bradley Cooper from Township 7 Vineyards & Winery and Black Cloud. He'll pour a flight of Township 7 wines and discuss what's new on the B.C. wine scene, including how social media is affecting how we access wines.

 

Township 7 has locations in Langley and on the Naramata Bench. Cooper has been the winemaker for Township 7 since 2005 and he recently launched his own wine brand, Black Cloud Wine.

 

Tickets are only $25, $20 for Kelowna Museums members. Seating is limited. To reserve tickets now call 250-868-0441.

 

Hayes and Cooper will be live blogging this event.

 

You can read Cooper's blog at www.steepcreek.blogspot.comand; you can read Hayes' blog at www.vineliving.blogspot.com.

 

Follow Cooperand Hayes on Twitter.

 

All WEST events take place at the B.C. Wine Museum & VQA Wine Shop, located inside the Laurel Packinghouse at 1304 Ellis Street in Kelowna's Cultural District.

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Wine Wipes: Get yours here; get yours now.

Dinner at Ravens on the Beach last week: New friends, new menu, more wine

We had dinner last week with new friends, the soon-to-be-wed Karen and Brent—yes, this is the Karen of www.WineBard.ca fame.

 

Karen and Brent hopped in their zippy new car and made the trek to Mission from North Vancouver and then we travelled together to Harrison Hot Springs, where we planned to dine from the new spring menu at Ravens on the Beach.

 

We arrived in Harrison Hot Springs with plenty of time to spare before our reservation so we walked alongside the lake to the old Harrison Hotel. We popped inside the gracious property, explored a little, and then headed for the bar and cocktails—Bloody Caesars for three of us, a beer for the other. After some chatting and laughing we made our way to Ravens.

 

Ravens has a great site, beachfront, within the Harrison Beach Hotel complex. It's just too bad the spring evenings aren't yet warm enough to make dining outside an option.

 

 I can't wait until it's warm enought to sit on this gorgeous patio!

 

We started dinner with a four-way shared appetizer of brie-and-honey fondue, followed by Yarrow Meadows breast of duck in blueberry and ginger pan jus for Karen and me (we picked our food to go with the wine...but I'll get to that in a minute), the halibut feature for Brent, and herb-roasted 1/2 chicken for Rick.

 

The duck and accompaniments were lovely. The savoury richness of the duck and its blueberry and ginger pan jus worked wonderfully with the Black Cloud pinot noir and its earthy aromas and blueberry and black cherry flavours. And I’m not just saying it. It really did. I, of course, snuck (I don’t suppose it’s really sneaking when he knows it’s coming) a taste of Rick’s chicken and I’m happy to report it, too, proved wonderful with the wine.

 

I spotted a couple of plates of the fish & chips go by: tempura-fried pacific cod, Ravens’ tartar sauce, potato and yam fries, all served with fennel and apple slaw. I have to go back to give that one a try!

 

Salut!

 

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Handy tool for perpetual students of wine

If you're reading my blog, then chances are you (A) love wine as much as I do, (B) are in the business and want to see what's going on elsewhere, or (C) are seeking some sort of answer about a particular wine, wine-and-food pairing, or the wine world in general.

I'm always on a quest to learn more about wine because, frankly, I'm no wine expert; rather, I'm a perpetual student of wine. Enter wine pro (and tech pro) Doug Cook and his Able Grape wine information search engine. It's a neat little tool that helps me search out all things wine.

I have one installed in the left-hand sidebar of this blog as well as at my website, www.ClickMediaWorks.com, on the Wine, Food, & Travel Writing page.

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

A sweet little sparkler to sip while turning the pages

I recently wrote a wine piece for an online mag where my assignment was to pair a wine with a book they had already chosen and reviewed: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Further, the book reviewer had offered up a recipe of sweet meringue cookies called Marguerites. Many thanks to www.Vinquire.com for help in finding a wine that U.S. and Canadian readers can easily access.

Here's the piece:

During a period of darkness and gloom, we all seek some sort of escape, something cheery, light, and fun.  Right?  And if when we find that something, it appears much more sophisticated and complex than it really is, then life is sweetened just a touch by our dodge, isn’t it?

Welcome Mionetto’s Il Moscato, one of Italy’s sweet little sparklers, and the perfect sipper while reading “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

Moscato (also known as muscat or muscadel) is one of the oldest grapes known to winemakers and often produces a still wine considered quite ordinary.  But when Italian vintners take this grape and turn it into a frizzante wine that is light-bodied, sweet, and fruity, with gentle bubbles that give off a refreshing little tingle, it becomes something more than ordinary, drawing people together to celebrate their every day.

Il Moscato, widely available throughout the U.S. and Canada and priced anywhere from $8.99 to $18.99 for the 750ml bottle, proves true to its varietal.  This pale yellow sparkling wine is extremely fragrant, with floral, musky, grape, and peach notes, and just a hint of something I’d describe as lemon meringue pie.  Topped off using the beer-bottle-style crown cap typical to the regions that produce this wine, you never have to worry about popping corks.

I recently took the Il Moscato to a dinner party and at dessert I paired it with one-bite meringue cookies—perfect!  Both the cookies and wine were light, sweet, and airy. You may want to try lemon tarts, a fruit tray, or biscotti with the Il Moscato.

Quick Wine Notes:

Frizzante is an Italian term used to describe the sort of light bubble found in moscato and prosecco wines. It is a gentler bubble than spumante. In France, they refer to the style as pétillant.

Varietal refers to the particular type of grape. For example, moscato and prosecco are varietals, as are chardonnay and zinfandel.

When serving wine with dessert, make sure your wine is as sweet as or slightly sweeter than your goodies. A wine that is too dry—not sweet enough—will seem sour and disappoint you.

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Small animals benefit from wine tasting...

On Saturday, April 11, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., small animals benefit from wine tasting...in a round about sort of way, that is.

Township 7 Vineyards & Winery at 21152 - 16 Avenue, Langley, B.C. is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt for kids (rain or shine) and has invited Palmer, the famous bunny from Dr. Doolittle and Men in Trees, to visit. Kids will also get their fill of cookies, cakes, face painting—and more—all for just $2.00 per. All proceeds go to support the Small Animal Rescue Society. Gumboots optional, but highly recommended in rainy weather. Please call the winery by April 9 to reserve your children's spots.

While the kids are having a blast, the grown-ups get to taste wine and take advantage of the spring sale on gift items.

For more information, call Township 7 Winery at 604-532-1766.

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Wine meets art

You don’t always have to pair wine with food, you know. Sometimes you can pair it with art. Just ask Rose Siemens, manager of Whatcom Wine & Spirits in Abbotsford...Read more.

 

Salut!

 

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Inniskillin Wines earns top prize at Italian competition

Three cheers for Canada's Inniskillin Wines for capturing the Premio Speciale Gran Vinitaly 2009, top prize at the 17th Annual International Wine Competition at Vinitaly.

The special prize for top producer at the show is considered to be the wine industry's world cup. Vinitaly, held in Verona, is the largest and one of the most prestigious annual wine competitions, attracting the global wine elite.

Inniskillin's taking of the top award at this competition hightlights its international reputation as a quality producer, while it shifts the wine world's attention to Canada.

For more information, visit www.Inniskillin.com.

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Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.