Between the Vines: One woman's wine-soaked musings

Cornucopia 2009, a four-day food-and-wine extravaganza at Whistler—part three

It's Saturday morning and my first seminar is Bubble-icious, led by the Wine Diva, Daenna Van Mulligen and Mark Taylor of Vancouver's Cru, named by Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards as the 2009 winner in The Best Small Plates category.

 The seminar room is set up for tasting seven sparklers

We tasted seven sparklers—white, pink, and red. My favourites were the Lucien Albrecht Crémant RoséNV from Alsace, Luna Argenta Prosecco from Italy, and Laurent-PerrierCuvée RoséBrut Champagne NV from Champagne.  The letters NV, if you're wondering, stand for non-vintage, meaning wine from different vintages is blended together.

After a quick lunch, it was off to Pinot Noir from Around the World, hosted by Michelle Bouffard and Michaela Morris of House Wine. We got a quick lesson about many of the Pinot Noir-growing regions of the world and tasted eight samples representing the regions. Here is the list:

1. Sacchetto, Pinot Rosa delle Venezie IGT Frizzante, Italy
2. 2007 Faiveley, Paulée Bourgogne Rouge AOC, France
3. 2007 Blue Mountain Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, B.C.
4. 2007 Kim Crawford, Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand,
5. 2007 Familia Schroeder, ‘Saurus’ Pinot Noir, Patagonia, Argentina
6. 2007 Cono Sur, ‘20 Barrels’ Pinot Noir, Casablanca Valley, Chile
7. 2006 Yabby Lake Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, Australia
8. 2005 Cristom, ‘Jessie Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon

My favourites were the Burgundy, B.C., New Zealand, and Chilean Pinot Noirs, numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6. And yes, number 8 from Oregon was good, too.

After our around-the-world Pinot tasting, we had an hour's break before it was time to learn How to Build & Manage a Wine Cellar, presented by the House Wine gals. This wasn't a how-to in the sense of hammers and nails; rather, we learned about constant temperature and humidity, the importance of avoiding excessive vibration, which wines are typically worthy of cellaring, and which ones should simply be enjoyed right away.

Michaela Morris and Michelle Bouffard helped us taste our way through 11 wines:

1. Pol Roger, Brut, Champagne AOC, France
2. Peter Lehmann, Semillon, Barossa, Australia
3. William Fèvre, Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre AOC, France
4. Stift Göttweig, ‘Messwein’ Grüner Veltliner, Austria
5. Markus Molitor, Riesling, Wehlener Sonnenhur Kabinett, Germany
6. Château Cambon la Pelouse, Haut-Médoc AOC, France
7. Emiliana, ‘Coyam’, Colchagua Valley, Chile
8. Altesino, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy
9. Penfolds, ‘St. Henri’ Shiraz, Australia
10. Penfolds, ‘St. Henri’ Shiraz, Australia
11. Château D’Armajan des Ormes, Sauternes

The Champagne, Chablis, and Brunello (numbers 1, 3, and 8) were my favourites.

Saturday night found us at Crush, the weekend's huge wine-tasting party and silent auction. We worked our way around the room, participated in a blind tasting (which, by the way, I aced by being able to identify which Pinot Noir was from B.C. and which was from Oregon) and talked to many of the people with whom I'd hoped to connect.

We passed on the after-parties and made our way back to our suite to rest up for our final day at Cornucopia that would start with Killer Value Wines, presented by Wine Access Magazineand panelled by D.J. Kearny, David Scholefield, Anthony Gismondi, and Mark Taylor. My favourite wines of the group that truly "over delivered" in flavour and value were the 2008 Boutari Moschofilero from Greece, the Pinot Noir from B.C. winery Thornhaven, and the Tempranillo Vina Albali Gran Reserva from Valdepeñas, Spain, all $20 or less. Interesting and worth trying again was The Wolftrap from South Africa.

Rick was taking in the Rodney Strong seminar and tasting, A Look at Luxury Cabernet from Sonoma, while I was sipping the value wines. When we were finished our respective seminars, he and I made our way to the Viking Stage where we learned how sushi is made and then tasted it paired with wine.

What a day.

What a weekend.

We said good-bye to our wine-soaked winter wonderland the world calls Whistler and hit the road.

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Cornucopia supplement: guest blogger Rick Rake writes about the quick hands and sharp humour of sushi chef Nester

By Rick Rake, Guest Blogger

Some rice, seaweed, and tuna.

Add a touch of Sushi Village Chef Nester humour, his quick hands, some wide-screen televisions, an appreciative audience, and it’s time for the excitement of the Cornucopia Viking Stage Series where we paired morsels with a Pinot Grigio and traditional Sake from Select Wines.

Nester brings the marinated fish close to his face, inhaling for the appropriate aroma.  He slices and dices and is ready to plate his creation.

First lesson of the day, however, is the art of making sushi rice, then he talks about the handling and serving of raw fish.

He tempts the crowd with a delicious Tai wakame seaweed salad enhanced by a light vinegar dressing and when the wine pairings begin—amazing!

With a small blowtorch he sears a Hawaiian tuna bathed in a mouth-watering garlic sauce.

The taste experience reaches new heights with the wine, Sake, and sushi combinations.  Nestor finishes by showing the intricate work that goes into a traditional California roll featuring Dungeness crab wrapped with tobiko.

His sushi students go away satisfied.

Cornucopia supplement: guest blogger Rick Rake writes about winemaker Rick Sayre and the world-class Rodney Strong Vineyards from California's Sonoma County

By Rick Rake, Guest Blogger

Rick Sayre, Vice President & Director of Winemaking, and the world-class Rodney Strong Vineyards in California's Sonoma County enjoy a relationship that dates back to 1979.

He just smiles when his 1999 Winemaker of the Year and 1991 Chardonnay Winemaker of the Year titles are mentioned at Cornucopia in Whistler where he is delivering a lively Sunday session on "A Look at Luxury Cabernet from Sonoma County's Alexander Valley."

His students can't wait to lift, swirl, inhale, and taste the quality wines in their glasses, ranging in price
from $49.99 to $99.99 per bottle. But first he guides them through maps, vineyard history, and talks about teasing revelations in wine like his Reserve Pinot Noir with remarks like "it's like a woman . . . silky and smooth with a soft, velvety finish."

A quick glance at Sayre's bio reveals he's been instrumental in bringing worldwide notoriety to Rodney Strong winery's Estate wines and the fact "Alexander's Crown Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Chalk Hill Vineyard Chardonnay have set standards of Sonoma Country winemaking, and have become favourites to consumers all over the Unites States."

In 2005, Sayre was involved in developing the "winery within a winery" concept which involves the harvest of sweet spots in the vineyard and keeping them separate through vinification.

Sayre explained that the berries can come from just a few vine rows, and later they blend select lots until "a balanced wine with rich texture and flavours flow."

His students on this snowy Whistler day enjoyed the experience of tasting the difference between a 100 per cent Cabernet, a Bordeaux-style blend, two single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons, and another pair of Reserve wines.

 
Specifically, the Rodney Strong Vineyards tasting involves these six delicious offerings:

1. Reserve Russian River Chardonnay 2007, $49.99
2. Reserve Russian River Pinot Noir 2007, $49.99
3. Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, $65.99
4. Symmetry 2006 (Red Meritage), $79.99
5. Rockaway 2006 (97% Cab) Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (single vineyard), $99.99
6. Brother's Ridge (100% Cab) Cabernet Sauvignon, (single vineyard and coming soon)

The Klein family owns the highly-respected winery, producing wines from some 1,000 acres it owns in four Sonoma appellations: Russian River Valley, Chalk Hill, Alexander Valley, and Sonoma Coast.

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved. 

Cornucopia 2009, a four-day food-and-wine extravaganza at Whistler—part two

Finally! A follow-up to part one of our Whistler Cornucopia 2009 story...

After tasting the wines and visiting with other wine folk at the Top 25 reception at the Fairmont Château Whistler, we returned to our suite to greet newlyweds Karen and Brent, who were staying with us for one night. Karen was celebrating her 30th birthday and we were going to help.

Dinner at the Barefoot Bistro was a bounty of flavours and textures, the wait staff never hovered but provided the sort of focused attention we all dream of—only when we needed it—and Benoit Nadeau(ask for him!) helped us with our wines, one of which was the velvety, delicious 2000 Seghesio Barolo La Villa DOCG.  

Owner André Saint Jacquesgreeted us at our table and assured Karen he'd teach her how to saber Champagne. So, we ordered a bottle and sent it for chilling in preparation. André happens to hold the world record for sabering so we were eager for his guidance.

Down to the wine cellar we went...and after a tour of the cellar and a little tutoring from André, Karen stood ready to saber her bottle.

And here's Karen in a post-perfect-sabering pose with André Saint Jacques. Note the clean break. Bravo, Karen!

After our cellar experience, we went back upstairs and settled into dinner, which started, for me and Karen, with fresh oysters and a last glass of Champagne. It finished with dessert, Port, and a visit from award-winning executive chef, Melissa Craig.

Part three of our Whistler Cornucopia 2009 experience to follow shortly...

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved. 

Whistler Cornucopia 2009 and Playground Builders: an update

I heard a little whisper that Playground Builders will receive at least $35,000 from the funds raised at Cornucopia 2009. That's enough money to build four playgrounds in war-torn areas of the world! And that means kids and communities will have a reason to smile.

Click here to contribute directly to Playground Builders. And click here to see what a difference a playground and a little fun can make.

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved. 

Cornucopia 2009, a four-day food-and-wine extravaganza at Whistler—part one

It's Sunday and we're in Whistler, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, to learn, enjoy, and share the highlights (as I see them) of Cornucopia. Here, briefly, is what our Thursday and Friday held...

We arrived in Whistler on Thursday night around 6:00 and checked into our cozy suite at Club Intrawest.

 

After checking in, and then checking out our immediate surroundings, we walked through the lightly falling snow across the road to the Fairmont Chateau Whistler for a quick dinner and glass of wine. We then headed back to our temporary home to finish unpacking and get organized for the following three days.

Friday I took in the Bootcamp for B.C. Wines where Ingo Grady of Mission Hill and David Scholefield of British Columbia Wine Institute shared their knowledge and Passion (and I mean Passion with a capital P!) about B.C. wines, with a focus on terroir, varieties, and pairing. Following Bootcamp, and after a quick lunch, Rick and I took in the trade tasting, which gave us a great opportunity to both taste many of the wines and talk at some length with vintners and agents.

In the early evening, before our friends Karen and Brent were due to arrive, we attended the Top 25 Reception that was billed as "an exclusive celebratory reception showcasing the 25 Best Wines of the Festival..." and included many B.C. wines. Here's the list:

The Top 25 Wines at Cornucopia

Jackson–Triggs Okanagan Estate Proprietors' Reserve Shiraz
Cristalino Cava Brut
Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery Sparkling Non Vintage Tribute
Arrowleaf Cellars Special Select Late Harvest Vidal 2008
Hester Creek Estate Winery Cabernet Merlot 2007
Rodney Strong Vineyards Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Beringer Founders' Estate Merlot 2006
Inniskillin Okanagan Estate Discovery Series Malbec 2007
Penfolds Thomas Hyland Shiraz 2006
Road 13 Vineyards Fifth Element 2006
Cat Amongst the Pigeons "Nine Lives” Shiraz 2007
Rodney Strong Vineyards Russian River Pinot Noir 2007
Gemtree Uncut Shiraz 2007
Garnacha de Fuego Grenache 2008
Bodegas Ostatu Rioja Crianza 2006   
Penfolds Barossa Valley Bin 138 GMS 2007
Altesino Rosso Di Toscana 2007
Hester Creek Estate Winery Reserve Cabernet Franc 2006
See Ya Later Ranch Ping 2007
Road 13 Vineyards Jackpot Chardonnay 2007
Pikes Winery Pikes Traditionale Riesling 2008
Stoneleigh Chardonnay 2007
Bastianich Sauvignon "B" 2008
NK'Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Chardonnay 2007

I'll fill you in on the rest of our weekend later. Right now I have to scramble to get ready for Killer Wine Values, presented by Wine Access magazine.

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved. 

Is it a stretch to think my weekend up at Whistler's Cornucopia will contribute to world peace?

Maybe. Then again, maybe not.

This year's charity recipient at Cornucopia is Playground Builders, whose tag line reads exactly what it does: "Creating play, building hope."

Playground Builders goes to war-torn regions worldwide and creates safe play spaces so kids can just be kids. When a community's children can safely play, it begins to feel empowered and this empowerment quite naturally leads to a stronger foundation and new, peaceful, possibilities. Let's face it—when our kids are happy, we're happy. It's no different for people in unstable and poverty-stricken areas of the world. And because local labour and supplies are used, an injection to the local economy helps to further bolster the empowerment.

 

To date, 45 playgrounds have been built in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and the West Bank. And because of its efforts, Playground Builders has been nominated for the YMCA International Peacemaker Award.  

 

Salut!

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved. 

YVR Wine Bloggers & Sommeliers Group share an evening of no-pressure and no-pretence wine tasting and education

Congratulations and a huge thank-you go out to Elizabeth Clinton of Seacove Group and Jeff Bashford of Farmstead Wines (and co-organizers of the YVR Wine Bloggers & Sommeliers Group) for putting together such a fabulous wine-tasting, -appreciation, and -education event…and for letting me volunteer.  Many thanks as well to Scott Landon Antiques on Granville Street for opening their show room to the occasion—and us!

 

It was certainly well worth our drive to Vancouver from Mission for the evening. I enjoyed tasting all the wines and meeting so many wine lovers. And it was great for my husband to see that I am not so unusual in my passion and oeno-geeky-ness.

 

There were 10 wine stations placed throughout the antiques showroom, each with its own “fundamental lesson” and wines. The lessons were posed as questions:

1.    What affect does climate have on wine?

2.    Do you agree with the critics?

3.    How many different grape varieties can you name?

4.    Does Argentinean Malbec taste like Malbec?

5.    When was the last time you served a Sherry?

6.    Can you describe what a Riesling tastes like?

7.    Will a glass of bubbly this festive season be your first this year?

8.    Do you consider yourself a red wine drinker?

9.    Do you think artisan wines are worth the money?

10. Do you prefer Molson Canadian or Kokanee?

 

I was pouring at station nine, along with chef and wine aficionado Weston Nawrocki of BeauCharles Wine & Food Consulting. To demonstrate our lesson, we poured the 2008 Rosemount Estate Diamond Label White from Australia and the 2003 Marc Tempe Alliance from Alsace, France.

 

It was wonderful meeting so many peopel in the flesh, so many folks I've known only "virtually" this last couple of years. And I was glad to finally have a real-live, face-to-face conversation with Paul Rickett, Bowen Island's Wine Guy.

 

A definite highlight of the evening was when Pamela Clarke, co-founder and Chocolate Spin Meister (yes, that’s her official title) of xoxolat told me her story:  She has always avoided wine-tasting events because, as much as she loves wine, and as much as she enjoys it with nearly every meal, she feared wine tastings would be intimidating and full of snobbery with wine experts who are all puffed up with their own self-importance. So when this event was billed as "no pretence," she thought she'd give it a try.

 

Pamela was so excited—and I mean excited—to (A) find that the billing was true—ours was a no-pretence, educational event—and (B) share a room jam-packed with people who simply love wine and love sharing their collective knowledge and passion.

 

And, you know what? I think she’ll venture out to more tastings now that she’s seen first-hand that not everyone in the wine world is, well, a snob.

 

Follow these folks on Twitter:

Jeff Bashford

Weston Nawrocki

Farmstead Wines

Seacove Group

Xoxolat

Paul Rickett

 

Salut!

 

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Funny video from Road 13 Vineyards co-starring cellar master Bailey Williamson

Scroll down and watch this funny video discussion about Stelvin closures (and other things) from Road 13 Vineyards, co-starring cellar master Bailey Williamson. 

My gal-pals and I spent a rainy August afternoon in the Road 13 barrel room, with Bailey taking us through a fabulous tasting. He even taught me how to spit in the drain.

You can view Road 13's other videos here, here, here, and here.

Salut!

Cooler weather calls for hearty wine

This piece was originally published in the October 29, 2009 issue of My City, a monthly magazine distributed with the Abbotsford News.

As the days get shorter, cooler, and damper, I tend to pull out and serve my heartier wines with what are, just naturally, more substantial dinners. In my cellar, the heartier wines are typically red. And in the kitchen, the more-substantial dinners translate into almost anything that is roasted, stewed, or braised.

Take this weekend, for example. Pouring rain and falling temperatures meant a roasted rack of pork for our Sunday dinner and a Malbec from Argentina to sip. Read more...

Copyright © 2009 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.