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We had a great afternoon of family-style fun out at Township 7 in Langley today: crafts and face painting for kids, hot dogs and chilli, and grapes to stomp! Oh,yes, and wine for the adults.
Since I won't have time right away to tell you about it all, here is a quick little window into the afternoon...
Salut!
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
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I served the 2007 Sandhill Estate Vineyard Small Lot Sangiovese
($30/14.5% ABV) tonight with our pasta supper.
First, let me tell you about the food: Fresh linguine with a sauce of ground beef, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, capers, red bell peppers, beaucoup de garlic, some dried chillies, a whole bag of baby organic spinach, fresh oregano and basil, and a glug-glug-glug of the wine. Along with the pasta, I served a Caesar salad with dressing made the way we used to get it in the 70s, but sans ceremony.
The wine was lively and cheery with bright cherries, vanilla, and a little bit of earth on the nose. On the palate, more bright red cherries, vanilla, and tobacco, with a very appealing juiciness that paired perfectly with the pasta sauce.
I really liked the wine and would gladly serve and sip it again. I just wish it were closer to the $20 mark.
Salut!
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
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Need scary labels for your wine tonight? You can get some here...
Salut!
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
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The problem:
So much world-class wine to swirl, sniff, taste, savour, and then sip alongside magnificent morsels of food.
The solution:
Cornucopia 2010, Whistler's four-day celebration of wine and food.
We'll be there, along with thousands of other food-and-wine nuts (a.k.a. enthusiasts) solving this age-old problem during as many seminars, parties, and tastings as possible at the Whistler Conference Centre (and other venues) November 11–14.
Thankfully, other food-and-wine nuts (a.k.a. professionals) take it upon themselves to prepare and present this annual event for us to enjoy.
Cornucopia isn't about cork dorks and foodies only, however. Every year, a charity is chosen to receive support. This year it's the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, which is "dedicated to providing financial support to registered non-profit organizations whose activities provide benefit to residents of the Sea to Sky Corridor in the areas of health, human services, education, recreation, arts and culture, and the environment, with an emphasis on children, youth, and family programs."
Michaela Morris and Michelle Bouffard of House Wine will present
It's 5:00 Somewhere and Tiki Tour of New Zealand
You can order your tickets to the various events online. I advise you, though, to order soon. You don't want to be disappointed.
Salut!
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
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Well, actually, it does want me to...
Darlings: If you are here, it's likely you Googled "Mt. Lehman Winery" and came upon this rather negative-sounding piece. Rest assured, the following post is simply the venting of my frustration, not a reflection on either the winery's overall business practices or the quality of its wines, which are, by the way, fabulous!
I've had plenty of opportunity to taste, buy, and taste some more since this little piece was published last April. In fact, you can read about Mt. Lehman in subsequent posts here and here.
Rest assured, you will be reading more good stuff about the wine coming from Mt. Lehman. And not just from yours truly. It seems several experts agree with this perpetual student of wine and have been awarding Mt. Lehman's with all sorts of medals and prizes.
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So, all my dear and brilliant wine-PR and -marketing friends, wine-writing and -blogging colleagues, wine-drinking, -selling, and -making brothers and sisters in cork-dorkdom, tell me this: why doesn't the Mt. Lehman Winery want me buying and drinking its wines?
Doesn't it want me to share the information with my family, friends, and readers?
Why does the Mt. Lehman Winery in the Fraser Valley DVA (designated viticultural area) refuse to tell me when it's open? Or, what wines it makes and sells?
This Abbotsford, B.C. winery has no website; at least none that I can find in my quick Internet searchings. And yesterday, which was a gorgeous sunny Saturday afternoon, when Rick and I decided to stop in, they were closed. It was 12:30 p.m. I didn't have the winery's phone number handy.
But wait! There's more...
There was nary a sign posted, in window or door, telling us when it would be open or how I could contact someone attached to the winery.
Now, it's not like I'm really important in the grand scheme of the wine world, but I sure as shootin' love wine and when I can find good local wines, I get really excited and tell all my friends and readers.
I did taste some of Mt. Lehman's wines last year when they had a booth at EAT! Fraser Valley in Abbotsford. I remember them tasting rather pleasant, if simple, and even wrote a quick blog post about them.
Yesterday I was ready to taste again. And buy. And write.
But couldn't and didn't.
Today I called the winery (I took the phone number from last year's blog post) at 4:59 p.m. and asked about its hours. The answer was Thursday through Sunday, from 1:00-5:00 p.m.
But don't get me started about how the fella answered the phone...
Mt. Lehman Winery
5094 Mt. Lehman Road
Abbotsford, B.C.
Tasting room hours: 1-5:00 p.m., Thurs-Sun
604-746-2881
[email protected]
Salut!
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
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We spent the October 1 weekend on the Pacific Ocean with good friends Karen and John Laing, who once again showed us a fabulous time aboard the sailboat Evita. We didn't get a lot of sailing in—there were hardly any winds and the ocean was like glass—but we did manage some fine food, wine, great conversation, and buckets full of belly laughs.
Late Saturday afternoon, we anchored at beautiful Chemainus, B.C. on Vancouver Island. The folks in the background have just come in with a bounty of fresh crab.
And yes, the 2008 Terrenostre Barbera d'Alba DOC went wonderfully with the lasagna and grilled chicken.
Salut!
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.
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