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

Size and shape do matter: 7 basics to serving wine by Wine Folly (and me)

I came across a Wine Folly piece today titled, 7 Basics to Serving Wine and Glassware. I'll be covering all seven of these basics (and more) during my seminars at this year's Fraser Valley Food Show, Oct. 3 - 5 at Tradex in Abbotsford:

1. A proper glass will make any wine taste better 
   (While a jam jar is functional, shapes and sizes [in wine as in life] do matter.)
2. Wine tastes better served slightly cool 
   (Think about room temperature before the advent of central heating.)
3. Perfect the ritual of opening a bottle of wine 
   (There are some ways that are wrong ... just wrong.)
4. Nearly every red wine tastes better decanted
   (However, pouring wine into and out from a decanter isn't necessarily the same as decanting.)
5. How much wine to pour into the glass 
   (Bigger doesn't mean more. Really.)
6. Holding a wine glass 
   (But what if it's a stemless glass? Glad you asked.)
7. How long does leftover wine keep?
   (What on Earth is leftover wine?)

 

Want to swirl-sniff-sip with me? Choose from five wine-tasting seminars, or make your way to all of them:

1. Sniff, Swirl, Sip: Tasting Wine for Pleasure 
   A fruity, friendly Wine 101 seminar.
2. This Wine, That Cheese 
   Wine lovers taste and learn why some wines work better with some cheeses.
3. Travel the World with Wine 
   Flavours and styles: Wine is a window to the world.
4. The Case for Wine and Sausage 
   Sweet, salty, spicy: Wine loves them all.
5. Breakfast Wine 
   Benedict, bacon, and oatmeal? You bet!

If you like wine and wine stuff, visit Wine Folly for all sorts of information and fun infographics. 

À votre santé!

Copyright © 2014 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Fraser Valley Food Show: Wine, celebrity chefs and gluten-free specialty products just three highlights

Fraser Valley Food Show returns to Tradex next week, Oct. 4 – 6. This year’s three-day event promises exciting new products and stage activity, along with some good ol’ favourites, including local wines from Mt. Lehman Winery and Blackwood Lane:

The Great Canadian Sausage Making Competition, presented by BC Pork, returns, by popular demand.

The Gluten-free Living Show, a “show within a show” and newest feature at the Fraser Valley Food Show, offers great products and information for those trying to live gluten-free.

Celebrity chefs Rob Feenie and Corbin Tomaszeski appear on stage to dazzle audiences with their “amazing talent, wit, and humour.”

Kathleen Rake of Between the Vines leads participants through wine tasting and wine-and-food pairing on the Grapes and Hops Stage. Read the schedule here.

Rick Mohabir and Deb Mohabir of Just Here for the Beer educate and excite participants about beer on the Grapes and Hops Stage.

Wine, beer, and spirits (including Abbotsford’s own Kealy’s Moonshine) from BC and around the world available for tasting in the Wine, Beer and Spirits Pavilion.

Bite of the Valley ensures you won’t leave hungry.

Seventeen chefs from BC compete for the title of Master Chef in a hot, head-to-head competition.

Dairy Farmers of Canada present cheese tastings and seminars throughout the weekend.

We’re giving away two sets of two tickets to the show … just answer the following two-part question in the comments section of this blog for your chance to be entered into the draw to win.

I live by two wine-related mantras. Fill in the blanks:

There is never a good reason to not drink _______.

I seek the perfect glass of ____, but hope I never find it.

Entries received before midnight on Thurs., Oct. 3 are eligible for the draw. Winners will be announced here on Friday morning and can pick up their tickets anytime during the show at will-call.

You can find the answers here and here.

À Votre Santé!

Copyright © 2013 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Campbell's Gold Melomel and blue cheese work together to please the palate

Here is my wine column as it appeared in the September, 2012 issue of My City, a monthly magazine in the Abbotsford News one week before I took off for three wine-and-sun drenched days in the Thompson-Okanagan at the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival.

I had a number of great experiences during [the recent] Fraser Valley Food Show at Tradex, but especially memorable was when participants in my wine-tasting seminar turned into blue-cheese-with-sweet-wine believers.

Read more.

Salut!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Harjit, Shirley and Erin: Wine lovers and ticket winners

Many thanks to all of you who answered my six not-too-tough wine-related questions and were entered to win two tickets to this year's Fraser Valley Food Show at Tradex in Abbotsford, Sept. 14 – 16. It was interesting to read your selections and obvious that you put some thought (and research!) into your answers.

Congratulations Harjit, Shirley, and Erin! You each win two tickets. I'll have them waiting for you at the will-call booth.

If you have the time while at the show, I'd love to swirl and sip some wine with you at one of my seminars.

Salut!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.