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

Mediterranean halloumi-and-orzo toss, with a pink Italian

By Kathleen Rake

Halloumi-and-orzo toss from Chef's Plate was our dinner tonight. Of course, there were oven-roasted vegetables and a Mediterranean-inspired dressing for the lot.

This was my first cooking or eating halloumi cheese -- and I liked it. It stayed firm and toasty through the tossing, but met the palate with a creamy, salty goodness.

And the wine? The Rosato was a perfect pairing with this dish. It's easy to say ROSÉ all year, with this pink sipper.

The wine:

💟 Le Vigne Di Dammarco Rosato 
💟 2018 Negroamaro
💟 Salento IGP, Italy
💟 13% ABV // $21 Opimian Wine Club

Clear, bright salmon pink. Medium body, but well structured. Intense strawberry and red currant, with a suggestion of savoury spice on the nose. On the palate, the wine was juicy, with strawberry, a little unripe pear, and a hint of white pepper.

I'd make the Mediterranean halloumi-and-orzo toss again, but I think I'd fix it up this way:

1. Ditch the zucchini and pumpkin seeds.
2. Add capers, kalamata olives, and crushed red chilies.

 

À Votre Santé!

Copyright © 2020 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

 

In my opinion, there is never a good reason to not drink bubbles

Below you'll find my Oct., 2012 wine column, published in My City, a monthly magazine in the Abbotsford News. This month I share my impression of Bella sparkling wines. 

A little bubbly can fancy up the drabbest event, honour the most special occasion or simply make you smile. And with the Christmas party season approaching (don’t blink!), now is a good time to stock up on sparklers.

During my recent trip to the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival, I was a guest for two nights at the lakeside Walnut Beach Resort, where I had the good fortune to sip on many B.C. wines. Read more.

Salut!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Post cards from BC wine country: Okanagan Crush Pad, Summerland

There is more than love between the vines at Okanagan Crush Pad, a.k.a. OCP. There is life...plant life, dog life, chicken life, and soon goat life.

Steven and Andrea, our young visitors from Quebec, were first greeted with a glass of rosé and pulled-pork lunch.

After lunch, Theo Siemens, OCP vineyard manager, took them for a walk in the vineyard and totally captivated them with his explanation of OCP's vineyard practices.

Once back up at the winery, we put the enomatic back to work and sipped on some of the white wine labelled Feenie goes Haywire that was blended exclusively for Cactus Club Cafe restaurants—a very big hit with Steven and Andrea.

And then, Christine Coletta explained about riddling (bottles of Bella were in the riddling racks) and her concrete-egg fermenters.

Steven and Andrea left with great wine and memories. 

Go to Rick's Facebook album for lots more Okanagan Crush Pad pictures.

Salut!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Conundrum, Meiomi Pinot Noir, Mer Soleil Silver and Riedel: The right size and shape of glass can bring out the best in a wine

Here is my column as it appeared in the December 8 issue of My City, a monthly magazine in the Abbotsford News.

Click here or on the image below to read the whole column, or scroll down to read it here on this blog.

Have you ever been to a Riedel glassware wine tasting? I was a guest at one in November while at Whistler’s Cornucopia and it was both fun and enlightening.

We tasted a number of Wagner Family wines from a variety of glasses and experienced how size and shape really do matter. In fact, it’s almost a Goldilocks type of situation where one glass is too big, another too small, and one is just right for the aromas and flavours to present their best.

Particularly surprising for me were two of the wines: Conundrum 2010 (~$25) and Meiomi Pinot Noir 2009 (~$25).

The Conundrum, a fruity, aromatic white wine blended from five grape varieties, had no aroma and was flat on the palate with one wrong glass and presented an almost-bitter aftertaste with another. In the right glass, however, the wine’s fruity, floral and spicy qualities came forward to delight both my nose and palate. This wine will pair well with spicy and fully flavoured Asian-inspired dishes.

The Meiomi Pinot Noir lost its classic Pinot Noir-ness, if you will, in the wrong glasses. In the right glass, however, cherries, red berries, vanilla, and earthy notes greeted my senses. While the oak on this wine is fairly prominent, it is tamed with the right food. Serve the Meiomi with slowly barbequed pork or grilled Portobello mushrooms stuffed with a savoury mixture that includes bacon or a salty, smoky sausage.

One Wagner Family wine we did not have at the Riedel tasting is the Mer Soleil Silver 2009 (~$30), an unoaked Chardonnay that is fermented in stainless steel and concrete. You can buy this wine by the bottle at Whatcom Wine & Spirits or order it by the case at the Signature Liquor Store in Abbotsford.

The Silver has bright, crisp citrus fruits and a focussed minerality (think of a summertime rain on the hot pavement) on both the nose and palate. It will be the perfect pal for the oysters on half-shell my son Steve and I will enjoy when he comes home for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, and just so I haven’t left you wondering about what wine to serve with your turkey dinner, reach for one with good acidity and juicy fruit—Riesling, Pinot Noir or rosé will fit that bill.

Cheers, all!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

 

Cornucopia, Whistler's celebration of wine and food: Day one

There's still time, you know.

Still time to make your way up to Whistler and take part in one of the most exciting wine-and-food events B.C. has to offer.

We spent the evening at House Party, which combines live local music with regional foods and domestic wines.

House Party revelers at the Whistler Convention Centre

Four Seasons’ Sidecut Restaurant looked after the barbeque and the Dairy Farmers of Canada served up B.C. cheeses, while B.C. wine, home-grown vodka, and micro-brewed beer saved thirsty palates.

Tinhorn Creek's Cabernet Franc rosé

We tasted wines from Fort Berens, Tinhorn Creek (they pulled out their delicious, but unavailable, Cabernet Franc rosé in honour of the world-wide Rosé Revolution!), Blasted Church, Road 13, Quinta Ferreira, and Dunham & Froese. And, we sipped on the three craft brews provided by the Whistler Brewing Comapny.

Did I mention the apples?

Check out Rick Rake's Facebook page for more pictures of tonight's fun.

Cheers to you!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Haywire: Collaborative grape-to-wine labour of love

Here is my most recent wine column, published August 18 in My City, a monthly lifestyle magazine in the Abbotsford News. 

* * * * *

With Labour Day quickly approaching (Sept. 6), I thought I’d share with you some B.C.-wine labours of love to help celebrate summertime’s last long weekend. Get your hands on these wines...read more.

Cheers to you!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Four BC wines during my rosé-a-rama: Road 13, Mission Hill, Quails' Gate, Gray Monk

I tasted seven rosé wines recently, six in one sitting last week and the seventh on Sunday afternoon. The first six I tasted without knowing which wine was served. The seventh came to me as a sample after the larger tasting so I couldn't include it with the original six. Two of the seven wines are from France, one from Portugal, and four from B.C. 

Hubby kindly poured the first six wines for me in another room and then, in order to keep things organized, he marked the bottles with the number corresponding to the order in which I tasted the wines. After I made my initial notes, hubby poured all six wines (in the same order) into my tasting glasses so I could see and taste them compared to each other.

I tasted the first six wines with a variety of foods: hummus, cured meats and Dijon mustard, cheeses, pickles, cold cooked chicken, ripe strawberries and freshly cracked black pepper, French bread, and tortilla chips.

While I wasn't disappointed with any of the pairings—rosé wines really are food friendly—there were a couple of remarkable pairings: wine number two with the cured meat and mustard and wine number 5 with the ripe strawberries and cracked pepper. Smoked salmon, antipasta, and lightly grilled white meats will also go well with these seven wines.

All the wines were dry, with the exception of number six, which is off-dry. Sometimes the fruitiness of a rosé can make one suspect the wine is sweeter than it actually is. Each of the wines was clean, had good acidity, and were well balanced. 

You can buy all these wines at B.C. Liquor Stores and some private stores.

Here is a chart listing the wines and giving brief remarks for each. As well, I've tried to answer the question, "If you could describe this wine in just two words, what would they be?"

Wine #1	Road 13 Honest John’s Rosé, 2009
Region	BC, Okanagan Valley
ABV / Price	13% / $18
Colour	Light cranberry
Brief remarks	Strawberries, smoke + a little rhubarb
Two words	tart + tasty

Wine #2	Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine Rosé, 2008
Region	France, Rhône, Tavel
ABV / Price	13.5% / $23
Colour	Light strawberry
Brief remarks	Ripe strawberries, citrus +  herbs
Two words	complex + masculine

Wine #3	Domaine Houchart Rosé, 2010
Region	France, Côtes de Provence
ABV / Price	12.5% / $17
Colour	Very pale pink
Brief remarks	Strawberries, cherries + herbs
Two words	light + summery

Wine #4	Gray Monk Rotberger Rosé, 2009
Region	BC, Okanagan Valley
ABV / Price	11% / $16
Colour	Pale cherry with a salmon hue
Brief remarks	Spiked strawberries, cranberries + minerality
Two words	texture + spice

Wine #5	Quails’ Gate Rosé, 2009
Region	BC, Okanagan Valley
ABV / Price	13% / $15
Colour	Light salmon with orange hue
Brief remarks	Red fruit, tobacco + confectionery
Two words	juicy + fruity

Wine #6	Sogrape Gazela Rosé, NV
Region	Portugal
ABV / Price	10.5% / $11
Colour	Pale pink
Brief remarks	Strawberries, citrus + pétillance
Two words	off-dry + uncomplicated

Wine #7	Mission Hill Family Estate Five Vineyards Rosé,  2010 (rec'd as sample)
Region	BC, Okanagan Valley
ABV / Price	12.5% / $15
Colour	Light rose-petal
Brief remarks	Red-berry jam, cherries + carnations
Two words	refreshing + food-friendly

Cheers to you!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Wednesday's wine word: Saignée

Since I've been talking about rosé wines so much recently, I thought I'd explain one of the terms directly related to this juicy pink pleasure: saignée.

Rosé wines are made three ways, typically: 

1. Blending white and red wines together
2. Skin contact with the grape juice is allowed for a short time only, after which the skins are discarded
3. Saignée

Saignée

Saignée is a French word derived from the verb saigner, which means to bleed.

A winemaker will run off (bleed) a portion of juice after limited contact between the skins and juice of just-crushed dark-skinned (black/red/purple) grapes. Because of this limited contact, the juice that is bled off becomes a wine lighter in colour and structure than its remaining sister red wine made from the rest of the juice. 

The many colours of rosé range from light orange and salmon
to pale pink, rose, and magenta

It's interesting to note that many people in the wine world believe that the best rosé wines are made using the saignée method. I won't make any such proclamation, however, because I still have so many rosés to try.

Cheers to you!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Rosé-a-rama: my search for the perfect pink pleasure is about to begin

I picked up six bottles of rosé wine yesterday from the Abbotsford Signature Liquor Store. I'm on a quest, you see, to find the perfect pink pleasure. I didn't have time to stop in at any wineries or private liquor stores, but the summer certainly isn't due to end for yet another couple of months....j'espère.

Here's the list, so far, of the wines I'll be tasting over the course of the next couple of weeks. I will add to the list as I get more time to shop at private wine stores and local wineries. And yes, I will share my findings with you.

• Gazela Rosé (Portugal/NV)
• Road 13 Honest John's Rosé (Okanagan Valley, BC/2009)
• Domaine Houchart Rosé (Côtes de Provence, France/2010)
• Quails' Gate Rosé (Okanagan Valley, BC/2009)
• Gray Monk Rotberger Rosé (Okanagan Valley, BC/2009)
• Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine (Tavel, France/2008)

Cheers to you!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.

Patio season is close by so start chilling the BC whites and rosés

The best thing about daylight savings time, besides the longer days, is the certainty that patio days won’t be far behind. And that means we’re headed for some splendid B.C. whites and rosés.

Here is my most recent wine column, Fine Fare & Wine to Pair, published Mar. 17 in My City, a monthly lifestyle magazine in the Abbotsford News. 

Click here or on the image above to read the column and my comments regarding Township 7, Hester Creek, Local Lounge|Grille, and Eat.Drink.Tweet.

Salut!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen Rake. All rights reserved.