Hotel Wine Lists - Why are they so bad?

At one time eating in a hotel restaurant what the height of fine dining.  When dress codes were in place and a stain on a white table cloth meant that you would be asked to change tables.

Oh how the times have changed.

This week I spent 3 days in the lovely city of Halifax for work. I love Halifax. I've been there more times than I can count, so I have a pretty good idea on the places to go and have a great meal and those to avoid.

Some of my favourite place to eat are the Economy Shoe Shop. A great place for a decent meal at a reasonable price with a really cool atmosphere. My favourite place for a good beer has got to be the Split Crow. If your form Halifax, I know that you are thinking "what about the Lower Deck?" No doubt, but I have some great memories and some really fuzzy ones from the Split Crow.

So this trip I had some free time and figured I would go throw some money into the Nova Scotia coffers by making a donation at Casino Halifax. I figured I could afford $20 at the blackjack table. Well 2 hours later I was up 110 big ones! I should have stopped a few hands earlier and would have had a bit more. Didn't matter as I was ahead.

So I cash out and am a bit tired and haven't eaten, so I make my way back to my hotel for a bite and a couple glasses of wine to celebrate.




I pull myself up to the bar in the restaurant and the bartender passes me a menu and the drink list. Before I look a the menu I flip to the red wines. My thing when I look at a wine list is for the most expensive price per glass and work my way backwards. The first thing that grabs my attention is $10 a glass for Campo Veijo Reserva. My first reaction is that I can buy a bottle at the LCBO for about $18 off the shelf! Why should I pay 10 bucks for an ok wine that I've had many times before?

Then I take a look at the rest of the wines they have listed and it's abundantly clear. Let me clarify something. The hotel that I'm staying at isn't a Super 8. I'm at the Delta Barrington. Probably one of the more expensive hotels in Halifax. In the heart of downtown and easily accessible to everything by foot.

So what to do. Well I had cash to burn and was hungry oh and did I say tired? Needless to say, I had a couple of glasses and a Southwest burger and salt and pepper chips. The food was pretty good and as close as a match as I could find for a wine.

The moral of the story is for my next trip, buy your own wine at the local liquor store and order in room service.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

Upset About Not Enough White

So this week has been yet another crazy week for me as I'm sure that it has been for many of us. On Wednesday I held a wine tasting event for about 16 people and there was a great time had by all.

However, at the beginning of the class, I went on to describe about some basics of wine tasting and how the participants can make the wine more memorable, one of the women was visibly upset at the white to red ratio.We were lucky enough to have 10 wines in total with 2 white and 8 red.
She was willing to stay for the event as we had already begun.

She was definitely enjoying the whites that we started with, a Sauvgion Blanc and a Reisling.

As we moved onto the reds she was a little hesitant. We starting with a Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Sauvgion, moving on to a Tempranillo, Shiraz, a few blends, and ending with a Barollo.

Once she tasted the Chateauneuf du Pape, she was warming up to the ideas of some smooth drinking well balanced reds.

Like many others, if you are a novice wine person, you find something that you like and you tend to stick with them. Just like she was doing. She liked her Pinot Grigo and that was it. She would occasionally have a Sauv. Blanc, but was scared to stray off from what she was comfortable with.

So how do you learn what you like without going broke on buying wines and discovering you hate it and dump it down the drain?

There are a few ways to figure out what you like, and many of them without spending a lot of money if any. Here is how I do a lot of discovering of different wines.

Dinner Parties:

Dinner Parties are awesome for trying new wines. People will usually bring a bottle of wine when they come for dinner. As the host, it isn't out of the question for you to make a request of your friends to bring a bottle that isn't what you normally drink.


Wine Tasting Classes:
Taking a wine tasting class is a great way in tasting a number of wines. It may be a themed class, such as all from South America, or a specific region in France, but they are usually fairly inexpensive and can be amazing. (See Classes and More to have me run a class for you.)

Join a Wine Club:
There are wine clubs in cities all over the world. These usually have an annual fee that you will have to pay, but it will include most of the tastings in that fee. The advantage of a wine club is that they may have their own inventory of wines that are at their peek and not available on the market any longer.

Visit a Winery:
Depending on where you live, this can be an amazing day trip. Most wineries have a tasting room where you can sample their wines for simple $1 per sample. If you find something you like and end up buying a bottle (or a case) they will usually not even bother charging you for the tastings. After all, that's what they want you to do. Sample a wine, love it, and take it home.

Many wineries also have coupons on their websites for a free tasting. I know that Coyote's Run and Black Prince, both have them on theirs. Because I live in Toronto, I'm luck enough to be able to do day trips to both Niagara and Prince Edward County.

So where did that leave the woman in my class?
Thrilled. She said that knowing some of the background of the wines and where they were coming from was as important to her as the wine itself. I tend to agree.

But the key thing in this whole blog is this. Don't be afraid to try new wines, and step out of your comfort zone.
You never know what you might end up liking.

After all, that's what wine is all about, the experience.

Let me know if you would like to share a bottle sometime so we can both enjoy a glass.
Matt

Unplugging

The last few weeks for us (me and my family) have for some reason been really rough.

As with many people, I'm not sure if it is the time of year when we start to get on everyone's nerves because we want to get outside and enjoy summer, but can't because Mother Nature isn't agreeing with our timelines.

My two kids have also been driving us a bit coo coo the last little while as well. More than the usual kid stuff too.  From having to deal with a broken leg on a 5 year old and a pre-tween going on 16, all I can say is ARRRRGHHH!!!

It got to the point on the weekend where we had to literally "pull the plug" on TV for a week.

How is a glass of wine going to help me with that?

Do I drink 3, 4, or 5 glasses until I'm so tired and can't function and drift off into a seemingly wonderful slumber, until the next morning? Well, I'm not 20 any more and can't handle the next mornings as well as I used to. So no, I don't do that.

But, here is what I have started trying to do every chance I can.

Once the kids have gone to bed and things are quiet, for at least a bit, I will grab my glass of wine and sit outside on our front porch. No laptop, no iPad, no BlackBerry. Just a blanket and my glass of wine.

Taking that 5 minutes or more to "unplug" has been the most calming and also inspiring time I have had in quite a while. Occasionally having a chat with a neighbour as they walk by, and watching the leaves try and squeeze their way out of the branches.

For those few minutes, sitting and reflecting on the day, and sipping my favourite red has made me appreciate the day, as crazy as it may have been.

The leaves trying to squeeze out!

Now I know why the "older generation" sat on the porch and just sat.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

Wine Doesn't Fix Everything

This week was probably the most trying week I have had in the last year at work.

I have been working for the last 18 years in the safety industry. I'm currently in an amazing role and doing what would be my second choice as a career. Wine being the first.  During these last 18 years, there have been both good times and bad times. I have been through a number of company re-organizations and come out unscathed.  As everyone knows that the world economy is on the edge of a knife. One slip either way and you could end up slashed and fall into a ramekin of salt.

I was fortunate enough, this go round, to keep my position and have a manager that I actually can trust to keep me in the loop as much as he can. However, one of my colleagues was not so lucky. Not because of his abilities, but simply about numbers. That in itself is enough to make your nerves go into overdrive.

Unfortunately, another friend and colleague at work was also let go. For some reason this one hit me harder than the one in my department. Maybe because she is a friend and not 20 minutes before she was called into the conference room, I told her what my manager told me. "She is with a growing department and if she keep things up, she should be ok."

Now that makes me feel great. Relaying the information that I was just told to my friend from a manger. (Yes I still trust him, as he admitted to me that he didn't have the full picture.)

Here is the reality about the whole thing. No-one in the world knows what is going to happen over the next few months and there isn't anything that anyone can do about it.

I'm not going to go into the whole Occupy protests and my opinion on that, but maybe they do have a point even if they are going about it in the completely wrong approach.

So how did or do I cope with the situation? I made the statement on Twitter that "Lay-offs SUCK" and the overwhelming response was to drink some wine!

That was my initial response as well. And boy did I, but here is what I learned about the situation.
I wasn't drinking the wine to get totally wasted, or even to get a buzz on. The reason I was drinking wine was for an escape. The feeling of drinking a good glass of wine brought me back into a place where I could reflect on the things that really matter to me. I allowed me to take a few minutes to look at exactly what I have. I have a family that is amazing, a home that is better than I ever imagined, and the opportunity to be able to sit and reflect.

It took me 48 hours for that to really sink in. Did I have too much to drink? No. Was I planning on drinking a lot more? No doubt.

What I have come to the conclusion to in a situation like that is, you need to take a step back, try to put your emotions in check, and look at the situation. Sometimes it may take a catalyst for you to do that, but do it. It seemed to have worked for me.

I'm looking forward to going back to work on Monday and being back on my game after a couple of really hard days.

So please, enjoy a glass and take the time to reflect on what that glass of wine really means to YOU and what it can actually do to help.
Matt

Penny Black's Little Brother

So I had to go and renew the license plates on our car yesterday and was amazed that there was NO LINE! Unheard of!!!! So that meant that I had about a half an hour of free time.
What to do, what to do....

Go to the LCBO! (Liquor store for those outside of Ontario)

So I made my way home and did some of the chores that you have to do when you get home. Those chores involved putting on some shorts as it was 26 degrees C yesterday, finding the corkscrew, grabbing a wine glass, putting on some music and pouring a glass.

One thing that I have noticed with all the Post House wines is they all initially look and smell corked. The cork is soft, and heavily stained which always worries me.

Not thinking much of it, I head out to the front porch and start to enjoy.

My response to this one is WOW!

This is a blend of 32% Shiraz 32% Pinotage 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18%Merlot.

 I completely get why they call it Bluish Black. I looks like a cross between blueberry juice and squid ink. It has a big nose and wonderful palate. A nose of mulberries, red currant and almost over ripe strawberries, but not in a bad way. Also has lots of allspice and black pepper. The palate is almost identical to the nose with a bit more pepper on it. It is full bodied, rich wine with supple soft tannins for easy drinking especially at 14.5%

This one is well worth seeking out at $14.95!

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

My Favourite Movies with Wine in Them

One of my favourite actors from long before she was on Grey's Anatomy, is Sandra Oh. A fantastic Canadian actor that I first saw in the play "Inquest" at the Factory Theatre in Toronto. From that point on I was a big fan. She has gone on to a lot of great things including and if you are a wine drinker and a bit of a movie fan you have probably seen it.

Sideways

No doubt a great movie, including many other great actors, but more importantly a focus on wine.

I want to give you my top 5 movies or scenes that have wine in them that I love to see over and over again.

#5

The Princess Bride.

Probably a movie that you have all seen and love. I know my kids do.

 

#4

Silence of the Lambs

An amazing thriller scene.

#3

Roman Holiday

The first time drunk for the Princess and Joe Bradley has a glass of wine.

 

#2

Band of Brothers - Day of Days - Day of Firsts.

This is actually an HBO Mini-series

 The night of D-Day June 6, 1944.

#1

Casablanca

One of the best movies of all time and flush with Champagne

What are some of your favourite movies that have wine in them?

Please comment and let me know.

Enjoy a glass.

Matt

Music and Wine

So over the last few weeks I have been informally (in no scientific way at all) asking people, when the are drinking a glass of wine, what music do they have on in the background?

Some of the responses have been from the expected to the OMG really?

What I did learn is that the music and the wine often went together.

Here are a couple of examples:

• Lighter white wines generally went with bubbly happy music. One of my coleagues drinks Pinot Grigio and she said that she like to listen to music like Top 40 and yes I'm going to say it Katie Perry. (more on her later)
• Another coleague said he basically lives off of big bold reds like Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvginion and listens to Classic Rock and heavy bass dubstep.
• One of my tweeps also likes lighter reds drinks it with nastalogic 80's and 90's brit-pop.

Some of what you were probaly thinking about also held true. A nice warm red while listening to Jazz and blues, while a good white could go with fun happy music. Miles Davis and Meaghan Smith are some great examples of both old and new.

Here are some of my favourite tunes to go with wine that I would be drinking.
I hope you enjoy them.

What about you? What do you like to listen to when you are drinking your favourite glass of wine? Please share with me.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

This is my fun red wine song.

Kimbra - Cameo Lover

My drinking white wine with friends song.

REM - Shiny Happy People

My big red wine song.

Radiohead - High and Dry

My I need some alone time with a glass of wine song.

Eagles - Desperado

Finally my sparkling wine song.

Yes I do like the song.

Kaite Perry - Last Friday Night

I need to include an honorable mention in here. This is an awesome duo that I always come back to ever since I first heard them online.

Pomplamoose doing La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf.
Love it. 

Charles Smith Wines

On Thursday night I was fortunate enough to attend my first official event as a blogger.

I have to say it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The event was held by Lifford Wine Agency.
How I heard about he event was through the wonderful world of Twitter. Like many of us who blog, Twitter is an integral part of our community.

I digress. Back to the event. The event was for Charles Smith Wines. These will be soon available an an LCBO near you. (At least I hope!) So I arrive at Spin Toronto located in the heart of the thriving restaurant district of King West of Spadina in Toronto. If you haven't been to Spin Toronto before, the place is a riot!

Imagine your favorite bar/club full of high end ping pong tables. There are ping pong balls all over the place. I even got beaned in the head by one. Lots of fun.

As I arrive I was met by Nicole from Lifford, who was very excited about the night and was extremely welcoming. She slapped a wristband on my arm and a wine glass and basically said go to town! The wines are in the back.

I head to the back and was able to sample many of the Charles Smith wines. I started with the new Secco. He has both a white and a Rose.

As soon as I had the white, I completely understood why the evening was held at Spin. The bubbles in the white were HUGE!!!! Crisp, dry and well rounded. I really enjoyed the white. The Rose was great on the nose, with bubbles that weren't as big, and a bit sweet for my liking, however don't let that stop you from trying it. It would be well worth a sample.

I then moved on to the Riesling and Chardonnay. Take a look at the labels to get a description for yourself. The labels really do say exactly what they are like on the nose and palate.

Smells and tastes just like the label.

Has a fruit kick without the petrol on the nose.

I ended with the Syrah. This one was great as well. Simple straight forward without the snootiness behind it.

My overall impression was that the event was as big as the wine maker himself. Huge, powerful, loud and energetic without being stuck up.

I also want to say that one of my favourite scenes of the night was watching some of the people attending the event that were way out of their league. Shall I say those that were sitting in the corner tasting the wines and saying to themselves. "Why does the music have to be so loud?"

My response to those individuals is loosen up.

On an end note, seek these wines out.
Enjoy a glass
Matt

My Great Find with Almost No Gas

I was headed up to Belleville Ontario earlier this week for my grown-up job which took me right next to the heart of Prince Edward County. One of the most coldest wine regions in the world. I was initially heading to one of my favourite wineries from that region. Black Prince Winery, however I was half way there and thought to myself I had better give them a call to make sure they are open on a Monday in February.

To my great disappointment, the message chatted away at me saying that they are only open Friday to Sunday. So looking down at my gas gauge (which at this point was on the E for empty) I figured I had better make my way back to the nearest gas station. The easiest way for me to do that was to hit the home button on my GPS.

Following the lovely mono-tone woman's voice on the GPS, I take some of the most curvy snow covered roads I have driven on in a while. During this process I'm now starting to sweat a bit as the gas gauge creeps ever closer to the line on the E.

Then I see a small sign that says Huff on the side of the road with what looks like a bunch of grapes on it. Old and weatherd laying in a ditch. I'm sure that the sign had been there for some time. Well as curious as I am, and the fact that I'm headed in that direction anyway I figure, what have I got to lose.

As I come up to the winery, there are 3 moderatly sized buildings that crest a hill. All of them are farely new and in great condition.

The first on my right was an Inn. From first impressions it looked like somewhere I would actually like to stay. I can be a bit of a softy sometimes. Well kept, modern and up to date. The thing that really struck me was all of the wonderful sculptures that dotted the grounds. Some that were very detailed, even when covered in a blanket of snow.

This was because to the Oeno Gallery which was the middle building. Looking fairly new and if I were to have had more time, would definatley have stopped in for a look.

Finally the last building was where I was headed. I was quite confident the winery was open as there were a few other cars in the parking lot. Even if they all worked there, I was prety sure I could at least have a quick walk around.

I walk into the winery tasting/showroom and was very cheerfully greated by Alex. He was the one person that was in the room. I found it amusing that Alex and one of the other employees that was running in and out filling orders were having a bit of a dispute over the "Tribute to Whitney Houston" channel when Alex would greatly have prefered the Yardbirds. (I have to go with Alex on that one).

Enough about that. Let's get to the wines.

I sampled a number of different wines and was very impressed, both with the wines and Alex's ability to deliver the expressions for each of them in plain language. If you have been reading my blog, that's what I'm all about.

2009 South Bay Vinyards Chardonnay

2009 Zero De Gris

2009 South Bay Vineyards Merlot-Cabernet

2009 Off Dry Reisling

Here is what I tasted.

So here is the quick run down on each. I loved the Chardonnay and the Reisling. These two, in my opinion are two wines and varieties that can put Ontairo on the map when it comes to white wines(please feel free to quote me on that one).

The Merlot-Cabernet Blend was great on the nose, but lacked a bit of the body on the palate, which I have to say I was warned about ahead of time. Still, it was quite well crafted and put together on a whole.

Now the story about the Zero De Gris.

This is made from a grape that I have never heard of before. The Frontenac Gris. This is a French American hybrid out of all places Minnesota. The sugar on this grape is through the roof! First pressing is about 40 brix. I know what you are thinking. It's going to be like drinking something like that McDonald Orange drink syrup you had as a kid. But I was remarkably impressed.

The high acidity of this grape especially on the finish, leaves a crisp clean feel on the palate which really surprised me. Alex was also telling me just how labour intensive this variety is to harvest as it needs to be be well below -10 degrees C for the grapes to even freeze because of the high sugar content.

So some final questions to end with.

Will I go back and visit Huff Estate Winery again? Most definately.

Where can they make things that are good better? The red blend. They already are doing something about that. Can't wait for the new blend to try.

What are they doing right? - Whites and Zero De Gris. Keep doing exactly what you are doing.

Overall Experiene? - Fantastic.

Worth checking out if you haven't been there? - A MUST!

One last point. Make sure you have lots of gas in your car.

Enjoy a glass.

Matt

Wine Wednesday Review!

Like I posted a few weeks ago, I'm going to give you the straight run-down on a wine tonight.

Tonight we enjoyed a wonderful wine from Domaine Saint Andeol, Cairanne Cote Du Rhone Village 2007.

Also known as "Seduction", the name on the label is remarkably accurate. This is one of the best Rhones that I have had in a while.

It is full of ripe red berry on the nose and a hint of spices, like cloves and cinnamon. A slight tartness of cranberry is also present.

The palate is almost exactly as the nose with a bit of strawberry compote to boot. The acidity and alcohol is perfectly balanced. The tannins are as smooth as a silk.

We had a wonderful seared lamb chop and white bean and rosemary side, from Martha Stewart, tonight for dinner. Oh my was it the perfect match. (Here is the recipe.)

I would highly recommend this one to anyone.

Here is the icing on the cake. I picked this one up at the LCBO (click LCBO for details) for a mere $17.95 CAD.

 I know, I got a bit technical tonight, but I can tell you it is worth it!

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

To Concord or Not to Concord?

So I'm sure that many of you love a little grape jelly on your PB sandwich, but for me, it is the perfect combination.

Usually grape jelly is made out of concord grapes which is really yummy. I can remember as a kid, my mom making grape jelly by putting the cooked grapes in an old pillowcase (at least that's what I called it) and squeezing out all the juice into a pot to then transfer it into jars and sealing them with wax.

I'll probably get in trouble if my mother reads this, but it was one of the things, looking back, that my mother made well.

A couple of weekends ago, our family was on a weekend trip to a small ski town in Western New York state for my wife's job, and I made sure to stop into the only winery in town.

We went in and did a variety of tastings and many were okay wines. None of them I would particularly search out again. We did walk away with a bottle of their Syrah which wasn't bad, however a bit over priced.

But one of the things that really got to me was that they had a number of wines that were either 100% concord or a blend of concord and other grape varieties. 

I've gotta say that every time I tasted them, it reminded me of when I was a kid and sneaked in the kitchen at my Presbyterian church and drank the communion wine. Yes I did that. Here was the thing. It wasn't wine at all but 100% pure Welch's Concord Grape juice.

I guess this is my point. The wines that I tasted were "100% New York Grapes" and that was very evident. Not that all New York wines are all bad, just the ones that I've had.  

So in my humble opinion. To Concord or Not to Concord?

Not.

Enjoy a glass.

Matt

Another Day, Another Bottle

Well here we are back again after another bottle for review.
Not that I want to change your opinion on this one, but my, was I impressed.

Here are the basic details on the wine.
 

Luis Felipe Edwards - Reserva
2009 - Melbec
Colchagua Valley - Chile
LCBO#: 236497
Price: $14.95

Here are some of the details that you may be interested in.

The colour is a purple to a blueberry. The nose is spicy, black cherry and blackberry. It also has some allspice and some wet gravel. The pallet has full and round tannins, with toasted baking spices, blackberry, sour cherry, and red licorice.
Overall this is a very well balanced alcohol to acidity for a dry red wine.

Now that I have the technical stuff out of the way, what the heck does it mean?

The nose has wet gravel and is full of round tannins?

Don't worry. If you didn't get this, neither did I at one point. Eventually you will. Here's what's key. This is a wine that is going to make you want to eat when you drink it.

Wine should should make you WANT to eat food. A wine shouldn't be better WITH food like most people think. If you have a wine that tastes better with food, the it isn't a great wine. It may be OK, just not one that's great.

Wine will make your food experiences explode if matched properly.

So the last big thing. What do I eat with this wine?

Here are my choices.
A meaty grilled fish, like a tuna steak, a grilled pork chop with prunes, or grilled veal. Basically anything grilled. Oh, I really enjoyed this one on its own too!

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

Enjoy a Glass of Penny Black

So I'm just going to cut to the chase.

Tonight I am drinking a favourite of mine. The Post House, Penny Black 2008. This is a steal at the LCBO for $19.95. This one is from Stellenbosch, South Africa. It is a real mish-mash of grapes. 5 in total, 4 red and a white????

Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvginon, Petit Verdot, and Chenin Blanc. I know your thinking what? But hear me out. This is a big and I mean big red, but is well balanced. It looks like pen ink in your glass, but my it is worth it. At 15% the alcohol matches the acidity that is provided by the Petite Verdot and the Chenin Blanc.

This is a great wine to sip in front of a roaring fire or with a good grilled steak.

All I can say? Enjoy.
Matt

Honesty is Truth

How many of you have been standing in your local LCBO or liquor store before going to a dinner party going. What the heck do I bring? I have no idea what dinner is or what will go with dinner. This is an important dinner at your boss' place and you need to make a good impression. You don't want to bring what everyone else is bringing and you want to stand out. You tried to look on-line to find what would be good, but only came up with Yellow Tail and something from somewhere in Italy that you have never heard of. You also came across wine clubs from all over the place and all the pictures are of old ladies and guys with beards that are in desperate need of a barber. Frustrated? Of course you are.

Ok, so you are no further ahead. What to bring?

Here is my only word of advice and one that I firmly believe that you should follow. Bring one that YOU like. I don't care how much it costs or if it comes in a box or bottle. The most important thing about wine is that you enjoy it. Showing how much you enjoy it and what you know about it or at the least how it makes you feel is what is important. Who am I to say that the 2006 Torrentes from Spain is the best ever? I could be completely full of it and really you would believe me because everything on the internet is true.

Here is what I am about. Find out what you like and only use that experience to grow your tastes from there.

As someone who is looking at the wine industry as a second carrier, I have had my share of wine tastings. Some I love. Others are apparently very good, but to me taste like licking an envelope.

Oh, one other thing. Don't be afraid of the Vintages section at the LCBO. Just because it is in Vintages doesn't mean that it's good! Some of them can be bad. And I mean taste like drinking a rubber tire.

So here are a few that I like. Please remember that these are my choices and noone, and I mean noone has told me otherwise.

Post House Penny Black - South Africa
This is a real mish-mash of grapes but for some reason really works.
LCBO# - 148619 - $19.95

Santa Dinga - Cabernet Sauvginon - Chile
This is a great example of new world Cab. Sauv.!
LCBO# - 177451 - $14.95

Well this is my first kick at the can, so if you have any questions, please fell free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer them.

Above all, like what you like and don't care if anyone says otherwise. Drinking wine is all about your personal experience.

If you have questions, please feel free to send them on and I'll do my best to answer them. Enjoy!