Spooky Wine

Somebody is making wine in Collingwood. True story. Not only that – the LCBO is carrying it.

The winery is the Halloween-esque aptly named Coffin Ridge Winery and the wine I tried? Back From The Dead Red.  Good name. Good marketing.  Good wine for a Halloween party!

Grown in Grey County! It’s still hard to believe that’s not a joke (maybe  because I grew up in Mt Forest – the Wellington County side of the tracks). The grapes are 100% Marechal Foch (pronounced “mar-esh-shall-fosh” – thanks Wikipedia) and the wine is very good. It’s very rustic and dry – both qualities that I love.

Boo!

COFFIN RIDGE BACK FROM THE DEAD RED 2010
VINTAGES 260463 | Price $ 17.00

Hanging with the Queen

If you had told me 5 years ago that I would google with the Queen I might have slapped you.  That’s because I didn’t know how cool the Google Hangout was – or what it was for that matter.  And the Queen?  Natalie MacLean – Queen of the internet wine writing and wine tasting  as far as I’m concerned – and 140,000 subscribers can’t be wrong.

So anyhoo – we Google Hangout(ed) and tasted a selection of wine and cheese and the entire thing is now on the You Tube!

12 of us were provided with some wine and some cheese and we all hung out on the internet and talked about it.  You can see the entire thing here – Natalie’s Google Hangout.  If you fast forward to the 27th minute you will see my disastrous attempt to sabre a sparkling icewine go horribly wrong.  2011 was a great year for ice wine but a terrible year for glass.

I think the best wine I tried was Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Chardonnay (click for our tasting notes).  It would make a great Christmas gift for anyone on your list.

2011 – great year for ice wine, bad year for glass

Thanks to the people at Inniskillin for providing the wine – to the Dairy Farmers of Canada for the cheese – and to the Queen for organizing the fun. What a privilege for a guy who writes a wine blog mainly to make his brother-in-Spain laugh to be included in this event and with this group of people.  Thanks everyone – and good news – I got all the glass out of the carpet.

So Local it’s loco

The wine I had for Thanksgiving this year was so local that it’s loco.  For years I have driven past Cox Creek Cellars between Guelph and Fergus saying to myself “I really should stop in there sometime”.  It wasn’t until I had a sudden urge for Elderflower wine (and honestly who doesn’t get that at least once a year) that I actually got around to seeing if a) Cox Creek Cellars has a website and 2) if they have Elderflower wine.

In my excitement I misread their webpage and drove to CCC only to find that they have ElderBERRY wine.  I have too many aroma memories of stinky socks (brother-in-Spain) to risk that taste. However, and it’s a big BUT, I did find lots there to intrigue my palate.

I ended up with a Black Currant wine that tasted like a drier version of the french classic Cassis – the preferred drink of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.  Delicious!

I also purchased a Baco Noir wine because the grapes are grown on the premises.  Grapes for wine grown in GUELPH?  Loco (and local).  Baco Noir is a thick skinned grape that does well in our cold climate.  The wine was a found treasure.  Well done Cox Creek Cellars.  See you again soon!

Really good inexpensive wine

I have found a solution to a problem that has plagued mankind for ages – or at least its plagued me for a couple of years.  What are the best inexpensive wines that I can buy time and time again and still feel happy about the quality of wine I am buying. Here is the happy trio …

I am buying 2 of these each time I go into the store.  That way I always have memories of Spain, France, and Italy at my fingertips. Hopefully I am doing my part to keep my Spanish, French, and Italian friends happy by picking a wine from each of their countries.  What am I – Swiss?

Google Hangout Wine tasting

I will be tasting wine with the Queen – Natalie MacLean – on a Google hangout Wed night at 8 pm.

If, like me, you are over the age of 40 and have no idea what this means (or what twitter is used for) then this link will help you find it. Google Hangout Link

It’s like a TV show on the internet where people are discussing Canadian cheese and drinking Ontario wine.  It should be a blast.

The cheese and wine that we are trying are listed here. I think the video will be available on YouTube afterwards.

I’ll be the one with long hair who isn’t a girl.