No Can for Me!

Great wine by its nature is mysterious, unpredictable and perhaps ultimately unknowable.

“Romance and wine encompass not only all of the senses but the mystery, history, science and art. We may never fully understand either, but sure do like trying.”

– Joy Merrilee, Winemaker, Shannon Ridge

The romance of wine begins in the vineyard and ends with a bottle of fine wine been properly served. A waiter stands by your table. They present the bottle to you. Your anticipation is highlighted. The cork is popped. Your mouth waters. You look across the table at the one you love.

The waiter pours a tasting into your glass. You smell the sweet wine. You node your approval. The waiter pours the wine and wishes you "Bon Appétit.

So now you replace that with a can of wine been popped on the table before you.

“I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like canned wine. I do not like them Bob I Am.”

Give me a fancy glass give a bottle of wine, Give me the perfection of wine properly chilled, popping of the cork, the care of carefully pouring the wine. 

How do you measure your success as a winery by the quality of your wine or the dollars in your bank account? What do you take the most pride in

Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that's where you will find success."

To me, a wine in a can is a fad that makes for a quick sale. An idea that will in time fade, just as it has before. Canned wine is not a new idea. Its been done before. It's been done in France, in Australia, in China. In America, where it has come and gone.

"Wine speaks to all the senses: the eyes behold the colour, tone, and shade; the nose, the bouquet, the fingers and lips caress the cool crystal; the ears delight in the subtle swishing of the liquid; the tongue rejoices in the reward of a rich harvest." - Mary Lou Posch, wine lover.

Can a can bring all senses into play! 

To your average wine drinker who buys their wine in the local grocery, the can may be okay. If you wish to cellar your wines. buy a bottle.

Be Creative!

Sometimes I have to wonder about the wine industry. Some wineries go out and hire a marketing firm or creative design to come up with their winery logo and or design their wine labels. Then tell me why do so many winery labels look alike?

Take a close look at Phantom Creek and Copper moon. Not much of a difference. Chances are there will be no mistake as to which one you purchase the real difference is in the quality and cost.

The O Brien Estate bears a resemblance to three Canadian labels. I found all these labels in less than five minutes. Image how many more identical labels I could find if I went through the entire state of California.

 

These last two use the O symbol but they do look a bit different, however once again I quickly found 4 more wineries using a simple O. Image how many I could find if I really put my mind to it.

Does the same thing happen with winery names? Yes, it does, for a quick sample of this, I found four Larch Hill Wineries around the world and two O Shaughnessy wineries in Napa Valley. Blackwood and Ironwood are popular too. Using a tree on the label, a few wineries use almost the identical symbol here too.

DO you find it confusing?? I did receive an e-mail just last week from a lady in Ontario. A friend told her about a wine she really likes but forgot the name. She was able to describe the label. Sadly the wrong wine was purchased. 

If you Google wine labels with horses you get 5,860,000 responses many of which look alike. Try Butterflies far more butterfly labels and even harder to tell some brands apart.

If I was off to the store and my wife says " Bring home a bottle of the wine I like you know its the one with the Kangaroo on it". I am almost 100% likely to bring home the right wine. But If she said the one with the O on it, I may get the wrong wine.

Ok, so a few wineries around the world use almost identical logos. What I do not understand is the winery that uses the almost identical symbol of the older winery down the road?

Now just for the fun of it try https://jinjubyanthem.com/ to see how the symbol used by numerous BC wineries is overused.

 

Alebrije Kitchen + Bar

The newest restaurant on White Rock's beach goes by the name of Alebrijie Kitchen + Bar. A delightful Mexican restaurant owned and operated by Mexican Canadians family. Alebrijie had only been open for five days when Barbara and I visited on January 29th.

We received a warm welcome from two staff members; we later learned our server was also the manager and co-owner by the name of Diego Castillo. What a wonderful friendly attitude this young man processes; we could have chatted with him all evening. 

We were seated in a comfortable COVID compliant booth beside a window with a great view of our famous White Rock Pier, perfect! No sooner did we sit down when Diego placed a tray of homemade tortilla chips and salsa in front of us. Barbara was so impressed with them she ordered some to take home. It turns out Diego's mother makes the salsa and chips on site.

As happens with many new restaurants the liquor license was still pending. We settled for Mexican coffee which was excellent and brought back memories of the coffee we used to drink on our visits to Mexico. Our cups were kept full all during our meal.

Choosing what to eat took a few minutes; the menu is quite extensive. After much debate and some welcome advice from Diego, Barbara settled on the prawn tacos and I went for the steak fajitas, we were not disappointed with our choices.

The meals were well presented, most delicious, we were more than happy. We enjoyed the hospitality, food, and seaside view. The restaurant's interior is decorated with beautiful Alebrijie. Alebrijies are brightly coloured Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures.

By not having margaritas we were able to use the calories saved and splurge on dessert; we shared a chocolate impossible cake.  We are sure that when we return, the license will be in effect, and we can skip dessert for a classic margarita!  But don't wait for the liquor license, get on down to the restaurant and enjoy the food, service and ambience!

 

The Dudes Crescent Beach 

Ocean parks fabulous unique coffee shop has opened a second located in Cresent Bench. The Crescent Beach location specializes in the best tasting coffee and brunch. At this time there is no beer and wine license but the owners promise it is coming.

Meanwhile, the menu offers some really delicious items, such Larry's own version of Egg Benedicts or Avacado on Toast.&nbspWithout a doubt Larry the co-owner along with his wife Kelly makes the best Lobster Benny in all of South Surrey. The pancakes are to die for. If you prefer a simple breakfast go for the egg omelette.

The prime rib beef dip is my favourite. Only served on Saturday. 

This is a true family coffee shop where you will find Larry's and Kelly's children serving you with a smile. To sum it all up the coffee is five stars, the food is five stars and the hospitality is 5 star.

They located at 12823 Crescent Road. Please stay out of my parking spot 😇. Thank you

 Happily, we discover some mince tarts still left from Christmas. So, of course, we had to indulge. The bigger concern was what wine to enjoy with the mince tarts. The obvious answer Icewine,

One of nature's most exquisite gifts. One of the world's most luscious and celebrated wines. It is one of the most difficult and challenging processes for the winemaker. Canada is the world leader in producing amazing Ice Wines. 

Icewine is a rare gift from a magical Canadian winter. Picked at the coldest moment of a winter's night, each frozen grape creates just one drop of Icewine. One smooth rich, luxurious drop.

The first Icewine to appear on the Canadian front was a Riesling, made in British Columbia by Walter Hainle and his son Tilman in 1973. Tilman Hainle and his wife Sandra continued experimenting with Icewines at their Hainle Vineyards in the Okanagan, ultimately producing their first commercial release in 1978. In 1991, other Okanagan winemakers joined in, capitalizing on the early onset of cold temperatures that year and plenty of frozen grapes on the vine. 

The story that leads to Canada been known around the world for its icewine is far more in depth and took the efforts of many to achieve. Perhaps the most important factors is Canada's unique climate. 

History of Canada's Icewine

Icewine must be produced exclusively from grapes that have been harvested, naturally frozen on the vine, and pressed in a continuous process while the air temperature is -8° Celsius (17.6°F) or lower. Icewine grapes are often harvested during the night to guarantee a temperature below -8° Celsius.

The icewine we chose

Rief Estate Vidal Icewine 2017

Wow! A fantastic aroma of tropical fruits with honey and peach. It melts in your mouth with additional fruit flavours. More please! 94

 Hey! It's 2021

Staring with a few appies and some wine my wife and I settled in on New Year's Eve to watch movies on Netflix. That was only a few days ago and already I have forgotten the movies.  The wine I remember. Church and State 2017 Marsanne.

Not the most common grape by far. There are perhaps more than 250 different varietals grown in British Columbia. 

Top ten varieties in order of acres:  Merlot  Pinot Gris  Pinot Noir  Chardonnay  Cabernet Sauvignon  Gewurztraminer  Cabernet Franc  Syrah  Riesling  Sauvignon Blanc

Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhone region. Outside of France, it is also grown in Switzerland, Spain Australia, New Zealand, United Staes and Canada.

 Marsanne produces a deep gold coloured wine with high alcohol content. The flavours range from nutty to fruity. Road 13  2018 provides a cream honey finish which is quite nice.

Moon Curser 2019 won Gold at The All Canadians.

Church and State Winery -Marsanne 2017

A perfect golden colour. Aromas of fresh apricot, dried orange peel, and honeycomb, finishing off with nuts and fruit flavours 90

Happy New Year!

 

On a holiday break back in January

http://www.winesofcanada.com/featured_winery_visit2021.html

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