2007 Twisted Tree Pinot Noir

I bought this bottle on my trip to Osoyoos last year.  I was sorting some of the bottles in my cellar yesterday (which is really a stack of boxes in my crawl space) and found this one.  I actually forgot I had it.  So, I set it out and opened it last night.  I remember that when I bought this wine, I was actually really looking forward to it.  Meaning: I had high expectations for this wine.  According to the Twisted Tree website, this is an “aromatically intense wine” with strawberry, cherry, and floral aromas, followed by sweet spices and coffee flavours.  They suggest that it pairs well with salmon and leaner meats like pork or chick.

My notes do differ slightly, so here they are.

Appearance: A nice clear dark red.  Slight pinkish tinge to the edges with a faint orangeness.

Smell: Cherry, plums, and oak

Taste: Quite a mild flavour.  Definitely oaky with some coffee flavours.  Plums and cherries as well.  Long, smooth finish.

Overall: Alright wine.  Slightly more mild than I expected.  Definitely a smooth wine.  I could have paired it better with a proper meal.

Rating: 3 / 5

2006 Fork in the Road Oliver Block 249 Red

My wife found this wine a couple of months ago.  We were heading to a house party, and thought we shouldn’t arrive empty handed.  I admit, I had never heard of Fork in the Road Vineyards before.  However, we ended up not opening the bottle that night, and so it sat in our wine rack until last night.

I have been looking for more information on Fork in the Road Vineyards; however, as they don’t seem to have a website, it’s been difficult to find on the internet.  I did find a posting on the Appelation America website that says that Fork in the Road is operated as a virtual winery by Mission Hills Family Estates (click HERE to read more).

In any case, I would definitely recommend this wine.  Here are my tasting notes.

Appearance: A thick, dark, purply red.

Smell:  Cedar, wood, and plums

Taste: Blackberries, wood, and vanilla.  Semi-sweet.

Overall: Great wine.  A real surprise for a wine I knew so little about.  I would definitely recommend this wine and will try it again.

Rating: 4 / 5

2007 J Lohr Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon

I’ve actually been on a cleanse since the beginning of the year, so this is the first wine being reintroduced to my system.  I bought this bottle after a Christmas lunch in December.  They served this wine at the lunch, and I enjoyed it, so I bought a bottle on my way home.

Last night, I did drink my glass without any food though, which, looking back, may not have been the best idea.  I would definitely have it again with a meal.  It’s just one of those wines.

In any case, here are my notes.

Appearance: Thick, deep, dark purplish red.  Clear with no cloudiness.

Smell: Earthy.  Wood.  Apple and plums.

Taste: Blackberries and a hint of vanilla.  Real oak and cedar flavours.  Smooth tanins, but not a lot of pucker.  Quite dry and not much sweetness to it.

Overall: A good wine.  Probably would have been nice with some red meat.  Quite a heavy wine.  Will be nice to try again with a good meal.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Update Jan 27: I’ve had some more of this wine the last couple of nights and have enjoyed it a little bit more each time. In fact, my wife even tried a glass tonight. Her initial comment was that the wine was very spicy. My initial reaction was similar; however, tonight I opened the wine early to let it breathe and found that it was significantly smoother after doing so.

Summer Road Trip to California Wine Country

My wife and I are currently planning a summer road trip down to California wine country.  We’re planning to drive down, spend around 5 days exploring, and then drive home.

Our big decisions for now are when to go and where to spend our time.  For timing, we’re looking at May or June – better to get there early, beat the crowds (and the heat), and try to get some first tastes on new wines.

We’re considering the Calistoga region and Howell Mountain area in the Napa Valley and the Russian River area of the Sonoma Valley.   However, we have been told by a few different people that stopping for a night in Mendocino is an absolute must.

While down there, we also intend to hit a couple tours, and hopefully, a wine festival.

While I’ve been to California many times, this will be my first time going north of San Francisco (or even crossing the Golden Gate Bridge at all for that matter).  I don’t know a whole lot about this area or about California wines (I have my favourites, but that’s about it), so this entire process is going to be a real learning experience.  I’m looking forward to expanding my wine knowledge and to exploring one of the world’s most renowned wine growing regions.  And what better way to learn about something than to completely immerse yourself in it, even if it is only for a week.  I can’t wait!

As we plan and learn more, I’ll be sure to post updates here.

Newcastle Brown Ale

My sister, who spent last year living in Scotland, was recently in town for a visit over the holidays.  While we were out for drinks one night, she suggested I try Newcastle Brown Ale, which was being served on-tap at the local Elephant & Castle.  Always willing to try new beers, I gladly agreed.

I have to say, that after my first sip I was immediately surprised by how perfect this beer is.  And I admit, I am an ale drinker.  My default beer is Okanagan Springs Pale Ale, which is a fairly light ale, but an ale nonetheless; however, I often crave a medium-dark ale without having to visit a local Brew House to get one.  This beer was exactly what I was looking for.  I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d never tried it before.

According to Wikipedia, it’s brewed by a company called Scottish & Newcastle, which is part of Heineken International.  Read up on some of the beers history HERE.

The beer was excellent and had a slightly nutty taste, which is common to darker ales.  But it wasn’t too dark (for my taste) and had a smooth aftertaste.  The aftertaste also wasn’t too sweet, which I find common in a lot of European ales.  Definitely worth a try next time you’re staring at the wall of import beer at the liquor store and can’t decide what to buy.

Rating: 4 / 5

Poynt vs. Urbanspoon (score 1 for Poynt)

I posted earlier about my excitement that Urbanspoon for BlackBerry had finally been released (see original post here).  However, I have to put a plug in for Poynt here, based on a vacation I took this week.

I took my wife to Harrison Hot Springs in south-western BC for a couple of days during the holidays.  Once we were settled into our hotel and ready to go for something to eat, I fired up Urbanspoon on my BlackBerry.  I was disappointed to see that the nearest location was Chilliwack (approximately 30 minutes drive away).  This didn’t provide us any useful information as to where to eat.  So while I do use Urbanspoon frequently in a big city, it is completely useless in a small town.

So I opened Poynt and searched using the ‘Restaurants Near Me’ feature, which quickly brought up a list of restaurants, noting each of their distances from my present location.  Poynt uses Yellow Pages listings and Open Table restaurant listings to find restaurants.  Although we could not read reviews or ratings on any of these restaurants, we could find which ones were closest, directions to get there, and an idea on what type of food to expect.

So, while sometimes I like to read a few reviews on a restaurant before dining there, in a small town with 1 sushi restaurant and 1 bar/grill, I only really need to know what’s available and how to get there.  Score 1 for Poynt!  I must also admit that Poynt is one of the most used apps on my BlackBerry.  Everything from movie tickets to a nearby liquor store or gas station can be found.  Incredibly powerful tool, I just never thought I’d also use it to find restaurants in a pinch.

2006 Tinhorn Creek Pinot Noir

Here’s a review I did in the summer.  I really enjoy Tinhorn Creek wines, and have a couple bottles of their Oldfield’s Collection aging in my cellar, so I thought it was worth refreshing myself on some of their wines.

They definitely have one of the most spectacular tasting rooms in the Okanagan Valley and have an incredible view of the entire Golden Mile (between Oliver and Osoyoos) and looking across the valley at the Black Sage Bench.

In any case, here’s my review:

Appearance: Rather light in colour, quite transparent for a pinot and clear.  Thin legs.

Smell: Typical fruity pinot smell of a young wine.  Nothing complex, just sweet.

Taste: A light wine, low tannin.  Quite a short aftertaste.

Overall: A refreshing wine, rather simple.  Probably would have been better on a hot summer afternoon than a cool spring evening. Overall good wine, but a little too subtle for my tastes.

Rating: 3 / 5

2007 Road 13 Merlot

Last night a friend brought over a bottle of 2007 Road 13 Merlot.  I am quite fond of Road 13 wines, so I was quite excited to give this one a go.  I do have a couple of these exact bottles in storage myself, so it was good to see how this one was coming along.  Road 13 is working hard to define BC wines and what makes them unique, and this wine is a great example of their efforts.

Here are my rough tasting notes:

Appearance: Thick and dark ruby red.  Faint purplish tint.

Smell: Strong oak smell.  Plums and cherry.

Taste: Oak.  Not too sweet.  Smooth tanins.  Strong acidity, but not sour.

Overall: Good, fresh tasting wine.  Another 6-12 months perhaps, and this one would have been perfect.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Update Jan 31, 2010: I had another bottle of this wine that I’ve been holding on to.  In my efforts to taste more of the wines that I’ve been saving, I opened this bottle tonight and had a couple of glasses.  I did new tasting notes without referring to my previous notes (posted above).  And my new notes were actually quite similar; however, I did find this wine to be much smoother this time around, and I actually enjoyed it a little bit more.  Here are my notes from tonight.

Appearance: Dark blood red.  Quite thick.  No purple.

Smell: Earthy smell.  Plum and blackberry with a nice oak smell.

Taste: Oaky with notes of plum and blackberries.  Not too sweet.  Smooth tanins.

Overall: Great wine.  The flavours have come together nicely.  Good medium body wine.  Not too strong, and has some great flavours.  This wine, to me, is a great representation of what BC wines can be!

Rating: 4 / 5

2006 Nk’Mip QwAM QwMT Meritage

Last night, I cracked a bottle of 2006 Nk’Mip QwAM QwMT Meritage with some friends. My mother-in-law, who lives in Osoyoos, gave us this bottle in the summer after she had visited the winery, which is walking distance from her place. My wife and I had visited Nk’Mip back in May, but picked up the pinot noir instead of this one. For those of you who don’t know, QwAM QwMT is their version of reserve.

According to Nk’Mip, this meritage consists of 50% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, and 10% cabernet franc. And this is their reserve label. In any case, I think we all enjoyed this wine. Here are my notes:

Appearance: Slight purplish tinge. Deep red/maroonish colour. Clear.

Smell: Oak and apple. Perhaps some plums. One of us got a bit of chocolate.

Taste: Sweet wood flavour. Quite dry. Smokey. Bit of pucker to it. Surprisingly sweet for a woody wine.

Overall: Good wine. Definitely enjoyable and well received by a group with quite varied tastes. Would definitely try it again.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

2007 Twisted Tree Six Vines

This past weekend, a few friends and I shared a bottle of Twisted Tree’s Six Vines from their 2007 vintage.  I have previously tasted and shared my experience with the 2006 vintage, and was incredibly impressed (see my post here).  That being said, I had high expectations for this bottle.

To recap from my earlier post,  the Six Vines is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, carmenere, petit verdot, and malbec and each of the wines was fermented in oak barrels.  In this vintage, I noticed much more of the oak than I did in the 2006.

The additional oaky flavour was a bit of a surprise to some of us.  But for those of us who enjoy oaky wines, it was a pleasant surprise.  For those of us who prefer sweeter wines, it was not as nice.

I have also found lately that a few 2007 wines have not been as great as their 2006 counterparts.  Not sure if this is a fair assessment, but it appears that 2007 may not have been as great of a year in the Okanagan Valley, while 2006 was possibly one of the best.

Here are my tasting notes.

Appearance: Dark red and thick looking wine.

Smell: Hints of oak, blackberry, and cherry.

Taste: Not a strong, but a definite oak flavour.  Hints of berry flavours.  The wine did not taste heavy, like it appears.  Well blended tannins.  Smooth finish.

Overall: By holding this wine to its 2006 counterpart, I was slightly disappointed.  However, perhaps this wine simply needed another year in the cellar.  Overall, a great bottle of wine.

Rating: 3 / 5