My (wine) cup runneth over

It's a helluva good time to celebrate.

Two hundred posts. That's a pretty impressive milestone. In commemoration of this event, I read through some of my old entries, chuckling along the way. Waxing nostalgic over my first feeble attempts at describing aromas; anecdotes from the CA Paradis Wine Lab at Algonquin; (mis)adventures in my kitchen; discoveries of hidden gems on wine routes near and far; the ongoing saga of raising a daughter.

In two hundred posts, I've also connected with some very kewl people and fellow wineaux through their blogs, over chats on wine sites and at wineries around the world.

To ice an already delicious cake, Brix Magazine was launched this month, bearing a few small pieces penned by yours truly. Check out the site and be sure to subscribe - there's more to come!

And if that isn't reason enough to raise a glass, we just sold our house. Six days on the market, 14 viewings and a bidding war left us exhausted but elated, and a little fuller in the pocket than we expected. wOOt!!

So, readers, if you can do me a favour, pour a glass and toast Post 200 for me; I'll be sipping my lime-flavoured PC carbonated water and pretending it's a glass of Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs.

Cheers!

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Beppi's Best Under $20 ... and mine, too

The new year tends to be the time for lists: top ten lists, greatest moment lists, checklists, resolution lists. I swore I wasn't going to buckle and do a wine-themed list of my own, and have managed to stick by that so far. But I got inspired by Beppi Crosariol’s “20 Go-To Wines” list in last week's Globe and Mail, particularly when I saw a few of my own favourites on there.

Louis Jadot — I didn’t drink much French wine until after I met Hubby; it was at one of his family gatherings where I first tried Louis Jadot (with subsequent in-class tastings). I’m of the “Anything But Chardonnay” camp, but I really liked the way the Burgundy refreshed my palate – more fruit than oak, less manipulated than the big Californian versions of Chardonnay.

Gabbiano Chianti — A simple, straightforward version of sangiovese that makes for a great pizza and burger wine. I save the high-end Brolio Chianti for guests, but the Gabbiano is worth stocking for mid-week spaghetti nights. Same goes for the Gabbiano Pinot Grigio – nice aromas, balance and acid, for a good price: $12.95.

Cave Spring Riesling simply can’t be beat. This is their signature varietal, and it’s stellar every year. I don’t have nearly enough of the stuff in my own cellar; it’s high time I remedied that.

So that inevitably led to the creation of my own fave under-$20 selections. Here they are, in no particular order, and unless otherwise noted, all items are available at the LCBO.

Chardonnay
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Proprietor’s Grand Reserve Estate Chardonnay (BC VQA, $19.95) - Creamy texture and weight, lots of tropical fruit, without the overpowering oak. Perfect for turkey with all the trimmings. Or next-day croissant-wiches with turkey leftovers, Brie and cranberry.

Peninsula Ridge Inox Chardonnay (Niagara VQA, $12.95) - "Inox" meaning fermented in stainless steel tanks. You get all of the fruit and none of the wood. Good with creamy pasta, beer-can chicken, and the aforementioned turkey dinner.

Sauvignon Blanc
Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand, $18.95) - Crisp, sharp, bordering on lemon-fresh pucker-worthy. Versatile with a lot of dishes, especially seafood.

Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand, $16.95) - This one is over-the-top citrus, racy and tantalizing. I find it's best on its own, but with raw oysters it's divine.

Creekside Estates Sauvignon Blanc (Niagara VQA, $13.95, or $18.95 for the reserve) - On our first trip to Niagara, this was the best find. More mineral and acidic than citrusy. We learned (the hard way) about the effects of different vintages from Creekside, when we returned the next year and found the wine wasn't anything like the previous year's. Still good, though.

Pinot Gris/Grigio
Giovello Pinot Grigio (Italy, $12.95) - I'll be honest, it's the bottle that first caught my eye: deep, sapphire blue, with a delicate dragonfly gracing the front. Lovely, fragrant balance of floral and fruit, easy-drinking sipper.

Gabbiano Pinot Grigio (Italy, $12.95) - Same boat as the maker's Chianti: pleasant, unfettered, no fuss-no muss kind of wine.

Other whites and blends
Ruffino Orvieto Classico (Italy, $11.95) - This would be the one I brought all the way home from Orvieto itself, only to find the LCBO stocked the exact same thing. D'OH! Best summertime wine for poolside lounging at Grammy's house. (She's been a big fan of the Orvieto since my trip to Italy.)

Ironstone Vineyards Obsession Symphony (California, $14.95) - It's a fast seller at the liquor store, so jump all over it if you find some in stock. Kinduv like a viognier, with its heady perfume and fruity sweetness, but with plenty of solid acidity. Works with a variety of foods, from creamy pasta to grilled chicken; faboo with seafood.

Strewn Gewurztraminer-Riesling (Niagara VQA, $11.95) - Easily the best choice EVER for spicy foods. All the best parts of both varietals stand up beautifully to Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Szechuan and other dishes of the same ilk.

Dopff & Irion Gewurztraminer (France, $15.95) - Classic Alsatian Gewurz, rating a 2 on the sugar scale. intense, pungent aromas of orange blossom, followed by sweet honey with mint, perhaps a bit of cilantro; apricots on the long, acidic finish.

Rosé
Malivoire Ladybug Rosé (Niagara VQA, $15.95) - Despite the irony of having a ladybug as its mascot (since the critter gives off a nasty taste when crushed with the grapes) this has got to be one of the *the* best rosés I've ever had. Slightly sweet, hints of rosewater and strawberries, refreshing for summertime and tapas on the deck.

Reds
Sileni Cellar Selection Pinot Noir (New Zealand, $16.95) - None of the mushroom/earthy musk of typical p. noirs, this one is all about delicate fruit and a soft, velvety texture.

Chateau des Charmes Gamay Noir ‘Droit’ (Niagara VQA, $16.95) - For the dark-meat eaters at Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is *the* wine to drink.

Maleta Grape Brain Cabernets (Niagara VQA, $15.95 at winery) - Shame the LCBO decided to stop carrying this all-purpose crowd pleaser. Another good pizza-or-burgers wine that also stands well on its own.

Henry of Pelham Baco Noir (Niagara VQA, $13.95) - This multi-award-winning baco is pure Canadian pride in a bottle. Berry and plum with stiff tannins and a strong thread of tobacco and coffee. Delicious with a wide variety of meat-based dishes.

Argento Malbec (Argentina, $9.95, or $12.95 for the reserve) - For Fuzion fans going into withdrawal as you wait for the next cases to arrive, give this a try. The sweetness is a little toned down in comparison, but ripe aromas of plums, cherries and an undercurrent of tobacco make it a winner.

Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile, $17.95) - Big, bold, tannic, chewy, full of fruit that explodes in your mouth. Great with all manner of steaks, roasts and other beefy bits.

Sweets n' Sparklers
Poema Cava Brut (Spain, $15.95) - Pale straw sparkler with yeast, apple, pear and floral notes on the nose. Light acid, medium weight, with a creamy, dry mouthfeel and a balanced finish.

Huff Estates First Frost Vidal (Prince Edward County VQA, $19.95) - Fantastic after-dinner sipper, or mix it with a bit of club soda or sparkling mineral water for a spritzer. Better match with foie gras than Sauternes.

(Editor's note: Special thanks to Hubby for helping me compile this list; I don't think I would have made it past five, the way my memory's been lately. Chalk it up to pregnancy brain.)

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Spicy Citrus Floor Tile Marinade

Of all the mornings for chaos to ensue, why did it have to be this morning?

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, we’re in the process of selling our house. We found our “forever home” in early December and, by Christmas, had the papers signed and the inspection done, making it the biggest and best present ever.

So then we turned our attention to the townhouse unit we currently own. I tell ya, de-cluttering and staging a house for sale is not a fun process. We painted, we cleaned, we tidied, we stuffed extraneous odds and ends into a storage space, and spent long nights making everything look purdy. (A neurotic, perfectionist, obsessive-compulsive’s dream come true.)

Today’s the first day of showings, so we tiptoed around, trying our best to get ready for work without disturbing the pristine space we had created. I got up extra-early so that I could do those few last-minute things like wiping down the table, putting out the garbage, etc. I was also on tap to prepare the Doodle’s breakfast.

Juice poured, cutlery and plates out, I open the cupboard to get at the peanut butter. That’s when all hell breaks loose.

This rivals the cheesecake incident in its grandeur, I kid you not.

A bottle of hot sauce, perched precariously on the top shelf, leaps off in a spectacular dive, landing on the full glass of juice. The juice splashes all the way up the side of the fridge, inside the cupboard and onto the ceiling, before pooling in a lake of citrus yellow on the counter. The hot sauce continues its gravity-fed journey, knocking over my drinking glass in the process, which falls to the floor and shatters into three billion tiny pieces, some of which are projected out into the living room. Finally, the hot sauce comes to rest with a resounding crash, busting open the cap and spraying its contents all over the now glass-covered floor.

I stand for a few minutes, in juice-soaked, dumbfounded wonder, cursing Murphy and his stupid law. Taking a breath, I call out, “A little help down here, please.”

The Doodle replies with, “Uh-oh, Mummy. What happened? Did you break a wine glass?”

No, sweetie. That would have been a lot easier to deal with.

We cleaned up, re-washed the floor, emptied the garbage of its now hot sauce-infused stench and still made it out the door with time to spare. Hubby assures me that everything will be fine, but with my nostrils clogged with the pungent aroma of this accidental marinade even an hour later, I’m convinced I’ve totally sabotaged our prospects. Thanks a lot, Murphy.

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New Year's Eve is so five minutes ago

Literally! Welcome to 2010, folks. (And just for the record, the new decade technically doesn't start until 2011, but the human race does love its whole numbers, so what can you do?)

Our New Year's Eve celebrations were low-key, as always. Maybe a few more people than usual, say about two hundred or so. We spent two and a half hours waiting in the standing-room-only bar at the Keg in Hamilton, the only ones decked out in funky hats and those groovy 2010 glasses. We laughed the time away with a dear friend whom we don't see nearly enough of, reminiscing and taking suggestive / outrageous photos of each other. We stuffed ourselves full of shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, filet mignon and shot glass servings of carrot cake ("you want that to go?")

I haven't been to a Keg in forever, and forgot how good it was. Yeah, it's a chain, but any time I come in for a Keg Dinner, it's the same quality and deliciousness every time. I don't think I've ever had a steak done wrong there: the still-mooing, bloody-red-centre, slightly wobbly, melt-in-your-mouth medium rare I love so much. You could probably plop down a lot more cash at some other places for beef, but seriously, there's just something so satisfying, so laid-back and un-fussy about eating at the Keg. (Resolution number one: more date nights out at the Keg.)

Then we watched the Canadian junior hockey team beat the pants off the USA in overtime, flatly refusing (and making ample fun of) the Pepsi Team Canada chant (seriously, who green-lighted that one?)

No, there wasn't any wine involved, but our dining companion proved beyond a shadow of a doubt just how crazy one can get even without the aid of buzz-inducing beverages. Thanks a bunch for ringing in the new year with us, Dani. SALON.

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What the roadie needs to bring on tour

Whenever we go anywhere with the Doodle, she becomes the star attraction to legions of fans. They don't know they're her fans when she fearlessly marches up to introduce herself, but by the time she's done with them, they're begging for more of her bewitching charm and theatrical antics.

At a friend's pre-Christmas party, she greeted every single person at the door as they arrived, inviting them to admire her dress, her shoes, and did they know what her favourite colours were? Guests knew her name and how to spell it by the end of the evening; when I introduced myself in conversation, it was all, "oh, you're with HER!" as though I was merely the roadie on tour with the rock star.

I'm used to that now. As a mother, I am, after all, nothing more than a glorified gopher, here to cart around the gear, take care of set-up and tear-down, and ensure the strict conditions of the rider are met (with absolutely NO substitutions):

Pink and purple Smarties.

Chocolate Timbits.

Peanut butter sharks (quartered, standing up in a pool of yogourt).

Caesar salad croutons (aka "crackers"), no salad.

Baskin-Robbins Love Potion #31 or Rocky Road ice cream.

Cheerios. No milk. Served in a bowl on the floor so she can eat them like a puppy.

Breakfast burritos (eggs, sausage, bacon, cheese, tortilla.) Ingredients must be out on plate and NOT touching.

Dippy (usually ranch dressing, but also encompasses ketchup, hummus or other condiments, depending on whatever's being used to get said dippy into the mouth.)

Orange juice. NOT red juice.

Bacon. Twisty bacon. With everything.

Grilled cheese sandwiches. With bacon.

Spaghetti carbonara. You know - the type with bacon in it.

Bacon-flavoured crackers.

Chocolate milk. With a twisty straw.

McDonald's French fries. All other fries are inferior.

Corn. But only if it's still on the cob.

Smoothie-smoothes. Blender must be over 20 feet away.

Pepperoni and cheese pizza.

Green room must be stocked with Disney movies, episodes of Bo on the Go and Animal Mechanicals, and exactly eight Buddies. Dress code limited to pyjamas. Access to a bouncy room required (you know, those crazy inflatable castles featured at carnivals).

Sigh. I can't even begin to imagine what this next kid's going to demand ...

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