Sherbrooke Liquor Blog

So, I’m not going to lie.  I’m sitting on the beach at Osoyoos, British Columbia, writing this.  I’m about to start the third week of what I affectionately call my “BC Wine Sabbatical”.  I can’t believe I’m already starting my third week!

So the idea to spend the summer in Wine Country in British Columbia was a bit of a joke at first.  When I completed my exam for the Advanced Certificate (Level 3) of my WSET training, everyone asked when I would start the 4^th (Diploma) level.  After managing to become pretty wound up over the level 3 exam, the thought of 2 years of courses, that is basically done by correspondence was enough to make me hesitate.  Plus, it’s $7000.  I could do a lot of travelling and actually spend time in vineyards learning from the ground up.  Wait a minute….

…I could spend some time in vineyards (insert light bulb cartoon here).  Since I hadn’t taken any actual vacation days since starting at Sherbrooke (that’s nearly 3 weeks), maybe I could go to BC?  Why don’t I work in a winery in BC?  I wonder if Sherbrooke would be ok with the idea of me running away to BC for the summer?  And so the wheels in my head started turning a little faster than they normally do.  I made a few inquiries, and lo and behold, I’m sitting on a beach in Osoyoos trying to focus enough to write down some thoughts.  I’m not going to lie, the pieces for what I was, at that point, calling my ‘bat shit crazy summer plans’ fell into place relatively easily.  Probably the easiest thing ever for me, truthfully.

Even though I know that several of the Sales Agents would have helped me find a job, this was something that I needed to do on my own.  Should the unthinkable happen, and my plans go wrong, I didn’t want anyone else’s name to be involved.  I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the BC Wineries (at least what we get in Alberta, anyhow.  It’s no secret that the ‘good stuff’ rarely makes it into Alberta!)  I was pretty lucky with my initial dip into job pool.  I started applying at wineries in which I respected the wine and enjoyed.  Luckily, I was contacted by Le Vieux Pin quickly, and the ensuing conversations with the Tasting Room Manager left me feeling like I had made a good choice, and I would enjoy working with Le Vieux Pin.

If I can get a touch more personal here, I have to admit, I don’t actually think I was truly aware of what I was doing until I had been here in Oliver for 3 or 4 days.  Then it hit me that I did not know a soul here.  But thank god for the miracle of texting, and for various social media outlets (@spiritedtara for those of you who want to hear about my adventures.  Occasionally hourly.  Sometimes with chickens!  I’m not kidding.  More on them in a future blog, though).  This way I can still keep in contact with everyone in Edmonton.  However, it IS tourist season, and both weekends that I’ve been here, there have been some Edmonton friends in the valley doing some wine touring here.  Why wouldn’t you come here if you enjoy wine?  Oliver is the Wine Capital of Canada.  It says so on the Welcome to Oliver sign.

In a nutshell, here are some completely random observations from my first 2 weeks in Wine Country:

You literally couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a winery in and around Oliver.   Once you move towards Penticton and Osoyoos, it’s not the case.   Well, until you cross over onto the Naramata Bench…

Oliver shuts down early.  That’s hard for this city girl.  But the best Indian food I think I’ve ever had is on Main Street.

Most Calgarians leave during Stampede and come to Wine Country.

Winemakers are people too.  They shop at the same places in town as everyone else.  This leads to me to a lot of wondering when I’m at the grocery store (I tend to think of Winemakers like some people think of rock stars.  With a lot of awe and respect).

Between the fruit orchards and the grapevines, I haven’t seen a cow in 2 weeks.  But I did find Spring Creek Ranch Alberta beef being served in an Osoyoos restaurant.

Coincidentally that restaurant was called the Lizard Lounge Wine Bar.  Seriously.

I might end up spending more money on wine over the next 9 weeks than I ever have spent on wine before.  There must be a way to claim some if it on my income tax, since this technically is my job/career….

The VPIWF held its 34^th annual wine festival from Monday, February 27 - Sunday, March 4 all over downtown Vancouver.  I’ve never been to either Vancouver, or logically, the festival.  I’ve wanted to go since I first heard about it a few years back, however due to contributing factors every year, it just hasn’t worked out in my favour.  Until this year, hence I was like a 5 year old at Christmas, I was so excited.  Other than the obvious reasons for excitement (lots of wine / Vancouver), one of the requirements for a winery to participate in the show, is that they must have a principal (winemaker, owner, president, export director) from the winery attend and be available.  In a nutshell, it’s a fantastic opportunity to meet the people whose passion creates the product, and share in it.  The entire event is quite interesting because it’s a series of events that happen literally all over downtown Vancouver, dinners in various restaurants, tastings in a couple different hotels, and of course, the main event at the Convention Center, which is where I spent most of my time.

Now imagine all 3 halls of the Shaw Conference Center at the Rocky Mountain Food & Wine only showcasing wine.  There were over 180 wineries and I think I read somewhere over 1700 wines.  This is where I feel the need to mention that I spent 15 hours in 4 separate sessions, and I don’t think I made it through half of the wines being poured.  I tried to concentrate on wines that weren’t necessarily available yet in our market, and wines I haven’t tried yet.  It was a 3 day marathon of tasting wine.  But I’ve been training my palate for years for this kind of marathon!  I was ready!

One of the first sessions I attended (sampling wine starting at 9:30am.  It was going to be a long day if I wasn’t careful!) was a showcase of several Chilean wines from several major regions.  Chile is a fascinating wine country, and in Alberta, its growth was halted by the emergence of Argentina and Malbecs, but I have to say, I feel there’s a little more diversity coming out of Chile than Argentina right now, and into our market.  Chile is also really working hard to farm and produce wine organically, sustainably, & bio dynamically, and listening to the winemakers comment on their ongoing commitment to the environment was encouraging.  Aurelio Montes (from Montes Winery) even plays Gregorian chants continuously in his ageing room!  Which doesn’t help the environment much, but it is considered biodynamic. Unfortunately, I had to choose between a social media symposium, and an entire session on organic wine & production, and social media won the battle, but it was a close call.  My stand out from this session was the Coyam 2007 blend from Emiliana Winery.  There was another, but it’s not available yet in Alberta, unfortunately.  I did tuck a couple bottles in my suitcase though.

One of the tougher tasting seminars was called “The Kings of Cab”, which of course was all Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world.  I sat down to 16 glasses in front of me and 90 minutes.  Not for the faint of heart, my friends.  It’s always enlightening to taste the same grape from various areas in a lineup such as this, in order to really truly understand how important region and climates make a difference.   And you pray that the tannins aren’t overly aggressive in too many of the wines!  I had 2 wines that equally stood out for me:  Miguel Torres Mas la Plana 2007 and the Bodega Catena Zapata “Nicolas Catena Zapata” 2007.  Opposite ends of the price range, but well worth the money for each.  I almost hate to admit this, but I left so much wine behind from that line up, including Caymus Special Selection and Don Melchor (from Concha y Toro), but there was no way, even with spitting everything, that I could have finished them, and then managed the evening portion.

Some lessons I learned from my first VPIWF for anyone considering going in the future:

Pack a toothbrush or a small case of the “wine wipes” for your teeth.  Because when you think they can’t get any blacker…yes, they sure can!  Plan for one wipe per 2 teeth (seriously).

If you think ‘spitters are quitters!’ you’re wrong.  Period.

You will shed layers of skin from the inside of your mouth because of all the tannins and acidity.  More than once.

Drink lots of water.  Repeat.

Plan your course of attack.  I thought my 2 partners in crime were a little intense when I saw them pull out highlighters before entering the tasting hall.  I was wrong.  I missed more than one wine I wanted to try.  It’s also a good way to ensure that you try the (what I affectionately call) “palate thrashers” at the end of the night.

Bring your big purse.  Or murse (for our metrosexuals).  The tasting booklet is over 100 pages and coil bound, as well as all the propaganda you pick up.  I emptied mine every night and started fresh each day.

Sparkling wines are the perfect palate refresher when it starts to fade.

Don’t book your returning flight home at 8am

I already can’t wait to go next year.  Next year the region focus will be California and the grape is Chardonnay.  Do you what’s made from Chardonnay?  Champagne.  Which coincidentally is one of my favourite things!

PARTY FACT TIME!!
I think I’ve mentioned that I like to find out fun little tidbits of information that anyone can break out during the next party, or hopefully it will come in handy during the next game of Trivial Pursuit (or whatever trivia game you kids happen to be playing these days).

What’s the story behind the basket on some Italian wines?

The name for the straw basket is called a “fiasco”.  The sea grass that wraps the bottle is sun dried, blanched with sulphur, and then woven around the bottles into what we see today.  Today, the primary reason for wrapping the bottle is merely tradition and marketing.  In history though, there were a couple actual purposes for the basket.  Back in the day wine bottles were hand blown; therefore they were not nearly as uniform in shape or as consistent as they are today.  But often wine had to be transported, especially during those pesky court migrations or battles.  The fiasco provided the structural integrity needed, and as a result, the wines from Chianti became synonymous with the basket wrapping.  In fact, as time marched on, at one point, Chiantis couldn’t be rated D.O.C unless they were bottled in the fiasco wrapped bottle.  Also, similar to one of the reasons for the bottle’s punt, the bottle would be more stable when sitting on a table.

However, this also begs the question, how did the word for a straw wrapped wine bottle also come to be synonymous with disaster, calamity, etc.?  Well, there are a couple theories that are pretty convoluted, and they seem to gravitate from late 19^th century Italian theater.  The origin of the word flask was “flasco”, and as the story goes, an actor missed his lines during a pivotal scene, tossed the flask over his shoulder, and consequently the flask broke on stage.  In order to recompense for his huge gaffe, the guilty actor was in charge of the wine tab that night after the show.  Thus began the tradition of actors buying wine for everyone after the show when a mistake happened during the performance.   Amends for the “flasco/fiasco” that happened during the performance (drink from the flask for the mistakes…are you following…?).  I told you it was a convoluted theory.

There’s a misconception that sparkling wines should only be enjoyed when you’re celebrating an occasion. I do not agree. I think the world would be a much more pleasant place to live if everyone partook in a glass of bubbly every day. However, if you insist on a celebration, then I say that any evening spent with loved ones is the perfect excuse to celebrate! Sparkling wines, especially champagne are also incredibly food friendly and versatile. In fact, if I’m stuck on a dish for a wine pairing, I’ll often just elect to stay with champagne.

There are 7 major sparkling wine choices, including Champagne. Champagne, of course, can only come from the Champagne region in France, and is only produced using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Production is strictly controlled & regulated by the AOC, & it’s the also the only region in the world that produces sparkling wine only, no table wine. What makes Champagne so unique and wonderful? One reason is the soil in the region, which is chalk based, and contributes that beautiful minerality that we Wine Geeks love. Another, slightly more interesting piece of production is that once the 2nd fermentation has finished, and the yeast cells die off, they will remain in the wine for a number of years (referred to as “on the lees”). The wine is then stored nearly upside down (A frame table called a pupitre) and slowly rotated over a period of time (riddling) so the yeast cells move to the top of the bottle. The neck of the bottle & wine are then frozen, carefully opened, & the dead cells are disgorged by the CO2 present. There used to be people who were hired to work in the champagne caves, whose only task was to perform riddling, a quarter turn at a time. Thankfully, the entire process is mechanized today, done by a ‘gyropalette’.

Cremant refers to sparkling wines from 6 other regions in France. Unlike champagne, each region also produces table wine. The other regions are Alsace, Burgundy, Saumur, Vouvray, Limoux, and Loire, and the various grapes used are Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc, & Cabernet Franc. These wines are often half the price, which of course makes them an incredible bargain.

Cava is from Spain, & is produced from nearly any region in Spain, however the majority of it comes from Penedes. The regulations for producing cava are very similar to cremant. The grapes used for Cava are Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, as well as indigenous varietals of Macabeo, Garnacha, & Monstrell. The wines vary from off dry to dry with medium acidity.

Asti (Italy), Prosecco (Italy), & Lambrusco (Italy) are 3 very different wines. Asti is made from Muscat, and is sweet & low in alcohol (aka perfect for brunch). Prosecco of course, gaining in popularity is a DOCG from Valdobbiadene. Recently, laws have been revamped so that DOCG contains only the indigenous varietal of Glera, while DOC prosecco can still be produced from other varietals.
Sekt is German sparkling wine, and the Germans get it! They have the highest per capita consumption of sparkling wine. The majority of the grapes/juice comes from France or Italy, & is made using the tank method (the fermentation happens in a fermenting tank, rather than the bottle). However, you can get Deutscher Sekt, which is 100% German Riesling, and often higher quality.

Of course, New World countries produce sparkling wine, using a variety of grapes, both indigenous/popular (Malbec, Shiraz), as well as noble varieties (Chardonnay & Pinot Noir). Many large Champagne houses in fact, have wineries all over the world and produces wine using their knowledge & house recipes, while showcasing regional grapes and distinction. That’s the beauty of the wine world today, there are so many options and winemakers willing to experiment with their own grapes to produce a product that’s uniquely their own.

But I’m going to stop there, because I could continue to talk about sparkling wine for pages. It was difficult enough for me to limit this to the brief paragraphs above.

Cheers!

It’s widely accepted by most historians that St Patrick died on March 17, 460, and yet he’s still celebrated the world over, so therefore I think it’s fair to say that St Patrick has left his mark in the world, don’t you?  But he wasn’t Irish (gasp!).  He was in fact, born in Roman-Britain, and was kidnapped by Welsh raiders when he was only 16 years old.  He remained their slave for 6 years before he managed to escape and return to his family.  It was during this capture that he turned to religion as a method of coping, and according to historians, had 2 significant visions, which he believes were sent to him by God and Angels. He therefore became a Christian Missionary, with the single goal of converting Pagan Ireland to Christianity.  This information is pieced together by 2 letters written by him, which have survived, and substantiated by other religious records from the time.

St Patrick was successful in converting the pagans, because he used symbols from their beliefs, in order to teach Christian ways.  St. Patrick used the shamrock as a symbol to describe the Holy Trinity (3 divine persons in one God).  Three is also a powerful symbol in Irish lore, and the 3 leaves represent rebirth & eternal life.  It’s probably for these reasons that the shamrock has become ubiquitous with St Patrick’s Day.  It’s also thought that the Celtic cross is attributed to him as well.  He imposed a symbol of the sun, onto the cross, in order to make it more approachable to the people. And finally, St Patrick is also legendary for banishing all the snakes from Ireland.  This is a little more dubious, as Ireland is an island, and there has never been any evidence of snakes on the island.  The Druids, however, used serpents as powerful imagery within their beliefs, so loose interpretation might suggest that the banishing of the snakes could symbolize banishing of the Druids and Pagans.

So a man who is given a lot of kudos for being a powerful Missionary in history, is now mostly recognized for a great party in the middle of March, why?  How?  Well, in a nutshell, the Church decreed that the day of his death, March 17, would be a day of celebration in Ireland.  If March 17 happened to fall within the Holy Week, all Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking are lifted.  And that is my theory on how the true celebration of St. Patricks Day became a little bigger than a Christian holiday.  The day has come to symbolize all things Irish, with several countries around the world rejoicing in all that is Irish.  Our own Canadian provinces of Newfoundland & Labrador have made it a public holiday, joining the Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland.  Montreal is known to have hosted a parade since the late 19^th century.  Even Japanese-Irish Immigrants have started their own celebrations.

So when March 17^th comes around in a few weeks, gather some kindred spirits and raise a pint or dram of fine Irish whiskey,  Because in the grand scheme of life overall, it’s about life, love and happiness, which is often spent with friends and family.  And I think St. Patrick would have liked that.

I’ve been at Sherbrooke Liquor for just over a year now, and I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog here for a few months.  Chances are we’ve met at the store and talked wine, or whiskey, or beer, or something!  Or perhaps I’ve tried (and hopefully succeeded) in finding something that you were looking for.  However, trying to decide what to focus a blog is/was a hard decision, believe it or not.  Considering I’m the Wine Manager here, you would think it really wouldn’t be that hard. I would just talk about wine, and write tasting notes, and share some experiences.  But I’m into more than just wine, and besides, Rosanne and Richard do a great job with their blog and hosting Winesdays.

I have a pretty decent food/culinary background, having started out by completing the Culinary Arts program at NAIT a few (cough) years ago, and even though I retired from the kitchens, I still consider myself a Foodie at heart.  I like to jokingly tell people that I’ve ‘retired’ from the Food & Beverage Industry at this point in my life; although I do admit there are times that I do miss it.  But those times are not New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, or Mother’s Day, and most of December.

In coming back to retail, I also started to expand my knowledge into whiskey (single malt, Irish, Indian, whatever the case may be), rum, and of course ~ beer.  You can’t work at Sherbrooke and not get drawn into the beer world.  So a conglomeration of wine, food, spirits, and a natural curiosity for what my high school Biology teacher called “party facts”, coupled with the fact that I like to talk, has become this blog.

It’s going to be a bit of everything.  I’m going to pass on some of my wine tidbits; maybe occasionally some recipes that I think are fantastic and easy for most people to prepare.  I also attend a lot of various wine/spirit events around town either as a guest or working, so if it’s interesting, I might talk about that.  Plus I come across information sometimes that I find fascinating, so I’ll pass that on as well.  Really, quite a ‘meritage’of topics, you could say!  Okay, you’re right, that was a bad pun.  I’m still struggling with not deleting that line…

But welcome!  And I hope you enjoy!