I'm glad to see that it is back. When I was a kid it was the only festival my father would take me to and I have real fond memories of it. It was a huge festival then and I really missed it.
I've really seen nothing new this week but here we go:
What a lousy morning. I’ve had my coffee and now it will be off to the Wild Acre Cattle Company for some steaks. Pete the Younger is coming over tonite so its time to source dinner. Local steak, local potatoes and local corn. Yum Yum….. Wine...well lets see, maybe a redo of last night (Muscedere Cabernet) or maybe a Syrah….or or…. I’m just so conflicted. The rain is to end after lunch so it’ll be grill time!!!!
Last night we met Pete the Younger at our local Friday haunt. Sir Rod is doing the Port Huron to Mackinaw race so he was absent, Swiftty was in Goderich so the waitresses were safe and Vander should be able to come out and play soon since the CUPE strike is done. So it was Terry Pete and I.
After we decided to do a cheese tray and I pulled a bottle of Muscedere Cabernet Sauvignon from the cellar.
This wine isn’t cheap nor is it plentiful. The volume should increase as their vines mature but the wine is great now, I just wish it was $9.99. Now that would be great! But alas it ain’t.
Visual:The color of the wine is a nice deep red and the legs remind me of the previous Secretary of State, not the current one. Condi’s were/are great and Hillary, well lets just say that she is a very intelligent woman.
Aroma: lots of dark fruit and a nice hint of oak. Very nice and very appealing.
Flavour: what can I say...this is a great wine. There are dark fruits and oak and just alot of niceness. The tannins are really soft which means its easy to drink now and it will mate with alot of foods. The acid is there and there isn’t too much alcohol like in some hot climate types.
For food, I see it going great with lamb, roast beef, duck and even bbq steaks. This is a great wine and the softness lends it to cruise with alot of foods.
I see this wine getting better but why wait...drink it now and drink it while its still available. It is a contender for the Best of County, a strong contender in the reds and maybe their best wine.
I’ve got 1 bottle left and I just may save it for awhile.
Tootles
Email me at essex_wine_report@yahoo.ca if you want to comment and I may post it if I get around to it.
What a change!!! Things are really coming out fast and furious.
Well finally a wine review. Lately life has been fun to say the least. I think I had swine flu last week. Felt like I was hung over all week even tho I didn't drink.....not fun, but today I feel a little better.
But thats my fault so I want to talk about one of my favourite wines. It comes from Pelee Island and it is just wonderful.
Its the Gewurtztraminer, actually the Reserve version so the grapes are local and the wine is just wonderful.
Gewurtztraminer might be thought of as German but the best are made in Alsasce. Its across the river but faces south so the grapes get good sun and the terroir there is so varied so the variety of tastes are amazing. Relatively unknown to the general public means that the price/quality ratio is very good.
This wine will go well with spicy foods and has the cajones to tame alot of neat flavours. The wine in its best form is floral and slightly spicy with hints of sweetness and great fruitiness. You can tell that I am a fan.
Well lets take a look at this one:
Visual: the wine is a straw gold, nice and bright and it has great legs. This is a good place to start.
Aroma: sweet honey aroma with some of the exotic fruit that good ones show.
Taste: This wine has a great mouthfeel. That's important to me and this one is thick and nice. There is a touch of sweetness but it is just right to me...maybe a 1.5. Now we get to the fruit...there are all those neat eastern fruits that I never eat and apricots. Its very floral....very nice. It misses the spiciness but this wine is lovely.
So this wine is an example of what a big winery can do when it wants to. I would serve this with slightly spicy shrimp or mussels or anything good. Hell, take some salmon, hit it with “Slap Your Mama” or an other Cajun Spice and just enjoy. Well it drinks well by itself too.
This is a great wine from the areas biggest winery.
tootles
I ran into some good local products and I want to share them with you.
Olive Oil: what is this you say!!! well kinda local. We were at the Greek Pavilion and there was a table there with olive oil. Seems that a Windsor couple had a farm in Greece handed down to them. Greece= olive oil so they are starting to market it. Packaging is very nice and the taste is wonderful. It is light and clean and so unlike those heavy oils. This is more like a French or Spanish oil. Not yet available in Windsor but she gave me an email and there is one on the bag.
Rallis Olive Oil....www.rallisoliveoil.com or the “secret one” jen@uglyresumes.com
It retails in Toronto at ~ $40 but she had a show or local deal....just say you say it at carrousel.
BBQ Sauce: just when you say “no mas” another one comes out. Well there are about 4 and they all come from the late lamented Top Hat. Sam Drakich, or Sambo as we know him, is introducing a line up of sauces. First out is the original to be followed soon with a few cool ones. He has offered me some samples for testing but I know that in the Kitchen Stadium my bbq sauce will reign Supreme!!! Well maybe. (just an aside did you see the first Iron Chef America with Bill Shatner as host....just magnificent!!!)
Available at Ade's and Colonial Coffee for now
Local Cold Cuts: with the current meat issue I was pleased to find out that there are locally made deli meats. I am scared of the factor product as I just don't get how you can forget to clean your machines.
Sausage: all over but try Giglio's for Italian Style (great oils and cheeses too), Schwabs in LaSalle and Ade's on Tecumseh
Deli: Ade's makes their own deli meats and that is great. They are locally focused and take their meats seriously.
Please try to buy local meats. The pork producers are in the soup. But the store prices don't fall. If we buy local the local producers will get more and they don't do the “seasoned” thing which is solution injected to increase the weight. If I want to brine the meat I will use real sea salt, herbs and sugar not chemicals.
Now wine Accessories. Met these people at the Wine Show in Windsor. The make gift boxes and the were very nice. They are able to do custom work and the quality was is much better than the Chinese ones and the price wasn't bad either.
Wine'ot Box it www.wineotboxit.com
i am a free trader but know that we need to support our locals so here are some locals and there will be more.
Tootles
email me at essex_wine_report@yahoo,ca if you want to add something and don't want to join vox....well here at least you can actually read my blog
Just saw that Mallott's had corn
Cherries
