I was devastated to see that Corn Land Corners closed for the season..ouch summer must be over.
BUT we still have...
corn
broccoli
cauliflower
cabbage
zucchini
tomatoes
pears
apples
peaches
plums
peppers
onions
garlic...amazing...order now to avoid the evil Chinese stuff
eggplant
potatoes..fresh is amazing and the fingerlings are
man can we eat well local
tootles
oh yes my email is essex_wine_report@yahoo.ca if you want to comment and not join
I wrote the final to my Master Wine Taster course on Monday. I guess I am tired of rating wines and just didn't want to write about wine as much as food. Maybe thats why wine reviews have been rarer.
I have 2 courses which I will take and I will be done by Christmas...YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!! I don't know what I will do with it but its been a learning experience. I hope I have gotten better.
But I want to use this space to lobby for one of my responses. Mate a wine to roasted corn and chive butter. Well as an ex-dazzling urbanite who is a refugee to the country, I take umbrage that my response was poo-pooed. We buy our corn from either CornLand Corner or Mimi. That means it was picked that day. So if you buy corn in the city it is days old and the sugar content in corn falls like a rock...hours make a difference. If you mate it with a Chardonnay its folly as the wine isn't sweet enough. Last night we had corn...sauteed in butter with basil and it absolutely killed Double Barrel. It tasted like cheap vinegar....with the steak it was fine.
So John, see my logic. Local sweet corn is like candy and to roast it will make it sweeter. What will stand up???A sweet wine with acid...what would that be...A late Harvest Riesling or Ice Wine. Actually a second press Riesling Ice Wine would be perfect. Sweeter than the corn with acid to get thru the butter.
I'm sorry I am right if you use local fresh sweetcorn and just wait for my Seneca Chief...I have wee wee cobs...it will be even sweeter...the Undisputed King of Corn.
Ps: You can take me out of the city but I still listen to Marvin Gaye.
tootles
oh yes my email is essex_wine_report@yahoo.ca if you want to comment and not join
Erie Shores was the first local winery (other than the big 2) that I discovered. With friends, Alma spent about a half hour explaining how we could grow wine here. I was sold and still have a soft spot for them.
A few weeks ago I spent some time with Harvey (Alma's husband and winemaker). I lamented the fact that there wasn't a cheap and cheerful local wine. One that could be a daily wine that the locals would drink and replace those evil imports. As usual, Harvey said, ”wanna try something”. I tried this wine and said “not bad”. He smiled and noted that this was his $10 wine which he made for his local fans to quaff on the patio. A lighter wine to enjoy.
Note that Erie Shores has a strong following with the cottagers who live across the street and with the local folk. Going to an of their events (go if you have a chance as they are excellent and laid back) you won't see alot of “beautiful people” but local types who like wine and good company. Domestic cars are the majority in the lot and the age may be a wee bit older, and they are loyal.
The wine is Erie Shores Red. At 11.5% alcohol you can drink all afternoon and not get too shnockered. Light and lively, it is a fun wine. He designed this wine for the cottagers who wanted a red but not a big red that can be drank on the deck with friends. Its a blend of 3 hybrids and this accounts for the light, non-tannic flavour.
Its purple colour shows that there is baco there and it smells it with some leather and alot of fruit, particularly blackberry.
It tastes zesty light and fruity. It has alot of fruitiness and sweetness and is an easy drinker. Lots of blackberry and a good backbone of acid. Its bright, fruit and cheerful, exactly what its supposed to be.
Terry thinks it would make a great sangria but with local darker fruit like plums and blackberries. Its a cool idea and I hope someone runs with it. This wine is for fun, so don't worry about doing something with it. Its cheap so have fun.
I think this would be a great wine for nibbly bits on the deck and with bbq. Don't go nuts but I think it would be great wine for a party and or a family get together. My lot (Sir Rod or Swiffty) may find it light but thats ok.
So to end this wine for fun and daily quaffing. Is it my favourite local fun wine?? Well its right there with Aleksander's Baco Noir, and the Nostra Casa Line from Mastronardi. This is good as we need a local daily wine and we got some good ones. DO NOT BUY cellared in Canada (they are 70% foreign) when you can buy these 100% local wines and support our locals.
So Erie Shores Red is a great contender for the crown and one I will buy more of
tootles
oh yes my email is essex_wine_report@yahoo.ca if you want to comment and not join
I just want to clear up some confusion, I am only speaking on Saturday at 2. There seems to be an error on the printed schedule.
Looking at the weather today, I just get more depressed. I really fear that this year will be a total loss for wine.
I have been talking to the winemakers and they try to be optimistic, but it appears that last winter and this summer will hit hard.
The winter damage was far worse than initially expected. Vines are looking poor with alot of winter kill. Some have lost ~ 40% and some varietals may not even bear this year. For me this is sad as I have been getting into local Syrah and this appears to have been hit really hard.
Now this summer, cold weather mean low heat units which mean the grapes are behind. I figure its between 2 and 3 weeks. This is bad in 2 ways. Our falls are usually mild, BUT fall rains may come into play. If the harvest goes to October then it may be really wet. This means big fat grapes that yield alot of juice but no flavour. Not good!. And in rot, fungus, and mud and see the fun.
There is another problem which could also be bad. A late harvest gets us perilously close to winter. If winter was to come early, the vines may not have gone into hibernation which would seriously harm next years production. This will just continue the pain into next year. What may have helped last winter is that the freeze happened well into the hibernation zone, but look at the damage we got. It would have been far worse if it would have happened in December.
Ice wine production has impact on the quality and quantity of the next harvest...so lets hope the weather co-operates. What will help. Hot dry weather. No the wet stuff today. Hopefully September will be dry and warm, October dry and warm then the harvest can get in.
We cannot expect good wine this year. It will be a challenge to ripen the grapes so this may be a really poor year. I hope not but it may happen.
tootles
It appears my computer issues are due to a dying modem. RIP modem and I hope your replacement works better.
M internet has been spotty for about a week and is now just on for a while...oi...it ain't good....will post more soon
I want to start a series of posts which will be instructive in nature and the first will be a simple but misunderstood topic: Bottle Closures.
It may not be glamourous but it is very important. Currently there are three major closures: cork, synthetic corks and screw caps.
Cork is the “traditional” seal. Cork is harvested from cork trees, cleaned, processed, formed and sent to the wineries. This closure has many issues: failure, bottle taint, and cost.
Corks fail often, how many have you broken, pushed in, found leaking, or on that old stored bottle you have saved found the cork soggy and crumbled? It just doesn't work well, BUT people perceive quality with cork and cork breathes allowing the wine to age....yes it fails by leaking air but in this case its a good thing.
Bottle Taint is known as “corked” and is a result of the cleaning of the cork. A chemical TCA sometimes is left over and this stuff ruins wine and at a rate of 5-10% it just is too big a risk to me. If you had a bottle that smelled of wet cardboard, you had it and wonderfully the smell gets worse as it gets air....just wonderful.
Cost is a problem. A good cork costs almost 40 cents and that is more than twice the cost of synthetic. The cheaper ones are not good so what do you do???
Synthetic corks are really neat. No bottle taint, very rare failures, consistent and are cost effective. Now they can be had with slight air permeability which allows the wine to breathe. You can order the permeability to allow the wine to age at a rate you control...cork is variable. They pop when they are pulled, look like cork, are cheap, but they lack the cachet of cork.
Screw caps are now gaining popularity . All New Zealand wine is in screw caps and it is gaining in Australia. It will be the closure in the future in all but really high end wine. We had a really good Pinot from Otega (New Zealand) and I wasn't put off with the screw cap...I actually like it.
The don't need tools, are easily re-sealed, don't get corked BUT there is an issue. They don't breathe (as of yet but I bet that is coming) so there can be reductive notes.....dead, rotten tastes...yummy.
All the closures have pluses and minuses, but if I ran a winery I would never use cork. It's too expensive, inconsistent and I just would avoid the “corking” issue. The synthetic would be my choice. Cost effective consistent and no “Corking” .
So don't worry how you winemaker has sealed the wine. There are choices the made. Some feel that the MUST use cork, some like cork, but play with synthetic, some see synthetic as the Holy Grail (allowing them to control aging and know when the wine will be ready) and most see screw caps as a non issue due to implied cheapness (it also needs a special bottling line btw) . So drink and be happy and don't worry about the closure.
I want to start a series of posts which will be instructive in nature and the first will be a simple but misunderstood topic: Bottle Closures.
It may not be glamourous but it is very important. Currently there are three major closures: cork, synthetic corks and screw caps.
Cork is the “traditional” seal. Cork is harvested from cork trees, cleaned, processed, formed and sent to the wineries. This closure has many issues: failure, bottle taint, and cost.
Corks fail often, how many have you broken, pushed in, found leaking, or on that old stored bottle you have saved found the cork soggy and crumbled? It just doesn't work well, BUT people perceive quality with cork and cork breathes allowing the wine to age....yes it fails by leaking air but in this case its a good thing.
Bottle Taint is known as “corked” and is a result of the cleaning of the cork. A chemical TCA sometimes is left over and this stuff ruins wine and at a rate of 5-10% it just is too big a risk to me. If you had a bottle that smelled of wet cardboard, you had it and wonderfully the smell gets worse as it gets air....just wonderful.
Cost is a problem. A good cork costs almost 40 cents and that is more than twice the cost of synthetic. The cheaper ones are not good so what do you do???
Synthetic corks are really neat. No bottle taint, very rare failures, consistent and are cost effective. Now they can be had with slight air permeability which allows the wine to breathe. You can order the permeability to allow the wine to age at a rate you control...cork is variable. They pop when they are pulled, look like cork, are cheap, but they lack the cachet of cork.
Screw caps are now gaining popularity . All New Zealand wine is in screw caps and it is gaining in Australia. It will be the closure in the future in all but really high end wine. We had a really good Pinot from Otega (New Zealand) and I wasn't put off with the screw cap...I actually like it.
The don't need tools, are easily re-sealed, don't get corked BUT there is an issue. They don't breathe (as of yet but I bet that is coming) so there can be reductive notes.....dead, rotten tastes...yummy.
All the closures have pluses and minuses, but if I ran a winery I would never use cork. It's too expensive, inconsistent and I just would avoid the “corking” issue. The synthetic would be my choice. Cost effective consistent and no “Corking” .
So don't worry how you winemaker has sealed the wine. There are choices the made. Some feel that the MUST use cork, some like cork, but play with synthetic, some see synthetic as the Holy Grail (allowing them to control aging and know when the wine will be ready) and most see screw caps as a non issue due to implied cheapness (it also needs a special bottling line btw) . So drink and be happy and don't worry about the closure.
sorry my internet just got fixed and my week was fun to say the least
