construction update and other things

I thought it was time for a construction update. I mean, just in case you were wondering, because lord knows I sure am - wondering I mean. So, it goes something like this.

Dave: Hmmmm, do you think those construction guys are ever coming back?
Me: I hope so, they've left a bunch of scaffolding, and there are ladders and framing pieces scattered all about the back yard.
Dave: I don't know, it's been weeks.
Me: Well, if you like I can call Karl the Contractor.
Dave: Yes, please.

Ring. Ring.

Me: Karl, hey, where have you been.
Karl: Oh Holly, I've been very busy. You know how it goes.
Me: Are you coming back to my house to finish with that scaffolding sometime soon?
Karl: Oh Holly, I'll be there any day now.

I hang up the phone; the sound of a lonely January wind can be heard as it howls past the house. The hair on the back of my neck prickles.

When in doubt, keep drinking. I opened this bottle of Gnarly because it rhymes with snarly, and that's how I was feeling. It's a Zinfandel; it's not too expensive ($16.95), and is loaded with alcohol (14.5%), which is what I was feeling I needed.

If a big, fruity wine is what you want, then that's what you'll get with this bottle. Nothing too subtle here. Lots of dark fruit overlays an earthiness and all the spice and vanilla that some time in oak imparts. We threw it back with some cheese and crackers and all that fruit was a good accompaniment.

On a completely different note. Check out my article on local vineyards at Ottawa Rickshaws. Those hard workers at that Ottawa-based website are doing it all: keeping us updated on events, helping the wine rack - this gets big points in my book - delivering groceries, and doing a little writing from their unique perspective on Ottawa.

beaver

I guess I've already shown you testicles on the grill, so a little beaver in the snow certainly can't hurt at this point.

My friend Dan dropped off two frozen, cleaned, and skinned beavers that he had trapped. I asked for them. Once the critters had thawed, I lugged them out into the backyard and just kind of looked at them for a while. I was intimidated, a little. There's not much information on the internet about what to do with a raw beaver and I'm not exactly a trained butcher. Insert liquid courage. I had a drink and then went back outside.

We usually drink a bottle of sparkling wine on Sunday, I just started early last weekend. I love Cava (that's sparkling wine from Spain) and it's good value. Spain has been making Cava for a long time; they are good at it. This was a nice Sunday afternoon kind of drink. Light and crisp with a fine mousse, fresh apple and pear on the nose with a citrus finish ($13.95). This bottle is from a Vintages release some time ago, so there probably isn't much left out there, but that's okay, there is still lots of Cava to choose from.

Fortified, I picked up the cleaver and went to it. I must say though, while I was in the backyard hacking the beaver into manageable pieces I tried not to think of the bucolic morning I spent sitting at the lake last summer, sipping my coffee amidst the soothing sounds of nature as I watched a beaver work its way across the lake with a log in its jaw. Sorry beaver.

This is what became of it.

Beaver rillets. I decided to put the meat in a brine overnight. After the brining process I skinned and confited the meat in olive oil in a very slow oven for about eight hours. I then allowed the meat to cool and rest for another day (in the oil) afterwhich I pulled all the meat off the bones and beat it into a mixure of butter, dried cranberries, white wine and garlic. You can do this with duck if you feel so inclined. The rillettes have a rich, almost sweet flavour. We'll be spreading that on toast and having a little... mulled wine? ice wine? Amarone? off-dry Riesling?

pinot noir

It's been a while, but my sommelier group got together this past Sunday afternoon. I missed them. I need them to keep my so-called palate in check. It's easy to get rusty without someone to bounce your tasting notes off just to be sure that yes, that wine did actually taste like dirty socks. On Sunday we did a tasting of Pinot Noir and I brought a bottle of Flat Rock Cellars' 2010. Actually, my good friend Kate made the choice for me and, since she works at Play Food and Wine, I believe everything she tells me.

It's hard to find a Pinot Noir that is under $20. The grape is an early ripener, so it grows well in cooler climates, that means vintage matters and it also means that depending on the weather in a given year, there might not be enough fruit to go around. It's also considered a very difficult grape to grow. Thin-skinned, sensitive to frost and wind, yet it also doesn't like heat and arid climates; prone to attract fungus and mildew, it can be a fine balance for a winemaker to get healthy fruit with just the right amounts of sugar and acid. Hence it can come in a myriad of styles. It's also one of the oldest cultivated vines - almost 2,000 years - this means it has a very diverse genetic background. It mutates often making it difficult to nail down in the vineyard. All of this affects the price of the wine.

This bottle is $19.95 and a very good deal as it's quite nice in the glass: earthy, pale and light, with lots of vibrant red cherry, mineral, and something minty. The aromas give way to a richer sensation of liquorice and darker berries. There's an acidic bite to it, but so nicely balanced with lots of fruit and very little tannin that it ends in a long, almost smooth finish. Lovely. The real pleasure of this wine is the balance it strikes between delicate and plush.

We also tried Josef Chromy 2009 Pinot Noir, Kim Crawford 2010, and Wine by Joe 2008. We liked them all with the Kim Crawford coming in as the fullest wine at 14% alcohol. The Ontario pick was my favourite.

Thanks Kate.

UPDATE: here's a link to Play Food and Wine's newsletter with a very delish looking pumpkin and brussels sprout salad to pair with this Pinot.

it's all happening

(Grapes on the vine at Jabulani Vineyard and Winery)

It might be winter, but that doesn't mean we are hibernating. It seems the wine world in Ottawa has just gone into high gear. It's one way to beat the winter blues. I guess you could go to a Yoga class, but these events look like they are much more fun.

Winter Bites hosted by Ottawa Magazine features three course prix fixe menus at selected restaurants around the city. This ends on January 28th, so if there's something you are interested in trying, now's the time.

Gatineau Festibère: this weekend in Gatineau you can get out there and sample some microbrewery goodness, local fare, and even a little local wine.

Winterlude is coming and for me that means Taste Winterlude: some events are sold out already.

The National Capital Sommlier Guild has a few tastings on offer. I'm going to try some wine from the Lake Erie North Shore, in February, because I'm working hard at drinking more Ontario wine!

Savvy Company is hosting a wine appreciation class on January 28th.

DiVino Wine Studio is busy serving it up, Italian style. Join them for a Valentine's celebration, or for their Winter Bites meal: a trip to Sicily; there's $35 Tuesdays (which I'm getting a hankering for just writing this), or experience Regional Wine and Food Round-About as part of their offering at Winterlude.

Then there's Taste Ontario, an annual event that Vintages hosts. I've attended this event for the last few years and it's a great way to, yes, drink Ontario wine! Actually, it's a great way to try a few things you may not have had the opportunity to put in your glass. This year's Taste Ontario happens on February 6th.

So get drinking Ottawa! No excuses.

eat. drink.

Diets, cleanses, and getting in shape after holiday bingeing, everywhere I turn, that's all I see: what you can do to make yourself better in the New Year. I can understand that I didn't need that whole bag of chips on Thursday night with my Chardonnay. And refined sugar, it's not necessary and I get it; one glass of Port after the chips and Chardonnay would have been enough. A little exercise? Okay, not a bad idea. However, living on salad in this part of the world, in the dark cold of January just seems silly. It's winter. It's Ottawa. We need a little indulgence to make it to March.

I for one am going to be eating all the cheese I desire this month. I'm going to find sustenance in oven-braised meat, and I'll be warming myself with big, red wines. I'm starting here.

Refosco is an Italian grape, from the north east of the country. It's known to be a little bitter, tannic and fairly acidic, but with bold, dark berry fruit. It's not for everyone, but I quite like the structure of Refosco alongside a little food. This bottle, Beltrame Rosso, is from a Vintages release and does indeed exhibit all of those qualities with something of dried herbs. Sipped with some Moroccan olives, sharp cheese and some patè, it's a nice match ($13.95).

Wait until Spring people. Baby greens and asparagus will be followed by in-season strawberries, tender green peas and scapes. Salad is going to be a whole lot more appealing when the sun stays up past dinner time.

fairtrade wine

One day I was standing in the kitchen at work, staring off into space vacantly, as is my proclivity, when a co-worker asked me to tell her a story about Fairtrade wine. I had nothing. I searched the dusty recesses of my brain for what I may have learned at sommelier school and still, I had nothing. Organic and biodynamic wines, yes, something distant was registering there. Local wine, yes-yes, I can string together a few sentences about that, but Fairtrade wine? Nope. Nothing. Then, last weekend, I saw this bottle from Stellar Winery in the latest LCBO release and was reminded of that kitchen conversation. Well, lack of conversation to be accurate.

What exactly is a Fairtrade wine? A detailed description can be found at Fairtrade Canada, but basically the same guidelines apply to all Fairtrade products. Things like decent salaries, no forced labour, health and safely regulations... you get the idea. The majority of Fairtrade producers are currently in South Africa, Argentina and Chile: regions that have had their share of economic and political challenges within the last few centuries. This makes sense. Workers need protection where labour is cheap and government regulations may not be so stringent.

In Canada, most vineyards are tended by the winemakers themselves; grapes are usually harvested by volunteers, friends, and family. I think this is true of most small vineyards in most places in the world. We have labour standards and minimum wage stipulations, but still, I wonder how large, corporate winemaking ventures in Canada measure up to the Fairtrade Canada standards. Anyone who has travelled the wine route in Niagara has noticed the large itinerate work force, mostly from Mexico, who work the vineyards.

And why isn't there more Fairtrade wine? The coffee industry is all over it. We worry about sustainable agriculture, and the human toll that the fashion industry inflicts gets documented, but there is very little information to be had about this aspect of the wine industry. Maybe it's not such a large issue?

A search on the LCBO site turned up just this one bottle from South Africa, which I dipped into last night. It's nice: simple, not too complex, creamy on the palate with a focus on ripe tree fruit (ie. peach, red apple) and a bit of lemon; nicely balanced for a wine that's 13.5 percent alcohol ($12.95). Oh, and it's organic as well.

SAQ Fairtrade wine exists, albeit just a few bottles.

confessions

I was going to start the week off by not consuming alcohol for a few days. I was feeling bolstered by Nita's resolve to pass on wine for a whole week! But then Dave made these sparkling wine cocktails.

I have to confess, I had two. I'm not one to like my sparkling wine adulterated. I like the bubbly, so why would I put a bunch of sweet stuff in it? These however, were good; a nice balance between sweet and sour.

Agridulce Royale from the New York Times
1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila (we used sotol)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1/4 ounce Campari
1 1/2 ounces sparkling wine
-pour tequila, juice, syrup and Campari into a shaker filled with ice, shake and strain into a glass. Top with sparkling wine

Then you might need one of these handy stoppers to save the remains of your bottle of bubbly. I dug ours out from the dark recesses of the cuttlery drawer. I sealed the bottle and with good intentions, put it back in the fridge.

But then I have to confess, I ended the evening by finishing what was left in the bottle with dinner. Sparkling wine and cheesy burritos: not bad.

Oh well, next week is a new week.

new year's resolutions

New Year's Resolutions, I don't make em. I'm more of a birthday resolutions kind of girl. As I age another year, I tend to contemplate what it is that I want to be doing and haven't yet found the courage, time, or energy to do. And I did make a few resolutions back in September. One of them was to write more - away from here. So I took a writing workshop in the fall with Rick Taylor. If writing is something you have a penchant for, whether it be the creative sort, memoir or travel writing, or you simply want to infuse your blogging with a little freshness, I highly recommend one of Rick's workshops. These days I'm missing checking in every Monday evening with my weekly writing now that it's over, but I've been motivated to put more words to paper in the quiet hours of winter.

If I was to make a New Year's resolution for 2012, it would be to drink more Ontario wine. This is a short list of some of what I've been enjoying over the last twelve months (less the stuff that isn't available at the LCBO like Marynissen Estates wines, Lacey Estates' Pinot Noir, Calamus Estates' Pinot Gris, Nebbiolo from Alvento Winery, a few treats from Foreign Affair Winery):

Strewn Riesling/Gerwurztraminer Blend
Megalomaniac Homegrown Riesling
Peninsula Ridge Inox Chardonnay
Pelee Island Lighthouse Riesling
Coyote's Run Pinot Gris/Pinot Blanc
Vineland Semi-dry Riesling
Konzelman Pinot Blanc
Huff Estates Off-dry Riesling
Colio Estate Lily Sparkling
Malivoire Lady Bug Rosé
Peninsula Ridge Beal Vineyard Rosé
Pelee Alvar Pinot Noir
Syrah from Lailey Vineyards
Cave Springs Gamay
Henry of Pelham Baco Noir
Peller Estates Cabernet Sauvignon
Colio Cabernet Franc

Hmmmm from the looks of this list it seems that drink more Ontario Chardonnay should be my goal.