Rhone Valley recommendations

A few notes and recommendations from a recent trip to the Rhone valley.

// South

The south typically has Grenache/Syrah blends, with the majority being Grenache. It's also an area well known for Rosé. In general, there are tasting rooms in the centers of most town, but don't always yield the most interesting results. CNdP would be the exception. Other often require an appointment so plan to call ahead.

In Chateau-Neuf de Pape you have the most well known houses, but also the most tourists. Expect big-bold age-worthy wines.

• Cheateau Pegau - This was the 'no bullshit guy' as Dave described him. My favorite of the CNdP. Tasting room in town.
• Domaine Trintignant - we bought a case of wine from here from a very Charismatic sales person.  Tasting room in town.
• Cheateau Beaucastel - considered one of the top classic producers (never had it)
• Chateau Rayas   - considered one of the top classic producers (never had it)
• Vieaux Telegraphe  - considered one of the top classic producers (never had it)

Rosé

• Taval

Ventoux

A lesser known area, but has some great wines being produced.

• Chateau Valcolme - is one we went to and most of us loved the wine.
• Check the list of other producers in south Rhone imported by Rosenthal - http://www.madrose.com/index.php/france/cotes-du-rhone-south - they are always a good benchmark

If you go further south into Provence, Bandol is an amazing region:

• Domaine Tempier - reds and rosé
• Chateau Pradeaux - get something older ; ) these definitely need time in the bottle

// North

Some great producers in the north to look for. Most of the reds are Syrah based and there area of Hermitage has the most age-worthy bottlings. If you can't visit, perhaps you'll find something on a wine list. Most need an appointment.

• Pierre Gonon - St. Joseph
• Bernard Levet - Cote Roti - the most interesting, funky and rustic wines on the area
• Yves Cuilleron - known for whites
• Domaine Combier - Croze-Hermitage
• Robert Michel in Cornas - (this domaine is no longer producing wine, but what's out there is good)

Tains L'Hermitage is a cute town to stay in. There is a charming wine shop that does tasting right in the center of town, and you have easy access to hiking trails through the Hermitage hill.

enRoute's 2012 Best New Restaurants

enRoute once again posts the best new restaurants for 2012. This year, a lot of great new places in Toronto it seems.

Hierloom Cafe SF

I recently arranged a birthday dinner at Hierloom Cafe in SF. Fantastic meal, wonderful service - the owner in helped us arrange a birthday cake for the birthday girl. (The Eppoise burger special was amazing)

The wine list here is especially interesting and totally worth checking out. One great surprise was that the stocked some Italian wine from Ivrea, a lovely town I called home for a couple years. Ferrado vini - fantastic.

Great food and great wine? what more can you ask for?! - the interior is charming as well ...

Cheese from Lanark Onario

As is typical on my visits back home, my sister and I made a stop on our travels to serious cheese. This time we looked for Canadian cheeses and walked away with a Madawaska from Back Forty. This cheese is made locally in Lanark Ontario from sheep raised by the cheese maker and was one best I've had this year. Rind, some solid curb and some oozy goodness. Wonderfully fresh.

While hard to find, you should seek some out. Some of the local Ottawa restaurant and stores (like Serious Cheese) might be your best bet to taste some of this great dairy product.

Canadian Wines - Part 2

This is second 2 posts on my recent Canadian wine tasting trip. This post focuses on the wine region names Prince Edward County, which is a peninsula area near Kingston Ontario on the north end of Lake Ontario. (It's not to be confused with prince Edward Island. They have potatoes therem not wine.)

PEC is a much younger wine region then Niagara, and smaller so there are fewer wineries, but there are still some great finds here. Like Niagara, the area focuses on colder climate grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and as such, are closer to the style found in Burgundy.



Long Dog - Some wonderful pinot's can be found here. I had one of their wine at Domus in Ottawa for a News Year's dinner and it was the first Canadian wine the I remember impressing me.

Norman Hardie - Pinot and Chardonnay, my favorite of the region.

Closson Chase - the specialize in Chardonnay and have an excellent range. very good, but be warned the tasting are pricey and like most places in PEC they don't waive the fee if you purchase anything.

Hinterland - one of the areas only producers of Sparkling wines have only recently opened their tasting room. They offer some still whites as well.

County Cider Ice Cider - I know it's not grape based, but the iced cider is simply fantastic in the desert wine category.

There are some great food stops here as well:

• Buddha Dog - makes excellent "gourmet" hot dogs
• Harvest - Excellent classically prepared foods. A good dinner option
  
• Fifth Town cheese makes some absolutely wonderful goat's milk cheese. They do have a store in PEC and I've found their cheeses in Ottawa
  

Canadian Wines - Part 1

This is first of 2 posts on my recent Canadian wine tasting trip.

On my last trip to Canada I managed to do tastings in 2 of the Canadian wine regions - Niagara and Prince Edward County. Now, before you ask - yes, canadian make more then just ice wine, and yes, it's actually good. So good, in fact, that I look forward to my trips home to sample more of it. My previous experience with wines from Canada were only ice wines (yay!) and a few of the mass produced wines (boo!).

My first day trip was to the Niagara escarpment area (which is about 1.5 hour south of Toronto) mostly near the towns of Beamsville and Jordan (Ontario, or course). The drive there is beautiful and relaxed. Here are descriptions of my preferred places:

Royal De Maria specializes only in ice wines and produces the largest range of varietals of any producer. Most produces use reisling or vidal, but de maria adds cab franc and merlot to name a few. Out of all the ice wines I've ever tasted, Del Maria is the clearly the champ (and I say that not just because of the table of awards they show you when you walk in the door). They produce an exceptionally complex and not overly sweet desert wine.

The reislings at Thirty Bench were fantastic - bright and crisp. They have a few small lots that they produce the reislings from and also offer a blend. Look for the one with the nose of 'rubber tires'. Seriously. (Being a designer, I also have to mention their identity design is beautifully done)

At Organized Crime is a smaller producer and I was fortunate to get some samples of the upcoming wines straight from the barrel. There are some great wines to come from this winery (look for the pinot noirs!) I walked away with a cabernet franc.

Flat Rock has a tasting room with a great view, and a super friendly staff. They had a selection of lower priced wines that are still great wines. The 2008 Rusty Shed Chardonnay was superb.

Food is a highlight here as well, I suppose partly because it's an agriculture area, and partly because thoses that like wine, usually appreciate a good meal.

Overall I was super impressed by the wines. Most of the places had very consistently well structures wines in a style that was more old world and not as heavy handed as the California wines, largely, I was told, because the climate is closer to that of Burgundy. I'll be coming back.

My winery highlights:

• Thirty Bench Wine Makers
• The Organized Crime Winery
• Flat Rock Cellars
• Clos de Jordan (visits by reservation only)
  
• Royal de Maria Wines (ice wines only)

My food highlights:

• Inn on the Twenty Restaurant - Jordan
• The food truck at Flat Rock Cellars
  

Resaurant Cuveé in Napa

Last weekend I managed to get out to wine country. We were late, so we only managed one winery, but fortunately for us it was Charles Krug, which remains one of my preferred wine makers in the Napa Valley.

It was the weekend, so like always it's hard to find a (good) place last minute but found a place we did at Cuveé Restaurant. The restaurant was not in the main downtown core of Napa, dinner was good overall but our service had a few hiccups. They served Californian cuisine and the highlight was main course. My friend had a truly excellent chicken.

Overall it was a good choice for diner, but up in Napa there a few more interesting and charming options.

Other features:

• Rooms for larger groups
• A nice sized outdoor patio
• Lounge area