As much as I hate to say good-bye to the summer, I have to admit that autumn always seduces me with cozy evenings in, cool, crisp fall walks, warming comfort food, and bigger, bolder wines.  And as flavours on the plate as well as in the glass get heartier, we often are asked by clients about how to choose wines to pair with some of the more unusual ingredients available to us, including game meats and fowl.

So just in time for the season, I’m happy to share with you an article that was recently published in Alberta Outdoorsmen Magazine.  I hope it contains some tips and ideas that you can use in your kitchen this autumn.

Click here for the PDF!

(article © Duane Radford)

Last year I was approached to participate in a fundraiser for a charity called Grapes for Humanity and I’m excited to announce that the end result is ready and waiting for you! 

“Women & Wine” is a collection of beautiful, sexy photography by acclaimed photographer Steven Elphick, who teamed up with a dozen young ladies representing the future of the Ontario wine industry to create each piece.  A limited edition 2010 calendar featuring the photos has now been released, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Grapes for Humanity Foundation.

If you live in Toronto or Ottawa, you may have already caught a glimpse of this collection, as the prints have been on tour and displayed in locations including Cava Restaurant in Toronto and Restaurant 18 in Ottawa.  Calendars are now on sale and will shortly be available for purchase here at www.groovygrapes.com.  The calendars cost $29.95 each (plus shipping) and as I mentioned already, 100% of the proceeds go to the charity. 

These stunning black and white calendars are the perfect holiday gift for the wine-lover on your list too, for those of you who are organized enough to be starting your Christmas shopping!  Get yours today to support this worthy cause and see if you can figure out who’s who in each month.  Ottawa’s very own Caroline Gosselin (owner of Restaurant 18) and me, Stacey Metulynsky of Groovy Grapes, are featured in the calendar, among many other lovely ladies from the Toronto and Niagara regions.  For more information, contact us at contact@groovygrapes.com.

Too busy to cook?  The Red Apron is a brilliant business that offers a fresh meal service for delivery or pick-up, plus a retail store well stocked with a selection of fresh and frozen prepared meals, fresh bread, local preserves and sweet treats.  And here’s the big bonus - they cook all of their meals from ’scratch’!   Their philosophy is to give clients an opportunity to rediscover the taste of good food that takes time to prepare, and to get people ‘back to the table’ around fresh, wholesome meals made with local and seasonal ingredients.  The Red Apron cooks with local, hormone and antibiotic free meat, organic dried goods (beans, pasta, rice, flour, sugar), and fresh produce from local growers.  You can check them out at www.redapron.ca, or at their retail shop at 571 Gladstone Avenue. 

Jennifer and Jo-Ann, the lovely ladies at the Red Apron, have shared with us a simple seasonal recipe for Ratatouille Strudel.  Here’s the recipe, and read on below for my wine picks!

 Ratatouille Strudel 

Check out Geoffrey’s segment on Summer wine and beer selections with A TV Ottawa.

La Vendemmia is Ottawa’s annual celebration of Italian wine and food.  We’re thrilled to be working on this series of events once again this year and we’ve just released the 2009 calendar which you can view online here.  Here are some of this year’s highlights:

Guest Chef Mario Pingue joins us for our headlining event, a cooking demonstration and dinner. Known best for his artisan charcuterie products, including melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto produced right here in Ontario, we think it rivals some of the best we’ve tasted from Italy and we invite you to taste for yourself.  Mario is also a talented chef, who will be preparing a delectable menu using some of his Niagara Specialties products on Thursday September 17th at Divino Wine Studio.

Atelier Restaurant, one of Ottawa’s most talked-about and our only “tasting menu only” restaurants, is hosting a special tasting menu inspired by classic Italian Flavours.  To make things even more interesting, each of the 12 courses will be paired with a variety of Italian sparkling wines.  Join us for this tasty Vendemmia kick-off on Monday September 14th.

The Signature Grape Stomp relay is your chance to stomp grapes and raise money for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation 11am-2pm Sunday September 20th.  Round up a team of 4 people and enter online.

Taste Little Italy is our signature closing event and offers your best opportunity to taste the wide range of delicious treats available on Preston Street.  Set up wine and food show style, we can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Taste Little Italy takes place on Sunday September 20th at Sala San Marco and features restaurants from Preston Street, Italian wine samples, and your ticket also includes admission to the Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Showcase that takes place simultaneously next door at Divino Wine Studio.

For more information visit www.prestonstreet.com/lavendemmia/,  email lavendemmia at prestonstreet.com or call 613-715-9399 x 101.

Listen in to our discussion on hot summertime wines on CBC’s All in a Day. Host Adrian Harewood chatted with me and Rod Phillips about summertime trends and some great values. 

 

 CBC Radio Interview With Stacey Metulynsky Summer 2009 [13:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Read on for our wine picks.

Stacey’s picks:
Cono Sur Viognier ($9.95, LCBO 64287, Chile)
A medium to full bodied white with juicy, ripe tropical fruit flavours and a mouth-filling texture.  Pair it up with grilled scallops topped with Niagara peach salsa.

Freixenet Brut de Noirs Cava Brut ($12.95, LCBO 352369, Spain)
A rosé bubbly that’s crisp, refreshing and food friendly.  Perfect for welcoming guests, or pair it up with chorizo sausage or other simple tapas and charcuterie.

Candidato Oro ($7.95, LCBO 523811, Spain)
A blend of Tempranillo and Grenache creates an easy-drinking, spicy-fruity red wine that’s medium in body and a great match for grilled burgers, sausages, or spiced chicken or pork.

Rod’s picks:
Marques de Riscal Rueda Blanco ($12.35, LCBO 36822, Spain)
Made from Verdejo grapes, this white is fresh but full of ripe fruit flavour - a great choice for summertime.  Pair it with seafood paella, light tapas, or grilled chicken with lemon and herbs.

Remy Pannier Rosé d’Anjou ($11.95, LCBO 12641, France)
Intense strawberry flavour, refreshing acidity, and light body combine in this rosé from the Loire Valley in France that is delicious on its own as well as with any manner of grilled fare - Rod even enjoys it with steak!

Montalto Nero d’Avola/Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.95, LCBO 621151, Sicily)
Big body, big flavour, and perfect for your grilled red meats this summer.  Nero d’Avola is a grape native to Sicily that creates spicy, full-bodied reds that are often priced to provide incredible value.

 

 CBC Radio Interview With Stacey Metulynsky Summer 2009 [13:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Camping truly is one of the best ways to get back to the basics – spending time with nature, leaving behind modern conveniences, and cooking over a fire.  But that doesn’t mean you have to skip a delicious meal with the perfect wine pairing, does it? Not if you ask me! 

The most important thing when organizing your camping meals is to plan ahead, packing your cooler wisely with solid ingredients that have lots of flavour.  An easy way to make your campsite dinners taste great is to make a versatile, flavour-packed barbecue sauce in advance that can be stored in a jar and used to season whatever you throw over the fire.  This recipe has a tasty balance of sweet, spicy and sour – perfect to dress up a simple chicken breast , flank steak, or pork tenderloin.  Add to that the intense, smoky flavour of cooking over a campfire and you’ve got yourself a gourmet main course without even trying!

Now to pick the perfect wine.  Since you could use the sauce on just about anything, what you want to focus on is the sweet-spicy-sour flavours of the barbecue sauce.  Because the sauce is tomato-based, you need a wine that has lots of acidity to balance that out, and you definitely need something that has ripe, fruity flavours to stand up to the sweet and spicy elements.  A smooth, fruity, medium-bodied red wine would be perfect.  Try something Spanish made from Tempranillo or Grenache grapes, or Nero d’Avola from Sicily.  Canadian Gamay, Pinot Noir, or Merlot are also great choices.  These will be a perfect contrast to the smoky flavour from the campfire too.  And don’t forget – please, please, please don’t drink your red wine warm!  A slightly cool red wine, especially when fruity and low in tannins, will taste much better than one that’s been sitting in the sun all day.  If you’re short on cooler space, try lodging your bottle underwater in the lake or river for an hour or so to bring the temperature down a bit – just make sure it doesn’t float away!

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind when choosing your campsite wines:

• Go for fruity, easy-drinking styles of wine with low to medium alcohol levels – light to medium bodied reds and fuller styles of white that will quench your thirst and satisfy your palate without being overwhelming.
• Look for convenient packaging – screw-top bottles make opening and resealing easy and there are loads of great quality wines under screw-cap available.  You can also find a good selection of wines in alternate packaging that is lighter than glass bottles, including tetra pak, plastic bottles, and cans.
• Don’t break the bank!  Camping is about keeping things simple and remembering how to enjoy the basics.  Great value wines abound in liquor stores, you just need to experiment to find ones that you’ll love.  Look for fantastic values from countries such as Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, and of course, locally-produced wines.  And here’s a tip – wines made from grapes that are lesser known (e.g. NOT chardonnay, shiraz, or cabernet sauvignon) can be some of the best hidden values on your liquor store’s shelves.

Please read on for some of our summertime wine picks and enjoy the season!

BEAUVIGNAC VIOGNIER 2008
VINTAGES 525295 | $14.95 | Southern France
This is juicy, mouth-filling goodness with aromas and flavours of peach, apricot, honey, lime, and floral notes.  Pair it up with grilled crab legs with chili-lime butter, smoked scallops with mango salsa, or simple grilled shrimp skewers.

ST. HALLETT SEMILLON/SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008
VINTAGES 57687 | $14.95 | South Australia
This is a classic white Bordeaux blend, but the Aussies do it up in their own style with a mouth-watering, fruit-forward punch.  The Sauvignon Blanc adds zesty, citrusy acidity, while the Semillon balances it with softer nectarine and pineapple flavours, along with a medium-full body.  Pair it up with grilled freshwater fish or seafood done simply with lemon and herbs.

LEIRA ALBARIÑO 2007
VINTAGES 115816 | $18.95 | Rias Baixas, Spain
This wine was made for seafood - a perfect balance of ripe fruit flavours like citrus and pear with mouth-filling texture and refreshing acidity.  A great pairing for a fresh summer salad topped with grilled seafood, as well as any manner of tapas off the grill.

PLANETA ROSÉ 2008
VINTAGES 111856 | $16.95 | Sicily, Italy
Made from 100% Syrah grapes, this rosé is summertime in a bottle - fruity and juicy but also crisp and refreshing, this wine is bursting with ripe strawberry and raspberry with just a touch of spice.  Pair with a grilled asian beef salad with ginger and chilies, cedar-planked arctic char, bbq chicken wings, or smoked pulled pork on a bun.

LE BARON RANCH THREE SISTERS ZINFANDEL 2006                                                                       
VINTAGES 119966 | $22.95 | Sonoma County, California, U.S.A.
Zinfandel is California’s signature grape.  This one could prove to be your favourite bbq wine of the season – medium to full in body and bursting with juicy, ripe, mouth-filling flavours of plum, blueberry, toasty vanilla, and smoke.  It’s crowd-pleasing and food friendly with enough acidity to balance out the juicy, jammy fruit. An excellent pairing for bbq meats of any kind, especially spicy, saucy back ribs or homemade sausages from The Piggy Market (www.thepiggymarket.com).

PARÉS BALTÀ MAS PETIT GARNATXA/CABERNET 2006
VINTAGES 114264 | $14.95 | Penedes, Spain
We’ve had the good fortune of visiting this winery, run by a group of amazing people who look after their land sustainably in order to produce the quality organic fruit used to make these wines.  They even have a full-time beekeeper and shepherd to manage the bees and the sheep who help them with vineyard management.  Garnatxa is Catalan for Grenache, and it provides intense, juicy fruit flavours and a supple mouthfeel that make this wine perfect for grilled red meats like beef, lamb, or game.  Try it with some elk from our local Elk Ranch in Kanata (www.elkranch.com).

Looking for ways to entertain friends, colleagues or clients this summer? Contact us for a few ideas.