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.

As Canadians, I think we all feel the same way when it comes to our fleeting summers - take advantage of the nice weather while we can!  So in my family, that means outdoor cooking whenever possible.  At Groovy Headquarters, we love our barbeque for grilling, smoking, slow-cooking, and we cook anything we can on it, from fresh produce to seafood to meat.  The question is though, what are the best wines for barbeque?  I know the answer!

There are a few important things to consider. 

First, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - seasonings, sauces, and cooking method are more important than the protein itself.  Because cooking on the bbq adds its own smoky flavour to food, I find that most seasonings and sauces used are bolder and spicier to stand up to the cooking method so that’s really important to consider when choosing your wines.  Delicate, light-bodied wines are generally not what you’re looking for.  But at the same time, bbq usually also means that it’s hot outside, so you want something refreshing to the palate as well.  In most cases, the answer is juicy, fruity wines that are medium to full in body, whether they’re white, red, or rosé.

In the white category - and for these I’m thinking grilled or smoked seafood and fish - some of my go-to choices are Viognier, Grüner Veltliner from Austria, Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends, and Spanish Albariño.  When it comes to reds, I adore Grenache (and Grenache-based blends), Spanish reds, California Zinfandel, and fruit-forward New World style Pinot Noir.  Notice a trend?  These are all wines that are medium to full in body, are fruit-forward, have some soft but well-balanced acidity, and for the reds, have medium to low tannins, meaning that they are smooth in the mouth.  All these characteristics are important for pairing foods with lots of spice, and with sauces that are sweet, tangy, and/or spicy.  These fruity, juicy wines are also a great contrast to the smoky, charred flavour of bbq food.

Of course, I’d be amiss if I neglected to sing the virtues of rosé when it comes to bbq.  If you read our newsletter on a regular basis or have attended our tastings, you already know that we try to convert all you non-rosé-drinkers any chance we get, and summer is the perfect time to try once again.  If you think that all rosés are made in the same style as White Zinfandel, think again!  Most pink wines on the market are dry, crisp, refreshing, and filled with berry fruit flavour - the absolute perfect wine pairing for grilled or smoked food.  Like red wine in white wine’s clothing, rosé offers the aromas and flavours of a red wine, in a lighter, more refreshing format that is served chilled to make it even more friendly for al fresco dining.  Trust me, if you haven’t tried a rosé yet with your summertime cooking, please do, your taste buds will thank you!  

One more piece of advice for you - tasting is better than reading!  Join us on July 14th at the Urban Element for a tasting of 8 different bbq-friendly wines, along with some appropriate fare to match.  Wine has gone casual for the summer season at the Urban Element, and that means that this tasting will be hosted in a relaxed, cocktail-style format, with food stations set up for grazing, and an Urban Element chef out at the bbq with tips for grilling.  Special summertime pricing is also in effect … we hope to see you there!

A few weeks back, we headed to Prince Edward County with some friends for a week-end of relaxation, good eats, and wine country.  If you haven’t been, the County is an easy drive 2 and a half hours down the road, and really is a perfect getaway destination.  It is an absolutely beautiful region, and our trip luckily happened to fall in the height of lilac season, so the air was fresh, perfumed, and intoxicating.  After a quick stop in Picton for some of my favourite County culinary delights (Buddha Dog and butter buns from the Pastry House - 125 Main Street, Picton) we took a leisurely 20-minute drive to what turned out to be the highlight of our trip - Fifth Town Artisan Cheese.  Our knowledgable host Andrew Laliberté took our group on a guided tour of the grounds and the platinum LEED-certified facility, including the cheese cave, during which we learned all about how their artisan cheese is made.  We were all astounded by the focus on environmental and social sustainability, and how their stringent requirements for quality ingredients from healthy, well-treated animals all contribute to the incredible final product.

After our tour, we sat down with Andrew to taste some local wines with a selection of Fifth Town cheeses.  We were blown away by how delicious the cheeses were and our host’s sound knowledge in both cheese and wine meant that the wine pairings he selected were the perfect complement.  My favourites?  Lost Lake and Cape Vessey (made from goat and sheep milk, as are all of their products).  Lucky for you, Fifth Town cheeses are available in retail outlets throughout Ontario so if you don’t have the chance to visit the County (although you really should  make the time) you can still enjoy these fabulous products.  Here in Ottawa, you can find Fifth Town cheeses at The Piggy Market (400 Winston Ave in Westboro), La Bottega (Byward Market), Nicastro locations around the city, and Jacobson’s (in New Edinburgh).  Take a peek at our tasting with Andrew.

As a summer of outdoor entertaining, lounging in the backyard, and fresh, seasonal produce looms ahead, I just can’t help it - my mental image of this season features a frosty-cold bottle of rosé resting in an ice bucket, ready to be enjoyed.  For those of you who know me, you already know that I’m a die-hard rosé-lover and I try to convert anyone who isn’t.  To me, rosé is simply the quintessential summertime wine.  It has the berry-ripeness of red wine with the cool, refreshing lightness of a white wine, and for some reason, rows of rosy-hued bottles in my wine fridge just screams “summertime” to me and puts a big ol’ smile on my face. 

Next week at The Urban Element, we are celebrating rosé with a special wine-paired dinner that features a variety of rosés from various regions around Ontario.  It’s going to be a fabulous summertime feast, featuring dishes to inspire your cooking in the coming months and wines that will quench your thirst and intrigue your palate.  Read on for complete event information including menu and wine pairings.

Think Pink! Rosé Dinner
Featuring Chef Candice Butler and Groovy Grapes Sommelier Ilike Csaba
Date: Wednesday June 10, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: The Urban Element, 424 Parkdale Avenue
Cost: $125pp
Reservations: call the Urban Element at 613-722-0885 or email bookings@theurbanelement.ca

It’s time to think pink and appreciate Spring & Summer with a toast to rosé! Join Groovy Grapes sommelier Ilike Csaba to sample and learn about the various styles of rosé and the regions in Ontario that specialize in this popular warm-weather wine. We’ll take you on a gastronomical journey as we explore the incredible food-friendliness of pink wines! This 5-course meal has been created specifically by the Urban Element’s Chef Candice Butler to compliment an impressive selection of VQA rosé wines; bubbly, light, full and sweet. If you’re not already a fully converted rosé-lover, you will be by the end of this experience!
 

Chilled Gazpacho with a Cilantro-Lime Yoghurt
Domaine Perrault Rosé (Navan, Ontario)
 
Beet Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese, Toasted Walnuts and a Balsamic Vinaigrette
Huff Estates South Bay Rosé (VQA Prince Edward County)
 
Leg of Lamb atop a Spring Herb Risotto
Southbrook Biodynamic Cabernet Rosé (VQA Niagara Peninsula)
 
Wild Sockeye Salmon, Warm French Potato Salad, Cucumber Slaw with a Beet & Dill Vinaigrette
Megalomaniac Pink Slip Pinot Noir Rosé 2006 (VQA Niagara Peninsula)
 
Rhubarb Crumble with a Candied Ginger Ice-Cream and a Caramelized Apple Compote
Cave Spring Select Late Harvest Cabernet Franc (VQA Niagara Peninsula)

Reservations: call the Urban Element at 613-722-0885 or email bookings@theurbanelement.ca

 

Here’s an excerpt from my book This Food That Wine that talks about what rosé is and why I love
it so much. 

Rosé is my absolute favourite summertime, patio-sipping wine.  It’s like red wine in white wine’s clothing, with the berry and spice flavours of red wine but drunk chilled down like white wine.  It’s crisp, refreshing, fruity, and easy-drinking - perfect for picnics, barbeque, and just about all summertime foods.  Not to say that you can’t drink it in the winter too – I certainly do!  Rosé is food friendly because of all the things it isn’t – it’s not as heavy as reds, and it’s not as light as many whites – it’s a happy medium, delicious, and affordable to boot.

Rosés, however, tend to be overlooked as a respectable wine style.  A lot of people automatically think of the sweet and simple White Zinfandel (although a little White Zin paired with spicy food can be amazing) but the rosés I’m talking about are the dry yet fruity, refreshing yet interesting pink wines made around the world, especially those of Mediterranean regions like southern France and Spain.  Canada and Italy make some fine rosé as well.

There are two ways that wine becomes pink.  First, you can make a white wine and add a splash of red.  Or you can make it only from red grapes.  Let me explain … red grapes are actually just red on the outside – the flesh and juice inside is white.  When red wine is made, the grapes are crushed and the skins left in with the juice, usually at least for a couple of weeks.  This is called maceration.  During this time, the skins add colour, flavour, and texture to the wine.  So to make rosé, the skins are left in with the juice for only a short period of time to extract just a bit of colour and flavour, leaving the wine a rosy pink hue with ripe berry flavours.

My favourite regions for rosé are Spain and the southern part of the Rhône Valley in France.  Spanish rosé is called Rosado, and the French name theirs after the region in which it’s made (including Tavel and Côtes-du-Rhône).  Both countries use Grenache as the main grape in the blend, also throwing in some Syrah and Cinsault (in France) or Tempranillo (in Spain).  The wines are quite full in body with ripe strawberry and raspberry flavours, and crisp, refreshing acidity.  In Canada, you often see grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, or Gamay used in their rosés.  They are still fruity, but slightly lighter and tarter in style then the Mediterranean versions.  Italy’s rosés (sometimes called “rosato”) are made from a wide range of grapes, but my favourite style is “Chiaretto” which is made in the Bardolino region of Italy using the same three grapes used to make the well-known Valpolicella (Molinara, Corvina, and Rondinella).  Chiaretto di Bardolino has a vivid salmon colour, bright berry fruit flavours, and a characteristic bitter tang on the finish.

Here’s the radio interview Stacey had with CBC radio.  It’s a great overview of what the Walkabout Feast concept is all about.

We documented the 5 restaurant dining tour last night.  Stay tuned for updates.

Coming up next week (on May 12th) is our first ever Wellington West Walkabout Feast and we can’t wait!  In case you’re not familiar, walkabout feasts are our favourite and definitely the most fun way to dine around.  Over the past 5 years or so, we’ve hosted this type of dinner in several regions around town, namely Preston Street and the Byward Market.  Participants all meet up at a specified location, have a glass of bubbly and some snacks, then head out on to the street, with a Groovy Grapes Sommelier as their guide, to eat each course of their meal at a different restaurant.  Each dining stop also includes a wine pairing.  Then the entire group meets up for dessert to relax and debate which food and wine pairing was the favourite.  Sounds like fun, right?

Well, the event itself is only part of the fun … luckily for me, I get to coordinate the whole thing and part of that of course is to taste the food and choose the wine pairings.  Sean and I recently enjoyed a fantastic evening at Absinthe, which is taking part as one of our dining stops on the Wellington Walkabout.  Chef Patrick Garland has created a mouth-watering dish for the Feast and we got to taste test and make sure it really was as delicious as he promised - and yes, it was!  The dish is a spice-rubbed and grilled quail, perched atop fresh, tender zucchini paparadelle, and surrounded by a drizzle of pear and foie gras emulsion.  Sounds fancy and looks fancy, but it was amazing how all the flavours combined reminded us of classic summertime bbq flavours - sweet, spicy, smoky.  We sampled some other delicious dishes from Absinthe’s regular menu that night too, but if you want to taste the quail, you’ll have to join us on the Feast - he created it especially for us! 

Also on the Feast menu is Tuna 3 Ways at Allium and Raviloi of Rabbit Rillettes at the Wellington Gastropub.  Our welcome reception is taking place at Thyme & Again, and dessert is hosted by The Urban Element.  Interested in joining us?  We have a few spots left and registration will wrap up by this week-end, so sign up today!  You can read the entire menu and find out more details by clicking here.