Chateau Doisy-Vedrines

Mela came back from Bordeau a month ago and of course, she returned with wine. This is a bottle that she shared with me a 2002 Chateau Doisy-Vedrines. When she saw the cork, she said the Grand-Cru stamp meant that it was an excellent vineyard. A quick wiki search returned the following:

"
Grand cru (French for great growth) is a regional wine classification that designates a vineyard known for its favorable reputation in producing wine. Although often used to describe grapes, wine or cognac, the term is not technically a classification of wine quality per se, but is intended to indicate the potential of the vineyard or terroir. It is the highest level of classification of AOC wines from Burgundy or Alsace. The same term is applied to Châteaux in Saint-Émilion, although in that region it has a different meaning and does not represent the top tier of classification. In Burgundy the level immediately below grand cru is known as premier cru, sometimes written as 1er cru.^[6]"

 I don't by any means have a sophisticated enough palate to distinguish what made it a good wine, but it was tasty. Very flavourful and very sweet. Like crazy sweet. Although it smelled like brown sugar, it also had a high alcohol scent and the lines on the glass told me that probably wasn't far from the truth. But it didn't taste like it. The husband said it reminded him of the top of a creme brulee. Mela drank three glasses. It was delicious and I felt honored that she would share it with me. A great wine with an acidic or spicy pairing (I unfortunately only had triple lemon biscuits from TJ's and wasabi seaweed) but it wasn't bad.

Unduragga: 2007 Sauvignon Blanc

My friend Julie has this uncanny knack for finding really good, cheap wines. One of her last recommendations was Australia's Hardy's Shiraz. Under $10.00 and really tasty without being too spicy.
Her latest wine has been a Chilean wine. A 2007 Unduragga Sauvignon Blanc. It was crisp, fresh and not too sweet or dry.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The Brazilian

Sometimes it seems like drinks never change. You have the mojito, the Cosmopolitan, the rum and coke, etc. It's rare that I find something I like because I really hate those drinks that scream "I'M BOOZY!" Plus due to liver memory, my body isn't letting vodka near it without reminding me of the times I prayed to the porcelain god, which really sucks because most of the tastiest martinis and cocktails are made with it.
Anyway, I'm always open to new things so when I tried the Cactus Club's Brazilian the other night, I was floored.

They've muddled fresh pieces of kiwi, lime and sugar cane with rum and soda and I could drink them forever. They are so good! I want to try and make it myself at home but where on earth do you buy sugar cane?! Maybe I'll have to take a trip to Chinatown.

More to come...
Rating: 9 out of 10! Yes, it was that amazing.
Try it again? Yup.

Update: Found some sugar cane drink at T&T and attempted to make this 3 times. Was an absolute disaster on all fronts. i think I'll leave this drink to the pro's at Cactus Club.

Tinhorn Creek Gerwerstraminer

Yesterday Nica and I dined out at the Salmon House Restaurant in West Vancouver. The meal was absolutely delicious. The portions weren't overly generous but that was okay because when we were done, we were pleasantly filled and not full.

Because I don't like dry wines, I asked what sweet wines they had to pair with my porcini mushroom appetizer and citrus shrimp main. The server/bartender suggested the Tinhorn Creek Gewurztraminer as well as the Cedar Creek Pinot Noir. I enjoyed the Pinot but Nica didn't. It didn't have as much of a dry taste but it was mildly spicy and light. It was surprisingly good but the Gewurztraminer was excellent. It was light, refreshing and exactly what a Gewurztraminer should taste like.

So the Tinhorn Creek Gewurztraminer earns a 8.5 out of 10 from me. Would definitely look for this bottle in the liquor store.

Red Sangria

We use to frequent this restaurant called "La Bodega" a lot. It's a Spanish tapas restaurant downtown and it has the best sangria ever (not to mention food). We could order pitcher after pitcher and our conversations would only get louder and louder. Pat and Ali were able to convince the waitress to give them the recipe.

Years ago, I had copied this recipe from Ali on 3 separate occasions. Each time (perhaps due to drunkenness from the Sangria) I lost it. Embarrassed, I never asked Ali again and thankfully, one day while sober I stumbled upon one of the copies. I quickly filed it away and reminded myself to make it for the next girls night.

On the day of my party, I tucked it away in my pocket to go shopping for the ingredients but took it out while chatting with Andrea on the phone at work and forgot it on my desk. So when the party started, I had to use my aging memory to try and remember what was on it.

I put Tricia to work on this. Here is what I told her:
1/2 bottle of the 1.5 Litre cheap red Californian wine
2 shots triple sec
2 shots st. remy's brandy
2 shots orange juice
2 shots lemonade
6 shots 7-up

We used an orange and an apple as our fruits. We put it all in the pitcher which I think was a mistake because it ended up being really hard to pour. 1/4 of each would have been fine. The apples were sliced super thin too which was also a mistake because once they were saturated, they just kind of crumbled apart. And once I found my recipe at work, I realised we also forgot the lemons.

All mistakes aside, everyone enjoyed it. I made the third batch to which I added a shot of peach liquor and Mela really liked that version but Nica hated it. Ivan G uses that in his sangria and personally, I think it adds just a little more sweetness.

Make it again? For sure!
Things to change: Use less fruit in the pitcher and remember the lemons, slice apples thicker, chill the red wine before it's served (or add ice cubes to the mixture)
Rating: 9 out of 10.