essex wine report

 

This week Canada has been blessed by the visit of the Dalai Lama. I have to give kudus to Prime Minister Harper and President Bush for meeting this man in public. The Chinese government is obviously not pleased by these public meetings, but they should be ashamed of their oppression of the Tibetan people.

Quite honestly, the Dalai Lama is a man that I would certainly jump at the chance to sit down and have a beer or two with. If he wanted to join ‘the league of gentlemen' I'm sure that there wouldn't be a problem. Wisdom, intelligence and a great sense of humour. We could all learn something from this great man.

He talks about our greater social responsibility and here I would like to speak. As a wealthy nation we have the ability and the obligation to make sure that our purchases do not go to support corrupt, oppressive regimes or corporations.

This is one reason that I fully believe in buying local. I see the migrant farm workers daily and they don't appear to be oppressed. But what about food from Central America? These people have had several rebellions and risk death to take menial jobs in North America. Things must not be great there.

Coffee is one area where care must be taken. Like oil, it seems the best comes from horrible regimes. I love coffee from the Horn of Africa. Yemen, Ethiopia and Somalia produce wonderful coffee, but I will not support these regimes. I hope Kenya and Tanzania are ok, as this is where I choose to make my purchases from. But in reality do the producers get treated fairly?

Hence, Fair Trade products. I have purchased a lot of Fair Trade coffee and chocolate and yes, it seems better. It should, as it costs more, but why support the oppressors and their death squads. To this I suggest a visit to 10000 Villages, which is a charity that sells Fair Trade and has helped nurture the concept of micro financing. This is where very small loans are given to peasants to start businesses. Their government often oppresses them so this is their way out. Charity yes, but it is a way for the poor to pull themselves up by their bootstraps rather than getting a handout.

With the latest scandal at the GAP, where they allegedly bought clothes from a sweatshop, only emphasises what I am talking about. Everybody does it, and I bet most buyers just close their eyes and buy from the cheapest supplier then charge top dollars at retail. We as consumers have the obligation to be as vigilant as we can be. Why do we trade with such enlightened regimes such as Sudan, Burma (I like the old name), or Zimbabwe?  If you don't want to support narco-revolutionaries maybe quit doing cocaine from Columbia, because you are supporting the death squads. Its simple. Buy clothes made in third world countries and I bet you have about a 50-50 chance of having it made by a child. Like the environment..... check out China's enlightened environmental policies ( they have no Kyoto responsibilities no do they have any concerns about poisoning themselves or us). We can vote with our dollars and fulfill our obligation to the oppressed and maybe bring a smile to a great man's face.

Well, the move has begun. I am moving to Terry’s in a slow and controlled fashion. As such I can say that I am still a west ender and will leave kicking and screaming. Since, I am not at my house full time I decided that I really need to move my valuables first. That is my wine and my stereo.
 
It amazed me on just how much wine I had on hand and just how heavy it is. Well its all moved (I hope!!) and during the move I managed to find a gem that I forgot I had.
 
This wine is a Kacaba 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. I bought this after my friend Joe’s funeral and it was a trip that he would have been proud of. His funeral was in Hamilton, on a Friday, so Terry and I spent the rest of the day in Niagara. She had never met Joe, but I knew that this was a fitting wake for a great friend.
 
Kacaba is on the Bench and is a very small winery. The building was rather similar in size to Erie Shores and the tasting room was nice. I imagine they have a new building by now owing to the awards they have won.
 
We were met by a middle aged fellow who wasn’t totally thrilled by greeting guest. Strange I thought, who is this guy??? Well, he was the winemaker and he led us through his product. I bought a case of overstock and this bottle of ‘02. It was a pleasure to spend about an hour with him and drinking his wine.
 
Terry and I had this wine with dinner last night. The music was......oopps, my stereo isn’t set up yet, so I forced her to watch the end of the Liverpool game I taped Saturday while moving. So, no music.
 
The food was just good comfort food. Ham, scalloped potatoes and broccoli. The wine was fine with this and just went with the flow. The ham was salty and this just didn’t bother the wine.
 
The nose was nice and fresh. That’s the best way I can describe it. This wine had the ease of a good Pinot.
 
The taste was wonderful. It was smooth and light and BIG. Yes big and rather light. There was no harshness and it looked like a heavy Pinot, not black like some Cabs. There was a lot of fruit and just a lot of goodness. Verrrry smoooth.
 
To make a quick comparison to a local wine isn’t really fair. This wine is an ‘02 and costs about double the locals do. Also it seems to me that the Niagara reds are just lighter than those down here. I assume that this is due to the heat. Their Pinots tend to be better, at least there are a lot more and our big reds are much bigger than theirs, more full bodied. I like the differences.
 
So its back to my house tonight, and hopefully I won’t find more wine.....or maybe it would be good if I did.

 

What a beautiful evening. I just cannot believe that this is mid October.  We went to Oktoberfest again and though the group had decreased in size it was a wonderful time. Kitchener, or really Berlin, does and excellent job with this festival and as usual we stayed at the Walper Terrace Hotel, which is over a hundred years old and went to the Transylvania Club for pigs tails, schnitzel, sauerkraut, music and of course beer. I just wish that a German brewery would sponsor it, but that's ok. We lost 2 friends due to illness, 2 to a wedding, 1 to moving, but had the last appearance of Mike. He's moving to Brazil to marry his carioca honey and this is his last one. I wonder if they have Oktoberfest in Brazil....I just wonder. A friend worked with a Japanese fellow from Brazil...his parents came after the war...coincidence?????  But anyway it was a great weekend to bond and allowed us to go to Joe Kools on the way back and eat pizza and....more beer...oh joy.

But the funny thing is that I came back really depressed and I apologize that I have been lately, which is causing me to be late for my posts too. Well last night, I had a few beers with friends at Kurley's. It was a usual night until I felt like I had a proverbial kick to my butt. It's funny because it was as if my mentor, who passed away last year and who is responsible for this blog was there(see my first post if you wonder). Joe was a wonderful friend who had no problem straightening me out when I needed it and often it was at Kurley's. It was if he was there and all of a sudden, I just saw the light and decided that though my world sucks in many ways, I am really blessed. I have a wonderful woman who has a great kid, great friends and have had the honor to have had 2 mentors, One has passed but the other certainly is alive and summers near ViewPoint and is good friends with John and is how I met John. He probably doesn't remember me, but I was sitting with Bob at the Boardroom before a Wings game...actually many games and John would come in and talk of his vines and wine etc. At the time I thought he was dreaming...but now I realize how good his dream was. That was about 5 years ago and Bob gave me a graduate degree in construction theory and if one has that guy as a prof...well its like having Art Laffer for Economics (a Nobel, but a real bad Shatner 5000 rug) but with real hair.

So anyways I am back and will be moving to the country soon...in stages, but getting there so I will certainly start going native and may start talking more of food and agriculture and country stuff too. And if Scotland beats Italy in Glasgow (beat France in Paris by the way), I may do my seminar next year at the wine fest in the family kilt!!!!!!

 

As all my readers know (all 3 of them) is that I love Pinot Noir. So tonight I wanted some salmon so guess what...I had a bottle of Sprucewood's 05 Pinot, so hey why not!!

It is/was beautiful outside tonight so I decided that I must grill the salmon. I used some rub...It may have been APP's from ‘Bama but it may have come from Terry as a present....well I bought some Cajun Salad from the deli to have with it.

Music is Steeley Dan, which is a band that I just love. Kinda jazzy but is classy and witty. It's a cd but that's ok....I'll get my turntable going again soon after I move.

The wine has a very fresh fruity aroma. Very bright but with some earthy notes. This wine is very light and is about the lightest Pinot that I've had lately, but that isn't all bad. I would love this wine on the deck.

The taste is very light and fresh. The fruit is right there and there is some hint of spice. Is this my pepper acting again????? I don't think so but there is a tingle on my tongue. I get a wee bit of tannins and this is a nice wine. I like it and think it will be so nice to drink alone. But, it did well with the salmon. It was spicy and worked very well with the wine. This is a lite Pinot so I wouldn't use it with any heavy food. I actually see this as a nice sipping wine.

Un-aerated the aroma is a lot bigger. More fruit, more earth..it is really alive, but a little rougher though not in a bad way.

The taste is rather surprising. It is thicker and darker. Just opposite of what I'd expect. This wine may be better un-aerated..Yes, I like this one better un aerated. Like the very rare cd which is better than the vinyl this one is that rare bird.

I only have 1 glass but I think that this may be more food friendly and will stand up to more.

My is this odd but this is a nice wine.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Terry and I smoked a beef roast, as we were alone and couldn't justify a turkey. We used the Butt Rub that APP smuggled back from 'Bama. It took a few hours and 3 bottles of wine but it was great. I am eating it for lunch and man all I can smell is smoke when I open my lunch. This probably is toxic so these may be my last posts.

Well I had a meeting in Harrow so..............I went to Sprucewood. The new Chardonnay is very nice and so is the Cabernet Franc. I will have real reviews soon, but they were very nice......the franc held up to the smoke too!!!!!!

Terry and I may cider on Saturday. As usual I was my conservative self and only ordered 11 bushells of fruit. The pears were very hard and made me redesign the press on the fly, but at least it worked. The apples went much better. Right now we have about 60l of cider so I'll keep you posted. I am still sore by the way.

As I am sick...again....I am not, reviewing any wine, but the Pelee Sauvignon Blanc I am having is certainly raising my spirits. Walter please continue this one....please.

So this weekend is Oktoberfest then I move next week. Yes, I am leaving "The University District" for Northridge. The sad thing is that I just don't get the Dairy Freeze which is about a quarter mile away. Well Eadie should be happy as I will be only 3 minutes from Mastronardi, which is a good thing and 5 from Aleksander, I guess I will survive.

I will be packing next week but I promise a review of some wine and Oktoberfest too!!!!!!

 

Well, I am a happy man. I am now listening to music again. One amp fixed and the one that looks like Baghdad, is fixable. That is good. Now only my air conditioner, but its fall so all is ok. Seems even lightning strikes can be endured...maybe I can go into a church again.

 

Like everyone else. I'd like to give my advice on Thanksgiving dinner. Really, I can cook and I have endured so much awful turkey and frozen corn that I think that I can be of help.

 

Start with the turkey.....me I avoided my own advice as I went to Farmer Jack after last Thanksgiving and bought several birds at 22 cents a pound, but if possible get a fresh, free range bird. The stories you hear about Amish turkeys are all true. They are simply amazing and worth every cent. We lack Amish here, but one Harold Wagner sells free range organic birds. They tend to be large so I can't even think about one. Get a strudel there too and wine as he is the man behind Wagner Estates and he makes superb Ice Wine from fruit and a great cider...I won't recommend the white because I want some more (it won my Sauvignon Blanc battle).

 

Now, once you have the bird of choice, brine it. This really makes a difference. There is a chemical reaction which occurs and makes the bird way juicier. I use cinnamon and cloves and sugar and salt and peppercorns and whatever else I feel like in mine. This 24 hr bath just will make things much much better.

 

No.2 ..bag the oven and do it one of three ways...I) smoked  II) turned on a spit or III) deep fried. All these methods require a rub so either make one or buy one. I am currently using Butt Rub which Allen Park Pete smuggled in from Alabama, but I also swear by the Cajun Rub from Rafal's in Eastern Market.

 

Smoking takes a while but is worth it. I would and plan to, but that means it will be twenty below zero Sunday (it always is when I try to smoke a turkey) so I have a backup ... the spit. Turning meat is the old way to do it and is a good use for children. They can turn the spit all day which makes them feel oh so important to the meal. Mine, alas, is electric, so Miles has the day off. This takes time, ~ 3-4 hrs but is wonderful. The flavour is great and it really self bastes. The only downside is the lack of crispy skin. I don't mind so this is my usual method.

 

Deep frying is fun, tasty and really really dangerous. Remember that our ancestors poured boiling oil over invaders and 20 + liters of boiling oil is an accident waiting to happen. DO NOT do this in the house, near the house or around pets and small children. The oily steam, not to mention potential fire makes indoor cooking verboten, but I also have safety issues with the propane rigs sold for outside use. We do it on a wood fire so we limit danger. It's fun, very fast and best..tasty. This would be my method of choice if I didn't have a dog.

 

Now the wine. Doing the meat my way allows a veritable cornucopia of wine choices. I keep reading on how hard it is to match wine to turkey. Spice it up and that goes away. Trust me it is almost impossible to overpower a deep fried turkey with any white wine. A spicy bird.. then get yourself a Gewürztraminer, wee bit less go for a Riesling or a nice Chardonnay. I would forgo a really good oaked one (Muscedere comes to mind) and stick to an unoaked one. Remember that Aunty likes her Mad Dog 20-20 so don't waste the good stuff on her.....just keep it in the kitchen. If adventurous I would try a Pinot Noir like Sprucewood's which is nice and light and won't overpower the bird. I just question serving a Sauvignon Blanc as it may overpower.

 

So my choice in descending order is: Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We make good ones of all and they would certainly suit the job. One other suggestion would be my old favourite; Vinho Verde which I find likes turkey and is so cheap, you can serve it in volume without crying, but it isn't locally produced.

 

Now sides. Of course I will be serving frozen corn (not). But take a run in the county Saturday and see what you can turn up. Brussels Sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and oodles of squash abound. And don't forget the lowly pumpkin, magical things can be made from them. I beg you to try to keep the food local as our ancestors did. This is Thanksgiving to the harvest here, not California. I just think that there is so much good here that we should try to do a 20 mile meal.

 

Bon Appetite.