A Wine Podcast, A Wine Superstore, and a Couple of Wines

I am very fortunate that my commute to work is an enjoyable fifteen minute walk. While on that walk, I listen to a number of different podcasts ranging from fiction stories (Escape Pod), Star Trek Stories (Star Trek Outpost), a podcast about advertising (Under the Influence), travel (Travel with Rick Steves), and horror (Faculty of Horror).

I also listen to numerous podcasts on, you guessed it, wine.

One of the wine podcasts I regularly listen to is Wine For Normal People. Way back when I was writing this post (in August of last year, for goodness sakes!), I went on about how the host of the podcast, Elizabeth Schneider, can be a bit annoying at times. Well, since that time I have listened to dozens of her podcasts and I have had to reevaluate. Her podcast is extremely informative and covers a diverse range of topics - sometimes an episode deals with a particular winery in a particular area while other times there will be a great overview of a certain varietal or a particular region.

I have to admit that, about halfway through each podcast, she will do a plug for a product which lasts a few minutes but. luckily, I can just click the 15 seconds skip button on my iPhone and I can get right back to the podcast.

The podcast is certainly more accessible and entertaining than some of the more highbrow ones that I attempt to listen to (with sometimes limited success) so I think it is a great way to spend 30 minutes to learn something new about wine. There are over two hundred episodes - if you are starting out, I would look for the episodes dealing with particular grapes.

On to the superstore.....

Back when I did this post, I wrote about how Everything Wine was a great place to browse just wine. They don't carry anything else, just wine.

The only problem was that they were a bit of a drive away (in West Vancouver).

Well, just two weeks ago, an Everything Wine opened up in Langley (across the river from me) and I checked it out yesterday.

It really is a superstore for wine - it kind of looks like a Costco store for wine. The main part of the store is quite industrial looking - and my wife complained that it was not as cozy as the government liquor stores - but there are many, many different types of wine.

There is also a vintage cellar area that is quite large and has a good selection of $50 and up wines. Taking my WSET course has really helped in that I can recognize the names of many of these wines and producers. Unfortunately, I still can't afford most of them!

I bought a dozen wines ranging from a cheap California wine for $13  to a fancy French wine that was $45.  There was a volume discount which saved me between 65 cents to 5 bucks on each bottle. I'm not sure how the discounts work as a $23 bottle had a $5 discount, a $24 bottle only $1.22, and the $45 bottle only $2.27!

Still, I think it is fantastic to have another place to browse wine. There are some wines which I suspect aren't available in the government store. But I also want to make sure that I visit the smaller, boutique stores to see what they have to offer.

Onto the wines.

The first was a Spanish Garcia Carrion Pata Negra Rioja ($20 from the government liquor store). This particular wine was made from Tempranillo and two grapes I hadn't heard of before, Graciano (gives structure and aging potential) and Mazuelo (actually, Spanish for Carignan which is a blending wine). It was a nice dark wine with red fruit on the nose and both red and black fruit on the palate with some vanilla flavour - it is a Crianza wine so was aged in oak for at least two years. The average price on Vivino was $8 so I'm not sure why we're paying so much up here in BC! It was a good Rioja - nothing outstanding but pleasant to drink.

Next is Priocca Piacera (can't find a website) from Italy - a last minute grab at Everything Wine. At only $14 on sale, I thought it would be a good match for some wild mushroom ravioli in a tomato sauce. After all, piacere is Italian for like. It was a bit hard to smell on the nose so I was hopeful that this was a really complex wine..... but no. It was a disappointing bulk wine that was rather characterless - except for a mild astringency that was a bit unpleasant. The tomato sauce did manage to smooth out the wine a bit but I would definitely not buy this one again.

Finally, another wine form Everything Wine - and this was the cheapest of the dozen I bought there - a 2015 Redwood Creek Cabernet Sauvignon from California ($12.99). Surprisingly,  (especially after the Piacera wine) this wine had a rather enjoyable black fruit aroma. On the palate, the wine was a bit  jammy but was bold and had a rich vanilla taste. It was good wine for the price and I would buy it again - a great burger or meatloaf wine! I only had a glass last night and when I had another glass tonight, it was still very drinkable.

I am looking forward to trying the other 10 wines from Everything Wine! Good times...

Chianti Classico Cries out for Pasta!

Since things have settled down in my life (i.e., my daughter has had her wedding), it's time to get back to looking at wine!

Today, I discovered a store that has been on my radar for the last little while - Everything Wine.

In the past, when I've seen their ads, it has seemed that most of the product is pretty inexpensive and, I assumed, a lot of cheap-o jug wine. Granted, there were a few wines that were a little more expensive but I had, in my mind, decided that this was a No Frills version of a liquor store.

Then I cam across an ad yesterday in the newspaper where Everything Wine advertised their latest Bordeaux wines. I was intrigued.

After my wife and I stopped off at Bosa Foods for some pasta and a new, fancy decanter, we made our way to Everything Wine in North Vancouver. I entered the door and was very impressed! They have a large assortment of wines ranging from the cheap jug wines all the way to fancy vintage wines.  I did manage to pick up a couple of bottles of Bordeaux wines but will blog about those later.

Previously, while at Bosa, we bought some fresh pasta and needed something to go with it. I found, in the rather large Italian section of Everything Wine, a Cafaggio 2013 Single Estate Chianti Classico for a mere $26. Single estate means that the wine was made with grapes from only the winery and  bottled on the estate. Chianti wines, by the way, are made in the Chianti region with Sangiovese grapes. Chianti Classico wines are from a smaller region within Chianti where the wines are usually better quality then regular Chianti wines.

Back at home, I poured the wine into the decanter. We had bought the decanter at Bosa and it was a Trudeau Ova Carafe - very nice design and a good price - $29. After about 5 minutes, I decided that we needed to at least have a taste so I poured a couple of small glasses.

The colour was ruby and clear. There was red fruit on the nose including cherry and raspberry. When I tasted it, there were some tannins as well as black currant, cassis and definitely some cherries. Unfortunately, it tasted a bit thin - almost a bit watery - which was initially a disappointment.

Then, I remembered - in places like France and Italy, you are meant to drink the wine with food. Maybe some food would help this wine? I had a couple of olives (our fancy appetizer) and took a sip. What a difference! The wine complimented the olives perfectly.

After another half hour, we tried the pasta (mushroom ravioli with a tomato, basil and pancetta sauce) and, again, the wine was a glorious pairing with the food! The thinness or wateriness was now a refreshing accompaniment to the pasta and the light tannins paired well with the tomatoes in the sauce.

The decanter made a difference, too. It tasted even better after a half hour!

After trying the pasta with food, I would rate it like this:
Balance - it was actually beautifully balanced when served with food
Length - it was a tasty wine but the taste did not linger very long
Intensity - not that intense
Complexity - there were some great flavours and, the way it meshed with the food, was definitely complex.
Expressive - I think this is how Chianti Classico is meant to be drunk - with a tasty bowl of pasta!

Overall, a good to very good wine - Cin Cin!