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Everything is coming up RosÃ©!

Posted on July 28, 2017

As I sit down to write this blog post, I realise that I need to re-live the tasting by opening up a bottle of Sparkling RosÃ© of my own. I recently concluded that RosÃ© is typically overlooked by most, because of the bad taste left by those sickly sweet Blush and White Zinfandel wines, and I don't blame them. Itâ€™s hard to have a bad experience with wine, and then give it another chance. But those lucky people that have had the power to see pass those White Zinfandel dayâ€™s have been treated generously by the beauty of todayâ€™s RosÃ© wines.
This tasting consisted of some of my favourite RosÃ© that Kensington Wine Market has to offer. We ranged the spectrum from light to bold, still to sparkling and most of the stuff in between.
Here is the list and descriptions of the wines tasted:

Domaine de la Noblaie Chinon RosÃ© 2016
Loire Valley, France
La Noblaie is located in the small village, Le Vau Breton, in the heart of Chinon, and is believed to be one of the oldest wineries in the region. Chinon is an area in the Loire Valley that is known for its elegant Cabernet Franc, and this RosÃ© is a perfect example of that. Â Sourced from younger vines, this wine is as delicate as it is complex. The aromas are elegant, with cranberry and sour cherry taking the mainstage. The palate has an electric acidity, with subtle notes of red berries, blossom, and even a touch of blueberry. $22.99

Passe Colline Ventoux RosÃ© 2015
Rhone, France - KWM Exclusive
This wine has a somewhat different story than the others. It all started with a pharmacist in Southern Rhone that persuaded a handful of people to collectively make wine. Thus, Vignerons de Beaumes de Venise was born. 60 years later, there is over 160 cooperators working together to produce fantastic wines. Their Passe Colline line is one we cherish here at Kensington Wine Market. Coming from Southern Rhone, this blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan is a lovely representation of French RosÃ©. A little more power to the nose, this wine definitely shows more fruit than the Chinon, filling the air with the illusion of strawberries, raspberries, and blossom. The palate is dry and fruity, coating your taste buds with red berries and flowers. A little shorter on the finish, making it a perfect wine to sip on the patio without thinking. $21.99

Poggio al Sole Primavera Rosato 2015
Tuscany, Italy - KWM Exclusive
Located just south of Florence, Italy, Poggio al Sole is a charming little vineyard producing some delicious wine. The Davaz family, who started production of Poggio Al Sole in 1990, believe that their wine truly shows the beauty of Tuscany. This rosÃ© is 100% Sangiovese, produced with a touch of lees aging to add complexity. Delicate and sophisticated, this wine shows the beauty of Sangiovese. Cranberry, bramble and blossom aromas sweeps through the air to transport y...

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Hot Summer - Hotter Bourbon with Evan

Posted on July 28, 2017

In the previous American Whiskey tasting we hosted back in May I focused on Craft Distilleries throughout the USA - some older and some younger. This time around most of the lineup consisted of more traditional distilleries and Bourbon - with a few exceptions.
This was the lineup:

Straight Edge Bourbon - 42% ABV
This Whiskey is bottled by Splinter Group which is known as an NDP. In American Whiskey terms, NDP stands for Non Distiller Producer. This means that Splinter Group does not create the whiskey themselves - since they do not have a distillery they instead purchase stock from other Distillers and bottle it themselves.
Straight Edge Bourbon is a blend of 5, 7 and 8-year-old Bourbons from Kentucky and Tennessee. Produced from a mashbill of 70% corn and the balance a mix of rye and wheat. The Bourbon was finished in Napa Cabernet barrels before bottling at 42%. Only a little over 10,000 bottles were produced. $84

Tin Cup American Whiskey - 42% ABV
Originally created by Jess Graber - who also was originally behind Stranahan's Whiskey which also hails from Colorado. Now owned by Proximo Spirits (Bushmills and Jose Cuervo).

While not marketed as a bourbon, Tin Cup is essentially this in all but name. Created from 4 to 5-year-old stock sourced MGP in Indiana with a high rye mashbill of 64% corn, 32% rye & 4% malted barley. Bottled at 42% ABV.Â $43

Jim Beam Single Barrel - 47.5% ABV
Jim Beam is massive distillery in Clermont, Kentucky responsible for the creation of many different bottles including Jim Beam, Knobb Creek, Bakers, Booker's, Basil Hayden, Old Grand-Dad and more. It is owned by Beam Suntory.

Jim Beam Single Barrel comes from specially selected casks that hail from the same stock that goes into Jim Beam White Label and Black Label. It is made from a mashbill of 77% Corn, 13% Rye, and 10% Malted Barley. Bottled at 47.5% ABV. $47
EH Taylor Small Batch - 50% ABV
Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor was known as the father of Bottled in Bond or Bonded Whiskey. The Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was the first consumer protection law put in place in the United States. It was enacted to promote and guarantee the provenance and minimum age of American whiskey at a time when there were many adulterated and downright fake 'whiskeyâ€™ on the market.
The law states that a Bonded Whiskey must be all made at one Distillery by the same distiller and entirely produced within the same year. It has to be bottled at exactly 50% ABV and at least 4 years old. $100
EH Taylor Single Barrel - 50% ABV
The Single Barrel version of EH Taylor is also Bottled in Bond and is made at Buffalo Trace Distillery. All EH Taylor Whiskey is aged in barrels that lay in Warehouse C - which was originally built in 1881 by the Colonel. $100
Wild Turkey Rare Breed - 56.4% ABV
Wild Turkey actually h...

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The New Beers of July 1 of 2

Posted on June 8, 2018

Hello, beer nuts!
It's time again for a giant list of mouth-watering new beers and summertime quenchers. I've already gone through and tasted these, and they are all pretty damn good. So think of me as your official tester(taster?) and guide to all the summer beers you didn't know you needed in your mouth.
So please take a quick-ish tour with me of my "new arrivals" shelf. This is a 2-parter because there are just so many new beers, so read on and try not to drool on the keyboard.
Guava Libre! By The Bruery: This is an intriguing imperial cream ale with added vanilla and guava. As strange and off the wall as you'd expect from The Bruery, this beer is meant to mimic a Cuban pastry. So expect a bready sweet and fruity beer that'll make you want it for breakfast AND dessert! ($18.59 for a 750mL bottle)
Oo Cassis by Pohjala: A big and boozy Baltic porter, full of roasted malts, cacao and coffee, with black currants added, giving deep and rich dried fruit notes, slightly sour jam and plenty of muddled berries. ($8.29 for a 330mL bottle)

Wild Card Brett IPA by Phillips: A sweet and floral wild IPA with bready malts and a touch of fruitiness throughout. A curious and unique beer for those who love to explore! ($8.69 for a 650mL bottle)

Pipeline Coffee Porter by Kona: Pipeline is a wonderful, lighter bodied porter with a generous roasty character and moderate coffee tones thanks to the Hawaii-grown Kona coffee. Nothing overpowering about this balanced and comforting porter! ($21.39 for a 6-pack of bottles)

Hanalei Island IPA by Kona: Kona packs this session-style IPA with oodles of tropical fruits such as Passion fruit, Guava and Orange. Light and crisp, super fruity with a good bitter finish. What more could you ask for? ($21.39 for a 6-pack of bottles)

Blood Simple Blood Orange Wit by Beauâ€™s All Natural: Beau's took the classic Belgian wit style, and juiced it up... so to speak. The addition of blood orange juice, peel and cacao nibs give the beer a unique flavour for the style with deeper chocolate tones along the dry, but pungent citrus notes. (9.59 for a 600mL bottle)

Pacific Wonderland Lager by Deschutes: This is a super summery lager with a pleasant citrusy hop character. Dry and crisp, with a touch of bitterness, and an overall pleasant feel. Just try and stop be from taking this to the beach! Wait... we have no beachesâ€¦($21.89 for a 6-pack of bottles)

Berliner Weise by Les Trois Mousquetaires: Light and fluffy, and slightly bready. Big lactic tartness with over ripe lemon coming through. Super refreshing and demands to be cold, but drank when the weather is hot. ($5.19 for a 330mL bottle)

Je Ne Sais Quoi by Little Known Brewery: Medium bodied, hazy malts with light bread tones and a moderate sweetness. Big tropical and citrus tones with a good underlying bitterness that persists a littl...

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Volcanic Wines with Grant

Posted on July 24, 2017

Volcanic Wines with Grant

How to illustrate the impact of volcanic soil conditions given there are so many places where this has occurred. First, start with a rock star line up. Â I included the first item to give a sense of the variation in a wine due to its soil condition. Â While the differences we significant the cause has many facets. Â The evening was really interesting and many of the wines illustrated the impact of their historic and recent geologic events. Â Many favourites but as always great enthusiasm and enjoyment. Â The wines:

Pascal Cotat 2014 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnes"
Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Location: Sancerre, Loire Valley, France
Pascal believes in natural winemakingâ€”the vast majority of his plots are cared for organically. Harvest is never rushed; in fact, Pascal harvests more than a week after every other winery in the region. Needless to say, extra maturity on the vine means extra body and complexity in the wine. Vines are around 35 years old and are located on very steep slopes, requiring harvesting by hand.
The Cotat family pioneered single-vineyard bottlings in Sancerre, and each terroir has its own unique personality. In general Pascal wines show a more luxurious, plush mouthfeel in combination with this balanced acidity. Wines are always bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Les Monts Damnes 2014 boasts sweet grapefruit, white pepper, dried flowers, sea breezes and white peach juice on the nose. Â The mouth is at once savoury and saline, with stony persistence and a wave of Meyer lemons and more white peaches. Fermented in old oak barrels, this wine always shows hints of gun flint and chalk on the nose with distinct pear and smoky $72.99

Ata Rangi Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Location: Martinborough New Zealand
Vibrant! Delicious! There's nothing quite like a Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc. The Kiwis have really created a unique style and flavour profile with their award-winning whites. The Paton family at Ata Rangi is known for its quality wines and here's a vibrant example of Sauvignon Blanc showing a glorious medley of bright passion fruit, orange blossom, grapefruit and lemon grass flavours. The wine has an appealing ethereal texture and almost fizzy, fruity acidity that adds an extra shot of freshness. This is made to be paired with food. Lovely with shellfish or herbed chicken.Â $32.99

Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Cuvee St Catherine 2014
Grape variety: Pinot Gris
Location: Alsace, France
Rich and unctuous, this is a wonderful pairing with an equally rich food, perhaps foie gras and brioche toast. "The dynamic trio of Fallers continues to bottle some of France's (hardly just Alsace) richest and most flamboyant wines," according to Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. Subtle notes of orange meet freshl...

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Oh Canada! Canadian Craft Beer

Posted on June 8, 2018

Time to celebrate Canada in all its unique glory! The first thing I want to acknowledge -naturally- is the great Canadian beer scene and all of the talented brewers we have!
I carefully selected a handful of beers from around the country, highlighting various styles and exceptional brewers. I also asked our friends at the Peasant Cheese Shop for some platters of Canadian-made cheese and meats, and we tasted through the whole darn thing! Hereâ€™s a little snippet of what we had.

Moody Ales Intrepid Lemon Matcha Saison: A mildly tart, lightly spicy saison, with big lemony notes and some grassy hop character. The matcha comes into the finish as more herbal tones that evolve out of the lighter grainy base.($11.59 fr a 650mL bottle)

Outcast New England Super Session Ale: Light, and I mean super light. Low alcohol, very light malt, and super, super hoppy. Of course by hoppy, I donâ€™t always mean bitter (though this one is decently bitter) but rather packed with tropical fruits and juiciness. (Currently sold out.)

Blindman New England Pale Ale: This New England style pale ale will knock your socks off with its hazy, juicy hop profile. Loaded with massive aromas of tropical fruits and citrus, and a silky murky body. ($17.59 for a 4-pack of tall cans)

Blindman Batch 150 Red + White RIPA: Blindman's 150th beer! In celebration of Canada's birthday, we get this tasty IRA done solely with Canadian ingredients, and in a true Canadian pint can! Various malts of white and red character, along with a ton of hops. ($21.49 for a 4-pack of 568mL super tall cans.)

Dieu du Ciel Solstice Dâ€™ete: Aromas of acid, tart, and intense raspberries. Its acidity is quickly felt on each side of the tongue before leaving all the room for the wonderful taste of muddled raspberries. (Available on the Growler bar until itâ€™s gone!)

Driftwood The Last Aurochs: a classic Weizenbock style, with a robust malty base, fermented with Hefeweizen yeast. The result is a bready malt beer with big tonnes of banana, dark fruits and spice along with a big, semi-fluffy carbonation. (currently out of stock)

Collective Arts Imperial Porter: Bigger and more intense than their standard porter, Stranger than Fiction. Heavy Roasty notes with a pronounced sweetness with a hit of booziness on the finish. ($5.29 for a 473mL can)
With a lineup like that, thereâ€™s no way anyone could have left unhappy. There were even some new favourites, style discoveries, and a whole lot of learning. The favourites of the night were Blindman New England Pale, followed by Dieu du Ciel Solstice Dâ€™ete, and finally Blindman Batch 150!

I certainly canâ€™t complain about the results, considering my two favourites made first and second place. I also wanted to give a special mention to The Last Aurochs, which happens to be a fantastic and tasty beer ...

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