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Cheese Please: Staff Picks

Posted on October 1, 2019

by Abigail

Initially, it was Don who was to present the wine component of the tasting, but unfortunately he fell ill just a couple days before (hope you are feeling better!) Fortunately I am one to always jump at the chance to host a tasting, but to do a tasting with Crystal? Even better!

This tasting is something to share with you all. There are no boundaries of region, country or style (well maybe a little bit of a budget boundary because my first pick would have probably been the jeroboam of Cristal we have, but alas.) We are picking wines and cheeses that get us excited, and we are sharing them with you!

Here is the line up from tonight’s tasting



Laherte Champagne Les Longues Voyes NV
Champagne Laherte Freres is a small, artisanal Champagne House located in the Valle de la Marne. Considered one of the hottest growers in Champagne, Aurélien Laherte has been making waves with his youthful, yet traditional approach. Les Longues Voyes' could mean 'The long way': coming from 30 km from the estate, these fine Pinot Noir, are always taking the time to get the best maturity. With long ageing in barrels on lees for 18 months, it brings richness and complexity to this Premier Cru. Only from 1 harvest.

Becker Riesling Trocken 2018
Say hello to this wonderful dry Riesling from Germany. It doesn't always have to be about sweetness. This Riesling is super-expressive, energetic, with exotic aromas of peach, powdered candy, and pineapple, accompanied by mineral notes of crushed stones. Dry, racy, and lithe on the palate, with a long, mineral finish. Perfect as an aperitif, fresh seafood, or roast chicken.

Weingut Sabrina Becker was founded in 2017 with its first vintage. It is a partnership between Sabrina and her sister Christine, working with their family-owned 25-hectare vineyard. Their family has owned the vineyard since 1987 but it wasn’t until 2017 when the sisters took it over with Sabrina at the helm to produce wines made with minimal intervention, spontaneous fermentation, minor sulphur adjustments before bottling, and no fining or filtering. The results are clean, pure, balanced expressions of varietal and place.

Moss Wood Semillon 2017
2017 is a major vintage for this wine as they are celebrating 40 years of this Semillon wine. 1977 was the first year that Moss Wood produced a Semillon for commercial use. It was made with no barrel treatment and upon the first year of production was a major head-turner. According to the winery "The wine has a medium straw colour, with some green tints and its condition is bright. On the nose, it is ethereal, with lifted perfumes of lemon sherbet, green apples, honeysuckle and figs. Underneath there are just some early suggestions of the variety’s complex features like lanolin and mushroom. We always expect our Semillon to be relatively firm a...

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BBQ and Wine

Posted on September 13, 2019

By Brianna

It is no mystery that wine is meant to be paired with delicious food. That is why I love pairing my favourite drink with one of my favourite food. BBQ provides ampul of wine pairing opportunities. Caramelized burnt sugar, umami flavours and spicy toppings give us a wide range to work with. Spicy Australian Shiraz, off-dry Riesling, oaked Chardonnay and peppery Cabernet to name a few. A key factor is to pair bold with bold! No matter how crazy the flavours may get.

I decided to showcase six wines from different countries and a wide range of BBQ options to show the classics and diversity for the tasting. Beef brisket, smoked chicken with coleslaw, cornbread and grilled spicy sausage and halloumi cheese. Here are the wines of the evening, starting with the top favourites.



Andreas Bender Annaberg Riesling Kab 2017
Bender combines high quality, a sense of good soils and premium grapes, gentle cellar work, old vineyard crafts and new, modern “wine-thinking.” Aromatic with lush aromas of honey, mango, tropical fruit, citrus, lime with floral, mineral notes and hints of petroleum. Vibrant, and refreshing, residual sugar to balance the acidity, with a long citrus finish. Flavours of pink grapefruit, tart lime, under-ripe mango, lanolin, hints of honey and minerality. A wine of tension and mouth-feel, exhilarating.

Domaine des Aubuisieres Vouvray Brut
The Chenin Blanc of Vouvray brings riper citrus and tree fruit to the bready flavours of Methode Traditionelle and racy, mineral acidity from the Loire Valley soils. With a hint of sweetness, this sparkling wine brings mega flavour and complexity. It may not be the prestigious Champagne however, it is arguably just as beautiful and arguably goes down way easier. Plus this sparkling won't hurt your pocketbook.....need I say more!!

Best's Great Western Bin 1 Shiraz
Bin No. 1 Shiraz is softness with spicy overtones and approach-ability. Predominantly produced from grapes grown in their youngest vineyards, this Shiraz is a mix of dense dark cherries and forest fruits. Texturally a delight. Great with a fillet of beef, rack of lamb, black peppercorn sauce. This Shiraz brings beautiful velvety tannins and complex savoury notes.

Merayo Sangria
I chose this wine because what is better for dessert than more wine! Merayo Sangria is a delight on many different levels. The lively acidity accompanied with fresh orange peel will delight your stimulated taste buds after all that BBQ eats. This Sangria is a special production originally made just for friends. We are one of the only places in the world outside of the winery itself where you can get it. With this amazing wine you don't have to worry about mixing, adding fruit or doing anything else other than cracking a bottle and trying to make sure you don't drink it too fast, because it is that delicious! The term 'd...

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Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Canada September 2019 Outturn

Posted on September 6, 2019

by Evan

September always feels like a turning point in the year for me, and I probably I am not alone. Fall has not officially started yet, but summer vacation is over for many of us and the kids are back in school. This is the start of a busiest time of year here at Kensington Wine Market, as we ramp up for all of our fall tastings and festivals and prepare to sell and build our 2019 KWM Whisky Advent Calendar.

Society-wise, it means we return to seven new releases in the Outturn, instead of the six releases and one featured returning bottle as we run in June, July and August. Here is what we tasted our way through this month:

This Outturn is on the relatively affordable side of things, with only one bottle costing more than $200. Two of the bottles are available for less than $150 and the rest are priced between $180-$190.
The lineup as a whole has a fun chronology to it trading between fresh and style to more funky bottles for most of the tasting.
On the fresh side of things, we start with a young but very well put together Linkwood. This is one of my personal favourites from distillery 39 in recent memory. Style-wise, it compares well to the equally great BenRiach we had in August, but with more spice and and green wood notes coming through, and a little less creaminess.
In what could be a sign of a post-brexit apocalyptic future in which all Scotch Whisky comes from one single remaining distillery - we have two very different Loch Lomonds in this Outturn. One is older and unpeated (or perhaps shows the bearest hint of peat?) - the other is quite young and peated. Which is better? the 135 or the 122? That is for you to decide. I, for one, welcome Loch Lomond as are our new distillery overlords. May their multiple-society-number reign be righteous and true.
The first Glenlivet we have seen in a while is spicy and rich with vibrant fruit notes. It reminds me of a few SMWS and indie Longmorn I have enjoyed over the past few years or so.
The fourth bottle in the lineup comes from distillery 37 - which also gave us the most expensive SMWS bottle we have seen so far in Canada back in April of this year. This one is younger and does not break the bank. It is also shows some wonderful yet not over-the-top sherry notes and the barest hint of peat.
Possibly the funkiest bottle of the night was the 46.70, which shows a heavy Madeira Cask influence. I thought it would be divisive because of this, but it turned out to be more of a crowd-pleaser at the tastings.
Bottle number six comes from my personal favourite Islay distillery, SMWS number 10. It is on the unpeated side of things but big and oily and malt-forward with a bucket of salt on the palate. I honestly would have guessed this was from distillery 66 if I had tasted it blind without the cheat-sheet to read from.
I already mentioned the young, peated Loch Lomond, which was the last of the ni...

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Women in Wine

Posted on September 7, 2019

by Bri

Women have always been involved in the world of wine. If you look back more than a century or two, their involvement may have not been traditional or even on purpose but women were and still are pivotal to the winemaking world. To write this tasting blog I have to be honest: I never thought specifically about women in the wine world. Before anyone gets upset it wasn't a decision I made purposefully. Being caught up in a world that has many merits on knowledge, sometimes it can feel unrealistic without years for practice and a network of other like-minded people. Saying all that I am now jumping with joy that I was given this tasting because the history of women in wine are remarkable and many stories need to be told. The tasting not only focused on women winemakers but also vineyard owners, generational turmoil and historic serendipity. Let's dive in and see the fascinating stories of six inspiring women within the current global wine industry.



Dunes & Greene Sparkling Chardonnay / Pinot Noir $19.99

Teresa Heuzenroeder

Teresa started her journey into the wine world as most of us do, with a different but somewhat correlated major in university. After completing her Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemistry and Microbiology with a focus on food and wine chemistry, Teresa wanted to dive further into the wine side. Transitioning from microbiologist to winemaker was inevitable, through her previous years of love for wine she could now but two passions together, winemaking. Teresa started her challenge of becoming the Dunes & Greene Sparkling and Chardonnay winemaker. To this day Teresa still works with these varieties due to the love for attention and detail these types of wine require.

Sybille Kuntz Orange Riesling 2018 $49.99
Sybille Kuntz

Sybille's story is one of perseverance and vision, especially in a region with deep roots of history and tradition the Mosel region near Bernkastel. Sybille is the sixth generation winemaker who initially inherited a half-acre fro her father. Soon after she bought out her brother's of their land and started breaking all the “rules of norm” in the Mosel. Currently, Sybille and her husband own 10 hectares of prime vineyard sections. Being a female winemaker in Germany, Sybille is no stranger to hardship and conflict. As a winemaker, Sybille refused to play by the rules of the regions wine norm and or wine rules in order to redefine the box. One of Sybille's main insight is that with her pushing the boundaries of winemaking in the Mosel it will inspire others to make better wines. However, most importantly to show other estates whom only have daughters that “perhaps they'll be less resistant to pass her the family vines.”

Sybille Kuntz's Orange Riesling "The grapes are harvested without botrytis berries with sugar readings of 85° - 95° Oechsle ...

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Vino Italiano

Posted on August 22, 2019

by Abigail



Italy is a country full of wonders. Not only does Italy have a wide range of beautiful traditional dishes, breathtaking architecture, and incredible landscapes, it is also home to some of the most historic and diverse wine regions in the world. Wine and Italian culture have been intertwined for millennia, even before most other countries had learnt the ways of viniculture. It has over 2000 indigenous grapes, and only a quarter of which have been documented, scattered across its mountainous landscape. The country itself is a narrow, long strip of land that extends itself from the cold continental Alps to the hot Mediterranean Sea, creating diverse climates across the regions. As a country, Italy is a force to reckon with when it comes to wine both in production volume and diversity of style. This tasting will only show the tip of the iceberg for what it is known for.

History
When it comes to Italian wine history, there is a lot of ground to cover. As previously stated, Italy is a force to be reckoned with, but this hasn’t always been so. Like all of Europe, it’s certainly had some trials and tribulations. From the fall of the Roman Empire, to phylloxera, the World Wars and the uprising of Fascism, Italy has been through it all. Yet, wine has always remained intertwined with its culture.

Dating back to 1000 BC, Italy saw many tribes (such as the Rhoeti, Salassi, Liguri, Veneti, Piceni, Samnites and the Nuragic etc.) cultivating vines to produce wine. It wasn’t until the Etruscans came along that the indigenous tribes learnt how to properly domesticate vines and produce wines. The Etruscans brought a wealth of knowledge and promoted the linkage of wine and culture.

The Greek settlers arrived around 800-600 BC, mostly landing in Southern Italy, to which they called Oenotria (Land of Vines). They brought with them grape varieties, innovative viniculture and winemaking technology that ultimately created the foundations for the Romans. Not only that, they turned wine into a commodity for their economy, setting up a wine trade that spanned the Mediterranean. They created more linkage between wine and culture, telling tales of Dionysus and the myths of Tanit’s seduction of Apollo with the sweet Muscat wine of Pantelleria.

The Romans brought the first unification of Italy in 42BC, where all of Italy was under Roman control. They refined viticulture and wine production, which created a base for vinicultural practices across Europe, and created the first text that linked grape varieties to soil (‘De re Rustica’ – Columella 37BC). Wine was extremely important to the Romans, to the point where vines were the most important crop. Everywhere they invaded, they brought viniculture with them. They loved wine so much that vines started to replace wheat crops, which led to the banning on vine planting in 92 AD...

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