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Reds of Summer

Posted on October 2, 2018

by Abigail

There is this idea that when the weather gets hot, we must put away the red wine and only drink white. It makes sense, but there are times when you just crave a glass of red, and it’s cruel to limit yourself to one style of wine. So what red wine works best when it's 30+ degrees outside, and how can you make it more thirst quenching? Well, step one is to chill your red wine! It’s something we don't see too much in Calgary, but trust me, it’s a life changer.

This tasting was to show an array of red wines that can be perfect for patio weather, from the lighter, fruity style, to bold and beautiful.



Tiberio Cerasuolo D’Abruzzo 2017
Abruzzo, Italy
To start of the evening, we started with a wine that doesn’t necessarily look like a red. This wine from Tiberio is classified as a red wine, but shows more like a darker rose, due to the shorter maceration period. Based in the sunbathed hills of Abruzzo lays Tiberio. A biodynamic, organic and sustainable winery that focuses on the unique beauty of their region. Their Cerasuolo D’Abruzzo is made from 100% Montepulciano, producing a wine that is fruity, fresh, with earthy notes and a touch of minerality. $29.99

Big Easy Radio Perpetual Holidaze 2016
McLaren Vale, Australia
winemaker Justin Lane worked at Alpha Box and Dice and Redheads wineries before starting up his own project, Big Easy Radio. He works with a variety of vineyards, making small-production wines from interesting grapes. Perpetual Holidaze is 100% Grenache, made in a light, juicy, and easy drinking style, making it perfect for any day on the patio. Chill the bottle down, and enjoy! $29.99

G.D. Vajra Clare J.C. 2017
Piedmont, Italy
One of the best-kept secrets out of Piedmont is the winery G.D. Vajra. Located at 1300ft in elevation and being the highest winery in Barolo they are fortunate enough to have some of the latest ripening grapes in Barolo and also providing smaller berries with thicker skins. A lot of the vineyards were planted in 1947, but the winery itself was not started until 1972 and the first vintage was released in 1978. $35.99

According to Giuseppe Vajra who is fourth generation winemaker "Claré J.C. is a Nebbiolo made according to a 1606 note from the House of Savoia jeweller Gian Battista Croce. This wine is a time-capsule into an era when Nebbiolo wines tasted fresher, lifted and slightly crisp. This is a wine for people who are young, brave at heart and curious about Piemonte forgotten past."

Produced with grapes from younger vines, Claré J.C. is a 100% Nebbiolo vinification. In 2017, approximately 25% of the fruit was vinified whole cluster.

Light ruby colour, slightly sparkling and very fresh, eye-catching. The nose opens with red fruits, vin-nouveau like aromatics, spices, gentle incense ...

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Scotch Malt Whisky Society September 2018 Outturn

Posted on September 11, 2018

It is September, which means it is back to school time for those with kids in the correct age bracket. Summer is showing signs of being on the way out here in Calgary, with leaves on trees starting to turn from green to yellow and orange.

It also means we go back to having seven new bottles to sample from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society: Canada chapter. Here are some things to look forward to with this month's Outturn:

4 bottles are north of 60% ABV
2 of those bottles are north of 64% ABV
possibly to make up for this, the oldest bottle in the lineup is less than 50% ABV
This is only the second time we have seen a bottle in Canada of SMWS distillery #107 - the first being a Speyside Festival bottling released back in June of this year.
3 bottles are less than 10 years old

Don't let the age on the bottle guide you. The two 8 year olds in the lineup are both superb and show maturity well beyond their years in my opinion. That might be the reason they are selling so fast...

It is a solid lineup in my opinion, but then again it usually is! Don't take my word it though - come in and taste a few to see for yourself!

All of this information, plus the information on previous releases that are still available can be found on our website here. If any SMWS bottles show as being out of stock on our website please contact us – we might still be able to get more. As always we would like to give a big thank-you to our awesome neighbour’s Peasant Cheese for supplying the small bites for the tastings.

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool
Instagram: one part of @kwmwhisky



73.98 - LAYERS OF HARMONY
This 17 year old Speysider comes in at 54.1%, and after 16 years in ex-bourbon wood it was transferred to a 1st fill Oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.
Flavour profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Outturn: 186 bottles
Panel's tasting note: "A kiss of sherry evokes the Andalusian sun – the nose has crème brûlée, apricot Danish, fig rolls, mandarins in syrup, ripe melon and ice wine. The deep, rich taste has muscovado, dark honey and lebkuchen (apricot jam, dark chocolate, cinnamon, ginger and clove) –flooding the mouth with pleasure. It absolutely does not need water, but in the interests of research we sniffed hazelnuts, marmalade, toffee apples and dried marigolds. The palate now had honey oat crunch, blueberry muffin and clove rock – layers of harmony and a long-lasting echo. 16 years in ex-bourbon wood, then transferred into a 1st fill Oloroso hogshead." $185

35.199 - SPICY, CHERRY CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
This 8 year old Speysider was matured in a 1st fill barrel and comes in at 59.5%
Flavour profile: Sweet & spicy
Out...

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BBQ and Wine Pairing: Wonderful Wine With Holy Smoke!

Posted on September 8, 2018

by Dave

I always love BBQ but it's better when we get to taste it with some amazing wines! In my last tasting, I paired up some of my favourite picks for summer BBQ. We were lucky enough to have Holy Smoke cater the event as well. It turned out to be a fantastic tasting because there were fewer people than normal so we were actually able to just sit down at the table and have a big family-style meal and talk about some wicked wines.

We were also in the middle of a major heat wave so that did affect which wines I picked as well. I generally love having a bigger, full body wine with either some spice or zip on it, but because of the heat, I wanted to include some wines that were also juicy, delicious and refreshing. Just imagine being on a deck or overlooking a lake with some Q being grilled. The wonderful smell of smoke blended with a soft breeze and the sound of birds, good friends and sharing some amazing wine is probably one of the nicest things to experience.

If you're ever in need of some awesome BBQ wines I think these are some great choices. Even if you don't want to have a BBQ, you can still feel confident just enjoying these wines.

Il Follo Spumante Rosato
I love getting a (party) tasting started with sparkling wine. It is refreshing, crispy, delicious and just helps to make it feel like a celebration. That being said I don't think you really need to wait for a celebration or get together to enjoy sparkling wine, honestly anytime is a great time for bubbles.

Il Follo is a small family winery from Northern Italy and we are lucky enough to have 2 of their sparkling wines as some of our exclusives. This rose is a vibrant pale salmon colour with beautiful bubbles and lots of fresh red fruit aromas, like strawberry, cherry and hint of raspberry. With a refreshing acidity on the pallet, this wine is dry and very drinkable. I also must say that I do love the bottle. I think everything about this wine is sexy. $25.99

Vajra JC Clare Nebbiolo
I have a really hard time with this wine because I don't know how to properly express my love for it. This is a Nebbiolo,unlike any other Nebbiolo that you might have had. If you haven't had Nebbiolo before, a little background on it. Nebbiolo is a grape that you generally find from Northern Italy. Barolo is made with Nebbiolo grape. It tends to be very high in tannins and acid and is usually helped by bottle ageing. The neat thing about Nebbiolo is that it is a think skinned grape so when you have one it can look a lot like a pale Pinot Noir, but then when you try it you realize it is anything but. This Nebbiolo, however, is done based on a recipe that the producers at Vajra found from 1606. It is vibrant, delightful, juicy, fruity, and even has a touch of effervescence. This Nebbiolo is definitely a wine worth trying at least once and then if you will feel delighted to be able to try it again.

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Gin's In

Posted on September 6, 2018

by Comrade Hunter

The gin tastings continue with another foray into the ever-expanding world of gin. As always I have attempted to curate a list of at least semi-new gins, the theme of which was new age interpretations of the spirit. To illustrate, here is what we tasted for our Gin's In class.

Victoria Distillers Empress Gin
Tinted with the iconic butterfly pea blossom, this indigo coloured gin is a delicate starting point for any gin tasting night. Extremely clean on the nose, elegant to the point of shyness, the Empress offers an easy going nature for any gin drinker. Expect slight floral tones, little whiffs of juniper, a touch of heady perfume; everything in this bottle is crafted from a subtle hand. One of the crowd favourites for the night. Given this gin's easy going nature, being a favourite is no surprise. $55

Thompson Brother's Dornoch Gin
Spirit from the highlands of Scotland, Dornoch distillers is offering a very interesting interpretation of gin. Nosing this spirit evokes notes of smoking agaves, burnt dirt and vegetative matter amidst the variety of botanicals that qualify it as gin. I believe this is the kind of gin that ought to be consumed straight, perhaps with only a splash of tonic or a cube of ice. The character of this spirit is brash and seems to work disjunctively with the standard sorts of mix. $66

Ferdinand's Saar Dry Gin
Infused with Riesling wine from the Saar, this opulent take on gin has a load of interesting notes to offer. Alongside the riesling infusion, Ferdinand's also uses locally harvested quince adding a pear quality to the spirit. Much like the Dornoch gin, I recommend that this gin be consumed straight, ever so slightly chilled as the finely tuned botanicals may become muddied among various mixes. $68

Ungava Gin
Made in the Canadian north, one will first notice the startling yellow colour of this spirit. Even if you have tried the Ungava in the past, expect a new and unique iteration of this spirit. More opulent and oily than past releases, this full-bodied gin has a lot of grapefruit and muddled citrus tones to offer. $40

No Ordinary Gin, or, NOG!
NOG! - or No Ordinary Gin is a whisky infused premium small batch gin bottled by Asta Morris - an independent bottler of Scotch Whisky headquartered in Belgium. Testing the boundaries of what qualifies as gin, the NOG! is a long departure from traditional London dry. Expect orange powdered candy, near vitamin C chew-able in its sweet, sharp tang, slight tones of chalky minerality, alongside butterscotch and vanilla tones likely originating from the barrel ageing this spirit has been subjected to. Widely acclaimed by the tasters as a winter evening spirit or digestif to be, once more, consumed by itself. $110

Eau Claire Barrel Aged Gin
Another barrel aged rendition, this time with a barley backbone to boot puttin...

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Best of Bourbon

Posted on August 17, 2018

by Evan

We are cursed to live in interesting times.

The Canada/US border has not physically moved in my lifetime, but I cannot recall another era when we as a nation seemed further apart from our neighbours to the south.

The general climate of North/South relations has been much more frigid than usual, what with tariffs and economic intimidation being volleyed back and forth. The very concept of Free Trade possibly being rent asunder before our eyes by a tweet-happy orange man who would seemingly rather see us drink vodka instead of whiskey - especially if it has his brand on it.

But still, we march on.

Tariffs or no, Bourbon is hot these days with more and more people falling to its beguiling ways. I myself am one of the fallen. The good news is that means we have a reason to do more regular American Whiskey tastings here at Kensington Wine Market.

There are many excellent options for Bourbon and American Whiskey available here in Alberta with more variety arriving on a regular basis. Hopefully, this is something that won't be affected by the current political climate. I would love nothing more than being able to hold a Bourbon tasting every few months while never having to repeat a bottle in the lineup.

This time around our focus was mostly on sourced whiskey bottlings, with two main exceptions coming from tried and true Kentucky Distilleries.

Before we into that, and so we are all on the same page: here is a quick rundown on what makes Bourbon… Bourbon:

Bourbon has to be made in the United States. It can not be produced in other countries.
Bourbon can be and is made in other states besides Kentucky. Kentucky just happens to be the largest producer of Bourbon by a vast margin.
Bourbon must be made from at least 51% Corn.
It must be initially aged in charred Virgin Oak containers. There is no minimum age requirement for Bourbon.
Straight Bourbon must be at least four years old unless specified on the label.
Straight Bourbon cannot contain any added flavouring or colouring.
Distilled to a maximum of 80% ABV.
Put in Barrel at a maximum of 62.5% ABV.
Bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV.

Now, let us jump into the lineup we tasted our way through:

The Burning Chair
The Burning Chair is a new KWM exclusive Bourbon from Savage and Cooke. This 4-year-old Bourbon is Dave Phinney’s highly anticipated first release. It is intense and expressive. This Bourbon is blended from hand-selected, new charred American oak matured whiskies, finished in wine barrels from Dave’s Napa Valley Cabernet projects. Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malted Barley. $115

American Rockies
New for 2018 from the producers of Canadian Rockies. American Rockies is a Small Batch Bourbon. We believe the Bourbon ...

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