Winnipeg Free Press

I guess that’s not a very good blog title, as it implies the Wine Fest has kicked the bucket. Fear not! It will live to see the day next year…

I’ve been sort of avoiding the giant recap that the Wine Festival deserves (I have a few pictures I might upload as well), but suffice to say that the entire week was great, I had a great time, and everyone involved with the Fest seems to be pretty pleased with the Fest as a whole.

New this year was the Saturday matinee public tasting; formerly open to trade and hospitality folk only, it was opened up to the public this year. It wasn’t a jam-packed affair like the evening tastings, but attendance was good (which means more money for Special Olympics Manitoba) and the extra elbow room allowed folks like me to make notes without worrying about getting an elbow in the face.

Saturday night is typically sold out, and this year was no exception. Many attendees like to get their party on Saturday night, and why not? Some of us look at the Wine Fest as an opportunity to try and learn about many new wines. Others see the opportunity to get dressed up and tie one on. No harm done either way, and the sound of glasses breaking was surprisingly absent this year.

One bittersweet moment at Saturday night’s tasting - a voice over the PA announced the final score in the Philadelphia Flyers/Montreal Canadiens game, and the result (the Habs lost) sent a chorus of dejected “ohhhh”s through the room. I immediately headed for one of the booths pouring port to drown my sorrows.

While I haven’t tallied the exact numbers, I’d hazard a guess that I tried around 60 wines over the course of the day. So, to close out the tally:

Number of wines sampled Saturday = 60.

Number of wines sampled over the week = 158.

I’m hoping to have lots of fun stuff lined up over the next little while. Now that my barbecue is no longer covered in snow, I’m hoping to test drive a few dry rosés against some grilled food for a column. I also went to a scotch tasting last night, and if my notes are at all legible, I’ll look to tackle that as well.

Last, but certainly not least, I’m off to Germany at the beginning of June with some other wine writers to toss back some Riesling in its homeland. Very exciting - providing I can get my hands on a laptop (hot tips on good deals will be rewarded), I’ll be blogging daily from across the pond as well.

Well, today’s the last day of the Winnipeg Wine Festival, and it’s been a blast so far. Thursday was the Gala dinner, with each course paired with two different wines. The combinations were almost as interesting and entertaining as Master of Ceremonies Rod Black, his second go-round in such a capacity.

There were some fabulous items won in both the live and silent auctions: special/large format/signed bottles, trips to wine regions, chefs cooking for you in your backyard, etc.

Yesterday was the first of the three larger public tastings at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, and I only ran around for about the last 45 minutes tasting wine, as it was also my brother’s 30th birthday. I also figured that since I’d be around the WCC all day today, I’d have plenty of opportunities to get to a lot of wines.

So, having said that, let’s update the numbers, shall we?

Number of wines sampled Thursday = 10

Number of wines sampled yesterday = 18

Number of wines sampled this week = 98

Guess at the number of wines I’ll sample today = 70

Number of photos I got of my brother singing Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” with a cover band last night = 6

As I mentioned, yesterday’s activities consisted of two events - the [yellow tail] Outback BBQ and Wines From Spain: Grape Stomp. Two events in one night plus a couple of post-event beers equals one tired wine writer, especially when this wine writer carries a day job on top of the column.

Anyhow, a good time overall at both events, about which I currently can’t go into too much detail, as I have to iron one of my two suits for tonight’s Gala Dinner. Both of last night’s events were very well-attended, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

So let’s just update the tally, and I’ll be able to provide more insight later…

Number of wines sampled yesterday = 23.

Number of wines sampled this week = 70.

Number of marsupials sampled yesterday = 1 (kangaroo)

Number of lizards sampled yesterday = 1 (alligator… wait, is alligator a lizard?)

Well, I managed to have a relatively early night for a Wine Festival week, as my only commitment tonight was the Wines of Canada VQA tasting at Tavern United. When you’re trying to taste as many wines as possible, two hours is a pretty narrow window of opportunity, so it didn’t help that I burned half an hour (and WAY too much money) filling up my car and getting a car wash.

Anyhow, it was a sold out event, and while I managed to get through a good number of whites, I only did so-so on the reds. I’ve never tried so many Gewurztraminers at one time - it’s a relatively spicy and tropical fruit-driven white grape varietal that both the Niagara Peninsula and Okanagan Valley producers do well.

Number of wines sampled tonight = 31

Number of wines sampled this week = 47.

Number of consecutive Gewurztraminers tried = 6.

Tomorrow is the [yellow tail] Outback BBQ at the Inn at the Forks and the Wines From Spain: Grape Stomp at Blaze Bistro. I was one of the “local personalities” who stomped at the latter event last year, but (thankfully?) I was overlooked this year (although rumour has it Doug Speirs will be a-stompin’…). Don’t get me wrong - it’s a great event. It’s just that I wiped out post-stomping pretty good and wrenched my back last year. The crowd’s collective, pity-driven “Ohhh…” when it happened was enough to send me skulking away to clean myself up.

I’ll certainly be more careful and discreet this year…

Monday night’s event at Fort Gibraltar was pretty well-attended, despite some construction on nearby roads that obstructed entrance to the Fort. [aside: if you’ve never been to Fort Gibraltar, it really is worth a visit.]

As the moderator of the “Get Sauced” wine and sauce tasting, I’d hesitate to give any sort of review, as I’m my own worst critic. Suffice to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of relatively strong sauces (smoky BBQ, pesto, teriyaki) with which the Spanish Cava (a crisp sparkling wine) paired. The reception afterwards was nice too.

Number of wines sampled today = 16.

Number of wines sampled this week = 16.

Number of fur pelts on the wall at Fort Gibraltar = 6-8.

Number of animal traps on the wall at Fort Gibraltar = 3.

And don’t even get me started about the Montreal Canadiens…

Well, technically the Winnipeg Wine Festival started yesterday, but for me today is Day 1. I’m moderating a panel on wine and sauces this afternoon for trade folk, and then tonight for the public. It all happens within the wooden walls of Fort Gibraltar - info here. I’m feeling pretty well-rested - so far, so good.

Number of wines sampled today = 0.

Number of wines sampled this week = 0.

Well, that explains why I’m feeling so well-rested. I’ll try and keep a tally of just how many wines I try this week. Somehow I don’t think I’ll get to all 585+ of them…

Would you believe that in the last two weeks, I’ve had about less than a glass of wine? The only wine I’ve had was the suspect Canadian Chardonnay (see previous post), and I’ve since had one other bottle of Heineken, which tasted a lot better than my first one.

Tonight, however, I return to the land of the wine drinkers. Quite frankly, I cannot wait. I’ve found that the last few days have been filled with daydreams of popping corks, sniffing and swirling (all in relation to wine, of course - lest you get the wrong idea).

The Winnipeg Wine Festival kicks off this weekend, with the first of the ancillary events Sunday night at 529 Wellington. Unfortunately, the event is sold out.

In its place, I suggest you go check out Ms. Marnie Old, an ex-Winnipegger living in Philadelphia and making a name for herself in the wine world as the go-to girl for help with wine lists, wine events, and everything else wine-related. Heck, she’s the Director of Wine Studies at New York City’s French Culinary Institute (great website, by the way). That’s HUGE.

Anyhow, she’s hosting a dinner at Bistro Seven and a Quarter (725 Osborne Street South) based on the book she co-wrote with brewmaster Sam Calagione called He Said Beer, She Said Wine. Three courses will be tasted alongside both beer and wine. Tickets are $85 plus taxes and gratuity. To reserve a place, call the Bistro at 777-2525.

On Wednesday, Marnie will be at McNally Robinson Polo Park at 7:30 for a talk, signing and tasting.

***

I’ll be blogging pretty much every night this coming week in an attempt to cover as many Wine Festival-related activities as possible. Then, at the end of the week, I’ll probably check myself into rehab. Good times!

I guess you really just don’t know airborne illnesses until you live with a young child. While I’m not 100% yet, I can say with utmost certainty that the flu/bacterial chest infection I’ve been battling for the past week has been the worst illness of my adult life. Yes, worse than when I took a road trip to Minneapolis with some fellow grad students and had a raging stomach flu ALL THE WAY DOWN (and I was the only one with a driver’s license). But that’s a different story altogether…

This flu/chest thing came to a head on Thursday morning, when my 39.7 C fever broke, which resulted in my passing out and my wife calling the paramedics. As a relatively healthy 32 year-old, waking up after a whole minute - drenched in sweat not knowing what just happened - is a pretty terrifying event.

Like I said, I’m on the mend, but have been prescribed these antibiotics that can apparently affect your sense of taste. I decided to put it to the test - I just opened a bottle of Canadian Chardonnay* and gave it a whiff. There’s some mineral and tropical fruit components on the nose, but the former aspect is very strong, which may be due to the pills (they have this aftertaste of rancid Flintstone vitamins).

And the taste? The wine, my friends, tastes bad… very bad. Like rancid Flintstone vitamins and an underripe peach thrown in for good measure.

Of note, as well, is that this is the first drink of any alcohol I’ve had in a week (save for half a Heineken on Saturday, which tasted like old, semi-flat, rancid apple cider).

So, folks, my palate is officially in basic training/boot camp in preparation for the Winnipeg Wine Festival. I must, after all, get my taste buds in shape in time for the Big Show…
*The Chard shall remain nameless, as I’d rather not give it a bad rep with out merit.

So here I am, many days past-due on a blog of any sort (at least in my mind), but I do have a legit excuse - I’m sicker than the proverbial pooch. As Foreigner once sang, “I’ve got a fever of 103″ - except I’m sure Foreigner used that song to bed groupies, whereas I’m confined to my couch, suffering through Jim Morrison-esque states of delusion. I haven’t even had a sip of wine for THREE FULL DAYS.

So expect my review of the Eric Arnold book First Big Crush shortly, as well as more from the wine world as soon as I can stay upright for more than about seven minutes.

My wife’s work schedule recently changed - two days a week I’ll now be dropping off and picking up our daughter, then putting her to bed solo like I did about 15 minutes ago. Today was especially frazzling, as it was the first day of the new routine, and the little lady and I had to run and get groceries after I picked her up from my parents’ place. My mom, bless her heart, packed me up some stew to bring home.

As I got ready to wolf the stuff back while Frances made a mess of herself in her high chair, I remembered I had a bottle of Half Pints Pothole Porter in my beer wine beverage fridge, and realized that the stew would likely be the perfect food pairing for the porter.

So I cracked it and managed about five or six sips as I alternated between shoving food in my face and feeding Frances, and the pairing was divine. Maybe it was just the perfect way to take the edge off a frantic evening, but I popped the glass of porter back in the fridge until I managed to get the little gal to bed.

So here I am, and here are my thoughts on the Pothole Porter…

Half Pints Pothole Porter (Winnipeg, Manitoba - $3.62/341ml, available at Liquor Marts - seasonal, so quantities are limited)
Espresso in colour, the nose brings aromas of cola, toffee and mocha. It’s 7.9 per cent alcohol, but since it’s a heavier beer I can’t see too many people chugging this back and feeling the effects. Not as chewy as the colour might suggest, the Pothole Porter has nice weight, a soft, creamy texture, and great flavours of toasted nuts, cinnamon, and toffee with a hint of dark coffee.

It matched the stew oh-so-well - a little pat on the back for myself on remembering at the last second. It’s also proving to be a most satisfying way of winding down for the night.