Trapiche Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
For several months, my wine consumption has decreased -- an unfortunate fact, considering this blog was originally supposed to be regular commentary and review of wine. Simply put, the odd bottle I drink here or there means I have very little to write about wine.
In a way, wine has recently become more of a special occasion drink -- or at least a blue moon kind of a drink. However, a couple of weeks ago, I opened a bottle of Trapiche Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, which had been lingering on my little wine rack for some time. As I recall, the bottle was a gift from Rawl for helping he and Linda move into their house.
Upon pouring my first glass and sticking my nose in, I got whiff of a dark, smoky smell that was somewhat pleasant. The smoke carried over into the taste, but was joined by black current. With a dark, plum colour, the wine was slightly tannic, and I quite enjoyed the two glasses I had that night.
I sealed up the bottle with my trusty vaccuum and put it away until the next night, when I finished it off. This is the unfortunate thing about wine, though. Once it's been exposed to oxygen, it's really best to drink until it's all gone. It's never quite the same the next day.
Devil's Pale Ale
Devil's Pale Ale -- As the can states, "The devil made me brew it." Sure, it's a gimmicky way to market a beer, but Great Lakes Brewery brewed up a hoppy, tasty pale ale that is so good, I can even forgive the decision to put it in 500mL cans instead of bottles. Recommended.
There is no more Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale until this time next year. I stopped in at the LCBO on Brock Road in Pickering and talked to the beer expert. Apparently the entire LCBO stock has sold out, and it's no longer possible to get any more of the beer in.
This is a bit disappointing, as I was hoping to find even one more bottle. While the first bottle I drank was good, the next bottles were amazing. The head, which the first bottle lacked, was very obviously evident -- so I can only assume the first one hadn't been fully carbonated.
I have a hankerin' for some pumpkin ale, and I'm shit out of luck. I wonder how difficult it is to make.
All hail the great pumpkin
Great Lakes Brewery Pumpkin Ale -- It only comes once a year, and I'm very happy the Pickering LCBO on Brock got what looked like a couple of cases of the Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale in stock. So how goes a beer made with pumpkin taste? Oddly enough, kind of like pumpkin pie -- but not as sweet (at least in this case). While I expected a sweet beverage, Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale is actually a little dry, with a rather non-existent head. However, it has all the great tastes of pumpkin pie -- pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon. It's too bad this only comes once a year, but on the plus side, I bought five 650ml bottles of it.
A couple more beers
Chimay Blanc -- When I previously wrote about Chimay, I was referring to the darker Chimay Rouge, but I picked up some Chimay Blanc on a recent trip to the LCBO. While still tasty, this turned out to be more of a Belgium wheat beer similar in taste to Hooegarden. Frankly, I prefer Hoegaarden.
Belhaven Twisted Thistle India Pale Ale -- And just when I thought I'd found the prefect IPA in Sergeant Major, along comes Twisted Thistle. While not as hoppy as Sergeant Major, Twisted Thistle is a brilliant IPA with a soft mouthfeel and a strong head that lasts until the glass is empty. Yum.
What I'm really looking forward to now is the LCBO Hallowe'en releases. Supposedly the Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale will be available, and I'm crossing my fingers that at least a little bit of it makes its way to Durham Region. If it turns out to be tasty, I might try making some pumpkin ale of my own next year.
Living up to the hype (or not)
Sometimes things live up to the hype and turn out to be extraordinary experiences. This was true in the case of the Cathedral Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, which had been recommended earlier this year. Shortly after the recommendation, I picked up two bottles and stuck them in my basement.
I finally opened up one of the bottles earlier this week, and wow, was I ever impressed. With a dark burgundy colour and a nice, full-bodied flavour, the wine was a pleasure to experience. The oaky aroma hooked me, and the taste pulled me in. If you ever get a chance to give it a try, do so.
Unfortunately, a beer I tried last night didn't live up to the hype. Beer geeks had suggested the Scotch Irishing Brewing Black Irish Plain Porter was a winner, but I had a difference of opinion when I cracked one last. It looked good; I'll give it that. It smelled good, too -- with a nice, chocolately smell. It tasted like it had been burnt, though. I think I detected some licorice flavour, too. Ugh.
To be fair, I have a few more bottles of the Black Irish, so I'll be giving it another shot very soon. I can only hope my first tasting was just a fluke.
And this evening, I'll be snapping a bottle cap off of my first homebrew beer, which I've dubbed Talbot's Half-Assed Irish Stout. If it doesn't make me blind, I'll post the results sometime this weekend.
It's been quite the summer for sampling beer -- and even a little bit of wine.
While I was on vacation a few weeks back, I did tours of County Durham Brewing Co. in Pickering and Magnotta Winery in Vaughan.
Although County Durham is a very small brewery, the owner, Bruce Halstead, is a friendly and knowledgeable guy. Xavier and I visited him on the (all too hot) Monday of my vacation. Bruce thought we were crazy for wanting to drop by in such heat, but he humoured us, anyway.
According to Bruce, County Durham is the smallest craft brewery in Ontario, and I believe it. His facilities are tucked away in an industrial complex south of Bayly just east of Brock, and some of his equipment is many years old. He told us he acquired his bottling machinery when another brewery went under, and he's spent a lot of time rebuilding it. It's not even fully automated, but it sounds like it does the trick.
The Magnotta tour was kind of neat, but the beer and distillery sections aren't part of the tour, even though they are on site. The wine-making area is obsessively clean and sterile -- and it looks it. I'm sure it makes sense for it to be that, but all the mental images of an Old World-style winery were shot to hell as soon as I looked into the winery.
The most impressive part of the Magnotta tour is the cellar, where there are hundreds of oak barrels aging wine. It was just neat. They even have a big oak boardroom table surrounded by executive chairs. I guess maybe they conduct meetings in the cellar on occasion.
Anyway, since the last time I've written on this blog, I've sampled various types of beer and wine, including several Magnotta vintages (a White Merlot, the Trionfo and some others -- I wish I'd written down all the names at the Magnotta tasting bar), the various Magnotta beers (none of which impressed me, sadly) and all kinds of import beers, like Mythos Hellenic Lager (not impressive, but how could I turn down buying a beer called Mythos?), Chimay (damned impressive, but a little sweet), Sergeant Major IPA (yummy and hoppy), Chateau Banana (absolutely vile, but for anybody with a morbid curiosity, I still have one in my fridge -- and you're welcome to it) and various others.
