Wine Recap: November 2019

Its the November Wine Recap! November saw us having a week off from work on a little staycation and we managed to pick up some nice wines and then chilled out a lot just watching movies and relaxing a little so this time has a few more wines that we were able to try! Let’s check it out!

Domaine Le Grand Saint-Charles Duo de Frontenac 2017

Producer: Domaine Le Grand Saint-Charles
Alcohol Content: 12.5%
Location: Quebec, Canada
Taste Tag: N/A

Le Grand Saint-Charles is a winery that I want to get behind so much because of its creative wine combinations. This one mixes two Frontenacs together: Frontenac Gris and Frontenac. We’re not exactly a huge fan of either of these wines but we do always like to try new mixes to hopefully have one that surprises us. This one actually was pretty alright compared to the other white wine varieties that we’ve tried from Le Grand Saint-Charles. Its not quite as acidic or extra-dry. This one was rather delicate and light. It still was leaning onto the semi-dry taste palette but there was also a well-enough balance to make it enjoyable.

Inniskillin Late Autumn Riesling 2016

Producer: Inniskillin Wines Inc.
Alcohol Content: 12%
Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada
Taste Tag: Fruity and Sweet

Inniksillin is a winery that is pretty well-known. They have some fantastic ice ciders and my husband has been wanting to try out the wines, so here we are giving the Late Autumn Riesling a try. As expected, the safe area of Riesling didn’t disappoint at all. It was a pleasant one and rather rich in flavor because of the Late Autumn element that actually gives it a more reserve sort of status. This one is definitely in the fruity and sweet taste tag and one that is very easy to like a lot.

Le Grand Ballon Val de Loire Chardonnay

Producer: Sarl Joel Delaunay
Alcohol Content: 12%
Location: Centre-Ouest, France
Taste Tag: Delicate and Light

From my memory, this is the second time that we’ve tried a wine from Val de Loire. French wines have so many territories and each have their distinctive elements and taste that its truly hard to remember all of it. I did remember the last one that we tried from Val de Loire was more on the dry side and that applies to Le Grand Ballon’s Chardonnay as well. Its more of  semi-dry taste with has a bit of light-bodied elements and fruity elements as well. The dryness does hit harder on the first sip but it does have a refreshing taste down the throat.

Slow Press Chardonnay Monterey County

Producer: The Wine Group
Alcohol Content: 13.5%
Location: Monterey, California, United States
Taste Tag: Aromatic and Mellow

I’m not going to lie that my initial draw to Slow Press was its classy bottle label and the color choice. It had this oaked and aged wine sort of look to it plus it had the aromatic and mellow taste tag which always has this surprisingly sophisticated taste to it. Slow Press is actually quite good. It is a little dry but it has a nice finish, just like most of the wines in this taste tag category. Its why we always go back to it as its not exactly a fruity and fun deal but one that is a little more elevated and has more depth in its taste.

Growers Honeycrisp Apple

Producer: Arterra Wines Canada Inc.
Alcohol Content: 5%
Location: Ontario, Canada
Taste Tag: Sweet & Fruity

Ontario ciders are rather different from Quebec ciders. I’ve tried a good few Ontario ciders to this point and I’ve become quite picky on what stands out for me. A lot of them actually are very similar probably because of the apples they choose. What makes Growers Cider different is that it uses Honeycrisp Apples and it adds this tartness to their cider that actually balances really well with the apple sweetness. Its a rather unique cider taste and has quite a delightful experience.

That’s it for this November Wine Recap!
Some really neat discoveries this time around!

Wine Recap – October 2019

Welcome to the Wine Recap for October 2019. With all the festivals and overtime going on, it was an obvious progression of events that drinking anything alcoholic was not going to as abundant seeing as everything needs a clear mind to write or work. With that said, this month’s recap is much shorter than usual and actually probably is more average as well. Nothing amazing but nothing that we hated either.

Let’s check it out!

La Vieille Ferme Rosé Recolte 2018

Producer: Perrin et Fils SA
Alcohol Content: 13%
Location: Vallee du Rhone, France
Taste Tag: Fruity and Medium-bodied

A very rare taste tag that we usually choose from for this one. While that usually doesn’t say too much to us, this one was rather fruity in the more acidic range and definitely was drier than our usual wines. However, La Vieille Ferme for its taste tag actually was fairly mild. It had a nice smooth taste especially as its end notes. However, its first sips are rather in the dry range and a little more than what we are accustomed to. For those who do like drier wines, this one is a pretty decent option especially as it is the Recolte 2018 which is a little more special than the normal.

Kim Crawford Chardonnay 2018

Producer: Kim Crawford Wines
Alcohol Content: 13%
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Taste Tag: Aromatic and Mellow

We’ve seen the Kim Crawford wines around quite a bit and never actually tried it before. While Chardonnay is not exactly our go-to white wine variety, we wanted to give this one a go as it fell into some other wine taste tags that we’ve tried before that had a lot of depth in its beginning sips to its end notes. Kim Crawford is pretty good as well. Its well-balanced and not too dry. There was a slightly more acidic finish to this one.

Petit et Fils Rose Sparkling Cider

Producer: Verger Petit et Fils
Alcohol Content: 6.5%
Location: Quebec, Canada
Taste Tag: Fruity and Sweet

A nice sparkling rose cider which is lighter than our normal wines and deliberately so as this was in the middle of the huge rush and more meant as a fun little cider to just relax. Petit  & Fils is rather good and we had bought it a few years back (if I remember correctly) and it didn’t disappoint so we were excited to give it a try again. As expected, it was not quite as refined to our palette as we had remembered it but as a sparkling rose cider, it still was rather fruity and sweet but leaned a little closer to the medium-bodied.

That’s it for this round of Wine Recap!
Short and sweet for October with some decent choices!

What have you been drinking lately?

Wine Recap – October 2018

Time for last month’s wine recap! We are back to our healthy selves, well, physically, I’d say so. We’ve had stuff to celebrate last month and stuff to grieve over. So, different times to relax while drinking some wine and other varieties.

Rose Nodo Bobal Garnacha Spain Wine 2017

Alcohol Content: 12%
Location: Spain

Nodo is a wine that I picked up randomly at the supermarket. I still am in search for a Rosé wine that can beat the two that I currently like. However, if there’s anything that I’ve come to learn is that Spanish wines are fairly dry and this one was extremely on that end. If you prefer something dry, this one definitely will be up your alley. Unfortunately, for myself, it wasn’t as enjoyable.

J.P. Chenet Ice – Sparkling Wine

Producer: Grands Chais de France
Alcohol Content: 10.5%
Location: France
Taste Tag: Fruity and Sweet

JP Chenet is the wine that my sister in law brought over for our Thanksgiving dinner. Its light and fruity and sweet. Very beautiful and delicious. It is one that definitely is a crowd pleaser. It finds a nice balance between being very smooth but also feeling like there is a decent amount of layers in the drink itself. The star of October for us has to go to this wine for sure.

Millebois Original

Producer: Millebois
Alcohol Content: 4.8%
Location: Quebec, Canada
Taste Tag: Light and Dry

I can’t say I agree with taste tags all the time but this one nails it. Millebois is a company that we discovered when we went to Sherbrooke to the Public Market there. You can see the haul HERE. Millebois is one that makes maple syrup based alcoholic beverages. Light it is and also dry it also is. I can’t say that I loved it but its tolerable on the dry scale, something like a semi-dry sort of feelings. I think the harder part for this drink and is more of an acquired taste is the maple syrup based portion. I’m not sure that I’m a fan but then I’ve never been a particular fan of maple syrup based alcohol.

Milton Cidre de FeuProducer: Cidrerie Milton
Alcohol Content: 10%
Location: Quebec, Canada
Taste Tag: Sweet

We’re a big fan of ice cider in our home. However, if you haven’t had fire cider, well, you are missing out. Its our favorite thing ever. We’ve never had this Cidrerie Milton version though. This one is pretty good. It had all the elements of a fire cider that we love and has more layers. It tastes a lot like drinking apple juice which also makes it a silent attack for those who drink this quickly.

Willm Riesling Réserve 2017

Producer: Alsace Willm
Alcohol content: 12%
Location: Alsace, France
Taste Tag: Fruity and Vibrant

I’m usually a big fan of Riesling. They usually find a nice balance of texture and not being too dry. Willm Riesling is definitely more on the dry side of things. Its one that took a little bit of an acquired taste. Its also the first time (in my memory) that we’ve chosen a Fruity and Vibrant taste tag (and what are the chances that the wine below also is). Dry it may be, but if you like dry wines, this one does goes down really nice. There’s still a good texture to it.

Yalumba The Y Series Viognier

Producer: Yalumba Wines
Alcohol Content: 13.5%
Location: South Eastern Australia
Taste Tag: Fruity and Vibrant

Australian wines are something of a hit and miss for us. We’ve had some lovely ones like Jacob’s Creek who never fails to deliver. But Moscato is a different variety so can’t be compared to something like this one. Yalumba Y Series Viognier is a really dry wine. I mean, just a whiff of it and you know it. I can’t say its a bad wine though because there is a nice texture. Its just more than we usually like to handle from the dryness. However, I would recommend it for those who like dry wines. Saying all that, I was doing a little bit of research on what else they offer and they have some other variety that I wonder if the SAQ here holds to try like the Riesling and their organic wines as well.

It seems like there was a lot of dry wine varieties in October.
However, we did have a few enjoyable wines that worked for our preferences. 

Have you discovered any wines (or cocktails/liquors, etc) lately?

Wine Recap – March 2018

If you missed the last Wine Recap, check it out HERE.

Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. Well, I can’t classify this past month as fun but hey, the wine adventures sure did help as they are our winding down times or hanging out with friends time or in this case, travelling time. Lovely little moments to say the very least.

We have a lot to get through this month so lets jump right in!

Saint Aix Rosé 2016

Producer: Domaine de la Grande Séouve
Alcohol Content: 13%
Location: France
Taste Tag: Medium-bodied & dry

Rosé wines are always a little tough to judge. We’ve had some great ones but quite often they can get quite dry. Aix Rosé is something of an acquired taste. It did feel sour and dry when we first started drinking it but as it aired a little more, it seemed to taste better. Regardless of the initial taste, I think it had to do with smooth taste when we swallowed it. Its definitely not our favorite but its still pretty decent. On top of that, for Chinese weddings, this one would be great since the bottle itself has the double happiness symbol.

Brickworks Ciderhouse Queen Street 501

Producer: Brickworks Ciderhouse
Alcohol Content: 5%
Location: Ontario, Canada
Taste Tag: Medium-sweet & Fruity

I like to take breaks from wines every once in a while and fall to drinking something a little lighter like ciders. I’ve tried other ones like Angry Orchard, Smac!, Somersby and there was another Okanagan Valley one that I had tried when I went to Kelowna but can’t remember the name. Its somewhere some of the previous posts for that trip. While I think that all of the above are quite good. I have to say that this one was one of my favorites, possibly even more than the others. Thats a definite compliment because I do like Angry Orchard a fair amount. Sad was that I only had bought one can of this and enjoyed it at the hotel after the EGLX day so none to take home. Its on my to-buy list next time we head out to Ontario.

Bulles de Nuit Rosé Mousseux

Producer: Bulles de Nuit (I think)
Alcohol Content: 10.5%
Location: Montreal, Canada
Taste Tag: n/a

This one isn’t exactly a new find since I have this every other month or so. Its this bubbly rosé sparkling wine sort of thing. I’m usually not much of a champagne or sparkling wine sort of person. Everyone once in a while, I’ll try one that I like. This one is really good. I’ve had the original and the rosé and I like this one more. It has a much more fun taste to it. What is a fun taste? I have no idea. It could be because the alcohol content is a little more here and the taste is pretty decent and it just feels so lovely to drink. It has quite a kick though so for myself, when I crack on open, I usually sip it throughout an hour or so.

Rodney Strong Sonoma Chardonnay 2016

Producer: Rodney Strong Vineyards
Alcohol Content: 13.7%
Location: California, USA
Taste tag: Full-bodied & Rich

Give it to our spontaneous purchase that peaked my husband’s curiosity and was very different the wines we usually would buy to be the surprise in this recap. Rodney Strong Chardonnay is a dry wine and yet, the dryness is somehow cut into a very pleasant smoothness that tastes really rich when we swallow it. I’m starting to understand what these full-bodied and rich terms are all about because I’m starting to taste the difference. I haven’t had a Chardonnay that I’ve liked before but this one has won me over.

Fresh Beginnings Moscato 2016

Producer: Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Ltd.
Alcohol Content: 11.5%
Location: Ontario, Canada
Taste tag: Off-dry & Fruity

Well…isn’t that a problem? I forgot to take the picture of the glass before we finished the bottle. Actually, to be honest, Fresh Beginnings was a little bit on the sour taste for our palette. However, while we’ve hit a lot of really great moscato, particularly in the last recap, I’ve definitely hit some moscato white wines that have this sort of taste. This one was more on the dry territory and with the fruity flavors it didn’t work as well as we’d wanted it to. But isn’t the bottle so charming and beautiful to look at? I actually still have it just to look at since its so pretty for the counter and really rings in Spring (even if we dipped down into the below zero Celsius days the past week).

This wraps up the March 2018 Wine recap!
A nice little mixed variety this time around, right?
Some sure winners and some acquired tastes here.

Which stood out for you? Have you tried any of these?
Any wines that you’d recommend that we try?