Back from the dead...

Yes it's true, I'm still alive! It's been almost 3 months since my last post, I hang my head in shame.
But instead of giving you a list of reasons and excuses I'm just gunna say sorry and hope you'll forgive me... especially after I give you a wine review AND show you what I've crochet'd as of lately

Let's talk about Rosé (aka Blush wine). First, there are 3 different ways to make a Rosé

• Skin Contact - When the grapes are crushed, the skin is left in contact with the juice for a short amount of time. Then after about 1-3 days the must is pressed and the skins are discarded.
• Saignée - When a winemaker wants more tannin and colour in a red wine, some of the pink juice from the must can be removed and fermented separately to produce Rosé.
• Blending - Some parts of the world will mix red and white wine together to get the Rosé colour. For the most part it's kind of frowned upon, so much so that it's against the law in France.

They can be made from any type of red grape, the more popular being Garnache, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Cabernet Franc. They can range anywhere from super sweet to bone dry, and be made still, semi-sparkling or sparkling. A lot of the flavours depend on the varietal being used but tend to be more subtle than their red wine counterparts. Usually fresh and fruity, the ideal summer drink.

2011 Vina Chocalan Syrah Petit Verdot Rosé from Chile, selling for about $15 a bottle. It had a real nice vibrant pink colour. I could smell candied strawberries, cherries and raspberries. The taste was dry but with a lot of fresh sweet berries. It had a long finish and a hint of spice near the end. All round pretty tasty, the only negative thing I have to say really is change the label. Call me immature but it looks like a cave mans early drawings of a boob. I understand they were going for some super simplistic sleek design, I see a boob.

A lot of people are confused when trying to pair food with a Rosé. Depending on the varietal and style a light sweet Rosé goes good with sheeps milk or blended-milk cheese. Brighter, drier Rosé's can be paired with bruschetta or any Mediterranean appies. Light and fruity goes well with poultry, similar to white wine (think lemon chicken or a lightly seasoned turkey). Dark and dry Rosé's go great with a spicy curry or Thai.

When trying to pair any wine with food, you wanna try and match the weight and body of the wine, with the weight and body of the food. You probably wouldn't want a big, chewy Cabernet Franc with some nice light white fish. The Cab would annihilate your palate and totally dominate the taste of the fish.

As for Crocheting, I always feel like I get into a summer lull and can never get inspired to crochet when it's so nice out. I just can't justify sitting inside working away when the sun's shining. I spent the majority of my summer at various parks, beaches and playing in the woods with my son.
But now that the sun has disappeared for the next 7 months I knew it was time to dust off the ol' hook and whip up something fall/winterish

Ta-Dah! I'm so happy with how it turned out! I wish I could take credit for the awesome pattern but it was just one I found on Ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elise-shawl
It took maybe 2 1/2 balls of yarn and only a few hours to finish and I'm totally in love.

Speaking of totally in love, I also made this cute little heart when Fox was napping one day. I tried a bunch of different variations and this was the one I like the best

One bottle, two bottle, red bottle, blue bottle

So let's talk South African wine. I'll be honest and say there are a few areas around the world that kinda leave me with puzzled thoughts of "really...they make wine there?" South Africa was one of them. So I'm gunna start with a quick run down of their climate. It's classified as Mediterranean which means intense sunlight and dry heat, with winters being cold and wet, sometimes snow in higher elevations. 

Their top 3 grape varieties grown are Chenin Blanc, Cab Sauv, and Colombard, but the varietal that's considered their signature variety is the Pinotage. It's a cross breed of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut, created way back when in 1925. The grapes got kind of a bad rep, it's biggest drawback is during the wine making process it has a tendency to develop Isoamyl Acetate which leaves the wine smelling like paint, gross! and not very inviting. Most often it's used in blends or fortified wine but over the years they've steadily found ways to combats its stinky reputation to make some decent wines. For example, there's a certain strain of yeast they use during fermentation, added with the help of heavily oak staves that produces a strong coffee and dark chocolate flavour. Thus creating what is now called a "Coffee Pinotage." Which brings me to this delight in a glass, The Grinder 2011 Pinotage.

I gotta say once again how much I love a winery that has a "cool" label. I mean come on, it's the first thing people see, and I can't even count the number of times people have told me they bought that particular wine solely because they liked the label. This one to me looks like it was designed by Dr. Seuss, it's fun and silly and is a perfect portrayal of what's inside, coffee mixed with grapes, seriously, but not actually. It never ceases to amaze me the flavours you can get out of wine, this one blew me away.

As soon as you open the bottle it's like you just walked into your favourite coffee house, espresso beans, mocha, and hints of caramel wafting from it's barber shop top. The palate was full of coffee, dark chocolate and wild berries (think blueberries and blackberries), smooth with a dry finish. I felt like I should be drinking this in place of my morning tea, haha, just kidding, I have a no wine before noon rule, gotta keep things under control ya know...well, except for Mimosa's annnnd maybe Sangria if it's sunny enough ^o^

All in all I was pretty impressed, go South Africa! The price was only about $15 too. So if you're a avid coffee drinker I highly suggest trying this wine and lemme know how it compares to your favourite Americano

Sneak Peek...

So the past 2 weeks have been crammed full of travelling, birthdays, work, house hunting and wrangling my monster of a son. Naaaah I shouldn't say that, despite the occasional cat food snack he's a pretty good boy, just growing insanely fast and becoming incredibly smart :D

I've also been working vigorously to get my Etsy shop up and running. Limited time and limited funds makes it all a slow process, but thankfully when you become a Mum your patience for things triples and I just gotta remember to breathe and that I'm doing the best I can. I'm aiming for the first week in July to be "fully operational" but in the meantime here's some sneak peek pics of what I've been working on to get you all excited :D 

Nothing like a punch in the face

Now as much as I say I love every varietal out there, it's not entirely true. I'm gunna be honest and admit that I'm not particularly a huge fan of Shiraz/Syrah (Exactly the same grape by the way, just a different name to make things totally confusing for people). 

Pretty much anything remotely spicy, peppery or leaves your mouth feeling like it's on fire I steer clear of. That being said, I know there are a lot of Shiraz/Syrah's out there that don't have these "hot" qualities, but for the most part that's what people want or expect out of it.

When we brought this wine into the store a few months ago I couldn't resist grabbing a bottle. The label, the name, the write up on the back, it all intrigued me and made me smile - sold!

2008 Punch in the Face Shiraz from Australias Barossa Valley. Make sure you're sitting down for this one, at 16.7% it's gunna knock you on your ass. As soon as I opened the bottle I could smell the pepper <sigh>. When I dipped my nose in again I got some ripe berry and cherry notes. I swirled it around, took a gulp, let it sit for a second, then swallowed. It had a bright acidic beginning then slowly let go into black pepper and dark jammy flavours with a nice smooth finish. After letting the bottle open up for about a hour or so I had another glass and my exact quote word for word in my wine notes were "Peppery to the MAX! capitals and all, hahaha. I did enjoy it and I would probably get it again. It would be great with some BBQ meat or a hearty stew. Overall at $25 a bottle, it was the only punch in the face that I've ever felt good about.

Fuzion

Despite it now looking all dark and gloomy out, this wine has always been one of my favourite summer sunshine staples, Fuzion - Chenin Torrontes from Argentina.

First I wanna talk about the varietal's. Chenin Blanc aka. Chenin is a white grape originally from France and is arguably one of the most versatile of all wine grape varieties. From plain old table white to sparkling to dessert, it's even used in brandy in some parts of the world. Most often you'll find aromas and flavours of apples, honey and melon with hints of grass or hay.

Torrontes also a white grape is originally from Argentina, and for the most part is ONLY grown in Argentina. There have been some - but very few plantings in Chile, and sometimes you'll find a Spanish Torrontes but there is no DNA evidence between the two that they are related. The best Torrontes are highly aromatic, really floral and loads of citrus. Peaches, oranges and lychee and just a few of a flavours you'll find, sometimes even a little spice!

Now for wine itself, it's a pale straw colour with glimmers of green. Aromas of jasmine, violets and citrus. The palate is light and fresh with medium acidity, loads of tropical fruit and peaches. I first tried it maybe about 2-3 years ago and it's always kept me coming back for more, annnnnnd drum roll please.... it's like $12! Uh-mazing, go get a bottle and hope that summer comes back soon.

May is for Megan

Life is full of people coming and going but somehow it never gets easier to say goodbye. Sadly my friend/co-worker Megan told me that she would be moving back to Saskatchewan. The only thing that makes me ok with it, is how happy is was making her. She grew up in there and it's where her family still is. She's gone to school and has a pretty solid idea of what she wants to do and what it's gunna take to do it. She's also been living the big city life here in Van for over 4 years.

One of the biggest downsides to living in this fantastic city is the cost of living. The majority of people I know here are all working 2 jobs and at the end of each month are still struggling to pull in rent. It leaves little to no possible way of saving anything without totally becoming a no-social-life-shut-in eating nothing but oatmeal, rice, and beans.

Before she made her final decision, she was brainstorming out a pro's and con's list. I'm pretty sure her and I both knew that even before she had put anything on the list the decision was already made. The seed of an idea was planted! She sent me a text a few days later that said she was leaving in a month :( 

One of the funny/major cons was how cold it gets there. We complain sometimes about how cold it gets here...3°C HA! But because of all the rain and how damp it gets, it feels a lot colder, realistically we know it's nothing compared to the -30 Saskatchewan winters.
I knew I couldn't let her leave without crocheting her something awesome, and I had a month to do it. She's mentioned to me before about her family's cabin, swimming at the lake and chill'n by the fire, I figured a blanket would be the perfect gift.

I've made baby blankets before, but nothing "adult" size. I've also never done much of anything with granny squares. So I decided on one giant granny square!

Michaels was having a sale on wool and I thankfully found the perfect vintage-hipster-esque colours that I thought she would like. I had no idea how much I would need of each colour to get the size that I wanted so I just grabbed one extra big skein of each - 5 total.

The overall size when I was done/ran out of wool was about 4 1/2 ft x 4 1/2, perfect! And took me just over 2 weeks to finish. I was worried about not having enough time between family and work but I managed to maximized my time by crocheting on the bus, 10 minutes on my break, and for a hour or so when I got home from work :D

We met yesterday afternoon (She leaves on Sunday) and I gave it to her. She was thrilled and we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Red Wagon. There is seriously nothing more satisfying than making something for someone and seeing how happy it makes them. I hope she has many picnics and nights by the fire with this blanket. 

Although I'm sad to see her go I know she's going to do great things and I will see her again someday. I'm going to miss you Megan, Saturday "Beat" nights won't be the same without you <3
You can also check out her blog here for awesome food, fashion and good times!

Bloom

A few weeks ago I received a email invite to Bloom, also knows as the BC spring release wine tasting! I was sooooo excited for this event, I love BC wine and already knew of a few new ones that I was looking forward to trying along with some old favorites.

I also got to bring 2 guests, the man was my first choice but he had to work. So I brought my 2 friends Wilder and Dustin who both knew next to nothing about wine. Which in the long run turned out to be a good thing because it gave me the chance to refresh my BC wine memory.

As one would expect I had a awesome time! I had a mental list of all the new wines I wanted to try first which was good because the place filled up pretty quickly. 

But instead of blabbering on and on about ALL the wines that were there, I'm just gunna highlight a few that I particularly enjoyed. I also have to apologize for the lack of reds, I tried to stick mostly to whites and rose's as to not annihilate my pallet. I got a few reds in at the end but I'll have to admit I was a wee bit tipsy by then and it was hard to remember even after looking through my blurry pictures

Therapy 2011 Sauvignon Blanc - These guys never disappoint me. Strong aromas of lemon and grapefruit rind. Matching the nose I could taste grapefruit, along with some grassy notes, finishing with nice tart green apple flavours.

Perseus 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - Kinda opposite of the previous Sauv. This one had more green apple on the nose and loads of citrus and grapefruit on the pallet, just all round lip-smackingly good!

Dirty Laundry 2011 Woo Woo Gewürztraminer - For some reason I always forget about this wine and only remember it when I'm removing the tag because we've sold out. Lemme start by saying this wine was Deeeeelish with a capital D. A bouquet of roses and lychee fruit filled my nose, while peach, apple and honeysuckle flavours coated my mouth. Not too dry and not too sweet, with a nice lingering luscious finish.

Cedar Creek Ehrenfelser 2011 - Remember when I wrote about Summerhills Ehrenfelser and how awesome it was, well make way cause Cedar Creek is coming to town. I enjoyed this one a lot more mostly because I got way more fruit on the pallet and it didn't taste at all carbonated (not that Summerhill's is, it just kinda tastes like it is). It both tasted and smelled like the most delicious fruit salad ever! Loads of peaches, nectarines, and pears. I totally went back for a second taste before leaving and I'm sure I'll defiantly be going through many bottles this summer.

Hillside Rose 2011 - A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Gamay and Pinot Noir. I was excited to try this because of my love for there Muscat. Aromas of wild flowers and red berries, the taste was very, very light but I managed to get some raspberry and cherries. Had a juicy long finish, and easily pushed it's way into one of my top 5 Rose's.

Quails Gate Reserve Pinot Noir 2008 - I love a good Pinot and this one was no disappointment. Cherries plum and vanilla, well balanced. I got a little something something in the middle - bit of a earthy taste, a little chewy. Super nice and smooth, only drawback is it's $45 a bottle, which to be honest is pretty decent considering how much I enjoyed it, I'm just a cheap ass. Maybe I'll splurge for my birthday.

Vista D'oro Fortified Walnut Wine 2007 - I never thought in a million years that I would ever be drinking Port/Fortified wine and liking it, but my experiences have been good. And this lovely little guy is made with green walnuts that have been soaked in Brandy! There's also some Foch, Merlot, Cab Franc in their. The taste is a mix of sweet raisins and earthy walnuts. Smooth and rich with a nice long lingering finish that leaves your mouth salivating for more!

And that's all for now folks. Go out and get yourself a bottle of BC's best. Thanks again Wilder and Dustin for accompanying me. I also forgot to mention how fantastic the food was -crab cakes, chicken skewers with satay sauce, salmon, and cheese galore! Yum Yum! Dusting was ALL about the goat cheese :D