Road Trip to Kelowna

On a July road trip to Kelowna we ended up at a number of different wineries. The highlight wine was Cedar Creek's Estate Select Pinot Noir, 2004 ($26.99). This is an outstanding wine, which the four of us agreed, is best served with special people. The patio at the winery is a lovely place to have lunch. Another lovely place for lunch is our friend's back deck, shown in the photo.

This wine was a Silver Medal winner at the 2006 Canadian Wine Awards. If you can afford a case, it's okay to cellar for six to seven years.

P.S. Forza Azzurri!

Koves-Newlan Zinfandel 1999

This wine was from the cellar. Purchased on a road trip that took us through the Napa Valley in October 2001, shortly after the events of 9-11.

I like everything from Koves-Newlan and this one was perfect. It had a hearty, earthy flavour but smooth with a fabulous finish. The colour was deep red like bing cherries. It was another perfect night on the deck with the annual BBQ steak. Good food, good wine, good friends.

Drop Your Shorts

As the snow falls outside, I think back to a long, hot day in late June. Sitting on the back deck with family and friends, tasting some new wines, eating a fabulous BBQ salmon

I was serving a rather risqué bottle of Riot Girl Rose 2004, a ($10 US) pinot noir from Hip Chicks Do Wine, a small, women-run winery in Portland, Oregon. It was a simple, very light wine, perfect for a warm summer'’s eve on the deck.

Unfortunately, a superior bottle brought by my cousin, T, overshadowed my wine selection. From Australia, the Annvers, Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 ($25), was a huge hit. We gave it a six-star rating (out of five) and T thought it had sexy legs. The colour was a beautiful red that Mom and Dad said was the colour of Nonno Joe'’s wine.

J was loving the wine so much that she was afraid of drinking it until nothing was left. Somehow, during the animated conversation of the evening, J knocked her glass of wine across the table, she cried out (because it was really good wine) but not before the wine ran across the table and splashed all over T'’s white shorts. After a few more tears shed for the last drops of wine, J sprang into action and made T drop his shorts so she could launder them immediately. And I thought the Riot Girls would be the wine kicking up a fuss.

Annvers is available at BC Liquor Stores.