Monthly Archives: January 2010

Holiday Roundup, Part Six: New Year’s Eve

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I wish I had these to eat every day.

There were a few things I did wrong this past New Year’s Eve:

  • I delayed my wine shopping to December 31st.
  • I lacked a concrete plan of what to do, where to eat.
  • I waited for the bus instead of flagging down a cab.

It all started when I woke up late, decided to take a yoga class – my way of preemptively kick-starting the required January detoxing – and discovered I had no food or liquor in the house.

Of course, in my frenzied state, I selected the busiest liquor store downtown, one that I had to line up for 20+ minutes to enter at 2:30 pm on New Year’s Eve. What had I been doing the previous day, I wondered, that could have possibly made me too busy to shop for wine earlier?

I battled the crowd and dashed toward the near-empty sparkling wine section. No luck there: Out of what I saw was affordable yet quaffable, there were only two bottles of Gloria Ferrer Brut left, and I let the less frazzled, more insistent-looking woman take both.

Hurriedly, I pinpointed my sales associate friend and got her to choose three bottles for me. Luckily, she had some discounted-to-$50 Champagne hidden in storage. Score for Veni Vini Vici.

It was only after I left the yoga studio with said three bottles of wine, a bag of sweaty workout clothes and my yoga mat – essentially tied down like a beast of burden – that I realized I had no groceries whatsoever for dinner! (Yes, if you must know, I did feel incredibly awkward and guilty going in and out of the yoga centre with bags of liquor in hand.)

I huffed and puffed my way up to Whole Foods – the only grocer still open on New Year’s Eve past 6:00 pm – and tornadoed through their seafood and deli sections, Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil-style, for anything and everything fresh and easily preparable.

At this point, loaded up (or down, rather) with 20 – 30 pounds of food, alcohol and workout gear, you’d think I’d eagerly cough up cab fare to get home. But I was too exhausted to think, too sore to find my wallet again after carefully jamming it back into the last few available square inches of my already over-stuffed bags. I plodded on the express bus and headed on my jerky but free ride home.

Despite the fact that I didn’t manage to visit any of my friends’ house parties, I think I had a pretty stellar New Year’s Eve – one that was actually a lot more gourmet and extravagant than I had thought possible, given my whirlwind afternoon.

Here’s how I fared:

New Year’s Eve Dinner – December 31, 2009

  • Snack
    • Assorted Olives
    • Wild Salmon Caviar and Cream Cheese Canapes
    • Served with El Rocio Manzanilla Sherry
  • First Course
    • Effingham and Royal Miyagi Oysters on the Halfshell
    • Served with Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Brut N/V
  • Second Course
    • Whole Wheat Spaghetti tossed with Smoked Salmon Lox, Capers, Onion, Cream Cheese and Olive Oil
    • Served with Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Brut N/V
  • Dessert
    • Chocolate
    • Xumek Sol Huarpe Malbec Reserva 2007

Tasting Notes

El Rocio Manzanilla Sherry

Light straw, sandy in colour. A delicately saline, nutty nose with hints of yeast. Dry with a sharp, tangy pungency in the mouth – this light-bodied sipper calls for food, preferably shellfish (mussels, prawns) or light tapas. $13 for 375 ml

Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Brut N/V

Light lemon in colour with numerous streams of pert, persistent bubbles. Bread, apple and citrus on the fairly dry nose with some minerality. The palate is refreshingly dry with light to medium body and juicy fruit, cake and stone flavours on the tongue and more stone notes on the finish. Great with smoked salmon. Sole meuniere would also be a delicious pairing. Regular $85, on sale for $55

No Champagne flutes were hurt in the shooting of this photo.

Xumek Sol Huarpe Malbec Reserva 2007

From Argentina’s Zonda Valley. Purchased at 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Opaque ruby-black in the glass. Aromas of leather, chocolate, black berries and earth dominate the nose. A full-bodied, velvety palate with big, lush tannins coats the mouth with flavours of juicy black fruits and a mix of leather, earth and warm spices, finishing long. $35

Holiday Roundup Part Five: Thirty Bench Red 2007 Beamsville Bench VQA

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Thanks to new Ontarian friend Marcella, I received this lovely bottle of wine for Christmas!

I don’t know a whole lot about Ontario wines, but with its most well known wine region, the Niagara Peninsula, being situated on hills and valleys next to a huge water source, I could only imagine that it would be somewhat like BC’s Okanagan, only more humid and extreme in climate.

Beamsville Bench is a tiny sub-appellation within Niagara Peninsula, sandwiched in between the towns of Hamilton and St. Catharines. I couldn’t find a scaled map on VQA Ontario’s website, but from what I see on Google Maps, the area only seems to span a mere 5 to 7 km across the southern edge of Lake Ontario.

Thirty Bench Red is the winery’s Bordeaux-style blend, and while it was delicious in December 2009, I have no doubt that it could stand up to a few more years’ worth of cellaring, just like the great French wines that define its genre.

Tasting Notes

Opened December 27, 2009. Deep bluish purple-black in the glass, this inky blend is a cloud of berries, rich black fruit, mellow oak and a bit of spicy, decadent complexity on the nose. This big, brooding red covers the palate with a medley of blackcurrants, black fruits, mouthcoating tannins and a touch of spiciness on the finish. Terrific as a late-night sipper or served with osso bucco or a savoury lamb tagine. $25

Holiday Roundup, Part Four: Banfi Centine Toscana IGT 2005

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For the next few posts, I’ll be speeding things up a bit, otherwise I may not get through all my holiday back-blogging until next Christmas, and there’s just too much wine to be talked about. Enjoy the quick reads!

Big glass or little bottle? You decide.

Tasting Notes

Purchased and opened December 26, 2009. Roughly 60% Sangiovese with the balance Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. This Tuscan red is a deep maroon-coloured potion of red and black fruits with hints of dark chocolate and espresso on the nose. Big tannins and lots of acidity amid the rich, dry and flavourful palate of black and red berries, black tea and savoury notes indicate both a couple more years’ worth of ageability as well as huge food pairing potential. Pull a Leonardo da Vinci and pair this with an indulgent Florentine meal of ribollita soup (a cannellini bean-based vegetable soup) with pappardelle alla lepre (egg noodle pasta with hare/rabbit sauce) or agnello al rosmarino (roast leg of lamb with rosemary). Cin cin! $28 for standard 750 ml, or $15 for 375 ml bottle