Tag Archives: Vancouver

Trust Your Gut

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If there’s one thing I learned about wine tasting tonight in this year’s installment of the Art Institute of Vancouver’s Wine Professional Challenge (part of the annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival), it’s to trust my instincts.

I signed up after seeing the link next to my WSET Diploma registration information, and thought it’d be a great way to test myself and kick off the next level of my wine education. Was it ever!

After a fun but challenging Round 1 of blind tasting four wines, we were asked to identify the country from which all the bottles originated. Having already deduced a steely, limey Clare or Eden Valley Riesling and powerfully ripe, spicy Syrah or Zinfandel-like red out of two of them, I was convinced that the wines must be from Australia.

The more I read into the possible sum of all parts as well as other people’s reactions during our intermission, however, led me to guess Spain – after all, a chalky Rias Baixas Albariño and juicy, berry-filled Tempranillo certainly couldn’t be too far off the map, plus it’s this year’s theme region at Playhouse!

Alas, when the winner was announced (the most deserving Jay Whiteley, sommelier for Hawksworth Restaurant), it was revealed that it was Australia after all.

Moral of the story: Don’t second guess!

In any case, it was great fun to take part in this challenge, my first-ever blind tasting as well as professional wine competition, and I look forward to the day when I can be 110% sure about my palate-based choices!

The judges were, naturally, a heavy-hitting “Fab Five” of industry veterans in British Columbia, including organizer and WSET instructor, Mark Shipway; sommelier extraordinaire Neil Ingram; wine educator Michaela Morris; Barbara Philip, Master of Wine; and John Puddifoot, owner of fine retailer Puddifoot, for which the wine challenge’s Puddifoot Award is named after.

As for the wines? The Aussies were a delicious quartet of Hunter Valley Semillon, Barossa Shiraz, Clare Valley Riesling and Tasmania Pinot Noir.

I celebrated my hard work the good ol’ Canadian way… With an ice-cold beer.

Lessons learned in Round 2: Wine labels, customer service, food pairing and wine accessories

  • Read the entire label before talking! I was waxing poetic to Michaela about a Gran Reserva wine, when I noticed – a mere 45 seconds before my time was up – that it was actually not from Rioja at all but halfway down the country in Valdepeñas. Oops.
  • The customer is always right. White wine with steak? Why not? My pick was sparkling wine (i.e., Champagne or Cava), the rationale being that it would be a nice refreshing palate cleanser in between big, beefy bites. It worked!
  • Be adventurous! Play with enhancing or contrasting flavours when food pairing and you can easily come up with one or two very different suggestions for each course that can cater to varying tastes. This was a fun topic and I feel I held my ground quite well. I guess having a food and wine blog helps!
  • When in doubt, joke! I could have probably earned a few extra points had I actually said to John what I thought about the Wine Shield, “It’s like a diaphragm for wine bottles that keeps oxygen from impregnating the liquid – complete with a handy plastic applicator!”

After all, wine doesn’t always have to be dead serious, right?

Hitachino Nest Beer

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I’ve been meaning to post something on this tasty Japanese brand for months now, but I guess mid-summer is just about as good a time as any for a beer write-up.

The first Hitachino Nest beer I ever tried was during this past April, when some of my industry friends and I were wrapping up our hectic week at Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival by celebrating at Uva Wine Bar, and a new acquaintance, Anthony Burée of Perseus Winery in Naramata, kindly bought me a Hitachino Nest Celebration Ale.

Smooth, rich, spicy, full-bodied and full of flavour, the intriguing Belgian-styled brew was mouth-wateringly satisfying and left me wanting to discover more.

Made by Kiuchi Brewery in the Japanese town of Naka-shi in the Ibaraki prefecture, the Celebration Ale is one of 10 beers available in the Hitachino Nest line.

Don’t let the cute little red owl logo fool you – these are serious beers for serious sipping.

Kiuchi Brewery started way back in the 1820s as a sake brewery, and didn’t start making beer until 1996. It is now not only a manufacturer of sake and beer but also wine, with some vineyards growing on the Kiuchi property. I’ve never tried Japanese table wine before – now that’d be another interesting blog adventure!

I’m happy to report that my search for more Hitachino was brief – three beers from the Hitachino line are available at Brewery Creek Liquor Store. Sadly, none of them is the Celebration Ale, but they are just as delicious.

Below are two of the three available at Brewery Creek. I did also try the White Ale on another occasion, which is very fragrant and tasty, but I forgot to take photos before I guzzled it down.

I highly recommend getting your hands on a few bottles to quench your thirst during what’s left of summer in Vancouver!

Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

I couldn't capture the colour very well here, but imagine this colour with a touch more raspberry in the hue.

Made from fermented red rice along with hops and barley, this cloudy beer is a vibrant rhubarb in colour and expresses warm strawberry rhubarb pie aromas on the nose. The red fruit is more subdued on the palate; while it’s still a fruity ale, there is plenty of malt and hop flavour, and it’s not at all sweet, although it does taste soft and round. I’m pretty sure the texture and body of the beer, thicker than most, are due to some of that starchy rice quality coming through in the final product. It’s not a very fizzy beer – this is very ale-like in its low foaminess. I recommend this with a steaming bowl of char siu (Chinese honey BBQ pork) on rice, char siu bao (BBQ pork buns) or perhaps a lap cheong (Chinese “waxed” sausage) dish. You can tell where I’m going, right? Anything slightly sweet and porky. $4 for a 330 ml bottle.

Hitachino Nest Classic Ale

This is made in an IPA (India Pale Ale) style, with rich, thick malty flavours and plenty of hoppy bitterness, and sure enough, there are British hops in this recipe. Clear copper in colour, lifted aromas of hops and grain meet the nose. On the refreshing palate, loads of bracing, bitter, fresh flavour are packed into one little robust, full-bodied package. Lots more foam here, with gentle persistent carbonation on the tongue that adds to the refreshing nature. I’d pair this with an assortment of Japanese kushi skewers – crunchy chicken gizzards and fatty pork, soft and rich livers, or savoury bacon-wrapped garlic shoots – the sky’s the limit! $4 for a 330 ml bottle.

Swallowtail

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I’m veering off the wine path slightly today to feature my thoughts (and photos) on a recent, thoroughly enjoyed meal.

Friday night I visited Swallowtail – an “underground” supper club in Vancouver – headed by Chef Robin, a local food and foraging tour guide, for a dinner featuring wild foods from as close to home as it gets these days.

Chefs Robin and Helen did an amazing job of sourcing and preparing fresh, succulent ingredients for a sumptuous meal that went excellently with the wines my friends and I brought, accentuated all the more by the brilliant evening sun.

At the low cost of just $30 plus $7 for dessert and gratuity on top (think $45 in total – note no corking fee!), Swallowtail was a terrific alternative to restaurant dining.

Chef Robin also offers food tours such as herb walks and mushrooming tours – the latter of which I’ll most definitely sign up for one of these days!

Here are some photos I took of the food, which I’ll let speak for itself. Meanwhile, check out this photo of me on Swallowtail’s blog – my group was the first outdoor meal of 2010!

Dinner at Swallowtail – June 25, 2010

Amuse-bouche: Swimming sea scallops fresh from Granville Island, cooked in lemon, salt & pepper. I love scallops with the coral (orangey ruffled fatty part) intact! Paired really nicely with the Pfaffenheim Gewurztraminer that Kylie and Mike brought.

Soup course: Heirloom tomato gazpacho topped with pecorino romano, served with home-baked organic herbed bread.

Salad course: Arugula salad with wild strawberries, roasted hazelnuts and Farmhouse cheese from Agassiz, dressed in hazelnut oil vinaigrette

Entree: Smoked duck with roasted fennel & scallon garnish, burning cinnamon stick, stewed rhubarb, radicchio marmalade and parsnip puree. Absolutely the most succulent, tender duck I have ever eaten in my life. Apparently it's from North Vancouver! Perfectly paired with Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery Fats Johnson Pinot Noir. The smokiness and spice of the duck could probably also have handled a richer, spicier New World Pinot, or even a peppery Syrah.

Here's us happy eaters! Our group of 20 took up both tables seen in the photo. I am in the foreground, front left, sitting next to Mike and Kylie, as well Lawrence and Alice across from me - Lawrence taught me the esteemed Asian skill of Mahjong some 9 years ago. Thanks Brenda for organizing!

How could I possibly turn down dessert? Here was a decadent, fluffy wild strawberry shortcake dressed with whipped cream and house-made lavender ice cream on the side. In other words, How To Get Past Third Base.

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