I4C – International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebrations!

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Charlene#I4C- July 2012 – Volunteering to get my feet wet. @SezmuCharlene

@Sezmu – I have always been interested in wine, beer and spirit ever since I can remember. This is because one of my earliest memories that I have, is helping my father making beer in our family kitchen.  Over the years, I have become more interested in wine making and all the elements that go into making great wine.  This has been noticeable in my visits to small artisan wineries and breweries in Quebec. Because of these visits, it led me to the new direction for my life in the pursuit of more knowledge for my love of wine, spirits and beer.  Deciding to jump into this with my both feet I  volunteered over the July 20th weekend, for my first wine festival in Ontario’s wine country.  It was for the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebrations. This event brought together wine makers from all over Ontario, British Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, United States, France and Chile. With them, they brought some wines that are not yet available in Ontario or other parts of Canada, for people to taste throughout the weekend at these fantastic events.

I was privileged enough to be helping out one day at Rosewood Estates, for their “WILD for Chardonnay: Comparative Tasting of Wild Ferment Chardonnays luncheon.” Here, I was able to be a part of a conversation that was made up by Wine Makers that were new, others that are seasoned wine makers, and one wine maker, that comes from a winery where his family has been making wine for more than five hundred years.
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The History of Wine from Ancient Civilization to Today!

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Credit: http://winetypessite.com/the-history-of-wine-from-ancient-civilization-to-today/ 

The history of wine has its origins in early Mesopotamia as far back as 6,000 years before Christ (BC). The Mesopotamians were the first people known to have cultivated grapevines. From peasants to royalty and ancient civilizations to today, wine has been enjoyed by many for thousands upon thousands of years.

The History of Wine Ancient Beginnings:History of WineWhile wine was first known to be cultivated in Mesopotamia, the harvesting of grapes and wine making was first recorded in Ancient Egypt beginning around 4,000 BC. Ancient Egyptians used stone tablets or wrote on walls to record information about their grape harvests.

The production of wine and its consumption were given great importance in the social realm of Ancient Egypt and were drunk primarily by the country’s upper class. All of Egypt seemed to love their wine – Pharaohs in particular, as they were known to import what they could not grow and were often buried with bottles of wine so ensure a tolerable trip to the underworld. Egypt’s wine was fermented and stored in earthenware pots called “amphorae”, which were largely unsealed vessels.
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Alex visits Kyomi! Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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Alex visits Kyomi! Montreal, Quebec, Canada - www.Sezmu.com

KYOMI~ Last weekend I discovered a hidden gem of a BYOW “bring your own booze” restaurant. Please trust me when I say you must, MUST take an evening off whatever it is that you are doing, and go eat at this wonderful place. The restaurant is called Kyomi and is located in Lasalle on Newman blvd.

The restaurant not being in the city might take away the excitement for some people. However, the second you put your foot through the immense glass doors, you will feel like you just walked into a rich, luxurious high class resort restaurant in Vietnam. Well, considering that everything in the restaurant from the fish to the chairs are actually imported straight from Vietnam, you wouldn’t be that far off! I was amazed to see the grand space and the décor inside this place. Two floors, high ceilings, exotic décor, modern pink suede cozy seats (what first struck me as I walked in!). What wraps this entire package up is the fact that it is a “bring your own wine” ;o), and you all know how I love those!

As I ventured upstairs to seek out the bathroom, I stopped in my tracks and could not believe the décor could get any better. For an intimate party, it was simply perfect! The tables were these immense glass cubes with a beautiful assortment of colorful Asian imported exotic flowers. Some of the tables were round with a beautiful curtain that circled around it to make the guests feel like they were having their own private party.

They have an assortment of Asian fusion dishes from sushi, to thai to traditional general tao. The prices are on the higher end (around 20-22$ for a main dish) however, it is worth ever penny! The portions are the biggest I have EVER seen in any restaurant! And the eccentric flavors add such a good twist. For example, we ordered fried calamari as our entre. The calamari was spread over an immense Portobello mushroom and this sweet teriyaki sauce was drizzled over the combination. I am telling you it was to die for.

What made the night extra special was that the wine I brought which proved to be a BIG hit at my table. Like I said before, I am currently going through a “white phase”. So I picked up a bottle of Australia’s Settler’s Cove Chardonnay. This wine has got to have one of the smoothest tastes ever! Sometimes when you drink a wine, there is a combination sequence of flavors from the aroma when you first put the glass to your lips to when the wine has gone down and the subtle aftertaste comes into effect. Sometimes this can be good, but sometimes it can be bad (if your wine has an aftertaste you are not so fond of)! I guarantee this wine keeps the same consistent taste all the way through.

Some more “experienced” wine drinkers might find this rather boring, but I loved it! Funny enough, I was the only one who brought white to the table. Everyone was drinking red. And you know what they say, NOT to mix! Big taboo…But I had people drinking my wine by the end of the night and they kept saying how much they enjoyed the taste. Even as we were leaving, I had an unopened bottle left, so as a final goodbye to our evening, we popped it opened, cheered to health and happiness, and everyone basically chugged a glass down. Could not leave an unopened bottle on the table!

Please go to this restaurant and I would LOVE to hear your comments about it. The food you tasted and of course the wine you chose to pair it with. The owner is a lovely young Vietnamese woman with impeccable taste for food, style and culture. You will find yourself craving that authentic Asian fusion experience over and over again. Love, Alex :) http://www.kyomirestaurant.com

 

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Alex Presents ~ Québec “La Route Des Vins”.

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Who knew beautiful vineyard getaways were right at your doorstep? I sure didn’t!
Quebec has beautiful wine regions that are actually quite well known (not for the social wine drinkers such as myself). La Mission Vignoble for example, perhaps you have heard of it, which is one that is pretty well known, available information can be found on Sezmu.com

Here is how I discovered what they call “La route des vins”. My good friend Karina purchased a 2 hour wine tour for two people for 22$ on one of these coupon websites. The coupon was for Vignoble Chapelle Ste-Agnes. We thought we would make a weekend out of it, since we were going to have to drive all the way to Sutton which is about 2 hours away, and since we were planning on taking advantage of the wine tastings, we were definitely not going to be in shape to drive home. So, we decided to book a quaint little bed & breakfast and enjoy our stay in Sutton! Gite B&B Vert Le Mont is where we stayed by the way. Very beautiful old home and extremely hospitable owners, and not to mention the breakfast was out of this world. They were the ones who gave all the information we needed about all the hidden vignobles!

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Alex the Wine Gal Presents ~ Cheap Tuesdays!

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Cheapy Tuesdays! I don’t know about you, but I always thought that Tuesdays are the worst day of the week. It is still the beginning of the week and has not yet passed the halfway mark. Tuesdays just make the week seem so much longer! There are of course Cheapy Tuesdays at the movies which makes this day of the week seem a little bit more exciting but I would prefer to spend my Tuesday night with my girlfriend catching up about what we did on the weekend and bitching about our long week ahead over a nice bottle of wine to take off the edge. This is exactly what I did last Tuesday! It just so happens that my good friend Heather and I found out a couple of months ago that Restaurant L’Academie offers 10$ pasta and mussels Sunday through Wednesday evenings!  Well it used to be 10$ anyways, they did hike up their prices to 11, 95$, however your meal does come with soup or salad so I still see it as a good deal considering its byow.  There are many byow  French/Italian restaurants downtown that offer far better selection and taste, however, when I am looking for a good, midweek, last minute restaurant, this is a good dining option. Both my friend Heather and I work in the city, so we meet at the SAQ in the faubourg, pick up a bottle each (no judgment- I did say Tuesdays are quite the brutal day, one bottle is simply not enough) and walk over to l’academie on crescent street. No Hassle! Heather is going through a red phase, so I picked up a bottle of white for myself. Chardonnay/Sauvignon C'est la Vie vin de pays d'Oc 2010

C’est la vie- a French fruity chardonnay/sauvignion wine. A few of my friends always buy the red equivalent and love it. It happened to come in white so I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you, the sweet, fruity taste of the wine paired with my tortellini rose was a great combination. I managed to polish off both very nicely. It was a very giggly evening. And of course what’s a Tuesday night without a movie. Long story short we somehow ended our evening in lovely Lasalle watching the Muppet movie. That story is for another blog another time.   I highly recommend this  byow (Bring Your own Wine) dinner+movie combination to any girl looking for some female bonding time. It definitely livens up your week a little bit. Even if you have an early morning the next day, it would have all been worth it and you will be laughing about the drunk stupidities you and your girlfriend talked about after finishing a bottle of wine each.  On another note, I will be going to Bombay Mahal this Thursday night with some friends and bringing a newbie with me :o ) It shall be a delightful Bombay/Barefoot evening! Love you all… Alex! xo

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