A Wine Lover’s Weekly Guide To $10 Wines – A Viognier (White) From Chile

June 22nd, 2010  |  Published in Wine Club

Very recently we reviewed a Chilean red wine made from a Bordeaux blend. Here we review a Chilean Viognier white wine. For a relatively small country, Chile has many wine regions that are developing their own personality. The wine reviewed below comes from the Colchagua Valley situated about 80 miles (some 130 kilometers) southwest of the capital Santiago. This lovely valley with its Mediterranean climate calls itself the next Napa. In 2005 Wine Enthusiast awarded it the Best Wine Region in the world for producing world-class red wines. However, this is a white wine.

The Viognier grape has quite an unusual history. About forty years ago it was limited to some 35 acres (14 hectares) in the Rhone Valley of southeastern France. These few acres included the grapes that were transformed into Condrieu, considered the best white in the Rhone Valley. Now Viognier has become an up and coming white variety found in many countries including the United States, especially California, and in Australia. If you are tired of Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs (or even if you aren’t) you may want to try a Viognier such as this one. And next time you are in the mood for a Chilean red look for Colchagua Valley on the label. We will do so ourselves but won’t be surprised if we can’t find any in the $10 and less category.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price. Wine Reviewed Cono Sur Viognier 2008 13.7% alcohol about $8

Let’s start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale gold color; tropical fruit aromas with melon, peach and orange blossom notes; dry, medium bodied, with great acidity and flavors of grapefruit, peach, green apple and pineapple; good length on the finish. Serving Suggestion: Serve with stir-fry or wok-sautéed white meats, vegetables and creamy poultry dishes. And now for my review.

I started by sipping this wine without any food. I got the characteristic honeysuckle. It was long and slightly sweet and had pleasant acidity. The first meal included a purchased barbecued chicken leg with the paprika-dusted skin on. The sides were a slightly sweet noodle pudding and a white bean and grilled red pepper combo. With the chicken the flavor went from honeysuckle to honey. This Viognier was persistent with a note of lemon peel. I tasted lemon and orange when it was paired with the noodle pudding. But the bean and red pepper combo stole some of the wine’s fruit. Talking about fruit, I finished the glass with some orange fruit juice candy. At first I thought the pairing wasn’t very good, but I changed my mind. The wine displayed bright acidity and was almost feathery.

The second meal involved a middle-eastern dish called Kube (or Kibbe), ground beef in crushed wheat jacket slow cooked in a peppery tomato sauce. Once again I tasted honeysuckle (the dominant flavor of most Viogniers), citrus, and honey notes. I liked its sweetness. With seconds the acidity became softer.

The final meal was an omelet with sides of grilled eggplant and a grilled artichoke dip. When facing the omelet the Viognier was slightly sweet with lingering acidity. I can’t say that the wine and omelet really meshed, but an omelet isn’t much to mesh with. The artichoke dip intensified the acidity and the eggplant intensified the fruit.

Now for the cheeses. With a Brick cheese the wine became weaker. The Havarti was a better match. Even though this cheese was stronger tasting than the Brick, the wine remained fruity – go figure.

Final verdict. If you are in the market for a different white wine at a low, low price this is a good one. Personally, I am not very partial to Viogniers so I probably won’t be buying this one again in the near future. And at $40 or much more, it may be a long time before I review a Condrieu in my French fine wine column.

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but definitely prefers drinking fine French, German, or other wine. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His global wine website www.theworldwidewine.com features a weekly review of $10 wines and new sections writing about and tasting organic and kosher wines. Visit his Italian wine website www.theitalianwineconnection.com .

Tags: alcohol, Apple, best, better, Bordeaux, Bright, buying, Chicken, Chilean, Coming, Community, Computer, different, drinking, Enthusiast, especially, few, Fine, flavor, flavors, French, fruit, full, glass, global, Gold, good, grape, grapes, guide, Including, Internet, into, itself, juice, less, Long, Lover's, made, Market, Marketing, meal, Mediterranean, my, new, next, ontario, Orange, Organic, pairing, Price, Probably, producing, red, region, regions, relatively, review, Rhone, sauvignon, second, serve, Slow, small, start, stronger, sweet, taste, tasting, unusual, Valley, Variety, Viognier, visit, Website, Weekly, white, Wine, wines, world

Niagara on the Lake Restaurants, Niagara Falls Ontario Wine Tours

January 23rd, 2010  |  Published in Wine

The word Wine itself is sufficient to arouse the passion in us to lay our hands onto and if it is from Canada which is one of the finest producers of wines especially the Ice wines, one cannot afford to lose the opportunity of tasting the mouth-watering wine. Canada today is predominantly known as a wine producing nation that has challenged even the well established players in mastering the art of producing great wines. There are hundreds of wineries in Canada which are increasing in numbers rapidly to produce wines of superior quality and taste. Wine is produced mainly in 9 regions of Canada namely Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, out of which, Niagara Peninsula of Ontario and Okanagan Valley of British Columbia are the largest wine-producing regions. Canadian Wines can be classified on the basis of grapes from which they are made and come in White and Red varieties coupled with varied wine styles prevailing in Canada such as Table wines, Sparkling wines and Dessert wines.  Table wines of white variety include Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, etc while wines of Red variety are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir and Bordeaux Style Blends. In Sparkling Wines, Riesling and Pinot Noir belong to white variety while Gamay noir belongs to Red one. Ice wines, most famous of all dessert wines come in Vidal, Riesling and Cabernet Franc Variety. Ice wines from Canada, known for their rich taste and texture, are regarded as the most authentic ice wines and Canada has been labeled as the premium producer of Ice wines in the world. Having talked about wines, the importance of food cannot be negated as both offer the perfect combination to satisfy the senses. Matching the wine with the right food is capable of providing immense pleasure and boosts your appetite as well. The pairing is such that if separated, it will spoil the excitement and leave you unsatisfied. If by now, you are also looking forward to experience the delightful combination of Wine and food, then Peller Estates is your best guide. It offers you a wide range of wines from its wineries along with informing on the choice of food that you should make while consuming wines to have an everlasting impression. You can even visit the wineries to get the most memorable Wine tasting experience and food tips to gain the art of pairing. Peller Estates also has Winery Restaurant and wine Club to provide a comfortable experience to all wine lovers. In addition, you can get the necessary information related to wines, food recipes, membership, etc on their website, www.peller.com .

The word Wine itself is sufficient to arouse the passion in us to lay our hands onto and if it is from Canada which is one of the finest producers of wines especially the Ice wines, one cannot afford to lose the opportunity of tasting the mouth-watering wine. Canada today is predominantly known as a wine producing nation that has challenged even the well established players in mastering the art of producing great wines.

There are hundreds of wineries in Canada which are increasing in numbers rapidly to produce wines of superior quality and taste. Wine is produced mainly in 9 regions of Canada namely Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, out of which, Niagara Peninsula of Ontario and Okanagan Valley of British Columbia are the largest wine-producing regions.

Canadian Wines can be classified on the basis of grapes from which they are made and come in White and Red varieties coupled with varied wine styles prevailing in Canada such as Table wines, Sparkling wines and Dessert wines.  Table wines of white variety include Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, etc while wines of Red variety are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir and Bordeaux Style Blends. In Sparkling Wines, Riesling and Pinot Noir belong to white variety while Gamay noir belongs to Red one. Ice wines, most famous of all dessert wines come in Vidal, Riesling and Cabernet Franc Variety.

Ice wines from Canada, known for their rich taste and texture, are regarded as the most authentic ice wines and Canada has been labeled as the premium producer of Ice wines in the world.

Having talked about wines, the importance of food cannot be negated as both offer the perfect combination to satisfy the senses. Matching the wine with the right food is capable of providing immense pleasure and boosts your appetite as well. The pairing is such that if separated, it will spoil the excitement and leave you unsatisfied.

If by now, you are also looking forward to experience the delightful combination of Wine and food, then Peller Estates is your best guide. It offers you a wide range of wines from its wineries along with informing on the choice of food that you should make while consuming wines to have an everlasting impression. You can even visit the wineries to get the most memorable Wine tasting experience and food tips to gain the art of pairing.

Peller Estates also has Winery Restaurant and wine Club to provide a comfortable experience to all wine lovers. In addition, you can get the necessary information related to wines, food recipes, membership, etc on their website, www.peller.com .

Peller Estates also has Winery Restaurant and wine Club to provide a comfortable experience to all wine lovers. In addition, you can get the necessary information related to wines, food recipes, membership, etc on their website, www.peller.com .

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/niagara-on-the-lake-restaurants-niagara-falls-ontario-wine-tours-1765978.html

Tags: falls, lake, niagara, ontario, restaurants, tours, Wine

canada – wineries in ontario

December 24th, 2009  |  Published in Wine

Hillebrand Winery is one of the primer wineries in the Niagara on the Lake region and they have been known for producing the best ice wine around the globe. There constant experimentation with Wine Tastings and the urge to create a wine that would set a new level in the wine making industry gave birth to Trius in 1989. Trius is a blend of selected best Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. The wine gained great popularity and became a part of every Niagara-On-The-Lake festival, Wine Clubs, Wine Tours, and Wine Tasting competitions. It was two years later that it was internationally acclaimed and got the trophy for the best red wine in the world at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London, UK.With time Trius has evolved as a brand in itself and now you can find a huge variety in Trius Ice-Wine which includes Trius Red, Trius Grand Red, Trius Cabernet Franc, Trius White, Trius Chardonnay Barrel-Fermented VQA, Trius Chardonnay Unoaked, Trius Riesling Dry, and Trius Brut. The ice wine is truly one of the rich, elegant wines in the Niagara-On-The-Lake.It has won several awards and accolades in various festivals for the richness in its taste and the high quality standards that have been used for the making of this precious liquid. The bottle of Trius reflects the opulence of the rich liquid that it carries and,its unique taste exhibits the skill of winemaker.

Recently, the head winemaker of Hillebrand J L Groulx has launched a complete Trius line to fulfill the rising demand of the ice wine across the world. The winemakers at Hillebrand are constantly experimenting with the taste to give you the best ice-wine delicacies. The proportions of grape varieties in the red Trius change according to the vintage. In 1998 the proportions were Cabernet Sauvignon 63 %, Cabernet Franc 22%, Merlot 15 %; in 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon 60 %, Cabernet Franc 23 % and Merlot 17 %; in 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon 52 %, Cabernet franc 35 % and Merlot 13 %; and 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon 50 %, Cabernet Franc 47 % and Merlot 3 %.

Trius have been on top of the charts of every Niagara-On-The-Lake festival, Wine Clubs, Wine Tours, and Wine Tasting competitions for its exclusive taste and savor. It has got tremendous commendation on both the domestic and international stage.  Plan a magical wine tour of Niagara-on-the-lake, canada – wineries in ontario and visit Hillebrand winery, the wine making pioneers. Taste some of their award winning wines and their specialty
Trius. Hillebrand is known for offering the best of best icewine in the area. For more information on icewines, browse through www.hillebrand.com.

Hillebrand Winery Restaurant offering food and wine. wine tours ontario, Niagara falls winery, Niagara restaurants,niagara on the lake, Ontario wine clubs, winery tours in Niagara, wine clubs Ontario, wine tours Ontario, Wine tasting

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/canada-wineries-in-ontario-1621715.html

Tags: canada, ontario, wineries

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

Performance Optimization WordPress Plugins by W3 EDGE