The kindling is lit for a new endeavour to create, the Ninja Sisters will assuage your palate with the perfect plate.
Stay tuned, with tasty and nutritious food, comes great responsibility.
A New Chapter…..
Naramata Bench Wineries; Part One
This project was a fun one and twofold.
After all I am new to working on the Naramata Bench and I needed to try some of the wineries that I was unfamiliar with and secondly, I needed to procure some wine for a friend that had helped remove some of the flooding aftermath devastation that had occurred in the summer of 2017.
Enter in a power tasting day of 14 wineries on the Naramata Bench and a wonderful and varied selection of some must-try wines to take note of.
More to be posted as I taste my way across the Bench.
84 wines later and a well used credit card, here are the wines that I had selected:
Bench 775 2016 Chill – A delightful summer sipper, this wine is a blend of Pinot Gris, Semillon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Viognier. Pair with friends and fun.
Moraine 2017 Riesling – The wines of Moraine are crafted by a New Zealand trained winemaker names Jacqueline Kemp. The entire portfolio is amazing and in particular, I highly recommend the 2017 Riesling and the 2016 Pinot Noir. This particular vintage of Riesling was whole bunch pressed, and cold fermented preserving a racy acidity that will add to cellaring potential of this wine. Pair with a pulled pork sandwich topped with coleslaw or a, order of anything from Sushi Genki in Penticton. (A personal wine ninja fave)
Lake Breeze 2016 Semillon – From a beautiful vista the wines of Lake Breeze do not disappoint. Semillon is a rare varietal in the Okanagan and this has previously been a great example of wine. Wine not available for tasting, purchased because of previous vintages
Van Westen Vivacious 2016 – A blend of 95% Pinot Blanc and 5% Pinot Gris, this wine is delightfully refreshing with hints of freshly cut apple and hints of lemon. Pairs best with friends by the pool
Howling Bluff Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2017 – This is a cellar must have, it is 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Semillon with a steely herbaceous-ness and lively acidity. Pairs best with halibut or snapper with a lime zest and tarragon cream sauce and a side of asparagus or green beans
Lake Breeze Winemaker Series “The Spice Jar”2016 – Extremely aromatic, this wine is a blend of 30% Gewurtraminer, 30% Ehrenfelser, 20% Schoenburger, and 20% Viognier. Slightly off-dry, this wine pairs best with spicy Thai or Asian cuisine or even curries.
Deep Roots Parentage 2016– Blend of Muscat, Riesling, and Gewurztraminer, another easy sipper for the patio.
Tightrope Viognier 2016 – This complex Viognier was a culmination of careful vineyard work and attention to detail in the cellar. A longer hang time and ageing on lees in stainless steel and partial barrel (neutral oak) gives this wine an incredible complexity with a long finish. Always a fave.
Origin “Eden” 2016 Chardonnay – One of the newest wineries to open on the Naramata Bench is owned and made by Daiya Anderson and sourced from a 8.5 acre vineyard. The wines are stunning, only matched by their view. This wine is aged 70% in French Oak with lees stirring and malo-lactic fermentation. Can be cellared up to 6 years and a perfect pairing that I have yet to make would be King Crab Mac n’Cheese with Upper Bench Gold … #glutenfree of course.
Tightrope Rose 2017 – This delicious Rose is 97% Pinot Noir and 3% Barbera that had 1-2 days of skin contact before being pressed and fermented over 30 days.
Roche “Texture”Rose 2016 – This unique Rose is made from 20 year old self-rooted 97% Zweigelt that had only 45 minutes of skin contact before being pressed, the aromatics of this wine are complemented with 3% Schoenburger that is also 20 year old self-rooted vines. Penelope is a 5th generation winemaker from Bordeaux and Dylan is a Burgundian trained winemaker who was born in North Vancouver.
Moraine 2016 Pinot Noir – Sourced from the Sophia vineyard on the Naramata Bluffs, this wine is 100% clone 777 Pinot Noir and absolutely delicious.
Roche “Tradition”2015 Pinot Noir – Certified organic grapes, Burgundian in style this handcrafted wine is 50% clone 777 and 50% clone 828 that have each been fermented separately and aged or 14 months in 2nd fill, 3rd fill, and neutral oak. Drink now to 8 years. Pair with Prime Rib, rack of lamb, duck confit, or the biggest T-Bone you can fit on your BBQ!
Serendipity Next Step 2012 – This robust bend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc has chewy tannins with tones of fruit and can further benefit with additional cellaring. Pair with hearty fare.
Marichel Lone Wolf Syrah 2015 – My most favourite Syrah, this is a home vineyard sourced co-ferment of 97% syrah and 3% Viognier, deep in colour and definitely one to stock up on. You don’t even need a pairing with this one!
Lake Breeze Meritage 2016 – Gold medal winner, this wine is a blend of 40% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Malbec. Pair with roast beef, earthy Parmesan reggiano, or a BBQ steak.
Kettle Valley 2011 Malbec – Cellar gem. Amazing structure, this wine shines though with earthy rugged tannins and a long finish. This wine craves a prime rib with a demi-glace of reduced berries and wine finished with butter.
Howling Bluff Sin Cera 2013 – Super delicious, this wine is a bold blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. To be paired with friends and family and a hearty fare.
Nichol Vineyard 2015 Old Vines Syrah – Oldest Syrah vines planted in Canada (1993), 100% Naramata bench. The terroir is definitely glacial with granite shard, bedrock and silt. The grapes were handpicked, basket pressed and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Limited production from 17 rows, drink now to 10 years.
Welcome to my blog, ZWineNinja update
I love November. It is still reminiscent of my favourite month October and just before the mad rush of Christmas when everything calms down. Harvest time, a time for new beginnings, new possibilities and a path laid down fresh.
Here is a sidewalk selfie from the summer, no doubt taken at a local winery on one of the few days I had off. I am surrounded by wine all day and still want to spend my days learning about the wines around me. Knowledge is my sustenance and education my goal.
I am a Certified Sommelier through the ISG (International Sommelier Guild) and are WSET Certified (Level 3 of Wine & Spirits Education Trust). I am just figuring out now how to finish my WSET Diploma long distance as I am now home-based out of the Central Okanagan, not near any cities that offer it.
I had relocated back to a home base after many years in the lower mainland aka Vancouver, BC Canada. Family and a sense of home returned me as well as leaving the second most expensive place to live on earth. Education is expensive, wine education when you are paying for it yourself and working to live is even more so.
Still wine is my passion and I will pursue it. Not to mention, I am in one of the youngest wine industry regions and have experienced it first hand from the age of 5. I will admit then, I thought the smell of wine was revolting and it took to the age of 20, one year past the legal age to enjoy here that I started to fall in love with this historical and evolving substance in moderation of course.
I currently work for a pioneering BC winery, but my posts here are my own. I will share my scholastic achievements and my whimsical finds, but will not advocate any winery over another, we are all in this together.
In Vino Veritas
NaBloPoMo part deux circa 2015….
How has a year gone by so quickly? It is November again, like a new year full of promise and words to decorate. Many interesting things have happened this year, and many still to come. An old friend returns back to Canada this week and I am sure that there will be many fabulous items to share.
I join my colleague again in NaBloPoMo 2015, and welcome you to join me in posting!
A visit to Bartier Bros. new winery
The Bartier Bros. are Michael and Don Bartier who grew up in the Okanagan but moved away to pursue their education, Different directions chosen when they were young still had a common path and have winded them back along the same goal.
Don is the accountant, having moved to Calgary in his younger years to attain his designation and of course working in the oil and gas industry has a wealth of experience and many achievements to be proud of, as well as an appreciation for wine.
Michael is proficient in wine making, having amassed both on the job training and experience along with distance education from UC Davis and Washington State University. That and a few Lieutenant Governor’s Awards along with a couple of Canadian White Wine of the Year has made his consulting business solid and sought after.
Only 2 weeks open, I have had a chance to visit their winery located on the Cerquiera Vineyard in the lower Black Sage bench in person. Their first vineyard resides in Summerland, the Lone Pine Vineyard planted and kept by Don’s wife and family and their 2 Siberian Huskies.
I had first the opportunity to visit the vineyard a couple of years ago when I relocated back to the Okanagan from Vancouver. I was lucky enough to witness the pure drive in Michael to have a “sense of place“. It was the middle of winter, and listening to him talk about the cobble stones in this vineyard site and what they did to the wines and to revisit the terroir and actual site a few years later is truly amazing.
Located on the lower Black Sage Bench, the Cerqueira Vineyard is almost near the bottom of the valley, there are many limestone-rich deposits, and with such rocky vineyard soil, the vines have to work hard. So much so that with a little digging, the Bartier Bros. were able to see that the vines had latched onto the cobblestones in search of nutrients, finding small fissures of moisture and minerals to feed off of.
This became their “sense of place“, their signature of their Okanagan Valley wines.
Wines tasted:
Lone Pine Gewurztraminer 2013 – 6 year old vines located in Summerland. Dry, and crisp, this wine shows great minerality and viscosity, very refreshing 8.8/10
Semillon 2013 – Concrete egg and stainless steel ferment; 80/20 with an extended time on lees. The result was a unique Semillon with both a balance of bracing acidity and a softening creaminess on the palate with hints of citrus, wiffs of licorice and sage. 8.9/10
Obrigado 2014 – Obrigado translates to “Thank you” in Portuguese, this wine is an un- oaked Chardonnay, expressing some of the best of the Cequeira vineyard site. It’s extremely fresh and crisp with an incredible mouth-feel, I loved it immediately and stocked up! 9.0/10
Barrel-fermented Chardonnay 2013 – Half of this wine was fermented in barrel and half in stainless steel, a balance in synergy with hints of nuttiness, savoury citrus tones and hints of anise. 8.9/10
Syrah 2012 – What a treat! This youthful Syrah was bursting with juicy soft fruit tannins, white pepper tones and hints of minerality. 9.1/10
Cabernet Franc 2013 – 8 yr old vines, the first time this wine has been bottled alone and not blended. Grippy and juicy jammy tannins, hints of cedar and plum with a subtle capsicum. Well structured with a long finish. Stocked up, Yum! 9.1/10
Merlot 2012 – Plummy and cherry tones of balanced acidity with a multi layered level of cocoa nibbs, red licorice and rich fruit with a long lingering finish. Excellent. 9.0/10
The Goal 2012 – Their top wine, and a wine named for a piece of history, the Penticton Vees claimed Gold the World Hockey Championship in 1955. This bold wine is a blend of 67% Merlot and 33% Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet France gives it an elegant ageing potential of up to 10 years. It has hints of ripe blackberries, raspberries, with a rounded and firm presence of tannins, with multi-layers of complexity.
Merlot just picked
Small Basket press in their vineyard.
Core ConneXion Transformational Arts® – Dance
Have you ever heard a song on the radio, store, or a friend’s place where you just felt that that urge to dance?
Did you actually get up?
If the answer is yes then bravo to you. If the answer is a hesitant no, but wanted to be yes, then you need to learn about this free-form dance class led by a very esteemed colleague of mine.
Throw caution to the wind. What do you really want to do? If your feet can’t stop tapping, you need to let your soul loose. Lose the tether on what other people think and DO what YOU want to do.
Barb Reid is holding her Core ConneXion Transformational Arts class every second Friday of the month in Kelowna BC, the cost is $15/week and it will be chalked full of fun!~Please check out the info below if you are interested and free your spirit!
Core ConneXion Transformational Arts®
At the Core of Every Body is the Dance
A Core Connexion session starts by connecting with body, breath and sensation. Through the choice of theme and music, each session is carefully sequenced for playful individual and group connection, exploration and aliveness.
You only need your own self, willingness to move, and the desire to be open to the dance of life. This practice is an opportunity to move free of judgment and performance.
This practice is for every BODY – no matter what size, age or fitness. In the dance we can reconnect with the aliveness and creative potential that lies at the core of all of us. Each week we will be exploring one of the 8 keys to aliveness.
Join our dance meditation for fun, aliveness & connection.
Core ConneXion weekly practice.
Date: Friday Jan 9 and Jan 23
Friday Feb 13 and Feb 27
(2nd & 4th Friday’s of the month)
Time: 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Location: Dance Force Studio 1774 Baron Rd, Kelowna, BC
Cost: $15/week
For more information contact: Barb Reid 250-862-6091 ccc.kelowna@gmail.com www.coreconnexion.ca
Love Locks on the Albert Docks, UK
We were walking along the Albert Docks yesterday when I noticed several locks on the chain fences by the water.
My Aunt explained to me that this is what people do in Liverpool; lock the padlock and throw away the key, so your lock remains there as a symbol of your love.
Cool idea, there are many parts in the world that have places such as these. I often wonder if the lock owners are still together?
The answer is yes on Albert Docks
Train bound, my favourite method of transport
I love trains.
They are classic, timeless, and still one of the most efficient ways of travel. Funnily enough other than transit travel, I have not yet been on a cross country train yet in Canada. That shall be remedied at a later date to be sure.
Today’s journey was to Liverpool and after a few stops and starts, all good and successful.
The clan has gathered, all is right with the world.
Cheers
Visiting Edinburgh
It has been many a year since I have visited Edinburgh, but it is still as beautiful as ever. So rife with history and pride, the castle stands tall over all the lands below.
I went to visit a fellow Canadian friend who now lives there and had a lovely time.
While we were there, we went to check out a local restaurant in Leith called Roseleaf that was full of ambience, delicious food, tasty drams and the most amusing host. That, and our dinner table was shared with Mr. Potato Head.
Seriously.
There were board games on the side boards, hats hung on pegs all over the place and tea pots. In a bar.
We found out the reason for this; you can order their special “Pot-tail” concoctions and share them with a friend. They get served in a teapot and a couple of champagne flutes, and then you get to pick out a hat to wear and enjoy a “Mad Hatter’s T party!
Check them out if ever you find yourself in Edinburgh, highly recommended!
Cheers
Ninja Trip Day three
~Ach Glasgow, my wee ‘hame away from ‘hame
What a Bonny Day! Flowers are still blooming here, the sun is out and it is such a great overall day!
I am hoping that I will not be suffering from jet lag this time as I had stayed up so late and then went to bed at the proper time. But I feel great so perhaps, and of course the fact that I almost fell asleep several times in my late supper before calling it quits at the ~extremely late hour of……9pm lol.
Had an amazing day with my family sight seeing and catching up, here are a few!
A “Close” in the west end, full of beautiful and unique shops.
One of the Glasgow City Chambers Guards. So beautiful!!
Multiple marble staircases, so seriously amazing and beautiful!
The Glasgow night market, many delicious treats there to be had.
I love this city 😀
Cheers
In Vino Veritas 