December

Merry Christmas everyone!  I’ve put together a wine selection here with a few treats to help you get through the holidays a little easier.  Now first off, due to a supplier shortage I have been reduced to humbly requesting that any members of our wine club who have a stockpile of the cloth bottle bags to please return them to us!  

Thanks to everyone who came to our Wine Workshop last night!  We got into the nitty gritty flavours of earth, oak, and spice, tasting a good Australian Shiraz and a great  Rioja Reserva.  Our next Wine Workshop will be on Friday, December 27th, you know that weird limbo between Christmas and New Years when no one really knows what they should be doing?  Well you should be here, learning about and tasting some fortified wines!  It will be a an excellent evening of festive celebration!  

Grab your tickets by clicking the button below.

We still have five boxes available of our Twelve Days of Christmas Mystery Box.  Twelve goodies covering everything from beer to pre-made cocktails and everything in between, with a couple exclusive treats.  Stop by the store or give us a call to reserve your box.  They’ll release Saturday, December 7, and payment of $150 will be collected on pickup.

Speaking of payment!

We’ll be dropping the GST on all beer and wine in accordance with Trudeau’s Tax Break!  We’re primed for a great month here at UnWined and I look forward to doing what we can to make the holidays special for you and your family!

Gorgo

Custoza

We’ll begin with a white that’s a blend of some Italy’s best grapes.

Garganega - as seen in Soave

Bianca Fernanda - a Custoza native clone of the Cortese grape, as seen in Gavi
Trebbiano Toscano - a blending partner of Orvieto

In the glass this supergroup starts off easy going with pear and melon, then quickly shifts to a fuller bodied richness and a finish getting into some dried apricot notes.  All alongside that there’s a chalky minerality present and some orange zest whiffs.  It makes for a really neat wine that seems to go back and forth between being light and refreshing versus rich and comforting.  When tasting with importers we’re only having maybe an ounce or two, but I knew right away this is a wine that deserves a full glass to really explore all it’s got going on.

Clarendelle

Blanc

Back in October I was invited to a tasting which featured a number of Bordeaux wines, I’ve been waiting until this month to feature a couple of them.  We began with Clarendelle Blanc, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle.  Sauv and Sem are usual suspects in a Bordeaux white, but Muscadelle is more of a rarity.  Not  to be confused with muscat, muscadet, or moscato, this grape offers some delicate floral notes to this wine.  Aside from that there are the lemon-lime notes from Sauvignon Blanc, and rich tropical fruit and honeysuckle from the Semillon.  In the mouth it is dry and just a step away from light-bodied.  As for pairing stick to the usual white wine dishes but keep the acidity low, white fish, risotto, asparagus, pesto pasta, avocado, etc.

Clarendelle

2019 Medoc

A couple wines later we got to the Medoc offering from Clarendelle.  With the Medoc being a left-bank area, the wines are generally Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, not this one though!  Merlot benefitted from some very warm temperatures through the season, and so makes up 62% of this wine.  On the nose you smell that merlot with juicy strawberry and raspberry.  On the palate earth and oak take the center stage, with a little cooked plum and cassis showing up as well.  The structure is Bordeaux through and through, with elegant tannins and fresh acidity.  Give this wine an hour or so to open up and enjoy it with some aged cheese or a well marbled cut of meat.

Of note: There were many other gems I had the privilege of tasting at this event which will be arriving in the new year!  We’ll have a 2016 Chateau Pedesclaux Pauillac and a 2010(!) Chateau Grand-Pontet Saint Emilion Grand Cru gracing our shelves.  If you’re a Bordeaux lover this is your warning to make some space in your cellar!

Silk & Spice

Red Blend

Now this wine on it’s own is kind of just a weekday wine.  It’s easy going, with bold berry and spice flavours and a presence of residual sugar (Pro-tip:  Wines labelled as “silky” or “smooth” are just finding clever ways to not say “sweet”).  Now you can drink this as it is, no problem, but that’s not why it’s in this club.  It’s in here to be turned into mulled wine!  I’ve been a huge fan of mulled wine since visiting the markets in London back in 2019.  Simply follow this recipe and enjoy!

In a small pot combine:

This entire bottle

2 whole star anise pods

2 cardamom pods

2 cinnamon sticks

8 whole cloves

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar - Most recipes call for more but this wine already has some sugar present

One half of an orange, unpeeled

Juice from one quarter of an orange

Slice the remaining quarter orange to garnish mugs

Bring the wine almost to a simmer, cover and leave for one hour, DO NOT BOIL!

Strain the spices and orange from the mulled wine

Transfer to your desired serving vessel

Bonus - add 1oz of brandy or spiced rum to your mugs for a real warming kick!

Hopefully you enjoy this Christmas treat as much as I do.  The most important part is to enjoy this with some good company after a day out in the cold.  

Sandeman

Ruby Port

One last Christmas treat!  Port!  Ruby Port is the most youthful and easy drinking style of Port out there, with many ways to enjoy it so let me share you a few, but lets start with some basic things to know.

First off, port is quite sweet and this one sits at 19.5% alcohol, so when pouring yourself a glass aim for 2-3 ounces rather than filling the full bowl.  

Second, serve it chilled, but not cold.  Keep it in the fridge but allow it half an hour at room temperature before enjoying.  

Third, this style of Port will not improve with age, so pop that cork!

As for enjoying a glass of port, perhaps the best way is to have it straight with a soft cheese like a Brie, Camembert, or best of all, Stilton.

If you or someone you know has made some mince pies for the season then a glass of this will be the perfect partner.

For a more refreshing option, pour your Port over ice and give it a squeeze of orange zest to brighten it up.

There are a number of cocktails which call for Port, over the next couple weeks we’ll feature some on our Instagram, so be sure to follow us!

Lastly, Port is excellent to cook with!  A Port reduction is a fantastic finishing sauce for lean cuts of beef, veal, or duck.

J.L. Denois

Crémant

You know I wouldn’t leave you high and dry for sparkling on New Year’s Eve right?  

Of course, Champagne is too expensive so we’ve got the next best thing, Crémant!  Crémant is a catchall term for sparkling wine made in other areas of France.  In this case it’s coming from Limoux, in Languedoc.  This wine uses a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as the base, like many Champagnes.  Unlike Champagne though, this uses a reserve of Chenin Blanc must to kick off the secondary fermentation.

The final dosage is just 2g/l, making this wine Extra-Brut, or just slightly more dry than your standard Brut.  It’s confusing, I know.  Anyway how does it taste?  

Overripe pear, apricot, and pineapple make up the fruit profile, along with a little hint of cherry.  There is a fair presence of yeast aromas due to the 3 years of aging these bottles saw, expect brioche, toast, and almond.  Ultimately this wine struck me as being Champagne-ish but with a youthful exuberance.