July

Well if you couldn’t tell by the rising mercury, clouds of pollen, and throngs of tourists, summer is here!  We’ve managed to avoid anything getting in the way of providing our best service on what should be one of our busiest months.  Eric is back from Edmonton having spent some days enjoying the beer scene up there, Val & Anthony are still here too, though they are ramping up for their trips coming next month.  Erin, Deb, and Gary will be around as well of course.

We have to give a big thanks again to everyone who came to our community party last month!  It was great to see everyone who has supported us in the past few years.  As well we would like to thank The Brand New Companions, Jessica Stoner RE, Wild Life Distillery, Canmore Brewing, Unvins, and our friends at the Market Bistro for making it the hit that it was!  We can’t wait to do it again in another 10 years! (or maybe sooner)

On Friday the 26th we’ll have our sixth Wine Workshop in store.  This lesson we’ll examine green fruit and citrus flavours in wines, tasting a few whites and learning how to identify things like apple, pear, lemon, and grapefruit.  Tickets are available on Eventbrite now!

Acustic Celler Blanc

Montsant, Spain, 2021

You’ve probably heard of, and most likely tasted a red wine from the Grenache or Garncha grape, but did you know there exists a white-skinned variation of that grape?  Grenache Blanc is the main grape in this wine (91% to be exact), and like it’s darker cousin, shows low acidity, high alcohol, and a rich body.  There’s a rustic quality to this wine, showing overripe pear and apple, blossom, and a beeswax aroma.  Acustic Celler really went all in on the development of this wine; blending grapes, aging on and off lees in stainless, concrete, neutral, and new oak.  Really a neat wine that shows uniquely.  The texture of this  wine would lend it well to fattier foods like a white bean dip or grilled eggplant with greek yogurt.

$33

AIX Rose

Provence, France, 2022

Year after year AIX is a sure bet for a classic Provence rose, and there’s no better time for it than now with blue skies and long days.  That being said, while it may be tempting to serve this straight from the fridge to cool off, it’s really at its best just slightly chilled.  Allowing this to warm a couple degrees from the fridge will allow the fruitiness to really come to life, juicy cherry, strawberry, melon, and white peach!  Don’t worry about losing any crisp edge, there’s plenty of acidity in here to keep it lively and thirst quenching.  2022 was a dry year for Provence, but water stress can be good for vines, and I think this years crop was better for it!

$29

Diamant de Loire

Chenin Blanc Brut, Saumur

Champagne is primarily coming from three grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.  Now those three make for an excellent combination, but once you get outside of Champagne and get experimenting, you can make some really cool wine.  This sparkling is made in the same style as Champagne but from 100% Chenin Blanc from Saumur in the Loire Valley.  As expected, you get typical yeasty notes of brioche, and toast, clear acidity, and fine bubbles.  What you don’t expect though are really complex aromas of stone fruit and tropical fruit like apricot, nectarine, and passionfruit.  As well there is a warm baking spice element in here I found similar to nutmeg.  Really a fascinating sparkling to enjoy before dinner.

$23

Vigneti Radica

Rosso Tullum DOCG 2019

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is often relegated to low-cost, high production wines thanks to its vigorous grape output.  That said, if a producer takes the time to restrict yields with heavy pruning and lower vine density, they can produce a pretty stellar wine.  That’s what we’ve got here with this wine from Tullum, a tiny little area in Abruzzo of just 19 hectares of vines!  This area makes up for production in punchiness, earning DOC status in 2008 and jumping to DOCG in 2019 - pretty impressive stuff.

This wine comes from that vintage of DOCG elevation, and shows an abundance of earthiness.  Soil, wet leaves, mushroom, and all things woodsy take the spotlight here.  This is a big bold wine, with prominent - but nicely softened - tannins.  Aside from the earthiness there is some black fruit, black pepper, cocoa, and a tiny bit of orange peel for some liveliness.  This is a really cool bottle being from such a small area and showing such intensity and complexity from what is often seen as an unimpressive grape.

$38

Duca Calanica

Nero d’Avola, Sicilia DOC, 2022

When it comes to Sicilian wine, there is one factor that dominates over all others: heat!  It is hot when you get that far south in the Mediterranean and their wines reflect that.  Nero d’Avola is a very dark skinned grape which needs all that heat to ripen, but once it does it really imparts that into the wine.  You get prominent notes of cooked raspberry & cherry, even dried fruit like sultana showing up in this level of ripeness.  Thankfully this cooked fruit nature is tamed by firm acidity keeping it from feeling flabby.  There are some spice notes in here as well, clove and anise, and maybe a whiff of lavender even.  

$24

Blind Enthusiasm

Mon Chester, 2022

Yes, a beer in the wine club, I know its not what you expect, but allow me to explain.  While in Edmonton on vacation I had the opportunity to go on a private tour through The Monolith, a production facility for mixed and spontaneous fermentation beers produced by Blind Enthusiasm.  These are premium beers, barrel aged and blended with intentionality, and capable of aging for upwards of 10 years where they will change and develop further complexity, not unlike a high end wine.  Blind Enthusiasm themselves describe it as “Born a beer, raised a wine”

Mon Chester is a mixed fermentation beer, which means that the beer has been inoculated with different yeast strains grown in the lab at The Monolith.  These yeast strains are selected for different flavours, textures, acidity levels, and many other variables.  After that the beer spent two years in Sicilian wine barrels, absorbing those red wine notes.  After the final blend the resulting beer is dry, with moderate-high acidity and a complex palate with great evolution.  It opens with leather and yeast notes, followed by bold fruity red wine notes of cherry and raspberry, and a crisp dry finish with a hint of pepperiness.

This is an excellent introductory beer to the concept of mixed/spontaneous fermentation beers, and we will be carrying more in the future!

$14

The beer starts here with a decoction process for improved body, and protein & sugar development.