Oldest winery ever

Discovery of the world's oldest winery confirms speculation that wine production started in Armenia, then moved south to Egypt.

Never really thought much of rosé. Until now.

I'm into the hard stuff: dark chocolate, red wine, espresso, and (until recently) rare meat.

But we had a heat wave last week. And I fell from grace. Well, we both did.

We started drinking rosé. Specifically, Ménage à Trois, from Folie à Deux Winery in St. Helena, California.

So tonight, we had to get through the evening somehow. We took the tots to a park where there are sprays of water. And we let them run naked in the jets while we sipped rosé in our stainless steel camping wineglasses (very classy).

And I started to feel... so happy. Light and silly. And we laughed at the funny people who passed through the park: that guy in his speedo on the bicycle, and those other two guys who had shoulders big enough to fit a whole Jason inside each one. And the tots jumped under the spraying water and I watched the trees waggle their tiny friendly branches.

Who knew rosé could be so much fun?

No more wine.

No more wine.
No more wine.

Number 23 Wine

Cracked a bottle of red wine last night, first in weeks.

Funny little wine, that one.

No comments, really. It was definitely red.

Wine and the Concrete Banquet

Lots of wine was drunk tonight at the Second Concrete Banquet, but I couldn't tell you what vintage.

5 groupuscules met at 5ish at a park on the Plateau, just before sunset, in high costume.

We dressed as if the Queen of England would join us.

Each groupuscule was to make a contribution to the dinner's entertainment: Bacchus and lanterns.

We brought hot buttered rum: there was an October chill in the air, and that helped. The sky was a brilliant blue and the leaves yellow, gold and red. Until the sun disappeared behind the mountain.

Our geodesic dome helped create an atmosphere of sorts, and the Wild Children played there safely. For a while.

It will be even better, next year.

Les Palombrieres -- Complicated. Surprising. Lovely.

Okay, so first we bought a couple of acceptable bottles of wine at Costco. For the party tomorrow. And then we drank them. So today I went out and bought another bottle for the party tomorrow. An eleven-dollar bottle of French wine. The usual.

Golly. What a surprise. Admittedly we popped it, or rather, screw topped it, before the party tomorrow. But that's okay. Right? I mean, it was kind of a rough week...

At first sip, Les Palombieres (Tannat/Merlot, Cotes de Gascogne 2007) was... totally surprisingly absolutely delightful. It tasted like raspberries. So fresh. But not young. Kind of innocent... but not really. You know what I'm talking about.

It's like, they took a Merlot and then cuddled all the macho out of it. So that it's all sweet -- looking at you doe-eyed (blink, blink). And then you realize that it never was macho; it's something else altogether, completely original.

But after a couple glasses, it starts to get a little dull. You look for that spark, but now it just seems like all the others. What happened?

Domaine de la Janasse arrives fashionably late

This is what happens sometimes in the summer. A bunch of red wine drinkers get together; but it's sweltering, inside and out, so everyone brings white or rosée. And they all confess... they'd rather be drinking red, but thought something lighter was more appropriate.

And everyone politely sips white wine. Or rosée. And it's lovely. But as the night gets darker and cooler we start to get more honest with ourselves. Now we earned the right to drink red. And red is poured and relished and things get considerably more interesting.

And that gets me to... ohhh... delicious. Domaine de la Janasse, vin du pays de la principauté d'Orange. On first sniff, first sip, it was like crackly caramel and blackberries and chocolate.

And the talk gets weirder and more intense. And we can once again claim our rightful place as dedicated red wine drinkers.

Guest Blogger Dave: Bill The Red

I tried a 2006 red wine from Vignoble Riviere du Chene St-Eustache, Quebec, Canada, called "William" (from now on called "Bill"). I'm horrible at describing the flavour of wine. I'm like the guy in the film Sideways who says, "It tastes pretty good to me". Anyway, "Bill" tasted like my memory of the first time I tried Valpolicella. It ("Bill") had a bit of an edge/tartness and "muskyness" to it - one that would compliment red meat (cooked, preferably). It seemed to cleanse the palette with a slight lingering aftertaste. I would have this one with food, but something different - richer and fuller for political philosophical after dinner discussions. It cost under $15 Canadian ($13,80 to be exact).

lots of wine

Guests have been pouring in for days now and with them, loverly glass bottles green and labeled and corked. Too many to recall, really. A Kim Basinger (or was that a Kim Klein?...or a Cindy Crawford?) Anyway, a fine white wine, which improved remarkably with a little sejourn in the icebox. A hefty red fellow, for sure in a green bottle, that's all I remember. From Argentina, I think. I wish those recycling trucks didn't come so often. We drank Kim while watching Citizen Kane last night, oh that pasty faced genius. Our guests were also on Atavan, having been travelling, so the grey tones cast a strange light against our pale, numbed faces, gawking at the scenes before us.

Little Boy wine

A fine little 10$ bottle, very very subtle, was Dao (with an pinyata on the "a")'s Meia Encosta. Rich red wine taste and a true red wine colour, especially in the wineglass, this little number was selected by Imogen at the SAQ at Papineau and Mount Royal. So I says to her: "which one should Daddy buy?" and without hesitating, Imogen walks straight up to a pile of Meia Encosta, grabs one, turns her heavy lidded eyes up to Daddy and says flatly: "this one". So I bought it. She also selected a white Saumur (which someone adult confirmed will be superb: will report soon!) and a third bottle which we have already drunk, but for the life of me, can't remember....OH! yes, a Beaujolais. Forgettable, for sure. Anyway, after my first sip of the 2007 Meia Encosta, I blurted out: "it's a Little Boy wine!" Try some, you'll see what I mean!

Meia Encosta: as in, don't cost much? Any helpers, here?

No more wine...

Kirsten announced at our annual post New Year's spa day, where we soak for a few hours with friends and then congregate around a few plates of hot and spicy food, while reviewing our new years resolutions from years past and making new ones for 2009, Kirsten announced grandly, and without prior consultation with her soul mate, the man with whom she shares a blog called wine and dreams, indeed this blog, this blog...Kirsten rolled up her tongue and said: I will stop drinking wine in 2009. I choked on a piece of spicy meat. What? So, of course, in solidarity, I have quit also. So we won't have many postings on the wine side of wine and dreams, this year, unless we break under the pressure. So far, so good. That was January 24th or so. No bottles have been cracked since. But we will certainly be breaking our vow in June, when we plan to get married again. That's right, we are going to tie the knot again on June 21st. Why not? is there anything in the rulebook that says you can't? It's kind of like getting a second mortgage with the same lender.

Grenache at 8$, woah, yeah, I like that.

Despite my being under the weather for the last two weeks, we managed to drink a little wine in the between spaces. I have resolved only to buy bottles of wine that are under 10$. The cheaper the better. This ToCADo was about 8$. Mr. Finn likes it too. I guess you could call it: bargain hunting. But since we know nothing about wine, here at wineanddreams, we wouldn't know a bargain if it banged us up the side of the head. Bargains? We get those at garage sales. Oh, that reminds me, we bought a fine Elektra expresso machine, an industrial motherofamachine, for 400$ yesterday. The man at the store sells reconditioned ones for 4000$. But for details on that, you should read our other blog, coffeeandnightmares...

It's different... Stone Cellers Zinfandel

Remember kids... enjoy responsibly! Hahahahahaha...

Since we never review California wines, I'd never seen that little box before that makes me verify that I'm over 21. So flattering! That they'd think I was so young. Here in Quebec we start drinking when we're 8.

Back to the wine. J decided it was time we had some Zinfandel. So we headed for the Stone Cellars by Beringer. It's so smooth, it almost isn't there. And that's a compliment. It tastes kind of white, without the tang.

I just... well... It's not that I don't like it. I DO. But there isn't much to go on. It's really nice. It always says "yes" and never crosses over into contentious topics. Never disagreeable.

Grenache: 100 year old vines

A-iiiite. We are (finally) watching all those Wire episodes that all the cool kids watched back in 2006. So famously included in What White People Like, but hey. We like it anyway. So we are onto the last season, 6th episode. Dude just jumped out of the window in a hail of bullets. I figure either Marloe dies or Omar dies: one of them has to die. And Marloe can't die, because then justice isn't done. But maybe Barksdale springs from prison to kill Marloe and then Barksdale gets nailed.

Anyway, to help smooth us in these difficult days of not-knowing, pre-season finale jitters, we are swilling some FINE wine from Spain. Krstn will take a photo and post a picture of the label. All's I know is it's 100% pure grenache vines, and only cost 15$. I think it was a 2006. Nice colour. Instant joy as it goes in the gullet.

Bubbles: Krstn thinks he will make it. Me too.

Cozy like a little tongue blanket: Langlois-Chateau Cabernet Franc 2006

We're newly resolved to be... organized about the wines we're trying. So, introducing St Florent Domaine Langlois-Chateau, Saumur Rouge, Cabernet Franc 2006.

It stretched over my tongue like a little blanket, tickling new places way down the sides of my tongue. But it needs to breathe first... and warm up a little... I drank it in the bath.

Anakena, anaconda, akela

This Chilean snake is a leader among boys. Just 11$ a bottle, the label states "carefully handpicked", and indeed, Krstn did handpick it off the shelves. This wine is made from a variety of grape called the Carménère, evidently not much cultivated anymore in France, but increasingly so in Chile. A deelite-full wine. Bubbles just like the band: ooooo lala la la laaaaa.

Cabernet Sauvignon 33% more

My first effort at posting this failed.

It will try again in a few moments, but if the First Evar Video Commentary on this outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon fails, then it must be so.

The most important thing about this wine is the 33% more aspect of it.

Cabernet Sauvignon 33 % More

What a hell of a deal. Got me some good drink on with THIS baby. For the first and only time, here is my video review of this extraordinary wine. This exclusive footage was filmed on Salt Spring Island, at the outstanding bed and breakfast Talasan that I hope you will find time to unwind at, like we did. Talasan: like Talahasi, only different. While the video uploads, which can take a while, I will babble on about the raspberry overtones of this outstanding value wine. Let me just say now for the record, what drew me to this wine was not the extra 33% but the clear demonstration of ecological awareness of this small Australian winery. The label lists the various ways in which they support the environment. It brought Breugles to me eyes. Just the thought of it makes me want to have another glass. Jesssus, only 7M of 80M uploaded. I am gonna be here all night.

Less wine, more dreams

It's confession time.

J and I drank a lot of wine this winter. And we forgot to post.

Well... we talked about posting, but every morning we couldn't remember the wines well enough to write anything. And there were too many wines, after a while we couldn't distinguish one from the other.

So a little over a week ago we decided: No more gratuitous wine drinking. The party's over. This doesn't mean the end of wine postings, but it does mean that the wine postings will be fewer and farther between for a while.

We will however post reviews from everyone and anyone who wants to pipe in and tell us about a bottle. Now how's that for democracy?

Frontera: tonight I'm being a bad girl

It's like this: if J brings home a bottle, I always wait until I can share it with him. Out of, you know, politesse. But tonight he came home, left the wine behind, and then went out again.

So what's a girl to do? In particular, what's a girl to do who has steak to eat? She drinks the wine, bien sur. Not all of it, but some. And then a little more.

Tonight's web surfing companion is called Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, by our old Chilean friends Concha y Toro.

The verdict: creamy delicious, when combined with a piece of rare flesh; but a little strange when paired with Cherry Nibs. Live and learn.