Category Archives: Terroir

Leaping Lizards and Blasted Rocks

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Frank even put on is Class winning Chilean Marathon T Shirt to celebrate the two wines that son Kevin had brought back from Chile for our sipping pleasure.


Joan crafted a wonderful lunch in the gardens of Towler-henge.


Poor Kevin only got a glass as he was late getting home from his physio treatment.  And unfortunately, the Goddess of Wine couldn’t  join us.  So that left Frank and I to take up the torch and drink their share.

Down to what’s really important:  Two Carmeneres from Kevin’s favourite vineyards discovered during his years in Chile.  


B and Frank tended to prefer the slightly peppery 2017 Alto Tierruca Grand Reserve to the Casas del Bosque Reserve.  I liked the longer finish of the year younger Casa del Bosque.  I suspect that the vines of the Alto Tierruca are older and from a higher elevation than the Casa del Bosque. Don’t get me wrong – both were very enjoyable and we’re trying to figure out how we can get a steady supply here and on the Goddess’ approved list.

Casa del Bosque grows cool climate varietals.  In 2013 and 2014, the prestigious International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC) chose the winery as the “Chilean Wine Producer of the Year”.

The pricing would be mid-teens in Chile, where wines tend to be a lot less expensive than here.

30 is the new old

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SKU: 171496
$14.49
GEHRINGER – AUXERROIS OLD VINES GOLDEN MILE BENCH 2018
12.4% alcohol 

Tree fruits drive the taste of this one.


As a wine, Auxerrois is more full bodied and less crisp than Pinot Blanc, but the two varieties complement each other’s weaknesses.


Named after a historical province in France, it is widely grown in Luxembourg and Germany as well.


The Gehringer Brothers planted their Auxerrois over 30 years ago and these vines are producing lovely wine today.  And, winning awards.

Over the past 19 years, they have received 78 Platinum Awards – the most of any Winery in the Pacific Northwest.

Slightly fuller in flavour than Pinot Blanc.  It’s also slightly less acidic.


The Brothers G varietal is smooth and well balanced and tremendous value for the money.


We’ve paired it with salmon, quiche, and had it just as it is on the deck with cheese.  It’s great with Scallops or prawns.

More Influencers

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Adding to the list of books that have been influencers and shapers for me:

The Meaning of Everything – The story of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester, ISBN 0-19-517500-X


The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein, ISBN 978-1-44340-496-9


Read 7 Pillars of Wisdom (TE Lawrence) and then read this

The Golden Warrior – Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia – Lawrence James – ISBN 0-34910673-8


Serpent of the Nile (Women and Dance of the Arab World, Wendy Buonaventura, ISBN 1-56656-117-5


The Travels of Marco Polo, ISBN 0-88029-135-4


6 volumes (Hinduism, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Protestantism) Editor George Braziller but various authors to each volume

Okanagan Delight

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171512

Gehringer Brothers Ehenfelser 2018
$12.99 regularly $14.99
12.9% alcohol

Grown Primarily in the country of it’s origin, Germany, and is very popular in the Okanagan since the vineyard introduced itto Canada.

Ehrenfelser derives its name from the Burg Ehrenfels ruins located on the Rhine near Rüdesheim. It is also known under the synonym Geisenheim 9-93.

The grape tends to ripen earlier and produce higher yields than Riesling.  It also makes an excellent Ice Wine.

Ehrenfelser was crossed with Reichensteiner to create Ehrenbreitsteiner.

Since 2010 the winery hasn’t missed a year winning an Award – and we love their philosophy of producing excellent winesat affordable prices.

As B Says The Brothers G can do no wrong

Lovely Stone fruit flavours with a long and lingering finish.

Goes great with BBQ Chicken or, in our case, Shepherd’s Pie

The Influencers

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What you read, and at what point in your life you read it,  can be a huge influence on your outlook in the years to come.


Here are some of my biggest influencers – First Batch


Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz, ISBN 978-1-4165-8343-1

Unsuitable Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travellers, Jane Robinson, ISBN 0-19-282489-9

Tribes, Seth Godin, ISBN 978-1-59184-233-0

Stewardship, Peter Block, ISBN 1-881052-28-1

Freedom or Death, Nikos Kazantzakis, 

Bury Me Standing, Isabel Forseca, ISBN 0-679-73743-X

Grandmother’s Secrets, Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, ISBN 1-56656-302-X

Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks, ISBN 978-0-676-97989-4

Rock Encyclopedia,  Lillian Roxon, Library of Congress 77-75342

One Year Later, Svetlana Alliluyeva, Library of Congress  79-81883

The Mind’s Eye, Oliver Sacks, ISBN 978-0-330-50890-2

What’s on Your List?  Leave a comment

5 on the Plate 5 in the Glass

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Glen Carlou Grand Classique

14.5% Alcohol

$22.99

The components used in Grand Classique, a blend of 25% each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec, with 13% Merlot and 12% Petit Verdot, are all individually vinified to allow for the development of each one’s unique character. After assemblage the blend is barrel matured in 225L French barriques for 18 months. The mouthfeel is richly textured with a firm yet accessible tannin structure.


Glen Carlou Vineyards is less than 35 minutes’ drive from Cape Town in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa and covers a 145 ha property.  The vineyard is well known for it’s award winning whites.  (We’ll be going to to try to find some of these.)


You get a full palate that lingers through to a lovely finish.  Full Bodied and well balanced.  Deep rich red colour.  Initially it comes off as spicy and peppery and then settles down into almost an elegance.

We teamed it with a mixed charcuterie, potato salad and coleslaw.


It should have been Raki, instead of Sambuca, with the mixed fruit on frozen yogurt. [Hee Hee]

Who’s coming to Dinner?

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It’s a question that has been the topic of many a series. Who would you invite to dinner?  There are lots of common answers – from current pop stars to the usual movie stars.


I’ve added a little twist – Who would you want to sit next to? It gets very interesting when you move to more than two guests.


Adam and Eve


Muhammad, Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha


Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Ghenghis Khan and Attila the Hun


Mikhail Gorbachev and Winston Churchill


Marilyn Monroe, Olivia de Havilland and Lauren Bacall


Alex Zanardi, Stephen Hawkings, Terry Fox and Rick Hansen


Sophia Loren, Ingrid Bergman, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench


Anne Frank and Albert Einstein


T E Lawerence,  Gertrude Bell, and Susan Travers


Orson Wells, Steve McQueen, and Humphrey Bogart


Tina Turner, Storm Large and Cher


Sterling Moss, Ayrton Senna and Juan Miguel Fangio


Love to hear who you would want to have to dinner and who you would want to sit next to.

Pucker Power

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127019

Vouvray sec Vincent

$23.99

13.5% alcohol

A father/son vineyard in the Loire Valley, Vincent Raimbault and his son produce wonderful wines from 25 to 60 year old vines. 3 Generations have been working this 14 ha site that is on a slight elevation with a definite Atlantic influence. Clay with outcrops of sand and silex on limestone bedrock.

There is a lovely maturity to this white. It’s fresh and fruity. We were immediately impressed with the flavours. Definitely a 00 in sweetness.

It worked wonderfully with a roasted organic chicken and a sheet of roasted veggies (parsnips, small BC potatoes, red pepper slabs, red onion quarters and a leek.) Homemade pickled beets rounded out the plate.

So Much for a Bin 4 Burger

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And here I thought we were going out for dinner that night. Grocery Shopping day, and B thought differently!

Well, if that’s the way you’re gonna be, I guess I’ll have to do something a little different. First, skip the buns, Thin wholewheat pit out of the freezer. And spiced up the pork/lamb/beef mix and made them into kefta (Mediterranean meatballs). Nope, not fried. Grilled in the oven. Whist raiding the Potato Chip bag, she who shares the kitchen with me made up a lovely veggie platter and added dolmades to the mix.

And of course a beer was appropriate.

Classic Dinner

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Code: 589432

$16.49

Louis Bernard Cotes du Rhone

It’s a lovely blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Roussanne and Viognier.


Very well balanced.  It’s not one of the mystery case offerings. But, this is one of our favourite white blends and a standard ‘go-to’ if the mind hits a blank when wandering the isles.  Always good to have one in reserve.


Teamed up with an easy one pan dinner:  An omelette. The Treehouse Twist is to melt a little Feta/Kashkaval cheese mix on top.  We like the sheep variety of the Kashkaval and our’s is a Bulgarian import.


Home stewed rhubarb on top of Frozen Yogurt was a refreshing dessert.