The wonders of wine

My parents have always drunk wine and so while I would have the odd sip growing up, it actually wasn't until I studied abroad in Chile in 2005 that I really began liking wine. Chile has especially good red wine and I started buying it - and drinking it - regularly. When I came back to Berkeley for my last year of undergrad, I enjoyed buying wines from Chile or Argentina if I were having people over. When I lived in Paris in the winter and spring of 2007, I discovered the wonders of rosé. I absolutely adore rosé wine (especially from France, but most will do) but I love red and white wine too. During the dark, cold months I crave and drink red wine. I drink more white and rosé in the warmer, lighter months; however, this summer I found myself drinking quite a bit of red so who knows? It's really impossible for me to say which I prefer. I think I like them all equally, even if I do drink red more than the others. Here are some of my favourite kinds of wine. For white, I love sauvignon blanc both from France and from New Zealand. I also love Vouvray (from France) and Sancerre (from France again). I also like Italian pinot grigio and I always like pinot gris whenever I have it. For red, my favourites are Malbec (from Argentina), red wine from Sicily (I don't know if red wines from there have a name but they are very good) pinot noir (from anywhere but especially French ones) and cotes du rhone (France.) I am happy to try and drink many others though. I am not at all a wine expert nor do I know a lot about wines beyond the main wine regions of the world, their famous varieties, etc. I can definitely not identify different ingredients (like when people say "this tastes like it has a hint of strawberry, etc."); although I do like reading descriptions of wines when they say things like that. I mostly just enjoy drinking wine and visiting vineyards.

A selection of roses for you to try :)

On Labour Day weekend this year, to celebrate D.'s birthday, we went on a wine tour in Niagara-on-the-Lake which is an area near Niagara Falls and the main wine growing region in Ontario. We had a great time and the wine tour was so fun! The tour consisted of a van, and a nice driver who drove us to four different wineries over the course of an afternoon. We had a long and big tour of how they make the wine, etc. at the first place and then just wine tastings at all of the subsequent wineries. I had never been a big fan of Niagara wines before but I think that's just because we weren't tasking the right ones. Our favourite wines from that day were the rosé from Ravine Vineyard and the riesling from Between the Lines Winery. I never liked riesling in the past because the ones I had were all from Germany and all were just too sickly sweet. The owners of Between the Lines Winery are German and the man giving us the wine tastings explained that the LCBO (liquor stores in Ontario) only carries sweet rieslings but that they don't have to be that way. The riesling I had there was truly delicious. Wine tasting is such a fun activity. Vineyards are beautiful places - they always seem green and warm and inviting. And since I love wine, it's a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. I've been fortunate enough to visit some vineyards around the world and I have always had a wonderful time.

When L. and I studied abroad in Santiago, Chile we took a bus over the Andes en route to Mendoza, Argentina (literally crossing the border in the middle of the night - the Argentine border control officer stamped my passport with the day before's date because it was around 2 am and I guess he hadn't updated his stamp yet) which is the most famous wine region in Argentina. It was the first weekend of March - so the equivalent to Labour Day weekend here - and the weather was perfect. Mendoza is a lovely city and the surrounding countrysides and vineyards are gorgeous. L. and I went on a wine tour which was lots of fun. Ever since that trip I have been into  Argentine red wine - Malbec is the type of wine grown near Mendoza - and I hope to one day go back there.

Early last January, my parents and I visited Marlborough the famous wine growing region near the top of New Zealand's south island. Wine regions are just gorgeous everywhere! Marlborough was sunny, green, and just all around mesmerizing. I loved it there and wished we could have stayed longer. We went for lunch at this lovely vineyard which had a great restaurant. I love the distinct taste of Marlborough's Sauvignon blancs (I love French sauvignon blancs too but I find NZ's very interesting) and it was super cool to actually be in the region where they are grown. So yes wine tasting is a very pleasant way to spend a few hours. I'd love to go wine tasting in Italy and France too and hopefully one day I will.

Here is a picture I took of a vineyard in Marlborough. A perfect day.

When D. and I lived in Montreal, we would usually buy fairly cheap red wine (close to $10 or just over) from Chile. There was also this good Italian red from Sicily that was amazingly under $10. I would spend more on rosés and whites but I still tended to look for the cheaper wines. Maybe it's because I am now getting paid or because we are used to the excellent (and more expensive) French and Italian wines my dad usually buys (and kindly often gives us a bottle of), but since the end of June and showing no signs of stopping we've been drinking almost exclusively French or Italian. As exemplified above, I know and love wines from all over the world. But I do have to admit that France and Italy probably make the best wine in the world. So while during the long winter months (that are creeping ever closer) I will likely still end up buying some wine from Chile and Argentina, for now I am enjoying this French and Italian kick. 

How I love France & its wines

One more of Marlborough...