Beer Tastings & Notes

Sampled a few new beers recently, both Ontario and Imported.
here are my notes:

Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Oregon 6.6% Alcohol
Bottle
LCBO
It pured slightly cloudy  with a honey colour.  Nose was caramel with some floral and grape juice?.  Taste was malty, caramel/ molasses again but then balanced by the slight bitternessand floral flavour of the hops.  Cannot taste the higher alcohol content. Didn't expect the bitterness at the end from a Maibock but it created a nice balance.
I would have it again.

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Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA
Delaware 6.0% Alcohol
Bottle
Gift (Thank you Tony)
Poured an copper orange colour with with head. Good Carbonation.  Aroma of citrus/grapefruit along with pine and some malt sweetness. This beer is continually hopped (60 hop additions over a 60 minute boil).  The taste is dry and the hops dominate but there is balance from the malted barley. One of the best IPA's on the east coast. Very enjoyable. I could have a few of these.

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Headstock IPA
Nickelbrook
Burlington, Ontario 7% Alcohol
On tap @ UNIONIVLLE Co. (funny how that works)

Pours a dark amber colour with white?tan head. On the nose you definitely smell the malts (caramel, molasses, brown sugar) as well as the floral and citrus aromas from  the hops.  This is a big beer at 7% and at 80 ibu you expect a hop bomb but it was nicely balanced. I have had beer at lower ibu taste much more bitter.  This is why i really like this.   I could easily have a few of these.  won gold medal at US Open beer awards in 'out of bounds pale ale' category this summer.

It is time to go.  We will have more beer and wine tasting notes posted soon. I have been tasting just haven't been typing them.

Mother's Day Brunch

My brother and myself have been organizing our menu for Mother's Day Brunch.
We will be open this year and will be serving some nice dishes. Eggs Benedict several ways, traditional and with our own crazy twists. Can't wait to try them.  A great drink to have with brunch:  Waupoos Cider from Prince Edward County.    I am hooked.

Wine Dinner Springtime in Unionville

We had another wine dinner yesterday.  The theme was spring time in Ontario and we featured Asparagus, Rainbow Trout, and Ontario Spring Lamb.  I was planning on serving a Vouvray with the Asparagus Soup but it did not work well at all.  We served a Mosel Reisling instead and it was a fabulous pairing. Wow.  This left us with a problem as we were going to serve the Riesling with  the rainbow trout and parsnip puree. After trying several different wines with the parsnip, we settled on a Sauvignon blanc from Niagara and it matched very well with both.  I guess the old adage about regional wine, regional food still holds.  Braised Lamb chunks were mixed into Tomato sauce with pasta and baked in the oven. This was a great dish!  California Zinfandel made it happen. 
Wines I tasted with the parsnip puree:
Alsace Pinot Blanc-normally a very good match with root veg, the taste was lost, could only taste the alcohol
Sancerre  close to being a good match but not enough fruit and weight. Was perfect with the trout, parsnip was too much for the wine.
Italian falanghina -a wine I love to drink.  this did not work well at all. Flavour of the wine was completely overpowered by the parsnip.
Vouvray.  All the fruit was lost and you only tasted the minerality of the wine. Lovely wine, great with fish.

Pinot Noir Wine Dinner

Pinot Noir wine dinner at UNIONVILLE Co. restaurant last Thursday turned out to be a very nice evening.  Thank you to everyone who turned out on short notice.

Menu:
1.  Herb risotto with artichokes and fresh lemon.
Chateau des Charmes 2007 Pinot Noir, Niagara
wine was a lighter Pinot with red fruits and bright acidity. Some earthy notes. Went well with the herbs and the lemon which brought out the fruit in the wine. Artichokes were a great little experiment to show how they change the taste of the wine.

2. Grilled salmon with root vegetable salad and roast beet tzatziki
   Clouldline 2008 Pinot Noir, Oregon
This wine had riper fruit notes, still red fruit, some vanilla and spice as well as mushroom, earthy notes.
Good blalance with the fish, acidity helped with the fat. The earthiness in the wine was balanced by the root veg, making the fruit more prevalent.  Roast beet tzatziki was fabulous.

3.  Coq Au Vin
Vichon, 2008 Burgundy, france
The chicken was cooked perfectly and this Burgundy was a little more full with medium tannins that worked well with the dish.  This was the course of the night and surprise the wine preference of the night.  I thought everyone would prefer the california but good to see Burgundy prevail-it warms my heart.

4.  Double creme brie and aged cheddar
Somoma Cutrer Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, California
this wine went well with the cheeses, enough acidity to cut through the fat in the brie and enough fruit and tannin to match the cheddar.  Big Pinot with ripe fruit flavours, some dark berry aromas as well as raspberry and strawberry.  Vanilla, smoke. Typical California wine--very enjoyable.

Winter wine

January is here! I love this time of year because I get to drink all those full-bodied red wines that have been sitting in storage.  They are great match with the food we tend to eat at this time of year.
Had home made gnocchi on Sunday with 1997 Chianti Classico Reserva.
 Notes:  Garnet colour fading at the rim. Nose still showed some red fruit, along with spice notes and some leather.  Taste; some dark fruits mid palate and spice notes further back.  Acidity was bright and tannins were considerably soft.  Finish lasted about a minute.  This was a treat.
 I know I'm not alone in saying we need more days like that.  Looking at the beautiful snow covered street here in Unionville and drinking wine.
Big red wines I prefer to drink at this time of year:
With food:
Bordeaux
Hermitage
Cornas!
Barolo
Brunello di Montalcino

On their own:
Amarone
Pomerol
Barossa Valley Shiraz
Napa Valley Cabernet

Until the next glass.
Mario