Are you stumped over what to get that hard-to-shop-for wine lover on your Christmas list?  If you think that all they want is a bottle of wine (I’m not going to lie here– they DO) you’re probably wondering if they are dreaming of a red or white Christmas.  A bottle of wine doesn’t have to be the only gift that a oenophile will appreciate; still buy them a bottle of wine and here are some wine-y gifts and tips that I came across that are sure to please.

The Corkscrew

Don’t be fooled.  Chances are that Rosé Rosey didn’t develop her appreciation for the vintage while uncorking bottles with her teeth.  If she is like me, she is likely a curator of an extensive corkscrew collection: winged ones, battery operated ones, fancy screw pulls, roundlets, and a variety of novelty corkscrews that look like (and are as useful as) pez dispensers.  Unless she is a self professed corkscrew collector, she probably doesn’t need all of these.  BUT if you must… my favourite is the sommelier’s knife and I don’t think a wine lover could have too many of them: one for the kitchen drawer, one for the purse, one for camping, one in the bedroom (romantic moments should never be interrupted by running to the kitchen for a corkscrew), one for the office….

The Bottle Stopper

What’s that?

The Outdoorsy Romantic Gift

Question: Where is the best place to enjoy wine?  Answer: Anywhere.  Joe Merlot has this figured out.  He is not confined to the gas fireplace or the candle lit dinner; he dreams of sitting on the edge of a cliff with a glass of Chateauneuf.  Roughing it shouldn’t be drinking wine out of a tin cup, if he doesn’t have one already he needs an unbreakable wine glass.  I came across this great karafe so that he can bring the nicest wine to enjoy on his mountain peak, and this wine picnic backpack to carry a whole romantic meal.

The Thinking Wine Drinker

When not drinking wine, Petit Sara is usually found reading or watching movies about wine with a glass of well, you know.  My all-time favourite book is Red, White and Drunk All Over written by my wine crush, Natalie MacLean and I have no doubt that Sara will feel the same.  A new read that I can’t wait to get my hands on is a ‘vinthology’ of wine making exploits by one of my winemaker heroes, Randall Grahm Been Doon So Long. (I just realized that this post is beginning to read like a love letter…)

Moving on to the motion pictures:

• Sideways (and include a bottle of Pinot Noir or a Merlot to be sassy)
• Bottle Shock (A story about the how a California wine took the world by storm)
• A Walk in the Clouds (A personal sappy favourite and I think Keanu runs in it)

The Techie

Gamay Ray can usually be found pounding the keys with a glass of sherry by his side.  He is googling the latest gadget or the latest award winning vintage so what better gift than a wine USB drive?  I’ve seen these at some specialty wine stores like Liberty or Everything Wine or you can also order these nifty stocking stuffers online.  It comes with a software for Ray to use to keep track of his cellar and to look up countless bottles of wine.  Goodies like wine ring tones (not sure what those would sound like: a cork popping?  bottle breaking?), wallpaper, and links to wine clubs and organizations will keep him busy for hours.

I hope this little list sparks some ideas as you make your way to the malls or computer or wherever you do you shopping these days.  Feel free to comment with more ideas or tips to share.  Above all, be sure to include a bottle or two of something to share (responsibly) together over the holidays.  Come back soon as I am working on a Christmas wine list that you won’t want to miss!

A new dining phenomenon has started up in Vancouver;  it isn’t a new idea in Europe though, and it is something that we have all probably done in some variation of our own.  Annika Reinhardt, of Social Bites, organizes dinner excursions where guests experience two meals made by two hobby chefs in two different locations.  Each attendee has a ballot to fill out for each hobby chef to evaluate the presentation, food, and hospitality for a prize.  This time it was a Zip Car prize package including a rental of a Mini Cooper.  Following the meals, they meet up at a hot spot where they collectively enjoy and learn about an imbible dessert treat.   The intention of these events is not only to sample great new dishes, but also to meet new people and get to know a new neighbourhood/district.

The second Social Bites dinner field-trip was in Yaletown and if this gives you an idea of how popular it has become: all tickets were sold within days of announcing the event!  I loved the first event, so bought my tickets quickly because I wasn’t about to miss this one.  Besides, Karen Hamilton of Tiny Bites was cooking up an asian sampler and her cooking is not to be missed, and the hot spot round-up promised dessert wines and chocolates (need I say more?).

Brent and I hopped over to Yaletown with time to spare so we picked up a screw cap wine to enjoy with our meals at Viti.  Tough call.  One bottle, two different meals.  What to do?  I decided to pair my wine with the Asian Sampler because I wan’t sure what kind of tex-mex to expect later, so I chose Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc for its lemon grassiness and fresh palate cleansing super powers.

Rice Paper Shrimp Rolls, Corned Beef Sinigang, Braised Pork Spare Ribs with Apricot Sauce.

Hobby chef, Karen busied around the kitchen with her sous-chef Bruce making finishing touches to her dishes as we chatted it up with the other two guests.  When the final product was brought out, we were astounded by the beautiful presentation of the sampler inspired by her recent trip to Asia.  You know it’s good when the chatter at the table dies and it is replaced with “mmmm”s and sighs.  As a bonus, I was pleased that my wine choice was a stellar compliment to the food! It was hard to pick a favourite from the trio: the shrimp rice paper rolls stood out with each flavour standing on its own and complimenting each other, the corned beef sinigang was tender and packed with flavour, and the apricot sauce for the spare ribs had just the right amount of sweetness.

Chili Con Carne with Corn Bread

We almost lost track of time, and hurried to the next hobby chef’s place.  (Note to self: wear better shoes when running around downtown)  I love that Annika arranges the locations close enough together so that we can walk to each place without worrying about parking or over imbibing.  I just made poor a poor choice of footwear (but it matched my dress).  The next meal was a Tex-Mex Chili Con Carne made by Marc from Amuse Consulting with his BFF Jackie.  His chili was to die for.  Literally.  Not only was the meat tender and tasty, but the heat from the chipotles was, well, hot.  I am not one to shy away from spicy foods so I devoured every tasty bite of this down home southern concoction and being a sucker for corn bread, I had two pieces.  Pinot Gris doesn’t really go with chili, but it helped cool off my mouth.

From left to right. Blackberry Port - Salt Spring, BC Seeling Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier) - Naumburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany Vespaiolo Sparkling Wine - Bregenz, Italy Rotkäppchen Riesling Sparkling Wine - Freyburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany

The hot spot was at Yaletown Gallery where we all met up, filled out and submitted our hobby chef evaluations, and sampled some lovely dessert-type wines presented by Kate, The Wine Mistress.  She brought us wines from Vino Allegro Wine Imports Inc., and Annika shared some German wines which we sampled along with some chocolates from the oldest chocolate factory in Germany.  We enjoyed persuing the gallery with our treats and admiring the beautiful skilled work of local artists.  My wine notes are a little hazy, and I am working on finding a better way to remember my thoughts on what I tatse because by the time I share my thoughts, my mind is often on what I currently have in my glass.  Bear with me.  The Rotkäppchen Riesling Sparkling Wine (Freyburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany) was an off dry riesling that was delightfully refreshing with sour/tart apples and lemons (find out why it is referred to as Lieutenant Lemonade here), and the Seeling Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier) (Naumburg, Saale Unstrut, Germany) was a rose that reminded me of chocolate and strawberries.  The Vespaiolo Sparkling Wine (Bregenz, Italy) was my favourite of the evening boasting its toastyness, tiny bubbles, and peach flavours.  Obviously, I did not leave empty handed.  The ballots were tallied, and the hobby chef winners were announced and the last wine was poured.  It was a Blackberry Port (Salt Spring, BC) made with organic Saltspring fruit.  It was a lovely finish to the evening and went down smoothly in all its sweetness.

Social Bites has its next event on May 23 in Fairview / South Granville where yours truly will be cooking up a storm to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life.  Check out the Social Bites Website for more information on how you can participate in either cooking or eating for this great cause.

A huge thank you to Annika, Yaletown Gallery, the Wine Mistress, Vino Allegro, and all of the hobby chefs.  It was a fantastic evening, and you can expect to see me at many more Social Bites events.  You have made a fan out me.

The Okanagan is one of my many favourite weekend retreats and this weekend was no exception. The weather was (mostly) fabulous, good family time, good eats, and a fun wine `tweet-up` with @AllisonMMarkin in Penticton to top it off.

We had good intentions on Good Friday to find kosher beef and make matzo ball soup to go with the Kosher wine that I had procured to give a nod to passover, but after a day of visiting, we lazily grilled up some thick juicy un-blessed steaks, veggies, and potatoes. The wine was a Galil Mountain Pinot Noir that, although we failed in keeping our meal kosher, rocked that steak hard. I had first come in contact with the Galil Mountain wines at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine festival at the only Isreali wine booth. I found the overall flavour of the wine very unique. I picked up dark cherry, cinnamon, and tobacco notes on the pinot noir.  It wasn`t huge on the fruit and had soft tannins which made it easy to enjoy on its own as well.  Needless to say, the bottle was gone very quickly.

Saturday dinner was at The Gasthouse on the Lake… one of the best German restaurants I have been to. It is a must if you are passing through Peachland.  If you are in the area (or more likely driving through) stop in for a beer on the patio, or make reservations for some fine dining. Their wine list is very extensive, but I ended up ordering a Long Island Ice Tea when no one else was willing to share a bottle and the by the glass didn`t appeal to me.  I broke tradition from ordering Schnitzel to try out a beer braised roast and was not disappointed with the tender, flavourful roast.  I missed the veggies that I saw on everyone else`s plates, though.

Before we headed home on Sunday, we stopped in Penticton to visit with Allison Markin (THE Penticton Wine twitterer) for some lunch and a little wine tour.  I find that wine tours are best when they are little because it isn`t long before the wines start all tasting the same and it all blurs together….  We started off at Township 7.  We were all pretty familiar with the wines, but I wanted to lurk around a little.  We sampled some whites:  Brent liked the Semillon and I liked sniffing the chardonnay (so spicy!).  We tweeted Brad Cooper:  `we are in ur cellar, drinkin ur wine`.  And when we were ready to leave, we found Brent hanging with the horses.

Next stop was Red Rooster where we greeted `Frank` with all of his baggage and controversy and tried their line up.  They are known for their featured local artists, and you can taste wines while wandering their gallery.  I enjoyed each of the wines equally so I eeny meeny`d and ended up with the Reserve Merlot.  The chocolatey notes won me over anyways.  We made a quick stop in at Hillside Estates to snag a Muscat Ottonel which is the perfect sushi wine and the final stop was Elephant Island to sample some of their award winning orchard wines.  I adored the possibilities of mixing martinis with the Apricot and Black Currant dessert wines because very soon they will feature drink mixing recipes from their bartending challenge on their website.  Can you say drink mixing party at my place? La piece de resistance was the Stella Port made with an 8 year old solera system and aged in french Oak Barrels.  We loved the chocolate covered cherry flavour, and I was reminded of a cedar sauna.

We bid farwell to our new friend and headed back home with a little bit to add to our stash of wine.  I really can`t wait to get back to the Okanagan already!  For more Okanagan wine enthusiasm, there is both a facebook group(Okanagan Wine Casual) and some tweets (@okwinecasual).

After my red wine indulgences, I am often plagued with dark stains on my lips that I try to remove with much effort.  I am not about to give up my reds for a diet of only whites to avoid the pinot noir lip tattoo, though.

After the Wine Festival, oodles of crimson and much elbow grease on my kisser, I was thrilled when @winewipescanada contacted me with a remedy.  Seeing this damsel’s plight for stain removal, he sent a couple of samples to try out.  I eagerly opened up a bottle of Shiraz to try these miracle workers out and they wiped off the red lips of death.

Now, I am pleased to share with you Wine Wipes so you too can drink reds and smile boldly.

Has the recession got you down? Are you hanging up your wine glasses and putting flowers in your decanter? I recently cleared out my closet of empty wine bottles to get a better return than I am getting in my investments. It is obvious that the recession means bad news for financial gain on monetary investments, and even poor stability in the dependable interest of savings accounts, so where is our money safe? The answer to your economic woes is in wine. Vino Veritas. I don’t just mean drowning your worries in a wine bottle; your wine purchases are the ideal liquid assets.

Start by taking stock of your cellar.  Separate the wheat from the chaff, if you will and set aside the wines that need a couple of years.  Better yet, open one of them and pour yourself a glass.  Now, you’ve likely got a few Christmas Sweater wines.  You know the ones: hostess gifts, reminders of bad dates, freebies… etc.  Although they are hardly quaffable, they are not for naught as they have the most value.  Here are a few savvy tips to make the most of your liquid stock:

The first are some favourite recipes that require a healthy indulgence of wine:

Frivolously Fruity Sangria

2-3 bottles of red wine (one cab, one merlot)
Juice of 2-3 fresh squeezed limes
Juice of 2 fresh squeezed lemons
2 Cups of fresh orange juice
1 liter bottle ginger ale or lemon lime soda
1 liter bottle club soda
1/2 cup brandy or gin
1+ Handful Strawberries, cut in half
1/2 Watermelon, in cubes
2 Thinly sliced Pears
1 orange sliced to float in final pitcher

Mix the wine, fruit, ginger ale, orange juice, lime and lemon juice, and brandy and let sit for 18-24 hours. Once the fruits and liquids have intermingled sufficiently, add club soda to thin the sweet consistency to taste. Garnish with slices of orange and maybe even some mint leaves for fun and then toast your new 750 mL stock broker for dealing you such a fine hand.

recipe inspired by Wine Esquire

For dinner, Drunken Tuscan Pasta is a favourite.   (On a personal note: you may wish to forgo the salt as the pancetta makes it salty enough.)  If you are ready to fire up the BBQ, try soaking a cedar plank in a bottle of red over night instead of water to add a rich flavour to your meats.  To finish off your meal of liquid gold, try a dessert of Maple and Wine Soaked Apple Cake.

Once you have satisfied your gastronomical needs, it is important to be aware of the many household uses of the reds and whites.

• Should you accidentally spill some red on your white shirt, let it be known that you have an abundance of stain remover at your disposal.  Simply pour a bottle of red into a large bowl or sink and soak your shirt until the stain is gone.

• Have your pets suffered the economic down-turn?  Perhaps it is time to exercise your eco-friendliness and share your wealth with those pretty little aquatic friends; top the tank up with a little Sauvignon Blanc.

• Speaking of topping up the tank, an aged Riesling or a Sauvignon Blanc with some Petrol in its character will sustain you through the wallet-pain after filling up your SUV at $1+ a litre.

• Falling stocks may cause to pull your hair, resulting in premature hair loss.  I came across information on stimulating hair growth by rubbing red wine or burgundy into the scalp.  True or not, you are bound to feel better about yourself after a few glasses.

Consider your wine purchases as a wine-stimulus package and support your local wine retailer with frequent visits.  Find your own ways of incorporating wine into your daily lifestyle and even if you would rather gaze at the wines that you have collected, you can always brag about your nice rack.