Valentine’s day is essentially the celebration of a good pair, and what better way to acknowledge that than by pairing two of my favourite gustatory delights.  I have asked my wine friends to share their perfect matches so that you can woo your Valentine with wine and chocolate.

The best thing about Valentines Day this year? It falls on the weekend. That’s the perfect excuse to wake up not only to chocolates, but wine too! (technically of course, you could wake up to wine on a work day but in this case, you get to enjoy the option of staying in bed whilst you drink it.). Anyhow, there is going to be no better way to start your Valentines Day and woo your loved one this year than with a glass of fizzy stuff and a sweet treat to match. Champagne is, of course, the perfect bubble to start the day but unless you are a sadist or have no taste buds, champagne, (even the sweetest style, demi-sec) just doesn’t work with chocolate and the most sweet treats. Thankfully, lightly frothing, delicately sweet Michele Chiarlo ‘Nivole’ Moscato d’Asti ($17.99 at select BC liquor and Private liquor stores) does the job very nicely thank-you and its fresh perfume and low alcohol mean you can safely finish the bottle without the threat of a hangover by noon. The grapey, musky aromas of the Moscato grape blend perfectly with chocolate and if you really want to impress your loved one you can create your own perfect pairing as follows: dip some ripe strawberries in melted dark chocolate and let them set over-night in the fridge. A bowl of these chocolate-covered strawbs and a glass or two of moscato when you wake up should give you all the energy you need for your Valentines morning. Preferably a long Valentines morning in bed……

Mark Shipway – Wine Instructor & Department Head The International Culinary School
at The Art Institute of Vancouver

Sometimes, an odd couple is the most endearing—and the most memorable.

Sure, chocolate is gorgeous. I love it. Often. But give me a taste and tongue-touch experience that’s new and exciting, and I achieve euphoria.

Take the first time I had Inniskillin Riesling Icewine from the Okanagan with gorgonzola cheese, for example. When those flavours and textures came together in my mouth—Ka-Boom—true love. To this day, I have a very difficult time finding a pairing that will give me the same feral, sensory rush.

$34.99 will get you a 200ml bottle of the Inniskillin Icewine (10% ABV)at most B.C. Signature Liquor Stores.

Kathleen Rake – Click Media Works / Between the Vines wine blog

Seguras Viudas Lavit Rosado Brut is my favourite dry pink sparkling wine. Spanish and simply the best value sparkler on the market in the under $20 range. Cherry and mineral on nose and palate. Sadly, this might be the last Valentine’s Day that it is available as it is being delisted in the BC market in favour of its slightly sweeter-tasting Brut Rosé sibling. Its still in Government and Private stores – get it while you can. Its one of the 10 wines that I couldn’t be marooned on a Desert Island without, especially for romantic interludes with a bite of two of Green & Black’s dark cherry chocolate.

Paul Rickett – Purveyor of great wines at Bowen Island Cold Beer and Wine and blog

Black Cloud isn’t the kind of name you’d associate with Valentine’s Day but around the household here in the Okanagan Valley, it’s the name of our 2006 Pinot Noir that we love to pair with dark chocolate.

Our Pinot is more robust than the average Pinot.  If Pinot Noir is usually described as ‘feminine’ then this Black Cloud is a female body builder.  Big, bold and rippling with flavours of currant, plum and clove.

It almost goes without saying, white chocolate or milk chocolate would be squashed by this wine.  We choose the Dove 71% Dark Cacao bar to nibble on while we recline on the sofa polluting our minds with network television and sipping Black Cloud. Then we turn to each other, lock eyes, and sigh contentedly, submersed in fond rapture.

It’s available at fine retailers (listed here ) and through our website by dropping us an email.  Currently $19.99.

Bradley Cooper – Winemaker and Blogger

Twenty-four years ago I received a parcel from Germany containing a weirdly delicious item.  It was a Ritter Sport Yogurt chocolate bar, and the exquisitely tangy sweetness wrought by the union of plain white yogurt and creamy milk chocolate has become a lingering obsession.  Only a tangy and slightly sweet wine can work with it. I recommend the Pfaffenheim Pinot Gris from France; its flavours are ripe and late-harvest-like in their honeyed tropical intensity, yet the wine retains only the softest kiss of sweetness to balance its mouthwatering acidity.  Yes, we have the wine if you have the chocolate.

Rose Siemens – Manager & Wine Guide Whatcom Wine & Spirits and Grape Squeeze blog

I hope that these great pairings give you oodles of ideas to enrich the romance (or drown out the ridiculous commercialism of this Hallmark endorsed holiday). Either way, we don’t really need a reason to enjoy chocolate and wine as it is an occasion to itself.  Cheers!

*The winner of the Sweet Valentines Giveaway was Betty Weeds!  Congratulations and I hope that you get some great ideas from this post!

When a day goes so perfectly, it is hard to find appropriate words to express my gratitude.  When that day is my wedding day, I find myself at a complete loss of words.  In a scene framed by God’s beauty, surrounded by vines, and a vista overlooking a valley that gives life to each grape, I married the most wonderful man.  My passion of wine and the love of my life converged, and the symbolism of the setting deepend the meaning of our vows.  We stood at the top of that hill at Michel-Schlumberger and we might as well have been on the top of the world.

When we arrived at Michel-Schlumberger the previous day, we were greeted by the friendly staff who were a little bit frantic about a power loss.  We had driven by a tree that had fallen on some wires on our way up to the winery that had knocked out most of the power to the Dry Creek valley.  Ah, the tension between the land and technology rested for a while on that day.  Although I said the staff was a little frantic, I say this in a context that is miles away from the frantic disruption that I am used to experiencing in the city.  We all sat outside with a couple of guests and discussed places to eat that night (of which there was no shortage and we could have spent a month here and gained a lot of weight before we had experienced all the food the valley had to offer).

After getting set up in the guest suite, we drove to the town of Healdsburg to eat some ridiculously good food.  I mean, Lobster rolls, calamari, and ceviche so delicious and mouth watering that a west coast girl such as myself was in Heaven.  Then, hoping that the power was restored by the time we were finished indulging ourselves, we rolled back up to the winery in the dark.  And it was dark that greeted us.  No matter.  Sometimes the greatest moments are a result of circumstances beyond our control– this was one of those moments.  By the lights of our cell phones, we searched the winery high and low, through cupboards and drawers, for a flashlight.  Which we found in our bedside tables. With that light, we found some tealights and matches and enjoyed the most romantic evening in our suite.  I believe I had a 2002 Michel-Schlumberger Pinot Noir with rich notes of jubilee cherries, and hints of cinnamon.  I can still almost taste that wine if I close my eyes…

The next morning, after an official tour of the winery, I took off to get my hair done and Brent set about trying to calm his nerves.  One of the ladies from the office came to help me with my dress,  and brought me a Pinot Blanc while I waited for the pastor and photographer to arrive to calm my nerves.  Jim Morris, the Director of Consumer Sales and Marketing, who arranged this whole magical event for us, rang the big old estate bell with gusto to indicate to the groom that his bride was on her way up the hill.

Our ceremony was beyond what I had dreamed or imagined, Jim live tweeted the vows and even a Goodyear blimp suitably flew by!  Our pastor shared sage advice and encouragement with us and we had a communion with, of course, Michel-Schlumberger Pinot Noir.  Communion wine should always be this good.  After the ceremony and the pictures, we went to eat another embarrassingly good meal in Healdsburg at Zin.  We even had our first dance in the town square!  Every Tuesday evening in the Summer, the whole town of Healdsburg gathers in the square to listen to jazz and blues while they dance, drink wine, and eat picnics.  A friendly toothless man offered to take a little video of our first dance.

Again, we rolled our bloated and over-satiated selves back up to the winery.  As tasty as it was, the decadent chocolate fudge sundae might have been a delicious mistake.  We toasted a perfect beginning to a wonderful life together with the superb champagne from Jim and after a deliriously fantastic day, we promptly dozed off in a deep ’schlumber’.

The pictures are amazing, but much like my words, they hardly do the day justice.  Jim and the winery staff were so gracious and wonderful and as we left, I felt a pang of sadness to leave this slice of heaven that they shared with us.  A huge thank you to everyone at Michel-Schlumberger for making our special day even more special than we could have ever imagined, and another thank you to all of our ‘guests’ on Twitter for all of your warm cyber wishes.  Both me and Mr. Winebard are swelling with joy (and good food) from all of the warm memories that we shared!

For more pictures, click here for a slideshow put together by our photographer.

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).

Wow!  This week has been incredible and now that it is Sunday night I am going to try to sum it all up for you.  There were some great wine highlights, food, and interesting encounters.  This will be a longer post than usual as I am attempting to cram in most of my week.

I attended more consumer tastings in this week, than I have attended period.  I have only been to a few years of Playhouse Wine Fests and thinking back to my first, I have come a long way… especially because I had my gall bladder removed 3 days earlier and I didn’t have enough sense to spit.  A little wiser now, I still didn’t spit very much but I tasted with more selectivity and restraint.  I am slightly ashamed to admit that I wore a white and black coat on Thursday night (mostly due to lack of time to change beforehand) and managed to avoid any spillage.  If you follow me on Twitter, you will occasionally hear about my unsightly, bib-requiring eating habits.

I focused Thursday’s consumer tasting mostly on, you guessed it, whites.  And bubblies.  A few BC whites grabbed my attention such as Cedar Creek’s Ehrenfelser (highly aromatic with nice residual sweetness), Road 13 Jackpot Chardonnay (I finally got to try it, and you should too), and Twisted Tree Viognier Roussane.  My (short) attention was distracted by the ’shiny’ bubblies and I managed to try some knock-yourself-out-blow-your-mind-deep-pocket sparkling wines.  Topping my list is Champagne Deutz 1998 Vintage Cuvee William.  At $175.99 a bottle, I couldn’t pass up sampling this one and going back throughout the week to sneak a few more.  I adored the honey, nutty, and breadiness.  I ran over to try out Piper Heidseck 2000 Vintage Brut when a friend mentioned that it was like butter popcorn.  I love popcorn.  I loved Piper Heidseck.

Some interesting BC sparking wines were Elephant Island’s Pink Elephant which is very much like a Kir Royale,  Township 7’s Seven Stars Sparkling with pear and apple notes, and Blue Mountain’s Brut Gold Label.

Friday’s trade tasting proved more conducive to sampling and chatting with the winemakers, principals, and exhibitors.  I took the opportunity to try out some BC wines that I hadn’t quaffed before and was not disappointed with what I found!  One of my favourite wineries from Friday is Stoneboat Vineyards who was showcasing their pinot-rific wares.  Upon visiting with the owners and growers of this 3 year young winery, I learned that they are not as new to the scene as their label is.  Lanny Martiniuk has been growing for large wine producers since 1983 and his tennure shows in the quality of his wines.  The pinot noir is a full bodied, spicy, fruity, contender; but once you try the Pinotage you will find out why they call it, “a pinot on steroids”.  The pinotage packs a wallop.

After the trade tasting and then pouring in the hospitality suite, I had a bite to eat with some colleagues and dragged my aching body home to get a little rest before Saturday.  Drinking wine is serious business and not for the faint of heart, but insoles and jetted tubs, I determined are very necessary.

Saturday morning, I rushed out to the press conference and then took a very entertaining cab ride to Dockside at Granville Island for the Aussie Barbie.  By entertaining, I mean the driver sang to me, and told me stories that I shant repeat here or anywhere else for that matter.

I found the perfect wine to pair with Kangaroo.  No lie.  Bleasedale Frank Potts Cabernet-Malbec-Shiraz-Merlot Reserve was a perfect match. It made me return a few times for more and for some of their Sparkling Generations Reserve Shiraz.  Oh yeah, and I did I mention that I ate kangaroo?  Seriously.  Lean like elk or bison but not as gamy and reminded me a little of a tender jerky.  I don’t know where you can find the stuff, but if you can find a place that cooks it just right let me know!

I was fascinated by the differences in a Cabernet Sauvignon from the western coast of Australia and the more fruit forward Peter Lehman Cabernet Sauvignon from the south eastern region.  By the way, if you didn’t get a chance to meet the winemaker, he is the friendliest most jovial man who was the only exhibitor to walk around with his wines to refill peoples’ glasses while they ate.  Another regional favourite is the Verdhelho by Tyrell Wines.  A portugese grape that is new to the region and has some lovely lemon and green apple notes and is also used in white port.  White port?!  That was my response.  I hadn’t even heard of it and now I am off to find some and read up on it.  I also took some advice to check out the Two Hands booth which was ‘hands down’ some of the finest Australian wines this year at the festival.

My final exposure to the consumer tasting was on Saturday night.  This was date night so I left my cell phone and any agenda behind and let my fiance do most of the leading with a little gentle backseat driving by yours truly.  He is a very sympathetic wine taster.  By that I mean that he seeks out the tables that look ‘lonely’ and feels that he has accomplished his mission when he leaves after a crowd draws up.  He did learn that sometimes, just sometimes, there was a reason why the tables were quiet, but there were a few really nice surprises.  Surprises like a wine that tastes like coffee (KWV Cafe Culture Pinotage 2008) because of the toasted barrels and the wood maturation.  I liked the uniqueness of it, and he didn’t care for a wine pretending to be something that it isn’t.  Another winery that we both really liked for its uniqueness was Galil Mountain & Yarden, the only Israeli wines featured at the festival.  We both really enjoyed the Galil Mountain Yiron Cabernet-Merlot-Syrah 2005; the characteristics of the fruits and cloves made for a refreshing blend.  We left just before 10pm and barely found the strength to drag ourselves back home, but before we left we stocked up on Terra Breads, Freybe meats, cheeses, Ritter Chocolates, and free water.

I have talked to several people about their impressions of the wine festival.  While most people raved about how much they love to have an opportunity to discover for themselves new wines and new regions, some people were confused by the alphabetical set up this year, and some felt that the prices for the consumer tastings are getting too high.  I do hope that people wishing to learn about wines take opportunities throughout the year to do so. I suggest attending informative events and tastings and also attend the smaller events during the Wine festival to get the most exposure.  Keep an eye out on my events page for local events to attend while you brush up in preparation for next year’s Playhouse Wine Festival.

Saturdays tend to be our errand days.  This is even more true since we are borrowing a truck, and our month of vehicular freedom is coming to an lamentable end.  We crammed in breakfast, cleaning, a trip to our storage locker, Ikea, and of course, wine tasting.  I got a tip that the people at Kensington Square Wine Store were pouring Road 13 today.  Since I was eager to try them out, and with the kind understanding of my fiance, we managed to squeeze it in.

I was fortunate enough to meet up with Joseph Luckhurst (the owners’ son and Winery liaison) who filled me in a bit on the winery and the wines.  The winery recently underwent a re-branding from the previous label of Golden Mile Cellars to Road 13 which reflects both the change of ownership from Peter and Helga Serwo, to Pam and Mick Luckhurst and the enviable location on the bench behind the Black Sage area.

The location is prime with arguably the best sun exposure around which gives the grapes the ripeness that affords them excellent reviews on their Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons.  By sampling some of these fine wines, my senses were sent on a holiday of summer memories.  Here is my ‘travel journal’:

© road 13 2008. all rights reserved

The whites:

The Riesling was all lemon and stonefruit; like a refreshing sip of tart roadside lemonade.  The Chardonnay held memories of a caramel apple because of their unabashed use of oak which structured this wine with ease.  I didn’t get a chance to try their Jackpot Chardonnay, but Joe’s sumptuous description instantly put it on my list.

On to the reds:

Get out your silverware, because the Road 13 Syrah drinks like a delicious meal of maple smoked salmon.  The peppery flavours and strong fruit make this a uniquely satisfying wine.  Joe tells me that this wine has some delicate viognier blended in to add those delicious top notes.  Every good meal needs a dessert and the Pinot Noir’s bouquet instantly filled my nose with ripples of butterscotch and a dark cherry on top.

I left with two souveniers of my saturday excursion under my arms: the syrah and the pinot noir.  Being so eager to crack open the pinot noir, I whipped up a sambuca spiked rose over pasta and mushrooms and my senses were instantly transported back to the Okanagan.  Once I procure wheels to transport the rest of me to the Okanagan, you can be sure that Road 13 will be one of my stops.

The pleasure was all mine when I met Bradley Cooper and his wife the other day to sample his latest creation.  You may know Brad by the famed wines that he has produced for Township 7 Winery; heralded for his ability to transform a BC Syrah into a nectar compared to those from Northern Rhone or for the sparkling wines compared to a Gloria Ferrer.  But this time, I was sampling something very different;  not in quality but in name.

You see, not long ago Brad joined up as a winemaker for a fellow to make wine for a new label.  Due to economic instability and other factors it ended abruptly with a large stock of wine and no winery to put on the label.  After considering keeping a small portion of the wine to cover the final bills, Brad and his wife decided to make lemonade out of this dark and disappointing situation.  They say the experience was like a “Black Cloud” over them, and once they decided to purchase back the remaining lot of the wine that he produced, they begun to see a “silver lining”.

Hence, the name Black Cloud was bestowed upon the wine.

Black Cloud - Pinot Noir 2006

It was a relatively quick turn around from the time the deal fell through to its recent release.  During those four months there were a lot of t’s to cross and i’s to dot and with the generosity of Mike Raffan of Township 7, Brad was able to complete the necessary requirements through them.

You aren’t going to find this wine in a big press release or in many stores… yet.  Brad is using this release as a bit of a social media experiment.  This approach has less overhead than major press releases, and it relies largely on reputation and recommendation.  Brad already has garnered the reputation of a trusted wine maker, and he is spreading the news of this new wine ‘virally’ (meaning through networks of people on various social media outlets)  such as: Twitter, Blogging, Linked in, etc.  After having experienced the wine for myself, I personally believe this wine is going to develop a bit of a cult following.

I opened my bottle with some friends last night to get a variety of opinions on this wine.  At first, we noticed a slight disconnect with the nose to the taste.  The nose was heavy like a sherry and the taste was mildly earthy.  After about half an hour, it opened up into beautiful black cherry, blackberry, and blueberry flavours.  I loved the smokiness of a cigar in the finish.  It maintained its familiar pinot-earthiness and we savoured every sip until the bottle was empty. A lovely example of a new world Pinot Noir.

This wine has influences of the Oregon and New Zealand style of Pinot Noir:

New Zealand Pinot noir is fruit-driven, forward and early maturing in the bottle. It tends to be quite full bodied (for the variety), very approachable and oak maturation tends to be restrained. High quality examples of New Zealand Pinot noir, particularly from the Martinborough region, are distinguished by savoury, earthy flavours with a greater complexity. (Wikipedia)

Where  can you find it?  It is currently on the shelves at Broadway International Wine Shop and Whatcom Wine and Spirits.  I doubt it will be there for long, and if they happen to sell out before you procure your own you can contact Brad through his Blog or through Twitter.

What can we expect in the future from Black Cloud?  This wine will have another vintage of Pinot Noir, and likely a white to compliment it.  Brad has quite a few ideas up his sleeve, and I trust that we will not be disappointed.  He has transformed a black cloud, to one with a silver lining, to one that I expect will garner a golden reputation.