Have you ever pushed in a cork? The simple solution to stop this catastrophic event is to sharpen you corkscrew. Simply take a butchers’ sharpener or a wet-stone and give it a quick sharpen. In 30 seconds you will be amazed how much easier it will make the process of getting into the good stuff!
Wine Tips
Do you ever get headaches from wine? (No, I don’t mean after the 3rd bottle!). The most common allergens in wine are “histamines” found mainly in red wines or sulfur dioxide, found in higher levels in cheap, sweet white wines. Try buying good quality dry, unoaked white wines or rosés; it may help avoid that pounding head of yours!
Marcus’s Summary of Mendoza
Malbec. Malbec? Malbec! These three sentences sum up my trip to Mendoza, Argentina. The locals are crazy for it; the foreigners can’t get enough of the stuff, even the viticulturists and winemakers like the grape! I must admit that I was skeptical about the variety as a legitimate flagship for a wine industry, but you know what? It works. What …
Rachel’s Argentina Travel Blog
We arrived in Argentina after a full 30 hours of traveling from British Columbia. After clearing immigration in Mendoza, we went to pick up our bags – all 5 of them (traveling with a baby means lots more bags and gear) except only 4 were there!?. The bag missing happened to be mine and it also contained all of our …
The Price of Wine
One of the most common questions about a bottle of wine, especially those in the $20.00+/bottle category, is why that price? Why is this Shiraz from Australia only $12/bottle, but this Shiraz from Australia is $50/bottle. It’s the same grape, from the same region so what gives? There a number of factors that goes into the final price of a …
Is Bordeaux its’ own worst enemy?
I guess I might just be annoyed that I can no longer afford many of the gems that Burgundy and Bordeaux have to offer. However, I have thought for a long time that many of the great wine world’s classification systems are somewhat “dubious”, or as my grandpa used to say “has flies on them”. The choice for quality wine …
In Search of Premium Wines, Marcus & Rachel In Piemonte
Day 1 – After a LONG day driving from Minervois to Piemonte we finally arrived late in the evening to our quaint little cottage in Sessame Italy. We were greeted by the cottage owners, Kerri and Bob, who are a lovely English couple that immigrated to Italy to start their own vineyard. As it was very dark on our way …
Chile Wine & Food Pairing
ALASKAN KING CRAB WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE & CELARY *Wine Pairing – Catrala Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca, Chile Ingredients: 2lb Alaskan King Crab legs 4 large Celery Sticks Hollandaise Sauce: 6 egg yolks 2 tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter Juice from 2 lemons 2 pinches of salt Method: Separate eggs and whisk in lemon juice, salt and oil. Boil …
in Search of Premium Wines, Marcus & Rachel in Chile Days 8-11
Day 8 – After tasting wines, lots of different wines from all around Chile, Marcus has decided we are going to focus on Casablanca. We drove the 1 ½ back and went to a bunch of wineries on his short list. After an exhausting day tasting, nothing really stood out – especially compared with our experience at Catrala. Day 9 …
In Search of Premium Wines, Marcus & Rachel in Chile Days 4-7
Day 4 – Decided we really needed a new strategy – days are ticking along with no success so far. Decided to call the winery marketing arm called “Wines of Chile” first thing to see if they could recommend some small boutique, hard to find, wineries. Marcus attempted to call and email them before we left Canada to arrange a …