The Grape Nut

with Ben MacPhee- Sigurdson

• Home winemaking (sorta), etc.

  A couple of quick hits as the weekend approaches...

  Like wine? Like video games? Well, good news, folks. Wine Tycoon just started shipping this week, and from the screen shots here it looks pretty darn cool. You set up in one of ten French wine regions, build your winery, and manage the grape growing, harvest, crushing, etc. It won't ever get to Guitar Hero/Rock Band status, but for dweebs like me it's a pretty darn cool idea.

  View Full Post | 15/10/2009 3:02 PM | 0

• Explaining the ratings

  So in tomorrow's paper, the column will feature a new addition — the wines will now be rated on the 100-point scale that's incredibly common among wine magazines/writers/critics/bloggers. There are strong opinions about the ratings scale, but both advocates and detractors will agree that the system is popular.

  I had planned on explaining in detail why I chose to start rating the wines using the scale, but Tom Wark at Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog touches on most of my reasons in his piece called The 100 Point Wine Rating Scale Works. The core of his argument — wine drinkers like it. Sure, there'll always be opponents to the system, but for the most part it's true.

  View Full Post | 2/10/2009 11:36 AM | 0

• Wine Stage Manitoba wrap up

  I spent Friday night and almost all day Saturday at MTC for the Independent Specialty Wine Stores of Manitoba's inaugural Wine Stage Manitoba, the new wine festival in town. By all accounts the event was a great success - lots of people through the doors, no incidents to speak of, and a whack of change raised for the theatre company.
  
  The set-up worked out well despite a last-minute change that led to visiting wineries placed in the foyer instead of on the stage itself. In fact, all the booths were in the foyer/lobby area that surrounds the theatre itself, which kept a bustling, buzz-y vibe about the whole thing. In total there were around 180 wines sampled, of which I'd say I tried about 100. I haven't had a chance to peruse my chicken-scratch notes yet, but each table (arranged by whites and reds and further by private wine store) had its share of winners.
  
  Speaking of winners, the third annual Wine List Awards were presented on Saturday afternoon to restaurants that had entered their lists, menu and overall mandate for judging. Restaurants were not judged against each other, but rather on their mandate relative to the menu and wine list - the type of program they claimed to believe in and the actual execution of that mandate. The seven-person judging panel (myself included) were apparently pretty consistent in our scores, and we all agreed that the lists presented this year were generally of better quality than the previous two years (which were presented at the Winnipeg Wine Festival). Congratulations to all the entrants - the list of award winners (and the other judges) is here.
  
  Kudos as well to the ISWSM group for organizing what seemed from the outside to be a very well-organized event. In fact, those organizers I spoke with were thrilled at the turnout. I look forward to seeing what they've got in store next year.
  
  I'll root through my notes and compile a "best of the fest" list for a future blog. Coming in my next blog - why I've decided to adopt the (sometimes contentious) 100-point scoring system used by many wine critics...
  
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  View Full Post | 28/09/2009 2:27 PM | 0

• Can't miss wine events

  Lots going on wine-wise around town in the next little while - so much, in  fact, that I can barely keep up:

  View Full Post | 19/09/2009 12:47 PM | 0

• Brew-haha

  Last night was the official kickoff of the 2009 Flatlanders Beer Festival, and there is no more appropriate place to kick off a beer festival than Luxalune gastropub. I had never been to Luxalune before last night, but will be sure to come back and taste through some of the approximately 100 beers they stock.

  It's a tastefully decorated little spot a couple of doors down from where Lux Sole had been located (same owners, natch).There are your standard big name brews, but where things get far more interesting are in the smaller or more obscure beers from around the world - Thailand, Bosnia, Ukraine, Spain, etc. Their menu reflects their focus on beer - "pub grub", if you will, but fancified (I know, probably not a word).

  View Full Post | 16/09/2009 2:06 PM | 0

• Drink up! Additions and corrections

  While I'm still trying to figure out what kind of a piece/pieces I can generate from my whirlwind trip to Toronto to judge at the Canadian Wine Awards (as well as a less-than-24-hours jaunt to the Niagara Peninsula), here are a couple of things that need talking about...

  - One event I missed in my recent column about upcoming events ("Booze Buzz") was SAVOUR: A Wine and Food Experience. It's an event taking place this Saturday (September 12) at The Fairmont Winnipeg. SAVOUR is a wine and food tasting event hosted by the HSC Foundation and Manitoba's Liquor Marts, with all proceeds supporting the Health Sciences Centre. There will be food sampling stations and educational sessions in a fun, elegant environment, with music by the Danny Kramer Dance Band following the live auction at 10:00 p.m. (reception opens at 7:00, wine and food experience at 8:00).

  View Full Post | 9/09/2009 8:24 AM | 0

• Winnipeg wine-rs, etc.

  So, the weekend is upon us again, and I figured it's as good a time as any to catch up via the old blog. I'm heading to Toronto on Sunday to judge at Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards — we judges will taste about 100 wines per day over the course of four days, all of which will be done blind (not knowing who the producer is). It's a fun but exhausting endeavour — one that will likely reaffirm my belief in the continued increase in quality in wines made on this side of the border.

  Once the judging is done, I'm heading down to the Niagara Peninsula for a whirlwind day trip, which I'm very much looking forward to. I've never visited the Niagara region on wine-related business before — last year's Canadian Wine Awards were held in Penticton, BC, and I was able to tour the Okanagan Valley for the first time.

  View Full Post | 28/08/2009 1:57 PM | 0

• Ludicrous news

  It's hard to believe that it's already been three years since Half Pints Brewing Company opened its doors, bottled some beer and hit the city's shelves. Where does the time go?

  They quickly became a hit among fans of craft beers and the like, and have quickly expanded both in size (they quickly outgrew their initial location on Keewatin) and distribution - Half Pints can now be found on tap and in the bottle across as well as western Canada.

  View Full Post | 12/08/2009 1:10 PM | 0

• Sipping sangria

  As promised, here's the sangria blog entry featuring recipes, recommendations and more. But first - be aware that Manitoba's Liquor Marts are closed Monday, August 3rd. Winnipeg's private wine stores will be open at their discretion, likely on holiday hours - same with beer vendors across the province.

  A couple of the sangria recipes I received were almost identical to the one that ran in Saturday's column, with some slight variations - you can feel free to use soda water instead of ginger ale (if you don't want as much sweetness) or a different type/quantity of liqueur/spirit than brandy (if you want different flavours or something with a bit more kick).

  View Full Post | 31/07/2009 10:40 AM | 0

• Obscene or obscenely good?

  OK, I'm compiling the replies I got re: Saturday's sangria column — recipes, recommendations, etc. — and will get it all up here before the August long weekend.

  First, a quick hit on a story that I came upon via my Twitter feed on Friday. Apparently the Alabama Beverage Control Board has deemed the label on the Hahn Estates Cycles Gladiator to be pornographic. As a result, the wine has been removed from stores statewide.

  View Full Post | 27/07/2009 10:47 AM | 0

• B.C. wine rises from the ashes

  The past couple of weeks have been quite the roller coaster ride for British Columbia wineries. Of course, the wildfires in West Kelowna and surrounding areas have been at the forefront of residents' minds; with highways re-opened and most of the fires contained or extinguished, people are now returning to their homes and trying to get their lives in order.

  What they may not have known is that the equivalent of wine royalty was burning her way through the region on her first ever trip to the Okanagan Valley. British wine writer/critic Jancis Robinson has been working her way through some North American wine regions, and arrived in the Okanagan late Monday for a whirlwind tour and tastings.

  View Full Post | 23/07/2009 1:16 PM | 0

• Merl-Oh! Canada

  It's been a little quiet on the blog front for me as of late - having this second child around has made life somewhat chaotic. 

  Anyhow, just a quick note to let you know what is and isn't open tomorrow re: buying wine, beer and spirits:

  View Full Post | 30/06/2009 4:05 PM | 0

• Getting Fest-ive with wine

  

  Enlarge Image 

  Winnipeg Free Press wine columist Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson (left) gets a firsthand look at the Grant's Whisky Microsoft Surface with company representative Kendall Bishop (center) and Vanessa Kunderman at the Madison Square MLCC location. Microsoft Surface is an interactive surface computing platform that provides access to digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. (JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB)

  First off, I picked up a bottle of the Cono Sur 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been discontinued in Manitoba and is currently on sale for about $9. Very much worth it - in fact, I may pick up a few bottles and use it as the "house wine" for the time being...

  I just finished a column for next Saturday's column about the economic troubles winemakers have been facing in conjunction with the downturn/recession/whatever you call it, so it was with some curiosity that I attended a tasting of some pretty premium wines courtesy of Moët Hennessy.

  View Full Post | 12/06/2009 2:43 PM | 0

• Out with the old, in (and out) with the new

  Well, it's been a while since I last blogged... my absence is mainly due to the "in (and out) with the new" part of this blog's title — namely, the arrival of our son Owen one week ago. He (and Frances, our 2.5-year-old daughter) have been keeping my hands full, both literally and figuratively. But, of course, it's totally worth it. Moving right along...

  ***

  View Full Post | 11/06/2009 3:22 PM | 0

• Wine on Wheels

  Well, I guess I was "scooped" by Free Press columnist Gordon Sinclair Jr. on the Independent Specialty Wine Stores of Manitoba's fall wine event called Wine Stage Manitoba. As he mentioned in his column

  I'm working on a few "scoops" of my own, but if there's anything you think I should know about (be it wine, beer, spirits, or anything else drinkable), send me an email — uncorked@mts.net — and/or if you'd like, follow me on Twitter — www.twitter.com/WFPuncorked

  View Full Post | 28/05/2009 2:50 PM | 0

• Winnipeg Wine Festival wrap-up, etc.

  First of all, a quick note that Liquor Marts are open Saturday and Sunday (regular hours) but closed on Monday, most private wine stores will have regular weekend hours Saturday and Sunday and holiday hours on Monday, and beer vendors... well, who knows - they'll probably be open Monday, at least for holiday hours. After all, the next round of NHL playoffs start on Sunday...

  So there's been a bit of a delay in getting my weekend-recap blog up and posted, not the least of which was the need to step away from the wine stuff for a couple of days. After seven consecutive evenings of wine fest-related activities (coming after working my day job), I was a week behind on home/family/email stuff that needed to be dealt with. Ahem. Sorry 'bout that.

  View Full Post | 15/05/2009 10:40 AM | 0

• Winnipeg Wine Fest, Day 3

  A favourite among Winnipeg Wine Festival attendees, the Wines From Spain: Grape Stomp was moved from the Delta Winnipeg's Blaze Bistro to one of the hotel's ballrooms to accommodate more people. As a result, it was a less sweaty, elbow-to-elbow affair than previous years. I liked the frenetic feel of the event in Blaze Bistro, but as a whole I think the larger room works better.

  The stomping itself happened halfway through the night, with a fine effort put in by both teams (made up of local media personalities and Special Olympics athletes). The Winnipeg Free Press' own Gary Lawless and Doug Speirs performed admirably, although Doug might have bit off (or chugged back) more than he could chew/gulp when he "volunteered" to drink a glass of the freshly-crushed grape juice...