Uncorked now old enough to legally have a drink

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2023 (1025 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In November 2005, a relatively fresh-faced (if already balding) 30-year-old penned his first wine column for the Winnipeg Free Press — which means Uncorked, if it were a human, would now be of legal drinking age in Manitoba.

After a decade working at Winnipeg private wine stores to help pay my way through university, I was contacted by longtime pal (and now Free Press arts and life editor) Jill Wilson about whether I knew anyone who might want to take over the weekly wine column, or if I might want to do it myself. Obviously, I chose the latter — who wouldn’t?

For the next eight years, I’d pen Uncorked on evenings and weekends while working full time at other jobs. These days I pen it at my desk in the Free Press newsroom — although the sampling still happens at home — where I’ve worked full time (first as web editor and now as literary editor) since 2013.

The recent-ish explosion of craft breweries, brew pubs, distilleries, cideries, meaderies and even wineries added a whole new element to Uncorked, to the point where I refer to it as a drinks column rather than a wine column.

In 2005, Fort Garry was the only local brewery in town, while Killarney’s Rigby Orchards was producing fruit wines. Half Pints Brewing Co. joined the fray in 2006, followed by Farmery near Neepawa. Then in 2014-15, the amount of red tape involved in opening breweries and the like was reduced; today there are more than two dozen craft producers of beer, etc. in the province. Their output of made-in-Manitoba products is such that at least one column a month focuses on local craft beer and other drinks — and that’s not enough to keep up.

The last 18 years have seen drinks festivals take off in Winnipeg and beyond. COVID years notwithstanding, the Winnipeg Wine Festival, Flatlander’s Beer Festival and Winnipeg Whisky Festival have grown steadily, with rural events expanding as well. Newer events such as Ballpark Brewfest at Blue Cross Park (formerly Shaw Park) and the Winnipeg Beer Festival speak to the enthusiasm that remains for locally made craft beer.

Uncorked has also provided me the chance to meet (and taste) with winemakers, winery owners, export managers and such when they’ve come through town — and on their home turf. Wine travel has taken me to wine-growing regions in a dozen countries on four continents, meeting fascinating people from wineries big and small. I’ve ridden up the side of a mountain in the back of a flatbed truck in Chile, crammed a tuxedo in my suitcase for a black-tie Riesling event in Germany, been delivered to a Niagara winery by helicopter and pruned vines in Napa Valley, Australia’s Barossa Valley and beyond.

From winery tank samples to 100-year-old fortified wine and everything in between, there have been some truly special sips among the hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of products I taste every year.

But events closer to home have been just as educational and a heck of a lot of fun as well. Just a month into writing Uncorked, I tasted through a holiday-dinner-themed collection of Jones sodas (including turkey and Brussels sprouts flavours) with Free Press columnist Doug Speirs, which was memorable (and disgusting).

Beyond wine, beer and spirits, I’ve done water tastings, slush tastings, gas-station-coffee tastings and, more than once, have been sent out to sample the world’s tipples at Folklorama pavilions. (Only once, however, did it result in my doing tipsy karaoke.)

Last year I helped make a beer at Nonsuch Brewing Co. for the Free Press’s 150 anniversary. It was far more successful than when I tried my hand at home winemaking many years prior when I made a Pinot Noir from juice from Oregon via a wine kit. It was awful (I blame the winemaker).

I still have one bottle of the stuff, dubbed the 2007 Frances Grace Estates Pinot Noir, named after my daughter, who was born the same year I made it. I plan on opening the bottle and subjecting her to it in 2025, when they both turn 18.

And while I’m far less fresh-faced (and even more follically challenged) than when I started writing Uncorked 18 years ago, I’m no less excited about what’s to come. Thanks for all your emails, questions, criticisms and corrections over the years — keep them coming.

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Drinks of the week

In honour of 18 years of Uncorked, here’s a trio of drinks from my earlier years that are still kicking around today.

Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery NV Blouberg (South Africa — around $12, Kenaston Wine Market)

A 60-20-20 blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Cape Riesling (the Crouchen grape — not to be confused with regular Riesling), this South African white wine was wildly popular when I worked at Kenaston Wine Market (from 1999 to 2005) and has recently returned to the market. It’s pale straw in colour and aromatically brings ripe green apple, peach, a hint of honey and spice. It’s off-dry, light-bodied and comes with a hint of spritz, ramping up the crunchy green and red apple notes with bright lemon and lime flavours helped along by medium acidity and an almost-chalky note. Still fresh, fun and tasty for the price, which seems practically unchanged in 18 years. 3.5/5

Rosemount 2021 Diamond Label Shiraz (South Australia — $16.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

I first encountered this Aussie red while working at Fenton’s Wine Merchants in the mid-1990s; it would regularly get high scores in Wine Spectator magazine (which for a then-$13 red was a big deal). It’s inky garnet in colour and aromatically offers interesting leather and iron notes alongside the core of ripe cherries and raspberries. It’s medium-plus bodied and dry, with a notable vanilla/spice component from oak (or reasonable facsimile) that brings plushness to the very ripe red fruit flavours. Doesn’t over-deliver like it once did, although it’s still decent for the price. 3/5

Half Pints Brewing Co. Stir Stick Stout (Winnipeg —$4.29/473ml cans, brewery, beer vendors, Liquor Marts)

Deep cola in colour, this coffee-infused stout was one of Half Pints’ first core pours and is still going strong. Deep espresso and roasted malt notes show well aromatically, as do vanilla and mocha notes. It’s medium-bodied and off-dry, bringing mocha roasted malt, espresso and subtle spice notes, modest hops and a medium-length finish. Still a stalwart stout — very tasty. 4/5

 

uncorked@mts.net

@bensigurdson