Plenty in the wine, beer aisles for Father’s Day toasts

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This article was published 18/06/2022 (1544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If dads were judged solely by whether or not they were around on Father’s Day, I’d certainly not be anywhere near the top of the good list.

The last two pandemic years aside, I almost always end up spending the day with a couple of dozen other folks in Canada’s wine industry judging at the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada which, this year, is being held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. For five consecutive days — starting at 8:30 a.m. Sunday — I’ll be tasting between 250 and 300 of the 2,000-plus Canadian wines entered in the competition.

As such, my Father’s Day beverage of choice will certainly be Canadian. Perhaps, if it was entered in the competition, it will be the Lakeview Cellars 2019 Serenity Pinot Noir Rosé (Niagara Peninsula, Ont. — $17.99, Liquor Marts and beyond). It’s a pale orange-pink wine, made predominantly from Pinot Noir but with 10 per cent Gamay and five per cent Chardonnay Musqué thrown into the mix. There are plenty of peach and raspberry candy aromas as well as subtle strawberry and watermelon notes. It’s mainly dry and light-plus bodied on the palate, with the peach and raspberry notes bringing a hint of sweetness before the strawberry flavours kick in on the modest finish. Simple and fun, and decent for the price while it’s just $15.99 until the end of June. 3/5

For those whose beer-loving dads will be around this weekend, some local breweries have pulled together Father’s Day packages your pop is likely to love. Nonsuch Brewing Co., for example, has put together a Father’s Day craft beer package that includes their Italian grape ale, lambic, goji berry sour, craft pilsner and apricot hefeweizen. The package is $70 plus taxes and can be ordered for pickup at wfp.to/nonsuchdad, or pop into the taproom and try your luck and see whether they have any left.

Of those brews I tried the Nonsuch Brewing Co. Lambic (Winnipeg — $17/750ml bottle, brewery, Liquor Marts and select beer vendors), a Belgian-style brew which spent five months in barrels formerly used to make pineau des charentes, a fortified aperitif from western France. It’s orange-copper and hazy in appearance, and aromatically brings upfront stone fruit (think peach and nectarine) with subtle woody and saline notes. There’s a lot going on here flavour-wise — it’s dry and fairly tart, with sour stone fruit flavours coming with a funky, yeasty note, some hints of wood and, despite the modest 4.8 per cent alcohol, a long and complex finish. Dads with adventurous palates, take note. 4/5

Farmery Estate Brewing Co. also have a few Father’s Day mixed-lot beer packages available, and featured in a couple of them is the Farmery Strong Lager (Neepawa — $2.98/473ml can, brewery, Liquor Marts, beer vendors). It’s medium gold in colour and slightly hazy in appearance, and aromatically brings sweet malt and corn notes front and centre, with some apple in there as well. Flavour-wise it offers more of the same, with a slightly sweet edge, and lands at eight per cent alcohol, delivering much more of a kick than Farmery’s other core offerings. While it’s probably a bit too boozy for Dad to quaff after mowing the lawn, it might be nice to sip while grilling in the backyard. 2.5/5

If Dad prefers wine, some of Winnipeg’s private wine stores have got you covered when it comes to gift baskets. Kenaston Wine Market’s “Dad’s a Superhero” basket, for example, contains a bottle of the Hope’s End brandy barrel-aged Cabernet Sauvignon, Smak Dab beer chipotle mustard, a whisky-and-spice marmalade from Flora & Farmer and a Corksicle 12-ounce stemless cup with the Marvel superhero theme of your choice (hence the name of the basket). It’s $75 and is available in store and online at kenastonwine.com.

De Luca Fine Wines, meanwhile, has a range of gift baskets for Dad from $85 and up. The “#1 Dad” basket is $133 plus taxes and features two bottles of wine as well as a pile of gourmet treats. You can see all the store’s Father’s Day options at delucafinewines.com.

One of the wines in the aforementioned basket is the Back Story 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (California — $19.99, De Luca Fine Wines). There’s a solid hit of cassis on the nose that comes with menthol, blackberry and herbal aromas. It’s dry and medium-plus bodied, but the fruit is ripe and plush, with plum, blueberry, cassis and cherry front and centre. The 13 per cent alcohol is just right, while the tannins and fruit might be a bit too soft for those dads who prefer bigger, grippier reds. Still, it’s not bad for the price and would work decently with burgers. 3/5

Liquor Marts have a whole pile of new spirits brought in for the Winnipeg Whisky Festival, and while the new stuff is dwindling in quantity, there are still loads of whiskies out there for Dad. A new discovery for me (but not new to the province) at the fest was the Highland Park Viking Honour 12-year-old (Orkney Islands, Scotland — $34.99/350ml or $69.29/750ml bottle, Liquor Marts). It’s medium gold in colour, leads with caramel notes and follows with spice, saline, almond and orange peel aromas and that underlying peaty note that brings it all together. A peppery component joins the fun on the light-plus bodied palate, and the subtly smoky, peaty note isn’t overpowering, but rather brings complexity to the saline, herbal and malty notes before the long, warm finish (it’s 43 per cent alcohol). Very well done, and the higher-end Highland Park offerings are equally delicious/enticing.

uncorked@mts.net
Twitter: @bensigurdson