Cognac Under The Hammer For Charity 26 Unique Cognacs To Be Auctioned in 7th Annual La Part des Anges Auction Solidarity and generosity will be the watchwords for the seventh annual La Part des Anges Cognac charity auction, to be held on Thursday September 20th, 2012, at the magnificent 17th Century Château Chesnel on the banks of the Charente River, near Cognac. Since 2005, the Part des Anges charity auction has become an important date in every Cognac lover’s calendar, not only as an opportunity to acquire exceptional and unique bottles, donated by Cognac houses, but also to share in an event that brings together all of the players in Cognac production – cellar masters, growers, distillers, coopers and glass makers.    26 Legendary Lots The Part des Anges auction has become one of France’s biggest and most prestigious charity auctions. Over the past six years it has raised €300,000 for charity, and hopes are high that last year’s highest bid of €15,000 will be topped. 26 bottles, all chosen for their exceptional quality and rarity, will make up the sale. Many are unique and in stunning presentation carafes created especially for the auction. Click here to view the 2012 La Part des Anges catalog: www.lapartdesanges.cognac.fr 2012 proceeds will benefit the Order of Malta - France Proceeds from the Part des Anges 2012 auction will again go entirely to the Order of Malta, France. Founded some 900 years ago, the organization is involved in running hospices and humanitarian aid projects all over the world to combat poverty, disparity and sickness. The Order of Malta France includes 1,500 professionals, mainly from the world of medicine, and some 4,200 regular volunteers. For Thierry de Beaumont-Beynac, President of the Order of Malta, France, “Solidarity is an aspect of generosity that brings hope to those in suffering and hardship […] The generosity of all those who take part in La Part des Anges has enabled The Order of Malta to refurbish our Rochefort centre for the seriously handicapped, which, in turn, has vastly improved and expanded the facilities for the people we welcome there.” For more information on the Order of Malta, France: www.ordredemaltefrance.org www.cognac.fr

*LOCAL FOOD AND WINE *

TWITTER.COM/LOCALFOODWINE

FACEBOOK/LOCALFOODANDWINE

Follow us On Tumblr  * Follow Us On Twitter * Like Us On Facebook

Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc 2009 We are excited to announce that we won the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in BC Wines for our Cabernet Franc 2009! On July 26, 2012, the honourable Steven Point and 35 members of the Vancouver Consul Corps visited Poplar Grove to present us with this esteemed award.   A big congratulations to Ian Sutherland, Stefan Arnason & Nadine Allander, our winemaking dream team!   The Cabernet Franc was set be released on September 1, 2012… but due to popular demand we have released it a little early. The wine is now available in the tasting room or order here online.  Dropping Our Tailgates Once Again   The Naramata Bench Wineries are dropping their tailgates on Saturday, September 8th for the Okanagan wine party of the season. It’s our let-your-hair down, pop-some-corks and have a lot of fun event. This year will be a bigger and better event than ever before. That’s right, in additionto 21 wineries pouring their wines, there will be great food; live music by Shane Philips; dancing; and a Salmon Showdown featuring some of the Okanagan’s best chefs.  And if that is not enough, there is also an after party, the Super Gate, which picks up where Tailgate leaves off, but only 100 tickets are available. Think of it as a VIP after-party with our winemakers, winery owners and guest chefs. There will be an oyster bar, exclusive and elusive wines to taste, and more food and music.      Tickets Main Event Tickets: 5:30 - 8:00 PM  ~ $89. Super Gate Tickets: 5:30 - 10 PM  ~  $155. includes After Party.   For more info and tickets: www.naramatabench.com / 1-800-663-1900 Would the biggest wine bottle in the cellar please step forward?     The Poplar Grove wine making team is going to test the age-old adage that bigger is always better! A limited number of magnums and 3 litre bottles are being made for wine lovers who are looking for celebration wines or special additions to their cellars.    The magnums of Poplar Grove Merlot and Poplar Grove Legacy will be available in time for this holiday season.  Wine Club members will find these party size bottles in the online Wine Club cellar, right next to the other bottles of back vintage, sold out and limited release wines! Tomatoes from our vineyard garden are on the menu   This year Vanilla Pod’s Chef Bruno Terroso and Poplar Grove’s Viticulturist, Valeria Tait teamed up to plant heirloom tomatoes in the garden just behind the winery.  Valeria was excited about this joint project saying, “we are using the garden as an indicator of what kind of farming year it will be for the estate vineyards.  If it is a great year for tomato vines then it will generally be a great year for grape vines”.    Valeria planted a total of 80 heirloom tomato cultivars and though we lost a few with two unexpected cold snaps, we still have 53 gorgeous plants to harvest from in the coming month. Chef Bruno is looking forward to working with fresh out of the garden tomatoes as these are one of his favorite foods to play with “just add a little extra virgin olive oil, basil and a sprinkling of sea salt and you have a dish that tastes like more”.   For reservations at the Vanilla Pod Restaurant at Poplar Grove call 250 494 8222 or email vanillapod@shaw.ca Copyright © 2012 Poplar Grove Winery, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Poplar Grove Winery 425 Middle Bench Road N Penticton, BC V2A8S5 Canada @LocalFoodWine

*LOCAL FOOD AND WINE *

TWITTER.COM/LOCALFOODWINE

FACEBOOK/LOCALFOODANDWINE

Follow us On Tumblr  * Follow Us On Twitter * Like Us On Facebook

by Paige Donner

First published as Philipponnat Champagne’s Clos des Goisses on Technorati.

Very few families, even in France’s historic Champagne region, can date their ancestral roots in the region as far back as 500 years. The family of Philipponnat, namesake of the champagne, is one of these rarities. Not only are they still in the region where their ancestors settled in 1522, they are still in the small village of Mareuil-sur-Ay. It’s also how they came up with their prestige cuvées name “1522.” A few vinification traditions this house respects that have great bearing on their champagnes:

Full Picture Gallery ON  ♥Chérie Du Vin -  You will LOVE my wine picks! 

• Philipponnat uses only the first press juice for vinification
• Moderate dosage
• Mostly Pinot Noir grapes during blending
• Barrel-fermented wines (which is not the total amount of the must) do not undergo malolactic fermentation
• Slightly delayed harvests for their Pinot Noir grapes to achieve optimal maturity

Balance is key. Balance of freshness and acidity are the hallmarks of the house, headed today by Charles Philipponnat who is aided by cellar master Thierry Garnier and vineyard manager Claude Laurent. As many of the best winemakers will tell you, their belief, and practice, is that good oenology means as little manipulation as possible. So their vinification methods are as natural as they can maintain them. During fermentation they keep temperatures “deliberately low.” For the oak barrels they do use, mostly so that specifically designated juice can be in contact with oxygen when aging, they source from Burgundy and choose barrels which are usually 1-2 years old.

Their historic 18th c. cellars, upon which the fairly recent (2002) winery was built in Mareuil- sur-Ay so as to be closer to their crown jewel vineyard, the Clos des Goisses, are actually the historic cellars of the former Château de Mareuil. This means that during harvest, the prime Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes growing in the 5 ½ ha. Clos des Goisses and Le Léon reach the Philipponnat pressoirs within hours and after very little - in some cases less than a kilometer - of transport. Walking past the Clos, you can actually see, from a cutout of the steep hillside, the depth of the famous chalky soils. 

As a connoisseur, you can’t go wrong with a Philipponnat champagne. A few tasting highlights follow:

Grand Blanc; 75% Chardonnay, this is made exclusively from the best Premier and Grand Cru vineyards. It is an exceptional champagne in the Phillipponnat portfolio in that it resembles a Blanc de Blancs and exhibits what the Champenois call a “creamy” texture. Try it with lobster, langoustine, scallops, seafood.

1522 Grand Cru; Blended from the very best of the first press Pinot Noir (60%) and Chardonnay (40%) juice. Only a third of the usual Brut dosage for champagne, this one, at 4.5 gr. sugar per liter, is expansive with excellent balance of acidity. This fine-palate champagne can pair with meals of fish and seafood, or, to be slightly daring, a spicy Tandoori chicken dish. It contrasts with the Clos des Goisses cuvee, “by virtue of a pursuit of balance rather than of great power.”

Clos des Goisses, (2002): Always and only a vintage champagne. Low dosage (4 to 5 gr. sugar) and extended maturing under cork stoppers at the constant cellar temp. of 12C/ 54F. Of the potential 55,000 bottles that could be produced of this from the harvest, only 3,000 to a maximum of 40,000 bottles depending on the year, are ever issued. Only the best grapes, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, from the exceptional vineyard of Clos des Goisses, are used. Vines are average 25 years and older. “A truly great wine before being a champagne.” Best served with truffles, game, caviar, soft cheeses. The 2002 vintage, disgorged in June 2011, has a length to it during which it reveals to you its chalky terroir roots, its days spent in the sunshine up against the Marne River and the non-malolactic fermentation religiously observed for this wine. French wine critics call this “one of the world’s best wines.” Rightfully so.

All photos © Paige Donner

@CherieduVin♥

by Paige Donner

Article first published as OenoPass Champagne France on Technorati.

Just launched last week by France’s Champagne region is the wine tourist friendly OenoPass. Think of it as an amusement park pass that you pre-pay where the attractions are picturesque champagne houses and working wineries as well as Champagne cultural points of interest.

From now until the end of 2012, the OenoPass is also a great bargain. For 50Euros (instead of the regular price of 100Euros) you get 10 ticket coupons which allow you entry, most of them accompanied by a champagne tasting, into all ten participating partner venues.

The idea is at once simple and ingenious. It is best adapted to wine tourists who have a vehicle or access to a vehicle but it’s not essential to have a car. The 10 participating properties such as Champagne de Castellane in Épernay, Cristallerie Royale de Champagne et Musée du cristal in Bayel and the Drappier Champagne Estate in Urville are all along the formal “Route du Champagne” or the beautiful country road route that takes you through the verdant sloping vineyard hillsides of the Champagne Region (known in France as Champagne-Ardenne).

You can also go in for the 5 coupon ticket OenoPass which, too, is good for a whole year from the date of purchase. It normally will sell for 50Euros but until the end of 2012 you can get it for the introductory price of 25Euros. Most cellar visits and tastings in Champagne are priced from about 15Euros each and up so this offers a good incentive and way to do your champagne explorations.

PARTNERS

Other partner wineries and cultural venues participating in the OenoPass for this launch phase are Champagne G.H. Mumm located in Reims, Domaine Pommery and their sister property, Demoiselle, also both located in Reims, as well as Le Phare which is an old lighthouse that an eccentric businessman, Joseph Goulet, built in 1909 in the middle of champagne vineyards in Verzenay to promote his champagne. It ended up being quite the attraction back in the day, then it was abandoned during the war years, but has once again been restored and resurrected as a modern museum paying tribute to the history and techniques of champagne with state-of-the-art audiovisual installations. English is spoken there and at all ten of the partner venues.

As you are touring around this elegant region’s champagne routes, vineyards and estates, be sure to stop for some regional delicacies such as the ham from Reims or “jambon de Reims” which is triple boiled and very tender - the legendary Café du Palais in Reims city center serves a generous slice of it accompanied by Langres cheese. Also further down south French foodies never pass up the opportunity to pick up some Andouillette AAAAA from Troyes. And, of course, there is the emblematic “biscuits rose” or pink cookies dusted with powdered sugar that so perfectly accompany a glass of rosé or blanc de blanc champagne.

Photos c. by Paige Donner 

@LocalFoodAndWine

Vancouver Urban Winery Brings Wine-on-Tap to BC Consumers 

July 17, 2012 - Vancouver, BC - Vancouver’s first commercial urban winery, Vancouver Urban Winery, has officially opened its doors in the historic heart of the city’s Railtown district. The multifunctional 7,700 sqft open-concept space boasts a tasting bar equipped with 36 taps serving a rotating selection of wine-on-tap, a creatively curated retail store, and a fully operational winery that packages, imports and distributes wine for a multitude of brands.

THE TASTING BAR

36 wine taps line the 24-foot custom crafted Douglas fir tasting bar in Vancouver Urban Wineryʼs historic 1920s high-ceilinged building. Staffed by a keen team of wine lovers and sommeliers alike, the tasting bar offers a continuously rotating selection of wines that highlight both international selections and the best of British Columbia. 

Special to Thursday and Friday evenings (or anytime when called ahead) guests are able to enjoy local artisanal food and wine pairings, with each selection being announced via social media on the preceding Wednesday. Wines on-tap are priced at $10 for five one ounce pours, and food and wine pairings are priced between $17 and $25 for five wines paired with five bites. And for those that want to take a taste of the experience home, a creatively curated shop lies within the walls of the Vancouver Urban Winery venue. 

THE TASTY SHOP

A uniquely local experience, Vancouver Urban Wineryʼs retail shop offers a creatively curated selection of artisanal gourmet products, artwork and all things wine. Shoppers can expect to find Beta5 chocolates, Urban Bean coffee, Sea to Sky salts and spices, Fey and Hobbs antipasto and drunken olives, Okanagan Vinegar Brewery selections, as well as bottles of the Vancouver Urban Winery’s own wine label, Roaring Twenties Wine Co. vancouverurbanwinery.com

@LocalFoodAndWine