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Happy Thanksgiving, wine lovers!

This was shot at Fairview Cellars on Oliver, BC’s Golden Mile Bench, South Okanagan.

WineCollective members, we have a task for you. Don’t worry, no homework involved and no wrong answers! All we want you to do is enjoy a bottle of wine, and tell us about it.

Let us know what wine you served with your turkey, ham or tofurkey for Thanksgiving. Share your stories on Facebook, Twitter or as a comment on the wine in your WineCollective account. All contributions submitted between October 5th to October 9th will be entered into a draw to receive your November shipment for free. Now that’s something to be thank-ful for!

You aren’t a WineCollective member? Sign-up now and you can still be entered to win when you share your Thanksgiving wine-of-choice.

Need some help selecting the perfect wine to bring to the in-laws, or what to pour for your guests? Check-out some suggested bottles and basics to turkey pairing from WineCollective.

Photo credit: Judy Bishop – The Travelling Eye

 


Cheers to SpierHead, winner of best new winery!

It is quite obvious that we at WineCollective LOVE wine, and everything about wine! We are passionate about discovering new, and unique wines from all over the world. We also love sharing all kinds of wine news with our members, especially when we get the chance to congratulate one of our favourite B.C. producers.

SpierHead Winery in East Kelowna, has won the honour of 2012’s Best New Winery of the Year presented by the Okanagan Wine Festivals Awards.  Along with this great accomplishment, SpierHead also won silver and bronze medals for several of their wines. The 2010 Pinot Noir was awarded a silver medal, the 2010 Chardonnay and the 2010 Pursuit both received bronze. Many more of our BC favourites were also recognized.

SpierHead’s Riesling has also received great acclaim, and is worth picking-up if you can find it. Western Living listed SpierHead as one of six new wineries to visit. On a recent visit to SpierHead I learnt the unfortunate news that most of their single varietals, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon are sold out. You can still purchase the popular blends, Pursuit and Vanguard as well as their Pinot Noir at the winery.

Hard at work, sampling the fruits of SpierHead’s labour. Note that all the photography and artwork by co-owners Brian Sprout and Virginia Stanton is available for purchase. Photo credit: Judy Bishop- The Travelling Eye

If you have the chance to visit SpierHead, I highly recommend stopping by.  They are located in Kelowna, and have a beautiful setting and picnic area to enjoy while the weather is still accomodating. The tasting room staff are delightful and full of great information on the area and wines, of course.

I can’t forget to mention, the most important member of the SpierHead family, Corky. Corky is the winery dog, who even has a wine made in his honour (only available upon visit to the tasting room)! No visit to SpierHead is complete without playing “chip and fetch” with any golfers’ best friend; Corky will retrieve golf balls pitched into the field on SpierHeads property.

Corky, the most talented, golf ball-fetching winery dog in the Okanagan.

If you aren’t lucky enough to visit SpierHead this year, make sure to visit them online. You can join the SpierHead Winery Wine Club and start receiving shipments from the Okanagan’s Best New Winery of the Year!

Bill Knutson, co-owner of SpierHead, and myself enjoying the August weather in the shade of the winery. Photo credit: Judy Bishop- The Travelling Eye.

Why we love Spanish wines

WineCollective has grown an affinity for Spanish wines, and for good reasons. We have found a trend in Spanish wines, affordable prices that over-deliver on quality. Not only are we discovering great values, but there are both wines with some ageing potential and ones that are ready-to-drink now at around $20.

What does Spain have that other mass producers don’t? Unlike other international producers that export a majority of their “ready-to-drink” table wines to North America, Spanish wines contain native varietals, are produced at less tonnes per acre than most, and come from quality, old-er vines. Richard Jennings of RJ on Wine notes that, “Spanish wines are not only great bargains, they are also ideally suited to the American palate.” Spanish wines tend to be approachable and are versatile for food-pairing.

Spain is the world’s third largest producer, and has more land under vine than any other, yet has not sacrificed quality in their high-volume production. Also, Spain has stayed true to varietals that are producing exceptional fruit in the region rather than concede to produce mainstream grapes starting with “C” as Bill St. John says in Uncorked: Spain conquers.

Wine Access has listed some recommend Spanish wines that are available in Canada. WineCollective is showcasing some of our favourite Spanish wines in our September packages too.  Don’t worry if you missed out this month, there will definitely be more Spanish wines in WineCollective’s future!

 

 


Wine Folly has us jolly!

Wine Folly is a great site that educates on everything wine. Not only do they educate through their interesting blog posts, but you can take wine courses online through them. WineCollective is blown away with the site, from how unique their posts are to how informative and intuitive their website is.

You could potentially spend hours reading their blog and filling your mind with useful information on wine. Check out their post about How to Choose a Bottle of Wine, so fun and enlightening. One blog post that is really interesting is the post on the Red Wine Headache, aka the RWH.

 

I am sure, if you have ever experienced this, you know exactly what they are talking about, the RWH is unfortunately renowned! Wine Folly explains simple steps to eliminate or lower the chances of that notorious “RWH”. The most practical way to avoid the RWH is to drink a glass of water with every glass of wine. Wine is so dehydrating, it isn’t the wine pounding in your head, it is the lack of water. Like Wine Folly says, “its easy to forget because you are drinking already”.

Anyways, this blog post could turn into a novel with how great Wine Folly is! Check it out, grow your knowledge on wine and have fun doing it!



Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life

The Scotiabank AIDS Walk has been raising awareness and funds in support of the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Calgary area since 1994. Over the past 17 years, over $1 350 000 has been raised  for AIDS Calgary Awareness Association (ACAA). ACAA was created to address the real needs of those individuals who were living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

On September 23rd, over 700 people will be participating in the 2012 Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life. Team Klinck (Jennifer Klinck, Sheldon Harris and Scott Westgard) will be one of many groups participating in the walk and showing their support. 2012 is Team Klinck’s 2nd year fundraising for the AIDS Walk, last year raising over $6 000!

This year WineCollective and Tannic was invited to join one of Team Klinck’s fundraisers. The evening was a great success, with a copious amount of wine and Original 16 beer from Great Western Brewing. It was great to see so much support from local eateries and companies, silent auction items were provided by Alloy, Yardhouse, Teatro, GolfTEC and many more!

   

We were more than happy to offer a WineCollective and Tannic package for the bidding table, and enjoy the night with some great people. You can also support Team Klinck’s goal of matching their donation last year, visit their team page at AIDS Walk for Life.

 


Responsible Drinkers Are Happier People, Study Claims

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just when you think it’s not possible to love wine even more, Wine Spectator posts an alluring study, “Drinking alcohol in a consistent, responsible manner is linked to an overall improvement in health and well-being”. Could this give us just another excuse to enjoy wine? Yes, but responsibly, of course! Along with the health benefits of wine, people who drank sensibly “also reported feeling happier and had fewer complaints compared to non drinkers and former drinkers”

Also, interestingly enough nzherald.co.nz posted an article around the topic of wine being good for you and pokes at the idea of how “wine’s social aspect could also be health-giving.”

Maybe it does have to do with the social aspect because in reality, “how often do you use wine as a means to relax, improve your mental state, rest or improve interaction with other people?” as put by nzherald.co.nz.

Either way, why not share good health and give WineCollective as a gift!

 

 


No Corkscrew, No Worries

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wikihow.com has great ways to open that wonderful bottle of vino without a corkscrew. And in all honestly, how useful! How many times have we been stranded out camping or on vacation and we don’t have a corkscrew.

It seems funny how it is so easy to forget that corkscrew but we never forget the wine! Wiki describes many ways to open a wine bottle but I think the most convenient and easiest way is the “Hit Method”:

  1. Wrap the bottom of the wine bottle with a towel and place phone book (probably any soft book) against a wall or tree.
  2. Hit the bottom of the bottle against the wall or tree.
  3. The cork should have partially come out, then remove it with your hands.

Some of their other suggestions include: cheap wire coat hanger, 2 paperclips and a pen, finding a bicycle hook, leather bootlace, corn on the cob holder and 5 nails & a hammer. Check it out here, or even let WineCollective know if you have your own way without a corkscrew!


From Italy to Calgary with Wine!

All around the world people took part in Donnafugata’s Night Harvest. We couldn’t have been more pleased to have shared in this invite among BonVida Wines,  WineCollectiveTannic and everyone who stopped by to take part in this worldwide event. People here at the office and those following online got to see a harvesting up close and personal, with the winemakers, Antonio and Josè Rallo!

We were very lucky to have Mark Bata here from BonVida Wines pouring the impecable wines and sharing all his knowledge about Donnafugata. It was a great night with great food and wine! Thanks to everyone who came out!

 


Bartier Bros. Tasting @ Avec

WineCollective was invited to Avec Bistro for an afternoon of wine and hors d’oeuvres hosted by Plaid Cap Imports.  We sampled the Bartier Bros. line-up alongside delicious canapés of gravlax and a selection of cheese.

Bartier Bros vines are located in the Okanagan Valley and the wines are produced out of the Okanagan Crush Pad in Summerland. Brothers Don and Michael grew up in the Okanagan, they have great knowledge and respect for the Valley, and have proven to be able to produce some outstanding wines from the land.

My personal favourite is their Semillon, it was previously featured on Tannic.ca, but only to members. It has intense, clean flavours, mineral complexity and bright acidity. The Cowboy, a unique blend of Schonberger and Sauvignon Blanc, was an obvious perfect selection for Stampede, if you could find it! Only 255 cases were produced and currently is available at Avec Bistro, and sold at Willow Park, Wine Ink, Highlander and few other boutique shops.

 

 

 


Facebook Contest Winner

WineCollective would like to congratulate Kayla G., on winning our Facebook Photo Contest. Kayla G.’s photo “Relax&UnWind” was selected as a finalist and then went on to receive the most votes to win $150 to WineCollective!

We couldn’t have been more impressed with the photos that were submitted and we would like to thank everyone for participating, either by submitting a photo or voting for their favourite!

Remember, you can like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter to stay in the loop with everything that has to do with WineCollective.


Savvy Summer Sister

Finally, here in Calgary we have entered into summer and it’s a hot one! Calgary is not alone, across Canada people have been feeling the heat.

WineCollective has a cure for the heat and you can look for it in our August packages. It is the perfect time to break out from under that sheltered rock and try a Rosé, the “sophisticated summer sister” to red wines! Not only is Rosé refreshing and thirst-quenching, but it should be served chilled. Perfect to sip while either escaping the heat or loving the heat! Or as put by NJ.com, “Rosé wines is one way to muzzle the heat.”

Rosés come from many different red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir, Grenache, Syrah, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Rosés show beautiful tones and colors from coral orange to a sassy dark pink, depending on how long the skins of the grapes are exposed to the juices.

Sitting on the patio seems like the natural way to sip away on Rosé! And why not, Rosés are at the top of the list when it comes to versatility with food pairings.  Match it up and switch it up, rosé is great for BBQ and patio food- from burgers and fries, to kabobs and watermelon salad.

If we haven’t won you over yet listen to this, “Rosé wine sales are on the rise as savvy wine lovers have discovered that many of these pink wines are not sugary sweet wines but rather sophisticated summer sisters of many red wine varietals”, as put by Stacey Slinkard from about.com.

Still need convincing? How about this from wine expert Lysanne Tusar, “Rosé has always been the go-to drink of choice throughout wine regions in Europe in the summer. It’s also quite diverse in food pairing options.” Tusar also states in the Huffington Post, “Rosé is very easy all by itself, it doesn’t get better than drinking a chilled rosé on the patio in the summer heat!”

This summer, enjoy the heat and enjoy Rosé because before you know it summer will be gone!


Vote for your favourite photo on Facebook

We have selected the finalists for our Facebook Contest. All they need now is your votes in order to win $150 from WineCollective. It only takes a few seconds, so show your support for your favourite photo.

  1. Visit our Facebook page
  2. Go to the contests section
  3. Select ‘Vote Now’
  4. Or, simply click here.

You can only vote once per day, so keep checking back and voting for your favourite photo! Or even better, share the photo on your wall and have your friends vote as well.

Good luck to all the finalists!