Provence se prononce

One of the California Wineries I respect the most is Benziger Family Winery. Why? They practice what they preach! Since the mid 90’s Benziger has been a proponent of biodynamic wine making and a leader in the industry. Second, when they say Family Winery they sure mean it! From what I saw on my last visit to their beautiful estate in Sonoma Valley, most of the winery employees are family, all related in one way or another. And the employees that weren’t relatives appeared to be treated like family anyhow.

Biodynamic agriculture is a method of farming that views the land, plants, animals, and everything within the farm as a whole, looking to achieve a healthy balance between all things. Think of it as organic on steroids. Like organic farming, pesticides and other chemicals are forbidden. However, biodynamics takes things a few steps further, harnessing cosmic forces and the earths own life force using techniques that, at first glance, sound downright superstitious. A few examples include planting and harvesting based on astrological cycles and stirring manure preparations in a specific manner to create a vortex in different directions.

I haven’t decided yet whether I entirely believe in all the practices used in biodynamics. The basics (like using cover crops and farm animals to control weeds and maintain vineyards , encouraging indigenous birds and insects to inhabit the vineyard and control pests that can harm vines, using natural manure as fertilizer) that all sounds like a great alternative using chemicals. And you can’t argue with results. In my almost 10 years as a sommelier I have noticed that wines produced using the principals of biodynamics are, more often than not, excellent quality. Whether this is because they are saturated with cosmic love or the practice simply encourages a greater attention to detail, I don’t really care. As long as the wine turns out delicious!

We carry a number of Benziger products at Provence, including their flagship blend, Tribute. Tribute is a Bordeaux styled blend consisting of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with a little Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petite Verdot rounding things out. Our currently available vintage is 2005, which you are unlikely to find anywhere else in Vancouver as we have been hanging on to this gem for a few years. It’s drinking very well right now, with everything in perfect balance. Bold and intense, yet nuanced with a lengthy finish. Expect classic Cabernet notes of cassis and cigar box intermingled with a touch of smoky oak, cocoa and licorice. Excellent with anything meaty. A bottle of Tribute paired with our Beef Tenderloin is the perfect indulgence!

With the weather being as it has been in Vancouver, I think most of us will admit that we have been craving a vacation. While most folks dream getaway includes somewhere warm and tropical, most of my vacation plans revolve around food and wine. When I need to get out of town for a quick trip, the Okanagan or California is usually where I head.

I am lucky enough to have a bit of family in the San Francisco area, and even luckier that one cousin, Sabrine, happens to be a winemaker. A couple of years ago I decided to take a week off and check out Wrath, the winery she works for. She was kind enough to agree to have me tag along during the busiest part of her year, when grapes are being harvested, crushed, and transformed into wine.

As the trip approached, I began to feel nervous. At that time, Wrath wines were not yet being imported into Canada and I had never tried anything she had made. What if they were terrible? Could I look her in the eye and lie to her face if I didn’t enjoy her wines? I am a terrible liar so I started thinking of nice ways to let her down easy if I wasn’t a fan of the wines she was making.

Thankfully, I never had to use any of my creatively worded apologies. The wines from Wrath are fantastic, even better than I was hoping! I liked them so much that I convinced them to start exporting into Canada. We now have a few examples of these great wines on the list at Provence.

One of my favorites on offer at Provence is the Wrath ‘San Saba Vineyard’ Pinot Noir. From what I saw when visiting, I have an inkling that Pinot Noir is one of Sabrines favorite varietals to work with. I also learned that winemaking is not nearly as glamorous or romantic as one might think. It is hard and messy work with long hours. I spent most of my time trying to keep up as she ran around the winery tending to many different tasks.

The San Saba Vineyard is the estate vineyard located on the same beautiful land as the winery and tasting room. Wrath is located at the base of the Santa Lucia highlands, about a half hour drive from Monterey. I fondly recall wandering through the rows of grapes with Sabrine tasting the Chardonnay, which she said wasn`t quite ready to harvest, but I thought it was delicious as a snack!

The `San Saba Vineyard` Pinot Noir is bold and ripe. The color is fairly light, considering the intensity of the wine in the glass. The nose is complex, with juicy berry fruit meeting earthy mushroom tones, a touch of rhubarb, vanilla, and smoky oak. The palate is juicy with great acidity and mild tannin. Many of the aromas on the nose are reflected in the glass; plenty of berry, vanilla, and smoke plus touches of licorice and herbaceous notes. The oak influence shows well on the length.

As with many new world Pinot Noirs, this is a very versatile wine for food pairing. Light enough for richer fish like salmon, bold enough for most meats. I think this would show best paired with our Grilled Duck Breast or an appetizer of Toulouse and Truffle Sausage.

Cheers!
Rachelle

One of the things I like most about working with wine is that there is always more to learn. There is something kind of exciting about tasting a wine I’ve never tried before, especially when it is made from a grape that I’ve never even heard of. So, I was thrilled when our sommelier, Rod, brought in this interesting bot
tle, Le Plan-Vermeersch Aramon.

Aramon is a grape I had never heard of so I immediately pulled out a couple of the bulky reference books I keep at work just for these situations. Here is what I learned; Aramon was popular in the late 1800’s in the south of France, particularly the region of Languedoc. It has the ability to produce generous crops and was valued for that. However, when grown in this manner it tended to produce wines that were light in color and lacking in character. In wine, as with most things in life, quantity and quality seldom coexist.

Aramon grows best in hot regions. It buds early and ripens late, so an early winter or late spring frost can destroy a vintage. It definitely wouldn’t survive in BC’s unpredictable climate!

The next step was a Google search of the winery that chose to work with this obscure varietal. Le Plan-Vermeersch is a fairly new winery located in the Rhone Valley. They produce primarily classic Rhone and Chateauneuf-du-Pape varietals such as Syrah, Grenache and Carignan. They grow organically and do most things by hand or even by foot (in the case of pressing grapes). In the vineyards, the vines are pruned and trained to keep yields low in order to produce wines with more concentration and depth of character.

The final (and best) step was to taste! At first glance, the wine had a nice color concentration, hinting that it may be a bit bolder than the classically thin examples I had been reading about. A quick sniff revealed pronounced aromas of ripe cherry fruit and savory smoky notes on the nose. The palate was pleasing, medium bodied with just a touch of tannin and plenty of ripe fruit character. There is a great savory note running through this wine, reminiscent of herbs and smoked meats. Smoke and black pepper balance quite nicely with cherry and plum flavors.

This style of wine pairs very well with many menu items at Provence. It’s light enough to handle bolder seafood dishes, like our delicious Seafood Linguine. The savory tones would be a great pairing with Rack of Lamb and it’s got just enough oomph to balance the rich yet delicate flavors in our addictive Mushroom Ravioli. It’s the perfect bottle to share when everyone at the table has ordered something different.

Cheers!
Rachelle

Any New Years Eve celebration is incomplete without a little bubbly. Whether it’s just a toast at midnight or a glass to sip all night long, something sparkling is a necessity. There are plenty of styles and price ranges to choose from, really something for everyone.

Not all sparkling wine is Champagne. To be called Champagne, the wine must be made within the region of Champagne, France from certain grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier) and in a very specific manner that includes a secondary fermentation within the bottle to produce those delicate little bubbles. Champagne can also be among the most expensive wines in the world. New Years is a great time to splurge, and we’ve got plenty to choose from including the big names you may recognise like Veuve Clicquot, Pol Roger and Dom Perignon. But for something a little different and interesting I like to go with what’s known as ‘grower Champagne’.

Many Champagnes are made by large companies that purchase and blend grapes from a variety of grape growers to produce a consistent house style which becomes synonymous with their brand. This house style makes it very easy for consumers to choose a brand they like and serve it year after year with very little variation. However, this can also result in a wine that tastes somewhat homogenous and lacks a certain character or depth of flavor. In contrast, grower Champagne is produced on the same estate where the grapes are grown. This is thought to produce a wine with a better expression of terroir (a French term explaining the taste of where a wine comes from). Grower champagne often varies in style from vintage to vintage, but it is these variations that can make the wine so interesting. If you’re feeling a little adventurous, we have a couple to choose from. René Geoffroy is a little richer with notes of brioche; Pierre Paillard is crisp and refreshing with hints of lemon zest. Both are absolutely scrumptious!

For something decadent, but a little more budget friendly, I think the best bang for your buck is from Blue Mountain Winery. This Okanagan favorite produces a range of bubbly styles including a delicious sparkling rosé, however their Gold Label Brut is my go-to bubble for many occasions. It has a great balance between rich yeasty tones and vibrant citrusy fruit and is available by the glass if you don’t want to commit to a whole bottle. Be warned, however, it is hard to drink only one glass of this tasty treat.

Speaking of sparkling rosé, we have one of my all-time favorites in the convenient half-bottle format. Gosset Grand Rosé is a great example of just how good Champagne can get and why it’s worth the price. Gosset is one of the oldest Champagne houses in France. They’ve had over 400 years to figure out how to make great wine, and it shows. The Grand Rosé is full of red berry fruit and a touch of yeasty spice, reminiscent of fresh baked goods. This is what I would be drinking at midnight if I wasn’t working.

Keep in mind, though these bubbles are perfect for ringing in the New Year, they are also the perfect accompaniment to our fabulous New Years Day brunch. The crisp acidity and rich frothy texture of almost any sparkling wine is an excellent foil for creamy hollandaise, decadent omelettes or delicate crepes. And if you’re nursing a little hangover, a rich meal and some delicious bubble will fix you right up!

Cheers!
Rachelle

Christmas day is the only day of the year that Provence closes it’s doors for the entire day. Family is very important to us, and though we think of all of our guests and co-workers as family, we do choose that one day to spend with our respective families and enjoy a holiday meal.

Preparing a holiday meal can be stressful, so to take away a little of the pressure, I am here with a few wine suggestions that will bring out the best in your turkey dinner. I’ll recommend styles that should be available at most liquor stores, interesting enough to impress your picky aunt, and affordable enough to serve to (and not waste on) your brother-in-law who usually drinks Budweiser. In essence, something everyone can enjoy!

To start the evening off, I think it’s always nice to have a little bubbly around to toast the holidays and sip between the rich, sweet eggnogs. Bubbles are also the perfect thing to serve with all those pre-dinner nibbles. Sparkling wines compliment a wide range of flavors. For holiday sipping I think Prosecco is perfect. Prosecco has a lighter bubble than the more traditional champagne so it seems a touch less filling before a meal. The price is right, often being found between $15-$30 and the alcohol content isn’t too high (usually 11%-12%) which means you can have a couple of glasses while slaving away in the kitchen without being too tipsy to make the perfect gravy when the time comes.

The traditional turkey feast has a lot of competing flavors that can be hard to find the right wine for. The sweet flavors of things like cranberry sauce and candied yams can be a challenge. Sweetness is the easiest way to overpower a delicate dry wine so you need to ensure your wine has a touch of sweetness (more commonly found in whites) or a solid fruitiness giving the impression of sweet notes. Acidity is another thing that can easily overpower a wine; again that cranberry sauce is a threat, along with the ubiquitous pickle tray. However, we don’t want to overpower something as mild as turkey, so those bold reds that you would normally pair with a steak are not the best match.

For whites, I normally lean toward aromatic varietals such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer with holiday meals. Local Okanagan examples are a great choice as they are often made in a slightly sweet style that eliminates the sweetness pairing obstacle. Gewürztraminer, however, can sometimes be a little soft in acidity. So if you haven’t tried the one you’re thinking about, it may be best to stick with a Riesling if it’s available.

For reds, you must tread lightly in terms of style so as not to overpower the turkey. Pinot Noir is a great option for a light bodied red, just ensure the one you choose has enough fruit in the background to stand up to the sweet flavors. Examples from Oregon, California and New Zealand are probably better choices than Burgundy in this case. Also, the fruity Zinfandel can work wonders with a holiday meal. Though Zinfandel can come across as rich, it is still often lighter structurally than something like a Cabernet or Merlot. It will surely satisfy those who like a full bodied red without killing the flavor of the meal that you painstakingly prepared.

My favorite pick for a holiday meal is a medium bodied dry rosé. Stay away from the White Zinfandel as those are typically too sweet. The depth of color is often a hint as to how rich a rose is, a darker color generally points to a richer style. Tavel from France is a great option if it’s available, though you may have to venture to a specialty shop for that. Most stores carry at least a couple local rosés which are probably worth trying.

From our family to yours, we hope you enjoy your holiday traditions, whatever they may be.

Happy Holidays!
Rachelle