megsjargon

I love the Wine Spectator. There are a ton of places online and off to source great wine recommendations and tips and industry content, but this mag trumps them all. I have been an online news reader for years and can’t get enough of the iPhone app store, but I am a romantic for the tangible item. I still get my Saturday morning National paper, Bon Apetit magazine, I “borrow” Dwell and The Economist from my husband’s office and more recently, ahhhhhhhh, Wine Spectator.

The size of the mag makes you feel special just holding it. Not your standard at about 9″x13″, the weight is just right and the texture is not too stiff and glossy nor paper thin. I love a magazine that can capture the essence of an issue with simple graphics on the cover. The photography is passable and sometimes lacks imagination (The Economist is supreme on this) but the simple headline entices you to jump right in.

From editor’s picks to the latest news in the biz to the Buyer’s Guide it’s packed with at least an hour or 2 of fabulous info.

And when you’ve gone cover to cover, it’s an excellent resource to hang on to.

Check out the Wine Spectator online and for viewing on your mobile as well.

What better time to start writing about wine then when you’ve just finished tasting roughly 18 wines a day over 6 glorious days?

Having recently completed Level 3 of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) with James Cluer at Fine Vintage, I have to give my props to the wine in this Top 20 Wine List that we were fortunate enough to taste while “studying”. Listed in no particular order and according to my own personal preference, with price point estimates (BC, Canada) and a few notes I managed to scribble between the drooling, Ooo-ing and Ahhh-ing. A few of these, let it be known, I simply could not merely taste; some just slipped right down!

WHITES:

1. Domaine Weinbach, Riesling Schlossberg, Alsace Grand Cru 2005 $70 – crisp and beautiful – spend the dough on this one, it will not disappoint.
2. Vinvent Girardin, Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts Burgundy 2006 $99 – oh-so-much-goodness. Melts in your mouth. Drink now.
3. Charles Heidsieck Cuvée 1995 $200 – Heavenly way to start the morning.
4. Zilliken Riesling Auslese Mosel (‘Auslese’ = German Late Harvest = sweet = FAB) 1995 $58
5. Muenchberg Grand Cru Alsace Riesling 2004 $104
6. Nicolas Joly Savennières Les Clos Sacrés (Les Vieux Clos) 2006 $47 – Bio-Dynamic
7. Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 2003 $65 for the HALF L.
8. Château Dereszla Tokaji 2003 $30
9. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Alsace 2004 $58
10. Kinheimer Rosenberg Riesling Kabinett 1999 $26 – Great value!

REDS:

1. Alentejo Incognito 2003 $67
2.Torres Salmos Priorat 2005 $35
3. Pio Cesare Barbaresco 2004 $114
4. Smith Woodhouse Tawny Port 1986 $65
5. Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 2002 $110
6. Château Beauséjour 1er Cru Saint Emilion 1998 $70
7. Château Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2001 $125 (All 13 grapes!)
8. Guigal Saint Joseph 2004 $110 (If I had to pick just one, god forbid, I can still taste this one…)
9. Felton Road Pinot Noir $110
10. Luce, IGT Super Tuscan, Montalcino 2005 $100

I’d be happy to expand on the what? huh? and who? on any of the above. And if you are thinking of taking a wine course or two, and happen to live in Western Canada or Northwest US, you have to seek out James Cluer’s classes – you’ll be learning from the best, tasting great wines and receiving an awesome and supportive energy – you will not be disappointed.

Ah… how ironic: I find myself nestled in the serene beauty of snow-covered Alps, towering over a vast valley that is the city of Torino; a city that is becoming more energetic and alive each hour as the sports world descends upon it. The sky for my first two days in Torino has been a brilliant blue, sunny, about 10 degrees. The local Italian volunteers and polizia greeting you at all entrance security checks are all smiles and typically charming. Warm, understanding smiles are shared with other foreign media people as you pass by.

Where is this irony, you ask? Ah, well, my first day on the job (with three hours sleep over the past 24 hours – I was awake, lying in my hotel bed at 1:30am WIDE awake until 6am rolled around and I decided to just get up and start the day, even though my first hadn’t quite ended, which still feels like, 2 days later, that “this morning” I awoke in Vancouver. Strange.) – the IRONY is this:
I spent the entire day with my lovely and charming young Italian driver-boy, Davide, in and out of shopping malls, hunting for thermoses and coolers for the likes of Peter Mansbridge and Brian Williams – a riot! And let me say this: simply because this shopping mall is in Italy, and the image one may conjure up is one of Louis Vuitton bags and fine leather boots, a mall is a mall is a mall. Noisy, crowded, fluorescent lighting, whining children, overweight families. The romance of touching down in the mountains of northern Italy evaporated as we entered the blocked solid parking lot of IKEA….

The International Broadcast Centre is an impressive site – a construction in what once was a Fiat factory, where organization and order are essential and well executed. The CBC folks I am working with are all lovely. Most of them are french and I have been pleasantly surprised how quickly and readily available my poor, very mediocre french returned. The chaos is likely to ensue as more personnel arrive and the stress of getting on the air successfully for the Opening Ceremonies set in.

I hope to attach photos soon of the bowels of this broadcast centre, along with the first of many Olympic shots. For now, alas, ’tis all about the malls.

Ciao bella! Off to Torino, Italy in a matter of hours. Haven’t done a stitch of laundry, haven’t thought of what to pack, have a list as long as my arm of things to get done (my arms are really, really long), and yet I will be watching the Canucks game at 6pm PST and heading off to take in some Jeff Tweedy late-night. Hell – I’ll have a whole day of sleeping on a plane to catch up! See you in Turin. Ciao.