Bringing Napa Home To You

Vancouver played host to Napa Valley at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel this month as part of “Wine Arts”, an event hosted by Arts Umbrella. Lucky me got to join and transport myself from bad lighting and industrial carpeting to some of the Greats from Calistoga, St. Helena and Rutherford.

In speaking with some of the winemakers, winery owners and reps and local agents, the wines fell under categories of a. available in Vancouver, b. never going to be available in Vancouver and c. “We’ve been trying for years to get into Vancouver!”. So good luck finding them. Locally, try the private wine shops first. If nothing else, head down to Napa and try them all in person.

My Highlight Reel:

  • Trefethen 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – deep purple, dark fruits, beautifully balanced, long smokey finish.
  • 2006 Diamond Creek “Gravelly Meadow” Cabernet Sauvignon – most expensive wine of the night and one of the best.
  • 2007 Laird Family Estate Cold Creek Ranch Chardonnay – just the way you’d expect a full-bodied, toasty, buttery Cali Chardonnay. This one was a treat.
  • 2006 Quintessa (85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, & 1% Carmenere) – A lot going on with this rich and beautiful wine with black fruits and plenty of spice. This one needs some meat or put it away for down the road.
  • Heitz Cellars Ink Grade Port – Holy Purple! This is one smoooooth porto. From Portuguese varietals Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Sausao, Tinta Cao, Tinta Bairada, Tinta Madeira, Tinta Amarela, Bastardo – These read something like Russian for the rookie, alas Heitz Cellars says it perfectly: “The perfect reason to linger over dinner.”.

My WSET Fine Vintage Favourites

Hubbard Photography @ VinoCamp CheeseCamp 2009What 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 Ah-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
9. Felton Road Pinot Noir $110
10. Luce, IGT Super Tuscan, Montalcino 2005 $100

I’d be happy to expand on the what 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.

Family History Site arcalife Giving Away 500 Bucks in Contest

Family History site arcalife is pretty tickled about their new technology “Life Cube”… so much so that to encourage you to check it out, they are holding a contest until December 1st and giving away $500 to the grand winner, AND $50 each to the first 5 people who comment on the winner’s brilliance (via Facebook or Twitter). Sounds like I’m entering a contest.

And it’s pretty easy to sign up, put together something fabulous in a Life Cube and share and post your creation: 1. Sign up to a free basic membership with arcalife. 2. Import and upload your favourite photos and a video (text over top is optional). 3. Share your link on either Twitter or Facebook (and let arcalife know you’ve done so). You can also sign in and build your Cube via Facebook.

Read arcalife’s post with the more official and precise contest details and to check out other examples of published Life Cubes.

Social Media Revolution

Last Chance For VinoCamp CheeseCamp Tickets

vinocamp cheesecamp
HV8X2914[Update: Wow! What a day – from all accounts, everyone had an amazing time, plenty of wine and cheese was had by all, we learned a ton, met new people and enjoyed a civilized ad-hoc afternoon. Thanks to all of our sponsors – check the Flickr Pool for photos of our day (thanks to one of Vancouver’s best photographers), our Tweets and tags and hash tags #vinocamp and #vccc09 for all the updates. Thank-you to everyone who helped (especially the MAG team) and to all of our speakers and participants. See you next year…]

There just might be RAIN this Saturday in Vancouver. We need it. But even if it doesn’t rain, I say after all of this heat wave, it’s the perfect timing for the perfect pairing and staying inside to taste (drink) fine wines, eat delectable cheeses, learn from the best in the business and, if you are so inclined on the “geekery” side of things, going tech with what you are taking in – blogging, flickring, tweeting all of your new wine and cheese knowledge and experiences, all day.
Check out the line-up of amazing Speakers and the Schedule and Sessions – including a few lightening talks in the breaks and a Live Twitter Tasting with Stag’s Hallow.

REGISTER HERE – tickets are going!

Hope to see you there – Keynote with Dr. Donna Senese begins at 12:30pm.

Follow @vinocampvan
Official Tags: vccc09 | vinocampvan09 | vinocamp | cheesecamp

Social Media KidSport Team – Takin’ Down Those Mainstream Media Types!

Not that I’m competitive or anything – this is for a great cause and all, but seriously: you mainstreamers (and I KNOW you) – you are goin’ down.

Happy to say I am sporting a solid team of butt-kickers tomorrow at the KidSport Media Launch. Come say hello and watch us be fools and get beaten by smarter, more agile and athletic kids! Check out Rebecca’s post on the contest they are running as well. This is a great cause. As a kid, I was raised playing every sport under the sun, whether I was really crappy or kinda okay, and to this day I attribute sports teams and the bonding, successes and failures to who I am today = Really competitive! Well, maybe just on the croquet pitch.
Check out my hot team:
@shanegibson | @miss604 | @sjagger

Hope to see you there! And please help spread this great cause across your own Internet waves…
@kidsport

Jack Black At His Finest: This One’s Goin’ Out To My Favs Joel and Al

Chicks Who Click: In Vancouver!

CWC09

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS TOMORROW! JUST GO AND REGISTER NOW

OK Vancouver: This new conference, born out of Boulder, Colorado (in case you didn’t know, a tech hub you need to get to know) is hitting a mere FIVE cities across the continent on tour this year and Vancouver is the ONLY Canadian stop! Take advantage of these precious 1.5 days with ladies who tech, Chicks Who Click. (The other gender is of course most welcome. I like the reverse odds for you guys, kinda like a BlogHer –  and to all the dudes out there: you will like these odds. And… for those of you with women as your target market, or if you need the support of or want to connect with the top female social media evangelists, this is a not-to-be-missed 2009 event.)

Want to be enpowered? Want to participate at a tech event surrounded by your peers – brilliant and fabulous women? You need to read all about it here and then register now and join us on June 26th and be the chick who clicks that you really are, or at least, be inspired by some great insight, conversation and practical knowledge.

I am speaking on a panel with Victoria Revay (skyping in live from Nunavut – totally random, completely awesome) and with the lovely Alex Samuel from Social Signal. We’re speaking about women in tech entrepreneurship, the glass ceiling that’s still relevant, or is it?, being in the Tech Startup land Dude-Fest, the challenges, the differences, the advice given, good and bad, the path, good and bad, the successes, the inspirations, everything we’ve learned as female entrepreneurs in technology – we want to pass it all along and start a smart and healthy conversation around it.

Erica at Ahimsa did a great little post on CWC last week and nicely broke it down for you.

See you next weekend!

Quick Links:
Follow the Conference on Twitter and tag all of your content #CWC09
Follow Denise Smith (organizer) on Twitter @Deetells
Become a fan on Facebook
Read the CWC Blog at chickswhoclickblog.net

Vancouver Digital Week – Get Involved.

Yet another example of how Vancouver is a Digital Media Mecca: Vancouver Digital Week May 11 – 14 / 09.
Sign up, join the convo, submit your company for Pop Vox. Here are a few channels to get you into the mix and a lovely little vid from our friends and yours at Giant Ant from last years Digi week:
VanDigWeek Twitter
PopVoxAwards Twitter
Submit to PopVox
All of your Van Digi Week INFO
IPF

Current_ on Twitter: It’s Funny ‘Cause It’s True.

If for some odd reason this player doesn’t appear, it’s right here on Current.