Ottawa Women's Wine Club: VINO VIXENS!

October 29, 2007 – Julie hosted wine club and featured SHIRAZ! Wine A: Barefoot Cellers Shiraz Region: California Price: $9.75 Rating: 2 nd place Tasting Notes: Light, spicy; better with food; dry, lavender – won the Critic’s Award… we’d buy this again Wine B: Yellow Tail Shiraz Region: Australia Vintage: 2006 Price: $12.05 Rating: 1st place Tasting Notes: Sweet, smooth, spicy – YUMMY; better without food; flavours come out with Camembert Wine C: Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Shiraz Region: Australia Vintage: 2004 Price: $15.95 Rating: 3rd place Tasting Notes: dry, spicy, flavours not as strong Wine D: J&F Lurton Terra Sana VDP (ORGANIC) Region: France Vintage: 2006 Price: $10.65 Rating: 4 th place Tasting Notes: “yucky”; “BOO”; not as good with chocolate, not as sweet (obviously this one we will not buy again;) Enjoyed with: Penne Arrabiata ; pepperoni pizza; Camembert , spicy Gouda and extra old white cheddar cheeses with crackers/baguette; grapes, strawberries and chocolates Co...

Host : Tayisa Date : September 24, 2007 Theme : Sauvignon Blanc Company : Sara-Rose, Anna, Andrea and Carmela Wine #1: Tarapaca Region: Chile Vintage: 2006 Price: $9.25 Rating: 2 Tasting notes: flowery, `me likey ’ (AP J), not good with food, smells awesome, sipping wine, From the bottle: aromas and flavours of gooseberry, herbs and green apples Wine #2: Pelee Island Region: Ontario Vintage: 2006 Price: $9.95 Rating: 1 Tasting Notes: good with sweet, lychee scented, bubbles!, From the bottle: fresh clean aromas of gooseberry with herbaceous, mineral notes Wine #3: Rothschild Region: Languedoc , France Vintage: 2006 Price: $10.00 Rating: 4 Tasting notes: watery, dry, not too tasty From the bottle: grassy, citrus, herbaceous nose Wine #4: Two Oceans Region: South Africa Vintage: 2006 Price: $9.65 Rating: 3 Tasting Notes: smells a bit like pee, good with food From the bottle: gooseberry, herbaceous, grassy, pink grapefruit & fresh lemon aromas Enjoyed with : warm brie with apricot/g...

SIDEWAYS at Andrea’s When I (Andrea) hosted on November 19, 2007, we went classic: we had an old-fashioned wine and cheese. And there were some stinky ones. Cheese that is, not ladies or wine. As for the ladies, we were a smaller gang this time. Since we had been pleasantly surprised with Julie’s pregnancy news, she was not in attendance this day, probably with baby illness. The movie Sideways made this wine famous: Pinot Noir. The Oscar-winning film "Sideways" seems to have had a bracing effect on American wine drinkers, making people feel more comfortable about ordering a bottle of Pinot Noir, according to Metro Detroit sommeliers and data from ACNielsen, the leading tracker of consumer and marketplace information. "Pinot Noir sales are at record levels," ACNielsen reported in late February. Based on the sales period running Oct. 24, 2004, two days after the film was released, to Jan. 15 of this year, there was nearly a 16 percent increase ve...

Host : Anna Date : August 20, 2007 Theme : Olive oil and Wine Attendees : Sara-Rose, Shereen, Carmela, Julie, Andrea, Jacquie Focused on the origin, history, and benefits of olive oil. Originated in Crete, Greece and can be traced back 6000 years. Today, olive oil proves to have many health benefits on cardiovascular health and studies have shown that the Cretans are some of the healthiest people on Earth, the contributing factor being of course, the massive amounts of olive oil that they eat every day. Wine #1 – Vin de Crete (red) Origin: Greece Vintage: 2004 Price: $8.45 LCBO Tasting notes: tastes a bit fizzy; tastes different with food (stronger, slightly bitter) and sweeter without food; weak; bland. Tasting notes from the LCBO website: Deep purple/red colour; cassis and red berry aroma; berry fruit flavour, medium body and medium length Wine #2 – Kouros Nemea (red) Origin: Peloponnese, Greece Vintage: 2004 Price: $10.90 LCBO Tasting notes: acidic; very good, smooth sweetness; exce...

Date : July 30, 2007 Host : Carmela Theme : “Slow Food Movement & Do-It-Yourself”: Founded in Italy in 1989, this movement means to back away from fast food; eat fresh, in-season, home-grown foods (the picture above is Carmela's family garden!) Wine #1: Fontana di Papa (white) Region: Colli Albani, Italy Vintage: 2006 Price: $9/L Tasting Notes: Soft, dry, fruity, fresh, clean taste; very light/clear; nice summer wine; doesn’t need food Wine #2: Nonno’s Homemade “Alicante” White (check out Nonno in the first photo;) Vintage: Fall 2006 Tasting Notes: Sweet, darker than Wine #1; “The more I drink, the less I feel the bugs” – Carm; very dark, cloudy, strong perfume smell (but a lot of girls liked this aspect) smells of lychée, mango; “explosion of flavour!”; a bit tart, but loses sweetness/tartness with food Wine #3: MASI Campofiorin (Red) Region: Verona, Italy Vintage: 2004 Price: $18 Tasting Notes: “full-bodied, round and velvety” (bottle); a bit light textured for the spicy tas...

Date : July 9, 2007 Host : Christina Wine #1: Yellow Tail Rosé Region: South Eastern Australia Vintage: 2006 Price: $10.95 Rating: tied for 1st place out of 4 Tasting Notes: strawberries, vanilla & spice – tart, not good on its own, tastes better with cheese Wine #2: Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé Region: Chile Vintage: 2006 Price: $10.15 Rating: tied for 2nd place Tasting Notes: floral aromas, strawberry – smells like petroleum (was this Carmela??!!), hairspray; sour, strong; tart aftertaste; not good with food (tastes more acidic); tastes better with strawberries (yikes – how did this get 2nd place, we forgot the good comments!!) Wine #3: Pelee Island Winery – Chambourcin, Rosé Region: Ontario Vintage: 2005 Price: $10.45 Rating: tied for 1st place Tasting notes: fruit flavours – sweet, but not too sweet; smooth aftertaste, light & refreshing (that’s more like it!) Wine #4: Strewn Cabernet Rosé Region: Niagara Peninsula, Ontario Vintage: 2006 Price: $11.95 Rating: ti...

Date : June 18, 2007 Host : Shereen Wine #1: Jackson-Triggs Gewurztraminer Region: Ontario Price: $12.75 Rating: Highest rank – 1st place out of 4 Tasting notes: lychée, pear, melon – very good with spicy food; sweet & fresh with spice Wine #2: Bellingham The Maveric – Chenin Blanc Region: South Africa Vintage: 2005 Price: $20.95 Rating: One of the least favourite – 3rd or 4th place Tasting Notes: Honey & Citrus – tasted tingly/carbonated; not good with spicy food; good with goat cheese & fig jelly; smells like broccoli (!) Other: - Chenin Blancs are known for high acidity - Most widely planted grape variety in South Africa where it is known as Steen Wine #3: Cline Zinfandel (red) Region: California Price: $14.20 Rating: 2nd place Tasting notes: clove, blackberry – had a creamy taste; takes on the taste of the spicy food; light cherry flavour; overpowers cheese Wine #4: Sula Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Region: India Vintage: 2005 Price: $12.00 Rating: 3rd or 4th place Tasti...

"The Jacquie Challenge: A melange of Merlots…" Date : May 28, 2007 Attendees: Jacquie (host), Andrea, Tayisa, Carmela, Julie, Sara-Rose, Christina, Anna and Shereen. General notes : · Bread or even popcorn can cleanse one’s pallet, as do coffee beans; should drink merlots with strong cheeses; generally, a wine can be recognized by the shape of its bottle; Tetra packs last longer once opened.· http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/ Wine 1: Sawmill Creek, Barrel Select (Tetra-pack) Region: NiagaraVintage: n/a Price $10.95 (per litre) Rating: 3rd favourite Tasting notes: cannot compete with cheeses, bland, light ho-hum Wine 2: Likan (Tetra-pack) Region: Do Central Valley, Chili Vintage: 2005 Price $12.95 (per litre) Rating: 4/9 votes as favourite (second favourite) Tasting notes: Strong after-taste, too complex, spicy, nice with strong cheese, most aromatic, WWF wine Wine 3: Ducal, Merlot Tempranillo (Tetra-pack) Region: Castilla, Spain Vintage: 2004Price $11.95 (per litre) Rating...

May 9, 2007 – Andrea hosted the fourth Ottawa Women's Wine Club featuring CHILE Wine #1: Louis Felipe Edwards Sauvignon Blanc Region: Terraced Cassablanca Valley, Chile Vintage: 2005 Price: $15 approx Rating: 7/10 Tasting Notes: good, but not a sipping wine – Caramel taste, strong, undefined aftertaste Wine #2: Santa Alicia Carménère (red) Region: Maipo Valley, Chile Vintage: 2005 Price: $12 Rating: 9 Tasting Notes: Gold medal well deserved! (Julie); Delicious – with and without food. Great with chocolate (Andrea) Bottle says “Bold, ripe delicious with tiers of rich plum, chocolate and black cherry” mmmmm Wine #3: Errazuriz Estate (Cabernet Sauvignon red) Region: Valle de Aconcagua, Chile Vintage: 2006 Price: $12 Rating: 7.5/10 Tasting Notes: Full bodied, strong (14.5%!), dry; serve with steak or hard cheese “firm tannins” – Anna, “yummy”. “youza” - Carm Enjoyed with : Caramelized apples, gouda cheese and empanadas (great) Company : Tayisa, SR, Andrea, Julie, Christina, Jacquie, Ca...

April 24, 2007 – Tayisa and SR hosted the third Ottawa Women's Wine Club featuring wines from FRANCE Wine #1: Pierre Sparr Riesling Region: Alsace, France Vintage: 2005 Price: $14 Rating: 6/10 Tasting Notes: Hints of apple, easy to drink but lacked SOUL – a cooking wine! Wine #2: Dopff & Irion Gewurztraminer (2) (white wine) Region: Vin D’Alsace, France Vintage: 2005 Price: $16 Rating: 4/10 for those who prefer dry and 8/10 for those who like sweeter wines Tasting Notes: Too strong to be a sweet wine, tasted a bit thick; rosewater; “I love it” – SR; good for fruit & cheese Wine #3: Irius, Dry Riesling Region: Niagara on the Lake Vintage: 2004 Price: $14 Rating: 7/10 Tasting Notes: Caramel, Canada better than France! Wine #4: Pelee Island Gewurztraminer Region:, Kingsville Ontario Vintage: 2005 Price: $10 Rating: 8 Tasting Notes: Apple – didn’t smell as good as it tasted Enjoyed with : Cheese fondue with bread, apples, grapes & pears Company : Tayisa, SR, Andrea, Julie, ...

April 3, 2007 - Anna hosted the second Ottawa Women's Wine Club featuring wines from Australia and New Zealand and wonderful appetizers! Wine #1: Cat’s pee on a Gooseberry Bush (White wine, Sauvignon Blanc) Region: Auckland, New Zealand Vintage: 2006 Price: $14.95 Rating: 9/10 Tasting Notes: Orange notes, tingly and light, easy on the palate and refreshing (was Julie in the mood for white or what??!) ps - don’t mix with olives! (Julie says) I would definitely buy this again! Wine #2: Lindeman’s Cawarra (Red wine - Shiraz) Region: South Eastern Australia Vintage: 2006 Price: $13 Rating: 8/10 paired with food, 6/10 alone (this is a highly technical rating system we have set up here!) Tasting Notes: would never serve this alone – but great paired with strong-flavored foods; spicy, strong; “burned my nostrils (this must have been from Julie!); hint of cinnamon; “really enjoy this” (Andrea I think!) Enjoyed with: Greek-style bruschetta; baguette with white beans, arugula & prosciutt...

March 20, 2007 - Julie hosted the first Ottawa Women's Wine Club featuring Spanish wines and tapas! Wine #1: Penescal (red wine - tempranillo) Region: Castilla y Leon Vintage: 2004 Price: $10 Rating: 7.5/10 Tasting Notes: Black cherry and vanilla complemented by a smooth texture and soft tannins. Everyone found this wine smooth and light tasting - great value. Wine #2: Campo Viejo (red wine - rioja) Region: Rioja Vintage: 2003 Price: $15 Rating: 7 Tasting Notes: Medium structure, velvety and elegant with fruity aromas and hints of wood - everyone thought this wine tasted good with salty foods. Enjoyed with : Tortilla patatas, Canapés of Quesuco cheese & caramelized onion, and grilled serrano ham & manchego cheese crostini Company : Tayisa, Anna, Andrea, Julie and Shereen