What're you drinking right now?

[icemachine]

Starting with a Moosehead

[SteelbackGuy]

Hate to admit it but I am on the "girly" white wine. A wonderful, oakey, crisp Chardonnay from Best's of Australia. For a white it's pretty darned good!!

There are plenty of good whites.

Gazela Vino Verde from Portugal is crisp, very acidic with green apple and gooseberry flavours, with a hint of straw. It has low carbonation, and does well with an ice cube or two. A kick ass summer wine that I recommend to a lot of my customers.


For hopheads I suggest Pelee Island Gewurtztraminer reserve. It is spicy, quite floral with a mineral bitterness similar to some hops. It is also dry and very refreshing, and does well with fish and salads.

For those who like a full bodied ale, why not try a California Chard? Find a nice oaked chard from cali and revel at the tropical fruits and buttery flavours!

[icemachine]

Drinking a Rogue DGA now, very tasty.

I like the Pelee Island wines in general, but found the 2005 Gewurztraminer to be too sweet for my liking and haven't tried it since.

A year or so ago there was an Italian white in the vintages section at the Maple LCBO the name of which I can't remember, which was fantastic. Reminded me of Gooseberries and Black pepper. It wasn't one of the well known appellations, and I've never been able to remember it. Wish I'd kept a label.

[lister]

For hopheads I suggest Pelee Island Gewurtztraminer reserve. It is spicy, quite floral with a mineral bitterness similar to some hops. It is also dry and very refreshing, and does well with fish and salads.

This non-hophead likes Gewurtz's. It's the one wine type that both myself and my girlfriend almost always agree on. The Pelee is perhaps our favourite Ontario Gewurtz. I like the floral smell and how they're generally a little sweeter. We're then all over the map on whites rarely agreeing with each other on any and I generally don't like reds other than Pelee Island's Flying Squirrel.

[Magni]

I third the Pelee Island Gweurt'z, i find it's one of the very few ontario whites I enjoy - other than that it was an excellent year for Chablis.

[Belgian]

Organic spring sencha in lightly boiled PC spring water.

Life is good.

[Belgian]

I third the Pelee Island Gweurt'z, i find it's one of the very few ontario whites I enjoy - other than that it was an excellent year for Chablis.

Gewürztraminer is a challenging wine grape and I'm glad some enjoy it. It's a take-it-or-leave it wine and some are better-made than others (I have enjoyed a few.)

Another white wine originated from the Alsace & Franconia that is also made here (using 100% Ontario grapes) is Riesling. Ontario Riesling is a 'hidden bargain', especially if it's not the makers cheapy $10 one but the 'reserve' one for just a few dollars more - GOOD bang for the buck (Peller, Henry of Pelham, others.) It is a dry, steely white with good melon, apple and citrus fruit. It's become a world favorite among wine experts, and we're lucky to have very good Riesling vineyards that thrive in our climate.

[Jan Primus]

Just returned from Premier Gourment, this ten-fidy imp stout is hands down the greatest beer I've had that comes in a can. Jesse I'll make sure to save you one.

[Belgian]

Perrin & Fils Vinsobres COTES DU RHONE.

I can't say enough about decent French reds -- this is a classic blend of Grenache/Syrah/Mourvédre that has nice dryness, acidity, a little tannin and some cherry-dark berry fruit & a little spice...

As far as the comment of any category of wine (grape or region) like California Chard being 'girly' well that's just a silly generalization - it's all in the hands of the Vintner & always the wiles of the terroir. People who try a 'type' of wine ONCE and avoid that grape or style for all time thereafter, well that's just self-limiting, because a grape can express itself so many ways and one has to try a few to really know what the deal is.

I had the Val de Joanis Luberon Rosé this year, and guess what, it KICKS serious ass for a 'pink' wine. Holy crap it was a pleasure to drink. Break your preconceptions (especially ones like Rosé = sweet girly Zinfandel crap, the Rhone-area Rosé wines can be very finely made of the best traditional Rhone grapes like Grenache.)

Life is good!

[Bobsy]

I had the Val de Joanis Luberon Rosé this year, and guess what, it KICKS serious ass for a 'pink' wine. Holy crap it was a pleasure to drink. Break your preconceptions (especially ones like Rosé = sweet girly Zinfandel crap, the Rhone-area Rosé wines can be very finely made of the best traditional Rhone grapes like Grenache.)

Apparently rosé has now passed white in terms of share of sales in France. Unfortunately, it will always be associated in my brain with the fruit juice that the Gallo's peddle.

Recently I've been drinking a lot of water. Here's my review:

"Transparent body which allows the light to shine through. Its almost like looking through glass. No head whatsoever, which is somewhat dissapointing. The taste is well-balanced, but a bit bland, and WHERE THE HELL ARE THE HOPS? The mouthfeel is very light and a bit watery, but I suppose it suits the toned-down flavours. There is no evident carbonation, although I have heard of variations that are aggressively carbonated...is this a consistency issue? The drinkability is high, but I'd take a decent IPA or stout over this any day."

[JesseM]

Just returned from Premier Gourment, this ten-fidy imp stout is hands down the greatest beer I've had that comes in a can. Jesse I'll make sure to save you one.

Really? Damn that'd be fantastic! Imperial Stout from a can? What a concept. These breweries in the US that do almost exclusively canned stuff are pretty interesting to me, Oskar Blues and Surly.

And Bobsy your rating of water was spot on, I've always felt it needs something more to it to really make it anything special.

[Jon Walker]

I'm in Vancouver at present and last night was focused on polishing off several Celebrator Doppelbock. The two tiered beer store situation here is improving month by month, Brewery Creek's bottle selection gets better every time I go in.

[Belgian]

Apparently rosé has now passed white in terms of share of sales in France. Unfortunately, it will always be associated in my brain with the fruit juice that the Gallo's peddle.

Yeah I was surprised, but at a discounted 12 bucks I thought I'd try the Joanis, and it was schockingly better than some 20 + dollar wines, certainly most inexpensive whites.

Thing is Bobsy "Rosé" is not a 'style' any more than 'dark beer' or 'Sleeman' is a style -- It's simply ANY white-ish wine that has had some minimal contact with the grape skins, hence the wide range of peachy or salmon colors - and it is made from so many different grapes in different ways. For example near the Rhone Grenache is a high-yielding variety that makes good reds in cuvées AND good Rosé (hence Rosé can be cheap and good everyday wine in France.)

Vineyards nowadays often use the best grapes for good Rosés, so the wines are usually better than the 'by-product' of winemaking they once often were. The high Rosé consumption in France is partly due to the regular light quaffing in the warm climate of Luberon etc. It's PERFECT hot-day wine. (At LCBO, Tavel is a good current example.)

[robinvboyer]

just got a wicked haul of a trade from the states. Started the night with an Imperial Dortmunder from Great Lakes, and now i'm onto a sublime IPA from Buckeye Brewing! Next i think i'll jump into a Silk Porter from Hoppin Frog.

[boney]

I just got back from "Beerfest" at the Pheonix in Hamilton. About a dozen Canadian craft brewers showing off there wares. I found out about it this afternoon, so sorry for not posting notice for you beer geeks out there. Aside from old favorites, the hands down best new beer that I tried was Ploegers Vlaams Rood from Grand River.....a twice iced, bottle fermented Flemish Sour Ale coming in at 7.0% (an Eis-Flemish sour ale?). No idea how it stands up on Rate Beer, since the site is down right now, but it danced all over my palate tonight and I absolutely loved it. Will do a more proper beer review once my head clears. Haha.

Thanks to Cameron's, Steam Whistle, Creemore, F&M, Amsterdam, Black Oak, Big Rock, Niagara's Best, Wellington and especially the fine folks at Grand River, McAuslan and the Pheonix for a fine night (apologies for anyone I left out).