Question: I like drinking Gruner Veltliner from Austria and wondered if they have a wine classification system?
Answer: Austria is moving towards a more specific designation of origin for all their wines. They presently use three tiers of Municipality (some 458 of them), Grosslage (larger vineyard areas) and the increasingly important single vineyards named Rieden. You will see more use of Riedenwein (or Lagenwein) which will reflect the individual character of specific single vineyard sites producing the highest top quality wines. Austrianvineyards.com has a most useful interactive map explaining in detail all of this. Suggest you look for RIED on the wine label of your Gruner Veltliner and seek out some of these very best wines.
On July 15, 2023 from 12 pm to 4 pm the BC Crab Fishermen’s Association and Mitch’s Catch brought to False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf in Vancouver the 1st (of what we hope will be many future annual celebrations) Crab Fest events. This is yet another innovative seafood project backed by the influential Chefs’ Table Society of BC who just finished another Spot Prawn Festival written up on June 12 here. This Crab Boil of fresh BC Dungeness crabs featured fishers & talented chefs Robert Clark, Dez Lo, Vish Mayekar, Julian Bond, Quang Dang and others including volunteers from Vancouver Community College. There was such a good vibe there on a beautiful hot sunny afternoon including fresh local corn on the cob, live music, games (do you know Jenga or Cornhole?), Granville Island Brewing beer and sours, Fabrique St-George wines, and Sapsucker sparkling water (naturally sweetened with organic maple tree sap). The mission statement is “to raise awareness and make local Dungeness crab more accessible, so you can savour another remarkable taste coming from the coastal waters of British Columbia.” Presently there are 220 licensed vessels and over 800 harvesters placing an emphasis on sustainability with a limited crab season harvesting only males with a minimum size of 165 mm. Also appreciate the support and vocational learning opportunity being given to younger fishers through BC Young Fishermen’s Network. Your scribe strongly advocates that Dungeness crab is an outstanding product being the world’s sweetest and most succulently delicious of all varieties. Some of us advocate that it shows even more complexity served chilled rather than hot so for the expected bigger and even better Crab Fest next year please consider offering this second option. Would require more work with an earlier pre-cooking and refrigerating but certainly worth considering. All in all a most successful limited ticket attendance first run project and congrats are in order! Well done.
What innovative seafood initiatives do you see happening in your local region?
Question: How are the vineyards in Bordeaux looking for 2023?
Answer: Still early days with the next few months until harvest being really crucial. However, the big news is that the warm rainy humid tropical weather conditions have resulted in some of the worst attacks of downy mildew now extensively affecting the leaves and vines in Bordeaux. Not encouraging for yields and overall consistent quality of grapes for 2023. Stay tuned.
Summer is here! It has been since June 21st and continues until September 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course in the Southern Hemisphere it follows the December solstice not starting till around the 21st/22nd. The finer warmer weather in Summer provides a great emphasis on outdoor dining. Every year The Vancouver Branch of the International Wine & Food Society makes remarkable use of this idea. On Sunday July 9th was the outstanding “Cracklin’ Pig Feast” outside on the large rooftop open patio of members Karen & Larry with organizational help from Milena & Jim plus others. The weather was clear and sunny at 23C (felt warmer) with such delightful fresh air. This time the main menu was well catered by Gauthier plus fresh corn on the cob etc. grilled on the BBQ by members. Like how the wines were limited but of such good value and all improved with a chill. To start a lovely true variety Terre Brulee Chenin Blanc 2021 from Swartland in South Africa by Tania & Vincent Careme. Two reds: Baltos 2018 from Bierzo Spain by Dominio De Tares with 40 year old bush vine popular Mencia grapes handpicked fermented with native yeasts aged 6 months in French & American oak at 13.5 abv showing wonderful “buckets of spicy fruit”; and the warm vintage 2019 helping the simpler Bourgogne AC Pinot Noir from Justin Girardin to shine. To finish up 2009 Passito DamaRosa IGT Toscana Italy 15 abv in 50 cl bottles by La Querce using 100% Canaiolo ripe grapes aged 1 year in wood. The Menu included Ahi Tuna Poke in cones, Burrata, asparagus & walnut on crostini, two welcome salads of quinoa and panzanella. Even a special IWFS design chocolate cake augmented by a cornucopia of fresh local fruits! The piece de resistance of the meal was the amazing roasted cracklin’ baby piglet cut up ready to go with a separate pork belly service as well. All so crisp and tasty. Savoured slowly even better in the fresh outdoors! Recommend to everyone to take advantage of Summer dining in the open air outside scenario. Makes for a delightful event.
Question: I know from your excellent Blog that you like old vines. What is happening with producing a list of them?
Answer: Yes, a very timely question! Just launched is an OLD VINE REGISTRY (initially funded by the Jackson Family Wines) that is a valuable growing database reference resource for all of us. It already lists some 2200 vineyards around the world led by Portugal far ahead with more than 800. They have used a rather low 35-year-old minimum vine age. Lots more vineyards than on the initial launch already are exceeding that level. An excellent review dated June 29, 2023 on Wine-Searcher has been posted by Wink Lorch here.