Question: I hear “fruit forward” at wine tastings and not sure what that means or when it should be used. Please help me.

Answer: Easy one. It means just that –  the fruit of the wine is showing very forwardly. This term is best used for younger wines rather than aged ones where the basic fruit notes will have changed. Usually appropriate where big fruit dominates the total expression perceived of the wine over most other factors such as terroir, acid, tannins, complexity and the like. You hear it used to describe an open richer riper often simpler wine driven mostly by the easy fruit style of a specific grape variety or the blend.  Cooler fermentation temperatures in stainless steel with early bottling usually emphasizes that expression much more than when oak is used. Try using this term.

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Image: vanmag.com

The 28th Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards were announced last week at this always celebratory hospitality industry event. A delightful surprise was the presentation of their Lifetime Achievement Award to the knowledgeable talented culinary whiz Joan Cross & your weekly blogger. Very exciting for us and flattered by the article that states we “not only raised the bar for what was possible for BC’s hospitality industry, they also used their frequent travels to preach the gospel of this up-and-coming city on the Pacific to chefs, winemakers and producers throughout the world.” Appreciated but not worthy! More details here.

47 winners were announced in various categories that included:

Restaurant of the Year: Dynasty Seafood  – first Chinese restaurant to win this Award!

Chef of The Year: Joel Watanabe – “I love to cook” – From Bao Bei to new Kissa Tanto.

Best New Restaurant: Savio Volpe – Top Regional Italian cuisine in the new Fraserhood neighbourhood.

Producer of the Year: North Arm Farm in Pemberton BC – “a mountain Provence”

Ingredient of the Year: Bison – nutrient-dense and more helpful farming for a diverse ecosystem.

Full results here

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By Joseph Temple

Arguably one of the most iconic items on any dessert menu, cheesecake is always a crowd-pleaser.  Everyone always oohs and ahhs when a delicious cheesecake is brought out after any great meal.  Why not take it up a notch by infusing your favorite fruit with some classic wines?  Here are seven mouth watering ideas – one for every day of the week!

1. Field berries and Champagne

2. Blueberry port

3. Raspberry ice wine

4. Cherry Cabernet Sauvignon

5. Pear Riesling

6. Rhubarb Vanilla Rosé

7. Apricot Chardonnay

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Question: Why am I hearing so much about wine coming from high altitude vineyards?

Answer: Good point. Probably because of global warming and climate change. Many vineyards are just hotter than in previous years resulting in earlier picking times with raised alcohol levels. Generally vineyards at higher elevations (compared to the lower valley floor) enjoy a cooler growing season. The night temperatures usually are colder which helps retain acidity and there is a greater range between day and night. This all results in a longer growing season with more valuable hang time for the grapes to slowly ripen. Soils tend to be less fertile and are poorer more rocky in character with better drainage leading to more complex flavours in the wine. However, the working conditions in the steep vineyards at high elevation can be quite difficult but the winds are usually stronger drying and protecting the grapes from diseases. Altitude or elevation of the vineyards is an important factor in the quality of the resulting wine.

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Vancouver continues as the most Asian city not actually situated in Asia. Accordingly the influence of Asian-orientated restaurants remains strong with such a diversity of creative culinary dishes. Chinese dining has led the way celebrated again in 2017 by the 9th annual Chinese Restaurant Awards (chineserestaurantawards.com) honouring Critics’ Choice 10 Signature Dishes, 21 Diners’ Choice Awards and 5 Social Media Choices. Restaurant of the Year went to Dynasty Seafood Restaurant. Check them out.

A banquet on April 12, 2017 at the historic Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant presented a culinary journey of Chinese Cuisine over the last 4 decades. Dishes represented the eighties through to the present decade that provoked a lot of ingredient discussion with fond nostalgic memories. Also reinforced the idea of how well Chinese food can be matched with Sparkling wines, Rose, as well as both white and red table wines of lower alcohol with some residual sugar. This 10 course menu will be available for service at Pink Pearl from May 1 to August 31 for 10 people together at one table to benefit the Greater Vancouver Food Bank & Vancouver Sowers Society of Education learning programs for children. Worth experiencing!

Which Chinese food dish do you like best?

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