Friday, April 06, 2007

April Already?

How the time flies... it's been a very busy 6 weeks, full of all sorts of fun and insanity.

My best guy friend has been offered a COO position in Miami and is likely moving. This sends me for a loop, as I spend more time with him than anyone in my life. I will miss him badly and am trying to hatch an evil plan that will get him arrested before he goes so they revoke his right to live in the US.

I am still dating the same guy. It's sporadic and infrequent, as we're both busy bees. He's out of town for three weeks now, so I find myself twiddling my thumbs rather a lot these days. He has some drama in his life, but he seems to think it's over. Here's hoping. I have a serious intolerance for past relationships taking precedence over mine. No patience for that at all.

I have fallen in and out of love with my job about 5 times. Almost walked out the other day. But the waters are calm now - god only knows when the next tsunami of crises will hit there. In the mean time, the raise has come through, the plans stay the same but the infatuation is certainly over.

And now for the fun part...

I had cleverly booked off two days for the Playhouse Wine Fest this year, and was generously given two tickets to the Trade Tastings on Thursday and Friday afternoon. (Thanks Dodo!)There were some 1500 wines, ports and sherries. I tasted maybe 120 total, which was still a feat.

I was graced by the presence of one Vancouver's top sommeliers as my guide, so off we went. It turned into a social fest as he is popular and buys a lot of wine. We got to taste some product that was not for public view - reps reaching under the table and looking furtive as they pour a calculated ounce. Amazing wines out there... a few recommendations:

Yali, from Chile: 14.99 and an amazing value. Sauv Blanc is crisp and dry, a hint of herb and mineral,and some tropical fruit, but not as much as the Marlbourough varietals. The Carmenere was simply lovely. Jammy plum, spicy coffee, beautiful colour... for 15 bucks a no-brainer.

Skillogalee from Clare Valley, Aus:Take Two Shiraz/Cab 21.90 Restricted Dry grown and perfectly balanced. And I don't like Shiraz as a rule...
Gewurtztraminer 27.90 Spec Absolutely gorgeous lychee and rose petals on the nose, rich and powdery floral fruit. I went back to this table four times for this wine. One of the best Gewurtz's I've ever tasted.

Some others, more briefly:

Broncott Vineyards from Marlborough, New Zealand: Classic Sauv Blanc and Pinot Noir
Boutari Visanto - try this - you'll be surprised.
Nepenthe, which Manny affectionately calls No Panties - Tryst was fabulous. DRINK IT.
Neo, mega super aged Sherry that tasted like sweet burnt honey. The finish on this stuff was like an hour if not more... mind blowing stuff.

I'm sure there were dozens more I could write about - those are the top of mind labels I can recall... Will ad to the list as I shake the cobwebs from my head.