MATT'S WINE NOT! INNISKILLIN SUMMER SERIES 2010: WINEMAKER'S SERIES 2008 CHARDONNAY ONTARIO WHITE WINE

Greetings once again dear reader, and as you have patiently awaited with baited breath no doubt (actually, I doubt that) for my third of four exciting reviews in the muchas delicioso (better not talk like that in Arizona...) 2010 Inniskillin Summer Series, I am pleased to present their next star: Chardonnay! Come on out, Char!

(Wasn't there a TV show called Sonny and Char? Anyway!)

It has been a pleasure thus far to not only indulge myself, but you hopefully too, with these fun, simple reviews, just giving you a basic idea of what the wines taste like, and what my nickel and dime opinion is when it comes to pairing.

But rather than me yammering around about trivial matters, let's get to the business of the hour!

Namely the history of Chardonnay over five leather bound volumes! Naw...but Chardonnay, according to Wiki, is believed to have originated in France (bvut of cooorze), specifically in the Burgundy region, and has been cultivated for centuries. Today it has been cloned into over 34 (zut alors!) different varietals; talk about choice!

So, yeah, the wine!

For the record, I chilled this for 15 minutes in the ice box (no, don't put it in the freezer, I just meant the fridge). Also for the record, the grapes grown and used in this baby were reaped over three vineyards at the Inniskillin estate (hence the "Three Vineyards" labelling), and were aged in both French and American oak barrels, which of course instills some flavour in the vino. It is, of course, also a VQA wine (not sure what VQA means? I present to you: GOOGLE search!).

This gem is naturally corked, and upon pouring, it has a light pale yellow hue, almost of light gold...this is indeed 24 karat wine! The glass becomes lightly coated (which is good considering it's almost Fall...that was a weather/jacket joke folks) upon swishing merrily about the glass.

The nose is, to continue the above Fall motif briefly, wonderfully florally/appley, which is round (meaning it's complete and not lacking), and is a little sweet, with medium strength.

The beauty however, is in the body! Or, taste. One gets a nice taste of apple, with little to no tartness. This is not an overly oaken, nor buttery Chardonnay, which pleases me to no end as I'm not a huge fan of that genre. Medium bodied and fairly clean on the tongue (because cleanliness is next to Godliness), it is a very very nice white, and is dry, but not overly so, and is very easy to drink and enjoy. The aftertaste kept up the "appleyness," and had a little zing, and was slightly drier, but still tres bien.

Our resident expert - the bottle label - pronounces thusly in regards to taste, and as always, I trust their taste more than my own, but you will taste whatever you pick up; there is no right or wrong:

"The wine has aromas of tropical fruit, vanilla and toasty oak. On the pallet, the wine is well balanced with stone fruit flavours and a smooth, buttery finish."

Behold: dinner!

Yes, the above is what I had the good fortune to enjoy with this wonderful wine, made by my equally and above wonderful wife! (For the record, in case you're wondering, "Gee Matt of Matt's Wine Not!, do you ever make dinner?" For the answer, all you'd need look at is the current cereal I have, and that'd be dinner. So, no, no I don't.)

Dinner that evening was indeed chicken (bok), done with honey and Dijon and garlic (mmm) in the oven, with green beans, and focaccia bread with onion and tomato: quite the gourmet feast!

The wine went beautifully with this food: the slight acid zing of the Char helped smooth the flavours of the chicken and honey, and the bread smoothed out the wine in an equally complimentary manner.

This is a wine I would enjoy afternoon or evening: I'd have it with cheese and crackers because of its drinkability, and in the evening with dinner with perhaps white meats with cream sauce (so the wine can do its "smoothing" work), or even spicier foods like Thai.

As an earlier confessed not-so-great-a-fan of heavier Chardonnays that are too buttery or oaky, this one is a definite winner. Like the Pinot Gris from Inniskillin I reviewed, it too has a crisp, delicious bite, and its apple notes and slight sweetness, despite being dry, leaves one refreshed. It is done perfectly in the oak barrels, and is medium bodied, but light; sweetish but crisp. Pick up a bottle (or two) today.

*** 1/4 out of 4

Available at a Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) store for C$16.95 (US$16.51).

From LCBO.com:

INNISKILLIN WINEMAKER'S SERIES THREE VINEYARDS CHARDONNAY 2008, 750 mL bottle

• LCBO/Vintages #105379
• Wine, White Wine
• 13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
• Sugar Content: XD
• Made in: Ontario, Canada
• By: Vincor International Inc.

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MATT'S WINE NOT! INNISKILLIN SUMMER SERIES 2010: WINEMAKER'S SERIES 2007 PINOT NOIR ONTARIO RED WINE

Greetings once more dear reader, and welcome back to my second of four (yes, count em four!) special reviews regarding Inniskillin's 2010 Summer Series of fine vinos!

My first review, in case you missed it, discussed its very fine, tasty and frankly bloody wonderful Pinot Gris, so I thought I'd follow up with its cousin (well, cousin in the grape kinda sense y'all), the Pinot Noir!

As always for these four reviews, a little history, this time about our good friend Monsieur Noir. As with the Pinot Gris of my previous review of yore, its name is based on le French, with "Pinot" meaning "pine cone" (because the grapes are bunched in a similar looking shape), and "Noir" for "black," because of the dark purple grapes which yields this type of booze. Although a difficult grape to cultivate and turn into wine, its history can be traced back to the Middle Ages at least, and maybe even to the First Century AD (great Caesar's ghost!).

(Aside: I've often thought to myself, "What would he think, having been a great lawmaker, statesman, politician, knowing that his greatest name recognition two thousand years later would come from a salad?")

Anyway! This particular Pinot from my friends @ Inniskillin was sourced from three vineyards in its Niagara estate, and were aged separately (so says the ever knowledgeable back of the bottle) in French Oak barrels - tres bien! This, like all of the Winemaker's Series wines, is a VQA wine.

Now, for the pairing bit, which I will briefly describe here, and will go into detail later! That night my wife had ground beef on the menu, which she turned into some wonderful hamburgers on a toasted bistro bun. Mmm. The beef was mixed with rosemary and paprika, as well as mushrooms, to give it body. It was served with cheddar cheese on top and the usual condiments (mustard, relish, ketchup), and on the side, a cucumber, sweet onion tomato salad, with black pepper and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Looks good no?

Now as always, the main event! First, you'll need a corkscrew...*POP* mission accomplished. Upon pouring (unless you use a straw...), this Pinot pours a cherry plum red colour, and offers minimal glass coating (if that even matters) upon sophisticated slooshing around ye olde glass.

Smelling and detecting which notes of scent are present is always a chore, but I'll to it as always! Well, the first thing that strikes is the peppery/spiciness this wine has, as well as even a hint of chocolate. It is medium nosed (nosed?), with other scents of cherry; it is quite fragrant indeed, and doesn't hold back.

And of course, tasters time! The wine is dry on the palate, has noticeable tannins, is smoothish, but with definite depth; the wine coats the tongue. It too, like its scent, is medium bodied, and tastes of dark cherry and plum, and of course, peppery spice (lots of it...well to me anyways, I'm not huge on spicy reds...unless we're talking Charo, BAM!). The aftertaste continued much of these flavours, and there was some bitterness on the end.

Disclaimer time: as I noted in my previous Summer Series post, I am a lousy food "pairer," and after having had this wine with the food chosen (at least certain parts of it), I'd likely have changed my wine choice. But, that being said, on with our really big shooooow.

This Pinot is more robust than other perhaps milder, more fruity reds, chiefly because of its pepper punch, and I found that the paprika in the burger, and the cracked black pepper (!) on the salad didn't go very well; in short, spice overload! Had the burger been less spiced up, the depth of the beef likely would have went pretty well with those in the wine. An evening wine, at least that is my two Lincoln's, I'd have this one with a medium-well steak, or game, to tame the pepper.

Some wines are better off enjoyed with food: I'd say this one is one of them, and there's nothing wrong with that frankly. This wine has lovely aromas and inviting colour, and a lot of depth and body of taste, but have it with a hearty meal, and you'll likely be buying this one again sometime again down the road.

**3/4 out of 4

Available at a Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) store for C$19.95 (US$19.21).

From LCBO.com:

INNISKILLIN WINEMAKER'S SERIES THREE VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR 2007, 750mL bottle

• LCBO/Vintages #175174
• Wine, Red Wine
• 13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
• Sugar Content: D
• Made in: Ontario, Canada
• By: Vincor International Inc.

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ROASTED RED PEPPER TOMATO TILAPIA BAKE

Fish meals are a weekly occurence at my house and I always like to think of new ways to use plain white fish like tilapia. I wanted to make the most out of the meaty texture of this fish so I came up with this meal idea. I took roasted red pepper dip that I had sitting in the fridge, added garlic, olive oil, dried basil and of course juicy slices of tomato and let it bake until ready. Serve this baby on white basmati rice or a delicious creamy risotto and you have a meal fit for any guest. Double this recipe if serving a family of four. I highly recommend this one.

Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F

Baking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized tilapia fillets (or use any other white fish like cod)
• 1/4 cup roasted red pepper dip (pre-made from the grocery store)
• coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp milk or cream

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Take the fish fillets and place them onto a small casserole dish. Take the roasted red pepper dip and lather it on top of each fillet, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle both the chopped onion and garlic around the baking dish, then layer the thinly sliced tomatoes over top of the fish.

2. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of dried basil around the whole baking dish, drizzle the olive oil all around, and slowly pour in about 4 tbsp of milk or cream into the bottom of the baking dish. Lightly season again with salt and peper. Place it into the oven and bake for a good 20 minutes or until the fish has cooked through and the tomato slices looked nicely roasted in colour. Serve immediately on top of basmati rice.

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DELICIOUS ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Here is a zucchini muffin recipe that I stumbled across on the world wide web that I knew I just had to try. What appealed to me was the simplicity of the recipe and the fact that it used oil instead of butter to make these delectable baked goods. After making a fresh batch I gave them a try, and honestly I have to say it took me back to my childhood. It reminded me of nice lady who used to live next door to us. She used to make my sister and I this beautiful zucchini bread almost every week. I have to say she spoiled us good! I'm going to dedicate this post to my old neighbour who put a smile on my face every time I ate her delicious treats. Give this a try it's definitely a keeper!

Adapted from www.food.com

Makes 20-24 muffins

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Baking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1-3/4 granulated sugar
• 2 cups zucchini, grated (1 medium sized zucchini)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 F and line two muffin pans with paper muffin cups for easy clean up. In a large bowl, beat 3 eggs until you get a foamy consistency, then add in the oil, sugar, and grated zucchini. Stir until combined.

In a separate bowl, add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Stir to lightly combine dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and slowly stir until just combined. At this point if you would like to use the chopped nuts go ahead and gently fold them into the batter. Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pans and place them into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for a good 30 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

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QUICK TOMATO & POTATO MEATLOAF CASSEROLE

I'm not a big fan of leftover food and I don't really like the idea of eating the same meal again the next day; unless of course you're talking about soups and stews. However, I had about half a meatloaf leftover from a dinner the night before, and I'm not one to throwout food so I came up with this clever idea. I decided to re-create a dish using the leftover meatloaf but not making it taste like the same meal. Layered with thin cut cooked potatoes, and thin cut tomatoes, with melted cheese on top this turned out to be such a satisfying quick dish. This may not be fancy enough to serve to guests but I would definitely make this again for myself on those nights when you just don't feel like doing much.

Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Baking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cooked medium potatoes, thinly sliced (1 potato per individual baking dish)
• leftover meatloaf, chicken or turkey preferred (1 thick slice per individual baking dish)
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 tbsp vegetable seasoning mix
• coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• handful of fresh basil, sliced thin
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 4-6 tbsp water or chicken stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F and lightly coat the bottom of two individual casserole dishes with cooking spray. Layer about 3 thin slices of cooked potato onto each baking dish, then take a slice of leftover meatloaf and lightly crumble the meat on top, layer with 3 slices of potato again, then place the sliced tomatoes on top of each. Make sure to season each layer with a little veggie seasoning, salt and pepper.

2. Take the sliced fresh basil and either place them in between the layers or sprinkle right on top. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese over each baking dish, then pour about 3 tbsp of water or stock onto the bottom of the dish. Drizzle olive oil over each dish and place it into the oven to bake for a good 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the dish has warmed through. I recommend serving this with a nice light mixed salad on the side.

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