Long weekend on the way & nowhere to go? Stay home and do some armchair-travel with a glass in hand…discover Ontario’s best Rosé wines with One Dozen Rosés. Another perk of summer for our Savvy customers who received an assortment of 12 bottles of Rosé wine delivered to their door. All it takes is a click of a button & tada wines are on the way to you. July’s wines were a big hit and in August we’re offering a completely new assorted case of Rosé wines – Get some while they’re still available.
There may be constant reminders about back-to-school, but relax, Rosé wines are good any time of day, anytime of year! You won’t find any of these special Rosé wines at the LCBO. Check out the One Dozen Rosés wines in the August ‘bouquet’. Next to the taste, the best part is FREE shipping.
The Rosé Report will take the guess work out of what taste awaits in many bottles of rosés. Here are just a few of the rosés to enjoy in One Dozen Rosés plus a recipe from the kitchen of a great Niagara winery bistro. Watch this space for the full report – and it is ongoing throughout the summer – at savvycompany.ca/rosereport. Each week we will highlight a couple of must try Ontario Rosés.
Bring on summer! ORDER NOW …
~ The Rosé Report ~
Our Sommeliers do it all the time…now it is your turn. In your One Dozen Rosés this month, there are wines from 2 wineries – Huff Estates (see previous Rosé Report) and Tawse Estates Winery (featured here) – with bottles from different vintages. It makes a great party trick to do your own tasting and take note of all the similarities & differences.
Your own at-home wine tasting
Grab 2 glasses and try a splash of each of the wines side-by-side to see and taste the difference a year makes. Notice the difference in the colour, the aromas & the tastes too. We thought these wines were so dramatically different that we wanted you to try this experience – and experiment – too. Our team of Savvy Sommeliers liked the wines both equally…here are our tasting notes:
Tawse Estates Winery
Moray Tawse is a name in the wine industry that is synomous for high quality. His wines = class act. These two Rosé wines live up to that description.
With two rose wines from the same winery, this calls for a wine tasting! Go ahead and serve blind for fun. Whether you sip on these wines for lunch, during ‘Happy Hour’ or dinner, serve them side by side and decide which one you prefer…and why.
Tawse Sketches of Niagara Rose VQA 2012
Savvy Sommelier Tasting Notes: Strikingly different colour from other roses, this one you could swear is Riesling if you closed your eyes. Aromas of wildflower honey, beeswax, citrus& wild strawberry will waft from your glass. Take a sip and you will enjoy citrus (think lemon lime) grapefruit as well as tangerine. Stunning!
Food Pairing Suggestion: Have extra cooking wine on your hands? Try our recipe for Drunken Pasta ( very easy to make ) and enjoy with this wine. Amanda – this recipe was in one of the previous eZines (that Eva did this year)
Tawse Growers Blend Rose VQA 2013
Savvy Sommelier Tasting Notes: A unique blend of Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and Merlot. This wine was made using a French process called “saignée” where the winemaker Paul Pender gathers the free-run juice of these grape varieties from one particular vineyard before he presses them normally to begin the red wine making process. The result is a slightly off-dry Rose wine loaded with red fruits (think red currants, strawberries and cherries). The light sweetness is well balanced making this an incredibly delicious wine. Mark our words…have a sip of this wine and you may be calling us for more!
Food Pairing Suggestions: Incredibly food friendly, this wine will enhance a meal with pork tenderloing, cheesey risotto or simple charcuterie. Be sure to try it with a dish dominentated by goat cheese!
Casa-Dea Dea’s Spakling
One of the oldest wineries of Prince Edward County, Casa-Dea is making a big impression with this sparkling rosé wine. No need to only serve this during the summer, this can be enjoyed on any occasion and for exactly this reason we included it in this month’s One Dozen Roses. Winemaker Paul Battilana was originally trained as a butcher, before he made the leap to winemaking after his curiousity of winemaker transformed his career. And the wine industry is taking note as he was named by MacLean’s magazine earlier this fall ‘as a winemakers to watch’
Savvy Sommelier Tasting notes: Pretty in the glass, it is refreshing, bright, and reminds us of summer…all throughout the year. Light aromas of strawberry and juicy peaches, the acidity of this wine makes is perfect to start any occasion.
Food Pairing Suggestions: Chips. Light heavily seasalted potato chips. The salt plays with the bubbles of the wine and fireworks start off in your mouth. Try it!
Sandbanks Rose VQA 2013
A summer fun location for many – Sandbanks Provincial Park – is minutes from Sandbanks Estates Winery. If you haven’t visited this winery, be sure to add it to your must visit list when you are next doing a wine tour of Prince Edward County. Owner Catherine Langlois and her team are will make sure you relax and enjoy soaking up the surroundings when you arrive at the winery.
Savvy Sommelier Tasting Notes: Cotton candy pink in the glass, with just one look at a glass of this Rose wine, naturally a smile comes across your face. As the wine warms up ever so slightly, aromas build and the wine comes alive with juicy ripe berries, cantaloupe, perfumed red roses. Elegant Easy sipping summertime wine.
Food Pairing Suggestions: Thai food such as pad Thai or BBQed pork vermicelli dish would be delicious. If summer passes by you too quickly, then serve with Thanksgiving turkey with cranberries to have a delicious feast!
~ Recipes to Enjoy with your Rosés ~
Pad Thai
From Mike’s Pilliteri’s (of Riverview Cellars) Kitchen
Ingredients
1 package of pad thai noodles (approx. 400g)
½ white onion (sliced julienne)
1 clove garlic
1 tea spoon of shredded ginger
2 table spoons coconut oil
2 table spoons peanut butter
2 large carrots (sliced julienne)
1 large red pepper (sliced julienne)
12-15 large shrimp uncooked
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce
2-6 drops of sirachi sauce (depends on desired heat)
1 green onion1 handful of cilantroSalt & pepper
Method
Get large wok ready to a medium heat.
Put vegetable oil and toasted sesame oil in pan while adding onions, garlic, ginger. Sautee until translucent, then add sliced carrots and peppers along with peanut butter, coconut oil, sweet chili sauce, and srirachi .
Boil noodles until soft and add to wok when ready.
Add shrimp into wok and cook with mixture until the shrimp turns pink. Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste.
Toss frequently and serve, enjoy!
Drunken Spaghetti (in Italian: Spaghetti Ubriachi)
From David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Cookbook
Serves 4
Ingredients
1lb. (500 grams) spaghetti
1 bottle red wine (a bold style wine – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc , Malbec or Merlot)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 anchovies, finely chopped (optional)
Chilli pepper flakes to taste
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ cup crumbled blue cheese, or to taste
Method
In a large pasta pot, put your wine and bring to boil. Add pasta & a splash of oil so the noodles don’t stick together.
In a frying pan, heat up the olive oil. Add garlic, anchovies and chilli flakes if using and cook on medium heat until the anchovies melt into the oil and the garlic is softened. Set aside.
Now, add your spaghetti to the boiling wine, give it a good stir and finish cooking the pasta until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes.
When the pasta is ready, the wine will have infused the spaghetti, giving it a gorgeous ruby color. Don’t worry about the wine being too strong for the sauce. The alcohol will burn off and leave a sweet delicate taste.
Drain spaghetti from the wine, toss in the skillet with the garlic, anchovy sauce and finish cooking for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with a bit of the parsley and the blue cheese. Finish with a few toasted pine nuts if desired.
Note: if blue cheese isn’t for you this dish would work beautifully with a freshly grated pecorino or asiago cheese. Don’t be shy to add vegetables such as grilled asparagus, broccoli or beef it up with thinly sliced grilled meat or sausages.
Serving tip: This stunning and colourful pasta dish will present well on a simple white plate or pasta bowl, giving it a very bistro style look!
Enjoy…and remember to Clink & Drink Pink!