Mirus Wines & Spirits

Food + Wine = ♥

Food and Wine pairing may be as intimidating as Arnold Schwarzenegger with his shirt off, but really, it’s quite easy.

There are a few rules to wine and food matching. First, you must know and understand the taste components you’re working with. In food, there are five components: sweet, acidity, bitterness, saltiness, and umami, which is savory/MSG flavours that are present in seafood, cooked mushrooms, ripe fruits, boiled potatoes, etc. In wine, there are four main elements of taste: sweet, acidity, bitter/tannin, and alcohol. Once you are aware of these elements, let the pairing begin!

Ask yourself: What is the basic taste component in the food? What is the basic taste component in the wine? Do they work well together, yes or no? Similar flavours usually work well together, but you also must take into consideration the weight of the food and wine (ex: a light fish topped with a creamy sauce is now heavier, so what was a Sauvignon Blanc pairing, now becomes an oaked Chardonnay). Colour coding has been known as red wine with red meats and white wine with white meats, however, there are exceptions (try Pinot Noir with grilled salmon). Also, consider the interaction of components in food and wine. What happens when you pair that MSG with red wine? You will get a metallic taste in your mouth. Solution? Add a touch of salt to neutralize. These are all things you must consider. It may seem like a lot to remember, but once you start practicing, it will all make sense.

There are things that can go wrong, but luckily, there are solutions. What if a guest brings the wrong wine which doesn’t pair correctly with your food? You can always make adjustments! Wine pairing rules tend to confuse, inhibit, and undermine one’s creations in the kitchen, so don’t always be so strict with which wines pair with which foods. Sure, some foods have limitations, but they can always be adjusted. Example: when you pair a spicy food with a wine that is high in alcohol, it’ll light up your taste buds like the Fourth of July – but not in a good way. Alcohol actually increases the spiciness of the dish. To fix this, just add a touch of sugar; it neutralizes the heat and lets you enjoy your food without the burning. If the food match is too bitter on the other hand (ex: artichokes or asparagus paired with a high tannin wine), try adding a little salt to the food to cut through these tannins. When the wine is too acidic, add some lemon, and what happens when your dessert is sweeter than your wine? This should never happen because your wine should always be sweeter than your dessert. If it’s not, it will flatten the tastes, making an unpleasant ending to your meal and unpleasant guests.

There are so many amazing food and wine pairings out there to discover. Regional pairings for example can be some of the best. The beautiful thing about wine is that it is so versatile, so don’t be afraid to make ‘mistakes’. Mistakes only serve to teach you more. For a perfect pairing, I have listed some traditional and regional pairings below. Try one this week!

Foie Gras (fattened goose liver, seared) – Sauternes (famous dessert wine from France)

Steak & Frites – Left Bank Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon is the major grape here)

Coq au Vin (‘rooster in wine’) – Pinot Noir

Tarte Flambée (Alsace version of pizza) – Pinot Gris or Riesling

Cassoulet (rich slow-cooked bean stew with meat from France) – Madiran or Cahors (both AOC reds from SW France)

It’s Harvest Time!

I am so blessed to be in Nova Scotia visiting some of my favorite wineries at my favorite time of year, which is harvest time! This time of year for grape growers, and wine makers, is exceptionally important in the process of wine making. August, September, and through to late October, it is not only harvest time for grapes, but also a time of celebration for us regular folks. If you’re a lover of wine such as myself, it’s pretty important to be able to take some time off and go winery touring this month. So that’s what I did! …

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Star Gazing & Wine Sipping

For all you hopeless romantics out there, this is one of the best times of the year to stargaze, and with the right wine, stargazing can be a great date.  From late July to roughly August 10^th this year, summer meteor showers will put on their best performances, so why not grab a cuddly blanket to lie on, your dearest to cuddle with, and a good bottle of wine?

Stargazing is always enjoyable, but at this time of the summer, meteor showers are the highlight of the summer stargazing experience. The thrill of seeing a bright meteor streaking along in the light of the moon can’t be beat, especially when you’re able to share the experience with a loved one. The best times to spot meteor showers are not necessarily in the light of the moon, but rather in the darkest hours of the night.  Between midnight and dawn, closest to August 10th, the skies are predicted to be completely moonless which is perfect for spotting meteors.

So, let’s decide which wine should you should sip on for this special occasion? Thankfully, there are some wines available that I feel were created for occasions such as this.  Actually, there is a wine that’s called “Shooting Star” from Steele Wines, California, as well as another in California, a vineyard called “Meteor Vineyards” which produces exceptional wines as well. Should these wines not be available from your local liquor store, then check out “Note Bene” from Black Hills Winery in British Columbia. “Note Bene” is Italian for “observe carefully, or take special notice”.  Not only do you have to observe carefully for meteors, but also take special notice to this exceptional wine which is quite worthy of aging. This dark red wine is 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and 11% Cabernet Franc, and begins with an appealing aroma of red fruit with vanilla and mocha on the nose.  The palate is rich and one of the ripest tasting “Nota Bene” wines, with flavours of plums, black cherries, cassis, and vanilla.  It provides beautiful soft tannins, with luscious hints of chocolate, red berries and spice on the finish.  Since this is a somewhat pricier wine, I suggest decanting “Note Bene” in order for it to open up more. Bring along some expensive dark Belgian chocolate which pairs perfectly with Cabernet-forward wines.

If you tie in romance with a bottle of bubbly however, check out “Cordon Negro Brut” from Freixenet, and pack a picnic basket with delicacies such as an antipasti platter for pairing. This is Freixenet’s most popular cava, often referred to as the “Black Bottle Bubbly.”  It is crisp, clean and very well balanced.  The dosage (sugar added in the process of making a sparkling wine) is very dry, but the acidity is lower than most sparkling wines for a softer, smoother flavor. It is medium-bodied with apple, pear and bright citrus flavors with a moderately long, crisp and clean finish.  Any of their other sparkling wines are equally good.  Sample the “Rosado” if you’re thinking pink.

In adding to this romantic, stargazing, wine sipping evening, I’ll mention a fun fact: Did you know that research has proved that not only is wine good for your health (in moderation), but also your libido? Yes, it’s true! According to many studies and mostly affecting females, a glass or two of red wine can actually boost testosterone levels and spark a session of amour. Dark chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants, has a similarly positive effect as well.

Happy trails! And don’t forget to make a wish on a shooting star!

- Raegan Stuart

Age Like Fine Wine

Wouldn’t we all love to age like fine wine? Oh, how nice that would be. To develop beautiful aromas, taste more complex flavours, and to have a great firm structure ready to take on anything life throws at us. Instead, we eventually have troubles holding our bodily functions, loose our senses, and our ‘structure’ starts to resemble more of a melting wax figure. Let’s face it, we will eventually loose the aging battle, but hey, it’s kind of hard for wine too. Not all wine ages well, and those that do are sometimes very hard to tell when the right time to open them is. It is always a very sad, sad day when you finally open that expensive bottle you’ve been hanging onto for years, and it turns out to be vinegar. I could cry thinking about it really.

I’m sure a few of us have seen it; we’ve been to someone’s house and they’ve been holding onto a bottle for so long, always talking about opening it, but never seem to take action. We always hope we’ll be the special guest they open it in front of, if they ever do. Chances are, they probably have no clue when they should, and to be honest, I’m really not that sure myself. So, I decided to look into it.

Investing into wine is a great hobby, and can definitely be rewarding because let’s say you buy a $60 bottle of wine, once that baby ages enough over the next 10-15 years it will be worth so much more. Good wine such as Grand Reserves or Grand Cru can develop amazing flavours, aromas, and structure over time. ‘Grand Cru’ meaning that the vineyard that the wine comes from has been designated as one of the best in that particular wine growing region. It isn’t an evaluation of the wine – just that the vineyard that the grapes came from has been certified as the best in a given wine-growing region in France.

Ports are also great wines to age since the high alcohol content seems to keep the wine better. If you know anyone having a baby, 10 year old Port is a traditional gift to give them. This is because, by the time their kid is 20, or of legal drinking age, the Port will have aged for another 20 years, so now you have an amazing 30 year old port that if you were to buy in the liquor store, would be close to two hundred bucks. But hey, if you have the cash, go out and pick up a $170 dollar bottle of 1978 Taylor Fladgate 30 year old Tawny Port. This baby has amazing flavours of caramel, almonds, toffee, and a touch of molasses. So rich and robust you’ll be dying for more. Old ports and old wines tend to develop something called ‘sediment’ over time. It may look weird in the bottle, but please don’t be scared! This is a good thing!! It doesn’t mean it’s no good – I actually had an incident one time where a friend of mine thought the wine had actually spoiled and ended up throwing it out! Oh my, when I heard this I just had to shake my head. How tragic. All you need to do with old wines, or unfiltered wine at that, is go out and buy a good decanter. All old wine MUST be decanted, not only to open up the aromas and flavours, but to keep that sediment out of your glass. Never judge the first few sips either. Sometimes you’ll be hit with intense tannins and harsh acidity at first, but if you leave it alone and let the wine sit in the decanter for about 10 minutes, 15 minutes, even maybe a couple hours, you’ll allow the wine to open up and calm down to express more complex flavours.

So, back to the wine. How do you really know the right time to open an old bottle of wine you’ve been aging? First things first, you really have to monitor your storage conditions. This is so important!  Wine must be stored out of direct sunlight, on its side, between 10-16 degrees celsius or else you run the risk of spoilage or oxidation. When wine is stored at the proper temperature, the wine will age so much better. Secondly, you really have to know a lot about the wine you purchased. How were the grapes grown, what was the ripeness of the grapes when fermented, how the wine was stored before you got it, etc. Also ask yourself: has it aged some time already? Even the way wine is handled can effect its aging process. For example, my mother sometimes says I won’t age very well if I don’t stop partying and if I don’t get enough rest. Wine, just like us is very sturdy when it’s young, but tends to get pretty fragile when it gets old

A different way to age wine which I think is the easy, but expensive way, would be to buy a whole case of that particular wine and then open up a bottle every six months or every year. This way, you can really see the difference in each bottle and watch how they develop over time. Then, when you finally get to a bottle that really wows you, you’ll know this is when you should enjoy the rest of the bottles. I would definitely suggest to do it this way. I think it would be so fun to see all the changes in each bottle, plus being able to have enough in order to enjoy with company once you find that perfect stage in the wines aging process.

Honestly, practice makes perfect, like everything else in life. Those wrinkles that are slowly creeping up on you; should have practiced applying the sunblock!  So, with wine, play around with it. Pick up a few bottles every once and awhile to age, and try them at different times. Over time you will start to recognize certain characteristics the wine takes on and when they occur. Older wine bought for aging purposes, young wine bought for the same reason, they will all age differently. If you’d like to try to age a bottle yourself, I would probably suggest a more expensive wine, probably between thirty-five to about sixty dollars might be a good starting point, but I would drink it within the next two years. In general, more expensive wines are designed to become better with age. Most inexpensive wines do not benefit from aging. If you really want to invest, try these:

Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux, in the Medoc Region of France.

Chardonnay from Chablis and White Burgundy.

Rieslings from the best regions in Germany such as Spatlese and Auslese.

Merlot from the comunes of St.Emillion and Pomerol in Bordeaux France.

There are many more wines out there, but of course France is known for having some of the best wines in the world.

Start a new, fun hobby and age like fine wine! Good luck!

-Raegan Stuart

Don’t Blame it On The Weather. Refresh With Whites.

Confession. I know I usually have this post up every Thursday…or Friday… sometimes Saturday… OK. OK. I’ll be honest, the weather has been really fantastic up here in Toronto, heat, sunshine, almost every day is a perfect beach day, and sometimes I just can’t sit in front of my computer… (oh, and it tends to over heat in the sun!!) Is that enough excuses?  We all know it’s hard to go into work or do anything when the weather is nice, but I have found some amazing white wines to help you stay cool, and refresh this summer…

The first refreshing white was shown to me by a friend while I was in Muskoka a couple weekends ago (yes, this was why “My Best Friend, The Grape was a little tardy). Aveleda Fonte, Vinho Verde was just the thing I needed to cool off and enjoy the sunshine. This light and easy drinking wine is a pale yellow colour, full of pear, apple, and luscious light citrus notes that are sure to refresh your palate. This wine is all around a great buy for only $7.95 -YES, do not be scared of wines under ten dollars, there are some fantastic wines for under ten bucks that truly possess great value and are sure to become one of your favorites. The other nice thing about this Vinho Verde is that the alcohol content is only 10% which is prefect for the cottage because you already get dehydrated enough when you’re directly in the sun so you don’t need high alcohol to contribute. Unfortunately, I don’t think the NSLC carries this wine, but there are still some other fabulous Vinho Verdes to try besides this one. The grape, Vinho Verde is grown in the region of Minho in Portugal. It literally means “green wine” referring to its youthful freshness that lead to a hint of green colour around its edge.

One of my favorite refreshing whites that isn’t available in Ontario, but is available in Nova Scotia is called “Obsession Symphony” from Ironstone Vineyards. This seductively aromatic wine is made from the indigenous varietal of “Obsession Symphony” which is grown in California, is a cross between Muscat (one of my favorite indigenous varietals which are very underestimated in my opinion) and Grenache Gris. On the palate comes an orchestra of ripe exotic fruits and a finish that is crisp and clean. Try this wine with Thai food if you get the chance, it’s sure to delight. Only eight bucks a bottle as well!

If you’re a Riesling fan, which most people are, especially non wine drinkers I find, Dr.Loosen Riesling is sure to be a crowd peaser. As you know, the majority of famous Rieslings come Germany, and this one which is grown on the steep slopes of Germany’s Mosel Valley is a classic. Encompassing mouth watering notes of ripe peach, hint of Granny Smith apples, ripe lime, and also the lightest touch of sweetness makes it go with just about everything food-wise. It’s also just as good sipping on its own as it is with seafood, poultry, or grilled trout. Oh, and guess what … only $13.95.

If you still have some cottaging weekends coming up or are having a barBQ, make sure to pick up these wines and enjoy all the light and refreshing qualities they have to offer.

-Raegan Stuart