The other night I strolled out onto my back porch with a large glass of Selection Internaitonal Spanish Rose and noticed my neighbour staring at me. He had that “real men don’t drink pink wine” look on his face. He asked me what it was and I explained that it was one of my all-time favourite wines. I told him that it’s great to drink on its own but pairs up well with a lot of food. I was barbequing chicken that night and Spanish Rose goes great with any grilled meat with barbeque sauce.

I was feeling generous and had another bottle in the fridge so I gave it to my inquisitive and skeptic neighbour. To no surprise  he and his wife were raving ab0ut the wine later that night.

If you’re a skeptic or too ‘manly’ and haven’t yet tried the Selection International Spanish Rose- you should.  Real men do drink pink wine!

Cheers,

Bob, Manager (Wine Sense- Springfield Rd)

P.S. Spanish Rose is a seasonal wine and there’s only a few left!

Filed under: General, Wine by WineSense

Preamble- Gamay Nouveau (also known as Beaujolais Nouveau) is France’s traditional wine made to celebrate the year’s harvest. It is picked, fermented and ready to drink in 8 weeks. Selection International Gamay Nouveau allows you the same experience!

Last year when the Selection International Gamay Nouveau was introduced, I made the first kit we received at my store. On bottling day, my wife and I tasted the half bottle that we always have left over when bottling. It was amazing, so…. I made a second one right away.

I knew the first batch would go fast, which it did. When we bottled the second batch, my wife commented that the Gamay Nouveau would make a good summer wine. Would there be any left for summer? We looked at each other and laughed. There was no way it would last. I bought a 3rd kit and started it this past May and bottled it at the end of June- and we had 30 bottles ready for this summer and we were set!

Gamay Nouveau is a great summer wine. Served with a slight chill on a hot day, it’s amazing. Great on it’s own or with lighter summer foods it has been a crown pleaser. I will definitely be making an extra Gamay Nouveau for next summer.

Cheers,

Bruce, Manager (Wine Sense- Pembina Hwy)

Filed under: New Products, Wine by WineSense

Although the fruit fly is a perfect organism for studying genetics and developmental biology-  these little flies can very easily ruin a batch of wine if proper care is not taken. Fruit flies can carry the vinegar bacteria on their feet. If this gets in your wine- you can have some problems.

The best way to avoid fruit flies is to make sure your wine making area is clean of residual and spilled wine (fruit flies are attracted to wine and over-ripe fruit). Late summer is a favourite time of year for fruit flies so now is the time to keep your eye out for them.

If you notice you have fruit flies keep your wine protected before handling it. Always make sure your airlocks are clean and free of the bugs and are properly topped up with liquid (they’re small enough to fit through the tiny holes on the cap of your airlock).

There are simple traps you can make to get rid of fruit flies or you can simply place a glass of wine in the vicinity which will attract them. Once they start to drink the wine they will die and you can dispose of them… and you will have a much safer environment for your winemaking.

Cheers,

Carol (Wine Sense- Portage Avenue)

Filed under: General by WineSense

In my last blog about my visit to Pelee Island Winery I discussed the destemmer and crusher.

Now the grapes have gone through the destemmer and crusher the juice is ready to be turned into wine. I was taken into a very large room that held over 60 stainless steel fermenting tanks, the largest ones having a 93,000 litre capacity- that’s over 12000 bottles in one tank alone! To further put the size of the tank into perspective the juice is transferred with 8″ diameter hoses!

The juice then goes through the fermentation process and as we all know is turned into wine. Each of the stainless tanks is temperature controlled to ensure even fermentation.

We then went into the oak barrel rooms where there were hundreds of barrels of aging red wine. After that was the filtration area, the filter was half the size if a Volkwagon and used more than 20 filters. Finally, we went to the bottling and labelling areas.

If in your travels you ever get a chance to take a Winery tour, take it. It is a very educational and a heck of a lot of fun.

Cheers,

Bruce, Manager (Wine Sense- Pembina Hwy)

Filed under: General by WineSense