Jamesons or Bushmills

HAPPY St PATRICK'S DAY

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Whether you prefer the sweet malt taste of Bushmills or the fiery citrus of Jameson's this is a good week to stock up on some Irish whiskey. You want to have some on hand for St'Paddy's next week. It won't hurt to come down to the pub for a pint of Guinness either and don't forget to wear some green.

Next Sunday we have the March whiskey tasting event and we are featuring 2 outstanding Irish whiskey's in Tullamore Dew and Middleton Rare.

Tullamore Dew Voted ‘Best Irish Blended Whiskey’ at

2011 Icons of Whisky Awards Dinner

10 March 2011 - Last week, at the prestigious Icons of Whisky Awards dinner in London, Tullamore Dew 12 Year Old won for the ‘Best Irish Blended Whiskey’.  Chosen amongst a very competitive shortlist of other whiskey brands, the outstanding win is a true testament to the pride and care we take in producing the very best whiskey in Ireland. 

                              

I particularly enjoy Irish whiskey prior to dinner or with Seafood appetizers the citrus notes are a natural match. I have been a fan since I first started working in my mothers bar The Duke of Westminster in Edmonton in the early 80's. Even though it had an English name it was predominantly an Irish Pub with the requisite Irish entertainment ant list of characters. It was hard to get through a shift without some excuse to have a shot with the boy's. When I think back to the back bar in those days we still had Jameson's and Glenlivet but there were a lot of things like Pinch, Ne'Plus Ultra, and Captains Table that have disappeared off the Bar in the last 30 years. Maybe that says something about how those iconic whiskeys like Jameson's stand the test of time by being consistent, recognizable and tasty.

Connections

What started as a post about a great Okanagan wine story is changing into how connected we all are to the wine industry here in the Valley. Back a dozen years ago I bought some Nichol Syrah grown on the Naramata bench and was impressed that you could even grow this grape this far north and that it could be this good. I held onto it for a long time and used it for some wine paired dinners and special occaisions. But as these things go I didn't think much about it after I was out as there are so many new wines and wineries everyone gets lost in the mix.


So here is where we get to these connections I'm talking about a few months ago I get a phone call to see if I would be interested in tasting some wine from D'angelo I said yes and Christy their new rep shows up. During the tasting I find out this is her first presentation.  Turns out she has some property and is growing some Grapes for Howling Bluff. She does a good job and I buy some Cab-Merlot which sells quite well. She comes to see me this week and now has 3 new wineries in her portfolio including Robin Ridge ( good Similkameen Pinot Noir), Elephant Island Fruit winery ( I catered Miranda and Del's wedding years ago, try the Apricot Dessert wine in the Hot Tub) and Nichol Vineyard. I bought some Syrah and Pinot Gris from Nichol and wanted to try it when it arrived so opened the Syrah and tasted it with some good customers. Well this vintage is as good or better than the 98 I bought all those years ago. So Mike proceeds to explain the trellessing method that Nichol uses to get the Syrah to have all this body and I can't help thinking how every time you start a conversation about wine here in the Valley that you always end up knowing more about someone than when you started. If you stay here even for a short time you will be connected to something in the local wine industry and that creates an amazing chain of events.


By the way go out of your way to find and try this wine it embodies the true taste of the Okanagan and the spirit that makes this region unique in the world of wine.