Tennessee Honey

Jack Daniel's has released this Whiskey Liqueur into our market this Month at 35% ABV this is real spirit. It retains plenty of smooth Jack Daniel's character but the honey sweetness will appeal to a broad market don't be surprised if this flies off the shelves at your local liquor store. Honey has potential for mixing and tastes great straight up. If you like this seek out American Honey from Wild Turkey and Even Williams Honey Reserve from Even Williams both under $20.00 across the border. This style of spirit is my Hot Tub Relax after a hard day favorite.

Back To School

Fall is always a good time to go back to school so I am taking my WSET 3 advanced. It is truly humbling to realize how little you actually know. This is 6 full days of class exploring all facets of both viticulture and wine making as well as a comprehensive breakdown of all of the major wine regions of the world. Toss in 16 to 18 blind tastings per class and you can imagine the scope of it.

So what have I learned so far, first Terroir is probably the most important factor in making wine interesting not necessarily better just adding a sense of place to the wine. I am most amazed that when you use a systematic approach to each wine that you taste you can figure out using the presumed flavors colors and terroir influences what the wine you are tasting is. Lastly when tasting old world wines quality tends to follow price more closely than some of our local vintages.

 These are pretty simple but profound truisms that impressed me so far but there are many other little things that are probably equally as important and will help me evaluate whats in the glass with a much more critical eye.

If you are thinking of taking one of these courses I can highly recommend Rhys Pender MW. from WinePlus+ his Knowledge and easy teaching style makes these courses more than worth the money. 

Time for Winter Beers

We just put a new beer on tap in the Tree Vertical Winter Ale that is proving to be an instant hit. Lingering notes of Vanilla and Cardamon play nicely with the malt and reasonably crisp finish. I don't know what it is about spices but they always make food and beverage feel more comfortable and invoke memories of home.

Look Forward to the new menu at the pub coming early November where a new feature will be a session tap offering limited time opportunities to try new and varied draft selections from cask conditioned to seasonals and edgy offerings from around B.C. and the rest of the country.

The Results Are In

Fall Judging is complete and the B.C. wine awards announced. There are some surprises and some old favorites getting golds this year they range from Moon Curser in the South to Arrowleaf in the North and Robin Ridge in the West they seem to represent every growing Micro Climate the Okanagan has to offer. It was nice to see Lake Breeze Winery's Pinot Blanc win Gold as it has been a favorite here at the pub for the last 6 years or so. When I read through the list I was pleasantly surprised that the medal winners come from many price points as well. I think it is great for the industry to give more people a chance to grab a medal winner without having to break the bank. Take the Peller Family Series Pinot Blanc at $12.99 for a Gold medal wine what a value

Speaking of Andrew Peller Wines I was invited this week to a portfolio tasting of all of their products at a fabulous penthouse in Kelowna they had all of their winemakers there to answer questions and pour some great wine. Don't be fooled by the not so flashy packaging on some of these Peller and Calona wines the liquid is great and the value is outstanding.

You might of noticed a bit of a theme in this post regarding value I know times are tight and everyone is stretching their budgets as far as they can so seek out some great values and stock your cellar winter is on it's way and wine drinking season is here.