Look what I can do!

ôôôôôôôôôôôô!!!

See? I am learning things! Like how to put accents over the o's in Côtes du Rhône! This excites me (I don't get out much)! I also learned that it's Côtes du Rhône, not Cote de Rhone. My grammar and spelling just got a little less offensive; don't expect the same from the rest of me.

So last night Trevor made a gorgeous beef stew, but what to drink? Alas,there was nothing in my wine rack (my wine keeps disappearing into a mysterious hole, which I figure is somewhere very near my face). So hi-diddle-dee-doe, off to the LCBO, where I laid hands on Le Ferme Du Mont Le Ponnant Côte du Rhône-Village 2007 and a bottle of Henry of Pelham Baco Noir 2008. The Côte du Rhône seemed like a safe bet for beef stew, but Baco Noir? Baco Noir was uncharted territory for me. Still, all the glossy LCBO posters assured me Baco Noir is good with grilled beef and beef stew, so I picked up a bottle to go. I figured if I loved it, we'd make a point of stopping into the Henry of Pelham winery for a tour next Tuesday, during our winery trip to the Niagara Escarpment.

Dinner was scrumptious. No doubt, as Trevor is an awesome cook. And the Côtes du Rhône was every bit as yummy as dinner. Oh you clever French! I adore you! You make wine that tastes like angel sweat. And Lard (a typo but it stays), I do love Grenache; lovely and ruby and deep and fruity, with a bit of Syrah thrown in for manly man-ness. It was such a nicely balanced wine; it's a treat that's not to be missed, so hustle your gustle to the Vintages section and pick up a bottle for Thanksgiving. Not a break the bank wine either; I think it was $17.95. Bargain!

The Baco Noir however...oh I so would like to like this wine. Why? It's local, for one. It's from a very well respected winery that all the critics like. And at $13.95, it's cheap and cheerful. But when it came to pairing with beef stew, there was no contest--Côtes du Rhône all the way. I'm sorry, but it just seemed too syrupy next to a warm, spicy stew. It was a dark, inky reddish-purple, and in a way tasted like biting into a green banana. I want to like it. I understand Henry of Pelham makes Baco Noir that is adored by important wine-types. But in the context of our dinner, it just didn't fly. I'll give it another try, on it's own and with some other dish. I won't give up just yet.

I'm going home, hopefully to leftover stew (if it hasn't already disappeared down a second mysterious hole, somewhere near my husband's face).

'Til next time,

Barb