I guess I might just be annoyed that I can no longer afford many of the gems that Burgundy and Bordeaux have to offer.  However, I have thought for a long time that many of the great wine world’s classification systems are somewhat “dubious”, or as my grandpa used to say “has flies on them”.  The choice for quality wine has never been greater and the way in which we judge that quality is always a hot topic for debate.   Take Bordeaux for instance (“yes take it”!

Day 1 – After a LONG day driving from Minervois to Piemonte we finally arrived late in the evening to our quaint little cottage in Sessame Italy.  We were greeted by the cottage owners, Kerri and Bob, who are a lovely English couple that immigrated to Italy to start their own vineyard.  As it was very dark on our way to the accommodation we have no idea what the town or surrounding area looks like. Kerri and Bob were very helpful and left us lots of information and recommendations on local wineries. We quickly unpacked and headed straight to bed….

ALASKAN KING CRAB WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE & CELARY

Day 8 – After tasting wines, lots of different wines from all around Chile, Marcus has decided we are going to focus on Casablanca. We drove the 1 ½ back and went to a bunch of wineries on his short list. After an exhausting day tasting, nothing really stood out – especially compared with our experience at Catrala.   Day 9 - Today is Sunday and 89% of Chileans are catholic so most wineries and other shops are closed for the day.

Day 4 – Decided we really needed a new strategy – days are ticking along with no success so far.  Decided to call the winery marketing arm called “Wines of Chile” first thing to see if they could recommend some small boutique, hard to find, wineries. Marcus attempted to call and email them before we left Canada to arrange a meeting, but after several attempts we didn’t hear back. Marcus again called, emailed and left several messages, emailed the North American contact directly a couple times and again he didn’t hear back.

Day 1 – Arrived in Chile around lunchtime after a long trip through the night. First impression – CULTURE SHOCK! We step off the plane and into crowds of people coming at us from all directions speaking to us in Spanish. I know for sure there were taxi drivers, car rental agencies and I am not sure what else as I couldn’t understand one word they were saying. Thankfully I already had the rental car booked, and the agent spoke English fairly well which made things easier. 

With the holidays quickly approaching, we would like to get some ideas from you for entertaining this season.  Everyone is always looking for that perfect wine and food match, and there is no better time to try out new combinations than during the holidays.  We want you to send us your favourite food and wine pairings.  Log in to your account on the website and reply to this post by indicating the wine of choice and a brief summary of the recipe.  Final entry date is Tuesday December 8, 2009.

“A woman drove me to drink and I never even had the courtesy to thank her” – W.C.Fields. 

Day 9 – Being Saturday we thought it was a good day to visit the local markets where artisans are selling African made crafts and souvenirs.  This was quite an experience – every tent we entered we were immediately met by a vendor who tried to interest us in various items they were selling.

Day 5 – Woke to our first rainy day in South Africa…and this is supposed to be the rainy season. First stop was Zorgvliet winery. We pulled up to a colossal and extravagant cape Dutch building set amongst stunning mountains and beautiful vineyards. We walked up the stairs into a modern tasting room. A friendly cellar door employee tasted through their portfolio of wines with us. We were really impressed with all of their wines, which is a pleasant rarity. It is apparent this winemaker knows what they are doing in the cellar.