grape

Graffigna Centenario Malbec Reserve has delicious notes of delicate black pepper and dark berry aromas. Well-integrated tannins, round velvety body with a long, persistent finish. Bottle retails for less than $20.

   jam

Broken Bells is an American alt rock band made up of Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse) and James Mercer,  the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins. The song is The Mall & Misery, it begins very softly and slowly builds into the familiar jangly pop sound of The Shins. This song is from their first album-self entitled.

This grapejam pairs well because they both start out subtle and slowly build to an amazing peak before coming back down again to slow long lasting finish.

The female voice is equally as eerie as Thom Yorke’s. Enjoy!

Birdie is brave to take on Bon Iver’s Skinny Love. When I saw Bon Iver live st Sasquatch 2009 I never imagined I would be able to stand other person singing – Who will love you? Who will fight? Who will fall far behind? Props to Birdy- can you believe she is 16…

Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine covering Hospital Beds- enough said.

I love cover songs because they take old favourites and make them fun and new again. Females covering male vocals makes it sound beautifully classic. Next time I will do female songs covered by male vocals.

Enjoy!

For those of you also unfamiliar with virtual wineries they have been around for nearly two decades. Under the virtual-winery model, a person with no vineyard or equipment uses an existing winery to crush and ferment purchased grapes, then bottles the results under his or her own label. This particular explanation is from a Globe and Mail article by Beppi Crosariol. Virtual wineries exist in most wine regions across the globe. Essentially, they allow  wine makers to produce juice without having to get dirt under their nails or spend a fortune building a winery. Instead, they use crush facilities to establish their product. Opponents say the model invites unfair competition, giving urban dabblers a fast track into an industry where others have sank small fortunes into land, barrels, buildings and meticulous inventory control to satisfy tortuous provincial policies surrounding the manufacture and sale of alcohol (excerpt from Globe and Mail article by Beppi Crosariol).

When I enjoy a bottle of wine I think about the farmers— hot sun beating down on leather-skinned hands picking each grape with such care it’s comparable to taking the broken heart out of “Cavity Sam” in the childhood game of Operation. I wonder if the hearts of grape farmers in Mendoza, Argentina, who shed blood, sweat, and tears to create a rich deeply coloured Malbec are breaking over the idea of virtual wineries. My heart broke a few weeks ago when I realized a lot of the wine I enjoy on a regular basis come from virtual wineries. My dream of leather handed farmers and big oak barrels turned into a nightmare of uncertainty and big cement compounds almost like a wine prison. I admit these are outrageous descriptions of a form of wine making I know little about. But my point is for some reason upon the discovery of virtual wineries I felt like all my knowledge of wine was a complete sham. Like Jim Carrey’s life in “The Truman Show.”

Although this discovery came as a shock to me, I needed to know the benefits of virtual wineries before I shamelessly continued on my emotional rampage. After all, some great wines come from these “wine prisons.” From the United States: Underdog Wine’s Big House and Cupcake. New Zealand’s Kim Crawford got it’s start as a virtual winery and Sandhill Winery is a popular choice in Canada. These wines are not only cost-friendly but according to an article from Wine Access magazine they are also environmentally friendly. One of the major benefits of virtual wineries is they are the perfect answer for so many who see the folly of paving another hectare, erecting another structure, importing another press and bottling line and otherwise expending significant resources to make cases of wine when it is not necessary (“The Next Big Thing: Virtual Wineries by: Anthony Gismondi).

Next time you go to buy wine ask yourself, what matters to me— land or brand?  Or maybe you just buy wine because you enjoy the taste, price, or label and in that case just have fun with it. You can twist or pop the top knowing that either way, passionate wine makers took time to create an experience just for you.

“When you drink a bottle from New Zealand, Australia, California or where ever, do you think whether it’s a virtual winery or not?  No.  It’s a bottle of wine and it’s what’s in that bottle that counts.  Stop limiting yourselves.” – Thomas B.

Resources:

Globe and Mail article Controversy froths up over BC virtual winery http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/wine/beppi-crosariol/controversy-froths-up-over-bc-virtual-winery/article1982471/page1/

http://www.wineaccess.ca/articles/item/virtual-wineries

There are a lot of wine blogs on the Internet so in an attempt to avoid getting lost in the noise. I am doing a twist on the common food and wine pairings. Most people listen to music when they’re enjoying a glass of wine, or in most cases a bottle, so why not introduce music and wine pairings. Think about it, you could dance around to Swedish indie singer Lykke Li with a glass of sparkling wine with sweet melon notes or dream of summertime with a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc while listening to NY-based indie pop band, “The Drums.”

There are endless possibilities for music and wine pairings, so stick around to hear a new band or try a new brand. This blog is meant to be fun, so grab your glass and let’s rock and swirl!