A Fashion and - raj

INDUSTRY NEWS
AND NOTES
BY CASSANDRA ANDERTON
• Cocktail wizard David Wolowidnyk
showed his skills in Toronto last month.
He took home the trophy for Canada’s best
cocktail at the Grey Goose taste-off. Stop by
West Restaurant on South Granville to fi nd
out what’s in his “Jolicoeur.”
• On Wednesday, Nov. 14, Olympic athletes
paired up with local chefs for the Gold Medal
Plates fundraiser at the Westin Bayshore.
Competition was tough, but Cioppino’s
chef and owner Pino Posteraro took home
the gold. His dish: porcini mushroom and
chestnut soup, paired with Ontario’s 2006
Pillitteri Chardonnay.
• If we had an Opening Soon fi lming in
Vancouver this month, producers would
have a tough time picking one candidate.
Pinkys Steakhouse is almost complete at
1265 Hamilton and will open a second location
later on at Cypress and Fourth Avenue.
Yew Restaurant + Bar will open in the
Four Seasons Hotel on Dec. 11 and Myala
Indian opens Dec. 6 at 980 Granville. We’ll
also see Fish move from Fourth Avenue to
Yew Street to replace the short-lived Sea
Shanty, and The Moustache Café shuffl es
from Marine Drive to 129 West 2nd in North
Vancouver.
• On the new-menu front there’s cause to
celebrate. Chef Sonsmann has revamped
his dessert list at Brix on Hamilton Street.
Stop in for some white chocolate crème
brulee or maple rhubarb panna cotta. The
Cannery has added a more effi cient and
cost-wise “Chowder Bar” menu. Try salmon
burgers, steak and fries or fi sh and chips.
12th and Cambie’s Figmint has also added
a morning coffee bar with fresh pastries
baked in-house by chef Lee Humphries.
• During December there are a few places
opening up for lunch who usually lock their
doors until the evening. Take the opportunity
to stop by Gastown’s Cobre, Downtown
at Parkside or (just on Friday’s) at C, and
Chow on South Granville. Treat yourself and
friends to the special menus offered.
B.C.’s wineries had a few announcements
this month. Mission Hill was awarded B.C.
winery of the year from Access Magazine.
Tinhorn Creek partnered with Manny
Ferreira of Senova and Le Gavroche and announced
its plans to open a restaurant next
spring. Black Hills announced it would sell
the winery to a limited partnership investment
group with celebrity Jason Priestley
on the board.
COMING EVENTS:
• Monday, Dec. 10 – International Dessert
Wine Tasting with the Vancouver American
Wine Society at the Listel Hotels.
www.vaws.org
• Wednesday, Dec. 12 – Ice Wine Tasting
at Sip Wines in Richmond, 7:30-9 pm $30.
Taste B.C.’s best Ice Wine
• Saturday, Dec. 22 – Township 7 Tasting,
Marquis Wine Cellars, 3-7 pm. Call
604.684.0445 for details
• Wednesday, Jan. 2 – Dine Out Vancouver
reservations begin.
www.tourismvancouver.com
10/ December, 2007 ■ INFAMOUS
WINE DIVA
CHAMPERS TIME!
BY DAENNA VAN MULLIGEN
winediva.ca
If (heaven forbid) anyone were to tell me that
for the remainder of my drinking days I could
only quaff one type of wine — carte blanche
— there would be no hesitation.
Champagne.
I can’t tell you why, exactly. It seems
decadent, often pretentious and only for the
wealthy, and yet it’s mysterious and elegant
and divinely diverse. I’ve always thought
it was a crying shame that so many people
relegate Champagne to New Year’s Eve and
weddings. Or that they would mistakenly
lump all bubbly wines into a pile alongside
this très cher French sparkling under the banner
“unattainable.”
Certainly there’s no excuse to avoid bubbly,
what with so many inexpensive alternatives
literally cascading off the wine shelves. Go
ahead, save the Champagne for special occasions
if you must, but the rest of the year
drink Prosecco (Italy), Sekt (Germany), Cremant
(France), Cava (Spain) and other sparkling
wines from around the globe. Many of
these bubbly international offerings are made
just like Champagne, in the time-honoured, laborious,
traditional method — méthod champenoise
— in which the wine goes through a
secondary, bubble-producing fermentation
in the bottle. Many are also made in a bulk
or charmat method, which makes them far
less expensive to produce but often just as
tasty. Keep in mind that the palate-cleansing
bubbles in sparkling wine make it extremely
food friendly: hors d’oeuvres, seafood,
antipasti plates, turkey, Asian cuisine, tapas,
cheese platters, duck, pizza, buttered popcorn
and even potato chips.
Lastly, remember Champagne was discovered
by a blind monk, so leave your pretensions
(and corkscrew) at the door.
BUBBLY FOR A CROWD
Deinhard ‘Lila’ Riesling Sekt, Germany NV is
a super value. It’s an impressive party bubbly
with its appealing apple, apricot-y, lime leaf
and honeysuckle aromas with pretty lavender
notes. It’s crisp, fresh and citrusy, with stone
fruit fl avours, a drop of honeyed sweetness
and full-on mousse-y mouthful, with a zippy
fi nish.
$13.49 BC Liquor Stores
BREAKFAST BUBBLY
Valdo Prosecco di Valdobbiadene ‘Marco
Oro,’ Veneto Italy NV. Prosecco is made in the
charmat method resulting in less aggressive
bubbles, often called Spumante. Prosecco
is also a grape variety and is classic to the
Veneto region in Italy. The Italians refer to it as
breakfast wine because of its light effervescence
and low alcohol — I call it delicious,
any time of the day. The Valdo is consistent
and always appealing. It’s fresh and crisp with
loads of citrus, apple skin, mineral and stone
fruit with delicate bubbles and a clean, zesty
fi nish.
$19.99 BC Liquor Stores
B.C. BUBBLY
Township 7 ‘Seven Stars,’ Okanagan BC,
2004 may be a bit harder to fi nd, so be sure
that if you’re taking a drive in the countryside
(a.k.a. Langley) to stop in at the winery and
grab a few bottles. The Seven Stars has had
a bit of a cult-wine following in past years,
and not being able to get your hands on any
of the 300 bottles produced probably helps
feed the frenzy. It’s a 50/50 blend of Pinot
Noir and Chardonnay and shows the intense
toastiness one would expect in older vintage
Champagnes. It’s amber-hued with grilled
peach aromas, wild honey, tart red berries and
toast notes with a creamy texture and fl avours
of cranberry, lingering toast and spice on the
fi nish.
$29.99 at the winery and in select private and
VQA wine stores
CHAMPAGNE WISHES
Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rosé, Champagne
France NV has a delicious pinky-salmon hue
and shows a medley of mixed berry aromas,
peachy tones, dried fl owers and loads of toast
and spice notes. It has crisp citrus and creamy
berries on the palate with more toast, cinnamon
stick and a lingering, snappy fi nish. A
bubbly this daring and elegant will be perfect
served up with catered hors d’oeuvres at your
swishy party this holiday season.
$63.99 BC Liquor Stores
DRINK & DINE