Tasting – Page 10 – @sommeligay

Joiefarm Wines – 2012

April 10, 2013November 16, 2015 by Josh

I had the opportunity to try six of Joiefarm’s wines today, all being part of the new 2012 vintage.

Hilariously pronounced by many customers (“Joey”) – some with confidence, some hesitant, and most with charm – these wines are popular with the locals, but personally, I’ve never been drawn to their wines. They take advantage of BC’s relatively cooler climate and vinify mostly white grapes, although their PTG has been praised by Jancis Robinson (all hail the queen). All good checkboxes for reasons to buy, but perhaps it’s the 20-30 dollar price point (which honestly, makes sense for some good BC wine anyways) or perhaps it’s the weird combination that the labels bring: simple but somehow ugly. That’s just me, though.… read more

2013 Vancouver International Wine Festival

March 4, 2013December 15, 2015 by Josh

Wine festivals. Picture a huge room with a high ceiling and huge windows; women either embrace Old World Pinot Noir in style with subtly classic and fashionable outfits, or New World Pinot Noir – upfront fruit with upfront skin. Ninety percent of men are straight up masculine Cabernet Sauvignon being done up in a suit and tie; a small percentage of laid-back Carmenères put a smile on my face, whether they be clad in a sweater and jeans or all plaid everything. I’m somewhere in the middle like a Pinotage: a cardigan the colour of its juice (purple – close enough) with notes of leather (Doc Martens).

Needless to say, there were many events like wine minglers and seminars, but I only had time to go to one of the big trade tasting days, where, upon being surrounded by uptight suits and dresses, really just made me want to Harlem Shake with everyone in the room which would probably replace being born as the record for the messiest 30 seconds of my life.… read more

Tasting

I NEED A BIGGER KNIFE. (UBC Wine Tasting Sesh #2)

October 24, 2012November 16, 2015 by Josh

Long-ass day. Doesn’t seem so bad in retrospect, but I woke up early for a 9AM thing at UBC, took the 99 to the last stop for work, and then needed to travel all the way back to UBC to lead Part 2 of the sort-of-intro-to-wine themed tasting, all while wearing pants that weren’t jeans, one of those shirts you’d hate to spill wine on, and shoes that didn’t fit just enough to make my feet cry. The garb was fitting for all of the day’s events but for this day in particular, I would defs have lead a wine tasting wearing nothing but seven layers of random comfortable 7-foot-long linens, cinnamon-bun-Homer-Simpson style. I was that uncomfortable (ugh rain + sickness).… read more

Tasting

wine 101 @ UBC

October 9, 2012November 16, 2015 by Josh

So yeah! I led the first tasting of this school year at the UBC Wine Tasting Club. It was awesome and complete with me spilling wine while demonstrating swirling, me speaking horrendously quietly and fast while avoiding the tens and tens of eyes on me, and me silently freaking out and wondering if people were getting bored as I barked on and on about the noble grape varieties. Which is great, because that’s me being normal.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating.

What was also fantastic was that Holly brought her Le Nez du Vin set which was amazingly fun. People were trying to quiz each other with smells or just smelled the little vials in general. My favourite picture was the one with the goat-looking beast with weird fangs (“Musk”).… read more