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WINE COLUMN
ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR
By Carolyn Evans Hammond, published in Outreach Connection and distributed privately on 18/09/09
I was at Taste of the Kingsway this past weekend. Not because I wanted to go but because I wanted to grab a few necessities on Bloor Street Saturday afternoon, a few paces from my house. And there it was, in full swing. And since I had my wee son with me, I was tugged into the fray by the easily excitable nature of a five year old. Nothing like a spin on the berry-go-round.
Taste of the Kingsway is a street fair where usually respectable local merchants erect tents and dish out messy food piecemeal. For a few coins, you get the joy of trying to eat a wad of Pad Thai off a flimsy cardboard plate with chopsticks while walking through throngs of crowds who look like they prefer forks to q-tips, would figure the word “genitalia” is an Italian airline, and would call a six pack and a bucket of KFC a seven course meal.
To add to the fun, there is Elvis on a pedestal with a pail in front of him that reads, “dance activation”. Toss in a coin and he gyrates. And of course there’s the usual travelling fun fair kit of blow up bouncy castles, slides, and rickety rides aimed at the under-6-years-old set to ensure visitors with young children remain stuck there for at least an hour.
Amazingly, about two million people squeeze into four blocks of Bloor Street at any given hour of the festival. And is there a wine bar? Of course not. There’s a beer garden. Probably with Bud girls not flowers but I didn’t check.
You must be wondering by now what this has to do with wine. Well, nothing really, except that I was glad to be back home afterward to pour myself a quiet glass of the stuff. And on that note, the LCBO has recently released some lovely bottles worth stashing away for moments like these. With South Africa getting a bad rap these days because a lot of its wines taste a bit smoky and rubbery, it's nice to come across a couple of tasty and affordable ones from the area. Try the Goats do Roam White 2008, Western Cape, South Africa (LCBO 943167 $11.95) This wine is all about creamy peaches and warm nuts. Wine Spectator described it as tasting a bit like “peach cobbler” and gave it 88 points. Nice buy for less than $12. Clean, fresh, and perfectly quaffable with enough weight to usher in the cooler evenings of autumn. Full-bodied with 13.5% alc.
JJ Hand Made Wines Merlot 2006, Stellenbosch, South Africa (LCBO 096586 $17.95)
Here, a clean nose of plum puree and black cherries leads to smooth, succulent flavours of black cherry, black plum, blackberry, blackcurrant, black licorice and a kick of black pepper. No smoked rubber here. Full-boded with 14.5% alc.
And for those last few sunny, hot afternoons of September, I’ll leave you with something crisp and refreshing to stash in the fridge: Seifried, Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Nelson, New Zealand (LCBO 0957670 $17.95). Seifried Winery put Neilson on the wine map, which is not surprising when you taste this bottle. It’s an incredible drink for the price! Pronounced aromas of powdery white pepper, lime juice, and crushed parsley on the nose leads to a crisp but creamy almost oily textured wine that feels polished to a sheen with flavors of lime oil, crushed stones, apple, nectarine and asparagus. Gorgeous and fascinating wine for a measly $18, or about $3 per glass—probably less than a plastic cup of brew in the beer garden.
To find an LCBO near you that stocks a particular bottle, visit http://www.lcbo.com and search by the product name or number. Or, to find a bottle anywhere in the world, visit http://www.wine-searcher.com.
This column is distributed privately, appears in Toronto’s Outreach Connection weekly, and is posted at www.wine-tribune.com. Seasoned journalist and qualified sommelier Carolyn Evans Hammond’s has written for such publications as decanter.com, Decanter Magazine, The Times newspaper (UK), and Wine & Spirit International magazine, Maclean’s magazine, and Taste magazine, among others. Her bestselling book, 1000 Best Wine Secrets, is available at most major bookstores, and her next book comes out in March. Subscribe to her free newsletter at http://www.wine-tribune.com, join Good, Better, Best Wines: A Wine Club at http://www.facebook.com run by Carolyn, or follow her at http://twitter.com/winetribune.
