The Wild Olive "Old Vines" Chenin Blanc 2011

In laws are in town for an extended visit and father in law is a traditionalist, to say the least, when it comes to wine pairing so even though Sockeye Salmon on the grill screams Pinot Noir to me I knew that we'd have to pour something white for "Grand Dad".  In order to keep peace in the family I headed to the South African section of the Arbutus Village store while doing my Friday morning run around.

I headed to South Africa because I find South African Chenin Blanc, or Steen as the old timers call it, to be one of the best all purpose white wines in the market place. Chenin is a bit like Riesling in that it can be bone dry to uber sweet and almost anything in between and still produce quality wines. The South African take on Chenin generally accentuates the floral, fruity character but is still made dry, Chenin should exhibit honeysuckle (floral) notes as well as citrus, green apple and a mineral quality, if unoaked the wine will be clean, fresh and best drunk young while oaked Chenin will have a smoky character with more of the honeyed complexity and hints of cooked citrus, think marmalade. I will also admit that there's probably lots of really indifferent South African Chenin on the market so I generally avoid the real bottom end of the price points.

I decided to try something new and, based on my previous success with their Pinotage, selected The Wild Olive "Old Vines" Chenin Blanc 2011 from The Grape Grinders. The wine retails for $12.99 and has broad distribution, it's nicely packaged and is conveniently closed with a screw cap. In the glass the wine shows a pale yellow with green edge for colour and a slightly sweet floral nose, in the mouth it's more about green apple than citrus but there's a reasonable acidity and a medium to log finish.

The wine was paired with grilled Sockeye, which is rich and full flavoured and while in a perfect world I'd like a bit more acidity in reality for $12.99 the wine is very good value and would be a welcome addition to any summer barbecue featuring grilled fish or poultry. In my mind it's not as good an example of South African Chenin as the Spier Signature but the Wild Olive is a bit easier to find and a bit cheaper so it's a reasonable alternative.

First Rose' of the Season - Gassier Sables d'Azur

Well I can't wait for the weatherman to provide us with summer so I jumped the gun last night and officially opened up Rose' hunting season for 2012. Drinking Rose' in British Columbia is more than a little frustrating as the LDB carries roughly 45 "Rose'" wines but almost half of those are $20+ and another 30% are "White Zinfandelish" horror shows but still we persevere in the pursuit of reasonably priced rose'.  Private wine stores probably offer us the best chance so check with your local private retailer to see what they have on hand .

I should preface this by stating that Rose' is often a personal preference sort of wine, much like Chenin Blanc rose' can be well made in a variety of styles, from light and fruity to bone dry and lemon tart.  I prefer mine in the dry, but still fruit aware style, I want some peachy, ripe cherry in the nose and some citrus in the mouth and a reasonably long finish so that's my caveat. I will drink, and often enjoy, fruitier off dry rose' but when I'm cooking Sockeye, as I was last night, I want dry and citric.

Out at the Mothership yesterday I cast a wary eye at the Rose' selection and beheld a true Provence classic on the shelf for only $15.99, I say only because we live in BC, elsewhere this wine would be in the $12-13 range but you take what you can get. Chateau Gassier is owned primarily by the Gassier family who have been in the Haut Provence region since the 15th century, the winery itself dates from the early 1980s, and the Sables d'Azur is their flagship rose' wine. Many will argue that the Rhone valley produces France's best rose' wines but if they do Provence isn't far behind, and the wines of Provence are typically lighter than those of the Rhone and lightness is what I want in the summer.

The Sables d'Azur is a blend of equal parts Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan with 10% Syrah tossed in for good measure. Rose' wines are not a blend of white and red wines,  except sometimes in Champagne but that's another story, the process of making rose is that red wine grapes are used but the skins are extracted early, sometimes right after the crush, sometimes during fermentation, with the result being a pink, or light orange, hue to the finished wine. Unlike the pink soda pop wines popularized in California, and other places, French rose' wines are almost universally dry.

Anyway the Sables d'Azur is pale salmon in colour, with a touch of orange, the nose is muted but shows bits of peach and floral aromas, in the mouth the wine shows more white peach and citric flavours with a lively bracing acidity that works extremely well with grilled fish and would also compliment spicy dishes and be great with sushi. The finish is medium long, a tad shorter than I was hoping for but still very good. The wine retails for $15.99, as previously stated, and is a sure frontrunner for House Rose' for the summer of 2012. The Sables d'Azur is available in government stores, with reasonable distribution and is a recommended buy.

The Sockeye, by the way, was absolutely delicious, simply seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon zest with a pat of butter on top and oven roasted at high heat until medium rare. When the ingredients are that good I basically just try and stay out of the way, served with lemon, celery risotto and a saute of green beans and cherry tomatoes the plates were all cleaned in record time, and the rose' bottle empty as well.