Wine Central

Kelowna and the Okanagan’s premiere U-Vin and U-Brew store

Archive for May, 2010

Exciting News!

The staff at Wine Central won 7 awards in the Winemaker Magazine Amateur Winemaking Competition.  There were 4508 entries from 8 different countries – so we’re pretty excited!

“Once again this judging was the largest wine competition of its kind in the world and represented the largest and most diverse collection of hobby wines ever assembled under one roof. The 4,508 entries arrived from hobby winemakers living throughout North America in all 50 American states and 8 Canadian provinces as well as a total of 8 different countries. Over the course of three days, experienced judging panels worked through 796 flights, examining each using the UC-Davis 20-point wine scale evaluating appearance, aroma, taste, aftertaste and overall impression. The wines were entered in 50 different categories and including an astounding array of varietals and wine styles. Kit-based wines competed alongside fresh-grape entries in this blind tasting. Entries were awarded gold, silver, bronze and best of show medals based on the average score given by the judging panel. The Grand Champion wine award was the top overall scoring wine across all categories. The Club of the Year was given to the club whose members won the most medals and the Retailer of the Year and U-Vint of the Year awards were given to winemaking supply stores whose customers outperformed similar shops. Finally the Winemaker of the Year award was given to the individual entrant who has the highest average across across their top 5 scoring wines.”

Read more about Winemaker Magazine’s annual amateur winemaking competition.

posted by Katherine in Wine Central News and have No Comments

A glass worthy of Estate Series

Estate-Project-Adshell_CropUltra-Premium quality of Estate combined with the high quality breathable Eisch glass makes for an amazing wine experience. Purchase any Selection Estate Series and receive a Free Eisch Breathable Wine Glass.

Retail Value $34.95. While supplies last.

Find out more about this offer

posted by Katherine in Wine Central News and have No Comments

Wine and Food Pairing Principals

Fermenter's Guild of British Columbia

Fermenter's Guild of British Columbia

I attended the Fermenters Guild of B.C. annual trade show and convention in Victoria recently, and had the pleasure of attending a Food and Wine Tasting Event hosted by Dave Larocque of Wine Culture.  Dave’s very well known as a wine educator, and puts on an informative and fun event.

He provided each of us with Wine and Food Matching Principles:

  1. Match your wine to the strongest flavour on the plate.
  2. Balance the weight of the wine to the weight of the food.  A full flavoured meal needs a full-bodied wine; a lighter dish requires a lighter wine.
  3. Fatty, greasy or rich dishes need a dry wine with good acidity to clean the palate.
  4. Salty dishes need a slightly sweet wine with full fruit flavours, moderate acidity, lower alcohol and no tannins.
  5. Hot, spicy dishes require refreshing acidity, lower alcohol and fruity wines with a touch of sweetness.
  6. Cream sauces and butter require wines of good fruit and matching creamy style or contrasting acidity to cleanse the palate.
  7. The dessert wine should be sweeter than the dessert.Rare meats need young tannic reds and well-done meats need older or fruity reds with little to no tannins.

Foods high in acidity are complemented by wines high in acidity.

And the most important lesson learned that day:  never judge a wine on one sip, one glass or even one bottle.  Wine will change dramatically depending on what they are paired with.  So, have fun and experiment!

Wine and Food Pairing Resources

Here is an additional list of other resources for pairing your favourite wines with compatible foods.

posted by Katherine in Wine Recipes and have No Comments