Wine Central

is how my friend Patti started the conversation – “I absolutely love the Limited Edition California Lake County Trio Blanca.  I want more!”

Unfortunately, there are no more kits available – which is one reason we encourage people to attend our Limited Edition Tasting Event and if they find a wine – or all 5 wines – they love, order more than one kit.  Now, you have to meet my friend Patti to know she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  She just said – then make me a clone!

So – here’s my scoop…We’ve combined and blended three wines to see if we can come close to the Trio Blanca.  If you remember, it was a blend of Pinot Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.  Right now, the blended wines are very happy sitting and waiting to finish.  The expected bottling date is August 23.  I’ll keep you posted and let you know how the wine turns out.  If it’s wonderful, we’re going to name it the Blankety Blanc wine!  Cheers!

Christmas is fast approaching, and our customers are bottling up a storm!  Rod and I just wanted to put out a quick reminder that reservations for the 20th Anniversary Limited Edition wines need to be submitted by Friday, December 11th.  These are 5 incomparable wines, and are available only by pre-order, and only in their month of release.  January’s releases are a South African Shiraz from the Stellenbosch area and a Lake County Trio Blanca.  In February we’re presenting the Australian Petit Verdot, which is my personal favourite.  March is the Pacific Quartet – a beautiful blend of Gewurztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Vidal and Muscat.  Finishing in April is the Italian Brunello – a beautiful medium-bodied red that pairs well with parmesan cheese, pizza and tomato sauces.  The reds are $125 kit to go or $175 made on premises.  The whites are $122 for the kit or $172 made on premises.  Reserve your kits by phone at 250-765-5353 or email at info@winecentral.ca .  We’ll call you when the kits arrive, and you pay for them when you start them.  Enjoy!

We’re back in the shop after a lovely weekend.  Lots of wines on the go, and we have a busy week helping people bottle their wines.  It was nice to have a relaxing weekend – Jim and I had our good friends Patti & Peter over for dinner on Saturday night.  We served a fennel and grapefruit salad, roasted vegetables, herb crusted pork tenderloin, and rice with onions, raisins and toasted walnuts.  I’ll post the recipes later this week.  We enjoyed a Lang Vineyards Grand Pinot with the meal – it’s the commercial equivalent of the Limited Edition Lake County Trio Blanca, and was delightful.  We also enjoyed one of last year’s Limited Editions – the New Zealand Merlot.  We used the Vinturi Aerator on the red wine, and we all agreed it made a difference in the flavour and mouthfeel of the wine.  You can get a Vinturi Aerator free by ordering any 3 Limited Editions before December 11!  It’s a $60 value, and worth the money.  Cheers!