Wine is for many a very intimidating subject, so I try my best to encourage those persons who want to learn more to either buy one of the many books on the market, subscribe to one of the many magazines on the topic, seek out public wine-tasting sessions, or if you happen to be in a supermarket or any event where tasting sessions are being conducted, please do go and try all the wines they are sampling.

You could also create your own wine experience by inviting a group of like-minded friends to come and taste and learn with you, or if you are in business, you could invite your customers for an interesting wine-tasting experience. This can be a very fun and rewarding time spent with people who you want to build a better relationship with. I recently assisted Scotia Private Clients Group in hosting such an event, and what a fun time we had! Guests and hosts alike discovered and enjoyed new wines that they previously did not think they would like.

This wine experience was one in a series of events prepared exclusively for the organisation’s most important clients. We conducted wine and food experiments and the clients ‘voted’ on which was their favourite pairing. A surprise favourite was a red wine from Chile made by the long forgotten and recently re-discovered grape variety called Carmenère. I first discovered the great wines of VIÑA MORANDÉ several years ago while attending a wine trade show in the USA.

Carmenère

We tried the VIÑA MORANDÉ Carmenère Reserva 2007 with sesame chicken skewers atop crispy egg noodles served with a Thai peanut and sweet chili sauce, then again with an assortment of chocolates from Chocolate Dreams. I must admit that I had some concerns about opening a four-year-old Chilean wine of this category, but everyone loved it. The fruit comes from the Santa Laura vineyard, located in the Maipo Valley, which is famous for the production of exceptional red wines. The grapes are harvested manually. Once crushed, they are macerated at low temperature for a few days prior to fermentation to obtain fruity aromas and intense colours. The wine is stored and aged in oak casks for a period of around eight months and subsequently bottled to continue its development. It has an intense purple hue and an equally intense aroma of woodland fruits, vanilla, oak and spices. We could also detect some bell peppers on the nose. It also had a significant amount of horse blanket, barnyard type aroma (4-ethyl-phenol) that gave it an interesting old-world, almost Bordeaux feel to it. Yum!

Ice wine

We also paired the chocolates with the multi-award-winning 2007 Konzelmann Vidal Ice Wine. Vidal Ice Wine was selected in 2008 as one of the world’s top 100 wines by the Wine Spectator magazine. Konzelmann is the first Canadian winery to be included in the magazine’s Top 100 list. Konzelmann received 94 points for its 2006 Vidal Ice Wine, and was one of the top-scoring Canadian ice wines then. This golden nectar dessert wine manifests a luscious natural sweetness with distinct aromas of dried apricot and honey. Tropical fruit flavours intermix in the glass and combine with balanced acidity for an enjoyable, lingering finish.

South Beach Wine Festival

If travelling to Miami or Fort Lauderdale is in your plans for this weekend, then a fantastic wine experience awaits you. Currently in its 10th year, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine began as a one-day festival known as the Florida Extravaganza held at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus. It has now become a national, star-studded, four-day destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities. So today, Thursday, February 24 – Sunday, February 27, 2011 will mark the 10th year of the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine.

Captions:

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A good wine tasting experience might have just one good bottle of wine, but the better ones usually provide several choices for you to compare and contrast the wines and the food. These are three of the white wines used for the Scotia Wine Experience.

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Scotia Execs Debra Lopez-Spence and Anya Schnoor all set to greet their clients.

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Denzie Sinclair of Grace Kennedy serves Trivento wines from Argentina at the recently held “Expressions of Love” benefit concert at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Wine experiences can come in all forms. Here guests enjoyed a range of wines from Argentina.

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Patrons were pleasantly surprised to find that a wine tasting was awaiting them at the intermission of the show.

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Wine connoisseur Chris Reckord converses with Island Grill boss Thalia Lyn about the selection of Trivento wines.

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VIN_A MORANDE_ Carmene_re Reserva 2007.

Chris Reckord is an entrepreneur and wine enthusiast. Please send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter.com/DeVineWines