Wine & Beer & Spirits

• Have a drink: "Never drink alcohol unless you are celebrating something, upset on something, or if it's a day that ends with the letter Y. And never drink when you're driving." - Helen Mirren
• After tasting the wine, Macha summons the waiter: "Elvis. Come here. If I wanted vinegar, I would have ordered french fries. Get me something with a price tag on it. Okay?" - Ray Liotta (as Macha) in the movie Revolver, 2005.
• BAC Calculator - Blood alcohol content, or BAC, is an important number that helps determine the level of alcohol in a person's bloodstream. - | - Thanks to Sarah Witmer for recommending this site.
• Shopping
  • Wine & Liquor stores - Canada
  • Shopping - Vancouver, BC ...
• Taste Magazine | BC Liquor Stores - $0
• De Long Wine Discovery Tools - Wine Maps, Charts & Tasting Notebooks
  • Wine-Grape-Varietal-Table
• Fiche de dégustation
• Accessories
  • Vinum Design - Wine accessories
  • Vin & Passion - celliers et accessoires au service du vin
  • 12° en Cave - Wine accessories, Laguiole folding knives, corkscrews, glasses
  • Zwiesel Kristallglas - TopTen
• Aroma Wheel
  • The Wine Aroma Wheel Web Portal
  • wine wheel - Google Search
  • wine aroma wheel - Google Search
• Bill Zacharkiw, Special to Montreal Gazette | Montreal Gazette
• Aurelia Filion - BuSurLeWeb.com is no longer an active address.
  • "Bu sur le Web" : Aurélia, ses vins et sa fraîcheur | Wine's up ?
  • Busurleweb - YouTube
  • Busurleweb - YouTube
  • I love her.  Impossible not to love a woman who is this passionate about wine.
  • but... Can she dance?
• Burghound
• CAPS = Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers - BC Chapter
• Chardonnay Revolution
• Cicerone
  • Beer sommelier - Wikipedia
  • What is a Cicerone? Learn About Beer Cicerones
  • Beer and Food Pairing Blog : Cicerone - Reddit
  • Master Cicerone Certification – The Ultimate Test of Beer | Cicerone Certification Program
  • Randy Mosher.com - Tasting Beer
  • Handy Beer Flavor Chart
• Costco
  • Julia Wine, les meilleurs vins à rabais de qualité supérieure au Québec, disponible chez Costco.
• Decanter Magazine
• DrinkWine.com
• EuroCave
• Everything Wine | Buy Wine Online | BC's largest wine stores | Everything Wine
  • Everything Wine - Store Locator
  • 8570 River District Crossing, V5S 0C2 Vancouver - 604-416-1672
  • 998 Marine Drive, V7P 3C4 North Vancouver 604-929-7277
• Les Fidèles de Bacchus
  • Les régions viticoles
  • Les cépages
  • Les étiquettes
  • Les millésimes
  • La cave à vin et la préservation
  • La dégustation du vin
  • Les arômes du vin
• Gismondi on Wine
• Hotels, Restaurants, Institutions - La Revue HRI - la référence des professionnels du secteur de l’hôtellerie, de la restauration et des institutions (QC)
• Imbibe Magazine - The Ultimate Drinks Magazine, Exploring Wine, Spirits, Beer, Coffee, Tea and Every Beverage In Between - Imbibe Magazine
• Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto = IVDP
• Local Wine Events .com - Wine Tasting, Education, Classes And Dinners
• Margarita
  • 4oz fresh lime juice
  • 3oz silver Tequila – Cuervo (Patrón)
  • 1oz Cointreau
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
• Nat Decants - Favorite Wine and Food Books - Natalie MacLean
  • Food and Wine Matching
  • Video: Wine Supertasters, Vinotype Quiz and Your Taste in Wine? | Natalie MacLean
    • Vinotypes: Sweet, Hypersensitive, Sensitive, Tolerant
• New Zealand Wine
  • New Zealand Wine Week | New Zealand Wine
  • A Seat at the Table. on Vimeo
  • Kumeu River Sauvignon Blanc - Kumeu River Wines
  • Distributors - Kumeu River Wines
  • Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 750ml | Everything Wine
  • Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2014 - Tasting Note - Gismondi On Wine
  • Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2007 - Tasting Note - Gismondi On Wine
• Opimian | Best Wine Club in Canada - Available in All Provinces - formerly opim.ca
• Orange wine = skin-contact wine = skin-fermented white wine = amber wine
  • Based on white grapes but made like reds, with skins and sometimes stems left in contact with the juice during fermentation and aging.  Sometimes cloudy appearance and offbeat flavours. No additives.  Not filtered.  Can be made with almost any white grape(s) (Vidal, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesing, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, etc.).
  • Skin-contact wine - Wikipedia
  • Video: What are Orange and Natural Wines? | Natalie MacLean
  • There's a fourth wine colour, and it's all the rage - The Globe and Mail
  • Orange wine: tastier than it sounds | David Williams | Life and style | The Guardian
  • Examples:
    • Rami from famed Sicilian producer Cos. 
    • Southbrook Farms - (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON)
    • Sperling Vineyards - Products - 2020 Organic Natural Amber Pinot Gris - (Kelowna, BC) - Natural Amber Pinot Gris - CDN$30
    • 40 Knots Vineyard and Estate Winery Inc - (Vancouver Island) - L'Orange - CDN$37
    • Gravner "Anfora" Ribolla Gialla, Friuli, Italy - Vinography: A Wine Blog
    • Sage Hills Okanagan Winery - Rhymes with Orange - (South of Kelowna, BC) - CDN$28.10
      • Buy Certified Organic Wine — Sage Hills Winery
• The Pinotage Club
• QC = Province of Québec, Canada
  • Amicale des Sommeliers du Québec
  • asq.ca.qc = L'Amicale des Sommeliers du Québec | Pour l'amour du bon vin en toute convivialité
  • La Celeste Levure
    contact@lacelestelevure.ca - liste d'envoi d'un bulletin d'informations sur les vins
    www.lacelestelevure.ca n'est pas encore existant
    5417 Saint-Laurent, Montréal (QC) H2T 1S5   T : 514.948.5050   F : 514.948.5030
  • Conseillers du Vin - Nick Hamilton
  • Montreal (xls) - BYOB
    • Régie des alcools des courses et des jeux
      Denise.Fournier@racj.gouv.qc.ca
      Denise Fournier - Direction des affaires juridiques - Téléphone : (418) 643-8496 - Télécopieur : (418) 528-6949
      "Une liste d'établissements licenciés. Après étude de votre demande en regard de la Loi sur l'accès aux documents des organismes publics et sur la protection des renseignements personnels (L.R.Q., chapitre A-2.1), nous vous informons que la liste demandée peut vous être communiquée. Vous trouverez donc ci-joint la liste des restaurants pour servir de la région de Montréal."  - Québec, le 23 juillet 2008 - "Liste restos pour servir MTL.xls"
      Le responsable de l'accès aux documents et de la protection des renseignements personnels, François Côté
      Robin Timmons, agent de recherche accès à l'information
    • 1, rue Notre-Dame Est, 9e étage - Montréal (Québec), H2Y 1B6
      Téléphone: 514 873-3577 - Télécopieur : 514 873-5861 - Ailleurs au Québec - 1 800 363-0320 (sans frais)
  • Raspipav - Le Regroupement des Agences Spécialisées dans la Promotion des Importations Privées des Alcools et des Vins
  • SAQ : Découvrez la sélection de vins, bières et spiritueux en ligne - Québéc Alcoholics Society
• Riedel – The Wine Glass Company
• Robert Parker Wine Advocate - (formerly eRobertParker.com)
• Sake
  • Sake Today
  • Sake World
    • Sake World Blog
  • June 2019 – Sake World - The Milling Wars Are Officially Over!
    • Rice is milled to remove fat and protein, and that the more this is done, the cleaner and more refined the final sake can be. The more one mills before brewing the more elegant and refined the resulting sake will be. Elegance and refinement are collectively only one figure of merit in sake. There are many others. Breadth. Depth. Richness. Intensity. Resonance. Weight. They are all valid, loveable aspects of sake, and more milling means less of these.
    • July 2019 - Milling: Less Can Be More - Breadth. Depth. Reverb. Resonance. Umami. Richness. Weight. Intensity.   Also, beyond the question of milling, there are a multitude of things to consider in a given
      Yeast starter preparation sake. For example, what rice was used? What grade of that rice and from what region? What year was it brewed, how was it stored, what about pasteurization or the lack thereof? What methods of brewing were used? And of course there are so many more. To only base preferences and decisions on the seimai-buai number is to basically ignore so much pertinent information.
  • Sake World Newsletter Archives
  • Sake World, Inc. Newsletter Archives
• Scotch
  • Why Does Whiskey Taste Like Whiskey? An excerpt from Lew Bryson's new book "Whiskey Master Class"
  • The Only Scotch Guide You'll Ever Need - Vancouver Magazine
• Spain
  • Rioja DOC
• Sutton Place Wine Merchant at The Sutton Place Hotel, Vancouver BC
  • 855 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K6 - 604.642.2947 - winemerchant@suttonplace.com
  • Norman Wood - Supervisor - NWood@suttonplace.com - 604-642-2745
  • Peter Harlos - Supervisor - PHarlos@suttonplace.com - 604-642-2745 - cell.778-389-5618
  • Casa Lapostolle, Cuvée Alexandra
• Trialto - wine agency
  • Catalogue - Trialto
• Vinegar
• Vintages (LCBO)
• winecurrent.com - newsletter - LCBO Vintages
• Vintage Assessments.com - Michael Vaughn
  • winefind.ca - LCBO/Vintages search = Vintage Assessments online database
• Webtender - Drink recipes and bartending guide
• Wine & Spirits Magazine
• Wine Align
• Wine Enthusiast Magazine
• Wine Pages
• Wine shop online at wine .com
• Wine Spectator Online
  • Wine Spectator Video
  • Wine Spectator's Maps of Key Wine Regions | Wine Basics | Learn Wine | Wine Spectator
  • Dr. Vinny's Top 15 Questions of the Decade | Wine Spectator
• Wine.com
• Wine Lovers
• Wine-Searcher. Find and price wines, beers and spirits across online stores
• Wine Library TV: Gary Vaynerchuk's daily wine video blog
  • ... and occasionally he also talks about wine.  This site is not for everybody.  Unusual!
• Wooden Wine Storage Rack - Be sure to store wine bottles properly on a wine rack or in a wine cellar.
• Woodman Wines & Spirits
• ZOW = Zinfandel on the Web

• Elco is an authorized distributor for Vini Nobili Imports (according to president Fabio P. Micacchi - 2003-10-25)
• Elco Fine Foods Ltd.
• Head Office - 120-13100 Mitchell Road, Richmond, BC, Canada V6V 1M8 - 604-324-1551 888-894-6464 - info@elcofinefoods.com
  • 2020 - No longer distributing Cavalli
  • see NMA Sales?
• Elco Fine Foods Inc. - 40 West Beaver Creek Rd - Richmond Hill, ON
• Elco Fine Foods Inc. - 2724 boul. Daniel-Johnson, Chomedey QC, H7P 5Z7 - 514-330-6538   877-700-3526  (Lorraine)
• Now part of Finica?
• National Importers -  120-13100 Mitchell Road, Richmond, BC, V6V 1M8 - 888.894.6464 - 604.324.1551
  • 800-268-7480 - Order Desk Carole Richter x432, Purchasing Anna x136, Reception x200
• Marie-Pierre Desmarchais Vinaigre Balsamique - Online Store - CDN$55/500ml + taxes? + shipping = $$$$$
  • Québec (Canada), (450) 889-1604 - Dominic Belleville <Importationsdb@outlook.com>
• Amazon
  • Amazon.com : Cavalli Balsamic Condimento Balsamic Vinegar, 500ml (16.9oz) : Balsamic Vinegars : Grocery & Gourmet Food - USD$50.59
  • Amazon.com : Cavalli Balsamic Condimento (Case of 6 - 16.9 Ounce Bottles) : Condiments Pickles And Relishes : Grocery & Gourmet Food - USD$179.99
  • Amazon.com : Cavalli Condiment Balsamic Vinegar 500 ml : Grocery & Gourmet Food - USD$42.99
  • Amazon.com does not ship to Canada.
• De Medici Imports - USA importer DeMedici - New Jersey - Marie O'Daniels -  modaniels@demedici.com
  • Acetaia Cavalli Balsamic | De Medici Imports, Ltd. - US$21/250ml or US$39/500ml + shipping
• UNFI = united natural foods
  • Will only sell to retailers.
  • UNFI does not yet have Cavalli Balsamico in stock or on its product list.
  • UNFI will only sell to retail companies with a UNFI account.  UNFI will not sell directly to customers.
  • UNFI Canada, Richmond Distribution Center - 153-12757 Vulcan Way, Richmond BC V6V 2Z6 - (604) 276-2411
  • UNFI - Pro Organics - 4535 Still Creek Avenue, Burnaby BC V5C 5W1 - (604) 253-6549
  • Unfi Saturday Market: Healthy food and brands for cheap! – Karen K. Lee
    • UNFI Saturday Market - Grocery - 12757 Vulcan Way, Richmond, BC - Sat.8h30-14h
  • No Cavalli products.
• gourmetwarehouse.ca - Vancouver, BC - 604-253-3022
  • service@gourmetwarehouse.ca
  • No Cavalli products.
• Household Vinegar Uses You Never Knew

• Cépage = Grape variety = grape varietal (ang)
• Assemblage = Blend (ang)
  • La plupart des vins de la région bordelaise, contrairement à la plupart des autres régions viticoles (en France), sont le résultat d'assemblages de vins issus de cépages différents. (exception: Rhône = cépages GSM = Grenache + Syrah + Mourvèdre + 20 autres) - See also: Meritage
    
• Food & Wine Pairings:
  • Accords mets et vins = Alliances mets et vins =Pairing (ang)
  • Asparagus ruins most wines
    • Avoid fruit-driven wines | Avoid tannins | Avoid oak
    • Look for wines that somehow echo the chlorophyll, grassy, slightly cheesy essence
    • Whites are a much better match for asparagus.
      • Sauvignon Blanc - Sancerre or Touraine - not New World (too much cat pee and grass)
      • Sparkling wine (Champagne, Cava, Prosecco). Not Pinot Noir based, but a Blanc de Blancs. But not Chenin Blanc either - too much fruit. - mostly Chardonnay
      • Grüner Veltliner ?? | Sémillon | Sémillon & Sauvignon Blanc | Reisling | Pinot Grigio | Pinot Gris | Riesling | Gewürztraminer | unoaked Chardonnay | very dry Tokaji ?? | dry Alsatian Muscat ??
    • Reds
      • Pinot Noir with mild tannins and very little oakiness - using the grill or the broiler for the asparagus
    • Wheat beer
    • Natalie MacLean - Wine and Food matching tips
      • Sauvignon Blanc | Albariño | Pinot Noir | Cabernet Franc | Chinon | Sancerre
• Port (ang) = Porto (fr,po)
  • bread, grapes, chocolate, almonds, Hazelnuts
  • edel de cleron, faisan avec porto d'érable, chevreuil madère, fourme d'ambert au lait cru, parmigiano reggiano 28 mois, manchego
• PlatsNetVins : Accords entre Plats, Mets et Vins
• Porto (fr,po) = Port (ang)
  • More than 80 different grape varieties are authorized for Port production.  The most widely used - and most highly regarded - grapes:  Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz (another name for Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca and Tinta Cão.
  • "LBV" stands for "Late-Bottled Vintage." By law, LBV Ports are bottled within four to six years from the vintage date. This means they spend about twice as long in wood as vintage Ports, and so are usually more accessible at an early age. Some producers cold stabilize and filter their LBVs. This is supposed to eliminate the need to decant the Port, but it can strip away the flavours. If you're looking for LBVs made more like vintage Ports, look for the word "Traditional" on the label.
  • Many older bottles of Vintage Port have what appear to be streaks of white paint on them.  This white mark is also called a splash mark, and it tells you which way the bottles were cellared (splash mark up). This way, all the sediment collects on the same side.  (Wine Spectator)
  • Pronunciation
    • Francophones have a lot of trouble pronouncing the word "Tawny".  Québécois want to pronounce it "town-ie"  However, Tawny is not spelled "Towney".
      Tawny should be pronounced like the word "dawn", not like "down". 
    • Francophones have a lot of trouble pronouncing the word "Dawson" (As in Dawson College).  Québécois want to pronounce it "Dow-son" (where 'dow' is pronounced the same as 'cow'). 
      It is not spelled "Douse-On" or "Dowse-On".
      Dawson should be pronounced like the word "dawn", not like "down". 
• Pouilly Fumé
  • Pouilly-Fumé is a dry white wine from the Loire Valley wine-producing region of France and is made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety. It is characterized by smoky flavors and minerality. The vineyards are located in Pouilly sur Loire, Saint Andelain, Boisgibault, Tracy sur Loire (Nièvre).
  • Pouilly-Fuissé is an appellation of Burgundy wine in central France. It is the best-known part of the Mâconnais region, and produces white wine from the Chardonnay grape.
    This white Burgundy should not be confused with the Sauvignon Blancs from Pouilly-Fumé and Pouilly-sur-Loire in the Loire Valley.
  • Fumé Blanc - The first cuttings of Sauvignon blanc were brought to California by Charles Wetmore, founder of Cresta Blanca winery, in the 1880s.  These cuttings came from the Sauternes vineyards of Chateau d'Yquem.  Eventually, the wine acquired the alias of "Fumé Blanc" in California by promotion of Robert Mondavi.  In California wine produced from the Sauvignon blanc grape is also known as Fumé blanc.  Both oaked and unoaked Sauvignon blanc wines have been marketed under the name Fumé blanc.
• Meritage = Bordeaux-style wine that isn't from Bordeaux, FR = Vin de style bordelais, mais qui n'est pas d'origine française = e.g. California Meritage (Opus One, Phelps Insignia, Dominus, etc.)
  • Meritage (jamais Méritage)
    Meritage = Cabernet Sauvignon + Cabernet Franc + Merlot + Petit Verdot + Malbec + Carmenère + Gros Verdot + St.Macare
    Bordeaux = Cabernet Sauvignon + Cabernet Franc + Merlot + Petit Verdot + Malbec + (Carmenère?) = un assemblage d'au moins un de ces cinq cépages
• Pinotage = a clone of (Pinot Noir + Hermitage)
  • Pinotage = un cépage (conçu d'un clône du Pinot Noir + Hermitage) = un cépage développé en Afrique du Sud
    Cinsault/Cinsaut = Hermitage (France méridionale) = Hermitage (Afrique du Sud ) = vin du Rhône à base du cépage Syrah = cépage principal des vins de Châteauneuf-du-Pape = Cinq-saou = Black Malvoisie (CA) = Boudales = Plant d'Arles = Picardin noir = Morterille noire = Cuviller = (Black Prince = Blue Imperial = Oeillade = Ullade = Cividino)
• Vin du Jura - Trousseau, Savagnin, Chardonnay, Ploussard ou Poulsard - Vin Jaune, Macvin du Jura, Crémant du Jura