Tasting Room Radio - July 18, 2012

Bless the Diva!
She has Part Two of her BBQ wines of the Summer. There’s 20 of these pre-tasted beauties.

Canadian music Icon Bernie Finkelstein lives in Ontario wine country. We get an juice update.

Jim Cuddy, from Blue Rodeo and The Jim Cuddy Band also talks Ontario wines and life on the road.

Edmonton’s Interstellar Rodeo festival is coming and they’re pairing artists and very specific wines, which you can taste while the band's on. This is a seriously great concept.

We finish with Spencer Massie, the man behind BC’s Clos du Soleil.
 
Cheers!!              


THE SHOW


Are you looking for new wine?  Are you looking for wines that have been tasted by The Wine Diva and approved for pairing with anything you BBQ this Summer?
Its Part Two of her latest list and as always, Daenna van Mulligen brings The Wine Diva with her.

21. Frescobaldi 'Pietraregia dell'Ammiraglia' Riserva Morellino di Scansano Italy, 2008 - (BC - $27.99 )
22. Fuse Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California, 2009 - (BC - $39.99 )
23. Graham Beck 'The Game Reserve' Cabernet Sauvignon, Robertson South Africa, 2009 - (BC - $19.99 )
24. Maggio Family Vineyards Petite Sirah, Lodi California, 2009 - (BC - $18.99 )
25. Masi Campofiorin Rosso del Veronese, Veneto Italy, 2008 - (BC - $19.99 )
26. Nederburg 'Winemaster's Reserve' Shiraz, Western Cape South Africa, 2009 - (BC - $12.99 )
27. Quails' Gate Merlot, Okanagan Valley, 2009 - (BC - $24.99 ; Winery - $24.99 )
28. Rodney Strong 'Knotty Vines' Zinfandel, Northern Sonoma California, 2009 - (AB - $16.00 + price will vary; BC - $23.99 ; ON - $22.95 ; Yukon - $25.90 )
29. Roodeberg Western Cape South Africa, 2010 - (BC - $11.99 )
30. Sandhill Cabernet~Merlot, Okanagan Valley BC, 2009 - (BC - $19.99 )
31. Santa Rita Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley Chile, 2008 - (BC - $15.99 ; AB - $12.00 + price will vary; ON - $13.95 ; Widely Available - $13.00 to $16 across Canada)
32. Secco~Bertani Ripasso Valpolicella Valpantena, Veneto Italy, 2009 - (BC - $21.99 )
33. Skulls Shiraz, South Australia, 2008 - (BC - $19.99 )
34. Tenuta Guado Al Tasso 'Il Bruciato' DOC Bolgheri, Tuscany Italy, 2008 - (Quebec - $27.95 ; AB - $20.00 + price will vary; BC - $34.99 )
35. Terra Andina Carmenere~Syrah, Central Valle Chile, 2010 - (BC Private Wine Stores - $9.00 + price will vary; AB - $7.00 + price will vary)
36. Terre degli Svevi 'Re Manfredi' Aglianico del Vulture DOC Basiliicata Italy, 2007 - (BC - $19.99 )
37. The Grinder Pinotage, Western Cape South Africa, 2010 - (BC - $14.99 )
38. Tolaini Al Passo, Tuscany Italy, 2007 - (BC - $29.99 )
39. Tscharke Barossa Gold Shiraz, Barossa Valley Australia, 2010 - (BC - $19.99 )
40. Wine Men of Gotham Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia, 2008 - (BC Private Wine Stores - $13.99 )
41. Wolf Blass Grey Label Shiraz~Cabernet, Robe Mount Benson Australia, 2009 - (BC Private Wine Stores - $37.00 + price will vary; ON - $34.95 )



His book is called True North. He’s Bernie Finkelstein.
To read about Bernie’s life is to read about the birth of Canada’s music industry.
The first years of careers that are still being played out (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young)
Also, the re-shaping of Canada’s radio stations. It was Bernie who helped to shape Canadian Content, at a time when radio had no interest in supporting our own music.
He also recorded, managed and directed the careers of Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLachlan, Carole Pope, Barney Bentall, Dan Hill, Steven Fearing, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and many more.
His record label was also called True North..which spoke volumes about a guy so talented that he could have stayed in New York and worked with Albert Grossman, the Manager of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin etc. But he came home to Toronto and made us a better country.
This week  we feature a quick chat  with a great storyteller Bernie Finkelstein. He lives in Ontario’s other wine area Prince Edward County.  Fabulous wines grown in Limestone.



Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy returns again to the show. Mainly because we keep asking for him and he keeps saying Yes!
Jim and I talk about Ontario wines he’s grown to like. Also fills us in on the concert he and Greg Keeler just played at Lake Breeze on the Naramata Bench.
Friends..we present Gentleman Jim Cuddy.


On a grassy slope under the prairie stars, icons of modern music history will take the stage for the first ever Interstellar Rodeo, a celebration of music, food and wine, making its debut in Edmonton’s Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park, July 27-29, 2012.

Blue Rodeo, the sweethearts of summer nights and soundtrack to our best memories, will perform. They are this year’s inductees to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Also attending is  Randy Newman and Six Shooter artists confirmed on this inaugural year include Whitehorse (featuring Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland), Jenn Grant, and The Beauties. The Interstellar Rodeo is also pleased to welcome Hawksley Workman,Richard Buckner, Shakura S’Aida, The Sojourners, Michael Rault, Jason Plumb + The Willing and more. 

Now, here’s the cool thing..they’ve also paired the artists with wines that go well with their personalities. The wines will be poured during the various sets. They were chosen by Gurvinder Bhatia, Edmonton Journal Wine Writer. Add some of the city’s best food trucks and this weekend is a winner.

Filling us in on the artists and schedules is Aimee Hill.

Check out the websites below:
http://interstellarrodeo.com/food-drink
http://interstellarrodeo.com



We  finish with a winery we feel you should know about - Clos du Soleil.

In 2005, a small group of professional, international business people, with a passion for wine, food and travel, fell in love with the Similkameen Valley and decided to become grape-growers and winemakers. The closely connected team of Spencer Massie and Bonnie Henry, Les LeQuelenec and Sue Lee, Peter and Andria Lee, and Gustav Kramer, acquired a four-hectare (10-acre) orchard on the Similkameen Valley’s Upper Bench Road on the winter solstice of that year. With a love of everything classic French and family roots going back to Normandy and South Africa’s Cape, it was easy for the partners to get excited about a Bordeaux style wine.

They are developing wines that have that old world elegance, but with a bit of a new world edge After all, they  are Canadian.

In 2009 Ann Sperling, fabulous Canadian winemaker and a former high school classmate of Spencer, joined as viticulturist and winemaker, and in June 2010 Jean-Felix Boulais and his partner, Melissa Fontaine, joined us as resident vineyard managers.

The name Clos du Soleil refers to rocks, sun, and soil, from the mountain that forms a tall natural stone wall at the back of the vineyard, the cobbled terroir, and the long days of sun which pour in on the Similkameen Bench, one of BC’s most unique and promising microclimates. Spencer Massie joins us on the show.
 
 
STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

Banfi
David Suzuki
Chappell Hill
Benjamin Bridge
Antonia Mantonakis
Brock University Sir George Fistonich – 50 years at Villa Maria
Matt Sekeres
Tofino Food and Wine Festival
Hawksworth Launches a house wine with Orofino John Casella –
14 Million cases of Yellow Tail
Joy of Feeding
Chris Wyse – Young and Wyse
Matt Sherlock – Clean Slate
Comox Shellfish Festival
Hastings House Salt Spring Island
BC’s estate wines showcase in Vancouver July 14..
Vikram Vij – hits the streets