May 16, 2012

The Wine Diva reviews New Zealand wines..then we interview 3 NZ wineries and the man who brought them to Canada.
Alan Doyle (Great Big Sea) talks about his Yellowtail wine project.
Edmonton’s Jennifer Cockrall-King and her new book Food and the City.
Back to the Bench in Naramata with winemakers  Kathy Malone (Hillside) and Gavin Miller (Upper Bench).
And we finish with three of Canada’s star chefs talking BC spot prawns and ways to cook them - Vikram Vij, Rob Clark and Tojo.


THE SHOW

Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva – loves New Zealand and its wines. She’s been there, walked the land and talked to the winemakers.
When the NZ wine tour came through Vancouver recently, she was first in line.
We start this edition of TRR by getting Daenna’s take on what’s being poured inside the Roundhouse and her personal choices that we might want to keep an eye on.
New wineries. Even new wine regions and varietals. NZ isn’t just about Sauvignon Blanc anymore.

Then it’s into the Roundhouse for a sensational tasting tour..that started with a table full of wines showcasing all the regions. Many have yet to hit our shores, so it was like one big tease.
We talk to the winemakers at:
Huia 
Rockferry 
Ma Maison 
And to Robert Ketchin, the Marketing Manager at New Zealand Winegrowers. The man who brought the wine tour to Canada.
He gives us a great overview.


Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea has his first solo album out shortly – called Boy on Bridge. When he was a guest last week on Mulligan Stew we took the opportunity to talk wine with him. He has a new partnership with Yellowtail that raises money for the Unison Benevolent Fund. All you have to do to enter is make your wine glass “ping” and when they get all the “pings” received via YouTube..they’ll create a song from the tones and make some money. UBF helps people in the music business by providing a discreet safety net.


We start Segment Two with Edmonton writer Jennifer Cockrall-King. Her new book is
Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution / Food and the City.

When you're standing in the midst of a supermarket, it's hard to imagine that you're looking at a failing industrial food system. The abundance all around you looks impressive but is really a facade. In fact, there's just a three-day supply of food available for any given city due to complex, just-in-time international supply chains. The system is not only vulnerable, given the reality of food scares, international crises, terrorist attacks, economic upheavals, and natural disasters, but it is also environmentally unsustainable for the long term. As the cold hard facts of peak oil and peak water begin to have an impact, how will we feed a world population of seven billion and growing, most of whom are now urban dwellers?

One answer is urban agriculture. Food and the City examines alternative food systems in cities around the globe that are shortening their food chains, growing food within their city limits, and taking their "food security" into their own hands.


Our last two Naramata Bench Winemakers have arrived:

Kathy Malone is the much liked WM at Hillside Winery, one of the very first plantings on the Bench.
She’s pouring her new Pinot Noir and trying to get feedback for the back label.
She also has a new song for me/us.  It sounds like Rehab but has Pinotage as its theme.. and she sings it for us.
Also Chef Rob Cordonier just finished a new menu called Eat em to Beat em.  A gourmet dinner of Invasive Fish Species
Dueling Shellfish
Miyago Oysters
Fennel Chowder
Yellow perch
Humboldt Squid
Blackberries (with white chocolate Lavender Cream..no sign if either chocolate or lavender is Invasive)
They be rocking at Hillside.

Gavin Miller finally has his own winery to play with. Called Upper Bench Winery because that’s the road that its on.
The land he bought had been planted for many years but locals never saw any of that wine. It went offshore and that was that.
Gavin has created wines for some of BC’s best – Poplar Grove and recently Painted Rock.  Now he has an opportunity to make his own statement and his own wines.
And his better half is making the cheeses. Such as King Cole, Grey Baby, U and Brie and Moody Cow.
Upper Bench is a good one to keep an eye on.


And we finish off our BC Spot Prawn coverage with three of the best known chefs in Canada:

- The legendary sushi chef Tojo (Tojo’s) 
- The Chef who, along with Steve Johansen, started the prawn turnaround and made it the social joy that it is today, Chef Rob Clark from C
- And the amazing visionary Vikram Vij (Vij’s/Rangoli)

On what they cooked 6 years ago when the first prawns hit the docks and what they’re creating with today’s prawns.


Stories we’re working on:

Banfi
Kenjii Hodgson. BC guy making wine in France
Paul Hobbs
Fort Berens and the wines of Lillooet
Harry McWatters
Adam Beach
David Suzuki
Strombo
Chappell Hill
Burrowing Owl
Fairview Cellars
Road 13
Mt Boucherie
Rob Rainford – BBQ Chef
Trapiche
Hardy
Hollick
Wirra Wirra
Thorne and Clark
Rhys Pender
Benjamin Bridge
Synchromesh
Tony Buree
The Lifford Tour
Sam Chan Ho -  Calgary