Wine and Cheese by the Fire
We had all of the delicacies I’d picked up at Rare Fare for dinner that night, so while drinking a glass of Sacred Hill Brut with strawberries, we did minimal slicing of sausage, roasting of smoked garlic, baking of smoked eel, and preparing a simple fava bean and asparagus salad, dressed with olive oil we’d picked up in San Francisco, and supper was ready shortly.
We all enjoyed the pickled green walnuts, which mostly just tasted like pickles with a creamy texture and a very slightly nutty undertone. I couldn’t get enough of the hard sheep’s cheese and the fig and walnut loaf, which we sliced like a sausage and served on crackers. The smoked venison salami had a distinct Saskatchewan summer sausage flavour and texture to it. It was certainly familiar, but I was expecting something drier, more similar to an Italian salami.
The Evansdale Blue cheese was the biggest hit. It was so mild, it almost didn’t taste like blue cheese. It too went well with the fig and walnut loaf.
We washed down our tasty morsels with some Wairave River Pinot Noir, which sparked an interesting discussion on wine. Everyone enjoyed it, but for different reasons. Kelly and I noticed it had way more colour and body than any of the Pinots we’d tried in San Francisco. It had lots of berry flavour, and was quite smooth, where I find many of the American Pinots young-tasting and often watery or metallic.
Jeff and Crystal enjoyed it because it wasn’t as overpowering as other Pinots they’d tried in New Zealand. Jeff explained that they stay away from Pinots in general because they’re too overpowering, which has never been my impression of a Pinot where we come from. This requires further testing to come to a final conclusion on New Zealand Pinot Noirs.
We wandered through the garden to Warren and Marita’s to watch the scenes from LOTR that included the locations we’d visited today. A windy day outdoors caught up with us by 10:00, and we collapsed into bed—and may I say, while New Zealand homes don’t appear to be (at all) insulated, their use of electric blankets and hot water bottles is a cozy alternative.
We all enjoyed the pickled green walnuts, which mostly just tasted like pickles with a creamy texture and a very slightly nutty undertone. I couldn’t get enough of the hard sheep’s cheese and the fig and walnut loaf, which we sliced like a sausage and served on crackers. The smoked venison salami had a distinct Saskatchewan summer sausage flavour and texture to it. It was certainly familiar, but I was expecting something drier, more similar to an Italian salami.
The Evansdale Blue cheese was the biggest hit. It was so mild, it almost didn’t taste like blue cheese. It too went well with the fig and walnut loaf.
We washed down our tasty morsels with some Wairave River Pinot Noir, which sparked an interesting discussion on wine. Everyone enjoyed it, but for different reasons. Kelly and I noticed it had way more colour and body than any of the Pinots we’d tried in San Francisco. It had lots of berry flavour, and was quite smooth, where I find many of the American Pinots young-tasting and often watery or metallic.
Jeff and Crystal enjoyed it because it wasn’t as overpowering as other Pinots they’d tried in New Zealand. Jeff explained that they stay away from Pinots in general because they’re too overpowering, which has never been my impression of a Pinot where we come from. This requires further testing to come to a final conclusion on New Zealand Pinot Noirs.
We wandered through the garden to Warren and Marita’s to watch the scenes from LOTR that included the locations we’d visited today. A windy day outdoors caught up with us by 10:00, and we collapsed into bed—and may I say, while New Zealand homes don’t appear to be (at all) insulated, their use of electric blankets and hot water bottles is a cozy alternative.
posted by Noelle | 5:03 PM
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