Pacific Northwest and More 09 Bordeaux

Day 1 We flew to Vancouver. Flying over the Canadian Rockies was quite a sight. From the Vancouver airport we took a bus that went on a ferry from Twassen(outside of Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (20KM from Victoria). First we had some doughnuts from Tim Horton  at the airport. Tim Horton's is big in Canada. The doughnuts were good.

After a 30 minute bus ride, the bus drove on the ferry. It was obviously a very large ferry. The ride was over 2 hours. The scenery during the second half was spectacular as the boat navigated between several of the Gulf Islands on to Vancouver Island. The geography in the area is fascinating; lots of islands, wilderness and water. Vancouver Island is over 300 miles long and there is not much development except for Victoria on the southern tip.

 We landed and the bus continued on to Victoria. Our hotel was easy walk from the bus station. The hotel was a very nice Marriott (Inner Harbor) and the room was about $200 per night.

Victoria is a fun city with a good blend of old and new and the inner harbor makes thing special. There  are boats, seaplanes, water taxis and restaurants. Victoria is a good walking city; it also appears to have a good bus system although we did not use it.

The first night we ate a the Flying Otter, a casual place on the Inner Harbor. The beer was good as we had Phillips, a local beer and the fish was fresh. We had a  halibut wrap and a halibut and avocado
sandwich. Phillips is one of the local beers and we had 3 different bottles.

Day 2 We decided to rent a car for the day. Butchart Gardens is the must see in the area.butchartgardens.com I was skeptical, a Levine tradition on famous sights,but my wife insisted. I then found a brochure touting British Columbia wineries. To my amazement there are over 20 wineries on Vancouver Island. Our day was set.

Right before the Gardens there was a sign for berries. We took a small detour and came to a farm where we bought blackberries. These were the most amazing tasting blackberries. A complex flavor that we had never tasted before.

 We went off to Butchart Gardens and it was pretty special. It was well organized at the entrance but not Disneylike. The Gardens have been developed a family for a long time and they change the plantings by the season. It is open all year round and the Christmas show is supposed to be awesome. They have huge greenhouses where they start all of the plants.

The pictures don't capture the true splendor.

We then found a few wineries. The first Church and Street has a large, modern, beautiful building. We tasted their wines and they were OK. Apparently the thing about BC wineries is that they grow most of the grapes in central BC and have wineries and tasting rooms on Vancouver Island for the tourists. The wineries try to make the big name grape wines but they are not the best. We generally enjoyed the whites - pinot gris, pinot blanc. However Church and State churchandstatewines.com seems to specialize in red wines. They were OK but the prices were very high. I can't see paying $35 for a Bordeaux blend from British Columbia when I can get a very good 09 Bordeaux for under $20. Wine economics do not make much sense to me. The restaurant kitchen at Church and State.

The next winery was de Vine Vineyards devinevineyards.ca. It was a beautiful winery on top of a hill with great views of Mt Baker in Washington. We tasted a number of wines and liked their whites. We bought a 2011 Pinot Blanc for $18. The whites are austere but have enough fruit to make them enjoyable.

We next made a stop at Victoria Spirits. victoriaspirits.comThey distill gin and vodka. It started as a winery but they found it a tough business so they switched. We toured the small distillery and tasted the products. The gin is expensive and probably is very good but I am no expert.

 

That night we ate at Canoe Brewpub  canoebrewpub.com along the river in Victoria. We ate outside and had a good time. The beer was good and the food nicely prepared.  It got cold sitting outside at night, around 50 degrees, but if was refreshing after the heat we have had in NJ this summer. The restaurant had a good chocolate cake with cherries for dessert which hit the spot.

 

 

Wines of the week

Chateau Meyney 2009 Bordeaux $33 I can't stop loving the 09 Bordeaux wines. This wine started slowly but it has a nice bouquet, good middle and great finish. Really enjoyed this wine. Drank it with an 09 Haut Bergey also from Bordeaux. The Haut Bergey had a great first sip but the finish was not as long as the Meyney. Both wines were excellent.

Recipe of the week

From Bon Appetit and adjusted by me. -- Preheat oven to 425.  .

• Cut up around 8-12 plums depending on size. Take out the pits and cut into 1/8 ths. add lemon juice, sugar to taste(around a 1/2 cup) and a teaspoon of cornstarch and mix with plums in a bowl.
•  Make a pie crust and roll it out to  a 12 inch circle. Place crust on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
• Pour plums on the middle of the pie crust leaving a 1-2 inch border.
• Fold the border over the edge of the plums and brush the border with a beaten egg. Sprinkle sugar over the egg wash.
• Bake in the oven. Start checking at 25 minutes. It should look nicely browned and the plums should be soft.
• Take out and let cool.

Enjoy the weekend. It is a great time of the year in the Northeast.