Eat: Bright side of a soft food diet

My mouth throbs with pain. This last adjustment was a killer. Chewing is proving to be very challenging, whenever my top and bottom front teeth make contact its like a mini lightning bolt has hit my jaw. I'm hoping to have a miraculous recovery for dinner at Tuck Shop tonight; a reservation was made weeks ago, before I had an inkling of how intense this last orthodontist appointment would be. If I haven't improved by tonight, I hope they atleast have some really sharp steak knives so I can cut everything into gulp-able pieces.

Having said that, a soft food diet is not all that bad. I'm about to make some soft buttermilk pancakes for brunch. My 'chewing' will be something akin to a snake swallowing its prey in one whole piece. But damn, do I love me some pancakes! Last nights dinner was soft polenta with Marc's ragu; barely any chewing needed but delicious! Nothing like a bolognese ragu and glass(es) of red wine to take the edge off.

Drink: Le Jaja de Jau (Review)

 I'm long delayed in posting about le Jaja de Jau. It's a bottle that you have probably seen a million times at the SAQ or some other wine store and just passed over. I know I did.

I have a tendency to gloss over French wines. I know French wine has a great reputation but the labelling and complex classification often confuses me. Historically I haven't been too keen on experimenting with unfamiliar wines when I already know so many wonderful Italian wines. But after our trip to Paris last year, we decided to add a bottle of French wine to every case we buy as a way of learning more about French wines. I'm starting to notice trends; we often go for a VDP (Vins de pays), which is a step above table wine but still really good. The value for the price makes these wines worth the experiment. We have also enjoyed a few GSMs (blend of Grenache, Shiraz a.k.a. Syrah, and Mourvèdre) if and when we can find them. Thanks to this taste test experiment, a bottle of Jaja was added to our cart and the rest is history.

I have since bought two full cases of Jaja. With a 15% discount at the SAQ outlet, the entire case amounts to 123 dollars, a total steal. It's the perfect wine to have in supply. We intersperse drinking the cheaper, every day jaja with some of our favourite (albeit more expensive) wines so that we have some variety. It tends to bring down the overall cost of being an oenophile.

You can read more about Jaja de Jau on the SAQ website here. What I can add is that Jau is a region in France and Jaja is a colloquialism used within that region to describe everyday wines. Mignon, n'est-ce pas? The SAQ indicates that the wine has a slender texture and smooth tannins; I totally concur. Its has this nice full taste but somehow doesn't leave you with a mouthful of tannin after you swallow. SAQ also wrote that it pairs well with dry sausage, pizza and pork. Absolutely it does (but what doesn't go well with pizza and sausage....miam). I'm my opinion, it goes very well with most foods that contain a little fat or savory component. My only word of caution: I have noticed that occasionally, the wine tastes a little off on the second or third day after being opened. Not always, but every now and then it has a taste that I can only describe as 'pruney' if open too long. Normally that's not a problem, I do my best to finish a bottle on the day I open it <insert joke at my expense here>.   But with table wine, the whole point is to have a glass here or there be able to leave a corked bottle on the table for whenever the mood strikes you. Having said that, I've only noticed this a couple times so I'm will to accept this flaw. Please add a comment if you have tried Jaja de Jau, I'd love to hear what other people think about it.

Drink: Modellissimo Masi Delle Venezie i.g.t. 2008 (Sale 14.45) Wine Review

Name: Modellissimo Masi Delle Venezie i.g.t. 2008

Price: Sale 14.45 (reg. 15.95$)

Quick Sum Up: Meh. I would pass on this one. For the same price point, there are a lot of other solid options.

Full Review: I fully expected to like this wine. I think of Masi wines, particularly the red ones in the 11-17 dollar range, as my dependable standby. Masi is a wine I would bring to a BYOW or friend's house for dinner if I didn't know what food would be served or if I thought that the host didn't enjoy wine enough to truely appreciate a more expensive bottle. Don't hold that against me; I see it as real bummer when I buy a great mid range wine and its worth is lost on the bequeathed.

The taste of Modelissimo was somehow muted on mouthfeel and yet still strong on the finish. I imagine that's what the SAQ tasting note means when they say medium. The woody quality was too apparent when we drank it on its own but I will admit that the wine tasted better once it was paired with food. We had it with roast chicken, braised fennel, and israeli cousous, not exactly the ideal food pairing based on the SAQ notes. Overall, I would say the taste was a little too tannic, woody and spicy for me. I somehow expected a flavour closer to my other experiences with Masi, somewhere between spicy & fruity.

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Additional Information from SAQ

Tasting Notes from SAQ: Ruby in colour, this red boasts a medium nose exuding woody, empyreumatic, spicy and fruity aromas. Discover this medium-bodied wine expressing refreshing acidity and offering a broad texture and fleshy tannins. It also unveils a medium mouthfeel that leads into a medium finish.

Food Pairing from SAQ: Beef, Tomato sauce, Meat sauce

Additional Info from SAQ:
Wine family: Dry, medium-bodied and fruity 
Country: Italy
Region: Veneto
Appellation: Delle Venezie
Producer: Masi Agricola SPA
Alcoholic strength: 13.0 %
Acidity: Refreshing 
Intensity: Medium 
Persistance: Medium 
Body: Medium-bodied 
Tannins: Fleshy 
Texture: Broad 
Sugar: Dry 
Taste family(ies): Woody , Empyreumatic , Spicy , Fruity 

Drink: Chablis Champs Royaume William Fevre 2009 (11.99) Wine Review

Name: Chablis Champs Royaume William Fevre 2009

Price: 11.99

Quick Sum Up: Would definitely buy this again. Great price, balanced taste. Yum.

Full Review: The SAQ in Westmount is where I picked up William Fevre 2009. A recent trip to Paris has inspired me to try more French wines; I have been intimidated by their complex label/control system in the past. Since I don't know French wine very well, I feel comfortable going a bit cheaper and experimenting with different varietals and/or blends. The price was right at 11.99$.I can't tell you what I paired it with, I have long since forgotten those details, however I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by how good this wine was for the price. It was acidic (which I like) but also fruity enough not to let the acid be too overbearing. A regular refrigerator is good enough for me in terms of temperature management. Chilled in the fridge for a couple hours and a quick rest at room temperature and this wine is ready to go. For me, a chilled white wine is essential; a piss-warm white wine is almost not worth having. Another positive for me was that there was no syrupy mouth feel on the finish which I tend to dislike, I've noticed that quality with a few Chardonnays that I have tried.

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Additional Information from SAQ

Tasting Notes from SAQ: Greenish yellow in colour, this white boasts a medium nose exuding floral, fruity and mineral aromas. Discover this medium-bodied wine expressing lively acidity and offering a broad texture. It also unveils a medium mouthfeel that leads into a medium finish.


Food Pairing from SAQ: Fish and seafood (scallop tartare, salmon, tuna), Sauces (lemon, lime), Cheese (goat-type)


Additional Info from SAQ:

• Wine family: Dry, medium-bodied and fruity
• Country: France
• Region: Bourgogne
• Appellation: Chablis
• Producer: William Fèvre
• Alcoholic strength: 12.5 %
• Acidity: Lively
• Intensity: Medium
• Persistance: Medium
• Body: Medium-bodied
• Tannins: N/A
• Texture: Broad
• Sugar: Dry
• Taste family(ies) : Floral , Fruity , Mineral

Drink: Precursor to a Wine Review

I love wine. Love, Love, Love with a capital "L", LOVE. I don't know much about wine, except a few details that I've managed to retain from the vast plethora of oenophilia out there. I'm not as articulate as I'd like to be when I need to describe a wine. I know what I'm looking for but feel incapable of describing what I'm after. Which is why the SAQ website is so cool. They are continually improving the site by adding more and more information. Which is great for the wine plebes among us. So forgive me because I will lean heavily on the SAQ or other resources out there to help explain the qualities of a particular wine that I have sampled. I'll couple it with my layman description and hope the proper terminology will stick.
Over the years, I've been a bit lazy in my wine selection. I generally stick to Italian, Californian, Australian and a handful of wines from British Columbia. Historically, I am also partial to red wine. I would say my consumption of red to white was 90/10 for nearly the last ten years. But with the discovery of a few delightful whites from Portugal and New Zealand, I have become much more open to the idea of white wine. I buy wine in bulk (that sounds awful). What I mean is a case of 12 rather than wasting time picking a couple of bottles at a time. I like to take advantage of the sales at the outlets and the hefty discount at the SAQ depot for bulk purchases. In the beginning, I would buy 11 red and one white, then eventually 2 whites, etc. I'm at a 60/40 split at this point. I also force myself to try wines from all over the world, and apart from Greek wine (sorry) I haven't met many I didn't enjoy. In terms of price, I like to get a range from 10.00$ to 24.00$ for my case, I generally average out at about 210$ for 12 bottles. I occasionally splurge on a more fancy bottle, but I rarely go over 30-65 dollars.
So this is where I'm coming from when I talk about wine. I am a true fan, but not very good with all the details. Here on my blog I will be adding my review & description of the wines I try. The primary reason is for record keeping; I have a tendency to re-discover the same wines for the first time, all over again, because I don't remember the labels (particularly for French wine). This way I can refer back and make a more educated choice in the future. Wines also change a lot from one year to the next, so it would be a boon to have notes that reminded me that I loved Badiola 2009 but hated 2010 (which is not possible, its such an awesome wine).