Hello wine lovers and happy wine Wednesday!  I hope the sunshine is finding you and giving you hope, like it does me, that the warm weather is just around the corner…

It was a good week for your Girls Go Grape blogger –  I ended a 16-year chapter of my life in the advertising and publishing industry only to have a meeting immediately prior to ‘handing in my phone’ with a great contact who has a potential business partnership opportunity for me.  Yay!  More to come – still in the early meeting stages but I am flattered nonetheless.  Then, the week got even better!  I had sent an email to the BC Wine Authority letting them know who I am and asked what their process is around becoming a VQA Wine Quality Assessor (a volunteer position that is responsible for ensuring BC VQA wine quality and reputation).  As luck would have it, I met their qualifications and there was one spot available for their two weekend workshop that is the mandatory first step.  So – I am off to the Okanagan this weekend and the next to learn all about wine ‘faults’ and how to very specifically identify these faults in wine.  I am still kind of pinching myself at the timing of everything…yes – one door closes and many others open up.

On to the wine of the week…I was in the mood for a big red wine so I went downstairs and selected La Stella’s ‘Fortissimo’ 2008 from Osoyoos, B.C.  I had purchased this bottle of wine last October when I went up to the Okanagan Wine Festival.  I was hosted by the wonderful Mike Kosaka and Wade Martin and joined in a flight tasting that had just started.  Pretty much everything I tasted at La Stella blew me away and the experience was excellent.

The ‘Fortissimo’ was my favourite in the flight.  It is a ‘Super Tuscan’ blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese…delicious.  In the glass, La Stella’s 2008 ‘Fortissimo’ is a deep, vibrant ruby-red colour.  On the nose, aromas of dusty earth, oregano and dried herbs, cherry, raspberry, some delicate oak and sweet spice.  I could have kept smelling this glass of wine for hours!  On the palate, ‘Fortissimo’ has a pronounced flavour profile with tastes of all the aromas in the glass – truly an exceptional flavour with elegance and complexity.

La Stella’s ‘Fortissimo’ is medium plus in alcohol at 14.2% abv. and medium plus in body.  The tannins are well-integrated and refined and the wine has a nice, bright acidity that I love in a red…thank you, Sangiovese!  This lovely wine has a long, lingering finish and is a beautiful expression of a ‘Super Tuscan’ wine from La Stella.  This is a ‘Hell Yes’ wine – absolutely!

The ‘Fortissimo’ 2011 from La Stella has just been released at $35 per bottle.  A great bottle of wine you can enjoy now or put down for the next 3 – 5 years.

That is it for me this week!  I look forward to giving you some fun details about my first ‘tasting’ workshop this weekend in next weeks’ blog post.  As always, I welcome wine questions – so don’t hesitate to ask!

Enjoy!

XO
C