Who knew that beer could be such a good ingredient in cocktails? On Monday, Whistler Brewing and The Refinery hosted a cocktail competition, and I have to say, there were some pretty intriguing ideas served up.
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery has just released Tribute, a commemorative sparkling wine in honour of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. It’s a bubble well worth celebrating, for not only is it a lovely sparkling Chardonnay with lots of zesty citrus and apple characteristics, but $1.25 of every $30 bottle will go to help Canada’s Olympic athletes.
It’s created by Sumac Ridge’s winemaker, Mark Wedenburg, who’ll be at the Cambie and 39th LDB store on Sept. 20 if you want to chat with him while sampling some of the bubble. Sumac Ridge, of course, is already considered B.C.’s premier sparkling wine producer, noted especially for the Stellers Jay Brut; its parent company, Vincor, is the official supplier of wine to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Tribute will be available at B.C. liquor stores and restaurants as of this month, and across Canada later this fall.
When I decided to create a blog about exploring our world through travel and drink, a blog that would have a whimsical, slightly retro feel, I figured “One for the Road” was about as perfect a title as you could come up with. Apparently, others disagree. They think it sounds like I’m promoting drunk driving. Well, I’m not.
But with the story of Diane Schuler still in the news, it’s an issue that’s not going away.
Speaking of changes . . . check out the new look.
So, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here, and it’s great to be back! And the really good news is there’s gonna be some changes around here, tho it may take a few weeks before you see them all.
The big change for me is that I finally loaded a spam filter on here and I can actually bear to look at my comments for the first time in months. I work on a Mac so the worst I’d experienced before this was the occasional note from a good friend in an African nation asking for a small donation. So all the hundreds and hundreds of penis-extending / porn / viagra / tamiflu messages — and, for some reason, promos for the movie Up! — came as a bit of a shock. And the fact that most of them came from .ru sites was extra creepy, especially for someone whose family was driven out of their homes by the Russians.
Just saying.
The big change for you, though, is that the focus of the blog is going to change a bit as we move forward. Yes, there will still be lots of stuff about booze and travel, but I want it to be more useful and practical, and not just me telling you about all the cool stuff I get to do, tho there will still be some of that because if I can’t share it with you, well, then what’s the point, really?
I want this to be the site you come to when you’re wondering what kind of glass to serve a mojito in (Collins) or how to set a table (depends on how formal you are), how to book a hotel room in Paris (comparison shop!), what wine to serve with Asian food (an aromatic white or bubble, tho you can get away with a spicy Shiraz with Indian), how to make proper martini (start with really good gin), and all the other stuff you need to know how to sip deeply and enjoyably of the waters of life.
It’s not so much a new direction, but a bit more focus, and I’m pretty pumped about it. I hope you will be, too!
Brainstorming a new direction for One for the Road — with giant Post-Its!