The Wine and Travel Concierge

As summer has truly arrived in Vancouver, I find myself sipping on refreshing white wines and definitely rosé wines. And with just a couple of weeks away from a Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi, California, I want to wake up my palate so I am ready for the abundance of wine I will try! So…. I need to try more wine! 😉

Here are a few I’ve had recently, which are truly fun discoveries…

Chateau Musar Jeaune from Bekka Valley, Lebanon (private store CAD $30ish)

This is not a light style rosé, and by the color you might think it’s going to be fruit forward, however it had a lot of tart and sweet cherry notes, stewed strawberries and cherries, a touch of herbaceous or maybe it was baking spice, it was rich and had body, almost replaces a red wine on a summers eve. Made naturally from 100% Cinsault. The Bekka Valley doesn’t make lots of wine that we see, but they definitely are doing a great job! My good friend Christine (a wine blogger as well) and I review it below… check out other wine reviews on my YouTube channel here.

 Costaripa RosaMara from northern Italy (private store CAD $30 ish)

Taken from their website on their winemaking style…”Mattia’s trademarked definition, il vino di una notte, “one-night wine”, for vinification occurs just hours from pressing, during the night, and requires great winemaking sensibility to gauge the perfect balance between subtlety and structure, and the precise nuance of color that stands for this.” This is a blend of Groppello, Sangiovese, Marzemino and Barbera. Notes of  blossoms, sour cherry and pomegranate. It’s crisp, slightly minerally and really refreshing with bruised fruit like style balance. I’ve reviewed this one before here.

Umani Ronchi CaSal di Serra Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi from central Italy (BC govt. store CAD $17 ish)

This was a delightful find. Refreshing and crisp, yet soft and smooth. A perfect balance! Made from 100% Verdicchio from the Marche region on the east coast of Italy. Expect citrus notes mingled with minerality and a rounded finish. Visit a post from last summer of another completely different summer white here.

I hope this gets you excited to try these wines or wines from the regions! Explore, sip & learn!