The Grape Escape
This weekend is Calgary Co-Op’s Wine, Spirit and Beer Festival, The Grape Escape.
Once again, it’s completely sold out, but I do have a couple of tickets to the Friday afternoon VIP tasting session to give away.
I’ll be pouring Nollen Notorious Rooster Riesling, Road 13’s Honest John’s Red, Castano Monastrell and Freixenet Carta Nevada at the Grape Escape.
Nollen Notorious Rooster Riesling 2010
“Every once and a while an inexpensive Germany riesling, almost always from the Mosel, over delivers and that is the case with Notorious a delicious little riesling. We love the fresh nectarine skin aromas and the peachy, watermelon fruit all with freshness and balance.”
– Anthony Gismondi
Castano Monastrell 2009
“It is a dark ruby-coloured wine with a fragrant nose of underbrush, blueberry and plum. Super-juicy on the palate and densely packed, this is a pleasure-bent effort for drinking over the next 2-3 years.”
– Robert Parker
Honest Johns Red 2010
“The fruit explodes out of the glass with aromas of red currant, black raspberries and bing cherries. The nose also shows signature Okanagan character, followed by subtle layering of chocolate, cedar and tobacco.”
– JM Bouchard, Winemaker
Freixenet Carta Nevada
“As semi-dry Cavas go, it’s hard to lodge a complaint against this one. It has a full bouquet of powdered sugar and white fruits, and the palate is sturdy and shows sweet mango and papaya flavours.”
– The Wine Enthusiast
**UPDATE** Congratulations to Erin Darroch for winning my tickets!
@winejennifer 
The Rooster Riesling – there is nothing better than a chilly glass of fruity sweetness to carry me to a warmer, sunnier place!
Oooh…The Rooster Reisling sounds deeeelish!
My pick is the Homest John’s Red 2010. Sounds like a delish fruity vino for my taste buds
Honest John’s Red
My choice is the Honest John’s… looks delightful!
Would love to try the Rooster Reisling! 2010;)
Without a doubt it would be Freixenet Carta Nevada. Love everything they put out, classic tastes with a sophisticated twist.
My choice is the Honest John’s as I love my red red wine………
Carta Nevada sounds like it’s got a lot of hype surrounding it. I love hype! And wine hype is some of the best hype to judge for yourself! I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Friday afternoon then taste testing hype 🙂
Rooster Reisling definitely! I recently tried an Austrian reisling which was surprisingly drier then the conventional reisling – a great lunch sandwich wine! Would love to give a german reisling a go!
I’d love to try the Rooster Riesling – looks delish! Have Fri aft free and would love to go!
I’d love to try all on the list…however I’m most intrigued by the Castano Monastrell 2009
The Rooster Reisling sounds intriguing. Germany tends not to let the best Reisling’s out of the country, so I’d love to try it and find out how you managed to sneak it out of the country.
I already know I love the Road 13 so I’ll go with the Reisling 🙂