Dorkuncorked's Blog

Craft Distilling is growing faster than blossoms are blooming on Victoria’s Cherry Trees so we thought we might bring in our Spirits Correspondent and all round Encyclopedia of all things distilled, Shawn Soole.

Link to Podcast 

Segment 1 

Shout Outs

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, you must put Ca Va Bistro Moderne on your list of places to dine in Victoria. Intimate, delicious, relaxed and all round fantastic. I raise a glass to Fauna Martin and the team at Ca Va Bistro Moderne.

I raise a second glass to Spring in Victoria. While the rest of the country continues to shovel out their driveways, we are blessed with watching the blossoms come out.

For the last shout out this week, I raise a pint to Ken Beattie, Executive Director of the BC Craft Brewers Guild. As we all know Craft Brewing has grown at an amazing pace and is now an integral part of the Liquor industry in BC. Managing to aggregate new, rapidly expanding and established breweries is no small feat, but Ken has done a masterful job and we are all better for it.

Mailbag

“What about the Legs of a Wine?”

For years taking careful attention to notice the ‘legs’ of a wine was a part of every sommelier’s training. The legs are the glycerine droplets that run down the side of the glass after swirling a wine. They are also known Church Windows.

The idea was that the legs would tell you about the texture, body and mouthfeel of the wine. The bigger and slower the legs the heavier the wine. I no longer include a review of the legs as it seems redundant and is dependent on the quality of the detergent used to clean the glasses. To get a sense of the body, texture and mouthfeel of a wine I rely on my palate and that seems to do the trick.

Thanks for the emails and questions, please keep them coming.

Segment 2 ~ Craft Distilled Whisky

The Craft Distilling industry is growing by leaps and bounds and that means locally made whisky’s.

The challenge is finding them as it takes time and patience to create a quality whisky, they need a minimum of 3 years ageing, and to that end there are very few that are available, and most can only be gotten through the distilleries mailing list.

Here is a list of a few of the island distilleries making whisky:

Merridale

Phillips Fermentorium

Victoria Spirits

Shelter Point Distillery

In order to get some of the Whisky’s mentioned on the show follow the links below to get on the mailing list or lottery.

Okanagan Spirits

Pemberton Distilleries

Segment 3 ~ Brandy & Eau de Vie

There was a lot covered in this segment so I highly recommend downloading the podcast. Here are a couple of links to producers of brandy here in BC.

Okanagan Crush Pad Narrative Grape Spirit

Merridale Eau de Vie

Segment 4 ~ Liqueur

Liqueur made here in BC is still hard to find, but there are some stunning examples that are harbingers of what the future will bring. Below are links to some of these products.

Sons of Vancouver Amaretto

Legend’s Blasted Brew 

Wayward’s Depth Charge

Okanagan Spirits Fruit Liqueurs

De Vine Fruit Spirits

Best Buy of the Week – Santa Cristina Campogrande Orvieto ($17)

Classic Italian white wine that is fruit forward and delicious. Brilliant with shellfish, light pastas.

Cheers

the Dork UnCorked

Stay tuned as next week we get into what it means to be a Craft Distillery, Craft Vodka and the wonderful and exploding world of Craft Gin.