6 of Our Most Memorable Bottles

This blog started out as “Our Most Romantic Bottles – Ever.”

But as we got to writing it, we realized our lives are alarmingly low on the romance (Note to selves: spend more time getting jiggy with it).

So we did a minor detour, and refocused this Valentine’s Day piece to feature the wines of which we have the fondest memories. Some of the proceeding bottles were enjoyed with our lovahs, but a number were enjoyed with each other, sometimes just us, sometimes with us and our better halves, and sometimes with our besties.

They’re not necessarily the priciest, or the ritziest – or even the tastiest – wines we’ve tried, but they are the wines that have been front and centre during some of the loveliest times of our lives.

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rose, Champagne, France NV

$80.60 Vintages 19661
This blush bubbly is what was being poured by the cupful to fortify Courtney before she walked down the aisle back in 2008. Holed up in a swanky hotel room, getting our make up and hair did while feasting on sushi paired with sparkling, the Widow Cliquot helped us girls toast Courtney’s last few moments of single life.

Nino Franco Brut Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, Veneto, Italy NV

$22.95 Rogers & Company
For those of you who have been with us for a while, you’ll likely remember the story of Erin’s most romantic first date. Mr. Franco made for a handsome threesome in High Park one sunny, August afternoon in 2010. Toting along some white cherries and a bit of Beemster cheese, she and her amour du jour sat on a blanket in the shade of a large tree, and whiled away the afternoon in the most idle of ways.

Of course, drinking in public is highly illegal, and should never be attempted by anyone as it’s immoral and just plain wrong in our respectable Ontario society, but Erin was feeling dangerous and did it anyway. But remember kids, do as we say and not as we do – Erin still hangs her head in shame at her serious lack of judgement.

The Chocolate Block, Western Cape, South Africa 2010

$39.95 Vintages 129353
OK, truth be told: this wasn’t the wine Courtney sipped with her husband-to-be when visiting South Africa in early 2008. In fact, she can’t remember most of the wines they enjoyed as they languished on sunny patios in Franschhoek, and sipped over dinner after a long day on safari in Kruger Park. Those she can remember aren’t available here, anyway, so when she feels like reminiscing about the good old days with her betrothed, it’s at the mercy of what’s on the shelves at the LCBO.

Regardless, captivated by South Africa’s breathtaking landscape, generous culture and many adventurous escapes, all celebrated with a bottle of something local, Courtney came home engaged.

Pol Roger Champagne, France NV

$60.85 Vintages 217158
One of the best weekends Erin has ever enjoyed was with her best friends and involved champagne – and a lot of it.

A few years ago, experiencing an unseasonably warm March, Erin and her pals celebrated the early season sun by hitting the rooftop patio of the Park Hyatt in Toronto. Enjoying the scandalous gossip and bottle after bottle of champers, the girls whiled away the afternoon. No boys allowed, save for Mr. Pol Roger. That is, until the hotel ran out. Luckily, some lovely chaps also celebrating their own occasion with Veuve Clicquot invited them to crash their party, so they did. From wine what sudden friendship springs!

Torre Rosazza Friulano, Friuli, Italy 2010

$19.95 Vintages 289520
OK, here’s our second confession. This Friulano is also not the wine we were drinking in the picture in Italy, but it doesn’t really matter because the wine in that picture is not available here. In this picture we were in Cinque Terre, our last stop on a four-destination trip. As it turns out, our lodgings weren’t quite what we expected. We thought we had booked a 2-bedroom apartment, but language barriers being what they are, we booked two dorm rooms, essentially, one a floor above the other, complete with a small bathroom and a bed.

Searching for an open trattoria, we were also out of luck, as most had closed for the afternoon.  Che peccato, as the Italians might say. But we did find a small convenience store that was still open, so in true Wine Sisters’ style, we made the best of it, dropping a few Euros on a bottle of vino bianco, a tin of Pringles, and went about reliving our university days sitting on Courtney’s bed, drinking the wine (which, in a kitchen-less room we had to chill in the toilette tank -not the bowl, the tank) from plastic cups and munching on chips.

They say the best stories come from adversity, and while we wouldn’t go so far as to call disappointing accommodations and inflexible restaurant hours adversity, we would say our first day in Cinque Terre was not a highlight of that trip. But perhaps somewhat ironically, that story has made the highlight reel.

Sumac Ridge “Stellar’s Jay” Brut Methode Classique Sparkling, VQA Okanagan Valley, BC 2007

$25.09 sumacridge.com
Back in 2006, we took our first trip to BC’s Okanagan Valley.  Leaving the boys at home in Ontario, we ate and drank our way from Oliver to Kelowna. There were many a time when we wished we were wearing stretchy pants, and not confined by restrictive and gorge-limiting buttoned waist bands.

Dinners at Quails’ Gate overlooking the vines sloping into the lake, lunches at Sumac Ridge enjoying the warm late-summer air on the patio, there are numerous bottles and experiences to recount. But perhaps the most memorable of the trip was at our bed and breakfast, just beneath Mission Hill and down the road from Quails’ Gate, which included the use of the backyard hot tub.

After a satisfying dinner one evening, we returned to our humble abode, and thought it would be a great ending to the evening if we had a pre-bedtime soak,to rinse of the weariness of wine travel. Donning our bathing suits and grabbing a bottle of well-chilled sparkling, we relaxed in the jet stream of of chlorinated bubbles, surrounded by vineyards, under the stars.

And that’s when we looked at each other, and admitted that moment had all the makings for great romance, if only we hadn’t been with our sister.