The Wine Diva has her last and possibly best list for 2013.
The Top 50 wines of 2013. They’re all $20 plus wines and 90 point ratings or better.
PLUS The Best of Her Bubble List. The Diva is here to finish off your year in style.
Two great chefs have at it. David Hawksworth (Hawksworth) sits down with LA’s Suzanne Goin (AOC)and seriously talk food!!
Mark Simpson has created BC Wine Studios in Okanagan Falls. We’ll tell you what it means for all you wine fans out there.
One of the World’s best vegetarian chefs and authors, Irelands Denis Cotter, visits Hastings House on Salt Spring Island.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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THE SHOW
I’ve always said Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva – loves her lists.
Wine Diva
Here’s the last one of 2013.
It’s her wines of the Year. 90 plus points, so you know they’re top end wines.
They range from $20.00 and up.
Also, because New Years is right around the corner Daenna has included some of her best Bubbles. She is a huge fan of the Bubble.
Here’s her top 50 master list – For all the details check out www.winediva.ca
| Rodney Strong Pinot Noir Russian River Valley California |
| Marotti Campi ‘Orgiolo’ Lacrima di Morro d’Alba Superiore DOC, Marche Italy |
| Longview ‘Devils Elbow’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Adelaide Hills Australia |
| Musella Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso, Veneto Italy |
| Clos De Los Siete, Mendoza Argentina |
| Cellers Fuentes ‘Finca El Puig’, DOC Priorat Spain |
| Luis Segundo Correas ‘Valle Las Acequias’ Malbec Oak, Mendoza Argentina |
| Black Hills Estate Winery “Nota Bene”, Okanagan Valley BC |
| La Stella ‘Fortissimo’ Selezione di Famiglia, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Balthasar Ress Hattenheimer Schutzenhaus Riesling, Rheingau Germany |
| Perseus Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Select Lots’, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Langmeil ‘Valley Floor’ Shiraz, Barossa Valley Australia |
| Ruffino ‘Riserva Ducale’ Chianti Classico DOCG, Tuscany Italy |
| Domaine Zinck Muscat, Alsace France |
| Tenuta Guado Al Tasso ‘Il Bruciato’ DOC Bolgheri, Tuscany Italy |
| Santa Rita ‘Medalla Real’ Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley Chile |
| Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars Brut Rose, Okanagan Valley |
| Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Series Syrah, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Fort Berens Estate Winery Meritage, British Columbia |
| Gold Hill Viognier I, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Black Sage Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec, Lujan de Cuyo Argentina |
| Antinori ‘Peppoli’, DOCG Chianti Classico, Tuscany Italy |
| Burrowing Owl Estate Syrah, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Tommasi Viticoltori “Ripasso” Valpolicella Veneto Italy |
| Catena Malbec, Mendoza Argentina |
| JoieFarm ‘En Famille’ Reserve Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley |
| Road 13 ‘Jackpot’ Chenin Blanc, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Clos du Soleil ‘Grower’s Series Makepeace’ Merlot, Similkameen Valley BC |
| CedarCreek Platinum Riesling ‘Block 3’, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Belle Glos ‘Dairyman Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley Sonoma California |
| Painted Rock Syrah, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Laughing Stock Vineyards Syrah, Okanagan Valley BC |
| TIME Estate Winery White Meritage, Okanagan Valley, BC |
| Jorge Ordonez ‘Botani’ Moscatel Seco, Sierras de Malaga DOC |
| Castiglion Del Bosco Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Tuscany Italy |
| Allegrini Palazzo della Torre, Veronese, Veneto Italy |
| Bodega Vistalba ‘Corte B’, Mendoza Argentina |
| Josef Chromy Pinot Noir, Tasmania Australia |
| Moon Curser ‘Afraid of the Dark’, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Vasse Felix Shiraz, Margaret River Australia |
| Chateau Miraval Rose, Cotes de Provence, France |
| Rocland Estate ‘Chocolate Box’ GSM, Barossa Valley Australia |
| Howling Bluff ‘Summa Quies” Pinot Noir Reserve, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley |
| Campo di Sasso Insoglio del Cinghiale, Bibona Tuscany Italy |
| Heggies Chardonnay, Eden Valley South Australia |
| Groom Shiraz, Barossa Valley Australia |
| Mer Soleil ‘Gold’ Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands |
| Kettle Valley Viognier, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Whitehaven Pinot Noir, Marlborough New Zealand |
| Lake Breeze Vineyards ‘Seven Poplars’ Merlot, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Donnafugata ‘Sherazade’, Sicily Italy, 2011 |
| Mission Hill Famly Estate ‘Quatrain’ Okanagan Valley BC |
| Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley BC |
| Serge Dagueneau & Filles Pouilly~Fume ‘Tradition’, Loire Valley France |
| Bodegas ‘Muga’ Reserva Rioja, Spain |
| Concha Y Toro ‘Don Melchor’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Puente Alto Maipo Valley, Chile |
| Chateau St Jean Cabernet Sauvignon, California |
| Haywire Gamay Noir, Okanagan Valley BC, 2011 |
| Beringer Knight’s Valley Meritage, Sonoma California |
| Mission Hill ‘Oculus’ Okanagan Valley BC, 2009 |
| Capezzana Barco Reale di Carmignano, Tuscany Italy |
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Chef David Hawksworth was honoured to welcome Suzanne Goin to his Vancouver restaurant Hawksworth before Christmas. Suzanne cooked a meal using recipes from The A.O.C Cookbook, which is Chef Goin’s new book inspired by her L.A. small-plates restaurant of the same name.
AOC Cookbook
Suzanne Goin was born in Los Angeles to food-obsessed Francophile parents. A graduate of Brown University, Goin’s background includes positions at some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the United States, including Ma Maison, L’Orangerie in Los Angeles, Al Forno in Providence, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and Arpege in Paris. Her work as executive chef at Campanile put her on the culinary map in Los Angeles and laid the groundwork for her first restaurant.In 1998, Goin opened, Lucques in West Hollywood with her business partner Caroline Styne. The restaurant met with instant success and Suzanne was named one of Food and Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs” in 1999. A second restaurant, A.O.C., a groundbreaking concept of inspired wines by the glass and small plates menu, opened in 2002 and met with enthusiasm from the public and press.Goin collaborated on the menu of The Hungry Cat, the casual seafood restaurant opened by her husband, Chef David Lentz, in 2005, and now with three locations.In 2006, Suzanne was the recipient of two awards from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. The first, for her cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques, received the James Beard Foundation award for Best Cookbook from a Professional Viewpoint in 2006. Suzanne’s culinary achievements were recognized with the award for Best Chef California.She has received five concurrent nominations for Outstanding Chef of the Year by the James Beard Foundation from 2008 – 2011. . In April 2011, Goin & Styne were honored to prepare a dinner for President Obama, whose fundraising team selected Suzanne and Tavern for this momentous event.In 2009, Suzanne and her business partner Caroline Styne opened Tavern in the Brentwood area of the westside of Los Angeles. Suzanne Goin AOC 2013 has been a busy year for Goin and Styne, with stunning growth. A.O.C., which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, moved to a new location in February 2013 with an added cocktail program and new menu. Her AOC Cookcook is one of the very best of a busy year. So..in conversation..two great chefs and one hungry journalist. http://www.aocwinebar.com/ http://www.aocwinebar.com/aoc_cookbook.html [divider] We welcome Mark Simpson to the show. He’s a winemaker and a master brewer and has long dreamed about opening a wine related facility in Okanagan Falls – between Penticton and Oliver. Marks dream is to make wines for himself and build a facility that others can use as well.  The BC Wine Studio is located in Okanagan Falls BC, the “Heart of Wine Country”. They have a beautiful six-acre vineyard, featuring of some of BC’s oldest Vinifera plantings, a winery and tasting room. A hidden gem, we’re a small winery with a big heart, known for crafting big wines. The winery is the spiritual home of the Siren’s Call wine project. They’re striving to produce some of the most unique hand-crated wines in the Okanagan including Siren’s Call, Hawk’s Hollow, Noble Beast, and Phasion Estates. Its also the home to one of our favourite Okanagan blends..The Pull from Nagging Doubt!! www.bcwinestudio.ca |
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and finally – One of the very best vegetarian chefs in the World Denis Cotter at Hastings House Salt Spring Island.
Denis Cotter
Born in Macroom, Co. Cork, Denis worked in banking for eight years before leaving to follow an ambition to work with food. Already a vegetarian, he trained as a cook in the famous Cranks restaurants in London.
Back in Ireland, after a spell in a wholefood restaurant, Denis’ frustration with the limitations of the vegetarian industry sparked the opening of Cafe Paradiso in 1993, to create an environment where he could evolve a personal style of cooking focussed on the pleasure of food rather than the perceived negativity of vegetarianism.
Among the many awards bestowed on Cafe Paradiso, Denis Cotter was voted ‘Chef of the Year ’ by Food & Wine (Ireland) magazine in 2005.
Denis Cotter is also the author of four books. Atrium, an imprint of the Cork University Press, published his first book, ‘The Café Paradiso Cookbook’ in June 1999; and his second, ‘Paradiso Seasons’ in June 2003. The first book was shortlisted for the British Guild of Food Writers Awards. ‘Paradiso Seasons’ won ‘Best Vegetarian Cookbook in the World’ at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Barcelona in 2004, and was shortlisted for the James Beard Awards in New York in 2005.
November 2007 saw the release of Denis’ third book, titled ‘wild garlic, gooseberries & me’ and published by Harper Collins. Giving equal rein to his writing talent and ability to create inspirational recipes, ‘wild garlic…’ was shortlisted for the Andre Simon Awards in 2008.
His latest book, ‘for the love of food’, published by Harper Collins in April 2011, is easily Denis’ most accessible collection of recipes, focussing on home cooking with delicious flavour combinations.
http://www.cafeparadiso.ie/about/denis-cotter
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STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON
Ethan Hawke – Actor. Director. Food and Wine Fan
Nicolo D’Afflito from Frescobaldi
Stefano Chiarlo at the PALAS Cerequio La Morra in Barol
Jorge Riccitelli – (Norton) World Winemaker of the year 2012
David Scofield and Alberto Antonini – The growth of their BC Wines