Over the course of the past couple weeks I have been training hard for a 10km race that I ran today. I have been running, eating healthy and have not had any alcohol since New Years. (16 days is a long time in my world to go without!) So after a solid performance in the driving rain today we decided to go out for a celebration dinner. We decided on the Keg Steakhouse in Maple Ridge. On my way there I got it in my head that I was going to have a nice glass of red wine with dinner.
Now seeing that this is my first wine review I will begin by saying that I am by no means a sommelier. My descriptions will likely lack the sophistication and formality of most online reviews but I have worked in the restaurant industry for several years and I know a good wine when I taste one. So what I will share with you is my own personal rating out of 10 for drinkability and perhaps a few tips on pairings.
I made a quick decision to try a wine by Blasted Church. There bottles have always caught my eye in the liquor store thanks to their odd, artistic labels and creative names but I had yet to try them out. I decided to try something I wasn’t overly familiar with and went with the syrah. When it arrived the first deep inhale was music to my nose. Not just because of the rich cherry, vanilla and chocolaty aroma but because of the built up anticipation of a hard-earned reward.
I had ordered the seared ahi tuna with wasabi cucumber dressing as a starter and found the wine to smooth out the palette nicely after the creamy kick of the wasabi. Then for dinner I had a delicious, rare filet mignon as I always do when dining at the Keg and once again it was paired up nicely. A nice full flavour with a hint of berry sweetness and no lingering after taste.
The description on the Blasted Church website has the following to say about the 2008 Syrah, “The 2008 Blasted Church Syrah is composed of fruit from five vineyards. The Syrah was harvested from Osoyoos, Skaha Bench and our own estate grown Blasted Church Vineyards Syrah. The Viognier portion was grown in Osoyoos. Lastly, the Cabernet Sauvignon was grown in Oliver. The Syrah at Blasted Church was the first to come off the vine; harvested during the cooler days of mid-October, followed by the Syrah and Viognier from Osoyoos . The Syrah (Skaha Bench) and Cabernet Sauvignon (Oliver) signaled the last day of picking on November 6th. The overall blend is 86/7/7 of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier.”
This wine has two notable accomplishments to its name having been awarded a GOLD at the All Canadian Wine Championship as well as The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in British Columbia Wines 2008
I give the 2008 Blasted Church Syrah a solid 8.5/10. A great rating for a wine under $30.
The title on this one might be a little misleading. About a month ago I discovered a band that I just can’t seem to get enough of these days. Now granted, their style of music isn’t for everyone and as you will see over time, I am into a wide variety of musical genres. As an avid runner that requires high tempo music to stay at a good pace, bands like this find themselves in heavy rotation on my play list. What I enjoy most about A Day to Remember is their unique ability to blend the lines between heavy metal, punk and pop music, while writing catchy lyrics and making some humourous videos. My favourite song by them so far is Downfall of us All. Enjoy!
I recently got into a discussion with a friend about the devaluation of loyalty by the modern-day consumer. We were both in the market for a new set of snow tires and me, being the resourceful computer savvy individual that I am, immediately went to the internet and started shopping around and comparing prices. I knew every tire seller within 20 miles of my house. I knew who charged what for installation, who had the ones I wanted in stock, who would fill my tires with air vs nitrogen and I knew who could get me in quickly. I spent a couple of the following evenings revisiting those sites while I waited to see if there were any sales and procrastinated about getting them later rather than sooner (always a foolish thing to do with snow tires!).
As a long time user of Facebook and Twitter I was quite excited today to meet with a company that specializes in social media and how it can impact your business. I thought I was already pretty well versed on the big two but, kind of like my brain, I quickly learned I was only using a small percentage of its potential. We spent time on how to build your facebook business page to appeal to a variety of people. We discussed the many add-on widgets available to create areas to share even more information such as foursquare, twitter feeds and blogs within the tabs of your profile. They recommended that we be active on our facebook page a minimum of 3 times a day. Whether you are uploading some new pictures, changing your status or promoting an upcoming event they insist that inactivity leads to lost followers just as much as excessive activity does. They also mentioned that the prime time for a business to reach their audience is in the morning and in the late afternoon. I think that may be a bit extreme but I plan to try and keep up with their recommendation.
jimmyslims 