Spring.  A time of rebirth and renewal, with daffodils blooming and sunshine making a regular appearance.  I would like to enjoy springtime, particularly after the REAL winter we just experienced. Unfortunately, my incessant sneezing and wheezing overwhelm and interrupt any ideas I might have about enjoying the great outdoors.

There is one place, though, where spring is delayed for a couple of months and I can enjoy something that is even more appealing to me than sunshine and blue skies: The Wild and Wonderful Wine Weekend at Canaan Valley Resort. 

Every six months, I have the pleasure of participating in and presenting at a wine weekend event at Canaan Valley Resort in the mountains of wild and wonderful West Virginia.  The sixth version of this semi-annual mountain gourmet extravaganza will take place April 9^th and 10^th at the resort.

I’ll select wines from around the world that will be paired with delicious selection of  culinary treats prepared by Canaan Valley Resort’s executive chef Nemat Odeh.  Chef Odeh, who received his culinary training in Europe, knows a thing or two about gourmet food. He is also willing to work with dilettantes like me in preparing exquisite  wine friendly menus. 

Here’s the schedule: Friday, April 9 at 7 p.m.: Guests will kick-off the weekend with a “taste-around reception” where more than 20 wines from the world’s most prestigious regions can be sampled with matching culinary treats at food stations all around the ballroom. This wine and food “graze around” is a wonderful way to evaluate wine with a wide variety of dishes.    

The next day at 11a.m., I will conduct a tasting of wines from around the world which will be followed by a delicious three-course luncheon with specially selected wines. Later, Chef Odeh will conduct a nutrition and culinary demonstration  (2:30 to 4 p.m.) or guests can enjoy an afternoon of activities or take a nap and get ready for evening ahead.  

Saturday evening’s activities begin at 7 p.m. with the multi-course Grand Gourmet Dinner with accompanying wines.  The menu includes: seared scallops in an Appalachian nest with shaved golden beets and caramelized onions; pepper encrusted mozzarella cheese with roasted tomato, field crisp greens w/olive oil; monkfish wrapped in pancetta with braised red cabbage and lobster glaze; tournedos Rossini petit filet mignon with hickory smoked bacon, portabella mushrooms, and demi glaze; and chocolate raspberry tart with fresh berries.  

I’m still working on the wines for each course, but you can be assured they will be tasty.

Guests have the option of attending the entire weekend for a package price, or choosing to participate in individual events ala carte. For pricing and additional information or reservations call 800-622-4121. 

So come on up to the mountains, avoid hay fever and celebrate spring with great food and wine at the Wild and Wonderful Wine Weekend!

Nelson Mandela’s achievements have been widely and deservedly heralded, but his ability to exhibit magnanimity to people who kept him incarcerated for decades, and to the government he inherited is truly remarkable. In choosing to rise above the inclination to seek revenge on his oppressors, he also demonstrated his wisdom and practicality.

So what does any of this have to do with wine? Well, one of the beneficiaries of Mandella’s benevolence during his tenure as the first democratically elected president of South Africa was the wine industry. Like most other businesses in the country back then, wineries were part of the white power establishment and, like other enterprises, saw their exports drop significantly during the years of Apartheid.

With the defeat of Apartheid and the ascension of Mandela, the ban on South African wines was lifted, and the product began to appear ever so slowly on American wine store shelves. Here in West Virginia, we’re just beginning to enjoy the wide variety and surprising quality of South African wines.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an event at the Bluegrass Kitchen which featured about 20 South African wines and a variety of small plate dishes created by chef Gary Needham. The wines were from importer Cape Classics and ran the gamut from lighter- styled whites to full bodied reds. The common thread among the wines was their uniform quality and incredible value.

However, my first sip of South African wine – more than 30 years ago – was not an experience I remember fondly. In fact, the red wine made from the pinotage grape (a cross between pinot noir and cinsault) tasted like something that had been aged in oil barrels. To be fair, the quality of pinotage has been improved substantially over the years, but this native South African wine is certainly not among my favorites nor was it featured at the Bluegrass Kitchen event.

There are nine principal wine regions in South Africa, and most surround Cape Town where the influence of cool ocean breezes and diverse soils combine to create ideal grape growing appellations. The most well regarded region is Stellenbosch just a short distance east of Cape Town where the best reds and whites are produced.

The other exemplary note about these wines is that they are made to be enjoyed with food with none of the overblown, high extract and stratospheric alcohol levels so popular with some new world wine makers.

While I was particularly impressed with the cabernet sauvignon blends, the 2009 Indaba Merlot ($10) is a delicious bargain with ripe plum and cola flavors and excellent balance. It would be wonderful with grilled flank steak stuffed with roasted red peppers and provolone cheese.

Dessert wine fans absolutely must try the 2005 Kanu Kia Oro Late Harvest Chenin Blanc ($20 half bottle). This wine is chock full of apricot, pineapple and honey flavors that would love to be “peared” with poached pears topped with a dollop of whipped crème.

Another wine from South Africa that is exceptional is chenin blanc. Made in a variety of styles from light and slightly sweet to round, rich and chardonnay-like, wine makers in the country know how to squeeze the best from what many consider a humble grape. Of course, the chardonnay is superb, and the riesling and sauvignon blanc are distinctive too.

The wines listed below were my favorites at the tasting and should be available at a wine shop near you. If not, ask your wine purveyor to order them. I think you’ll like them and I hope you’ll raise a glass in thanks to Nelson Mandela!

Under $15 – 2009 Excelsior Chardonnay; 2008 Buitenverwachting Riesling; 2008 Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc; 2008 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc; 2009 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose; and 2009 Indaba Merlot.

2009 Rustenberg Chardonnay ($22); 2005 Mulderbosch Faithful Hound (a Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, malbec and merlot $32); and 2006 Rustenberg John X Merriman (another Bordeaux blend $40).

Sometimes it’s laughable. Other times it makes me crazy! Please read the description below of a wine being pitched to customers by an online wine retailer. This description takes hyperbole to a new level.

“The nose is redolent of dark Bing cherries, hints of black and white pepper on meat roasting in a wood oven, memories of English plum pudding steaming at Christmas, a touch of saddle leather, warm spice and tobacco at a distance. The nose continues to build and unfold with hints of violets and Portobello mushrooms, blackberries, minerals and sweet earth. It envelops the palette, almost to the point of overwhelming, then opens up to show beautiful balance and sophistication, and an elegant, glycerol texture. Explosive on the palette, it transforms midway into every red berry you’ve ever tasted. The finish lingers uncovering a wisp of anise, blackberry honey, and golden pastry roasting in the oven…Cherry Pie. “

Holy obfuscation! How can you possibly glean anything useful about this wine from this exaggerated drivel? Saddle leather, Portobello mushrooms, explosive on the palette, plum pudding steaming at Christmas along with hints of white and black pepper on roasting meat?

No need to have dinner with this wine. It is dinner: appetizer, main course and dessert all rolled into one!

I must admit I have, on occasion, let my enthusiasm for a good wine cause me to use overly flowery language to describe a particularly memorable bottle. But in the main, I try to use common taste and aroma descriptors to which you can easily relate.

For example, if I recommend a wine that has flavors of cherries and an aroma of cinnamon, just about everyone has had those sensory experiences, and can therefore relate to them in evaluating whether or not to buy the wine.

Of course, not all wine tasting experiences are positive. Just recently, I stuck my rather indelicate snout into a glass filled with wine and sniffed deeply. Mistake!

The wine smelled like the dead frog I once dissected in freshman biology class – only not as good.

In the future, I’ll try to stay away from terms like ethereal, sublime or orgasmic when describing the attributes or flaws in wine. Let me just say that the wines below are ones I have enjoyed for various sensory reasons that I hope I can describe to you in a manner you will find useful.

2009 Entrada Sauvignon Blanc ($7) Not only an unbelievable value, this wine from Argentina is a refreshing mouthful with citrus-like flavors. It has good acid balance and would be a nice porch-sipper or a good match with herb or vegetable dishes such as pasta in a basil pesto sauce.

2007 Guenoc Chardonnay ($14) Round and richly flavored with just a kiss of oak, this medium-bodied California chardonnay would make an excellent accompaniment to roasted chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes.

2006 Cantele Salice Salentino ($13) From Puglia in the heel of Italy’s boot, this is a red blend of obscure grapes that is an exceptional food wine. It has an aroma of ripe cherries and teaberry mint and flavors of plums with a subtle hint of oak. Excellently balanced, this wine would be a very nice match to grilled chicken or even stuffed and grilled flank steak.

2004 Beronia Rioja Reserva ($20) Aged for 18 months in barrels and another 18 months in bottle, this wine is quintessential Rioja with a soft and supple texture ripe and round blackberry and cinnamon flavors. Has the feel and complexity of mature Bordeaux at a fraction of the cost, and would pair nicely with grilled beef steak or pork tenderloin.

How did I do?