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It's Tuesday October the 27 around 6:17AM and

Salt Tasting Room: Le Vieux Pin & La Stella Cellar Tasting

I want to live, at least for a little while, in Salt Tasting Room's cellar fridge (Blood Alley, Gastown). The Cheese. The wine. The cool air. Last night at Salt's tasting dinner for Okanagan wineries Le Vieux Pin & La Stella was phenomenal. The final merlot served in a deliciously large glass and made you want to just dive into it and take a soak or at least a few laps.

These are two of the best wineries in the province. Period. And spending two hours in a cellar tasting them some more and pairing them with cheese and meat, it was the best Monday ever. Check out the details:

Flight #1
La Stella Vivace Pinot Grigio
La Viuex Pin Sauvignon Blanc
La Stella Leggiero Un-Oaked Chardonnay

Ash Camembert, Piave Saint Paulin
Duck & Pork Salami and Pamploma Chorizo
Similkameen Apricot Chutney, Chrnichons, Cipollini Onions

Flight #2
La Stella Allegretto Merlot '06
Le Vieux Pin Epoque Merlot '06
Le Vieux Pin Apogee Merlot '06

Mike Vitow's Corned Beef, Finocchiona, and Wild Boar Rosemary Salami
Isle of Mull Chedder & CB Stilton
Guiness Mustard, Basque Olives, Similkameen Honeycomb

Seriously. It was intense. And I only broke one glass. That last merlot, and this coming from a non-merlot guy, was epic and was a great last sip. it kind of is like being a vampire, you have that taste of blood on your tongue and you immediately are wondering how you are going to satisfy that feeling again. Sookie! Sookie!

So, I'm heading to Granville Island this weekend to seek out some more of Mike Vitow's beef - apprently he sells this stuff on the last weekend every month there. Poets will write sonnets about meat that good. Shakespeare would be gobsmacked. Like Heaven. Although a dark horse in the night was that Stilton with Honeycomb combo. You wanna talk about good.