August Wine: Le Paradou Viognier

Ensemble restaurant, Dwight Bryshun | BCBusiness

Our prescription for summer heat includes a 
cool white and a fruity sangria, stirred up 
with tropical teaspoons.

Ask an Oenophile

The Expert: Dwight Bryshun, assistant manager at Thurlow Street’s Ensemble restaurant.

The Dish: Spot prawn cocktail with romaine, lemon 
and avocado, $11

The Pairing: Le Paradou Viognier, France, 2009, $35


One of the first wines I ever fell in love with (when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing with wine) was a Viognier. It was so easy to love because it was refreshing, but rich, and it had so much fruitiness to it. And that’s fairly typical of the grape.

 

This Viognier is especially exotic and lush, with a beautiful acidity keeping it fresh and clean. It’s an ideal pairing with our B.C. spot prawn cocktail. Spot prawns have a delicate, sweet and bouncy flesh. And that sweetness is really drawn out by the flavours of white peach and yellow plum in this wine. 


But you’ll also find this Viognier has some minerality and loaminess to it. You get a lot of earth and soil characteristics, which work wonderfully with the cream-based horseradish sauce and diced fennel in our dish. The vegetative quality of the wine is enhanced by the flavour of these root vegetables and vice versa.


Finally, the acidity of this white works to cut through the richness of the horseradish and avocado cream, while complementing the refreshing, slightly acid characteristic of the tomato sauce. It’s a bright wine, with natural mouth appeal.


Image: Ben Oliver

Spanish Tipple

A summer’s day doesn’t get much better than a sun-drenched patio and a pitcher of sangria, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be sipping on Mis Trucos’s version of the Spanish tipple. To share at home with friends, mix one bottle of red wine with 8 ounces of freshly squeezed orange juice, 4 ounces of brandy, 4 ounces of triple sec (like Grand Marnier), 1 ounce of pomegranate molasses and 1 juiced lemon. Garnish with grapes and orange slices and enjoy! $15, mistrucos.ca

Summer Tea Spoons

Undoubtedly, the coolest store to pop up on South Granville this spring was Anthropologie. We were eager to check out the brand’s eclectic fashion line, but it was the smaller home décor items and accessories that continued to catch our eye. Like these hand-carved wooden iced-tea spoons. Made of coconut wood, rose wood and aren wood, this set of three spoons is perfect for stirring up any number of summer libations.
 $16, anthropologie.com