Posted by Jeff in Food

20080330_depwine1.jpg
OK it took me forever to get this blog going because I had trouble to determine what day/way best to review. I also wanted to ensure once started I could commit to it. Today I decided, since I drink wine on Sundays naturally the unique weekly review begins today. Let's review the basics to understand why this lighthearted approach is different then most.
1. A dépanneur
often shortened to "dep" is a convenience store, usually part of a chain, or an independently-run corner shop, general store in la belle province Quebec.
2. Wine
Now grapes have been cultivated in Quebec for centuries, and in the last twenty years local wine production has taken off in a big way. We can buy wine almost anywhere here. Including our Deps. We love wine; it’s a part of our culture and in our daily lives. With bring your own wine restaurants all over the city; it’s a must to know your good picks. Yet good picks are better if they come at good price, and new flavors can be discovered with half the cents you may think you need. That's the idea of this review, a weekly wine survival blog, to keep the Chianti cheap! This week's two bottles in my brown paper bag are a red variety. The first; a "Nicolas Laloux ~ Les Chais 770" from the quaint village of Rougemeont Quebec.

20080330_depwine_NicholasLaloux.jpgRecognizable by its logo of what could be "Le Gentleman Bohème" riding a bicycle. I choose the red this go around, as pasta was on the mind for Sunday afternoon. As it is described in French at the back of the bottle Les Chais 770 is a wine of character. It's a simple tasting wine, with a slight pleasant fruity aftertaste. It is suggested to go with red meats, roasted chicken or pasta's. Selling @ my Dep for $9.79; it’s surely wine for "Le Gentleman Bohème". As I've seen it for cheaper. It went down well with my simple pasta, and old Sunday tunes. Give it a go!
My second was consumed with my early dinner of grilled spicy beef brochettes over some plain white rice.The name intrigued me to try, Sexy Lizard. Yet Sexy Lizard wasn’t sexy on taste. It really reminded me of the oak barrels they must have barely aged in from old Uruguay where the wine boasts to be from. For the $11.41 price, I hoped for something with less of a splinter taste on my tongue. Not a wine to impress, but a catchy name no doubt. Only if it were on sale for less then $8 would I repeat this one. So now you know the name of the game. I'll see you all next week with a brown paper bag, and more wine to go through.


Comments

We have a good range of Aussie wines in our dep: 'hot bikini' 'no bikini' and 'lost bikini' (gotta love the Australians!) We like to dazzle guests with the cool labels.

Posted by: SNAP! at March 30, 2008 8:29 PM

Great suggestions, possible candidates for the next review.

Posted by: jeff at March 30, 2008 8:57 PM

great idea on this Mr Jeff. Why is this site not the same as BlogTO & Beyond Robson? MTL too cool or something?

Posted by: Lena at March 31, 2008 10:06 PM

It took me a moment to figure out what was wrong with that picture. Then it hit me. GREEN! The comforting shade of foliage! No SNOW! How dare you, Jeff? How dare you? If anything, it is neither the wine nor the dep tempting me, but rather, the teasing promise of a summer that doesn't seem to ever want to arrive.

Posted by: Jenny at April 1, 2008 10:48 AM

could you explain in a future post why deps sell the crappy wine they do? someone told me there's some rule about not being allowed to sell SAQ wines.

thanks!

Posted by: k at April 2, 2008 7:08 PM

The deps only sell wine bottled in Quebec (that could be wine produced and bottled here, or wine that is imported from abroad in vats and bottled here). The better wines tend to be bottled where they are produced -- a Chateau in the south of France won`t soon be shipping its production in vats for consumption in Montreal deps... The SAQ can sell anything.

Posted by: Jota Efe at April 3, 2008 9:39 AM

Lena: - the site is currently under design as I'm told - we'll be the same format layout as all the other Fresh Daily sites. Soon!

Jota: for your information! hope this answers Jenny's question. Let's hope our MP dep review finds the hidden gems in those deps.

Posted by: Jeff at April 3, 2008 5:58 PM


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