Christmas in our house when I was a kid was one I always assumed to be the traditional celebration—kids wake up early in the morning, sneak out to have a look under the tree and then wait—not so patiently, but at least in relative quiet—until it seemed safe to rush into Mom and Dad’s room and urge them to get up.
Then, one year, a German family moved next door and my sisters and I learned that there are indeed variations in Christmas traditions. They went out to church late on Christmas Eve, and then came home and opened their gifts. Not only that, though. Their tree was decorated with real candles and swathed in white cottony stuff that gave it a decidedly elegant look. I don’t remember seeing it with the candles lit, but I always wondered how they managed not to burn the place down.
When our own sons were little, we usually made the drive to Calgary for Christmas so we could visit our own siblings. We were a little more lenient with our kids’ rising time on the big day, so it wasn’t unusual to be in the midst of a pile of gifts and larger pile of wrap and boxes well before daylight broke. On one memorable Christmas we were staying with Angela’s youngest sister. The boys, then perhaps 2 and 5, were laid out in sleeping bags beside our bed and we were awakened by their loud whispers. Time to get up was the message.
I remember that we three adults commented that it felt like we had just gone to sleep, but Loretta dutifully made coffee and the gifts were soon opened and spread all over the living room. Geez, it’s so dark, I commented. I looked out of the apartment window and saw that most of the neighbouring apartments were still dark, and their wasn’t a soul to be seen anywhere. There hardly seemed to be car on the move.
Loretta poured our coffees and asked if we wanted them with a shot of Baileys Irish Cream. Not at this time of day, we answered. Eventually we began to wonder what time it really was. None of us seemed to have a watch and most appliances didn’t have clocks back then. I think the bedside alarm clock was probably displaying what seemed to be a completely unreasonable time. I finally called a number that provided an automated time readout and learned that it was, oh, 2:30 a.m, or so. Yeah, we’ll have that shot of Bailey’s now.
Those were the days before the BC wine industry took off, and our idea of wine was the two-litre bottles of Italian reds and whites that we always stocked up on when we went to Alberta. As the years past gift giving and receiving got a lot easier. Angela visited wineries in the Okanagan regularly and enjoyed buying BC wines for some of the folks on our list. And we became known as wine lovers, so we often received bottles, too.
Today, wine shopping is a piece of cake, because most wineries have wine sites and offer shipping services. Just last week my quarterly shipment from Serendipity Winery arrived at the office. Our first choices at this time of year tend to be local, though, so it’s good to know that Skimmerhorn Winery and Vineyards is open (Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 4 pm). Some of their wines are also available in local private liquor stores. Skimmerhorn whites can easily be paired with Christmas dinner, as can the pinot noir. Their dessert wines go nice with, well, dessert, too.
Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery is closed for the season, but some local private shops carry some of the labels and the BCLCB store in the Creston Valley Mall has a great selection. I stopped in on the weekend to check it out and was thrilled to see that the store’s manager, Laura, has an entire prime corner stocked with bottles and cases. Personally, I think there are very few wines I would rather have with a turkey and sage stuffing dinner than BG’s Blanc de Noirs Rosé, but either of the Recoltes or pinot noirs would be suitable, as would the gewürztraminer or pinot gris.
When in doubt, my usual recommendation is that you can hardly go wrong by drinking a wine you like with food you like. And nothing is going to taste good with Brussels sprouts anyway, so I take a pretty liberal approach to wine pairings.
Wynnwood Cellars wines are developing nicely as the vineyards mature and they make wine that will enhance any occasion. But I have no idea where they might be found as my call for info last week was not returned.
Of course not everyone wants to think only about wine at this time of year, and in the Creston Valley we are blessed with all kinds of local products. Fruit juices by several makers are excellent and many stores feature local food items. A visit to Tigz Designs on Canyon Street will give you lots of ideas, and Morris Flowers on the other side of the street has a cool selection of The Spice Guy spices and other items.
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