by Margaret Swaine | Mar 1, 2007
By Margaret Swaine
Spring 2007 ClubLink NewsLink
After a good game of golf on a hot day there’s nothing better than a cool one – either beer or white wine. With a meal however many of us turn to red. Red wines match best with the meats and BBQ fare ubiquitous at charity golf tournaments and mixed members days. Summer heat is a factor though so I prefer and recommend reds that have mellow tannins with ripe berry notes. Wines with these characteristics include Australian, Californian or Chilean shiraz, shiraz blends or cabernets.
It’s a natural then that one of Australia’s top wineries, Penfolds, is linked to golf. This is the third year of Penfolds’ sponsorship of the Canadian Open and the CN Canadian Women’s Open. Divot tools can be found on the neck of some of Penfolds’ Koonunga Hill wines and other golf give-aways are part of Penfolds golf programming. The winery, founded in 1844 is one of the most famous Down Under. Their premium reputation was firmly established in the 1950’s when Grange and later the Bin label wines were created by Max Schubert, the winemaker at the time. Grange is an icon, recognized by wine experts and collectors as among the finest reds on the planet. This year Penfolds Grange will celebrate its 51st commercial vintage with the release of the 2002 vintage in May. However as Grange sells at around $300 a bottle I tend to look to the Bin series and other Penfolds labels for my imbibing.
Typically the commonest medications are beta blockers, some types of anti depressant drugs, anti histamines often used against hay check it out discount online viagra fever, some tranquillisers and some stomach ulcer treatments. There are also cheap viagra no prescription applications of biotechnology that do not use living organisms. This drug is often check this link viagra on line sold online without a prescription as it could be dangerous for you. Every couple shares the highs and amerikabulteni.com generic soft viagra lows during their relationship and some of them are actually due to inadequate blood vessel relaxation like Jason Long says. The Bin series offers reliably good and flavourful wines touching on the style and complexity of the flagship wine at more affordable prices. Penfolds Bin 138 Old Vine Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre 2003 (about thirty dollars) from Barossa Valley is a gem of taste, balance and smooth tannins. It’s spiced, generous, smooth with fruits, berries and dark chocolate flavours that retain a firm uplifting finish. Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2002 (same price) is silky smooth, smoky and seductive, full of cassis, black olives and cedar in the taste with finesse and tangy acidity in the finish.
Thomas Hyland Shiraz 2004 is bargain priced at around twenty dollars. It’s plummy with notes of chocolate, oak and vanilla in its interwoven savoury flavours. The smoky warmth, spiced berry aspects and smooth tannins add to its appeal. Even more value priced is the Koonunga Hill line from south eastern Australia that sells in the sixteen-dollar range. Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2004 has fruitcake tastes with savoury berry and smoky spice, all well balanced and ready to drink. Koonunga Hill Cabernet Merlot 2004 has soft sweetness that tempers its herbaceous flavours.
In a similar fashion, value priced red wines from Chile include those of Carmen, Errazuriz, Santa Rita, Casa Lapostolle and Casillero del Diablo. The latter, a label of Chilean wine giant Concha y Toro sponsors a golf event in Ontario and has developed a line of golf related give-aways. All these Chilean producers have reds under twenty dollars which are consistently good. With these kinds of choices there’s no problem finding that smooth, flavourful red to marry with a protein rich chunk of meat.
by Margaret Swaine | Jun 1, 2006
By Margaret Swaine
It’s not just Tiger Woods hitting golf balls off the heli-pad at the self proclaimed “seven star” Burj Al Arab hotel that’s drawn attention to Gulf in the Emirates. Nor long hitters Ian Poulter and Paul Casey’s attempt to break the world’s longest drive record by smacking balls from the wing of an Etihad Boeing 767 at the Abu Dhabi airport. Or even Woods’ win at the Dubai Desert Classic this year, broadcast to 500 million homes by 40 television channels. It’s that the golf experience itself is both excellent and exotic.
The excellence can be attested by the now trio of European Tour events in the Gulf States. The Dubai Desert Classic founded in 1989 and the Qatar Masters launched in 1998 have been joined by the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship staged for the first time in January 2006. The latter event, won by American Chris DiMarco had a prize fund of US$2 million. The exotic? As a start I’ll name clubhouses shaped like Arabian dhows and Bedouin tents, sand courses with browns in lieu of greens, midnight play under floodlights and the sushi bars or French classical for clubhouse dining.
Once an obscure corner of Arabia, The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971 when seven emirates on the southern shores of The Gulf joined together. The majority of the 4 million inhabitants live in the oil-rich capital Abu Dhabi (also the largest emirate) or bustling glitzy Dubai. Once largely desert dotted with struggling fishing and pearling towns, the area has gone from rags to riches in under half a century. Oil profits, political stability and a zeal for business have led to a non-stop boom in the building of “the biggest and the best”. Golf courses included.
The Emirates Golf Club, home to the Desert Classic for all but two of its 18 years, was the first grass course in the Middle East. When it opened in 1988 it was on the edge of the desert and the flagship par 72, 7211 yard Majlis course which was sculpted around tall desert dunes still retains lots of desert shrub and waste ready to swallow up wayward drives. Dubai city however has swarmed its perimeters surrounding the meandering fairways and six lakes with skyscrapers, roads and countless construction cranes.
When I signed in at the pro shop early May, the player information card told me to expect a temperature of 35ºC. This was the easy day, by the end of my week I was playing in 40ºC and sweating it. Locals consider May quite balmy. It’s the last month of ‘winter’ rates. In summer, namely June 1st to September 30th, rates drop in half for good reason as temperatures top 50ºC and humidity climbs to over 90 per cent. Tourists are discouraged from playing in this heat though there are always some foolhardy souls who insist. And a number every year who collapse part way through their game.
The motivation for building the Emirates club was to provide a carrot to the skilled corporate foreign executives in the country to get them to stay. When it first opened it had but one Arab member. To allow enough tee time for tourists, membership is now capped at 1,500 (with a waiting list), about 100 of them Arabs. Needless to say, golf is quite new to the country’s nationals but enthusiastic ex-pats and visitors flood the courses. My playing partners throughout the week were business travellers, local members largely from India and tourists from Britain.
The Emirates course had fairly narrow fairways often flanked by desert scrub and trees. Long hitters would find plenty of hazards while others could find the slick, fast TifEagle grass greens a challenge. Hole 9 with a green skirted by water, had one of the most testing approach shots. The clubhouse designed to reflect a Bedouin village with seven white concrete and glass structures provided a magnificent backdrop for this hole and the finishing hole which shared the huge double green. The clubhouse had every amenity – showers, fancy lockers, a sports bar, terrace and several dining options including Le Classique with its French chef Francois who’s been voted the best in Dubai twice by his colleagues.
I grabbed a taxi to the Nad Al Sheba Club, my next course. Infrastructure plays a poor second fiddle to fancy buildings in Dubai. Driving is a nightmare of unskilled wanna-be Andretti’s pitted against the snarls of frequent gridlocks. Taxis on the other hand were copious and cheap. Just past the camel-racing track, we stopped near the Millennium Grandstand, home to the richest horse race in the world.
The golf course was built to beautify the race track. The first nine are played on the perimeter of the track and the back nine within the racecourse itself. The entire course is flood lit until midnight with last tee-offs for nine holes starting at ten. There’s a reason beyond escape from the sun for the lighting. During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims must fast from dawn to dusk, abstaining from food, drink and entertainment of all sorts. Ramadan occurs on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, generally around October/November, prime horse racing times. Floodlights make religion and racing compatible.
Nad Al Sheba’s a 6,630 yard, par 71 that offers immaculate greens, lots of water, some monstrous par 5s and tricky back to back par 3s on the back nine. My partners for the five pm tee-off were a university executive named Raj and Sam an architect with a firm of 45. Both were India born as is about 35 per cent of the population in the Emirates (UE nationals make up only about 20 per cent of the total). The gentlemen were walking – something they continue to do even in July. I was impressed.
My game at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club was on Friday, the busiest day of the week, a holy day equivalent to our Sunday when most businesses are closed. Tee off was a shot gun at 8am to allow as much play before the heat of the day reached its predicted 40C. Playing time was set at just over four hours as it was at the other courses. Hot or not, the rangers made us keep up the pace.
This immaculately groomed par 71 course rolled 6,857 undulating yards in the heart of the city next to a central waterway. Opened in 1993, it boasted a new front nine re-designed by Thomas Björn. Fairways were lined with date palms and tropical shrubbery. Water played an integral role in the layout, including a tee that jutted over it on the 6th. The blockbuster finish of 17 and 18 played back towards the clubhouse which was designed in the shape of the sails of an Arabian Dhow. The salty Creek lapped just a few feet off the fairway of both.
As tadalafil without prescriptions more & more people turn to the internet for information on a wide range of topics it seems that medical & health information is a popular search topic. Your oxytocin, or the love hormone, level peaks at orgasm.This is what builds trust & closeness between viagra generic cialis http://appalachianmagazine.com/2017/02/20/breaking-wvu-basketball-coach-bob-huggins-has-health-scare-during-game-blames-defibrillator/ partners.Resolution. These cialis viagra online soft forms of the sildenafil tablet have the unique specifications. It helps the men to get longer sildenafil free shipping erection throughout the love making session to provide fully satisfied sexual act. This was my favourite course at that point. However one of my playing partners had a membership at The Montgomerie (notable for its enormous 13th green in the shape of the UAE) which he rated better. However when he heard I was next playing the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, he exclaimed it was the best of all.
Abu Dhabi Golf Club had several years to mature its immaculate fairways and greens before it was opened to play. Some told me it was because the falcon shaped clubhouse had to be torn down and rebuilt so players on 9 and 18 would finish towards the face of the bird and not its backside. Others suggested it was a dispute among the sheiks as to who would run it. Meanwhile the Bermuda 419 grass course soaked up over two million gallons of water a day as it grew thick.
Designed by Peter Harradine with a make over in the run-up to the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship to toughen it up (33 new bunkers and six new tees), it was a beauty. Pacey greens, carpet smooth fairways with great definition at the first cut of rough, gorgeous tropical flowers, mature trees and shrubs and nary a divot in site. The 7,334 yard, par 72 National Course also had two daily winds – a challenge to any golfer.
There are four sand courses in the Emirates and the Al Ghazal is considered the best. Owned and managed by the Abu Dhabi Airport Duty Free, it’s about 400 metres from the runways. Naturally I had to play on the morning before my Etihad flight took off back to Toronto. It was a 6,487 yard par 71 with plenty of natural water and 5,000 trees to add to the challenge. The front nine were based around an ancient archaeological site, while the back nine had been constructed on flatter reclaimed land.
It was a solid test of golf but it was weird. There were no spikes allowed. They’d mess up the ‘browns’, the compacted oil treated sand that creates an extremely true putting surface. The path of the ball left a line on the browns and apparently pros in need of a tune up will come here to putt. (You broom the surface when you finish putting.) Stability was a problem on the sand fairways and the punishment severe for any hit not within the fairway stakes. On the fairway the reward was the use of a plastic grass hitting mat (carried along in the golf cart) but in the waste there was no option but to whack into the crusty sand. It seemed a touch of irony but there were bunkers guarding the ‘browns’.
Al Ghazal also featured an Academy with highly advanced teaching technology including Durnian frames to guide a golfer’s clubs and a video system which captured the players swing from three different angles. Golf Club Manager and head pro Dayle Kelly seemed determined that people will leave with an improved game after his Academy lessons. As for me, I was just glad there were top-notch shower facilities in the club. Hot and dusty with sand, I had a plane to catch.
I knew there was so much I’d not yet experienced. The Ian Baker-Finch and Nicklaus Design Desert Course at Arabian Ranches, the Dubai Festival City Al Badia Golf Resort by Robert Trent Jones II and the Tower Links at Ras Al Khaimah with its location around a mangrove reserve were some. In the near future an Ernie Els and several Greg Norman courses are set to be built along with Dubai Golf City, on of the largest golf course developments in the world with five golf courses, a ‘six star’ hotel and thousands of golf chalets. And Tiger Woods has signed up for the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before there’s an air conditioned 18 hole indoor golf course. After all an indoor snow-skiing hill was built last year at the Mall of the Emirates. Maybe it’s surreal but golf in the Gulf is here to stay and play.
Travel Details
No fear of being rained out ever, but you should avoid July and August when temperatures can top 50 Celsius. The best time for golfers to visit is between October and April when the temperatures are in the more moderate 20’s.
Etihad Airways flies three times a week direct from Toronto to Abu Dhabi via Brussels. www.etihadairways.com 1-416-221-4744 or 1-866-9-etihad (toll free)
Etihad Holidays packages golf, hotels and transport in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. www.etihadairways.com
The Burj Al Arab hotel is Dubai’s over-the-top statement of splashy opulence and a lunch at the Al Muntaha poised 200 meters above sea level is worth the cost to see dramatic views of manmade islands; one shaped like a palm tree and the other “The World”. It’s also an entrance to the peacock hued awe-inspiring interior of the hotel, strictly restricted to guests and visitors with advance dining reservations. The rival to the Burj is The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. Originally built as a palace and conference center for the annual gathering of the Gulf state sheiks it’s a vast expanse of Arabic architecture in glittering gold and marble located on a 1.3 kilometre stretch of sandy beach.
The nearest hotel to the Abu Dhabi Club is the Al Raha Beach Hotel, a lovely spot on the water less than ten minutes away.
The most golf friendly hotel in Dubai is the Park Hyatt, the centrepiece of the Dubai Golf and Yacht Club resort.
by Margaret Swaine | May 1, 2006
by Margaret Swaine
Greg Norman has delivered another slice of the good life with his California Estates wines launched in Canada this spring. Norman’s drive for excellence has proven true in a number of successful off-links endeavours. His first wine enterprise was a joint venture of Great White Shark Enterprises and Beringer Blass Wine Estates which produced a fine line of Australian wines. Following on that triumph is his latest collection from prized Californian vineyards in Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Lake Country and North Coast.
“After years of sampling wines from around the world, I’ve found a way to express my passion for luxury and style through wine in a way that’s affordable and attainable,” said Norman in a release to the press. Norman’s an avid wine collector who first learned to appreciate a good bottle back in the 70s when he started playing professional golf in Europe. “I made it a point to absorb the fine food and wine culture in the many counties I had the opportunity to visit,” he said.
Aside from publicity pictures, don’t expect to see Norman picking grapes or topping up barrels in the wineries. However he is heavily involved with the stylistic direction of the portfolio and the brand image. For the Greg Norman Estate collections in both Australia and California, the day-to-day operations are in the hands of full-time winemakers, who are expected to articulate Norman’s vision in the final blends. Norman wants the wines under his shark logo label to be approachable, food-friendly and good value, a style in tune with his own very active yet unfussy approach to life.
The new venture is with Foster’s Wine Estates, the freshly formed combo of the former Beringer Blass Wine Estates and Southcorp Wines. Foster’ss Wine Estates controls more than 15,000 hectares of vineyards in Australia, California, New Zealand, Italy and France and operates more than 20 wineries. Its international wine portfolio includes more than 50 individual brands. Winemaker on the Greg Norman California Estates is Ron Schrieve who followed Norman’s wish for food friendly wines by going for good acid balance, great body and finesse.
Norman has been involved in the wine business for more than a decade now. In 1996 he put his dream of developing a line of wines in motion when he met with the winemaking team at Wolf Blass in Australia. The Greg Norman Estates Australian portfolio was subsequently launched in 1999 with a cabernet merlot and a chardonnay. In 2000 a shiraz was added to its offerings and in 2001 a sparkling wine made from chardonnay and pinot noir. These brands which sell around the $25 mark in Canada enjoy ever expanding success. They have become in my estimation, consistently good wines on par with excellent value.
For the California collection, Norman worked with the winemaker to pick out the wine regions and ideal varietals to develop five flavourful, balanced wines. “I’m fortunate to be able to convert one of my life’s passions into a successful business. Creating Greg Norman California Estates provides a new challenge in an area that I thoroughly enjoy,” said Norman.
The aim with Greg Norman California Estates was to create ‘luxury style’ wines at affordable prices. It’s on the money. Prices range from $21.99 in Alberta to $23.95 in Ontario and up to $26.99 in British Columbia (provincial taxes affect final prices). Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2004 is both approachable and fine quality. It’s full of ripe juicy fruit like fresh pear and fig in a rounded medium body. Unoaked it has a clean fresh finish.
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Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir 2004, lightly aged in French oak for six months (only 20 per cent new oak) is a most enjoyable silky smooth red with strawberry, floral aromas. The taste is berry compote and stewed plums with hints of peppercorn, a touch of oak and a tangy, low tannin character. It’s delicious with any kind of poultry or game bird.
The Lake County Zinfandel 2003 is the most triumphant with big alcohol of 14.7 per cent, deep blackberry colour and a rich raspberry sweet/savoury taste. The wine spent six months in 50 per cent new American and 50 per cent seasoned French oak. As a consequence it’s oaky but not too and there’s a tannic grip that adds length without bitterness. Medium full bodied, flavourful without being overly intense, it has nice balance. A great red for steaks, burgers, ribs or even chicken on the barbie. The other two reds coming soon to Canada, North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 and Paso Robles Petite Sirah 2003, are also sure to be pleasingly tasty. The man and his wines are on par to score big.
Swaine Top Picks
Greg Norman California Estates Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir 2004
Greg Norman California Estates Lake County Zinfandel 2003
Agent: Foster’s Wine Estates Canada 416-504-3830 Contact Mark Bruni. (These wines can be brought in by the case by consignment.)
by Margaret Swaine | Apr 1, 2006
By Margaret Swaine
Today as I struggled along with my playing partners to make par on at least some holes of the first game of the season, I realized our conversation centred on two themes. The number one topic of course was our golf game and how long it would take to find our swing after the winter hiatus. The other was food, restaurants and who would be in the kitchen at our respective golf clubs. The calibre of the 19th hole matters to most club members.
Private club golfers spend big bucks on the game. They expect to eat well after a day on the links. Delivering to those expectations is a tricky business. Golf club dining is as seasonal as the game itself in Canada. Every spring the kitchens in golf clubs start anew, sometimes with a returning chef but almost always with new foodservice staff. Yes some clubs stay open year round, however most close during the off-season. Even the chef and restaurant manager take a job elsewhere at this time. I met up with Taboo Golf Resort’s chef, Jay Scaife, on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent this winter. He was trading snow and turf for sand and surf at Young Island Resort until his Muskoka based employer re-entered high season.
Some clubs import their seasonal chefs from Europe – the training is superb in countries like France and Switzerland. A highly skilled twenty-something chef from there often is keen to come to North America for the adventure and the experience. I know several top chefs in Canada today who came over initially for summer jobs. Golf management programs at Humber in Toronto and Niagara College in Welland Ontario also teach foodservice as part of their curriculum. Their grads have few problems finding a job.
Wineries that tap into the golf market tend to be savvy to the needs of golfing gourmands. Ironstone Vineyards is a California winery that throws marketing dollars into both the golf and culinary worlds. It’s no surprise then that Ironstone products are found on the wine lists of King Valley, Magna, The National, Bigwin, Eagles Nest, Essex, St. George’s, York Down and a slew of other golf clubs.
Every spring Ironstone celebrates the new vintage of their white Obsession Symphony with an International Chef’s competition (along with an international art contest). This year Clint Polnicky of Halifax created the winner in the ‘entry’ class of the 2006 Ironstone Vineyards annual Spring Obsession Chef’s competition. This is the third year in a row that Canadians have snagged a top prize. Polnicky’s winning dish, spiced salmon over chive parsnips with roasted beets, beet greens and a lemon Obsession sauce, was a perfect match with the wine itself.
Obsession California Symphony is an off-dry wine with a spiced bouquet of orange zest and flowers. It’s made from the symphony grape, developed in California in the 1960’s from a cross between the muscat of Alexandria and grenache gris. The grapey nature of the muscat comes through as does the spiciness of grenache in a harmony of fragrances and tropical fruits. Unoaked with a fresh finish, it matches well with Asian spiced dishes, poultry with fruit salsas and fish such as created by chef Polnicky.
Another of their popular wines in Canada is the Ironstone Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged a year in oak, it has an easy drinking style, medium body and smooth sweet berry fruit with cedar and eucalyptus notes. Rather than demand attention, it slips down the throat to mellow out even the worse of days on the links. No wonder it can be found at many of our golf courses.
Ironstone, located in the Sierra Foothills in the heart of former gold rush country, is one of the top ten remaining family-owned wineries in California in terms of size. Leaping Horse is their value priced label from Lodi vineyards. Ironstone Reserve is their high quality label, even then at a good price. The Old Vine Zinfandel Reserve from hundred-year-old vines sells for under forty dollars. They export to over 51 markets with Canada being one of the largest. Joan Kautz-Meier, the dynamo daughter of Ironstone’s founder, married a Canadian and lives in Toronto. She makes sure our market is well looked after, right down to partnering with this magazine in every issue in 2006. And encouraging Canadian chefs to excel in recipe creations.
Swaine Top Picks
Ironstone Obsession California Symphony $14.95
Ironstone Cabernet Sauvignon $17.95
Agent in Ontario: Lifford Agencies 416-440-4101
Agent in the Atlantic Provinces: Churchill Dauphinee 902-425-6314
www.ironstonevineyards.com
by Margaret Swaine | Mar 1, 2006
By Margaret Swaine
You know golf in the Gulf has made it mark when over nine million hits were recorded on the official website of the Dubai Desert Classic this year. At this 17th annual event held at the Emirates Golf Club February 2-5, world number one Tiger Woods won against defending champion Ernie Els. Golf, the game, also scored a big win in Dubai.
The European PGA Tour event organized by Golf in DUBAI hit new milestones in TV ratings, website hits and ticket sales with over 47,000 spectators. Dubai has become a top ranked golf destination not just for professionals but for amateurs as well. Golf is still quite new to the Arabs, but not to the ex-Pats and visitors to the Emirates that flood the courses.
The golf here is unique. At the original Dubai Country Club’s sand golf course opened in 1971 the entire course is sand. Golfers are given a piece of artificial turf to carry with them and hit shots. The greens are really oiled sand “browns”. But there are now plenty of green links kept that way by a small fortune in water. There are also plenty of times to play on them. At the 18-hole Nad al Sheba Club, the course stays open until midnight, fully illuminated by floodlights so players can avoid the daytime heat. Its links straddle the Nad Al Sheba horse racing circuit, venue for the richest horse race in the world.
Known as ‘The Desert Miracle’, Emirates Golf Club on the fringe of the city is the first championship all-grass golf course in the Emirates. Built in 1988, designed by Florida architect Karl Litten, the Majlis (Arabic for meeting place) course was sculpted around the original tall desert dunes. Now encompassing 36 holes, Emirates is the Middle East’s biggest ‘desert course’. The second 18 hole Wadi Course will reopen October 2006 after a major redesign by Nick Faldo. The Clubhouse is modeled to look like Bedouin tents. There’s also a five star French restaurant and a three hole Academy course.
The Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club was opened in January 1993. It’s Dubai’s second world class golf course and the centerpiece of an 80-hectare sports and leisure complex that also incorporates a 115-berth marina and a Park Hyatt. Three ornamental lakes and a further three seawater hazards are a feature of the course. The front nine was recently redesigned by Thomas Björn to provide greater challenge. The clubhouse is designed in the shape of the billowing sails of a traditional Arabian dhow.
The course at Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa is alongside a marina and saltwater comes into play on five holes. Set amidst exotic trees and shrubs, golfers play in the company of peacocks, partridges and other birds. At the Montgomerie Dubai designed by Desmond Muirhead and Colin Montgomerie, there’s the world’s largest green, a 58,000 square-foot 13th built in the shape of the UAE.
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Dubai’s golf courses are modeled after those of American country clubs with all the luxury extras that add comfort and ease of play to the game. There are motorized golf carts, automated GPS yardage devices, beverage carts and half-way houses, well stocked golf shops and plush locker rooms. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before there’s an air conditioned indoor golf course. After all an indoor snow-skiing hill was built last year at Dubai’s Sports Complex.
One of the seven United Arab Emirates, Dubai is more of a world city than an Arabic one. It’s gone from an outpost of 5,000 people in the 1950’s to over 1.5 million today. The majority of its residents are foreigners coming from over 150 different nations. American companies and franchises abound, namely Hard Rock Café, Burger King, Planet Hollywood and the like. All the big hotels chains are here such as the Ritz, Hyatt, Sheraton and Hilton. All this creates an infrastructure well suited to western tourists and golfers. Some even liken it to Vegas without the gambling. It can seem surreal and in a way it is a fantasy land.
If You Go
No fear of being rained out ever, but you may want to avoid July and August when temperatures can top 52 Celsius. The best time for golfers to visit is between October and April when the temperatures are in the more moderate 20’s.
The official representative of all Dubai’s golf clubs website: dubaigolf
Booking at nine of the courses can be done on-line at dubaigolf
by Margaret Swaine | Jul 1, 2005
By Margaret Swaine
Fine wine and dining was in great form during the Telus Skins Game in Whistler this July. Bearfoot Bistro was sabering open champagne bottles, Après featured a cooking class with Chef Eric Vernice in his kitchen and The Fifty Two 80 Bistro at the Four Seasons offered fresh market seafood paired with a boutique collection of British Columbia wines. So après press conference on the first day of the Skins I had to pose the question to golf legend Jack Nicklaus. “What do you think of your fellow players getting involved in the wine business?” The answer, “I suppose they’re doing well but I don’t drink the stuff myself.”
Ah yes, us wine wienies sometimes forget that after a great game, many continue to savour the golf rather than focus on the next meal with deliciously matched wine. I nonetheless hightailed it back to the Village to do just that. Waiting for me at Bearfoot with a huge knife in his hand, was the ebullient owner André Saint-Jacques. He has a habit of getting his visitors to whack the top of bottles of bubbly. During the busy winter season he told me he has 20 to 30 guests a night do this. Under his expert tutelage it was surprisingly easy. In his ten years of sabering wine he’s had only one testosterone driven man hit the bottle too hard causing it to explode in shards. We took our freshly sliced open bottle of BC’s Blue Mountain Brut and poured it into the bistro’s unique stemmed flutes. They lack a bottom so you can’t put them down unless you sit at the Champagne bar with its rail of chopped ice. Fiber-optic illuminated holes mark the spots wherein to sink the glasses.
Oyster guy Chris Field, one of America’s top ten in the Shuckfest Championships then lead me through a tasting of different cultured BC oysters – Stellar Bay, Effingham Inlet, Chef’s Creek, Deep Bay and more. Bearfoot offers oysters at ten dollars a dozen at the Champagne Bar but you must order bubbly to sit there. So civilized. Oysters and crisp champers go together like a glove on a hand. In the dining room, three course, five course up to ten course tasting menus are available all expertly matched with selections from the 20,000 plus wines in their cellar. Chef de Cuisine Melissa Craig at 25 years old is already a rising star. That she lives, breaths and dreams cooking shows in her exquisite dishes.
The next day in the kitchen at Après I joined fellow food enthusiasts at a cooking class given by Lyon born Chef Vernice. He showed us how to make chicken breast stuffed with wild mushroom pain perdu, halibut with leek fondue and Yukon gold potato gnocchi with tomato sauce. The culinary tips and tricks were gems of information. As well as half day classes, the restaurant also offers five day schools in summer and fall. Adventurous regular diners should try the small plates tasting menus with wine pairings. Blue Mountain Cream Label Pinot Noir for example is matched with port wine glazed quail, organic spring lamb with Sheridan Vineyard Kamiakin (Washington State cabernet merlot blend) and warm chocolate mousse with Quails Gate Optima. The wine selection is all North Pacific, featuring expertly chosen wines from BC, Oregon, Washington and California. Flights of three (two ounce) tasting portions go for $15 to $23 and include “What’s in Vogue: West Coast Viognier” and “A mélange of Merlot”. The supple, classy, delicious Burrowing Owl merlot is one of a number of top notch BC reds on their list.
If you go (and I highly recommend you do) Golf Whistler is a collection of four signature courses with golf vacation packages available at 1-866-338-4026 or www.golfwhistler.com. For Bearfoot Bistro visit www.bearfootbistro.com and for Après see www.apresrestaurant.com.
J.J. McWilliams Winery is the presenting sponsor of ScoreGolf’s Best of the Best Golfer’s Choice contest (including Best of the West). Even if you don’t win a chance to play golf in Australia, home of McWilliam’s wines with editor Bob Weeks, you can get a taste of things here at home. Samuel McWilliam first planted vines in New South Wales in 1877 starting a legacy that has seen six generations of McWilliams run the winery. Today twelve family members are involved. Their wine range reflects the regions of Oz include Mount Pleasant in the Hunter Valley, Lillydale Vineyards in the Yarra Valley and McWilliam’s Hanwood in south-eastern Australia. McWilliam’s also recently launched its McWilliam’s Regional Collection featuring varieties and blends of Australia’s most renowned wine regions. If you want a treat try their McWilliam Stentiford’s Reserve Old Vines Shiraz 2000 ($74.95) or the Shiraz 2001 ($39.95). Their value priced line sold in Canada is under the J.J. McWilliam label and hails from south eastern Australia. The reds in this line are well made with a smooth, fresh fruitiness. Cabernet merlot 2003 has a lively blackcurrant freshness in a medium body. Shiraz merlot 2003 is slightly softer and meatier with raspberry spice tastes. Shiraz Cabernet 2003 is a medium full, plump plum with smoky hints. In the whites Chardonnay Colombard 2004 is crisp zingy fresh like a lime sherbet.
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Swaine Top Picks
JJ McWilliam Cabernet Merlot 2003 $11.95
Agent: E. & J. Gallo Winery Canada 905-819-9600
www.mcwilliamswines.com
Burrowing Owl Merlot 2003 $25.
(Either buy in BC or order via internet or phone for delivery anywhere in Canada)
Order desk: 1-877-498-0620
www.burrowingowlwine.ca
