This would typically be our Maui + Champagne Travelogue, but for the first time in more than a decade, we skipped our March Hawaii visit. We we supposed to visit friends in Palm Springs, but their family emergency scuttled those plans. Marybeth and I did a last minute pivot. Despite the Easter holiday , we were able to get last minute reservations at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria
After miles of walking around town, we had an excellent dinner at Aura. I brought a bottle of 2006 Taittinger Comtes BdB. I’ve already posted 23 tasting notes on this wine, so I’ll just say it’s still sofa-king good.
Today, we made the 4+ hour drive from Victoria to Tofino. Once again, we lucked into a 11th hour reservation at Wickaninish Inn. It’s a fantastic Relais and Chateau resort in Tofino, on the west side of Vancouver Island. This is the view from our room.
We had a really nice dinner at the Schooner, one of those rare 75 year old restaurants that still impresses. I brought another gorgeous 2009 Cristal. I’ve posted 14 tasting notes on this vintage. So different from the Comtes, but still freaking good.
Such a beautiful hotel. The restaurant is solid and the location in general just amazing. Only gripe I have from going there and ucluelet is every time I went I would get a speeding ticket.
Great advice. Thanks!
Today, there’s not a cloud in the sky. We just finished breakfast at The Pointe, and we’re headed out to walk several km on Combers Beach, then head to Ucluelet for afternoon coffee. Dinner tonight at The Pointe.
That sounds great. We always stay in a condo at the Pacific Sands so I can cook and the dog can hang out. It’s as close to camping as we get.
Being the old Trad fool that I am , I brought my Barbour jacket for rain protection. Twenty minutes in to a beach walk it was soaked through. Our last day was spent without power. It was a full tech detox. We did have a nice bottle of Paul Bara Rose to calm our nerves.
Can’t wait to go back though. The slushy snow on hwy 4 saved us from speeding tickets.
Today, we went to Combers Beach. I little hike kept the crowds to a minimum. It was mostly empty and gorgeous. We hadn’t check the tide charts, but a low tide blessed our visit.
I was lazy not posting any notes on the wines from the first two nights. 2006 Comtes hasn’t changed that much since release. It’s still a sultry beast. It’s not showing much tertiary character, but perhaps becoming more subdued in a good way. It still opens with a little reduction, but glides more quickly and gracefully into that creamy dense Chardonnay-orchard fruit-citrus-brioche waltz it’s shown since release.
Marybeth preferred the 2009 Cristal to the Comtes from the night before. It’s big but not as showy. Orange and lemon cream, orchard fruit, red berries and patisserie.
Tonight was dinner at The Pointe at the Wickaninish Inn. The meal was nearly as beautiful as the setting. Once again, we brought a bottle, perhaps our favorite so far (definitely Marybeth’s favorite). Egly-Ouriet VP from the July ‘19 disgorgement was stunning. Intense, and both zesty and creamy. Blood orange and other citrus. Rich and complex, the 82 months on the lees and the perfect oak treatment hit the mark. Intensely textured mouthfeel. I love everything about this wine.
We later sat at the bar and read out novels. I ordered a half bottle of Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles Extra Brut from Bouzy off the wine list. Like @Blake_Brown, I can usually find a way to derive some pleasure from a bottle of champagne. This was an exception. I remember reading @Sarah_Kirschbaum describing a lactic note in some champagne that she disliked, and here it was. Marybeth said she didn’t like the brioche quality, but it wasn’t bready, it was lactic. Sour milk on the nose and palate. We didn’t come close to finishing the half bottle. I paid for it as I don’t think it was flawed. It just wasn’t good.
I generally dislike the half bottle for Champagne but have also had a distinctly bad iteration of this wine in that format thanks for the nice writings and pics though!
Today, we hired a boat to Meares Island for a gorgeous, muddy, slippery and highly technical hike through old growth forest. Dozens of thousand year old trees at every turn. Dinner and champagne tonight at Wolf in the Fog.
Trifecta tonight. Great champagne with a great meal at a great restaurant. Wolf in the Fog in Tofino is excellent. They have an innovative menu and eclectic and outstanding wine list. Some examples were Marie Courtin Champagne, Barges Côte Rotie, Pepierre Muscadet, Frank Cornelissen Etna Blanca, and many others. Still, we brought our own bottle of 2012 Larmandier-Bernier VV du Levant. I had thought I’d grabbed a 2011, but the 12 turned it up to 11! A gorgeous wine that we shared with the knowledgeable staff. It needs time, but it’s already powerful and impressive. Lemon cream, almond, apple, brioche.
@Warren_Taranow , thank you for this thread and the beautiful pictures. My wife and I will be visiting Victoria and Ucluelet in July. The restaurant recommendations are very helpful. (And thanks @David_Cooper , I made a reservation for Pluvio.)
We’re hikers and in Ucluelet will be staying at an Airbnb that’s on the Wild Pacific Trail.
Our last night. We had a rainy 3 mile beach walk. It was beautiful.
Tonight, dinner at Roar. It’s a great restaurant in a new 70’s themed hotel. The oysters were delicious, as they were almost every night this week. The halibut special was fantastic, but the star was the chicken with grilled polenta. I don’t recall ever having a better chicken dish. @Dan_Kozarsky, you have to go there and order the chicken.
We brought a Krug GC 164 ($25 Canadian corkage). For me, it was tied with the Egly-Ouriet VP as the wine of the week. Marybeth gave the E-O the edge.
The Krug had the dense ginger I always find in these. Gingerbread, pomelo, honey, almonds, hazelnut and more. A great rendition, just starting to show the Krug magic.
We thought we had been in Tofino 10 years ago, but the Wickaninish Inn keeps good records, and informed us it’s been 16 years. It’s not that hard a commute from Bellingham to the ferry from Tsawassin to Nanaimo, then a 2 3/4 hour drive to Tofino. We’re planning to return more often going forward.
thanks for the nice writings and pics though!
