All About Road 13

I've recently made the transition from 9-to-5 bean counter back to struggling media professional and I couldn't be happier. There's no doubt it will be tough (writing is a pretty competitive field), but it does come with some pretty appealing perks — mainly in the form of travel, food, and most importantly, WINE!

Gift bag spoils

A few weeks back I was sent to a media event that combined two of my favourite pastimes: working out and drinking wine. In a city like Vancouver, it's no surprise that there exists a place to do both of these things in one cozy setting, and being asked to write about it was a dream come true. This particular event was called Dirt at Turf (it actually involved no soil whatsoever) and featured all Road 13 wines, a natural fit since their motto is "It's All About the Dirt."

Turf is a cafe-studio-boutique in Kitsilano that I am smitten with. I adore the concept and the fact that their delicious menu is entirely plant-based with the option of adding "happy protein" to your meal. I sincerely hope this becomes a trend for many more new restaurants. Oh, and did I mentioned they have beer and wine on tap? Who wouldn't love a post-workout tipple?

Would recommend purchasing your own gloves so your hands don't get stinky

We started the evening with a boxing lesson, which basically meant I got to punch a stranger for an hour before moving on to more important matters: eating and drinking. After our very enjoyable workout we gathered around one of Turf's long wooden community dining tables and were treated to a three-course pairing menu. It was also a nice opportunity to get to know the folks you were just pummelling with padded gloves.

A little Viognier Roussanne Marsanne to start us off

We started with an award-winning white blend of Viognier, Roussanne, and Marsanne called, quite fittingly, VRM. This wine was lovely and well balanced, with very subtle notes of apricot and vanilla. Unfortunately, you may need to visit their winery in person to get your hands on a bottle — it's not even listed as a current offering on their website! To accompany this wine, Turf provided a savoury charred eggplant dip (similar to a baba ghanoush) with fresh veggies, as well as some housemade bread topped with almond butter, sautéed greens, and fresh carrot ribbons.

I came very close to swiping this unopened bottle at the end of the night

Next came the 2016 Gamay Noir — a wine that I will be dreaming about for a while, as they appear to be sold out (heart breaking!) — paired with a seasoned blend of almonds, cashews and walnuts. I was actually still working on my toast when we moved on to this light-bodied red so I didn't even taste the mixed nuts, but the almond butter got the job done. 

There was actually an unopened bottle of Gamay Noir left at our end of table by night's end, which I seriously considered swapping for the Honest John's in my gift bag. Not because there's anything wrong with their signature white blend, but because this Gamay is everything I look for in a red wine. Of course, I didn't want to appear greedy — they were already being incredibly generous by gifting us two other bottles to take home — but now that I know I can't go out and grab myself a bottle, I wished I'd been bold and asked to make the swap! 

Our final wine of the evening was the Road 13 Vineyards 2013 5th Element, a big gorgeous red with a sophisticated softness and lots of character. The kind of wine you save for a special occasion (or consume post-workout with a group of strangers on a Thursday) and one that we got to take home for our own cellars. Okay, I definitely don't have a cellar, but I do have a nice rack — as well as a structure at home to store my wine, haha!