Events

Chardonnay and Hummus

My biggest pet peeve with regards to wine is that often most people overthink what goes with what. Whether you stick to the simplest of rules red with red meat and white with white meat or freestyle your pairings once you have had the chance to taste a perfect wine...

#I4C15 – Cool Climate Chardonnay Debrief

There are two big events that I mark on the Calendar for every year in wine country. Cuvée takes place in the winter, you can see my thoughts from 2015 by clicking the link. The Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration takes place in the summer. This event is important because it...

Portugese Wines: A Learning Experience

Last month I attended a wines of Portugal tasting. Prior to a walk-around tasting there was a crash course seminar hosted by Master Sommelier John Szabo. I don’t know much about Portugese wines. For most people their knowledge of Portugese wines start and end with Port. There is obviously much...

Nals Margreid/Pukka – Indian and Italian dinner

When I head out for Indian food often I find myself switching to beer, or cocktails.  Indian food is difficult when it comes to pairing with wine.  I was intrigued when I got the invite for the dinner at Pukka featuring Nals Margreid a winery in Northern Italy.  I was...

German Wine School

I don’t drink enough German wine. I think that most people don’t drink enough German wine. I will be the first to admit that I find german wine intimidating.  At least with French wine you have seen or heard of Champagne, Bordeaux or Cotes du Rhone.  German labels are adorned...

Ontario Wine Awards 2015

Friday May 8th the winners of the Ontario Wine Awards were announced at Queen’s Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Pillitteri took home Red Wine of the year with their 2010 Riserva Famiglia Cabernet Franc. Peller Estates took White Wine of the Year with their 2013 AP Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc. The big winner...

Sip and Sizzle!

As you know I love passport events in Wine country.  Weekends for the month of May the Wineries of Niagara on the Lake are holding “Sip and Sizzle” great wine pairings with grilled foods. all the details to the event can be found here: http://wineriesofniagaraonthelake.com/sip-and-sizzle I have a pair of tickets...

Review – Get Fresh!

I always get a little melancholic when I head down to wine country for Get Fresh! in the springtime.  Everyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of visiting the wineries in the off-season.  This is one of the last weekends that you have to grab winemakers...

#blendedcru – Rosé in April

This is the second post from a monthly tasting group that we hold at the iYellow wine cave.  Angela Aiello, Mandy Shnurr, Jason Solanki, and Krista Lamb meet up once a month to taste something of interest to them and discuss.  We have decided to call our tasting group #blendedcru...

A Day in Beaujolais

I traveled to France in November to check out the Beaujolais Nouveau release.  After spending a few days hunting for Cabernet Franc in St Émillion I knew that I had to go to Beaujolais.  Beaujolais, like Ontario, is currently take the long way up recovering from a bruised reputation stemming...

Cuvée 2015 – is it too early to set my calendar for 2016?

The question you answer for the next few days after Cuvée is “What was your favorite wine?”… Truthfully I can’t answer.  Cuvée is hosted at the Fallsview Casino.  It is one of the events that I look forward to every year.  You take as many wineries as you can fit...

From Italy to Ontario – Wine Tasting January 28

On January 28th I was given the opportunity to attend a tasting in Downtown Toronto putting Italian and Ontario wines side by side.  We had the opportunity to taste through 37 wines.  It is amazing to see how well the Ontario wines hold up to the Italian wines.  I still...