Everyone these days seems to be enamoured with Prince Edward County. There is some fantastic, gritty winemaking taking place to the east of Toronto. There are a lot of reasons to pay attention to the County. But there is a renaissance taking place in Niagara. It started when Two Sisters...
2016 Reif Estate Sauvignon Blanc – Vintages 247825 – $14.95 – **** – In a few words this wine hits way above the price point. The aromas a nice pink grapefruit with tropical fruit that is nicely layered over it. On the palate this opens up with more tropical fruit...
2013 Organized Crime Cabernet Franc – Vintages 472530 – $18.95 – **** – There is something interesting about this Franc. The fruit is concentrated and very ripe bordering on jammy with flavours of strawberry, cherry, blackberry and currant. But even with all the very ripe fruit dominating the nose and...
2013 Reif Estate Reserve Gewurztraminer – Vintages 360255 – $18.95 – ***1/2+ – This wine is definitely defined by its texture. This leans more towards an alsatian style of Gewurztraminer with a nice almost oily texture that grips the tongue. This varietal is one of my favorites in Ontario, it...
Vidal is not just for Icewine. Most people know Vidal for the rich honeyed icewines that are made from the juice of this grape. When it is vinified into table wine you end up with wines that are bright and crisp. It holds onto a lot of the floral qualities...
Coming from the killer 2012 vintage this trio of reserve wines from Reif are all worth picking up. These are the kinds of wines that need a good hour or two in a decanter or a few years on the wine rack to really unlock the awesomeness in the bottles....
Everything you need for the perfect Icewine Appetizer – Foie Gras, Mini Toasts and Onion Confit. It is the time of year when we go to the wine rack and blow the dust off the bottle of Icewine that we got last year and get ready to either re-wrap and...
Let’s say it all together now … I will not pair Icewine with dessert. Hear me out! The biggest complaint about Icewine is that it is too sweet and just leaves your mouth feeling like you have just drank syrup. If you really want to up your game for the...
“This is the best party of the year at this bar” these words were uttered to me by a very drunk French patron of Le Barricou (1 Boulevard Du Temple, Paris) at 11pm on November 20th the release of the 2014 Beaujolais Nouveau. Walking down the streets of Paris you...
2013 The Empress Chardonnay – LCBO 346791 – $12.75 – This is sunshine in a bottle. Even though this wine only has 9 g/l sugar (this is very dry) you will share that this is off dry. Fruit flavours are bright and intense with Apple, Peach and Lemon. The finish on...
This week on November 20th we will be greeted with 9 offerings from France, Italy and Ontario in their local LCBO. Nouveau has a certain contradiction about it … the hardest wine snobs will turn their nose up at it… but the budding wineaux has no idea that it even...
I realize we are getting into the end of summer … so I thought I would feature a couple to get us through some warm fall days. 2012 Reif “The Empress” Unoaked Chardonnay – LCBO 346791 – $12.95 – Rich and Crisp with loads of Golden Delicious and Macintosh apple...
