Last summer was a challenge for all small businesses thanks to the pandemic. But for many business owners it was a period of tremendous ingenuity. How do you get your wines into the hands of people who want to try it? When you run a premium winery like Adnan and...
The latest batch of 2017’s from Kacaba continue a long string of wines that demonstrate the quality of the strange vintage. The warm dry fall wasn’t just kind to the early ripening varieties like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay it seems across the board these wines deliver the goods. Here is...
If you haven’t had a chance to visit the new LCBO at 49 Spadina I highly recommend it. The vintages session is very well put together and rarely do I leave that store without finding something unique that isn’t available anywhere else in the city. While it would seem that...
I am very late getting through these wines. Early in the summer I got a package of the latest lineup of wines from Ferox. The rebranded Rancourt winery has had some very interesting wines walk through their doors since Fabien and Stephanie Reis took the helm. I tasted through their...
I had to take one day in wine country this summer that didn’t involve doing deliveries for the 80x Wine Company. It had been awhile since I’ve seen Derek Barnett. We had a chance to taste outside at Legends Estate Winery and while this year has been hard on everyone...
A few weeks ago I had a chance to do a live tasting with Vadim Chelekhov – the head winemaker at Kacaba. I have known Vadim for a longtime and he was our winemaker at 80x – he made our wonderful rosé and chardonnay. When I was talking to him...
This past summer I had an opportunity to interview Andrzej Lipinski for Two Guys Talking Wine to get his history on tape. What wasn’t reflected in the interview was the number of wines I had the opportunity to taste. When you start tasting through wines with Andrzej it’s like hanging...
It’s been far too long since I’ve given some love to the County. My much overdue visit took me to a few places – but one issue that seems to be an epidemic in the county is a shortage of wine. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing...
I try to sneak my way into Legends Estates a few times a summer to see what Derek Barnett is up to. He makes his Meldville wines here – and it’s always fun to taste through the wines with Derek. The portfolio is on solid footing with his Chardonnay and...
I don’t drink a lot of Australian wine in my house. Which is a bit strange now that I think about it. The first real wine that I loved was Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon – I started drinking that wine when I was 19 (okay maybe a year...
2015 Charles Baker Picone Vineyard Riesling – Vintages 241182 – $37.20 – ****½ – The depth and complexity to this wine is just … satisfying. The aroma is deep and complex offering citrus, peach, and hints of petrol. The balance is incredible – there is just enough sweetness left in...
I really love the wines from Icellars. I look forward to stopping by whenever I get the chance. Simba, the golden retriever, and door greeter is quickly gaining notoriety to match Brix, the Bernese mountain dog and door greeter at Sue-Ann Staff’s winery. In short, this is one of the...
