Cuvée 2014 kicks off Friday, February 28 with the 26th Annual Cuvée Grand Tasting – a black tie gala at the Fallsview Casino Resort. The participating wineries (there are 51 on the list) will be pouring one wine each – one they’ve chosen as their favourite. I love that idea – it’s kind of the ultimate in curated content, don’t you think?
I was so excited when I found out that’s the format for the Gala, I immediately began wondering what each winery would be pouring. I checked the Cuvée website, but it only lists the wineries (and the chefs that will be on hand serving their signature dishes). So, I did what any normal journalist would do: I contacted the wineries and asked them.
As the wineries started getting back to me, I also heard from a public relations person who works at one of the wineries and who was on the Cuvée Committee. This person advised that I should not do a pre-event blog post about any of the wines that are going to be served because they are only to be “revealed” on the night of the event.
I was quite surprised by this because before I e-mailed the wineries, I double checked to see whether there was any indication that the wines being served at the Gala are a secret. I saw nothing to indicate that. Indeed, the fact that a number of wineries responded to my earnest inquiry (in which I made it clear that I planned on publishing the information in a blog before the event) and conversations I had with some wineries about the event, leads me to believe that if the Cuvée committee intended for the wines to be a secret, they kept that fact to themselves.
So, for the past few days I’ve been debating about whether to “reveal” the wines. On the one hand, I suppose there are folks who would rather not know in advance what will be poured. On the other hand, I’m sure there are also wine lovers like me whose enjoyment is increased knowing exactly what to look forward to.
As you can tell by the title of this post, I considered playfully using the spoiler alert warning that we’ve all heard so often the past couple of weeks and then going ahead and sharing with you what I’ve found out. But, in deference to the Cuvée organizers and those who love surprises, I will hold off on publishing the list of wines.
For those who can’t be at the Gala but who are interested in knowing what the wineries chose as their favourites, I’ll publish the information shortly after the Gala. That way, next time you stop in at one of the participating wineries, you’ll have an idea about what you might want to sample and buy.
Tickets are still available for the Gala fundraiser ($200) and Cuvée en Route passports ($30/person) are also available. For information on how to purchase Gala tickets and passports, check out Cuvée’s website.