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 […]
Ingrid Sapona
2014 Niagara Icewine Festival
If you’ve been housebound this past week because of the arctic blast that’s blanketing much of North America, take heart – the forecast is for milder weather soon. And fortunately, for those who might be anxious to get out and about, the Niagara Icewine Festival kicks off this weekend The festival, which features wineries from […]
Picked but Too Cold to Press!
The day after I wrote about icewine picking happening in Niagara I got the Georgian Hills Vineyards’ newsletter saying they’d be picking icewine grapes on Saturday morning and that they welcomed volunteers. Having always wanted to do that, I responded to Robert Ketchin’s e-mail and said that he could count me in – unless the […]
What a Sweet Thought on these Cold Nights
I was just reading the newsletter from Crush on Niagara Wine Tours and Andrew Brooks mentioned that with the incredibly cold weather we’ve had the past few days they’ve started picking icewine grapes down in Niagara! Though I’m kind of glad I’m sitting here warm and cozy next to the fireplace rather than out picking […]
In the Spirit of Getting it Right
I was writing up an app entry for Still Waters Distillery and when I went to put a link to their website I noticed that they spelled whisky without an e between the k and the y. Confused, I went to my liquor cabinet and pulled out two bottles of “the stuff”: a bottle of […]
A Great Time to Stock Up
I’m on the mailing list of many wineries and it was in a July e-mail from Daniel Lenko Estate Winery that I first realized that from time-to-time wineries put their wines on sale – often at very good prices. (Back in July Daniel Lenko was selling his 2006 unoaked Chardonnay at half off. Clearly he […]
The Upper Portion of the Beamsville Bench Vineyard Trail
In July a friend and I set off on the Beamsville Bench Vineyard Trail but it was so hot, we only completed the “Lower Loop”. (See my July 20, 2013 blog post about it.) So, a few weeks ago, on a glorious autumn weekend I set out to walk the “Upper Loop”, which isn’t a […]
The Crush is on at Oxley Estate Winery
On my recent visit to the Lake Erie/Pelee Island area I visited a few wineries that I hadn’t been to before, and I also made a point of stopping in again at Oxley Estate Winery – one of my favourite wineries in the area. I stopped in to find out what was going on and […]
Kid Friendly
I don’t have children, so maybe I shouldn’t admit this – but I’m surprised at how many wineries are kid friendly. It’s not that I figured wineries are like bars because they serve alcohol, so it’s not the kind of place you’d bring children. It’s more that I thought it might be kind of boring […]
Just Back from the Shores of Erie International Wine Festival
On Friday night I was at the Shores of Erie International Wine Festival (SOE for short), in Amherstburg, Ontario. The SOE is a four-day festival showcasing wineries from the so-called EPIC region (Essex, Pelee Island, Coast) along with food prepared by well-known restaurants from the area and live bands. This year is the 9th edition […]