Summer weekends … so much to see and do… and what better way than to start the day at a fabulous farmers’ market. This morning I headed over to one of Toronto’s best markets: the Evergreen Brick Works Farmers’ Market off the Bayview extension. I never go to markets with much of a shopping list. […]
Southbrook Vineyards
Somewhereness… Something Special
A group of a dozen Ontario wineries have banded together into a group they call Somewhereness. The name is meant to invoke the idea of the special qualities attributable to terroir and the wineries in the group pride themselves on their stewardship and quality. The wineries in the group are: 13th Street Winery, Bachelder, Charles […]
Taste the Season — Part 2
Just back from another day of Taste the Season in Niagara-on-the-Lake with another friend. We stopped at five wineries and the pairings were very different at each. By far our favourite was at Diamond Estates where they were pouring their 2013 EastDell Estates Black Label Barrel Aged Chardonnay paired with creamy, cheesy autumn potato and […]
A living lab
On a recent visit to Southbrook Vineyards I asked Ann Sperling, Director, Winemaking and Viticulture, about how the harsh winter of 2014 impacted Southbrook’s spring pruning. She explained that, in general, they pruned pretty heavily. Their theory is that they wanted to ensure that the vines had as much energy as possible, so that they’d […]
Of lemons and lemonade …
This week I was out at Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Ann Sperling, Director, Winemaking and Viticulture, was kind enough to show me around the vineyard. Seems the harvest in the Niagara region is going to be late this year (by about three weeks) because of the slow start after the harsh winter and the […]
Name that Winemaker!
I was organizing some of my photos and I came across a few photos of Ontario winemakers, so I thought I’d post them and make a game of it – Name that Winemaker! Here are the winemakers pictured: Jonas Newman; Caroline Granger; Martin Gorski; Jean-Pierre Colas; Ann Sperling; Paul Pender; Shiraz Mottiar. […]
While You’re at the Market Today …
Ontario is piloting a program at Farmers’ Markets that allows Ontario wineries to set up booths at local markets to sell their VQA wines. I checked out the Brickworks Market this morning to see what wineries were there and to see how it’s going. This program is terrific for folks who might be shopping for […]
Spring Fever Meets Sip & Sizzle
A friend and I were down in Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOL) for Sip & Sizzle yesterday and it was obvious we weren’t the only ones who were so happy to finally see the first sings of spring! The weather was lovely – breezy and mainly sunny – and the fruit trees and forsythia have just started to […]