What's new to Discover?
A busy wine week ended with an exciting afternoon tasting the varied and expressive offerings from twenty-nine domaines of the Jura. In a world of potentially bland "international style" wines, the Jura is refreshing, challenging and always fascinating. (Continue)
Argentinian Wines and Malbec Day 2012
At first glance the idea of having a "Malbec Day" to promote Argentinian Malbec seems a little redundant, at least in Ontario! For in conjunction with the LCBO which determines product availability and distribution, Argentinian Malbec has absolutely crushed the market for good quality but relatively inexpensive red wines. (Continue)
Thirty Austrian wineries presented some of their wares at Austria Uncorked this year. I was happy to see that the "trade" has really begun to appreciate Austrian wines, although that meant that the 9th floor salon in the new Trump Tower was packed and heated! (Continue)
The Toronto stop for the California Wine Fair is hugely popular with both industry people and consumers... (Continue)
Postings relating to Cuvee 2012
- Cuvée 2012: a celebration of Ontario winemaking
- 2012 Experts' Tasting: Pinot Noir (and some siblings) - a Wine Thoughts Blog post
- Listing of 2012 Award winners, March 2, 2012
Old Vines in Gigondas (Courtesy of Inter Rhone, © Christophe Grilhé)New tasting notes: Rhône Valley Wines Michel Gassier and Dauvergne-Ranvier, February 2012.
I recently sat down with the representatives of two Rhône producers to taste through some of their wines. I've always enjoyed wines from the region ... (Continue)
Related post on The ScentInTO.com: Exploring the Southern Rhone.
This article is a brief introduction to the wines of the Southern Rhone, with ideas about wines to buy and taste.
New post on TheScemeInTO.com: Niagara Icewine Festival 2012
This article features the Jordan Village Winefest, January 14-15, which is part of Niagara's January 2012 Icewine Festival. I mention some of the activities, discuss icewine itself and what I look for, and then present reviews of my favourites that I sampled that day.
Video: A Year in the Vineyard: the Four Seasons December 13, 2011
This is the final cut of our video project, documenting the vineyard activities and the growth cycle of the vines at Rosewood Estates on the Beamsville Bench in Niagara.
New Tasting Event: French Organic and Biodynamic Wines, November 7, 2011
Why do the concepts of organic and biodynamic farming and viticulture attract so much interest in the wine world? At one level the focus is on developing and maintaining healthy soils and healthy plants, requiring fewer chemicals and pesticides. Who would argue with that? (Continue)
New Tasting Event: Three Courvoisier Cognacs, August 25, 2011
The event: a presentation and tasting of three Courvoisier Cognacs, including a new release of Courvoisier 12, a blend of Cognac whose components have a minimum age of twelve years. (Continue)
New Featuire: Mini Wine Reviews
These are fun, quick and slightly extended versions of Twitter-based (140 character long) wine reviews. Up to now we have only written about individual wines in the context of longer articles, blog posts, or event write-ups, but since we drink wine rather frequently (!), we thought it would be fun to summarize some of our favourites on a day-by-day basis. On this page the original "tweet" is presented, along with a sentence or two of additional information and editorial comment. On Twitter there is always a link to the extended mini-review here.
New Wine Thoughts Blog post: Some Thoughts on Dry Riesling
My interest in, and some would say my obsession with, dry Riesling was given a boost recently, as I attended a seminar on dry Riesling at the German Wine Fair in Toronto. I think that my recent report reflects the excitement of the seminar and pretty clearly details what I learned. But I want to elaborate on some of the ideas, partly in reaction to some comments I have received, and partly to bring the discussion into the context of the Ontario wine scene. (Continue)
Recent Food Exploration post by Jeanne: Tourtière for Christmas.
The first time I made tourtière on my own, I was 24 years old, away from home at Christmas for the first time in my life, and incredibly homesick. (Continue)
Here are some local wine sites that we follow
- Rick VanSickle publishes at Wines in Niagara, with constant updates about the local wine scene.
- Follow the erudite Remy Charest at The Wine Case. While Remy is based in Quebec City he is very involved with Niagara and PEC.
- Check out Spotlight Toronto, which covers the local food and wine scene.
- Two new local wine bloggers to check out are Joel Wilcox at Writer's Blanc, along with Mike Di Caro at his Trillyum blog.
- And of course we have to mention two of our favourite local food writers who are getting into wine: David Ort at Food with Legs and Joel Salish at Community Foodist.
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