The Wines of Ontario Winter WineFest is part of the Taste of Winterlude Fine Dining Experiences programming.  It’s a casual cocktail style tasting with a serious list of wines and 23 confirmed Ontario wineries. 

Hosted at the National Arts Centre in the Panorama room with views of the Rideau Canal it promises to be one of the highlights of the Taste of Winterlude Program. 

Grab a ticket before they are gone by visiting http://ontario-wine-fair-2010-ggblog.eventbrite.com

** groovy grapes clients and friends we’ve arranged for a couple of special benefits for you.  Email sean at groovygrapes.com and ask about Your Personal Restaurant Conceirge (we’ll recommend restaurants for you to check out during Taste of Winterlude) as well as a special rate on the Feb 17/10 Winter WineFest.

Great recipe and wine pairing from Stacey appeared in Ottawa Citizen Oct 17, 2009 http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Matched+Food+Drink/2114264/story.html

Listen in as I chat with Katfish and the rest of the morning crew over at LIVE 88.5 - we’re talking La Vendemmia, but keep on listening through the out-of-date event info (sorry about that!) for some great ideas for simple Italian nibbles you can pick up, throw on a platter, and serve with Italian wines to match. Click here for the audio clip.

 

 Stacey talks about Italian wines and Preston Street with Live 88.5FM [10:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Wine selections:

TOMMASI CHIARETTO 2008
VINTAGES 685057 | $12.95 | Veneto, Italy
(paired with homemade bruschetta from Luciano’s Fine Foods, 106 Preston Street)

VILLA RUBINI SCHIOPPETTINO
Consignment only - $19.95 (contact us if you’re interested in ordering)
(paired with Pingue Prosciutto, available at fine food shops including La Bottega, Nicastro shops, and The Piggy Market)

SANTERO BRACHETTO D’ACQUI
VINTAGES 119495 | $16.20 | Piedmont, Italy
(paired with “Turtles” - chocolate pots de crème with caramel and nuts, homemade at Pasticerria Gelateria Italiana, 200 Preston Street)

 

 Stacey talks about Italian wines and Preston Street with Live 88.5FM [10:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As much as I hate to say good-bye to the summer, I have to admit that autumn always seduces me with cozy evenings in, cool, crisp fall walks, warming comfort food, and bigger, bolder wines.  And as flavours on the plate as well as in the glass get heartier, we often are asked by clients about how to choose wines to pair with some of the more unusual ingredients available to us, including game meats and fowl.

So just in time for the season, I’m happy to share with you an article that was recently published in Alberta Outdoorsmen Magazine.  I hope it contains some tips and ideas that you can use in your kitchen this autumn.

Click here for the PDF!

(article © Duane Radford)

Last year I was approached to participate in a fundraiser for a charity called Grapes for Humanity and I’m excited to announce that the end result is ready and waiting for you! 

“Women & Wine” is a collection of beautiful, sexy photography by acclaimed photographer Steven Elphick, who teamed up with a dozen young ladies representing the future of the Ontario wine industry to create each piece.  A limited edition 2010 calendar featuring the photos has now been released, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Grapes for Humanity Foundation.

If you live in Toronto or Ottawa, you may have already caught a glimpse of this collection, as the prints have been on tour and displayed in locations including Cava Restaurant in Toronto and Restaurant 18 in Ottawa.  Calendars are now on sale and will shortly be available for purchase here at www.groovygrapes.com.  The calendars cost $29.95 each (plus shipping) and as I mentioned already, 100% of the proceeds go to the charity. 

These stunning black and white calendars are the perfect holiday gift for the wine-lover on your list too, for those of you who are organized enough to be starting your Christmas shopping!  Get yours today to support this worthy cause and see if you can figure out who’s who in each month.  Ottawa’s very own Caroline Gosselin (owner of Restaurant 18) and me, Stacey Metulynsky of Groovy Grapes, are featured in the calendar, among many other lovely ladies from the Toronto and Niagara regions.  For more information, contact us at contact@groovygrapes.com.

Check out Geoffrey’s segment on Summer wine and beer selections with A TV Ottawa.

La Vendemmia is Ottawa’s annual celebration of Italian wine and food.  We’re thrilled to be working on this series of events once again this year and we’ve just released the 2009 calendar which you can view online here.  Here are some of this year’s highlights:

Guest Chef Mario Pingue joins us for our headlining event, a cooking demonstration and dinner. Known best for his artisan charcuterie products, including melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto produced right here in Ontario, we think it rivals some of the best we’ve tasted from Italy and we invite you to taste for yourself.  Mario is also a talented chef, who will be preparing a delectable menu using some of his Niagara Specialties products on Thursday September 17th at Divino Wine Studio.

Atelier Restaurant, one of Ottawa’s most talked-about and our only “tasting menu only” restaurants, is hosting a special tasting menu inspired by classic Italian Flavours.  To make things even more interesting, each of the 12 courses will be paired with a variety of Italian sparkling wines.  Join us for this tasty Vendemmia kick-off on Monday September 14th.

The Signature Grape Stomp relay is your chance to stomp grapes and raise money for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation 11am-2pm Sunday September 20th.  Round up a team of 4 people and enter online.

Taste Little Italy is our signature closing event and offers your best opportunity to taste the wide range of delicious treats available on Preston Street.  Set up wine and food show style, we can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Taste Little Italy takes place on Sunday September 20th at Sala San Marco and features restaurants from Preston Street, Italian wine samples, and your ticket also includes admission to the Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Showcase that takes place simultaneously next door at Divino Wine Studio.

For more information visit www.prestonstreet.com/lavendemmia/,  email lavendemmia at prestonstreet.com or call 613-715-9399 x 101.

Listen in to our discussion on hot summertime wines on CBC’s All in a Day. Host Adrian Harewood chatted with me and Rod Phillips about summertime trends and some great values. 

 

 CBC Radio Interview With Stacey Metulynsky Summer 2009 [13:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Read on for our wine picks.

Stacey’s picks:
Cono Sur Viognier ($9.95, LCBO 64287, Chile)
A medium to full bodied white with juicy, ripe tropical fruit flavours and a mouth-filling texture.  Pair it up with grilled scallops topped with Niagara peach salsa.

Freixenet Brut de Noirs Cava Brut ($12.95, LCBO 352369, Spain)
A rosé bubbly that’s crisp, refreshing and food friendly.  Perfect for welcoming guests, or pair it up with chorizo sausage or other simple tapas and charcuterie.

Candidato Oro ($7.95, LCBO 523811, Spain)
A blend of Tempranillo and Grenache creates an easy-drinking, spicy-fruity red wine that’s medium in body and a great match for grilled burgers, sausages, or spiced chicken or pork.

Rod’s picks:
Marques de Riscal Rueda Blanco ($12.35, LCBO 36822, Spain)
Made from Verdejo grapes, this white is fresh but full of ripe fruit flavour - a great choice for summertime.  Pair it with seafood paella, light tapas, or grilled chicken with lemon and herbs.

Remy Pannier Rosé d’Anjou ($11.95, LCBO 12641, France)
Intense strawberry flavour, refreshing acidity, and light body combine in this rosé from the Loire Valley in France that is delicious on its own as well as with any manner of grilled fare - Rod even enjoys it with steak!

Montalto Nero d’Avola/Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.95, LCBO 621151, Sicily)
Big body, big flavour, and perfect for your grilled red meats this summer.  Nero d’Avola is a grape native to Sicily that creates spicy, full-bodied reds that are often priced to provide incredible value.

 

 

 CBC Radio Interview With Stacey Metulynsky Summer 2009 [13:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Camping truly is one of the best ways to get back to the basics – spending time with nature, leaving behind modern conveniences, and cooking over a fire.  But that doesn’t mean you have to skip a delicious meal with the perfect wine pairing, does it? Not if you ask me! 

The most important thing when organizing your camping meals is to plan ahead, packing your cooler wisely with solid ingredients that have lots of flavour.  An easy way to make your campsite dinners taste great is to make a versatile, flavour-packed barbecue sauce in advance that can be stored in a jar and used to season whatever you throw over the fire.  This recipe has a tasty balance of sweet, spicy and sour – perfect to dress up a simple chicken breast , flank steak, or pork tenderloin.  Add to that the intense, smoky flavour of cooking over a campfire and you’ve got yourself a gourmet main course without even trying!

Now to pick the perfect wine.  Since you could use the sauce on just about anything, what you want to focus on is the sweet-spicy-sour flavours of the barbecue sauce.  Because the sauce is tomato-based, you need a wine that has lots of acidity to balance that out, and you definitely need something that has ripe, fruity flavours to stand up to the sweet and spicy elements.  A smooth, fruity, medium-bodied red wine would be perfect.  Try something Spanish made from Tempranillo or Grenache grapes, or Nero d’Avola from Sicily.  Canadian Gamay, Pinot Noir, or Merlot are also great choices.  These will be a perfect contrast to the smoky flavour from the campfire too.  And don’t forget – please, please, please don’t drink your red wine warm!  A slightly cool red wine, especially when fruity and low in tannins, will taste much better than one that’s been sitting in the sun all day.  If you’re short on cooler space, try lodging your bottle underwater in the lake or river for an hour or so to bring the temperature down a bit – just make sure it doesn’t float away!

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind when choosing your campsite wines:

• Go for fruity, easy-drinking styles of wine with low to medium alcohol levels – light to medium bodied reds and fuller styles of white that will quench your thirst and satisfy your palate without being overwhelming.
• Look for convenient packaging – screw-top bottles make opening and resealing easy and there are loads of great quality wines under screw-cap available.  You can also find a good selection of wines in alternate packaging that is lighter than glass bottles, including tetra pak, plastic bottles, and cans.
• Don’t break the bank!  Camping is about keeping things simple and remembering how to enjoy the basics.  Great value wines abound in liquor stores, you just need to experiment to find ones that you’ll love.  Look for fantastic values from countries such as Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, and of course, locally-produced wines.  And here’s a tip – wines made from grapes that are lesser known (e.g. NOT chardonnay, shiraz, or cabernet sauvignon) can be some of the best hidden values on your liquor store’s shelves.

A few weeks back, we headed to Prince Edward County with some friends for a week-end of relaxation, good eats, and wine country.  If you haven’t been, the County is an easy drive 2 and a half hours down the road, and really is a perfect getaway destination.  It is an absolutely beautiful region, and our trip luckily happened to fall in the height of lilac season, so the air was fresh, perfumed, and intoxicating.  After a quick stop in Picton for some of my favourite County culinary delights (Buddha Dog and butter buns from the Pastry House - 125 Main Street, Picton) we took a leisurely 20-minute drive to what turned out to be the highlight of our trip - Fifth Town Artisan Cheese.  Our knowledgable host Andrew Laliberté took our group on a guided tour of the grounds and the platinum LEED-certified facility, including the cheese cave, during which we learned all about how their artisan cheese is made.  We were all astounded by the focus on environmental and social sustainability, and how their stringent requirements for quality ingredients from healthy, well-treated animals all contribute to the incredible final product.

After our tour, we sat down with Andrew to taste some local wines with a selection of Fifth Town cheeses.  We were blown away by how delicious the cheeses were and our host’s sound knowledge in both cheese and wine meant that the wine pairings he selected were the perfect complement.  My favourites?  Lost Lake and Cape Vessey (made from goat and sheep milk, as are all of their products).  Lucky for you, Fifth Town cheeses are available in retail outlets throughout Ontario so if you don’t have the chance to visit the County (although you really should  make the time) you can still enjoy these fabulous products.  Here in Ottawa, you can find Fifth Town cheeses at The Piggy Market (400 Winston Ave in Westboro), La Bottega (Byward Market), Nicastro locations around the city, and Jacobson’s (in New Edinburgh).  Take a peek at our tasting with Andrew.