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.

Taste of Winterlude begins later this week featuring 50+ restaurants with 3 course prix fixe menus and a number of exclusive fine dining experiences.  Visit winterlude.gc.ca/taste for all the info including details about the Feb 17th Ontario Winter WineFest featuring 23 wineries from Ontario at the NAC.

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and the rest of the morning crew over at LIVE 88.5 - we’re talking La Vendemmia, but keep on listening through the out-of-date event info (sorry about that!)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

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

Here’s the radio interview Stacey had with CBC radio.  It’s a great overview of what the Walkabout Feast concept is all about.

We documented the 5 restaurant dining tour last night.  Stay tuned for updates.

Click here for the second installment:
 

We taste and talk about Southbrook Cabernet Rosé (Canada’s first certified biodynamic wine - you can read more about that below) and Rosehall Run Pinot Noir from Prince Edward County.  You can tune in to the LiVE 88.5 Start-Up to hear more installments through the spring!

 

If you happened to miss the Ontario wine fair, here’s your chance to take in some of the highlights!  I was lucky enough to hang out with radio hosts Katfish Morgan and Dave Schellenberg of the LiVE 88.5 Start-Up and we tasted our way around the wine fair, microphone in hand.  So thanks to LiVE 88.5, you can listen in on our tasting!  Click here for the first installment…

…during which we taste and talk about Wildass White from Stratus Winery and Henry of Pelham Baco Noir Reserve.  You can tune in to the LiVE 88.5 Start-Up to hear more installments through the spring!

Listen to the Podcast!

I had the opportunity to sit down, chat, and taste wines with the man himself – Grant Burge. 

He truly is a living icon in the wine world and has a passion for keeping his 150-year-old family tradition of winemaking alive. 

Click below to listen in on our Podcast conversation or download the mp3 file to listen later.  Then read the tasting notes for some of my favourite Grant Burge wines that are available in the LCBO and well worth seeking out. 

This month, we caught up with the very busy Daniel Speck, Vice President and Director of Sales for Henry of Pelham Winery - he was actually on the road and chatted from his Blackberry!  Henry of Pelham is a premium estate winery located on the Short Hills Bench at the base of the Niagara Escarpment in St. Catharines, Ontario. Its 170 acres have been owned  and operated by the Speck family since 1988, on the premise that fine wine is grown, not made. Dan spoke about the role the winery has had in his life and some of their signatures wines.

Henry of Pelham Wines to Try:

Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut
LCBO 004051 $30.15
An award-winning bubbly made from traditional Champagne grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This wine is crisp and refreshing with a lovely balance of citrus and berry aromas and flavours, with a touch of toastiness. Perfect with seafood, including oysters and caviar.

2005 Baco Noir, Reserve
VINTAGES 461699 $24.95
This classic Niagara grape gives its best expression in this wine. It’s deeply coloured with rich, jammy blueberry and blackberry flavours, perfectly balanced with crisp acidity and a rich, long finish. Paired up with sausages or game meat like venison and you’ve got yourself some perfect Canadian comfort.

2002 Cabernet-Merlot, Speck Family Reserve
WINERY ONLY
An excellent choice for your cellar, this Cab blend offers concentrated dark fruit aromas and flavours, especially black raspberry. Produced only in vintage years this wine will age for at least 10 years. Can’t wait to open it? Decant and serve with a rich meal of braised lamb shanks.

Now when was the last time you invited a bunch of people over for a party?  If you’re anything like me, it seemed like a great idea at the time but at the last minute you start to panic.  I love to cook but when it comes to having more than a few friends over, I tend to get a bit in over my head. 

 

To help us figure out the tricks behind hosting a great cocktail party, we have Angie MacRae joining us again today. Angie is Chef and Co-host of Food Network Canada’s national tv series This Food That Wine, and she also works as a private caterer so today we are going to learn from her experience – welcome Angie! 

 

Cocktail parties – it seems like they’d be less work than having a proper dinner party, but it never seems to turn out that way does it?

 

Listen now or download to iTunes.