On the Road with the Grape Guy
Report from - Wrapped Up In the Valley ... November 17, 2012
18 Jan 2013- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Recently I reviewed Niagara on the Lake’s November offering: Taste the Season – an event I have been going to for a number of years. This year I was invited to do the round of the Twenty Valley “Wrapped Up” Tour, which features 24 wineries from Peninsula Ridge in the West to Henry of Pelham in the East.
Even before we began two things impressed me greatly: 1) There was a gift for all attendees – this year it was a box of shortbreads – this is something Niagara-on-the-Lake used to do, and when talking to long-time visitors of that event many still remember and miss their glass ornament (the usual gift) fondly. 2) Was an email on the Friday night before the tour began on Saturday informing all participants of any changes they might find along the way (ie: both Creekside and Good Earth had changed their wines due to dwindling supply and an update about road closures in the area). This was very helpful to both the wineries and myself because I didn’t have to ask why a certain wine was not being poured and gave the winery an interesting talking point if it was brought up; plus, who wants to have their tasting-day interrupted by one of those guys holding a stop sign..
We (my wife Erica and I) judged the pairing for the Valley the same way as we did the Niagara event: on a scale of 1-5, where one was poor and 5 was excellent. We scanned the list of potential pairings and each chose our top 5 that we were most looking forward to – between the two of us 8 wineries made this list: Angels Gate, John Howard – Megalomaniac, 13th Street, Cave Spring, Creekside, Flat Rock, Harbour Estates, Di Profio Wines and Sue-Ann Staff … these are the wineries we had the biggest Jones for, and thus had their bar raised even before we walked in the door – that’s the problem with high-hopes.
I would have to say that most wineries put on a really good pairing – of the 24 wineries participating 17 received a grade of 3 (average) or above. But, if you were one of the prized-8 listed above you could not just be “average” you had to go beyond.
The Eight Wineries of Expectations … (read the full review and see the pictures by clicking here)
