On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from: Taste of the Season 2014, Niagara-on-the-Lake

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(Nobember 15, 2014) ... This year we took the same approach to Taste the Season as we did with the 20 Valley's "Wrapped Up" event ... we picked the pairings that appealed to us, or liked the sound of.  Truth is wine part of the pairing plays second fiddle to the actual food offering.  As I mentioned previously, if you were truly into the wines of the area you have 25 other weekends of the year you could visit wine country - this event is all about the food.

We checked out a dozen Niagara-on-the-Lake wineries as our selections, they were:  Between the Lines, Coyote's  Run, Hinterbrook, Inniskillin, Palatine Hills, Peller Estates, Pondview, Rancourt, Ravine, Konzelmann Niagara Collage and Stratus.  Below are the top 5 food offerings we enjoyed most.

Our Top 5 Wine and Food Pairings ...

To see our selections click here

Report from: Wrapped Up in the Valley 2014

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(November 1, 2014) ...  It's back, the annual Wrapped Up in the Valley, the Twenty Valley Wineries holiday smorgasbord of food and wine - okay so not as much a smorg as a wine and food pairing extravaganza where each winery on the passport program tried to tempt your tastebuds with fancy food selections and delectable wines.

As I have said in the past, these events are less about the wine and more about the food, heck if you wanted to go for the wine you have 25 other weekends in the year to do that - so obviously it's the food that is bringing you out.

We (the wife and I) scan through the 24 selections on offer and decide which to attend - there are 24 in total, you can't do them all in the weekend so you pick one's that most appeal to you - not all selections appeal to everyone so it is best to pick the stuff you think you might like. 

We chose the following 12 to visit:  13th Street Winery, Cave Spring Cellars, Creekside Estate Winery, Flat Rock Cellars, The Good Earth Food & Wine Company, Henry of Pelham, Stoney Ridge Estate Winery, Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery, Tawse Winery, Vineland Estates Winery, Vieni Wines and & Spirits.

They can't all be winners so below you'll find our top selection in no particular order ...

Click here to see the pictorial evidence of our favourite pairings based on our selections.