On the Road with the Grape Guy is a on-going feature that follows me from event to event ... I post my thoughts, feelings and reviews of what happened and what I tasted ... basically it is here that I review the events I attend and the things that thrilled me.
For the 2nd time in 2 weeks I find myself at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts for a wine tasting ... this is another agent portfolio tasting, but this time it's 52 wines from Churchill Cellars; below is a list of my top 10 wines tasted (with selected notes) ... (to find out which wines made the cut clck here)
On the eve of the NHL playoffs the folks from Somewhereness (old soils new wines) decided to give us media types a preview of what the public will be tasting and seeing come May 10 at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.
Today we are on the 6th Floor of the TIFF Bell Lightbox building in Toronto - pretty impressive place - to taste the wines of the original six (another hockey reference): Norman Hardie, Charles Baker, Stratus, Malivoire, Flat Rock and Tawse, plus those of the expansion wineries: Hidden Bench, Southbrook, Cave Spring and Thirteenth Street. An hour long seminar previewed a wine from each producer plus an introduction from May 10th keynote speaker Ian D'Agata.
In honour of the NHL references (original six, expansion and playoffs) I will now give you two lists of awards ... my three star selection and my best of awards for the day (all link back to full reviews on my website).
Starting with the best of category wines:
Best White: Cave Spring 2009 Dolomite Riesling (**** 1/2+)
Best Rosé: Hidden Bench 2009 Bistro Rosé (****+)
Best Red: Norman Hardie 2009 Cabernet Franc (**** 1/2)
The above would seem like an all-star line-up, but the whites outshone the reds today ... the wines below represent my three star selection:
OWR Three Star Selection ...
* Cave Spring Cellars 2009 Dolomite Riesling
** Norman Hardie 2009 Cabernet Franc
*** Charles Baker Wines 2009 Picone Vineyard Riesling
