Aug. 4 LCBO Wine Picks: Blockbusters + Single-Vineyard German Wines

The next Vintages wine release will be in LCBO outlets across Ontario on August 4. The major feature is titled "Blockbuster" wines and focuses on customers' all-time favourite wines. I have tasted and enjoyed many of these wines from previous vintages, but in this release just one wine made my list of wine picks. It's definitely on the pricey side, but the Pinino Brunello...

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A History of Wine

Wine and the art of wine making has been part of human culture for eons. Indeed, archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest wine production came from sites in Georgia and Iran, dating from 6000 to 5000 BC. Evidence of the earliest European wine production has been uncovered at archaeological sites in Macedonia, dated to 6,500 years ago. Traces of wine dating from the second and first millennium BC have also been found in China. The history...

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Video Wine & Cheese with Natalie MacLean

On Wednesday, July 25th we tasted three Ontario VQA wines and paired them with six Canadian cheeses. This is part 2 of this edition of #CdnCheese and wine pairing (here is part 1). Here is the recording of our Live Video Chat using the Hangout feature on Google+. We had lots of fun doing this, as you will see when you watch the video. :) JACKSON-TRIGGS ENTOURAGE SILVER...

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Cheese & Wine Tweet-Up Natalie MacLean

Here are my tasting notes of the 4 VQA wines tasted last night during the #CdnCheese tweet-up with Natalie MacLean with actually trended to the #1 spot. Also included are my impressions of the 6 Canadian cheeses that were paired with each of the wines. INNISKILLIN WINEMAKER'S SERIES TWO VINEYARDS RIESLING 2010 - VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada (#105387) (D) -...

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July 21 Wine Picks: Cool-Climate Victoria + Loire

The next VINTAGES wine release will be in LCBO stores across Ontario on Saturday, July 21. The main feature in this release is on the cool-climate wines from Victoria, Australia, while the secondary feature is on wines from Loire. Overall, this is a very "cool" release, with white wines stealing the show. From Central Victoria, we have a very intriguing Marsanne. From Malivoire...

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Wine Reviews - 2012 Niagara New Vintage Wine Festival

Here are reviews of some of the wines I tasted during my recent visit to Niagara for the 2012 New Vintage Wine Festival. The highlights were definitely the Château des Charmes' Riesling Icewine and Equuleus, Flat Rock's Rusty Shed Chardonnay, the Passion from Stoney Ridge and lastly (but not least) the Meritage from Fielding. For my review of the food & wine pairings using the Discovery Pass Experience, go here. FIELDING ESTATE ROSÉ 2011...

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Reif Estate Vidal Icewine 2003 (Ontario) - Wine Review

My record keeping was sometimes a bit shoddy back in 2005, but based on evidence that lay before me, it appears I bought this wine from the November 12, 2005 VINTAGES release, where Icewine was the secondary theme of the wine release. However, the bottle I have is the 2003 vintage, while the vintage featured in the magazine is 2002. C'est la vie... REIF ESTATE VIDAL ICEWINE...

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July 7 Wine Picks: France + South Africa + Cool-Climate Chardonnay

The next LCBO VINTAGES wine release is on Saturday, July 7 and the main theme of this release coincides with the 99th annual Tour de France bike race that began on June 30th and runs to July 22nd. In the magazine, you will find the bike route runs through (or nearby) various French wine regions. This wine release offers up a few wines from some of these regions. For my...

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Featherstone Cabernet Franc 2008 (Ontario) - Wine Review

It's only fitting to sip Canadian wine to celebrate Canada Day. I purchased this red wine back in 2010 from the April 17 VINTAGES release and let it age for just over 2 years. FEATHERSTONE CABERNET FRANC 2008 - VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario Canada (#64618) (XD) - $16.95 Tasting Note: Screw cap. Plum, boysenberry, cedar aromas. More boysenberry...

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2012 Niagara New Vintage Wine Festival - Review

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Niagara for the 2012 New Vintage Wine Festival. I was able to make it on the very last day of the festival, which runs for only 2 weekends in June, and managed to squeeze in 6 wineries using the Discovery Pass; we finished just as they were closing up at the last winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We started off in Beamsville at...

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