Chilled to Perfection: Inniskillin Icewine Harvest and Brunch (Jan. 2024)

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending an exclusive media preview of the Chilled to Perfection: Inniskillin Icewine Harvest and Brunch event that is taking place on Saturday, January 27, 2024 at Inniskillin Estate winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.The event begins with a welcoming cup of Icewine Hot Chocolate, followed by an opportunity to mingle and get warmed...

Read More

Southbrook Organic Vidal Icewine 2014 (Niagara) - Wine Review (Dec. 2020)

To celebrate the holiday season, tonight's wine review is this gorgeous organic Vidal Icewine from Niagara that showed up in LCBO VINTAGES on November 10, 2018. While the 2014 is mostly sold out - six bottles actually still remain at LCBO locations - the 2015 vintage is available through the winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake and online through their web store.It is produced by...

Read More

Palatine Hills Vidal Icewine 2012 (Niagara) - Wine Review

To cap off Ontario Wine Week, I opened this lovely Icewine last night. I purchased this Icewine from the winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake when I visited the region back in September 2018 during the annual Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. At the time, this 200 mL bottle was on promotion for $20. It also showed up at the LCBO last year at the same price as part of the May 25...

Read More

Rockway 9 Spritz 2017 (Ontario) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine review is an interesting white wine made by Rockway Vineyards, and is the first of a few wines from Rockway that I'll be writing about over the coming days. In addition to 75 hectares of vineyards located on premium grape-growing land in the Twenty Mile Bench sub-appellation in Niagara Peninsula, there is also an 18-hole golf course and restaurant on-site....

Read More

Wines for Christmas 2018

To celebrate Christmas, tonight's wine is a Champagne that is widely available at the LCBO. It is produced by a house that has been producing champagne for two centuries and has only seen seven Cellar Masters since its founding. Tonight's after-dinner drink is an Icewine that is a VINTAGES Essentials listing at the LCBO and always available. This 2012 vintage Icewine was...

Read More

Southbrook Vidal Skin Fermented White Orange Wine 2017 (Niagara) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine is a very interesting natural, organic and biodynamic orange wine produced by Southbrook Vineyards. Technically, orange wines are now known as a skin-fermented white wines. Southbrook has produced this style of wine under the guiding hands of winemaker Ann Sperling for several years now, with latest rendition being the 2017 vintage that was bottled in January...

Read More

Niagara Grape & Wine Festival 2017 - Day 2 of 2

Last September, I visited Niagara twice over the course of the month to partake in the 66th Annual Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. You can read all about the first day's activities here. The fun-filled second day began at Vineland Estates Winery where we were given a guided tour of the property and facilities by David Hulley. The tour began on the patio over looking the...

Read More

Wine Tasting in Niagara-on-the-Lake - August 2017

In late August, I toured Niagara-on-the-Lake and visited a some fine wineries with a few friends. It was a day trip, and with fine weather in tow, this was a fantastic day of wine tasting! We visited four wineries in all, beginning at Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery - a family-run organic and biodynamic winery for a tasting of some of their very fine, premium wines. They also...

Read More

Legends Estates Vidal Icewine 2006 (Ontario) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine was opened upon the insistence of my wife, as she wanted to enjoy some Icewine in celebration of the holidays. This Icewine was purchased at the winery in January earlier this year when we visited Niagara to partake in Icewine Festivities. It's rare to see older vintages still available for purchase, so I was surprised when we were offered a tasting of this...

Read More

Sip and Sizzle in Niagara-on-the-Lake 2017

On this cold, wintry day, let me take you back to late May, when I visited Niagara-on-the-Lake to partake in the annual Sip & Sizzle food and wine pairing event thanks to winning a contest on Foodies on Foot. This excellent event was running on weekends in May at over 20 wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Unfortunately, due to my busy schedule, I was only able to attend...

Read More