2013 Niagara Icewine Festival Review

Last weekend we enjoyed another very good (and sweet!) weekend in Niagara for the 18th Annual Icewine Festival. Our small group visited 4 wineries on Saturday in Niagara-on-the-Lake, then headed to the Icewine Village to check out the very large ice sculpture and taste some more Icewine and treats. Our group started off the tour at Niagara College Teaching Winery to sample...

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Jan. 19 Wine Picks: Spanish Wines

The next Vintages Release will be on LCBO shelves across Ontario on Saturday, January 19. This is the 2nd release of 2013 and has Spanish wines as its main feature. Spanish wines tend to offer great value, and this release offers a few very good wines from this Iberian country. Spain is known for its two red varietals Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache); both tend to go...

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Jan. 5 Wine Picks: Smart Buys

Apologies for the really delayed post, as I've been under the weather out here in cold & rainy California! As per the usual, the first Vintages release of the new year is always titled "Smart Buys". New wines will be in LCBO outlets across Ontario on Saturday, January 5. I will keep this short as I really need to get back into bed. The best buy in the release is a fantastic...

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Trialto Fall Wine Tasting

Towards the end of last month, I was invited to attend the Trialto Wine Group's Fall Tasting event held at their (relatively new) offices in downtown Toronto. In all, there were 18 wines available for tasting along with a selection of cheeses and smoked salmon on crackers. Many of these wines are readily available from either the General List or the Vintages section at...

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Wine Reviews - 2012 Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

Here are my wine reviews from the 2012 Gourmet Food & Wine Expo that was held last month at the Metro Convention Centre in downtown Toronto. To see my full review of the event, go here. At the K&S Wine Imports booth, located in the VINES Fine Wine and Intervin Lounge, I tasted two wines from Dreissigacker. It's a shame that neither of these wines are available at...

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Castellani Sommavite Santovino (Italy) - Wine Review

Baking almond biscotti today, I decided to open this Vin Santo that was purchased from the May 5th release way back in 2009. Unfortunately, like many of my other dessert wines, I tend to forget about them and then realize that I should have opened them years ago. CASTELLANI SOMMAVITE SANTOVINO N.V. - Tuscany, Italy (#000927) (S) (500 mL) - $10.95 Tasting Note: Plum and...

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Dec. 8 Wine Picks: Festive Get-Togethers

The next LCBO Vintages wine release will be in stores across Ontario on December 8. This is the final release of 2012. So, if you haven't been stocking up for the holidays from previous releases, now is your last chance to do so. This release is titled "Joys of the Season" and focuses on Fine Wines and Sparkling Wines for Festive Get-Togethers. I will skip the Sparklers...

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