Diamond Estates - Lakeview, Daredevil, Dan Aykroyd and De Sousa Tasting

I held a small wine tasting last month and invited a few friends over to indulge in some of the wines that arrived on my doorstep. Of the four wines we tasted, the favourite was by far Dan Aykroyd's Cab/Shiraz. This red wine offered a bit of everything - aromas, flavours, acids, tannin, balance and finish. It had good crowd appeal, so I wasn't surprised that this was the...

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2013 Niagara Wine Festival Review

I recently had the pleasure of attending the 2013 edition of the Niagara Wine Festival - the annual festival that celebrates the vintage harvest. This year, as last year, I brought along with me a small group of wine lovers (enthusiasts?) to join me in the festivities. The weather on Saturday had called for rain pretty much the entire day, but that did not deter us or other...

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Mission Hill - 2013 Winery of the Year - WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada Celebration

On September 16th, I had the pleasure of attending an invite-only celebration at Joey Eaton Centre to honour Mission Hill Family Estate's Winery of the Year Award at the inaugural WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada competition. This award used to be part of the Canadian Wine Awards, which was run by WineAccess Magazine, until the magazine was abruptly shut down earlier...

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Sept. 28 Wine Picks: Tuscany + Chile + Thanksgiving

The upcoming LCBO Vintages release will be on shelves this Saturday, September 28th. The main feature in this release focuses on premium-quality wines from Tuscany, which range in price from $15.95 to $48.95. In all, there are 16 wines featured, and 3 made my list of wine picks below. It just so happens that all three are north of $20. The Frassinello is an IGT wine that...

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iYellow Summer Wine Jam - Review

On August 29, I attended iYellow Wine Club's Summer Wine Jam, which has held at Airship 37 near The Distillery District. The venue allowed for both indoor and outdoor imbibing, which was perfect for this fine summer night. I arrived there just after 7 p.m. and the place was filling up across the 2 rooms and the outdoor area quite nicely. Over 70 wines from around the world...

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Kingston Family Vineyards Tobiano Pinot Noir 2009 (Chile) - Wine Review

This red wine is from the March 16th Vintages release and was gifted to me. It was opened on the weekend, knowing that my afternoon guest would surely enjoy this - and he did! I've had mixed emotions with Pinot in the recent past, and this is the first Chilean Pinot I've tasted in a while (perhaps since last year's Wines of Chile event) and I was pleasantly delighted with...

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Sept. 14 LCBO Wine Picks: Ontario Wines

The next Vintages release will be on LCBO shelves on Saturday, September 14. This edition is titled "Shine ON" and focuses on Ontario wines that shine brightly on the world stage. It appears to be somewhat of an annual event as last September there was a special release including strictly only Ontario wines. This year, the celebration begins with over 130 restaurants across...

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