Report from ... Prince Edward County, the 2nd Wave Dinner - December 5, 2009

Prince Edward County is exploding, or more rightly put, is set to explode, the moment ‘the policy’ gets passed … and I implore the existing wineries to do so post haste and stop halting the progress of this region, because if they keep this up they will rob the Ontario wine loving and buying public from some very good wines and wineries.

Tonight, it was a dinner at East & Main Bistro in Wellington, where 9 wineries presented their wares to an excited group of writers and the public at a delicious dinner (photos below).

Reception …
Casa Dea (formerly Carmela Estates), under new ownership and a new winemaker, kicked off the evening with their brand new sparkling wine. Also taking part in the reception another two wines were poured; one was an absolute surprise from Karlo Estates, a Frontenac Gris Rosé that was a stunning achievement with a grape variety I never knew existed.

Appetizer …










Cracked Pepper Scallop Ravioli, lemon thyme butter, melted leeks – served alongside 2 Chardonnays and a Riesling. Clear winner here was the Barnyard Wine Company’s 3630 Chardonnay 2007 ($28.95).

Salad …Green Salad, strawberry balsamic vinaigrette – we continued sipping on the white wines with this course, and still the Chardonnay shone through.

Main …









Seared Duck Breast, root vegetable gratin, blueberry demi-glaze – three Pinot Noirs were poured, and while everybody at the table seemed to ooo-and-ahh over one in particular Pinot I found it had too much volatile acidity (nail polish remover) for my liking, no matter how much aeration the wine was given. Instead, I gravitated towards the funkiness of the Lift Haus 2007 Pinot Noir, it reminded me of leathery fruit; think back to being a kid and playing with a fruit roll up.

Cheese Plate …
Benedictine Blue and Vieux Bruge – this dish belonged to Del-Gatto Estates 2008 Two Shades of Red, I did also enjoy the Casa Dea Cabernet Franc, but the Del-Gatto wine had me guessing as to what were the two shades and the grape varieties within. Someone in attendance (not the winemaker or owner of Del-Gatto, who was no where to be seen) told me that the sum was much better then the two separate parts … the sum (being the wine) was quite good.

Dessert …









Pear Charlotte, caramel sauce, crème Anglaise – for lack of better terminology the Hillier Creek Vidal Icewine 2008 served with this course, tasted like icewine – a well made icewine at that, but icewine none the less – it paired better with the delicately sweet dessert because it was sweeter than the pairing. But the real star of the dessert course was the Karlo Estates 2008 Late Harvest Frontenac Gris (there’s that variety again), overwhelmed by the sweetness in the dessert this wine was better when tasted alone and offered some real zip and zing to the palate … very impressive.

After Tasting …
Another nine wines were set out for tasting after dinner. Standouts here were the Hillier Creek 2008 Riesling and their 2007 Gamay (I’m a sucker for good Gamay), but the real winner of the nine-wine sideboard was the Stanners Vineyard 2008 Pinot Noir, of which only 25 cases were made – pity it’s so little because this is one delicious wine that more people should have the opportunity to taste/sample and buy.

Good luck to the 9 newbies of the County. Thanks to East & Main for a delicious dinner and thanks to the wineries who invited us down for this interesting and fun tasting of the new wineries of Prince Edward County.

For more wine reviews and related articles go to www.ontariowinereview.com,
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Report from ... Ontario Wine Society Taste & Order Event – November 30, 2009

In truth, I don’t have much to say about the wines, for the simple reason that the wines I tasted here will see the light of day in either my newsletter or Weekly Wine Note (though one of the wine reviews has already found its way into a Newsletter). But what I would like to say is that the evening was very impressive and interesting, if not a little overwhelming. Take into consideration that there were 33 wineries in attendance, each having 3-4 wines on for tasting; they were then spread out over 4 rooms, in alphabetical order, throughout the main level of the Faculty Club of the University of Toronto and you begin to see the scope of the event. This is made all the more impressive when you consider that the event was put on entirely by the volunteers of the Ontario Wine Society (OWS), no help from either the Wine Council, the LCBO or any other trade organization. According to VP of the OWS, Sadie Darby, “the event was put on to promote the wines and wineries of Ontario.” Those in the know about Ontario will realize that the province has well over 33 wineries, but the event was only open to those industry members of the OWS … which does help to explain the lack of support from the Wine Council, LCBO or anybody else because they would have wanted to have more winery inclusion - but really, could you imagine trying to taste over 100 wineries wines in only 3 hours? Nor can I.

Lots of wine was poured, and amongst them plenty of interesting new wines will be making its way onto the shelves of some of your favourite wineries. My top new wine of the evening, the yet to be released Peller Estates 2007 Andrew Peller Signature Cabernet Sauvignon (to be reviewed in a January newsletter); top County pick: Sandbanks 2007 Cabernet Merlot Reserve (to be reviewed in January) and top sweet selection, Lailey Vineyard 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine (another for the January newsletter).

Slight drawback was the lack of food presented, plenty of bread, but I saw only about one or two hors d’oeuvres trays, which were swarmed by attendees as quickly as they were spotted, leaving little for those late in arriving to the scene of the massacre – waiters should have demanded danger pay. Another drawback was that the Faculty Club does not really lend itself to this style of walk around event, sit down yes – I hosted a tasting for the OWS here earlier this year as a sit down affair – but the walk around style and the lay out of the place does not lend itself to this style of event; I almost missed the last room where the winery of my Chardonnay pick of the evening was just packing up; good thing I accosted Mario Testa before he hightailed it out the door and back to Stouffville.

All in all a very enjoyable and educational evening, and made more impressive that it was all done in house at the OWS. Their next event will be taking place in the Distillery District of Toronto at the Cannery Restaurant, and will be featuring Schott-Zwiesel stemware, my buddy Lloyd Thistle and yours truly … details can be found here.

For more wine reviews and related articles go to www.ontariowinereview.com,
while there sign up for Michael's free bi-weekly newsletter.