All Hail the Great Wines of Ontario

For the past six years, the Ontario Wine Society has held an event that encompasses the largest number of VQA wines under one roof and they call it the Wonderful Wine Fair. As the Media Rep for the Toronto chapter of the Ontario Wine Society, I am responsible for attending the event, taking pictures and writing it up for the next newsletter. Now, as a walk around wine tasting with hundreds of possible wines in the room to try, this event is probably one of the more difficult events to write up. This year I took a slightly different approach to the article and decided to do a wine and food pairing article giving our members, plus anyone else who reads the newsletter, an opportunity to try some great dishes that pair with great Ontario wine. Unfortunately, the newsletter is rather limiting because it would have been quite easy to pair every wine I tasted with a great dish. Wanting to take it further has inspired me to create this blog entry in the hopes of bringing a wider variety of options to the table. So, take a look over them, try some of the dishes, try some different wine pairings if you like and let me know what you think.

I am sure that a lot of us tend to eat lighter during the summer months and so, with that in mind, here is a recipe designed to go with the Calamus Estate Winery 2007 Half Penny Rose:

Spicy Crab Cakes

1 lb Crabmeat
¾ cup Breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp Cream
3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
1 Egg
¼ cup Chopped Parsley
1/8 cup Chopped Red Onion
½ tsp Kosher Salt
¼ tsp White Pepper
¼ tsp Black Pepper
¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Mix by hand and mold into cakes. Sauté in oil until golden and serve with garlic aioli and chopped basil.

Let’s move on to a nice, refreshing, crisp white wine – say the Rosewood Estates Winery & Meadery 2007 Gewurztraminer. Amazing aromas and a very pleasant, slightly spicy palate made this a very pleasant pairing with the spicy Quesadilla’s the staff at the Faculty Club was passing around that evening but how about we try a different combination. I heard a couple of people saying that evening, and it is something I often hear on Twitter as well, that they always put Chardonnay’s with salmon dishes. How about we mix it up a little and put this delicious Honey Hoisin BBQ Salmon dish with a spicy Gewurztraminer? Here’s the recipe – let me know what you think:

Honey Hoisin BBQ Salmon

6 Salmon fillets

Marinade for Salmon:
Mix together the following:

1 tbsp. Fresh ginger, chopped
2 tbsp. Roasted garlic, pureed
1 tsp. Cracked black pepper
2 tsp. Sesame oil
2 tbsp. Rice vinegar
1 tbsp. Cilantro, chopped

Honey Hoisin BBQ Glaze:
Mix together the following:

½ cup Honey
½ cup Hoisin sauce
2 Green onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp. Rice vinegar
1 tsp. Cracked black pepper
2 tsp. Sesame oil
Salt, to taste

Rub the marinade all over salmon and marinate for 2 hours. Preheat grill to medium high. Place marinated salmon skin side down on grill and cook for 5-6 minutes until skin is crisp and easy to lift from grill. Turn fillets over and baste liberally with Honey Hoisin BBQ glaze. Continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes for medium doneness. Turn fillets over and baste meat liberally with the glaze before removing from the grill.

My favourite wine of the evening was found at the Sauvignon Blanc table – Pillitteri Estates Winery 2007 Sauvignon Blanc absolutely hit the spot…even after having drunk a couple of red wines to throw my palate off. Normally, a Sauvignon Blanc would be paired with a seafood recipe but I have one recipe that I love to pair with Sauvignon Blanc that I would love to share:

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts

2 lbs Fingerling potatoes or red skin baby potatoes
1 small Red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 Italian mild green pepper, cubanelle, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium Yellow skinned onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves Garlic, cracked away from skin
1 tsp Crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup Extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Coarse salt and pepper
2 cups Shredded Parmesan
4 6 to 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 Plum Roma tomatoes or small, vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
15-20 leaves Fresh basil, pile leaves, roll then thinly slice -- chiffonade

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Cut fingerling potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on thickness of fingerlings -- thin, small fingerlings may also be left hole, larger potatoes should be quartered to speed cooking process. If you are using small red potatoes, halve or quarter them in the same way.

Cover a large cookie sheet with foil. Place potatoes on cookie sheet. Combine with peppers and onions, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Coat the potatoes, peppers and onions with extra-virgin olive oil just enough to coat vegetables in a thin layer, 2 to 3 tablespoons. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Place potatoes in the oven and roast 20 to 22 minutes, until potatoes are just tender and peppers and onions are crisp at edges. Toss mixture with tongs, turning the potatoes after 15 minutes. When the potatoes are cooked, transfer them to a serving dish and peel the foil off the cookie sheet and discard for super-quick clean up!

While potatoes cook, prepare chicken. Roll out a 2-foot piece of waxed paper or foil near the stove top. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat -- your pan must be very hot when the chicken is added. Pile the shredded cheese on the work surface created with the waxed paper or foil. Season your chicken breasts with black pepper but no salt; the cheese will add enough salt to the taste of the dish. Press the breasts firmly into the cheese. Coat both sides of breasts with as much cheese as possible. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet, 1 turn of the pan. Set breasts into the skillet and cook 7 minutes on each side, until cheese forms an even, golden casing around the tender chicken breasts.

While chicken cooks, combine chopped tomatoes with basil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.
Drain off any excess oil from chicken as you remove it from the skillet. Top chicken with big spoonfuls of raw sauce and serve with potatoes, peppers and onions.

So, now onto the red wines – there are three that deserve highlighting…a Pinot Noir, a very interesting Nebbiolo and a hearty Cabernet Merlot blend. The Pinot Noir came from Lake Erie North Shore – from Colio Estate Wines – and is a part of the renowned 2007 vintage. One sip of this wine and you know that the 2007 vintage in Ontario is all that it is cracked up to be. Normally, and it is the safe way of doing it, red wine gets paired with red meat – but I have never been one for playing it safe and when it comes to pairing red wine, I will always break down the barriers and try some white meat dishes. For the Colio Estate CEV 2007 Pinot Noir, I am taking cue from the fact that it asks for a quarter cup of red wine in the sauce and suggesting my Chicken in Cherry Sauce instead of a red meat dish.

Chicken in Cherry Sauce

3 tbsp. Margarine
4 Large chicken breasts, halved
Salt
Pepper

Cherry sauce:

3 tbsp. Butter
1 cup Chopped onion
1 Garlic clove, minced
½ cup Chopped celery
1 cup Grated carrot
¼ cup All purpose flour
1 tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
Cloves
2 tsp. Beef bouillon powder
1 cup Water
¼ cup Red wine
14 oz. Canned cherries with juice, halve & discard pits
2-4 tbsp. Chopped walnuts

Melt margarine in frying pan. Add chicken breasts. Brown well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until tender. Remove to another container to keep hot.
Cherry sauce: Melt butter in frying pan. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Sauté until soft.
Mix in flour, salt, pepper, cloves and bouillon powder. Add water and wine. Stir until it boils and thickens. Add pitted cherries and juice. Return to a boil.
Remove skin from chicken breast. Pull meat from bone keeping in one piece. To serve, chicken breasts may be left in 1 piece or cut into slices. Lay slices, overlapping, on 1 side of plate. Spoon sauce over top.
Sprinkle with walnuts. Serve remainder of sauce in separate bowl. Makes 8 servings.

Now on to the Nebbiolo – a grape varietal that is not commonly planted in Ontario but that is producing interesting results. For a wine like this you want something hearty because the wine has a wide variety of flavours and aromas and a medium big mouthfeel. You could put this wine with a rather fancy steak or roast dinner but I thought we would keep it simpler today and try it with a burger.

The Ultimate Burger

Yields 4

Balsamic Glazed Onions

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Large red onions, peeled, halved & cut into ½ inch slices
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Portobello Mushrooms

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
6 oz Portobello Mushrooms, sliced ½ inch thick
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled & finely chopped

Burger

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 lb Ground beef, formed into 8 oz patties
Salt & Pepper, to taste
6 1 ½ oz slices Brie Cheese
6 Poppy seed Egg buns, split & toasted
2 Ripe tomatoes, sliced
6 Small handfuls fresh Arugula
Garlic mayonnaise

Directions:

Balsamic Glazed Onions

In a heavy bottomed sauté pan over medium heat melt olive oil and butter. When hot add the onions, season and toss to coat the onions with the oil. Cooks the onions until they begin to soften. Raise the heat to high and add the balsamic vinegar. Stir until the balsamic has reduced and coated the onions. Pour the onions into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to macerate. The onions can be refrigerated up to a week and are a delicious condiment in sandwiches or pasta dishes.

Portobello Mushrooms

In a heavy bottomed sauté pan over medium heat melt olive oil and butter. When hot add the portobello mushrooms and season. Brown the mushrooms on one side and then on the other side. Just before removing from the pan add the garlic to the mushrooms and sauté for several minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside. The mushrooms can be done several days in advance and refrigerated until needed.

Burger

Add 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil to two heavy bottomed sauté pans. Heat the oil over medium high heat and when hot add the beef patties, three per pan. Season the burgers and cook until well browned on one side. Flip the burger over and continue to cook on the other side until the desired doneness is reached – eight to twelve minutes total.

Just before serving lay some of the mushroom slices on each of the burgers and top with the brie cheese. Turn the heat on underneath the pan and cover with a lid for several minutes to melt the Brie. Lay some of the balsamic onions on the bottom of the bun and top with the tomato slices. Garnish the top of the bun with some garlic mayonnaise. Add the burger to the bun, top with arugula and serve.

Now, our final wine of the evening is the Vineland Estate Winery’s 2005 Cabernet Merlot Reserve. Now, this wine is a powerhouse – fruit, jam, a little bit of vegetal in the aromas and flavours. It is meant for big meat and it fits perfectly with the Cocoa-Crusted Tenderloin with Stilton Crumble recipe I have.

Cocoa-Crusted Tenderloin with Stilton Crumble

2 ½ lbs Beef Tenderloin roast
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp Coarsely ground pepper
2 tbsp Cocoa, sifted if lumpy
2 tbsp Smoked sweet Paprika
1 ¼ tsp Salt
2 oz Stilton cheese, crumbled

Rub entire surface of roast with olive oil. Combine next five ingredients and rub over roast. Prepare grill for indirect medium-high heat with a drip pan. Cook for 30 minutes, then rotate roast 180 degrees. Cook for about 30 minutes until internal temperature reaches 145°F (63°C) for medium-rare or until roast reaches desired doneness. Cover with foil and let stand for 15 minutes. Cut roast into ½ inch thick slices and then sprinkle with Stilton cheese. Serves 8.

So, after all of this, I hope you have some great ideas for summer cooking and grilling as well as some great wines to pair it with. If you try any of these recipes with different wines and like the combination, feel free to post back here what wine it was and what you thought. I’m sure we would all love to try a different combination given the

Cellared in Canada wine - a follow up

About a month and a half ago I created a blog entry (see "Enough is Enough") about the deplorable and unforgivable situation the Government of Canada and the LCBO has created for our 160 wineries currently operating within the borders of Ontario. Just to refresh everyone's memories, here is a definition of Cellared in Canada wine and the issues surrounding this that affect our wineries.

"Cellared in Canada is a term used to designate Canadian wine which is produced with varying quantities of Canadian and foreign bulk wine. Other allowed terms are "Product of Canada" and "Vinted in Canada". In British Columbia, Cellared in Canada wine is produced from 100 percent foreign content (although industry websites make no mention of the practice, which is not regulated by the British Columbia Wine Authority). In Ontario, Cellared in Canada wine is allowed to be produced from a blend of no more than 70 percent foreign-sourced content and a minority percentage of Ontario wine. The only indication of origin is found on the back of the bottle."

The Issues:

1. Only the larger wineries in the province can afford to purchase wines from foreign countries so there is an incredible power differential at play here.

2. The LCBO actively puts Cellared in Canada wine on THE EXACT SAME SHELVES as VQA Ontario wines in the local stores. This creates confusion because when the general public purchases a bottle of wine, they are looking at the price, looking at the name above the shelf and are assuming that the wine is all from Ontario. As the definition indicates above, "the only indication of origin is found on the back of the bottle".

3. Education - This encompasses both the general public and the staff in the local LCBO stores. The average employee in a LCBO store is operating under a major misconception - either "Cellared in Canada" equates to the same thing as VQA Ontario wine (which is required to be made from 100% Ontario grapes) or "Cellared in Canada" wines means the wines contain 70% Ontario grapes, which is actually the amount of maximum foreign content allowed.

So, where do we stand now with this issue? Well, if you do a Google Search for "Cellared in Canada", the second entry in the results is a link to the Boycott "Cellared in Canada" wines group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119899540133#/group.php?gid=119899540133) and from there you will find over 600 people - with the numbers growing daily - who want to learn more about the issue and who are passionate about the issue. The links section to the group is growing on a weekly basis with links to news articles and websites who are writing about this article. Here is a short list of the current link entries:

St. Catharines Standard
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1469322

Ottawa Citizen
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/food/When%20Ontario%20wine%20Ontario%20wine/1353504/story.html


Sudbury Star
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1455062

Jancis Robinson
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/winenews050928.html


Ottawa Sun
http://www.ottawasun.com/Lifestyle/2008/11/19/7458436-sun.html

So, what can you do to help? A lot of this is about education - when you buy wine, and you are wanting a wine from Ontario, are you actually buying something that was made in Ontario? As I mentioned, the only way to find a "Cellared in Canada" wine is to look at the origin on the back label of a bottle. When you are in an LCBO store, flip the bottle around to the back so that you educate yourself as to where this wine was actually made.

Actually, I challenge you to take it one step further - if you want to buy Ontario wine, DO NOT buy it from the LCBO. Of the 160 wineries currently operating in the province of Ontario, only 31 wineries currently can be found on the shelves of LCBO stores. That equates to less than 20% representation of Ontario wines by the LCBO which means they are not promoting their own industry. This is despite a major marketing campaign entitled "Meet the Makers, Savour the Flavours" - talk about hypocritical.

So, how do you get your hands on Ontario wine without going to the LCBO? Are you aware that EVERY winery in the province is willing to ship wine directly to your front door - or your office? Better yet, spring is definitely right around the corner - we can feel it in the weather this week - so why not take a weekend road trip to the many wineries available throughout the province? If you are in the Greater Toronto Area this coming weekend (March 20th-22nd), why not stop by the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show and visit the booths of the Ontario wineries who will be there to pour their wines? That way, you have a chance to sample some great wines before actually buying a full bottle of it. I am positive that you will find at least one wine from Ontario - which is NOT a Cellared in Canada wine - that you love and will want more of.

A Legend in his Own Right –John Marynissen 1925-2009

John came to Canada in 1952 with his wife Adriana by his side. Johannes (John) Marynissen was born in the Netherlands; had spent some hard years during World War II working in a German Munitions factory; and had lived in the underground for the final years of the war. The same year that John and Adriana wed, they decided to find adventure and a new life in Canada. So, they made their way here for a new life of exciting possibilities and new beginnings.

When they came to Canada, they had less than $100 but John and Adriana made their way to the Niagara region; saw the potential in the land; settled here; and never looked back. John’s first job was picking fruit at a local farm. A few years later they purchased the farm where the winery now stands.

John Marynissen was a true pioneer in the Ontario wine industry. When people told him it could not be done, he set about to prove that it could. He was always ready to push the limits of what was perceived to be possible with grape growing and nothing could be more visible than when John decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in his vineyards, becoming the first to plant the grape anywhere in Canada – back in 1978. That same year, John was honoured with the title of Grape King due to his numerous years of planting and growing grapes which were sold to the local wineries that were opening and flourishing. Aside from growing grapes for the local wineries, John was spending some of his free time – not that there was much of that – trying his hand at winemaking.

His early years as an amateur winemaker saw him winning multiple awards and, in 1990, after much convincing by family and friends, John, with the help of his family, opened Marynissen Estates Winery. Although it would have been fairly easy for John to expand the business due to the very high demand for his quality red wines, he made the conscious decision to keep the operation small and focus on quality. That decision has paid off for them in the long run. The winery will be celebrating it’s 20th anniversary next year and has become known as a must visit winery when you are looking for great Cabernet Sauvignon – which, in theory, should not have survived the cold temperatures of Ontario – as well as a variety of other great wines.

Aside from a variety of awards won during his amateur winemaking years, John went on to win the Cuvee award for Best Red Wine in 1996 and 1997, the first Grapes for Humanity award by Tony Aspler and the Ontario Wine Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Perhaps the best way to sum up who John Marynissen was came from wine writer Shari Darling on the news of his passing. “I love and loved John. What I love most was his humility and brilliant simplicity in making such high quality wine. He was such a major contribution in building our confidence in the realm of Ontario’s ability to create world class reds. I will miss him. He is part of our terroir.”

So Much Wine...So Little Time

In the last two weeks, I have been to nothing less than six wine tastings – it’s just that time of year. You would think with the amount of wines I have tasted in this time frame that a lot of it would be lost in my memory banks forever but there has been a common thread throughout most of these tastings of one particular wine that has stood out – Shiraz (or Syrah)!

Let’s start with the Languedoc-Roussilon tasting on September 22nd at the Rosewater Supper Club. There were 85-90 wines in the room that day and although several stood out, the real knockouts were the Syrah’s, most especially that $100 bottle of wine tucked away in the one corner that was actually a Syrah blended with Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre. Currently only available by private order through Wine World Importers, the Chateau de Serame L’Icone (AOC Corbieres) was unbelievably amazing. A powerhouse in every sense of the world, the aromas were chocolate, coffee and just the right amount of berry while the palate was silky smooth with a finish that seemed to go on forever. There was incredible structure to this wine and if you want to get your hands on this delectable treat, contact World Wine Importers at http://www.worldwineimporters.com. Other wines that deserved honourable mentions were Chateau de Gourgazaud (AOC Minervois) which, at $13.00 a bottle, is a great value and is ready to drink now and the Azzaro Syrah from Vins de Pays d’Oc which has this wonderfully complex nose of chocolate, berries, currants that follow through to a taste that has light tannins and the perfect amount of spice. At $14.30 a bottle, it is also another great value find and they are both readily available on the general list (non-Vintages) of the LCBO. By the way, until October 11th, the Chateau de Gourgazaud is also one of the LCBO’s Air Miles Bonus products so if you are a collector, this is a great wine to pick up.

The following night, at the University of Toronto Faculty Club, I attended a tasting dedicated solely to Shiraz’s and Syrah’s from a variety of wine regions around the world. The Ontario Wine Society decided they wanted to compare the best that Ontario had to offer against one wine from the Rhone Valley of France and one wine from Australia. Before I go into details, let me just say that the Ontario wines did not disappoint. The events director of the Ontario Wine Society – Gerry Arbus - is a huge believer in the merits of blind wine tastings and this event was no exception. In an Ontario Wine Society first, I believe, our guest speaker was able to correctly identify each and every one of the eight wines. However, when you consider that our guest speaker was none other than John Szabo, the ONLY Master Sommelier in Canada, it really shows that his education has served him well and will continue to do so for a number of years to come. All that Gerry asked of the rest of us is to try to pick out the French wine, the Australian wine and choose a favourite. Well, picking the favourite was the easy one and some people were able to pick out either the French or the Australian and a small group of us managed to pick out both. For myself, I managed to pick out the Australian and my favourite was the final one of the evening – the Peninsula Ridge 2006 Syrah Reserve. If I had to choose a second favourite, it would have easily gone to the 2004 Reserve Shiraz from Creekside Estate Wines. The great thing is that each and every wine brought something different to the table. With each wine we tasted, we encountered different aromas and flavours when, for me at least, I was expecting some similarities. Just the way I’ve heard the weather described in some regions around this world, “if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes” when it came to these wines, “if you don’t like this one, try the next one.” Chances are that if you didn’t like one wine you liked the next and all around, it was a great selection of wines showing a wide range of styles and diversity. When I asked people after the fact how they felt about this particular tasting, the response was all favourable. The wines were great, the speaker was great, the food definitely seems to be improving and is now at an acceptable level in our eyes. Clear choices on favourites in the wine were the Creekside Estate Wines 2004 Shiraz Reserve and the Peninsula Ridge Estate Winery 2006 Syrah Reserve. John had started out the evening by saying that in the last ten years we have had a real boom in Shiraz or Syrah plantings worldwide. Originally, the largest plantings were in the Rhone Valley of France with the second largest area spreading across the wine regions of Australia but, in Ontario, we now have major plantings ourselves and our wines are starting to show real potential. Craig McDonald, winemaker at Creekside Estate Wines, had these thoughts to express to us, “If you can get your hands on the 2005 and 2007 vintages they will definitely change your context of Ontario wines.” This can be just as easily said about any red wine from the 2005 vintage and any wine that was made in Ontario in 2007.

As I just mentioned, from the Ontario Wine Society tasting, the Peninsula Ridge Estate Winery 2006 Syrah Reserve was my personal favourite and later that week I was able to present that particular wine to a group of fifty people in the northern town of Kapuskasing. TJ Jacobs, aka The Ontario Wine Guy, and myself travelled up to this wonderful little town of less than 10,000 people to have some amazing food and drink some amazing wine all in an effort to help the Animal Rescue of Kapuskasing raise some much needed funds for their cause. While the menu was in the planning stages for this dinner, we decided we were going to challenge the conventional thought that you need to pair white wines with white meat and red wines with red meat. With a wide variety of meat that was donated by Golden Beef, we pushed the limits of conventional thinking by putting both a Pinot Grigio and a Fume Blanc with the beef. Now, when it came to the main entree, we had four different cuts of beef and two wines to pair it with – the 2006 Fume Blanc and the 2006 Syrah Reserve, both from Peninsula Ridge Estate Winery. The interesting thing about this course was that two of the cuts of beef paired well with the Fume Blanc and two of the cuts paired extremely well with the Syrah Reserve. Both from the same winemaker, J-L Groux, they both have a distinctive French style to them which seemed to give them some extra versatility and some added complexity to draw upon when pairing it with the food.

This particular week, I attended two tastings – one showcasing the entire portfolio of the Profile Wine Group and one dedicated to the wines of Chile. At the Profile Wine Group’s portfolio tasting, I found a couple of great tasting Shiraz’s from Australia – the Coriole Vineyard 2006 Estate Shiraz and the Maverick Wines 2005 Trial Hill Eden Valley Shiraz. The Coriole Vineyard Shiraz was made from 40 year old vines and produced a wine that was not overpowering, had great structure and firm tannins. The Maverick Wines Shiraz had a great set of aromas – light berry and earthy notes abounding. The flavours brought interesting twists and turns every few seconds and ended in a medium long finish. It was like this wine was evolving in your mouth – constantly changing – and it made it one of those wines that could quite easily be drunk on its own despite being a heavy red wine. Since both of these wines were at the large portfolio tasting, they are readily available through Profile Wine Group who can be reached through their website: http://www.profilewinegroup.com. The final tasting of the week was the Chilean Wine Festival on October 1st at the Distillery District. Although there were several wines there that received decent marks in my book – between three and four stars out of five – there was only two wines the entire afternoon that stood out as outstanding. Both were from Vina Valdivieso and, in Ontario, both are available through Carriage Trade Wine & Spirits (http://www.carriagetradewines.com). The non Shiraz wine that was absolutely outstanding was the 2006 Single Vineyard Malbec from the Lontue Valley while the Shiraz was their 2006 Single Vineyard Estate Syrah from the Central Valley. Although they were both big, bold red wines, they each brought something different to the table. Both had strong, aromatic noses and great structure and flavours on the palate. The best thing about these two wines is that they were both coming in at around the $20-25 range and they both have the potential to age for a number of years or could easily be drunk now. Like most of the Australian Shiraz’s available on the market, the Syrah had a lot of berry, jammy flavours with intense spices making it a definite fruit bomb that was exploding at every turn. Although I don’t believe this wine could have really gotten any better than it was, it might have been interesting to see it again in ten minutes but, alas, this was the last wine of the day and they were closing the doors for the afternoon.

Although the last four weeks have been filled with a wide variety of wine tastings, and there are still a couple more in the next week, I can definitely say that there have been some mediocre wines, there have been some good wines and then there have been the great wines that I mentioned above. Be sure to take some time to pick up a bottle and try them for yourself – you won’t be disappointed. By the way, for the wines from Ontario, contact the individual wineries directly as they will be happy to ship them to you or entertain you at their wineries.