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      Friday
      05Feb2010

      Trumpour's Mill 2007 Pinot Gris

      DateFriday, February 5, 2010 at 8:06PM

      After spending the afternoon taking care of my sick boys I've decided to kick back and try something new. I have just opened up a bottle of The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards and Estate Winery's Trumpour's Mill 2007 Pinot Gris from Prince Edward County. It has been years since I've tried anything from Canada's newest wine region and Pinot Gris is not something I drink very often. This wine has a nice bright straw colour. I didn't get much on the nose. The taste is light and I definitely get apple and some tropical notes. The acidity and minerality balances out this wine well. This wine reminds me of summer. I would love to sit out on a hot sunny day and sip this wine all by itself. If you wish to pair it with food, I would definitely say chicken or seafood, something that won't overpower this light fruity wine.

       

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
      Wednesday
      20Jan2010

      Niagara Ice Wine Festival

      DateWednesday, January 20, 2010 at 9:30PM

      Well I had a great time at the Niagara Ice Wine Festival, how about you? Since I was out with the kids I only had a chance to visit 3 wineries but it was a great afternoon nonetheless. We stopped in at Stonechurch Vineyards, Southbrook Vineyards and Strewn Winery. We also tasted a lot more than just ice wines, however for this post I'll focus specifically on the ice wines from Southbrook. Southbrook offered 2 Vidal ice wines for tasting, a 2004 barrel fermented and a 2005 steel fermented. I thought both of them were fantastic. At the time, I thought I liked the 2005 better but now that I think back, I really want to try the 2004 again! The 2004 barrel fermented Vidal tasted like baked apples to me, delicious. A lot of people think that it actually tastes like Christmas cake! It definitely has a sweetness and breadiness to it that the 2005 steel fermented ice wine does not have. The 2005 was much lighter in both taste and colour. Much more of the tropical notes came out, making me think that it would taste awesome with coconut. 

      On top of having the chance to taste some great ice wine, I also ran into Ann Sperling, the Director of Winemaking at Southbrook Wineries, and had a nice chat. We had met previously at Wine Camp TO. It is really nice that I'm starting to recognize people out at the wineries.

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
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      Wednesday
      13Jan2010

      The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

      DateWednesday, January 13, 2010 at 9:45PM

      I know I have been away for a while, but no I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about the Niagara Ice Wine Festival. That fantastic celebration that takes place during the coldest, darkest, dreariest time of the year, January. What better time to take a mid-winter break and head out into wine country to taste the wine that Canada is known for worldwide?

      To me ice wine conjures up some great memories. Just a few months after my husband and I got married we decided to take a short weekend trip to Niagara. When I travel I like to keep myself busy, so I decided to search around on the web for something to do. I came across an ad for an ice wine seminar at Konzelmann Estates. Knowing nothing about ice wine I thought I would sign us up and see what we could learn. Well, it was that event that started my passion for wine. As it turned out, by chance alone, the night before this seminar was the one and only night of the year that the frozen grapes were picked from the vine. The opportunity for me to taste the fresh pressed grape juice that was still cold from the freezing temperatures where the grapes came from was an eye opening experience. Wine and wine production has fascinated me ever since.

      If you have the opportunity to visit the Niagara region from January 15 - 31, I highly recommend participating in the festival. Take part in some tours or seminars, enjoy some great food and find out why Niagara ice wines are highly sought after both here in Ontario and on the other side of the world.

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
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      Sunday
      29Nov2009

      Fedex Direct Shipping Wine to Canadian Consumers

      DateSunday, November 29, 2009 at 8:26PM

      According to winelaw.ca, Fedex has announced that it is now legally allowed to direct ship wine from US wineries to Canadian consumers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. While this means a more open market, it also means that American wineries have an advantage over Canadian wineries due to the fact that it is still illegal to direct ship wine from one province to another. Even more strange, it seems that the main stakeholders in the Canadian wine industry had not been involved in the decision making or planning of this direct ship system.

      As someone who appreciates fine Canadian wine, and who would love to have the opportunity to order wine from other provinces, I am disappointed in this news. I am usually in support of opening up the market as I feel that this will only lead to stronger competition and therefore higher quality. However, I believe that the LCBO, AGBO and BCBO, as government controlled organizations, have the responsability to ensure that Canadians have the ability to easily support Canadian product. That means that Canadians should be allowed to ship wine from one province to another. I hope that by being legally allowed to ship wine from the US to certain Canadian provinces that this will lead to changes to the laws relating to shipping within Canada. I just wish that these changes would have come ahead of the announcement to allow US wines to be direct shipped the their northern neighbours.

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
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      Sunday
      15Nov2009

      2008 Inox Chardonnay - Peninsula Ridge Winery

      DateSunday, November 15, 2009 at 9:04PM

      If you are looking for a very light, fruity chardonnay with great minerality and acidity then the 2008 Inox Chardonnay from Peninsula Ridge Winery is it. This chardonnay tastes unlike any other chardonnay I have ever tried. Immediately upon tasting it I love the acidity and minerality. These are not often the first things I think of when I taste a chardonnay. Then on the long finish I can taste citrus fruit ranging from orange to lemon to lime. Although I can appreciate chardonnay, it is not one of my favourite varietals. However, this one stands out.

      For those of you who don't know what inox means, as I didn't, inox is another term for stainless steel. This would indicate that this wine is unoaked.

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
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