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      Sunday
      21Feb2010

      2008 Syrah Rosé - Stonechurch Vineyards

      DateSunday, February 21, 2010 at 8:26PM

      This is one of the wines that I picked up while I was visiting wineries during the Niagara Ice Wine Festival. The first stop that we made was at Stonechurch Vineyards. Ever since I tried the rosé from Malivoire I have been on the hunt for other good rosés. When i went into Stonechurch they encouraged me to try the 2008 Syrah Rosé that had just been released. I haven't found very many Syrah's in Ontario that I like but until visiting Stonechurch Vineyards I had never tried a Syrah Rosé from ANYWHERE before. I would definitely drink an Ontario Syrah Rosé again. This particular rosé has a strong green pepper on the nose. The initial taste is also of green pepper, it is very refreshing. The mid-palate is red fruit, such as strawberry, with some of the familiar pepper that you get from a syrah, and the finish is still of red fruit but I get more of the bitterness and tang of raspberry. I think that this wine would pair really well with fish, seafood, or even grilled chicken.

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
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      Wednesday
      17Feb2010

      The Generosity of Wine Lovers and Foodies

      DateWednesday, February 17, 2010 at 8:09PM

      Last week I had the opportunity to attend Eat, Drink and Give to raise money for the Doctors Without Borders disaster relief in Haiti. On February 9, 2010 several local restaurants, wineries and wine distributors gathered in donated space at Roy Thomson Hall for an evening of good food, drink and music. It was truly amazing to see how many vendors, wine lovers and foodies turned out in order to raise well over $40 000 for Doctors Without Borders. It was such a relaxed atmosphere and everyone looked like they were having a really good time. I particularly enjoyed eating a scrumptious Buddha Dog while sipping some Cabernet Sauvignon from Megalomaniac. Who knew that a hot dog could taste so good AND go with wine??

      On a more serious note, there were several speakers who addressed the crowd, one of whom was Communications Advisor/ International Press Advisor for Doctors Without Borders, Isabelle Jeanson. Isabelle had recently returned home from Haiti and had some stories to share. I felt uneasy standing there in nice clothes, in a beautiful building, eating and drinking while so many people in Haiti had lost everything. However, I felt proud to be a part of such a generous community. I have been following Isabelle Jeanson on Twitter since she went to Haiti immediately after the earthquake. Through her tweets I have been keeping up to date with everything that Doctors Without Borders has been doing in Port-Au-Prince and the surrounding area and I know they are doing tremendous work. Hopefully with the money that was raised they can help many more people.

      Thank you to everyone who organized and attended Eat, Drink and Give!

      AuthorShannon Slakinski | CommentPost a Comment |
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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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