Welcome to Second Ferment! Wine pairs well with life ... and food, travel, people, work and play. Grab a glass and join me as I explore the wine scene in Ottawa, Canada, and beyond. Love hearing from my readers, so please leave a comment. Cheers! - Bethany

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Oh Canada!

The nation turned 147 years old today, but us Canadian wine fans have been partying it up for a few days now.


June 28 was the second annual Canadian Wine Day, the anniversary of Bill C-311, which brought an end to Prohibition-era restrictions on the inter-provincial movement of wine. Notwithstanding some provinces still balking at the idea (without actually having a legal leg to stand on) we celebrated with plenty of samples from coast to coast.

Co-creator of #CDNWineDay Shawn McCormick, of Uncork Ontario, and his charming wife Debbie opened their lovely abode to a good-sized crowd of folks, all of whom brought at least one bottle each. That's a lot of wine!

Hubby and the kids enjoyed swimming in the stunningly landscaped backyard pool and playing with a trio of mop-haired dogs that kept them in fits of giggles. Meanwhile, Mummy chatted with her tweeps about such critical issues as oaked vs unoaked, archaic wine laws, the latest Vintages release, and what I liked about whatever was currently in my glass.

I was excited to try some new Quebec wines, many of which are hard to come by (the SAQ, much like the LCBO, frequently falls short of supporting their local producers.) The Marathonien was crisp and herbaceous, and the Carone was as delicious as I remembered it.

Also enjoyed several whites from Niagara-based Konzelmann, Chateau des Charmes and Leaning Post

For my part, I pulled a Rosewood 2006 Cherry Honey from the cellar, probably the oldest bottle in my humble little collection. This was from one of our first Niagara visits, back when Rosewood first opened. I had no idea how it would taste, and anxiously tweeted Krystina Roman at the winery for input:


The goofy grin on my face pretty much says it all. My "library" wine had aged quite well; ambrosial, to say the least.

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