Savvy Company: From the Bosc Family

The blog might be on hiatus, but I did have a chance to chat with Michele Bosc about what's new at Chateau des Charmes recently. You can check out my article over on the Savvy Company website.

Cheers!

Guest posting on Uncork Ontario: Domaine Darius

Hey all!

So while I can't seem to find the time to write on my own blog, somehow I've managed to put together a guest post for Uncork Ontario about my experience at Domaine Darius. This is yet another small-scale, passion-fueled, committed-to-quality winery in the County with its own story to tell. The wines are spectacular; call ahead to see what they have in stock, though - it sells out fast!

You can also have a look at my queue-and-eh with Uncork's host, Shawn McCormick, here.

Cheers!

The quirky, eclectic gardens at Domaine Darius; view from the tasting cave.

#ToRichard

Richard Karlo was the kind of guy who would drop everything to help a neighbour with a tractor issue or tank problem. The kind of guy who would come all the way in from the back 40 to say hello and tell you stories about his wines. The kind of guy who was eager to make you feel at home.

I first met Richard at Savvy Company's inaugural County in the City show. I was finally able to put a face to the Twitter handle: wide smile, strong handshake and big, room-filling laugh. From that point on, it seemed like every time I bumped into Richard, it was like meeting up with an old friend.

There was nothing better than sitting at the tasting bar in their massive barn in Prince Edward County, impervious to the passage of time, while Richard and Sherry poured samples and chatted. His impressive portfolio of reds, whites, rosés and fortified wines stand as a testament to his genius and to his passion. A wide range of styles and flavours, something for everyone to enjoy. His Frontenac Gris will remain my favourite; a blushing, orange-tinged rosé that smelled and tasted like nothing I'd ever had before ... or ever will again.

The County lost one of its greats this week with Richard's passage. In a digital outpouring of grief, Twitter responded with a flurry of toasts tagged #ToRichard - a fitting send-off for a talented winemaker and an unforgettable man.

We'll miss you, Richard Karlo.

***

Funeral details are available on the Karlo Estates Facebook page.
Donations in Richard's memory can be made to the Loyalist Humane Society (Picton, Ontario)

What the Truck?!?!

Shut the front door! Wine trucks? I'd heard of food trucks (who hasn't, really, they're everywhere and filled with far more than your traditional chips and hot dogs these days.) But a wine truck? This I had to see.

In conversation: WineWire Pop-Up Wine Shop

WineWire Pop-Up Shop107 Murray Street (in the Byward Market), Ottawa. Friday, 12-8 p.m. 

The evening has been nothing less than perfect. Dinner at your favourite restaurant, where the chef creates impeccable constructs of culinary art, where the gracious staff are there to attend to your every need, where the wine pairs perfectly with each delicious morsel.

That wine. What was it again? Where did the sommelier say it was from? Oh right. But you can't get it at the LCBO ...

That wine. Must find that wine.

Enter WineWire.ca

#winebandnames

Here's what us wineaux do for fun on a Friday afternoon on Twitter:

We're having fun on a Friday, playing #winebandnames Who's in? > here's one: "Little Feet Stomping Grapes"
— Ken Alawine Waggoner (@alawine) March 21, 2014

Things very quickly went off the rails for me ... (Productivity what??)

Spring: Are We There Yet?

Yesterday, it was 4 degrees Celsius. The sun was shining, there were birds singing, snow was melting and ... could it possibly be true? ... there was GRASS along the side of the road.

Today, they're calling for upwards of 15cms of snow and a wind chill of -26.

Want spring? Can't have it. Quit renting space in my brain, Mother Nature.

An #Untweetable Weekend - the Waring House

You may recall a few weeks back when I had the good fortune of winning Wine Country Ontario's #Untweetable challenge with my photo of the dry-stone bridge at Karlo Estates. Well, what with it being our 10th wedding anniversary and all, Hubby and I decided to cash it in.

The package from WCO included an all-expenses-paid stay at the Waring House, just outside of Picton, along with scheduled stops at a few County wineries and lunch at Norm Hardie. Um, YES PLEASE.

WBC13: A Learning Process

In between all the tastings, trips, tours, dinners, breakfasts and late (late!) nights, the meat-and-potatoes of the conference was all about learning. From the experts, other bloggers, industry people and winemakers, in one- and two-hour chunks of brain-buzzing intensity.

"Who here doesn't use Google Analytics?" I put up my hand. It was the ONLY one up in the entire room. I blushed to the roots of my hair and slowly put it down again. Note to self: start using Google Analytics (whatever they are ...)

Top: Live Wine Blogging - Reds
Bottom L-R: learning about alternatives to cork; live wine blogging - whites;
meeting Mr. Bill c311 himself, MP Dan Albas

#indulgePEC: The Art

Yup, there's wine and food a-plenty in the County. When you've had your fill of both (or just need a moment to digest before the next round, as we were doing on our tour) there are countless art studios, galleries and shops to visit along the Arts Trail.

The County is home to a close-knit community of visual, media and craft artists, many of them working out of their own homes or offering tours of their studios.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves ...

(PS - that pretty, shiny thing right there? It's not even supposed to be art. It's a colour tester from Mark Armstrong's workshop. A piece knocked off the end of a stick, likely destined for the recycle bin. But I love it.)

#indulgePEC: The Place

In the first year of #indulgePEC, small knots (herds? bunches? flocks?) of bloggers were sent to different B&Bs throughout the county. This time around, the whole lot of us ruled the roost at Angeline's Bloomfield Inn. 

Grapes on Film

Picture this: The Mayfair Theatre, early evening, on a Saturday. A triple bill is advertised on the marquee: Mondovino, Bottle Shock and SOMM. The line-up is snaking down Bank Street as a crowd of vintage aficionados, sommelier students and wine geeks flock to catch this rare vinous-themed movie day.

Even better: along with the best movie popcorn in town are a selection of Ontario whites and reds, even a bottle or two of superb bubbly, served up by a savvy sommelier with a smile. Trays of fancy-pants canapés done up by a local caterer are being circulated through the crowd.

Tickets, wine and snacks in hand, you move into the dimly-lit interior of the theatre and settle into one of the plush red seats. Or maybe curl up on one of the loveseats in the balcony. Either way, you are set. The lights go down, the curtains go up ... it's showtime, wineaux-style!

How cool would THAT party be?

Wine Beyond Borders (no, this is not a fundraiser)

Just in case you were wondering, I *do* drink wines from places other than Ontario, despite the fact that my last few posts and tweets may have given the impression that I'm a one-woman marketing board for provincially crafted products.

My favourite wine right now (and a contender for the top spot of Most Favourite Wine EV-AH) is Hatfield's Fuse, a white blend from Blasted Church, in the Okanagan.You may recall that I've mused upon its merits in the past, but there's something extra-special about that half-case that was delivered earlier this year:

GIDDY UP. Just bought myself a belated Christmas present: six bottles of @blastedchurch Hatfield's Fuse! YEAH!!!!!! #loveyourself
— bethany harpur (@2ndferment) January 7, 2013

The 2011 features spring-like whiffs of grapefruit, lemon zest, flint and blossoms in full bloom, followed by a tangle of delicate taste strands carrying that same tropical/citrus fruit theme. It's tangy enough to sip on its own or have as a late-afternoon apéro, but with enough fullness and fruity weight to pair with a meal. (I'll admit, I've been doing a great deal more of the former than the latter.)

The story behind Blasted Church certainly adds to the charm of the wine, as do the nifty caricatures frolicking on their labels. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll somehow find a way to make it to their winery in June while I'm at the wine blogger's conference.

 

Ontario Wines: What's Not to Love?

This week was like a big ol' love-in for Ontario wines.

Taste!Ontario at the National Gallery

VQA Head-to-Head: Wine Swap

Know those cookie exchanges that happen around Christmas, where you trade a dozen of your baked goods with others until you have a full set of sweets to cover the holidays? Well, imagine if we replaced the cookies with WINE. Every guest brings a case and they trade out 11 bottles with other guests so that, at the end of the night, each person has a mixed box of new things to try. Um, YES PLEASE.

Wordless Wednesday: 24 days of wine

Now THIS is an advent calendar I could get used to ... Hope everyone's Christmas was merry and bright!

Talk about it, buy it, drink it: Go Local

LCBO's annual GoLocal campaign is in full swing, and I was surprised, and quite pleased, to see some newcomers and fresh rebranding in the shop's latest flyer. When and where had all these intriguing wineries popped up? Vinology? O'Leary? G.Marquis? More importantly, have I been living under the proverbial rock and missing all the fun?

WBC 2013 Here I Come!

I just signed up for my first-ever Wine Bloggers Conference: June 6-8, 2013, in Penticton, British Columbia. Holy crap am I stoked.

Wine&Cheese with Natalie MacLean: A Google+ Production

What happens when you mix wine and cheese with modern technology, and hand the reins to a bunch of cheery (did someone say tipsy?) wine aficionados? This:



Oh, we had a few technical glitches, and there were some control issues to contend with, but hey - it all worked out in the end. And we had a great deal of fun in the process.

On second thought

I feel for winemakers. A critic's first impression, usually done during a tasting of four dozen other wines hastily swished and spat, can make or break a wine. Whether the wine needs decanting, or if it's too young, or if it needs to get over a bad case of bottle shock, tant pis. (Of course, good critics will make note of such circumstances before lambasting a particular wine into oblivion.)