Michael Pinkus Wine Review - On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - Six Barrels for Six Chefs Huff Estates August 1, 2007

08 Aug 2007

Details: Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Huff Estates … a beautiful August evening in the county … a cooling breeze blowing through the vineyard … the smell of wood burning fire and cooking foods wafting in the air. Billed as “The Event of the Year” and for here in the county it just might have been: Six Barrels for Six Chefs featured two wines, one from Huff Estates and one from Norman Hardie, taken out of six different barrels with food pairings done by local, celebrity and renowned chefs. In attendance this evening were Bryan Steele (The Old Prune in Stratford); Jamie Kennedy (JK Restaurant); Ryan Crawford (Stone Road Grill in NOTL); Hiro Yoshida (Hiro Sushi); Michael Stadtlander (Eigensinn Farm) and Michael Potter (Harvest Restaurant).

Six Barrels/Six Chefs was the brainchild of Frederic Picard (winemaker for Huff) and Bryan Steele who, as legend has it, over a barrel tasting, thought it would be interesting to “Illustrate the nuances between the same wine aged in different oak barrels and how each one could be elevated when paired with food prepared by a great chef.” And what a fun and fantastic evening of food and wine it was – and educational at the same time, though I doubt most saw it that way... (Read more)

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Report from - Outer Limits of Ontario Wine Tasting - July 23, 2007

29 Jul 2007

Details: Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

They came from far and wide (all over Ontario anyway) bringing with them the odd, the unique, the strange and the unforgettable … and that was just the staff. What I’m really talking about here are the “Outer Limits” wines that came from places like Ottawa, Warkworth, Woodstock, Prescott, St. Thomas, Port Perry, Cedar Springs and countless other places you never expected wine to come from. They are the forgotten wineries, the ones you’ve never heard of, the ones opening on the frontiers and the fringes in places you’ve seen on a map or drove through on your way to somewhere else, but never stopped in. Sure there are some you recognize like Southbrook, Stoney Ridge, Lakeview, Peninsula Ridge and Black Prince; but for every one you know there are four more you don’t: Ocala, Scotch Block, Green Gables, Rush Creek and Birtch Farms. They are the wineries the VQA forgot; they make wines from fruits that aren’t grapes and grapes that aren’t vinifera or are located in a non-DVA (Designated Viticultural Area). Wines with names like Cherries n’ Chocolate, Tufford Fine Port, Crimson Cranberry, TGI Frontenac, Back From the Dead Red and Cabaret Franc. At this, the first, and hopefully annual, Ontario Wine Society hosted event – and spearheaded by Larry “little fat wino” Patterson – over 40 wineries brought more than 212 wines to sip and sample so we could see what’s going on in The Outer Limits of Ontario’s winemaking community.

Now there is no way to taste this many wines in an afternoon and still walk away upright – so I foregoed the Southbrooks and Sunnybrooks of the tasting and concentrated more on those lesser known wineries and those off the beaten track. Even with that as a goal in mind I plowed through quite a few wines. And so without further ado I bring you my Outer Limits Awards for 2007: ... (Read more)

Links you might be interested in checking out after reading this article:

Oak Heights Estate Winery
Coffin Ridge Boutique Winery
Countryman's Estate Winery
Crown Bench Estates Winery
Moon Shadows Estate Winery - Strawberry Shortcake review
Muskoka Lakes Winery - Rep Maple Dessert Wine review
Georgian Hills Vineyards
The County Cider Company
Villa Nova Estate Winery
Viewpointe Estates Winery
Downey's Estate Winery
Organizers - Larry "Little Fat Wino" Patterson - Ontario Wine Society

To check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog and all the other feature articles click here.