Featured Archives - Krista Lamb

Top 5 Ontario Wine Destinations

January 9, 2018

In our wine travels, Shawn and I have had the pleasure of visiting so many of Ontario’s best wine regions. We often get asked to suggest our favourites, so here is a brief overview of where we think you should go for an Ontario wine adventure.

Twenty Valley

When friends ask us what wineries to visit in Niagara-on-the-Lake, we often suggest the Twenty Valley area as an alternative. Most of our favourite wineries are found in this cluster of beautiful vineyards just a short drive from Niagara-on-the-Lake and it tends to be a little less touristy than the better known region. Plus, the area is just stunning. Visit Vineland Estates to take home some wine and stop into their excellent cheese shop, pop into Megalomanic for a bottle of Bubblehead and take in the extraordinary view, head over to Tawse to check out some of the best made wines in Canada and then cap it off with a wine and art adventure at 13^th Street Winery. Add on to that visit stops at Creekside Estate Winery, Westcott Winery and Fielding Estate and you have a pretty fantastic day of tasting ahead of you – to be honest, there are so many amazing wineries in this region that it’s a great idea to book yourself into one of the area’s many bed and breakfasts so you can enjoy them all.

Norfolk County

If you follow me on social media, you know about my love for Norfolk County. It’s a beautiful area that’s earned its name as Ontario’s Garden. Shawn and I had one of our most magical wine adventures when we were invited to take on a Zip ‘n’ Sip experience at Burning Kiln Winery and Long Point Eco Adventures. Spending a night in their gorgeous glamping campgrounds, checking out the stars in the observatory, enjoying lunch on the Burning Kiln patio and taking a zip line tour through the beautiful forest were just a few of the many, many highlights of our visit. Add in a stop at Blueberry Hill for some of their delicious cider (and fresh blueberries in season) and a stop at Ramblin’ Road Brewery Farm and you have the makings of one of your most memorable weekends away.

Niagara-on-the-Lake

You knew we’d be including this one, right? One of our favourite things to do in NOTL is to visit during one of the many wine festivals and pick up a tasting pass. Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake tasting passes are an excellent value – offering a wine and food pairing at all of the participating wineries – and they’re a great investment for a weekend visit (I highly recommend getting a designated driver pass if you are taking your vehicle). We recently visited for the Sip ‘n’ Sizzle event, as well as Taste the Season and we can’t wait to return for the annual Icewine Festival. Our favourite stops always include Chateau des Charmes, Ravine Vineyards, Two Sisters, Stratus, and the Niagara College Teaching Winery. Although, to be fair, we often choose our routes based on the pairings offered and that has led to some fantastic discoveries along the way!

Prince Edward County

Shawn and I love PEC so much that we almost bought a house there. What stopped us was the influx of tourists that have taken over this spot since we discovered it years ago. Now it can be hard to get a reservation at our favourite inns and restaurants, but the region is no less lovely to visit (just be prepared to plan way ahead). From Lighthall Vineyards to Huff Estates and everywhere in between, there is no shortage of great wine (and now beer) in the County. You can enjoy great shopping in each of the small town’s that make up the area and create a map that will help you get from Rosehall Run to Hubb’s Creek and out to Three Dog Winery on an excellent Ontario wine adventure.

Lake Erie North Shore

Want to hit an Ontario wine region a little further afield from Toronto? The LENS region might be perfect for you! It’s a beautiful, scenic area with lots to see and do. Shawn and I stayed at The Iron Kettle Inn in Comber, Ontario and absolutely loved it (you might recognize chef and owner, Benjamin Leblanc-Beaudoin, from his stint on Chopped Canada) and we had a fantastic time exploring the local wineries – Oxley Estate has a beautiful patio for lunch, as does Viewpointe Estates and the Wolfhead Distillery has great food *and* fantastic spirits. There’s also lots to see and do in the small towns and cities that make up this area. We can’t wait to go back again.

What are your favourite wine regions in the province? Is there anywhere you think we should check out? Share your suggestions with us in the comments below or on social!

Featured, Food & Wine

Faustino Back Vintages Tasting

October 22, 2017

One of the most magical things about wine is how some well-made bottles of certain wine types can often age so beautifully and with such unique results. An aged Riesling is a thing of beauty (the more petrol on the nose, the better the chances I’ll love it on the palate) and I’ve recently had the chance to enjoy some wonderful back vintages of wines from Rioja.

The colour on the 1987 is spectacular.

Earlier in October, I visited Wine Academy in Toronto where I had to taste through some of Faustino’s back vintages – small lots of which will be available through LCBO Vintages just in time for holiday shopping. Below are my thoughts on these four wines from one of Rioja’s most well-known wineries.

Faustino I 2005 Gran Reserva – This has a very deep, rich colour and plum, currant and smoke on the nose. The spices on the palate are rich and complex and the fruit is still very prominent. There was a long finish and good acidity – even at almost 14 percent alcohol, this wine felt very balanced and not overly alcoholic. A very good option to pick up now and cellar for the future.

Faustino I 1994 Gran Reserva – A very elegant nose with anise and bramble, which follow through on the palate. The fruit is still holding up well and this likely could be cellared for quite a few more years, making it a great investment at only $68.95. Of the four, this would be the one I’d recommend as a gift for a collector or wine lover who would like to see how a Rioja wine holds up.

Faustino I 1987 Gran Reserva – Available in very limited quantities at the LCBO this fall, this is quite a treat. Before 1999 many Rioja winemakers used white grapes in the blend (this practice is no longer allowed) and Faustino estimates that there may be about 3 percent white in this blend, which made for an interesting conversation about how that might affect acidity and flavour – if at all. This had a slight whiff of barnyard when initially poured (common on aged wines), but it dissipated as the wine opened up, leaving notes of old leather, tobacco and cumin. On the palate it held more dried fruit, but was still very smooth considering its age. The colour, a deep amber, was stunning. This is very drinkable now, but I don’t know if it has many more years left – a good option if you want to open soon.

Faustino 1 1970 Gran Reserva – Ah, the joys of drinking something made before you were even born. The nose held fig, dried fruit and almond and there was a surprising amount of fruit still on the palate – I would say even more than the 1987. There were some vegetal notes and a little more tannin with notes of fig and anise. Only 20 cases of 6 are available at the LCBO and at $151.95 for a bottle it’s a good holiday gift idea for that special wine lover on your list.

What is the oldest wine you’ve tried? Did you love it or do you prefer a younger bottle? Share your thoughts in the comments and on social.

Thanks to Bodegas Faustino for the opportunity to taste this very special collection of wine.

Featured

The 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference: Lessons Learned

October 14, 2015

This year, Shawn and I attended the Wine Bloggers Conference in the Finger Lakes. It was my second time attending the conference and Shawn’s first. As always, it was an exceptional event. We learned so much about the region and had the opportunity to attend a number of excellent seminars and activities. So what were some of the main takeaways?

* I want to be a better writer. One of the reasons I started this blog was to share my experiences with wine. Since then, it has grown exponentially and I often find myself rushing to keep up. Even with Shawn helping, running this blog takes a huge amount of my time – time I often don’t have. I think that affects the quality of the writing sometimes.

As someone who writes as part of her career and is the proud holder of a journalism degree, that’s not something I’m happy about. Listening to W. Blake Gray and Meg Houston Maker’s exceptional session on wine writing, I realized that I need to ensure I never forget that quality will always trump quantity. You can read Meg’s inspiring words to wine bloggers here.

* The facts are far more important than my opinion. W. Blake Gray is one of my favourite wine writers and bloggers and getting to meet and interact with him at this conference was hugely inspiring. One of the points he shared during his presentation was the above and it was a good reminder that I need to use my research skills more – less ‘I think’ and more ‘I know.’

Exploring Finger Lakes wine

* Trust my voice. Keynote speaker Karen MacNeil is another wine writing inspiration who I was able to meet at the conference. Her keynote was a spot-on reminder of why I do this and how I can improve. And now I can’t wait to read her new edition of The Wine Bible, one of my absolute favourite resources for wine information. A huge thanks to the conference organizers for bringing in such strong speakers this year – they all left me inspired and informed.

* I love being part of the wine blogging community. When you find your people, you want to spend time with them. And the Wine Bloggers Conference is full of people I want to be around. They are engaged, funny and just as geekily obsessed with grapes as I am. This event feels like one giant five-day conversation and I truly hope that it will continue on throughout the year in other forums.

The beauty of the Finger Lakes

* The Finger Lakes area is fabulous. We live just a few hours away and it’s a shame we had never been before. That’s going to change. I have spent the last few weeks telling everyone I know they have to visit the Finger Lakes. It’s a beautiful place, the wines are well worth tasting and the people are lovely. And the Corning Museum of Glass will blow your mind. Seriously. Part of the charm of this conference is getting to really experience the wines of a region, this year I feel we got the chance to really immerse ourselves in so much more. It’s a special place.

Were you at the conference? Share your takeaways in the comments or on social! Feel free to post your own WBC15 wrap-up post links as well.

Featured, Wine Travel

Hope Family Vineyards

January 20, 2015

When we started planning our trip to California for the Wine Bloggers Conference, I knew I wanted to visit Hope Family Wines in Paso Robles. I had tried their Troublemaker red blend at the California Wine Show and I was impressed (it ended up being one of my favourite wines of 2014) and the team at Trialto (who represent Hope Family Wines in Ontario) said this was a winery not to be missed.

The winery itself is not as big and fancy as some of the sprawling California wine estates I saw during my time in the state. It reminded me a lot of the wineries in Niagara, which may be another reason this place stole my heart. It’s a lovely building set on a beautiful vineyard and feels warm and inviting. This is a comfortable place for a tasting and you feel right at home.

Having been farming in Paso Robles for more than 30 years, the Hope family started out growing apples and grapes, but now the land is exclusively vineyards. They grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Mourvedre and Grenache grapes. They were certified sustainable by the Central Coast Vineyard Team in 2009, as part of the Sustainability in Practice (SIP) program. Sustainability is important to the winery and it came up numerous times during our visit – they are committed to growing grapes in a way that benefits the wine and the environment.

Our tour and tasting had been arranged in advance and we arrived early in the day so I could do a tasting before Shawn drove us along the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey. Our host was so generous with her time and her explanations of each of the wines. I sampled through their catalogue and discovered that Troublemaker is only just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Hope Family line of wines.

I started with the Liberty School 2013 Central Coast Chardonnay, which has lots of peach and melon on the nose and is creamy, light and refreshing. I would love to try this wine with some of the delicious California cuisine we sampled during our vacation.

The Paso Robles 125 commemorative white wine blend was a real treat – it was created to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Paso Robles and its release coincided with the city’s fourth of July celebrations. It was made predominantly of Rhone varietals and was very balanced with nice acidity. This wine was available only through the winery tasting room and is a very limited edition.

The Liberty School Rosé had lots of sour cherry and grapefruit on the nose with quite a bit of citrus on the palate. This is a wine we bought during our visit and enjoyed on the patio of our hotel in Napa – it was absolutely perfect for a sunny California afternoon.

The Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon has cherry, spice and smoke on the nose. It has good grip with a long finish and fresh, vibrant fruit on the palate.

The 2011 Austin Hope Grenache has raspberry and dried fruit on the nose. This is a super small production wine with a focus on being a special occasion wine. It was really just a gorgeous, full-bodied sipper that I would love to have again.

The 2012 Austin Hope Grenache was a little heavier on the nose – likely due to being just a bit younger, but still had a lot of raspberry and smoky notes.

Candor is a mult-vintage and multi-region Zinfandel with a vibrant nose featuring green grapes, cherry and strawberry. It’s very fruit-forward and refreshing and not a heavy-feeling wine. This is a great option for warm weather sipping.

I so enjoyed our visit to Hope Valley Wines and I wish they were readily available at the LCBO – I’m sure that their Troublemaker and Liberty School wines would be very successful, especially if the price-point was similar to what they cost at the winery. Trialto does have some of their bottles available for order by the case – contact them for availability.

If you get the chance to visit Paso Robles (and I hope you do), be sure to book time to stop in at Hope Family Wines – it’s well-worth a visit.