On the Road with the Grape Guy

On the Road with the Grape Guy is a on-going feature that follows me from event to event ... I post my thoughts, feelings and reviews of what happened and what I tasted ... basically it is here that I review the events I attend and the things that thrilled me.

Report from - Wine Writers' Circle Annual Dinner 2011 ... January 24, 2011

13 Feb 2011

The mystery continues ... I have long wondered why wine writers bring the bottles they do to a dinner filled with other wine writers.  Tonight was our annual dinner, this year held at Tutti Matti (an Italian restaurant at 364 Adelaide Street West).  Although food was delicious and my dinner included salad (baby spinach with bufala mozerella, pine nuts, dried balsamic figs, sliced prosciutto, grilled seasonal fruit and saba vinaigrette); main (slow roasted beef short ribs, italian beer, oranges, rosemary and garlic with soft polenta and roasted root vegetables) and dessert (tiramisu - maybe the best I have ever had), it is the wine that always intrigues me.  A fellow by the name of Martin and I got into a discussion about that very thing and neither of us could explain to the others satisfaction why bottles of Le Vieux Pin (B.C.) were sitting beside Chateau Pipeau flanked by a Brunello di Montalcino which sat between a '99 Cilento and Hillebrand with some Jankris and Errazurriz Ovalle standing behind them.  Why a bottle of Isole e Olena found its way beside a Perrin & Fils, or how a rare bottle of Kruger Rumpf Pittersberg could be at the same table as a run of the mill Aussie Shiraz like The Lackey Shiraz.  The head stratching will continue, but here are some notes about the wines that found their way into my glass ...

The Best Wines of the Night ... (Find out what were the best wines and what were the duds at dinner)

 

 To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.

 

 

Report from - Rhone Valley Tasting and Lunch ... January 27, 2011

06 Feb 2011

Cel-ebrate the Rhone come on.
It's time to celebrate and have a good time ...

The Rhone just won Wine Enthusiasts magazine's "Region of the Year" award and they are thrilled. 

Fresh off the trophy presentation they made a sojourn to Toronto where a small contingent of writers and Rhone Valley principals got together to taste some wines and have a little lunch at George Restaurant on Queen Street.

The first part of the days program was the tasting of some 15 wines that represented the region, from $10 simpletons to $59 behemoths, and there were many values along the way.  I'll rank 13 of those wines below, from 3-star (good) to 4.5-star (excellent), with a few words about each.

But first, a few words, (or numbers) about the award wining region ...

The Rhone Valley is France's second largest AOC wine region in surface are and production:
77,175 hectares
6000 wineries
420 million bottles sold in 2007-2008
Exported to over 150 countries
The wine industry is the premier employer of the region

The Wines: (to see the wines, the lunch and the award - in pictures - click here)

 

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.

 

 

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