On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - Ontario Breaks a Record ... Friday January 14, 2011

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

It seems like it would be a foregone conclusion, but we still had to go through the motions.  Today at Casino Niagara, Ontario wineries broke an old Italian record of 16.5 L of booze in a flute, the Italians used sparkling wine, we here in Ontario did it using icewine.  In the words of host (and owner of Flat Rock Cellars) Ed Madronich, we are gathered to “smash the record” as 18L of mostly Vidal icewine was poured into a 44 liter glass (styled after the original icewine glass developed by Riedel.  A cheer rose from the crowd as pioneers of both icewine and the Ontario wine scene, Karl Kaiser and Donald Ziraldo, poured the last two bottles into the flute.  The representative from Guinness then stood up to make the announcement and present the plaque to Ed.  Done deal.

If I picture is worth 1000 words I give you 8000 words about the event: (click here to see them)

Report From - South African Wine Society Holiday Dinner ... December 3, 2010

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Tonight, I attended the South Africa Wine Society's (SAWS) annual holiday dinner, food was decent, the people I met were fun and entertaining, but not as entertaining as their keynote speaker (who happened to be me) ... As a wine writer I was very interested in the wines being poured.  As I admitted in my address, on the whole I am not a huge fan of South African wine, I have liked quite a few, but many others have left me very cold with a bitter taste in my mouth.  So tonight I wanted to see what the SAWS drinks: do they bring in and sample only the best?  Turns out it was a very Graham Beck-centric evening, but their cellar was raided for some real gems ... (to read about the wines and see pictures of the evening, click here). 

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