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

Report from - Niagara Wine Festival ... September 20-21, 2008

06 Oct 2008

Details: Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

In the past I have a score the Niagara wine festival (and their other festivals: Icewine, New Vintage) passport / discovery program on a scale of one to ten, based primarily on the dollar value of what was being offered. Most wineries charge $10.00 without a passport and therefore it seemed logical to use that as a yard stick in the value ratings. With the passport last year you paid $30.00 for five experiences and thus the rating was graded at a break even point of $6.00 (the price you paid per experience if you obtained a passport – 30/5=6). This was changed to six experiences during the new vintage festival this past spring, thus changing the scoring and price paid per experience to $5.00 as the break even point ($30.00 divided by 6 experiences equals $5.00 per experience).

Before I get into who did what this year let me say that if you are not acquiring a passport and paying the $10+ at any more than one winery you really are wasting your hard earned cash - the passport is well worth the expense and offers good value if you are making a day or a weekend out of wine country during this event. Next, I must admit that I did not get to as many wineries as I have in the past, I visited about eight to ten wineries during my weekend excursion and found that each winery was delivering up the minimum requirement of $5.00 worth of value to their passport holders; therefore ranking wineries using my old scale seemed redundant, because all wineries would have been hovering at or above that $5.00 threshold. So this time I decided to rank on innovation and allure of what was being offered... (Read more)

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

Report from - Vinexx Tasting, Toronto ... September 24, 2008

06 Oct 2008

Details: Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Vinexx has a semi-annual tasting schedule: once in the fall and once in the spring. Many of the wines they showcase in the spring reappear in the fall, some in the form of a new vintage, while others continue unchanged from the last show. This time out I was looking forward to the 2005 E. Guigal (the general list one) that I was told last spring would be in wide release come the fall and is "spectacular"; but the LCBO is still in to the throes of clearing out the ’04 so that was the one for tasting - guess I’ll have to wait for the spring event to get my first sip at this wine. But enough about my disappointments, here's what's coming in, or is here and available through Vinexx this time …

My favorite part of the Vinexx tasting, and I'm sure I've mentioned this before, is that the majority of their products are available at the LCBO, which means you can pick stuff up pretty readily (even on your way home if you chose) - though I've also bought some consignment and private order booze from them before. My first three recommendations are consignment wines ... (Read more)

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