A Look at the Sparkling Wines of Canada… Eh!

Close your eyes and think of Canada. What comes to mind? Unspoiled landscapes? Maple syrup? Polar bears and ice hockey? Or, if you’ve explored the world of wine, perhaps the quintessentially Canadian Icewine? Now, before we get too far in, it goes without saying that Icewine really is great. Made from grapes naturally frozen on the vine and yielding luscious, concentrated flavour, this dessert wine has put Canada’s wine industry on the map. And while amazing in its own right, there’s so much more wine to discover in Canada, including plenty of amazing sparkling wine! Canada is huge. Really huge. …

Benjamin Bridge NV Rosé – Review

This is “POP or FLOP”, where we taste test sparkling wines so you don’t have to! (Tough job, we know! 😉) This week we’re sipping the brand new NV Rosé from Nova Scotia sparkling wine pioneer Benjamin Bridge! A vibrant and fruit-forward (yet incredibly complex) traditional method sparkler, that’s oh so distinctively Nova Scotian! (Trust us, we know, we tasted plenty on our recent trip out there… for research!) So, is this a bottle of bubbles you should POP? 💁 Or is it a FLOP? 🙅 Let’s see…

Art Meets VQA Wine at Into The Vine!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending “Into The Vine” – a wine tasting deconstructed – here in Toronto. But this wasn’t your traditional wine tasting… in fact it was far from it! While we sipped and swirled some of the best wines Ontario has to offer, we found ourselves immersed in 6 incredible multi-sensory art installations inspired by 6 different VQA Ontario wine varieties.

Heard it Through the Grapevine: with Maggie Belcastro

We had the pleasure of meeting Maggie Belcastro (Winemaker at The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards & Estate Winery) earlier this year, though we’ve been fans of The Grange and their unique wines since our first visit back in 2011! The Grange is one of the largest wineries located in the Prince Edward County appellation of Ontario, with 60 acres of vineyards producing premium wines made from 100% estate grown fruit. Their winemaking approach involves minimal intervention, which in turn produces very terroir-driven and distinctly “County” wines. And the coolest part? Maggie shares winemaking duties with her mom Caroline Granger. Now that’s girl power!

Heard it Through the Grapevine: with Craig McDonald

Craig was born in Australia and has over two decades of winemaking experience in diverse wine regions like the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He joined Andrew Peller Wines in 2010 and now has a total of 31 vintages under his belt. You gotta admit, that’s pretty impressive! Not to mention the fact that he was awarded “Ontario Winemaker of the Year” – twice!

10 Canadian Sparklers for Canadian Thanksgiving

Ah, Thanksgiving… a festive time to get together with family and friends over turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and green beans. Not to mention potato salad, roasted butternut squash, and… in our case, pasta al forno and pierogi! Oh, and lasagna, caesar salad, glazed ham and roasted red peppers. And maybe cheesecake and bubbleberry pie and, oh right, a little bit of homemade apple crisp. But we digress.