Wine for your Valentine

The month of February is the month to show your loved ones how special they truly are. Of course we should show appreciation every day but in reality we don't. It is not because we don't care or we don't want to. The fact of the matter is that we are often so caught up in our everyday lives that we may forget to appreciate the ones that are near and dear to us. But it is never too late! We know you can't make up for lost time but you can start to show your appreciation on Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is one of the most celebrated occasions of the year. People all over the world shower their loved ones with greeting cards, chocolates, flowers, special dinners, and gifts but why not surprise your special someone with an amazing wine as well? Aside from sending the usual gifts, send something a little sweeter such as wine for your Valentine. Why buy wine for your Valentine? If you choose the perfect wine, it will start the night perfectly and you won't want it to end. For more visit http://www.peller.com/

Niagara Wine Festival returns to its roots

The Niagara Wine Festival is strengthening its community roots. After spending a few years pursuing a more cosmopolitan crowd from outside Niagara, festival organizers have turned their attention to making the marquee event a real homecoming in St. Catharines.

Expect more local musical acts on stage at Montebello Park in September, and look for more of your neighbours walking in the popular annual grande parade.

Kimberly Hundertmark, the festival's interim director of events, said organizers are taking stock of what the festival means to Niagara and listening to calls from the community to bring it back to its roots.

Two years ago, many St.Cat h a r i n e s residents balked at beefed-up entry rules for the grande parade designed to make it more polished and ended up cutting out some local groups.

"When you look at it, it is a homecoming," said Hundertmark, the city's tourism and attractions manager who was brought in last month to organize this year's festival.

"There's a lot of people from out of town coming to it. But essentially the people that are in the cars (on parade day), and that are lining the parade route are people that have grown up here, people that live here. It just made sense to make it more local."

News Source : Niagara Wine Festival returns to its roots

Five Reasons To Drink Pink Wine

Reputations can be tough to shed. Perhaps none are more stubborn than rosé's. Why? The wine industry--by cranking out millions of bottles and casks of bland, too-sweet white zinfandel in the 1980s--did its best to kill the notion that pink wine can be a tasty, refreshing, refined drink.

Today, though, rosé is no longer the pink-headed stepchild of the wine shop. According to data from the Wine Market Council, of those Americans who drink at least one glass of wine each week, 18% of the time they drink pink.

Chalk it up to a competitive global wine market, improved grape-growing and winemaking practices and a few important flag wavers such as highly regarded New Zealand winemaker Kim Crawford (in his case, with a rosé called Pansy!, mostly marketed to the gay community). Maybe it's a combination of all three that's made rosé one of the best value-for-dollar wine categories on the shelf.

News Source : Five Reasons To Drink Pink Wine

Tips On How To Buy The Best Wines

For most people wine is an essential part or their dining experience. Wine is also mostly present in any social function. The problem with wine is that there are so many types of wines to choose from. As a result the wine selection process becomes very difficult.

What is wine?

Basically, it is a liquor that is made by fermenting various types of fruits. But no doubt, that the most popular icewine type is made of grapes.

Why grape wine is good for you body?

There have been some medical studies that show that drinking one or two glasses of grape wine a day may be beneficial to one's health. This is due to the findings that some properties that are found in grapes have a medicinal effect on the body. This includes decreasing a person's chances of developing heart disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, etc.

Here are some tips on how to choose just the right wine for you

1. Experiment. Individuals should discover which types of wine suit their taste. The best way to do this is to order a different type of wine every time you dine out.

2. Ask friends for a recommendation. For those who are not wine connoisseurs, the best way to start gaining some knowledge about wine is to ask friends to give you the names of their favorite wines.

3. For those who have found their favorite wines, and want to keep stocks. The best way to go about this is to buy their preferred brands of wine by cases.

4. Know which types of wine go with different types of dishes. For instance, white wine goes well with white sauces, salmon, etc.

5. Be wise when it comes to serving wine. The more costly wines should be reserved for more important occasions. Remember that wines can get very expensive.

6. Canadian ice wine are famous! Some of the more famous Canadian wine includes: ontario wine clubs, ice wine canada etc


Choosing wines may be daunting at first, especially for a person who is not a wine connoisseur. But once a person gets the hang of it, and start to discover the wines that matches their preference, it won't be long until they start to fill up their wine cellar.

Canadian wineries earn honours in Italy

Canadian winery Inniskillin has won the top prize at Vinitaly.

The winery, from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., won the Premio Speciale Gran Vinitaly 2009 at the 17th annual Concorso Enologico Internazionale.

Canadian wineries received a total of seven medals and 14 special mentions at the prestigious awards, which were officially announced in Verona at the world's largest wine fair.

More than 130,000 people will attend the fair, which runs through Monday. Some 3,500 wines from 34 countries were entered in this year's competition, with results judged by 100 wine critics, wine writers and winemakers from around the world.

This is not Inniskillin's first major Vinitaly award; the winery is renowned among international media and festival judges, primarily for its icewines.

A number of other Canadian wineries also did well at this year's event.

In the still white wine category designated by geographical zone, Magnotta Winery from Vaughn, Ont., received a special mention for its Gewurztraminer Dry Niagara VQA Special Reserve 2007 and its 2007 Chardonnay.

Jackson-Triggs also received a special mention for its Gewurztraminer Niagara Peninsula VQA Proprietors Grand Reserve 2007, as well as its Meritage White Grand Reserve Okanagan Valley 2007.

And in the still wine category designated by geographic zone, for white wines aged in oak, the Gold Medal was won by Jackson-Triggs' Niagara Estate, for its Chardonnay Proprietors Grand Reserve 2007. It shares the award with Italy's own Veronese IGT Bianco "Villa Cordevigo" 2006.

Canadian wineries won three of the top four categories in the Vini Dolci Naturali Category for still wines.

Konzelmann Estate Winery in Niagara won the Grand Gold Medal for its 2007 Vidal Icewine, Inniskillin won the Gold Medal for its 2006 Vidal Oak-Aged Icewine from Niagara and Jackson-Triggs won the silver medal for its 2007 Proprietors Reserve Grand Icewine.

Magnotta Winery also won the Grand Gold Medal in the Vini Spumanti Dolci category (sparkling sweet wine) for its Limited Edition 2006 Sparkling Vidal Icewine from the Niagara Region.

Inniskillin won the gold medal in the same category for its 2006 Sparkling Vidal Icewine.

news source :- Canadian wineries earn honours in Italy

Tough times ahead for small Niagara wineries

Ontario winery representatives and at least one Niagara politician continue to rally for the renewal of an LCBO rebate program that some insiders say is crucial to the survival of many small wineries this year.

Without the LCBO incentive program-- which offers wineries 30 per cent return on every Vintners Quality Alliance bottle sold through the provincial liquor stores -- several wineries will have to rely once again on selling their products solely through their own retail stores.

With a recession gripping the globe and tourism expected to slump this summer, things could get rough for many Niagara wineries, particularly small ones, say industry insiders.

Some may be forced out of business unless the LCBO rebate program returns, said Norm Beal, chairman of the Wine Council of Ontario.

"I think that this program is absolutely critical and that it has to

come back," said Beal, president of Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery in Beamsville.

"If it doesn't come back then I paint a very grim picture for the industry, going forward."

Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak agrees, and is calling on the province to renew the three-year VQA Wine Support Program. The $10-million program, introduced by the Liberal government, expired March 31.

There was no mention in Thursday's provincial budget of renewing the program.

The program is helping wineries, Hudak said.

Previously, craft wineries found it was not profitable to sell their wines through the LCBO. Through the LCBO rebate program, wineries take home about half the profits of wines made with 100 per cent Ontario grapes. The program has resulted in more than 50 wineries placing top craft wines at the LCBO, up from 15 when the program launched in 2005.

Hudak said fewer wineries -- faced with steeper fees and taxes -- will likely sell their wines through the LCBO once the program is pulled.

"This budget should have been focused on job creation," said Hudak, a Progressive Conservative finance critic who is expected to run for the Tory leadership.

"This program helps create jobs in the grape and wine sector and supported agriculture. Frankly, it was a very short-sighted move of the government to cancel that program, particularly in these difficult economic times."

St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley told The Standard on Friday the government is aware of how important the LCBO program is to the industry, and is open to requests for it to continue.

Bradley said he was waiting for the outcome of ongoing talks between the province's grape growers and wineries designed to chart a course for the wine industry.

Last December, the province ordered the two sides to get together and create a plan after a huge grape surplus last fall that resulted in a $4-million bailout program for grape growers. More than 2,000 tonnes of grapes from 79 growers were dropped to the ground last fall.

But many more grapes may go unsold again this year if the wine industy struggles, Beal said.

The government has to step up and help the industry, and bringing back the LCBO rebate program is a crucial part of that, Beal said.

"I got to tell you we're in the same kind of pressure as ever ybody else is. I don't know why everybody thinks the wine industry is any better. Our banks our breathing down our necks."

news source :- Tough times ahead for small Niagara wineries

Canadian winery Iniskillin wins top prize at world's largest wine fair

Canadian winery Inniskillin, from Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, has won the top prize at Vinitaly this year.

The winery has won the Premio Speciale Gran Vinitaly 2009 at the 17th annual Concorso Enologico Internazionale. Canadian wineries received a total of seven medals and 14 special mentions at the prestigious awards, which were officially announced today in Verona, Italy, at the world's largest wine fair.

More than 130,000 people will attend the fair, which starts today and runs through April 6. Thirty-four countries entered more than 3,500 wines in this year's competition, for some 110 medals. Results were judged by more than 100 wine critics, wine writers and winemakers from around the world gathered last week at Veronafiere in Verona.

This is not Inniskillin's first major Vinitaly award; the winery is renowned amongst international media and festival judges, primarily for its icewines. Other Canadian wineries also did well:

In the still white wine category designated by geographical zone, Magnotta Winery (from Vaughn, Ontario) received a special mention (Gran Menzione) for its Gewurztraminer Dry Niagara VQA Special Reserve 2007 and its 2007 Chardonnay.

Jackson-Triggs also received a special mention (Gran Menzione) for its Gewurztraminer Niagara Peninsula VQA Proprietors Grand Reserve 2007, as well as its Meritage White Gran Reserve Okanagan Valley 2007, from the Oliver Estate in the Okanagan.

And in the still wine category designated by geographic zone, for white wines aged in oak (Vini Bianchi Elaborati in Barrique o Communque Affinati in Legno), the Gold Medal was won by Jackson Triggs, Niagara Estate, for its Chardonnay Proprietors Grand Reserve 2007. It shares the award with Italy's own Veronese IGT Bianco "Villa Cordevigo" 2006.

In that same category, Inniskillin Wines won special mention for its Chardonnay Four Mile Creek "Montague Vineyard" 2007.

And Jackson-Triggs won special mention for its 2007 Sunrock Vineyard Chardonnay.

Jackson-Triggs also won a special mention in the Red Wine Category for wines from the past three vintages (2008, 2007 and 2006), for its 2007 Sunrock Vineyard Meritage Red and its 2006 Shiraz Grand Reserve, both from the Okanagan Valley. The same winery also won for its 2006 Delaine Vineyard Syrah from Niagara.

Canadian wineries won three of the top four categories in the Vini Dolci Naturali Category for still wines. Konzelmann Estate Winery in Niagara won the Grand Gold Medal for its 2007 Vidal Icewine. Inniskillin won the Gold Medal for its 2006 Vidal Oak-Aged Ice wine from Niagara. And Jackson-Triggs won the silver medal for its 2007 Proprietors Reserve Grand Ice wine.

In the same category, Strewn from Niagara won a special mention for its 2006 Cabernet Franc Icewine. Inniskillin won special mention for its 2007 Riesling Ice wine. Jackson Triggs won two special mentions for its 2007 Proprietors Reserve Riesling Ice wines from both Niagara and Oliver.

Inniskillin also won special mention for its 2007 Vidal Icewine from Niagara.

Magnotta Winery in Vaughn, Ontario, has also won the Grand Gold Medal in the Vini Spumanti Dolci category (sparkling sweet wine) for its Limited Edition 2006 Sparkling Vidal Icewine from the Niagara Region.

And Inniskillin won the gold medal in the same category for its 2006 Sparkling Vidal Icewine.

news source :- Canadian winery Iniskillin wins top prize at world's largest wine fair

World Wine Tour tonight

Five places on five different continents putting out amazing wine. Each with its own idiosyncrasies. That's the point behind the third World Wine Tour in Kansas City, which features nearly every wine-producing area on the globe.

The event allows non-wine-experts one night of access to a library of wines -- chardonnay from all of the above-mentioned regions and others, for example. Or sangiovese -- it's known as the grape of Italian wine, but Argentina and Australia have formidable sangiovese crops that don't get much publicity. By comparing the Italian original to its imitators, you may find you like the non-Italian (and much cheaper) sangiovese more.

The World Wine Tour features more than 300 wines along with 801 Chophouse light appetizers that hopefully won't overwhelm the drinking experience. The last wine-tasting I attended that showcased this many wines was The Jefferson Cup and that event is closed to the public. So if you care about wine at all, take advantage of this unique opportunity.
News source :-World Wine Tour tonight

Outback Steakhouse quits Ontario

The Outback Steakhouse has closed its nine Ontario restaurants, including outlets in Ancaster, Oakville and Niagara Falls.

The closure, effective yesterday, leaves the company with three Canadian restaurants -- in Edmonton.

"The decision to exit Ontario was a difficult one, and it was made only after considerable reflection and analysis," said a statement posted on the company's Canadian website.

The statement provides no explanation as to why the Australian-style steak house is leaving the province.

On its website, Outback Steakhouse said it is "looking for ways to honour active gift cards as conveniently as possible," and is asking customers to check its Canadian website again in about seven days for more details.

The other Ontario restaurants were in Windsor, Etobicoke, Kitchener, London, Richmond Hill and Whitby.

news source :- Outback Steakhouse quits Ontario

A Couple's Guide to Touring Wineries

if I had to compile a list of times that I’ve been truly, unreservedly happy, many of them would involve wine tasting. I love feeling the slight chill of the air while walking through the barrel rooms and smelling the fermentation. And few things are better than exiting a tasting room into the sun and taking in the green hills.

I particularly savor wine tasting in late fall when the leaves on the vines are red and gold and the tasting rooms are far from crowded. A couple of weeks ago, however, I was hankering for a vacation and headed to Napa and Sonoma, CA for a long weekend. Despite the bare, pre-spring vines, the symmetry of the rows and the yellow mustard weeds that colored the vineyards were remarkable.

For any wine lover, it’s hard not to enjoy a wine excursion. But there are ways to make one even better. Knowing that I would be writing my first wine column for Hitched, I compiled a list of eight "before, during and after" tips to help you make the most of your next wine trip.
news source :- A Couple's Guide to Touring Wineries

COOL CLIMATE WINE TAKEN TO THE EXTREME

There are not many things that can’t grow in our own California backyards. Almost anytime of the year, the valley is blessed with bounty that others envy, from fruits and vegetables to olives and wine grapes.

But, despite the breadth of vineyards and wineries that have sprouted up in the Santa Ynez Valley over the past 30 years, there is one type of wine we just can’t lay claim to: the bracingly rich and silky smooth style of ice wine.

The creation of ice wine requires a cold that most of us living in the warmth of the valley seek to avoid — bone-chilling, frost-biting, below-zero cold.

And that’s when the harvest for ice wine is just getting started.

So, even when on vacation and still seeking out the best in home-grown products, a recent visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada, provided the perfect opportunity to learn all about what Canadians call “extreme winemaking” and taste this amazing elixir they call ice wine.

“Ice wine is a concentrated wine made from grapes frozen naturally on the vine at minus 10 degrees Celsius,” explained Debi Pratt of Inniskillin Winery.

Pratt speaks in metric measurements because Inniskillin is one of the premiere wineries in the Niagara wine region of Canada. Using the Imperial system of measurement employed in the U.S., minus 10 degrees Celsius translates to a balmy 14 degrees Fahrenheit, but by any sane person’s reasoning, that is still pretty chilly for hand-harvesting grapes.

During the summer months, a drive through the wine region of Niagara looks very much like familiar territory.

At 43 degrees north latitude, the geography is roughly the same as the Napa Valley and slightly more southerly than vineyards of Burgundy and Bordeaux.

With soil rich in clay and loam, lakefront weather systems from Lake Ontario create perfect growing conditions in the Niagara escarpment.

So it should not be too surprising that more than 60 vineyards dot this tiny landscape.

For the most part, Niagara’s harvest season matches our own, except for vineyards that wait until sometime between mid-November and late March to harvest frozen grapes and press them before they can be allowed to thaw.

“Keep in mind the visual: the CSI moment,” said Pratt. “If you take a frozen grape and examine it under a microscope, there will be an amazing amount of ice crystals.

In a barrel press, shards of ice will puncture the inside of the skin and allow only the juices to flow that have not yet frozen,” she went on to say.

That small amount of juice — only one drop per grape — becomes ice wine. The fruit is gathered by hand in the middle of the night because any sunlight can warm the grapes too much and destroy the harvest.

If it doesn’t get cold enough, the harvest never happens.

If it gets too cold, the press yields nothing.

It is probably the riskiest type of winemaking. But Bruce Nicholson, senior winemaker at Inniskillin Niagara thinks it is worth it.

“It’s extreme wine making,” Nicholson conceded. “What does ‘extreme’ mean? With ice wine, we have no idea when or if we’ll get a harvest. Legally, it has to be after mid-November and no warmer than minus 8 degrees Celsius. My preference is for the temperature to get to minus 10 degrees or minus 11 degrees, despite a lower yield. When you get to minus 14 degrees, you’ve gone too far; it’s too cold and you’ll get no yield at all.”

When asked why he’s willing to brave the cold and uncertain conditions to create ice wine, his answer was simple.

“Taste it and you’ll see why,” he said.

He explains that his focus as a winemaker is to put a smile on the faces of everyone who tastes his wine, and he wants them to feel the experience is valuable

“Value becomes an important part of the equation because ice wine is a pretty expensive bottle of wine,” said Nicholson.

At upwards of $80 for a half-bottle, that’s no small understatement.

Price is one of the reasons why ice wine is considered a fairly exclusive dessert wine and reserved for after-dinner sipping.

“The magic of this type of wine comes from the balance between a high degree of sugar and a high degree of acidity,” he said. “It can truly go with many things.”

Sitting down to a six-course lunch with Executive Chef Jason Parsons of Peller Estates proved this philosophy to be true in a most impressive way.

Peller Estates, another winery powerhouse in the Niagara area, houses one of the most highly regarded restaurants in Canada that offers ice wine in abundance.

Another trend-setting feature of the restaurant is that well before it was fashionable to buy locally and eat seasonally, Parsons operated the kitchen solely on those principles.

The restaurant has two rules: bring into play as much estate wine in the cooking as possible and draw on only local ingredients.

“It is a real challenge, but it works. We will not cross borders,” Parsons stated. “We use products of the Niagara region and Ontario during the season, but never go beyond Canadian boundaries to find our ingredients, ever.”

“When people think of ice wine, they traditionally think of German Eiswein, which is really sweet,” Parsons said.

“But ice wines have a great balance to them. They have acidity, as well. For me, that’s what makes it a great wine to work with. It can start a meal. It can cool down spice. You can do so many things.”

Visiting Niagara was a surprising experience.

At a time when seeking the most authentic ingredients to create locally grown meals is so popular, it was inspiring to have the chance to visit another backyard and discover how they approach the goal.

So seek out a bottle of ice wine some night when our temperature get down to the low 40s and take a sip to remind yourself that somewhere out there, someone is harvesting grapes in the dead of night and sub-zero temperatures.
news source :- COOL CLIMATE WINE TAKEN TO THE EXTREME

Chilly times for pricey icewine

Niagara wineries producing premium icewine should hold the line on pricing, even as the economy spirals downward, says a wine exporting expert.

The flagging economy has lessened demand for luxury goods such as Champagne and Canadian icewine, Randy Dufour told a crowd of winemakers at the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention at Brock University on Wednesday morning.

But the Vincor Canada director of exports advised producers to stay the course when it comes to Canada's signature dessert wine product and try to keep prices steady on the country's best icewine.

Icewine typically costs upwards of $50 for a half bottle or 375 mL.

"What we do well compared to every other country around the world is icewine," said Dufour, whose portfolio includes icewine-making powerhouse Inniskillin Wines in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Not only does the Canadian wine industry need to remain focused on icewine, it needs to keep promoting its premium table wines, Dufour told the crowd.

It's too hard for Canada to compete on the world stage with mass market wines in the $10 range, he said.

Making wine in cool-climate Canada is just too expensive, he said.

"We have to focus on top end varietals," Dufour said.

"In the long-term, that's the only way we're going to succeed."

news source :- Chilly times for pricey icewine

Try a first-class wine and dine tour with slow season prices

NIAGARA FALLS–Wine can't melt snow, but it sure can warm your heart.

With more than 80 wineries in the peninsula, Niagara is an oenophile's playground. If you had the constitution – and a designated driver – you could easily spend two weeks working your way from tasting to tasting, sipping, sampling and savoring.

Given that most of us just don't have the fortitude for a fortnight of frolicking, we have to choose our moments.

And the moment is now.

Winterglow, a Niagara-on-the-Lake celebration designed to light the darkest days of the year with entertainment, music, food and wine is about to begin its most delectable phase – Winterlicious.

From Feb. 26 through March 2, frugal gourmands will be treated to star performances by chefs at many of the area's best restaurants, such as the Grill at the Epicurean, the Hillebrand Winery Restaurant, LIV at White Oaks, the Riverbend Inn, and more. Lunch can be had for $20 to $25 and dinner for $30 to $35.

Slow-season deals at hotels and restaurants may not be anything new, but these are bargain basement prices at top-flight Niagara restaurants. It's enough to take your mind right off your stock portfolio.

Passionate about wine? Book your trip to Niagara for Cuvée, the wine lover's Oscar weekend. Running from Feb. 27 to March 1, Cuvée begins with an over-the-top, black tie Awards Gala celebrating the finest area wines and winemakers at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls.

On both Feb. 28 and March 1, the celebrations will continue along Niagara's famous wine trail as enthusiasts enjoy Cuvée en Route, a sipping, sampling, savoring and shopping opportunity at many of the area's most renowned wineries. Tickets for the Cuvée weekend are $200 and include all events.

If a glass of wine can blunt your winter blahs, just imagine what the addition of a bit of chocolate could do. Visit the 20 wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake any time in February and experience special chocolate and wine pairings – the ultimate indulgence. A passport good for three weekends is $34.50 and is available by phone at 905-468-1950

There's more to Niagara than wine, of course, so you might want to visit White Meadow Farms near Vineland. The sap is beginning to run and, beginning Feb. 21 the maple sugar bush will be in full swing every weekend until March 29. A great opportunity for the kids to blow off some steam on a bright wintry weekend, a visit to the sugar bush starts with a hay ride, includes a chance to try tapping a tree, a self-guided tour with period-costumed hosts to provide explanations, demonstrations and an introduction to maple taffy pulling.

Be sure to arrive early enough for a pancake breakfast served with maple baked beans, maple muffins and tarts, maple cream cheese, maple apple crisp, maple cheese cake and more.

In case you're thinking that winter in Niagara offers nothing other than fine wine and great food, think again. Winter is perhaps the most spectacular time of year to ride the Niagara Skywheel, a four-season Ferris wheel in the heart of the Clifton Hill tourist area of Niagara Falls.With the trees bare, the view of the Falls from the Skywheel is unobstructed and mind-bendingly powerful। Beautiful at any time of year, the Falls are most dramatic when surrounded by bushes, rocks and railings coated in icy crystalsnn।

news source :-Try a first-class wine and dine tour with slow season prices

Intimate wine tours are the best

Most of us have certain wine merchants whose personalities we like and whose recommendations we trust. A decade after a pleasant visit to a winery, we still buy its wines. And we love to ask questions of touring winemakers at tastings.

So keep this in mind if you're planning a trip to wine country here or abroad. Wine tours should be small enough that you leave feeling you know the winemakers and chefs you met along the way.

I was reminded of this at a wine tasting and dinner at the Inn Keeper's Kitchen at the Dilworthtown Inn a few nights ago. Most of the people in the room were local folks who had gone on small-group wine tours of Italy with Amy Wadman and Summer Wolff, of the tour company diVino, who were pouring the wines of a Piedmont producer not yet distributed in the U.S. Both are trained sommeliers. Wadman's family moved to Tuscany when she was a young teen, and she decided to stay. Wolff grew up on Long Island, and she still works in the wine retail trade with D. Sokolin -- "but my cubicle now is in Tuscany."

The two specialize in custom tours throughout Italy and are just getting started across the border in Slovenia. "If our customers want to go to the big places like Banfi, of course, we'll take them there," Wadman says, "but most of the wineries we visit don't do tours, but they'll do lunches for us. Most of these people become our friends, and we socialize with them. So, in a way, our customers become their friends, too." Even though it's time-consuming, Wadman, who started diVino seven years ago, says, "I never take anyone to some place I have not visited recently."

Generally, they don't recommend customers buy wine at the places they visit if it's available in the U.S. because of shipping costs and airport hassles. But Wolff can arrange shipment of anything not easily available through her retail connections. And she also specializes in helping wine lovers put together their cellar collections -- and not just with Italian wines.

Some other diVino hints: Travel with people who enjoy similar pursuits. Decide what you want to do when not eating great food and drinking wine -- castles, cathedrals, shopping, hanging out with a good book. Decide how busy you want your itinerary.

news source :-Intimate wine tours are the best

Wollersheim Winery Open House Celebrates Prairie Fume

Wollersheim Winery's annual open house is set for March 7 and 8 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Visitors can learn at their leisure about winemaking and the winery's historical setting. A unique blend of activities both days includes grapevine pruning and cooking with wine demonstrations, winemaker talks, self-guided tours, and of course wine tasting. A new wine release with a new name and new style, Prairie Sunburst Red, can be tasted along with other Wollersheim wines. Prairie Sunburst Red is an unoaked fruity red wine, which embraces a new trend of softer reds. This “new red” is bursting with berry fruit flavors reminiscent of raspberries and is a red companion to Prairie Fume.

This year marks "20 Years of Good Taste" for Wollersheim Prairie Fume wine. Winemaker Philippe will celebrate this milestone sharing history on the creation of Prairie Fume, a light and refreshing semi-dry wine known and loved throughout the state of Wisconsin.

Each day commences with a Growing Grapes in Wisconsin talk accompanied by a Grapevine Pruning Demonstration set in the vineyard. Take an excursion through some of the winery's oldest vines learning pruning techniques for home grapevines as Winemaker Philippe and Vineyard Manager Bruce share what they have learned on pruning grapes in Wisconsin. This demonstration is offered on Saturday at 10:15 am and 2:30 pm and again on Sunday at 11:00 am and 3:00 pm.

Gain some cooking with wine tips and enjoy a taste as guest chef, Paul Short, MATC Culinary Arts Chef Instructor, features Wollersheim Prairie Fume wine during cooking demonstrations held at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm on Saturday and 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm on Sunday.

In place of regular guided tours, visitors are invited to explore behind the scenes on a self-guided tour of the winery's fermentation room and underground aging cellars, plus other wine production areas not generally open to the public. Winery staff will be on hand to answer questions, as well as provide bottling line demonstrations between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm both days. In addition, a series of interactive displays along the self-guided tour give families of all ages a chance to learn together about growing grapes.
news source :-Wollersheim Winery Open House Celebrates Prairie Fume

Millionaire wants his own winery for rosy future

The creator of an award-winning sparkling rose wants to build his own state-of-the-art winery near his home in Staplehurst, Yourmaidstone reports.

Richard Balfour-Lynn, the producer of Balfour Brut Rose, has submitted a planning application to Maidstone council for a multi-million pound winery to be built near his Hush Heath Estate.

Architects RBA have created a design for the purpose-built structure, which will now go before the council's planning committee for approval.

The sparkling wine, which has been referred to as“England's most exclusive Pink Fizz”is currently grown on the estate, near Maidstone, before the grapes are taken to Chapel Down winery in Tenterden.

The new winery is being built for operational and branding reasons to ensure the popular fizz to compete against other rose champagnes.

RBA describe the new build as:“A contemporary interpretation of traditional oak barns and Kentish oak houses.

"The layout of the building is split into three sections with two barn structures which house the winery operations.

"The building also includes a wine tasting facility which is located within the barrel vaulted section of the building, from which this affords views toward Hush Heath Manor and to the private courtyard within the centre of the buildings.”

The Hush Heath Estate is also where the millionaire makes his own Hush Heath Apple Juice.

Mr Balfour-Lynn, who owns the Hotel du Vin chain and retail store Liberty, boasts his Balfour-Lynn Rose, which is priced at £33, is good enough to challenge the French.

On his website the entrepreneur says:“My aim is to make the finest Rosé Sparkling Wine, comparable with the great Rosé Champagnes.

"The passion and enthusiasm by everyone involved with Balfour Brut Rosé has led to us winning a number of prestigious international awards.

"I set out with the vision of creating a uniquely memorable experience. Balfour is light, entertaining and fun, and more importantly, it knocks the socks off many French Champagnes."
news source :-Millionaire wants his own winery for rosy future

Lots locally at annual Ice Wine Festival

The second annual Nova Scotia Ice Wine Festival is planned for Feb. 12-22 and many local events are scheduled.
Blomidon Winery in Habitant will be open both weekends for tastings. So will Domain de Grand Pre, which is hosting an ice wine and chocolate event Saturday, Feb. 14 from 1–4 p.m.
A tasting of 2004 Borealis ice wine made by the Benjamin Bridge Winery will take place on the terrace of the Tempest Restaurant Feb. 14 from noon to 3 p.m.
Other wineries in the area, such as L’Acadie Vineyards in Gaspereau, will be open both weekends.
The Kingstec Fire and Ice gala is set for Feb. 19. It gets underway at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40.
Winemaker Gina Haverstock of Gaspereau Winery will conduct an ice winemaking demonstration Feb. 21-22 at 2 p.m.
The Festival Closing Gala, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Wolfville, takes place Feb. 21 at the Fountain Commons at Acadia University.

news source :-Lots locally at annual Ice Wine Festival

Niagara: Romance sizzles amid quaint inns, cozay wineries and a glittering falls

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario -- Near the park, the Shaw Festival Theatre is locked tighter than a Victorian corset. At the harbor, the petulant Niagara River is partly frozen, a white and blue montage of floating squares.

Winter here is starkly beautiful: a picture in sharp focus, a summer town gone quiet.

Good news for lovers: No one will ever look for you here.

Spend a weekend tucked away in some canopied four-poster bed in this little hamlet just four hours from Detroit, and you will return to regular life a happier couple.

A day trip to nearby Niagara Falls is hopelessly romantic, with the still-unfrozen falls wreathed in a coating of sparkling winter ice. You can even take a winter helicopter ride -- and did you know from the air, the Niagara whirlpool is in the shape of a heart?

Oh, and dozens of Niagara-on-the-Lake wineries are open year-round, which means their tasting rooms are ready to help you burn off the winter chill. And -- well, we'll get to all that. Just start packing.

news source:- Niagara: Romance sizzles amid quaint inns, cozay wineries and a glittering falls

LCBO store plans toast to Canadian icewines

One of Canada's most famous world exports will be celebrated here at home, with an icewine tasting event Saturday at the LCBO Roundhouse Centre store at 3165 Howard Ave.

The store will offer tasting-sized samples from noon to 4 p.m., along with an area chefs' competition for the best dessert match with the sweet wine and an artists' challenge, too.

Area artists will decorate icewine bottles that will be raffled off and proceeds will benefit the John Atkinson Memorial Fund in support of the Special Olympics.

The icewines include vintages from this area's vineyards.

Store customers can sample and vote on their favourite dessert as well as the artwork. Visitors can receive a grab bag with tasting tickets, ballots for voting, information on the artists and chefs and icewine information brochures. For information, contact the store at 519-972-1772.

Canada is the world's largest producer of icewine. Grapes are picked when temperatures drop below -8 C. Because the wine-making process must take place while grapes remain frozen, the actual icewine harvest often occurs in the middle of the night.

news source :-LCBO store plans toast to Canadian icewines

Sweet vino takes spotlight at ice wine festival

The state’s top ice wine producers will converge in February in Perinton for the first New York Ice Wine Festival, at Casa Larga Vineyards.

The festival is the first of its kind in the country, according to Casa Larga. New York is one of the few places in the world able to produce ice wine, a sweet dessert wine made from frozen grapes.
In recent years, New York ice wines have received international acclaim, boosting them to the heights of such regions as Germany and Canada, known around the world for their outstanding ice wine production, a news release from Casa Larga said.

Recently, Casa Larga’s Fiori Vidal ice wine received a trophy for Best Dessert Wine from the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London.

In an effort to shine more light on these New York-made wines, Casa Larga has teamed up with other top wineries, including Heron Hill, Hunt Country and Sheldrake Point, to create the Ice Wine Festival, which is planned as an annual event.
source :- Sweet vino takes spotlight at ice wine festival