Although the Vidal Icewine  was a sweet citrus delight, the Cabernet Franc Icewine had me wanting more and more. With a burst of red berry and rhubarb flavours, this was a clear winner for me. Now all I needed was the perfect dessert pairing: dark chocolate.
 
Want to visit the beautiful Peller Estates? Contact us   now for a customized Niagara-on-the-Lake wine tour.

Travel Spain and savour the delicious food and wine the land has to offer when you embark on this tour of a lifetime. Thinking of booking your flight but still need convincing? Take a look at our personal account of traveling the breathtaking land of Spain.

I have had the opportunity to travel to a few countries but I have yet to love a country as much as I loved Spain. If I had the chance, I would go back over and over again. Over the course of one week, I visited Madrid and Barcelona. Here's why Spain is so epic:

​3 Things To Do in Barcelona, Spain.

1. Take a Train to Sitges.

​This city is a few kilometers from 
​Barcelona and is accessible by a short (and cheap!) train ride. I suggest staying the night if you can as it has a great nightlife. If you cannot stay the night, the beaches during the day are enough to leave you in awe; white sandy beaches with clear blue waves. For dinner, walk the small strip of restaurants and choose one of the charming restaurants. TIP: If they bring you olives, they will charge you 4 Euros for it. Politely say no if you do not what to pay this. If you stay the night, TRY THIS: buy fresh bread and salami for breakfast and spend the morning sitting on the rocks and enjoying the view as the waves crash around you. I did this with my significant other and it is, till this day, my favourite moment. Ever.

2. Visit Park Güell. Also known as the Gaudi Gardens, this is a MUST DO in Barcelona. Imagine you could step into the whimsical world of Alice and Wonderland. How cool would that be? Well, imagine no more because this park is just as trippy. The park is a piece of art filled with funky shapes and colours. It's worth it!

3. Wine & Olive Tastings. Spain is home to some of the finest wines. This 6 Day tour will have you sipping award-winning wines, tasting locally-produced olive oil, and travelling 13th century villages!

The City of Sitges, near Barcelona.  
Source: ​

Ontario wines have so much to offer! Have your visits to local Farmers Markets and tasting great Ontario wines peaked your interest in your own back yard? Curious to know more?
IWEG has involved a number of local, renowned wineries to develop a one of a kind Ontario wine course that will provide in-depth insight to our wonderful local wine industry.
In addition to Ontario wineries proud commitment to producing quality wines, they are also dedicated to the environment; with organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines shaking up old ideas and taking palates by surprise.
In collaboration with the Wine Marketing Association of Ontario, these 4 sessions of learning and tasting will celebrate local wines, growers and producers and give insight into the bold venture that is winemaking in Ontario. We encourage you to learn more about what is happening by visitingwww.winecountryontario.ca. 
Come and meet Ontario’s leading edge wine makers, enjoy their award-winning wares and learn how our daring industry:

• Withstands the climate
• Competes against powerful importers
• Sustains a green economy
• Incorporates cutting edge viticultural approaches
• Wins the battle of public opinion

Ontario's Brave New Wines 2016
January 30th - What is sustainable wine in Ontario? - Stratus / Suzanne Janke
February 6th - Roots and Regions - Cave Spring / Gabe DeMarco: Rosewood / Will Roman
Feb 20th -Alternative Approaches: Organic, Biodynamic and low intervention wines - Southbrook / Ann Sperling
Feb 27th - Ontario 2025 - Into the Future with Norman Hardie Winery / Norman Hardie, Hidden Bench / Harald Theil, Malivoire / Shiraz Mottiar
BE AN EARLY BIRD!  Classes purchased before Thursday December 24th for $300. (After Christmas the price will go back up to the regular $350)

​

.We were offered to taste one rose cava and one white- one of the bottle is shown on the photo. 
I was specially delighted with the quality of the white cava. The best regional tapas were offered with the tasting on a beautiful terrace with breathtaking views of the vineyard as can be seen in the pictures to the right and below.

This is a luxurious wine tour with spectacular views, a mixture of big houses and small family producers that lead you to get to know the people, gastronomy and culture of Porto and Douro Valley region.
Many wine regions lie along a famous river but the Douro in Portugal is one of the most spectacular in the world! The vines grow on break-neck slopes and landscape is unique and beautiful. In this experience you will enjoy two nights at a five star hotel in Porto and tree nights the in a charming wine hotel in the heart of the Douro Valley.
The new generation of winegrowers of Douro Valley has the reputation for making excellent Port wine and a world-class non-fortified “table” wines. It is difficult today to make a living only from Port wine and climate and soil is also perfect for table wines, both reds and whites that today reach world class. This mix of Port and high quality table wine makes the Douro Valley an exciting wine region to visit.
In Douro Valley many of the wines are made from genuine Portuguese grape varieties, rather than from international grapes that can be found anywhere in the world today. You will get to know wines made from touriga nacional, tinta roriz, touriga franca, sousa and others.

The tour starts in Porto (sometimes called Oporto). It is one of the biggest cities in Portugal although it does not count more than 220,000 inhabitants.
The city centre is a gem, very old and winding streets climb the hills with many architectural sights as well as a wealth of restaurant, bars and cafés
Side by side with an amazing historic, artistic, architectural and urban heritage there is a contemporary creation, expressed in several areas, from museums to architecture, theatre to cinema and music festivals. Porto is on the UNESCO list of Cultural World Heritage and is a must to visit. An evening walk and a glass of port while enjoying the view across the river over the sister city of Vila Nova de Gaia cannot be avoided. It is actually in Vila Nova, and not in Porto, where all the Port houses have their lodges.

You will spend the following three nights in Alto Douro, the heart of the Douro Valley.

Price : 3500 Euro/person double occupancy


Included
5   hotel nights, in five star hotel double occupancy, including breakfast :
2   nights in five-star hotel in Porto
3   nights in wine hotel in the Douro Valley

 Meals as described in the program above
5   gastronomic multi-course lunches, including wines, at wineries or local restaurants
2   gastronomic multi-course dinners, including wines
Start and end point: Porto
Bus transport during the whole trip
All vineyard and winery visits
4    private, high quality tastings at wineries.
1    entrance at the Port Wine Museum
1    entrance and tastes at Gaia wine cellars
2    boat trips, in Porto and Douro Valley

 Visits will be in English or other language
Wine guiding and tutoring by an expert wine guide.

Not included:
Travel (flights) to the destination and back from your home location.
You organize your travel to the destination yourself. If you want assistance with organizing your flight tickets etc, please contact us.
We warmly recommend that you plan a few extra days here if you have the time! It is a very interesting place and well worth some “non-wine” tourism too! We can assist you with booking additional hotel nights if you want.






 

 

 

 

 Liberty School, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2012

Smooth oaked black cassis, black cherry, some black raspberry, black plum hints, and some sandalwood. 
–Full bodied, smooth, spice, oak, heat. Long finish with big spice and heat. Wow, B -10 (consider 10 cases), Ray. Pair with beef (steak, veal, grilled, etc.), spiced pork, venison, solo sipping. Works well with pizzas, hot dogs, hamburgers.

LCBO: 
Always available
750 mL bottle
CSPC: 738823   
Sugar Content: D (dry) 
Price: $19.95
Alcohol: 13.5%

 Always a big winner. Forward black fruits, black plums, black berries, cassis, vanilla, mocha and oak tones. Tastes very plush and mouth-filling of the described fruits, berries and oak. Spicy, heat, mineral on this full bodied, long finish wine. Wow, B – 10 (Consider 10 cases), Ray. Pair with game, lamb, beef, regional Argentinian dishes.  

Black fruits. Plums, black berries, touch black licorice. Glycerin smooth feel on the palate. Full bodied. Plush. Mouth filling. Long finish with spice (pepper, clove) and heat.   Wow, B – 10 (consider 10 cases), Ray. Pair with the same as in wine above. Also consider pairing with other game such a moose, caribou, buffalo and muskox.

So far I covered three wines and they all have a Wow, B – 10, Ray. 3 wines in a row. This is the mark of a very careful distributor that brings to Canada fantastic wines. This why I urge people to get on the Trialto mailing list for tastings and when new wines are introduced to Ontario. Now I will continue with 3 more wines in this partial tasting list.

I found this wine more medium plus than medium bodied. A palate and nose of sweet black/red berries, cassis, new leather hints. Touch cranberry. Finishes long, with heat and modest spice with some vanillin. Excellent/Wow, Ray. Consider 2 cases. Great for sipping. Pair with lamb, spiced pork, beef and venison. 

If you are visiting the St. Lawrence Market on Front Street in Toronto, try buying some Canadian meats including game meats to pair with this wine. This wine is organic and biodynamically grown. It contains besides Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 other red grapes to give nice complexity with a balance of fruits/alcohol/tannins and acid.

If you are not getting the flavour nuances I am talking about try chewing the wine. This is what I do when tasting wines as a taster. I suck in air while the wine I am tasting is in my mouth and then chew the wine so that all my mouth is completely saturated with the wine. This opens the wine much more extensively then passive tasting.

LCBO: 
Always available
750 mL bottle
CSPC: 985002    
Sugar Content: XD (Extra Dry) 
Price: $19.95
Alcohol: 13.9%

LCBO: 
Always available
750 mL bottle
CSPC:  478727      
Sugar Content: D ( Dry) 
Price: $19.95
Alcohol: 13.5%

Caramel, plums, black berries, hint dill. Touch licorice. Tight medium+ body. Spice and heat from alcohol and oak. Excellent, Ray. Potential Wow with proper breathing. Consider 2 cases. Pair with pork, stuffed turkey, veal sandwiches, spiced chicken. 

Black fruits and berries. Raspberries, florals, some vanillin toasty oak. Some herbaceousness. Medium bodied.
Amber, sandalwood hints on the finish. Excellent, Ray. Great price. Consider 2 cases. Pair with Argentinian dishes, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and veal sandwiches.


For signing up for future Trialto tastings go to their website, www.trialto.com.
Address: 219 Dufferin St. #3b (ground floor), Suite #3b Toronto, ON M6K 3J1. Skype phone: 416 – 532 – 8565.

LCBO: 
Always available
750 mL bottle
CSPC:  302018   
Sugar Content: XD ( Extra Dry) 
Price: $36.95
Alcohol: 13.0%

LCBO: 
Now :Limited quantities
750 mL bottle
CSPC:  : 075515    
Price: $15.95

On June 11/14 I did a vertical tasting of the Austin Hope wines 2011, 2005 and the 2001. 

The Austin Hope Syrah 2011is made of 4 clonal variations of 100% syrah (clonal variations of 470, 383, Caldwell and Alban: Auston Hope Website). Craftsmen like blending to make a unique wine was used. This wine has a colour of a blackish purple red. A nose of mixed black fruits such as black currants, hints of black raspberries, notes of ripe plum skins. I also got a touch of vanillas, mint and my favorite, mixed black licorice and polish. 

Palate echoes nose with excellent plump mouth feel. 15% alcohol is nicely integrated. Long finish. You could still age this wine, but I would decant and drink it now. This wine is exciting and rates a Wow, buy 4 cases. Pairs perfectly with red meats, beef, spiced white meats, and game such as Buffalo, Venison, Muskox, etc. My favourite is just plain sipping. No food. It’s that good. 

The Austin Hope Syrah 2005 is a blackish/purple/ ruby red. Its meniscus is pink, with some amber flecks. The nose is spice box, black plums, black berries, amber, sandalwood hints with licorice tones. Full bodied with pronounced palate of the above aromas. Long finish with a bit of tannic edge. Excellent. Consider 1 case. It did score, 90 by a famous wine writer. 

On June 11/14 I got to taste a great lineup of wines from Paso Robles, California, the winery that makes Liberty School, Treana and Hope wines. In each Blog I will feature one wine and tell you the full scope of the tasting.

Today the wine I am featuring is none other than that famous Vintages , “Liberty School, Chardonnay 2012.” Always a winner and consistently produced in quality and palate. The winery that makes this wine is called the Hope Family Wines. The presenter at this tasting was the President and wine maker, Austin Hope. 

The wine is 90% Chardonnay, 5% Marsanne, 5% Viognier. The California Apellation is Central Coast. I suspect some clonal variations were used to get a consistency of aromas and palate.

This is one of the excellent wines and values I had the pleasure to enjoy lately. I have pick-up a bottle from LCBO on a Friday evening in February 2013 to drink next day with my friends for my birthday. All my friends were amazed with this wine. I have picked-up a case so I can delight my family and friends which I did today again.

Read more reviews on WineAlign:

Price: $20

This is one of the excellent wines and values I had the pleasure to enjoy lately..

www.winealign.com

Find out more on about Tempranillo:

And read my review on it:

Spain 
$12.65 (315234)

Our travel to Vancouver started with the morning Air Canada  flight from Toronto at 10:00a.m. (I have booked the flights on line at Air Canada website) After a  pleasant  5 hours flight we landed in Vancouver at 12:00p.m local time. I have booked on line a Budget  midsize car at Air Canada website this being the best rental price after research of various on line sites. I have booked (3) nights accommodations at Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver.