Monday 27 June 2011

Toronto Wine & Spirit Festival

I attended the Wine & Spirit Festival 10 days ago, but since this blog is new, and I didn't try any new wines today, I figured I would write some highlights about the festival.

The good:
- It was held in a large open area, so there was a lot of room to move around and get to the vendors we wanted to sample from.
- There was a good variety of wine, beer and spirits represented, as well as a variety of food options.
- There were some interesting classes that were available as part of the admission fee, such as whiskey tasting and the steps on reviewing a wine. ($25).
 The not so good:
- It was unclear exactly where and when the free shuttle bus was picking people up from. We had to wait for a TTC (public transit) bus, which took too long to show up.
- The event was hosted at Polson Pier, which was out of the way, making it a little challenging to get to.

The wines:
We tried a number of different wines at the event. Any price I put after a wine is the price the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) sells a bottle for at their store.
Fuzion Alta Reserva Cab Sauv $9.95. This was my favourite of the show. It tasted how a good cab Sauv should taste and could easily sell for $5 or $10 a bottle more. It was smooth going down with cherry flavours. JC89

Fuzion Alta Reserva Melbec $9.95. This was a nice wine, although I’m not a big fan of Melbec, especially when I’m drinking it right after a Cab Sauv. JC85
Fuzion Alta Torrontes Pinot Grigio $8.95. A nice tasting white. It’s not dry, but not too sweet either. I would purchase this wine for a seafood or chicken dish. JC88
Emeri Pink Moscato $14.95. An Australian wine. This was my second time trying Moscato. This was a light, bubbly, sweet wine. It would be good as a desert wine. I probably couldn’t drink more than a glass maximum. JC86
Domaine Hatzimichalis Cab Sauv. A Greek wine that is not sold at the LCBO that I can tell. I did not enjoy this wine. I’m not sure why it tasted odd, but it did and not in a good way. JC80
Barefoot Cab Sauv $9.95. A Californian wine from industry giant E & J Gallo. This is a wine that tasted a big rough on it’s own, but I could see complementing a nice steak quite well. Wine Align rates this as 85, and I would agree. JC85
Citra Sangiovese $7.45. Definitely a solid deal at the LCBO. Similar in price to the Farnese wine of the same grape. This goes down nicely, however not quite up to par as Farnese. JC85
Fazi Battaglia Titilus $9.95. This white wine with the little scroll attached to the bottle has caught my eye before. I don’t recall if I’d ever bought it before though. I didn’t enjoy the taste of this wine. JC80
Rosehall Run Pinot Noir $19.95. The winery on Lake Erie’s north shore tends to have a little higher priced wines. This was the first one that I have tried from them, and also the first Pinot Noir I have reviewed. This is a lighter red with good character. This may be good with chicken or appetizers. JC86
Colchester Ridge Estate Winery CREW 2007 Meritage. Another wine not available at the LCBO. This wine reminded me a lot of my future father-in-law’s home-made wine. It goes down quite easily. It wasn’t a bad wine, but there wasn’t a whole lot of character. A traditional Bordeaux blend of Cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and retails for $20. I would spend the extra $1.95 on Trius Red, which uses the same grapes.  JC84


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