This weekend I went to the expo for the first time and quickly realized that it is the best event held in Toronto. There was a massive floor of exhibitors with a ton of wines, lots of food and also a good selection of beer and spirits. On the Friday I volunteered at the event and got to scope out all the vendors and figure out what I wanted to hit up the next day.
Entrance tickets were $20 at the door, or $15 beforehand online using a promo code. I had first obtained my tickets online, but then found out about a special alumni deal through my undergrad university. It was $30 for a ticket that included entrance to the event and a Tutored Tasting – Vitners’ Barrel Tasting by four top winemakers in the Niagara Region, a $70 value.
On Saturday, I got to the event with my fiancée at noon, when it opened, and went to a few places that I had been wanting to try out from the day before. One of note was Jack Daniel’s Honey. This product had a smoother, easier drinking taste than the original JD. I enjoyed the sample, although I’d be interested to see how it tasted with coke or if I get sick of it after a couple of drinks.
At 1pm we attended the Vitners’ Barrel Tasting. The first winemaker was Paul Pender of Tawse Winery. We got to sample both the 2007 and 2010 Cabernet Franc.
2010: Intense floral scent, not a strong tasting wine but smooth. JC88
2007: Deeper scents, minty, fruitier taste, not as smooth but still very nice. JC86
The second winemaker was Derek Barnett from Lailey Vineyard. Similar to Paul, he also picked Cabernet Franc to showcase. However Derek decided to bring 2010 and 2002.
2010: Subtle floral smell, very smooth, not a lot of flavour yet. JC89
2002: Strong smell, ashy, very smooth, a bit of a vegetable taste, a lot of sediment in the glass. JC86
The third winemaker was Emma Gardner from Thirty Bench. Emma picked the 2010 and 2007 Red. The Thirty Bench Red uses the same three grapes as the Trius Red and other traditional French-based meritage wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
2010: This wine had a composition of 62% Merlot, 19% Cab Franc and 19% Cab Sauv. It had a smoky scent; it was a nice tasting wine with notes of cherry and a little bit of green vegetable. JC88
2007: The wine had a composition of 65% Cab Sauv, 18% Merlot and 17% Cab Franc. It had a leather smell, with blueberry tasting notes. Again, it was a nice smooth wine with a long finish. JC88
The fourth winemaker was Ann Sperling of Southbrook. Ann selected the 2010 and 2007 Whimsy Cabernet Sauvignon.
2010: Strong floral scent with a nice fruitful flavour. It was very tasty. JC90
2007: There was a not unpleasant whisky smell; the wine was very smooth with red cherry notes. JC91
It was a really nice tasting event. All the winemakers seemed really down to earth and were great answering all the questions people had.
Other than the 2007 Southbrook Cab Sauv, which retails for $33.95, none of the other wines from this tasting are currently available at the LCBO. The tasting finished at about 2:30. Now it was time to go back to the exhibitors at the expo and sample some more products!
A lot more material coming as I get a chance to write it...
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