Following Philippe

The Toronto Wine & Cheese Show

My decision to attend the Toronto Wine & Cheese Show instead of going to play board games all day was the right one (although it was also the more costly one). However, if I go again next year (and I hope I'm able to), I'll aim to be there later in the afternoon rather than at noon. It sounded like most of the entertainment started at 4:00 or later. By that time on Saturday, Jacquie and I were already back in Durham.

The show itself was a little different than what I'd expected. The wine and cheese only took up about half the space, while the rest of the space was taken up by various food merchants, liquor producers and breweries. I'm pretty sure I drank as much beer as wine that day, which doesn't really make a lot of sense when you consider the name of the show.

While I used up my tickets sampling wines and beers, as well as one pomegranate vodka (Pearl Pomegranate Vodka -- dee-lish!), Jacquie hit up the food merchants. Since I left the show with a bit of a buzz, maybe I should have paid more attention to the food, too.

Although Jacquie kept giving me weird looks for it, I did take a few tasting notes. They're fairly basic, as I'm still learning how to describe what I taste and smell in wine vocabulary. Also, I wanted to remember the wines I tasted. Below are the wines I sampled throughout the day.

Lailey 2004 Cabernet -- When we arrived at the show and started looking around, I really wasn't sure where to start. After browsing the hall a bit, I finally started using up the sampling tickets I'd purchased. The first one was this Cabernet from Lailey, a winery in Niagara On The Lake. It had a slight scent of smoke and it tasted a bit like wildberries or blackberries, but overall, it wasn't anything special. It was a good wine, but not one I'll remember in a few weeks' time.

Painted Turtle Shiraz -- Apparently it's still trendy to give your wine a wacky name. Since the Painted Turtle Shiraz from Painted Turtle Wine Cellars (of Penticton, B.C.) was the highlight of the show for me, I'm willing to let it go without poking any fun. The Shiraz had a strong, spicy flavour that will stay in my mind for quite some time. The taste of blackberries was hidden behind the spice. According to the gent I talked to from Painted Turtle, the wine should be available in the LCBO this week.

Niagara College Teaching Winery Pinot Noir -- What would a wine show be without a sampling of a Pinot? In this case, I sampled a Pinot Noir from the Niagara College Teaching Winery, a winery set up exclusively for oenology students of Niagara College. Although the wine was good and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a bottle if I came across one, it didn't stand out as an excellent Pinot -- but then again, no excellent Pinots are coming to mind right now.

Massandra Port -- With Canadian wines covered (okay, not really; there were too many Canuck wines to taste in one afternoon), I switched gears a bit. By this time, I'd already sampled a couple of beers from Robert Simpson and Barley Day Brewery, as well as the aforementioned wines and pomegranate vodka, so I was starting to feel the alcohol running through my system. I'm sure that threw my tasting senses off, but I don't think it really mattered with this Ukrainian Port (is it really Port if it's not made in Portugal?). Sweet and fruity, the Massandra tasted like the only other Port I've ever tried. It's clear to me at this time that I'm not a fan of fortified wines.

20 Bees Baco Noir -- My last wine sample of the day before I got rid of my last ticket on a Belgian beer called Chimay Premiere (far tastier than I would have imagined) was a Baco Noir from 20 Bees (another Niagara winery). With my buzz on, I didn't even take any notes, and I don't remember much about the wine now. I remember I liked it, but that's about it, I'm afraid.

Perhaps my biggest disappointment was not finding a Prince Edward County winery. While I'm sure at least one or two must have been there, I didn't come across them.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the big names in wine had avoided the show. Yellow Tail was present, as was Robert Mondavi (not the man himself, just his wines), but the majority of the wineries were ones I wasn't familiar with.

posted by Chris @ 9:47 AM