canadian wine geek » Free Corkage

Pangea offers free corkage for VQA wines!

sandy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:35:57 +0000

Reading this tweet from Martin Kouprie brought a smile to my face. One of Toronto’s best restaurants, IMHO, Pangea is offering FREE corkage on VQA wines. That is a fantastic deal and a huge sign of support for Ontario wines. Now if only more restaurants would follow Pangea’s lead.

Mammian’s (now closed) received alot of press when the BYOW law was passed here in Ontario for offering $5 corkage on Ontario wines and $10 on all other wines. Let hope that Pangea will get the same support…spread the word about ‘Free corkage on VQA wines’.

BTW: if the lobster risotto is on special at Pangea…order the appetizer size…it is CrAzY rich.

Corkage fees dropping as EI claims rising

sandy — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:55:07 +0000

Many restaurants across Toronto are slashing their corkage fees to get ‘bums in the seats’. During economic times like this, people need more of an excuse to leave the house. ‘Free, Cheaper or lowered’ corkage fees can definately help get people out.

During my time in San Francisco, I went through the dotcom crash. SF’s vacancy rate went from 0.1% to %10 in about 4 months…people were leaving down at an amazing rate. Restaruants were empty every night but a reduction in corkage fees helped get people out. Q Restaraunt, one of my favorites, had the lowest corkage in San Francisco at $8 and was packed every night. The best thing they did was offer $5 glasses of bubby to everyone while their wine was being open…who can turn down $5 bubbly!

In Toronto, we are lucky to have lots of restaurants offers ‘Free’ or ‘$1′ corkage on many nights of the week. Table 17, in Queen Est, was one of the first to have free corkage on Sundays, they have recently added Monday as well.

Now Toronto has bunch more:

• Table 17: No corkage fee Sunday and Monday

• Paese: No corkage fee Sun to Fri for first bottle; regular charge $25.

• Cava: No corkage fee Sunday, regular charge $30.

• Centro: No corkage fee Mon to Wed; regular charge $35.

• Nota Bene: No corkage fee after 9 p.m.; regular charge $40.

• Crush Wine Bar: Corkage $1 on Mondays; regular charge $25.

• Lee: Corkage $1 Mon to Wed; regular charge $30.

• Madeline’s: Corkage $1 Mon to Wed; regular charge $30.

Some additions to the list:

Pangea, free corkage on VGA wines

Thanks to Toronto Life for the list…

This change in prices is a huge shift from 2005 when restaurant thought BYOW was going to bankrupt them…now they are using it to say afloat in a tough economy. This recession isn’t helping many people… but it is certainly helping people “Bring Your Own Wine’.

2009 Ontario Wine Awards winner announced…

sandy — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:35:29 +0000

Here is a quick look at the gold metal winners at this years 2009 Ontario Wine Awards. Once the official list of all the award winners I will update the silver and bronze winners as well.

One of the biggest shocks for me was that Lailey’s 2007 Syrah did not wine at the Ontario Wine Awards, I assume it was entered, because it is amazing. At WineCamp it was the most popular wine and in everybody’s #1 or #2.

If you try these wines… let me know what you think…

Ontario White Wine of the Year

30 Bench Wine Makers 2007 Riesling

Ontario Red Wine of the Year

Vineland 2005 Reserve Cabernet Merlot

Sparkling Wine Winner

Maleta 2006 Old Vines Brut

Dry Riesling

30 Bench Wine Makers 2007 Riesling

Semi Dry Riesling

Tawse Winery 2008 Misek Vineyard

Dry White Varietal

Fielding Estate Winery 2007 Viognier

Gewurztraminer & Aromatic Varietal

Tawse Winery 2006 Quary Rd Gewurztraminer

Pinot Gris

Pelee Island 2008 Pinto Grigio

Oaked Chardonnay under $20

Mike Weir Estate 2007 Chardonnay

Oaked Chardonnay over $20

Peninsula Ridge 2007 Reserve Chardonnay

Unoaked Chardoonay

Vineland 2007 Chardonnay

Rose

Legends Estates Winery 2008 Malbec Rose

Gamay

Malivoire 2007 Gamay

Pinot Noir

Tawse Winery 2007 Cheery Ave Vineyard

Red Hybrid

Malivoire 2007 Old Vine Foch

Cabernet Sauvignon

Creekside Estate Winery 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Franc

Colio Estate Wines 2005 Reserve Cabernet Franc

Merlot

Creekside Estate 2005 Butler’s Grant Vineyard Reserve Merlot

Syrah/Shiraz

Stonechurch Vineyards 2007 Reserve Syrah

Meritage and Cabernet/Merlot Blends

Vineland Estates 2005 Reserve Cabernet Merlot

Late Harvest

Château des Charmes 2007 Estate Bottled Late Harvest Riesling

Vidal Icewine

Wayne Gretzky Estates 2005 Vidal Icewine

Vinifera Icewine

Riverview Cellars Estate 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine

Sparkling Icewine

Inniskillin 2006 Sparkling Vidal Icewine

Blended White Award

Caroline Cellars 2006 Momentum Enchantment

Blended Red Award

Wayne Gretzky Estates 2006 Estate Series Shiraz Cabernet

The consumer tasting for the Ontario Wine Awards is coming up on June

16th and is a great chance to try some fantastic wines. Hope to see you there…

East end restaurant, Table 17, offers $1 corkage on Sunday

sandy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:05:52 +0000

It is great to see another restaurant offering $1 corkage (see Crush offers $1). The restaurant is Table 17, at 728 Queen St East, and the $1 corkage is on Sunday nights. Unfortunately, they don’t offer BYOW the rest of the week but if they Sunday night offer is popular they might extend it.

Table 17 is a great ‘neighbourhood’ restaurant. Their winter salad, beetroot, was amazing and the steak frites was delicious and paried perfect with a french bordeaux.

If you go to Table 17 let me know what you think!

Crush Wine Bar offering $1 Corkage on Monday nights

sandy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:55:58 +0000

Antother top Toronto restaurant is embracing reduced corkage fees as a way to bring in more customers. Crush Wine Car is offering $1 corkage on Monday nights. Unlike Globe Bistro (see $0 corkage in January), there is no ‘time limit’ … Continue reading →

Globe Bistro offering Free Corkage in January 2009

sandy — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:41:10 +0000

Globe Bistro is the first restaurant I have seen offering free corkage for the month of January. This is a great idea because many consumers need an excuse for a night out. The food and services at Globe has been fantastic each time I have been there. Give it a try, hopefully I can find more ‘Free Corkage’ restaurants this month.