There was over 300 lots and the auction ran, at a breakneck pace, from 6:30pm – 10:00pm. This year there was a fantastic selection on Ontario wines donated by Donald Ziraldo.

There were two lots which I really wanted. Both of them contained vintage Ontario wines.

The first lot consisted of:

1. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir 1994
2. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1994
3. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir 1995
4. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1995
5. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1997
6. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir St. Laurent 1998
7. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1998
8. Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Founder’s Reserve 2000
9. Inniskillin, Montague Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2000

It finally went for $475 dollars to man who was NOT going to be out bid for this lot.

The second lot, which I actually won, included:

1. inniskillin Icewine Vidal 1996 (two bottles)
2. inniskillin Icewine Oak Aged Vidal 1996 (two bottles)
3. inniskillin Icewine Oak Aged Vidal 1997 (three bottles)
4. inniskillin Icewine Riesling Vintner’s Reserve 1997 (two bottles)
5. inniskillin Icewine Cabernet Franc Vintner’s Reserve 1997 (two bottles)

This lot went for $475 and the final bidder was myself and the guy who won lot number one.
Maybe we took sympathy on me after beating me out for the first lot.

Overall it was a fantastic event and a great place to do some Christmas shopping.

The root of the ‘new niagara winery tour problem’ is two fold:

1. I don’t want to skip my favorite wineries
2. There are so many new wineries I can’t chooose

So my old favorites which I am going to skip are: Kacaba Vineyard, Lailey Vineyard, Maleta Winery, Pilliteri Winery, and Konzelman Winery.

This breaks my heart because Lailey’s Pinot, Kacaba’s reds and the 2009 Riesling, Maleta’s riesling, are amazing and not to be missed.

Here are the new wineries and I would love some feedback on other people’s experiences.

• Cattail Creek
• Flat Rock Winery – how have I not been here before?
• Calamus Winery
• Hidden Bench Winery
• Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery

My learning, the longer you live close to a wine region…the harder it is to plan a trip. So after 5 years in Toronto, I AM going to do the ‘all new Niagara wine trip’. I would love your feedback.

This charity wine event supports the Fred Victor Centre and held its second annual tasting event at the C-Lounge. The venue was fantastic because it was a beautiful day and people could really take advantage of their larget outside space. Having a warm sunny day ‘might’ have affected the most popular wines…because I was surprised that two white wines were the most popular.

Here is a list of the wineries and wines that were poured:

(1) Black Prince

(2) Lailey Vineyard

(3) Strewn Winery

Justyn (of WineryToHome.com) and Nathan Arnold (amatuer wine maker who works at Yahoo!)

(4) Dan Akyrod

(5) Wayne Gretzky Winery

(same table as Creekside)

(6) Creekside Estate Winery

The huge table of cheese was provided by the Leslieville Cheese Shop and they had a TON of cheese.

This now yearly charity event raises money for the Fred Victor Centre’s Art program. This program used art to help people recover from many different problems (addiction, personal thearpy, etc) and is a great ‘out of the box’ way for an organization whose end goal is to help…regardless of the method.

Next year, we will be inviting back four of the six wineries and adding two more new Ontario wineries. Do you have any suggestions? Lets us know who we should have pouring for our event next year.

Most of the judges thought the 2005 Claystone Terrace chardonnay was a french wine.

Read more at details at the Toronto Star …

Having been a big fan of Ontario wine since moving to Toronto in 2003, I am not surprised that an Ontario wine won on a world stage. We have great wines and the wine makers are getting better and better each year. Try an Ontario wine this weekend…

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/630991