My highligts of the night were from three different wineries. The first ‘wow’ was from Cattail Creek and their well-spoken and modest wine maker, Colin Ferguson. He produced two fantastic wines at great prices. A 2009 Chardonnay Musque for $17…the mix of fruit on the nose was very unique. The 2008 Pinot Noir for $18 was a great Pinot at this price with some nice strawberry on the nose.

The second ‘wow’ was from a 2007 Cabernet Franc from Marynissen with good tannins; probably needs another 5-7 years to reach its prime.

The final ‘wow’ came from Maleta Winery which has been a favorite of mine since their spectacular 2002 Gamay. They poured a fantastic Meritage that is only selling by word of mouth (hmmm…is blogging about it a good idea). It has complex fruit and flavours that stood out even at the end of a tasting. Admittedly, part of the ‘wow’ is that it was a hidden wine not on the table and definately not in the tasting book.

It was organized and setup by the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the always impressive Ange Aiello of the iYellow Wine Club. It was carried off beautifully at the Toronto Board of Trade and tickets going for a very reasonable $50. The only complaint to be heard was a lack of food which at $50 is tough at a place like the TBoT.

This event will be happening again next year… if you want a great chance to talk with a bunch of wine makers this is the event for you!

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.