canadian wine geek » toronto

TSO Auction Fun

sandy — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:30:36 +0000

Last night, I attended the Toronto Symphony Orchestra 2010 Wine Auction and it was a blast.

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:

Inniskillin, Pinot Noir 1994
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1994
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir 1995
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1995
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1997
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir St. Laurent 1998
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Reserve 1998
Inniskillin, Pinot Noir Founder’s Reserve 2000
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:

inniskillin Icewine Vidal 1996 (two bottles)
inniskillin Icewine Oak Aged Vidal 1996 (two bottles)
inniskillin Icewine Oak Aged Vidal 1997 (three bottles)
inniskillin Icewine Riesling Vintner’s Reserve 1997 (two bottles)
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.

22 Wine Makers of NOTL Event…fantastic!

sandy — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:12:44 +0000

When you attend a wine tasting do you like to ask lots of questions? I certainly do.. Most wine events are too crowded for much chit-chat with the winery staff. That is what made the recent Niagara-on-the-Lake wine event so good…the wine makers were pouring and there was lots of time to chat with them!

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!

Toronto’s Six steps not really a BYOW restaurant

sandy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:16:16 +0000

Tonight, I was looking for a new BYOW to try. Something really nice with hopefully good service. Six Steps has been mentioned as a possible BYOW restaurant.

Me: What is your corkage?

Six Steps: We don’t have a corkage.

Me: Oh, I thought I could bring my wine story.

Six Steps: If you want to bring your wine, we charge you the price of our cheapest bottle of wine to open it.

Me: What range would that be?

Six Steps: $35-$40

Needless to say, I won’t be going here tonight. The obvisouly don’t want people bringing wine even if it is a ’96 bordeaux.

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.

Wine List Warning: Bogel 2007 Petite Syrah

sandy — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:06:39 +0000

This is a new category that I hope helps a few wine-loving diners. The Wine List Warning points out overpriced wines found on wine lists…most restaurants featured will be located in Toronto. (If you know of some Wine List Warning, comment here or feel free to send us a post.)

The first overpriced wine, that is on alot of menus in Toronto, is: Bogel 2007
Petite Syrah

Today, I had a fantastic dinner at the Harbord Room (crazy high corkage of $35) and noticed Bogel listed at $44 per bottle. This is crazy marketed up! In California Bogel 2006 Petite Syrah sells for $8.49! That is right $8.49.

This Bogel Petite Syrah seems to be a big money maker for restaurants; note, I love restaurants and want many to be around and making money. But this markup seems CRAZY to me.
If you see Bogel on the menu, then skip it and try a glass of an Ontario or British Columbia Wine.

Wine & Charity: a match made with cheese

sandy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:45:56 +0000

This past June 24th I was part of organizing a charity wine auction so, of course, I choose to pick to have only Ontario wines. There were six Ontario wineries each pouring two wines. The most popular wines being a Sauviogon Blanc from Dan Akyord Wines and Prince Edward County’s Black Prince’s Chardonnay.

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.

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’.

Toronto’s BYOW restaurants

sandy — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:55:18 +0000

Looking for a BYOW restaurant in Toronto? You came to the right place.

Here are three of our latest additions to the list:

Conviction, 609 King St. W, 416-603-2777
Didier, 1496 Yonge St. , 416-925-8588
Fare Bistro, 1097 Queen St., 416-645-0914

And here are three of my personal favorites; they always treat the wine with respect.

Globe Bistro, 124 Danforth Ave., 416-466-2000
La Palette, 256 Augusta Ave., 416-929-4900
Nota Bene, 180 Queen St. W., 416-977-6400

Click the link to find our full list of Toronto BYOW restaurants.

Do you have any favorites? Or least-favorites? Let us know by leaving a comment.

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.