We finally made our way to Niagara on the Lake to take part in the Days of Wine and Chocolate event. There were 22 wineries participating and the purchase of a touring passport ($30), it entitled you to a wine and chocolate pairing at each winery. We actually did pretty good for a day’s work and were able to visit ten! It was a fantastic day.
Although the weather started off somewhat snowy, that actually played in our favour since there was no traffic on our drive down to NOTL from Mississauga. A couple of friends (Kim/Jan) joined us as we made our way to the NOTL chamber of commerce to pick up our passports. And then the fun began!
1st stop: Peller Estates Winery
Wine: 2007 Andrew Peller Signature Series Chardonnay Sur Lie
Chocolate: Milk Chocolate Hazelnut
The pairing was good although none of us were big fans of Chardonnay. They used the coolest decanter I’ve ever seen – it had a hole inside it that fit over top a small bowl filled with ice to keep the wine cool:
We were also given a sample of the Ice Cuvee Classic which was a sparkling “breakfast” wine and that one was excellent – a mix of sparkling wine with a dose of ice wine – we bought a bottle. Can’t wait to have it with my eggs. 
Stop #2: Reif Estate Winery
Wine: 2006 Merlot Reserve
Chocolate: Dark chocolate raisin
This was the tasting room for the wine and chocolate passport holders – the lights were dim and it was very inviting. The pairing was good. We’re merlot fans and this one was very nice. I think merlot goes perfectly with dark chocolate.
Stop #3: Inniskillin Wines
Wine: 2006 Cabernet Franc Icewine
Chocolate: Dark chocolate
This was probably one of my favourites. Although, when the bottle of wine is $99, what would you expect. Awesome icewine. They also had it in a smaller format for $54.95 and mini versions as well.
Stop #4: Ravine Vineyards
Wine: 2006 Merlot
Chocolate: Dark chocolate pecan
We stopped for lunch at the deli/bakery (on the right). I love this place – it’s so cozy and everything is homemade. I had the same as last time – the charcuterie platter with prosciutto, cheeses, chutney, pickled vegetables, bread and pepper jelly. Chris and Kim had the BBQ pulled pork and cole slaw sandwiches and Jan had the pear and blue cheese pizza. Everything was great. Then over to the tasting bar we went.
Now, we’ve been planning to come back to pick up some Merlot for weeks. The wine/chocolate tasting was the 2006. We also tasted the 2007 and that was the one we fell in love with on our first visit. So of course, Chris had to buy a case of 12! Crazy husband of mine…but I was secretly dreaming of evenings by the fire with a glass of Ravine 2007 Merlot in hand. Mary Ellen had a very good suggestion for a future pairing – a chocolate / hazelnut torte – and luckily I have the perfect recipe for this! Wonderful idea. I can’t say enough about Ravine – such nice people, great wine, great food, already can’t wait to go back! This is where we also heard about the upcoming “Wine and Herb” program that was coming in May.
** Note: you’ll notice as the day went on, I took less pics… wine overload? ***
Stop #5: Maleta Estate Winery
Wine: Grape Brain Rosé Reserve
Chocolate: Milk chocolate orange
This was very good for a rosée – not as sweet as we’re used to. The pairing with the orange flavour was really nice too. Our friends picked up a bottle.
Stop #6: Cattail Creek Estate Winery
Wine: 2008 Pinot Noir
Chocolate: Dark chocolate blueberry
Those blueberries were probably my favorite of the chocolates we sampled today. We also had a great talk with the gentleman that was assisting us about the upcoming “wine and herb” event. He explained how the wineries were assigned a type of chocolate, and for the wine and herb event, they’re assigned an herb. Then they get to create a dish around that herb and pair it with a wine so there’s much more creativity involved. He mentioned some of the past dishes they had served (my mouth was already watering) and mentioned that this year their herb is lemon basil – I’m really looking forward to it – we’re totally going.
Stop #7: Hillebrand Winery
Wine: 2007 Artist Series Limited Edition Cabernet Merlot
Chocolate: Dark chocolate pistachio
This pairing was very good. We were hesitant to buy anything that would compete with our fave merlot so we held back.
At this point in the day, we were looking for something different for our next stop and boy, did we find it!
Stop #8: Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery
Wine: Strawberry Wine
Chocolate: Dark chocolate strawberry
Here, they make wine from berries other fruits. They have one grape wine, but the rest are all non-grape wines: pear, peach, currant, strawberry, etc. The pairing we tried was good. The wine smelled like strawberry jam and you expected it to taste very sweet but surprisingly, it wasn’t. We also tried the spiced apple wine which they served warm and that was Christmas in a glass – warm wine with apple pie spices. Holy moly. The bottle left with me.
Stop #9: Palatine Hills Estate Winery
Wine: 2008 Gewürztraminer
Chocolate: Dark chocolate ginger
This cold refreshing wine was perfect as we neared the end of our day. It really brought out the ginger in the chocolate. We purchased a bottle.
Last stop – #10: Konzelmann Estate Winery
Wine: 2006 Special Select Late Harvest Vidal
Chocolate: White chocolate cranberry
This was a fantastic pairing – I really enjoyed the wine (yes, we got a bottle of this too). The gentleman assisting us was great – he was informative and fun.
So that’s the recap! Here are our purchases:
The hardest part is to pace ourselves and decide which one to open first!! We had an awesome time and can’t wait for the “Wine & Herb” event scheduled for weekends in May. You’re all invited. Come hungry.
No comments:
Post a Comment