The Friday Files: News & Notes From Canada’s Wine Scene
The sold-out and heavily hyped Northern Lands festival kicks off today. If you already have tickets, check out Gurvinder Bhatia's picks and bios for the top culinary and wine industry draws. Also in the Edmonton Journal, Tina Faiz highlights some of the Women making inroads in the Canadian wine industry. She interviews Canadian wine greats Severine Pinte from Le Vieux Pin, Christine Coletta from Okanagan Crush Pad and Haywire, Sandra Oldfield from Tinhorn Creek, and Trudy Heiss from Grey Monk.
In the Vancouver Province, Wine Guy James Nevison reviews a few handcrafted BC reds to keep us current on the local wine scene, including Upper Bench's 2012 Estate Merlot.
The focus grape is Gewürztraminer and all its perfume, unpopularity and penchant for pairing with Thai food in the Globe and Mail this week: Gewürztraminer: Nothing in the wine world comes closer to good perfume.
There's more bad news for Ontario's 2015 vintage from CBC: Brutal winters leave untold damage in Niagara wine crop. One Niagara winemaker I spoke with this week, said they are preparing for as much as a 40% reduction in crop.
In the Ottawa Citizen, Rod Phillips writes about the perils of tasting 50 wines a day for 30 days and offers a few of his value picks. It sounds a lot less fun than you might expect.
In the Halifax Herald, Moira Peters makes a case for Baco Noir's place in Nova Scotia's marginal climate.
This time of year, it's hard not to anticipate all the spring and summer wine events coming up. Here are a few to think about: If you're in the Gaspereau Valley on April 18th, check out Luckett Vineyard's vertical tasting of their Phone Box Red, followed by a four course dinner with pairings. On May 16th, Meyer Family Vineyards is pouring wine from their spring release, followed by a pig roast and live music. There's also the Alfresco Summer Celebration July 12th at Painted Rock Estate Winery, where their wines will be paired up with dinner cooked by the great Joy Road Catering. Finally, for more warm thoughts, here's a photo of Le Vieux Pin's Vaila Rosé being bottled.
https://twitter.com/LeVieuxPin/status/577558842533396480
Jake Skakun is a writer and sommelier from Vancouver, currently living in Toronto. He can be found most days pulling corks and twisting caps at the Black Hoof. He Tweets and Instagrams @jakeskakun.
