The Friday Files: News & Notes from Canada's Wine Scene
Northern Lands, the latest Canadian wine and food (and beer) extravaganza is set to take place in Edmonton at the end of March 2015. The event brings together Canadian winemakers, brewers and distillers with some of the country’s best and brightest chefs on March 27 and 28, 2015.
There will be plenty of My Wine Canada partner wineries participating in Northern Lands, so make sure you check them out if you’ll be attending (of course, you can always do some “preliminary research” by ordering some of their wines from MWC beforehand.)
Stay up-to-date on Northern Lands by following them on Twitter.
Speaking of fests, there’s less than a month to go until the Niagara Icewine Festival. Grab some tickets now (and bring your toothbrush).
If you’re in Ontario, keep an eye out for the Wine Country Ontario truck, a retro-fitted food truck that brings Ontario wine to markets, festivals and more. It’s in Cambridge this weekend and then heads to Blue Mountain (the ski resort in Ontario, not the winery in B.C.) in January.
Staying in Ontario, the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration (i4c) just released its list of participating wineries for the 2015 celebration via its Facebook page. This fab event takes place July 17-19, 2015 in Niagara — more details here.
Daenna Van Mulligen — aka the Wine Diva — has released her best-of-2014 lists. Her Top 50 wines over $20 include plenty of My Wine Canada faves: the JoieFarm 2013 Muscat, the Moon Curser 2013 Afraid of the Dark white blend, the Painted Rock 2012 Syrah, the Laughing Stock 2012 Portfolio red, the Road 13 2012 Jackpot Viognier-Roussanne-Marsanne as well as wines from Perseus, Meyer Family Vineyards and Le Vieux Pin.
For the full list of her top 50 wines over $20 click here. If you want her top 100 wines that are $20 or less click here. It features wines by Perseus, Le Vieux Pin, Mt. Boucherie, Haywire, and Bartier Scholefield.
Gord Stimmell of the Toronto Star profiles his top bubbly and still white wine picks for the holidays, including the excellent Flat Rock Riddled (their still wines are available via MWC and are stellar as well).
Want to get that special someone some killer wine this holiday season? There’s still time to grab some vino via the My Wine Canada site and have it delivered in time for the holidays.
Get your order in by December 15th and you’ll be sipping on some of Canada’s best wines this holiday season.
Of course, wines don’t fit in everyone’s stockings, so don’t forget you can always give the gift of a wine club membership or My Wine Canada gift certificates.
Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson is the wine columnist and literary editor for the Winnipeg Free Press. He’s on Twitter and Instagram at @bensigurdson.
