Monday, July 1st: To celebrate the Canada Day holiday I opened a bottle from BC – Tinhorn Creek Merlot 2015, which Deborah and I demolished with barbecued steak (deep ruby colour; cedary, lightly floral nose of blueberries backed by spicy oak; medium to full-bodied, dry, richly extracted blueberry and plum flavours with a vanilla oak finish; firmly structured (89.5)).
Tuesday, July 2nd: Went for an MRI and X-ray for my shoulder, which is still giving me pain.
Sign in the X-ray clinic
Made arrangements for twelve of Toronto’s top sommeliers to be attend the Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards presentation on July 12th and picked up two bottles of Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot 2005 I had ordered at the dinner a week ago. Began decluttering my office, as the condo goes on the market next week. Dinner at Birch on Mount Pleasant. Enjoyed a bottle of Janare Falanghina del Sannio 2016.
Falanghina at Birch Bistro
Artichoke dish that accompanied the Falanghina
Wednesday, July 3rd: Wrote up my Wines of the Week and worked on rewrites on the novel. In the evening, dinner with our friends Adrienne and Myra and Liz and Dave at Los Guaca-Moles on Euclid Avenue.
Thursday, July 4th: Dental appointment this morning and then spent the rest of the day on rewrites for the novel.
Friday, July 5th: Lunch with Sadie Darby at Cibo on Yonge Street to discuss next year’s Ontario Wine Awards. Spent the rest of the day tidying up my library and the wine cellar, which I hope to sell with the condo. Dinner with our friends Arlene and Michael at L’Unita. Michael showed me his magnificent new cellar in their condo. And he pulled out some amazing wines for dinner.
Dinner wines at L’Unita
Saturday, July 6th: Deborah and I drove up to our friends Joe and Laurissa’s beautiful home on Roche’s Point, where they were hosting a fund-raiser for Clearwater Farm at Reed. Al the guests were bused over to tour the farm before returning for a cocktail party in Joe’s boat house.
Clearwater farm poster
The Lieutenant Governor was there and so was Toronto Mayor John Tory, sporting the shoes he wore in the Pride Parade.
The Mayor’s Pride Parade shoes