Thursday, June 20^th: Deborah and I Ubered to Burlington to take the GO train to Toronto. Then transferred to a bus to Billy Bishop Airport for a flight to Dorval. We were met there by John Nadeau, who drove us to the Atwater market for lunch. The Atwater Market has got to be Canada’s best indoor market – and that includes Granville Island in Vancouver.

Dropped into the local SAQ to pick up a few bottles of wine before driving to John’s house on Brome Lake in the Eastern Townships.

John’s house

View of Brome Lake from the house

Juniper

Friday, June 21^st: Visited Grimoire Microbrewery, where John keeps his Township Whisky blends in barrel to age. Then to lunch at Domaine Jolivent before visiting the duck emporium, Lac Brome.

Microbrewery

Whisky

Then on to Sugar Hill Vineyard for a tasting.

John threw a dinner party for his friends Peter and Ellen and cooked a remarkable dish of pork ribs.

Dinner wine

Pork roast

Dinner wine

Saturday, June 22^nd: Lunch was with neighbours Alain and Julie Proteau. Alain, whom I had met many years ago, had just retired from his position as VP Sales at the SAQ. After a welcoming glass of Gosset Champagne Extra Brut, Alain invited me into his cellar to select wine for lunch. La Soufrandière Pouilly-Vinzelles 2022, Bouchard Pere & Fils Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus 2002 and Château Pavie 1999. With the strawberry dessert, Château Suduiraud 1989. (Now that’s what I call a lunch!)

Champagne for lunch

Dessert

Alain Proteau, me, John and our lunch wines

Other dinner wines

Sunday, June 23^rd: John drove us back to Toronto and we ate sandwiches on the way. For dinner, I prepared a pasta dish with the left-over pork.

Monday, June 24^th: I took an early train from St. Catharines to Toronto to attend Rootstock, George Brown College’s annual wine symposium. The train was delayed and I missed the address by the opening speaker, Elaine Chukan Brown, on “Reaching the New Consumer.”

Richard Kershaw, an MW and a winemaker in Elgin, South Africa, gave us “A South African Wine Perspective.”

Richard Kershaw

After a coffee break, Tanisha Townsend, Chief Wine Officer, “Girl Meets Glass,” spoke about “Wine Tourism in a Changing World.” She pointed out that women aged 46–56 are the dominant force in the wine market.

The last speaker before lunch was Madeline Puckette, the founder of “Wine Folly.” Her theme was “Demystifying Wine: The Journey of Wine Folly from Passion to Global Phenomenon.”

Madeline Puckette

In the afternoon there were practical break-out sessions:

• Master of Wine Igor Ryjenkov and Eugene Mlyncyk: “Taste Favourites with the Masters”
• Sommelier Amy Savoury: “Nova Scotia Uncorked”
• Master Sommelier Pier Alexis Soulière: “Unique wines paired with Quebec cheese workshop”

I chose the wine and cheese workshop. We tasted a Quebec Cheddar with Rosé Vulcanico 2023 from the Azores; Talia with a Santorini Assyrtico 2022; Louis d’Or, a raw cow’s milk cheese, with Suertes del Marqués Vidonia 2021, a Palomino wine from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. We finished with maple sugar taffy served with Champagne Gosset Rosé Brut.

The second breakout tasting sessions was a choice among:

• Master Sommelier Bruce Walner and Nabilhah Rawji: “Dose Dependent: It’s Not Just a Spoonful of Sugar”
• Master Sommelier Alexander Powell: “Bordeaux Is the World – A Blind tasting Experience”
• Master of Wine Richard Kershaw: “Uncork South Africa”

I chose the blind tasting, which turned out to be a “Judgement of Toronto” experience. There were six unidentified glasses in front of us and we had to rank them in our order of preference. Here is how the 40 participants (winemakers, masters of wine, sommeliers, wine writers) chose the wines in their order of preference.

1. Colio Small Lot Series Meritage 2020 (Ontario)
2. Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2020 (BC)
3. Gruaud-Larose 2020 (Bordeaux)
4. Montes Alpha M 2020 (Chile)
5. Chateau Giscours 2018 (Bordeaux)
6. Stag’s Leap Artemis 2021 (Napa Valley)

I was an outlier. My favourite was the Stag’s Leap, but the Ontario and BC wines were highly placed (and they were the least costly of the set!).

Wines in their ranking (left to right). The Judgement of Toronto!

The Closing Reception featured the wines from the gold medal Ontario Wine Awards winners that went on to be judged by a panel of MWs and Master Sommeliers for the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Ontario Wines. These were presented by The Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and myself.

Her Honour Edith Dumont

Award winners

Following the awards presentation, we went over to the Chefs House on King Street for the closing dinner with each course paired with a medal-winning wine.

Rootstock menu

Also tasted: Flat Rock Cellars The Rusty Shed Chardonnay 2014 (still very much alive and vibrant).