Steven Elphick’s iconic photo of an Icewine vineyard
Monday, February 23rd: Dinner: Blackened scallops with grilled peppers, with Trillium Cellars Chardonnay 2019.
Tuesday, February 24th: Dinner: Beef and Short Rib Lasagna with Southbrook Cabernet Franc 2001 (mildly corked, unfortunately, but drinkable.)
Wednesday, February 25th: Magdalena Kaiser dropped by to show me her author’s copy of her new book, Niagara Wine + Food, available for preorder at
www.figure1publishing.com/book/niagara-wine-food/.
Magdalena Kaiser with her new book
Thursday, February 26th: Tasted eight wines from Collab (“Collab Wine & Beverage is a collection of virtual beverage brands focused on showcasing unique, small-batch brands creating craft Canadian beverages. Based in Niagara On The Lake, Collab is a place for industry professionals to come together to create and grow their own distinct brands.”)
Collab white wines
Fogolar Wines Picone Vineyard North Block Riesling 2023 (Vinemount Ridge)
Pale straw in colour with a lime tint;lightly floral, grapefruit nose; medium-bodied, just off-dry, honeyed grapefruit flavour with minty, lemony finish. (90)
Battersea Wines Weiss 2024
A blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne. Straw colour, peach bouquet with a thread of minerality; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted peach and apple flavours; well balanced, great length on the finish. Lovely mouth-feel. (91)
Divergence Viognier Mazza Vineyard 2021 (Lincoln Lakeshore)
Straw colour with a green tint; toasty, vanilla and peach blossom nose; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted peach and yellow plum flavours, well-balanced and well-integrated oak. (91)
Chateau Everett Gewurztraminer Black Bank Hill Vineyard 2024 (Lincoln Lakeshore)
Pale straw in colour; intense spicy, floral lychee nose with toasty oak notes on the nose; full-bodied, dry, lychee and ginger flavours; great length and lovely mouth-feel. True varietal character. (92)
Collab red wines
Divergence Gamay Noir Wismer Wingfield Vineyard 2023 (20 Mile Bench)
Medium ruby in colour; toasty, cedary, red plum nose; medium-bodied, dry, sour cherry flavour with a lively spine of acidity. Good length. Drink now. (89)
Fogolar Grimsby Hillside Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2023 (Lincoln Lakeshore)
Bright ruby in colour; cherry and pepper bouquet; full-bodied, dry, earthy, cherry and strawberry flavours; well-balanced and firmly structured with ripe tannins. (89)
Fogolar Finite Meldville x Finite Cabernet Syrah 2022 (Niagara Peninsula)
Ruby-purple in colour; high-toed, lifted nose of black fruits with a note of pepper; full-bodied, dry, blackberry flavour with oak spice; beautifully balanced and firmly structured. (90)
Chateau Everett Malbec 2023 Bock Vineyard (St. David’s Bench)
Dense purple in colour; spicy, toasty, blackberry and vanilla bouquet; full-bodied, dry, richly extracted blackberry and black plum flavours; well-balanced and firmly structured with cashmere tannins. A seamless wine. (92)
Friday, February 27th: A dinner party at our house for old friends who have moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake. First course: salmon poke on greens; main course: roast leg of lamb with pomme dauphinoise; dessert: strawberry & rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream.
The wines: Divergence Viognier Mazza Vineyard 2021, Fogolar Grimsby Hillside Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2023, Fogolar Finite Meldville x Finite Cabernet Syrah 2022 and Kittling Ridge Vidal Icewine 2019.
Saturday, February 28th: Drove into Etobicoke to attend the “living wake” of an old friend who was the photographer for our wedding and took all the images for my Tony Aspler’s Cellar Book and The Wine Atlas of Canada. I helped to write his eulogy.
He was an Artist – not with a brush or a pen, but a camera. He brought a poet’s eye and sensibility to whatever he focused his lens on. Whether his subject was fashion, still life, portraiture, food or his career-long passion, wine, he created memorable photographs for magazine covers, books and advertisements worldwide. The depth he brought to his professional catalogue of work grew organically from the breadth of his interests. He was not only an ardent master of every technological advancement that would impact modern photography, he was a gourmand and a creative chef, a lover of music and architecture, an aficionado of the finest cheeses, and a discerning competition wine judge with an unerring palate for blind tasting. Fortunately for all who knew him, his passion for these subjects was exceeded only by his desire to share it: He was defined by his boundless generosity. He was a devoted husband to his wife and work partner, Paula, whose own sense of beauty and order meshed synergistically with his aesthetic. And it was as a photographer that the world knew him. He shot all the images for The Wine Atlas of Canada, crossing the country to do so, with a depth of knowledge and love of the vintner’s genre that added immensely to his contribution. Panache Publishing then released his work Spectacular Wineries of Ontario – spectacular for the artistry of his photography. In it, after 75 days of sunrises and sunsets, he took you on a captivating photographic journey through Ontario Wine Country, where vineyards flourish in picturesque settings and winemakers’ dreams are made. Winery proprietors especially cherished his uncanny ability to capture vivid, even iconic, images from the simplest and most mundane of subject matter – barrels, wine paraphernalia, grapevines, leaves, stones, cellars, doors – a skill that ensured that each assignment, every photo shoot, became a remarkable success. His work is widely collected and was shown in exhibitions across Canada, notably at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau. His first date with MAID lapsed (he told us with a smile) on an afternoon that he far preferred to walk the fairways of Weston, faced his final weeks with courage, fortitude and grace, not letting his illness get in the way of his work or his zest for life. He will be mourned by his many friends and professional colleagues. Rest in peace, old friend, and may his memory be a blessing.
