Tasting the Harlan wines
Monday, April 13th: A meeting at Ted Van Geest’s house regarding the Niagara wine project we’ve been working on. Ted always brings out good wines: Cloudsley Cellars Pinot Noir 2017 and Hidden Bench Roman’s Block Riesling 2017.
Tuesday, April 14th: Dinner: Tasted wines from Hester Creek Estate in the Golden Mile Bench, Southern Okanagan Valley. They asked me to hold my reviews till the wines are released. In a word, “Terrific.”
Dinner: Chicken wings with Family Tree The Goat Lady Chardonnay 2025.
Wednesday, April 15th: Our neighbors Janet and John came over for drinks. I opened a bottle of Malivoire Moira Rosé 2024.
Thursday, April 16th: Took the GO train into Toronto to conduct a series of tastings at The Fine Wine Reserve for Grapes for Humanity. We had a donation of Harlan Estate Napa Valley Reserve Bordeaux blend, vintages 2005–2009 ,which had been privately bottled and labelled for a Toronto collector. These are stunning wines!
Harlan wines
Friday, April 17th: A quick meeting with Ted Van Geest – the wine, Tinhorn Creek The Creek 2016.
A dinner meeting with John Nadeau and Peter Rod. John served pizza with Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon 2021.
Saturday, April 18th: A party at Waddington’s Auctioneers in Toronto for the launch of Grapes for Humanity’s Fine Wine Auction, featuring all the 12 skus of Cuvee From the Heart wines, each produced by three Niagara winemakers whose photos appear on the labels. Thomas Bachelder explained how the concept came to be.
Thomas Bachelder explaining the genesis of the Cuvee from the Heart wines
The Cuvee From the Heart winemakers
Sunday, April 19th: Deborah and decided to visit the new Stone Eagle winery opposite Jackson-Triggs. We selected the Founder’s Flight for tasting.
Entrance to Stone Eagle
Stone Eagle tasting options
The Stone Eagle Eagle Eye 2022 (68% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Semillon) was so good we bought two bottles in spite of the price ($90).
Then we continued on to Niagara-on-the-Lake to have lunch at Treadwell’s. (I had the mussels in a cream sauce – delicious!)
Dinner: grilled Salmon with Riverlore Sauvignon Blanc 2025 from Marlborough, New Zealand.
