Bill Redelmeier welcomes his guests (see Saturday)
Monday, July 20th: Visited my dentist. Great guy but I hate dental visits. This time to mend a broken front tooth. He discovered a small cavity in another tooth, which means another visit on Wednesday. Dinner: beef stir fry noodles with a bottle of Big Crush Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 from Australia.
Tuesday, July 21st: Dinner at Wellington Court with Bill Redelmeier and John Nadeau. Ordered Lake Erie perch (which I read this morning in the Standard is in short supply). John ordered a bottle of Bill’s Southbrook Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon 2021.
Wednesday, July 22nd: To the dentist – again. Small filling. I should get a medal. Dinner: Montana’s Pork Back Ribs with a bottle of José Maria da Fonseca Domini Douro 2023.
Thursday, July 23rd: Heard today that my friend Igor Ryjenkov MW has passed. Igor was the first Canadian Master of Wine. I was Chair of the Canadian Masters of Wine programme when he and other candidates were studying for the exams. I would hold blind tastings at my house. Igor was an exceptionally fine taster.
Dinner: a quick pizza, as we’ve been invited to the Welland Jackfish/Guelph Royals baseball game at Welland’s The Pond Stadium. The home team was down four runs in the first inning but rallied to come back 10–5. I ordered a Pond Water Lager, a German-inspired lager, created in a partnership between the Welland Jackfish baseball team and Newark Brewing Company.
The Jackfish’s mascot
Friday, July 24th: Dinner: grilled salmon with Juice Wine Company Cabernet Franc Rosé 2025.
Juice Wine Company Rosé
Saturday, July 25th: Deborah and I went to a matinee of Jeeves and Wooster at the Shaw. Very entertaining.
Then to Southbrook for an Estate Dinner prepared by Chef Tony DeLuca. The highlight of the evening was a magnum from Bill Redelemier’s cellar: Southbrook Cabernet Merlot 1997, which in 2021 won best wine of competition at the Ontario Wine Awards.
Tony DeLuca
