Monday, September 28th: Dinner grilled salmon with The Long Way Home Riesling 2024 (produced at Crush on King, Niagara Custom Crush Studio).
Straw colour with a hint of lime; grapefruit bouquet with a thread of minerality; medium-bodied, crisple dry, green apple and grapefruit flavours. Beautifully balanced and great length. (91)
Tuesday, September 29th: No wine!
Wednesday, September 30th: Jill Troyer drove me to On Seven to taste the newly released 2023 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with winemaker Peter Gamble and the winery’s proprietor, Vittorio De Stefano.
Winemaker Peter Gamble and On Seven’s proprietor, Vittorio De Stefano
On Seven Pursuit Pinot Noir 2023
Bright, medium ruby in colour; raspberry and red cherry nose with a light note of violets; medium-bodied, ripe raspberry and red cherry flavours; elegant and beautifully balanced with cashmere tannins and fresh acidity. Lovely texture on the palate. (93)
On Seven Pursuit Chardonnay 2023
White gold in colour; toasty, apple bouquet with oak spice; medium to full-bodied, dry, elegant richly extracted peach and pineapple flavours. Great mouth-feel and amazing length. Reminiscent of a Pouilly-Fuissé. (94)
After the tasting, I lunched with Jill and Don Troyer at Caroline Cellars (ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon).
Dinner: I cooked shrimp in cream sauce with rice, served with a bottle of Laroche Saint-Martin Chablis 2024.
Thursday, October 1st: John Nadeau picked me up early to drive to Toronto for a meeting with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to discuss Canadian wineries that will show their wines at the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival. We had lunch at Moon Palace (40 Dundas West) and sampled two of the wines that will be presented in the Canadian pavilion in Hong Kong – Checkmate Fool’s Mate Chardonnay 2022 from BC, and Big Head Syrah 2023 from Niagara. In the evening, a media dinner in Malaparte for media and influencers to announce the Hong Kong event. The dinner was prepared by Chef Alvin Leung.
Andrzej Lipinski inspects the wine destined for Hong Kong’s Wine & Dine Festival
Chef Alvin Leung and me
Friday, October 2nd: Dinner: spaghetti and meat sauce with a bottle of Unscripted Montage 2023.
Saturday, October 3rd: Dinner: pasta and meat sauce with a bottle of One Pound Per Acre Shiraz 2024 (South Australia).
