Written by Lynn Orgyzlo | 13 December 2007

What you might ask, could possibly be so different about an Icewine tasting? A few wines, a dialogue leading you through one liquid icon, towards those unique and then aged. Everyone sufficiently impressed — the wines depleted — end of another spectacular evening.

It was instead, a night of delightfully shattered expectations. The venue was the age-worn loft at Inniskillin Wines, the speaker was the bubbly Shari Darling, the subject was her brand new Icewine aroma wheel and she was brazen enough to teach a group of seasoned wine tasters just how it’s done.

Written by Evan Saviolidis | 13 December 2007

“And I sacrificed a goat to St Urbain, the Patron Saint of Wineries.” 

Daniel Speck, owner of Henry of Pelham Winery

Keeping ones sense of humour in light of adversity is always sound judgment. Certainly Daniel’s levity underlines a serious concern for the Ontario wine industry — two years running which saw vines damaged by frosty temperatures dipping below the -20˚C mark. The disagreeable conditions led to reduced crops in table wines, but more importantly Icewine, for both 2003 and 2005.

Written by Tod Stewart | 29 October 2007

Over two million Canadians have diabetes.

For thirty-two years I’ve been a card-carrying member of the no-sugar-tonight club. The thing that always surprises people when they find out I’m diabetic is the significant part that food and wine play in my life. Reactions range from the somewhat curious (“How do you manage to do that?”) to the utterly admonishing (“Diabetics shouldn’t drink!” — to which I typically reply: “To your health!” before draining my glass). While the medical world has pretty much conceded that diabetics need not abstain from fermented fruit juice (or other potent potables), the question of what to drink and how much remains an issue.