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Category: Winery visits

Wining with Mel’s first time ever in Niagara!

If there’s one thing that most people don’t know about me, it’s that besides a middle-school trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see a play at the Shaw Festival, I have never been to Niagara.

Shocking, I know.

What self-respecting Canadian wine writer has never visited the nation’s largest viticultural region??

With a milestone birthday coming up, it was time to remedy this travesty. I started dropping hints months ago about going to Niagara for the big event. So when my husband told me to pack a bag for a surprise birthday trip last weekend, I had my suspicions about where we were going.

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Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Tuscan memories of gluttony

The senses can be a truly powerful force. I recently opened a bottle of Vernaccia di San Gimignano and found myself in TuscanyRead on as I recount our last evening in Tuscany and the amazing farm-to-table meal at Fattoria Poggio Alloro.

Anyone else embarking on wine travel these days?

I love drinking a wine and being transported to far-off places through the sensations on my palate.

I’m talking about pulling the cork and being whisked away to a foreign land by the bouquet. You close your eyes and with that first sip you can hear the Mediterranean breeze whispering through the olive trees.

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Beaujolais Biodynamics at Domaine de la Bonne Tonne

Ever wanted to live on a vineyard in France? Wake up in the morning to the smell of espresso and fresh-baked croissant, open the windows and gaze upon vineyards and majestic Mont Blanc in the distance? Eat delicious, locally sourced food and drink organically grown wine made in your backyard? Work, eat, drink, sing and dance with locals, and make friendships for life?

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Keeping it all in the family in the Beaujolais – Part 1

Green rolling hills, row upon row of vines, tractors trundling their way past market stands are filled with every summer fruit imaginable – shiny red cherries, plump strawberries, and juicy apricots, peaches and nectarines. The sun shines warm upon your face, and a gentle breeze makes the tall grass sway. Welcome to June in the Beaujolais.

The gorgeous Beaujolais landscape
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Wining in Valpolicella: an afternoon with Bertani

A year ago, I was in Italy, eating a ridiculous amount of pasta and pizza, and drinking copious amounts of aperol spritzes and delicious Italian wine. Looking back at those pictures makes me want to drop everything and get on a plane. Maybe that explains the Italian kick I’ve been on lately. When planning our trip, I was a bit nervous about Italy. I had spent a lifetime hyping it up in my head. Would it live up to my expectations? It’s Italy—of course it did. It was everything I dreamed it would be, and more.

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Resurfacing…with big news

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Friends!

I know, I know. It has been a while. My excuses are valid, I assure you, but I don’t want to bore you with them. Let’s just say that I have been struck with a case of shifting priorities, and unfortunately this blog was one of the things that got shuffled to the bottom of the list, along with many other things that are dear to me. But it was all for a good cause! Read on, and you will see: this is a post of big news…

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Kin Vineyards: Drinking Local In The Ottawa Valley

Yes, you read that right. Kin “Vineyards” and “Ottawa Valley” uttered in the same breath. Could it be? Is it truly possible?

The answer is: yes and yes.

For the past three years, right across the road from the Diefenbunker, a 47-acre plot of land has housed 10 acres of Burgundian grape varietals pinot noir and chardonnay. Down the road in Kinburn, another 6 acres of both vinifera and hybrid varieties are planted on KIN Vineyards, a winery that prides itself on hard work and community. Being a word nerd, I appreciate the name, a tribute to the original vineyard in Kinburn as well as a play on words highlighting the winery’s core values of family, community and connectivity.

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