Wine and Dine on Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day All you Wonderful People out There.

Valentines Day is quickly approaching.  As a guy who tries to avoid all special occasions I tend to dread Valentines Day the most.  When I was single it was about going out and celebrating freedom.  Now that I’m in a committed relationship I find myself having to care about this faux holiday.  Every year I have to figure out what to do.  This year I’m going with a theme and it’s the same theme as my blog. 

Don’t worry; if you are single this list will benefit you too.  Welcome to the ultimate dinner and wine pairing list. 

Reif Estates Cabernet Merlot

Valentines Day is a celebration even if you’re single.  Don’t be lonely, drink and find other lonely people.  As such, I feel a celebration needs to be kicked off with a sparkling wine.  My sparkling of choice is from Tawse winery.  The Spark 2014 Lime Ridge Riesling is recommendation to you.  As for the food to eat with the wine, a lime shrimp and avocado salad would be easy to make and delicious. 

The main course comes from Reif Estates Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  It’s a Braised Beef Bolognese with a Reif Estate Cabernet Merlot.  It sounds hard to cook but totally worth it.  To be honest you could have this dish with box wine and no one would notice because it’s that good. 

Lastly we have desert.  Go make this ice wine cocktail from my last blog.  After you make that drink you buy a book of heart shaped chocolates and eat the entire box in one sitting.  Why?  You just spent hours in the kitchen cooking up food now you have to treat yourself with some chocolate and cocktail. 

That's the best way to enjoy Valentines Day in my humble opinion.  As always please drink responsibly.  

Niagara Ice Wine Festival 2016

Ice Wine Cocktails are Easy

Hello and welcome to my first blog post.  My blog is a guide to Niagara wines for the everyday person.  To be very clear, I am not educated in the ways of wine.  I am not a sommelier.   I hope that this blog will be learning experience for me and for the reader.  Every week I want to take you on an adventure that will introduce you to wineries and showcase the region I live in and have come to enjoy.  We are going to kick things off with the Ice Wine Festival because it's winter.

The last three weeks have been busy in Niagara Region.  The holidays are over.  So why is it busy?  It’s been busy because it is Niagara Ice Wine Festival.  A three-week event that showcases Niagara’s award winning ice wines.  I can never make it to all the events going on when these festivals start but I do try.  They are a lot of fun and you get try a lot of wine.  January focuses on Niagara’s ice wine.  Ice wine is interesting because the grapes have to be harvested at -8 degrees.  The festival takes place in three of the regions finest locations.  The first week is in Niagara Falls, the second week is in Jordan, and third week is in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  For more information on the event and things you’ve missed out on this year check out Niagara Ice Wine Festival. 

This year I braved the cold and headed to Jordan.  Friendly tip; wear long underwear, gloves and a hat.  I tried to get by without these items and was very cold.  To make a long story short I went to Jordan and tried some ice wine.  My favourite is from Stoney Ridge.  But to be honest, I find all ice wine a little sweet for my tastes.  I think that’s why I enjoyed NOTL’s event on Saturday better.  It was the Flash & Panache: Ice Wine Cocktail Competition.

The Flash & Panache: Ice Wine Cocktail Competition is exactly how it sounds.  You buy tokens and walk from vendor to vendor trying out different ice wine cocktails.  At all these events there’s live music but the band was pretty funky.  It was cold again but this time I didn’t care.  I wander around and savored cocktails from the best restaurants and wineries the region has to offer.  It inspired me to go out and create my own.  I learned that I know nothing about mixology.  Gin and ice wine mixed together is not a cocktail.  I contacted my good friend Kellie, check out her Twitter account for drink ideas @KellieOverIce, she’s a bartender, a waitress, and graduate from Culinary Arts program at Niagara College. 

Here’s what her brilliant mind came up with:

Created on Highball App

Ice Wine Cocktail created by @KellieOverIce

Thanks for reading my first blog post.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Please drink responsible.