I’ve written before about 8 Great Reasons to Visit an Ontario Winery. In fact, I’ve encouraged everyone I talk to take the time and visit a local winery and support the fantastic folks in the Ontario wine industry. I know you all meant well, and some of you actually made it out to wineries, but many of you were just too busy.
Well the event this Thursday night will allow you to make up for all those excuses. With 20+ wineries showing up here in Ottawa, you don’t need to drive out to Richmond, Navan, Oxford Mills, or (Gasp!) Prince Edward County or Niagara. You can just head downtown to the NAC and they will come to you.
So here are my Top 5 Reasons to Attend Sip, Swirl, Savour & Selebrate:
5) 20+ Wineries Coming to You
Here’s the list of participants so far from Savvy’s event description (warning – there may be more!). Think of how much gas you would use if you had to drive around to all these wineries! Even with 6 dedicated wine trips under out belts, my wife and I still haven’t made it to 7 of these wineries! And several of these wineries are in our Top 10 list, so it’s not like you’re going to be sampling amateur wines.
Angels Gate Winery – Beamsville Bench
Beregeron Winery – Prince Edward County BONUS – they are bringing their Cole Point Hard Cider
Blue Gypsy Winery – Ottawa’s newest winery…just opened 2 weeks ago!
Cattail Creek Family Estate Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Cave Spring Cellars – Jordan
Chateau des Charmes – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Cornerstone Estate Winery – Niagara
Coyote’s Run Estate Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Creekside Estate Winery – Niagara
Diamond Estate Wines – Niagara
Fielding Estates Winery – Beamsville Bench
Good Earth Food & Wine Co.- Twenty Valley (Niagara region)
Kacaba Vineyards – Beamsville Bench
Karlo Estates Winery – Prince Edward County
Konzelmann Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Lailey Vineyard – Niagara-on-the-Lake BONUS: they are pouring barrel samples of their soon-to-be-released wines!
Palatine Hills Estate Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Pillitteri Estates Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Pondview Estate Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Ridge Road Estate Winery – Beamsville Bench
Rosewood Winery & Meadery – Beamsville Bench
Sandbanks Estate Winery – Prince Edward County
Southbrook Vineyards – Niagara-on-the-Lake
Strewn Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake
The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards & Winery – Prince Edward County
4) 100+ Wines Being Poured
Where else can you try that many wines all in one (festive) setting for the one ticket price? Almost all of the wines being poured cannot be found at the LCBO. And while I don’t encourage folks to attempt to try them all (unless you are staying in a hotel that night), the opportunity to sample that many means that you are certain to find at least some that you love!
3) Meet Other Wine Enthusiasts, Winery Owners and Winemakers
Many of the folks pouring work at or even own the winery. You can ask detailed questions about the wine, winemaking techniques, terroir, or just find out how nice the folks are that work in the wine industry in Ontario. It’s kind of nice to have wine with that personal connection. As well, there are lots of other wine enthusiasts that are in attendance which makes for a fun evening as you compare notes and share the special finds in the room.
2) Opportunity To Order Wine No One Else Has
With the Holiday season coming up and many people hosting, wouldn’t it be nice to have a few special bottles that aren’t available in the LCBO? Perhaps there’s even a story about the wine – a personal connection you made with the winemaker. We all want to have something that is “rare” and these wines all have that special quality given that you can’t walk into your local LCBO and pick them up. And sadly (for wine-lovers the wineries), wine clubs/restaurants/winery sales are the only mechanism they have to get their wines out to the public. We only have these opportunities a couple times a year in Ottawa.
1) You’re Supporting Our Local Economy (Buy Local!)
A litre of local VQA wine returns $11.50 into the local economy (non-VQA returns $8.48) compared to just $0.67 for a litre of imported wine. While we all enjoy the variety and styles of wines that come from different regions, why not put some money back into Ontario’s fledgling industry?
So there you have it. Round up some friends and bring them out. It really is a fantastic evening!! But act quickly as there are only a handful of tickets remaining!