The Event: Taste Ontario! Toronto Trade and Media Tasting 2022

The Date and Time: Monday April 25, 2022  11AM – 1PM session

The Event: Taste Ontario! Toronto Trade and Media Tasting 2022

The Venue: Park Hyatt Toronto

The Target Audience: wine media, agents, sommeliers, opinion makers.

The Availability/Catalogue: all wines are at the winery, some are at the LCBO. Full details were included in the catalogue.

The Quote/Background: There was a Media Tasting Room up on the 17th floor where writers could relax and sample wines at their leisure.

The Wines: all prices are retail. I tasted only these wines out of the 300 or so available. LCBO numbers where available.

 

**** BEST -- Four Stars (90+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-13th Street Winery    Cuvée Rosé    Niagara Peninsula    NV    12.5%    147504     $29.95    

-180 Estate Winery    Gamay Rosé Sparkling    Creek Shores    2021    11%     $30.20

-180 Estate Winery    Gamay Noir Reserve    Creek Shores    2019    13%    $46.20 -Bachelder    Les Villages Chardonnay 'Bench'    Niagara Escarpment    2020    $34.95    

-Closson Chase Vineyards Churchside Pinot Noir    Prince Edward County    2019 12%    +265074     $42.00    

-Lighthall Vineyards    Chardonnay    Prince Edward County    2019    12.5%  $36

-Norman Hardie Winery & Vineyard County Chardonnay    Prince Edward County    2019    12.5%    +381715     $49.20

-Rosehall Run Vineyards     JCR Chardonnay    Prince Edward County    2019    12%       $36

-Rosehall Run Ceremony    Prince Edward County    2017    12%  $36

-Rosehall Run Hungry Point Sauvignon Blanc    Prince Edward County    2020 12.5%      $28

-13th Street Winery    Blanc de Blanc    Niagara Peninsula    2019    12.5%     $29.95    

-2027 Cellars  Fox Croft Chardonnay    Twenty Mile Bench    2020 13% $25

-Cave Spring Vineyard    Blanc de Blancs CSV    Beamsville Bench    2015    12%  $49.95    

-Cave Spring Vineyard    Pinot Gris Estate    Beamsville Bench    2020    14%     $27.95    

-Cave Spring Vineyard Chardonnay CSV Beamsville Bench    2019    14%    +529941     $29.95    

-Cloudsley Cellars    Wingfield Vineyard Chardonnay    Twenty Mile Bench    2019    13%     $50

-Cloudsley Cellars    Foxcroft Vineyard Chardonnay    Twenty Mile Bench    2019    13%     $50

-Cloudsley Cellars Chardonnay, Twenty Mile Bench Beamsville Bench VQA 2018 13%  $35

-Hidden Bench Estate Winery Bistro Chardonnay    Beamsville Bench    2017 13%    $16.93 Lic

-Meldville Wines    Sauvignon Blanc     Lincoln Lakeshore    2019 12.5% $20

-Westcott Vineyards Estate Chardonnay Niagara Escarpment 2020 13.5% +424507     $29.99

-Fogolar Hanck Vineyard Riesling 2019 VQA Twenty Mile Bench 12.5% $19.95

-Southbrook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 VQA Four Mile Creek 13% $45

-Chateau des Charmes Wines    Barrel Fermented Chardonnay    Niagara-on-the-Lake    2019 13% +81653     $14.95

-Chateau des Charmes Wines    Rosé, Cuvée d'Andrée    Niagara-on-the-Lake    2021    12% +333260     $18.95    

-Chateau des Charmes Wines    Brut Sparkling    Niagara-on-the-Lake    NV    12.5%    +224766     $25.95    

-Drea's Wine Co.    Sauvignon Blanc    Niagara Peninsula    2019  12.5%   $26.50        

-Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Grand Reserve White Meritage     Niagara Peninsula 2020    13%    +360297 $25.95

-Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Grand Reserve Chardonnay Niagara Peninsula 2019 13.5% +593996 $20.95    

-Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Grand Reserve Entourage Brut     Niagara Peninsula  2017  13%    +234161     $29.95

-Southbrook Winery Estate Skin Fermented White (Orange)    Ontario    2020    10.7% +628065  $29.95    

-Southbrook Triomphe Chardonnay Niagara Peninsula    2018 12.7%    +172338 $24.95 -Cooper's Hawk Vineyards Barrel Fermented Chardonnay    Lake Erie North Shore 2020 13%     $20.15    

-Featherstone Winery Canadian Oak Chardonnay Niagara Peninsula 2019 12.5% +149302     $22.95    

-Featherstone Winery    Sauvignon blanc    Niagara Peninsula    2021    12%    +89011 $17.95 -Icellars Estate Winery    Pinot Noir    Niagara-on-the-Lake    2019    13.5%  $30

-Kacaba Vineyards & Winery    Meritage    Niagara Escarpment    2017    13.6% $33.15    

-Lailey Winery    Stonebridge Chardonnay    Four Mile Creek    2019    13.8% $48

-Southbrook Winery    Poetica Red    Four Mile Creek    2019    14% $70   

-Tawse Winery    Robyn's Block Chardonnay    Twenty Mile Bench    2019    13%  $46.95    

-Two Sisters Vineyards    Eleventh Post    Niagara River    2017    14.5% +20935 $45

 

***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Icellars Estate Winery    Sauvignon Blanc    Twenty Mile Bench    2019    13.5% $35

-Cooper's Hawk Vineyards    North Block Sparkling    Ontario    2016    12.5% $25.15    

-Broken Stone Winery    Chenin Blanc    Prince Edward County    2020    12% $29.95    

-Broken Stone Winery County Grown Chardonnay    Prince Edward County    2020 12.7%    +668269 $26.95

-Broken Stone Winery Gewürztraminer "Applehouse Vineyard"    Prince Edward County    2019 11.6%     $21.95    

-Closson Chase Vineyards    Ridge South Clos Chardonnay    Prince Edward County    2019        12.5%      $42

-Closson Chase Loyalist Chardonnay    Prince Edward County    2020    12%  $26    

-Trail Estate Winery Chardonnay (Cold Creek Vineyard)    Prince Edward County 2020 14%     $45

-Trail Estate Oh Julius     Ontario    2021    10.5%    $35

-Traynor Family Vineyard    Sauvignon Blanc    Niagara Peninsula    2020    13.9% $20

-Colio Estate Wines    Lily Sparkling     Ontario    NV 12% +418657 $17.95

-North 42 Degrees Estate Winery    Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc Extra Dry     Ontario    2020    12.5%     $24.95

-Calamus Estate Winery Barrel Kissed Chardonnay    Niagara Peninsula    2021 13.5% $21.95

-Cloudsley Cellars    Chardonnay, Niagara Peninsula    Niagara Peninsula    2019    13% $25

-Malivoire     Melon    Beamsville Bench    2021    12%  $21.95

-Megalomaniac Wines "Outspoken" Unoaked Chardonnay Twenty Mile Bench 2020 13.5% $18.95

-Rennie Estate Winery Christine Chardonnay    Beamsville Bench    2017 13%       $40

-Westcott Vineyards Violette Sparkling Brut Niagara Escarpment 2021    12.5%     $25.99

-Drea's Wine Co.    Rose    Niagara Peninsula    2020  12.5%   $26.50

-Inniskillin Niagara Estate Winery Montague Vineyard Chardonnay     Four Mile Creek    2019    13%  $25.95       

-Lailey Winery Orange Skin Fermented White Niagara River    2021    11.7%  $33       

-Lakeview Wine Co. Lakeview Barrel Aged Chardonnay    Niagara Peninsula    2017    13%    +17633      $22.95

-Two Sisters Vineyards    Unoaked Chardonnay Niagara Peninsula    2019    13%     $39

                                       

 

The Food: boards of cheeses, charcuterie, dried and fresh fruits, nuts, breads, et al at convenient locations outside the noisy trade hall.

The Downside: I had to leave in order to get to my next winetasting, a Portuguese event.

The Upside: the Media Room was a relaxing delight where I could evade the noise and contemplate a wine at my own speed.

The Contact Person: andrea.peters@wmao.ca

The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 91.

                                                                                                               

 

You get old and you realize there are no answers -- just stories.
Chimo! www.deantudor.com
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Dean Tudor, Ryerson University Journalism Professor Emeritus
Treasurer, Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://winewriterscircle.ca
Look it up and you'll remember it; screw it up and you'll never forget it.