Uncorked Ontario

As the LCBO prepares to strike could this be a good thing for local wineries?

The LCBO has never had a strike but this may change on June 24th when employees can hit the picket lines. There hasn’t been a lot of movement by the LCBO so this strike date may result in the first time these members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union shut Ontario out of wine and spirits.

Several local wineries that I have talked to are preparing for the extra business should the strike at the LCBO occur. This actually may be a good thing for some of the local wineries as they can introduce new customers to their wines. There is still a large population of wine drinkers who only buy wine from the LCBO, and since the LCBO doesn’t provide much in the way of shelf space for local wines a new group of wine drinkers may be introduced to local wines.

Living close to the border I suppose we could travel over to the US to purchase wine and liquor. You can declare your purchases, paid the taxes and be on your way but is it worth the extra hassle when wineries are so close? I suppose you would have to head over to the US for liquor purchases but with so many local wineries offering wine that is as good and often better than the stuff at the LCBO bying local wine is the best option.

This could get interesting.

Gary.

Some people don’t see the necessity in choosing a special wine for dinner and may simply serve whatever they have in the house. Others however wish to stay with protocol and serve the proper wine to go with the meals they serve. Except in formal settings, the choice is a personal one for the most part although some foods naturally taste better when they are consumed with the right wine. That doesn’t make it mandatory although some people do prefer to follow wine protocol even in an informal setting. There are others that will even go so far as to tell you if you don’t drink the correct wine with your food you will become ill. This again equates into personal choice and has no substantiated evidence to support it.

In general the rule of thumb for serving wine is white wine with white meats and red wines with red meat. The exception is chicken which tends to go better with a fruity red wine. The same is true when serving fish—you may prefer to serve red wine with fish instead of white wine. Sweet seafood such as lobster are quite tasty with s sweet white wine instead of red wine. The rules are not always ironclad, and there may be reasons you choose to change the protocol such as serving a White Bordeaux with bluefish.

Sometimes you have to make choices that are out of the ordinary realm of things for various reasons, so don’t think you are doing anything wrong. The rules for serving white wine with white meat and red wine for red meat are not in stone and are therefore subject to change as circumstances dictate.

Another thing to remember when serving wine is to avoid serving any wine when you are serving salad. The reason for this is because vinegar and wine do not mix well together. Even with your appetizers you have to consider the ingredients in order to choose the proper wine to serve. With cheese trays you will find that cheddar is best when it is served with dry red wines while Merlots and Cabernet, Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir are best with Swiss. Camembert and brie go very well with a Chardonnay while the Italian cheeses such as Parmigiano, Romano and reggiano match perfectly with Italian dry red wines. You can serve white or red fruit wines to offset the oil if you are serving fried appetizers.