Uncorked Ontario

Summer offical begins tomorrow, June 21, 2009, 1:45 A.M. EDT (summer solstice) but I am celebrating the start of this wonderful season today.

I am siting on my back porch, drinking from a bottle of Muscedere Vineyards Baco Noir Reserve 2007 and it just feels like summer is here already. Forgive me for starting my celebration a day early.

It rained heavy last night and the weatherman promised a rainy day but this is Essex County so never believe what the weather man has to say. Right now it sunny, warm, lot od those big white fuffy clouds in the sky, there is also a nice breeze out of the west. I wish all summer days were like this.

Wanda and I took a little drive around the county to visit a few vineyards. The vines have been pruned and new growth is well underway. At Aleksander Estate Winery we tasted their new Cabernet Franc which will be released soon. It was so good that preordered a case of it.

I am looking forward to the summer of 2009. I took a lot of time off of work and already have a few plans to keep me busy. Also I am looking forward to all of the new wine releases. It is going to be an wonderful summer.

Now is a good time to get out and visit the local wineries. They are not too busy and can spend some extra time with you to answer all of your questions.

Cheers .. to summer 2009!
Gary

A few local wineries celebrated Mother’s day by releasing several new wines.

Mastronardi Estate Winery: Release their 2007 Brianje VQA wine just in time for Mother’s Day! Join them for the launch of our newest Riesling. They say it’s stunningly fruity aromas and sweeter citrus flavours make it their best Riesling to date. It is the perfect Mother’s Day gift, a gift of life, as proceeds from the sale of each bottle is donated to Batten Disease Research, a charity close to the Mastronardi’s hearts. They also gave a long stemmed rose to every mother that visited the winery on Mother’s Day.

Aleksander Estate Winery. AEW Celebrates Mother’ Day & Chardonnay – treat Mom to a taste of their new 2008 Chardonnay paired with yummy treats. A wine tour in the County is a great way to spend time with Mom.

Muscedere Vineyards celebrated Mother’s Day with the release of two wines. A 2007 Baco Noir Reserve and their 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay.

The new wine releases come just in time too. Adding wines to the review site at EssexWineReview.com has slowed down over the past few weeks as I am waiting for more wineries to offer new wines.

Wanda and I didn’t visit any of our local wineries this weekend. Instead, we spend the weekend bottling some of our own wine. We will have a nice supply of riesling, oak chardonnay, and a couple of fruit wines ready for the summer. We are looking forward to trying the new wines and plan on visiting the wineries soon.