Uncorked Ontario

I have photographed just under 100 different bottles of wine for Essex Wine Review. Never ever have I had an accident. That was until today.

I had a few bottles of wine that I needed to photograph so I headed out to the shores of Lake Erie near Kingsville. It’s my favourite place to photograph wine bottles for Essex Wine Review. I had just finished taking this photo below when it happened ….

Seconds after I took the photo there was a slight breeze. Not some big gust of wind, just a small breeze but strong enough to tip the wine bottle over. The bottle tips over byt didn’t break. Then the wine bottle rolled of the rock and onto the ground and this is what it looked like …

My first accident. It all happened in slow motion. I watched it tip, I saw it roll and I watched it fall to the ground. I had my camera in my hand and was only about 5 feet away but there was nothing I could do. I didn’t even react. I wasn’t happy but tried to look on the bright side that the other bottles that I had to brought along to photograph were more expensive.

Pelee Island Winery was just around the corner so I headed over there and bought another bottle of Rose …. after all I still needed to taste the wine so that I could review it.  :)

Gary

On a recent visit to Applebee’s in Windsor it was nice to see that they are promoting some local wines. Table cards titled “Local Wine Features” were left on every table advertising  Pinot Grigio and Merlot Reserve from Pelee Island Winery were available by the glass, litre, or bottle. 

This is the first corporate type of restaurant that I am aware of locally that has made an attempt to offer local wines in their restaurant. I applaud them for doing this. 

Applebee’s gets it while other corporate run restaurants  are missing the boat. One of the main reasons I started the web site Essex Wine Review was on a visit to the downtown Windsor Keg I asked if they served  any local wines. When I was offered the wine list the Keg believes that local wines come from the Niagara Region. They just don’t get it.

It was explained to me that the Keg’s  wine list is set by head office out of Toronto and that while the local manager would love to serve wines from Essex County he couldn’t.

Just last evening (New Year’s Eve) on a last minute whim we decided to go out for dinner after a movie. Bed Time Stories with Adam Sandler was the movie in case you were wondering. Having no reservations on one of the busiest evenings of the year for restaurants left us with little choice. We decided to see if we could get into Tony Roma’s at the Devonshire Mall. We had been at the one in Banff and really enjoyed it.

It was busy there but our timing was good as they did have one cancellation and were able to seat us right away. The ribs were good, our server Ashley was fantastic  but like the Keg, they do not offer any local wines. They also do not get it.

If anyone from the Keg or Tony Roma’s reads this and has enough power and sense to change this no local wines policy let me know and I will return to your restaurant. Until then, I am going to Applebee’s.

Happy New Year!

Gary Killops