"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
we grow old because we stop playing."
George Bernard Shaw
The vineyards of Niagara wine country are an annual "play-full" destination for us, usually set to complement our wedding anniversary in early September. I'm pretty sure that out of 43, (soon to be 44), such celebrations there have been at least 30 drives over the Burlington Skyway through Stoney Creek and on to Beamsville, Vineland, and Jordan Station, then over the Welland Canal and into Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL). Though the two+ hour drive has become more tedious over the years, I'm sure I will never tire of this haven.
"The great advantage of a hotel
is that it is a refuge from home life."
is that it is a refuge from home life."
George Bernard Shaw
We always take up residence in NOTL - because there is more than just wine in wine country. There is the Shaw Festival. This year we're planning on packing six performances into two-and-half days!
So this year's pilgrimage is going to take some planning, and I've already started working on it. I'm researching wine awards and wineries. I've inventoried our wine cellar and reviewed the tasting notes I've made. All of this research will come with me and I take my papers into every winery we visit. I am seriously interested in more than just sampling some wine - I'm there to buy.
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| Angel's Gate Winery |
I do not profess to have wine connoisseur's palate or experience. I'm often at a total loss as to how to describe the kaleidoscope of flavours I taste in a wine and I've never experienced the length and breadth of elements extolled by the winemaker. There is great rejoicing when I discover that the winemaker and I agree on just a single note. In other words, I am an amateur, albeit an organized one.
Winemakers can always be counted on to make the best of any year, come wind, come weather.
And then, there's the food!
"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
George Bernard Shaw
©2019 April Hoeller
I once had a wine-taste-evening. We had to taste wines and tell what you tasted, smelled, which flavours, what country the wine was from etc. I thought that was very, very difficult! Then had some cheese and do the tasting all over again! That’s different and if you get the change try it. Have fun! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes indeed we did have fun. And Yes, the food makes quite a difference in the taste of the wine. Cheers!
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