Christmas at the Design Exchange – (Dec. 10, 2014)
From the chilly, windswept vantage point of his North Pole workshop, Santa watched this year’s Toronto election campaign with a tinge of big city envy. Downtown! Smart Track to get you downtown. A Downtown Relief Line. Santa took stock of the situation, and decided it really was time for a change. And thus Christmas 2014 trades uptown for downtown, the spacious art deco elegance of the Design Exchange (formerly the trading floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange).
In this video  Winetaster member/guest Alex and Priya from A Vine Romance talk about the DX event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoaVOdJbpss
Don Melchor – Chile Cabernet – (Nov. 12, 2014)
Concha Y Toro
DON MELCHOR
Cabernet Sauvignon
Let us begin with a quick multiple choice quiz: Who or what is/was Don Melchor?
a) the founder of Chile’s Concha Y Toro winery
b) the very best Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
c) the very best Cabernet Sauvignon in the world
d) all of the above, soon.
Well now, let’s see which is the correct answer. A man named Don Melchor Concha Y Toro established a bodega in Chile in 1883, and it is now both the largest and best-known winery in Chile. Could be (a).
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The Wines of Navarra: WOW! – (Oct. 15, 2014)
This is a series of Spanish Wine Society events. Please download the event description for more details.
Two years ago, The Spanish Wine Society toured Navarra and Rioja. While Rioja was as wonderfully rewarding as always—Navarra was a surprise. I had not been to Navarra in many years; the evolution in winemaking was astounding! That visit laid the foundation for the biggest Navarra wine event ever presented in Canada.
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Half-Century Old Vintage Port – (Oct. 8, 2014)
If there is any advantage at all to the end of summer (such as it was) and the advent of cooler weather, it is that it means our thoughts can turn once again to “winter†wines such as vintage port. Our club has a large collection of vintage ports and we are going to dip into them for our October event.
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Chateau Les Ormes de Pez – Sep. 10, 2014
The Old and the New
As has been done several times in the past, we begin the 2014-15 Winetasters season with a retrospective look at older vintages from the famed Bordeaux region of France. Once again this will take the form of a “verticalâ€Â tasting, or multi-vintages from a single Chateau. As we have seen in past tastings of this type, it provides the opportunity to discover not only how individual vintages take on unique characteristics from each year’s weather pattern (and other factors) but also how the wines age and how the aging patterns vary from vintage to vintage.
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Montrachet Whites – (Jun. 11, 2014)
A Montrachet Challenge: Puligny vs Chassagne
Winetasters’ researchers have been unable to confirm rumours of a new religious cult whose adherents pray five times a day facing a particular slope in southern Burgundy: Montrachet. However, we can confirm that there is considerable agreement among white wine lovers the world over that this rocky patch of superbly-drained calcareous soil atop a hard limestone subsoil produces the most profound, complex and magnificent expression of Chardonnay in the world.
Muga Riojas – (May, 14, 2014)
Bodega Muja
Bodegas Muga is one of the great Rioja Estates. Family run since its relatively recent (for Rioja) founding in 1932 in Haro, Rioja Alta, it produces spectacular and balanced reds which are the essence of Old World style – pale, complex, smooth & harmonious. The family controls all aspects of production, with grapes from their own 250 ha in five main vineyards, as well as a long-standing contract with the owners of another 150 ha.
The soils share clay and limestone soils, each with its own unique microclimate, formed by the happy coincidence of continental, Mediterranean and Atlantic influences. This control even extends to owning their own cooperage. Like all Rioja, wood plays a vital role in everything – from the magnificent 18th century wooden Bodega to the impressive collection of 90 large casks for fermentation and 14,000 barrels used for the maturation. It should come as no surprise that vinification is traditional with racking every four months and clarification with egg-whites. The residual egg-whites, together with the discarded lees go to make up a high quality compost, which serves as an organically sustainable fertiliser.
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Pommard Reds – (Apr. 9, 2014)
The Flower of Burgundy
This event has been rescheduled from March. If you signed up for March you are pre-registered for the April event. Please contact us to cancel if you cannot attend.
The essential expression of the Pinot Noir grape is in Red Burgundy wine. Many consider red Burgundy at its best the most sublime of wines. According the the Official Bourgogne Wine Website, Pommard has been recognized as “the flower of Burgundy wines†since the Middle Ages.
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Ornellaia & Masseto – (Feb. 12, 2014)
The “Other” Antinori
Antinori is arguably the most famous winemaking name in Tuscany. Wines like Tignanello and Solaia achieved fame not only by being among the world’s very best, but also in bringing Tuscany into the modern era of winemaking. Left behind were the archaic traditions of blending white grapes into Chiantis to meet the old DOC requirements and in their place were bold moves of bringing in the best international grape types like Cabernet and Merlot to add depth and complexity to the local Sangiovese.
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Chardonnays Off the Shelf – (Jan. 8, 2014)
RING OUT THE OLD, RING IN THE NEW WITHÂ CHARDONNAYS OFF THE SHELF
With Special Guest Pricing – bring an extra guest!
Let’s ring in the new year with a change of tone. Usually we build our tastings with wines from the club’s long-term storage cellar, but all of these Chardonnays are currently available at Vintages (though some are now in very limited supply). Instead of our usual practice of ranking 8 wines plus a mystery wine, we’ll blind taste all 9 with only our usual palate cleansers, bread and water; and then we’ll re-taste with food.
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Casa Loma – (Dec. 11, 2013)
The Whole World’s Watching
According to the local media, all eyes are on Toronto these days, not just here in Canada but worldwide. Apparently the source of this international fascination is an overweight, rosy-cheeked fellow who acknowledges that he loves to party, and who has been seen from time to time toting a bottle of some alcoholic beverage in one hand.
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La Palette Tuesday – (Nov., 19 2013)
Kensington’s La Palette has the warm, inviting look and feel and, better still, the aromas and flavours of an authentic French bistro. For Winetasters’ autumn dinner, La Palette’s kitchen has paired a tantalizing selection of house specialties with our representative sample of southern France’s wine renaissance. There’s no need for plane fare to Toulouse. A TTC token and the 501 Red Rocket will get you there.
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