Archive for July, 2009

Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ

by Kato on July 27, 2009 in Billy's World, Events with No comments

Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ
www.harthouse.ca/craft

TORONTO: On Thursday, July 30th Hart House will be serving up high quality craft beer, delicious barbeque, and the hottest tunes, all at its 2nd annual Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ. Set in one of downtown Toronto’s most magnificent courtyards this event will feature a wonderfully diverse selection of craft brewed ales, lagers and pilsners. Niagara Food Specialties will be on hand to provide guests with savory barbeque morsels to snack on while they mix and mingle in the shade of the building’s historic stone walls. Later in the evening Bonjay’s Alanna Stuart will take to the stage as the headliner in a set of live performances that will also include rising band Everything All The Time and DJ Grahm Zilla from Thunderheist.

THE BEER:

“The beer crafted by the creative, enthusiastic community oriented Ontario Craft Brewers will provide a wonderful taste adventure to all who share the experience.” – www.ontariocraftbrewers.com

Barley Days Brewery · Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company · Big Rock Brewery · Black Oak Brewing Company · Brick Brewing Company · Cameron’s Brewing Company · Flying Monkeys Brewery · Grand River Brewing · Great Lakes Brewery · Hockley Valley Brewing Company · MacLean’s Ales · Mill Street Brewery · Nickel Brook Beers · Scotch Irish Brewing · Steam Whistle Brewery · Steelback Brewery · Wellington Brewery

THE BANDS:

Bonjay “hands-down one of the city’s most enrapturing performers.” – Now Magazine
Everything All The Time “electro-dance fused pop” – Much Music Blog
DJ Grahm Zilla “churns out Spartan synth tracks that have an undeniably funky buzz.” – www.spin.com

THE BBQ:

“Mario Pingue of Niagara Food Specialties specializes in all things porky. It’s his prosciutto, though, that has a melt in your mouth nutty sweetness. It’s something almost impossible to find outside of some Italian guy’s basement who makes his own.” – www.canadianliving.com

Event Partners: Taps Magazine, CIUT 89.5, Big Rock Beer, Niagara Food Specialties, NOW Magazine, Ontario Craft Brewers Association

What: Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ
When: 7:00 PM, Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Where: Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H3
Tickets: $35 Adult / $25 Student (19+) www.harthouse.ca/craft416-978-884

LCBO Vintages August 1, 2009

by Kato on July 27, 2009 in Vintages Picks, Wine Picks with No comments

Vintages Release: Saturday, August 1, 2009

THE LOW DOWN: Outstanding Cava, a pair of blockbuster Chards, a pretty Pinot Blanc and a hedonistic Roussanne from Australia are my picks of the whites. But it’s the reds that steal the show in this release. Five wines that I’d be very happy with on my dessert island. Lively Beaujolais, gutsy Chianti, rustic Bordeaux, earthy Nebbiolo and a super-rich Shiraz from Robertson in South Africa. All very different experiences, individual personalities and all priced under twenty bucks. Go get’em!

Oh – a Spanish dry Rosé and perhaps the most delicious sparkling Rosé on the planet complete my recommendations.

SPARKLING
pereventureStyle: Dry
PERE VENTURA Brut Cava, Spain 122382 $17.95
Cava with the quality of Champagne. Solid, mature feeling. The yeasty, earthy flavours would partner well with seafood appetizers. At last a really GOOD Cava at Vintages.

pellersparkling1Style: Semi-sweet
PELLER ESTATES Ice Cuvée Rosé, VQA Niagara 113035 $35.20
Could well be the most seductive sparkling on the planet. Starts out refreshing with a hit of strawberry flavour – finishes a little rich and sweet. Equally good before or after. Was a big hit at my Men in Pink lunch. And every time else I’ve poured it.

hoppinotblanc1WHITE
Style: Nice & Easy
HENRY of PELHAM 08 Pinot Blanc, VQA Short Hills Bench 618827 $14.95
Lovely little white that could be Pinot Grigio’s prettier sister. Social sipping or alfresco lunch.

monty1Style: Rich
D’ARENBERG 07 Roussanne ‘The Money Spider’, McLaren Vale, Australia 656710 $19.95
A hedonist’s white. Super-rich with delicious honey and tropical fruit flavours and lemony zest. Images of the South Sea Islands. Take a late evening ‘trip’ on your patio.

seeyalater1Style: Rich
SEE YA LATER RANCH 07 Chardonnay, VQA Okanagan126912 $20.95
Blockbuster Chardonnay – big all the way. A lemony zest keeps it lively, and will keep you wanting more. Night cap wine.

anglesgate1Style: Rich
ANGELS GATE 06 ‘Old Vines’ Chardonnay, VQA Beamsville Bench 116350 $23.95
Bold Chardonnay in the earthy Burgundian style. Shades of good scotch. Check it out with a jerk chicken dish, or for late night porch drinking.

ROSÉ
Style: Dry
BARON DE LEY 08 Rosado, Rioja, Spain 117283 $13.95
Big flavoured, richish Rosé  with a lazy, summer evening-on-the-patio feeling. With food flowing you’ll be seduced.

FYI: Beware! Queen of Syrah 08 Rhone (117325 $12.95) gets my ‘worst Rosé of the year’ award.

chiroubles1RED
Style: Lively
JACQUES CHARLET 07 Chiroubles ‘Les 3 Puits’, Cru Beaujolais, France 127407 $16.95
Lively, vigorous and loaded with bright fruit flavours. Classic Cru Beaujolais. Also very similar to Pinot – but less expensive. A great summer red for BBQ salmon, chicken or pork.

pino1Style: Rustic
POGGIO AL PINO 07 Chianti Moltalbano, Italy 57638 $14.95
Traditional, gutsy, fruity Chianti. Delightfully simple and gulpable. Low-alcohol red to lightly chill and have at any summer event.

bordeaux2Style: Rustic
CH. DE PAILLET-QUANCARD 05, Premiers Cotes de Bordeaux, France 125526 $16.95
Gutsy and rustic with bright flavours. Classic Bistro. Love the vitality and realness – the sense of place – and the challenging nature of Bordeaux. Takes Merlot and Cabernet back to their roots – gutsy wine for the appetite – as apposed to showcase stuff to impress people in monster homes. You must get some of this.

nebiollo3Style: Rustic
CANTINA PARROCO 07 Nebbiolo, Langhe, Piedmont, Italy 117192 $18.95
Nebbiolo is a lot like red Burgundy – pale-coloured, tart, refreshing and good at getting the taste buds going. Initially simple, but it will engage you with its earthy realness. Trust me. BBQ’d white meats. One of the buys of the year.

robertson1Style: Rich
ROBERTSON WINERY 06 Shiraz ‘Wolfkloof’, South Africa 626341 $17.95
Blockbuster red at a bargain price. Super-rich in concentration but it manages to feel a bit French. Buy for winter 2010/11 and you’ll be thanking me big time.

Fuzion White – better than the red!

by Kato on July 22, 2009 in Wine Picks with No comments

fuzionwhiteFuzion has built a following delivering a smooth, crowdpleasing red wine. I expected the newly arrived white to be similar in style – but it’s not. Instead it’s crisp, pure and tart in the style of Italian Pinot Grigio. A hot day refresher, or before dinner wine. A bargain in summer whites.
Familia Zuccardi 08 Chardonnay/Chenin ‘Fuzion’, Argentina 119800 $7.45

P.S. Cannot remember if I reviewed the Fuzion Rosé, but it’s fruity, pleasant and slightly sweet. A party sipper or partner for spicy/hot foods.

Ontario Does Gamay

by Kato on July 21, 2009 in Wine Picks with No comments

pellergamaynoirGamay’s home is Beaujolais and the only other spot on the planet where this grape shines is Ontario. Our version is different from Beaujolais and that’s how it should be. In previous reports I’ve highly recommended Angels Gate light ‘n lively, refreshing Gamay at LCBO for $12.95 (chill), but today I’m touting a super charming Gamay from Peller.

Lively, cheerful with delicious fruitiness – more Valpolicella yumminess than Beaujolais briskness. Sitting on the patio one Sunday evening, friends declared it was the most delicious local red they had ever tasted. For a food match try grilled salmon. The winemaker tells me it’s a single vineyard wine and that he’s as big a fan as I am. You’ll find it at Vineyards stores.

Peller Estates 07 Gamay Noir ‘Private Reserve’, VQA Niagara on the Lake
Vineyards Stores $18.95 (for a list of stores visit vineyardsestatewines.com)

Wakefield Report

by Kato on July 19, 2009 in Billy's World, Food & Restaurants, Travel Notes with No comments

soltice1WAKEFIELD – A little hit of Quebec for Ontarians

Ottawa residents have often told me how they love to take a trip to Wakefield for a little R & R. “It’s just a thirty minute drive.”

When Roberta Bouchard of Wakefield’s Solstice Bookstore asked if we’d pay a return visit for a tasting at her store and a local restaurant, we said yes very quickly. Wakefield could be called the perfect village. Good looking and good fun. It consists of about fifty buildings strung along the west bank of the Gatineau River, each offering delightful individual expression. A delicious blend of hippy, folksy and new age.

jeff• Restaurants – the local favourite café, Chez Eric (where we conducted a tasting/ dinner in the garden) is a simple place with a big heart. Café meets bistro – you make it what you want. Good food, good wine prices and an invitation to chill out. A couple drinking wine on the patio who were there when we arrived were still doing it after we left.

• Food Store – the jazziest General Store I’ve ever seen – selling beer and wine of course. Complete with licensed restaurant and terrace overlooking the river. Can’t beat that.

• Coffee Shop – Café Molo is set in a rambling house with a New England-style cozy verandah. Perfect for hanging out with a book.

bakery2

• Bars – there two great ones. The funky and friendly Kaffé 1870 – a village pub with an urban atmosphere. Perfect for a nightcap and a dance after Chez Eric. Local bands on the weekend (the owners band is called FIFTYMEN). The other bar, The Black Sheep/Moulin Noir, is a Canadian institution for live music. Every Canadian musician worth hearing has played here.

• Bakery – Pipolinka is the kind of bakery that makes me want to live next door. Organic and oozing down home goodness.

A bank, a church a bakery and a few other shops and restaurants round out the strip. Wakefield is also the resting place of a few great Canadians, Lester Pearson and the photographer Karsch (not bad company). There’s a local hill-walk that will take you past the cemetery. On weekends in summer a steam engine comes down the main drag bringing visitors from Ottawa. And creating quite the stir.

Wakefield is a great example of how to be an ‘alternative’ destination by offering something different and very personal. And with the Gatineau river in the background, something very pretty. Highly recommended for sure. I couldn’t help noticing that Roberta has made Solstice, her bookstore, the social centre of town with events scheduled almost by the hour. Be sure to visit her – for the low down on the bars and books.

P.S. I picked up a bottle of CONO SUR 08 RESERVE PINOT NOIR, Chile ($19) at the SAQ. A gorgeous summer red – flavourful and fun.

More photos are posted on the Billy’s Best Bottles facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4718&id=100000021158673&l=4630486c0d

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