You find a great cause. In this case, Isabelle Rivard’s (@spoonsie) Give to Live challenge (isaonabike.com) to cycle from Vancouver, BC to Austin, TX (a 4300 km trek) and raise $10,000 to fight cancer.

Izzy Rivard

You find seven generous restaurants who make specialized takes on the dish that normally tops crispy fries with squeaky cheddar cheese curds and veloute-style gravy.

You contact culinary tour guide Paola St. George (@cestboncooking) who is also the marketing manager behind C’est Bon Cooking.

Chef Andrée Riffou and Paola St. George of C'est Bon Cooking

You sign up 35 poutine enthusiasts to join you in a tour of Ottawa’s ByWard Market, including Mark Warburton (founder of Ottawa Foodies), Kaitlin (Ottawa food blogger behind Heartful Mouthful), and Jodi (Ottawa food blogger behind Simply Fresh).

Mark Warburton and Paola St. George

You split the group in two and take everyone on a 2 km walking tour of downtown Ottawa.

The result: 7 very generous restaurants. 37 happy p0utine enthusiasts. 2 km of walking tour. $1266 raised to fight cancer!

Poutine crawls are not unheard of. Earlier this year, Toronto food bloggers organized one. Theirs was not a fundraiser, just poutine enthusiasts, trying the various takes on poutine their city has to offer. The dish that has been long derided, often referred as “fat lumber jack food”, has slowly colonized the city.

With the help of friends, the bloggers behind Endless Simmer organized a “Tour de Poutine” in New York City. In total, they visited 7 eateries and sampled 7 takes on poutine. As Rebecca Marx of the Village Voice blog wrote about the poutine crawl, it revealed Brooklyn to be an unlikely poutine paradise. The most interesting to me was the one that came from a lunch counter in the Essex Street Market, Shopsin’s. Dubbed the “Last Supper Poutine”, it was topped not with cheese curds, but three poached eggs.

Well, Ottawa neighbours Quebec, the province that gave poutine birth. This is a city that knows good poutine. Here’s what its ByWard Market produces.

The Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street)

Chef Michael Hay's take on Poutine

Hand Cut Shoe String Fries, topped with Duck Confit, St-Albert Curds, and smashed Foie Gras Torchon

Zak’s (16 ByWard Market Square)

Breakfast Poutine

Chef Steve Mitton's take on Poutine

Garlic Corner (321 Dalhousie Street)

Classic Poutine

Dunn’s (355 Dalhousie Street)

Smoked Meat Poutine

Fries, cheese curds, chopped smoked meat, gravy

Island Flava (409 Dalhousie Street)

Jerk Chicken Poutine

D’Arcy McGee’s (44 Sparks Street)

Guinness Poutine

Between tastings, attendees took a stroll through a sunny ByWard Market. The guides, Paola, Chef Riffou, Jenn, and I imparted some information on the various eateries. And, our group got an impromptu art interpretation and history lesson thanks to Kaitlin.

When we reached D’Arcy’s, we discussed the tastings. Both groups weighed in. The favourite and most original was Chef Hay’s from The Courtyard Restaurant. Close seconds, Chef Mitton’s from Murray Street Kitchen and Chef Antoine’s from Island Flava.

Lessons learned:

• It take two people to give a tasting tour, one who leads the group and another who warns the next eatery the group is coming.
• You need a runner to co-ordinate a pair of tasting tours (touring simultaneously) to keep them in sync.
• Live tweeting a tasting tour generates a lot of retweets.

A heartfelt thank-you goes out to the chefs, owners, and restaurant managers who donated their dishes; Paola and Chef Riffou from C’est Bon Cooking who worked out the logistics of the Poutine Crawl and lead the larger of the two tour groups; and everyone who attended, bought tickets, and donated to the cause.

Here are blog posts drafted by Kaitlin and Jodi on the poutine crawl:

• Heartful Mouthful (teaser): this weekend
• Simply Fresh: Give to Live Poutine Crawl in 7 Pictures
• Heartful Mouthful: poutine crawl
• The Adventures of Ecogeek: Poutine: Classing Up Your Palette

Do click, they are fun reads.

Interestingly, like the first year Jenn and I encountered the event, we are again overseeing renovations. With our having encountered an increasing number of delays, we were more than happy to take up the invitations of two of our fellow food bloggers to meet up and wander Wellington Street W. and its adjoining side streets together.

Alas, it rained. Jenn and I ducked into the Ottawa Bagel Shop (1321 Wellington Street W.) when the downpour started, hoping it would lighten. It poured. When we met up with Jodi (@simplyfresh) of the Simply Fresh and Kaitlin (@kaitli) of the Heartful Mouthful blogs, we were literally drenched. Happily, Chef/Owner Chris Deraiche of the Wellington Gastro-Pub (1325 Wellington Street W.) decided to pull his chafing dishes into his restaurant’s ground floor dining room, the “White Room.” Dressed in a t-shirt, advertising the soon-to-open (this Friday) Town Gastropub on Elgin Street (296), he greeted wet “tasters” warmly.

Chafing Dishes

Chef Deraiche

Elk sandwiches

Afterward, we decided, rain or no rain, we would trek to our must visit eateries, Absinthe and Allium. Along the way, we stopped at the Ottawa Bagel Shop. Its taste, several of its specialty cream cheeses and smoked meat on Montreal-style bagel.

Bite-Size Smoked Meat on a Bagel

We stopped by Sushi Umi (1325 Wellington Street W.) to say hi to its chef/owner and nibble on some maki rolls and edamame. Then, we headed off to Thyme & Again (1325 Wellington Street W.). There, we were greeted by turkey and marshmallows, separately of course.

Turkey Meatball on a stick

In-house Made Marshmallows

Chicken Burgers

Chicken Burger Texture

Boxes of Herb Beds

Absinthe (1208 Wellington Street W.) beckoned. The rain stopped an hour or so into the event. This is when the lineups started. Absinthe, having established a reputation for serving delicious full-size hanger steak burgers at last year’s event, saw the first of them.

Lineup

Hanger Steak Burgers

Hanger Steak Burger Texture

Condiments

Not your ordinary lemonade

Brownies, Meatballs, Mini-Samosas

Royal Oak Lobster

At this point, Jodi decided to double back along Wellington Street W. She managed to photograph a 13 lb lobster Salove’s (1333 Wellington Street W.) was auctioning off to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada (CCFC). The rest of us decided to walk deeper into Hintonburg.

At Carbon Computing (1065 Wellington Street W.), an iPad wielding employee encouraged us to try shortbread “some girl in the back made” (his words, not mine!).

Carbon Computing Cookies

After wandering past Vina Del Mar (1079 Wellington Street W.), where I sampled Chilean sopapillas (deep fried squash filled dumplings) with a fresh salsa, we stopped by the soon-to-open new location of Dish Catering (1024 Wellington Street W.). Its taste, grilled mini-lamb burgers on brioche buns, served with lime popcorn.

Finally, we ended our wander at the soon-to-open Alpha Soul Cafe (1015 Wellington Street W.) at the former location of the Levonian Shirt Maker shop. There, we met the owner of the coffee house to be (Hintonburg’s first dedicated coffee house) and sampled some very good bakery: buttery shortbread and lime melt-aways.

Alpha Soul Cafe

Owner

Home-baked Cookies

All-in-all, 2010’s Taste of Wellington West was another success, showcasing the many locally owned and generous businesses and eateries along Ottawa’s epicurean row. This year, we encountered a lot of sandwiches, their being easily served and easily eaten. From lamb to elk, pork, and chicken, there were mini-burgers and pulled-mean sandwiches a-plenty. It is a trend we also encountered at Bon Appetit 2010 event earlier this spring.

As always, we are excited to attend next year’s! Kudos the the WWBIA for organizing this event and everyone for participating.

It was fairly early when we arrived at the Pancho Villa. It was still light outside but the restaurant is located in a lower level unit with minimal natural light illuminating the space so it was fairly dark inside. The low light was actually quite nice. There was two main areas, one as you enter where the bar is situated and a larger dining area in the back. We choose to eat in the front area next to the bar. The room was decorated with typical earthy sort of colors and the odd splash of bright blue and yellows if I recall.

I actually haven’t eaten very much Mexican food so I asked the waiter to recommend something that would represent the sort of classic thing you would expect from the cuisine. He first pointed to a Mole sauced dish and I steered away from that cause I’m not a fan of that. He then recommended a combination plate. There was three main items on the dish: a burrito, an enchilada and a taco. There was a choice of meat for each. The waiter, who I believe may have been the manager, suggested that the “classic” choice would be chicken for the burrito, cheese for the enchilada and beef for the taco. I trusted his judgment and also got a lime margarita. Lime being the “classic” flavour for that as well.

They brought us free chips and salsa to start. Nothing really blew me away here. But they were free and tasted great with the margarita. Oh I forgot to mention that of course I got the mucho margarita (3oz of tequila). My dish arrived and I was pleased to see a huge portion because I was starving. From left to right it was: refried beans, burrito, enchilada (kind of under the salad), salad, taco, Spanish rice.  I’m usually a procrastinator in everything I do. I put off the things that I like least to do as long as possible. I’m sort of the opposite when I’m eating food. I always assume that I will eat everything on my plate so my technique is to eat what I like the least first and save the best for last.  With this dish, my guess was that I would probably like the stuff to the right the least and the stuff to the left the best. So I started with the rice and tacos. I usually get frustrated with tacos. How on earth do you eat these things without them breaking in half and having all the filling fall on the plate and juices sort of drip down your arm? Well I don’t know if this was a fabulous taco but I can say that this didn’t happen to me. I think it was because the shell was thin. It seemed to break only where your teeth broke through. Also, there wasn’t much liquid to begin with so there was no risk in having it ooze down my arm. The salad was simple. The dressing seemed more acidic than a typical dressing. I think that worked well because everything was so rich, I really wouldn’t want an oily salad. I think if I was to eat this again, I would keep the salad as a sort of palate cleanser between the three rich items. The enchilada was sort of under the salad. That was too bad because all I could taste when I ate it was the sour salad dressing. The last thing I dug into was the burrito. It was packed with yummy chicken strands. Whatever the seasonings were in this burrito made the chicken look and taste like pork. It kind of tasted like it was a pulled pork burrito.

Evidence of my satisfaction…

The OttawaTonite.com crew is heading out tomorrow to interview some of the medical professionals involved with Team Canada Healing Hands. Stay tuned for the interview and for updates on the upcoming fundraiser!

Until then, check out this report on Team Canada Healing Hands from Ottawa’s A-Channel.

Healing Hands for Haiti

The Cook Off is an event where the local community (businesses) can display their cooking talents. At the same time, they can enjoy great entertainment and a stiff drink.

The Cook Off was an idea that came from two women who wanted to give back to the community. The event was held at  Babylon Night Club on Tuesday April 20th.

The idea of having a cook off was to create a competition. Each category had 2 contenders that were competing against each other. After paying for a plate, the clients were able to taste each dish and they were able to judge the various cooks on a ballot. In the end, the best cooks won a trophy.

To top the night off, there was a raffle where all proceeds were given to the Ottawa Food Bank. In the end everyone went home happy.

For more information about the Cook Off: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10150139081290171&ref=ts

Greenfield’s Pub is hosting a fundraising event for Team Canada Healing Hands on Sunday May 30th, 2010 that has something for everyone! Luc Leduc The Duke of Magic will be performing followed by a great lineup of local bands including Shotgun in the Ambulance, Monday I Retire, EFarm and Ridin’ Shotgun. There will be a 50/50 draw for the gamblers and a silent auction of some fantastic items such as WestJet flight vouchers, Sens tickets (really GOOD ones), jewelry, art and more!

Healing Haiti Fundraiser - Promotional Poster

Watch OttawaTonite.com for videos and more information as the event draws near. The OttawaTonite.com crew will be at Greenfield’s Pub for the duration of the event to capture the fun, magic and music! Will you be there too?

Go Local - Go Loco

The event, a fundraiser for Third Wall’s 10th Anniversary Season, featured Prince Edward County (PEC) wineries, a PEC cidery, a local fine food store, and special guests.

Guests included Rod Phillips (a noted wine author and columnist for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper), Bill Milliken (PEC Ambassador), Andrew King (a noted visual artist), and many of Third Wall’s actors. The ticket price, $40.

Since it was an “un-gala” (anti-gala, depending on who you speak with) neither ties nor heels were welcome. Even Vice-Chair of Third Wall’s Board of Directors, Brian Carrol, was held to the informality. His tie was cut off during the event.

Brian Carrol, Relieved of his Tie

Third Wall’s founders James Richardson and Ryan Anderson fared much better.

James Richardson and Ryan Anderson

The campaign celebrates Third Wall’s productions supporting local businesses. Sets, props, costumes, and lighting are all sourced locally. In the same “Go Local” vein, the fundraiser was held in an independent art gallery that showcases local artists.

Wallspace in the Westboro Village

On display that evening was a spring exhibition by painters Nathalie Mantha and Wellington West’s own Alison Fowler.

Works by Alison Fowler

As someone who has visited Fowler’s AliCat Art Studio, it was a pleasure to see her floral works exhibited in a large space.

Regarding guest Andrew King, only two of his works were on display that evening, Wallspace having exhibited his “Manhattan Project” collection earlier this year. The exhibition was wildly successful.

Artist, Andrew King with his Four Sheets work

A PEC native himself, King was happy to attend the event. He later told me he delivered 5 new works to Wallspace, all awaiting display.

While guest Rod Phillips mingled with attendees, another author, Paul Mackan was also present with copies of his newest book “Dream Girl, Dream”, a “story for children to share with grown ups.”

Author, Paul Mackan, with his Newly Published Book

Published by PublishAmerica, the book tells the tale of its young protagonist, Sara Lee, questioning god.

Me, I hadn’t realized the Go Local – Go Loco event was essentially a dressed down wine and cheese. Not a wine connoisseur, I was lost amongst the bottles of reds and whites.

The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards and Winery showcased several of its Trumpour’s Mill wines.

Grange

Trumpour's Mill

Lynn Sullivan, half of the husband and wife team who operate the RoseHall Run Vinyeards, was happy to chat with me about wine and cheese.

RoseHall Run

Lynn Sullivan

Lynn’s husband Dan Sullivan is the winemaker.

Guest Bill Milliken showed off wines from the Huff Estates Winery.

Huff Estates

Patricia Barr and Bill Milliken

While I didn’t partake of any of the wine, I did sample a lovely glass of Waupoos Premium from The County Cider Company. Clear, crisp, dry, and refreshing, Waupoos was a revelation. It is worlds different from the overly fruity hard ciders I have had before.

County Cider Company's Waupoos Premium Cider

Robin St. George

Country Cider’s Robin St. George told me County Cider brews its cider from the juice of 12 apples that include Northern Spy, Russets, and British varieties Brown Snout and Kingston Black. In fact, the Picton estate winery, that specializes in hard ciders, has reputedly the largest cider apple nursery in North America.

As Third Wall board member and organizer of the Go Local – Go Loco event, Patricia Parulekar, later told me, successful fundraisers often depend on the food served. This event filled the gallery with theater-goers, art lovers, wine enthusiasts, and members of local media (CBC Ottawa and Caroline Phillips also of the Ottawa Citizen Newspaper). With so many people assembled, the food had to impress. It did.

Enter Chef Dave Neil and the Piggy Market. Piggy Market is a fine food shop that sources and produces only local and artisanal products. It routinely stocks Cochrane’s Milk, Beking’s Eggs, Ontario cheese, local honey, Art Is In Bread, and PEC cheeses. Chef Neil and his staff, Josh and Kate, smoke their own bacon. They make fresh sausage from local heritage pork. They bake cakes and pastries. Kate even produces a line of mustards.

For this event, the Piggy Market provided a sampling of some of its best products.

Chef Neil, Setting Up

A sampling of raw and pasteurized goat, sheep, and cow's milk cheese

In-house Marinated Mushrooms and Pickled Red and Golden Beets

Regarding the cheeses, the cheddar selections came from the local farmer-owned Black River Cheese Factory in PEC. My favourites: the extremely sharp 6 year-aged and maple cheddar.

To complement the cheese, Piggy Market provided some creamed unfiltered honey. It also provided alternatives to the cheese: smoked duck breast, smoked meat, pork rib rillette, and duck liver pate. To complement the smoked meats and charcuiterie, Piggy Market provided one of Kate’s mustards, a coarse Beau’s beer mustard and a North Indian raisin and fig chutney.

Alternatives to Cheese

Finally, Piggy Market also supplied mini-beef Jamaican patties.

Miniature Authentic Jamaican patties

Here is the sampling I had after spending a delightful twenty minutes in line with local theater supporters.

Sampling of Cheeses and Cheese Alternatives

While everything was delicious, amongst the cheeses was a lemon feta that just danced on the tongue. Alas, by the time I made my way to the cheeses, the softer cheeses had all but disappeared.

Here is the one Jamaican pattie I was able to get my fingers on.

A Jamaican Pattie

Cross Section

Freshly baked (I watched Chef Neil bring the tray into the gallery, piping hot), the pastry was light and flaky. The filling was savoury and spicy.

Good drink. Great eats. Good company. Great atmosphere. It was an excellent evening.

Wait! Did I mention the draws for prizes? If the beneficiary of a fundraiser can be judged by it supporters, Third Wall must be quite the theater company. Among the donated prizes were two books on wine by Rod Phillips, Andrew King prints, gift certificates for framing by Wallspace, passes to the Ottawa Chamberfest, a Harvest and Picnic Event from the Grange, and, of course, bottles of PEC Wine.

Particulars:
Third Wall Theater Co
2 Daly Avenue
(613) 236-1425

Wall Space Framing
358 Richmond Road
(613) 729-0003

Piggy Market
400 Winston Avenue
(613) 371-6124

Needless to say, Jenn and I frequent the Ottawa Bagel Shop often. We purchase their bagels for lunches during the week. We take out-of-towners there for Sunday brunch on weekends, its toasted bagels making great breakfast sandwiches.

Sunday Brunch at the Ottawa Bagel Shop

They usually buy a dozen to take home with them.

Since we live down the street, we drop by first thing in the morning to avail ourselves of bagels from the day’s first batch and fresh Art-Is-In bakery.

Bagels from Ottawa Bagel Shop's Morning Batch

Kevin Mathieson, owner and operator of Art-Is-In, operates a satellite bakery in the back of the building that houses Ottawa Bagel Shop’s store front, coffee bar, and cafeteria-style restaurant.

Kettleman's Logo

While we are fond of the Ottawa Bagel Shop’s bagels, we have been often told Kettleman’s are superior.

Both are arguably Montreal-style. Montreal-style bagels are hand-rolled and shaped, the dough containing no salt. They are bathed in a honey or malt syrup sweetened boiling water and baked in a wood-fired oven. Compared to the other predominant New York-style, Montreal-style bagels tend to be smaller and less bready. Also, according to Serious Eats’ Erin Zimmer, Montreal-style bagels are chewier. They sport a crisper crust and tend to be more singular in flavour. The most popular: sesame or poppy seed.

Regarding Kettlemen’s, unlike the Ottawa Bagel Shop, there are multiple retail locations in Ottawa (912 Bank Street, 1222 Place d’Orleans Drive, and 2177 Carling Avenue). We visited the Carling Avenue one. There, we discovered the bagel chain offers more than just bagels. They sell just about every other baked good as well, from pies to cakes,knishes, and cookies.

Kettleman's Baked Goods

Everything, clam shelled and ready for sale.

When we walked in, we felt oddly drawn to the well worked wood oven beside the front counter with its cash and till.

Front Counter with Cash and Till

Wood Oven

The bakers had just finished their day’s run of sesame seed bagels, one yelling across the room that the bagels were still too hot to bag. Unbagged, bagels are .85 cents/each, $7.50/dozen (any variety or combination thereof), $4.50/half dozen (also any variety or combination thereof).

With the air smelling of spent yeast and fresh bakery, we were eager to try a bagel. Happily, like the Ottawa Bagel Shop, the Carling Kettleman’s is an eat-in establishment, complete with gourmet coffee. It offers a variety of bagel sandwiches on any of their in-house made bagels.

Bagel Sandwiches

What surprised me was the sheer variety of sandwich fixings available. Among the in-house made spreads was a favourite, chopped liver.

Chopped Liver

I never understood why comparing oneself to chopped liver is self-disparaging. It is not easy to make a good batch of equally flavourful as light on the tongue chopped liver.

Without a second thought, I ordered the chopped liver with fried onions on an onion bagel ($4.55), a double hit of onion goodness.

Kettleman's Famous Chopped Liver in a Bagel

Halved

What I was served was a generous portion of good chopped liver topped with onions tasting of dark sugars, everything in a bagel that tasted of baked onion. It was delicious. Best of all, my eating the sandwich did not make a mess. The bagel was yielding enough I could bite through without pushing chopped liver out the other end onto my fingers. Such was what happens every time, I tuck into a Zoe’s Chopped Liver “bagel-sub” ($5.99, $4.95 before Christmas) at the Ottawa Bagel Shop.

Jenn ordered a BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) bagel ($4.50).

Kettleman's BLT Bagel

Halved

She likewise enjoyed her bagel sandwich, also remarking at how yielding her bagel was.

Intrigued, we bought several of the just made sesame bagels to go. We then picked up several sesame bagels from the Ottawa Bagel Shop to compare.

2 Montreal-Style Bagels from Ottawa Bagelries

Split

Jenn actually blindfolded me and asked me to tell her which bagel was which.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to discern the chewier Ottawa Bagel Shop bagel. Both tasted of toasted sesame.

Left: Kettleman's, Right: Ottawa Bagel Shop

A cross section explains why. The Ottawa Bagel Shop bagel has more developed gluten. It was worked further, becoming denser. We later discovered Kettleman’s bagels also toasted up crisper when placed in a toaster.

Having discovered a significant textural difference between the Kettleman’s and Ottawa Bagel Shop bagels, we understood why the city could be polarized bagel-wise. We feel the Ottawa Bagel Shop bagels are better suited for simple sandwiches with no more than one ingredient like jam, butter, or cream cheese. Open-face, they could be topped with more ingredients.

Like Ottawans, Montrealers are staunchly loyal to their favourite bagel purveyors. The two predominant bagelries there are Fairmount and St-Viateur and the rivalry between them is decades old. Technically, Fairmount is the original, opening in 1919. St-Viateur opened in 1957.

Now there is a link between one of the famed Montreal bagelries and the Ottawa Bagel Shop. When I asked why the bagel shop’s advertising includes “…affiliated with the St-Viateur Bagel Shop, Montreal”, one of the cashiers told me the owner learned to make bagels from his wife’s cousin, one of the bakers at St-Viateur. Once a year, the current owner of St-Viateur even comes to Ottawa to observe and inspect how the Ottawa Bagel Shop’s bagels are made.

Authenticity-wise, I guess this means the chewier bagel follows the tradition better.

Still, many of my Montreal-born friends tell me, there is nothing better than a Montreal-baked bagel. I am eager to verify that one day.

Particulars:
Ottawa Bagel Shop and Deli
1321 Wellington Street
(613) 722-8753

Kettleman’s Bagel
2177 Carling Ave
(613) 722-4357

Most people don’t realize the science that goes into winemaking. There is the harvesting of the grapes at a specific sweetness level (called Brix), the crushing, the fermenting of the grapes (which includes the use of specific yeast types, temperature of the juice, contact time with the skins for blush and red wines etc.), depending on the wine there is aging in oak barrels (differnt sizes of barrels, different barrels also have been burnt inside to create different levels of flavours) and finally, the blending of different grape varietals to create your wine (as they do in Bordeaux, Chateauneuf-de-Pape etc.). That doesn’t even begin to cover everything else the wine maker must do.

That having been said, on Friday night we not only blended our unique wines (everybody had 3 wines at their table which included Merlot, Cab Franc and Cab Sauv), but created our own wineries, label, history, price and then presented our creations to a panel of judges!

This allowed for a great many differing blends and what would probably be years of study for psychologists.

My table was table #1 and we all got to know each other at the beginning of the evening sharing wine, snacks and stories about our kids. It wasn’t too long after that we got down to business and created our wine. Our winery was called “Fra-geel-eh Estates” and our wine was called “Fetish, the Sassy Bordeaux”. We then decided on a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cab Sauv and 10% Cab Franc. There was a great deal of measuring, blending and not to mention tasting. Once we had all agreed that the blend was good, we then got to make our own label to put on the bottle and created a “pitch” for the panel of judges. While we didn’t win, we had a great deal of fun nonetheless.

Our pitch was:

Fra-geel-eh Estates presents Fetish, We Like to Mix it Up. Whether you like your wine from a ladies stiletto heel or from a Riedel glass, Fetish will give you a satisfying experience. If “fruity” is your thing, you’ll enjoy Fetish’s juicy, ripe and red fruit with soft, supple tannins, with an underlying spiciness to stimulate your senses. The next time your plan your menage-a-trois, remember your Fetish. Your friends will love it for its long, satisfying finish. Fetish is THE sassy Bordeaux. Fetish is the offical wine of the AVN Awards. To order Fetish, call 1-900-69FETISH.

The winning wines (there was a tie) were 3 O’clock Winery (Watched Clock wine), and Le Pacas Mcbnaly (Lord Burgundy wine). I have to say that I really liked the pitch from 3 O’clock Wines, because it’s always 3 o’clock somewhere. The full list of wines created that night were:

3 O’clock Winery: Watched Clock Wine
Fra-geel-eh Estates: Fetish
Panty Decapant
Cow Bay Winery: Yummy Smart Savvy
Le Pacas Mcbnaly: Lord Burgundy
Chateau Vanier: Meet Dirty Girl

The night didn’t end there as my husband Mike and I went across the street to wonder through the Winterlude ice sculptures. While the ice sculptures are
beautiful no matter what, they are particularly amazing at night. Each sculpture is lit with an array of changing colours that highlight different sections of each one. While it was a cold night, there was little wind and the people there were having a great time, especially given that they had a DJ spinning tunes and snacks like Beaver Tails and taffy on snow which was quite delicious I must say. It was a particularly nice way to finish our evening out.

I really have to thank Erica Ehm and Debbie Trenholm for putting on such a wonderful evening and allowing some tired parents a fun night on the town!

Mike and I put together a short highlight video of the night…enjoy!

[photo credit 96dpi on Flickr]

Since most wine is not perfect, we then must decide how close to perfection it is. The higher the score, the closer to perfection the wine is and the lower the score the worse the wine is. We all get these basic ideas, but, where the trouble comes is in just how these rating scales are used. The classic 100 point scale is really more of a 25 point scale in that anything rated below 75 is considered undrinkable. This is where many sommeliers clash as some think this rating system is excellent and others think it just doesn’t work.

I believe that the rating system doesn’t really matter so much as an accurate description of the wine. It’s all fine and dandy to say that a wine is rated above 90, but, if it doesn’t fit the description of what I like, then it could be rated 100, and I still wouldn’t like it. That having been said, the ratings can lead me in a different direction and inspire me to try something new. The idea is that a wine rated 90+ is close to perfection and we always want to achieve perfection, or at the very least, taste it.

This brings me to essence of this article, the LCBO’s Vintages release for this Saturday, the 6th of February, is featuring affordable 90+ wines. It’s an exciting opportunity to taste wine that is close to perfection, without spending an arm and a leg to do it. There are at least 33 wines being made available that range in rating from 90 to 97 and priced from as low as $12.95 and as high as
$244.95. The average price is in the $20 to $50 range. I’m going to list my top 10 picks that I would go out of my way to purchase. Remember that these are MY picks and not neccessarily yours, but as you try these wines and compare your notes to mine, you’ll get a better idea of how close your opinions are to mine. I will also give some suggestions for Valentine’s Day. I have picked out some very delicious and romantic wines.

So, here are the wines that I plan to go out and buy, and a few that I wish I could buy!

1. Antinori Solaia 2006, this is a classic Super Tuscan, not only in varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangionvese and Cabernet Franc, but also in price $244.95. This wine was rated 97 by James Suckling from Wine Spectator and should be best drunk after 2014. LCBO #987586
2. Concha Y Toro Trio Reserva Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio/Pinot Blanc 2008, Chile: This wine was rated 90 and is an excellent example of a good wine at an inexpensive price, $12.95. LCBO #433938
3. Concha Y Toro Trio Reserva Merlot/Carmenere/Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Chile: This red Trio also received a rating of 90 and is also a great price $14.95 LCBO #433920
4. Wynns Coonawarra Estate Vintage Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Australia: This Ausie Cab is rated high at 95 points and should be good to drink for the next 4 years. $24.95 LCBO #084996
5. Small Gully Wines The Formula Robert’s Shiraz 2005, Australia: This 90 point shiraz should pair well with steak and can be enjoyed until 2015. $16.95 LCBO #142935
6. Delas Freres Saint-Esprit Cotes Du Rhone 2007, France: This Syrah and Grenache blend received a rating of 90 points and is a very economical $14.95 LCBO #729962
7. Reinhold Haart Riesling Kabinett 2007, Germany: This riesling is medium in sweetness and scored 91 points. It will pair wonderfully with sushi and spicy foods. $19.95 LCBO #727461
8. Renato Ratti Marcenasco Barolo 2005, Italy: This rich barolo comes highly recommended at 96 points and is also very affordable at $49.95. This is also an excellent wine if you are wanting to start a wine cellar and will show best after 2013. LCBO #713479
9. Chocalan Gran Reserva Malbec 2006, Chile: This malbec rated 91 points and while it is great to drink now, should do nicely with a little cellaring for the next 10 years or so. $24.95 LCBO #144394
10. Alta Vista Atemporal Assemblage 2007, Argentina: This wine received a rating of 90 points and is a delicious blend of malbec, cab sauv, syrah and petit verdot. $19.95 LCBO #144352

Here are a few suggestions for sparkling and dessert wines to share with the one you love on Valentine’s day. Keep in mind that while true French Champagnes are good, they are also expensive and very dry.

I also want to include my favourite wine and food pairing rule here, anything you would eat with beer, you can eat with champagne/sparkling wine! While I would not pair potato chips or hotdogs with a $200 Dom Perignon, both would taste great with an inexspensive Italian Proseco or Spanish Cava.

1. Piemonte Cantina San Pancrazio Brachetto 2008, Italy: At $16.95 this medium sweet red sparkler is perfect for Valentine’s Day to be paired with any dessert, but most especially strawberries. LCBO #159566
2. Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Cava Sparkling, Spain: This full bodied sparkler has a sugar code of 1 and should go great with anything you have planned for Valentine’s Day or any other day. $14.95 LCBO #158493
3. Chateau Des Charmes Brut Methode Traditionelle, VQA Ontario Canada: This general list sparkling Ontario wine is a little more pricey than the other sparkling wines at $22.95, but considering it is made using the traditional champagne method it is an increadible value to make any event special. LCBO #145409
4. Sherry, Alvear’s Amontillado, Spain: This off-dry sherry pair wonderfully with fruit desserts and nuts. $10.95 LCBO #112789
5. Taylor Fladgate 10-Year-Old Tawny Port/20-Year-Old Tawny Port, Portugal: I have listed both the 10 and 20 year old ports here with the major difference between them being that the 20 year old port has deeper and richer flavours. This is a time when you can let either your wallet or your pallet do the talking. Either way, both of these ports will pair perfectly with nuts and rich, dark, chocolate. $35.95 LCBO #121749, $67.95 LCBO #149047

Photo by Bob.Fornal on Flickr