Niagara's Twenty Valley on a sunny, winter's day
This January, I venture to the always quaint village of Jordan to "Sip, Savour and Celebrate" Twenty Valley's many award-winning wineries during the Annual Niagara Icewine Festival which you should all mark on the calendar for next year. Sweet Icewine, festive sparkling wines and sensational VQA red and white wines are offered to a good-sized, appreciative crowd, and the inviting liquids are paired with yummy food.
Organizers shuttle us in from ample parking areas on the town's fringe, buses running regularly without much delay, and the weather cooperates, offering us a brisk but sunny winter's day.
I watch contestants in the Barrel Rolling action strive to remain warm and well-exercised as they exhibit their individual form, bouncing a barrel down and back up the short course on Main St. Triple-threat MC, competitor and fashion-show participant Sue-Ann Staff from Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery is the only contestant to start backwards.
Others such as Andrea Glass, The Good Earth Winery, Paul Kopanski, Cornerstone Estate Winery, Darryl Fields, Rosewood Estate Winery, Dan Stouk, Malivoire Wine Co and Ross Wise, Flat Rock Cellars employ the traditional frontal approach.
Each performs well, but an extremely robust routine by Dan Stock wins this year's event, wrestling the coveted Golden Blundstone boot trophy from last year's winner, Ross Wise, the winning time, 17.22 seconds, not bad for bouncing big barrels.
I thoroughly enjoy the day's activities, visiting the spacious white tents and sampling "liquid gold" accompanied by tasty pizza and warm soup, but for hard core Icewine aficionados, the "Discovery Pass Program" allows one to enjoy three full weekends of wine and culinary adventures at wineries dotted across Niagara. There are six samplings per pass for $30.
Samples of what's in store:
Niagara on the Lake's Cattail Creek Estate Winery (
cattailcreek.ca) is into "Sweet and Spicy," suggesting like spy thriller author John Le Carré, that we come in from the cold and enjoy a bowl of steaming Butter Chicken with Mango Chutney served with Papadum Chips and paired with Barrel Fermented Vidal Icewine 2006, awarded Best Limited Edition Sweet Wine at Cuvée 2008.
Diamond Estates Winery (
diamondestates.ca) tempts one with a glass of Lakeview Cellars Gewürztraminer Icewine, perfectly matched with a slice of spiced Sweetie Potato Pie served with a dollop of freshly whipped Gewürztraminer cream, compliments of Beth at Sweetie Pie's Bakery.
Hillebrand Winery (
hillebrand.com) celebrates in true Canadian fashion with a hearty helping of Chef Frank Dodd's Icewine chili paired with award-winning Trius Vidal Icewine.
Easy to see that it might be wise to take up barrel rolling to help one combat the multiple calories offered by 30 festival wineries. Roughly 150,000 Icewine enthusiasts pack scarves and mittens and head to Niagara wine country each winter for special events in towns and wineries. The festival features winemakers' dinners, seminars, ice-carving demos and outdoor tents full of opportunities to sample local Icewine. In Niagara's unique microclimate, 30 varietals are planted here across 13,600 acres, making us Canada's largest wine-producing region and a great place to enjoy winter.
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