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County Cider founder among inductees into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame
By Rick VanSickle Grant Howes, the man known as The Grandfather of Ontario Cider, is one of six people who will be inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame in June. Note: Also in this Prince...
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Some B.C. wineries turning to Ontario for help filling the gap
By Rick VanSickle Some B.C. wineries, facing more crippling winter damage to wide swaths of vineyards, is looking east to Ontario for help. Frank Neufeld, who owns and operates the Niagara Wine...
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Rarities, oldies and oddities … mining the cellar for Niagara wine gold
By Rick VanSickle Attempting the wine version of reaching back into the rarities, oddities, and oldies from that dusty record collection in the basement, I found some interesting results recently....
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First look and barrel tasting inside new Domaine du Clos Jordanne in Beamsville
Rick VanSickle With his trusty thief, Thomas Bachelder draws a generous sample of Pinot Noir from a Tonnellerie Sirugue Nuits Saint Georges gently used oak barrel, just like he’s done a million times...
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Okanagan wine named top red at new international wine competition in Calgary
By Rick VanSickle A Canadian winery emerged as the top red wine in an exciting new international wine competition in Calgary that featured 556 wines from Canada and around the world. The Osoyoos Larose...
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Federal government announces $177-million extension to Wine Sector Support...
The Canadian government today announced an extension to the Wine Sector Support Program with an investment of up to $177 million over the next three years. The announcement by Lawrence MacAulay,...
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Do we need another wine competition in Canada? We have some answers
By Rick VanSickle A reader recently posed the question: Do we really need another wine competition in Canada? Note, also in this Canadian Wine Report: Our recommendations for the Niagara wines coming...
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The dry “miracle” in the fall that saved the Ontario grape harvest in 2023
By Rick VanSickle It was a dickens of a year for growing grapes in Ontario in 2023, but don’t take our word for it, read what dozens of winemakers and growers had to say about it. Evoking Charles...
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A Niagara grower’s lament on icewine, grape surpluses, and taxation
There is no doubting that icewine put Canada on the world wine map, but in recent years, that sweet vinous treat has fallen on hard times. The trouble began when COVID hit, the market plummeted for...
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Ontario wine vintage charts all the way back to 1998 (with 2023 just added)
By Rick VanSickle When winemakers quote Charles Dickens you know something dramatic occurred with the Ontario grape harvest in 2023. But as the first wines from 2023 begin crowding last year’s wines...
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Baby Duck, it still quacks me up, plus a dam fine Chardo, and Vintages picks
By Rick VanSickle Oh, yeah, and everyone had a big laugh. Gift the wine writer a chilled bottle of Baby Duck and hilarity ensues. Also in this Ontario Wine Report: New Chardonnay from 80x reviewed, our...
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Niagara wine country at centre of universe for rare total solar eclipse (a...
By Rick VanSickle If anything can eclipse Nik Wallenda’s 2012 highwire walk across Niagara Falls, which drew 150,000 people to the region, it just might be the upcoming astronomic event of a lifetime....
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The big push for a VQA Canada solution to grape calamities across the county
By Rick VanSickle The birth of the Canadian wine industry was a chaotic time, and the man who was at the centre of it all is still at it 50 years later. And it took a weather catastrophe this past...
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Cru Gamays galore in Bachelder’s spring release — what to expect from the wines
By Rick VanSickle Hauling a big-ass map showing the intricately laced terroirs of Niagara Wine Country’s sub-appellations, Thomas Bachelder stops in the middle of New York City for a quick photo. He’s...
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One more time, From the Heart … Grapes for Humanity Charity wine auction preview
By Rick VanSickle The Canadian wine community is once again giving “from the heart” for the upcoming 2024 Grapes for Humanity Fine Wine Auction that goes live on April 12. Also in this Ontario Wine...
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Out of darkness, into the light, a Niagara wine tasting report that’s out of...
By Rick VanSickle There was darkness, then minutes later, light once again bathed the vineyards while a cacophony of birds chirps as if it was dawn at 3:30 in the afternoon; such was the scene at...
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Soar with the eagles, an odyssey of tasting at Niagara’s Two Sisters winery
By Rick VanSickle I do not know of another Niagara winery that has an elevator, but if you want the best you need to take it to get to the inner sanctum of the Two Sisters Estate Winery for the Stone...
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New book on women who shaped the Ontario wine industry ‘an inspiring read’
By Ali Oppenlaender I have been listening to Beyoncé’s, Cowboy Carter on repeat since it was released in March: her voice, the lyrics, the cadence of each song are just so good! But what I admire most...
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Judgment of Niagara: Southbrook goes toe to toe with the reds of Bordeaux
By Rick VanSickle It’s not that unusual to see groups of Niagara winemakers tasting the best wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and Germany beside their own. It’s part of the job. Note, also in...
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Wines in Niagara writer VanSickle named Wine Writer of the Year by Wines in...
By Rick VanSickle CATHARINES, April 26, 2024 /CNW/ – Wines in Niagara proudly announces Rick VanSickle, publisher and writer at Wines in Niagara, as the recipient of the Distinguished Canadian Wine...
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