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The League of Farmers has a home of their own, plus our picks from LCBO releases
By Rick VanSickle With a group clinking of glasses to welcome the grape harvest in Niagara, the brain trust that is the League of Farmers gathered for the annual tasting of their signature Cabernet...
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Coming out party for The Crush’s Rennie Estate and 2027 Cellars wine
By Rick VanSickle The first few perfect rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, planted on a rare west-facing shelf at Rennie Estate’s Heron Pond Vineyard. is reserved for the crème de la crème. The grapes are...
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Dam, that was some hard grape picking, plus a primer for wine influencers to...
By Rick VanSickle A glass of wine never tasted as good as the Dam Chardonnay I enjoyed after picking about a million grapes the other day in Niagara. Note, also in this Ontario Wine Report: There are...
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Cheers to 20 years of top Syrahs from Niagara’s Creekside Estate Winery
By Rick VanSickle Shockwaves reverberated throughout the Niagara Fallsview Casino on Feb. 19, 2010, when the big winner at Cuvee WASN’T the Creekside Broken Press Shiraz 2007. The annual Cuvee awards...
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Local wines pair perfectly with Thanksgiving and we serve up some suggestions
By Rick VanSickle They don’t have the slick marketing campaigns or the attention that the bigger, more established wineries get, but it’s a growing network of small brands that form the bedrock on...
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The evolution of Riverview Cellars Winery, a gem on the Niagara Parkway
By Rick VanSickle Riverview Cellars Winery is one of the lucky few in the region to enjoy a captive audience of tourists cruising up and down the Niagara Parkway in search of vinous treats. They come...
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Something new from Trail Estate that will lift your spirits, plus...
By Rick VanSickle Whether it’s hi-fi or lo-fi, Trail Estate Winery in Prince Edward County has been racking up the hits for nearly a decade. Also in this Ontario Wine Report: New Twisted wines from...
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The Legislative Assembly of Ontario chooses the official VQA wines for 2025
By Wines in Niagara The Grape Growers of Ontario, along with speaker of the Legislature and MPP for Wellington-Halton Hills, Ted Arnott, hosted the 45th annual wine tasting event at Queen’s Park on...
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Surprises, hits and misses after digging deep in cellar for aged Niagara wines
By Rick VanSickle There were a few surprises, a head-scratcher, and a revelation after opening a cross-section of Niagara wines from the vault in the past couple of weeks. Also in this Niagara Wine...
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‘Exciting’ times in Ontario as Costco sells wine — at better prices than the...
By Rick VanSickle It was quite the scene at the Stoney Creek Costco today as shelves were quickly getting stocked with the first Ontario wines to be sold at the giant box store. The move for Costco to...
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Bachelder’s 2022 Pinot and Chardonnay release a ‘classic, complex, cellarable...
By Rick VanSickle He’s madly jotting down notes in his journal — a wine savant bible of sorts — and today’s ink colour is black as he writes the final thoughts for his La Toussaint release from...
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Christmas comes early for Niagara wine lovers with upcoming LCBO release
By Rick VanSickle For lovers of top-tier Niagara wines, Christmas is coming to you early at LCBO stores. The release on Nov. 16 features an eye-popping array of some of Niagara’s most sought-after...
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New signature dinner series to celebrate Niagara College’s chefs and alumni
By Wines in Niagara Niagara College is launching a fresh new dinner series that will showcase talented chefs and alumni from its trailblazing culinary, tourism and beverage studies division. Also in...
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For Niagara’s Mio Vineyard, their incredible journey is just beginning
By Rick VanSickle Eight years ago, Corey Mio hadn’t even tried a glass of Niagara wine let alone harboured visions of buying a vineyard in the heart of the region. It was a first-time getaway to...
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A deep dive into the wildly diverse portfolio from Niagara’s Leaning Post
By Rick VanSickle Ilya and Nadia Senchuk, owners of Niagara’s Leaning Post Wines, have never been comfortable with being comfortable. Together the couple has built their wine business — literally —...
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10 glorious years for Two Sisters, a local Gamay Nouveau released and...
By Rick VanSickle We walked into the unknown at the new Two Sisters Vineyards winery unannounced on a chilly Niagara day in December 2014. Also in this Niagara Wine Report: It’s lost a bit of its...
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Axing tax on wine a holiday ‘surprise’, plus a tsunami of Niagara wine reviews
By Rick VanSickle A Christmas gift from the federal government to give wine lovers a 13% tax break on wine came as shock to many in the Ontario wine industry. Also in this Ontario Wine Report: New wine...
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Flat Rock cellar raid, Nyarai back in action, a unique Gris from Last House
By Rick VanSickle A rare opportunity awaits Niagara wine lovers this weekend as Flat Rock Cellars opens its cellar for an eye-popping back-vintage sale. Also in this Ontario Wine Report: The County’s...
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You couldn’t write a better Hollywood script for this new Niagara wine brand
By Rick VanSickle Some Niagara wine stories are scripted right down to the final detail, but this one is 100% Unscripted, a narrative that’s just now being written. For Unscripted wine brand owner...
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Our lucky 13 Most Thrilling Ontario Sparkling Wines of 2024
By Rick VanSickle Ontario winemakers keep raising the bar higher and higher when it comes to sparkling wines. Note, also in this report: Our picks from the Niagara sparkling wines being released at...
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