Taste Local, Love Local – Ontario Wine & Pie

Gamay, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay-Pinot Grigio: some of the wines I’d never heard of (or tasted) before Ontario’s LCBO invited me to attend their ‘Taste Local Love Local’ event.

I’m a white wine spritzer type of gal and, because of that, I don’t venture too far away from a Pinot Grigio. Give me something light, bubbly and fruity and I’m happy.

Highlighting three of Ontario’s lush wine regions, this event not only opened my eyes to all the options out there, but opened my mouth because they paired the wine with locally made pie! PIE!

Having recently moved to Ontario, I had zero idea Ontario even had a wine region, let alone three, separate, prosperous regions so close to Toronto.

The first featured region was Prince Edward County. Just east and a whisper south of Toronto is this really quaint growing region (and popular tourist destination).

My favourite wine featured from here is the Grange Of Prince Edward Trumpour’s Mill Gamay Noir. I normally don’t care for reds, but this had a wonderful light-bodied and fruity taste and was perfectly paired with the Sweet and Savoury Pie Company’s ‘Tandori Chicken Cutie Pies’.

Moving into the Niagara Escarpment and Niagara-on-The-Lake region was another delicious adventure. The pie to pair with was Toronto’s Kensington Market darling Wanda’s Pie in the Sky  and their pear-cranberry pie.

With over ten feature wines from this region, it was hard to pick my favourite but I really enjoyed the Featherstone Cabernet Franc as this was a totally new wine for me.

Explained as a taste that Ontario can really own, this medium-bodied and fruity wine is grown on a vineyard that employs sheep to munch all the extra leaves from the vines. I love it!

The final region highlighted was Lake Erie North Shore. Tucked west and south of Toronto, this region boasts Canada’s most Southern point and the picturesque Pelee Island.

Featuring 5 wines, this recovering wine region has always been incredibly fertile but used to grow tobacco. The wineries here are young and bold. I really enjoyed pairing Lakeside Bakery’s classic Pumpkin Pie with Bricklayer’s Predicament Chardonnay-Pinot Grigio and its full bodied taste.

So what does a gal do when she’s had a night full of wine sampling on nothing but a pie-filled stomach? Ride a Segway of course!

This is how it went:

And on that note, support our local growers and show them some love. As of September 14^th  all of these wines and up to 523 other Ontario produced wines were released at an LCBO near you.

AND most of these bottles are under $20!

M Fab Local Wine Lover