The Cuvée, Ontario’s wine Oscars!www.thatchannel.com/thewineladies TV for a red-carpet week-end!

To view this entire TV show episode and subscribe to our podcast for previous episodes. Check out www.thatchannel.com/thewineladies or check out some of the highlights right here Caption: Oscar’s of the wine industry. The “Oscars” of the Ontario wine industry, the Cuvée Awards now in its 22nd year coming up February 19th-21st is a red-carpet culinary and wine weekend. Like the Oscar’s in Hollywood the talented wine makers and their industry peers select the very best amongst them. A winery competition from all 4 VQA regions of Ontario with 54 participating wineries competing with over 200 wines in the red, white, sparkling and sweet categories. There is no professional award higher than being honoured by one’s peers celebrating excellence in one’s work and passion. The fabulous Cuvée weekend kicks off with the grand Cuvée Gala event Friday Feb 19th, 2010, taking place at the Fallsview Casino Resort with reception, award ceremony and glittering party. Along with the award winning wines, Ontario’s culinary excellence will be on display at the Gala celebrating Ontario’s foremost wine and food celebration. JoAnne Krick was in studio to give us the scoop on the red carpet gala and weekend taking place. Cuvée Weekend tickets are available at www.cuvee.ca or by calling 905-684-8688. Cuvée En Route admission can be purchased separately for $30.00 per person, via the same outlets or at participating wineries on Cuvée Weekend. Ticket and event information, details about each winery’s Cuvée En Route tastings, overnight accommodation packages, and event announcements can all be found on the Cuvée web site, www.cuvee.ca. We had an opportunity to chat and taste some of the splendid wine and food that will be part of the weekend including one of our favorite Niagara Peninsula wineries, Henry of Pelham www.henryofpelham.com. Owned and operated by the 3 Speck brothers, Paul, Daniel and Matthew we were joined by Daniel in studio who led us through a tasting of one of our much loved sparkling wines Cuvée Catharine Rosé, as well as the 2008 Sibling Rivalry featuring a blend of Riesling, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer and the signature Henry of Pelham 2007 Baco Noir Reserve. We challenged Daniel to show off his unique sparkling wine sabering technique… using a hockey skate to open up the bottle. Unfortunately after several failed attempts we were forced to rely on the true and steady way of opening the bottle. As always the Cuvée Catharine Rosé was delicious with good acidity and aromas of apple and citrus and paired beautifully with the roasted beet salad made by executive chef Roberto Fracchioni of the Millcroft Inn and Spa http://www.vintage-hotels.com/millcroft/default.htm that was also in studio working his culinary magic. Roberto Fracchioni a veteran of many years of the Cuvée Gala will also be on hand this year preparing some of his signature dishes as well. Next on the culinary schedule was a Seared Scallop Sofritto prepared not to rival the 2008 Sibling Rivalry but to enhance it like one big happy family. The Sibling Rivalry tasted like a sun vacation of lime citrus, apple freshness and a dash of lychee fruit. Following that,Daniel explained that the Baco Noir is to Canada as the Malbec is to Argentina and the Shiraz is to Australia… our signature wine. The Baco is a hybrid red wine grape variety produced from a cross of Vitis Vinifera var. ( Folle Blanche, a French hybrid grape) and an unknown variety of Vitis Riparia ( an indigenous North American grape species). Concentrated plum, rich palate, jammy but not over down it was a wonderful companion to the White bourbon, Chardonnay and Squash soup we enjoyed as our final course of the show. If you would like to see the show in its entirety go to www.thatvhannel.com/thewineladies .