Last time out we looked at Get Fresh in the Valley – this time we cast our eyes to the other Springtime food and wine extravaganza, the one that set the standard for others to follow for springtime events. We head a little more east, deep into the heart of the Niagara wine region, into Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), where the now 28 Wineries of NOTL put on their annual Wine & Herb Festival. I have been going to this event for upwards of 5 years, and each year the stakes seem to rise a little higher: the newbies of the group want to impress right out of the gate (see Stratus in 2009 – http://ontheroadwithgrapeguy.blogspot.ca/2009/05/report-from-niagara-on-lakes-wine-and.html), while the old guard continually rises the bar on what they did the previous year. All-in-all this, along with Taste the Season (also a NOTL presentation) are two of the premier wine and food pairing events in the Niagara region – and sit in my top 5 of annual wine events in Ontario.
This year, for the Wine & Herb, we forewent the numerical scoring – been there done that, and instead used a Good, Better, Best approach – plus gave bonus marks for unique and innovative foods and pairings, and also gave a few thumbs up and thumbs down for such things as “where was the herb” or “I’m making this at home”. This year we were also a little tougher because it wasn’t just about the food, the herb had to shine.
For those who are new to the event, Wine & Herb is a very simple concept: each winery is given an herb to create a unique food offering with , then they must pair it with a wine from their portfolio … as with Get Fresh, the focus here is really on the food, we know these guys and gals can all make good wine … the question is: can they prepare a cool bite to go with it?
Read the full article in Newsletter #186 …
See the pictures by clicking here …