This year\u2019s Taste the Season was probably the best and most consistent I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 The food was consistently good, except for one winery\u2019s offering, which might just be one of the worst I have ever had (more on that in\u00a0 a bit) \u2013 but considering that 28 wineries take part, the event is batting .964 \u2013 and that, to put it mildly, is pretty darn good.<\/p>\n
We started (my wife Erica \u2013 the foodie \u2013 and I) by going through the list of pairings being offered as we waited to pick up our tickets at the Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) Chamber of Commerce office in the heart of NOTL.\u00a0 We decided to check off our top five or six wineries that we had the most expectations for based on the description of the pairing.\u00a0 Our expectations lists matched pretty closely, with each of us picking six wineries that we were most looking forward to trying their food at.\u00a0 In total we ended up with eight wineries on our combined list.\u00a0 Erica chose Chateau des Charmes, Colaneri, Palatine Hills, Pillitteri, Ravine and Jackson-Triggs \u2026 mine dropped the Chateau and Pillitteri in favour of Hinterbrook and Stratus.\u00a0 We marked all the wineries out of 5 on an ascending scale for Poor (1) to Excellent (5).<\/p>\n
13 of the 28 wineries scored a 2 or 3 (which was Fair to Average), and those that scored 2 were based on our personal preferences instead of lack of flavour, enjoyment or forethought on there part.\u00a0 For example, Cattail Creek served Wild Mushrom and Pencetta Ragout topped with Crispy Onions \u2026 a big portion with lots of mushrooms \u2013 but if you are not a mushroom fan (as I am not) the food would be lost on you.\u00a0 While we scored it a 2, someone else who digs mushrooms would score it much higher.<\/p>\n
Exceeded Expectations \u2026 (to read the full report and see the pictorial tour, click here<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n