Last year they filled a basket, this year they filled a box … a box of chocolates that is. This year twelve 20 Valley wineries took part in Wrapped Up in the Valley, each pairing a wine with a food and each gave the gift of chocolate to thank you for the visit, namely a chocolate truffle made with the winery’s wine. At the end of the trek you ended up with a full box of chocolate truffles and the memories of a variety of foods in your belly. To fill your box you had to visit all twelve wineries, while there you would have tasted 12 different food pairings … now for someone with a sweet tooth like mine you just know that visiting all 12 wineries was a must (I’m also a bit of a collector and a completionist); while I haven’t broken into the chocolates (yet) I can give you a run down on the food and wine pairings, not all of them worked; in fact very few had that “wow” factor you look for in a food and wine pairing. Some of the wineries had really good food, others the wine was the star, but in all cases (with the exception of one) the wineries showed us something interesting and worthy of a return visit for next year’s edition of Wrapped Up in the Valley, in whatever form it takes; if for nothing else than to see what they plan to fill.The Best Pairing …
A tie here between Fielding and Vineland. Fielding served up a spicy corn c
howder alongside their 2007 Chardonnay Musque … the coolness of the wine simmered down the heat of the chowder creating a taste combination second to none. That’s why they tied with Vineland’s Marinated Jumbo Shrimp and the 2007 Pinot Noir … this dish was served with two sides and two wines – the Sauvignon Blanc paired with the Citrus Thyme dip while the Pinot Noir went masterfully with the Smoky Paprika Chipotle – reverse the two and it was a messy affair. I was also impressed with the healthy portions of both of these foods being served.Great Food …
EastDell’s homemade slow cooked chili hit the spot on this chilly day – thick and rich and exactly what the doctor ordered. Another nice sized portion.
Speaking of nice size, DeSousa had a “homemade” meatball that should have been called a “Man-sized” meatball; easily the size of a golf ball (if not bigger) stewed in a port-infused sauce paired with Lakeview’s port-style wine “Starboard” … the pairing didn’t work because it was sweet-on-sweet, but the meatball on its own was incredibly tasty.
Flat Rock did a phyllo flower filled with gorgonzola cheese and caramelized onions – the key to this one was to pop the entire flower into one’s mouth (eat the petals first, then pop the middle in your mouth) otherwise you ended up getting too much of one flavour over the other.Rosewood Estates made a change to their menu, for the better, instead of Salmon Gravlax they served
a Greek dish called Spanikopita: phyllo pastry-filled with spinach and feta cheese … heated this would have been an awesome little snack because cold it was quite tasty.The Other Five …
Angels Gate, Cave Spring, Harbour Estates, Mountain Road and Peninsula Ridge all did okay, nothing fantastic as far as the pairing goes; the wines performed well and the food was decent, some up, some down, but all edible and passable … plus you needed to go there to fill up your box of chocolates.
Disappointment …
There’s one in every crowd, and Creekside led the charge here. Their serving was suppose to be a rustic mushroom soup and their scheduled time to begin was 11:00am. But upon our arrival at 11:05 we were told they were not serving their pairing till noon; the girl behind the counter had very little knowledge of what was being done, “my manager left me a note saying that our organizers would be in at noon.” She poured us the wine and found the chocolate (so we were able to complete our collections); but I think someone dropped the ball at Creekside in a big way. Our embarrassed wine-jockey offered us tasting of whatever we wanted to compensate – a nice jester on her part.
Final Thought …
Wrapped Up in the Valley has a lot of potential to be one of the premier holiday events of the Niagara region; I believe this is the third time they have run the event and it still needs a little polish. One important point for future years would be to have a consistent start time from winery to winery to avoid confusion with patrons: 5 wineries started at 10:00am; 6 at 11:00; one at 10:30 and another advertised for 11 but didn’t get going till noon (so they said, we didn’t stick around to find out) – this kind of inconsistency could drive away customers and it just manages to piss people off. If you want to begin the event at 11 in the morning (allowing for opening and set-up) then make it across the board for each winery … I hate to point this out but that should be a basic starting point when planning any multiple location event. That said it is important to note that the tickets were sold out early to this event (both weekends), which shows that people like the direction this association of wineries is headed. I am looking forward to next year’s edition of the Wrapped Up festivities.
Drop in Surprise …
Louise at Featherstone was doing her annual Open House, outside of what the rest of the 20 Valley Association was doing – once again she served up great home cooked appetizers (though this year she admitted to have a little outside) with some Featherstone favourites (rosé, Chardonnay and Merlot). It’s always worth a drop-by.
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