Wine Education

The art of wine tasting is a delicious, sensuous and pleasurable way to become intimate with the wine in your glass. 

Your Sommelier will introduce the classic wine tasting technique and guide you through a sampling of six contrasting  wines. 

By becoming proficient at tasting wine, you will recognize the wines you like,  dislike, setting you off on a fascinating journey of wine discovery.

 Red wines come from a wide variety of grapes, embody an incredible number of styles and are available at all price points. Some must be drunk young others require years of careful cellaring. 

This tasting  introduces you  to six international grapes.  Their differences will be explained and tasted.  

Grapes: Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sangiovese, and Malbec. 

White  wines are as good and complex as red wines. They also pair just as well, if not better, with food.  This tasting  introduces you  to six international grapes.  Their differences will be explained and tasted.  

Grapes: Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewürztraminer,  and Muscat. 

  AOC (Appellation d'origine controle), VQA, Château, "Superior," Brut, Extra brut, Kabinet, Reserva, Premier cru, Cellared in Canada… Confused yet? Countries, and often wine regions, have their own approaches to labelling their wines. 

Wine labelling and standardization were initially done to limit fraudulent imitation. Eventually, it became a tool to assist customers in their selection process. Wine labelling is now a curious mix of strict rules and marketing genius. 

We will discuss wine labelling principles on popular wine regions with the intent to make it easier for you when you shop for wines. Of course, we will sample six wines of the particular wine regions and labels in questions.

The use of chemicals in our food and environment are well understood today and is at the core of the organic and biodynamic movements. 

Our discussion will center on these notions, and how to recognize the wines that are "sustainable," "organic," or "biodynamic" and which terroirs are better suited for these practices. 

We will, of course, taste several delicious biological and biodynamic wines. 

Tasting sweet wines - the ultimate sensory experience. Better than chocolate! Dessert in a glass! "Sticky" wines are either made from grapes affected by mold or dried on straw or picked at -10C. In short, sweet wines are often made using painstaking methods, putting them in a class of their own. 

Our evening will be remembered for tasting incredible luscious, decadent wines. We will come to understand why Louis XV exclaimed "Wine of Kings, King of Wines (Vinum Regum, Rex vinorum) when he tasted a sweet Tokaji.  

A great pairing can turn humble food and wines into gastronomic delights. An imperfect pairing can also turn expensive food and wines into something you would rather forget (try a nice Barolo with wild salmon). 

We will learn a few basic culinary rules and principles to help you create satisfying pairings. The pairings will bring consistent pleasures into your day to day meals, and refinement into your wine selection at the restaurant.

Six wine and food pairings will be served to demonstrate the basic pairing principles.

France’s wines are the classics against which all the other wines in the world are compared. As a result, being familiar with the French grapes and the regions where they grow will give you a basis on which to build your wine knowledge worldwide.

We will taste wines from six French regions - Burgundy, Alsace, Loire, Bordeaux, Cote du Rhone and Southern France.

Italy is essentially one vast wine region with thousands of years of history in winemaking. Italians are famous for grapes such as Sangiovese (Chianti), but they also have hundreds more they are proud.

We will scratch the surface and taste iconic quality wines from known and  lesser-known regions and learn why the Italians are so passionate about them. 

Spain and Portugal have been making wine since the Roman time, and they  are responsible for introducing winemaking to South America over 400 years ago.  Both countries produce world-class red and white wines and offer some of the best values out there. 

This tasting  introduces you  to six high-value wines: three from Spain and three from Portugal. 

New World Wines are produced by countries with relatively young wine production traditions, including  Chile, Argentina and other lesser-known wine countries such as  Uruguay. 

In this fun-filled tasting ,you will discover surprising stories about South America, all the while learning tips to help find those great values they are famous for. 

The United States has some of the most celebrated terroirs and wines in the world. Pretty much all the international grapes thrive along the Western coast.

This tasting  introduces you  to six wines from three iconic regions:  Sonoma, Napa, Oregon and a lesser know region; Washington.     Their differences will be discussed and tasted.  

Canada does not export its wines because we drink it all. 

The Canadian wine industry is growing in leaps and bounds. Better vine species and understanding of our terroirs, as well as improvements in winemaking techniques, are two of the reasons why our wines are gaining recognition for their quality.

We will  taste six wines from three Canadian regions: Nova Scotia, Ontario and, British Columbia.  

Australia and New Zealand have very different  terroirs and wine styles but are just as  popular in Canada.

This tasting  introduces you  to six wines from three iconic regions:  New Zealand's North and South Islands,  Western and South Australia and their iconic grapes.

 We all know about Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay, but what about Symphony, Baco Noir, and Saperavi?

Some of these wines are the results of recent hybrids; others are thousands of years old. 

Wine, like art, follows trends influenced by geography, political and social realities, as well as trade practices.  

We will taste six delicious lesser-known wines, and hope you will  want to found out more about those hidden values.