Music paired with this entry - Stormzy 'Shut Up' - really it's about striving to be the best at what you do....However you want to interpret…display....portray....it's up to you....as long as nobody gets hurt.
From Burgundy on King Street to Rum on Dundas… today was a good day of wine tasting and industry harmony. In brief the afternoon started with a Master Class tasting of Wines of Burgundy hosted by Sopexa and moderated by John Szabo. A fantastic and welcome seminar on the 'village wines' of Burgundy. About 20 Village level wines, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, tasted blind for structure and relevance in a new world and old world context. The experience was profound for many of us. A room full of 20 hardcore Sommeliers, Wine Writers and Industry professionals, it's not often we get to taste wines blind and learn…most often we are there to taste and offer analysis and critique and then think of purchasing. Here we were students once again as we are always meant to be. Bravo Sopexa and John Szabo.
Then off to service. Normal for a Tuesday night. Though this evening, over at Archive Wine Bar, Will Predhomme and Nicholas Pearce were hosting a unique wines of South Africa tasting. Showcasing some cool wines that they tasted and experienced on a recent trip to the Cape, they shared these wines with a good dollop of Toronto's crème de la crème wine elite in attendance…'the Cru' as Nick Pearce put it in a text to me as I was riding over. Exploring a series of above normal wines from South Africa I missed the bulk of the tasting but had the opportunity to taste the 'Sparkling Horse' sparkling wine. Delicious. Over glasses of Bouzeron, Clos de la Roilette and Toro Albala Sherry we all discussed life in Paris, wines of the County, while I sipped Mount Gay XO Barbados Rum and the Cru rocked out to what's his name…Queen and Freddie Mercury. A good night pre-Christmas Madness.
A full report in on the Burgundy tasting…in blog format to follow….
