“Welcome to Canada” is what I should have said when I met you at the Rotman school (instead of “duh, hello”), I’m saying it now after you’ve gone back home already, but you are always, always welcome here. Thanks for the nice words about my city and Ontario wines. I was thinking just what you said, why is he trying Cave Spring? Why didn’t the hotel leave him something better? Don’t they know who he is? So I’m relieved to learn that this was not your first introduction to our wines and that you already know a lot about them. To answer the QOTD I can actually promote a really good Ontario wine, which I mentioned to you once already but it may have gotten lost in my big preceding speech (whatever I was talking about then): Henry of Pelham Cuvee Catherine Rose Brut. This is a fantastically authentic champagne-style sparkling wine – $30 Cdn. If you like good champagne, and I saw your two-parter on decanting it, Cuvee Catherine more than stands up to the challenge. A Canadian wine that I’m very proud of. Drink it room temperature and over a couple of hours, you’ll love the almost dried mushroom nose.

P.S. I was SO HAPPY when I saw the Feedblitz e-mail notification this morning. I thought we wouldn’t see you again till the book tour was over. We miss you too. Enjoy Halloween with Meesh and Lizzie. Congratulations on your spectacular Crush It achievement!! You make it seem easy because you love it, but I know you never rest.

Daria K.
Toronto

Congratulations on your book! That’s absolutely amazing. I’m a long time lurker and finally decided to come out of hiding. I’m drinking a 2008 Mollydooker Two Left Feet with my dinner. A bit too much heat, too big of a wine even for my cassoulet, not exactly my palate. I give it 85 points but planning on trying the Blue Eyed Boy sometime.

I live up in Seattle and go to Vancouver pretty often. Great city. Girlfriend’s from Winnipeg. Never been to Toronto but would like to. Missed you when you were out here for your book tour but plan on dropping by the store when I visit my folks soon. I grew up in Wyckoff, NJ, lived in Edison when I went to school at Robert Wood Johnson. It’s too bad you can’t ship to WA state.

Take care, man. You’re a rock star!

Hey Gary Vaynerchuk
I have never been to Toronto but Canada is one of the greatest countries in the world for three reasons:
1) It is the birthplace of Oscar Peterson.
2) It is the birthplace of Rush
3) It is the birth place of Cirque Du Soleil.
The last wine I just swallowed before finishing this comment was Mollydooker “The Boxer” Shiraz 2008. I will never call another wine a fruit bomb again. I agree with WS and give it a 91. However! This is not to be taken with food! This is a fun wine but there should be a govern
ment warning.
WARNING: This wine is a head but, punch you in the face, elbow you on the way down, kick you in the crotch once fallen, dance on you bloody grave singin’ hallelujah nuclear fruit bomb.
Alcohol too high is the only real criticIsm I have.

Nice. Love the quick hitting, hotel room shows every now and then. QOTD: De Valier Soave 2008. Really nice nutty flavor. Great food wine! Interesting nose, lingering finish. I recommend it.

Congrats on your books success, you deserve it Gary V!
QOTD1- Never been to Canada, went to college in Syracuse that is closest I have gotten
QOTD2- Louis Jadot Beaujolais Village 2007, not bad, maybe 86?

Gary, it was such a pleasure to finally meet you at Rotman! You are just as awesome and genuine in person as you are on line, which I think says a lot about you.

QOTD: I’m from Toronto so I’m a bit biased. Toronto is AWESOME! Canada is AWESOME!

Hopefully you’ll be able to make it back to our AWESOME city again soon. Good luck with the rest of the book tour, and enjoy your first Halloween with your little one. 🙂

2007 Stuck wine from Reichsrat von Buhl: a riesling and gewürztraminer mix that gets a 89 in my book.

2007 Stuck wine from Reichsrat von Buhl: a riesling and gewürztraminer mix that gets a 89 in my book.

I have only been to Toronto once, but I enjoyed it. Last night I had a red burgundy that I tried at a burgundy tasting last week with a Master Sommelier. This one had flavors of tart cherries with some of the European barnyard smell and taste. Overall I like it for the price and give it a rating of 88.

Gary – loved Crush It. Congratulations on the immediate success of the book.

Gary – loved Crush It. Congratulations on the immediate success of the book.

2006 Catena Alta Chard….needs about 5 more years to integrate the oak then I would give it a 90+. Nice apple, citrus, lime nose. Definitely get the oak as well sniffin’& swirlin’. Has weight, depth…bitter orange, grassy.
Only visited Canada when we flew into Calgary on our way to Banff. Spectacular time.

Thanks G Man,

welcome to our shores again.

QOTD: Born in Montreal, now live near Toronto, (AKA “T.O.”)and the New baby Boy is 56 days late so waiting waiting.
this is a great season to see the city, to just a bit grey these last few days though.

Please give the Ontario ’07 reds a few more years to show their stuff, we should all be amazed by some of the better selections.

Last wine was 2005 Ripasso made by the smallish house in Veneto Italy; Delibori/ Villabella. Very nice and secondary flavours are just starting on this Vintage so soon as good as the 04 I hope? 16$ or so CDN.

And as a Canadian please note the spelling on “Flavour” and words like “colour” too. We here in Canada put the “U” back in Fall and dinner too!

Thanks G Man,

welcome to our shores again.

QOTD: Born in Montreal, now live near Toronto, (AKA “T.O.”)and the New baby Boy is 56 days late so waiting waiting.
this is a great season to see the city, to just a bit grey these last few days though.

Please give the Ontario ’07 reds a few more years to show their stuff, we should all be amazed by some of the better selections.

Last wine was 2005 Ripasso made by the smallish house in Veneto Italy; Delibori/ Villabella. Very nice and secondary flavours are just starting on this Vintage so soon as good as the 04 I hope? 16$ or so CDN.

And as a Canadian please note the spelling on “Flavour” and words like “colour” too. We here in Canada put the “U” back in Fall and dinner too!

Make that 5 to 6 days late Not 56, thank god!

Q.O.T.D.!? The last wine I had was a 2007 Caymus Cab. You tasted it with your Pops o few weeks back!! I loved this wine. It trueley drinks well young. I say drink it while its young if you cant hold off cellaring it!!. I got a vanilla on the nose, and nice tannins very tastey wine. I socre it 93+ points almost a 94 but not all the way 94!!

Q.O.T.D.!? The last wine I had was a 2007 Caymus Cab. You tasted it with your Pops o few weeks back!! I loved this wine. It trueley drinks well young. I say drink it while its young if you cant hold off cellaring it!!. I got a vanilla on the nose, and nice tannins very tastey wine. I socre it 93+ points almost a 94 but not all the way 94!!

Never been to Canada, but my sister is moving to Toronto so I’m excited to start visiting. Last night enjoyed some NV Conde de Subirats Brut Cava. I really like this wine (especialy at $14) and rate it around 90 points.
Congrats on the book’s success, you’ve inspired a lot of people.

QOTD: 2006 Monte Antico. I picked this and several others up just to see if any of them are good enough to recommend to my sons and some of their friends for whom I write a little blog. I do this on a regular basis. I don’t give point ratings; I just don’t put them on my blog unless they are worth drinking, but I would give this an 89.

Good ending to the episode!

QOTD: 2006 Monte Antico. I picked this and several others up just to see if any of them are good enough to recommend to my sons and some of their friends for whom I write a little blog. I do this on a regular basis. I don’t give point ratings; I just don’t put them on my blog unless they are worth drinking, but I would give this an 89.

Good ending to the episode!

hey there…lurker or not, have always been very enthusiastic bout your shows. You look tired, but thanks for the continuing education and entertainment!

I wish I could be in Toronto…

QOTD:
Domaine des Roches Neuves, Thierry Germain ‘Insolite’ (Loire)
On the nose, sweet golden apples and apricots, acetone, creamy toasty caramel butter
Continues on with delicious full bodied golden apples, honey and very light hay followed by a mid palate of blue stone minerality nuances before some butter like caramel and backend apricot-lime like acidity with hints of oak on the palate.

Not a bad chenin!

QOTD’s: I think Canada is the kind of place I should live cause even here in Ohio it’s still too warm for me. Last wine I had was some cheapo Marsala from NY I picked up last night, was fairly “delicious” but only 73 points.

QOTD’s: I think Canada is the kind of place I should live cause even here in Ohio it’s still too warm for me. Last wine I had was some cheapo Marsala from NY I picked up last night, was fairly “delicious” but only 73 points.

QOTD: Heron 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (California). Overall just okay, good structure, not much of a nose, and a little short on the dark fruit and cassis that I typically look for in a California Cab. Can’t complain too much since I paid about $15.00 for the bottle. Been to Niagara Falls, but nowhere else in Canada, would love to go sometime. Looking forward to seeing you in Atlanta in December.

Not too much experience with Canada,and none with Toronto. I spent a weekend in Montreal and a weekend in Quebec City, and skied Mt. Saint Annes, had a great time both times. Also no experience with Canadian wine, I’ve had a few icewines, but that’s it – good to see another promising region coming up though and I’m excited to try some juice from my northern neighbors.

The last wine I tried was an obscure varietal that I bought precisely for that reason, the Domaine Thierry Tissot Bugey Mataret, Bugey being a region in France near Savoie and the Swiss border, and the varietal being 100% Mondeuse. The color was an interesting shade of purple, with a bluish tint to it, but thin, not like Petite Sirah inky. Very grapey on the nose with a mesquite spice thing going on and then almost like an auto-body shop component – not the common burnt rubber smell that you get on a lot of Old World style reds, and not the petrol you get on Rieslings, but like a burnt fuel type thing. On the palette the wine was bone-dry with a lot of acidity but not too tannic, tart cherries being the most obvious flavor, pomegranate, and almost like a Sweet Tart character on the finish, but again not too tannic and extremely light body. Overall it was kind of an awkward little wine, I’d give it an 83-84, and probably wouldn’t buy it again but it was worth tasting for the experience. I went back to the wine a little later and had it with Bleu Cheese, which was an awesome pairing, the cheese mellowed out the more obnoxious aspects of the wine and the wine was able to hold up to the strong flavors of the cheese, so maybe it deserves a few extra points for that, 85 [and pan to #85 jersey]