Your table awaits…The i4c 2012 weekend includes 8 vineyard lunches featuring 8 exceptional chefs, including Victor Barry, Ryan Crawford, Erik Peacock and Stephen Treadwell.
It’s a mere 30 days until the chardonnay flows. The team at the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration thought we’d share a few things for you to look forward to…
- 110 chardonnays from 14 wine regions in one weekend.
- THE ARKELLS!!! Juno-awarded Group of the Year in 2012 play our Kick-off Party at Jackson Triggs
- Getting ‘WILD’ with Norm Hardie and Chef Michael Pasto at Rosewood Estate Winery’s luncheon
- Discovering why Jancis Robinson was so excited about Flowers Winery and Bachelder Wines.
- Cheese Boutique’s Afrim Pristine’s cheese course at Chardonnay Bonne Bouche at 13th Street
- The beautiful, treed lawns and rhododendron gardens at Vineland Research & Innovation Centre, home of our Saturday night event.
- The surprise treats Chef Jason Parsons has for his guests at the ‘To Oak, or not To Oak’ luncheon. We know, but can’t tell!
- The myriad accents of our 28 international winemakers as they introduce themselves at the Opening Ceremonies Friday night
- Watching Decanter’s Stephen Brook guide us through the viticultural experiences of 6 international winemakers at the Extreme Winemaking Session at CCOVI
- Chef Jeremy Taft’s culinary debut in Niagara – this charcuterie master from Prince Edward County brings the goods to Flat Rock for lunch
- Winemaker Phil Dowell’s paella at the Beyond the Barrel Dinner…apparently it’s so good he’s been crowned “a paella king” among his winemaking comrades
- Did we mention 110 different chardonnays throughout the weekend? And all of them available to taste at Saturday’s Cool Chardonnay World Tour?
- Sipping Angelo Pavan’s Blanc de Blanc at the Cave Spring Vineyard in Beamsville – nestled against the Niagara Escarpment it’s one of the most picturesque vineyards in Niagara
- Splendido’s Victor Barry. Fresh, local food. White linen tablecloths in the vineyard of Hidden Bench. 8 exceptional international producers. Need we say more?
- Mill Street Brewery’s special “chardonnay-inspired” beer, on tap after dinner at the Saturday night event
- Table for 120? Picture one long, white linen-clad table in the vineyard adorned with Chef Stephen Treadwell’s exquisite local cuisine at 13th Street
- Tasting like the pro’s in the exclusive Sensory Lab at VRIC for the Chardonnay Boot Camp – open to the public only for this event!
- Grape Grower Duarte Oliveira and Winemaker Craig McDonald discussing the vine-to-bottle relationship that results in the renowned Hillebrand Showcase Chardonnay – Oliveira Vineyard at the Extreme Winemaking Session
- Enjoying Niagara in July. Orchards lush with fruit. Lake Ontario glistening. Hot summer days with cool evening breezes. Fruit stands dotting every route…it’s heaven.
- Refreshing with a glass of Champagne Ayala after dinner Saturday night at the Blanc de Blanc bar
- Finally tasting Pascal Marchand and Moray Tawse’s Burgundy project Domaine Marchand-Tawse
- Lunching with Chef Ryan Crawford – one of Niagara’s hottest young chefs – at Stratus
- Sipping my way from Burgundy to Argentina, from Orange, Australia to Jura, then to Central Otago before heading to BC…the ability to sip wines from 14 regions in one afternoon at the Cool Chardonnay World Tour
- The view from Flat Rock Cellars – one of the best vistas in Niagara
- Watching Chef Erik Peacock orchestrate the 7 winemaker-chefs (and 650 guests!) at Saturday’s Beyond the Barrel feast!
- The refreshing cool of Canada’s largest underground barrel cellar at Henry of Pelham on a hot, July day.
- Meeting the people behind these fabulous chardonnays. Winemakers or winery owners will be pouring at all events.
- Lobster mac & cheese by Winemaker Ross Wise at the Beyond the Barrel Dinner. Paired with Chardonnay, could there be anything more delicious?
- The Moveable Feast Brunch at Ravine. Savouring every moment of this fabulous finale to i4c weekend.
- 110 of the world’s best cool climate chardonnays. Many of which you would never have tasted before, and may never taste again…
Tickets are on sale now at www.coolchardonnay.org. Don’t hesitate – some events have already sold out!
The International Cool Climate Chardonnay Association is a not-for-profit group of 28 inspired Ontario winemakers and winery owners devoted to the renaissance of chardonnay. The i4c is generously supported by sponsors Wine Country Ontario, The Grape Growers of Ontario and the LCBO/Vintages.
