It’s the 62nd annual Niagara Grape and Wine festival. Food. Wine. New Friends.

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THE SHOW

Downtown St. Catharines

The Niagara Wine Festival — or Grape and Wine as its been called — is back for its 62nd year. Over the years its kept growing until it now takes over most of wine country..not just downtown St Catharines. I was invited by Executive Director Kimberley Hundertmark to host a wine panel called East vs West. I discovered they weren’t talking about BC vs Ontario but regions within Niagara. As it turns out the panel never took place but I did get to Introduce The Spoons at the Friday night concert (that’s was fun) and then drove around Niagara and stopped into wineries for a taste and chat. This episode of TRR is all about Niagara and the people who make it special. What a sensational destination. The wines just keep getting better and better..some are World Class. As a BC based wine fan, I wanted to know about several important things. How’s Niagara doing 2013? Are they now shipping wine to consumers across Canada? Now that Ontario wines are welcome in BC, which wines are available? And How Much do they like the Alberta customer ? (they like Alberta..)

Guests include

Allan Schmidt – President of Vineland / Chair of The Wine Council of Ontario www.winecouncilofontario.ca www.vineland.com Charlie Pillitteri – CEO/President Pillitteri Estate Winery www.pillitteri.com Curtis Fielding – President of Fielding Wines. Grape grower of the year 2012/13 www.fieldingwines.com Sportscaster Bob McGown – CEO Stoney Ridge Estate Winery. Partner in Mike Weir Wines www.stoneyridge.com Rob Power – Winemaker at Creekside Estate Winery. Matt Loney Sales and marketing Creekside www.creeksidewine.com Gillian Tinsley – Estate Sommelier. Martin Werner – Winemaker at Ravine Vineyard www.RavineVineyard.com Deborah Pratt – Winery Public Relations Great Estates Niagara. (Inniskillin Jackson-Triggs. Clos Jordanne) www.greatestestatesniagara.com