Here are my top 5 reasons to travel to Washington Wine Country:

So whether you whether you stay for a few days or a few weeks, you can be rest assured you will be drinking some great wines!

I had the Black Cod fish-and-chips that literally melted in your mouth.  Of course, I washed it down with a Blanche de Chambly, a Quebec white ale with great acidity and citrus notes.  Other great beers of note including Mill Street, Muskoka, Steam Whistle and Big Rock, but also stouts and dark ales.

But let’s get to the wine list.  It’s very Ontario-focused, including red and white wines from Tawse, Flat Rock, Stratus, Henry of Pelham and Malivore to name a few.   For dessert, they even have a Prince Edward County Ice Cider, which would go great with their Norfolk Empire Apple Pan Dowdy.

I also had the opportunity to taste the Kozlicks Triple Mustard Crusted lamb chops, which I think it would pair well with the Prospect Shiraz from BC, and the pierogies which re hand made in house.  Hands down, these are the best pierogies I have ever tasted and they would be a fun match with the Tawse Echos Chardonnay.

There are too many great dishes to list, so head down one night have a seat at the bar, cozy up in the newly covered banquettes in the dining room or head up to the roof top patio to take in the last few nights of summer!

I thought the concept for this place was great, but I was hoping for 1 or 2 oz pours to allow for an opportunity to taste more wines.  Trust me, after a few 4 ounce pours, they will all start to taste the same.  Not only that, but your bill could be well over $100 for wine samples alone.  Now, if you ever wanted to try a glass of Krug champagne or Opus One without splurging on an entire bottle, then here is your opportunity!

If you watched this Monday’s episode, you couldn’t miss the scene in the wine cellar at the Bearfoot Bistro restaurant.  I spent more time figuring out what wines were in the cellar than watching what Jillian (the Bachelorette) and Michael (one of the remaining men) were saying to each other.  As best as ABC tried to cover up what was in the cellar, I spotted verticals of Dominus, Tignanello, Domaine Serene from Oregon and Opus One. I saw lots of great Magnums from some of the same producers, too. And to boot, there was sofa in the wine cellar…hmm…wonder what goes on in here after-hours…  I’m sure there’s a lot of what happens in the wine room stays in the wine room nonsense going on.  This restaurant does have an amazing wine list.

Although much to Jillian’s dismay “none of the bottles, seriously, are from the 1800s.”  The oldest bottle happens to be a dessert wine, a 1907 Blandy, Bual from Madeira, Portugal.   Note to Barefoot Bistro – you spelled Madeira incorrectly on your website and I’m happy to recommend a good sommelier.  But Michael, you were right about the dust on the bottles, I had to pause my PVR to catch it on a few!

Then we got to see Jillian try and open the Champagne with a saber. (no, it was not a “light saber” for all you Star Wars geeks out there.) Kudos to Jillian for doing it quite well although it seemed like half the bottle squirted out on the floor. I like the idea of sabering, but there seems to be a lot of wasted Champagne. Unless the sommelier is a trained professional and promises not to spill an ounce, then I would go for the more traditional method of opening champagne. If I’m ordering a bottle of Vintage Dom Perignon or Krug Champagne there is no way I’d want to lose a drop! But hey, something cheap and cheerful – go for it!

But the best line of the night came from the Wine Director/Manager who said “You know what they say about Champagne?  Burgundy makes you think of silly thoughts, Bordeaux makes you talk about them and Champagne makes you do them.”  Like who makes up this sh!t?    My guess it was the producers, but man, there are way better quotes about Champagne than that one.

If you are a fan of the Bachelor/ Bachelorette show, you need to check out my fellow Facebook friend’s website www.realitysteve.com for his slant on the show. He has a great sense of humour and really tells it like it is.

Start the evening right with a glass of the Villa Sandi Prosecco from the Veneto region in Italy.  Pair it with the Buttermilk Calamari, Romesco (red pepper almond sauce).  You’ll be temped to keep drinking this easy drinking sparkling wine all night (and it will pair with pretty much everything on the menu), but when you’ve got a fantastic choice of white and red wines on this you’ll want to move on.

For the whites, go for something fun and different such as the 2007 Gigi Rosso Roero Arneis from Piemonte.  The grape variety is Arneis and with it’s great acidity will pair nicely with the Cookstown Arugula, Pear, Walnut, Piave and Balsamic Vinaigrette salad.   Other great match would be the 2007 Podere Canneta Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Tuscany as the flavours in this wine would complement the salad perfectly.

Moving on to the reds, a match made in heaven with the Duck Confit pizza is the 2006 Canaletto Pinot Nero from Lombardia.  Pinot Nero in Italian is Pinot Noir in French and it’s a known fact that Burgundians love their duck with their fine Burgundian wine.   If you are a meat lover, then pair the House-Made Sausage Pizza with the 2005 Fanti “Tenuta San Filippo” Rosso di Montalcino from Tuscany or think outside the box and try the 2007 Angelo Nero d’Avola from the island of Sicily where you can expect ripe dark fruit characteristics and grippy tannis.  They also have fine selection of cured meats and cheeses that again would be a perfect match with any of the red wines listed.

This restaurant certainly knows food and wine and you certainly cannot go wrong with any of the wines listed here.  I love how they have made their wine list so customer friendly that you truly cannot pick a bad wine, plus, the prices are equally as friendly.

For me, good acidity in wine is the the perfect complement to any great pizza sauce, as the acidity in both the wine and tomato sauce balance each other out.  All of the wines on this list are all great matches and I look forward to many nights of great pizza and wine at Pizza Libretto in the future.

It was such a gorgeous day that I opted for the outdoor patio underneath the fig tree.   Much to my surprise, I was presented with a small cocktail menu and promptly ordered myself the “EDK Mojito”.  Let me tell you that it was a refreshing taste to my palate after a busy morning of wine tasting and spitting.   The mojito was absolutely delicious, just the right amount of light cruzan rum,  lime juice, soda and fresh mint.  Of course, I did have a long look at the wine list and loved the great selection of half bottles mostly from Napa and Sonoma.    The wine list itself was quite extensive and it broken down into grape varieties.  I loved the “off the beaten path reds” selection featuring some interesting wines such as the Viader “Dare” Cabernet Franc or the Verdad Tempranillo from the Santa Ynez Valley.

For lunch I had the salmon croquettes which consisted of a single salmon and yukon gold potato cake topped with a frisee in red pepper remoulade which was absolutely delicious.  Other lunch choices included a forest mushroom pizza (a nice Pinot Noir would pair nicely), steak and truffle fries and chicken curry flat bread.

Dessert is also a must have at El Dorado Kitchen and I indulged in the chocolate s’mores tart!  Picture a chocolate ganaceh sitting on top a graham cracker crust bottom, decandant merangine on top with vanilla ice cream and you have heaven in bowl.  I ate every last bite!  Other interesting choices included a chocolate sea salt cake and the homemade ice cream sandwiches such as butterscotch cookie with carmel icecream with a carmel dipping sauce.  Talk about over indulging in a good way!  Just remember to watch out for falling figs if you happen to sit under the fig tree!

Last night was the first night of Summerlicious here in T.O. and do you think I can get into a popular non-Summerlicious restaurant?  Not a chance in hell, unless I want a 9:30 p.m. table.    In the end I decided to call up Trevor Kitchen & Bar, who is participating in Summerlicious, and I can get a table for 8 pm, no sweat.   Upon arrival, we are greeted and seated right away. A somewhat reproachful server asks us the dreaded question:  would we like some water, still, sparkling or ahh…tap?   We immediately order a bottle of sparking which the server beams he’ll bring right away.   After that we order our 3 course “prix fixe,” then I do the unthinkable and order a decent bottle of wine!  Well, let me tell you the service I had that evening was bang on.   The server happily kept our wine and water topped up and after each course wanted to know how we were enjoying everything.  He even excitedly decanted our young pinot noir and removed the cheesy wine tumblers and brought us proper Burgundy glasses, all without asking.

Take my word for it, make this year’s Summerlicious experience memorable–order a bottle of wine and enjoy the best that fine dining has to offer!