Author: pxlv_adm

Tonight’s red wine review is a lovely Barossa Shiraz that arrived at the LCBO as part of the feature story about Women in Wine in the recent March 7 LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection. It is produced by Yalumba, one of Australia’s most historically important wineries. Recognized as Australia’s oldest continuously family-owned winery, Yalumba was…

By Rick VanSickle Ontario winemakers and grape growers are heaping early praise on the 2025 wine vintage, calling it as good or better than many of the best years since the turn of millennium. While it’s rare that all regions in Ontario are reporting “exceptional” results from back-to-back 2024 and 2025 vintages, it’s even rarer…

This was one of Steven Elphick’s iconic images This has been a terrible week so I’m not going to document it, other than to write that a dear friend, who took our wedding photos and shot all the images for my The Wine Atlas of Canada, passed away (MAID). Another friend from my London days…

Toronto-based Dochia Interior Design recognized at the 2025 LIV Hospitality Design Awards for its work on the Niagara-on-the-Lake estate Canadian firm Dochia Interior Design has been named Winner in Interior Design at the LIV Hospitality Design Awards for its work on Stone Eagle Winery, a striking new estate in the heart of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Founded by…

Tonight’s red wine review is a lovely, organic, single vineyard Agiorgitiko from Greece. It made its debut at the LCBO in last weekend’s LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection on March 7th. It is produced by Domaine Gioulis, a family estate winery that was founded in 1993 by George Gioulis, an Agronomist & Oenologist who studied…

Here is another source of hourly weather forecasts for up to 6 days ahead from the National Weather Service. These hourly forecasts are something that you might find useful in planning your work week as well as watching for the possibility of frost next week. You can use your local television forecast or a smartphone…

Just outside of Athens, the earliest bud breaker at the Horticulture Research Farm, Lomanto, has broken bud. This is about a week earlier than usual where our last spring frost is often in mid April. While the start of a new season is always exciting, we are also at risk for damage from spring frosts…

“I never cook with anything I wouldn’t drink,” says Art. A pause for reflection and then he adds, “But then I drink anything.” Art and I are in a boat on Waterbury Lake in Northern Saskatchewan, about 200 kilometres from the Northwest Territories border. Our guide Rob is looking disgusted because we’re talking wine and…

By Rick VanSickle Steven Elphick, who made his impact on the Canadian wine industry through the lens of a camera, has passed away. Elphick, born in 1954 in Toronto, died Tuesday. “Steven Elphick was an artist — not with a brush or a pen, but a camera,” said wine writer Tony Aspler and winemaker Peter…

Really excellent webinar in collaboration with the Wine Society. Hosted by Becky Sykes with: Daniela Mezzatesta, Head of Research Development and Vineyard Sustainability at Terrazas de los Andes in Mendoza Kees Van Leeuwen of Bordeaux Sciences Agro (also editor in chief of Oeno One) Pepe Mendoza or Casa Agricola, Alicante in Spain Viticulture research supremo…