Brian Hamilton is a graduate of Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, and was previously a winemaker at Malivoire, Southbrook Vineyard and Tawse Winery, all in Niagara Peninsula, and he brings the same focus on organic and biodynamic winemaking practices to KIN Vineyards west of Ottawa. Brian worked at wineries in California and New […]

Consider this Part 2, as last month I wrote about Side Launch Brewery, one of what I consider to be the two top breweries in the Collingwood area. This month I will cover the other one – Thornbury Craft Cider and Brewery located just north along the beautiful blue-green waters of Georgian Bay in Thornbury. […]

I’m just back from a week’s vacation in Collingwood on Georgian Bay, where I went to about 4 different local craft breweries and wineries, tasting my way through their portfolios. One of the best breweries visited was Side Launch Brewing Co. (sidelaunchbrewing.com; 705-293-5511) named after Collingwood’s historic ship building industry where ‘lakers’ and military vessels […]

I happened to be at my son’s place in Kingston next to Base Kingston recently. Right around the corner off Hwy 15 at Innovation Drive is this lovely modern brewery, so I just had to go in and sample the selection. And what a lineup they have! There are the permanent customer favourites with a […]

Canada’s first 100% solar-powered brewery opened in 2022 in Front of Escott, a small community near Mallorytown located between Kingston and Brockville in Eastern Ontario. The brewer, Phil Audet, and his business partner, Stacie Stephenson, took home the New Business of the Year Award sponsored by the Township of Front of Yonge in April 2023. […]

Monday was a sunny day and perfect for a country drive with the top down, meandering north to Maberly into the beginnings of the Canadian Shield where rocks, forest and lakes dominate the landscape. You can imagine my surprise when I left the road on a long stone driveway to emerge out of the woods […]

This month I will take you on a beer tasting tour of Provence and the Riviera in Southern France and the Costa del Sol in Spain ending in Barcelona. We just got back from a 15 day escorted tour starting with 4 nights in Nice (visiting Cannes one day for the red carpet film festival […]

We had a chance recently to sit down with Nick Ritchie of 4 Degrees brewery, at opening when the place wasn’t yet rockin’, to do a tasting and talk about the line of beers they now make. When last I was there, it was to feature their opening with a few stalwart beers that are […]

This month I am going to focus on one of the spirits that I think many don’t appreciate as much as they should in Canada, which has always been a country where Canadian rye whisky reigns supreme. Drizly is an alcohol e-commerce platform and they are forecasting after surveying 1000 adults in the USA in […]