food&drink | wine By Kim Miller

TawseandStratus

two eco-Wineries by the shore of lake ontario

By Kim Miller A selection of Stratus Vineyards wines T his summer, why not take a day trip to the southwest shore of Lake Ontario? Close your eyes while I whisk you away to the Niagara Appellation. The last twenty years has seen nothing short of a miracle in terms of the improvements we can now taste in our homegrown wines. This is due, in no small part, to the dedica- tion of our winecrafters and the further advancement of the back-to-nature movement going on in our society. The less junk we ingest into our bodies, the healthier we will be. The fewer chemicals we use to grow our food and beverages, the purer and more healthy they will be. Tawse Winery and Stratus Vineyards both stand out in terms of their dedication to their craft and to achieving a superior product, while leaving as small a carbon footprint as possible. It is fair, I think, to say that Moray Tawse made a killing from the commercial mortgage world in the 1990s. Wanting to do something progressive with his earnings, he turned to his lifelong dream of owning a winery. The location of the winery on the side of a hill was specifically chosen to allow for the construction of a stateof-the-art gravity-fed processing system. The building is further powered by natural geothermal energy. They even recycle their own waste water. The vineyards are now farmed biodynamically, under the guidance of Pascal Marchand, a native of Burgundy, France, who joined Tawse in 2005. Tawse and Marchand have since acquired the properties of Lakeview Cellars and Thomas and Vaughan, giving one the impression that they may eventually acquire more properties in the Niagara Region. And if that's the plan, more power to them! They have been able to apply for biodynamic and organic certification for both locations. And they're innovators in other ways, too. Rather than pay labourers to trim the vines, they use sheep. The sheep do not care for the fruit and are only interested in nibbling on greenery! A brilliant combination, non? Not only do the sheep keep the vines well trimmed, but they provide fresh fertilizer daily! As an added bonus, the young sheep are sold off to high end environmentconscious restaurants each fall and a new herd moves in next spring. Imagine - a rack of lamb is on your plate, and you're sipping Growers Blend Pinot Noir. "Are you getting a bit of mutton on the nose, dear?" Wines from Tawse to watch for this summer at the LCBO are: Sketches of Niagara Rose, $14.95; Sketches of Niagara Chardonnay, $19.95; and Growers Blend Pinot Noir, at $31.95. All are offered in the 750 mL format. In addition to the limited supply they offer at the LCBO, you can find their products here in London at Braise, Cello, David's Bistro, Only on King, and Trü. They produce some wines exclusively for sale in restaurants, bottled under the name Echos. Stratus Vineyard, established in 2000 by furniture magnate David Feldberg, is located in the historic town of Niagara-onthe-Lake. The location of their fifty-acre estate ranks among the warmest in the 34 | CITYWOMAN ISSUE ELEVEN: JULY/AUGUST 2010 www.citywoman.ca

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

You need to upgrade the version of your Flash Player to version 9 minimum.

Click here

Adobe Flash Player Download Center