January 2003 - Nr. 1
Dick reports...
You don’t have to wait till Easter…
…or until Downey’s re-opens in May, to buy the excellent Fruit wines from the Downey Estate Winery! In the past Downey’s Farm Market closed down between Christmas and late Spring but now – especially with the large selection of outstanding fruit wines – they are keeping at least the wine shop open on weekends all winter long.
Of course there are regular wines from the vineyard available; Rieslings, Chardonnay, Baco Noir, Cabernet, Marechal Foch etc, but the elegant selection of the fruit wines have been attracting wine connoisseurs from far and white.
Why the sudden popularity? Fruit wines have been available in Ontario for a number of years and you may recall my writing about the fruit wines from Whittamore’s Farm some time ago to introduce their winemaker to our readers. That same winemaker is also helping Downey’s and the results are just wonderful!
I think people are basically curious and want to embrace a change in their life – especially if it is not a threatening change - and will go out on a limb to incorporate Something different for themselves and their friends and guests.
Fruit wines definitely provide a change of pace. The variety is so vast since almost any fruit can be turned into wine and some of them into "Icewines", that rival the Rieslings and Vidals people had been aware of and used to in the past.
These Icewines rival in variety and flavours those mentioned above and they come in a rich palette of wonderful flavours. The latest offer at Downey’s is a Cranberry Ice and a Plum Wine. I tried them both at the tasting bar in the wine shop and found them simply delicious. I don’t know if the plum variety promotes regularity, who knows - and since cranberries are very healthy too, and loaded with antioxidants, the wine variety should be beneficial also – or so I justify its consumption.
But why believe me? I am biased! Try it yourself. Take a
trip up Heartlake Road, north of Brampton and visit the Winery. Talk to Ed
there and tell him I sent you. You will be treated like royalty – well,
almost! It is worth the extra mileage – unfortunately you might get hooked!
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Dennison’s have done it!
Done what? Well, they got their wheat beer (Weizenbier) listed – world-wide - practically on top and above other well-know breweries (like Weihenstephan etc.) in Germany. A very proud Michael Hancock, the brew master from Denison’s, pointed this out to me recently. I checked it out and was amazed. Go to that website and scroll down to the "Wheat beer" section – you too will be amazed. Plus you will also be surprised – as some of our readers have told me – at the quality of the other Bavarian Style Beers that are available at Denison’s. (Especially the Bock and Märzenbier varieties that are only available in limited quantities during certain times in the year). But of course you have to go down to Victoria Street, Toronto yourself – if you haven’t yet done so – to try them. Ask for Michael and tell him that you read it here!
Happy New Year…
Hugging,
kissing, blowing horns, swinging rattles and congratulating each other to
the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" – played by the Golden Keys from Kitchener –
started as the balloons fell from the ceiling at the Donauschwaben Club on
New Year’s Eve, by about 430 of the guest and some of the staff.
Should auld acquaintance
be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of Auld Lang Syne? (Old Kindnesses)
I suppose that when Robbie Burns, the famous Scottish poet wrote these sentiments about 1788, in Scotland, he had an ulterior motive. One of the greatest poets in his time he wanted to stress the fact that we are all a large family, despite our obvious differences and that old kindnesses should not be forgotten.
At that time of the evening, at the New Year Celebration at the Danube Swabians, this appeared to be true. People that didn’t even know each other embraced, kissed or shook hands and toasted with the customary champagne – to celebrate the end of one year and the birth of the new and maybe a better year, at least for some of them. But I am getting ahead of myself here.
The
evening started on a festive note already as the guests started to arrive,
and the attentive staff served fabulous Hors d’oeuvres, before the arrival
of the soup – chicken broth with egg noodles.
Table decorations and party favours, including hats and feathers - for the ladies – were available in abundance.
Two fountains had been set up in the foyer with fruit and rum punch to provide the initial liquid refreshment for the evening.
The formal part of the dinner really started with the arrival of the salad, a tantalising mixture of spring greens, sautéed mushrooms, toasted almonds topped with a delicate yoghurt-honey-lime dressing. It was followed by the main course of tender veal breast, stuffed with goose liver, fine herbs and a light Chardonnay wine sauce and chicken schnitzel – served family style, "Chateau" potatoes, fresh green beans in bacon wrap, baby carrots and grilled yellow zucchini. Truly a meal fit for a king and expertly served by the numerous staff. To soothe the excited palate and for a culinary change of pace a delicious "Panna Cotta" with fruit toppings was then served. Coffee and cakes rounded out this delightful repast.
Now
it was finally time for the band to start and the dance floor to fill with
the revellers. And once it started it didn’t stop all the rest of the year.
The
"Golden Keys" seemed to have a knack for finding just the right segments of
their vast repertoire to please the majority of the guests. Well, it is a
large dance floor but with over 400 guests, all trying to have a great time,
it did get a little tight at times. I bet one other venue – equally large –
that
didn’t even get 200 guests that evening, would have loved to have this
problem. They probably also did not have an "Underground Bar" – but I
promised not to mention this. And I also will not mention the other venue!
As the hours passed and the time was edging closer to the next year, the tension seemed to grow. People were more frequently consulting their timepieces when a welcome break was offered in the foyer. A sausage station had been set up and served fantastically tasty, spicy sausages and buns to those that still had some room for them. Needless to say there were plenty of leftovers. A sign that the guests had enough food that evening already.
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Shortly before the main event the staff started serving champagne to all the tables and glasses were being filled to be ready for midnight.
"Ten,
nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… Happy New Year!"
Now you can re-read the top of my report again. "Should Auld Acquaintance be forgot"? And so on.
"Happy New Year" to all our readers and that they may be able to fulfil their resolutions for the coming year and get what they desire in 2003.
As always,
Dick Altermann
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
