REVIEWS - 2009 Wine & Food Show [Events]
2009 Nov 7
Due to a series of scheduling disasters, I ended up only spending about an hour at the Tasting Alley last night.
Organisation was better than last year but I'd still like to see more signage. Staffers were friendly but seemed a little...overwhelmed? It must be stressful to deal with the huge crowds of people and the potential liability concerns if someone drank too much and hurt themselves or someone else.
We didn't make it down to the floor, opting to go have dinner at Atelier instead (which in my mind was about a thousand times more enjoyable than battling the crowds).
Not sure if I will go again next year. I grudgingly admit the VIP tickets are worth the money (when you figure it's $17 admission + several rows of free tickets/tastings and a big cheese plate), despite somehow FEELING as though they are overpriced... There was one wine that was 7 tickets which I would not have sprung for downstairs with tickets I'd doled out the cash for myself.
Found a couple of gems though that I will be keeping in mind - one particular Pinot Noir I will look to buy a case of next time I am in New Zealand.
Organisation was better than last year but I'd still like to see more signage. Staffers were friendly but seemed a little...overwhelmed? It must be stressful to deal with the huge crowds of people and the potential liability concerns if someone drank too much and hurt themselves or someone else.
We didn't make it down to the floor, opting to go have dinner at Atelier instead (which in my mind was about a thousand times more enjoyable than battling the crowds).
Not sure if I will go again next year. I grudgingly admit the VIP tickets are worth the money (when you figure it's $17 admission + several rows of free tickets/tastings and a big cheese plate), despite somehow FEELING as though they are overpriced... There was one wine that was 7 tickets which I would not have sprung for downstairs with tickets I'd doled out the cash for myself.
Found a couple of gems though that I will be keeping in mind - one particular Pinot Noir I will look to buy a case of next time I am in New Zealand.
2009 Nov 7
I'll start by agreeing wholeheartedly with Pam about the show's organization - signage is poor, and the staffers were friendly but sometimes a bit confused about what was going on, and where to direct people to go. It started on a low note for us - we arrived about 10 minutes before opening time, and joined a small group waiting where signs seemed to indicate we should be (we had tickets purchased in advance - a first for us this year). The minutes ticked by as we shivered in the cold... it was well past noon, with no signs of life from show staff... people wandered by inside the building, ignoring us. Finally, some in our group wandered down to a lower level, and reported back that the actual entrance appeared to be down there. After some discussion with a security guy, who insisted we should go buy our food and drink tickets before entering the building (even though they were also available inside), we finally got in. At this point, we were distinctly unimpressed - but things got better after that.
For the first couple of hours, the place was virtually empty. Some booths weren't completely set up yet, but at those that were, the folks looked rather lonely. At our first stop, we were offered generous servings of smoked salmon from Pelican Fishery- a kind of early bird special, no tickets required! We quickly grabbed some tastes of Hidden Bench 07 Chardonnay, and settled down to enjoy the combination... all was (nearly) forgiven at this point. After some more sampling, we checked around for multi-course sit-down wine & food pairings. There seemed to be fewer of these this year, and our usual fave, done by the Westin, was missing in action this year. The Sheraton had one, but it featured beer pairings - not really my thing. We ended up signing up for the pairings done by the California Wine Institute (guest chef Charlie Ayers). The food courses (salmon, lamb, pork belly) were really scrumptious. The only hitch was that the wine pairings were totally different than expected - the person who signed us up was unaware that they would be rotating through different wineries at different sittings. The wines we had (from Ironwood) were good, but one of the pairings (Obsession Symphony, an aromatic muscat-y white, with the lamb) was quite bizarre. That quibble aside, this was a pretty good deal, especially considering the bottles of California olive oil that they provided for us to take home.
Other noteworthy food we tried: crab cakes from Petit Bill's, pulled pork and beet salad at the Savour Ottawa booth, duck confit (also Savour Ottawa), scallops in tomato lobster sauce from Milestone's, oysters from Big Daddy's. There were others, but the memory banks are fuzzy...
On the wine side, lots of good stuff to choose from, and a good chance to focus on Ontario. Not to be missed: Hidden Bench, Flat Rock, Konzelmann, Peninsula Ridge. Also a nice selection of wines from New Zealand (Pam, what was your fave Pinot Noir? If it was the Spy Valley, it was released today at Vintages). I tried quite a few Pinots, from Ontario, New Zealand and California. For me, the 'best of show' was the new top tier 2007 offering from Flat Rock. In general, the 2007 Ontario reds are always worth a try... for most whites, I prefer the 2008s.
We finished up by attending the Tutored Tasting of Francis Ford Coppola wines. This was another (mis)adventure with poor signage and ill-informed staff who couldn't tell us how to get to the tasting room. We finally found it after several bum steers and blind alleys... we were late, but no problem - apparently nobody else could find it, either, and the Sommelier Guild people were still waiting for someone, anyone, to show up. Once it finally got going, the tasting was interesting and informative, and the wines (two whites and three reds) were very good quality. When we left there, we found ourselves in the Tasting Alley. This was unplanned, and we had no tickets left for wine at this point, but there were loads of nice looking cheese plates sitting there for anyone to grab, so what the heck... we figured they owed us after the earlier bouts of confusion and misdirection inflicted on us. Very tasty plates they were, too.
All in all, a fun experience, and, as usual, the good stuff outweighed the quibbles... I still prefer the old venue to Lansdowne, though. Was there more emphasis on food this year, as claimed by the organizers? Maybe... hard to say. There is certainly still room for improvement on that side of things. One oddity: maybe we missed it, but we saw no evidence of coffee available anywhere at the show. We normally finish up with something deserty and coffee before heading home, but it was not to be this year. On the whole, the show seems scaled down in size from what it used to be - fewer food options, less high-end wine. But I'll be back next year, no doubt!
For the first couple of hours, the place was virtually empty. Some booths weren't completely set up yet, but at those that were, the folks looked rather lonely. At our first stop, we were offered generous servings of smoked salmon from Pelican Fishery- a kind of early bird special, no tickets required! We quickly grabbed some tastes of Hidden Bench 07 Chardonnay, and settled down to enjoy the combination... all was (nearly) forgiven at this point. After some more sampling, we checked around for multi-course sit-down wine & food pairings. There seemed to be fewer of these this year, and our usual fave, done by the Westin, was missing in action this year. The Sheraton had one, but it featured beer pairings - not really my thing. We ended up signing up for the pairings done by the California Wine Institute (guest chef Charlie Ayers). The food courses (salmon, lamb, pork belly) were really scrumptious. The only hitch was that the wine pairings were totally different than expected - the person who signed us up was unaware that they would be rotating through different wineries at different sittings. The wines we had (from Ironwood) were good, but one of the pairings (Obsession Symphony, an aromatic muscat-y white, with the lamb) was quite bizarre. That quibble aside, this was a pretty good deal, especially considering the bottles of California olive oil that they provided for us to take home.
Other noteworthy food we tried: crab cakes from Petit Bill's, pulled pork and beet salad at the Savour Ottawa booth, duck confit (also Savour Ottawa), scallops in tomato lobster sauce from Milestone's, oysters from Big Daddy's. There were others, but the memory banks are fuzzy...
On the wine side, lots of good stuff to choose from, and a good chance to focus on Ontario. Not to be missed: Hidden Bench, Flat Rock, Konzelmann, Peninsula Ridge. Also a nice selection of wines from New Zealand (Pam, what was your fave Pinot Noir? If it was the Spy Valley, it was released today at Vintages). I tried quite a few Pinots, from Ontario, New Zealand and California. For me, the 'best of show' was the new top tier 2007 offering from Flat Rock. In general, the 2007 Ontario reds are always worth a try... for most whites, I prefer the 2008s.
We finished up by attending the Tutored Tasting of Francis Ford Coppola wines. This was another (mis)adventure with poor signage and ill-informed staff who couldn't tell us how to get to the tasting room. We finally found it after several bum steers and blind alleys... we were late, but no problem - apparently nobody else could find it, either, and the Sommelier Guild people were still waiting for someone, anyone, to show up. Once it finally got going, the tasting was interesting and informative, and the wines (two whites and three reds) were very good quality. When we left there, we found ourselves in the Tasting Alley. This was unplanned, and we had no tickets left for wine at this point, but there were loads of nice looking cheese plates sitting there for anyone to grab, so what the heck... we figured they owed us after the earlier bouts of confusion and misdirection inflicted on us. Very tasty plates they were, too.
All in all, a fun experience, and, as usual, the good stuff outweighed the quibbles... I still prefer the old venue to Lansdowne, though. Was there more emphasis on food this year, as claimed by the organizers? Maybe... hard to say. There is certainly still room for improvement on that side of things. One oddity: maybe we missed it, but we saw no evidence of coffee available anywhere at the show. We normally finish up with something deserty and coffee before heading home, but it was not to be this year. On the whole, the show seems scaled down in size from what it used to be - fewer food options, less high-end wine. But I'll be back next year, no doubt!
Food&Think
I am creating this Forum Topic in hopes that those that attend the 2009 Ottawa Wine & Food Show will leave their comments here, and that then this will be a SEARCHABLE Link that we can look back on next year (or refer other Poster's to who want info about this annual event).
I look forward to seeing the REVIEWS of the many who have said they plan to attend over this Weekend (November 6th thru 8th). Thanks.
Cheers!
Food & Think