Niagara nightcap and nibble

Dear Reader,

For your kindness, encouragement, supportive comments and choice to return to the page, I thought it was only fitting for me to drink to you.

And so last night, I raised a glass of Henry of Pelham 2007 pinot noir in your honour, with its elegant structure and intense black raspberry, ripe pomegranate, tangy cranberry and clove spice flavour.

Still, in all its medium-bodied, oaky, silky and luxurious loveliness, it didn't quite capture the magnitude of my appreciation for you, dear Reader. And so I raised two more. Ironically while watching the movie, The Hangover.

The Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery is located on the premium grape growing land of Short Hills Beach - a United Nations biosphere - in St. Catharines, Ontario. The Speck family owners believe that fine wine is grown and not made, and so it takes low yields and tends its 170-acre estate vineyards with meticulous care. Only small volumes of handmade wines are produced to ensure the highest standards of VQA-stamped quality.

Now I firmly believe that quality begets quality. So it only made sense to pair this finicky, fickle, fine and fragrant wine with something just as special: cheese. Niagara Gold from the Upper Canada Cheese Company. And great gurnsey, this artisanal cheese is good!

Niagara Gold is an Oka-style semi-soft, washed rind cheese fashioned after recipes developed by the Trappist Monks of the Loire Valley. This is a cheese with nutty, earthy overtones and mellow, buttery flavours. I bought it at The Milky Whey fine cheese shop in Stratford, where owner Liz Payne carries a variety of lovely local cheeses.

A Niagara nightcap and nibble in your honour. Somehow it still just doesn't seem quite enough. Perhaps the bottle of Coyote's Run Estate Winery from St. David's, Ontario in the wine rack will repay my debt of gratitude later...