German Wine Fairs in Montréal and Toronto surprise Trade and Consumers with their food-friendly wines!
MONTREAL & TORONTO – May 2016 – To highlight their innovative wines and winemakers, the Riesling & Co. German wine fairs visited Canada this spring. From the modern towers of downtown Toronto, to the quaint charms of Old Montréal, German wines found perfect pairings in the cuisines and tastes of Canadian wine lovers in Quebec and Ontario. Led by renowned sommelier and journalist Véronique Rivest in Montréal on May 17th and by Master Sommelier John Szabo in Toronto on May 18th special food and wine pairing seminars for trade, and tastings for wine consumers, were held in Canada’s two largest cities.
Over 25 celebrated German wineries assembled 100+ wines in each city to offer guests from the retail, media, and hospitality sectors an extensive array of wines to sample and taste. “What better way to discover the versatility of German Riesling and its Pinots, than when matched with the passion of our German winemakers,” effused German Wine Queen Josephine Schlumberger, who was a special guest for the Toronto event.
Together with John Szabo, she led an exclusive seminar pairing of German wines with Asian cuisine. The seminar highlighting the food pairing versatility of the fruits of these German winemakers’ labours, such as with drier styles of Riesling and varietals such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. In Montréal Véronique Rivest was joined by Ulrike Lenhardt, winemaker from the Baden region and representative of the German Wine Institute, to enthuse assembled media and trade on the specific virtues of pairing German wines with Quebec cuisine.
In the evening of May 17th in Montréal and on May 18th in Toronto, Wines of Germany hosted sophisticated evening tastings for over 200 wine lovers each — offering samples of German wines available for purchase and with many wines, event-only exclusives! The Montréal tasting was held in the eclectic Galerie Lounge TD in partnership with charity Tablée des Chefs. Invited chefs included Michèle Forgione (Impasto, Gema, Chez Tousignant), Paul-André Piché (Gargantua, Blind Pig, and La Tannerie), Tommy and Frédéric (Pork Shop) and Yoan Boullion (Balmoral).
In Toronto, the evening tasting was held in the beautiful Arcadian Loft overlooking Toronto’s historic City Hall, with cuisine prepared by Oliver & Bonachini