Generation Riesling visits Montréal and Toronto

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

Wines of the Peloponnese Soirée - Montréal

MONTREAL, CANADA - On May 10, 2016 the Wineries of the Peloponnese Association offered an exclusive consumer at the Galerie MX in Montréal. Guests had the opportunity to meet winemakers and principals from Greece, try over 35 wines from 12 Peloponnesian wineries while viewing unique pieces of contemporary art in the art gallery. Chef Paul-André Piché and his P.A. Gargantua food truck prepared delectable delights to pair with the indigenous varietals from the Peloponnese.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity for consumers to taste unique wines coming from indigenous grape varieties of Mythical Peloponnese. From the authentic Greek terroirs of the region you find new and intriguing tastes that can match your style" notes Manolis Giamniadakis from the Wineries of the Peloponnese Association.
 

BC Liquor Stores Wines of Germany Thematic Month

German wines shared the spotlight with Asian foods in BC Liquor Stores throughout the month of May, 2016. 40 stores featured the “Taste the New Perfect Pairings with Wines of Germany & Asian Cuisine” promotion and showcased lively displays of a wide assortment of Germans wines, giving consumers an opportunity to learn about the diversity of German wines and how well they pair with Asian cuisine.

The program commenced with a free consumer event on April 16 at the Cambie and 39th BC Liquor Store featuring German wines paired with gourmet Chinese foods, hand-crafted from Vancouver’s best Asian food truck: Roaming Dragon.

German Wine Seminar & Exclusive Consumer Tasting - Calgary

In April Wines of Germany teamed up with savvy Calgary retailer Metrovino to hold a seminar on German wines for a motivated group of local sommeliers.  Led by winemaker and Deutsches Weininstitut representative Ulrike Lenhardt, participants learned the latest on developments in the industry.  In the evening and an exclusive consumer tasting of German wines was held for Metovino’s VIP customers.

Generation Riesling sojourns in Toronto and Montréal in May 2015

MAINZ, GERMANY – May 2015 – To highlight their young innovative wines and winemakers, the Generation Riesling 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 Canadians. Led by German Wine Queen Janina Huhn [see photo], Generation Riesling toured Montréal on May 20th and Toronto on May 21st.

Over 20 celebrated German wineries assembled their wines in each city to offer guests from the retail, media, and hospitality sectors an extensive array of German 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 Generation Riesling, the new wave of German winemakers,” noted Wine Queen Janina who together with renowned and well respected wine personalities Véronique Rivest in Montréal, and David Lawrason in Toronto, led educational seminars in each city.  The seminars highlighting the food pairing versatility of the fruits of these young winemakers’ labours, such as with drier styles of Riesling and varietals such as Pinot noir, Pinot gris and Pinot blanc.

In the evening of May 21st, Wines of Germany partnered with VINTAGES (LCBO) to host a sophisticated evening for over 250 Toronto area wine lovers, offering samples of German wines available for purchase at VINTAGES and with many wines event only exclusives!  The tasting was held in the eclectic Cathedral Centre in the historic district of Toronto.

Canada is the sixth largest market for German wines in the world with over 618,000 cases sold in 2014, representing over $93 million in annual sales.