Savvy’s Oh Canada Sip and Buy

It’s difficult to imagine that food and drink aficionados in Ottawa wouldn’t be familiar with Savvy Company. 

Founder Debbie Trenholm and business partner Shirley Roy-Schertzer have been educating Ontarians, through their online store and numerous events, about the great food and drink producers in our backyard.

They recently hosted Oh Canada! A night of red and white wines at Sala San Marco on Preston St. Local food producers and more than 20 wineries participated, including a few from Nova Scotia and one from Langley, B.C.

The event saw hundreds swirling and sipping wines from one end of Canada to the other, often getting an education in wines unfamiliar to them. 

So today I’ve selected a few highlights for you and they are still all available through the Savvy Store with some special pricing until June 1.

Relative newcomer to Niagara is Westcott Vineyards (est. 2013) and they impressed with a balanced and round 2022 Chardonnay and their 2023 Violette Sparkling wine which was a blend of Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Foreign Affair winery came in with a very nice 2024 Riesling, which to this German palate, hit all the right notes and is a reminder to all wine lovers, that Ontario produces terrific Riesling.  

Their 2022 “Traditional” sparkling was a blend of 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir and was made in the Champagne Method. It had spent one year on lees and was a refreshing drink that would pair very naturally with oysters.

Rosehall Run from Prince Edward County continues to see its star rise and wowed with a 2024 Chardonnay Musque that offered a fairly rich mouthfeel, stonefruit with fine chalky tannins on the finish. 

Not to be outdone was their Pinot Noir Rosé which was dry yet full of strawberry and currants without an excess of acidity and was one of the highlights of the evening. 

(Note: for some technical reason photos for these wines became unavailable)

Tidal Bay is a wine made by, as far as I know, every winery in Nova Scotia. Think of it as a concept wine to represent that province.

A variety of grape (cool/cold climate) hybrids that had long gone out of fashion as single varietal bottlings, were now being viewed with renewed interest by that province's wine industry. 

These grapes could be blended together in varying percentages to create a signature wine for the province. The wine that would become known as Tidal Bay, did however need to contain a majority of Nova Scotia’s native grape - L’Acadie Blanc.

The Jost version was very nice with plenty of fruit and floral aromatics. While dry, it would pair nicely with grilled seafood or even milder Thai/Indian cuisine.

Over the years I’ve been impressed with some of the noble varieties of wine such as Chardonnay and Riesling, coming out of Nova Scotia. They’re no longer restricted to just growing cool climate hybrids. It’s good to see there’s some benefit to climate change. At least in the short term (How short? Who knows?). 

It’s nice to see that Savvy has brought in Gaspereau Vineyards and their Riesling is cleanly made and varietally correct. Both on the nose and palate it’s identifiable as Riesling. I suspect the vines just need a little more age to develop greater character in the fruit but it was very nice.

Kacaba Vineyards and Winery in Niagara have enjoyed decades of growth, winning numerous awards along the way. 

They had a number of wines on offer that night but it was their Irresistible sparkling rosé that impressed most. 

It’s a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay and the result was bracing, refreshing, with plenty of berry fruit. Another standout wine of the evening.

Kern & Co. is a virtual winery founded by a husband and wife team from Niagara and straight away from their packaging, you understand that they’re positioning themselves in the premium wine segment.

They’re right to do so. Adam Kern’s wines are clean, focused and varietally correct. He sources quality fruit from some of Niagara’s best growers and while they may seem pricey, they are delicious now or for short to medium term (up to 8 years) cellaring. 

The Fumé Blanc, full-bodied and delicious, is a Sauvignon Blanc fermented in 50% new oak. It has the subtle opulence of a quality French version at a more reasonable price. This is a wine to serve with miso black cod.

Their Foxcroft Vineyards Chardonnay was equally impressive with its elegance and long finish of yellow fruit. 

Both wines are from the 2018 vintage and at the price, represent value for wines that are ready to drink but still have a few years ahead of them. Wonderful stuff.

From the time I first purchased the wines of Closson Chase (more than 20 years) to now, much has changed and thank Christ. 

Winemaker Keith Tyers has taken this winery and transformed its grapes into some of the most elegant and collectible Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Ontario. To be honest, I never thought this would be the case for grapes from Prince Edward County but he hit on a magic formula. A formula that is clearly based on intuition and a formidable palate.

Readers may remember a recent Closson Chase Winemakers Dinner at Coconut Lagoon where diners were left wowed by not just the food/drink pairings but by the wines themselves. 

The fruit on the Pinot Gris (so luscious in body and fruit) and the two Chardonnays was vibrant, multi-layered and enticingly complete. The wines that had the most to say as stars of the evening. 

Savvy Co. are curating some of Ontario’s finest wines so you needn’t travel and do all the research yourself and I’m happy to be a short-cut to some highlights. If you’re curious about building a wine cellar with Ontario's best wines then the Savvy specialty offers are a good place to start.