Second Ferment

Past hybrid selections from Smokie Ridge You all know how passionate and mother-hen protective I am about hybrid grapes. We live in a cold climate with some pretty harsh winters, so it only makes...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2019/08/vindication-cold-hardy-marquette.html

It's about ten thousand degrees below zero here in Ottawa. I keep waiting for the Night King and his army of White Walkers to come in "just to warm up." But here in my kitchen, it's warm and cozy...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2019/01/the-plus-side-of-blue-monday.html

I hesitate to call myself an artist. Like many other creative types out there, I spend my time measuring my skills against those far superior to my own. (At least, the people doing all this amazi...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2018/03/imposter-syndrome-vs-paint-what-you-feel.html

Going "off-vine" for a few months leaves me woefully clueless on what's new in the world of wine. So it's no surprise that I've only recently heard of (relative) newcomers Stone Crop Acres and Cl...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2017/12/whats-new-local-grapes-cold-climate.html

A few notes on some of the selections my globe-trotting Hubby has brought back for me (us) to enjoy ... Weingut Familie Pitnauer 2015 Bienenfresser Zweigelt Reserve (Göttlesbrunn, Austria) ...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2017/05/wineau-abroad-wines-from-afar.html

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. Sometimes it hits you with a one-two sucker punch to the gut. Or a bullet to the head. I spent Christmas and New Years dealing with the one-two punch, curl...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2017/02/its-been-too-long.html

Be kind, everyone. Every person you meet is a human being, no matter where they come from, no matter what they look like on the outside. I had an encounter today with a pregnant woman panhandling...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/10/kindness.html

It was the Gold Rush, in small-town Osoyoos, set within spitting distance of the United States border. Smugglers, under the cover of night, bolted through the undergrowth, desperate to evade cust...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/08/curse-moon-love-wine.html

There is no shortage of beauty in the Okanagan. Breathtaking, heart-swelling, silent, awesome and indescribable views so magnificent that even pictures can't do it justice. But I'll try. Sunrise ...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/08/wordless-wednesday-okanagan.html

A group of black swifts is not called a flock, it's called a frenzy. Swifts lay a single egg in their clutch, nest in inhospitable cliff outcroppings exposed to the elements, and only eat specifi...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/08/the-hatch-its-all-things.html

Photo of sign courtesy of Richard Kanazawaa Out on the Naramata Bench, in the elbow of a long curve in the road, a placard bearing a bright orange Japanese hanabishi ('diamond flower') ...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/08/off-map-naramatas-kanazawa-wines.html

Sometime shortly after my 39th birthday I decided I was going to make my 40th year something memorable. Enough of this whole "bucket list" BS, why wait for retirement or until you're on death's d...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/08/thisis40.html

Such hard work, having to try all these delicious Ontario rosés and then write about them, about what goes best with them ... *sigh*. Read my latest Savvy Company reviews of great rosé wines he...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/07/drink-pink-savvy-company-rose-reports.html

In the local Seneca language, "keuka" means "crooked." With its distinctive 'Y' shape, Keuka Lake is the only lake in the U.S.--and one of the few in the world--that flows both north and south. A...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/04/wbc15-on-keuka-lake-wine-trail.html

The blog might be on hiatus, but I did have a chance to chat with Michele Bosc about what's new at Chateau des Charmes recently. You can check out my article over on the Savvy Company website. Ch...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2016/03/savvy-company-from-bosc-family.html

Hey all! So while I can't seem to find the time to write on my own blog, somehow I've managed to put together a guest post for Uncork Ontario about my experience at Domaine Darius. This is yet an...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/09/guest-posting-on-uncork-ontario-domaine.html

#WBC15 very good conversation re: terroir. Slid to hybrids. Group now polarized, muttering and dark looks. Dinner interesting (knives?). ⏳BK — The Vineyard Trail (@VineyardTrail) August 14, 2...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/08/wbc15-in-defence-of-hybrids.html

In her opening address to WBC15 participants, Karen MacNeil passed on a bit of advice given to her when she was the wine and food editor of USA Today: "If you know your stuff, you should be ...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/08/wbc15-wine-bloggers-conference-in-17.html

Everything at Soif is corked. No, no, not the WINE. The wine and the food (OMG) are fantastic. I'm talking about the walls. The floors. Some of the tables, parts of the bar, pieces of artwork. Al...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/08/review-thirsty-for-more-at-soif.html

Winemaking is about passion. It has to be. If you're in it for the money or the fame, then you're in the wrong business. Tim Kuepfer, of Broken Stone Winery, gets that. And when you taste his win...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/07/following-dream-at-broken-stone.html

Not even a two-day deluge could keep me from a Canadian Wine Day weekend in the County. And let me tell you, it RAINED. And then it rained some more. And then more on top of that. You'd figure ra...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/06/cdnwineday-backroads-and-downpours-in.html

It's Ontario Craft Beer week! Not that you really need an excuse to try out the wide range of hoppy beverages made by passionate local brewmeisters, but this is a good one. We've had a good year ...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/06/hoppy-craft-beer-week-everyone.html

A few times a year, Hubby gets sent off on business somewhere in the world (while yours truly pulls Single Mom Detail ™ at home). In between never-ending meetings, chats with bigwigs and the li...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/05/hubby-speaks-taste-of-alan-doyle-and.html

May was a long month. I ain't gonna lie. Just in case you were wondering where I've been ... Hubby was in New York for a marathon session at the UN. From the end of April until just last weekend....

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/05/mothering.html

The California Wine Show was in Ottawa on its annual tour this week. This time around, I carefully studied and plotted a route on my map, checked the map against the list in the catalogue, checke...

http://www.2ndferment.ca/2015/04/everything-but-chard.html