Spill the Wine Episode 1: Everything is peachy keen at Cornerstone Estate Winery
Release Date: 10/03/2024
Spill the Wine Episode 33: Affordable, approachable, easy drinking wines. A visit to Palatine Hills Estate Winery (Part 1)
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We’re on the road again, this time with our first visit to the Niagara on the Lake region to explore the wines at Palatine Hills with winemaker Vadim Chlekhov. Vadim’s passion and appreciation for wine began at an early age. He tasted wine with is grandfather and then drew pictures of what he tasted. He’s now an incredible wine maker who believes the winemaker is essentially a steward that guides the grapes through the fermentation process. In this episode, we focus on the entry level wines that are affordable, very flavourful and award winners. It’s part of the process of...
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Spill the Wine Episode 32: A GAMAZING experience! A visit to 13th Street Winery
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We return to the Niagara Bench area for our next episode with a visit to 13th Street Winery. We took a little trip down Gamay Lane with President Doug Whitty and Executive Director of Program Development Corinne Witusik. It’s our first episode where the focus was on wines from one grape varietal and it was a really fun and informative exploration into Gamay. A visit to 13th Street is an experience what combines wine with art, food, music and more. You’ll hear about the history of the winery, their award winning Burger Blend wines, get some great tips on food and wine pairings,...
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Spill the Wine Episode 31: From cabbage to wine: a visit to Inasphere Winery
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Our third and final stop in Norfolk County brought us to Inasphere Winery. Sales manager Kathie Gilchrist shared the origins of the winery name – the land is part of the Long Point Biosphere, so the winery is technically IN A SPHERE. How’s that for clever!? Kathie shared the history of the winery, which began as a vegetable farm back in 1963. The land is reclaimed marshland with a dike built around it to allow for farming. Cabbage is grown on 50 to 65 acres of the farm, and grapes were first planted in 2008. Riesling is their claim to fame, and they’ve also got some fabulous reds. It’s...
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Spill the Wine Episode 30: Trading vices – from tobacco to wine: a visit to Burning Kiln Winery
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On the second stop of our visit to Norfolk County wineries, we visited Burning Kiln and chatted with Marketing Coordinator Jaime Drayer. Jamie detailed the winery’s beginnings as a tobacco farm. She explained the reason why the wines are named for tobacco based items, and it was a very cool history lesson and glimpse into the winery’s past. In addition to fabulous wines, Burning Kiln also has a restaurant on site, and hosts a concert series in the summer. It’s a beautiful setting rich in history with fabulous views and amazing wines. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this episode and...
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Spill the Wine Episode 29: I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill: A visit to Front Road Cellars
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In July 2025, Lukas and Andrea made a trip to Norfolk County to visit three wineries on the shores of Lake Erie. The first stop was Front Road Cellars, a family run winery that is also a blueberry farm. Owner Amanda Vranckx shares the story of the evolution of the winery and shares some amazing wines with us. Amanda also talked about their partnership with Guelph university in planting hybrid varietals of grapes that will withstand colder temperatures. Of course, we also tasted some blueberry wine – which seems like a necessity when you have a winery AND a blueberry farm. The landscape at...
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Spill the Wine Episode 28: From the Bench to the Kame - A visit to Sons and Daughters Winery
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Owners and brothers Geoff and Anthony Hall named their winery in honor of their children – one brother has sons, the other has daughters so the name is pretty obvious! Along with their adviser Angelo and brother-in-law Dan Sherrington, we sat down for a chat about wine and the challenges of starting a brand new winery in an area far from the lake, higher in altitude and with a different soil composition than the Bench. During the tasting, we discussed the idea of doing pizza and wine pairings (YUM!) and found out more about the coffee they have on site as well. You’ll love exploring...
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Spill the Wine Episode 27: Creating wines outside the norm. A visit to Maenad
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Yvonne Irvine is the assistant winemaker at Creekside and is also the winemaker and owner of her own virtual winery Maenad. Yvonne shares some insights in the positives and negatives of being a virtual winemaker – one positive being she has full control over every aspect of the wines and can be very creative. Her creativity shines in the very unique and innovative wines we tasted like Piquettes and Pet-Nats, as well as more traditional varietals like Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc. It’s our first episode with a virtual winemaker and after listening, I’m sure you’ll be ready to arrange a...
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Spill the Wine Episode 26: A big life change brings beautiful wines to the Bench. A visit to 180 Estate Winery
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Owners Bob and Marzia Murdoch really did a complete 180 in life when they quit their corporate jobs and bought a winery in Jordan. (hence the winery name – 180 Estate Winery.) The winery, formerly known as Di Profio was purchased by the Murdochs in 2021 and they set out to achieve their goal of getting people to come to the winery to enjoy themselves and relax. Since Marzia is Italian, they like to explore the Italian style of wine making like Appassimento and Ripasso, and we talk a bit about the process of making wine in that style. Per usual, we also discuss food pairings and taste some...
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Spill the Wine Episode 25: Suitcase vines, Syrah clones and amazing white wines! A second visit to Kacaba
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In this episode, we make a return visit to Kacaba to chat with the new winemaker Chris Robinson. Chris is bringing a lot of passion and experience to his new role at Kacaba and we began our conversation by chatting about the importance of cleanliness in the cellars and how it affects the wine. Chris also explained what the three pillars of sustainability are in order to be called a sustainable winery. We have an interesting conversation about wine clones , root stocks and pruning before we taste some of the new white wines Kacaba has released. But don’t worry fans of red wine – we also...
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Spill the Wine Episode 24: History comes alive in wine: a visit to Thirty Bench (the first winery in the Bench area!)
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Three amateur winemakers, a doctor, a lawyer and a professor got together in 1980 and bought the land that become Thirty Bench. Winemaker Emma Garner talks with Andrea about the first plantings of Riesling grapes in 1980, and the way the soil hanging onto the water affects the tastes of grapes, which naturally affects the taste of the wine. Emma sheds some light on the origins of the myth about Riesling tasting sweet too. We also chat about the reasons why Pinot Noir is a difficult grape, and get some insights into the Cabernet Franc grape too. You’ll also discover how the shape of a wine...
info_outlineWelcome to the first episode of Spill the Wine – a podcast obviously about WINE! Wine is the one beverage that people seem to think they can’t enjoy unless they know something about it, which is quite odd when you think about it. But have no fear - we are hear to help you learn about wine, debunk some myths, and introduce you to the wonderful Bench area of the Niagara Wine region. We begin our journey with a visit to Cornerstone Winery, a family-run business that is one of the few wineries in the area that makes fruit wines. Nina shares some history of the winery and the thought process behind some of their most popular wines. There’s also a surprise visit from Sarah from London Born Wines too!
Produced by: Lukas Sluzar; recorded June 12, 2024
Show notes: Cornerstone Estate Winery website: www.cornerstonewinery.com
Wines sampled: Bad Moon Riesling (2020), Blush Hour 2, Cabernet Franc 2016, Fizzy Peach, Port